Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooking. Show all posts

Friday, November 26, 2010

Scenes from Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving at home this year; just our little group, including Megan.  We had a lovely, mostly mellow day.  Some of us are still recovering from colds and River has completely given up sleeping in his own bed - preferring instead to kick dad in the head and suffocate mom all night.  Lots of sleepless nights plus no outdoor time made River a wee bit manic, but we managed to corral him, play with Lila, and cook a 10-dish meal!  And we made it to the table only an hour and a half past our estimated dinner time!

  
River and I made these pumpkin centerpieces yesterday.  He did a great job arranging flowers and loved the cat tails.  I love that he's big enough to do these arts and crafts projects with me.

 
 After wrestling him out of his pajamas (around 3pm) he sullenly agreed to help set the table (by which, I mean he threw the place mats on the floor and let Megan and me set it).  Did I mention the kid hasn't slept in a week?

 Megan looking lovely with my little fox.

 Now here's someone who enjoyed the whole day.  My sweetie Lila.

 Yup.  The best group shot we could manage. 

 Lila needed a little cranberry fix before dinner.  After watching The Walking Dead, all I can think is BRAINS.

 My handsome chef.

 Ornery booger.

 Aaahhh!  Get the giant forks away from him!

 Our massive feast... for three adults, one preschooler, and a baby.  Even after taking part in so much of the cooking, River stuck with rolls for the night.  Thank goodness we love leftovers!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Doyles!  Hope your holiday was as fun and memorable as ours!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

a conversation

Me: So, honey, would it be a horrible thing if I added mint oreos to your chocolate ice cream birthday cake?

Him: Yeah, that would be terrible. Definitely don't do that.

Me: Okay, no cookies.

Him: Absolutely not.

(silence)

Him: You know I'm being facetious, right?

Me: Yes honey.

Him: Because I want no misunderstandings here: Mint. Oreo. Cake. Good.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY THOM! I LOVE YOU!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

burn, splat, and crash

Good (and bad) things always seem to come in threes, right? My clumsiness typically knows no bounds, but this has been quite a week for me.

Last Tuesday night, while cooking dinner, attending to River, keeping the cats from attacking each other, and generally working towards world peace, I set a kitchen towel on fire. I quickly noticed the inferno and pulled it outside where a good stomping took care of the potential disaster.

A woman walking past our house looked up and smirked as though saying, I may look like I'm laughing with you, but really I'm laughing at you. At least she had the grace to follow up that look with, "I do the same thing all the time, but I never think to bring it outside."

Dinner was salvaged, but it was close.

Yesterday, I spent a good hour making pie crust from scratch, steaming and sauteeing vegetables and assembling a quiche. Thom, River and I were all happy when it finally baked to a golden brown because we were a bit behind our usual dinner schedule. I pulled the hot pan from the oven and promptly dropped the whole steaming mass on the floor. Carnage was littered around our feet: splattered egg and broken ceramic mingling with my blue kitchen rug.

I stood there in horror for a good thirty seconds before I broke into the inevitable laughter and asked Thom what kind of take-out we were going to do.

Today, as part of preparing the house for the cleaners, I attempted to get Poe (Pissy McPooperpants) locked into the downstairs bathroom and away from the action. Apparently, last week she chased the poor cleaning ladies around the kitchen, swiping ankles and hissing. She wasn't happy with the prospect of being locked away and escaped my grasp a couple times. When I finally got ahold of her in the office upstairs, she was an angry angry cat and fought me the whole way.

Halfway down the stairs, struggling to hold Miss Squirmy I slipped and fell. I bounced onto my butt, slid down a few stairs and crashed into the wall. The pain in my ankle was incredible. Right away I could tell I hadn't done damage to my back, and thanked my lucky stars as I lay facedown moaning through the pain. After a minute, I got up and felt my foot. No broken bones! But I did sustain a nasty sprain.

Luckily my sitter was still around and agreed to stay the afternoon so I wouldn't have to be on my feet with River too much. I got my foot wrapped, iced, and elevated. And after Thom came home a little early, we went to his office to pick up a brace for my ankle (thank you Wellness Professionals!).

Dinner was take out.

It'd be pretty awesome if I could avoid causing irreparable damage to my home or body in the next day or two. I get real tired of too much take out.

P.S. Poe sustained no injuries from the fall, unless a sudden bout of conscience could be considered an injury--she's been snuggling and looking guilty all evening.

Friday, February 15, 2008

chillin' at home for V-Day

Thom and I decided to avoid the crowds of couples last night and save our Valentine's Day outing for tonight. Still, I couldn't pass up the chance to make a redonkulously cute dinner. Kevin is rockin' the bachelor life for a few weeks, so we invited him to join us.

I was in the kitchen ALL day, so I made sure to document the outcome:



















































Valentine's Day Menu:

mixed green salad with crusted goat cheese, hazelnuts, and beet hearts

savory mushroom stew with heart puff pastry garnish

berry (gelatin-free) jello in heart molds (not pictured because I had some issues getting them out)