Hi hi! Totally forgot to post a link to my guest post on Hank + Lucy last Thursday. I was traveling that day so wasn’t able to do it then, and am just remembering this morning. It’s a little ramble on one of the many unexpected and very delicious surprises that come with being a mother for the first time. Enjoy!
Photograph by Deb Schwedhelm
We’re in major recovery mode at the moment and I haven’t had time to go through photos yet, or finish unpacking, or respond to emails. Maybe you would like to see an iPhone video of Dashiell rocking out to Tuba Skinny while I get myself in order?
This is uncharted territory, the video thing. But this particular one is short and has good tunes, so maybe you will enjoy. Plus there’s bloomers. Brock is not convinced that it’s okay for his son to be wearing bloomers, but I think they are the cutest things ever so until Dashiell outgrows them, he is wearing them every chance I get.
We have a new rule: 5 days is the MINIMUM we will stay when we travel across the country and multiple time zones with the baby. 3 days is just enough to completely exhaust all three of us and require an entire week for recovery. Of course Dashiell woke up at 4 am yesterday morning, right on schedule for Florida time. But he is cute, so I usually forgive him.
It’s amazing when the language thing starts to click, isn’t it? I’ve yet to find a baby book that I like and I’m terrible about writing things down, so I’ve been trying to remember all of Dashiell’s little words. But he seems to be adding new ones every week and I’m having trouble remembering them already!
If you’ll indulge me for a moment, I’m going to record them here. At least the internet will know so when I finally get a baby book I can write them in it.
At about a year he had 4 words. I remember that.
Dada
Mama
‘nana (banana)
Yaya (our nanny Gloria)
Plus a few baby sign which he still uses: more, enough, hungry, tired and milk.
And now he has these too:
wawa (water)
wuh-wuh! (his word for dog, which is really like him saying, ruff ruff!)
baba (bottle)
ohm (home)
eye
at (hat)
gamma (grandma)
umpa (grandpa)
And he’ll basically repeat anything you try to teach him if he’s in the right mood. It’s so neat. Brock came back from running with him this morning and said that he’s trying to say “truck” (because obviously he’s obsessed with large trucks since he’s a boy). He says “uck”. But close enough! And he occasionally says “unda” for his BlaBla panda. (They have some really cute new stuff, btw.) It’s really pretty amazing how their little minds work.
We’re waiting for him to come up with a name for “froggy“, his most prized, precious possession. Maybe it’s like soooo important it doesn’t need an actual name.
Dearests, you always have such good ideas when I ask that I’m now unable to travel without first soliciting your opinions! Have any of you been to Seaside, Florida? (or Watercolor or Seagrove?) We’re headed there on Thursday morning for my friend Deja’s wedding. It looks so cute! But we know nothing about that part of Florida. Maybe some of you do?
I know that we’re planning to let Dashiell run around naked on the white sand beach, perhaps play tennis at the Watercolor Inn, and spend some time drinking beer with friends.
Any other must-dos? Hoping someone has been!
Alice Medrich’s Pure Dessert is undoubtably my go-to cookbook for baking. I don’t bake *that* often so when I do, it’s usually for special occasion. (Or I’m making Jacques Torres choco chip cookies, for everyday consumption). Which means I always turn to Alice and her lovely, subtle way with all things sweet.
I made her twice baked shortbread for a little 100LC project this weekend and not surprisingly, it was delicious. The recipe is so simple that I had to read it three times just to make sure I wasn’t missing something major. And you don’t have to get out the stand mixer or anything. A bowl and a spoon will do just fine.
Alice Medrich’s twice-baked shortbread
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), melted and still warm
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (6.75 ounces if you’re weighing) all purpose flour
plus turbinado or demerara sugar for sprinkling
And a baking pan with a removable bottom, like a round or rectangular fluted tart pan. If you don’t have a tart pan, you can line a regular square pan with a sheet of foil so you can lift the finished shortbread out in one piece.
In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter with the sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the flour and mix until just incorporated. It will be really really buttery! Pat and spread the dough evenly in the pan. Let rest for at least 2 hours, or if possibly overnight. (No need to refridgerate).
Preheat oven to 300°F. Bake shortbread for 45 minutes. If you have a cute stove from the 50′s that doesn’t regulate temperature very well and burns everything you attempt to bake like I do, I highly recommend setting a piece of foil over the top of the pan until the last few minutes.
Remove the pan from the oven, leaving the oven on. Lightly sprinkle the surface of the shortbread with sugar. Let it cool for 10 minutes.
Remove the shortbread from the pan (v. v. carefully!). Use a thin sharp knife to cut wedges or fingers or squares. Place the pieces slightly apart on a parchment lined baking sheet and put it back in the oven for 10 minutes, until it’s golden brown.
Cool on a rack.
And then try to eat just one piece. It melts like crazy in your mouth.
I was doing some snooping around yesterday for an InStyle article for 100LC and got lost in the tea towel selection on etsy. There were so many pretty ones, I had to share.
From Skinny Laminx, Leah Duncan (love her stuff!!!!), Claudia Pearson, Knife in the Water, Margot Bianca, Katherine J. Lee, Frog Goes to Market, Giardino, and the sold out Lotta Jansdotter. Hrrrmmphf.
Have a sunny weekend!
There’s a quick tutorial up on 100LC today for those of you interested in making Mexican paper flowers. They’re so easy and so fun and festive! I’m making a bunch for SIL’s baby shower in June.
Apologies for the lack of posts this week. My plan to unplug a bit and not have insomnia by not spending the last 2-3 hours of my day staring at the computer screen has meant that I occasionally (often, apparently) don’t have anything to post in the morning! You understand, right? I’m trying to figure it all out. Also I have an eye twitch at the moment, which means I’m even less inclined to stare at the computer any more than necessary. Hoping to get outside this afternoon and plant. I majorly need a break from pixels.
Take three, if you count the set we fostered in the fall. But these are officially ours, as of last Wednesday when they arrived.
Meghan and Jeremy, the super sweet couple who runs Dare 2 Dream Farms, delivered them right into the Eglu. Anyone on the search for a little flock of their own in the LA or SF area should definitely contact them! They have all sorts of breeds, in every age… two weeks, six weeks, eight weeks, twelve weeks (ours), on up through six months or so. It’s incredibly perfect, having someone else raise the peepers until they’re ready for the outdoor coop.
I can’t wait to start with teeny chicks one day when our kiddos are older, but at the moment I don’t think our tiny house can handle a baby chicken nursery too.
Guess who’s completely obsessed with his new friends out back?
If it were up to him he’d spend equal parts of the day gazing longingly at his chickens and eating dirt out of the raised beds. Do all babies insist on eating dirt??
Baby legs!
Part of me loves spring (longer days! birds chirping! trees blooming!), and part of me despises it because it’s just a big tease with it’s wind and sun and non-summerness. But I always adore our blooming wisteria.
The peak of flowers a few weeks ago:
Growing like crazy now (both the baby and the wisteria):
The pretty detritus:
We’re getting the backyard, and house for that matter, in shape for summer. I guess spring is good for something.
I’ll report back on that soon. Have a fine weekend, all!
Yesterday’s post was so satisfying for me. I woke up wondering if I’d published something completely lame and whiny (the blogging equivalent of drunk dialing, maybe?), but it turns out lots of you can relate. Which is awesome. And maybe just by putting it out there things will begin to simplify. Maybe.
Now. Onto something totally different.
Homemade vanilla extract!
I’ve been meaning to start my own since January when I saw a big jar in my neighbor Ruth’s kitchen. (Enter the reality I mentioned yesterday… things don’t always happen as I intend around these parts.) Once she told me how to make it, I was like, um, DUH! Why doesn’t everyone do this??? It reminds me of the Homemade Pantry section on Kiss My Spatula. Which is without a doubt something you should all check out and is IMO completely worthy of aspiration.
It’s a bit of a cost commitment up front, but you won’t have to buy vanilla for a very long time. And once it’s all done brewing you can apparently jar it up and give it away as gifts. Hello xmas pressies!
What you need for a jar this size:
A big jar with a sealing lid (preferably tall enough to accommodate vanilla beans)
7 cups vodka
21 vanilla beans
(the ratio of beans to vodka is 6 beans for every 2 cups of vodka).
The only reason I chose the above amount is because I needed 7 cups of vodka to cover the vanilla beans. I’m sure you could make this in whatever size batch you like, if you cut up the beans into smaller pieces. I think choosing good quality vanilla beans and good quality vodka probably equals good quality vanilla extract, but use your judgement there. My beans are from Penzeys (a Christmas gift from my friend Carol) and I used Absolut vodka (not top top shelf, but good enough I figured).
Put the beans in the jar. Add vodka. Seal. Wait two months or so and try it! If you need to add more vodka during the extraction process, do it. Maybe throw another bean in there for good measure. Supposedly once you have it started, you can add more vodka and beans as you use your stock to keep it going for a long time.
Vanilla beans are expensive, but they are less so if you buy them in bulk. Here are some good places to buy them:
Amazon
Penzeys
Saffron.com
Beanilla.com
Most importantly, definitely do not buy them at the grocery store! It will cost a fortune.
I’ll report back when my vanilla is fully extracted.
**UPDATE! Brent from Beanilla.com emailed with their official ratio for FDA quality single-fold vanilla extract. 5 beans for every 1 cup of vodka (or maybe bourbon! I like where you guys are going with that). Which significantly increases your start up costs, but maybe the vanilla is way more amazing? Just thought I’d share.
