Baby Food Time

I realized when Abigail hit 6 months that I really wasn't ready for the baby food making thing again.  It all seemed so time consuming, but then, I did it before, right?  I know objectively that I did, but it's a bit of a blur.  So I felt the need to brush up on it, so I went ahead and bought Ruth Yaron's Super Baby Food book (with Micah, I just guessed with what to feed him, and I printed out a list from a website I was never able to find again; with Jesse, I asked my friend who had bought Yaron's book; with Abigail, I found this book used for about $6.00 and decided to buy it).  I found great glass storage containers with lids this time, and I contacted Rubber Maid and found out that my old ice cube trays are already BPA free (who knew?).  Anyway, the cooking and freezing of the food was a little bit of a no-brainer.  But I have to say the hardest part this time was using the microwave on every one of her meals before feeding her.  I mean, we do use a microwave--but for every food she eats?  That bothered me.  So I had to share my warming up method, I don't know how I came up with it.  I take the ice cubes out of the freezer ahead of time and put them in the refrigerator in a container for the next day or two.  When I'm ready to use one, I put it in a bowl and set the bowl ontop of the teapot.  I find that if I just heat water in the teapot until the water boils, the food is the perfect temperature. 

Crafty Trellis for the Garden

This was an idea that I actually took from a kid's magazine.  I usually like to come up with my own ideas (aka: reinvent the wheel).  But this was an idea I've been meaning to try for a long time.  Last time I bought paint I took an obscene amount of paint sticks, so we should have some more of these for some summer climbing vegetables.  I spent a really long time tying it together, then got into a fight with hubby when he picked it up and it fell apart.  The staple gun solution was a great idea of his.  The kids colored the paint sticks with crayons (I didn't want paint in the garden) for the decor.  I think it came out well.  :)

The artists are posed with the trellis below; I'm really excited about the raspberries starting to leaf out behind Jesse's head.  I'm less excited about the lily-thinning I'm going to have to do.

I MADE CHEESE!!!!

OK, so I used the microwave for one of the steps to play it safe, and I did order a kit by mail, but I did make cheese!  It only took about 20 minutes or so (it's called "30 minute mozzarella," but unbelievably, it really only takes that long).  I didn't even have the thermometer I was supposed to have so I just guessed, and it still worked.  I do appreciate now why cheese is expensive, though.  2/3 of a gallon of milk only made a little under a pound.  It tasted exactly right.  I got my kit at the New England Cheese Making Supply Company (http://www.cheesemaking.com/). 

I was going to put cheesemaking off until after my sourdough and kefir experiments, but I had to make pizza and didn't have enough cheese (because I stopped buying it knowing that I could make it), and this is my brand of lazy and cheap (didn't want to go buy some at the store).