Easy Peasy Split Pea Soup

At Little Man's nine month appointment (NINE months!!!) I was given the go ahead to give him almost anything to eat--with the exception of high-allergen foods like honey, peanut butter and shell fish. I'd been giving him some of the foods we'd been eating prior to this, but I guess I needed to hear from a doctor that it was OK to give our toothless wonder foods that weren't puréed or easily dissolved. (BTW, puréed chicken is one of the most vile things you've ever seen. I highly recommend that moms who are making their baby food NOT put chicken breasts in the blender. Disgusting. You're welcome.)

Since that appointment there is little "real food" that we've eaten that Little Man hasn't tried. Well, with the exception of sweets. I don't think he needs to become a chocoholic or cake addict before his first birthday. As my child, I think he's genetically predisposed to such an addiction.

Some foods I make need a little work to become toothless baby appropriate. Other foods, like last night's split pea soup, are perfect for babies! They also look quite a bit like baby food. Yuck! I promise the taste is at least a gazillion times better than it looks.

As always, I didn't actually measure, so take my estimates with that in mind.

Easy Peasy Split Pea Soup
(See what I did there?)

1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup baby carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 tablespoon coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
7 cups water
1 cup chicken stock
1 pound ham steak, cubed
1/2 tablespoon thyme
1/2 tablespoon marjoram
1 bay leaf
1 bag dried split peas, rinsed well
Red pepper flakes to taste
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

In a large stock pot, heat the coconut oil to a liquid and add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Sauté vegetables until tender. Add salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Add water, chicken stock, ham, peas, thyme, marjoram and bay leaf. Stir together and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for approximately one hour.

If you don't have coconut oil, butter or olive oil would work just fine. Like I've said before, I've been experimenting with coconut oil and I kind of like the slight coconut-y sweetness it lends to this soup.

Serve while piping hot.

I recommend listening to the Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington Pandora station while cooking and consuming. Bonus points if it is half raining, half snowing. It makes for a vey comforting evening.

Little Man recommends smearing the soup all over your face. But only if bath time is immediately following soup time. That stuff turns cement-like pretty quickly!

Even exhausted that little guy is as happy as can be. How lucky am I?

I never really thought I liked split pea soup. Heck, I never really thought I liked peas. I find myself stepping out of my tiny comfort zone now that Little Man is eating solid foods. I really want him to taste a broad spectrum of foods. My goal is to try to avoid the chicken-fingers-only phase. It is probably inevitable, but there is no harm in trying, right?

What are you eating that is out of your comfort zone?

Is there something new about yo' face?

Why yes. Yes there is.

I have a new pair of glasses.

And they were free.

Whaaaa?

Coastal  ran a promotion last week. It was called First Pair Free. I totally didn't believe it. Even after I saw it on the Today show. But I went online and I checked it out. Totally true. Sadly, by the time I got my glasses yesterday, the promotion was over, so I couldn't share the deal with you. (I didn't want to rave about something that ended up being lame.)

However, they are running an (up to) 70% off deal right now. That's almost free... I get the impression that they have sales quite often, so it would be worth it to pop by there every now and again and maybe wait out a "firstpairfree" deal. I only paid for shipping and insurance. The whole shebang ended up being less than $17.

These are the frames I ordered. I was worried that they are a little round and round on a round face can look pretty terrible. I wondered about their return policy. What if they didn't work? Would I be stuck with glasses that make me look like an oompa loompa in tortoiseshell? Their website says they have a no hassle policy. Fortunately I didn't have to test that.

That's me. In the car. Looking broody and a little angry. I am happy, though. I got glasses for almost free, yo!

Tomorrow I need to stop by my optomologist's office to pick up the glasses I ordered three weeks ago. Even with insurance they were the opposite of free. I'm considerably less excited about those now.

Anybody out there find a awesome web deal lately? What do you think of my new look?

Stopping by woods on a snowy evening

Our last trip to West Virginia was largely to meet with the contractor, aka our new best friend, to discuss house projects. While we were there, though, we got to have a few adventures. I had a pretty nasty cold, so the first full day we were there Beau took Little Man out for a while so mom could get some rest. I couldn't rest, of course, but it was really nice to have a little time to myself. I made a cup of tea and looked out the window at the freshly fallen snow.

Then I scrubbed the floors and the bathrooms.

Because I'm not very good at not doing anything.

And that's pretty annoying. But the floors and bathroom don't skeeve me out anymore, so actually it isn't that annoying.

While my guys were out 'splorin', Beau came across a fire road in the Monongahela National Forest that he took me to the next day. He was pretty excited about the find because of all of the marked trails we can hike this spring and summer. I think he also liked putting the truck in four wheel drive and driving over snow-covered dirt roads that hadn't been touched since before the last snow.

Let me tell you something.

It was absolutely stunning.

I'm sure I'll share more photos of this particular place during each of the four seasons. I wonder if any can top these winter shots.

After our drive I thought Little Man needed to have his first real adventure in the snow. Prior to this he'd only been out in the snow in the process of getting somewhere. At first, he took it like a champ. He was curious and calm like he usually is.



We took some stinking cute pictures.

I call that one "West Virginia Gothic" because Beau looks so serious and upright. Little Man, though, looks like a noodle.

It was all fun and games until big, mean daddy lobbed a little snowball at Little Man and scared him.

And that was the end of our snow time.

I'm pretty sure that soon daddy will be on the receiving end of some snowballs from Carter. He'll get his, I bet.

The day was absolutely stunning and since our "lets-go-play-in-the-snow-like-a-carefree-made-for-TV-movie-family" time was short-lived, we decided to go on an evening walk later.

Three seasons a year our road cuts across the mountain. During ski season, though, two of the more difficult runs turn the road into two dead end streets. I took the photo above standing in what should be the middle of the street. We intended to just walk to the slope and check it out, but since it was so lovely out and the lifts had just closed (so no fear of being run down by crazy dare devils), we walked over the runs to the other side of our street and kept going. It actually turned into a really, really long walk.



It had been a long time since I took a "selfie", so I thought I should do that while standing in the middle of a black diamond run. (Because Lord knows I won't be there on my snowboard any time soon...)

On second thought, ignore that last comment. That's totally me taking a moment to photograph me boarding the double diamond. I'm clearly fearless and always composed. And an excellent snowboarder. Obviously.

While I was screwing around doing that, Beau was keeping Little Man amused.

What's more embarrassing: mom taking self portraits or dad giving smooches? I'm sure he'll let us know when he's a teenager. We're practicing our embarrassing behaviors now so we can really excel at them when they count.

We walked past one of my favorite houses. And by "favorite" I mean the house I'd not step foot in for a million dollars because it is suspended in midair and looks like a breeze will tip it over.

Who decides to build a house this way?

And while we were out the sun started to set. It was very pretty, as sunsets often are.

Little Man enjoyed every second of our walk. Especially the end when he was totally zonked out. It's hard work being carried for miles and miles.

Later, Beau, Little Man, and I went to dinner at the pizza shop at the top of the mountain. Little Man amused himself with a straw.

It was an absolutely spectacular day. Just ask my earnest Little Man.

I just want to eat him up.

What's the best thing you've done in the past week or so? A prize* goes to whomever can identify my stolen post title.

*And by "prize" I mean the satisfaction of knowing not-so-obscure American poetry references. Lucky you.

Well, isn't that Pinteresting

I know, I know. It has been almost a month since I've written a word. What gives? Well, I'll spare you the myriad excuses, but I will tell you that in my absence I have managed to fry not one, but two perfectly good computers.

Well, OK, one perfectly good computer and one that was well on her way out. None the less, I fired her in a most untimely manner. Of course.

But, as we all know those two computers aren't the only ones on the planet. Heck, they aren't even the only two in our house. I'm currently writing this post on Beau's beloved Mac. It took me approximately twenty minutes to figure out how to turn on the power. I'm not even exaggerating. Thank God for iPhones and Google. It turns out that Steve Jobs had a sense of humor because he chose to put the power button on the back of the computer. The button is flush with the rest of the back and of the same material. On the back. You know, the side that faces the wall.

I used to think I was smart.

Then Apple taught me otherwise.

But, I digress.

I've mentioned Pinterest in the title of this post and Pinterest it shall be about.

Specifically the insane amount of pinning I've been doing of late. (On an iPad, not a broken computer. And if you wonder why I don't just write my posts from said iPad, I'd say that is an excellent suggestion, but iPad and Blogger aren't friends. Kind of like how iPad and Flash aren't friends, but not as intense.) Anyway, digressing again.

So the thing with Pinterest is that if you have a place that is in need of some work, say maybe like this, then Pinterest is an amazing place to gather ideas. Or, it is a place to overwhelm yourself with a vast array of often conflicting ideas. Oh, and it is a virtual place to spend lots and lots and lots of time that is not virtual. Nor is it replaceable. Pin with caution.

(From here)

I'm in the overwhelmed category right now. That's OK for now, since we've started our first major project on the house and it is the opposite of fun and inspired. We (and by "we" I mean our contractors) get to replace the siding on the west side of the house because we need to tear it all off to see how improperly and poorly the walls and doors were sealed underneath. I find this to be especially boring since its completion will result in the house looking exactly like it did before the project was started. Beau finds it to be un-boring because the house will be more structurally sound and efficient. Blah blah blah.

Because of the lame angle you can't see how much siding will be removed and replaced, but it is quite a bit. And someone will have to be four stories up replacing it. Here is where I am glad that "we" doesn't refer to us...

What I really want to be working on is bringing my "Cabin Ideas" to life.

Here are a few of my favorites:

The current entry way could turn into a mudroom with just a little bit of effort. I like this one. See the little drippy trough for the snow to melt off the skis and snowboards and not make the tile treacherous? So smart.

(From here)

And wouldn't this be a fun sign to have framed in that mud room?

(From here)

Or maybe I shouldn't tempt fate. Sooner than I know it Little Man will be on skis or a snowboard or a mountain bike or whatever being adventurous.

And I will have more gray hair than I'd like.

After the boring (or as Beau would call it "important") stuff is done, we'll start to think about the floors. I'm really hoping we can find reclaimed wood that doesn't cost a small fortune. I mean, it comes from old barns and such, how expensive can it be? Look at these floors.

OK, you're right. They look expensive.

(From here)

And, I've become obsessed with animal heads. Gross, right? But what says "mountain cabin" more than dead animal heads on the wall?

(From here)

I'm partial to the heads of the moose variety, and there happen to be moose heads that aren't even real. (Though if we were to get a real moose head it would be from a moose that has died of natural causes and had a final will and testament that requested that his head be taxidermied and mounted above a roaring fireplace in order for his majesty and wonder to be worshiped by humans. Obviously.) 

Here are some fakies that have caught my eye:

(This real looking fakie from etsy can be found here)

(Or this more-fake-looking-fakie from here)

(Or the ultimate fakie from here.)

"Fakie" is not a word. Just in case you were wondering.

Anyway, enough about moose heads. What about bathrooms? What if I wanted to change things up and move away from the whole mountain-cabin-kitch-I-have-to-have-skis-on-the-wall-and-everything-needs-to-be-hunter-green mentality and shake things up a bit?

(From here)

Geesh. There are so many ideas and options and possibilities. And we've got like ten years of renovations for me to obsess over them. Lucky me. I wonder how man pins I can cram into "Cabin Ideas" before Pinterest implodes.

What are you pinning these days? Have you joined the Pinterest bandwagon? If not, you totally should. 

Finally!! Our top-secret secret is secret no more

About a million years ago I mentioned some exciting, top-secret news that revolved around our frequent trips to West Virginia (here).  I wasn't trying to be coy or anything, we just weren't sure that our exciting news was going to pan out. I'm glad I didn't say anything then, because it almost didn't. I mean, that was almost five months ago. You'd probably forgotten.

So much for a much anticipated reveal!

But, I can now let you in on our exciting news because everything is finalized and wonderful.

We bought a house!!

(By the way, never, ever, ever attempt to finance a home with Amerisave. They are the reason it took almost five months to close. They were hard to work with, inefficient and generally terrible. We ended up working with a local lender and the process was amazingly simple. Again, just say no to Amerisave. Your life will be much less stressful. Ours was, anyway.)

In case you are wondering, we aren't moving to Snowshoe full time, but we do plan on spending quite a bit of time there. Wouldn't you with views like this?

 

Or this?

 



 

Or a sunset like this?

 

 

If you can't tell, I'm absolutely in love with the view.

 

Before you get all jealous of our swanky vacation home/rental property/investment for Little Man's education, let me show you a few elements that might make you wonder if we are insane.

 

See, we bought a bit of a fixer-upper.

 

 

It might need a coat of paint or two.

 

Yes, those are pink and burgundy stripes as a focal point of the room and in the dining room.

 

Barf. (But a really cute baby peeking from the corner. He's standing up!)

 

There has been a bit of settling that needs attention.

 

 

 

The floors have seen much better days.

 

 

We think those stains are from the two dogs that lived there. Eeeew. The finish is also almost completely worn away in most high-traffic areas. Also probably because of the doggies.

 

 

The second level floors are worse. And that's being nice. 









Yep, those are subfloors. Stained ones. Apparently the carpet was too gross to leave in the room. As opposed to the two rooms that do have carpeting:

 



Gross city. Fortunately, the carpeting doesn't stink. But it will need to go. I imagine it will be taken out with gloves on. And perhaps while wearing masks.

But wait, there's more.

This door is sealed with tape instead of an actual seal. That's awesome for heating when the temperature is negative two degrees as it was when we were there last week.

 

 

There is actually quite a bit more about this house that needs work, but you get the idea. I don't want to depress myself.

 

Lest you think we are absolutely bonkers for spending actual money on this dump, let me point out a few of the selling points. (Besides the obvious view I have already bragged about thrice.)

 

 

The house has charming details that make it feel like a fun and cozy place to get away.

 

 

 

If you take a moment to look down instead of out when on the deck you can see that there is a nice little yard that happened to have five little visitors when I went out to snap a photo. The yard is complete with a grassy area with a fire pit.

 

And there is the space. From the rear view photo, you can see it is three levels. The bottom level is an apartment and the top two levels will be our living area. The top floor is wide open with general areas for dining and living areas as well as a good sized kitchen, a small half bath, and a bar area. The middle floor has four modest bedrooms and two bathrooms.

 

I'll take you on a tour soon.

 

We figure it will take us the better part of ten years to get the house to the condition it should be in. Unfortunately for me, there are some structural and efficiency issues (windows and that taped door) that need to be fixed before we get down to business making a cozy mountain getaway. I'm going to bring you along with us on this new adventure. Some of it might be ugly, but we're planning on learning as we go.

 

While Beau and a contractor are replacing rotted floor joists and putting in efficient windows and doors, I'll be on Pinterest going to town pinning every rustic cabin option out there for ideas.

 

I'm like a kid in a Pinterest candy shop. It is ridiculous.

 

So, do you think we are nutso for tackling this huge project, or are you on board with us? Either way, it promises to be an interesting ride.   





Reading and the Web: a Conundrum

I am not an avid Twitter user. In fact, I've always kind of scoffed at the idea. Who cares where I am, what I'm doing or what pithy little saying I can come up with in 140 characters or less? (I'm wordy, people. It takes me at least 200 characters to get to pith.)

But, in the hopes of using social media to grow this little blog o'mine, I have been making a bit more of an effort to join those who are a bit hipper than I. I know I'm super late on that revelation, but what else is new?

To be honest, Twitter is still an afterthought for me. I often forget to use it to mention new blog posts. (Sorry if you are one of my five Twitter followers. And thank you for being one of those five followers...) I often go weeks without checking my account. So, as you can see, this using social media for my blog isn't going quite as well as planned. Ah, well, baby steps.

But you know what? Even in my limited interaction with it, I have come to accept that Twitter is such a cool place. I'm not sure why I don't make it a normal practice to visit there. When I do stop by, I generally spend quite a while checking things out. I read some of the coolest articles because of the people, groups and bloggers I follow. It turns out that most of the Tweets aren't about where a person is or what he or she is doing. (Though I know there are plenty of Tweeters who do post only such nonsense.)

Today's perusal of the Twitterdom got me thinking about how social media has changed the way we read. I know I read tons of information that I wouldn't otherwise come across because of Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. The information superhighway has an inconceivably fast pace and it is really easy to miss some of the information exits if I've got my GPS set for one destination. Like if I use the internet only as God intended it--say, to find a chili recipe (post on that to come)-- I might have missed this interesting gem.

And yes, I do know that there is information of substance on this here interweb. I was just using that as an example. (But seriously, how scary would an interview with Anna Wintour be?)

Twitter, in its admittedly brilliant use of short bursts of information, like well written leads in a news story, can catch my attention and send me to an article, blog or website I would have otherwise missed. I find recipes to try and articles on vacation destinations. World events are clarified for me. The lives of the rich and famous exposed, etc. You get it.

As I said, I know I'm late to get on this Social Media bandwagon, but I know that many, many of my former students who are cool, hip, and in-the-know have been here for years. They have been digesting news and information this way for most of their adult lives, and while they might not be "readers" in the traditional sense, I wonder if they are reading more than I give them credit for.

Obviously the Internet has changed the way a great many people read. That's nothing new, nor is it shocking. I do wonder, though, if today's Twitter users are better read than they would otherwise be. Are they more diverse consumers than the previous generation? I find that even in the past five years my reading has changed considerably. I spend a great deal of time reading blogs instead of books. I read news as it happens. I read shared articles that I wouldn't otherwise have found. I watch Tweets come in to follow events that excite me.

I'm also picky. If my interest isn't piqued within the first paragraph or so, I know there is someone out there who can say it better. With books, I once felt that if started, it needed to be finished. I'd trudge through a hundred pages that didn't grab me in the hopes that something--dear God, anything--would happen to make the investment of time and brainpower worthwhile. But not anymore. (Generally speaking...) Now I'm a little more discerning. If the piece doesn't seem worthy/interesting/intelligent/informative/whatever, I move on.

Is this a mark of this new readership? Are they discerning and savvy? Are they exposed to more diverse information than we were? Are they then smarter? Is the new me smarter than the one of five years ago? Or, is the Twitter generation developing a form of literary ADD? Can they (we?) not stick to something for any length of time? Does everything have to be short and flashy? Is substance overlooked?

These are real questions. I don't mean to be overly dramatic, but I really am torn between the two ends of the spectrum. In many ways I am so very grateful that I have tools like Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. (And yes, I know there are others, but seriously, who has time for more than three?!) Most days I feel smarter for having read the pieces I've read. I feel like I've taken in information that I otherwise wouldn't have. But there are those other days when I wonder if I really can't read more than six words of a story before deciding to move on. If maybe the overabundance of information is too much.

What do you guys think? Has reading and information gathering changed for better or worse? What are your impressions of Social Media like Twitter? Do you want to follow me @crqtncktls? Are today's readers doomed as sufferers of literary ADD, or are they better off than younger generations were?

My Twisted Book Club

I've mentioned my book club before. These days, I look forward to our meetings like I never have before. Most of the ladies in the club are my (former) coworkers and now that I'm not with them every day, catching up, discussing great reads, drinking wine and eating good food is such a bright spot in my life.

We try to tie in a food theme with each book. Sometimes that's easier said than done. Because of crazy schedules over the past few months, we ended up lumping two books into one meeting. We read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Gone Girl. Yeah. Pretty much on the opposite end of the literary spectrum, right?

Because I was hosting, I was responsible for suggesting a food theme. Absolutely nothing came to mind.

That is, until a stroke of genius struck me.

Twisted food.

Because of the double helix that Henrietta's cells helped discover and the twisted plot of Gone Girl.

Genius, right? (Modesty be damned.)

We had pasta salad with twisty pasta, a ridiculously good twisted chicken and broccoli dish, Twizzlers, disgusting chocolate wine (because the concept seemed twisted--and was), twist-top wine, chocolate covered pretzils, and these Nutella meringues (because marbled is almost like being twisted--we take liberties...), among other treats.

I highly recommend the meringues. They are easy to make, and anything with Nutella is heavenly.

I might have made them (and eaten most of them) again. They're almost fat free. And the sugar certainly doesn't convert to fat and go right to my hips...

We all enjoyed both books very much and had an interesting chat about both. We do actually discuss the books. Sometimes the discussions get quite heated. Not this time, though. It was a pretty demure conversation. I think I was the only one who didn't love Henrietta Lacks. I think my lack of love goes back to her skipping out on a literary festival at one of my alma maters. I probably should get over that.

This month we are reading Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver. It is absolutely stunning. I always forget how her prose reads exactly like poetry. So far, I highly recommend it.

What twisted dish would you have brought to our little party?