No longer a baby...

Today Elizabeth is a toddler!

Elizabeth took her first unassisted step on Monday, November 22 in front of both of her parents while she was visiting Nathan's office for lunch. Today, November 28 - one day after her first birthday, she has decided that she is a toddler. Our little girl is growing up!


Toddling from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

#6 First Birthday Button Onesy

For Elizabeth's first birthday party with our friends this weekend, I made Elizabeth this little shirt.  I ironed on a cut-out "1" and then added buttons of different colors. She seemed to like it. And as you will see from another post, she hardly got a crumb on it, so I think she will be able to wear it on her actual birthday.

#4 Allen Toussaint Concert

So this is not a craft, but it fits into my description of "artsy"...  

On November 7, Nathan and I went to see the famous jazz pianist, Allen Toussaint with special guests Nicholas Payton & the Joe Krown Trio feat: Joe Krown, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, & Russell Batiste.  The whole first act (~1hr) featured only the "special guests", and I didn't think that they were that special.  I was very close to asking Nathan if we could go home, but I am so glad we stuck around.  During the second act they rolled out a grand piano, and Toussaint wowed the audience.  He was very chatty which I always enjoy.  I love to hear back stories about inspiration and context of the musician work. It also gives you a little insight to who the person really is. Toussaint is really interesting and his work is great.  I can't believe that he has a catalog of over 600 songs! 

Here is a sample of him playing Southern Nights

Cooking... Moroccan Curried Couscous

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/3 cup raisins
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can of chick peas
1 cup couscous
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 lemon grated
1.5 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Combine chicken broth, raisins, chick peas, curry powder and cumin in medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; stir in couscous and green onions. Cover and let sit 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork; cool. In a small bowl combine lemon peel, lemon juice and olive oil; blend until thoroughly mixed. Toss cooled couscous with dressing to taste.

Adapted from this. 

Cooking... Minted Pea Purée

Inspired by a dish from our dinner at Pop's on Friday, we made minted pea puree.  It was a little like baby food - ok a lot like baby food - but had good flavor.  To lower the calories and fat I left out the butter and only put in enough milk/cream to make it tasty.

Minted Pea Purée
*three 10-ounce packages frozen peas, thawed (we only had 2 bags and used them frozen)
*1/3 cup fresh mint leaves
*3 tablespoons half-and-half, or to taste (a mix of milk and heavy cream to taste)
*3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits (didn't use)

In a large saucepan combine the peas with 1/4 cup water and the mint leaves and boil the mixture, covered, for 4 minutes, or until the peas are tender. Drain the mixture well and in a food processor purée it with the half-and-half, the butter, and salt and pepper to taste. The purée may be made 1 day in advance, kept covered and chilled, and reheated.

$10 worth of fabric

On Sunday the Scrap Exchange was having their bi-annual fabric sale. Elizabeth and I went and picked up a big bag of fabric remnants for only ten dollars! I put them on our kitchen floor to remove the tags before washing them and snapped this picture with Pancake to give some perspective to how much we actually got! Some of the pieces are quite large and are really sweet designs like a few from Laura Ashley. I hope to make some outfits for Elizabeth. If I had more time or I didn't have a baby strapped to my front in the Bjorn, then I might have gotten a second bag. Oh well, there is always next spring - and I know that I will probably not get to all of this in the next 6 months (or ever!) anyways.

#3 Heart shaped sachet with cross-stitched bird

I decided I wanted to do a sampler for Elizabeth for her room, but first I wanted to do a quick craft to make sure I was up for cross-stitching a whole project.  After checking out several sampler books from the library, I was inspired to make this little pillow as a Christmas ornament. 

Baking... Chocolate Pate and Raspberry Coulis

For Nathan's birthday I made a chocolate pate with raspberry coulis.  It was so simple and extremely delicious if I do say so myself.  Imagine a dessert that is a mix between a fudge and a mousse.  It was super rich but still light.  And... it only took about 20 minutes (maybe less) from start to finish!!

Chocolate Pate

• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Whipped cream

1. Line 8 x 4-inch baking pan with plastic wrap. 
2. Combine 1/4 cup whipping cream and egg yolk in small bowl.
3. Combine morsels, corn syrup and butter in heavy-duty medium saucepan. Melt over lowest possible heat. When morsels begin to melt, remove from heat; stir. Return to heat for a few seconds at a time, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Add cream mixture to saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat for 1 minute. Let cool to room temperature.
4. Beat remaining cream and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. Pour into prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight or freeze 3 hours.

Raspberry Coulis

• 1 bag of frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup sugar

1. Put ingredients into a sauce pan and boil until raspberries break-up and sugar melts ~10 min.
2. Press through a stainer to get rid of all the seeds.  It should look more liquid than a jelly, but not too watery.

I got my recipe from here:  http://allwomenstalk.com/15-ingredients-and-directions-of-chocolate-pate-with-cranberry-coulis-receipt/

#2 Happy Birthday Banner

While thinking about what I want to do for Elizabeth's 1 year birthday, I decided I wanted to make a banner to hang from the wall like these. I've seen a few other people do it, but I swear, I've been thinking about doing it for a while :)  I guess these are the new "in" things for birthday parties.

I had all the materials - my trusty box of fabric, Steam a Seem to fuse the letters onto the flags, and ribbon.  My sewing machine has been broken since early August, and this was a great inspiration to go get the part so I could start sewing again.  Twenty-five dollars later, I had a functioning sewing machine and starting cutting out the flags.  I ironed the ribbon in half and sewed the flags to it.  I cut out the letters and ironed them on.  I was trying to get it done yesterday, because today is Nathan's birthday and I hung it up last night after he went to bed to celebrate.  I'm a little disappointed at how the H and the Y flags look with the letters; I was hoping they would stand out more... oh well. You can still read it, and I think it looks cute.

These were two great projects to start out with.  They were very easy and quick which just inspires me to do more!  Any suggestions for my next "act of 30"?

#1 Fabric Wreath

I decided to get artsy yesterday and made 2 projects in under 24 hours.  Inspired by this wreath and my box of fabric squares that I haven't found a good project, I Googled "fabric wreath".  I stumbled upon several and followed instructions from this blog.  She said ~200 pieces, well it was more like 500 -   but it was still fun, easy, relatively quick (~3 hours and could tie on while watching Elizabeth), cheap (originally 2.99 but with a Joann fabric 50% off coupon only $1.61 for the wreath base and free fabric scraps)  and I think it looks shabby chic.   What do you think?

6 months until I turn 30!

October 9th marked 6 months until my 30th birthday.  I know that on April 9th, I will not feel any different than the day before, but the changing decade is somewhat a big deal.  I've been thinking about what I want to do to celebrate.

I'd brainstormed a couple of ideas.
Run a marathon - the plantar fasciitis that has been bugging me for the last two months has sorta sidelined that idea.
Read 30 books - I am such a slow reader that I would need to read either crap books, or do nothing but read. And I have a few other things on my plate so I will pass up that one.

However, with help from Nathan, I have come up with a goal that I think is obtainable and fun, but will help me feel like I've accomplished something [not that a B.S., PhD, and baby aren't something].  I am planning on doing 30 "artsy" things before April 9th.  The definition of "artsy" is a little liberal: making a craft, reading a book, going to a movie, and going to a show.  I may add to/modify this definition as I go.

I plan on posting each thing on the blog to keep track, and hope to do at least 5 a month so I am not doing them all in March.

10 month pictures

As you can see from our recent video, Elizabeth no longer likes to be stationary. This was also apparent in our recent attempt to try to get her 10 month block picture. Here are the first four pictures from that set and two others that illustrate the difficulty of capturing her cuteness (with blocks).

Nathan placing her in front of her blocks

He hasn't yet had the chance to even get out of the picture (see the green sock) before she starts reaching for them

Elizabeth looking at Nathan as he asks her not to grab all the blocks

Here you can see her total disregard to our attempt at trying to capture this month's photo.  Blocks right in the mouth and scattered about

Retreat!

A now somewhat common occurrence in our house - the temper tantrum.  She knows what she wants and would prefer to have it her way.

However we were still able to capture a few sweet moments.  Pay no attention to the shadow behind her.  Unfortunately, our house doesn't get a lot of natural light and we can only do so much.

This one makes her look like she has super long legs.

10 months and cruising

Oh... we are about to have our hands full if they weren't already!!  Elizabeth has just started to cruise efficiently this last week. 



Elizabeth cruising at 10 months old from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.

How I find recipes to try

Going with the idea that my food should look tasty, I have taken to looking at Google images to find the recipes that I want to cook.  I spot a picture that looks good - then go to the website to see if the recipe is doable.  Another website I've stumbled upon is called Taste Spotting.  I love the pictures!  I've used this to find a recipe for savory bread pudding with swiss chard and sweet potatoes...  Just type in the item that you have and up comes a bunch of pictures with links to recipes.  Yummy!  

Babies of the 80's

 

 

My mom saved a few of my outfits from when I was a baby, and when I get bored I dress Elizabeth up in them and take her picture.  

Most of the outfits are completely unpractical - for instance the pink sleeper only has buttons up the back with no access to the legs and diaper region.  I can only imagine that being a very unplesant and time consuming middle of the night for my mom. However, the design of the little greenish/blue onesey should be duplicated for modern times.  The flap that goes around her bottom comes up and snaps on her belly.  There are multiple places you can snap it meaning she can wear as she gets longer.  Unfortunately, it is not the cutest of the bunch, so she doesn't wear it too often.  The top outfit makes her look like she should be out on the prairie. I just love that hat. But she didn't - I have several pictures of her trying to take it off, however it is a good design and she couldn't get it to budge!

We have a few more outfits to get her into and I'll make sure to take a photo.  Good thing they are baby outfits, because I can just hear her now saying "mom this is ridiculous!"  I have to admit they are pretty ridiculous, but they're pretty darn cute too!

Cooking...

"Sun" dried tomatoes

We sliced up some tomatoes and baked them on a cookie cooling rack at 250* for ~ 3 hours.  This produced shriveled little tomatoes that tasted amazing - as if we had doused them in some kind of dressing. Our inspiration came from this recipe. 

While I am really looking forward to fall taking hold here (why is it still mid 90s today?), I am not looking forward to the end of tomato season. 

Growth chart idea

I have been looking for ideas for a growth chart for Elizabeth.  I want to record her height on something for a visual of how fast she is growing, but knowing that we are not going to be in this house forever I wanted something that we could take with us.  I also didn't want something too gaudy or too cutsey that would not be appropriate for when she gets older.  After doing a thorough internet search I came upon this.

I bought a 6 foot board from home depot and painted it white.  I plan on recording her height with a line date and then close to here birthday every year have her put her hand print in alternating colors. It fits all my criteria; I just love this idea! 

Nine months old

Today Elizabeth had her nine month appointment with Dr. Salter.  She weighed in at an even 18lbs and she is 26.5 inches tall.  She is hugging the 25th percentile curve for all her measurements. 

From what we can tell and from what the doctor said, she seems to be developing right on track.   She is pulling up on everything and crawls like a champ.  She has 3 teeth - all on the bottom.   And she is still a very happy baby.  Well, except when she doesn't get her way... she hates having her diaper changed, not eating what we are eating, having things taken away from her (especially things that she should not have like the dog's water bowl or paper that will inevitably go right in her mouth), and initially being put in her car seat.  She doesn't have stranger anxiety which we have read could kick in during this month.  We are hoping that it never does.  She is still a great sleeper but her bed time is creeping earlier and earlier.  We would prefer to have her go to bed a little later so we could go out and do things, but these days she prefers to go to bed around 8:15, and we will probably be pushing that more towards 8 in the next few weeks as she is getting grumpy during those last 15 minutes if we are not doing something to entertain her.  I remember when she used to go to bed at 10:30 and we asked the doctor when she would start going to bed earlier.  Now we know.  She still takes 2 to 3 naps during the day at 45min to 1.5 hours each.

All and all she is great!

Cooking...

Tomato Jam

Inspired by the wealth of fresh tomatoes that we had (some of which were cracking and needed to be used immediately), I looked up recipes for tomato jam and decided to make this one from the New York Times.

5-8 coarsely chopped tomatoes

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 jalapeño or other peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced, or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste (which I left out because I didn't see it in the recipe... but I'm glad I did because what we got was really sweet and tasty. Maybe next time I'll try with a little spice). 

1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan, Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often.
2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam. Since we did not core and get out the juice it took about 4-5 hours of simmering and occasionally stirring for ours to cook down to be thick enough.  It was so worth it though!
3. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week.

The final product is one that will make all the saliva glands in your mouth work overtime. It hits sweet and savory notes that make this little gem one that will become a staple if I ever have too many tomatoes (and really no one can EVER have too many tomatoes!)

Not knowing what to do with our jam other than salivate over it and sneak bites directly off of a spoon out of the jar, I did a little internet searching and found these ideas for ways to use the jam:
Slather it on warm cornbread or biscuits  (Check!)
Use it as a condiment on sandwiches--roast beef on ciabatta, turkey breast with roasted sweet onions on toasted sourdough, smoked pulled pork with on a roll. (Check!)
Spread it on a toasted garlic bagel with cream cheese.
Mix it with softened cream cheese for a flavorful spread or unique party dip.
Thin it with a little sherry vinegar and use it as a glaze on chicken or fish.
Mix it with mayo for your secret "special sauce" on a hamburger.  (umm not so much for me - what a waste!)
Fill crepes with tomato jam and goat cheese.
Use it in meatloaf in lieu of ketchup or BBQ sauce.

Elizabeth at Eight Months

Elizabeth at Eight Months from Nathan Marvelle on Vimeo.