Luscious Fibers, Food and Family

mama's work space

I'm fortunate to work from home one or two days a week. This allows me some extra time in the morning with my family and I can also do a few things around the house during the day to catch up a bit. For example, yesterday while working from home, I was also able to make some sweet potato cubes, get couscous ready for Maeve's dinner (a new food to try) and put away some various toys, clothes and other stuff that had been lying around.

I work at the table when I'm home and as you can see it's generally covered with various things. This is the life of a growing family living in a one-bedroom apartment in DC. We are quickly running out of space, but we do the best we can. The table surface goes through cycles of projects, deadlines, mail, lunches, reads, games, pictures and it's always changing. I thought I'd give you a look into what's happening on our table surface today.

spray bottle - we recently got our maine coon cat, kuba, shaved for the summer. He seems to be happy having some of the weight off and is definitely happier on DC's hot days. However our other cat, Kati, either doesn't believe it's still Kuba, or thinks he smells bad, I'm not sure, but Kati is picking on Kuba and not being very nice to him. This will last for about 3 days and so the spray bottle is handy for when Kati starts to get a little too mean.

strong coffee - I'm a working mother of an 11 month old.

pears and avocados - and lots of them. These are two of Maeve's favorite foods and as you'll see in my next description. Having favorite foods around is important.

baby eating reads - maeve's eating habits have changed. She used to eat everything. Now she's being discerning. Foods are more often than not, coming right back out, but thankfully she's learned to give them back to me (or dada) rather than throw them on the floor. So, I'm re-reading some helpful books to see what options there might be for helping her continue to eat healthy whole foods.

bird craft project - maeve loves birds and for her 1st birthday party we're decorating with birds. I've also made her a few cardboard birds that make her very happy play with.

 

So that's my work space today... as an employee, a mama and pet caregiver.

the waking process

One of my favorite times of the day is waking up with Maeve. She quickly pops up her head and her wild hair moves in every direction. Then she buries her head back down on me realizing that maybe that initial movement occurred too quickly. She then rolls around a bit, sitting up and falling back, I believe in an effort to wake herself up. This is where she is clearly more like daddy...needing some preparation and forethought before actually facing the day. But eventually she's awake and ready to either stand at the top of the bed, hold onto the headboard and fall back, then repeat fun acrobatics multiple times, or she'll read books. Since I'm generally still sleepy, I encourage the latter and grab her a handful of books to read while I try to wake myself up for the day. I listen to Maeve read her stories and make out words like "baa" and "quack" but I'm mostly fascinated by the inflection in her voice and her determination to share a good story...it's truly special.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

 

Joining with SouleMama.

it's been a while

Just a quick note to tell you why I've been absent from blogging. I've spent these last few months growing a human and she's now joined our family.

Maeve was born last month and is an absolute joy. We're tired but very happy.  I hope that I'll make my way back to blogging, cooking, and knitting very soon.

Meet Maeve...

See more pics here.

 

the celebration menu

Happy Thanksgiving! Grant and I are celebrating in DC and our dear friend Sarah is coming over to celebrate with us. Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday and we always look forward to spending time together with friends/family, relaxing, cooking, laughing, and of course eating. This year's celebration will be a marathon as we have a number of courses and we're determined to take a slow and enjoyable pace.  I've posted the menu below, as I know my brother will appreciate the various dishes, even though their vegan.

Enjoy this holiday and I'll post pictures this weekend.

• boursin spread with crackers
• grapes
• spiced almonds
• caramelized onion corn crunch (made by Sarah)

• butternut squash soup with a cranberry swirl

• holiday salad with cranberries, apples and caramelized pecans

• tofurkey
• celebration roast
• homemade stuffing
• smashed yukons
• maple roasted brussel sprouts with toasted hazelnuts
• southern style kale with slivered almonds
• new farm mac 'n cheese
• sweet potato dish (made by Sarah)
• mushroom gravy
• whole cranberry sauce

• pecan pie
• blueberry pie (made by whole foods)
• pumpkin brownies

 

What dishes are you preparing today?

 

 

frites with peanut sauce are the best

Today we got off to a late start but still managed to have a full and fun day. First we headed out for some frites that Grant had read about in our guide book. In the last few days we have eaten a couple batches of fries but so far I have been unimpressed, until today.  These fries were cooked perfectly! They were nice and crispy on the outside but still clearly a potato on the inside. The sauce of choice was peanut of course, and it was yummy.

After fries we walked around a bit and then headed to the NUUF to attend service. Prior to our vacation we learned that Amsterdam has a Unitarian fellowship and they happened to be having service the Sunday we were in town. (They only have service twice a month as they are a smaller congregation.) We had been looking forward to attending service and were not disappointed. Everyone was very friendly, welcoming and very eager to talk to us. I think they were disappointed that we were only visiting. It was a lovely service with definite similarities to All Souls in DC, but also a bit different especially since it's a much smaller group...it was quite intimate, but very comfortable. After service we stayed for tea and enjoyed talking with everyone.

In the evening we did some more walking and took a tram ride. We had a great dinner at the sit down restaurant of a takeaway place I described in an earlier post. We ordered a number of dishes and managed to finish all of it! Obviously we enjoyed the food. After dinner we decided to head home and call it a night as we were both pretty tired. Amazingly, we got to bed by 11pm!

Pictures from the day are below...

 

amsterdam, day 3

Hmmm....I slept until 10 again today, which as many of you know is unheard of for me. I think it's a combination of getting that one last drink at cafe across from the boat, all the walking we're doing and just being extremely relaxed.  In any case it's a bit foreign for me, but I think it probably works better for the Amsterdam lifestyle.

Yesterday we spent the day walking. We first headed to Bioemenmarkt, the flower market, to see all the beautiful tulips bulbs and live flowers. From there we headed to the Albert Cuypstr market, which is a huge market of vendors including fresh fruit and veggies, olives, nuts, clothing, sunglasses, home goods, frites and other various food carts. It's a very lively market with many interesting things to look at so we were there for quite a while. Then we headed back to the boat with a few stops along the way.

Once back at the boat, I took a power nap and Grant wrote a number of postcards. We made a nice dinner and then headed to the Red Light district for the evening. That area definitely has a palpable sense of cheer and merriment, though I'm not sure the women in the doorways feel the same. It was interesting to experience but I'm not sure I'd want to hang out there often...a little too packed with horny men.  Speaking of horny, Grant and I also went to the Amsterdam Sex Museum, which was actually pretty interesting and humorous. They have a large amount of sex related items, pictures, and documentation dating between the 16th century and the mid-20th century. It's quite an expansive tour of sex and sexual topics.

Lastly, we stopped off for a nightcap at The Captein, the cafe across from the boat and Grant shared stories of his last trip to Amsterdam when he was 12. Here are some pictures from the day. Hover your cursor over the photo to see the picture title.

 

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grant, your friendly gps

Yesterday was another great day! I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking because we're off to a late start today after sleeping in and I want to get to those outdoor markets!

 

This first picture we mostly took for Tut. It's of the bread we purchased for breakfast and I know you'd appreciate it. Whole grain and full of nuts and raisins....I think you can see in the picture.

This next picture is just one of the many bird friends out our window each morning.

After breakfast we mostly walked around the city taking in the sites of amazing architecture, people, art, and Amsterdam life. Grant has an incredible lay of the city already and we used the map very little. He also made sure we took different routes rather than pass the same street when doubling back. It was quite impressive and he's definitely taken the lost tourist frustration out of this equation.

 

These pictures were taken when we left. They are of Grant on the houseboat and me on the stairs that lead to the houseboat.

The next few pictures were taken at a vegetarian restaurant, Bolhoed, that we made our way to for lunch. We were happy to sit outside and the food was quite good. We shared a mushroom pate, lentil and carrot soup, and a tofu pie turnover. Oh and dessert...a chocolate covered cake/brownie.

This next one is of Grant at a cafe. You can guess what he's up to.

After a brief trip back to the boat we spent the early evening at the Anne Frank house. We both took our time reading and learning about her incredible experience in the secret annex. Seeing her actual space and documents was really quite something. Though the events happening in this time were horrific and there is sadness when you think about it, her story is also quite inspiring. Her father's story was also inspiring and I never knew what an advocate he was not only for his family and their story but also for equal rights and peace in general.

Later in the evening we met up with James' friend Ray for a drink and some great conversation. It was interesting getting his perspectives on the city now that he's lived here for over 12 years. It was a fun night.

 

 

 

 

first day in amsterdam

After a few travel hiccups, Grant and I arrived in Amsterdam safely. We found our houseboat without any issue and the friendly owner greeted us with keys and some basic information and well wishes for the week. It was definitely a low key situation and that works for us. The houseboat is on the canal Waalseilangsgracht. Looking out onto the water is fantastic and watching the boats and people go by is fun. Here is a picture of Grant in our dining area.

 

After a quick nap we headed out for some walking, dinner and to the market for a few groceries. These pictures were taken along our walk.

 

Grant did a lot of great research for vegetarian and vegan eats in Amsterdam and thankfully he had an idea of where we could go for dinner and well, it was so good.  The Indonesian place, Kantjil To Go, is a take-out hole in the wall, hidden gem in a more residential area. We got a couple containers of food (noodles with tofu and veggies in a peanut sauce and rice with green beans in a black bean sauce) and some chopsticks and headed to a nearby park to eat and people watch. It was a great dinner and I'm certain we will go back!

 

After dinner we stopped at the grocery for a few essentials. One of those being Speculoos spread. I had read on a blog that it was vegan and that it's a spread like peanut butter but tastes like ginger cookies. I had to try that! I was a little hesitant to purchase a whole jar for only a week's stay, but did it figuring I could take it back in my checked bag...yeah, this bottle will definitely be gone within the week!  It tastes like those little spice biscuit cookies you get on morning flights. YUM!

 

It was a good evening but now it's after midnight and I need to get some sleep! More tomorrow...

 

seattle and donuts!

Today Steph and I headed to the airport pick up Henry and then our day two eating tour of Seattle began. We first headed to Mighty O's, a completely vegan donut shop, and were overwhelmed by variety of choices. I've actually made donuts before and they were tasty but I was left with just one choice. Looking through a glass case with so many beautifully delicious donuts left me not being able to choose just one. It was at that point that I decided to get a dozen different donuts (chocolate/chocolate, sprinkled, strawberry, old fashioned, raised and well 7 more) and then still chose one more to eat in the shop. That choice was easy, it was Don King's birthday so their Don King donut was on special. The Don King donut is a chocolate donut with a vanilla glaze on one side then dipped in coconut.  I also chose a cute cinnamon sugared mini and off I went to enjoy each with a strong cup of coffee. When Steph sat down I saw she bought a half dozen (yes, now we have 18 donuts to bring home!) and she also got the Don King and cute mini.  The donuts were so good! We slowly enjoyed each bite and when finished, decided to split just one more, a french toast donut, which was also very good.

From there we drove to Greenlake to have a look at one of my favorite walking paths on the water and to find a monkey tree which I remembered were scattered all around Greenlake.  I wanted to get a picture of one for Grant and my mother and it didn't take long to find one of the huge pines.

My recollection of how the Monkey Tree got its name was because the branches resembled a monkey's tail. However in looking up the tree online, it seems the story and name of this tree was changed in Seattle at some point. I like my understanding better.

Next we decided it was time for lunch. Steph suggested the Elysian Brewing Company, but she wasn't sure where it was. So I looked it up and good old GPS got us there and guess what? It was right next the donut shop. That caused a number of laughs!  We enjoyed a burger, brew and fries in the outdoor seating. Yes, that's right outdoor seating! Something I wouldn't dream of doing in the DC August heat...so lovely.

Later that evening we headed to the Snohomish Taste of Music and enjoyed some live blues music from a couple local bands. All in all, a fantastic day!