With Dad #3

Of note: Baby Grady's cheeks are red, because this was before I discovered (with Granny J's help) that Grady doesn't like when I eat tomatoes. Well, it doesn't actually seem to bother him, but it does give him hives. And he's so much cuter without hives! But it turns out that, left to our own devices, we eat a fair amount of tomatoes. (Italian and Mexican cuisines dominate our quick-and/or-make-ahead repertoire.) So, any suggestions for quick and easy meals without tomatoes? Bonus points for things that can be made in quantities to provide multiple meals. Put them right down there in the comments, please!

Baby Grady's First Christmas

Baby Grady had no idea Christmas was coming and the surprise and excitement hit him so hard he pretty much had to sleep it off for the entire day. Just being present was quite a lot to handle on its own, which makes a lot of sense if you know my family. Between the mountain of presents from Granny J and Gumpa and the controlled chaos of a visit from his uncles, aunt, cousins, and their crazy dog, it’s hard to know how Grady had energy left not only for the other mountain of presents from Grandma and Grandpa but also for charming everyone’s pants off (figuratively speaking, of course). He’s a really impressive baby, obviously.

We started the day with stockings from Grandma and small sacks of stocking stuffers from me (due to the lack of stockings on hand). Our future Christmases will be much classier, though, because Grandma knitted stockings for me and Grady and brought Jasper’s with her from Spokane. Behold the cuteness and knitting beauty:

Side one:

Side two:

Then we required refueling, of course, which involved french toast casserole (Thanks, Paula Deen! I had no idea I could even fit that much cream and butter in that dish!), bacon, and coffee.

Then on to the presents, proper. And now I must ask... have you ever attended a Christmas at which only adults and an oblivious baby are present? It is shockingly civilized. So much so that if you don’t have to be anywhere, you could spend the whole day at it. We took turns, watched others open their gifts, and said thank you. It took forever! And we wonder how long it will be before Baby Grady turns Christmas into a hurricane of shredded wrapping paper, glee, and overstimulated tears. One year or two?

Then the Carriers visited and our day was instantly transformed into a delightful zoo. There was property damage; there were tears. It was really a classic Carrier holiday, except we never got to the tequila shots.

In the evening, Baby Grady continued his peaceful napping and enabled me to make a whole dinner in between feedings. It was really the most amazing thing. We ate pork tenderloin with roasted baby and sweet potatoes, garlicky kale with bacon, spiced cranberry sauce, and spinach salad with goat cheese, walnuts, and clementines. It was all pretty delicious and then there was pie (and all the best dinners end in pie; it’s a fact). Our spread included blueberry streusel, pecan, and pumpkin. Three varieties, so we were slightly short of my holiday standard of one pie per adult, but as with all things in which I fall short of late: “People, haven’t you heard? I have a baby!”

Yes, his feet are reindeer. Merry Christmas (or happy whatever you celebrate) and you're welcome.

After dinner, Baby Grady was all kinds of fussy for several hours. Then, suddenly, he started dependably and unmistakably smiling at me. These were the first smiles where I knew, without a doubt, that he was really smiling, and not just feeling pleased with himself for giving his pants the business. Everyone else was asleep, because all my shushing was apparently very soothing if your name is not Baby Grady... So that meant that Grady and I had this whole smiley little late-night hangout sesh before he decided he was tired enough to go to bed around midnight. It’s such a silly parental thing to say, but it was of course, completely worth the late night. (And Jasper got his own smiley-fest the next day, while the boys were checking out Grady’s “bodacious” mobile. Jasper’s description, obviously.)

Number of presents Baby Grady received for Christmas: A LOT. Like, a really silly number of presents for a baby.
Number of presents Baby Grady unwrapped himself: zero
Number of presents Baby Grady was awake for the opening of: also zero
Number of stuffies Baby Grady received: 2
Number of silky blankies Baby Grady received: 1
Number of fuzzy sleeping sacks (with matching hat!) Baby Grady received: 1

Number of Grady’s uncles involved in a Matrix-style assassination of Jasper with their new Nerf machine guns: 2
Number of gates that required rebuilding after being shattered by Peanut the dog: 1

State of Baby Grady’s table manners: really questionable, assuming that having a boob in your mouth, burping loudly, and spitting up your last meal are all inappropriate table behaviors

Superfluous pictures of Reese and Puppet opening presents:

Nesting with Pie

Back before Baby Grady was born, when I should have been scrubbing the grout in my bathroom with a toothbrush, I was instead returning to my annual pie challenge. Yes, instead of proper nesting behavior, I was busy ensuring that, even if we were in the hospital on or prior to Thanksgiving, we would still have pie waiting for us when we arrived home. Because for me Thanksgiving success is pie-dependent. I tend to think that an adequately appointed Thanksgiving feast spread includes one pie per adult guest. Less than that makes me a little nervous, if I’m being honest.

My favorite pie is pecan. But wouldn’t you know that even at my age, I was still searching for the perfect recipe? I always felt that while the pecan pie was my favorite, it was failing to live up to its full potential. So, really, my idea of the perfect pecan pie was my favorite. Actual pecan pies are so often too gooey, too cloying, Well, no longer, because this year? This year I did it. I made the perfect pecan pie, and now you can too.

Behold:

Suz’s Perfect Pecan Pie
(adapted from a recipe that ran in the San Francisco Chronicle many years ago, according to the internets)

For the crust: Just buy a dang crust, okay? I buy mine from the Whole Foods, because I’m gluten-free like that. But seriously, those frozen Pillsbury ones are awesome. I’m pretty sure they are Pillsbury... and pretty sure they are frozen... Granny J would know for sure. Now that I’m thinking more about it, it could be that they are sold in the refrigerated section, but Granny J freezes them. I know I once called her from the supermarket because I couldn’t find them, and I think this might have been why. And yes, I know some of you out there are feeling appalled, offended, hurt... thinking that if I were a food blogger, you would definitely stop reading me. You’d unsubscribe! All four of you! Well, I am not a food blogger, and I have eaten many a pie crust that someone made from scratch, with great heaps of disdain for the possibly Pillsbury, possibly frozen ones. And I didn’t like them as much. This can possibly be blamed on my upbringing, much the way I prefer diet soda to regular. Totally Granny J’s doing. Anyway, if you don’t buy the crust, you are on your own. Make whatever labor-intensive traditional pastry pie crust has been handed down through the generations in your family.

For the filling:  
1.5+ cups pecans (I used a mix of “chopped” and “chips” to provide maximum coverage. Halves are prettier, but I like the smaller pieces from a gustatory perspective.)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon maple whiskey (You could probably substitute just ordinary whiskey or bourbon, since maple whiskey is not that easy to come by, unless you are in Canada or the Northeast. But, on the off-chance you have a bottle of maple whiskey in the cabinet, like, from your honeymoon in Canada or something, this would be a really good use of a tablespoon of it. It also makes a mean hot toddy. Or ice cream topping. Or straight-up beverage. Also, you could probably leave this out, and still have a delicious pie.)

First, I like to pre-bake my pie crust, even for a pie that gets cooked. It’s just how I do. So, do that, according to package or recipe directions, or don’t, if that’s not how you do. It might be a gluten-free thing -- gluten-free baked goods tend to need a little more time to get the right toasty texture.

Once your crust is ready, in whatever form you like it, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

To make the filling, combine the pecans, brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, flour and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Cool 15 minutes.

Whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and whiskey. Stir about 1/2 cup of the hot sugar mixture into the eggs to temper them, then stir this mixture into the hot sugar mixture. Pour the filling into the pie shell.

Bake 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until the custard has set and the nuts rise to the top, about 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool.

Serve with vanilla ice cream. (Obviously.)