Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Extended

One of the beautiful things about babies is that their birth can create so many new relationships--not only between them and their parents, but between them and other extended family members: grandpas, grandmas, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Forest's sister Crissy was in Illinois for a couple of weeks this month. Ramona got to meet her and her family for the first time. Cousin Aubrey was perhaps the most eager to hold her and give her kisses . . .





. . . but she let other people have a turn, too.



Saturday, July 11, 2009

A Tribute to Rainier Cherries

Although it may sound made-up, today is National Rainier Cherry Day. I actually think Rainier cherries are good enough to deserve their own holiday, and plan to celebrate accordingly.

Last summer, while we were in the Great Northwest, Forest and I got a taste of Rainier cherries in the best possible way . . . right off the tree.


Note how many more Rainier cherries we picked compared to the red ones:
We used David Lebovitz's recipe for cherry sorbet from his book The Perfect Scoop (of course just adding a pinch of guar gum). I've never been able to churn up the Rainiers into ice-cream-form, though . . . they are just too good the way they are.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Apricot Sorbet

The texture of this sorbet is incredibly smooth, making it stand out from most other fruit sorbets. We used David Lebovitz's recipe from The Perfect Scoop, and just added a pinch of guar gum with the sugar.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Blessed

Yesterday Ramona received her baby blessing at church and got all dressed up for the occasion.
Babies are blessings in and of themselves.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

School's out for the summer


Six reasons why it feels like summer:

1. Homemade Ice Cream
Pictured above are strawberry sorbet and pluot sorbet. Here is the recipe we used for Strawberry, adapted from Sugar Pie on Yahoo Answers:

Strawberry Sorbet

2 cups sugar
2 cups water
4 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup light corn syrup
less than 1/4 teaspoon guar gum

Bring the sugar, guar gum, and 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and allow the mixture to simmer, without stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

Put the strawberries and lemon juice into a food processor and puree. Press the strawberry puree through a strainer to remove the seeds.

When the sugar syrup has cooled completely add it to the strawberry puree. Add the corn syrup and stir well. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.


2. Father's Day
This Father's Day was Forest's first one as a daddy--a job he seems to enjoy very much.

3. Garden Zucchini
We have six zucchini plants in our garden right now and will soon have zucchini coming out of our ears. I won't know what to do with them at the same time I won't know what to do without them.

4. Garden Herbs
Fresh picked basil + olive oil + parmesan cheese + pine nuts + salt = pesto delizioso.

5. Swimming
Last weekend we went over to Parry's to play some tennis and jump into the pool. Although Ramona did not participate this time around, she did look the part during the few minutes she kept a little sunbonnet on her head.

6. School's Out
Last but not least, my online class is over. As much as I appreciated the chance to learn about adolescent development for five weeks, right now I would rather focus on infant development by observing our baby Ramona. Teenage Ramona can wait a while longer . . .

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Ramonamontage #1

My apologies to the people who check this blog for the sole purpose of receiving Ramona updates and are disappointed by the small number of pictures documenting her existence. The truth is, we have taken hundreds of pictures of our new resident princess. Here are just a few, in age-order:

One week old:
(above: first bath, in an ice cream bucket)



Two weeks old:
(above: her natural mohawk-esque hairdo)


Three weeks old:

Four weeks old:

Five weeks old:

Six weeks old:
("reading" one of her favorite books)


(above: her favorite post-meal position)


Seven weeks old: