Mochi all around

x

BREAKFAST: 7:30am, the good yogurt with agave and cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:30am, 2 ice cream mochi, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, mixed gluten, mashed taro treasure boxes, glutenous rice in lotus leaf, pan fried mock-pork dumplings, mock shrimp wrapped in rice paper, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, 2 ice cream mochi, flax seed tortilla chips with salsa, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, marinated grilled chicken breast strips, potato nick, 2 ice cream mochis, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Extravaganza!

Saw some pictures of myself from Thanksgiving, oy. I think I've gained the equivalent weight of Edie since Edie has been born. I don't have the heart to step on a scale. When I think about it, I don't think my weight is going to be significantly changed until I either go back to work, Edie goes into day care of some sort, my bike riding steps up in the Spring, I carve out some time for yoga and/or I revise my diet.

I was in the restaurant in the morning, then B&E joined me for lunch. We walked around Brooklyn, hitting up various bookstores and Trader Joes for groceries (food and books, that's our idea of a shopping extravaganza). I saw this book, pictured above, a lot of pictures and big words, that postulates that the real reason Americans are fat-asses are because dinner plates went from 9" to 12" some time in the 70s or 80s. It runs along the same idea why I measure my food intake in "bowls". Ilsa wanted me to get to 3 bowls a day -- today was 3.5.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, organic cheerios, organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11am, 2 chocolate covered graham crackers, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: noon, 1 small slice of pizza, Manhattan Special, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 1:45pm, meatball appetizer, half a pizza, half a Manhattan Special, 3 chocolate covered graham crackers, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, most of a cheap sushi platter, 4 ice cream bon bons, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Thanksgiving

Another Thanksgiving lost in the wilderness. All my life Thanksgiving was my family unit's holiday -- one aunt had Hannukah, one grandmother had Passover, one uncle had the other day of Passover, another aunt had 4th of July, and we always had Thanksgiving, from when I was a kid growing up on Staten Island to my parent's apartment on the LES. My father died a week before Thanksgiving, and my mom and a few friends had Thanksgiving at my house, a first but it felt right. The next year, my mom was sick but home from the hospital, and we had Thanksgiving at her house, with a cousin and her kids visiting from California.

I started dating my wife then, and mom passed away in early January. By next Thanksgiving, I started attending her family's Thanksgiving, something they've been doing since my wife's childhood. It was warm, welcoming, appropriately Jewwy, but full of long associations and memories that were not my own.

But now with the fourth Thanksgiving with my wife and her family, and the first with my daughter, that's starting to melt a little, kinda like making compound butter in a mixer. The hard cold butter cubes go in, and beating it with the paddle eventually makes it smooth and fluffy, ready to accept whatever mix-ins you provide it before rehardening it in the fridge.

Where ever B's mom is, is Thanksgiving, and this year for the first time it was in her 1 bedroom apartment on the UES. There were about 10 of us, plus Edles. About 2/3 of the food was ordered in from a local diner, and the rest either brought in or made there (me & B & E arrived early so I could make the creamed potatoes from scratch, and I brought homemade ice cream and brownies, tea and lemonade from school.) The food was good. Could be a lot better.

Thanksgiving growing up was a....THE cooking holiday, which I imagine it is for most of America. Many family members brought something, but except for one particular fur-wearing non-cooking aunt, everyone either brought homemade stuff or wine. The menu was pretty much exactly the same year after year. My dad would make a crudite plate with hummus or French onion sour cream dip and roasted chestnuts to start. Dinner would be a roast turkey with gravy (from a jar), cranberry sauce (from a can), stuffing (Stove Top, what I'd be assigned to "make"), buttered lightly steamed string beans with mushroom, baked yams, soda, booze for the older folks, a random brought side dish, and desserts. Desserts were always brought, except for Dad's pumpkin pie (premade crust and filling out of a can.) Ice cream from the supermarket and usually a pie or two extra from guests. For many years through the 70s and early 80s, an uncle made chocolate mousse from scratch and it was fanTASTic. When he passed away in the late 80s, I missed his mousse more than I missed him.

Anyway, B's mom is great, but even with the catering, it's a lot of work on her shoulders. I really hope next year, now that Edie is here, this cooking holiday migrates from the UES to the LES, and B's mom chooses to have her Thanksgiving (and it will always be HERS, and everyone else just guests) in Edie's home, preparing us for the time when the torch has to be passed. I've been in training for this -- I just knocked off a Thanksgiving meal for 150! I can do 10!!

On a side note, when we got to Yomomma's house, the table was already set. Yomomma mentioned she had set it the day before. She got NOTHIN' on my momma -- she'd set the table on Monday for the Thursday meal!! And day of she'd have to go over every piece and dust it -- about the same amount of time it would have taken to just set it. But I understand it now -- it's the pleasure of allowing yourself to relax by being early.

AM SNACK: 9am, a few spoonfuls of freshly churned vanilla ice cream, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST: 11am, pumpernickel bagel with homemade butter, 5 slices o' organic uncured bacon, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

THANKSGIVING DINNER: 3:30-8pm, handful of pigs in blankets, potato chips, sliced turkey boob, stuffing, gravy, salad, creamed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, parker house rolls, sweet tea, mint lemon aid, 1 glass prosecco, water, vanilla ice cream, brownies, 2.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Sillier Dinner

Woke up at 5, was pedaling to Red Hook by 6, was knee-deep in prep and cooking by 6:30. Students started rolling in by 7, the dining room started getting set up around 11, the 150 mouths at 12:30 service at 1, and like a swarm of locusts, was all over by 1:30. It was fun to operate this machine, with many moving parts, warming it up early (literally and figuratively) and bringing it to one crescendo, followed by a smaller crescendo (dessert!)

The only thing I was really unhappy with was the turkey -- I've never actually roasted a turkey before (because, well, I don't like turkey and we roasted plenty of other meats in c-school) and I now know why it has such a bad rep. I don't mean bad rep, like evil factory farms, animals bred into unwalking, unhappy mutants or unhealthy hormones, antibiotics and chemicals stuffed into these poor birds. I mean it's REALLY difficult to roast a bird this size AND have it all come out good. If you get the center of the meat to 165˚, the outside is gonna overcook, period. Brining only got us so far. Looking at the pic above, yes, it's a nice color and yes, the butter basting let the skin come out nice n' crackly, but about 1/4 of the dark meat and 1/3 of the white was dry and tough, despite me following every method and maxim drawn from my experience.

If I were to do the bird again, I would either a) forgo roasting the bird all together and fry the mother or b) choose 3 smaller birds instead of 2 large, brine for 8 hours instead of 4 and baste twice as much. Oh well.

I missed Edles today. She is such a snuggly person to hang with.

BREAKFAST: 5:30am, good granola with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

KITCHEN TASTING, TESTING & SNACKING: 6:30am-2:30pm, bits of turkey, bits of ham, bits of creamed potatoes, a couple of brownies, a half piece of pumpkin cheese cake, several cups of mint lemonade and sweet tea, a few spoonfuls of cornbread stuffing, a taste of mac n' cheese, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Nice to overhear some students saying how much they liked the food. Overheard others that didn't. Hrumph.

PM SNACK: 4pm, slice of pumpkin cheesecake, 3 quarts of water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, Cesar salad, half a Lombardi's pizza, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Silly dinner

Busy day finishing up recipes and thinking of organizing the kitchen, then going to the school and directing my students to prep a meal for 150. Not as all-consuming as spending a day in a restaurant through service, but a close second.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, good granola with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, 2/3 of a Wholefoods frozen pizza, water, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, 2 pieces of pumpkin cheesecake, 1 small piece of cornbread, strong brewed sweet tea, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Yes, a stoopid dinner, but this was what we had, after doing prep for tomorrow's school Thanksgiving. A lot more will be on offer tomorrow.

EVENING WATERING: 9pm, quart o' water

Everyone is a critic!

While the laundry was in, I peeled, chopped, and boiled a pear for about 5 minutes, then turned it into sauce in the spice grinder. It was still way too hot, so I placed it in a ramekin, placed a plastic sandwich bag with 2 ice cubes in its center, then placed it in the freezer for a minute. It came out pretty close to room temp.

While cooking this up, I strapped Edie into the high chair and tied a napkin around her neck to act as bib. She could tell what was happening, and started flapping her arms and giving the cry of expectancy. It didn't occur to me that making the pear would take this long (adults like hot n' steamy stuff, babies not so much), but when it arrived to her chair-shelf, her eyes were trained on the ramekin, and she started doing her panting. Unbelievably cute.

The first spoonful I put into my mouth to test temp and texture. Only a few weeks ago I had my first pear -- I did not like its texture, but I was hopeful. The temp today was tepid, the texture like, well, apple sauce. The first baby spoon goes into Edie's mouth and....she screws up her face, her eyes squint, her mouth opens in a distinct frown. She swallows, her face unscrews. She pants; I place another spoonful to her lips and she pulls forward to take it in. Repeat of face, a little cry now. We do this about 2 or 3 more times before she refuses to take the pear. It was like she didn't remember from spoonful to spoonful that she didn't like it until the last.

We go down to get the laundry in the dryer, and when we come back, I see her eyeing the leftover food. So I tie the bib around her neck and we go for it again. The first 2 spoonfuls got no frown!! But the third did, and the fourth was refused. She was rubbing her eyes. I picked her up and gave her a solid burping, just in case, then lay her down in the crib. Within a minute she was out cold. Enough food experiments for my beautiful daughter for one day, the rest of the day will be mommy milk and a little rice cereal.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, good granola with dead organic milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH PT 1: 12:30pm, rice & beans, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH PT 2: 2pm, slice of streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 4pm, baby carrots, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:30pm, pasta with homemade sauce, shrimp and ricotta, small amount of chocolate chips, 1.75 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 2am, spoonful of peanut butter, small bowl of yogurt with agave, vanilla and cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I fell asleep around 8, woke up around 1:30 and watched TV until I fell asleep again at 3.

Mitt-full

B left the house in the morning to meet a gal friend for brunch while me and Edles hung back and kept the home fires burning. E came over around noon to join me for a bike ride and when she went to pick Edles up out of the bouncy seat, she got a mitt full of baby poo -- it was quite hilarious, at least from my 5 year-old sense of humor.

B brought back some donuts, a good pre-ride munch. We were planning to ride up to City Island, but E wasn't feeling well so we ended up stopping in Harlem for beer and a rib, then riding back over the mighty Triboro. I got home by 3ish, wanting to take B & Edles out in the crisp fall air, but B wasn't feeling up to it. Instead, we danced around to psychedelic Temptations songs in our lair. A lazy Sunday evening with Thai delivery and too much TV ensued.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, the good granola with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12:30pm, potato nick, 1 donut, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2pm, 2 ribs, a taste of mac n' cheese, a pint of beer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, shrimp panang curry with sticky rice, curry puffs, salad, water, vanilla ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Gargantuans

Woke up at 5 after a short night of fitful sleep, getting over a cold in it's final stages. Got myself to the farmer's market in Union Square and picked up supplies for brunch for 2 couples and their babies. Made a selection of bagels, nice small ones that aren't "mini" but aren't the gargantuans we get today -- a nice ratio of crust to innards. A set a side of salmon to cure a couple of days ago, busted that out and practiced my slicing skills. Whipped some heavy cream until the fat came together and formed butter.

I roasted some chestnuts for the first time. This was my dad's thing -- every Thanksgiving, he'd slice Xs into the tops of the nuts, brush them with oil, then roast them in this horrible electric counter top toaster oven -- what is up with those things? They were good, but once they came to room temp were a little rubbery. Going to experiment with this.

Edie was wonderful as always, enjoying the company.

BREAKFAST: 5am, small slice of flourless chocolate cake, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

BREAKFAST 2: half a piece of praline french toast, a breakfast sausage, a slice of bacon, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
From the breakfast bar at Wholefoods.

BRUNCH: noon-3pm, 2 homemade bagels with homamde gravlax, homemade butter and veg, several pieces of homemade flourless chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream, a glass of cider rum punch, a glass of prosecco, a handful of roasted chestnuts, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, 2 slices streetza, a green salad, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cooey

Not much going on today. Didn't feel like leaving the house, with a warm cat on my lap and a warm cooey Edie nestled in my arm.

BREAKFAST: 9am, organic milk with cheerios, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 1: 12:30pm, large green salad, small amount of cous cous salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH pt 2: 2pm, shrimp with broccoli, pork fried rice, shrimp toast, diet coke, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, pasta with homemade tomato sauce and ricotta, a handful of chocolate chips, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

I never met a piece of tofu that isn't better deep fried.

The started high-stress, taking Edie to the drop in at the pediatrician to have her little cough checked out -- just a little cold, her disposition is fine. Subway wasn't running, and instead of being 15 minutes early, arrived a solid 20 minutes into the 45 minute drop in time zone.

Edie's feeding has increased, and the cough sounds like it needs liquid to soothe, so we've started Edie on straight water. She's taking to it straight away, reminding me of the 3-4 big bottles of water I down every day!

BREAKFAST: 8am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH 1: 10:15am, large turkey & cheese sandwich, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
At Almondine, before hitting up the restaurant. Just hungry, a remnant of my unbalanced day yesterday. This was not just a sandwich to throw back and fill you up, a la Subway. A nice brown hearty crusty bread, a mild but interesting cheese (maybe gouda), moist smokey sliced turkey, a house-made mayo, it all just worked.

LUNCH 2: 12:30, 3 small slices pizza, 2 Manhattan Specials, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:30pm, rice-batter fried sprouted tofu cubes, spinach sauteed with chard and shitakes, sofrito rice & beans, butternut squash soup, apple crisp, vanilla ice cream, flourless chocolate cake, 2 glasses wine, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Cooked dinner for Ilsa, the mother of this blog, and C & B. Ilsa doesn't eat wheat, C doesn't eat meat, so had to get a little inventive. Just bought the rice flour at the market today and as a goof, did a basic fry batter with it instead of wheat flour -- actually came out surprisingly well, had a certain snap that wheat flour does not. I think I'd go halvsies with wheat next time. Ilsa supplied the apple crisp, which was very different than mine, and paired well with my ice cream.

Intense

An intense food day. Woke up with Ediebird before 7, fed her some rice mush and fed myself some smoothie mush, then got cooking sofrito for the rice n' beans I'm making tomorrow. I caramelized onions for a solid 2 hours before adding the peppers and garlic, came out more flavorful and full-bodied than before.

Momma-in-law came over to take the Edie, and I took off for school. We were cooking the sweets and the cornbread for next week's Thanksgiving blowout. We cooked, in large quantities, brownies, apple crisp, corn bread, pumpkin cheesecakes and sweet cinnamon compound butter. We jammed for a solid 4 hours, and I stayed behind while the cheesecakes set in the cooling oven's water baths.

Got home late n' spent, happy to be among my wifey and baby!

BREAKFAST: 8:15am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Little did I know that this would be pretty much the only nutritious thing I'd eat until the end of the day....

PM SNACK: 12:30p, ramekin of good chocolate chips, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

AFTERNOON SNACKING: 3-7pm, apple slices dressed with sugar, cinnamon and lemon, a few small squares of buttermilk cornbread, a juice box, some apple juice, tastes of brownie batter, pumpkin cheesecake batter, taste of raw apple crisp topping, .75 bowl hunger 4/5

DINNER: 9pm, Israeli cous-cous salad, lots of water, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

EVENING SNACK: 11pm, boiled leek dumplings, 5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Did not eat enough today.

Just eatin'

BREAKFAST: 8am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

LUNCH: 12 noon, left over spinach pasta with tomato sauce, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 2:30pm, a few tortilla chips, a few oven-dried tomato slices, 2 choco chip cookies, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Snacks at the baby drop-in.

DINNER I: 6:15pm, spinach knish, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER II: 7:15pm, WF-brand frozen pizza, 2 pieces of goyish chocolate rugellah, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Cider

Laundry early, then up to the Museum of Natural History with Edles to hang out with D and her 2 year old tot A. Lots of babies everywhere, lots of nannies, and lots of shops, eateries and tochke spots with stuff at knee level to tempt kids. I know the museum is dependent on donations to stay in business, but isn't this busking of the younger set a little out of step with it's mission to educate?

Stopped through the Union Square farmer's market on the way home, picked up some beautiful apples and some spectacular cider, as well as some day boat scallops from the shores of L.I.

BREAKFAST: 9:30am, Israeli Couscous, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
Didn't feel like breakfast food.

LUNCH: 1:15pm, falafel salad box, lemonade, half a pita, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
On the Upper West Side with D and her 2 year old girl. I filled that salad box to the brim, and felt like it weighed something fierce. Really filling.

PM SNACK: 4pm, apple cider, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Got a half gallon of spectacular fresh unpasteurized cider from the farmer's market. Hot diggity! The purity of the cider uncooked, there is a whole other flavor profile that is masked by pasteurization. Same thing with milk, except uncooked milk is illegal, boooo!

DINNER: 5:15pm, fresh spinach linguine with tomato sauce and pan-seared scallops, with ricotta and parm, apple cider, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Some beautiful scallops from the farmer's market. Made some off-the-cuff pasta sauce with stuff lying around. Unlike the Batalli recipe I've used in the past, here I throw wine in the onions and cook it off, and use dried herbs on hand.

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 buttermilk pancakes, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5
Hungryish, not for sugar, not because my stomach was rumbling, something else. Need for chewing and the feeling of eating?

A Catered Affair

Woke up to an alarm clock for the first time in a long time. Had to get together everything for the baby shower into a cart, get B and Edie together, and get out the door by 9am. Nothing like taking your family on the subways on a Sunday morning with about 65 lbs of food and stuff in a granny cart. I gotta hand it to B, she tolerates my shtick like no other, with good humor and makes this potentially awful morning smooth and fun.

And no, I dealt with the cart while she carried the Edie. I would of done both, but it was too dangerous going up and down stairs with that kind of weight.

The baby shower I cooked the food for went smoothly. The food was a hit, got a lot of compliments, though I was surprised that my favorite dish, the cous-cous salad, was probably the least popular. Another friend of C's did the sweets, of which I couldn't help but think how I'd do it all differently, a little less sweet there, a little more sweet here. Oh well.

I made a rum punch which went down really well: 4 parts apple cider, 1 part OJ, 1 part cranberry juice, 1 cinnamon stick, garnished with 4 orange slices with whole cloves studded in them. Heated, then 1 part spiced rum added. Very seasonally appropriate, gonna do it again for the mothers at some point.

BREAKFAST: 8:30am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

ALL DAY SNACKING: 10:30am-5:30pm, some Israeli cous-cous salad, a bite of mac n' cheese, 1 beer, 1 cup of rum punch, a handful of cream puffs, a slice of lemon cake, a thin slice of flourless chocolate cake, a handful of vegetable sticks, a handful of chocolate chip cookies, a few small cups of soda, a few bites of random cheeses on crackers, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Simple Day

Cooked up large quantities of food today, for a baby-shower I'm cohosting at a friend's house tomorrow. Went to Wholefoods in the morning, then B split for a bookclub while Edie watched me work in the kitchen. B came home in the late afternoon as I was finishing up, I ordered in some dinner, and got to bed early. And that was the day that was!

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DAY OF SNACKING: 12-5pm, cheese cubes, bits of mac n' cheese, Israeli cous cous, some potato nick, water, 1.25 bowl hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7:30pm, roti canai, pad thai, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5Simplke

Mothers

I did a quick shop in the hood while doing the laundry. I stopped into the kosher bakery on my block, and picked up some potato nick and ruggelah. There was an old man beside me ordering, had to be in his 80s and a life-long Lower East Sider. Hearing aide, tweed sports coat, wool flat-cap, thick glasses, hunched a bit. He opened an old thick wallet to get his money out, and in the plastic part which holds cards and IDs, on the top facing out was a photograph.

It was a photograph of an old smiling woman wearing a house-coat/mumu kind of thing, pointy cat-eye glasses, gray hair tied back and piled on top of her head, and an ornate curtain behind her. She was smiling broadly, which seemed to accentuate the globular nature of her Eastern European nose. The picture looked faded, the colors turning black and white, probably taken in the mid to late 60s. At first I thought this was his wife, but the picture was too old for a person in it looking that old....it must of been his mother. It made me really sad for a moment -- is this old man hanging on that closely to a memory of his dear departed mom? I think of my mom daily -- it's hard not to when you have an infant that shares her name -- but that picture both made me miss my mom and made me thank goodness that we had appropriate bounderies when she was alive. I mean, dude. It's your mom. Get over it!

Saw "2012" this evening. Question: If all the wealthy people in the world were to get into arks to save themselves from massive floods, and they were to take 2 of every animal like they did in the biblical story, and THEN you crammed 10s of 1000s of extra people who weren't planned for onto said ark, after a month at sea don't you think most of those animals would get eaten? That the ark would be kinda like Superdome II? Stupid Hollywood blockbusters.

BREAKFAST: 9:15am, good yogurt with homemade vanilla extract, honey, cashews, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
My vanilla extract tastes different than the store bought stuff, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Is it more vanilla-y? Less boozy? It sure looks different, like a liquidy milk chocolate rather than watery black coffee.

LUNCH: 1:30pm, hot dog, potato nick, some chocolate rugellah, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
D from SI and her 2 year old A came over for a visit, I offered either homemade pasta with spinach and shrimp or this lunch, this lunch was much more 2-year-old friendly. I saw first hand what "Terrible 2s" mean, I wonder if Edie will ever be like that. Totally cute but really exhausting to even watch. Like watching a really long special-effects driven disaster movie...

DINNER: 10pm, 2 sices sausage pizza, salad, 1 beer, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Out at Patsy's after a movie with friends. Not my idea, but enjoyed it. In the basement, going to the bathroom, saw a large stack of #10 cans of roasted peppers. Lazy bums!

Baby Brain

Didn't do much today other than spend a lot of time on the couch snuggled with Edie. Attempted to go to yoga, but between leaving my metrocard behind and misreading the time of the class, was a bit of a farce. Still, it was good to be out in the bracing cold without concern whether the lil' bebe is uncomfortable or at risk of getting sick n' wot not.

BREAKFAST: 9am, organic cheerios with organic dead milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, 2 lotus leaf wraps, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked these up from a street vendor on the walk over to the supermarket, little pockets of saucy pork surrounded by fragrant sticky rice. Each piece is $1.10, and the vendor offered to sell me a cold bag of 10 for $8.50. Mmmmm, I could eat those all day, and I don't think I need that much mystery meat in my life. Maybe I should try to make these at home, using good meat.

PM SNACK: 3pm, popcorn, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
Stomach is feeling weirdly unhungry. Maybe it's because I'm spending the day indoors staying still with lovely Edles snuggled up on me? Used good butter and sea salt to make this popcorn I pucked up at the farmer's market.

DINNER: 6:30pm, slice of streetza, large chocolate chip cookie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Was supposed to be yogaing at this time, but got the time wrong so I hung out until the HVS was done.

SNICKLESNACK: 8pm, pea soup, glass of cider, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
I served myself the bacony version while HVS had the appropriately vegan version, along with the rice n' beans. Why am I not hungrier?

Ovaries

Spent the morning at the restaurant, then off to Union Square to pick up some stuff for the baby shower I'm cohosting Sunday. In the evening, Me, B & Edles trekked out to Brooklyn for the Corduroy Appreciation Club Grand Meeting. E was the only baby there -- there was another child, maybe 3 or 4, but that was the daughter of the president. Nice/Weird being at a gathering of non-baby folk.

I tried to pull back on the eating today, but I just stayed hungry. I ate a hot dog and rice at home before leaving, thinking that might be it for the day, but my stomach had different ideas. Is it the weather? The season? My ovaries?

BREAKFAST: 9am, pumpernickel bagel with cream cheese, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 11:30am, Manhattan Special, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
It tasted too sweet today. Huh, I wonder if it's me or inconsistency in the product.


LUNCH: 1pm, half a medium pizza, cream soda, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 5:15pm, hot dog with kraut, mushroom rice pilaf, a swig of cider, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 7pm, half a falafel sandwich, .33 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNORT: 7:45pm, glass of red wine

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, 2 small churros, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 10pm, 2 pancakes, small quantity of potato chips, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

Maintenance dose

BREAKFAST: 9am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM SNACK: 10:45pm, 1 cold potato samosa, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Picked up some ingredients at Wholefoods, felt a little nippy. Not very good.

LUNCH: 12:15pm, tomato soup, half a salami and tallegio sandwich, a piece of bread, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
After a baby book reading group, grabbed lunch with a couple of the muthahs. Sandwich was surprisingly tame, was expecting a bigger flavor.

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, a bite of white bean dip, a square of cookie crumble, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
At the playdate drop in, would be rude not to try the organizer's homemade snacks.

PM SNACK: 3:15pm, slice of streetza, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER PT 1: 5pm, large green salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
I knew I was going to be downtown and would probably be unhealthy, so got this in as an appetizer before leaving.

EVENING SNORT: 6:15pm, 1/4 pint of a Guinness
I was surprised to find my wife didn't know I didn't like Guiness. I don't mind stouts, but Guinness never seemed to balance the bitter/smooth for me.

DINNER PT 2: 7pm, shrimp empanada, McDonalds "Medium" Fries, small plate of tuna rolls, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
As B enjoyed a reading by a friend a a bar, me n' Edie enjoyed the warm weather between the tall buildings of the financial district. Lots of fast food. Stopped in three joints to complete this meal. Always amazed by the size of McD's fries. What they call a medium was my childhood's extra-large. And yeah, when I finished them, I craved more.

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, ice cream cone, small quantity of chocolate chip cookies, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
As Edie slept in the carrier, I swung by a drugstore before going home. I did not want a repeat of last night. This was like a maintenance dose of heroin for a junky, not enough to get me high, just enough to curb the cravings and get a good night sleep.

Evil Snack

B went out with friends this evening, so Edie's welfare was really on me today. After having a go at a few bottles of milk and formula, I decided to feed her some rice cereal around 4pm. Extra thick I prepared it, to see if a) she liked it that way, b) if it would cut down on the mess, c) if it would make any difference with her level of satiation. Definitely positives on A and B, C harder to tell. She definitely enjoyed the paste-like rice cereal, panting excitedly between little baby spoonfuls. Ridiculous!

I spent the day knocking out laundry, food shopping and cooking. Bleah pancakes in the morning, and 3 large pots of double-strength chicken stock all afternoon. This is a key ingredient in making the Israeli cous cous grain salad for a baby shower this weekend, as well as proper stuffing for the 200+ people me and my students will be feeding on Thanksgiving. Stock-making is a time-consuming and messy task, and I just don't have that extra day with the kids to just do this step, so I'm knocking it out at home with Edles at my side.

After dinner, had the biggest craving for sugar, but resisted -- I had to, as there are no sweets in the house, and Edie just got to bed, and there is no way I'm either waking Edie or leaving the house with her alone, just to get a sugar fix. Thank goodness I ain't a junkie.

BREAKFAST: 10am, buttermilk pancakes, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
While the laundry was in process and Edie was in a happy state, I dug up a random buttermilk pancake recipe and went for it. Made a lot, enough for another 3 breakfasts in the freezer. However, did not like how they come out. There was a 1 to 2 dry to liquid ratio, and while the result was very tender and moist, even the very-cooked ones tasted on the verge of being mushy/raw. Very filling.

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, glass of apple cider, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Cider season is here again. Gotta constrain myself -- this stuff has just about as many calories as corn-syrup-laden soda.

LUNCH: 3:30pm, large green salad, small quantity of potato chips, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 7pm, seared pork loin, mushroom rice pilaf, a large swig of apple cider, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5 Mushroom pilaf came out ok, just ok. Sauteed long grain brown rice in butter, along with some minced dried mushroom and shallots. Salted it, added chicken stock from the last batch, and cooked slowly covered until soft. Not enough salt, mushroom flavor fell flat. The pork rocked, though. Cut the loin into cubes, salted, then made the pan super hot with chicken fat in it. After resting the meat, I found I had cooked it just as I liked it. Crispy seared crust on the outside, juicy with a hint of pink at the middle. Pat myself on the back for that one.

EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, the good yogurt with extra honey, homemade vanilla extract and cashews, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
I thought the sugar craving would fade as dinner worked into my system, but it just got worse. This breakfast became a good after-dinner sniggidysnack.

EVIL SNACK: 12-1am, potatochips, pancake
Not so much hungry but craving fat, craving salt. Very odd. Am I pregnant?