Profession of Love

I have said this countless times before, but I am so in love with this little guy!

Eating Well

I have not posted much about food lately, but we have been eating well around here.  The problem with eating as well as we have been is that the food budget has been blown completely out of the water.  Our food around here is about to change, so I thought I would give you a taste of our "last suppers!"

First up is a Ginger Carrot Soup , Pappardelle with Scallops and Spicy Polenta Crackers.  This meal was delicious.  I have never made crackers, but these turned out great.  Next time I will use a finer grind of polenta.

 

Next up is a Lobster Pot Pie.   I had never cooked lobster before, but it was so simple to do.  The crust for this recipe was delicious.  I will make it again, but make some changes to the recipe.  There were way to many pearl onions and I will also use fish stock.  I did not have any so I substituted just a bit of clam juice and water.

To follow up the pot pie I made a Deeply Chocolate Gelato.  Again, super simple to make and so rich and delicious.  Lamar had brought home some chocolate covered strawberries and we paired it with a bottle of port that we recently found on a wine tasting excursion.  The gelato was so rich and creamy.  It made the chocoholic in Nora Beth very happy!

Now on to my new addiction.  I just can't get enough of this Kalua Pork.  It is so simple to make in the crock pot (I know, not the traditional way of doing it).  The recipe says to cook it for 16-20 hours.  I am not sure what kind of crock pot they are using, but mine has it done perfectly in about 6 to 8 hours.  I could not find the two types of Hawaiian sea salt, so I improvised with two other similar sea salts that I found.

The end product is so versatile.  You can eat it just the way it comes out of the crock pot or fancy it up with some BBQ sauce, salsa or curry after it is done cooking.  Any way we have tried it has been fantastic.  This is my new "go to" recipe when I am at a blank for what to make for dinner.

 

And finally we have a new version of the Beer Can Chicken.   This was made in the oven instead of the BBQ and it is dressed in BACON!  Next time I will use the bacon, but use the seasoning that we have used in the past and that will result in the perfect recipe.

Wordless Wednesday

 

  

  

  

  

 

Recharge

Lamar and I have had very little alone time since Calum was born.  We are not complaining whatsoever, we know that this is what happens when you have a new baby.  Since I am nursing him, we are most definitely a package deal for quite some time.  The opportunity came up for us to get away for the night (22 hours to be exact) so we jumped on it!   We do not have family close to us who is willing to help out, so friends are our answer.  THANK YOU NICOLE!!!!

We decided to go to Portland for our time away.  We found a great Bed and Breakfast called Heron Haus in the Northwest neighborhood we wanted to be in (off NW 23rd).  The whole house was beautiful.  It was tucked in amongst other beautiful houses.  An amazing view of Portland.  Beautiful woodwork and furnishings.  Extremely comfortable and a house you just want to curl up in.

We had a dinner reservation at Urban Fondue.  One of the best parts of Urban Fondue is that it is next door to Bartini.  Fondue AND martinis...the making of a fantastic dinner!  We indulged in fantastic food and drinks, enjoyed our conversations and most importantly, were able to reconnect.

We eventually wandered back to the B & B.  We both slept so well.  We wanted to pack the bed up with us and bring it home.  We slept in to 8 AM.  Yes, I said SLEPT IN TO 8 AM!!  We wandered down stairs for our breakfast.  The food was delicious, at least I thought it was.  We were served a fruit salad with candied ginger yogurt, artichoke souffle, asparagus, green salad and cranberry scones.  Lamar was not impressed by the lack of bacon, but he did eat it all except the asparagus which I happily stole from his plate.

After breakfast we packed up and headed out to do some shopping before we went home.  I wanted to pick up a few things at Trader Joe"s and we both needed to do some shoe shopping.  Personal shopping is something that we both realize does not happen when we have kids in tow.  To actually be able to browse is a luxury.  Again, we enjoyed the time together until we realized that it was time to go home.

Upon arriving home, Calum was so excited to see me.  I am sure he was happy to see Lamar, but it was me that he really wanted.  I keep telling Lamar that if he would just lactate then Calum would feel the same about him! 

Everything went perfectly at home while we were away, just as we expected.  We are so grateful to Nicole for watching the kiddos for us.  We don't know what we would do without her.  It was really nice to get away, but it was also really nice to come home to all the hugs and smiles.

Nora Beth...the model

Not to be left out of the photo shoot today, Nora Beth had her time in front of the camera.  She had so much fun posing for the camera and had us laughing most of the time.  She is so comfortable in the spotlight and loves all the attention on HER. 

 

  

 

6 Months

Calum is 6 months old today.  Time is going so fast.  He is growing so fast.  He is determined to not stay a baby and gets himself all around our house as soon as I turn my back.  I am thrilled to say that I can claim more on him for physical appearance than I can for the girls.  His hair color is definitely the same as mine and his ears and nose come from my side.  His giggle just makes me melt.  He has two teeth that are trying to make an appearance, but have not yet poked through.

We spent the afternoon with Lora Cross Photography and Clipfell Photography.  This was the first time that we were in a real studio.  Here are some rough shots from today.  I can't wait to see the finished products.  I have mentioned this before, but I am one spoiled mama when it comes to photography!

 

  

  

  

  

  

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

  

Olympics!!

I am so excited for tonight.  Opening Ceremonies!!  I look forward to this every 4 years.  I LOVE the Winter Olympics.  Yes, the Summer Olympics are fun to watch, but the Winter ones really give me warm fuzzies.  I just can't get enough of the speed down the slopes and around the tracks.  I am not sure where this love comes from, especially since the only thing I personally enjoy about skiing is sitting in a lodge sipping a warm drink.

The Olympics are so close to us this year.  I really wanted to go.  I wanted the kids to experience the Olympics first hand.  Feel the energy.  Surround themselves with International culture.  I would be happy to be there even if we did not have event tickets.  I tried to get them.  I was on so many wait lists.  But, alas, it was not in the cards this year.  I will be watching them from my warm couch.

Whistler, BC holds a special place in my heart.  It is where Lamar and I went for our honeymoon 12 years ago.  We have been back several times and I am sure we will be back in the near future.  Pictures of the event venues on Whistler Mountain were being shown on TV this morning and Shianne thought it was cool to see a shot from the same place one of my favorite family photos was taken, high atop Blackcomb Mountain, looking across to Whistler.

For the next two weeks, Lamar will be an Olympic Widower.  I am sure he is fine with this, since I have been a football widow for months! 

Mommy Nora Beth

I often wonder if the girls ever pay attention to the way I do things and what they will pass on to their children.  This morning, Nora Beth announced that Baby Alex was hungry, so she fed her.  This is obviously behavior that she sees me doing many times a day.  You are such a good mommy Nora Beth!

Wordless Wednesday

This is a new post of a new weekly theme on Wednesday's...Wordless Wednesdays...just some random pics from the week with no words.  Enjoy the quiet.  Shhhhh

Hot Tamale

I have been wanting to try my hand at making tamales for quite some time.  It always seems like quite a large project to take on by myself and to make it worth your time, you might as well make a large quantity.  Since tomorrow is the Super Bowl party we are hosting, I thought it would be a great time to make my first attempt.  Of course, Lamar gets really nervous when I try out a new food on unsuspecting guests.  I had faith in myself and got to work.

I searched on-line for a recipe and consulted several of my cookbooks.  I never found a recipe that I really liked so I just improvised.  I made up my dough with masa harina, butter, shortening, chicken stock, salt and baking powder.   For my filling I used chicken, onion, salsa and taco sauce.  All the recipes I was looking at were using a green salsa to mix with the chicken or pork, but I prefer red, so that is what I used.

I mixed the dough to a spreadable consistency and started slathering it on the corn husks.  I then added the filling and rolled it all together. The process was actually quite simple, just time consuming.  After I got a few done I got a feel of the process and it became quicker.  I can see why more prepared people usually do this in an assembly line with others.  Next time I will have friends over and be drinking margaritas during the process!

 

After they were all rolled, into the steamer they went.  I did not have an official steamer so I improvised by using my large canner and created an elevated surface.  I was actually quite proud of myself for this improvisation.  A little over an hour later, the tamales were done.

 

 

I barely had the tamales out of the steamer before Lamar was on quality control duty.  He was rather surprised by how well they turned out.  I am really happy with my first attempt.  I made about 100 tamales...I hope this is enough for the big game!

Yin Yang

 

Yin and Yang have arrived at our house.  Lamar thought it would be a good idea for Shianne to have two rats.  Yes, I said TWO RATS!!!  Shianne is so excited to have them.

I personally find it rather ironic that we have De-Con in the basement and attic, but we have rats for pets.  Go figure!