Tour de Miles

We're back from our Thanksgiving road trip and very happy to be home. It was great meeting up with family and friends, but I will be so happy to sleep in my own bed again. Little was sleepy when we walked him up the stairs, but as soon as we were in the apartment and he was on his familiar changing pad, he kicked and smiled. I'm pretty sure he's happy to be home as well -- back to regular nap times, bed times, and familiar toys.

Thanksgiving Travel

We set out on our first road trip with Miles yesterday morning. Miles isn't terribly fond of his car seat, so we were a little worried that he'd have a hard time with the 12+ hour trip. Overall the first leg was pretty great. We stopped about every two hours to feed and change him and let him stretch his legs.  Miles had a small meltdown around Grants Pass, but after he settled down and went to sleep it was smooth sailing. After looking at the weather forecast, we opted to take the coast instead of the Siskiyou pass. It ultimately will add a couple of hours on to our trip, but saves me from experiencing flashbacks from two Christmases ago. We stopped in Klamath, CA for a nice long rest before heading to Eureka for dinner and a hotel for the night. 

Miles was happy to be out of the car. So were Jesse and I. It felt nice to uncurl for the night and recharge. Miles took his uncurling very seriously and arched his back for several minutes to stretch. I don't blame him. That car seat can't be very comfortable! Today we set out on our second leg and will end up in Berkeley before dinner and our Thanksgiving week will officially start.

Tastes Like Fall

I picked up a pork tenderloin at the grocery store the other night because J and I were craving meat. I'm not sure why, but I suspect it has a lot to do with the cold rain that we've had for the past couple of days. Maybe it's some primal urge to put on bulk for the winter. So, anyway, I had this pork loin, some apples, and a craving for potatoes. I went to Epicurious to find an old favorite recipe and stumbled on something new: Roast Pork Tenderloin with Apples & Cider. The dish was amazingly simple and incredibly tasty. Paired with mashed potatoes with a little butter, cream, and smoked sharp cheddar, dinner tonight was top notch.

Side note: I also got to use my All Clad saute pan to its fullest by taking it from stove top to oven to table (well to serving dish). The only disadvantage of the whole oven to table part is when the chef forgets the hot oven's effect on the pan handle. Yes, I burned the ever-loving crap out of my right hand. Don't worry, no blisters, just throbbing hot fingers. I'm currently typing with my left index finger. What? I'm a dedicated blogger.

Thankfully, I had lots of help in the kitchen. J really stepped up to the plate in order to supervise Little doing his chores. (Actually, J is responsible for the stellar mashed potatoes.) Little was a trooper and chipped in by helpfully lubricating the counter top with his drool. Salivating while whisking is pretty hard work and not long after this photo he had a righteous meltdown followed by a 30-minute nap (the longest stretch he's managed lately much to our dismay). At least it allowed me to muddle my way through the rest of dinner prep handicapped by the lack of use of my dominant hand. Despite my injured state, the pork was fabulous. In fact, you could say it was so easy that one could make it with a hand tied behind their back (or dangling in crippling pain). Just a thought -- do you feel sorry for me yet?

As you can see, Little changed into his dress pj's for dinner (code for barfed all over his clean outfit) and chose to skip the pork for something much more delectable. Giraffe butt. Some say it's too gamey, but if Little could talk I'm sure he'd say that they're just weenies. Just look at that face. That's one satisfied baby. In my opinion though, I'd say that the squeaky, chewy giraffe meat doesn't hold a candle to the tender pork and apples.

Now that Little is finally down for the night, I'm off to Walgreens for some burn cream and maybe a little chocolate to soothe the pain.

Holiday Party

Jesse and I decided that we are going to host a holiday party at our place this year. We've yet to have many people over to our new apartment, which is a shame since we've been living here for exactly a year now. Morning sickness and a crippling lack of energy during the early months of pregnancy throws a damper on holiday celebrations. However, I've used my get out of jail free card now, it's time to party Mad Men style. This year's party has a dress code -- 50s or 60s chic. I'm talking skinny ties, smoking jackets, button down sweaters and fab cocktail dresses. Of course we'll let in modern day fashion with the caveat that there will be Bah Humbug accessories handed out at the door.

We're actually pretty excited about it and will likely go overboard on planning and execution. This weekend, our friends Ben & Daphne were in town and we used them as guinea pigs for a few potential retro cocktails on our drink menu. We've narrowed down the selection and will continue to tweak a couple more recipes. After dropping off Ben & Daphne at the airport on Sunday, we went shopping for a few holiday decorations and started brainstorming our food menu. Last night we took a walk to the library to check out a few books on cocktails and finger foods. Then we mulled over our book selections at Deschutes Brewery while sipping their winter seasonal beers. They were delicious! 

I can't wait for Christmas!

Status Update

I'm always surprised when I look at the calendar and find that nearly two weeks has gone by without me even noticing. It seems like Halloween was just yesterday, but now Thanksgiving is just two weeks away and Christmas is just around the corner. We will set out on our maiden voyage with Little to San Francisco and Santa Cruz in exactly nine days! I surveyed our trunk the other day trying to figure out how exactly we are going to pack in all of the baby stuff necessary for nine days away from home -- stroller, infant carrier, portable crib, swing, enough outfits for the two day car ride without doing laundry, and a cooler big enough for all the Corralitos sausage we'd like to bring home. We still haven't planned our exact route. I mean there aren't an abundance of options, but taking 101 for a portion of the trip instead of I-5 all the way down is a possibility. 

I had every intention of scoping out potential hotel stops, organizing the things we'll need, and running errands this week. However, our sweet, dear, adorable Little has had quite a stretch of incredibly cranky days. I'm thinking that he's going through his stormy period just before Wonder Week 12 and is wearing me and J thin in the process. Naps are erratic, night sleeping is spotty, and he gets incredibly angry at the things he can't do like rolling over and crawling. His brain keeps telling him go go go, but his body has yet to catch up. At points I feel bad, because I can't even imagine how frustrating it must be for him, but it's hard to feel sympathy for too long when he doesn't just demand to be held, but entertained for every waking hour. Luckily, there are a few bursts of sunshine during the day and it helps to remind me that he's learning so many new things in such a short period of time. For instance, tummy time is no longer torture. In fact, he loves his new view of the world.  

As for my errands and chores, well, they can wait for another few days. Our friends Ben & Daphne are in town for the weekend and I intend on making the most of their time here. We are going to bundle up this afternoon and take a walk downtown to enjoy the crisp fall air. 

Date Night Resurrected

My mom was in town last week to lend a hand with Miles while Jesse had a business trip to DC. On Friday night, she offered to spend some quality time with her grandson (we really had to twist her arm) so Jesse and I could spend a couple of hours alone. We chose to dust off our date night tradition and headed out to Cascade Brewing Barrel House on Belmont Street. 

Cascade specializes in sour beers, which is a welcome variation in my opinion to the sometimes overly "hoppy" northwest brews. I am partial to more complex Belgian style beers, especially those that are spiced and dark. My first sour beer was in the form of a rather popular cherry lambic a few years ago -- a starter variety for sour beer drinkers or lambic with training wheels. Two years ago at the Cheers to Belgian Beers festival here in Portland, we sampled a local sour that was pretty awesome. In preparation for our trip to Belgium and Germany last fall, we decided to do our own sampling of Belgian varieties of lambics. We determined that some were very much an acquired taste -- with flavor descriptions that included "horse blanket" -- and others were rather delightful.

I was excited that Cascade Brewing managed to stay on the delightful and complex spectrum of sour beers and provided a spectacular evening of beer sampling. We started off with a glass of their special Cherry Bourbon Double Red and a glass of Bourbonic Plague. According to their menu:

Cherry Bourbon Double Red (11% abv) is a sour double red aged in Maker's Mark oak barrels for 9 months. The beer is then aged with sour pie cherries, fresh sour pie base and bourbacide. The result was a wonderfully tangy beer that had hints of bourbon. I was amazed at how much you could really taste the cherries. This was one of our favorites of the evening.  

The Bourbonic Plague (12% abv) is aged for 14 months and consists of strong dark porters aged in oak wine and bourbon barrels that is blended with dark porter that was brewed with cinnamon and vanilla. This is probably one of the best beers that I've tasted in a very long time. Its flavor was complex, slightly sour, and full-bodied, but not heavy. I was skeptical about ordering a 12% abv beer, because in Belgium that was almost a guarantee that you'd get a syrupy heavy concoction. This beer was exactly the opposite. Seriously, you have to try the Bourbonic Plague.

We also sampled Cascade's Bourbon Gold Yeller II (in photo on the right), and the '09 Beck Berry. The Beck Berry was outstanding (pictured on the left), but the Gold Yeller II just didn't stand up to the Bourbonic Plague, Cherry Bourbon Double Red -- I wish it had been one of our first sips rather than our last. We took home a bottle of the Bourbonic Plague to enjoy sometime in the near future, since I'm not sure when we'll get out there again in the next few months. However, I can't wait until our next visit so we can try more of the many beers on tap!