Visiting with Gigi

During my spring break, Nick and I decided to take a day to go and visit my grandmother, who Nick calls Gigi. (G.G.=great grandma) She just had cataract surgery and we figured she could use some cheering up. Nick picked out pretty yellow tulips and cupcakes to bring for her.

I think Nick's favorite part of the visit was romping with Lucy, the Yorkie pup.

My grandma made us lunch and dinner, and we talked and watched Nick run around and try to destroy things. At one point, he kept sneaking into the living room and stealing Hershey's kisses from the candy bowl.  For a two-year-old, he can be pretty surreptitious--Nick would put the candy behind his back so we couldn't see it. He must've gone back seven or eight times before we finally put the candy bowl where he couldn't reach it.

That really brought back memories for me, because I can remember doing the exact same thing. In fact, one time, when I was about 5 or 6, I snuck a whole bunch of chocolate out of that same crystal candy bowl and hid the wrappers under the couch cushions. I was caught and I can remember having to write a silly sentence about 100 times. It was something like: I will not take candy without asking. It seems my son has inherited the tendancy to swipe chocolate whenever it is in the vicinity.

It was a sunny day, so we decided to go outside with Lucy for awhile. Even though it was somewhat chilly outside, Nick wasn't even a little bit cold. Too busy running full speed towards and away from the puppy, he got quite a bit of exercise. You can tell, though, that Gigi was a little chilled.

I really love this time in the spring when you can have the windows open and let in the fresh air. Spring is such a hopeful time, and I have to say that Nick is so much more mellow when he gets to run around and play outdoors.

Nick has quite a few doting grandparents--four grandmas and three grandpas--but there's only one Gigi. Since Nick lost his Grandma Marie in February, she's his only living great grandparent, and very special to him. You'd think he'd get confused with all of the relatives, but we have pictures up all over the house, and Nick can point to them and name everyone. He knew just who I was talking about when I said we were going to visit Gigi. In the car, he asked, "I see Gigi. Puppy, too?"


Yup. Puppy, too.

At times, I felt sorry for the puppy, because Nick was not very gentle with her. But Lucy kept coming back for more, and licking the heck out of my boy. He didn't seem to mind much.

I spent most of my spring break working on a very big freelance writing project, all while potty training Mr. Nick. I also had papers to edit for some friends and a Power Point presentation I was working on for work. Not very relaxing.

So getting to take a rest from the computer and drive up for some adult company was really nice. I think Gigi liked the company, too, though she looked pretty tired by the time we left. It's hard for anyone to get used to the energy of a two-year-old!

Feeding Time for Miss Lucy

It's a little hectic here tonight, between Nick throwing spaghetti at us, the torrential rains, and the delivery of our new living room set. Our whole downstairs is in disarray, since we have to move everything around and try to get the new slipcovers on. So my post tonight will be short.

Tonight, I'm going to post a quick video from yesterday, when Nick and I visited his GG (short for great-grandmother) and her puppy, Miss Lucy. Nick was fascinated by her food dishes, and he had a great time moving her food back and forth between the dish and a bucket. He thought he was being very helpful.

My grandma also introduced Nick to something new: twizzlers. We'd never given him red licorice before, but GG pulled it out while I was trying to hold Nick down to change his diaper. He quieted right down and ate the whole piece. Nick loves his GG.  :)

Oh, and here she is. . . the cutest puppy in all the land. My grandma thinks she looks silly with one ear up and one down. I think it's charming.

Madame Linda's Birthday Dinner: Part One

For my mom's birthday in July, Greg and I decided to do something different. We invited my mom and stepdad, along with my sister and grandma (and her puppy) over for a French-themed dinner. My mother is a definite Francophile, and my stepdad has taken her to Paris several times. We wanted to do something special for her, and hopefully that's what we achieved. I took lots of pictures, so I think I'll have to do two posts for this birthday dinner party, one about our preparation and appetizers, and one about the dinner and dessert. My sister did a post with more pictures from this day, if you'd like to see them.

First, I created a menu. . .
(click to enlarge)

It was harder than I'd thought to put a beret on Nick's head, but I managed. By the way, neither Greg nor I are fluent in French, though we both had several years of high school French. I used an online translator.

Greg used his Williams Sonoma French cookbook to plan the main course and side dishes, while I planned the appetizers, baguettes, and dessert. We ended up picking some pretty complicated recipes, but we wanted a challenge. This menu was definitely a challenge, but it was kind of fun for Greg and I to work together to create something special.

The baguettes were easier than anticipated, although they took hours of rising before they were ready. I ended up making four baguettes, and all of them were gone within 24 hours, so I guess that means that they were good. I adore baguettes fresh from the oven, and I was surprised at how much mine tasted like the ones I had in Paris. I will be making them again, often.

Here is the appetizer course, which was: 1.) shrimp and tomatoes (from my garden!) sauteed in garlic butter, and 2.) slices of homemade toasted French baguette, with a layer of melted goat cheese, rosemary, and thyme (spices fresh from my garden). This was all that was left by the time I thought to take a picture of the appetizers. Nick devoured everything, and was even licking goat cheese from the bread, saying, "Mmm!" Can you see him sneaking more bread in the picture above? By the way, the birthday madame is seated in the center part of the couch, in the pink. My stepfather is sitting on her left, and my grandmother on her right. My sister is the one with the camera, laughing at Nick's antics.

















Greg planned the main course, which was Coq au Vin with french green beans and a potato casserole baked with Gruyere cheese. Our whole kitchen smelled divine while the chicken was cooking, and Greg worked very hard. We had all of the burners going, plus the oven, for much of the afternoon.

I thought the potatoes were cooked perfectly, and the Gruyere cheese added something unique to the dish. I told Greg we should double the amount of cheese next time--it was that good.

Just looking at this picture of the Coq au Vin cooking makes my mouth water. I want to try more wine sauces, now that we've tasted this one.

I told Greg that he can make this recipe for me, anytime. The sauce was so good that we defrosted some chicken breasts the next day and used the sauce on them. The chicken was tender and moist, probably because of the sauce.

Greg has been watching a ton of Food Network lately, and I think he's getting a lot of ideas. Hey, as hobbies go, my husband's isn't too shabby.  ;)

Tomorrow I'll talk about the actual dinner and, of course, the dessert.

Schaumburg Farmers' Market and Lunch at Maggiano's with G.G.

On Friday, Nick and I took a little trip to visit my Grandma Dorothy, who Nick calls G.G. We wanted to go to the farmers' market in Schaumburg, and my grandmother brought her dog, Miss Lucy, who weighs only slightly more than a hamster. I think Nick was mildly jealous, because instead of everyone fussing over him, they were fussing over the adorable puppy. "Oh, she is so cute!" Nick was not used to being second fiddle. I somehow think that he won't adjust well when we eventually have a second child. He is always the center of attention.

I've always been pretty close to my grandmother, who is only 41 years older than me. People often assume she's my mother when we're out and about, and that Nick is her grandson. She is always proud to announce that Nick is her great-grandson. I always try to go up and visit her whenever I can, especially during vacations and summer.

The Schaumburg Farmers' Market was nice, medium-sized but with some pretty good vendors. It was smaller and not as complete as the Saturday markets in Lisle and Wheaton, but there were still quite a few local farmers and some great samples. The samples are always Nick's favorite part of  farmers' markets. I bagged a tart from the French nuns, some havarti and gout goada cheese from a gourmet cheese vendor, a nice bunch of green onions, and some fresh broccoli. Lucy (the puppy) got some doggie socialization time and about forty compliments. After the farmers' market, we went to drop the puppy off before going to lunch. She was ready for a nap, after playing with Nick to the point of exhaustion. Nick was still raring to go, though.

We went to Maggiano's for a nice Italian lunch. They told us that the servings were all half portions because it was lunchtime. We decided to order two dishes and split them so that we could try two things. We had meat lasagna and chicken spinach manicotti with alfredo sauce. I also ordered some asparagus with garlic so that we'd have a vegetable. The waitress warned me, "The baby might not like the asparagus, since it has a lot of garlic." I told her not to worry, because Nick eats nearly everything. He likes garlic, too.

The asparagus, in fact, was his favorite part of the dinner. He ate at least five or six spears of the stuff. Nick enjoys anything shaped like a french fry, and this includes green beans, string cheese, and asparagus. He kept waving the stalks around like little flags, but he ate a whole lot, garlic or no garlic. I love the picture above because of the way Nick is holding the asparagus in front of his face, showing me. "MMM," he kept announcing as he grabbed for another stalk and shoved it in his mouth.

The food was pretty good, and the atmosphere was nice. It was just noisy enough for Nick's chattering not to bother anyone. When they brought our food out, we were astounded. If these were half-size, lunch portions, what must the dinner portions look like? I ate less than half of the food and still felt very, very full. We weren't too full to try some tiramisu, though. Can you see it all around Nick's lips? I thought he might not like it, because tiramisu has a kind of coffee flavor, but Nick loved every bite. I asked the waitress to take our picture before we left.

We thought we'd go back to the house and let Nick take a nap, but he wasn't having any of it. He wanted to play, plain and simple. Most of all, he wanted to play with the puppy. "Puppy!," he'd announce as he pointed towards her. "Soft," he'd say as he stroked her fur. Nick wasn't always gentle, but the puppy was surprisingly tolerant and Nicholas wasn't quite as rough as he is with the cats.

Nick and Lucy are on the same scale, size wise. She comes up to about his waist if she jumps on him, and I think she likes his smaller size, because Lucy just can't leave him alone. When he walks with her, it's as if an adult were walking with a medium sized dog. Miss Lucy was extremely active all day, and she even walked down with us to the park, using her leash correctly. My grandma was very proud of her.

But Nick never did take a nap. That's something I'm going to have to work on-whenever I go somewhere, I can't get Nick to sleep at all. He was mad at me when we had to leave, too, because he wanted to stay with GG and the puppy. Poor guy was plumb tuckered out by the time we got back home. He slept nearly 13 hours last night, so at least he got caught up. We'll have to make a point to go and visit again before the summer is over.

Wordless Wednesday: 200th Post!