FoodFoodFood

Ah, my New Year's challenges. Challenge sounds better than resolution, doesn't it? Like, it's okay if you fail, since it's challenging.

Right. I usually don't really make resolutions. I was certainly busy enough last New Year's with a 20-hour old baby. This year, well, this year I'm up for a challenge. Or three:

1. Eat less sugar. Remember that root beer is a treat, not a beverage. (Strangely enough baking is not at odds with this plan. For some reason I'm able to limit myself to, say, one peanut butter cookie per day.)

2. Try one new recipe a week (I have over 30 cookbooks- that number seems less ridiculous if I actually cook from them) and record the successes in my recipe spreadsheet so that I remember to make them again. Yes, I have a recipe spreadsheet. Shut up.

3. Make at least three vegetarian suppers per week. This is the big one. We like meat in our house. Fortunately, we also like tofu and a good veggie curry. Although we regularly eat a couple of vegetarian meals and many meat-light ones, I want to cultivate a better repertoire of meatless meals.


Menu for the week of January 17th

Sunday: Carnitas Tacos, Pinto Beans, Fixings



My husband surprised me by rendering some lard so that I could do the beans proper like. So, so, so good. Oh and the carnitas... porkalicious.

Monday: Spinach, Goat Cheese and Oven Roasted Tomato Frittata

Tuesday: Leftover Carnitas Enchiladas

Wednesday: Pizza with Artichokes, Olives, and Oven Roasted Tomatoes, Salad

Thursday: Pasta Bolognese*, Salad

Friday: Broccoli Pad Thai *New Recipe*

*I make bolognese sauce by the vat and freeze it in portions.

Notes on a Holiday Season

Just as everything was settling down after all the celebration, the visits and visiting, my boys, grownup and baby, have come down with nasty cold. Before I come down with it, here are my notes on the end of the year:



The New Year-
I try to avoid making New Year's resolutions, but this year I issued myself some challenges. Mostly food related. More on that some other time.



The Birthday-
I can't believe that my baby is a year old. And that he wanted nothing to do with his cupcake. Probably would have rather had green beans. Strange child. Love him to bits.



Christmas-
Next year I will take the Buy Handmade Pledge.
Next year I will begin making gifts early. Like tomorrow.
Next year I will craft some Christmas decorations*. Starting right after Halloween.

Tune in a year from now to find out if actually manage any of these things.

*This year my mother pointed out that I don't decorate much for Christmas. She is right. But it's her fault. My Christmas memories are adorned with homemade decorations. Clothespin angels, crocheted Santa toilet paper cozies, beaded snowflakes, and an entire village of ceramic buildings (that I painstakingly painted over several years as a teenager). My mom has always been a craft nut and instilled the same nuttiness in me. I tried to buy some Christmas doo-dads in the store this year, but failed. I need to make the time to make them myself. And involve my son. So the cycle can begin anew.

Preparations

Santa and Mrs. Claus are watching over the fireplace.



I stitched together an ornament to commemorate baby's first Christmas.



This year's batch of peppermint bark has been made. Even better, this year's peppermint bark scraps have been saved to be sprinkled over ice cream in the new year. (So, so good.)



And, thanks to last week's blizzard, it looks like this Christmas will indeed be white.

I'm ready. ish.

Quilt, Take 2

Decided that if I started now, I stood a chance of finishing a quilt for the boy by the time he moves out of the crib and into a bed. It's based roughly on the Big Zig quilt.



My first quilt was constructed with no advanced planning. I'm going another way on this one.

Two rows down, nine to go...

Yellow Orange Red Brown

Summer. Where did it go?



Our morning walks have turned into afternoon walks to seek out the warmest part of the day. The grey sidewalk has turned maple-in-October gold.



There's a little (purchased) bear suit with homemade paws awaiting a (gulp) ten-month-old's first Halloween.



And there's a Halloween-appropriate stack of fabric ready to be cut into for a quilt.

Crib Tour

The house and the kid- incredible time sucks they are. They're really cutting in to my leisure time. Knitting: rarely. Sewing: does hemming jeans and mending pillows count? Other craftiness: ha! Good thing I'm awful fond of them both.

In lieu of anything new and crafty, I'll show off the nicest space in the joint: where kid and house collide. Bear's room started off like this (mmm, cream of pea soup). And progressed to this last fall.

Nowadays it's fully occupied and looks like so:



The furniture is heavy on the Ikea. Okay, it's all from Ikea. I would have loved a modern nursery set, but holy $$$. And by the time I bought furniture, I was way too pregnant and busy to diy it. So, Ikea it was.

The room has pristine oak floors (like most of the house) which I covered with Flor tiles. I think they really make the room. As much as I love the wall color (and I really love it- I'd like to paint my bedroom this color), I think the room would have ended up a little too precious without the rug.

I don't want to talk about the ceiling fan.



Extravagant crib set, eh? SIDS prevention guidelines say no loose clothy bits in the crib, which appeals to my cheap minimalist tendencies (besides, it's not like my infant is going to use a quilt). By the way, it's not easy to find red crib sheets.

Yes, the artwork is off center and kind of awkwardly hung, but fixed very firmly to the wall. Like, won't come down until Bear leaves for college fixed. Thanks to my husband for that (both the awkward placement and sturdy mounting). All three prints are of polars bears, which pop up all over the room.

The thing about the bears-
1. We enjoy going to the zoo and are particularly fond of the polar bears.
2. My husband has a much loved pair of polar bear print pajama pants that we like to joke about.
3. I decided on the paint color, Arctic Blue, and polar bear theme before I even knew the sex of the baby.
4. The choice of the baby's name was strongly influenced by the fact that "Bear" is the obvious nickname. (But I am not trying to theme my child. I fell for the name before "Bear" was distilled from it.)



The number print is from Binth and, though awesome in its own right, coordinates ridiculously well with the rug. The futon got shoved in the room for Christmas houseguests and never left (the futon, not the guests). My little lap quilt from way back when found a home on it. Eventually the futon will be removed in favor of more play space, but for now, it's nice to have a place to read and to set the car seat for loading and unloading.



My husband tricked out the closet with a custom-built organizer (there's shelves down the center and a full-length hanging area on the other side). It's obviously set up for baby clothes, but can be adjusted as Bear grows.

Now, if only the rest of the house was finished...

Domesticity

Cooking, cleaning, shopping, knitting, laundering, mothering. I'm so domestic lately that sometimes I kinda want to gag. But... shhh... I kind of like it sometimes. Except when the UPS guy comes. Always when I'm cooking dinner. So I answer the door wearing an apron*. Sometimes with a baby on my hip. Embarrassing.

All this being at home has me thinking a lot about the house. I have a million projects that I'd like to do, but for now, I'm settling for trying to do some (late) spring cleaning and organizing, and the picture thing. See, I can no longer stand having frames photos sitting on surfaces (collecting dust!), and even the thought of laying out groupings of artwork for the walls exhausts me (not to mention that I'm squeamish about putting a bunch of holes in the wall). Add to the fact that I'm going to have baby and family pictures to display and I'm really liking the idea of putting up picture ledges. That way I can change out photos and frames easily. To help me visualize what I want to do, I made the cheesiest mock up ever:



In Paint, since I'm too po' for Photoshop. My depiction of this in the center really makes the mock up, doesn't it? All in all, I like it, though. I think it will work. Next step: a trip to Ikea for the ledges and some frames.

*I have to wear an apron because I always manage to get grease spattered on me. Which I don't notice until I'm hanging clean laundry. So I have to treat and wash my clothes again. And if there is anything I don't need right now, it's more laundry... which reminds me that I have to go put a load in the dryer. Ugh.