My Cookbook Tour!

I love cookbooks. I think that is kind of an understatement - I am obsessed. I have a very large collection that grows constantly because I ask for cookbooks for all gift events. Also, people donate them to me when they don't want them anymore. It is wonderful. You can tell so much from cookbooks. I have some from all different decades, different cooks, and some very special ones that my Grandmother Rita gave me. Sometimes I sit and read them just for fun. My friend Erin understands this, probably the only person who does...try it sometime!

So while I am in love with these books of food, I am guilty of actually only using about three over and over again. In my whirlwind cleaning while on maternity leave I took them all off the shelves and reorganized them, only to realize my obsession is actually slightly crazy. In order to justify what if they were cats would make me a crazy cat lady (crazy cookbook lady? whatev!), I decided to take a little tour. Here is my declaration:

I, CougarKate, will vow to cook at least one recipe from each cookbook in my collection by this time next year.

Sure that sounds easy...but I actually have some off the wall items. One cookbook has a squirrel recipe. I think I will find something else in that book. Yikes! Here squirrley squirrley!

Not kidding: here is the section...yes SECTION on squirrel oh and of course POSSUM!

To start this I am using a cookbook that one of Brad's aunts gave me at my bridal shower.

Book #1: Nordstrom Friends and Family Cookbook

Here is the amazing item I chose, based on my desire to eat as much pasta as possible...mmmm pasta!

Mom's Baked Ziti p 79

Mom's Tomato Sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion
1 clove garlic
2 cans (15ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
2 teaspoons brown sugar
Kosher Salt
black pepper

The directions (according me) - chop up the onion and garlic super fine (if you have a picky hubster that claims he doesn't like onion as much as he used to) and then cook them in the olive oil until translucent. Then dump in the tomato sauce and paste and sugar, and cook to combined. Taste it and add a ton of salt if you are me...

The rest of the stuff:
1 3/4 tbls kosher salt
1 pound ziti (I had this weird shaped pasta I used instead...and whole wheat...it makes me feel better about myself)
1 pound ground beef
1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese (I did low fat...again to feel better about myself...)
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 chopped fresh parsley (yeah I forgot to buy this...so we didn't have it)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (or more...hey I had whole wheat pasta and low fat ricotta)

What I did - brown the meat with a little of the salt while cooking the pasta. Once it is browned remove from heat, add the ricotta, beaten egg, and some pepper. You are supposed to add the parsley too...unless you forgot it because you are a bubble head. Combine it all up and then add half the sauce and stir it all up real good. Dump in the pasta, unless you used a too small pan like me, so dump it in with the pasta in the big pan...then mix mix mix! Dump the yummy pink colored mixture into a 9x13 inch pan and dump a ton of mozzarella cheese on top, bake at 350 for 20- to 25 minutes until ooey gooey! Now here is the important part...don't forget about it because you are playing with the baby and then hubby comes home and looks at you like you are crazy finally asking "Um...is there dinner!" to which you jump up flustered and pull out a slightly browned baked ziti dish. It tasted good...but the cheese was a little tough. Darn.

This was super yummy - and easy peasey! It makes a ton though...way more than two people could possibly eat. I am going to cut it in half if I make it again. IF because I have about two billion cookbooks to get through....

I would have a picture, but I forgot. It happens people...I have two month old at home!

Happy Halloween!

It was Ella' first holiday, and one of my favorites! I had a hard time finding a costume that fit her since she is only fitting in 0-3 month clothes and most are 6 months and up. To be the "crafty" mother I made her costume. I have fond memories of making costumes with my mother - coming up with what we want and finding easy, inexpensive, and creative ways to make it look like what we wanted. Sometimes it works...sometimes not...but it is so much fun!

I wanted to make her a bumble bee to match our last name. She is my Baby Bee after all! I got a yellow onesie from a secondhand store, black pants, and a black stretchy headband. Then I went to the craft store and got taffeta ribbon material (found in the wedding aisle as I found out after an hour of searching), black fabric paint, and black pom poms. I also had to get stick on sparkles...because all little girls need sparkles.

To make the skirt just cut a piece of ribbon or elastic to the length you want. I measured on her waist and decided to use ribbon rather than elastic because it was easier to just tie than slide on her wiggly body. You then cut strips of taffeta double the length you want the skirt. Take the strips and taking both ends, tie a knot in the center along the elastic. You go all the way around doing that until it is as thick as you want. I used yellow and black to give it a little more fun. I then put press on sparkles on it randomly so it has a little glamour!

For the shirt I then used tape and a ruler scotch tape to measure out the stripes. I used the width of the ruler for each stripe to make it easier and ran the tape along the length. Then I painted it with the black and let it dry on both sides.

For the headband it is just black pom poms hot glued on. Super easy and much better for her than the long antennae because she likes to pull on things and I could see an eye getting poked out!

Done! There is my sweet bee, and no other baby had her costume which is fun!

Here is the end result:

Happy Halloween everyone! We had a great time, 7 trick or treaters, homemade pumpkin cinnamon swirl bread, and hot cider. Yum yum!

Four Generations Meet!

Last week my Grandmother came to visit Ella. I have been looking forward to her meeting her Great Granddaughter for weeks. I never met my Great Grandparents, and after losing both Grandfathers and my Grandma Rita this meeting means so much. Being able to share the women in our family is so important, and I also love and look up to my Grandma so much that I feel blessed that Ella will be able to get to know her too.

You never know how long you will have the people you love in your life, and since I never met my Great Grandparents the memories of my parents is all that I have of these special people. In honor of that, I want to share 10 of my favorite memories of my Grandma Pat:

1. When I was little I would spend a long time in her bathroom going through her beauty products. She has this soapy smell that is a combination of her lotions, perfumes, and make up that I can smell even now that she isn't next to me. I would open her bottles and spray her perfumes and then try on all of her jewelry that she had in her jewelry box. As I got older her rings got tighter and her necklaces could no longer just slip on my little head. Now when I go to her house I still do this. I close the door and see what new things she has, try on her jewelry, and just smell her.

2. At the lake my Grandma always has Lubriderm lotion on her nightstand. I always use it because when I was little we had Suave (aka the cheap lotion). Her "expensive" lotion was a treat that I left was one of the finer things in life, and it always smelled so good. Now that I am a grownup I have my own bottle on my nightstand and use it every night.

3. My Grandparents would always take us to Skippers (seafood restaurant) when we would stay with them. My brother would get fish and chips, I would get clams because that is what Grandma would get and it seemed so grownup. I love friend clams now and order them often. She knows good food!

4. At Christmas time my Grandma would make hundreds of cookies. Sugar cookies, date filled cookies, thumb print, Russian tea cookies...all different kinds. She always makes me my favorite refrigerator cookies. They are brown sugary and crispy and yummy. She has two card tables that she sets up with boxes and boxes of cookies and candies and she lets you fill up a container with whatever kinds you want, as long as everyone leaves enough of the refrigerator cookies for me take home!

5. When I graduated from college I moved into an apartment without a washer or dryer. She would let me drop off my laundry and she would do it for me. She was always making comments about how my underwear was too small (thongs are a new thing for that generation I guess) and that I needed to unroll my socks, not just throw them into the bin in balls after I take them off. I still can't believe she would do my laundry...she even folded it! I would come and pick it up at the end of the day. I was so spoiled!

6. My Grandmother had the most beautiful Christmas tree I have ever seen. They would get it flocked in white and put blue lights and blue bulbs on it. The white tree with a blue glow is still to this day the prettiest Christmas thing I have ever seen. She stopped doing this a long time ago...getting a tree flocked is no longer a thing to do and she has a fake tree. I miss those giant white and blue trees. I miss them so much.

7. When I stayed with my Grandma when I was little we would watch Walker Texas Ranger every night. She would call it Walker. I loved that show so much, and would look forward to when we would finish dinner and I would sit on the couch, her in her chair, and watched our Walker on her big TV in the cabinet.

8. My Grandma would go to bed late and sleep in. This was a big deal as a kid because that means she was THE COOLEST OLD PERSON IN THE WORLD. Most "old people" would go to bed early and be up early, but my Grandma would stay up late and watch TV. It was so cool. She is still cool in this way. She will go and play bingo until 2am and won't schedule anything until later in the day the next day.

9. When I got married my Grandma let me pick out a pin from her jewelry that I could put on my bouquet. Going through her jewelry with her was so exciting, mostly because I would go through it when she didn't know because she has cool jewelry. She would pull something out and hold it in her hands and say "Oh Granddad gave this to me for Christmas." It was special and lovely and I actually never gave back the pin I used because it meant so much she let me use it...I don't think she knows this, hopefully she doesn't remember.

10. When she met my daughter she was so happy and immediately started smiling from ear to ear and talking to her as if she knew her her whole life. She held her and Ella smiled and seeing my Grandma play with her and talk to her made me realize how much my family means to me. Ella smiled and cooed at her, not even knowing what a special moment this was. A moment that I will tell her when she is older, and show her the photos of when she met one of the most special ladies I have ever known.

I hope everyone holds their Grandparents close if you still have them, and also hold in your hearts those who are no longer with us.

Here is a photo of me with my two Grandmas:

Monster Baby vs Monster Mom

Sometimes baby is the sweetest little soul on the planet. Other times she is Monster Baby - screaming, red faced, kicking, punching, and all out evil. I love her, but sometimes Monster Baby meets Monster Mom and BAM all the world falls apart. This has happened on several occasions. The crying baby causes mommy to cry and we both are helpless together. Seriously. Helpless.

 Happy Baby                                       Monster Baby

I did research constantly. Blogs, old wives tales, mom classes, popular books, you name it I was on there trying to combat Monster Baby with a much more calm Monster Mom. Well I found it! The Happiest Baby on the Block is by far the Monster Mom's toolkit to fend off Monster Baby. I love it and actually feel powerful when baby is melting down. Sure it doesn't work all the time. Monster Baby usually erupts in the evening and we have to dance the pasodoble around the bedroom - me loudly shooshing in her ear while lightly bouncing her and she screaming her head off only for Monster Mom to ultimately win when baby stops her fit and gently relaxes her body. It is empowering and exciting.

Image from Amazon.com

I love my Monster Baby so much, but as a mom it is hard to watch her so upset. When I'm going through my 5S's with her I only think that I wish I could swaddle her, side hold her, shoosh her, swing her, and give her a pacifier to suck when all of the world's troubles find her in her life. The first time another child hurts her feelings, her first heartbreak, the first time she fails at something...if only it were that simple. I know that my time being helpless is only beginning in terms of her life, and there won't always be a book to help me find out how to turn my Monster into an angel, or how to turn Monster Mom into Super Mom able to fix all problems in a matter of minutes. That scares me and worries me and sometimes when I'm holding my sleeping child in my arms I can't help but wish she would stay small and simple forever. Slowly she will grow and change and slowly the outside world will enter into her safely guarded world that right now is made up of me and daddy.

So for right now, Monster Baby vs Monster Mom is working out nicely. We are able to overcome what makes her cry and build on what makes her happy. We are a team now, and the more she grows I am hoping we can stay a team against whatever comes down the road.

Visitors!

Ella had a pretty busy week last week - we took her to our works to show her off to our coworkers and also we had a fun visit from Uncle Danny, Auntie Melody, and Grandma Connie. Her busy week also resulted in cranky baby and cranky mommy because mommy did not get a good nap in! Mommy needs her naps!

Here are some great photos from our visits:

Work Peeps - Jessica, Tina, Erin, and the gang all together!

Uncle Daddy and Auntie Melody Visit!

Ella's First Few Weeks Home

Ella is now two weeks and four days old. Having a baby is not easy...not that anyone ever tells you it will be, but you think something so small would never be able to cause so much havoc as she has. Being a mother is wonderful and terrifying all at once. You worry about everything. I was worried to dress her because she screams. Worried to feed her because what if she didn't eat enough. Worried to let her sleep because what if she stops breathing! I don't think the worrying will ever get easier, but the worry also is this extreme sense of love that you can't describe. I want to just spend hours staring at her. I made her! She came from me and is mine forever. Amazing.

The first few weeks were a whirlwind. I haven't left the house much, mainly because the doctor told me to limit walking and activity, also because I am totally freaked out about taking her out into the big bad world! Star and I took a walk with Ella around the block in her stroller. We made it half way before she started screaming. At that point Star got frustrated and started to walk erratically and wanted to get home fast. Fast and first time mommy with baby in stroller don't really go together...sorry Star. We did get out to go to Frost Donuts and Fred Meyer. We are planning an outing to Sears to look for appliances this afternoon. We are both a little worried...

As far as sleeping...Ella sleeps extremely well...when Ella wants to sleep. Diva! Sometimes she sleeps well at night, sometimes not. It is always hard to tell what the night will bring - wonderful dreams and sweet cuddles, or frustrated and blurry tears mixed with screams. Ella also likes to growl. She growls at night when she is semi-asleep. We don't want to wake her, so often I'll just sit and stare at her as she throws her arms and legs in the air and growls. It is adorable unless you have been listening to the monster baby growl for hours on end. Then it is not so adorable. We are hoping she gets better and the monster baby growl will stop. Or maybe when she moves to her own room the growling will be less pronounced through the monitor. Sleepovers with friends may be very awkward when she is older...hee hee. Here is my sweet sleeping child, if only she looked like this at all times.

We have been blessed to have all Grandparents welcome Ella in the past two weeks, and are looking forward to Uncle Danny and Auntie Melody to come this weekend. Here are some pictures from the visits as well as a picture of Auntie Erin. Very important to have an Auntie close, even if she is our adopted Auntie! I am extremely lucky to have such a great friend, plus she brought us dinners from the cooking club ladies and sushi...oh how I missed sushi!

 Grandpa Dave come to visit with Brenda - LOVE!

 Grandma Connie with Ella hours after birth.

 Grandpa George and Grandma Nancy hours after birth.

 Auntie Erin visiting - wide awake little Ella!

Gotta include my first sushi since November - yummers!

Introducing Elizabeth (Ella) Rita

September 2, 2011 was a day that I will never forget. It was the day that I became a mother. At 12:24am my beautiful daughter, Elizabeth Rita, came into our lives and things have never been the same. We feel so lucky and at the same time challenged like we never could have imagined. I want to share her birth story here so it is forever documented and so that I can share this great event with everyone!

Ella's Entrance Into Our Lives:

I had been waiting for a week for my daughter to come. I was doing everything to go into labor - spicy food, yoga, exercise ball, long walks. Nothing was working and I would sit in the baby room and cry thinking I would never have my little one to hold. I was exactly one week overdue and we had just finished dinner when I was cleaning up the kitchen and had a sudden pain. I stopped and it went away quickly. Probably nothing, so I sat down on the couch to watch the Mariners. Minutes later I had a contraction. I looked at Brad and said "Um...that was a contraction!" before I knew it another came, then another. Brad decided to go and pack his bag just in case. I asked him how many back to back we needed to have before calling the hospital. He couldn't remember and neither could I so I got out the paperwork from our class. That's when I freaked out because it said to call when you have 5-6 contractions in an hour. I had that many in 20 mins. He came down and I told him to call the hospital. The nurse told us to come on in and they would check me. We hurried to get the dog put in her kennel and get everything in the car. I also made sure to floss my teeth, since apparently that was very important at the time.

On the way to the hospital at about 8:30pm I started to feel sick. I asked Brad to pull over, but he couldn't in time so I rolled down the window and at 60 miles an hour his car needed to be washed. I asked him to still pull over and then threw up again on the side of the road.

We finally got to the hospital and went to check in. They waiting room was full of people and they all stared at me as I was in so much pain I was doubled over. The lady told us to have a seat. Not something a woman in labor wants to hear. They told us to wait by the vending machines. I was on my hands and knees in pain when the nurse came in and asked if I was okay. No. I was not okay. She took me into a shared room and asked me to take some tests and was asking all sorts of questions. I could barely answer and was not in the chatty mood.  She checked me and said I was at 7cms and we were staying. Thank god!

They then made me walk to the delivery room that was down the hall. I walked and crawled into the bed where they asked me a ton of questions and made me sign paperwork. I may have sold my kidney on those papers but I could have cared less. They tried to get an IV in for fluids, but had trouble. As I was sitting there Brad rushed to the car to get our things and call our parents. When he came back I asked if I could get in the whirlpool tub. They said yes, pulled off these stupid socks they had forced on to my feet and BAM I was in the tub. It felt wonderful and as Brad says my eyes glassed over and I looked in heaven.

They told me to let them know when I felt I needed to push, which I said I did right away so they made me get out to check me. I was at 9, but they told me I needed to wait a little before pushing. I immediately asked to get back in the tub, so I rushed back in. The midwife came and was an angel. She was so calm and caring, I just feel so blessed to have her!

What seemed like no time, she checked and I was ready to push. I got out and after an hour of pushing little Elizabeth Rita Beeman made her crying and perfect appearance. I had no drugs or interventions, and immediately felt amazing because my little one was on my chest and we could fall in love. She came out with all of the tests showing she was perfect and I was in no pain at that point.

She was 7lbs 12 oz, 20 inches long born at 12:24am on September 2, 2011. She has a full head of brown hair and her daddy's long toes. We love her!

We decided to name her after her two Great Grandmothers that are no longer with us - Great Grandma Betty and Great Grandma Rita. We are calling her Ella for short. We waited to tell everyone her name, and also to pick her name! We were still deciding a few days before she was born, but once we saw her we knew that she was a blessing and deserving of these two special names.

More to come as this new adventure is unfolding...