State Fair Hijinks.

What a great Labor Day weekend! Why? Because 1) we had some pretty awesome visitors and 2) it included a trip to the Minnesota State Fair.

That's right, Brother Boo and Girlfriend-of-Brother Boo visited us for a final hurrah as autonomous human beings (i.e. before the tiny dictator makes his appearance in the next few weeks). Games were enjoyed, fetch was played (with Clyde), and lots of food was eaten. Especially at said Fair:

Sadly, I didn't make it to this trip to the Fair given the super-pregnant status. BUT, I did get to enjoy some Fair festivities earlier this week when Man Boo and I did a trial run one weekday evening so that I could see if I would be able to manage a hotter and more crowded trip with the whole crew. Ultimately, we learned that I couldn't -- it's really hard to strike an appropriate balance of hydrating enough not to trigger Braxton Hicks and not having to waddle to the bathroom constantly -- to make the trip enjoyable for all. Don't worry though, because I definitely got to satisfy some really strong cravings for Fair food -- one of which may have included chicken in a waffle cone. So good.

Besides, I also got to partake of cheese curds through the magic of Snapchat.

(This may have been my petulant response to all of the pictures of food being texted to me)

Clyde found two new best friends and was basically at "11" all weekend with the energy. Scott was a sucker when it came to caving in and playing fetch with him for much longer than Jamie and I could ever endure. And Ruth, was the Clyde whisperer...Jamie and I basically didn't exist for Clyde this weekend. Since they left, he has been a sad former shell of Weekend Clyde. Moping around listlessly and giving intense puppy dog eyes in the hopes that we will bring back his friends.

(Puppy dog eyes intensify)

We even had a surprise visit from our beloved friends, the Weitzes, who were in town and hijinks were had. I'm not sure I'm allowed to share video sample of that hijinks, but it was a great way to end our weekend.

And finally, we're almost to the finish line at 36 weeks and 4 days! Less than a month to go...which is pretty good news since this is starting to get pretty uncomfortable...

Birthday Babkullah.

A couple of months ago, Man Boo and I were flipping through an issue of Bon Appetit when we both let out a little gasp upon beholding the "babkallah".  Knowing the decadence and elbow grease required for this concoction categorized it as a strictly special occasion endeavor, I made a mental note to make it for breakfast on Jamie's birthday.  I also knew that one way or another, it would find it's way onto this blog -- most likely as one of those "nailed it" fails.

Fortunately, not only did it come out edible...

...it was actually pretty tasty!  Couldn't even take this picture without first tearing off a piece of it to try.

While I don't think I'll be making it again (did I mention the elbow grease?)...it did tempt me to try out making straight-up babka which I had never heard of before.  I'll just have to wait for another special occasion...next holiday season?

Last Month, Tonight.

I'm so out of practice with this blog thing.  Here's a quick recap of the last month...

Los Angeles.  When we left off, I was in LA doing work during the day and spending quality time with my parents at night.  We even made a trip to Las Vegas over the weekend for a mini-vacation and to take advantage of a free room with a Las Vegas-y view.

Thanksgiving.  After a quick trip back to Minneapolis, I hopped back on a plane for LA again...this time for Thanksgiving festivities.  Managed to pull off a pretty tasty Thanksgiving together with the whole family.  Man Boo came through with the brave and skilled lowering of the turkey into blazing hot oil...

...and 56 minutes later we had a delicious spread.

As usual, it was great to be with family.  Of course, we played a Calvinball-esque version of ping pong.  Needless to say, Man Boo lost 318 to 0.

Got older and baked a lot.  Flew through Minneapolis to get to Boston for work the next day and celebrated another year of life.  Never mind that I totally forgot how old I was turning.  That's what happens once you pass thirty...Upon coming back home I immediately set out to BAKE for our annual holiday/birthday party the next day.  I think I made enough cookies.

Clockwise from left: glazed lemon cookies, sweet and spicy nuts, chocolate crinkle cookies, and peanut butter blossoms.  I should note that this is not even half of the cookies I baked.  Jamie insisted that I bake 142 peanut butter blossoms because apparently every single person at our party would want one or two.  That, folks, is how much I love my husband.

Work, work, work.  Throughout all this has been some really busy work time.  Still loving the job, but it's sort of kicking my butt these days.  After weekly travel for the last month and a half, I really enjoyed my first full weekend at home and am looking forward to my first full week here too.  Minneapolis has been accommodating by giving us some 50 degree weather.  

Next post: PUPPY UPDATE!!

Here We Go Again.

So people had been asking me how we ended up doing with our first week of produce delivery. I think we ended up doing pretty well. At the end of the day, all we have left is half of an avocado and some celery (which is good for lunch so it's not gonna last.) In the end we made a really yummy spinach and yam gratin, you saw what we did with the bok choy, some arugula pesto with homemade pasta, some really yummy salads with the lettuce, arugula, and apples (among some other things.) The fruit was eaten as some pretty tasty desserts/snacks.

Pretty good for being away for a bunch of days in there. Feeling good about all the cooking. Of course, we got another box today...

• Cabbage
• Russet Potatoes
• Avocado
• Broccoli
• Grapefruit
• D'Anjou Pears
• Bananas
• Apples
• Tangerines
• Carrots
• Spinach
• Boston Lettuce

Yowza. Here is the game plan for the upcoming meals:

1) A cabbage salad with apples and walnuts (with lemon vinaigrette)

2) Another salad with the lettuce (and I think we may still have a little arugula left) and some sweet and spicy pecans

3) We're having some friends over for dinner on Saturday so I'm gonna attempt homemade gnocchi (with the potatoes) with broccoli, lemon, and some parmesan. I'm a little frightened of the gnocchi, but I feel like it would be rewarding to do...kinda like making your own bread.

I don't know why I'm sharing this -- I doubt anyone but me finds it interesting (or maybe Jess who is attempting the local, organic vegetable thing too). Still, I feel by typing it out for all to see, I'm holding myself to actually making these things and not letting everything wilt away in the produce drawer of my fridge. Time will tell...

I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.

Chicken of the Sea.

Jamie and I made a rare Friday night trip to the supermarket this evening. We hadn't been to the supermarket since we got back from the Bahamas, and there are only so many nights of soup that one can stand...even when sick with the flu.

We saw they were having a nice sale of sashimi-grade tuna and once we made sure it wasn't bluefin tuna (which I have learned is akin to eating a panda) or any other of those tuna types that are listed on the sad parts of our little seafood watch guide, we bought some nice filets!

If you came into our kitchen this evening, you would have seen Jamie and I coexisting in the kitchen pseudo-happily which is actually pretty rare. Since we are both alpha-"chefs" on opposite sides of the "clean-as-you-go" versus "pile-it-up" debate, it generally gets ugly in there when we are both cooking at the same time.

Fortunately, today's dinner was simple enough that we didn't get in each other's way and we produced a pretty tasty dinner at the end. Behold!

Seared Sesame Tuna with a side of Stir-Fry Garlic Baby Bok Choy

It was delectable!

Sunshine in My Mailbox.

Still sick -- but getting better. I feel like Death's less scary cousin, Myrtle. My head was in a fog all day at work, but when I came home I had a box sitting on my doorstep. It was a strange box...

...and I didn't remember ordering Peter nor his "Sword of Mercy". But when I opened it I was greeted by the most wonderful, earthy smell!



Our first shipment of organic fruits and vegetables came! Apparently, Washington's Green Grocers gets misprinted boxes that other companies want to dispose of and reuses them (we are to leave our box out for pickup on the next round) until they are no longer crisp and clean. They also, apparently don't use any packing material in their boxes. Not even using plastic bags unless they are loose items (i.e. beans) Hooray for less waste!


There was so much deliciousness inside! Look!

So, we ordered the smallest organic box which they advertised as good for a couple who likes to cook. Apparently, this equals...

• 1 pineapple
• 3 gorgeous yams
• 3 bunches of broccoli
• 5 Satsuma tangerines
• 1 big bunch of peppery arugula
• 1 head of Romaine lettuce
• 3 baby bok choy
• 3 Fuji apples
• 1 mango
• 3 bananas
• 2 avocados
• 1 bunch of celery

This is definitely upping our fruit and vegetable intake. We ate up the broccoli with some falafel tonight, and shared a tangerine and apple for dessert, and I'm coming up with a good plan for the rest of our treats!


Of course, it being January, a lot of the produce isn't locally-grown at this point in the year -- according to their website, almost everything in the box would be locally-grown between June and November. However, in this shipment I think maybe the yams, romaine, and celery were local -- our local green beans got shorted.

Hey, if that fair-trade mango from Ecuador tastes good, I'm fine. Also, they don't air freight anything, and nothing is sitting refrigerated on a shelf in some supermarket for a long time so I'll take it. Jamie is not as convinced. But I'm telling you that apple and tangerine (and broccoli) were just better-tasting than the organic stuff we buy from the supermarket...


I love the idea of having produce that tastes GOOD. California GOOD once again...

Going Green(er).

I swear it's not part of some ill-fated New Year's resolution, but Jamie and I have joined one of those organic fruit and vegetable co-op food delivery thingies. I am so excited. We're going with the small organic box and I'm already planning out what I can make with its yummy contents.

While there are several reasons to join a co-op food delivery thingie, these were the top reasons for us:

1. We need to eat more fruits and vegetables. Especially the vegetables. If we have a box of vegetables put on our doorstep, chances are, we'll eat them!
2. The fruits and veggies from our local grocery store are not tasty. Maybe it's because we're used to Californian produce. Maybe it's because we do most of our shopping in small city grocery stores...the produce there? Not so good.
3. We should eat more locally-grown organic food. Everyone should. We watched Food, Inc. a few weeks back (Jamie's boss is in it!) and while it did not make me a vegetarian (much to Jamie's chagrin) it did really make me want to eat more organic food.

Let's see how it goes...