Food Coma

I should probably switch to blogging in the evening, since apparently my pork loin plans didn't go quite... well. As planned.

I picked a different brand than last time, and it took longer to cook than the package indicated, and while it smelled good, it really didn't -taste- that good. The delicious smell pretty much stayed surface only, and the pork loin itself was sort of dry and overall, barely flavorful. The Apple-Bourbon one we had last time was about a hundred times better.

Tilmani made pancakes this morning though, to try and make the weekend get off to a good start since last night I ended up so frustrated at everything going wrong at the tail end of the day I ended up in kind of a funk-mood.

It seems to have worked. Mini Monster, who had a dash of apple-butter in his oatmeal (Homemade), and two pieces of plain pancake, is talking to his pacifier, and punching the buttons on an musical frog thing that was originally for his car seat, but never got hung. ((I rediscovered it under the laundry yesterday. It's kind of surreal when you put the laundry pile down on something and from somewhere in the depths you hear perky music, and slowly realize that in the pile of stuff that somehow never made it to the closet, is a musical gizmo.

The pancakes were delicious. :3

I'm also watching Tilmani play "Resonance of Fate". It's a little hard to figure out at first what the story is, so I actually cheated and read the Wiki, but it's a pretty cool game. Sort of steam punk and with some pretty funny dialogue. Vashyron and Leanne are my favorite out of the three protagonists. It is a shooter game though, so that might put some people off, though most of what's getting blown up are mutants and machines.

Might write some more later. My half finished cup of coffee is calling.

Dig it.

So it's apparently a big day for construction.

The guys showed up to start working on the chimney this morning, I can hear them around the back of the house thumping around as they work. Good deal, we need to get that fixed to make sure we don't have problems down the road if we use that chimney. Chimney fires are not your friend and all that, and that thing clearly had some alarming issues. When everything's over, they'll be gone.

We also picked the color for the roof shingles, we'll be getting a nice warm brown one that'll look really nice, though that's not yet underway.

There are also apparently some guys from the town working on the road again. Last time they came through they dug huge holes in the road and pulled up rocks bigger than the mini monster, filled them in, and drove away again. Until today.

They've come back, dug everything up, including these big trenches across the road that drive everyone crazy, only this time they haven't fully filled things in so the rock holes and the trenches are all notable, tire munching dips in the road. I'm not -exactly- sure what they think they're doing, and they certainly haven't explained themselves, but if they don't come back and fill them in again, I'll send Tilmani a note to make sure he knows about the holes before he comes home.

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Knitting: Still slooowwly trucking on the Christmas Stocking. I've lost my groove a bit so I haven't gotten as much done, but I'll have to see if I can pick it up again and finish. I hate loosing my groove in the middle of a project, but I guess it happens to the best of us.

Cooking wise: Well I made, and seriously over-spiced meatloaf last night. *ugh* Rookie Mistake. So tonight I'm going to go a little simpler and make a marinated pork loin I got at the supermarket. Tomato Basil marinade, it sounds good anyway. I think I'll make some roasted potatoes or something to go with it. It can't all be Goulash and Baked Potato Soup, but it'll be tasty anyway.

My email inbox was also the recipient of an interesting, and kind of weird sounding recipe for "Curried Apple Soup". It seems simple enough, I just can't quite get my head around weather or not it would be good. It did make me laugh though. Most of my life I've pretty much hated soup and chili.

What are my current favorites in the household menu? Soups and Chili.

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Monster Wise: He's doing good. He didn't sleep so well last night but he's catching up this morning, and after he did finally get to sleep last night he woke up in a fantastic and very social mood this morning. He was all smiles, giggles and big hugs. He's really getting into the idea of hugs, though big ol' sloppy Monster kisses are still uncommon enough to be a little thrilling.

He's also the subject of an interesting debate, since something Grandma S. found online clashes with my baby book. ((Regarding weather or not kids his age could/should have whole grain bread.))

Her article says no, but my baby book, and my good friend who actually made a point of studying children and their growth, say yes, they're just fine with Whole Grains, and if they weren't, hundreds of generations of kids would have had some big demonstrable digestive problems because White Bread, which Grandma S. says is the only kind he should have, is a rather recent invention. Anyway I haven't seen the slightest problem from Monster sampling some thin strips of Whole Grain, in fact he thinks it's marvelous. It's also a seriously interesting result if he sneezes. ((Have I mentioned he also is still getting over a cold?))

It did raise an interesting point of discussion though, that it can be hard to track down when something on the web was actually published, and it's also a great point as to why you should double check any sources on the web. I know the currency of the information in my baby book, since the contents are updated and checked with the edition, and I also have a second backup source. The online article is from an unverified source, with no quoted reference material and unknown qualifications from the person actually citing that opinion. It also goes against generations of babies gone before.

Of course then again, not too long ago, all things considered, people were proclaiming that cigarettes were good for your heath and were soothing for coughs.

Common Sense seems to be pretty flexible on some fronts.

Purple Panda

Finished the Purple Panda I was knitting ((A Fuzzy Mitten pattern)). It's my first actually commissioned knit, and I'm pretty pleased with it. Since it was for a baby shower and therefore obviously for a very SMALL recipient, it had to have yarn only detailing, and I used mostly "Moon and Stars" yarn.

Red Heart yarn tends to come with a hefty bad rap, it's super saver yarn is unpleasant to the touch, though is, by all reports, very sturdy and softens up eventually, and most of it's available colors are stark and a bit gawdy, especially once you've become a bit spoiled by the affordable luxury yarns of KnitPix or the fantastic arrays many Local Yarn Stores carry.

For Kids toys though it's hard to beat Moon and Stars for quick and plushy soft, and importantly, very washable and not that pricey.

Mini Monster absolutely loved the feel of it, and when we let him handle the partially finished Panda, it was a small battle to get it back again. As you can see in the photos, I replaced the original head design with the Intarsia version provided by the lovely FuzzyMitten blog. It came out much much better, and I'm going to be much happier making a couple others, including one for Mini Himself.

He got to see both Grandmothers again today, Grandma S and Auntie Roo came by to drop off stuff, including the footie-PJ's that Grandma S got for him. The most amusing of the set was a gray pair with earth moving equipment stitched on the front. I joked that it was cement colored to keep him in one place at night. ((he was unimpressed by the joke.))

Nana J also came by, while we were waiting for Grandma S and Roo. Her's was an unexpected drop by, but it did let me send off Purple Panda and his care card. ((I included washing instructions as well as what he was made of, and a mention of where the design came from.))

Gloom, Gray and Grump.

If you ever want to feel the sensation that your skills have been devalued with a single comment, ask an mother of several kids their advice on your own kid. Not only will they give you ten times more advice than you actually wanted, but they'll make you feel like a bad mom while you do it.

What do you mean you aren't stewing and smushing all of your own fruit and steaming your own veggies? How could you POSSIBLY consider giving them something pre-prepared from a jar, regardless of the ingredient list! You should be eating only microwave tv-meals, and spending all your time and energy preparing an illustrious list of the most exclusive ingredients for your tot. After all, the floor and cabinets will appreciate the increased quality of everything they get smeared with.

While I can definitely see the value of prepare your own stuff, for someone who's only really broken away from using the microwave (at all) around a year ago, the idea of constantly being at the stove for ANY reason is, quite frankly, daunting. And goddamn it, after spending all day working, my husband and I deserve a good home cooked meal just as much as the Mini monster does. It's not my fault we can't eat all the same dishes yet, and it's not his either.

My husband especially works some pretty insane hours, and he definitely deserves to get something that didn't come out of a take out box once in a while, which is why I made us Soup last night instead of juggling soup and trying to cook rice and beans, in which case I definitely would have burned something. Mini was just fine with his jarred sweet potatoes and cereal.

That being said I did make my first attempt to Stew some fruit today. I chopped up a peach and a nectarine into tiny chunks and cooked them on the stove, after first starting the wrong burner. ((I'm a genius when I'm sick.))

Mini definietly didn't want to wait, so he had his normal favorite, Yogurt. ((I'm also gonna try and mix some of the stewed fruit, blended, with plain yogurt.))

I guess I'm just being tired and pissy because I know Mini Monster is a really happy, healthy baby, but I'm out there working under the knowledge that no matter what, someone's not going to be happy. There are people who won't like me because I'm a stay at home mom, there are people who won't like me for using formula, for using disposable diapers, you name it. Someone out there WON'T like me for it.

But I don't, really don't think any of it makes me a bad mom because I've got damn good reasons for all of it. ((And if you are one of those people who starts screaming that I shouldn't use formula because it's somehow evil, come visit. I'll bop you upside the head a few times with a bottle of Simulac while I explain my choices.))

Weather wise it's sorta gray and blah, mixed with bursts of sunshine. Could be better, could be worse. Definitely starting to really 'feel' like fall though. I'm looking forward to taking a weekend and getting a pumpkin (or two) to decorate the steps/lawn. It'll also be an enlightening experience to see if it survives. I don't know the pumpkin survival rating for this neighborhood.

Baby it's Cold Inside: pt 2

Well it was actually fairly chilly indoors last night, more so if you're eight months old and have a mile wide stubborn streak, and a tendency to go wandering out from under your blankets the second Mommy and Daddy aren't looking, so the two champions of sniffles ((Me and Mini Monster)) ended up snuggled up together for the night, because that's the only way he stays under the blankets.

I could have lived without the ice cold fingers grabbing my nose and lips... or the ice cold feet jammed into my chest area, seeking warmth. ((He has Mommy's tendency to shed heat from his hands and feet, even when he's bundled up in his fluffy warm footies, he's been known to make Tilmani fly into the air by wrapping chilly little fingers around his toes.))

Anyway it worked out fairly well, he got bored investigating my nose eventually and went to sleep, and everyone was warmer and happier for it. We conceded to cranking up the heat a bit this morning.

It was however awesome weather to be trying out some nice rich soups though, so yesterday, well before Mini demonstrated that he had inherited Mom's "Toes from The Crypt", we made Hungarian Goulash Soup.

I found the recipe in this months "Taste of Home" magazine, and decided to try it. I don't have a subscription to the magazine, but I got their fall baking collection and there was pretty much nothing in there that we -wouldn't- try, so I figured it was a safe gamble.

The soup collection wasn't quite as much of a bonanza but we found five our six recipes we think we'd like to try, and to be adventuresome, we went with the Goulash first.

Aside from me accidentally blackening the bacon, ((I replaced it)) it came out pretty damn good! Next time I'll actually let the potatoes cook a little longer than recommended, because they weren't tenderized to our taste in the recommended time, but otherwise I had no complaints at all, not even about the green peppers, and, well. I'm not exactly first in line as a Green Pepper supporter.

Otherwise Mini's Christmas Stocking is going fine, although it's been put on hold temporarily to make a Panda for a Baby Shower gift. Unfortunately I didn't have the copy with the Intarsia face, so I stitched it from yarn instead. I'll get the Intarsia version ASAP though I think. Having the extra layer of knitting makes the poor panda's face look slightly... alien. I would have gone with the recommended felt, but it's for a newborn, and I wanted to make sure it was good and solid.

Baby it's Cold Inside

So Cold season has hit the household. MiniMonster came down with a cold, complete with stuffy/drippy nose, cough, and general grumpies, though he's on the mend now, and is back to his cheerful nut ball self. I'm coming down with the damn cold in the mean time, so as of yesterday, the scratchy throat and stuffy nose hit. It didn't make for a very fun night, and I still feel pretty ick.

Fortunately Tilmani hasn't caught it yet, but it could yet happen, and wouldn't entirely surprise me if it did.