Whisk Wednesdays :: Pintadeaux du Chou

Finally! I am posting my first Whisk Wednesday assignment. I received the book, Le Cordon Bleu at Home, from my amazing husband for Christmas so that I could join the group and learn the art of French cuisine. We do a lesson from the book each week and post on Wednesdays.  If you are interested in joining the group, check it out over at Shari’s blog. This week we started with the poultry classes and prepared Pintadeaux du Chou, or Guinea Hen with Cabbage.  Yum.  It was such a cozy meal, like I imagine little French grandmothers cooking mid-century meals for their families.  And, I got to use my new dutch oven – a Christmas gift from my lovely mama.

I expected the hens to become a little more golden and crispy from the roasting, but the tender birds did not disappoint – I can still hear my husband smacking his lips and sucking the bones clean.  The only thing I did not follow strictly was the use of bacon – too salty for us – and instead of Bouquet Garni, I used my homemade Herbes de Provence.  I realize this altered the flavor, but what I’m personally concerned about is gaining a working knowledge of French cooking methods. All in all, it was a simple recipe and a great way to kick off my participation in Whisk Wednesdays.  Can’t wait for next week – Fricassée de Poulet à l’ail et à la Sauge (Chicken Fricassee with Garlic and Sage)!

Will power

That is what it’s taking copious amounts of in order for me not to eat all of this freshly baked beer bread right now.

Why don’t I indulge, you ask?  Because Baby S and I are headed out to the market to get a couple of ingredients for this. Then, according to Farmgirl, we will have the perfect pairing for our lunch today. And leftovers for the forecasted rainy weekend… Mmmmm.

Whisk Wednesdays delay

I’m posting this week if it kills me.  I have all the ingredients for the Pintadeaux du Chou and will be feeding it to my hungry hubby tonight for dinner.  Lord willing and the creek don’t rise…

Raising Readers :: children’s literature review

If you are a parent who speaks a second language – or a third or a fourth – speak it, sing it, read it, write it to your children.  If you don’t speak another language, find someone who does and ask them to speak it, sing it, read it, write it to your children.  As a Spanish teacher, the most common thing I hear from parents is “I really wish I had stuck with (fill in forgotten foreign language here).”  It honestly seems to be a principal regret of most people who tossed it out after their 2 semesters in college like calculus or organic chemistry.  Not to detract from any other area of academics – I am a proponent of most things academic – but, in my opinion, bilingualism is the most important skill after literacy in the native language.  Whether that ruffles your feathers or not, it’s the direction in which the world is headed.  Be flexible or be left behind.  And, yeah, I feel kinda strongly about it. 

If you’re nervous, a good way to start is to read!  Suprise.  Another children’s literature review.  Baby S and I have been reading this one lately – La mariquita malhumorada by Eric Carle. This grouchy ladybug doesn’t want to share her breakfast of aphids, thus deciding to fly around the world picking fights with creatures who are bigger than her. She finally meets her match, is quite humbled, and graciously received back at the breakfast table by her nice ladybug friend. A subtle tale of learned humility and forgiveness translated into Spanish for your little readers. Dale! Leaselo a sus ninos!

Raising Readers :: children’s literature review

I really like Eric Carle. When I was about 9 years old, I had my copy of Have You Seen My Cat? signed by him in person. I relate to his style of illustration and the stories aren’t half bad. He uses repetition well, which as a former literacy tutor, I appreciate.

This morning, Baby S and I read the copy of Pancakes, Pancakes! that we checked out from the library at our first Wee Reads on Tuesday. It was fun – my first real mommy-baby event. It took me a few minutes to settle in to a new identity as a “mom at a kid thing” but I was a quick study. Baby S loved it! She squawked and squealed and kicked her legs as we sang and even hummed along while the leader read some stories. She had a blast watching all the “big” kids, too.

Ho-hum… back to Pancakes, Pancakes! The reason I suggest it is that it goes through the entire process of making pancakes. Like, harvesting and milling wheat, gathering eggs from the hens, milking the cow, churning the butter… you get the idea. I think it’s important for us to know where our food comes from and – doggone it – to be able to make things from scratch and not from depend on a box! I’m sure our family we’ll consume the road-trip necessitated Happy Meals a couple of times a year, but I do not want my children to grow up thinking pancakes come from boxes of Bisquick. I just don’t. First of all, it’s not healthy and we all know that. But, secondly, I want them to have to work for things and not get everything instant-gratification style… whether it be Saturday morning pancakes or an A in Physics.

Another (self-indulgent) reason I like this book is that it touches on some desires that D and I share. We would love, Lord willing, to have a small family farm. Some fruits and vegetables, a dairy cow, chickens, and some sheep. We imagine shearing the sheep every spring and selling the wool to pay for what it would cost to keep our little operation going. It’s a little while off, we’ve got to unload two mortgages first, but we have fun slowly steering in that direction. In the meantime, Farmgirl Fare’s two blogs keep us inspired.

Pancakes, Pancakes! – go read it to your baby today!

Easy baby rice cereal

I got this recipe – if you really want to call it that – from , a book “Auntie E” gave us this past summer.  Needless to say, it was a hit with our little love bug.

Baby Rice

(from Wholesome Meals for Babies and Toddlers by Sandra Baddeley)

scant 1/4 cup of white short-grain rice

breast milk (or formula)

Rinse the rice under cold running water and drain.  Put in a pan and add enough cold water just to cover it.  Bring to a boil and stir.  Reduce the heat, then cover and let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the water has been absorbed and the grains are very tender.  Puree the rice in a blender with a little breast milk (or formula) until smooth.  Makes 15 portions.  (Unless your baby eats like ours…)

it’s the little things…

I know parents are SUPPOSED to think their kids are cute…

Out with the old, in with the new… better late than never.

Our first holiday season with Baby Wolfe came and went in all its Incarnate Word glory.  Although I didn’t get to bake like a crazy woman (sigh), it was still a treasured time. To be honest I found myself looking forward to the New Year more than normal.  I think coming out of the baby fog, clearing that “4th trimester,” just set the tone for a revamped life – priorities, goals, ideas…  So thank you, Baby Wolfe – your timing was impeccable.  (Here she is in her hand-knit Christmas outfit, courtesy of  Tia M and Mama.)

A physical manifestation of all that motivation is the house.  I got all hopped up on caffeine (mind you it was one cup of half-caff, which is high-octane for me after a year of strictly decaf) and started throwing our furniture around the house.  Luckily it all landed in a much-needed space-maximizing arrangement.  Baby Wolfe was unaffected by both the upheaval of her nest and the bit o’ caffeinated joe.  We think she quite prefers the new set-up actually.  Alas, I will post no photos of the revamped casita…  Although I admit unashamedly that the house looks like “we have children now,” I don’t need to put the nail in the coffin and post a picture of the mess.

Another positively precious reason to be excited about the end of 2008 is, of course, our 3rd anniversary!  Doesn’t that sound official – like we’re not “newlyweds” anymore?  Apparently we don’t party like newlyweds anymore though… thank you, Baby Wolfe.

A loving thank you goes out to Mr. and Mrs. Mae for making our anniversary special… again.  Last year we spent it with them as well and we must say that this Mae-Wolfepack New Year’s Eve/anniversary tradition is one that we hope sticks for a good long while.

Though our anniversary falls on a festive holiday usually spent with lots of peeps, we still find time each year for our own little celebration.  We had our anniversary brunch – smoked salmon and mimosas – inspired by our favorite honeymoon breakfast at the Alpine House in Jackson Hole, WY.  See that latticed gazebo in the corner… that’s the hot tub, buried in several feet of snow.  Champagne, snow, a sexy, new husband and hot bubbly water – doesn’t get much better than that.  Which has got me thinking that once we get the pictures off our old desktop, I’ll have to post about that snowy rendezvous tres  romantique…

Speaking of snow, we had none in Virginia over Christmas, but nonetheless it was a beautiful time at “Nana and Popi”’s.  Of course, it was Baby Wolfe’s first Christmas! Here’s a  smattering of the festivities – gingerbread houses, ice-skating, roaring fireplaces, matching red pajamas, Christmas-morning toy assembly, and all…  (Please forgive the duplicates toward the end – I don’t understand why I can’t pick and choose when uploading a gallery of photos on WordPress.  Anyone?  I have issues with this.)

All in all 2008 ended very well for us.  We closed the year out having grown closer through the birth experience and the foggy newborn phase, got the Mae family moved into their new (gorgeous) house, found some time to give to the dogs, and to celebrate by ourselves a bit too.  Though it’s already February, I don’t think it’s too late to say that 2009 is shaping up to be a pretty fantastic year.

Cozy evidence of hand-knits

photo courtesy of andresfoto.com