Daddy and daughter read a morning ebook

My Brown Eyed Girl

With all that red hair and fair skin you'd think she get her daddy's blue eyes. But Lucy is going to be my brown eyed girl.

Happy Lucy

One of my favorite things about Lucy is her happy. She is always ready to smile. No holding back.

Bike Rodeo

Today we went to the Bike Rodeo and Child Safety Day at the Scottish Rite Hospital for children. The weather was perfect. There was free food and a lot of smiling faces to teach children about safety in different areas. There were even smiling faces to tell us where to park. There were smiling faces everywhere. Daniel and I sat at the red checkered table under a tree and wallowed in contentment while kids and families played around us.

Sweet Penn is so sweet. Happy Lucy is so happy.

I want to do something to make the world a better place. Contentment is so strong and comfortable, sometimes, it is hard to look around and remember not everyone has a life this gracious.

Penn and Lucy

Penn gets asked the dumbest questions on a regular basis. "Do you like being a big brother?" "Do you love Lucy?" "Is it exciting to have a little sister?" How do people expect him (or any child) to answer these questions? And it brings us down a little when people don't remember that Penn has been a big brother before. He's held a baby sister before. People make the same mistake with me. They say, "Well now you know what it's like to have two kids!" "Oh, having a baby after having an eight year old is like starting over. Can you even remember how to change a diaper?"

Yes. Yes I can.

Penn is a sweet, doting and protective brother. Lucy has already bonded uniquely with each of us. She gives Penn special smiles and coos that the rest of us will never get. She "talks" at him constantly when they are in the back seat. In the morning she often watches him eat breakfast with total fascination and contentment.

Penn will be someone Lucy can count on and look up to and be friends with. I am so grateful for my sweet Penn for so many reasons. He is a resilient, emotionally intelligent and very special boy.

Swiss Chard

Every time I mention Swiss Chard people go "What? What do you do with it?"  So let me tell you about one of my favorite vegetables ever.

First, I really like greens. Especially collard greens and spinach. Daniel and Penn tolerate them when they find their way onto the dinner plate, but it's not their favorite.  Chard is the big compromise. It's much milder than other greens and it holds it's shape like a collard, but is tender like spinach. It's also good raw in salads. As a bonus, it's one of the most nutritious things you will ever eat.

We have a lot growing in the garden. These plants are two years old. You harvest the leaves from the outside and they'll keep right on producing. They thrive in all temperatures and if you're lucky (like me) they'll make it through the winter. When I don't have a vegetable for dinner, this is always outside the door saving my butt. Trim the leaf from the stalk and center stem and chop accordingly.

I like it sauteed in olive oil with garlic, salt, pepper and chili flakes. Or boiled and tossed with butter. Or  shredded and cooked with brown rice and topped with parmesan. And especially in soup.

My favorite soups are liquid and vegetables. Seriously, combine liquid, vegetables, salt and pepper and serve it with bread and you have a healthy and fast dinner.  For example:

about 3 cloves garlic
1 can of white beans
about 1/4 onion
about 10 leaves of chard
broth (I'd recommend vegetable or chicken)
salt
pepper
thyme
olive oil 

Sautee garlic, chard and onion in olive oil with spices. Add beans. Add broth. Cook until soup is hot and vegetables are cooked through. Serve topped with a sprinkle of parmesan and a side of toasted and buttered bread.

*Disclaimer: the soup pictured above is cold. I was going to retake the photo when I reheated it for dinner. But that didn't happen and we ate it all. Heated, the broth is more clear and photogenic.

Sweet Rye Bread with Cranberries

I shared the recipe I use for rye bread with my mom who tweaked it into a sweet rye bread. Then I took her sweet rye bread recipe and tweaked it for more rise. And then I made loaves as house warming presents for my three sweet new neighbors. I wrapped them in paper with a welcome note and my contact information and tied it up with twine. Adorable.

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cupe applesauce
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup rye flour
5 1/2 cups white flour 
5 oz of dried cranberries

Mix yeast and liquid ingredients. Add sugar, flour and salt. Add cranberries. Cover and let rise for 2 hours. Dust with flour and divide into 4 loaves. Shape each grapefruit sized portion into a ball and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Let rise for another hour. Bake in oven with a ramekin of water at 450 degrees for 30 minutes. Use a stick of butter and coat the loaf when you pull it from the oven. Let cool on a wire rack. And for goodness sake, dive right into a fresh warm loaf. I can never wait until it's completely cool.