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Tonight for dessert we ate our cherimoya fruit. This is the same one that was on our fireplace mantle. Today it ripened to perfection. Mark Twain called the cherimoya "the most delicious fruit known to men." It tastes completely tropical, like a hybrid of guava, mango, and maybe banana. Part of the fun of eating it is trying to decipher its flavor. You can find it under the name custard apple too. We got ours at the farmer's market. Let me know if you love it so too.
While we are on the subject of sweetness, I found this oldie but goodie of Nico today.He must have been about 6 months here.He is wearing his grandfather Oscar's reading glasses. His chins are truly custardy. This baby is ridiculous and delicious.
Our house still echoes because of our lack of furniture. Not only do we not have many furnishings, we also do not have the time or funds to decorate it properly at this time. It has been a test of patience for me. I have a file folder deep with tear sheets and inspiration for what I envision here in the little blue house. However, I am learning to take my time and let it slowly come together. Very Slowly. So far the payback has been great, when we are able to acquire something, I treasure it so much more. Like our amazing patio dining table and chairs that we found on craigslist. Prior to finding that table I was itching so bad for something, I almost would have bought a modern and new table, but our table is sooooo much better. I'm so happy we waited for the table to find us.
In order to make the house feel homier, I have been experimenting around the house with what we already have. Things that used to be in our old living room are now in our bedroom, you get the picture. This section, called Around the House will show you guys how the house is coming along and how we are making it our own.On Saturday I was having a David Hicks moment. I live for his tablescapes and can get so lost in the thoughtfulness, details and balance that Mr. Hicks left the design world. I felt that our fireplace mantel was looking so bare and that was making our living room look too "just moved in." I grabbed a few things from around the house and did a tablescape of my own, including personal mementos and fruit from that days farmer's market run. The shrine is already on its last leg, but it was a fun project and one I'm sure will keep changing until we find something more permanent for that space.
a vintage DIANA camera, a baby basil plant I just started growing, a jonathan adler ornament, fresh cherimoya fruit, a prototype of our maraca wedding favors, and fresh flowers from our backyard, so much fun!
We had yet another adventure in bathing with Hal last week. The Callaways came over for dinner last Friday and decided to bathe Hal here in the interest of time, and a good laugh. The boys are hilarious in the bath, edging to get close to the faucet and pouring water all over. Nico lovingly washed Hal with a washcloth. This is the only picture I have, but I hope it conveys the hilarity of their hygiene.
Tonight I made a soup we haven't had in a while. It is a pea spinach soup, an old recipe from Martha Stewart. I tore the recipe out of the magazine years ago and still keep it tucked into another cookbook. Because its best made with fresh English peas, I thought having a kid now would make cooking this soup impossible. I was so wrong. It was a great project to share with Nico. I brought the peas outside with the colander and Nico helped shell them. He was really into it and was intrigued by the whole process. It's a super easy soup to make and very healthy. It's creamy without the cream (skip steps 4 and 5 on this link that call for cream to decorate the soup... oh martha!) It's so green and bright that you feel instantly energized after eating it.We had some warm rustic bread with it. Nico ate the soup too, I'm sure it reminded him of his early days of purees.
There is a very corny kids band called The JumpArounds. Nico has completely fallen head over heels for them, literally. We had been watching Nico getting excited dancing when they came on TV, but Aaron finally figured out that he was copying the little boy on the video that is breakdancing. He does some fancy footwork and even crosses his arm in classic B-boy repose. It's hard not to laugh out loud when we watch him get down and jumparound. This clip is long, but so worth it.
Nico loves him some music. Here is a clip of him getting down and dirty playing the blues. Muddy Waters was quoted as saying," I was messing around with the harmonica... but I was 13 before I got a real good note out of it." We'll Muddy, you have met your match!
Last night we had broccoli raab bruschetta. It's a favorite around here. We have our bruschetta meal once a week. Its a recipe from our friend, superb chef Elizabeth Singelton Baldi. Toast sourdough boule slices brushed with olive oil on a grill or in your broiler. Rub a garlic clove over them while they are warm. Put mayo on them (I know it sounds gross, but its so good!) Slice tomato and sprinkle with thyme. Drizzle good olive oil and crack some salt on them. For the broccoli 
ones, I steam the raab with some red onion. I coarsely chop them and in a bowl mix them wit olive oil and lots of balsamic. Load that onto your mayoe'd bread. No thyme on these. We always eat these with a wild arugula salad or some "grains" from Trader Joes. These bags are a must have for me in my pantry. They are healthy and delicious! I added quinoa to mine last night. Make sure you use broth to cook them, not water. They are good with parm too!
Tonight we ate al fresco in the Burbank heat. We had portobello burgers with Havarti cheese, and roasted brussel sprouts on the side. I love the sprouts! The recipe I use is Jaime Oliver's, and its oh so easy. Heat your oven to 400. Clean and halve your sprouts. Remove outer leaves. Pour olive oil over sprouts and make sure they are evenly coated, not soaking in oil. Crack black pepper and some sea salt on them. Put them in a baking dish and in the oven until they are golden brown and crunchy. They are better then fries! Nico loves the crunchy leaves I peel off for him.
We'll Aaron and I had our first parenting scare this past week. We unexpectedly went to S.F. to say goodbye to Dorothy, Aaron's grandmother and Nico's great grandmother. The day of her funeral,as family gathered at the house, Nico got into some mischief. We found him with a pill container in his mouth. We found all but one missing pill and per our doctors were forced to take him to the ER. We were admitted to the hospital and Nico had to have an open IV put into his arm in case they needed to admisinster drugs in a hurry. He had to have his blood tested every 2 hours, all night.
I spent the night in my dress. Nico had his arm in a splint so he wouldn't bend it.It was the longest night ever, and seeing him in pain and discomfort tore my heart out. In retrospect, he was suprisingly tough, and at times was playing and laughing in the hospital. Lessons learned: Never take your eyes off of the kiddo, and always have Poison Control's number handy. Nico is doing fine now and the mystery remains: did he or didn't he take the pill? Only Mr.Nico knows the answer and he ain't talking.
This is Blanca, the creepy puppet the gave us at Seton Medical. Nico and his dad on the unconfortable cot, ponder the freedom outside of the hospital confines.
It's no secret that I have a complete blog crush on Amy of Progressive Pioneer. I have never met her, but her site is a source of endless inspiration to me. She and I have so much in common, yet she is miles away (and has much more land than we do.) I wanted to give Nico more veggies and she had a great smoothie recipe.
GREEN MACHINES: Half a banana, a lot of blueberries, several handfuls of spinach and enough water to make it drinakable. Blend with ice if you'd like. The spinach is so mild that you don't taste it at all. Freestyle and add your favorite fruit. Delicioso! I just planted my thriving tomato seedlings and she did a story on a seed swap.
I wrote about my dinner menus and today she did the same! (Although her dinners are much healthier and adventurous than mine) She even shared a recipe for the cake I want to bake for Nico's 2nd birthday. Kindred spirit for sure!
She has been kind enough to email me cookbook links and even co-sleeping advice and support. Check out her site and catch the urban homesteading bug!
My weekly dinner menu's are still going strong. They have really saved my sanity and possibly my marriage, not to mention, money and time. I never really stress anymore about what's for supper. Tonight we had salmon, Basmati rice with mung bean and lentil, and fresh pea tendrils sauteed in garlic. Not too shabby right? We bought the tendrils at the Hollywood Farmer's Market and the seller promised us they would grow another serving if we water the pot. How's that for value? I'll post my dinner menus whenever I can so my moms out there can get inspired too!
We'll its official. We have moved here to blogger! My iweb software was outdated and seemed to go kaput with the last flurry of postings. I plan to make this blog a lot more interactive. I hope to journal about my new life as a mother and all that comes along with that. This adventure that Nico is taking us on has new twists and turns every day. It's no wonder were exhausted and need a long nap.
Tonight for dessert we ate our cherimoya fruit. This is the same one that was on our fireplace mantle. Today it ripened to perfection. Mark Twain called the cherimoya "the most delicious fruit known to men." It tastes completely tropical, like a hybrid of guava, mango, and maybe banana. Part of the fun of eating it is trying to decipher its flavor. You can find it under the name custard apple too. We got ours at the farmer's market. Let me know if you love it so too. 
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