Menu

Wednesday: Chicken Marbella, Wild Rice, Salad
Thursday: Thai Beef Salad, Coconut Rice
Friday: Quesadillas with blackbean salad
Saturday: Date Night!
Sunday: Carnitas tacos

New Year

It's a new year and for the first time, I am going to make some resolutions. Here is my list:

#1: Brush my teeth every night, even if I'm tired (I know that sounds gross, but I am a busy mama and sometimes I forget!)
#2: Live on a budget
#3: Do yoga once a week
#4: Get rid of everything I haven't used in the last year
#5: Make sure all our dishes are clean before bedtime
#6: Cook dinner 6 nights a week
#7: Pay all of my bills on time

Hopefully writing it down will help make it happen!

so i've been making bread

well friends it's been a while. i started back to work about 2 months ago - i can't believe time has passed so quickly.

we've settled into a new routine with our nanny share, the new school year, the job, soccer, etc...

to catch you up:
bez is reading at a 2nd-3rd grade level and already knows all of his 1st grade math
sofia learned how to roll over (back to front and front to back)
bez has been playing soccer - he likes playing defense and has scored 3 goals this season
sofia started eating bananas and oatmeal and pretty much loves any form of eating (as evidenced by her wonderfully chubby cheeks and round belly)
we got 7 pumpkins and i made a pretty gross pumpkin pie (still searching for a good recipe)
the sounders made the playoffs and won the us open cup
sofia had her 4 month appointment, she is 25.5in and 15.5lbs. just like her brother at 4 months, she is 90% height, 75% weight. as our doctor said, this is one big baby.

i've noticed that the difference in ages between sofia and bez is easier in some ways (bez LOVES her, isn't jealous at all, can help keep an eye on her for a few minutes and entertain her when i'm cooking, etc) and super challenging because we want to make sure that bez doesn't miss out on anything, which makes scheduling crazy! he has a busy little life between sports, friends, and school and it makes it tough to get and keep sofia on a schedule. i just hope that it's enriching her life to be out and about, hanging out with her big brother and not messing her body clock up too much! fortunately, the nanny seems to be getting her on a schedule during the week (then we undo all of her work every weekend).

in the midst of all this, i've been learning how to bake bread and i found an awesome recipe for bread. it's super easy to make. i've been starting this on saturday night and finishing up on sunday and it tastes almost just like our favorite bread, rosemary diamante from seattle's essential bakery. you should try to make it. it's easy, yummy and will make your house smell goooooood.

rosemary sea salt no-knead bread (adapted from williams-sonoma catalogue)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 5/8 cups water
coarse sea salt (for topping)

in a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, salt and rosemary. add water and stir until blended (dough will be shaggy and sticky). cover with plastic wrap. let dough rest at room temperature, 70deg F until surface is dotted with bubbles, 12-18 hours (i've left it 20 hours and it's been even better).

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle dough with flour, fold dough over onto itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, let rest for 15 mins.

using very little flour, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. coat a towel with flour (or cornmeal - the recipe says cornmeal, but i don't like it with cornmeal). put dough, seam side down on a towel, dust with more flour or cornmeal. cover with another towel, let rise until dough is more than double in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, at least 2 hours.

about 30 mins before dough is ready, put a 2 3/4 qt cast-iron pot in oven, preheat oven to 450deg F. remove pot from oven, pop the bread into thepot, seam side up. sprinkle the top with coarse sea salt. cover with lid and bake for 30 mins. remove the top and bake until loaf is browned (approx 15-30 more minutes).

cool for 10 mins before removing from pot.

jackie brockway

so i told you i would tell you about my grandma. she had a heart attack last week (she's okay) and it reminded me how i only know so much about her and how we might not have that much time to get to know eachother better.

jacqueline stevenson was born in portland, or in 1917 (i think?). i believe her grandma came over to oregon on the oregon trail in, literally, a covered wagon. her grandma, cora stevenson, was from norway. can you imagine that? taking the boat to NYC, and riding with your new husband across the country in a covered wagon?

anyhow, i know that her father did something at reed college (caretaker i want to say?). they lived in campus housing when she was a little girl.

at 92 she is still at least 5'8" and she was at least that growing up. in the 20's and 30's that was very tall for a woman. she always says that her height was the reason it took her so long to find a husband.

i don't know too much about her childhood, but i know she went to university of oregon to earn her bachelor's degree in home economics before joining the red cross during WWII. she was shipped to africa for an aid mission. she spent some time in morocco and algeria, where i believe she met my grandfather.

scandolously, i believe my grandfather, weston brockway, was married to another woman and had 2 children when they met in morocco. as it goes, they fell in love. my grandma says that grandpa weston (who was a clasically trained pianist and later a high school music teacher) would play her songs every night in the USO (under the guise of entertaining the troops). they married and moved to hartford, ct where my father was born.

they eventually moved to eugene, or where they raised my father and aunt susie (who in the 60's renamed herself "sioux"). she worked as a home economics teacher (I remember her telling me her favorite thing to teach was how to make deviled eggs). in 1963, weston died tragically of a heart attack and grandma was left to raise my father and aunt by herself.

after his death, she went back to school and earned a Ph.D in psychology. she trained to be a sex therapist, of all things, and spent many years doing that.

she has also dabbled in art throughout her life and this grew into a full-blown passion by the time my memories of her start. when i was a child, she traveled the world, painting watercolors from all over the world. her favorite place to paint was santorini, greece. her paintings are beautiful and are such a part of my memory.

my favorite gift is still the painting of mont saint michel she painted at my request. we used to pour over books about monet and when she traveled to giverny, she painted me a picture of monet's garden. when she visited us in alaska, she would host "painting class" at our kitchen table and teach my mom and me techniques.

my favorite memories are from the townhouse she had in beaverton, or. she lived in a light, airy white townhouse that was surrounded by flowers. i remember walking with her on the grounds and she would teach me the names of different plants. i still remember her blowing my mind when she explained that the color of hydrangea can change if the soil changes. my little 10 year old brain was like "what????!!". she had (and still has) a little kitchen table painted with still life scenes. when i stayed with her, she would always include me in her night time routine which was tea and a handful of shortbread cookies. she would also take me to the pool in the summer - i don't remember the pool, but i remember the walking.

she loves tea cups and flowers, poetry and politics. she always has a good story to tell about the family, or her life. she is as she has always been - irreverant, funny, harsh, sweet, startilingly intelligent, tall, strong, and loving.

'kayso

It's been a crazy few weeks! I'll spare you the details, but I'll say this - I'm capable of more than I thought. I also think I may have located my breaking point.

You know how they say 1+1 does not equal 2? (oh you haven't heard that?). Well they are right!




My grabdfather's funeral was nice. It felt good to drive to Portland, like making the effort was a tribute to him. Tony wore a suit and shaved in tribute to grandpa and had a great point when he said, "how would he dress at my funeral? I don't know, but I know he'd look smooth.". The best part was getting to see my mom and uncle and getting to hear stories about what he meant to both of them.

While we were in Portland we also saw my 92 year old grandma. She's amazing and I'll tell you about her someday.



Bez started soccer last week - he already thinks he's good enough to play for the Sounders. We recommended a little more practice.

He starts1st grade on Wednesday. Yeeps! Time is flying by. We met his teacher today, who seems great - she is passionate about reading and gives playmobil toys as rewards. Can't beat that! We also got to find out who will be in his class. We were so worried for him (will it be the right mix of kids? Will he have friends in his class? Won't he be sad if his best buddy isn't with him?). As always, wonderful kid-hood prevailed. We went over the list and he said, "cool!". Love that kid.


The baby had her first day with the nanny today. It went well - she did her usual thing (sleeping, pooping, napping) and I got to come home to a smiley, happy baby.

Sofia is the happiest baby ever! She loves to talk, smile, play and snuggle. And eat. And eat. And eat.




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Grandpa

My handsome grandpa:




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a birthday, a loss, a change...

this has been a week. what a week.


thursday was bezzy's 6th birthday. when people tell you that it goes too fast, it's true. when i look at him now, i see this lanky, funny boy. he tells jokes ("hey mom, what do you get when you..."), has his own friends, reads, makes projects and so much more.





on saturday, we had his birthday party at stone gardens - a rock climbing gym in bellevue. it was SO fun. the kids got to climb around like the crazy monkeys they are and because there were 2 instructors managing the kids the grownups got to chill. my favorite part was having a 7 kid limit. i didn't have to worry about "enough" kids coming and it was so much more mellow than parties in the past. it was also fun seeing our social kid giving attention to each of his friends, not worrying about presents and enjoying his day. i am pretty proud of the little guy he is turning out to be.




...and he lost a tooth - his first.




because every 6 year old boy needs star wars sheets...






sadly, my grandpa steele passed away today. if i could describe him with one word it would be stoic. he was always dressed to the nines and seemed so strong to me, even in his old age. he shared his birthday with bez which i think is so special - they will always be connected.

my mom says he was an avid outdoorsman. i remember seeing pictures of him hiking well into his seventies. mom is passing that on to bez (it skipped me), and the stubborn streak that probably kept him alive in the past few years.

we love you and miss you grandpa.

i am back to work on monday and i am not ready. I wish we could all stay home together for ever, but isn't it funny how life gets in the way of itself.

the good news? you know what happens all the time now? this face ....