Month: September 2011

Our almost 3 year old is at the phase where she speaks fairly fluently, but occasionally will throw in words in her own loosely interpreted version of the original. Sometimes is takes my husband and I several attempts to decode her language.  Below are some of my favorite words spoken in “Caitlin”.
Acka-bar: aka a granola bar (this one took days to figure out)
Punk-a-latern: aka a jack-o-lantern
Yogi: aka yogurt
Birfday: aka birthday
Crap: aka clap (really funny when used to say -“Mommy look I am ‘clapping'”
Fancy Hancy: aka Fancy Nancy
O’Brien: aka the constellation Orion; or a constellation she name after her dad:-)
 
 

I loved OK for Now!  I don’t recall another book that had me laughing one moment and in tears the next. My heart broke for Doug, and rooting for him page after page.  I would compare it perhaps to Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, although maybe not as sad.    Terrific:-)

My brother-in-law recommended the Mario Batali cook book.  As those that belong to a CSA know (we belong to Farm Fresh to You), sometimes you end up with a lot of one  kind of fruit or veggie, and you run out of creative ways to use it.  
The Cauliflower Ragu is so simple to make, and transforms the cauliflower into a spicy, rich ragu.  I was told that adding the home made breadcrumbs really makes a big difference, but I have to admit I skipped that part. I also forgot to add chopped fresh rosemary (oops!) and it was still delicious. I stuck to 1 1/2 tsp of chili flakes, but it would be easy to raise the heat.
I served it with fresh heirloom tomato (also from Farm Fresh to You) with basil from the garden, fresh mozzarella and drizzled with good balsamic, and white wine. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe recommendation, Russ!

Caitlin and I had a lot of fun baking this weekend.
First, we made this Peanut Butter Blondie recipe.   When reading it to Grandma Fran, she thought it might be
a little too sweet, but they are surprisingly fluffy and not too sweet.  I did use 70% chocolate chips though, and next time might use more Reese’s on top.  Hubby loved them!
Today we started the day with Oatmeal Pancakes.  They are bar none the best pancakes I have ever made.  I did make a few changes to this recipe. I used white flour, not wheat, and omitted the cinnamon and nutmeg and replaced it with a generous splash of vanilla.  I also added an extra buttermilk to thin them out just a tad.
If you try them, enjoy!