Beanie's Birthday

On August 26th, my son turned 1 year old.

Peaches

Last summer, during the end of my pregnancy, all I wanted to eat was raw summer fruit -- plums, peaches, nectarines, just plain or at most cut up in a little yogurt.

This year I have discovered the delights of baking with stone fruit. A few weeks ago we got a couple pounds of plums from the produce co-op, and to keep them from going to waste, I scoured my recipe books for a good recipe to use them up.

I finally found one in my 1971 copy of Joy of Cooking -- Apple, Peach, or Plum Cake Cockaigne -- and have made it a couple of times, once with just plums, and once with a few peaches thrown in.

Yesterday we found gorgeous peaches for a very good price per pound, so I bought two big bags and just spent the afternoon slicing and peeling them and then laying them out on cookie sheets in the freezer. Once they are frozen, I divided them into one cup baggies so that I can easily bake with them during the winter.

Apple, Peach, or Plum Cake Cockaigne (from Joy of Cooking)

Use a 9 x 9 x 2 1/2 in. pan. Preheat oven to 425.

If the fruit used is very juicy, reduce the liquid in the dough by at least 1 Tbsp.

Sift before measuring:

1 c. all purpose flour

Resift with:

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. sugar

Add:

1 1/2 to3 Tbsp. butter

Work these ingredients like pastry.

Beat well in a measuring cup:

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Add enough milk to make 1/2 cup.

Combine with the flour and butter to make a stiff dough. Pat the dough into the pan with a floured palm or spread it in part with a spoon and then distribute it evenly by pushing it with fruit sections when you place them in closely overlapping rows.

Use about:

3 to 4 cups sliced, pared apples or peaches, or sliced, unpared plums.

Sprinkle with a mixture of:

1 c. sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 Tbsp. melted butter

Bake about 25 min.

"...She went from mystery to mystery with more and more courage. She was a long time playing with the shells, and longer still looking at the rock pools, exploring each miniature ocean from horizon to horizon, but at last she was ready for the fairies' cave. She did not feel at all afraid as she pushed past the green rock and went inside. Since she had run into this strange place through the horns of the horseshoe she had felt no fear, only awe. She had discovered a new country, but it was her own country. In this place where one was alone that one might listen, she felt at home as never before. In spite of its mystery it was so clean, so simple, and so safe. Nothing befouled the air one breathed, the music that was heard and yet not heard, like the sound of bells caught away by the wind, was without confusion, cold and clear like crystal..."

--Elizabeth Goudge, from Green Dolphin Street

This passage makes me miss the places, now so far away, that are my own country...

We are now mostly (mostly) settled in our new apartment. The boxes are all but unpacked, and this afternoon the workmen are coming to finish installing the oven (which sticks out three inches from the wall due to an inconveniently placed door frame) and put a doorknob on our bedroom door. We seem to have sorted out the massive communication problems with our landlords, and hopefully life can settle into a quiet routine.

The big uncertainty now is about what my husband will be doing this year. After having trouble finding work for the summer, we decided that the best use of his time would be to take a couple of summer classes so he could be finished with his course work as soon as possible.

And of course as soon as we made the decision, he was offered a job. Not just a summer job, but a permanent one. We are just waiting to hear whether the hours will permit him to continue with his core classes (one of the inconveniences of the UD phd program is the three-year Tuesday/Thursday 3:30-5 pm cycle of required courses) and he will probably take it.

It will slow down the speed with which Amos can finish his degree, but it will be good to have some steady income after living so precariously for the past few years.

Daniel is growing apace! He is now walking a little bit, and eating more and more solid food. I have to say that I have mixed feelings about the solid food. For someone who has found exclusive breastfeeding such a physical and emotional burden, I am surprised to find how sad it makes me to share feeding duties with my husband. I treasure more and more the time we spend together in the evening as I nurse him to sleep, and I find myself holding him for a few extra minutes for a snuggle before putting him into his crib.

"There is a special providence for fools, drunks, and Americans!"

Happy Independance Day!

Produce:

grapefruit

oranges

broccoli

corn

bananas

Meals:

chicken cutlets with salad

chicken parmagian (from the leftover cutlets) over pasta

pot roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli/salad (x2)

potato and egg pie with red peppers and toast

grilled cheese

Not a stellar box this week, so we had to buy a lot to make up our meals. The oranges and one of the grapefruit my husband used to make delicious fresh juice. I will use the other grapefruit in a fruit salad along with a honeydew that has been ripening up on the counter. It has been too hot to bake, so we bought our first loaf of store-made sandwich bread in a long, long time.

In other news, we are slowly gearing up for the move. We should get the key this weekend, and then we can start moving things over a little at a time. I may have mentioned in my last post that I want to do some painting in our bedroom, and we will do that before moving the bulk of our furniture over.

Daniel is now almost 9 months, which still shocks me whenever I think about it. It is so strange to feel simultaneously that he couldn't possibly be that old -- he was just born yesterday, wasn't he? -- and that he has been part of our family forever.

He is such a joyful presence in our lives -- full of smiles and laughter and silly little tricks. Even now, while he is getting his two top front teeth, he is just the sweetest thing (except when he bites....!). He now loves to play peek-a-boo, comes across the room to me when I call him, and can stand for short periods of time unsupported. He loves to pull all the books off the shelf in the living room, eats any small pieces of paper or shoes he can get his hands on (and also bugs, but we won't go into that!), and tries to match notes when I sing to him. I think he has learned to recognize the baby sign for cat and hungry. I want to start him on a few more soon

His finger infection has cleared up almost completely now (his middle finger is still a little red and puffy, probably from the trauma inflicted on it by the doctors, but the sores are gone), for which I am incredibly thankful.

All in all, things are very good here. :)

Produce:

Granny smith apples

plums

oranges

roma tomatoes

Meals:

rotisserie chicken (on sale at Kroeger), mashed potatoes, and peas

bulgur stuffed peppers

spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce and salad

chicken and rice stir fry

fish with lemon basil pasta

We had the chicken last night so we could get the sale price on it, and I used the leftovers for chicken salad which we will have for lunches (a nice break from our usual cheese quesadillas).

I have not written in so long because I have been just too tired. It turns out that I have fibromyalgia, which is a fancy way of saying that I am tired and achey all the time and my doctor can't find any other reason for it. She has a medication she wants me to try, but I can't take it while breast feeding, so it is out of the question for the time being. Apart from that, her recommendation is to "relax and get plenty of sleep" -- not easy things to do with an 8-month old baby who has been sick or teething for the past month or so...

My sister in law has moved in with us, and she has been a great help around the house, cooking dinner about once a week, watching the baby so I can get some sleep, and helping me stay on top of the dishes.

For the time being we are all living in our tiny apartment, but we will be getting the key to a bigger place at the end of the week and (after some painting and general preparation) moving before the end of the month!

I have to say, I have mixed feelings about the move. On the one hand, it is so wonderful to have Charity with us, and I really like the new place (right next door to our dearest friends down here!). On the other, I have enjoyed living where we are so much. It is the first place that I have really felt at home since leaving my parents' house.

Oh well. I am sure I will come to love the new place just as much...