This Is A Cute Baby

Meals We Have Made

Between birthday and Christmas celebrations, I was the lucky recipient of both a slow-cooker and a Le Creuset Dutch oven. Both kitchen appliances have seen their fair share of activity thus far, and I thought it wise to keep a running list of some of the meal highlights and standbys I've cooked over the course of Taylor's early days—the meals that have indirectly fed her and, to date, resulted in a 25.5-inch, 15 lb., 2.5 oz. four-month-old little girl.

Coq au vin
Indian eggplant curry (bharta) and lamb chops with balsamic reduction
Baked salmon and slow-roasted sweet potatoes
Rotisserie chicken and leek soup with homemade stock
Braised pork ribs
Italian-style spiced beef stew
Indian minced lamb with peas
Pureed spinach soup (a standby)
Beef fajitas with roasted parsnips and pineapple salsa
Rosemary-garlic roast beef and potatoes with horseradish sauce

What's In A Name?

Muffin. Muffelin. Muffet. Tuffet. Nuppet. Button. Buttons. Bug. Bear. Little Bear. T. Ellie. Ellie-Bear. Button-Bear. Taylor. Chubs. Chubbles.

I have called you each of these names. What, I wonder, will you call me?

Of Festivals and Cook-Offs

Clay and Taylor at the Zilker kite festival

We've been making a point of getting out and about over these lengthening winter days, recently attending the fourth annual "Pair It With Claret Chili Cook-Off" at Spicewood Vineyards and the 2012 Zilker Park Kite Festival. Taylor spent most of the day pack-forward at the cook-off, admiring the color and body of the wines we sampled (in our commemorative glasses) and fielding compliments throughout a perfect breezy, blue sky Hill Country afternoon. The kite festival had similarly ideal weather and our first family flyer, a squat little frog, joined hundreds of other kites in the skies above the city.

During the weekdays, we've been attending the bilingual story time at the local library branch  along with a Friday morning "Spanish for babies" meet-up group gathering at the home of a second generation Argentinian American mom (sometimes attended by a Cuban American, a Columbian and a Mexican American or two, along with other Spanish-language beginners). Tuesdays is our baby love massage class at the birthing center, and between these various scheduled events we enjoy a daily constitutional with John Henry, weather permitting, and oftentimes an afternoon stroll through the neighborhood across the way, sometimes stopping off in Garrison Park to take a turn on the swings.

Taylor assessing the wine at Spicewood