The Big News and a New Blog

You've probably noticed I've been a little absent from the blog lately.  This was partially due to increased hours at work, but probably more tied to the fact that I hate cooking, pictures of food, and thinking about food right now.  Luckily, there is a good reason for my change in heart (or, rather, stomach), and that's because I'm 12 weeks pregnant!  John and I are thrilled by the news and can't wait to welcome a baby into our home in August!

As a result of our new "endeavor", I started a new blog:  Golden Gate Fam.

That's where I'll be documenting my pregnancy and our baby's life.  Harper may or may not make thousands of appearances.

I've decided not only to start the new blog, but to stop posting on this one.  I've loved doing Foodiebia, but I'm a practical person.  I know that now, and certainly after August, I will not be focused on food, but rather on our little bundle of joy.  I will keep this blog up, mostly for my own use to find old recipes, but if you want to see what's going on in our lives, please check www.goldengatefam.blogspot.com.  I may even post recipes on there from time to time, if I ever get my appetite back.

Thanks for making this blog so much fun for me.  I hope to see you over at the new location.

Love,
Kathy

Christmas Photos

I didn't take many photos at Christmas, but I did manage to snap a few good ones.

I got a couple of good ones of John and his mom in her backyard.  We were lucky that the weather in Pennsylvania wasn't unbearably cold for us California types.

John spends time with his family by sitting in the same room as them and playing on his phone.  How sweet.

We had quite a few people gathered together for the holiday, as shown by all the stockings.  My stocking had some scratch-off lotto tickets, and I won $10, which John forced me to invest in more lotto tickets (even though I knew this was idiotic).  Sigh.

Nephew Liam had a wonderful time opening presents - as any kid should!

He got some good loot too - including lots of plastic guns and cars!

Sleepy Patrick closes out my Christmas photos.  Sleep tight, buddy.

Winter Doodle Romp

See - I promised I would post photos from that doodle romp long ago.  Sorry for the delay, but here are the cute doodles.

Here's Harper looking slightly less cute when she is sopping wet.

Sticks were very popular on the beach that day.

This Aussie Doodle just happened to be on the beach and joined in on the fun.

Joyce and David showed up with all of Harper's best friends, so her afternoon got even better.  (Latte, above.)

This is their newest puppy, Popcorn.  He also answers to Poppy and Poopy.

Mochi looking distinguished, as always.

Joyce and David are in Maui at the moment, so we have all three of their dogs at our place right now.  It's a bit of a madhouse, but fun.

Popcorn had a blast digging endless holes.

 

Yes, this kind of thing just happens spontaneously.

After Joyce and David (et al.) left, Harper found a new cute doodle to play with.  I told you those sticks were quite a hit!  These doodles will create fun out of anything.

New Year

Happy New Year!  Welcome to 2012!

How did you celebrate?

We headed up to Point Reyes and had a wonderful weekend.  More photos to follow.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Harper et al.  

Really, who cares about the rest of us when Harper is this cute?

Snug as a Bug

This little bug is helping me get through my 10 hours of billing today.  Did I mention we started letting her on the couch?  She loves to snuggle in with all the blankets, and I love the company.

Drying Off

I honestly haven't a clue where her face is in this picture.

Bonus Blog Blockage

Sorry for the lack of posting this week and in the coming weeks.  I have 91.95 hours to bill before December 31st in order to get bonus this year, so I'm a bit too busy to post much.  I'm hoping to bill 20-some hours this weekend, which means I won't have to work on vacation.  Oh, lawyering...

Miscellany

I took 400 photos at a doodle romp last weekend, but I haven't had time to edit and post them.  I promise to get to it pronto.  At least in the meantime I finished addressing all my Christmas cards.  If you're lucky, you might be seeing one soon!  There may even be some shots of Harper girl in there.  Shocker.

Christmas Treeing

It must really be Christmas if we're out shopping for Christmas trees.  

We didn't make it to our favorite Christmas tree farm this year, but we visited our favorite local lot which supports the Sea Scouts.  (Boy Scouts of the sea apparently.)

The boys and dads put in a lot of work, but I'm sure they end up making plenty of money off this fundraiser.

At $98/tree, how could they not?  (Ours was not $98.)

Here is John posing with our lucky lady.  I went in hoping for a three foot tree, and somehow we left with a six footer.  Oh well, it is a beautiful tree nonetheless.

I'm a sucker for a pine-scented winter home.

The Sea Scouts have a helpful netting contraption to net your tree before you take it home.

As you can see, our tree baaaaarely fit in the car with us.  I forgot to take a picture of it all decked out, but I promise you that it's lighting up the room I'm blogging from.  Merry Christmas, everybody!

Five Things

Celebrating Christmas with your family early means the holiday season really does last a month (like all the retailers want us to believe).  I got wonderful gifts this year from my family under the tree as well as in my stocking.

 My aunt is big on family history, and gave me three vintage cookbooks from our family - from 1923, 1938, and 1943, respectively.  Pretty incredible.

Santa must have heard me admiring my aunt's lemon bags, because two days later I found some in my stocking.  You just pop one on the end of a lemon and the seeds stay-put.  Genius idea!

My brother and his wife got me three incredible cookbooks.  My brother said he picked them (from my wishlist) based on what he would like to eat.  I love that idea!  We both share a love for Mexican food since we ate it almost every week growing up.  I can't wait to break out some of these wonderful recipes.

In New York I was the opposite of a bring-your-lunch-to-work kind of gal.  I didn't just eat out every day, but I actually ordered in delivery every single day.  That's some intense laziness.  Now that I bring my lunch everyday, my new insulated lunch bag will get plenty of use!

A gift in my stocking was actually for Harper.  It's a UVA football rope-thingie dog toy.  Harper is obsessed with it.  Wa hoo wa!

In the Rotation

Reading the recipes I post on this blog is not necessarily the best reflection of what we are eating in my house.  There are a lot of new recipes that I've made that haven't made it on the blog for many reasons (too ugly to photograph, I'm too lazy to photograph it, or its just not quite good enough).  I probably cook on average about two new recipes a week.  The rest of the week is filled with leftovers and some of our tried-and-true favorites.

This Kale Salad, above, is on the menu literally almost every week.  We eat the remainder of the baguette that goes into the croutons alongside the salad to fill us up.  If you haven't tried it, I definitely recommend it.

Curried Butternut and Red Lentil Soup is also a favorite in our house, and I've made it three or four times this fall/winter already.  It's really easy, tastes great, and the lentils make it quite filling.  If you like spicy soups, definitely try this with the diced tomatoes that come with chiles.  Yum.

While this is technically a recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Chipotle Tacos, I've made this meat many times for nachos and enchiladas too.  It's the easiest and most delicious way to make chicken meat for Tex-Mex food.  The enchiladas I just made with it were the best I've ever made.

It's not really the time or the place for zucchini, but I do truly love this Zucchini Linguine recipe.  I'm sure it would still be wonderful with sad out-of-season zucchini.  I made it a month or two ago and we scarfed it down.

Foodiebia Holiday Gift Guide

It's time for another holiday gift guide!  Hope you enjoy these picks!

Williams Sonoma, $19.95

How adorable is this set of three wooden ornaments?

Rancho Gordo, $38.95 

This gift isn't for everyone - but any avid cook would love a gift pack of heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo.  Rancho Gordo has all kinds of gift packs, including a sweet sampler with vanilla and sugar.

Amazon, $13.14

My favorite cookbook - perhaps of all time, and definitely of this year - would make a great gift for any home cook.

MoMA, $42

The name alone makes this a great gift:  Fruit Loop Bowl.

Crate and Barrel, $18.95

This set of cookie cutters are great at the holidays or year-round!

Fishs Eddy, $46.95
This acacia serving tray would be perfect for someone who loves entertaining.  

Crate and Barrel, $12.95

If you know someone that likes to bake cookies, they need a cookie scoop pronto.

Fishs Eddy, $11.95
I fell in love with all the tea towels like this I saw all over France in restaurants.  Classic and cute.

Etsy, $40
This Etsy shop sells cutting boards for all 50 states and is perfect for anyone who loves California or Virginia or Illinois or Michigan...

MoMA, $28
Not exactly Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast, but it will do!

Amazon, $20.58
This is a great book for any avid and adventurous baker in your life.  The crack pie recipe alone is worth it!