Sweets for My Sweets
Now that's one very tired looking Mommy and Daddy! Little One continues to do what she's supposed to do. Eat. Sleep. Poop. Play and coo for a bit and then eat, sleep, poop all over again. Though I keep saying that I'm tired, I really have nothing to complain about. She is a very good girl and wakes when she's supposed to (when she's hungry or needs a diaper change). I guess I'm just not used to waking up every three hours. I don't know about any of you breastfeeding moms out there, but I'm always so thirsty and tired after breastfeeding Little One!
She is a cutie though. I think we're going to have to keep her! :)Now, some sweets for all of you sweet friends and family who have been so supportive throughout the crazy pregnancy and spontaneous birth of Little One.
As you know, I never really had time to watch TV before, but now when I'm breastfeeding I have the Food Network. You know, for all those amazing dishes that I don't have the time or energy to make right now :) I love hosting dinner parties, so I'm trying to stock pile a bunch of new recipes to serve our friends and family (when I'm eventually awake enough to have guests over again)!
Since it's Valentine's Day, we need some chocolate recipes. What's Valentine's Day without chocolate?!?!
I saw this on Giada at Home. It reminds me of Champorado (tsamporado), a Filipino dessert my grandparents always used to make.
Chocolate Rice Pudding:
Ingredients
- 5 cups whole milk
- 2/3 cup Arborio rice
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest (from 1 medium orange)
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons orange liqueur
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Directions
In a heavy, medium saucepan, combine the milk, rice, sugar, and orange zest. Scrape in the seeds from the vanilla bean and add the bean to the saucepan. Bring the milk to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender and the mixture thickens, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and discard the vanilla bean. Stir the cocoa powder and orange liqueur into the mixture. Add the chocolate chips and stir until melted. Allow the mixture to cool for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Spoon the rice pudding into serving bowls. Cover and refrigerate for 2 1/2 to 3 hours and up to 1 day ahead.
I didn't follow Giada's recipe, but would like to give it a whirl someday. I didn't have vanilla bean or Arborio rice on hand. I also didn't want to use any liqueur in the recipe. I made my grandfather's champorado instead. The only difference was that I didn't have any sticky, short grain dessert rice and ended up using yesterday's leftover rice from supper. It wasn't quite the same because the texture wasn't right. Oh well. I also tried to be fancy and I garnished each dessert cup with a chocolate truffle.
Now for more chocolate...
Canine Cologne sent me these a while ago and we're only now getting into them. The chile spiced dried mango was an interesting combination of sweet, tart and spicy...all in one bite! The thought of spicy and chocolate never really seemed a combination that I'd go for. I was introduced to "spicy chocolate" when my ESL students were doing class presentations and one of the Mexican students brought in some chili chocolate and another (he was a chef in Mexico City) made Mole (a chocolate chili sauce in Mexican cuisine) for the class to try.
The spiced mango kind of grew on me. I like sweet, sour, tangy combinations. It was a bit too spicy for Hubby's liking though.
Little One watched Food TV with us as we sampled the goodies Canine sent us.
Haha! A video of Little One (not doing much except looking cute). Forgive my squeaky voice. I really sound like such a goofball!
Some more goodies for Little One. Hubby's youngest sister came up to the Island for the weekend and brought this for Little One's room. You know, the room that isn't finished yet because of all the renovations being done in our house!!! Anyway, I absolutely love it! What a great idea to put her belongings in! I love all the details...right down to the porcelain door knob!
This next gem is from Ms. Mamma. I was going to post this MONTHS ago! Ms. Mamma brightened up my hospital stay with a phone call and this doggy for Little One. It was delivered to my hospital room by Purolator (or was it UPS? I can't remember) and all I can remember is this delivery guy coming in with this HUGE box! I thought, "What on earth is THAT?!?!"Then I opened up the box.
Thank you, Ms.Mamma for the totally mod puppy! The puppy is from the Me Too Collection by Magis. The Italian abstract doggy was the topic of conversation today. Hubby and his sister even tried the pup out. I promised not to post photos! Hmmm...they never said I couldn't post any photos on Facebook though. ;)
The instructions cracked me up.YES.
NO!
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About the Blog Author
City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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17 comments:
You do know the first rule of new moms, don't you? (using 'corrected age', that means you) When baby sleeps, you sleep. That's a biggy. Any time she naps, if you can do it, you nap. Really.
Also, maybe add some gatoraid or an equivalent to your diet...something with lots of electrolytes. I remember being very tired and thirsty at the beginning. Breast feeding sure takes it out of you! Drink a lot, and rest a lot, and you'll be much better off.
I love the cooking shows. LOVE them. Also loved the baby shows, like with with Brazelton showing really little babies.
SO glad to get to share you having more normal new baby experiences, and be done with the horribly scary stuff you had to deal with early one. Whew.
Happy Valentine's Day.
You know that breastfeeding actually makes your brain produce a hormone that makes you relaxed and therefore, sleepy? It's natures way of trying to make sure that the new mother gets enough rest.
[personally I think nature forgot about the existance of toddlers, but whatever]
It's nice to have someone else breastfeeding at the same time I am. Solidarity and all that.
Little One is so gorgeous too.
Awwwwwwwwww... looks like you have the sweetest valentine ever. :) FoodTV, baby, hubby, toy doggy, and a dollhouse cabinet! :)
Happy v-day, sweetheart.
Ha
That puppy is hilarious.I would have thought Barney the Dinosaur had morphed into a dog if it would have been purple?
"I love you
You love me
we're a happy family
with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you.
won't you say you love me too"
I used to hate that song!!!!LOL!!!!
word verif; undia
as in undia bed?
J:
First off, the word verification for this comment is STUFDPPRS! Does that not sound like "stuffed peppers" to you? How fitting, since I'm replying to another foodie!! :)
Yes, I've heard of that rule! Unfortunately it's taking me a while to implement that one. I keep thinking I need to vacuum or clean the bathroom...and before I know it, Little One is hungry again. Gah!
How on earth do all of you Moms out there do it? How do you have a clean house, food on the table, go to the bathroom, take a shower, get all the things you need to get done DONE...AND take care of a baby that constantly needs you??? I still don't know where I can squeeze sleep into that schedule. Oh, and time to eat?!?! What's that?
Veronica:
I love being able to BF Little One, but two days ago she had her RSV shot and was Little Miss Cranky Pants yesterday, last night and this morning. Nothing seems to settle her. She fusses and fights. She wouldn't latch for the longest time, though it was obvious she was hungry. I honestly contemplated giving up on BF and bottle feeding her.
Of course, I don't want to do that, but the thought was there! Perhaps she was just having an off day, but seriously?? Nothing seemed to appease her. *sigh*
CK:
Happy V-Day to you too, sweets! I'm thinking that you should post a video of you singing. I can attest to that wonderful voice of yours and miss hearing you sing!! I will never forget singing by campfire with you and the rest of the girlies in Toronto. Gosh! That was so long ago.
Jimbo:
Love that comment! You totally cracked me up!
Soooooooo...What's undia bed?!?!
Hi Christine!
I'm so happy to see a video of your Little One. Makes me feel like I'm at home!
My mom says she didn't sleep for a long time after we were born - I think every new mom goes through that.
I'm coming home on Feb. 26th! Can't wait to see you then!
Word verification: priangly... hehe.
EA
hi C!cute cute video!!!! love her!
welcome to motherhood. J is right - when the baby sleeps, you sleep. don't try to be superwoman because it's not realistic.
re: cooking shows - I HATE TAKE HOME CHEF - That Australian guy is so fn' annoying. plus he's so selective (or probably it's for the show's criteria) that he only picks hot women,not regular looking people. ha ha. but seriously...
my fave food show, which isn't really cooking is "Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations" Tomorrow night on the Travel Channel, he does the Philippines! It's about time Tony!
C - glad you like the goodies. i hope they're not stale. if they are, toss them.
word ver:
nemyco
Esther:
Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! I CANNOT wait until you come home!!! Soooo excited! Last time I saw you, I was still pregnant and not on bed rest yet! Now you get to meet the little one who was formerly known as "Junior". You know, the one who kept kicking like crazy and ended up propelling herself out like a cannon ball. She's quite the character already. You're going to love her :)
Oh, I didn't tell you that her two new fave songs are Regina Coeli and The Skye Boat Song!!!
Word verification: reing
Canine:
I don't think I've ever seen Take Home Chef. I've heard about the show before but haven't caught an episode yet.
As for the goodies you sent (ummm...when I was still pregnant!!), they're not stale at all. I guess the container was air-tight so everything tasted fresh. Hubby almost finished all the Chipotle chocolate hazelnuts. I don't know if he even realized that there was a slight hint of heat in the Chipotle. I think the stark contrast in flavours with the chili mango was too much for him.
Canine, honestly the past two nights with Little One being Little Miss Cranky Pants makes me feel like I may never EVER sleep again!!! Gah. LOL!
that green thang is so Heidi
Jeanna:
LOL! You are so right! "That green thang" is soooooooooo Ms.Mamma!!! Love it! :)
Word verification: casitinc
I LOVE THE VIDEO, and I'm shouting because it is so cute! I hate my voice on video too, but yours doesn't sound so bad, honestly, it's sweet. We all watch Food TV together still... a GREAT family tradition.
I love these pics, C, your family is so beautiful!
And you are hilarious, those instructions on that green fun thing... too funny.
That cupboard is amazing too... lucky little sweetpea...
Hey Sweets...
What J said...you absolutely sleep when she sleeps. Let the dust bunnies fall where they may. I ried to do it all, and you will end up very unhappy. And we want you happy! xo
OMG...my word verification is:
bongspsy
bong? yeah, I'd hit that.
Wow, does she ever look like her dad in that family pic of the 3 of you!!!