cute cousins

Back from visiting my lovely new niece. Still feeling awful, but don't these two make you feel better?

on babies

Everyone knows that babies are the most miraculous, amazing, and wonderful beings imaginable. Even if you don't have or want your own, try looking at a newborn and not being overwhelmed that you're staring at a real, tangible miracle.

I was invited to a beautiful baby shower on the beach, pictured above, a little while back, for one such miracle who will make her debut in September.

I'm on my way tomorrow morning to visit my brand new niece for a few days, and get in some of those newborn looks and cuddles.

And we have another little bundle of wonderfulness on the way ourselves - the next little Grahamlet has a nice strong heartbeat and is due on my birthday, at the end of March. After the last time, it's harder to be excited without worry, but as long as I'm feeling completely uninspired, exhausted, nauseous, and disgusted by just about everything, I think things are going well.

recipe-a-week #27: MIL's summer pasta salad

This is one of those sweet & sour pasta salads with that tomatoe-y and vinegar-y sauce. It's a fantastic sugary treat, especially as a side dish with some yummy summer food, such as corn on the cob or barbequed anything. And it couldn't be simpler to make. Mmmm.

Mother-in-law's Summer Pasta Salad

2 cups rotini (measure before cooking)
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 onion (Spanish or red), sliced and separated into rings
1/4 cucumber, sliced

Dressing:
1/8 cup oil
2/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup vinegar (or a bit less, if you prefer)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all dressing ingredients (in a lidded jar works best) and shake until thoroughly blended and sugar is dissolved. Pour over cooked pasta and vegetables and serve. It's best if the dressing sits on the pasta and onions for a few hours before adding tomato and cucumber.

We have the in-laws with us for a few days (they brought Hurricane Bill with them), so I thought that this would be a fitting recipe for today. We've spent the morning lazing around doing nothing but checking the weather out the window every now and then. Really, the storm is missing us, for which we are both thankful and lucky. My tomoatoes might survive! Hope you're having a lovely weekend!

recipe-a-week #26: JOC's Blueberry Crunch Coffeecake

Somewhere in there, buried under the clouds of whipped cream (be still my heart! oh wait, it will be still if I keep eating so much whipped cream) and freshly picked organic blueberries from my aunt and uncle's farm, is a piece of cake. Heavenly, perfectly-crumbly coffee cake. The recipe is from The Joy of Cooking, and here it is, minus the extra info, and with my comments in parentheses:

Blueberry Crunch Coffeecake
from The Joy of Cooking

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat to 350. Grease a 6 cup loaf pan. (I didn't grease mine well enough and the topping came apart and made a mess.) Combine and sprinkle in the bottom of the pan:
1/4 cup sliced almonds (I sliced whole almonds with a knife. It was tricky!)
1/4 cup brown sugar

Whisk together thoroughly in large bowl:
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (I skipped the salt and used salted butter)
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Add:
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Cut in the butter with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Do not allow the butter to melt or form a paste. (I'm not sure what you're supposed to do if it does. Panic? Call the police? Stick it in the fridge, maybe?) Whisk together in another bowl:
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Pour over the flour mixture and stir until about three-quarters of the dry ingredients are moistened. Add:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Fold just until the dry ingredients are moistened and the berries are distributed. Spoon the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean; 55 to 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes. Loosen edges and invert onto the rack. Serve warm or, for the crunchiest topping, let cool before serving.

This was SO delicious. Was, as in, I barely got that picture of the last piece tonight, and we made it last night when we had some friends over. So now you have something to do with a few of those blueberries.

It's been a week since I've posted - what is the world coming to? This whole taking-summer-seriously thing is great. We have been playing hard and having a fantastic time. The painters came today, so major progress is being made on the house-painting front. No more pee-yellow and poo-brown paint! Exciting times.

Most exciting of all, I'm an aunt! My sister had a baby girl last week, and she's terribly cute. I'll be going to visit them next week, and I can't wait to deliver some auntie kisses and goodies from Frenchy's for her. Surely I'll post again before I leave, though... maybe.

Happy Thursday!