Ain't nothing hotter than a New England gangsta

This is a Tea Party I could get on board with!

Who knew blenders made more than margaritas?

If I actually committed to paper all the blog posts I composed in my head there would be a lot more interesting things to read here, but somehow the evenings always dissolve into the standard routine: Pick Holly up from daycare, play for 20 minutes, dinner in the high chair, change into jammies, peek-a-boo and tummy zerbets, final evening nurse, Dr. Seuss, aaaaaaaand lights out. Then I go downstairs to make grownup dinner, which of course is a multi-hour affair because I like to try things like mushroom bourguignon which have a bazillion pearl onions that need peeling and two pounds of mushrooms that need slicing, not to mention all the fine dicing of onions, carrots, garlic, etc. Ah mise en place; such a cruel mistress.

What was I talking about? Oh yeah, FOOD! So Holly eats solid food now, and truly it's been a blast. She certainly didn't take to it right away. Exhibit A:


But one day something clicked in that cute little head of hers that FOOD = FULL TUMMY and now she opens her mouth wide like a baby bird anytime there's a spoon within a 3-foot radius. If there's no spoon that's no problem, she'll just have-at the tray.



We've worked our way up from the early days of thin rice cereal with pureed peas to things like ginger carrots, hummus, and buffalo. Well, technically she gagged on the buffalo but we'll try it again tomorrow mixed in with something more palatable like butternut squash.


I've had a lot of fun making homemade baby food. I don't know why it gets a bad rap as being so labor intensive because really it's about the easiest thing you can do in the kitchen. Simmer peaches, blend, put in an ice cube tray. BAM! Baby food.


I'm having so much fun that I've got quite a backlog in the freezer. Right now we've got our choice of:
peas
spinach
broccoli
cauliflower
butternut squash
sweet potato
oatmeal
peaches
ginger carrots
chicken
buffalo
And the latest addition, blueberry-oatmeal-applesauce

Yes, it has occurred to me that my 7 month old is eating healthier than I am but never fear, I'm sure she'll be on a strict hot-dog-and-ketchup diet before the last cauliflower cube gets defrosted.


Well my bourguignon is nearing completion and I may actually get to eat dinner by 9:00. It doesn't look quite like the photos, but then I did have to substitute a "full-bodied red wine" with whatever white wine we had lying around. 'S'ok, I'm sure we'll manage. Bon appetite!

Interim cuteness to tide you over

New post is coming soon, I promise! In the meantime here's a little sweetness to get you thru your day. Discuss.