Books for Babies

I got this adorable book all about baby food for Christmas. It seems like it would be fun to make, and like it might taste good. Then I discovered that Williams Sonoma sells the most adorable little machine to cook/puree it in.

Has anyone purchased and used the machine? Did you think it was easy to use? And, did you think making your own food was worth it?

Nursery Furniture - The Final Countdown

I've looked at so much nursery furniture. And I'm annoyed that so many of the baby sets have really small dressers. I want something that Baby can grow into, and that will give me plenty of storage. So, I think this is it. As much as I love dark wood, her room is a pretty dark one.




And the crib, well, I just really like it. Pottery Barn, you may have me!

And the Winner is...

Quite Contrary 77! Please email me your mailing address so I can send along your prize! Happy Wednesday everyone!

Happy Things

Today was a pretty good day. I had a good ruling on a matter, and actually got a decent amount of work done. In that spirit, here are a few of my favorite things:

1. Florence - DH and I got engaged here - almost 5 years ago! I can't wait to go back, maybe for our fifth wedding anniversary?


2. This adorable little cat paperweight from the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Wouldn't it look cute on a desk?

3. The new show - Homeland Security USA. I'm a true crime TV junkie (I get sucked into the marathon 48 Hours), and this has that happy mix of crime and reality.

Persistence Pays Off

This is the ultimate in chocolate deliciousness! And, it's a recipe that used to give me a little trouble...the cookies made great crumbles over vanilla ice cream, but lacked structural integrity!


The recipe is Nigella's - she is the best!

Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies (from Nigella Express)

4 oz semisweet chocolate
1 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, sifted (I don't sift)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325. Melt the 4 oz chocolate in the microwave.

2. Combine flour, cocoa baking powder and salt in bowl.

3. Cream butter and two sugars in bowl or mixer. Add melted chocolate and mix.

4. Beat in vanilla and egg, then add dry ingredients. Finally, add the chocolate chips. There are a lot, but it's worth it.

5. Butter two cookie sheets and scoop out 1/4 c. balls of dough. Space them out about 2.5 inches on the sheets. Don't flatten!

6. Bake the cookies for 18 minutes. Now, here's the part that I was messing up before...you MUST let them cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before removing to cooling racks.

You can also make the cookies, and freeze the dough on the sheet, so you can freeze the little dough balls and bake later.

Enjoy! These certainly brightened up my Monday!

Delicious!

I'm pleased with this pasta sauce. It is the perfect combination of easy and delicious. It started because I'd been worrying all day about how not to waste the homemade pesto that I defrosted and used yesterday. I didn't finish it, and hate throwing away pesto. But, I'm trying to make healthy choices, and I didn't want to be stuck and tempted into just eating pesto pasta for the next few days.

So, when I came home, I got out my cookbooks and started thinking. What if I added the pesto into an easy marinara sauce, and added lots of tomatoes and some other veggies? Well, the answer is delicious! Here it is:

Pesto Marinara Sauce

1 small onion, minced
2 carrots, minced
2 ribs of celery, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or add more)
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs pesto (or more)

1. In large sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium high. Blitz onion, celery and carrots in food processor until minced. Add them to the olive oil and saute 3 minutes or until soft. Add red pepper flakes and stir, 1 minute.

2. Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and pesto. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.

I liked this with whole wheat angel hair!

Public Service Announcement

When I studied abroad in Paris, I lived with the loveliest host family. My French mama even came to my wedding (French Papa does exciting/stressful work as a chemist for the Paris Fire Dept figuring out how fires started/anti terrorism stuff, so he could not get leave). Living in Paris, after a smokey Saturday night at the bars, I would wake up on Sunday morning to find a little paper bag of a plain croissant and a pain au chocolat sitting on a pretty plate, with my place setting left out. It always brightened my morning, and I especially liked eating them at home.

Although there are great bakeries in LA that make decent croissants (Amandine and Susina come to mind), I have a weakness for croissants in my own house. And, that's where Trader Joe's comes in. They make a little box in their freezer section of frozen pain au chocolat. You simply place the little pains on a tray, leave out overnight to defrost and rise, then pop in the oven to bake. Williams Sonoma does the same thing on a larger scale, but 12 croissants is a big commitment, whereas 4 is perfect for this little family! I feel less wasteful if two or one get stale, though they do make a delicious bread pudding. Check them out. I'm posting this because I woke up at 6:30 for no good reason, enjoyed an illicit cup of coffee, and am now thinking about how nice a croissant would be as I work on the nursery ideas!