January 2012
2 posts
Fresh start
It’s the time of year to look back on the pages we’ve just flipped on the calendar, while also laying out some new ambitions for the year ahead. Last year I was able to do a whole post of food favorites from 2010; this year, you can tell we had a little one under foot. I didn’t post nearly as much from the kitchen this year. Not so much because I haven’t been cooking -...
'Twas the season
Woosh! There went 2011! December turned out to be a crazy busy month. Not that I’m complaining. It was filled with wonderful things; I just couldn’t keep up. There was:
My birthday and Dan’s birthday - both on the 1st. We didn’t celebrate much, but we did enjoy this simple chocolate cake and a nice hike with Hazel and friends in Duke Forest.
The Girls on the...
December 2011
2 posts
A little break from the holiday treats
With Hazel’s birthday added to the calendar, it seems like the end of the year is one great big slide from Halloween to our anniversary to Hazel’s birthday to Thanksgiving to our birthdays to Hannukah to Christmas to New Year’s. Whew! It’s all wonderful, and delicious, but sometimes it’s just a little too much. So I was quite delighted that Martha Stewart’s...
Thanks-giving
Thanksgiving has proved that this blog is about my life, and the food that we eat in it, rather than a food blog. Before Thanksgiving, all the foodies were busy testing recipes, taking pictures, and writing about their recommendations for just the right fixings for the big day. I, on the other hand, was thankful for the availability of a Thursday morning flight that allowed us to stick to our...
November 2011
3 posts
Happy birthday baby girl!
Hazel’s 1st birthday cake
It’s hard to believe, but Hazel hit the one year mark last week! Even though she isn’t yet old enough to understand the concept of her birthday, I’m certain that Hazel enjoyed all the celebrating that went along with the event.
Hazel dances along to “Happy Birthday” as her cake comes to her
The weekend before, my parents came...
Halloween festivities
Now that the stores all have Christmas stuff up, Halloween seems like old news, but we had a fun week leading up to the holiday.
Our “creepy crawler” at her daycare’s pumpkin carving night
The Wednesday before, Hazel’s school had an evening event where they had food and invited everyone to come and carve their pumpkins. Hazel was the youngest one there, and certainly...
On the move
Hi there! Have you been waiting for me??
It’s been a long time since I last wrote. A lot has happened since then! In the last few weeks:
I ran my first (super sprint) triathlon
I ran a half marathon a week after the triathlon and set a personal record for that distance
I’ve been to South Carolina twice for work
Hazel started crawling, quickly increasing her speed and...
October 2011
1 post
Hanging on
The temperatures really dropped here over the weekend - we got our first dose of nights in the 40s! It simultaneously made me crave all sorts of fall favorites, while also seeking one last round of all my summer favorites. The fact that I can cram both into a weekend makes this my favorite time of year!
This weekend, we had the perfect blending of the two seasons we’re straddling. Upon...
September 2011
3 posts
Fading into Fall
This post was supposed to be about the end of summer, but I think I’ve kind of missed the boat on that.
Three weeks ago, we fit in an end of the season trip to Cape Cod. We thought it might have been a little too cool to take Hazel into the water, but she loved it. We hit up two different ponds, and she kicked up a storm.
Hazel also had a great time hanging out with her Uncle Aaron,...
Momma and baby meals
&
Hazel’s doing good enough with all her finger food, that she’s starting to get meals that look a lot more like ours. Hopefully by the end of the month, we’ll have successfully made it through introducing dairy (seems to have gone fine this week), eggs, and wheat, so that she can really eat just what we’re having for dinner. But so far, she’s been a fan of...
Looking back, looking forward
It seems almost impossible to believe that the terrorist attacks of September 11 happened ten years ago. Thinking back to that day, I can exactly picture the layout of our suite in Chambers 4. My teammates and I had already been up for crew practice and returned from our usual breakfast feast, so I was glued to the television as the morning news redirected their cameras onto the twin towers at...
August 2011
5 posts
Meal swap!
Another thing that has helped get a home cooked meal onto the table each night, in addition to just generally getting back into the groove of cooking and the fact that Hazel’s schedule is much more predictable now than a few months ago (never mind random naps from 6:30 - 9 PM!), is the fact that I’ve got a lovely group of friends, who all also have little ones, that has joined together...
Summer bounty
I know you wouldn’t be able to tell it from this blog recently, but recently we’ve been enjoying loads of wonderful summer produce.
Creamy pesto pasta with tomato vinaigrette
It took a while for me to get back into my cooking stride after Hazel started to go to daycare and I started my new job, but suddenly, I’ve realized that I have managed to get back to home cooked dinners...
As my sister marks her first day as an Oregon resident (far, far away from Durham!), I’ve been thinking a lot about the value of online connections.
Kelsey at a lookout tower over the Pendleton Valley in Oregon
I know I don’t manage to post to this blog as frequently as I used to, and yes, sometimes being on Google Reader and Facebook and now Twitter (yep, I finally did it - you...
Eat your colors
As we’ve started moving into finger foods, several people have asked what things Hazel has eaten.
We’re still holding off on a number of foods, including wheat, dairy and eggs, because of allergies running on both sides of her family, but still, we’ve made it through a surprising number of foods in about 2 1/2 month’s time, including:
Rice cereal Oatmeal Cheerios
...
High temps
It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here because after several months of escaping it, we finally got bitten by the daycare bug. About 10 days ago, we were spending the weekend inside with Hazel, since the outside temperature was supposed to hit 103. Because of the heat wave, it took us a while to figure out that Hazel was coming down with a fever, instead of that she was sweating...
July 2011
2 posts
Family fun
The other weekend, we took my cousin’s wedding as a chance to take a long weekend trip to Indiana. We were a little nervous about flying into Louisville, because it required a connection, which we had never dealt with before.
However, for the most part, Hazel did really well. As we flew, she enjoyed looking out the window, like her Poppa, and along the way, we discovered that plastic...
HBHEs and babies
This summer is rushing by. As soon as we got back from our vacation, I headed off on my first overnight trip without Hazel. After successfully negotiating that, the holiday weekend was upon us. And then, this weekend we’ll be traveling again for a cousin’s wedding. With all this fun, it may be tricky to keep up with posting photos of everything on the blog! But we had a blast...
June 2011
4 posts
On vacation!
You haven’t heard much from me recently, because we’re enjoying our first vacation with Hazel. We’re hanging out with friends in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland.
More photos when we return.
Fun with Aunt Kelsey
Before heading off for adventures in Vermont and Oregon, Kelsey came to visit for a long weekend. Luckily, her initial bad luck, getting into RDU seven hours after she was supposed to, didn’t carry on past the day of her arrival, and we had a lovely visit.
In addition to Hazel’s sweet potatoes, we enjoyed other yummy things, including Kelsey’s taco salad, dinner outside at...
Hazel eats!
Since November, this blog has either been about adventures with Hazel or what’s happening in the kitchen. Now we’ve finally reached the point that it can be about both!
We gave Hazel her first food - rice cereal mixed with breastmilk - during the last week of May. After two weeks of getting her used to eating from a spoon and getting comfortable with progressively thicker stuff in...
Mother's Day
I seem to have accidentally left a teaser about my mother’s day in my last post and then went MIA for two weeks. Sorry! My first mother’s day was a lovely day.
Hazel all dressed up in her overalls for Momma’s first Mother’s Day
The day started out with Dan taking care of Hazel so I could get an extra morning nap before getting up for the day, when I enjoyed some...
May 2011
3 posts
Horses, roses and moms
As always, the first Saturday in May ushered in the Kentucky Derby, and we hosted our annual Derby Party.
Along with the traditional favorites - Hot Browns, benedictine and mint juleps - Hazel debuted her first Derby hat, and I finally crafted a full size Derby Pie.
Our friend, Ellen, and her little girl, Marisol, who was also enjoying her first Derby Party, picked Animal Kingdom as the...
Fun with Auntie Whitney
We’ve been having so much fun recently that I’m not managing to keep up with posting photos! We had a wonderful time last weekend while Whitney was in town.
After weeks of rainy Saturdays, the weather was fantastic, so we got to do lots of fun things outside.
On Saturday, we hung out in Carrboro, enjoying the Farmers’ Market, got Hazel some sunglasses at The Red Hen, and...
Spring fever!
I was all set to tell you about the casseroles that I’ve been making recently - which despite what my Grandpa thought about them, are really awesome for getting you lots of good ingredients all in one dish and leaving you leftovers for lunches later in the week - but then we had this fantastically wonderful spring weekend and Auntie Whitney here to enjoy it with. It just wouldn’t be...
April 2011
2 posts
Whew!
It’s been a busy couple of weeks. In the month of April, we’ve…
Gone to DC
Attended two weddings
Had house guests
Met HBHE friends
Gained a cousin (welcome Mia!)
…and Celebrated Easter!
Before the month is over, we’ll also get to catch up with Auntie Whitney!
It’s enough to tire a little girl out!
March 2011
2 posts
New adventures
It’s hard to believe, but after six years of working with the Dukies, I’m venturing into new work adventures. I’m now two weeks into a new gig at NC Prevention Partners - a non-profit organization located in Chapel Hill. I’ll be doing work to help improve worksite wellness policies at hospitals throughout South Carolina.
I’m going to miss working with some...
Swap!
After several years of experience swapping cookies around the holidays, I decided to try something a little healthier. Yesterday, we gathered five families with small kids (ages 3 months - 1 year) and swapped dinners.
Each family made a big batch of one meal and then divided it up into four sets to give away. We got all the kids together for a play date, laughed at their different skills, and...
February 2011
2 posts
Changing gears
Since heading back to work, I’ve determined there are only two reasonable approaches to getting dinner on the table between Hazel’s dinner and dessert: reheating something I’ve made over the weekend or making something that’s ready in 15 minutes or less. The second strategy is especially good if whatever I make bakes in about 25 minutes, so that I can stick it in the oven...
Wordless Wednesdays: Hazel's friends
With Grandad
With Grandma
Hazel and Eleanor visit with each other
Hazel’s first hiking buddies - Ellen and Marisol along the Eno River
This weekend: more fun with Grandma Henrietta and Grandpa Richard!
First in flight
This past weekend, Hazel took her first plane trip up north. We flew up to Boston to do lots of visiting and celebrating with Dan’s family. Hazel did a great job on her first flight, despite the fact that she is usually headed to bed about the same time we took off.
Hazel on her first flight (RDU -> BOS)
Unfortunately, we traded one of those great days of NC winter weather (68...
January 2011
5 posts
Gearing up
With two weeks left until I head back to work, I’m working on building up some food supplies in the freezer, so we can have good food quickly, even when we feel like we don’t have any free time. To make this easier, we just got a small chest freezer.
Now it’s time to fill it up! Luckily, Hazel now seems to enjoy being in the Moby wrap with me in the kitchen when she’s...
Wordless Wednesday: Wintertime Hazel
Baby, it’s cold outside!
Oldest to newest. This southern belle has seen more winter weather than I would have expected! The last one is from her 2 month check-up, where she weighed in at 12 pounds, before our most recent bout of snow and ice began. Warm wishes to all of you getting the same storm that’s traveling up the East coast now.
Yummy things from last year
To recap, and to get myself back into the grove of regular cooking, here are some of my favorite dishes from 2010. Some of these made it on to the blog previously, others didn’t, but I’ve been keeping track of them all on my Flickr stream.
WINTER
Papa al pomodoro From Dana Treat’s round-up of her best 2009 recipes. So glad she did that. This soup is great, and I’m so...
What a year!
I’ve been away, celebrating Christmas with family in Indiana, and we returned to NC only about ninety minutes before 1-1-11 arrived, so there’s lots to report, but I’d be remiss to not recognize all of the amazing things that happened in 2010. It’ll be a hard year to top.
January The Rose Bowl parade
Hanging out at the Getty with Whitney
Lots of snow in NC
February...
December 2010
3 posts
COLD!
Recently, Durham hasn’t seemed like much of a southern city. While it’s not unusual to make it through the whole winter without any white precipitation, we’ve had snow three different times this month! Also we’ve had some really cold temperatures - down into the teens. In fact, when Dan’s dad came to visit last week, it was colder here than in Boston!
The snow...
Holiday cheer and lots of cookies!
We weren’t sure if we were nuts to try it, but with five years’ tradition behind us, Dan and I decided we had to go for our 6th annual cookie swap on Sunday. We figured people would cut us a little slack with Hazel being only 5 weeks old - and available for holding - so we only fixed 3 savory dishes to balance out all the sweets - dill cracker snacks, sausage balls (which I decided...
Birthday love
Hard to believe, but Wednesday was my 30th birthday! This whole being thirty thing and having a baby sounds like the kind of thing actual grownups do! ;-) Of course, since these two things went together over the last month, the celebration was pretty low key. Dan used one of his paternity leave days to stay home with me and Hazel to enjoy his birthday (yep, we’re both December 1 babies,...
November 2010
8 posts
Many thanks
This Thanksgiving was all about new traditions for our family.
With our little Thanksgiving turkey
It’s the first time since 1994 that Dan didn’t travel to New York for the holiday with his family. Instead, it’s the first time we hosted our families here in North Carolina. We didn’t have much time to cook Thanksgiving dinner ourselves and we don’t have a dining...
You gotta start somewhere
Yesterday I managed to cook my first meal since Hazel arrived. It was a sort of improvised breakfast stuffing that was crafted intentionally to use up some ingredients around the house.
Ingredients
I can’t claim it was the best thing I ever made, but it had a good balance of carbohydrates, protein and some fat, and it was ready when we were hungry. I’ll call it a win.
Unbaked...
We did it!
So far, we’ve made several trips out with Hazel for medical appointments, but today marked the first real field trip. We went to see Dad for lunch.
In the SAS cafeteria
Hazel didn’t really have to have a visitor’s badge, but the rest of us did. Then we got to enjoy yummy Thanksgiving foods in the SAS cafeteria.
My lunch - sides from the SAS cafeteria and Whitney’s...
Happy birth day Hazel!
As you might of guessed, my absence over the last week is due to the fact that our little girl said hello to the world last Monday. Okay, she can’t talk yet, but she’s here and making her presence known to the world. ;-) The labor was long, and it didn’t even start until about 16 hours after my water broke, but we were able to have the whole delivery at the Women’s Birth...
A little help from my friends
It’s funny how when you’re at work, all you can think is how wonderful it would be to be home. Then as soon as you get sent home from work, you’re bored. Overall, staying home for three weeks hasn’t been as bad as I expected, but it has made me feel pretty lazy. It’s been kind of like winter break from school. You know there’s stuff to be done, but...
Pumpkin love!
As I mentioned, one of my favorite things about fall is all the pumpkin flavored goodness. Two weeks ago, I got a Long Island Cheese pumpkin (what a fun name, given for it’s shape!), which I roasted and pureed. I’ve been making all sorts of yummy treats since then.
Long Island Cheese pumpkins (photo courtesy of Schuett Farms)
Here are some of my favorites that I’ve been...
Simple eats, fall treats
Over the last week and a half, I’ve been on home rest as we wait out the final stretch until B3 is here. Not a strict bed rest, but just trying to keep off my feet and getting plenty of rest. It seems to be doing the job so far, keeping my blood pressure in a reasonable range. However, it’s a bummer to be home and not be able to be busy in the kitchen. Yet, it’s been a bit of...
October 2010
3 posts
Getting ready for baby
Like I said, last weekend, my parents came to visit to help us with some final baby preparations.
Me and Mom
They drove down in a rental van, so they could bring the cradle that I slept in when I was a baby and lots of other things that we got at the shower we had in Indiana.
The cradle, with the lovely blanket that Whitney knitted and a few pom-poms for decoration
It was a good thing...
Whew!
Hi all. I’m afraid I’m getting into a bad habit of not posting until I get caught up, and with only 2.5 weeks until our due date, that’s only going to get worse once the little one is here, unless I just go for it. So here’s all we’ve been up to.
The ceremony at the amphitheatre by the Doris Duke Center
Two weekends ago, Dan’s cousin, Sam, got married in...
What a difference a week makes!
A week ago, I was writing about embracing the end of summer. Then we had three full days of rain, temperatures dropped by twenty degrees, I reached the point in this pregnancy where it doesn’t make any sense to talk about remaining months any more (just 5 weeks left to go now!), I made final arrangements for people to take over my classes at the gym through the end of the year, October...