Espanish cooking

My husband knows me better than I know myself. For our anniversary, he got me a cooking class at Central Market with Paco Roncero, one of Spain's top 10 chefs (I just googled to find this out). My first class of this sort, I was a bit anxious. Would they serve wine? Would it be okay to go alone? What should I wear? Would they expect me to cook lots of Spanish food on the spot?

Roncero was incredibly inspirational, passionate and well, cute. You can tell his life is his craft. And his craft includes A LOT of liquid nitrogen. I ate a passionfruit ball he dropped in there and smoke came out of my nose like Puff the Magic Dragon and burnt my tongue. He made a number of my other classmate volunteers do the same to break the ice. He also froze fruit that way and made caparinhas (which continued to break the ice). Mmm

Roncero made a long presentation about his life, including a lot of cheesy American music that touched my heart. It was just so innocent and Spanish of him to unabashedly use We Will Rock You without getting embarrassed about it. I miss my semester abroad in Madrid. I loved the culture. The slideshow got me thinking about my own passions. I actually sat there thinking that perhaps I should pursue my passion of cooking being a chef, then had this aha moment (I'll miss you, Oprah!) where I realized that I am a chef for the people I love the most, my three boys. I don't need a whole restaurant. I get to pursue my passion every day that I feel like cooking and it really does fulfill me.

Anyway, Michael, I loved the class and can't wait to go back for another one. Not realizing that modern Spanish cooking is much more than garlic, blandness, mayo and bocadillos, I would have never signed myself up for this exposure to Spanish cooking, but enjoyed it so much!

Oprah

Am I the only one who is embarassingly bummed about the end of the Oprah show? During the kids naps (yes, kids', woo hoo!), I'm watching Friday's show about her most memorable guests. I'm not sure what I'm going to do without her sappy shows about people being reunited, overcoming obstacles or getting a makeover after 30 years.

Kids say funny things

This afternoon, John Michael told me he wanted to go to "Buns and Lolo."
It took me a second, but I figured it out (think large chain book store).

Every time I think about Buns and Lolo, I smile. :)

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Three years ago, I was getting ready to push John Michael out!


Ah, how much fun we've had the past three years! The celebrations have continued all week, including a trip to school with little applesauce muffins, yesterday.


We went to the pediatrician this morning. John Michael is 38.5 inches tall (75th percentile) and 35 lbs (85th percentile). Dr. T said it's not ideal that his weight percentage is higher than his height, but that he's not worried. I'm not worried, either, but I think the leniency from "treats" with potty training and trying to get JM to nap has gotten a little out of control and it's one thing I can work on a little. Dr. T. asked JM what his favorite food was, trying to initiate a discussion about good eating and JM replied, "flies." Dr. T looked at me and I had to explain JM's frog obsession and how we like to talk about eating spaghetti with fly sauce, etc. I wonder if Dr. T. was thinking he should call CPS, because when he asked him what fruit he liked, he looked at him blankly. Ah, three year-old of mine. :)

Sleep: Generally goes down around 8 and sleeps until 7ish. Takes a nap about 50% of the time. When he does sleep, it's about 2-3 hours.

Eating: Gotten way more picky all of a sudden, but I haven't caved to making separate meals. His favorite by far is pizza and also loves PBJ. He loves pickles, fruit and popsicles. His favorite vegetables are broccoli, edamame and corn. He won't eat cheese cubes, bananas or vegetables most days.

Potty time: Is potty trained and dry most of the day. Wears a pull-up at naps and keeps it dry about 25% of the time. Totally still wetting his night diaper.

Favorite things: Frogs and diggers. Loves driving his Power Wheels jeep outside and playing in the sandbox. Loves to be read-to and do floor puzzles. Loves helping mama make dinner and bake on his "high chair."

He is a really happy child. He loves school and playing with friends. He is pretty gentle and sweet with Noah. He is pretty normal, I think. He is still annoyingly picky about clothes and colors and has days when he tests my patience in a big way, but overall, his sweetness outshines the pain days. We'll keep him!

A Casual Digger Party

I loved JM's 3rd birthday party.
Breakfast tacos and coffee.
Sunshine and beautiful spring weather. 9:30-11 is a pretty nice time for a party, methinks (if you don't mind having cupcakes at 10:45, that is).
Toddlers happily digging in the rocks.
Chill parents and family (for some, thanks to a secret jug of mimosas).
The only thing we were missing was a table. Note to self for next time, a table is a good thing to have.
The best part was that not only did we have fun, but JM was crazy excited and happy. He was so pumped! It is so fun now that he understands what a party is.
He'll be three tomorrow. Crazy!

11 months

The other night I looked in on Noah sleeping and realized he fills up 3/4s of the bed. Yup, he's definitely getting closer to one. He seems so long!

So yes, he is 11 months old. Not too much has changed since last month.

Teeth- still only four. He hasn't gotten a tooth since January! He is ready to add two more on the top, though. He is grumpy, drooling and I can see where they are going to push through.

Sleeping- no changes. Still 2 naps a day. Still going to bed around 7:30.

Talking- He says the word "cheese" The kid loves some cheese cubes and goes "chee" "chee" when I get them out. He says "ma ma" "da da" "hi" and "cheese" now. He speaks in a very gutteral German way saying lots of "ack" and "ut" type sounds. I swear, once this kid starts getting words out, he is going to be a big chatterbox. He has a lot so say, but we have no idea.

Movement- He stands. He cruises (new since last month). He claps. When we are in the car, he will just start clapping sometimes and it cracks me up. He can high five. He can sign "more." He can climb stairs. He loves to play in the toilet (no no Noah! thankfully so far the water has been clean as it can be in there). Oh, and as of this week, he can stand unsupported if you let go of his hands for a few seconds. JM took his first steps on his first birthday, but I don't feel like Noah will do it that early. He isn't pushing things around on his feet, yet, but that is coming soon. I don't want him to walk too soon, so I'm not pushing it! :)

Eating- Still nurses 4 times a day. Still doing finger food and baby food between bites. The boy just learned how to eat from a snack cup and LOVES him some goldfish or cheerios in there.

This is a fun age. Noah is so interested in the world, yet still cuddly and babylike. It's so fun when he learns something new. You can tell he is proud of himself. Challenges at this age include his general grumpiness with teething and inability to communicate. He seems like he cries a lot, lately. :( When he is happy, though, he is very happy. Ah, to be 11 months.

I can't believe he'll be one in a few weeks! He still seems so little to me.

Getting Out Wednesday

So far my "Getting Out Wednesday" idea has been a good one! I honestly can't tell you how much adding one little weekday of spontaneity has done to make me happy. In case you're just catching up, I've been a total recluse since Noah got onto a two-nap a day schedule and it has been rendering me almost batty, so I'm trying to get us out of the house once a week to do something fun.

Today, it looked like it was going to rain, so the kids and I went to the Austin Children's Museum. Since Noah generally naps at 9:30 and the museum doesn't open until 10 and I didn't want him to fall asleep in the car, we headed down there a little early. I put Noah in the Ergo and we walked around the 2nd street district trying to get him to fall asleep. JM and I pretended to be urban dwellers and got a coffee (or a cup of crushed ice. They had bins of drinks at the counter and the nice barista gave JM some of their ice in a cup and JM thought he was hot stuff) at Jo's Coffee Shop and had a lot of fun watching the construction workers in their hard hats on various construction projects on the street and doing some window shopping. That area, with the new W Hotel, high rise apartments, cafes and shops, makes Austin seem a lot more like a big city.

We had fun meeting Aunt LaLa for lunch at Mama Fus. John Michael got baby chopsticks with his lunch and had fun using them for the first time. And, because he is the luckiest kid in the world, we also had to stop at Delish for cupcakes, since I (accidentally) parked right by there (ehem). I hate to say it, but I think I Delish has knocked off Cupprimo as my favorite Austin cupcake. So moist, those cupcakes!

JM has his third birthday party this weekend! How is that possible? I tried to keep it "family-only" and small this year and didn't account for the fact that people might not be able to come (doh) so only a total of two of JM's favorite buddies are coming and I feel bad! Next year, maybe we'll shoot for a few more attendees :) Anyway, low key it twill be... Breakfast tacos, mimosas for the parents and digging in the rocks at the park is on the agenda!

I've reading this book called "Stay Home, Stay Happy" about being a happy stay at home mom that my mom sent me after hearing its author on the Catholic radio station (not because I was sad, but just because my mom is that kind of mom who likes sending her daughter stuff that sounds interesting). I like the book a lot. The author is a mother of 5, so has a lot of good advice (get a mom- mentor, exercise, make sure your kids spend time with their grandparents, etc). It's funny because spontaneity is one of the things she recommends for being content staying at home. She thinks that it's good for both parents and kids not to be on such a rigid schedule all the time and I agree. Believe me, this is an area where I need a lot of work. Being both a Virgo and a type-A personality, I love me a good schedule, but how fun is it to do something different! Are you spontaneous with your kids? What kinds of things do you do and how do your kids react?

Wave

I found this gem from a month ago this morning while cleaning out the video camera... Love that sweet little yogurt-y face!

Workin men

Here is a video from this morning. If you came to our house, this is a scene you'd probably encounter. Both of those boys love that workbench. JM is constantly taking calls from his construction foreman and Noah thinks he's pretty hot standing and using the table saw and drill.

Old

Things that have gone through my head the past 24 hours:
1. Public radio is so great.
2. Oooh, I LOVE this song! (which I then realized was on light FM)
3. Man, I hate the mall!

.... OLD

Lemon Meringue Pie

I so enjoyed making my first butterscotch pie a few weeks ago. Today, I got a craving for lemon meringue and by some twist of fate, actually had all the ingredients in my kitchen, so I thought I'd give this recipe a shot. I love making desserts on Sunday afternoons. It really relaxes me when the boys are taking naps (yes! both!) and I am alone in the kitchen listening to my music and baking. I'm glad that Lent is over and Michael is eating sweets, again, so he can be my guinea pig for these baking attempts. Thank God I have boot camp tomorrow morning to work this off! As you can see, we dug in!

Lemon Meringue Pie
Sources: Allrecipes and Trisha Yearwood Cookbook

• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 lemons, juiced and zested
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 egg yolks, beaten
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 9-inch pie crust, homemade or purchased, prebaked as directed.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
3. To Make Meringue: Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they begin to get stiff. Add 1/4 cup white sugar and continue beating until the whites are stiff and hold peaks. Spread the meringue on top of the pie, taking care to spread it to the edges of the crust. Bake until light brown (about 10 min).