Your Biggest Fan

About 2 months ago, when Emmett was just a few weeks old, we decided it might be a good idea to install a fan into his room. Since Jen wouldn't let me just put one of the old vintage desk fans in there (which I agree was a wise decision, since even *I'M* scared of those fans when they're running), we opted for a ceiling fan. The room is pretty small, so I searched for a while to find something compact, yet not so ugly that it screams "Your dad is super cheap and got you a public park restroom fan. Enjoy!"

It took a while, but I finally found a decent one, a bronze with dark faux wood blade fan that only measure 20 inches long. When it finally showed up, I took Jen's craft room chandelier down and got ready to put up the new fan. Which immediately revealed a big problem: the electrical box which the chandelier was attached to wasn't attached to a ceiling beam. Exactly how we weren't killed by a falling chandelier during the past couple years is a mystery to me. But wouldn't that have been one of the more eye-catching obituaries to read in this era? "Couple killed by falling chandelier."

I've never claimed to be a brave man, but I've done ok over the course of my life in certain situations. Crazy steroid man armed with pie-filled cooler? Check. Crawling around the rooftop to clean out clogged gutters? Shaky check. But going up into the attic to install a crossbeam for a ceiling fan? No freakin way. So I hired a coworker/handyman to get up there and do it for me. Am I proud? No, but I'm also typing this now, not trapped forever in the 2 foot crawlspace while Jen feeds me pudding through the hole in the ceiling.

Finally the day arrived for me to actually install the fan. It took about 3 hours of swearing, starting over, and shaky legs on a ladder. But it's up and it works. And I'll be damned if it isn't even louder than one of the old scary table fans. AGGHH! We're keeping our fingers crossed that replacing the dimmer switch on the wall with a regular switch will fix the problem. But at least Emmett will have a nice cooling breeze in his room... during this, the coldest summer in recent memory.

Baby Adventures - first BBQ's

This last weekend was sort of a repeat of the previous.. We had another BBQ to go to on Saturday and then friends over for dinner and Mad Men on Sunday.  The first BBQ we went to Emmett did great.  He was all smiles when meeting new people and was pretty good about hanging outside with us while we chatted with people. (only had one small crying session when Chuck, the little dog, started barking... You'd think Emmett would be used to barking thanks to our neighbor's dogs but Emmett was a bit startled when he heard him)  We took a bottle break and then took a little nap while we ate.  After a few hours he started to get tired/fussy and we knew it was time to get going.. but we were pretty happy with how things turned out.  I must say it was strange for us to be the couple with the baby who had to leave early.

The BBQ this weekend was not as successful.  We had no idea how big it was really going to be.  There had to be at least 50 people.  Em fell asleep in the car on the way there, so when we walked in he was waken by the roar of people.. 15 or so being crazy little kids running around.  He was pretty freaked out.  I felt bad for him but it was also sort of cute to watch him.  He had never really seen little kids before.. At least ones he noticed.. I suppose he saw some kids at the daycare tours we went on.. but I think he was a bit too young to really notice much.  These kids were running around, playing, yelling, blowing bubbles.  In the middle of his crying he noticed another baby about 3 feet from him.  He let out the cutest, little, nervous laugh.  Once we made our way through the house and out to the back yard he relaxed a bit.  He seemed to like hanging out watching all the kids run around.. but it soon became too much for him.  We ended up staying only about a half hour. In a way it was good to see him in a situation he was uncomfortable.  We now know we will survive the little melt downs.. it takes out some of the fear on our part and helps us figure out how to explore more new situations for him.  While I hate to see him scared, it's time to get him out in the world.  Once outside and on our way home, Emmett was very excited and  wanted to talk all about the party!

Adventures in recipes #5

Salted Caramel Ice Cream (Cooking Light May 2010)

The new fancy ice cream maker has only been used to make frozen yogurt so far, so I figured it was time to try an actual ice cream.  I have been looking for some recipes that are a bit "lighter" than the recipes I have in the cookbooks at home.  This one is from Cooking Light and uses 2% milk so I thought it would be a good one to try.. plus .. hello.. Salted Caramel!

There are a few more steps than the easy - mix 3 ingredients together frozen yogurt I've been making.  This recipe uses egg yolks, so it gets a bit tricky with heating the milk, mixing it into the egg just right and bringing everything up to 160 degrees,  then add the caramel making step.  All of this is actually pretty easy, but add a baby who wants attention and a husband who is trying to fix the dishwasher.. maybe whisking and closely watching temps might be better to try when there are less distractions.


The Verdict
Make again.  The flavor is great.  It also freezes nicely and doesn't turn into the giant block of ice once it hangs in the freezer for a while.  The recipe calls for flake salt sprinkled on top when you serve it.  I didn't have it so I tried it with some chunky gray salt.  I think the flake salt would be better, there is a bit of sea salt in the caramel, so you don't need much salt added.  Something flakey that melts right away, giving just a quick hint of salt is all you need.  I'm not sure if it was something I did in the heating/whisking, but there is a slight texture-residue on the spoon thing happening that is sort of weird.  Guess I'll have to try it again to see if I can keep that from happening. 

Lost Weekends

One of the things we've noticed since Emmett arrived is how much faster time seems to be going. I guess Jen and I (yes, it's me, Newlin, writing this. Surprise!) both assumed somehow that having a kid was going to slow things down a bit, make us appreciate moments even more. While the "appreciating every moment" thing is true, it sure seems like time is going even faster. While I'm at work, things crawl to a stop, it feels like I'm in meetings forevvvverrrrr, and I can't wait to get home. But as soon as I'm home, someone hits fast forward and the hours whip past.

The weekends are just like that. I swear, I just pulled into the driveway 5 minutes ago and suddenly it's mid-Sunday already. I guess it doesn't help that there's always 50 things to try and accomplish every weekend. Today's surprise? An overflowing dishwasher. Arggh. That's going to eat up at least a couple hours. The one benefit of our new fast forward time traveling is that in just a couple days, Emmett will be big enough so that *he* can fix the dishwasher.

Adventures in Recipes #4

Meatless Monday
Quick Black Bean Burger (Cooking Light 11/09)

I've been wanting to try to make some homemade veggie burgers, but they always seemed like a lot of work.  I never really thought about using beans until they started to serve some black bean burgers at work (which went away with that chef... I miss them)  This recipe is really simple and is a great reason for me to use my new food processor.  You blend together garlic, oil and a can of black beans together and then mix in bread crumbs, seasonings and eggs.  One ingredient I was surprised to see but was really good in the burger was lime zest.    The mix was wetter than I thought, but firms up when you cook them, but it's a frying pan only recipe.. not firm enough to grill.

Recipe Link
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1932647


The Verdict
Make again.  I really liked them, they were easy and had a nice taste.   I may have blended the beans a bit too much, which made them a bit soft.  Blending less might have made them a bit chunkier but would give them a bit more texture.  I also would try to flatten them out a bit more so the centers firm up.  This recipe called for chili powder and lime zest, but I could see how you could change up the seasonings in a lot of different ways. They don't cook very long, so I was a bit worried about the garlic staying raw, but we didn't notice.  If  adding onion or peppers it might be a good idea to cook them a bit first before adding to the burger mix.   Brian and I didn't really talk about them, so I'm not sure what he thought... but he seemed to like them. They held up well to the leftover test the next day, so if someone wanted to make a bigger batch for a meatless addition to a BBQ, they could be made ahead of time and reheated.

Adventures in Recipes #3

Walnut and Rosemary Loaves (Cooking Light 11/09)

Brian made this one...
This seemed like a pretty easy and quick bread recipe.  It only needs to rise about an hour so it's a good one for some "day of" bread making.  It doesn't turn out as "rustic" and crunchy as I tend to like, but it's a flavorful bread and smells great.  The recipe made two loaves so we stuck one in the freezer and it held up well. I'm not sure if he would do anything different.  He tried to bake a cake at the same time, which seemed ambitious, so I don't think the bread got the attention that it could have. (tho both bread and cake turned out great).  There was some sticking issues during the rise which deflated the bread a bit before baking and the oven (or cookie sheets) didn't leave room to have both loaves in the best location in the oven so one got a bit over done.

Recipe link
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=522152

The Verdict
Make again!  It's a nice homemade bread and great warm or toasted, (it adds that crunch I was missing and brings out the rosemary and walnut).  Brian had it with honey (the recipe also said apple butter is great).  I also think it would be perfect for a Fall soup night. 

Adventures in Recipes #2

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Honey Butter (Cooking Light 1/2010)

The carrots in the farm box were super sweet this week.  Got me thinking about carrot cake, so when I saw this recipe I knew it was something we needed to try.  I also happened to have picked up a small carton of buttermilk, which I think is something I will try to have on hand more often.  The most time consuming part is grating the carrots (which might be quicker if we hadn't already cut them  up into "sticks").    It's hard to judge how long this recipe takes to make.  I mixed most of the dry ingredients and grated the carrots the day before.  A shortage of baking powder sent us to the store and delayed the "special breakfast" for another day.   It was nice to have half of the ingredients mixed and ready to go.  No one likes to wait too long for breakfast!

Recipe Link..
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1949746

The Verdict
Yum!  Make again.  I don't think I would change anything about this recipe. The spices and sweetness seemed just right. Also made the house smell like fall.  The honey butter was a nice topping, I think something like a maple syrup would make everything too sweet.  (a slightly sweet, cream cheese drizzle would be good, too.) Grate the carrots the night before or sucker someone else into doing it for you.

PS - they are good as next day leftovers, as well

Adventures in Recipes - #1

I'm going to do it.. I'm going to finally start to make all those recipes I've been meaning to try.  The hundreds of pages torn from magazines can no longer sit in piles in the spare room (now the kid's room), plus with a new baby in the house our dining out adventures are going to slow down for a while.  The new goal is to try at least 1 new recipe a week.  Will they make the cut to the "make again" book or will they finally be set free to the recycling bin?

Test Recipe #1
Roasted Cauliflower, Chicpeas and Olives (Cooking Light 3/2010)

Simple side dish recipe.  I love roasted cauliflower and make it a lot, so I figured this could a good recipe to add a little variety to our usual side. I had everything on hand as well as a nice, huge cauliflower from the farm box.  Basically you toss everything together with olive oil, garlic, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper, then roast it at 450 for 22 mins.  Since I am nursing I went easy on the garlic and red pepper.  (it called for 8 cloves, I used 5 small but super fresh cloves).


The Verdict
Recycle bin.  It was fine, quick and is a nice way to make a bigger side out of cauliflower...but nothing special.  Maybe more garlic and red pepper would help... but I don't think it would add much.  It does give me ideas of adding garlic to roasted chicpeas.  I like the cauliflower roasted a bit longer but the chicpeas and olives would be burnt or totally dried-out if it went longer.
On to other recipes....