Diapers.com discount

 

 

They now have a lot more than diapers, incluidng maternity wear and baby gifts.
Save $10 on your first order at www.diapers.com when you enter the code IMAMA10.

 

Triple washed and ready to eat

Those have to be 6 of my favorite words when it comes to salad greens. Equally exciting to me is that for the last two days I’ve been able to actually eat salad for lunch.

I made a rather delicious one by combining:

·         Spinach leaves

·         Red seedless grapes

·         Avocado

·         Fresh thyme leaves

·         Chunks of yummy cheese

·         Dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pepper, and sea salt

Why is this so exciting? Because well past the 1^st trimester, I’ve experienced so-called “morning sickness”. Mine is usually worse in the evenings. It flared up again during and after traveling too. If Ahuva’s pregnancy is any predictor, I can expect to have some vomiting all the way through to the end.

Some more good news, I just read that morning sickness is associated with high IQs of babies: http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/archive/2009/04/24/sick-in-the-morning-good-your-kids-will-thank-you.aspx

 

Yes, I am now (quite) pregnant again. Expecting Bambino, a boy, August 6^th.

Pasta!

Yesterday morning in the kitchen, Ahuva said, “I wanna work with FLOUR.”

“Great!” I said. “We can make pasta.”

I took out a big blue bowl and put it on the low end table that is her work station. She knelt on the little white stool and helped me measure the following ingredients. First the dry, then making a well in the center we added the wet:

 

Ingredients

·         2 c. all-purpose flour (I would try substituting 1 c. whole wheat next time)

·         1 c. semolina flour (YUM!)

·         ½ tsp. salt (I think it needs more)

·         2 eggs, plus 4 egg yolks, beaten together  (Or, I followed the recipes suggestion and “For a nutritional boost, replace one of the eggs with ½ c. pureed beans or vegetables.” That comes to 2 2 oz. jars or one 4 oz. jar Earth’s Best baby food. I used Spinach and potato flavor and used 3 full eggs which I did not bother to beat together first).

Working with spoons and hands, we combined the ingredients and formed a stiff dough. It was not unlike play dough. But at this point Ahuva wanted to wash her hands and left me to knead the dough “until just smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes”. Well, closer to the 5.

I refrigerated the dough in a little container and took Huvie off to school.

 

In the evening, with lots of extra semolina flour around to sprinkle, I rolled out the dough until it was nearly paper-thin. I used a bottle to do this. Then I cut the dough in uneven strips using a pizza cutter. I was aiming for spaghetti but mostly got closer to the kind of egg noodle you put in kuggel. No matter.

 

It is already summer-like here and Aba and Ahuva ended up staying a very long time at the playground with many of her classmates. They came home happy, flushed, dirty and hungry.

 

Water boiling, I discovered that much of my laboriously cut pasta strips (it took considerably longer than the listed “30 minutes active time” to create them, especially if you discount the morning efforts of ~10 min) had turned into tangled pasta mass.

 

“What’s that?” asked Ahuva.

“That’s pasta,” I said, “You made it, remember? We’re going to cook it now. Here, help me untangle these.”

“Yah!” But her little hands pressed further, making doughy masses that were even more stuck.

“I wanna eat it!” she said. I let her try a bite, forgetting for a moment that it contained raw egg, remembering only the pleasure of raw dough and wanting to let her experience that.

“Mmmm, pasta!” she declared, reaching for a fist-full of dough.

“Noooooo! We have to cook it first!”. I had to confiscate the bowl. I salvaged what I could from the strips and while they boiled, set about re-forming the tangled masses with aid of bottle and pizza cutter into whatever I could quickly create: thick new rolls and chunky little gnocchi-esque cubes or mushed cubes approximating orecchiette.  

 

The noodles emerged thick and chewey from the pot. I didn’t think they tasted so hot when I took them out. They needed salt and were a bit bland. But at the table with additions of butter, parmesan cheese, some lovely grey French sea salt and some broccoli I’d pan-steamed with garlic, they were delish. Both Ahuva and Aba cried for “MORE!”. There were just enough left to pack in her lunch box for the next day.

 

I will try to score a pasta maker on www.freecycle.org next time I have something to offer there since it seems like the rolling out the dough was (for me) the hardest part. With slightly bigger kids, I imagine that could be a fun, play dough like task.

---

OLPC

Give one, get one, change the world: http://www.laptop.org/

Cooking MORE Cholent

No, no. As soon as I wrote that title I realized you might get the wrong idea. So let me dispel rumors right now. I’m not pregnant again. Yet. Not that I’d tell you right away if I were.

I thought to call this entry “Cookin’ Cholent II: Electric Boogaloo” because I love calling things “X II: Electric Boogaloo”. But that wouldn’t be accurate either. Because unlike the classic film, Breakin' 2 - Electric Boogaloo it’s not a totally new version that has utterly no relationship to the original. Rather, I want to give new meaning to the old blog. Why? Because it is here that I did my best writing for a while. Or at least, I did writing. And as my brother says, “DONE IS BETTER THAN GOOD”. I had readers. I had all my passwords and options set up. And I had fun.

To take an example from the high-tech world in which I work, the baby code-named “Cholent” has been delivered, released as you will, as a fully functioning product. You may know her as Ahuva Yonit. But the metaphor of “Cooking Cholent” still works nicely as a title for a blog full of ruminations on a little of this, a little of that. On the bits and pieces and influential spices that make up dish of my life. And oh yeah, it’s about cooking too.

A visiting friend I hadn’t seen in a while asked me if I was still cooking as much as when I was pregnant. I was surprised. I cook almost every day for my family. I spend an incredible amount of physical and psychic energy planning, shopping for, preparing, and cleaning up meals. What’s changed is that I no longer had any time to write about it.

 

Actually, everything’s changed.

I have a walking, talking toddler now instead of a mysterious creature in my belly. I have a newish job and newish apartment in an old\new city. I have new friends and new relationships with old ones. I have a new nephew. Two new nephews, in fact.

New pressures and new rewards.

 

War is not good for anything. But it was rather good for writing. It gave me a sense of urgency as well as an outlet for fears and confusions.  Still, it’s better not to live in a war. I always say that I have zero interest in extreme sports because real life is exciting enough. Well, let me put that to the test.

 

Welcome back, blog fans!

 

Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day.

— Anonymous quote

 

 

Time to blog again?

Since I got back from Seattle last week, there's a new world order in our house. Adi initiated it. Instead of me doing the bath -> bed routine that by necessity immediately follows dinner, we're alternating nights. So every other night I get to do a little more work, read some emails, make a phone call, take a shower BY MYSELF or even (dare I dream it): sit on the couch and read. It seems like a tiny thing, to gain an hour or two every other night (depending on how long it takes to clean up the post-dinner mess which can be considerable). But it's life changing.
More than ever I now look forward to my turn to play in the bath, read a book, snuggle and sing until twisting, turning and sometimes crying gives way to slumber.

Last night I put two capfuls of Elmo Wild Watermelon bubble bath in the bath with us. Ahuva gave that raised eye-brow look of awe that I love and softly, reverently, said "buh-boul". She was a little disturbed when rubber ducky disappeared within the foam and relieved to see him reappear. She played with her pirate toys, asked for more and more and more baby toothpaste on her brush. And something new: she rubbed her little hands on the giant bar of soap and instead of cleaning and re-cleaning her bulging little tummy she leaned over and said "Mama" and washed my collar bones. We were both very pleased.

Cholent Checklist

Every time I make cholent, it seems when I wake up the next morning to smell that delicious smell, I'm also struck by a "D'oh!" feeling as I remember failing to add some ingredient I wanted to include. Of course the beauty of cholent is that it's wildly open to variations. No two of my cholents come out alike. But with practice, they have gotten consistently better. And so, rather than a recipe, I conclude this blog with a checklist of required and optional ingredients. I plan to return to tweak the format a bit. And I will happily post your comments. Happy Cholenting!

 

Required Ingredients

• One teaspoon of jam*
• Some form of beans: kidney beans, chick peas, white beans or a mixture
• Rice or barley
• Spices: which ones? NOT salt. Paprica, a dash of cinnamon... pepper, Chinese 5 spice works wonders.

 

Optional Ingredients

• Potatoes. Washed, cut into walnut-sized chunks.
• Sweet Potatoes
• Carrots
• Prunes
• Eggs. Whole. Put them uncooked on top of everything else.
• Meat. Browned.**
• Onions.
• Garlic
• Kishkes
• Stuffed eggplants for hamin (see recipe)

*Not sugar, not catsup. Jam. Any kind. Just a teaspoonful. No idea why, but it works.

** Highly recommended. Even as a long-term vegetarian, I have to admit the meat makes a difference. A huge time saver is to create what my mother invented as "cholent active packs". Buy a bunch of meat, brown it with onions and freeze in separate packs. When Friday comes, just take out a pack (no need to defrost) and add all the other ingredients.

 

A wrap

It's about a year since I started this blog. The war is mercifully over.

"Cholent" is fully cooked and then some. Now we call her "pitzkele Oyfele" - little chicken in Yiddish.

And we're getting ready to start our next life's adventure.

So I'm going to wrap up this blog.

If you're interested in joining us for the next chapter, check out my new blog: www.neualtland.blogspot.com.

And I'm going to leave you with something useful and delicious in my final post.

Keep cooking!

Love,

me

Furnished Apartment to rent in Haifa - great for visiting academic!

We're going abroad for 5 years and so our apt. is available. Please forward freely..

Clean, comfortable apartment in the heart of Mount Carmel's Ahuza neighborhood. $750/month

Perfect for visiting couple or small family!

2.5 bedrooms, 2 American-style baths (one with shower, one with giant bathtub). Fully-firnished. Central heating & air conditioning. Quiet, yet centrally-located Ahuza location (Moria Ave.) within short walk of all conveniences: shops, cafes, public transportation. Modern kitchen with all appliances (dishwasher, oven, stove, microwave, toaster oven, soda maker, complete set of dishes and cookware). Each bedroom has a full-sized bed + linens, towels. American Maytag washer and dryer. Available July 30, 2007 for up to 5 years. Private parking for one car.

Photos http://www.ahuva.phanfare.com/album/239063

Non-smoking long-term renters prefered.

Details, questions please respond to this post. 

Big News

I've told my boss so now I can tell you all, my dear readers. Adi was accepted for graduate studies at his top choice school, Columbia University. He will start classes in fall 2007 towards a combined MA/PHd in Yiddish Literature. This means that we will leave Haifa, my home of ten years and instead will live within blocks of my parents. My aunt reports that since they heard the news, my parents feet have not touched the ground!

Meanwhile, I am sad to be leaving my sunny neighborhood in the Carmel which I have grown to enjoy and appreciate more than ever  these past few weeks on daily walks with Ahuva. However, I'm looking forward to embarking on our little family's new adventure and to being reunited with family and friends in the Old Country.

After Passover, I will return to work part time until the move at which point I will resign from MegaCorp after over ten years of service. I plan instead to start my own consulting business from home, doing usability consulting and a bit of techinical writing and training.

All's Well

Ahuva rocked her well baby checkup at tipat chalav today. Both nurse and doctor were impressed with her development. I'm sorry I didn't bring a camera to capture her smiling at dr. with stethascope pressed to her little chest. She is an impressive 6.6 kilos (14 and a half lbs.), 59 cm in length.

She also had some vaccinations - not fun. These may cause fever so we bought some baby tylenol as advised.

 

This weekend we went on our first family trip. It was wonderful. We stayed at a kibbutz guest house way up north and visited the Hula Valley nature reserve. Little did we know it, but they offered 3-person side-by-side bikes for visiting the 10 KM trail. Perfect for us! With car seat in the middle for Ahuva, we were able to get excercise and stop and start as we liked. Well, Ahuva didn't much care for stopping!

 

Erster Urlaub

A Visit in the Village

Yesterday Ahuva and I made our farthest trip yet, to visit our friends in Dalyat-al-Karmel. As you can see, it was a beautiful day and Ahuva was treated royally.

Mitzva Making

I dressed Ahuva up in her first dress (thank you cool R.I. cousins!!) for her first shiva call. Sadly, a dear family friend passed away. Ahuva was well behaved during the visit and brought some smiles to the mourners.

Smiling

Ahuva is doing more cooing and smiling.

She even made her first joke: In the middle of a smiling session she suddenly scrunched up her face as though unhappy. When my expression changed accordingly, she burst back into a smile as if to say "Ha, ha! Gotchu, Mommy!" If you're not laughing, well, I guess you had to be there. I was totally amused.

This weekend Ahuva successuflly appeared at a Bris for twin boys (little Amir may be in love with Ahuva), a dinner in a restaurant hosted by guests from abroad, and a Saturday outing to a fine Haifa cafe. Not too shabby!

This weekend we're planning a family OVERNIGHT adventure in the north at www.biktot10.com.

Baby Yoga

Thursday Ahuva and I went to our first session of "Baby Yoga" class at a local "Mommy and Me" club called Tandu. It was totally silly and fun!
I told my mother I feared it would be "too yuppie".
"So what if it is? You're a bit of a yuppie. Be true to your class," she urged. I couldn't have been more glad that I did.
Unfortunatly, we were 30 min late and so missed hearing everyone's name and birth stories. We were slowed by a trip to Ahuva's nice doctor who confirmed that the many little red pimples that come and go on Ahuva's face are totally harmless. Dr. K. says no one knows why they come, and that they will dispear. We thought they were do to maternal hormones ingested through my milk, or worse, that they might be alergy related. I was NOT enthusiastic about the idea of keeping a food journal as my lactation consulatant recommended, so I braved the long wait to see Dr. K. though it meant being late to baby yoga.
I heard Ahuva poop loudly while we were waiting at Dr. K's so as soon as we got to Tandu I knew the 1st order of business was a diaper change. This would be my first public change. The friendly owner held Ahuva while I used the bathroom. She then led me into the yoga room where the class was already in progress.
The floor was carpeted with thick mats. Around the edges mothers perched on fat puffy pillows, their babies spread out on towels in front of them. Ahuva and I were led to a corner where I dumped our belongings. A grandmother sitting next to me willingly held Ahuva while I set up her blanket and prepared to change her. Meanwhile the teacher was explaining the benefits of baby yoga, how it stimulates good digrestion, improves imune functioning, encourages healthy development, and promotes confidence in infants.
Whatever, I was just really happy to have a fun reason to leave the house with Ahuva!
Butt cleaned, I was just about to put on a fresh diaper when the teacher announced, "OK, we're going to get started. You can take off your baby's clothes, even their diaper!". Most of the mommies seemed skeptical about that idea. But since I hadn't yet put on her fresh diaper, I thought we'd give it a try. Luckily, the clean diaper was lying under her while I removed her outerwear top because she peed directly on it! That was great, because I was fairly sure that it meant she wouldn't do so again for at least a few minutes. As urged, I put a cloth diaper under her just in case. Ahuva's cloth nankies are hot pink. They were a fabulous gift from my cousin Cath who dyed them that fabulous color. I could tell they were the envy of my neighbors.
Following instructions from the teacher, we "asked permission" to massage our babies and then began, using almond oil distributed by an assistant in little cups. We also held our mouths to our babies heads, bellies, and feet and emitted a loud HUMMMMM. It felt like we were communicating the OM vibration to our babies. I liked it and Ahuva seemed to like it.
I had worried that she'd sleep through class but no, she seemed pretty with it the whole time, alert and often smiling. I felt a little bummed that she wasn't giving me eye contact but prefered to stare left, towards the big mirror. But then I noticed that the two baby boys to my right were staring in our direction rather than at their mommies, so I felt better.
The time seemed to fly by. The class lasts nearly two hours which is good because it allows time for nurisng, napping, and diaper changing along the way as needed. There seemed to be a group melt-down towards the end, with one baby cry setting off the next. Ahuva joined in but was soothed by nursing.
We signed up for the 7 session package.
The two days since the class, I repeated what I remembered of the massage at home. Why not? She likes it and it's something to do with her other than nurse or change her or say "coo".

Ahuva, week 7

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=151544362/a=3127449/t_=3127449

Polish Feast

Sunday we had a real treat when Adi, Ahuva and I were invited to a dinner hosted by our neighbor Lola. She is from Poland, a tough Holocaust survivor who came here via the detention camps in Cyprus after losing her entire family. She is now a great grandmother. She rocks.

The guests included Lola's grown son and daughter. They both were really nice. More shy than outgoing, fun-loving Lola, they are both sensitive and artistic. The main guests of honor were Lola's family visiting from Canada, the parents of our friend Y.

The evening was a rare treat for several reasons. We were totally relaxed, since Ahuva was mellow or sleeping the whole time and we only had to walk down one flight of stairs to get there. We really like spending time with Y. and his wife. Plus, there were many kind hands happy to hold Ahuva, especially Y's mother (not yet a grandmother, but clearly ready to become one!). She described that baby-to-chest holding as a "melting moment". Who could disagree?

The food was delicious! Lola had single-handedly prepared a real holiday feast: gefilte fish, chopped liver, and Polish eggplants for starters. Then outstanding mushroom blintzes. Next came a roasted chicken accompanied by Polish gnocchi, delicious with fried onions. Wow. To top it off we enjoyed a poppy seed packed cake baked by Lola's daughter. Perfect.

With Ahuva sleeping in the caring arms of others, I relished being able to eat "like a grown up". That is, slowly, relaxed, and with grown up conversation. I didn't have to calculate how to prepare and eat my meal using as few dishes and utensils as possible (to speed clean up). In fact, Lola even had little gold-plated dachshund knife holders at each place setting. Royal!

Baby Buddah in Lotus Pose

One of the first positions we learned this week in "Baby Yoga" class.