Friday, October 22, 2010

Thought for Food

Lucky me, I get to go to the Dogfish beer dinners :) I wanted to share this latest one with you as it was an extra special occasion. I won't go into a ton of detail about the food, as it will be hard to be objective. I love my husband's food. I always have, ever since the first time he made me a scratch pizza, dough and all. His food has gotten even better with time and is absolutely flourishing with the creative freedom that DfH has given him. But I digress.

This dinner, the official beginning to beer dinner season, was all about the Ancient Ales. These are some of my very favorite beers in general, not necessarily because they are Dogfish brews. Add to this the fact that Molecular Archeologist Dr. Patrick McGovern was speaking and I was in bliss. I'm a geek. Not just a beer geek, but a geek of all trades. I love learning, and much like my mom, would be happy to take a class every semester for the rest of my life. So when the author of Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Beer, Wine and Other Alcoholic Beverages was scheduled to speak about his work with Sam on Midas Touch and the other Ancient Ales it was a great way to spend a Sunday evening. Mom kept Alex so I could have adult conversation and he could have a normal bed time.



We started the evening with Sam speaking a bit about working with Dr. McGovern and the new Discovery Channel show Brewmasters which will be featuring (maybe not until next season though) the two intrepid brew-storians creating yet another fantastic potable for our drinking pleasure. Just to give you a quick bit of insight on the coolness factor of Dr. McGovern... not only is he considered the "Indiana Jones" of Ancient Ales and does he have a great sense of humor proven by his slide show, but he was so instrumental in the process of procuring the original scrapings used for Chateau Jiahu that he was the one who recieved the GABF medal for it. I was too busy enjoying the short lecture, the amazing food, and the fantastic beer to be bothered with copious notes, but I did take pictures of each course. To all my beer loving friends, most of whom live in Florida, I wish you could have been there. It was another "once in a lifetime" type of events. Just remember that while Delaware may not be in your normal travel plans, there is plenty to eat your heart out over. Like the next several beer dinners!! (and the regular specials... can you say antelope sliders??!!)

Ancient Ales Beer Dinner



Shrimp and Pumpkin Ceviche with Chicha



Gralax served on Local Diced Potatoes (with the bite of Vinegar) with Sah'tea



Forbidden Rice Salad with Braised Pork Belly, Local Veggies, Honey Lime Vinaigrette with Chateau Jiahu (this one was by far my favorite)



Lamb Chop Lentil Stew with Local Root Vegetables with Midas Touch



Chili and Chocolate Truffles served with Fresh Whipped Cream with Theobroma (and he wasn't kidding around about the Chiles)

Friday, October 8, 2010

Attack of the 18 pound peanut


Babies. Babies are sweet and snuggly and warm. You want to cuddle them and love on them. One of your greatest fears going into parenthood is possibly hurting this delicate creature. What you don't worry about is them hurting you.

Approaching 7 months, Alex is a strong little dude. He's been very active since he was in the belly; kicking, stretching, tumbling. In the outside world, he's also proven to be very very strong. He's been able to bear weight on his legs from 2 months, and held his head pretty steady between 4 and 6 weeks. In being this active, his strength has turned out to be a bit of a hazard for poor old mommy. I first felt the brunt of this when rocking him to sleep at about 3 months. In his between dream and waking state, he would pull back his head and let it drop on my face. Or in the middle of my throat. It was like getting hit with a 5 pound duck-pin ball at about 5 miles per hour. That may not sound painful, but at point blank range to the face, it'll make you see stars!

One of the other weapons in his baby arsenal are his fingernails. I make a very concerted effort to keep them trimmed down (which is no easy feat as some of you may know) but despite that, they are paper thin and therefore as sharp as razors. He got me the other day while we were out to dinner right on the end of my nose. I looked at my dad and asked if I was bleeding. I wasn't at the time but apparently he took out a big enough chunk to leave a scab, and I walked around for a week with a raw scraped nose.

Now that he's bigger (18 pounds to be exact) the challenge is really on. He insists upon standing most of the time, which he has neither the balance nor the stamina to do alone. So I "spot" him as he holds onto the couch or pulls himself up on his big playhouse. I walk him around the house with him holding my fingers. The kid wants to skip crawling and go straight to running. While I find his advanced physicality exciting, my 5'9" frame was not built to be stooped over a 2' little man for hours at a time.

Along with this heft and strength comes new mommy injuries. He's still pulling the head plow maneuver when he's falling asleep, but now he's added turning his head back and forth, alternately popping me in the jugular or into my already damaged cheekbone. Add to this his need to be picked up only to push away from me to be put down, and you've got a pretty tired me. He's strong enough that when he does this, it's all I can do to keep him from tumbling from my grasp.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a "poor me" pity party. I'm tough, I can handle him. And I love the fact that he's so healthy and strong. This is more a cautionary tale to those without little peanuts so they understand that while babies are fragile in a certain sense, they can hold their own in the tough category!