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Maddox loves helping me in the kitchen. Whenever I go in to cook he says “help”, and “up” (because he wants up on the counter). I’ve been NOT buying a learning tower or similar kid platform product. People say its totally amazing and I should get one, but I just can’t get over the idea of a big ladder type furniture thing living in my kitchen 24/7. Enough of the house has already been taken over by kid products, not my kitchen too!

I usually just plop him on the counter and we get to cookin’. For apple pie makin’, we brought in his little blue table.  It worked out pretty well and he stayed a bit cleaner.

In this photo he is taking the stickers off the apples.  It bothers me that some apples have stickers – even these organic ones.  Yuck to stickers on fruit.

Honestly Maddox made a great deal of the pie himself (with much guidance).  He is getting better at measuring (scooping), not spilling wet ingredients, not eating too much of the ingredients as they go in the bowl, stirring, and opening packages. To prepare the apples we have a handy gadget that peels, cores, and slices all by cranking a handle – so Maddox is able to help with this step too.

Maddox and I just finished making cheesy souffle ebelskivers with the fancy pan and cookbook my mother bought us for Christmas. Turns out Maddox likes playing with flour as much as the dirt outside!  The difference is he is totally contained in his highchair and I can do indoor mommy activities (like actually cook). He uses the measuring spoons, and whisk, and pours and stirs over and over. He is a very focused youngin’. I let him shake in some cinnamon for color and fun. Flour is pretty cheap too, for the amount of fun he is gets out of it!

The pediatrician recommended we introduce only 1 new food a week. We just completed the 3rd week of “solid” food.
Week 1: Rice Cereal mixed with breast milk
Week 2: Spinach Purée (in addition to rice cereal)
Week 3: Pea Purée (in addition to rice cereal)

Yesterday before the actual completion of week 3, I decided to introduce apple purée at dinner time. Maddox’s system was beginning to get clogged up from all of the greens and I figured apples were the best way to sort that out. It worked, btw. I’ll spare you the details.

Today he had apple and rice cereal for breakfast (much easier to deal with the apple aftermath when its not 4am), and peas with rice cereal for lunch, then just rice cereal for dinner  (we went out to dinner last minute and i didn’t want to deal with the frozen purée).

I’ve been making all of the fruit and veggie purées myself from farmer’s market organic produce – of course. I use Earth’s Best Whole Grain Organic Baby Rice Cereal (I opted for not bothering to make my own). I’ve been making medium sized batches of the purée and freezing it in baby ice cube trays, then popping them out, individually wrapping them and putting them in freezer bags. So far I’ve made spinach, pea, butternut squash, apple, broccoli, and carrot. Its been really neat being able to introduce him to produce during the Spring. It is my favorite season for produce. Especially all the peas and fava beans! yum! 

Maddox has taken the new food in stride. The first meal of any new food has resulted in funny faces, full body shutters, gagging, and eye watering – but in the end he has eaten all of every meal. Usually after 2 meals of a new food, he is pretty adjusted to it and no longer squishes his face up.

Here is his first taste of peas…

This is what $40 can buy you at the Berkeley Tuesday Farmers Market…

 

– Sungold cherry tomatoes

– Red cherry tomatoes

– Carrots, 2 bunches

– Sweet Corn, 3 ears

– Apricots

– Seascape Strawberries, 3 baskets

– Red Butter Lettuce, 1 large head

– Celery

– Figs, 1 basket

– Garlic, 2 heads

– Yellow Tomato

– Scallions

– Parsley

– Chocolate Pecan Chewy Cookie (not shown)

 

 

I’ve decided to make Candied Meyer Lemon Peel ala Chez Panisse with the left over peels! They are delicious chopped up and added to Meyer Lemon Souffles, or as an after dinner sweet dipped in chocolate.

My neighbor has a meyer lemon tree which he never uses, so he lets me take whatever I want. This morning I turned some into a quart of juice. I’m not sure yet what I’m going to make. Some ideas: meyer lemon curd (for a tart, or to mix in with fresh whipping cream to top strawberries), Lemon Presse (basically a french lemonade in which you combine the ingredients yourself at the table), Moroccan preserved lemons, Meyer lemon souffle, Meyer lemon marmalade, and candied meyer lemon peel.

I’ve been picking up some shifts doing catering work. No on-site stuff, just cooking in the HQ kitchen. Its been fun. I am even secretly enjoying my brand new burn.

Well, its gone and happened. I got myself a job. After a year and 4 months of living the life of leisure, I have a job.
I just finished my first work week. I’m having a lot of fun there in the kitchen – its a really good pace for me. I can’t imagine working anywhere else right now. My sleep schedule on the other hand is quite off. I’m not used to this staying up until 2am business. I’m more of a morning person. It will probably take another week before I’ve ironed out a routine.

I’m going to take the plunge and try out for a kitchen job. We’ll see how it goes!

Range