Saturday, July 30, 2011

picnic


We had fun at the flyball tournament last weekend. It was nice to finally have some time outside in the nice weather. It's lovely again this weekend and Finley's grandparents are here visiting. We've been spending a lot of time outside at playgrounds and going to walks.

Yesterday was Finley's 15 month Drs appointment. She is 78 cm and 10 kg, growing right along her growth curve. She is just below the 50th %ile. She is right where she is supposed to be in all other areas...walking, climbing up stairs, feeding herself, sleeping well, asking for things without crying, saying a few words (more, dog, mama, dad)..the important things, . She is now signing "more" and "food".

I decided to completely wean her a few days ago. She hasn't been especially interested in nursing and so it seemed like the right time. She didn't seem to notice the change. I'm quite proud of myself for making it until 15 months.


We went to a picnic for Finley's daycare yesterday. It was so much fun to see her being independent and having a good time. She was excited to see her teachers and her friends from school. She loved the sing-a-long and making bubbles.

We brought this recipe to the potluck. I love it because it's good both cold, hot and at room temperature.

Lemon Fusilli

adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)
  • 2 cups heavy cream or 1/2 & 1/2
  • 3 lemons
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 bunch of broccoli
  • 1 pound dried fusilli pasta
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat, add the garlic, and cook for 60 seconds. Add the cream, the zest from 2 lemons, the juice of 2 lemons, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until it starts to thicken.

Meanwhile, cut the broccoli in florets and discard the stem. Cook the florets in a pot of boiling salted water for 2-3 minutes, until tender but still firm. Drain the broccoli and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the package, about 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the pasta and place it back into the pot. Immediately add the cream mixture and cook it over medium-low heat for 3 minutes, until most of the sauce has been absorbed in the pasta. Pour the hot pasta into a large bowl, add Parmesan, tomatoes, and cooked broccoli. Cut the last lemon in half lengthwise, slice it 1/4-inch thick crosswise, and add it to the pasta. Toss well, season to taste, and serve hot.




Thursday, July 21, 2011

journal

I've decided to attempt to use this blog as more of a journal for recording things that we do and especially to document the things that Finley does as she grows up. I'll still post photos as I take them here and on my Flickr site.

Things have been pretty mellow around here lately, probably because Seattle is skipping summer this year. The weather has been completely awful. I keep hoping it will get warmer, but we are not well into summer and it's freezing outside.

I started training for my job last week. So far it couldn't be a more perfect arrangement for me, especially when compared with my last job. I'll be at a small hospital working as a clinical dietitian. The part that makes it perfect is that it's 15 minutes from my house with NO traffic, it's per diem with an expected part-time schedule (but if I'm not available, I don't have to work) and I'll be working on all the floors of the hospital from psych to babies to oncology patients. It's been two years since I finished my internship, which means I have a lot to review. I've got time though...I won't start working regularly until September. This works out well since we are going to Victoria for a combined vacation/flyball tournament and then to Reno.

The biggest news around here is that finally Finally started walking! She has been very cautious to walk on her own, even though she has been physically ready for awhile. Cautious is alright with me. Just today I saw her get up from sitting down and walk across the room. Such a proud moment.

She has a blast at daycare. She loves all the toys and the awesome variety of food and snacks. She loves circle time and singing songs with her teachers. She does get upset when the boys want to play with her or take one of her toys. She prefers to play with girls. Apparently she has learned to go to one of the older girls when one of the boys steals her toy and she gets it back for her. I'm not sure how she communicates that, but it's funny to see her start forming relationships with other kids.

Speaking of communication, she has been trying to talk and sign a lot lately. Her favorite sign is "more", specially related to more food. She is a big eater and needs to let us know when she wants more! It's pretty funny when she takes a bite and just as she starts chewing it, she asks for more. Or she will ask for more before she even starts eating!

We are off to a flyball tournament in Canada tomorrow and will be back on Sunday night!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Our Fourth

Yesterday morning we slept in until 9 am, when we woke up Finley. She is a major sleeper. That's okay with us. I made a new recipe. A cherry clafouti. It came out okay after some extra low temperature cooking. I'm still experimenting. Here's Julia Child's recipe, let me know if yours comes out.

Julia Child's Cherry Clafouti
1 -1/4 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup flour
3 cups cherries, pitted
1/3 cup sugar
powdered sugar, for garnish

***************************
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a blender, combine the milk, 1/3 cup sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt and flour, and blend.
Lightly butter an 8-cup baking dish, and pour a 1/4-inch layer of the blended mixture over the bottom. Set remaining batter aside.

Place dish into the oven for about 7-10 minutes, until a film of batter sets in the pan but the mixture is not baked through. Remove from oven (but don’t turn the oven off, yet).

Distribute the pitted cherries over the set batter in the pan, then sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Pour the remaining batter over the cherries and sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until the it's puffed and brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Servings: 6-8 for dessert, 4 for breakfast.



Then we tried to go to Gas Works Park, but there were crazy lines to get good seats for fireworks, which start at 10 pm and it was only noon! Crazy people! I don't even like fireworks. Instead we went to the much less crowded Green Lake and played in the playground, crawled around in the grass in the sun and then had lunch at Tutta Bella.

After a lovely trip to the dog park we lounged around the house and had Thai take out for dinner on the patio. For dessert we had homemade coconut popsicles. They came out really good and were super easy to make. I'm going to be experimenting with different flavors this summer!


Limber de Coco (coconut popsicle)

1 can evaporated milk
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 egg yolks
Cinammon to taste1 cup of shredded coconut

Directions

Mix evaporated milk, coconut milk, sugar, vanilla, and egg yolk in a bowl. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze for at least 2 hours.







14 months

Monday, July 4, 2011

Roslyn


We took an overnight trip to Roslyn on Friday night to visit some friends from college. It's a tiny town off I-90. I would go insane living there, but we had fun experiencing the small town feeling for the day. We brought our trailer and parked it in an alley. We have it stocked so that all we need to park are clothes and food. We are so happy to have that huge apartment on wheels.

Finley is sooo close to walking. She took a few steps today on her own and then she loses confidence. Oh well. I'm sure we'll be wishing she waited a little longer when she is into everything. She has been really into climbing on things, usually things that she can't get down from...or stairs. She has been talking a lot and trying to say new words. Nothing really clear other than Daaaad or Momomomom.

She really seems to be getting into the toddler phase with some demanding whining and even some fake crying. Overall, she is a very happy, easy kid and she still sleeps like a champ. This morning she woke up at 9 am. Yes!