Kale loves bath time. He sheds no tears. In fact, he smiles and coos, especially when I drop or sprinkle water on him. A couple of my mommy friends have suggested I try taking a bath with him. I've added that to my maternity leave bucket list. Only two weeks left. So sad!!
On Friday I had big plans! I intended to make an Indian feast. I have never cooked Indian food before. But I'm a big fan of it. And told myself..if I can't find the time to cook it now. I never will. And so all of Friday was dedicated to cooking up 4 separate dishes, requiring a total of 6 separate recipes (I'll explain below). So in fact, I started preparations on Thursday night.
This is the cookbook I used. It was a gift from Matt from some prior Christmas or birthday. I can't remember. But I'm sure I owned it for more than a year.
And now just finally getting around to using it.
The first recipe I tried was for masala. A tomato-based sauce that would be needed in one of my entrees. Everything you see pictured above was required in the recipe. Chiles, garlic, ginger, onion, and 9 different spices. 10 if you count salt!
I started by pureeing the produce into a fine paste.
Then roasting the spices in oil. What you see below is a cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cumin, and cardamom.
The final product, after adding crushed tomatoes, looked like this!
I made enough that I was able to freeze three servings for use at a later time.
Then on Friday morning, I continued with my cooking...
Below, I have three different recipes going. On the far left, I'm boiling potatoes. In the middle, I'm soaking lentils. And on the far right, I'm boiling a gallon of whole milk.
The milk was for my paneer (homemade cheese) recipe.
Hard to believe you can make cheese with just milk and some lemon juice!
I was like a little kid doing a science project. To see the curds and whey separate before my eyes was amazing!
I strained the curdled milk through a cheesecloth (which was the hardest thing ever to find in the grocery store!). Then squeezed out the liquid.
After setting a heavy weight on it for two hours, it formed into a nice sized brick of cheese.
Which I then cubed...
Then fried.
And made sure to make enough to freeze for future use!
(You can tell I'm getting ready for that return to work in two weeks!)
Then I worked on my naan. I whipped up some dough using active yeast, yogurt, flour, water, and some other yummies. And then waited for it to rise.
And rise it did! Do you see how bubbly and airy it is?
My first batch of naan was delicious! Despite my doubts... as I attempted to roll out the super sticky dough into little patties
But it came out surprisingly great. Super soft. Bubbly on the inside.
Below are shots of each of my final dishes.
Arhar Dal
Matar Paneer
Dahi ke Alu
And our final feast is below....
I really shouldn't toot my own horn here...
But I kind of need to.
Because this food was amazing! Matt and I both agreed. This might be the best thing I've ever made...ever! Too bad it took me a day and a half! It was like having Thanksgiving before Thanksgiving. A lot of prep work and a lot of non-stop cooking.
But definitely worth it.
The next day we were excited to dine on the leftovers. But we needed a new batch of naan. And so I whipped up another batch of dough. And this second batch was even better! I think I may have added too little flour the first time. This second round of dough was thicker and easier to work with.
You cook it under the broiler. And before your very eyes, in just minutes, you will see it puff up with air.
And here it is. The best bread I've ever made from scratch!
And now some kiddo stuff....
Kale has been working on his tummy-time. He really doesn't like it. But seems to have great neck strength. So I'm not worried!
Kale and I have been sleeping in Sage's toddler bed (which is a roomy full sized mattress). Sage is still in his crib for now. And Matt sleeps alone, until Sage cries for him in the wee hours of the early morning. I know this arrangement sounds weird. But I'm nervous about Matt rolling over on Kale or accidentally pulling the covers over his head. Since I'm breastfeeding, I'm more hormonally in tune with the babe. So I feel safer having just Kale and I alone. Plus who doesn't love more space! About 6:30am, Sage perks up ready to play, and initiates the day by coming across the hall to get in bed with me. Sometimes I find myself in between the two boys. A mommy sandwich! I love it. Precious moments.
I was such a crafter when I was a kid. I loved all kinds of arts and crafts. And this is how I would like to bond with my babies. But boy is it a messy challenge.
But I try....
We did some sprinkle art on Saturday.
Then Matt and Sage started carving a pumpkin leftover from Halloween. The goal is to carve a turkey on it. Not sure if that will actually happen before Thanksgiving. But the gourd has been cleaned and is waiting in the garage. Step one done!
So smiley!
Kale has a great personality. He is so chill during the day. Smiles and convulses with excitement whenever we interact with him. Has even giggled a couple times. But after 7:30pm...he turns into Mr. Fussypants. And wants to be put to bed. Which is requiring more and more work on my part.
Sage loves his stickers. He perfers to put them on himself rather than paper. Saturday night he had these tiny circle stickers all over his tummy, hands, and arms. He totally looked like he had sticker chicken pox!
Sage has been cracking us up lately. He is becoming so imaginative. Makes up the funniest stories. And has the cutest toddler-speak. For example, after one of us adults uses the potty, Sage will often say, "You did good job, Mom!" And the other day when I asked him what he did at school, he said, "I fell down and bonked my head on the floor...and ate crackers." I suppose those were the biggest moments of his day! He has recently started playing with action figures and marks one as the "bad guy." And all their adventures involve either a fire or a bear. Where does he get this stuff?!?
Some more examples....He told me last weekend that "Kale pooped. Change him!" I love how he is now giving me parenting advice. And when we tell him to make a serious face, he gives us this sexy model look. Chin down. Lips pouted. Eyebrows furrowed. But he can only hold it for so long, because then he cracks up laughing. He makes us all laugh all the time. He is a jokester and a comedian. A very big personality. He is also quite the little parrot. Repeating everything I say. He will often call his dad Matt, Matthew (more like Maffew) or even Diemer. Because that's what I say. And last night while playing a game of ping pong, I yelled to Matt on impulse "You suck!" And of course, the little mimic said the same thing to his dad right after I did. Oooops! I need to be more careful.
