come and gone

i like christmas, i do.
i don't go bonkers for it but i think it's pretty great. it's a happy time of year and i like to revel in it as much as the next girl – but, i have to say, i'm usually not sad to see it go.

when all is said and done, christmas can be a little bit too "okay... ready?.... set?.... have fun now!" for me. i find it equal parts charming/high pressure. okay, maybe not equal parts. more like 70/30, with charming in the lead.

i'm not saying i'm all bah-humbug or anything. but i guess sometimes when things have a big build-up, it's harder for me to truly be in the present when the moment is finally upon me. not impossible or anything – it's just that famous spin that expectation puts on things.

all that aside, christmas with bonzo is – by far – my favorite kind of christmas.
it was his third in his almost-two-and-a-half years and they just keep getting more and more fun.

like many families, christmas eve culminates with new jammies – bonz got some seriously striped ones and a new buddy to-boot: a big, floppy black bear that he named cubby. they're already best pals.

the other highlights of christmas morning were his excavator which was sitting right out in the middle of the living room floor, just waiting for him to walk by first thing and excitedly whisper, "what's that?!" and his town blocks. he loved it all, really.



it was a weekend full of fun and family and bonzo had a blast. he pretty much didn't know what to make of christmas morning but thought it was a pretty rad deal, obviously.

my favorite part was watching him open one thing and be so stoked on it that he was ready to play with it right then and there – forget all those other presents waitin' for him!
we had to break for brunch because we took our sweet time with everything.
bonz, you're my kinda guy.

merry/happy/jolly

guest post

i can't imagine anyone's got much time to burn considering it's december twenty third – but if you find yourself with a little extra time and little hands that need busying, i have a guest post up at code name: mama with a fun, quick and easy craft that'll even result in a last minute present for someone you love!

it's also a fun anytime-of-year activity – one me and bonzo will surely do again and again.

so check it out.
(unless you're one of bonzo's grandparents – then maybe wait 'til the 26th, okay? and pretend you didn't see these spoiler photos, too!)

bonz-isms, part two

oh, bonz.
that guy's coming up with more funnies than i can shake a stick at – let alone keep up with, though i try.
the world through his eyes – and out of his mouth – is a pretty rad place, that's for sure.
here are some of the doozies he's busted out with recently:

"i call you honey-mommy."

and talking in his sleep, "it's okay, mama."

"i noticed that! i'm a noticer!"

"i'm waiting so patiently! i'm a waiter patienter."

"are there no eagles in the bathroom?"
"are the eagles not gonna scare us?"
"are there no gorillas in the hallway?"
(we still have no idea where these came from. especially the eagles.)

"it's eighty hours o'clock, mama."

me: "good morning... how's my guy?"
bonz: "gooooooood! how's my wonderful mommy?"
(reason 598,476 i love waking up next to him everyday.)

"i love your face!"

"i need some sippa water!"

bonzo was beside himself with frustration in the car the other day trying to "fix" his bent piece of paper.
i told him, "when we get home, let's take a look at it together. i'm sure we can find a solution."
when we got home – and i'd completely forgotten about the entire exchange – he said, "mama. can we have a tollution?"
i asked him to repeat himself once or twice, trying to figure out what he was saying and he goes, "to fix this paper!"
oh, got it bonz.

this morning when his buttery hands were covered in toast crumbs he goes, "oh no! my hands are toasty!" and holds his hands out to be wiped.

and the toucans at the zoo? can-toons.

he calls the white noise machine the "chhhh" – because that's what it says, after all. one day he said, "did you turn on the... chhhh?"
and now it's just what it's called. the chhh.

the word "regular" is regalee to bonz. so when we told him he needed to use a quiet voice in the restaurant he said, "or just a regalee talking voice? not a shouting voice."
or when he wants to make sure my water isn't bubbly water he'll be sure to ask – at least three times – if it's just regalee water or bubbly water.

"i'm wearing my construction helmet at my construction site!" and "i drawed a sun, mommy!"


(ps: there's a big-but-hard-to-see pad of paper in front of him in this picture. though even if he drewed his sun on the counter, i'd have a hard time being bummed. look at that face. pleased as punch!)

stew weather

one thing i love about this time of year is making delicious soups and stews in my beloved cast iron cookware. it's just such a treat having the right equipment to get the job done so every opportunity i have to use my cast iron makes me happy.

one of my favorite cold-weather recipes is ina garten's parker's beef stew. it's so good and makes a lot so leftovers are guaranteed – and equally tasty.

i follow the recipe pretty closely but i omit the mushrooms (choo choo doesn't like 'em) and the sundried tomatoes (neither of us like 'em) and i use half-chicken-stock-half-red-wine to marinate the meat so the wine flavor doesn't overpower it.

i insist on organic ingredients when i cook at home (in a perfect world, i'd insist on them everywhere but that's another post) so this stew, while hearty and rich, is also a pretty dang healthy thing to eat.

here's the recipe, straight from the food network.
if you can buy organic, grass-fed beef i would highly recommend doing so. oh, and the bottle of red wine i bought? probably not a "good" one. it was $4 at the suggestion of the guy at whole foods. and it was perfect. ps: i didn't marinate the beef overnight. it was only in there for a few hours. still: perfect.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds good quality chuck beef, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 (750-ml bottle) good red wine
• 3 whole garlic cloves, smashed
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Good olive oil
• 2 yellow onions, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally in 1 1/2-inch chunks
• 1/2 pound white mushrooms, stems discarded and cut in 1/2
• 1 pound small potatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 2 cups or 1 (14 1/2-ounce can) chicken stock or broth
• 1 large (or 2 small) branch fresh rosemary
• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen peas

Directions

Place the beef in a bowl with red wine, garlic, and bay leaves. Place in the refrigerator and marinate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine the flour, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon pepper. Lift the beef out of the marinade with a slotted spoon and discard the bay leaves and garlic, saving the marinade. In batches, dredge the cubes of beef in the flour mixture and then shake off the excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot and brown half the beef over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, turning to brown evenly. Place the beef in a large oven-proof Dutch oven and continue to brown the remaining beef, adding oil as necessary. (If the beef is very lean, you'll need more oil.) Place all the beef in the Dutch oven.

Heat another 2 tablespoons of oil to the large pot and add the onions, carrots, mushrooms, and potatoes. Cook for 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Place all the vegetables in the Dutch oven over the beef. Add 2 1/2 cups of the reserved marinade to the empty pot and cook over high heat to deglaze the bottom of the pan, scraping up all the brown bits with a wooden spoon. Add the chicken stock, rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 teaspoons pepper. Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables in the Dutch oven and bring to a simmer over medium heat on top of the stove. Cover the pot and place it in the oven to bake it for about 2 hours, until the meat and vegetables are all tender, stirring once during cooking. If the stew is boiling rather than simmering, lower the heat to 250 or 275 degrees F.

Before serving, stir in the frozen peas, season to taste, and serve hot.

here it is, just before getting its lid and being put into the oven for a couple hours.
added bonus: your house will smell amazing. you'll be so ready to eat this by the time it gets out of the oven it won't even be funny. maybe you'll even scorch the roof of your mouth because you simply cannot wait for the the temperature to go from molten to eatable. i do it every time.

rainy day schedule

it's a rainy day in santa barbara. perfect for staying in jammies, reading stories, horsin' around... and making muffins!

i love blythe's blueberry muffins from gp's cookbook. they're super delish and super easy – no grocery list and trip to the store required. perfect for an impromptu baking session with my littlest helper.

i made these in lieu of birthday cake for bonzo's birthday with fresh blueberries we'd picked the day prior. they were heavenly.

and much to choo choo's delight, this time i stuck to the recipe and didn't get crazy substituting various flours for the all-purpose flour or sneaking in ground nuts and seeds to boost the nutrition. sometimes you just want a classic blueberry muffin, right? right.

i did have to deviate from the recipe in two minor ways:
unsweetened coconut milk instead of regular milk and frozen blueberries instead of fresh.
oh, and bonzo's all about the sifter these days so we elected to sift the flour, too.

he was pleased as punch to help measure the ingredients and stir them with his favorite whisk.

thirty minutes later, we were in blueberry muffin heaven at the table together.

it's been a nice morning.


blythe's blueberry muffins

8 tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 organic large eggs
1/2 cup milk (or coconut milk in our case – results were delish! and i needed more like 3/4 cup.)
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (i'm usually known for using pastry flour, almond flour, coconut flour etc. and i like how they turn out that way, too.)
3/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon of sugar (the teaspoon of sugar is for sprinkling on the top of the muffins. we skipped this step)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
2 1/2 cup fresh (or frozen!) blueberries

preheat the oven to 375º and line muffin tin with papers.

whisk the butter, eggs and milk together in a bowl.
in another bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup of sugar, baking powder and salt.
stir the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients then fold in the blueberries.
divide among the muffin cups and sprinkle the tops with the remaining sugar. or not.
bake until a toothpick tests clean and the muffins are golden brown, 25 - 30 minutes.
mine took about 35 minutes.

yum yum.

wordless/wednesday

naps and buns

just a little photographic evidence of the world's longest nap.
when i walked in and saw those buns in the air i had to stop myself from squeezing them and potentially waking bonzo up. they get me every time, those buns. there's just nothing more scrumptious than sleeping-baby buns. well, except for fresh-outta-the-bath buns. or naked-baby-in-the-backyard buns.

buns! i'll take 'em any way i can get 'em.
oh, and crazy-long naps. those are great, too.

it's the best time of the year

we got our christmas tree this weekend and i know someone who was super stoked. for so many reasons. the first – and probably main – reason bonzo was so down with the process of selecting a tree is because the christmas tree place is the same place that was once the pumpkin patch.
so naturally he figured his favorite tractor would be there, eagerly awaiting his arrival. and it was. along his buddies, the barnyard animals. it was a serious reunion for bonzo.
"hi, donkey!"
"hi, billy goats!"
"mama. there's that tractor!"



bonzo steered and beep-beeped that rusty old tractor to his sweet little heart's content. and despite his enthrallment, he graciously yielded to other kids who wanted to take a turn. such good stuff.


then we went home to trim what is now the cutest little tree you ever did see. i have a handful of my childhood ornaments from my mom's house for our tree now that i'm a grown-up (read: mama). it's a little bittersweet because her tree is still the tree. i know i need to make my own traditions and have a tree at my house now but it steel feels a little impostor-ish.
my grandmother was big on personalized ornaments when we were little. i'm so stoked she was, too. these make me just as happy now as they did when i was a little girl.
needless to say, the bottom three feet of the tree has gotten – and will to continue to get – seriously rearranged. bonzo likes to trim the tree daily!

it's crazy that the christmas season has officially commenced.
bonzo's all about christmas carols, too. his favorite is frosty the snowman so we've been singing a few dozen times a day around here.

these are in heavy holiday rotation, too.

take a seat

this morning bonzo opened one of the bathroom drawers and pulled a few things out. standard operating procedure.
but today he holds up a nursing pad and goes, "what's this thing called, mama?"
so i told him it was something for my nursies and opened the packaging so he could further inspect it.
he looked at it from every angle and then put on the floor and noticed how it didn't sit flat since it's gathered on the sides to... you know... fit on a round surface.
then he exclaims, "it's a chair!" and proceeds to plant his rump on it.



happy weekend!