Mushrooms

I'm not sure when it was that I decided mushrooms were yummy. I always thought they were gorgeous, a biology teacher in high school would make shitake tea every day that was a great break, and puffballs are still a treasured and hoarded find when on a walk. Eating them is a recent occurrence, though. Mom apparently doesn't like them so we never had them on the table and really, they look disgusting in any dish. So you won't be seeing any photos with this post. However, I have started to incorporate them into meals. They're inexpensive, filling, and an excuse to cook with butter and wine. They're also very rich, so when I tasted dinner tonight, I knew I had to share my semi-made up recipe. Basically, it's scalloped potatoes with mushrooms minus the rue I normally make. Here goes:

Preheat oven to 375
Butter a baking dish. I used my lasagna pan so it was a big one
Scrub and thinly slice potatoes. I left the skin on and I'm glad I did, but this was just a time saver. (You won't see many measurements here as I rarely measure even when using a recipe)
Thinly slice 1/2 onion
Slice 1 pound of mushrooms (or buy them that way)
In bowl mix 2 cans of cream of whatever soup (I used 1 mushroom and 1 chicken), bit of salt, pepper, scoop of mayo, few TBLS sour cream (that's all I had left), garlic powder, mustard powder, oregano.
Layer potatoes, onions and mushrooms. Spread with half the mixture, repeat. This filled my pan to the brim.
Melt 1/2 stick of butter and pour over top of potatoes
Cover with foil and pop in the oven until tender. Took about an hour. Then uncover, sprinkle with shredded cheese (cheddar and Parmesan) and bake until browned, another 5 or so minutes.
Serve and feel the pounds pile on. Don't forget the ketchup for less refined palates.

Second mushroom note: Trader Joe's (the bestest grocery store in the world) has been featuring a different cheese every few days. Sunday it was 3 cream Brie with wild mushrooms. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. That's all I have to say about that.

In unrelated news, Henri has added emptying the dishwasher to her list of chores she enjoys, an Ikea trip was extremely profitable (for both the store and us) and Henri is loving her new highchair, the guest room is becoming a functional space, 1/3 of the 5 pounds of fudge I made yesterday has mysteriously disappeared, I really dislike kids for any length of time extending beyond one hour, the countdown is on for VT (!), back pain seems to be plaguing this family, the house never materialized,  we're still having gorgeous weather, and Fear Factor makes me throw up.

In news related to Trader Joe's, their shopping bags currently have gift tags on the front and the side panels can be cut out to make a decorative paper chain. 2 bags were enough to make a chain for the front window and it's quite festive.

Not that I post too often, so I know you won't be concerned, but we're off to God's country soon and shan't return till the new year. Merry Christmas!

The way babies are made

God knew what He was doing when He designed infants. Obviously this applies to a lot more, but we'll stick with young 'uns for the moment. When first born, there's this weird rush of hormones that has you sitting on the edge of your hospital bed just staring at the rise and fall of your newborns chest, no thought of being tired even though you haven't slept in 3 days or nights. And then after day 5 you're full of paranoid thoughts that has you convinced, though you'd love to put her down so you could nap, that a giant eagle is going to swoop in and snatch her if you take even one finger off her (please tell me I'm not the only one who was sure this would happen). Just when you're about to crack from the lack of sleep and the fact that your arm has gone numb from holding this bundle for 2 straight months, she smiles at you. And then you spend the next 3 months doing everything you can to make it happen again. Finally, at 6 months of age, you've regained control of yourself. You know she's too big for an eagle small enough to fit through your window to lift, you know SIDS risk is greatly reduced, and you're desperate for a pedicure. Should be simple, right? Leave her with one of the many (very kind) folks that's been clammering to watch her for you and take off for a few hours. She won't starve, you won't miss a huge milestone since she's not due for any for a bit, and she won't notice you being gone because (according to baby-care books) seperation anxiety won't hit until age 9 months. HA. Maybe it's because she was so overdue when she finally made her appearance, but Henri has full mastery of that particular milestone. And while I fantasize about getting my hair done or even eating a full meal in more than seven minutes, I have to give credit to a pretty ingenious creation. God knew I would have left her at the firehouse a few times there, or been one of those moms (you know who you are!) who "forgets" to get their kid from nursery until the irate worker seeks you out. So while she's pretty capable of existing for a reasonable amount of time without me glued to her, the temptation would be there to stretch that time out. And God decided that babies need their mom for the first full year of their life.
All that to say, I'm hoping to leave Henri with my folks and all of her aunts (6 of them!) and uncle (the cool, semi-scary, tatted up one) for a few hours in the evening so that S and I can have a date when we go home for Christmas. I don't know what to do on one anymore, and I doubt we have anything to talk about, but that will be OK because I'm fairly confident there will be a phone call 30 minutes into it to tell me my daughter is having an epic meltdown.

Completely unrelated, but we're still waiting to hear back about a house in Waltham we offered for. I think temporary insanity hit both of us, and the chances of us getting it are extremely minute, but if we do....well, this blog is going to become more of a "before and after"...with the "before" tempting you to call CPS because we even dared to bring Henri through it on a tour. There will also be a new cast of characters including Chambers, the orange cat that clearly belongs to the house and thinks we belong to him, and the racoon currently residing in the attic. Also an ancient asbestos covered furnace, two rotted out bathrooms, unidentified 2-year old stuff in the freezer, moldy windows, curved walls, marble thresholds, an awesome offset fireplace, two (!) staircases, one with insanely gorgeous carved details, a possible pantry, the need for complete replumbing and wiring, a total paint job, hardwood floors to drool over once they get stripped, insulation to lay, four bedrooms to configure, an extra room that will hopefully become the library/music room (should I paint it a deep green or more of a neutral tan?) a huge garage and a small garden area. Now if it'd only come with a secret stash of 50K that we unearth we'd be all set. Should know by Thursday!

Miss Clingy Independence

Well, we are seeing the emergence of toddler attitude already. Now that she can pull to stand and cruise on everything, Henri thinks she's master of her destiny. Until she gets stuck somewhere. Or gets something taken away from her. Or I step out of sight/reach. She's still not a cuddler but now there's got to be contstant physical contact. And my child has turned into "that one" that nursery workers everywhere hate and dread. Some say, "Aw she's tired". Others say "I'm not really good with babies". But I think the truth was summed up by a lovely lady in NY who, after I was texted for the second time in service, said "She has quite the temper". Yup, tell me about it.
Lest you think she's all horrid, she does have some justification for the contant whining. She has two teeth now and I think the top are coming in as well. She still has her cold and is stuffy and dripping. She's certainly having a growth spurt because according to our scale she's gained two pounds in a month. And she's just discovering that her actions have the same sequele of consequences so she's doing her best to figure that all out which I imagine to be very difficult.
So we're getting through our days with lots of prayers for patience. And plenty of walking practice. And access to paper for chewing because it's fairly benign and keeps her quiet.