Borscht!

Having a kid makes you stop and think about your diet and encourages you to do weird things like try to make borscht (it should also encourage you to eat less chocolate, but so far that hasn't worked out for us). Beets, I have always felt, taste like dirt. But they're so bright and purple, they must be good for you. So I've been gradually changing my mind. First, there was Aileen's beet marmalade, and then awhile back I got the idea of making borscht in my head. I think the first time I even prepared an alternate meal, just in case it wasn't tasty. But to both of our surprise, it was delicious. Say....I like green eggs and ham. I do! I like them, Sam-I-am! We're now officially a beet loving family.

You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! And you may. Try them and you may, I say.

P.S. This is for you Aileen...when I think of beets and cabbage and root veggies and bacon all combined in a warm tasty soup, I conjure up the happy image of your little tundra hovel on stilts. I think you should make it while it's still winter out there. Maybe caribou borscht?

And it's also for Lori, who I thought must be crazy, when she ordered borscht at a restaurant once. She must have learned something over in Russia afterall!

Boodah's Borscht (adapted from 1-2-3 Cook for Me by Karin Knight (Vegetarian borscht) and allrecipes.com (Meaty borscht)

2 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 beets, washed and peeled
2 carrots, washed and sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2-3 slices celery, washed and sliced
1/2 head red cabbage, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 leeks (if you can stomach the price, which I couldn't)
2 small potatoes, washed, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne
6-8 cups water or chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 package of stew meat
a few slices of bacon (or more if you had some lying around)
2 teaspoons marjoram
2 teaspoons dill (mine's a dill mix which has some tarragon and maybe a few other things)
a little basil
some parsley
1 teaspoon sugar, to help the medicine go down

(of course fresh dill and fresh parsley if you have them which I don't)

My method, which probably isn't the most convenient way was to start the bacon frying, and then throw in the meat until nicely browned. In another pan, pour the olive oil and then add the onion, garlic, beets, carrots, celery, potatoes, and cabbage. Saute for a bit, then add the vinegar, cayenne and spices. Throw this whole mixture in with the meat, add the chicken broth and a little water and let it simmer while covered on low a couple of hours until the meat is tender. Here's the inconvenient part----then let it cool a bit, pick the meat out, puree the soup in batches, and put the meat back in and cook on low a bit more. I'm sure someone could figure out a better way, but hey it works!

Serve it with homemade brown bread and some Mountain high plain yogurt (or sour cream) and you're in for a treat. For best results, eat naked. It is quite purple after all.

Happy Easter!

Oh, the joys of everybody's favorite road-tripping, egg hiding, gun shooting, weenie roasting, chocolate eating holiday! Well, maybe not all families have the exact same traditions, but the same spirit runs through them all. On account of our location, we couldn't keep up several of the above traditions, but we did keep up some of the most important. And we made up for it in quantity. Three egg hunts for Senor! (He's going to need all the practice he can get if he ever hopes to find any of Gramps hidden eggs some lucky Easter!) Granted, they were at a beginner skill level. Green, if you're thinking in ski hill terms. Well, to be perfectly frank, the term "hidden" is a bit of a stretch. But still, practice makes perfect! And P.Rev certainly made some big strides between this year and last. At this rate of improvement, he'll be unstoppable. Watch out, Musa and Arashi!

Egg Hunt Part I:


Pax Rev, Ryo, and every other kiddo in town anxiously await the starting bell.


Here's a video at the PCR at the site of Easter Egg Hunt #1. Find Waldo! See if you can spot Mama and Boodah. It took us five minutes to find ourselves, and we were there!



Is this what we're looking for?




This is as close as Senor was going to get to Mr. Easter Bunny this year. He was not into sitting on the big fluffy's lap, unlike last year when he was still young enough to be oblivious.




Ryo wasn't scared though...




Off to the next mission, free cake! More sugar power! Hooray! What a holiday!






And then to the library, for story time with Genevieve Cook. (Not really. Ever since The Little Engine That Could, the local paper mysteriously has been listing every Saturday at 2:00 PM as Story Time with Genevieve Cook. So it's become a bit of a joke.) But seriously, we went to story time, which was cancelled on account of the Easter festivities. We made our own story time, and all the rugrats got a prize for our coloring skills out of the deal. In any event, the non-moving fluffy bunny was deemed far less threatening by Conner, Ryo, and Paxson.

And for the most part, this was our Easter weather...

The standard Dutch Harbor blizzard. The attorneys who were out here for last week's trial, which ended Wednesday, didn't make it back to Anchorage until Sunday night!

Egg Hunt Mission #2

Egg dying mission:

When a mysterious hour of blue sky showed up Sunday afternoon, we hustled outside for our chance at an authentic outside Easter egg hunt!

He who shall not be contained

Otherwise titled...things that go BUMP in the night....

For anyone who doesn't know our childrearing challenges, sleeping has definitely been the biggest. Oh, how I love to sleep. And oh, how senor loves to not sleep. Or at least how he loves to sleep while attached to the boob. You name the sleeping strategy, we've read it, googled it to death, tried it and for the most part, failed it. So it was just another evening, earlier this week, when Senor awoke about 10:00, just as Dawson and I were settling in for a movie. We had agreed on yet another cry-it-out session, so we continued to watch the movie when we were greeted with a loud thump that sounded like a 25 pound snowdrift falling off the roof. We looked at each other in semi-disbelief. Could that be Mr.? Yes, senor is no longer excited about the containment of a crib and managed to climb out and hit the floor with quite a thump, all the while not damaging any vital organs and maintaining a firm grasp on his stuffed moose. Dawson thinks maybe he'll be a receiver. So for the most part, we're thanking our lucky stars that we didn't end up with any emergency room trips for stitches and/or broken bones, and both the crib and the cry-it-out appear to have reached their useful limit.

Here's the latest strategy:
Senor demonstrating how comfy it is...
And also how fun....

The first night was an incredibly blissful sleep for Senor from 8:30 at night until 5 am. I woke up at 4 feeling the most rested I have felt in about 16 months and continued to feel awesome the whole day. Why didn't we try this months ago?!?!? Alas, as you and I may have guessed, it was just a fluke. The next night he must have woke up 10 times. So no big revelations for now, but at least we won't be risking head injury.

Happy St. Patricks's Day from Team Wilco

Happy Birthday Boppa!!!!!

Another year bites the dust......

We mostly celebrated with lots of fun phone conversations with family, but of course we worked in a few of our favorite activities....

Like rain puddle splashing....




And chocolate cupcake eating....








Speaking of cupcakes, we accidentally left the cupcakes on the stair landing (covered with a heavy lid) and Senor was mysteriously quiet for quite awhile (me thinking he was upstairs with Boppa and he thinking he was downstairs with me). When I went searching, I found a very content Boodah with a face covered with chocolate frosting. Here's a remnant of one of Senor's treasures.




All in all, a pretty good day.

Little Boy Paradise

Here's a few pictures from last weekend's skiing and snowboarding adventure. These are to enter into Aileen's photo gallery of nature amidst man-made detritus.



Here I am taking a pretty sweet run down Ball Hill.


And Dawson taking a run down the Ballyhoo...


And then of course some bird watching on the spit to complete the weekend: