St Patricks Day Classic Dinner

Of course we had Corned Beef & Cabbage and I decided to try to make a brown soda bread. The CB recipe is a real simple one my mom gave me. In short, you saute carrot/onion/celery in a bit of oil, put the CB on top with water covering it and 1 Tbl pickling spices for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a medium to low heat covered. Add in a cut up cabbage and potatoes for 20+ more minutes. I've made it a bunch of times and it's pretty easy to do.

This year, despite my continuous dough disasters, I decided to try the Mrs O'Callaghan's Soda Bread recipe from this months Food & Wine (not online yet) as discovered and written about by a Mr Andrew McCarthy of St Elmos Fire/Pretty in Pink fame (none other worth mentioning in my humble opinion). When I think of Andrew McCarthy, I think of his weird "grabbing-face-before-mashing-what-appears-to-be-a-kiss" move on Ally Sheedy. Turns out it wasn't his weirdo character b/c he does it EVERYWHERE!

Back to business...As usual, I feel like an idiot with dough, never knowing if I'm over or under doing it and getting flour all the F*&^ over the place.

Here's what the dough looked like before-hand...not too bad...seemingly not cohesive, a bit chunky, looking like it will fall apart...

Should this much dry mixture have been left over????? Hmmm

Here's what the bread looked like afterwards:

Not too shabby, huh???

And...it tasted ?

Not too shabby. It was nice warm with butter, but what doesn't taste good warm with butter, right? Pretty good, I thought! Maybe there is hope for me yet!

Happy St Pats Day!

3 Irish kids happy to dress up today, 1 unhappy leprechaun this morning...

Already starting a tradition of chugging on St Pats Day!

Joe got up and made the kids green pancakes and green milk. It was a big hit!

"What the hell are you trying to feed me??? There is no way I'm eating this crap!" And, she didn't. I tried to jam one piece in so she'd see it was just like a regular pancake but she'd have none of it and just gave me that look before chucking a pancake at me. Nice.

Also this morning from Rory..."I'm not Irish. I'm Unique!" We've been talking about all the things that make each kid special and unique (skin color, hair color, likes and dislikes, etc) and now Rory has decided that everything he says and does makes him unique.

Celeriac Gratin

I feel like I've been reading about Celeriac (or Celery Root) for months now. I've never done anything with it before. I grabbed one from the store this week, but wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I figured I'd roast or mash it or something. Apparently it lends itself well to slaw-type salads as well, but I wasn't in the mood for that. I looked through a few veggie books I have for ideas...

• Vegetables from the Time/Life Cookbook series from way back when. It had some nice tips on general preparation and cooking styles it works well with. There was a gratin recipe for a quartered Celeriac and a mixed potato/celeriac mash, but I didn't do either.


• Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and cathleen Hockman-Wert which focuses on vegetables in their prime season. Nothing good in here.
  
• Vegetables Every Day by Jack Bishop - nothing here.

I ended up adapting a recipe from this Celeriac Gratin in Martha Stewarts recipe database. It was HEAVENLY. I used 1 big root instead of 3, 1/2 cup parmesean and 1/2 cup cheddar instead of gruyere b/c I didn't have it, 3/4 cup light cream, and no nutmeg. Also, I par-cooked the celeriac in boiling water for 5-10 minutes first...I'd probably do 5 or not at all next time. Try it!

Are You Sitting Down?

Good. Here we go...

Joe and I are proud to announce that Downes No 4 is on the way! I know, SHOCKING, isn't it????? It seems pretty rare these days to go beyond 3 from what I can tell. We actually do know 3 families with 4 kids - 1 was an a 3rd child that turned out to be twins, but the other 2 were intended that way. I'm going to need to tap in to those guys for some advice...How do you find your sanity? Do you EVER go out anymore? Are you drowning in diapers? Is your family schedule color coded? (That's the part I really look forward to, of course). Right now I'm desperately booking my baby sitter for as many days as I can! Not only does 4 change things on the babysitting front, but our sitter is transferring colleges and moving away. HUGE bummer.


It's so not on anyones radar that people haven't even been noticing that I haven't been drinking (although what could drive you to drink more, really?). They don't even NOTICE! That's what a circus freak I was feeling like for awhile there. It's still sort of a weird conversation to have with people...a few family members were beyond shocked and didn't have much to say (I get it. Really, I do).



We told the kids this past weekend and they seem cool with it. Shelagh actually asked me, while in the shower last week with me, why I looked like I had a baby belly when Kelly already came out. Rory asked where my belly button went and interestingly, Kelly has been poking my stomach. Shelagh has named the baby already for girl or boy. Rory said he would like a baby brother now because "there are enough girls in this family".



I asked the big kids each what was 1 thing they were worried about and 2 things they thought were cool about it (yes, I sort of stacked the deck. let's call it "spin"). Shelagh said she was worried that even if we put the new baby up high on the table that Kelly would not be gentle with it. She was happy that 1) she'd have another kid in the family to play with if Rory or Kelly wouldn't go along with her games and 2) she'd always be oldest and would be able to be teacher if they played school. Rory said that he'd love to have a new delicate baby around. He doesn't seem to be worried about anything other than the too many girls in the family thing.

Anyway, it's big news and certainly a big change coming to our family in September. Oh yeah, I just bought new pants for the first time in like 6+ years from having lost weight. See ya! Rubber band on the pants already and Maternity clothes out and sorted through. They are seriously getting immediately passed on after this. Hello, steamy hot summer with me as big as a house. AWESOME!



Oh yeah, the baby is doing fine..I got a nice few U/S profile pics, a hand wave, and all tests look good so far despite my "advanced maternal age", my genetic counseling I had to have this time, and a quick but resolved no-heartbeat scare. I'm feeling good and beyond the seriously exhausted stage. So, onward we go!!

What the Hell do I Feed this Kid????

I've been seriously over-posting cute pics of Kelly lately. Who would know she was a third kid??? I'm still as psycho about compulsively photographing my kids!!

The obligatory Black Bean Face picture I've taken of all 3 kids. It's one of the only things she'll eat these days.

Doesn't she look so big sitting up properly on a stool?

The VERY short list of food that Kelly will eat these days...certainly my most food-challenged kid yet. Nothing drives me more crazy, I might add. She definitely knows it too.

Will Eat

• MILK - by the gallon (or so her diaper tells me)
• Toast (like Father, like all Children)
• Pancakes (Another common thread through my kids. I always prefer savory over sweet for breakfast, but I guess on my own with this one)
• Yogurt (any flavor, any brand, any time, any place...you just can't spoon it in fast enough)
• Cheese (she seems to like Cheddar, Swiss and Havarti so far. I'm trying to steer clear of American - JUST BECAUSE)
• Grilled Cheese
• Black Beans
• Pasta w/ Red Sauce & Parm or w/ Butter & Parm, but only small shapes like stars, pastina, orzo and the like
• Rice (lots of varieties so far - white, brown, yellow, spiced, etc)
• French Fries
• Fish (Haddock or Cod go over well...I should try Salmon probably)
• Pretzels, Cookies, Crackers

Carbs, carbs, carbs...

Sometimes Will Eat (if she thinks I'm not looking and if Miss Queenie is in the mood)

• Turkey
• Salami (but only the Hebrew National Beef soft kind cut up small)
• Eggs
• Oatmeal
• Muffins (but has been known to dig out berries, etc)

Will not Eat and will definitely THROW

• Cereal
• Ham
• Meat (Chicken, Beef, Pork, etc)
• Vegetables of any sort, color, texture (she managed to spot a single broccoli floret buried in a mouthful of pasta and dug it out)
• Ice Cream (I think the cold bothers her)
• Fruit of any sort (SERIOUSLY!). I manage to get applesauce (if it's not cold) and baby food fruit in there sometimes.
• Mashed Potatoes

Oh, she's also teething all 4 molars right now. So, maybe this is all a big "Screw You" and she'll be fine when they are in. Oh wait, then she'll be teething all the eye teeth so forget that.

Kids

I cannot get enough of Kelly's "Cheese" fact. Neither can Shelagh give up any opportunity to pose for a picture, so it works out! How freakin' cute are these?????

Rory loves his baby...

Who was beating the shit out of her new hammer toy, by the way...She has some serious fierce-ness in there!

Frig Full of Lots of Crappy Food

I actually did quite a bit of cooking last Tuesday on my home-from-work day. Kelly and Rory were both sick and slept most of the day away. I did a Red-Wine Braised Short Rib dish, a Wine Braised Brisket, and I also threw in a Maple-Cumin chicken. All 3 were pretty much disasters. See pictures below AKA Charred blocks of Short Ribs, Stiff & Shitty Brisket Blobs, and didn't bother with Soggy Ass Chicken. I guess it was okay, then, that my whole family (but me) got the worst stomach bug anyway. I feel slightly less bad about dumping all this crappy food now.

I think the big problem with the 2 beef dishes is that I tried to half the recipes. Who needs a 5lb hunk of meat when there are only 2 adults eating, 1 baby throwing food, and 2 kids I'm bribing to take 3 bites anyway???? It's easy to cut the recipe ingredients but I don't ever seem to get the right sized cooking vessel and then I definitely miss the boat on timing. You still want a long slow cook for a braise so that the cheaper meat cuts have time to break down. Then again, you have less liquid (which is why the short ribs burned, I'm guessing). The chicken went in and came out last and then sat out while I put the kids to bed so what should have been crispy yummy skin turned into a rubber duck.

Then, I barely recovered with Strawberry Muffins from me and Rory and then Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies from Emeril in this months Everyday Food.