Homemade Baby Purees

Justin's at the age now where he's loving his purees and I love making them for him.  I'm not strict about it and he eats out of a jar just as often as he eats homemade baby food, but when I have the time, I really love getting out the blender and making it myself.  There's something that feels so good about it...  maybe it's the fact that I end up snacking as I'm cooking?? 

My two go-to books for inspiration when making baby food are Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel and Jessica Seinfeld's Decpetively Delicious, which I'm sure you've heard of: 

When my babies were brand-new, the level of exhaustion Dave & I were at made it a bit difficult to really feel inspired or get excited about cooking although, normally, it's one of our favorite things to do.  (WE LOVE EATING and a good meal at the end of the day is such a nice way to wind down.)  Once babies are ready for purees (mine were there around 5 or so months) things have gotten drastically easier.  I found I was excited about meals again and had so much fun chekcing out these 2 cookbooks.  I love how Jessica Seinfeld's has this adorable vintage feel:

She goes over a bunch of different vegetables and includes their steaming/ cooking times which is so helpful for someone like me who was new at it. The concept pf her book is all about "sneaking" vegetable purees into your kids's food.  I know people have given her flack  about the idea, saying we should teach our kids to eat veggies and yada yada, but regardless of whether you tell your kids the veggies are in there or not (and we do) it's a great concept to add more nutrition to almost anything.  It kind of becomes second nature once you really get into it and you find yourself wanting to add a puree to everything.  (We often do carrot puree in our burgers and it's such a yummy moist burger but you really don't taste the carrots.)  It's fun to follow along with the recipes and then get creative and make up your own.

Top 100 baby Purees is my other go-to.  I kid you not, these purees are seriously good.  When we do these, I'll typically make the same thing in an un-pureed version for Dave, Christian & myself because I already have all of the ingredients out. 

And kids love them!!  (Even Christian is always asking for Justin to "share" his food.) 

When I'm doing veggie purees, I like to do a bunch at once because I have all of the gear out.  If we're slammed for time, I'll even get the precut organic vegetables from the grocery store (I know it costs more but there have been times when a butternut squash sits and rots in my fridge because I never felt like cutting it up...  how bad is that??)  So wash all the veggies...

And then steam them:

{Ikea steamer/ pot}

I love this steamer from Ikea.  It's seriously one of the best purchases we've ever made (about 4 yrs ago.)  You can bake or cook the vegetables any way you like (think roasted red peppers- the kids love those- or baked butternut squash) but steaming retains the most nutrients and the fresher (is that a word? ;) your vegtables are when you get to them, the more nutrients they have. 

I don't have a food processor or one of those magic bullet things, but the blender works just fine.  Add in some of the leftover water from steaming because it's chock-full of nutrients & because you'll need water anyway to get it to the right consistency.  (You can even save it and use it for making broths if you have more leftover.)

We got a bunch of these "fresh baby" puree trays from Babies R Us when we had Christian.  They're amazing because they have lids.  I've used ice cube trays too in a pinch, but love the fact that I don't have to get into messy plastic wrap or any of that with these.   (And you know I'm not one for gadgets, so if I get them, trust me, they're worth it.) 

So we just fill up the little trays and label them for the freezer:

And you pop a couple of cubes into a little bowl and microwave until they're warm whenever you need them.  (transporting them is super-easy because they're frozen so they just unthaw for you.) 

And then let your little one go to town on them:

(I still haven't figured out how to make this process easy ;)

Wordsworth White Wednesday

I used to go to a lot of flea markets and shop for antiques.  I got married, moved away, had children, and quit doing it.  Why?  Oh, there are reasons; no good flea markets within 100 miles, three boys in tow, etc.  But, I never got rid of my treasures.  And, soon I hope to put some antique shopping back in my schedule.  Blogging has gotten me back in touch with the person I was before all the obligations of family came along.  But, anyway here is one of my treasures.  I love old books.  

This is a copy of Wordsworth for the Young c. 1891.  It is a textbook made for school children to study Wordsworth's poetry.  William Wordsworth was a major English poet who helped launch the Romantic Era during the second half of the 18th century.  The Romantic Movement validated strong emotion as an authentic source of the aesthetic experience, placing a new emphasis on emotions such as horror and awe.  

One of the poems in the book that was so striking to me is We Are Seven.   This is a very strong and powerful poem in which Wordsworth is the narrator who enters into a conversation with a little child in a churchyard.  He asks the child how many siblings she has and she states "we are seven."  She continues on to describe where all of her brothers and sisters are and she states two lay in the churchyard (dead and buried).  So, the narrator states that she and her siblings "are five" and the little child repeatedly says no "we are seven."  This is such striking subject matter for children's poetry, but a noted poem for Wordsworth and a perfect example of romanticism. 

I love old books with this type of illustrations.  Most of the rest of the poetry is not as sad as We Are Seven.

Such a time capsule of a different era and so interesting to thumb through. 
I will join Kathleen at Faded Charm for White Wednesday.
Please go over and enjoy all the talent exhibited on White Wednesday.

Decompressing

After 4 days of 6+ hours of driving per day, I'm in decompression mode.  First home to Virginia from my dad's in Illinois...  That took 2 days (we split up the drive for the kids' sake) and we delayed leaving because we were having such a good time SO that led us into 2 more days of straight driving up and back from NY to celebrate with some friends. 

{Justin "up-up-up-downing" at our McDonald's makeshift picnic on our roadtrip home}

Before we left though, we did get some fishing in at the lake...

I'm a terrible fisherman  ("fisherwoman" just sounded odd there) but I love it now that Christian has so much fun doing it:

He kept reeling it in and seeing the minnow (for bait) on the hook and thinking he'd caught "a little fish!"  (We didn't have the heart to tell him.)

Dave's learning too...

I love those cloudy days at the lake where you just relax.  There's gray beauty everywhere...

{"One-two-three-four-five-six-seven... SEVEN snails" says Christian}

He was so excited to catch his very first bass with his Nanoo (my dad)...  (It was definitely the smallest bass we'd ever seen ;) 

My dad's an awesome fisherman and even mounted "my" very first bass that I caught at four years old.  Here he is now in the playhouse:

I wasn't ready to leave for home but I guess it's always better to leave while you're still having fun.  We're finally home from an amazing time in NY at Eddie & Jaithan's where we got to see & meet some amazing blogging friends in person.  ...Debra of5th and State, Patricia of PVE Design, Michele of My Notting Hill, and the Vamp (Valorie of Visual Vamp) to name a few...  it was like meeting old friends and they're just as amazing as you'd expect in 'real' life. As my usual I'm-having-too-much-fun-to-take-pictures-self, I didn't take any but in true Eddie & Jaithan fashion, you can bet it was beautiful.   And when I got home, there was a beautiful package waiting for me from Patricia who had no idea we were even going to meet when she's sent it the week before:

She'd found an amazing book that she thought I'd love for $1 and sent it to me!  (Now this is the kind of person I want to be.  She's so incredibly thoughtful and generous!!  And seriously chic- oh my goodness!)  Anyway, It's called Found Style by Amy and David Butler and the photos are incredible:

I plan on taking some time this week to read it and another book (Living With What You Love) this week ad am attempting to decompress from our whirlwind of driving. 

I've got a great week set up with clients to get back into the swing of things (if any of you are reading I missed you!! ;)  ... tonight we had an awesome dinner-  a Greek Salad with ground tukey (I swear it's good) and life is beautiful.

I hope you're having a great summer too& are enjoying any minute you can. 

ps-  This is so odd, but for the past 5-7 days or so, I haven't been able to type...  I don't know what's up but it's worse than usual!!  (I keep mixing up all the letters and leaving letters out.... ??hahaha  ....  ok only funny if it stops.)

Carnival Glass

For quick refreshment I have this great pass through above my kitchen sink that looks out into the new addition.  This used to be a window that looked out into the back yard, but now it is a serving area.  I have put a rooster and a candle here from one of my last tablescapes and fixed up a tray of iced tea.

The iced tea is being served in some antique carnival glass.  August makes me want to put more warm colors in my decorating.  The carnival glass is perfect with it's orange hue.  The carnival glass is also second time around to me, it was my Great-Grandmother's.

I take centerpieces off of my tablescapes often and leave them in this window ledge for a few weeks.  It is a nice way to change up the view and they are always seasonal and fun to look at.  

I will link to these parties:

Tea Time Tuesday at Lady Katherine Tea Parlor.

Tea Cup Tuesday at Martha's Favorites.

Tuesday Tea for Two at The Plumed Pen.

Three or More Tuesday at The Gypsy's Corner.

Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life.

2nd Time Around at A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words.

Vintage Thingie Thursday at The Colorado Lady.

Please join these ladies to see what wonderful ideas are shared.

Pressed Flowers

With the flowers in full bloom, here is an easy before and after you can do to make an accessory for your home.  

Take a bloom or leaf from your plant of choice and place it onto clean white paper in a heavy book.  Place the clean white paper on both sides of it.

With the daisy I choose the book doesn't shut flat.  That's okay just press it out as flat as you can get it.

Stack more heavy books on top of your pressed flower book and wait a couple of weeks.

Check the flower or leaf in two weeks and make sure it appears completely dried out.  When it is you can then frame it.  If it could use more drying time just give it another week and check it.  Drying time will vary by the plant you choose.

Here are three plants I have pressed for my home.  The fall leaf on the left was from last year.  The color is still really good on the leaf.  The fern has faded a bit.  The crocus on the right was in bloom when my last son was born and I picked it and saved it as a keepsake of that sunny winter day.  To apply the plant to the background I just used the tiniest drop of school glue.  It doesn't discolor the plant and it holds it in place.  I am seeing a lot of pressed flowers in the magazines.  It is really simple to do and the perfect project for this time of year.

I will join:

Susan for Metamorphosis Monday at her site Between Naps on the Porch.

Sarah for Before and After Party at her site Thrifty Decor Chick.

Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative.

Making the World Cuter at Making the World Cuter.