Just let me eat.

Peanut just wants to eat.  

He keeps signing more as I ask him questions.

He's a pretty patient kid.

PS Does anyone know why videos seem to look like crap when you upload thru blogger?  

Are there any alternatives besides youtube?

Cranberry Lemon Heart Scones

Can you believe that Valentine's Day is on Tuesday?
I had all these plans for projects :)
I was going to make things.  Pinterest things.

Well those projects may or may not get done but either way at least I made these yummy heart scones.



I used a scone recipe from Baked Bree, halved it and substituted cranberries for blueberries.
You can find her recipe HERE.

I also left out the vanilla in the glaze, substituting milk, but that had more to do with color than flavor.



A quick word about scones.  It seems that some people like them dense and crumbly while others like scones to be light and flakey.

These are definitely the lighter, flakey type.
They have the consistency of a biscuit and are very yummy.



These would be perfect with a nice cup of coffee or tea for your honey on Valentine's Day!

If you aren't feeling the completely homemade scones you could always try these easy semi-homemade Raspberry Heart-shaped Cinnamon Rolls.

Do you have plans for Valentine's Day?

In case of zombies

I've always been very imaginative.

It doesn't always work in my favor.

In fact, I'm not sure it ever works in my favor.

Once, when I was very little, my mom was giving me a bath.

She took the washcloth, swished it through water and said (in a very playful voice, I'm sure),

"Look at the little fishy!  It's gonna get you!" 

After which I began screaming whilst desperately trying to escape the piranha 

that had been unleashed into the bathtub.

No amount of explanations (including showing me the washcloth) 

could convince me that I was not about to be eaten.

This imagination has followed me into adulthood, making it completely impossible to watch scary movies and allowing me to spend vast amounts of time creating elaborate and highly unlikely scenarios in my head.  These include, but are not limited to, magical adventures, what to do in the midst of natural (albeit highly unlikely or sometimes impossible) disasters, ways in which I will suddenly become rich without having to do any kind of work, ways in which to use talents I don't actually have and many other things I don't dare put on paper.

Becoming a mother did not bring about a change in which I automatically grew out of my fear of scary movies (accurately described here) or my tendency to have a wild imagination.

The other day, as I was flipping through channels,
 I spent about 2 minutes watching some kind of zombie movie.  

Although it didn't scare me, it seemed to set into motion a certain primal instinct.

The instinct of a mother to protect her young.

(Of course.)

weirdo + hyper-active imagination + motherhood + impossible scenario = days spent analyzing how to keep my baby alive in the event of zombie apocalypse.

Now I'm not saying that I lost sleep over it (at least not much) but when I was driving or waiting for the bath to fill or packing the diaper bag, I found myself thinking about how to protect the Peanut from zombies.

How long could I feed him on the food we have in the apartment?

Would we have the necessities to survive on our own?

Where would be the safest place to hide?

How would I keep him quiet at night?

What would I do to protect him?

What could I use to block the windows?

How would we get to B (who was always at work when the apocalypse hit)?

It is true that I realized there were things that I needed in the apartment, like basic food supplies, that I could use in realistic scenarios like an earthquake.  Really though, that was just a by-product of the craziness.

Zombies.
Mmmm-hmmm, protecting my baby from zombies.

The zombie preparation kit.

The Mother's Zombie Apocalypse Survival Kit.

I'll let you know when I'm ready to start marketing my new product.

For now I'm onto bigger ideas, like what I'll do with all the money I win on the lottery I never play.

#6 / 52 Food Adventures: Creamy Avocado Pasta

 

Picture from Two Peas and their Pod

This wasn't originally what I was going to post today but the computer gods are working against me.

However, I am glad I decided to throw this together at the last minute.

This creamy avocado pasta doesn't have any cream or butter but uses avocado instead for the smooth consistency.

 

I made such a small batch I couldn't get it smooth and didn't bother trying to take a pretty picture but

the flavor was all there.

I did add parmesan cheese because I just looove cheese.

I'm going to play with variations of this for the Peanut.

I love avocado but I think this would work for people who don't love it like I do.

The combination of the avocado with lime and cilantro

make for a really refreshing spin on ordinary pasta.

This picture is just to make up for the ugly pasta picture I took :)

Thank you for the beanie Auntie Christina!

@*%$%#!$^^ internet

I'm having issues with my internet.  Again.  I'll have a 52 Food Adventures post up ASAP :)

The Sweetest Spots in Orange County

 

Valentine's Day.  A day to indulge!

A day of love... and by love I mostly mean chocolate.

I love that Valentine's Day is far enough away from our New Year's resolutions that we can eat dessert again.  Or perhaps it's a reward for sticking to that exercise plan.

I'll be honest, I didn't make any resolutions that prohibited dessert.

I'm rambling.

In anticipation of this lovely holiday I asked my facebook friends (who always answer my article questions) to tell me about their favorite sweet shops.

I added in a few of my own and we now have a fantastic list of shops,

all of which I must visit soon, in the name of blogging, of course.

Visit me HERE for the post!

What are your favorite sweets?

It's electrifying!

I've got chills 

They're multiplying

And I'm losing control

'Cause the power you're supplying...

I'm supposed to be writing an article right now.

I can't think of anything to write on the topic.

So instead I'm looking through pictures B has sent me from his phone.

And singing the words to Grease songs.

You know how those playground slides can be.

Peanut always wonders why his head feels so weird.