The Grand Central Bakery here in Portland is one of my favorite destinations in the spring and summertime. Before Miles came along, we would bike down to Sellwood, get a sack lunch, and have a picnic along the water. They make delicious bread and I always get the seasonal chicken salad sandwich with one of their oatmeal and golden raisin cookies. By the time the rain goes away for good and the sun comes out to stay, I think Miles will be old enough to ride along with us. Until then, I sometimes get a craving for their giant cookies. So, I was excited to see that the owner just published a baking book so I can try them at home. I quickly put it on my hold list at the library.
Last night, while waiting for Miles to settle down for the night, I baked a batch of the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. The baking book is great, because it reveals the techniques that make their cookies so unique. Apparently, part of the texture is achieved by creaming the butter and sugars for a good 5 minutes, until it lightens significantly and the sugar almost melts entirely into the butter. Also, it provided the exact weight to equal a ping pong sized ball of dough. For the first time ever, I didn't just eyeball the scoops, meticulously measuring out each on my electric scale. The other secret I learned in the book is to take the cookies out of the oven when the edges are golden, but he centers are still look under cooked. You then let them cool on the pan and they finish cooking. It gives the cookies that nice chew that I love so much! Brilliant!
I write this as I am taking on the ghastly task of sleep training our son. Yes, I know Dr. Sears warns about sleep trainers and how they are terrible beasts who hate children. I guess I'm just a terrible beast who desperately needs her child to get some sleep!
To take my mind off the difficult task at hand, I read and read all about introducing new foods to babies. Interesting stuff, you know. I learned all about nitrates and how they're not just in processed meats, but can be really concentrated in root vegetables and leafy greens. Buying organic helps a lot, since the farmers don't use commercial synthetic fertilizers, but being aware of how they're prepared and how much babies eat at first is important. Nitrates don't affect adults in the same way as babies, because of our ability to produce stomach acid that breaks it down (which babies start to produce between 5 and 6 months of age). Who knew?
To date Little has tried sweet potatoes, avocado, pears, banana, and peas. Avocado was the only food that he really didn't like. I tried it for five days with no luck. With that in mind, I set out to make Little his next two tasty meals -- butternut squash and kale. I, for one, love kale, collards, and just about any dark leafy green you can find. Despite his love for most of the other foods he's tried, I was still skeptical about how Little would react. He watched me from his high chair as I removed the kale stems and washed the leaves. He was especially excited by the salad spinner as it whirled around. And he was even more excited by the stick blender as it pureed them to a fine consistency.
My baby food book suggested that if kale was too strong, that you mix in a little banana. I was fully prepared to mix in A LOT of banana. However, the little dude surprised me. I gave him his first bite and he went "mmm" and flapped his arms for more. He's definitely his mother's son. It makes me happy that he has so many positive associations with the kitchen and with his food bowl. And I guess he's gained enough trust in me (despite my beastly sleep training) to know that I'm not going to put anything too disgusting in his mouth and that eating is a fun activity that we can all share.
This weekend was beautiful and I decided to make the most of it. Jesse had work to do on Saturday, so I took Miles for a weekend outing with Anna and Elliot. We initially were going to stop for the grand opening of a new Cotton Babies store in Vancouver -- a grand opening that promised a free BumGenius diaper to the first 100 customers. We should have known that showing up only 30 minutes before the opening was a bad idea. As we drove by, we saw that tons of women, men, babies, and toddlers were already forming a line that wrapped around the entire building. Instead of joining the chaos, we decided to go to an awesome consignment shop that Anna has been raving about for quite a while. I scored a sweet pair of Converse sneakers for Miles for only $8. They're size 5's, so he won't be able to wear them probably until after his 1st birthday, but I will display them prominently on his shelf until then. I can't wait to go back when I have a better idea of what size clothes Miles will be wearing in the spring and summer!
Last night, while waiting for Miles to settle down for the night, I baked a batch of the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. The baking book is great, because it reveals the techniques that make their cookies so unique. Apparently, part of the texture is achieved by creaming the butter and sugars for a good 5 minutes, until it lightens significantly and the sugar almost melts entirely into the butter. Also, it provided the exact weight to equal a ping pong sized ball of dough. For the first time ever, I didn't just eyeball the scoops, meticulously measuring out each on my electric scale. The other secret I learned in the book is to take the cookies out of the oven when the edges are golden, but he centers are still look under cooked. You then let them cool on the pan and they finish cooking. It gives the cookies that nice chew that I love so much! Brilliant! 
