Category: <span>Moments</span>
Why is the weather always great during the week and the weekend gets washed out with rain? Either way, even rain and thunderstorms couldn’t keep my in-laws away. They visited with us and really lent a lending hand. We were thrilled to have adult company and adult conversations and Sophia was thrilled beyond words to have their undivided attention. Don’t get me wrong, Eliza received plenty of attention as well, but she is not nearly as demanding for it.
these pictures courtesy of my in-laws
Sophia’s been a busy bee what with all that attention from Grammie and Pop. Saturday, they took her to our local park (Cabin John) and she got to ride a train through the park and climb to her heart’s content on all the playgrounds. Sunday, they headed to Bethesda’s Imagination Stage for a performance of Mouse on the Move.
While Sophia was busy exploring and enjoying her special time, Evan and I spent some time relaxing … with Eliza and in the kitchen. We managed to grill during a break in the rain and I baked a flour-less chocolate cake in honor of my father-in-law’s birthday.
Grilled shishito peppers (Evan’s impulse buy) to satisfy our wanderlust for Japan. The peppers were grilled over charcoal and finished off with Maldon salt. These were a welcome accompaniment to home-made Korean BBQ wrapped in shiso leaves from our own garden.
This picture needs no description… it was death by chocolate and so very easy to bake. You can find the recipe here. I used Scharffen Berger’s 55% cocoa solids chocolate. As good as the BBQ and cake were, it was still all about spending time together as a family knowing we are very fortunate to have such wonderful parents in our lives who make time for us. 
Successful athletes are dedicated to their sport. They eat, sleep and breathe their craft adhering to the strictest regiments. I am not a professional athlete and I don’t love the gym, though I have gone there when it was a dire necessity—before my wedding. I not patient either, but I do have one good quality—persevering and pushing ahead when I don’t want to do something such as … nursing on demand at all hours of the day and night.
Breastfeeding, you see, is like a sport. In order to succeed at it, you have to have dedication, perseverance and adhere to a strict regimen of rest and diet. A mother’s diet can significantly impact her child’s well-being and that, in turn, can impact your overall happiness. For example, some babies are not tolerant of dairy, while others of sugar. Besides being tolerant, you need to make sure you rest and eat enough to actually produce enough milk for your baby. Certain foods aid lactation and so, like an Olympic athlete adheres to a strict diet, nursing mothers need to adhere to guidelines too. Oatmeal and nuts are among the foods that are said to aid lactation and so in order to keep myself energized and Eliza fed and less cranky, I now stock an endless supply of home-made granola.
It is absolutely delicious packed with dried cranberries, cherries, almonds and pecans. I had an amazing helper assisting me in whipping up my granola, too. Now that she made it, she loves snacking on it. It is a win-win deal.
Can you believe it is already past the 4th of July? No? Well, neither can I. Time flies especially at times like today, when I bid a somewhat sad goodbye to my parents, after a long weekend that seemed too short. I wish time stood still or I had just a little more of it with them. On the other hand, I wish time would fly by and I could finally bid diapers and bottles a cheery adieu. I can’t have it all, so I’ll settle for whatever time I am afforded with those whom I love most and a great celebration—whatever the reason.
We’ve been loved on by our families with attention and delectable edibles so much that we’ve both missed being in the kitchen. My parents provided us just that when they visited and took the girls off our hands. I can’t really get used to saying it … the girlS. Admittedly, as I am still the sole food supply for Eliza, Evan did more cooking but I contributed in selecting the recipes and making some sides and desserts. July, as you should know, is the national ice cream month and so we have home-made vanilla ice cream and a lovely berry crostata.
I also continued to slowly make headway into Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem cookbook and made this amazing Chermoula Eggplant.
It was simply spectacular and very easy to make. While I focused on all things sweet and vegetarian, Evan made rockfish simmered in dashi finished with a Chinese hot oil/herb dressing.
He also made korean BBQ from a Cooks Illustrated recipe I discovered while perusing their magazines that we have from when we used to subscribe. It was delicious and I’ll post a slightly updated recipe shortly.
