Monthly Archives: August 2009

You Might Look Pregnant If…

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I still don’t think I look pregnant. Just thick around the middle and generally…thicker. Sadly, A. seems to agree most of the time. Yesterday, however, I started thinking that maybe I do look pregnant. Here’s what happened: I went to a tea shop – one of those fancy ones with a gazillion types of tea (apparently, tea is the new coffee, or something like that). Once I was in, I was immediately accosted by a salesgirl. The following exchange ensued (some things are paraphrased, mind you):

Shopgirl: “Hi there. Welcome to Blah Blah Tea Shop. Can I help you?”

Me: “I’m just looking, thanks.”

SG: “Well, if you’d like, we have two teas we’re sampling today. Key Lime Green Dream Something or Other and Mandarin Orange I Tuned Out.”

Me: —blank look on face—

SG: (after two second pause and a once over) “If you prefer a one without caffeine, it’ll be the Mandarin Orange.”

Me: “Yes, thank you, that would be lovely.”

I then had a sip of the said tea, which was great, by the way. So either she thought I was preggers and offered me the decaf, or I looked so perky that more caffeine didn’t look like a good idea. I can assure you that it was not the second.

Dessert Philosophy

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A long time ago I settled on my dessert philosophy (what…doesn’t everyone have one??): if it doesn’t have chocolate in it, it’s totally not worth the calories. Don’t get me wrong – I LOVE fruit. But I’d rather eat it fresh, without all the added sugar and dough and whatnot.

So yesterday, I made Chewy Chocolate Cookies from Cook’s Illustrated. They were AMAZING. Highly highly recommended for anyone who loves chocolaty things. I followed the recipe to the letter, but I don’t agree with the ball-shape formation of the cookie as they go in the oven. In my opinion, that didn’t allow them to flatten enough. So next time I make them (and mark my words, there will be a next time!) I’ll flatten them out a bit more between my hands before popping them into the oven.

Kickin' it in the sun…

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So I noticed something (well, I should say that A. pointed it out): our little tyke seems to kick way more when I’m somewhere sunny. The kid’s got some SoCal blood in her, it seems! Our neighborhood in SF is not known to be one of the sunnier ones in the City, but when I work in Berkeley, she kicks like crazy. And when we were visiting my parents in SoCal, she was going wild! We might have to move at some point to sunnier climes…

Dinner Worthy of a 1950s Housewife

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Yesterday I was inspired to cook…you know, one of those days that make you want to try a new recipe, knowing that the same old pasta dish won’t fit the bill. I had some steak tips defrosting but didn’t feel like eating Thai beef salad (where the said steak tips generally end up). Looking online for a good beef recipe, I saw this one for Beef Stroganoff and started craving it right away! I made a few changes to the recipe (used marsala instead of sherry because that’s all I had, seared beef before cooking the onions and mushrooms to give the veggies a meatier taste) and it came out really well.

I was telling my sister about my exciting dinner plans, and her reaction was “how old are you?” Apparently, beef stroganoff is somewhat of a throwback to Midwest, old lady dinner. So I ran with it and made tapioca for dessert! Mmmm…tapioca…sexed up a bit with coconut and cocoa…mmmm…A. and E. weren’t complaining, and all I needed was a hoop skirt to make it a picture perfect evening.

My First First Birthday Party

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This past weekend A. and I went to my friend S’s baby girl’s first birthday party. It was a great time and Sabrina is just too cute.

Some thoughts: 1) wow, all my friend’s friends have kids. Well, that’s what it seemed like, anyway. Apparently, once you have a child you will be surrounded by people who have kids, and 2) this whole parenting thing might require more energy than what I have. All those kids everywhere…I was completely exhausted and had to take a nap when I got home.