Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Moon Over My Lamb-y

I do apologize. We've been eating a lot of lamb lately, and I've plumb run out of good ideas for titles.But the H's architectural wonder of a dish was worth mooning over. It was lamb chops served over lentil salad with roasted pears and bleu cheese. I couldn't believe how well all of the flavors worked together, particularly the bleu cheese. And I'm loving pears right now. Roasted or chilled and raw. For dessert, we had home baked boot tracks ala mode. Clever name for a cookie, I thought. And again, very delicious.

Monday, September 28, 2009

We Got Bingo!

I don't know what everyone else did last weekend, but our family got to--- entertain a stuffed animal. Backing up, Snook's preschool class has a mascot that each child gets to take turns bringing home for the weekend and journaling about their adventures together. Last Wednesday when I picked up Snook she screamed, "Mama, I get to take Bingo home!!!" I don't think I've ever seen her so excited. And so began our weekend with Bingo (who smelled distinctly of detergent and dryer sheets for anyone wondering [like I was] about the cleanliness of a communal cloth toy). But I digress . . . Bingo came complete with a backpack full of a change of clothes, doggie toys, and his favorite stories. As soon as Snook got home, she sat down and read, what else, Bingo to Bingo.Bingo also came with a c.d. of his favorite, decidedly dog-centric songs that Snook gets to keep. She insisted that I turn it on, and then she, Bubs and Bingo proceeded to have a rockin' good dance party.Then it was off to the backyard with Bingo, where he made friends with Bum Bum, went for a ride in the swing, and then proceeded to fall out of the overcrowded swing two times. "That's okay," Snook said. "Accidents happen." So that was Wednesday. Thursday morning, Bingo went for a horsey ride and then it was off to Trader Joe's. I'm telling you, that was the longest Trader Joe's trip ever. But if you give me, a blogger, an assignment to take pictures and write about them, I'm going to take you very, very seriously. So that was also the best-documented Trader Joe's trip ever. Last Thursday happened to be very, very hot. So Bingo got to come with us to Snook's grandma's condo where there is a pool. Poor Bingo had no swimsuit, but he enjoyed himself anyway.

Saturday (I don't know what happened to Friday), was ballet. Snook made Bingo bark for her teacher, and her teacher let Bingo watch the class. It was kind of the cutest thing ever.On Sunday, we visited S 'n' B's great-grandparents, Grams and Pop, in Escondido. They got such a kick out of meeting Bingo. We also visited my parents that day, but by then, I think both Snook and I had kind of had it with taking pictures of Bingo.And then, with the close of the weekend, it was time to develop the pictures and write in Bingo's journal. Really, it was the H's and my first test in not doing our kid's school project for her. And we failed miserably. Well, the H has one of those cool photo printers that allows you to add frames and clip art and captions to your pictures, so we kind of went nuts with that. And it's not like Snook can operate that printer or write yet. And for some reason she had zero interest in gluing in the pictures. So I didn't feel too terribly guilty about putting her to bed and then finishing her homework. And this was the final product: We had a good time with Bingo. I wish I could have been there on Monday morning when the class got to read all about Snook's adventures with their mascot. Oh well! At least we'll get to see what everyone else did at the Open House in November. Until then, Bingo!

Postcards From the Ballet

Feast your eyes on more of Graham Blair's beautiful photographs of San Diego Ballet's company dancers gracing this city with their talent. First up, Christine Owen in Little Italy and at San Diego's Maritime Museum. In the first picture, you notice the dancer before you notice the "Little Italy" sign. That's really saying something.And here is Kirsten Thorne at Belmont Park in Mission Beach.
These gorgeous photos make me want to be a better tourist in my own town.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

A Train Table of His Own

Stop me if you've heard this one before. My boy is OBSESSED with train tables. To keep him happy, we've been making the weekly rounds to just about every train table within a ten-mile radius of our house. But that gets a little tiring after a while. And sharing can be a problem when your favorite word is, "Mine!" So the H decided to build Bubs his own train table!Space was a major impediment before, in terms of getting a train table for our house. But the H devised a trundle version that rolls right under Snook's bed. Very crafty. Plus it's got a pond and trees and cute handles. Bubs is really getting a lot of enjoyment out of it. And on it. And I'm getting fifteen minutes to myself here and there. Don't you love when that happens!?!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Nice Hooters

My baby-birthing days are over. But every so often I see something that really gets my heart racing and my womb tingling. Like this Bungalow 360 bag that my girlfriend, Marcy, showed up at my house with yesterday. She's going to use it as a diaper bag when her third little one makes his appearance in January. I about died it was so cute. And can you think of a more perfect place to keep your Hooter Hider?

Do the Elephant

So unless you've been living under that proverbial rock for the past few months, you've definitely gotten the message by now that this is going to be the worst flu season ever. Great. So I thought I'd do my part to prevent the spread of germs. Instead of saying, "Cover your mouth!" to the kiddos whenever they sneeze or cough, I got the idea from my college girlfriend, Amy, during last year's flu season to say instead, "Do the elephant!" Which is way more fun, and tons more effective. Here's a visual to help us all out. Salud!

Get In My Belly

My coworker brought these insanely delicious (and perfect for fall) pumpkin cupcakes into the office this week. I seriously thought about hiding the whole tray under my desk.

PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

For cupcakes:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

For frosting:

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Credit: Gastronomy

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Deep Thoughts

Our family went to a memorial service for a loved one recently. Shortly thereafter, Snook had a really bad dream about another loved one (a non-surfer) dying in an awful surfing accident. Both of these events must still (understandably) be weighing heavily on her mind, because she bombarded me with these questions last night (most of which I was not at all prepared to answer):

I'm going to live forever, right?
No one who lives in my house, you, me, Dashy (aka Bubs), or Dada is ever going to die, right?
Who dies?
What does God look like?
But what does God look like?!?
What's under our house?
But that's not where we go when we die, right?
Bad dreams are the ones that don't come true and good dreams are the ones that do come true, right?
My bones are under my skin, right?
But if I got a really bad boo boo, I would see my bones, right?
I don't want to see my bones.

Heavy. Not sure that I'm up to this. It might be time for some churchin'.

I Dare You

I think if I wore anything furry where I live, people would probably laugh at me. But I could definitely see some of you cold-weather, more cosmopolitan lovelies getting away with it. So then the big question becomes, "Do you dare?"

Autumn Leaves

I borrowed this idea from Leigh's adorable post yesterday. We have to work a little harder to find fall's glorious golds and reds here in San Diego, but when we do find them, it can be magical. Here are S 'n' B discovering fall together in Balboa Park last year. And some gratuitous swing shots from that same special day.Hopefully we'll get to revisit this spot for a similar photo shoot this fall. Please stay tuned!