New Stuff

Among the children's presents were smocks and new paints and paint brushes. Here they are making art (with Alexander showing off a strange basketball candy whistle thingy).

I've spent much time the past few days cooking and pureeing vegetables so that I can sneak them into the children's meals, as directed by my new cookbook "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfeld. I fell victim to the resulting hype from the pseudo-celebrity cookbook brouhaha and asked for this present. But, hey, my request also necessitated the purchase of a new food processor. My first one ever, actually. I can't believe I've never had a food processor. I love it.

So far, I've made a lunch of tortilla rolls with butternut squash and carrots. They were really good, though Alexander passed on them without even trying. Anna liked them, but she is more adventurous than he is. I also whipped up scrambled eggs and pureed cauliflower with, of course, shredded cheese. I kind of did this by memory, and, as it turns out, I omitted sour cream and several extra egg whites that may have made a difference. Even so, these were delicious, and Alexander gobbled them up. I also made some oatmeal with pureed sweet potatoes and brown sugar, spice, nuts and fruit. This was also delicious. The recipe called for old-fashioned oatmeal, but I bought the really old old-fashioned oatmeal, as in Irish steel-cut oats out of a cool paint-can-like tin. So, I had to adjust some of the cook time. If I continue to use this oatmeal I'll need to factor in some digestive adjustments. Everything is so processed these days that our bodies just aren't used to eating good stuff.

I'm hoping the recipes work on husbands, too.