Danny's New Trick

Working Hard

Boy, supervising Mom and Dad is hard work! Who knew washing cars could take so long?

Antipasti night

With the threat of thunderstorms making lawn work a tenuous proposition last night I took the opportunity to do some shopping on the way home for an antipasti dinner. One of our favorite dinners is nibbling on small portions of a variety of dishes. The assortment last night included some of our favorites.

Caprese salad, country bread, roasted fennel w/ Parmesan, Danish blue and Trugole cheeses, prosciutto and melon, and olives

My feeble attempt at artistic photography

Danny sent a couple of his animal friends with his regards and apologies for not being able to join us at the table. I guess he had a prior engagement playing in his swing.

Sufferin' Succotash!

For the past week or so I'd been wanting to make salmon with some kind of sweet corn and red bell pepper side dish, but I couldn't put my finger on exactly what the side dish should be. Last night I got the chance to make the salmon so I had a look at the "Joy of Cooking" to see if there were any recipes for corn that could provide inspiration.

I was a little surprised that what I had been wanting to make was pretty much succotash. The surprise came from the fact that my exposure to succotash up to that point had been Yosemite Sam saying the above phrase in cartoons.

After a couple of modifications I came up with a really good dish that Megan and I thoroughly enjoyed. Here's the recipe.

Succotash (sufferin' if you must)

1/2 T. butter

1 t. vegetable oil

1 1/2 c. sweet corn (frozen is fine)

1 1/2 c. lima beans (frozen is fine)

1/2 large red bell pepper diced

1 t. paprika

salt and pepper to taste

If the beans are not cooked, boil them for a few minutes until they are slightly underdone. Drain and set aside. Heat the butter and oil in a skillet over medium high. Add the diced pepper and sautee until the pepper starts to brown slightly around the edges. Add the corn and sautee for 4-5 minutes or until the corn starts to brown. Add the lima beans and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Add the paprika and cook for 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Note: If the paprika starts to stick to the skillet deglaze the pan with about 1/8 c. water. Let the water cook off until the liquid has almost completely evaporated before seasoning and serving.

All I want for Christmas...

Is my two front teeth or bottom two teeth as the case may be! Danny's second tooth popped out yesterday. He was kind of grumpy during the day, but then was much happier at night. Megan checked and there was another little tooth poking out. She gets smiles. I get accusing looks because I have not been forthcoming with the steak I promised he could eat when he had teeth.

What? I Like Carrots!

Injured Fingers

Danny has had copious amounts of drool for about a month now. Aaron and I have been expecting a tooth and lo and behold one popped out on Friday. No fussiness or any other sign. Danny decided my finger would be tasty and pulled it into his mouth, where I got quite a surprise. No pictures of the tooth yet, just a tiny little nubbin. Aaron thinks he's eyeing meat more now.


Check out the drool!