Dirt Therapy

I have not posted in more than a week. Things have been busy and I have been concentrating on veronica. Now that June has arrived and the days are longer, we are spending more and more time out on walks and out at my garden in the evenings.

I have been gardening with my dad since I was a small child. I have a great Polaroid dated 1986 that shows me proudly holding a giant cucumber. Our family grew all manner of warm weather crops as a child. Tomatoes, eggplants, yams, cucumbers, mint, chili peppers, melons and many more. We also had countess fruit trees on our property, sugar cane, banana trees, lemons, limes, guava, sweetsop and soursop just to name a few.

The smell of homemade compost, the sight of thick, fat earthworms and the satisfaction of harvesting my own fruits and vegetables are wonderfully fulfilling activities. I learned a lot about gardening from my parents and more when I moved to Seattle.

My news garden patch is a great hobby and diversion. I am part of a community garden that donates produce to a local food bank. I work alongside other kind gardeners who are more than happy to donate their advice and tools to one another. Lately my evenings have been at the garden, pulling weeds, watching my lettuce sprout, and tending my tomatoes. (I do not have any good photos since most of the warm weather plants are still under plastic.) I love the time alone, Veronica is either spending quality time with her papa after he gets home from work or she is already asleep. I get to play in the dirt, get some exercise and really take my stresses out on weeds.

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Tutto Bene

This past weekend was a mini-milestone for me. I woke up on Saturday feeling tired but not nauseous at all. Sunday was equally as pleasant and now that Monday is here I feel like the worst is over. Now I can look forward to my second trimester second wind. For the two weeks I have been seeing a chiropractor and hoping to get my back in tip top shape. Having to constantly lift Veronica has really done a number on my lower back. I am glad to be feeling better since we are expecting Giordano, Irene and Umberto in late June.

More news, after a week of wonderful weather, we had a wet weekend which helps my garden a ton since I did not have to nurse my new seedlings and plantings. I hope all goes well in the garden as I have already told friends that when things are ready to harvest I plan to make a giant Italian dinner from the produce. I definatly do not want to disappoint.

We have decided on the hospital in which to have the new baby. My gyno is Chinese, young and very nice. I know I will receive the best care at Evergreen (rated a baby friendly hospital by the WHO (World Health Org.)) Having someone who understands me fully is enlightening. I have not been hassled about my weight (still have not lost some of the baby weight from Veronica), about my diet (I am eating as though I have gestational diabetes) or anything else for that matter. We have decided to find out the sex of this baby and in about 6 weeks, at my 20-week ultrasound, we will find out. My dad and MIL are waiting with baited breath.

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My Mom's Corn and Crab Meat Soup

This is a wonderful and elegant soup that is super easy to make. My mom's recipe is the best and when she was in Italy we could not find good crab meat so she did not make it for Deme and I. I missed it so much that I decided to make it for Deme this week. He had never had it before and said it was great!

Corn and Crab Meat Soup

Serves 4 (as a starter)

1/2-3/4 C. fresh crab meat (shells picked out)
4 green onions, thinly sliced
4 t. cilantro, chopped
salt
white pepper
1-2 T. sesame oil
1/2-1 C. chicken stock
2 beaten egg whites
4 ears of sweet white corn (cooked for 5 minutes in boiling water and then kernels removed) or 2-15 oz. cans of creamed corn.

1. Take 3/4 of the corn and puree in a blender. Pass the puree through a strainer and remove most of the skins. Add the puree to a small saucepan and add the rest of the corn. (Skip this step if using canned corn.)

2. Thin the puree with chicken stock to the consistency of thin oatmeal. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

3. Add half of the cilantro and green onion and let come to a simmer. Add the egg white in a slow stream and stir very gently to form delicate ribbons of egg white. Lastly add the crab meat and sesame oil and heat through.

4. The soup is now ready to serve. Garnish with the rest of the cilantro, green onion and sesame oil.




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Whole Food Finds

Both Demetrio and I were surprised and delighted to find burrata at Whole Foods this weekend. Our delight was short lived because when we got home and cut into the burrata, it was off color and a bit sour. We both think it was not stored at the proper temperature. I called the store and asked them when they got fresh burrata in store as I wanted to purchase some the day it came in and not a minute later.
(I do have to note they had wonderful Gorgonzola piccante though.)


Can you believe the price on these mushroom? I think I will wait for the farmers markets here to really get into full swing where I can get them for much less.

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Happy Mother's Day Everyone

We got Veronica dressed up for Mother's Day today and went fro a dim sum lunch.


She is so cute in the little pink headband.

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The 7 Deadly Sins Meme

I've Been Tagged by Judith to list 7 of My Deadly Sins (here goes):

1. Lust. Once in a while I kinda have a thing for my husband. How else would be end up pregnant again and expecting a second child a year younger than our first one.

2. Gluttony. SPAM and rice, sushi of any kind, Tim Cascades Salt and Vingar chips and anything soaked in vinegar. You are reading the blog of someone who is known as a human garbage disposal, the recycling nanny (I recycle food into my tummy) and the "best pantry cleaner-outer " there ever was.

3. Greed. A decent, reliable car, good health insurance and a place to run my hands in the dirt are all I ask for. But if I could have something really extravagant, it would be a giant house with the kitchen being the largest room. (With a giant stove and a fireplace right in the kitchen. Did I mention a walk in pantry?)

4. Sloth. When Veropnica naps then I do too if I am not blogging or walking the dog or doing housework.

5. Wrath. I used to have a bad temper and I can still be very grumpy but mostly this has mellowed with age.

6. Envy. I envy people with "stuff" no doubt. But the envy fades when I look at what a great baby I have, then everyone envies me.

7. Pride. This is a hard one. I do not brag about much in life but what a great family I have and wonderful supportive friends and a pretty decent husband. Enough said.

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The New Garden

I was totally ecstatic when I found out I would be able to rent a garden plot at the Marymoor community gardens this year. ($45 dollars a year and they supply the water.) The plot is 10' x 40' (or something like 2 X 10 m.) the garden is completely organic. There are many plots that benefit the food bank of Redmond, gardeners are encouraged to donate one row of their produce to the food bank. I enjoy being a part of the community that welcomes and cares about others.

I have to thank Dagne, Brandt Indie, Meladie, Bruce and my sister Kentra for coming out this weekend and helping us to dump 3 yd.³ of organic compost onto the plot. Meladie (my co-gardener) and Demetrio have shown interest in helping me to get the beds ready for planting. It's a lot of work and preparation to prepare the beds but after that's done it' mainly watering and weeding for the rest of the season.

Veronica has been an absolute doll in the garden. Sometimes she gets bored just watching me work but lots of my fellow gardeners stopped by to pay her some attention and that makes her very happy. I love being able to show her clods of dirt, earthworms and the various beetles that crawl around at my feet. Yesterday we both lay in the shade as I gave her a bottle. We both love being outdoors rain or shine.

In our garden we will mostly be growing Italian herbs and vegetables. I've planted wild arugula, lettuces, chicory and agretti. As summer approaches, fennel, puntarelle, cavalo nero and other greens will also be planted. I can't wait to see the look on Demetrio's face when I serve him fennel straight from our garden.



The garden bed before we tilled in the compost and fertilizer.



This is why I love Home Depot!



Here are some of the seeds we are growing! I miss Italian salads and greens so much.




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Am I Cooking?

Sorry there have not been any food posts as of late. We are not eating out at all, no babysitter yet and being in temporary housing with less that adequate tools makes the job harder. When we get settled and when my garden patch (more on that later) starts to produce Italian vegetables then we will be back in business.

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Hospital tour #1 The American Version

I’ve had my hands full with Veronica this past month. I’m trying not to use babysitters and not to leave her at the little child care center at our gym because I want to spend as much time with her as possible before the new baby arrives. She is such an easy baby that at times I think it take her for granted. I mean I can still blog, take a shower and have phone conversations with her playing happily beside me.

The last two weeks have been filled with doctors’ appointments, hospital tours and calls to the insurance company to make sure that all my visits are fully covered by our insurance plan. We have decided to have the baby at the two top hospitals on the east side, Overlake Hospital and Evergreen.

Evergreen is a wonderful hospital that is baby friendly and family friendly. They therefore do not have a nursery for babies that are healthy. Babies room in with their moms 24 hours a day. (In Italy Veronica was taken to the nursery immediately after she was born for observation. They insisted on keeping Veronica In the nursery at night so that I could get some rest. At first, I was a bit upset by this policy but practically it worked wonderfully for us.) There’s a small kitchen on each floor for family members to prepare their own meals, there’s free coffee, a comfortable waiting area with wireless Internet and the television, each room is equipped with a hydro-therapy jetted tub, there’s a guest bed in each room so Demetrio will be able to stay the night. The hospital does not limit visiting hours for family members and guests and has free parenting classes for all new moms and dads/and their families. I was impressed with the facility and the fact that there was a NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) on the premises. They also encourage all sorts of birthing positions and are very forward in their thinking.

Our health insurance will completely cover the cost of the birth (In Italy we paid 4-5000 Euros out of pocket for the private hospital, same amenities but not so good insurance) but the one thing that left me very uneasy was that as we were doing our tour, the tour operator stated with most uncomplicated vaginal births discharge would occur 24 hours later. This worried me a bit, as I stayed in the hospital for 2 1/2 days when I had Veronica. She was a bit underweight and early so I think they wanted to keep her an extra day for observation. I on the other hand, was ready to leave about 36 hours after having had her. I wonder if I will be ready to leave after 24 hours. The patient and the doctor make this decision, the hospital will not kick you out after a day but the short time frame had me worried. I wonder how much time I will really need after pushing some the size of a cantaloupe out an opening the size of a small lemon. Hospital tour #2 happens next week.

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American Dream 2

We bought a second car this past weekend. Demetrio’s rental car for the month was up. A Jeep and 4 Runner were possible options but we ended up with a CX-9. We liked the 7 seats, fully loaded options and Microsoft discount.

I guess it is time to let the cat out of the bag, we are expecting another child in November. (Quite a pleasant surprise to us. If the new baby comes a bit early and I am guessing he or she will, Veronica and the new baby will be 1 year apart.) With 2 cars, 2 kids, a station wagon and a dog, am I living the American dream? Our next step is settling down in a home of our own with a small yard.

Part of me feels like a cliché, part of me feels like a very lucky wife, woman and mother. I am lucky enough to be able to stay home with Veronica and will stay home with Sprog #2 as well.

When I feel like a cliché, I think about all the things that make us special and different from a typical stereotype. We love to have dinner together almost every night and Demetrio tries hard to be home to help put Veronica to bed. With his new job, he has a free gym membership and is working hard to stay in shape. He plans to run a half marathon and full marathon this year. I love the fact that he does something for himself two to three times a week. He also has a “guy’s night out” group that goes out for dinner or drink 2-3 times a month. We hope to actually go on “dates” again once we move into our house and feel comfortable with a competent baby sitter. I on the other hand try to do things for myself but I have Veronica with me. I am working hard to find something to do to call my own and when I feel more settled I am sure it will no longer be an issue.

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