Thursday, December 27, 2012

Good Sleepers and Poor Sleepers

Tonight I got home from work and was able to do lots of fun things like play with the Wombats and do a massive quantity of dishes. It seems unfair that I had to do so many dishes after spending about an hour doing dishes yesterday and seeing that Jen had clearly spent a great deal of time doing dishes this afternoon.

It's enough to consider paper and plastic plates and utensils. If only it wasn't so wasteful to do such things.

That stupid environment.


When I got home from work Martin had discovered a new game: trying to eat his mother's nose. He enjoyed this game thoroughly. Mummy did not enjoy it quite as much as it was a little gross.

Sisters & Brothers (and iPhone)

In an effort to save her face from baby drool Jen and Lauren decided to distract the babies with the sweet, warming glow of an iPhone screen. This is the most hypnotic thing a baby can encounter in life.

Creamy Tomato Soup with Ricotta and Basil

To make Jen's plum pudding this year she needed two 28 ounce cans. This meant I had to find the cheapest item at the supermarket and buy two cans of it so we could empty them and she could steam her plum pudding in the empty tins. This ended up being whole peeled tomatoes. Since I felt bad about just throwing them away I kept them until tonight when I made them into a creamy tomato soup. I used the leftover onion, garlic, corn, and green pepper from the clam corn casserole as well as a little cream and pureed it with a little fresh basil. I served it with a dollop of ricotta and some grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Boiled Potatoes with Olive Oil, Butter, Green Onion, and Parmigiano-Reggiano

Lauren informed me this afternoon that she doesn't eat hot tomatoes. Even after ten years I still find four or five new strange food aversions that she has each time we meet. She let me know that she'd like a big bowl of boiled potatoes so I served just that with some chopped green onion, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, olive oil, butter, salt, and pepper.

Jen seemed to eat her soup as a formality so that she could also help herself to a bowl of potatoes. I probably should have saved myself the trouble and just made a giant pot of potatoes.



Two Roads Brewery White IPA

For beer I opened this White IPA from Two Roads Brewing Co. This brewery only opened a few weeks ago and I've been hearing a lot of buzz about it in the Connecticut area. After tasting this beer I am going to be watching this brewery very closely. The only thing that could have made this beer better would have been drinking it on a hot summer day instead of a cold, drizzly night in December.

Elliott Enjoying a Two Roads White IPA

Elliott thought it was perfect for a cold winter's night.

Egg Nog Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce, Currants, Raisins, and Pecans

For dessert I used leftover eggnog, bread, currants, raisins, pecans, caramel sauce, nutmeg, eggs, and cinnamon to make this eggnog bread pudding. I'd made a similar pudding last year but I think this year's turned out a bit better.

Auntie Lauren with Elliott and iPhone

After dinner Jen and I played a hot round of Mastermind, a game Lauren refuses to play with her because she doesn't like it when she loses. I'd never played this game before but it's quite a fun game. Unfortunately it has six different colored pegs which are nearly impossible to tell from each other. I think I may take them into the backyard and spray paint them to make it a little easier. I guessed Jen's puzzle in ten tries -- the maximum amount of tries allowed by the game. Jen guessed my puzzle in her first try. Now I can see why Lauren doesn't like playing this game with Jen.

Through all of this Elliott refused to go to sleep and we had to entertain him for an additional hour before we finally tricked him into going back to sleep. Lauren required no tricking. She has been upset about not getting to eat dinner at 4:30 PM every day so by the time we do get the boys to bed and have dinner ourselves she usually just sort of sneaks out of the room and we discover that she has put herself to bed.

It's a dedication to slumber that I find highly admirable.

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