Friday, June 24, 2005

Got 10 minutes to fill out a survey?

Take the MIT Weblog Survey

You can make science, too.

Tuesday, June 21, 2005

My nephew!


My nephew!
Originally uploaded by stacy's plate.
The first baby in our family! Andrew Patrick was born yesterday and is lookin' pretty good!

Monday, June 13, 2005

Spinach Parmesan souffle

Aha! You thought this was turning into a pregnancy blog, didn't you?

Well, I may post about my pregnancy sometimes, I will still be posting about my first love - food. And now that I have my appetite and energy back, I'm back in the kitchen.

Last night, I made my first souffle - a Spinach Parmesan souffle from the June Cooking Light. Here's what I remember from the recipe.

  • cooking spray

  • 2 Tbsp dry breadcrumbs

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 10 oz fresh spinach

  • 1 cup milk

  • 1 Tbsp corn starch

  • 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

  • salt, pepper, dash of nutmeg

  • 1 large egg and 3 large eggwhites


Spray a 7x11" baking dish with cooking spray, then coat with breadcrumbs and set aside. Saute garlic in a large pan with cooking spray for 20 seconds, then add spinach. Cook spinach for 3 minutes, or until wilted. Set aside to cool. When spinach is cool, squeeze out excess moisture. Put spinach mixture in a blender or food processor with milk and corn starch and puree. Add cheese and seasonings and pulse until blended. Put spinach mixture in a large bowl.

Whip egg and eggwhites at high speed (got to use my Kitchenaide, yeah!) for 5 minutes or until tripled in size. Gently fold eggwhites into spinach mixture and spoon mixture into baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

This was my first souffle. I wasn't very fluffy, but boy, was it tasty! Kind of labor intensive for the results, but I would make this again. It would be good for a brunch. It also doesn't make that much, so it would be good for a side dish. This was our main dish and we could have easily finished it all at once (two of us), if not for self control and saving precious room for dessert (maple walnut ice cream).

Old Navy to the Rescue

My pants are too tight. I can no longer button the tops of most of them and have resorted to "the rubber band trick" (Thanks for the tip, Katie!). Since it's not professional to walk around work, or the grocery store, with your pants undone, I accepted the fact that I needed to do something.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money on clothes that will only last me a couple of months. (I'm still wearing clothes I bought in the 90's, people), so I went to Target a couple weeks ago to look at their maternity clothes. The smallest size they had in pants, shorts, or skirts was a size 6. I'm usually a size 2. Everything I tried on fell right off, over my hips, onto the floor. Not to mention, the pants were all too long. I guess I'm not ready for real maternity clothes. But I had to do something!

A Google search on "petite maternity clothes" resulted in two unexpected stores. Old Navy and the Gap. These are two stores which I am known to spend some money from time to time (usually off the sale rack). There was hope for me after all.

Though I depend on the Internet for many things, I do not purchase clothing from websites. It's so hard to find things that fit me properly that I really prefer to try things on and see them in person. So, last Friday, I went to the local Old Navy and was extremely pleased to find that they actually carry maternity clothes in the store! Not only that, but they come in my size! And they're very reasonably priced! The styles are very cute - what I'd normally wear, and they don't all have that big-old maternity panel. I won't need that until the fall, probably.

I purchased enough to hopefully get me though the summer, and I didn't break the bank. Thank you, Old Navy.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

My pregnancy makes people very generous

-- or inspires them to clean house!

I've only been public with my pregnancy for 3-4 days and already, I've been offered an oak rocking chair, a crib with bumpers and bedding, a baby swing, a Graco pack n play (whatever that is), a Baby Bjorn and Maya Wrap sling (I think I know what these are), an Exersaucer (heh?), several strollers (one is a stroller/car seat combo), baby clothes and shoes, toys, and a baby monitor!

Today, I was handed a bag of maternity clothes from a co-worker who just had her third baby not even 3 weeks ago!

When it comes time for my shower, I'll have to request spa gift certificates for myself because there will be nothing left to buy! I know, that's not true though as there will always be stuff that we'll need.

Thank you, everyone for your extreme generosity. I know how much money I'll be saving with all of your hand-me-downs, and you don't have to thank me for taking it off your hands! :)

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Why I haven't been posting much about food

Meet "The Bean"

the bean