Monday, June 22, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
working girl
I was going to write a weepy how-can-my-baby-be-almost-a-year-old-already post, but then he interrupted me and, well, now I'm over it. ("It" being writing the post, not the general freaked-out-ness over the VERY OLD BABY I now mother.)
Just for your information, though:
one year ago
now
It's officially crazy.
But (as the Monty Python boys say) now for something completely different!
I am once again gainfully employed!
A friend from my homeschooling group opened a store about a month ago. She's selling cloth diapers, baby carriers, wooden toys, nursing bras, and hippie menstrual products (among other things). She's basically selling all the things I've so far had to buy online (and pay shipping for, and we all know how I feel about that). I'm helping out two days per week, and I get to bring Noah (which is both awesome and exhausting). My first two shifts were really stressful and sort of crazy because I had so much to learn but seemingly zero brain capacity to listen (since I was simultaneously trying to keep Noah from destroying the displays, taking away my friend's son's paci, and drooling and/or chewing on the customers' shoes). My third day was magically better and by my fourth shift I felt like a pro (which I am not, just for the record). I am so excited!!!
Just for your information, though:
one year ago
now
It's officially crazy.
But (as the Monty Python boys say) now for something completely different!
I am once again gainfully employed!
A friend from my homeschooling group opened a store about a month ago. She's selling cloth diapers, baby carriers, wooden toys, nursing bras, and hippie menstrual products (among other things). She's basically selling all the things I've so far had to buy online (and pay shipping for, and we all know how I feel about that). I'm helping out two days per week, and I get to bring Noah (which is both awesome and exhausting). My first two shifts were really stressful and sort of crazy because I had so much to learn but seemingly zero brain capacity to listen (since I was simultaneously trying to keep Noah from destroying the displays, taking away my friend's son's paci, and drooling and/or chewing on the customers' shoes). My third day was magically better and by my fourth shift I felt like a pro (which I am not, just for the record). I am so excited!!!
Monday, June 08, 2009
eleven months and counting
On Friday, Noah was taking things out of his diaper bag. When I checked back in on him a few moments later, he had found my apple and was TAKING BITES out of it. He loved it.(And now he's waking up and wants milkies and mama cuddles. Because he is a big boy during the day, but he's still a snugglebaby at night. Thank God!)
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
yogurt smackdown
I have been wanting to make my own yogurt for years now. We always did when I was growing up, and the taste of home-made yogurt trumps even the best organic brands out there (sorry, Strauss Farms!).
Most people would just get a yogurt maker (like this one) and call it a day. But oh, not us overthinkers! First, I was grumpy that I would have to pay some exorbitant sum of money for shipping ("exorbitant" being anything more than "free" - I really hate to pay for shipping. HATE it!*). Second, and more importantly, I realized that I simply had no room for yet another "small" appliance in my kitchen (and I did not want home-made yogurt badly enough to put the yogurt-maker into the bedroom). Thus began the quest for an alternative solution for my DIY dairy needs.
First, I tried making yogurt in my crock pot. It has worked for others**, but in my case, it produced half a gallon of slightly smelly burned milk. FAIL!
I'm guessing that either, the milk was still too hot when I put in my yogurt starter, or the crock pot was too hot even on "low."
Then, my mom told me about a Tupperware method using a contraption that is designed to strain noodles and then keep them warm (and which I can't find on their website - I imported mine from Germany). At the same time, a friend told me about the Alton Brown method (and I love me some Alton, even though I've never seen his show because I don't have cable and also live under a rock).
Thusly, I set out to try again.
On the left, you see the Tupperware contraption. I poured my heated-then-chilled milk-and-yogurt-starter into a (sorry, fake-Tupperware from IKEA) bowl, set that bowl inside the Tupperware contraption filled with boiling water, and covered it.
On the right, we have a big glass bowl with the milky yogurt mixture on top of my heating pad nestled inside an even bigger glass bowl. I set the heating pad on "low" and loosely covered the smaller bowl with its lid.
13 hours later, I had this:
WIN!
I did not put the yogurts into the refrigerator right away. Chilling stops the fermenting process and I wanted to firm them up a little more. It turns out that the Tupperware yogurt didn't firm up much more (perhaps adding some more boiling water would have done the trick), and the heating pad yogurt firmed up beautifully but got a touch too sour for me.
Overall, I think that the Tupperware method would work better with smaller, individual containers. The instructions came directly from Tupperware, and actually said to use individual containers. I didn't have any that were readily available, and lo, I was too lazy to find any.The heating pad yogurt is delightful. I am going to start chilling it sooner next time, but I imagine it'll turn out firm and slightly sour - just the way I like it. Alton Brown FTW!
The yellow layer on top you see in the pictures is there because I used cream-top milk. Why I did that I really don't know (I think it just sounded exclusive and sumptuous). I'm not doing that again... it was hard to get out of the bottle, difficult to stir in, and the yellow layer is a little, well, icky.
Most people would just get a yogurt maker (like this one) and call it a day. But oh, not us overthinkers! First, I was grumpy that I would have to pay some exorbitant sum of money for shipping ("exorbitant" being anything more than "free" - I really hate to pay for shipping. HATE it!*). Second, and more importantly, I realized that I simply had no room for yet another "small" appliance in my kitchen (and I did not want home-made yogurt badly enough to put the yogurt-maker into the bedroom). Thus began the quest for an alternative solution for my DIY dairy needs.
First, I tried making yogurt in my crock pot. It has worked for others**, but in my case, it produced half a gallon of slightly smelly burned milk. FAIL!
I'm guessing that either, the milk was still too hot when I put in my yogurt starter, or the crock pot was too hot even on "low."
Then, my mom told me about a Tupperware method using a contraption that is designed to strain noodles and then keep them warm (and which I can't find on their website - I imported mine from Germany). At the same time, a friend told me about the Alton Brown method (and I love me some Alton, even though I've never seen his show because I don't have cable and also live under a rock).
Thusly, I set out to try again.
On the left, you see the Tupperware contraption. I poured my heated-then-chilled milk-and-yogurt-starter into a (sorry, fake-Tupperware from IKEA) bowl, set that bowl inside the Tupperware contraption filled with boiling water, and covered it.
On the right, we have a big glass bowl with the milky yogurt mixture on top of my heating pad nestled inside an even bigger glass bowl. I set the heating pad on "low" and loosely covered the smaller bowl with its lid.
13 hours later, I had this:
WIN!I did not put the yogurts into the refrigerator right away. Chilling stops the fermenting process and I wanted to firm them up a little more. It turns out that the Tupperware yogurt didn't firm up much more (perhaps adding some more boiling water would have done the trick), and the heating pad yogurt firmed up beautifully but got a touch too sour for me.
Overall, I think that the Tupperware method would work better with smaller, individual containers. The instructions came directly from Tupperware, and actually said to use individual containers. I didn't have any that were readily available, and lo, I was too lazy to find any.The heating pad yogurt is delightful. I am going to start chilling it sooner next time, but I imagine it'll turn out firm and slightly sour - just the way I like it. Alton Brown FTW!
The yellow layer on top you see in the pictures is there because I used cream-top milk. Why I did that I really don't know (I think it just sounded exclusive and sumptuous). I'm not doing that again... it was hard to get out of the bottle, difficult to stir in, and the yellow layer is a little, well, icky.
*Quite possibly, this is the thing that is saving us from bankruptcy right now, because online shopping would be my favorite hobby if it wasn't for shipping.
**I couldn't find a record on the blog, but she did twitter it!
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
baby steps
Just like that, I haven't blogged in over 2 months. I was just telling Bethany that I was having a hard time finding my way back into blogging. I feel like being gone for that long means that I should now have something spectacularly awesome to tell you (hint: I don't). Bethany is never one to be short on good advice, so I'm following it: Just post a picture of Noah.Well, there you go. My baby is huge. He has three teeth. He pulls himself up on everything. He opens kitchen cabinet doors and drawers. He tries to reach his hands into the toilet and is getting very frustrated about being shushed away from the (apparently very exciting) bathroom trash can. Yesterday, he chewed the spine off one of his books. He can crawl out of the bathtub and off my bed by himself. He can shake his head 'no' and he usually means it. He says "Nein, nein, nein" when he realizes I'm putting him down for a nap. He can open his diaper pail and pull out dirty diapers (that was a fun discovery!). He's becoming more boy and less baby every day.
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