July 5th

What a wonderful day! Went to church, farmer's market and bought a little box of rainier cherries to hold us through until we get a chance to go picking, hit the little used book store and made some nice finds (we will make this a usual stop after the market on Sundays from now on!) and came home to bake bread and finish straining the kefir for a cheese spread to take to the block party. What lovely neighbors we have! I am so pleased to have finally met them all, and we look forward to lots more neighborly activities in the future. Then, kids to bed, and mommy to apricot jam making! Daddy picked almost 3 kilos off our little tree in the backyard, which I halved, pitted, soaked, and am now stirring and skimming as they cook down. It smells quite delicious, I added a little cinnamon and chopped candied ginger, along with an obscene amount of sugar. Oh well. Also, I am listening to a bunch of old time radio mysteries from the 1940's and am completely enjoying my nostalgic evening in the kitchen. Will post pics later.

Happy Independance Day to ALL!

Today we had some lovely work friends over to our new home for a cookout, and if I do say so myself, some very tasty eats! Heather & Andy brought yummy potato salad with bacon, how could you go wrong there? And Sara and Alan brought cucumber salad w/honey vinaigrette and chopped peppers, also yum! I can believe I forgot to take picture of the food b/c I tried a new cake recipe from a Parisian bistro book and it cam out fantastically well. At least I got a picture of the aftermath... ;-)

The cake was a chocolate genoise (sponge) with chocolate mousse and ganache poured over it all. sigh. I was happy b/c it was made with 10 (ten!) free range eggs, 1 3/4 cups heavy cream and a lot of cocoa and bittersweet chocolate, as well as very little flour and sugar! Practically healthfood if you ask me... (J said "vitamin cake", though he wouldn't want to give the impression that it tasted healthy if you know what I mean.)

I also grilled some ribs that had been slowly braising in the oven since early this morning with a bit of (hangs head in shame) store bought bbq sauce, but it was from trader joes and was all natural so at least it wasn't packed with lead or msg or anything... harhar.

The kids were happy with the grassfed beef (we purchased half a cow a few weeks ago and it is very tasty in all it's dry aged goodness, in our garage freezer...). I made burgers with grated onion and heavy cream a la James Beard, or so I am told... I read somewhere that he recommended this for retaining moisture in leaner beef. In anycase, it is our new favorite burger technique!

Well, after devoting this holiday to food for my family and friends I am off to watch the fireworks, of which we have a spectcular view from our deck! Maybe a nice glass of wine and a tiny sliver of cake?

wow, it's been a while!

Holy batman longtime no blog! also, we have a one year old fearless toddling maniac in the style of her older sister, also we have moved cross country, also, wow, lots of stuff. I'm sure it will come up eventually, probably.

Anyway, I love Yakima. We've been here a few weeks and already have friends and outdoor space and nice doctors and hospitals, and cheap electricity, and inexpensive produce and milk. wonderful.

(did I mention the semi nude espresso stands along the roads? I have not stopped at one yet, I will mention it if I do. Brewlesque is probably the most convenient, though I hear the non-stripper run but just as amusing espresso, tans & more actually has good espresso and pit stop espresso has granitas!...)

I mention the friendly non-intimidating awesome doctors and hospitals b/c M (1 year old climbing disaster) broke her elbow a week ago, and we went through some trauma to find out that she will be fine, can wear her hot pink cast for a few weeks and will not need surgery! I am very very impressed and happy to be within a couple of hours of Seattle Children's Hospital, and even our local hospital is exponentially (if it can be measured as such) better than ANY east coast hospital I have EVER been in as either a visitor, patient, or parent.

So, speaking of toddling, I must go prevent further breakages while M is too clumsy/one-handed to catch herself...

this is so scary...

A Belgian couple are told by the court that they cannot sue Nestle b/c the risk of contamination is, drum roll please, KNOWN AND ACCEPTED. Yes, it is known, by lactation professionals and concerned medical staff, but is it know by the parents who give it to their infant children? It is accepted by the companies who produce the artificial milk, but what about the newborn baby who has it poured down their throat? Do the nursery staff inform the parents and give them an informed consent waiver to sign when they want to pop a bottle in the newborn's mouth overnight? (They do not in most hospitals in the USA even have to tell the parents they fed the baby a bottle at all, though, theoretically they are supposed to make a note in the baby's chart. Yet another reason to not let the baby out of your arms....)

http://boycottnestle.blogspot.com/2007/10/ruling-in-belgium.html

But you know what? We aren't supposed to talk about this stuff, it might get you labeled or cast out of mommy groups. God forbid we actually educate the public about the RISKS involved in NOT giving your child the biological norm. sigh.

How frustrating can it get?

J asks me why I allow myself to focus on things that are so depressing, and I think I will try to let go more often than I do, but sometimes it takes some righteous outrage from ordinary people to make changes that need to happen.

For example, the baby Friendly Hospital Initiative which was started to try to influence the many baby factory hospitals that churn out c-secs and send home poorly feeding infants who end up on formula (after routine and horrifying interventions that often traumatize not only the infant, but their mother as well) toward a more reasonable and evidence based way of practising, but as you can see here, it is not going well.

Another very distressing news item is the formula pushing and intimidation tactics of the company reps in the Philippines., which is leading to documented infant mortality rates skyrocketing, something which the media here would be loath to mention b/c it might make some women feel bad here in the USA. There are doctors and hospitals in the Philippines. who are making much more noise and forward strides about this issue than many here would dare, and though the government agrees that the problem is the formula companies, they are unable to remove them. (!!) How sick is it that this is even a problem we need to discuss?

Petition to ask USA to stop intervening on breastfeeding issues in the
Philippines.


http://www.petitiononline.com/probf1/petition.html

I am not trying to be inflammatory here, or get into a discussion about how we use formula here, and whether or not anyone should or shouldn't, just that it should not be PUSHED on people for whom it is causing a very obvious and studied phenomenon of infant mortality that is UNACCEPTABLE. I am very distressed that a country in which this would not have happened were it not for certain party's "generosity" and self interest now has generations of women who do not even know what normal infant feeding is. How dare these companies strong arm their way into wringing parent's last pennies away for an inferior and unhealthy product?

where are they getting in?

Our bathroom for the last several nights has become filled with crickets. How? Why? I replaced the drain covers, is there a hole in an outside wall I am just missing? They only come at night, it is fairly creepy and disconcerting as I have to use the bathroom for numerous pee breaks every night and do not always turn the light on. Feeling something jump/brush past your foot at 3am while trying to sneak silently around to relieve your bladder and not wake monster (S) is no picnic. gah.

J said that he found one in the toilet last night, could they be coming in that way? I think that is actually an even worse thought than the hole in the wall, I mean, at least they don't swim through contaminated water and then jump all over the place leaving residue that way. Also, I have to remember to turn on the light and check from now on. I really don't want to have something bounce off my bum while on the toilet in the dark, still trying not to wake the ravenous nursing toddler... eek.

check them out

I'm starting to really get into 3hive, which has free, legal, music downloads, so I can enjoy alternative and interesting new stuff which I wouldn't otherwise hear. Plus, no having to explain to S about the Man and why it is sometimes ok to pirate but not always, and how that might relate to being nice and all that crap. So anyway this is what I found tonight and S swayed enthusiastically to "There's a Reason".

And also, we got a really fun new book at Daedalus called Perrier the Pig. There are lots of nicely alliterative P words like "Perrier was a miniature potbellied pig purchased from..." and referances to his ridiculous but loving owner Marbella, the rich and famous movie star. It is S's favorite book at the moment.