It's hard not to think about age and milestones and mortgages when you surround your days with someone who changes and ages literally from day to day (and I mean Trip, not C+T's bakery, duh). Every morning I wake up and say "you are totally bigger than yesterday/this morning/the last five seconds" which was funny until it started to speed up. If there is one thing this kid is good at, it's eating and growing. After complimenting him on his growth style I can't help but be a little sad about what things I'll be missing when I leave and then I can't help but be super insanely jealous of everyone here who gets to watch what I won't be able to.
In four months I'll be 26 and I'll only have one more month in Oz and who knows how big this kid will be. I'll be closer to 30 than I am to 20 and am I supposed to feel more mature? Should I rush back to Virginia and get a mortgage and a dog and hopefully a plant that can live to the end of a week? Should I stop thinking farts are funny? Because I don't really feel that way. I'm not feeling "clucky" or "nesty", I have no desire to have my own spit up maker right now or house or new denture, the old one works just fine and hasn't broken yet. Farts will always be funny. I actually can't stop planning this massive road trip (roadtrip!) for myself when I get home. Because C+T seem to have grown up without planning it and maybe that's the way I'll roll too. Maybe I should start listening when Australians say "no worries". With all this growing up happening around me, I don't feel that grown up. And yet at the beginning and end of everyday I can't help but feel a little better every time I brush my teeth, false and all, and Homer Simpson critiques my technique.
As you may have heard, upon my arrival to Oz I became a weeder, dish washer, and ceiling vacuum-er. Since Trip's birth I have become a boombox, baby jiggler, stuffed animal collector, and gardener. Maybe his birth has kicked in my maternal instincts (no, I won't be popping out babies anytime soon, so get your mind out of the gutter), more of a growing instinct? Either way I am pleased to announce the birth of my pea plants!
1 week...
3 weeks!
Even though I followed the package and picked an amazing place, they seem to disregard the zig zag pattern anticipated for their growth. Instead they choose to clump together like tiny pea plant islands in a giant bed of mulch. Maybe like their peas in a pod, the plants don't want to grow alone either, to which I say "Go right ahead plants, pease yourselves." (Too bad I haven't planted any corn yet.) But I have planted lettuce! Check it out!
1 week...
3 weeks!
If this doesn't seem impressive to you, just remember I am the girl who killed an aloe plant. A plant that grows in cactus soil and you only water it every 2-3 weeks. (I am continually amazed that MadDog lived so long.)
For my turn in the kitchen this week, I made spicy sesame noodles with chicken, and let me tell you, it's totally better the day after:
Mince about an inch long piece of ginger (or 1/4 tablespoon in a jar), four cloves of garlic (we like garlic), and saute in small fry pan with about 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of peanut oil for a few minutes. Add to a large bowl (big enough to fit the whole pasta dish). Whisk in 3 tablespoons sesame oil, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 and 1/2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon hot chili oil (we used hot chili sauce because we couldn't find the oil and it worked beautifully, and I added a bit more because I like the heat), and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt.
Cook 1 pound (or the close equivalent) Chinese egg noddles per the packaging. Drain and rinse. Place in the large bowl and toss to coat the noodles. Add 12 thinly sliced green onions (pale green and white parts only), 1 diced red pepper, 1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh Thai basil leaves, 1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts (unsalted), add your chicken (I marinated the chicken breasts in fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper, then cook
however you enjoy your chicken, and chop into bite sized pieces) and toss. You're meant to serve it at room temperature so there's no pressure to finish all the cooking at once. I bet it'd be delicious if you garnished with fresh lime wedges.
Here at casa de newborn, they post a Monday through Sunday dry erase calendar on the fridge. Work schedules are copied and placed there along with the dinner menu for the week. To be fair, and so that no one is overwhelmed in the kitchen, everyone picks a day to cook. So, every week this house is blessed with my cooking pizazz. Now, I know what you're thinking, this is the same girl who used a turkey baster to remove excess water from brownies-in-a-box, right? Yes. And this is the same girl who added 11/3 cups of cinnamon instead of 1 and 1/3 cups to sweet potato pie? Right you are. Wait wait wait, the same girl who tried to make Kraft mac and cheese, it turned out hard and lumpy, and her mother made her eat it anyway? Correct. But now a days it truly is pizazz worthy food, well pizazz for me anyway. Tonight's menu, prepared by yours truly, was salmon cakes with garlic sauteed spinach served over rice and a soy-ginger sauce. Some may read that and think, "pppttshh, big deal" but if you've ever had to eat one of my not so mouth watering concoctions you'll know what a momentous occasion it really is. I think after so many failures in the kitchen it still surprises me that I can actually make edible food. I patiently waited until Cara and Mama Newk said that it was delicious several thousand gazillion times before I was finally able to calm down and enjoy dinner. So far I've made gourmet broccoli mac and cheese, grilled chicken and my famous veggie kabobs, apple cider roast, and winter veggie baklava. I'm actually excited to try new recipes, although C+T should beware, they may have created a kitchen monster, a creative and inventive cooking monster that may not always have the intended end result. Because that's just not how I roll.
I'll leave you with a little video of my favorite band and the recipe if you would like to make it yourself, I'm sure almost everyone will make it fancier than what I did, ain't no shame.
To love and short nights,
Kiki.
Salmon Cakes:
Mix 14 oz can of salmon (the cans here don't have ounces so I guesstimated), 1/3 cup bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon curry powder (again C+T don't have measuring spoons so I guesstimated), two chopped chives, juice from half of a lemon, add whatever other spices you may enjoy (we had dill laying around so added a bit of that as well). Mold into patties, coat fry pan with EVOO, cook on medium until golden (about 4 minuets on each side).
Spinach:
Heat EVOO (or butter if you're really going for flavor) and garlic to taste (we like a lot of garlic and minced about four cloves) until its golden, add washed spinach (depending on the serving size per person, we used a whole bushel but you could use a bag of baby spinach) and cook until wilted (we did a lot and it took about 10 minuets).
Sauce:
Mix 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger (again no measuring spoons were used and if you'd like an extra kick just keep adding that ginger), you could add chives as well if you have some extra.
Serve with rice topped with spinach topped with cakes topped with sauce. Squeeze extra lemon as needed. Voila! I can feed people!
You were born September 14th at 6:23pm. Weighing in at 8 pounds 11 ounces, 21 inches long, with 3.5 inch long kickers! (I knew you were destined for tingers and fands, just blame your parents) Your father held up better than I did during your birth, he didn't faint or cry, (unlike your Aunt Kiki who was a blubbering mess) and was in complete control of the situation. Your mother was even more amazing, I got to see a whole other side to her strength (but I am glad your ears are too tiny to pick up on the F bombs).
You sneeze just like your Dad and have tiny elf ears just like your Mom. You make squeaky noises and have finally picked up on this whole feeding business. Normally tiny baby finger nails creep me out, but your Mom has already said I'll have to cut them for her. Surprisingly I don't mind. In fact, I'd like to cut them soon so you don't scratch that perfect face. Don't worry, I'll wait until you're already upset, so you don't associate me with crying :)
I spent yesterday assembling a baby swing that Aunt Rosie and Uncle Devin got just for you. Even though I got upset and started throwing heavy machinery around the room, I knew you'd appreciate it and play in it and swing away in it (if any one can stand to put you down for a long enough time). But even if I spend the rest of my free time assembling battery operated devices, I'll do it happily for you.
You're taking a nap with your Memay right now and every now and then she sheds a tear. She isn't sad, she's in love.
Thanks for being here,
Love your extremely happy/excited/mesmerized Aunt Kiki
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tuesdays are for us
bake baklava savory
haikus are funny
"When I finish a book I mope around for a few hours because I feel a hole in my heart. When I finish a series, it's even worse."
Since I graduated from nursing school (has it really been almost 3 years?!) I have been determined to read for pleasure again. No more textbooks, no more theories or nursing diagnoses or medical term flash cards. No more 35 page papers on colon resections (it's true, still saved to my hard drive, all that hard work is difficult to click and drag to the recycle bin). I joined a book club and on top of reading a book a month, I would complete a book series in half that time. I don't know when it started but I have become obsessed with not a genre or author, but more with a continuation. I finally read all of the Harry Potter's (I know, a decade late), and moved onto the 13 book mega Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind, and it all snow balled from there. I guess there is a sense of accomplishment when they're all lined up on your book shelf, you can see the pages stacked one next to the other for two feet, it definitely feels impressive. I guess what I like is getting to know the characters more and more. If I've met you and got to know you and chose to spend time with you, why wouldn't I want our relationship to continue? After finishing A Game of Thrones I've been waiting for the second installment from the Aldinga Library (since Cara finally convinced me there was no point in adding that much weight to my luggage) and needed something to fill the gap. Thanks to a suggestion from C&T, right now I am closing in on the last and final book of the Tomorrow When the War Began series by Australian John Marsden. To say I recommend these novels would be slight underkill since I have literally spent the last week and a half with my nose stuck in book after book. And I'm beginning to get that feeling again, like a friend is moving away, this book will end and there won't be more. Sigh. Until the library calls that is.
That's right people, Cara, the Preggers, peer pressured me to drink by myself. She insisted that since her and Toff are now boring-married-pregnant people, I deserved a day of fun. And "fun" in our books is classified as day drinking. To be fair I have to do research for when we have visitors (in the near future, wink wink nudge nudge) so that we may easily hop in the car and head to my favorite spot. When Cara first suggested that wine tasting be our agenda for the day, I thought awesome! it'd be nice to go to one or two places and sip on some fermented grapes, enjoying the winter sunshine.
The weather was so gorgeous it's hard to remember that it was technically still winter. Virginia summer time of humidity bathing you in water as soon as you leave your house is hard enough to handle. If this is winter, will I be able to survive the summer months unbaked? In our sunshine loving mood it was easy to forget how much time had passed, it was only the next day that I realized we had gone to 5. Yeah, 5 wineries, 5 free wine tasting for me. Needless to say by the end of the day I was doneski, and yet Cara still managed to get me to walk to the sunset. After that she tucked me in for a nap and some water, cooked me dinner, and curled up to watch a movie. It was only after the closing credits were finished did I finally feel sober again. Thanks for the wonderful memory forgetting/making day, Bean!
As you all have no doubt been able to piece together, our Ma-Mom-Mommy has finally landed! And what, pray tell, do we end up doing? Why buying baby shower supplies at the local ABC Dan Murphy Store. Cheers!
Love!
-Kiki.
(No Cara's were harmed to consume alcohol for the benefit of this posting.)
