Desmond 7 Months

"He'll be crawling by Christmas." Your father has said that a million times in the past few months. I've had my doubts. You had developed a somewhat ridiculous mode of transportation that involved getting on all fours from a sitting position and then doing some kind of forward thrusting twist into another sitting position a few inches closer to your destination. You've been pulling up on things for weeks and I kind of suspected that you just might walk and never bother with real crawling at all. But, of course, your father must be right in all things and lo and behold on Christmas Eve you bloody well crawled all the way across the room.

Grandma put a giant pile of Cheerios (actually organic oat rings or something like that) on her very inorganic living room rug and lay (lied?) down to coax you into making the trip to her. I'm sure she has convinced herself that you were going to her, but the truth is you would do just about anything for a Cheerio these days.

And wow are you moving now. It's been, what, four days since Christmas? You are a crawling demon! You can pull up on things. You can let go of those things to stand precariously on your own for several seconds. (Even though you can crawl you are still far more interested in standing.) You can pick things up with your thumb and forefinger (like Cheerios). You sleep pretty much through the night like a pro.

We spent Christmas at Grandma's house with Sharyn and Robin and Kyle and Regan and Mr. Bradbury. You were a hit because you love everyone, which is so nice. I know you don't get that business from me. Now I have to find a place to put the ridiculous quantity of toys you received in our ridiculously small house.

On the last day Bentley, Sharyn and Robin's dachshund, got hit by a car. He escaped while the cars were being loaded up and a van hit him and drove off. Who does that? Poor baby. We thought he was going to be ok, but now they're saying his shoulder is smashed beyond repair. They love that dog so much. He's the friendliest dachshund I've ever met. I hope he's going to be alright, but it doesn't look good right now.

I'm so sad about this dog that isn't even mine. I can't imagine if it had been Rufus and all I wanted to do after hearing the news was hold you and verify your intactness. But it's hard to stay sad around you. You make everything better.

I think we're moving soon. Dad got a job in Tallahassee. We're waiting for the offer that will arrive this afternoon. If it's good enough, we'll take it. It will be hard for me to leave Grandma and Grandpa and KK and PaPa (and it will probably kill them) but our life is definitely not going to be in Palm Bay and I'm ready to start it where it will be. More on the job next time, I'm sure. I've started thinking about how we can sell this house and how we can get one up there. There's so much to do I'm not even going to spell check this post!

Love,
Mom

*(three days later) I had to come back and spell check after all.

** Bentley has had surgery. They are "cautiously optimistic." Don't know if he'll walk again at this point, but he probably won't have to be put down.

Bow Tie Cookies with Apricot Preserves- photos only- they look better than they taste

Rustic Dinner Rolls

Soupe au Pistou, generic salad from a bag of greens, and Rustic Dinner Rolls. A great winter dinner. If only we had some of that around here.

The soup is full of garlic in a supposedly immunity-boosting way. The pistou is hiding at the bottom of the bowl so that when you pour the hot soup over it the broth is instantly flavored with basil and garlic. And when you stir it? You don't have plain vegetable soup anymore, but a gorgeusly green new creation.

Unfortunately, the recipe is tragically flawed, which I suspected when I noticed that it did not involve soaking the garbanzos. Dried garbanzos take a notoriously long time to cook, even with the quick-soak method and, sure enough, they were not completely done. I'm not keeping the recipe for that reason, but if I made the soup again I would soak the beans overnight, or use a can in a pinch.

These rolls from Cook's Illustrated, on the other hand, are perfect. Dense and chewy with a crunchy crust, almost like sourdough without the sour.





They do require quite a few steps and risings, but all kneading is done in the stand mixer, which makes for very little actual work.





Rustic Dinner Rolls
Yields: 16 rolls

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon water (12.5 ounces), room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons Instant or Rapid-rise yeast

2 teaspoons Honey

3 cups plus 1 tablespoon bread flour (16.5 ounces), plus extra for forming rolls

3 tablespoon Whole wheat flour (about 1 ounce)

1 1/2 teaspoon Table salt

Instructions

1. Whisk water, yeast, and honey in bowl of stand mixer until well combined, making sure no honey sticks to the bottom of the bowl. Add flours and mix on low speed with dough hook until cohesive dough is formed, about 3 minutes. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

2. Remove plastic wrap and evenly sprinkle salt over dough. Knead on low speed 5 minutes. (If dough creeps up attachment, stop mixer and scrape down using well-floured hands or greased spatula.) Increase speed to medium and continue to knead until dough is smooth and slightly tacky, about 1 minute. If dough is very sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour and continue mixing 1 minute. Lightly spray 2-qt bowl with nonstick cooking spray; transfer dough to bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

3. Fold dough over itself; rotate bowl quarter turn and fold again. Rotate bowl again and fold once more. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. Repeat folding, replace plastic wrap, and let dough rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.

4. Transfer dough to floured work surface, sprinkle top with more flour. Using bench scraper, cut dough in half and gently stretch each half into 16-inch cylinders. Divide each cylinder into quarters and each quarter into two pieces, and dust top of each piece with more flour. With floured hands, gently pick up each piece and roll in palms to coat with flour, shaking off excess, and place in prepared cake pan. Arrange 8 dough pieces in each cake pan, placing one piece in middle and others around it, with long side of each running from center of pan to edge and making sure cut-side is face up. Loosely cover cake pans with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes. (Dough is ready when it springs back slowly when pressed lightly with finger.) Thirty minutes before baking, adjust rack to middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees.

5. Remove plastic wrap from cake pans, spray rolls lightly with water, and place in oven. Bake 10 minutes until tops of rolls are brown; remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 400; using kitchen towels or oven mitts, invert rolls from both cake pans onto rimmed baking sheet. When rolls are cool enough to handle, turn right-side-up, pull apart, and space evenly on baking sheet. Continue to bake until rolls develop a deep, golden brown crust and sound hollow when tapped on bottom, 10 to 15 minutes; rotating baking sheet halfway through baking time. Transfer rolls to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour.

Cook's Illustrated November & December 2008

Because the dough is sticky, keep your hands well-floured when handling it. Use a spray bottle to mist the rolls with water. The rolls will keep for two days at room temperature stored in a ziplock bag. To re-crisp the crust, place in 450-degree oven 6 to 8 minutes. The rolls will keep frozen for several months wrapped in foil and placed in a ziplock bag.

To the rescue!

How are cute baby contests not sending me notifications that I've won without even entering? Thanks Jen!!

Desmond 6 Months

Oh my poor sweet baby. It is 2am on a Wednesday and you are crying so hard my breasts are achingly full of milk. They want nothing more than to calm you. It's their biological imperative. We are, hopefully finally (or at least penultimately since we are going to Palm City for Christmas), sleep training you. The first time didn't work at all; you were too young. (I'm so sorry!) The second time worked but got interrupted when Dad had to be away for a business trip. So we waited the week or two until after Thanksgiving and here we are. We were planning on waiting until Friday, but holy crap last night was murder and I figure if we're going to be up anyway, we had might as well make it productive. My breasts will have to wait.

Some day you can tell your therapist that the reason you can't maintain a healthy relationship is because as a baby your mother withheld breast milk and let you cry. This is so hard to do I might be on a couch saying something very similar sometime soon.

Oh, Dr. Ferber, what a complicated relationship is ours.

The pictures are from your first Thanksgiving on St. George Island- or anywhere for that matter. You are changing so fast. When I look back at you a week ago (the day we left for the island) you seem like a completely different baby. Just today you decided it's time to start pulling up on things. I walked into your room to find you standing up in your crib, banging on the wall. Then you fell. I think that life from now until you master walking is going to be best chronicled as a series of falls of various severities. Maybe I'll get you a helmet.

You are so close to crawling right now I know you can just taste it. It kills me because you just got to the point where you sit well enough that I feel confident leaving you to play on the floor while I, I don't know, pee maybe? Now, even though you sit like a pro, every chance you get you do a face dive onto the carpet trying to get somewhere or something just out of reach. You will get it within the week, I guarantee it.

What are we in for? Every corner of this house is going to seem like a deathtrap.

You have four- one two three four- teeth! Ahhhh!!First of all, why do we not get all bottom or all top teeth first? It would save many nipples and fingers from serious pain, at least for a little while. This two on top, two on bottom shit hurts! I guess you need teeth on both jaws to start chewing, but man does that seem secondary to my having intact digits right now. Your top teeth are adorable, though. Two giants poking down from your baby gums with a big ol' gap between them (braces, anyone?).

Last week when Jen and Zach were visiting I was so distressed that you were irritable. Jen was the one who realized that you were in the middle of a monumental bout of teething, which made me feel like a fool. Within hours, it seemed, that last top front tooth had completely broken through. You are such a little champ.

I have to go soon. I have some serious staring off into space from exhaustion to do. When not blanking out, I will be fantasizing about that beautiful golden night when I get to sleep alone in bed for an entire night. (Well, not actually alone, but, you know, not frozen in an awkward position with my arm the only part of me that's asleep, afraid to move lest you stir.)

Old McDonald is your favorite song. Has been for months. You used to like Itsy Bitsy Spider and Pattycake, too, but those are old news to you now. You just can't get excited from the same hand gestures and silly lyrics that did it for you at three months. You needed something more mature, more suiting a six month old on the go. Let me tell you, you found it in Coldplay. You are completely and mysteriously a Coldplay baby. A little "Clocks" or "Lost" action calms you down immediately. And don't even get me started on how much you like "Viva La Vida" (I like that one, too- shh- apparently it's uncool to enjoy Coldplay).

Ok, my darling, I'm leaving you now. I love you, even while letting you cry. It's not easy, but I really do believe that ultimately it will be good for you. You will sleep better and be able to soothe yourself in times of stress and your parents will not be pulling their hair out with frustration but will instead be well-rested and playing with you.

I will now say that to myself over and over again.

Love,
Mom

West Elm

Cut-Twig Wall Mirror


Organic Cotton Sateen Sheet Set

Sur la Table

Staub Enamel Cast Iron Braiser

Viva La Vida

Who knew Robert Redford secretly had a womens' clothing line all these years?


La Vida Skirt

Cambria Cove

Taika Mugs by iittala



Cacaotelle Gift Set by MarieBelle


James Boyce Kitchen Candles


Square Food Container by Vivo



Tote with Zippered Pouch

Houseplants

Spring
Begonia Collection- the easy-to-care-for rhizomatous varieties in the bright indirect light of east, west, and north windows. The plants thrive in high humidity but need to dry between waterings.

Summer
Ferns- many ferns will grow in the shady eastern and northern windows of a house. Set them on pebble-lined trays that have been filled with water to just below the surface of teh stones.

Myrtle Topiaries

Ivy Topiaries- need less light than myrtle topiaries.

Fall
Succulent Collection- bright light of southern or western exposure.

Winter
Clivias- bright, indirect light. For the best bloom, give them a dry period from late October to late November.

Camelias

Gesneriads- bright filtered light; allow to dry out slightly between waterings. Keep water off of the leaves. Use African violet fertilizer.

Vancouver

Market by Jean-Georges

Lumiere

Boneta

Vij's

Salt Tasting Room

Fuel Restaurant

Los Angeles

The Chaya

Latin: Rivera

Bottega Louie

French Bistro: Church & State

Belgian (fries and sausage sandwiches): Wurstkuche

Diner: Nickel Diner

Gastropub: The Must

Philadelphia

Ice cream parlor: The Franklin Fountain
Mexican: Distrito Restaurant
Israeli: Zahav
Italian: Osteria

Bella Vista Beer & Soda Distributor
738 South 11th Street
215 627 6465
"Skip the shops selling mini Liberty Bell replicas and head to this 40,000-square-foot beer store behemoth for a souvenir you can really enjoy. Choose from Stoudt, Sly Fox, Troegs, and more of the area's craft brews"

Bar: South Philadelphia Tap Room

Chiasso

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My Bread should be my bread.

God, I want this book. Also:



and

I do not want a Kindle, but this...

is awesome. Get it here.

A girl needs a good ladle

The Spoon Sisters got it right.

Apron

www.kitschnglam.com has tons of adorable aprons, oven mits, and tote bags. I think pie crusts automatically come out better if you're wearing this.

Desmond 5 Months

You require way too much time- it's keeping me from my blog.

Today you are five months and ten days old. I have no idea how many weeks that is and I fear that makes me a bad mother. I'm sure most women count weeks for much longer than this. There are probably mothers out there who can tell you that their children are 166 weeks old. I have also stopped reading the baby books to see what you should be doing. It's highly possible that you should be able to macarena and recite a sonnet or two and I should take you to the doctor immediately to find out what's holding you back.

But, I figure you're you and you'll do things when you're ready. Besides your father reads the baby books every now and again and from what he tells me, you seem to be ahead of the game.

Which reminds me, we went to your first playgroup yesterday. There was an eight-month-old girl there who was barely sitting up much less crawling and had no teeth. Not that you're crawling, but I would bet a considerable sum that you will be in three months. Plus she was kind of an ugly baby, making you superior in every way. Also, I could not stand her mother, which is probably the source of my bitterness.

The other babies were cute enough and right around your age. None of them had teeth, either, which is not really surprising if you believe that early teeth are a sign of intelligence, as the women who spawned them were markedly lacking in that department. I'm trying to keep an open mind and be friends with these women, but it will be hard for me. I am probably doomed to fail. Besides, I'm pretty sure they're republicans. However long I hold out, just know that it's all for you.

We (they) spent a good deal of time discussing how dangerous the world is and how you can't let your kids do anything anymore because there are rapists and kidnappers galore. I kept my mouth shut lest they kick me out, but I hope to god that I did not raise you to be perpetually afraid of everyone in every situation. Yes, there are bad people out there, but you are far more likely to be molested by an uncle or a family friend than by a stranger- like 3000 times more likely or something ridiculous like that (see Pen&Teller's "Stranger Danger" episode of Bullshit).

Never talk to strangers, unless you want to meet anyone ever.

On another note, you are awesome. Just incredibly awesome and fun and probably brilliant. We still have sleep problems, but I'm getting to the point where I absolutely cannot watch you cry, so I'm just going to suffer through the waking up and letting you sleep with us until a better option presents itself. I heard of a woman who didn't sleep through the night for four years and my goal right now is not to best her.

You have an extensive wardrobe. I just bought you some corduroys and long-sleeved t-shirts. You may never get to wear them, depending on if "winter" comes. If you can't wear them, you just may spend the next few months naked, since there are no shorts or short-sleeved t's to be found until the stores get their spring collections and you will soon outgrow the ones that fit you now.

Your hands and feet seem huge to me these days, like a large-breed puppy. It's so hard to imagine the giant of a man you are likely to become. Your legs felt long and sturdy as I carried you to bed last night and, for the first time, I could picture what you will be like as a little boy.

You have woken up and I must go (priorities). Someday soon I expect to enter your room after a nap and find you sitting up in your crib. If, that is, you ever learn to sleep without a swaddle.

Love,
Mom

Desmond Month 4

You would not believe how freaking cute you are. We have had more social interaction since you were born than in the entire two and a hlaf years before that. As practicing hermits, our small talk skills have grown increasingly poor to the point where most conversations are awkward, but with you around we get lots of practice. No one can help but smile at you because you are not just a baby- you are an unbelievably adorable baby.

I don't want you to be a recluse, it's not how we would prefer to live, but good god the people in this town are morons. So, we're pretty much counting on you and a move to pull us out of our shells. People in Tallahassee are better, right? I am sick to death of talking about football and fishing and other things that begin with f when we meet new couples.

I am looking at a Facebook page for a Brevard County mom group right now and here is an example of a typical post:

i was looking to get my little in gymnastics to maybe when i find one i can work out a deal with them or something as mom group meeting or something if anybody has any places please email me thanks

What?

So! You can roll over both ways. You usually choose not to because it doesn't impress you much and you would rather be standing, but you can. You can almost sit up by yourself. You eat apples and rice cereal (Yay!). For the past three weeks you have been holding your poop for two or three days at a time. What is with that by the way? It certainly isn't in your genes. We poop freely in this house, often twice a day.

It is 97 degrees today and you spent a great deal of it outside, which has made you sweaty, cranky, and tired. So, for now, I am going to keep this short so that I can feed you and put you to bed. If there's time this week (HA!), I will come back and tell you more.

Love,
Mom

Desmond Month 3

I wonder if, as an adult, sushing noises will make you sleepy. We have shushed you to sleep 6 or 7 times a day for the past two and a half months. You've got to maintain some kind of residual memory of that kind of thing. You might want to avoid driving on particularly windy days. Tonight we start a new regime of terror wherein we let you cry until you learn how to put yourself to sleep. I hope to God you don't have residual memories of that. It's going to kill me. I am having a beer right now in preparation of dealing with the stress I know I'm in for. I hate for you to be miserable and I'm so worried that you'll hold a grudge. You're so small!

14 pounds, actually. Your doctor is amazed that you've gained weight so quickly on breastmilk alone. Why is that? What is with the bizarre attitude that breastmilk needs to be supplemented or even eliminated for a baby to get proper nutrition? As if formula predates boobies.

So here's your newest trick: You have this Baby Einstein toy that plays excerpts of classical songs and does a kind of light parade with the notes. Each music segment lasts about 20 seconds. When the segment is done we say, "Push the button to hear another song." AND YOU DO. What? But you're only three months old, you shouldn't even be able to hold up your head, let alone push buttons on command. Brilliant!

You like your father better than anyone in the world. Just looking at him makes you laugh and you spend several minutes at a time doing it. I would think that, as the bringer of the milk, I would have a slightly higher standing. Not so. In case it helps my points a little, your father thinks that there are babies who are cuter than you. In fact, we saw a baby in the Target parking lot just today who he said had a certain 'thing' about him. He didn't hold a candle to you in my book. Your grandmother also thinks that you are the cutest baby in the world.

Speaking of your grandmother (What did you end up calling her, I wonder?), she is determined to be your favorite and buys you extravagant gifts randomly in attempts to ingratiate herself, not that you notice. This month she got you a jumperoo. Your little feet don't touch the ground yet, but we've put a pillow under them so you can bounce anyway. You don't really like it for too long at this point, but someday soon I think you'll stay in that thing for hours if we let you.

We got a new camera last week. Your father asked if we could get our Christmas present early so as not to miss any more photo opportunities with you. The point and shoot just wouldn't do anymore. One of the shots we've taken is pictured above. Does it look dated yet? You learned to stick out your tongue this month and now every time I look at you your big ol' tongue is sticking out with a line of drool hanging from it. Oh yeah, you're teething, which Aunt Pam says is a sign of intelligence this early. But the teething means that you need about three outfits a day because your incessant slobbering soaks through your clothes in a matter of minutes. The other picture is of your jumperoo.

You're about to wake up, I'm sure. Currently you are enjoying one of your last naps in the swing. It's all on you from tonight on out. Forgive me?

Love,
Mom

P.S. Your father was only kidding about the other baby's superior cuteness. Still. It was said.

P.P.S. Do we have universal health care yet?