It's Wednesday: and that means guest Blogger Sarah is in the house!
Is there any worse noise than the sound of your baby’s inconsolable tears?
Two hours ago I thought about starting this post with something along the lines of relishing how great the day was, how some days for some reasons unbeknownst to anyone are just happier days when no matter what the weather, the sun seems to be shining right on you.
And then 8 o’clock rolls around and you start to think, was it the garlic I ate that’s making her cry out so? It can’t be, I only ate an hour ago...Ah, she spit up all over me - that must have been it. Nope. And then mom and dad get testier. “Can you PLEASE just take her into the kitchen with the exhaust fan again? You barely bounced with her in there before!” “She just hates me tonight!” “Okay, let me try feeding her again.” Yes, well, you get the idea…
But while I’ve been home with her all day and she’s really been a doll, what I really want right now is to sit here and find solace in writing while my husband tends to the crazy crier. She’s been smiling all the time now, making lots of eye contact and getting a kick out of my changing facial expressions so it’s been really fun to spend time with her at home.
...ahh the hair dryer...baby likes the hair dryer…baby needs to SLEEP.
...So back to the glorious day full of sunshine (metaphorically, as it was raining). June slept 5 hours in a row last night - hurray! Though that was then followed by waking every hour or so until around 7 when we had our morning ritual of mamma and baby nap time when I let June nap on top of me for the next hour and half or so. I’m always plenty tired by this point so I pass out quite easily until she wakes up caked in sweat from her head resting on my chest. Today I knew the forecast predicted rain all day so I wanted to take advantage of some dry morning hours to take a nice walk and pick up some groceries since it’s been pretty miserable out all week. Anyway, we took a walk, baby napped, I picked up a lovely little air plant for the house and all was well and lovely in the world. Naps went well today and I even had time to clean up the apartment and do some weightlifting! (I opted for the former rather than a shower) Mix that with oodles of little baby smiles and coos and like I said, it was one of those glorious days of motherhood.
Which was why once 4 o’clock rolled around, a combination of my good mood, a happy and sleeping baby and a clean home had me thinking about something fun that I could cook for dinner. I had already bought a piece of salmon, so I knew we would be eating that and otherwise I had a couple of potatoes in the house, some baby spinach and a fresh head of cilantro that I picked up today just because a fresh herb seemed like a good thing to have. Nowadays when I want to get creative in the kitchen, my main obstacle is time. No more are the days when I can dream up an Indian stew and measure out 15 different spices or create a meal with 8 different components. It’s really about just coming up with one interesting element that can transform a humdrum meal into something a little more exciting and get the creative juices flowing.
So salmon, spinach, potatoes...I mean I knew we would enjoy those 3 things no matter what the preparation, but what could take them up a notch and give me a nice 20 minute task while June finished her nap?
It wound up being a delicious spinach-cilantro pesto.
The idea occurred to me when I was trying to think of something more interesting to do with spinach other than saute it (even though I still did this too, just for some extra healthy greens on the plate). I blanched and shocked my spinach and cilantro and then blended it with toasted almonds, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice. We ate it over potatoes that were par-boiled and then crisped up in a hot pan once it was dinner time. I saved the rest of it in the freezer and know it would be good with any number of things once the mood strikes next.
Oh goddamn, I think a loud noise woke up the (finally) sleeping June. And nurse, burp, bounce, sleep. Repeat. Good night.
Spinach-Cilantro Pesto
3 oz baby spinach
1 small bunch cilantro
⅓ C toasted slivered almonds
¼ C oil (i used a combination of sunflower + olive)
Juice from ½ lemon
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper
-blanch spinach & cilantro in boiling water for 10 seconds, shock in ice water, then drain and put in food processor.
-add almonds, garlic to greens and process until finely chopped.
-add lemon juice, oil and salt and pepper to taste
xx, Randie
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