I've been trying to fill up the days I've been waiting for baby to come. Today is now six days past my due date and it seems that each day I get a bit more anxious and ready for the birth. A little more irritable and antsy, having a difficult time sitting still for too long. Last week I didn't feel completely ready and now as we near our first week past due, the readiness is definitely setting in.
It seems that my "nesting instinct" is manifesting itself in the form of cooking and baking, much to my husband's enjoyment. He's been on the hunt for the perfect pizza and up to this point we've yet to find anything nearing perfect here in Dallas. So, he suggested I try to find a recipe for Giordino's (famous Chicago pizza joint) pizza crust and try my hand at making it at home. Yesterday I did just that and it turned out surprisingly good. It was a much thinner crust than the original, but had a flaky, almost biscuit-like quality. I made his 3/4 with ground beef and cheese and my 1/4 with fresh mushrooms, spinach, pineapple. It turned out to be a big hit. While the dough was rising I also made a homemade chocolate cake with his grandma's famous Italian icing - a special icing recipe I'll include in his next post. If this baby takes much longer, we'll have to open a bake shop to get rid of all the extra food I've been making.
I'm trying to continue to be patient as I wait for this little one to come into our lives. It's not the easiest thing I've done and definitely testing my faith more than I've been tested in some time now. Growing faith is a difficult thing. (Mat 8: 23-27)
Friday, October 30, 2009
The Way to a Man's Heart is through His Stomach #1: Homemade Pizza and Chocolate Cake
Pete: Being from the East Coast I'd call myself a Pizza Aficionado. I know what I like and what I don't like. I'm pretty simple in my toppings and since being married have tried more toppings. Trying to find a good homemade pizza recipe is tough. All the ones I've ever had just left me wanting more out of the experience. Many K's (Strike Outs).Last night I finally had a homemade pizza I'm willing to score it at least as a 3B (Triple) if not a solid HR (Home Run). I'll have to let Victoria fill you on the rest of the recipe details, but having been up since 3am yesterday when I arrived home to a pizza straight out of the oven I was wondering how it might go. Would it be another K (Strike Out)? I was blown away when by the end of the pizza eating experience I had a heart swelling for my wife like a long lost coin, sheep, or son had been found (cf. Luke 15). It is definitely rare for me to be emotional from a meal. I was energized and felt amazingly refreshed as the need for rest was met by dinner instead of a pillow.
7/12ths of the pizza was topped with ground beef and 5/12ths of the pie was topped with what Victoria wanted (Victoria: spinach, mushrooms, pineapple). I slept the best in a long time after eating 6 slices with the ground beef topping. No joke. It was so good. I only hope to have multiple boys in their teen years chowing a whole pizza per boy in the household one day. They will be fed well.
The pizza crust was similar to the Giordano's Pizza crust I've had in Chicago. A bit on the stiff flaky side instead of the NY Style flimsy side. The sauce and cheese and ground beef toppings reminded me of my favorite pizza place in Baltimore, MD: Pizza John's. That means it is good.
Not to be out done by the pizza alone my wife baked a homemade chocolate cake and made my grandma's homemade Italian Icing. mmmm mmmm good. Another 3b or HR. I am very picky about my icing on cakes and this is the best cake icing along side the icing used on Carvel Ice Cream Cakes but a half step below the Kahlúa Mousse icing on my groom's ice cream cake (Grand Slam) from our wedding. Normally I avoid cakes like the plague because the icing is usually a cake killer. The Italian Icing, however, is a cake saver. I remember eating dried out chocolate cakes in my youth, but they had this icing and it was worth delving into. That's right, it's a cake saver. It is subtly sweet like a good vanilla bean ice cream (not like Blue Bell Ice Cream which is too sweet and not so subtle).
Paired with the icing was a homemade chocolate cake. It was not a store bought box it was made from real cocoa.
Overall dinner score was a 2 Run HR. Very surprised to come home to a 2 Run HR and I'm not even over rating this meal one iota.
Victoria: If you're interested in the pizza crust recipe, someone found a pretty good imitation of the Giordano's recipe. The one I used is the first post listed on that link.
For the icing, here's the recipe:
1 C Milk and 5 Tbls flour - wisk together in a small sauce pan continually over medium-low heat until it becomes thick and pasty. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Cream together 1 C sugar, 1 Stick butter, and 1 tsp vanilla with beater. Add the cooled off milk mixture to the butter mixture and whip until fluffy. Result: Perfect vanilla icing!
Pete: Dishes... thought you might like to know I do the dishes and the homemade pizza and chocolate cake with Italian icing made only one dishwasher load. So, men, don't be afraid of this 2 Run HR meal.
The Way to a Man's Heart is through His Stomach (Intro)
Pete: Opening the first in a new series of random posts titled "The Way to a Man's Heart is through His Stomach" deserves some explanation. I've often heard my mom quote this line in the context of women winning over the hearts of men. There is definitely some merit to it. The following posts in this series will be in regards to dishes Victoria has hit a Home Run on in our kitchen, or some other notable chef's work at the restaurants we visit.
Before Victoria and I were engaged I believe I only tasted two meals of hers. Spring Rolls on a date and Homemade Chicken and Noodles Soup with Dumplings when I was sick. I knew not in the slightest the greatness of her talent as a chef. She does an amazing job of cooking fine meals for us and others who we've had over. Her cooking has been a factor in binding my heart to hers. I am so grateful for her kind acts of service in this regard. She is so faithful too. It is always a joy to see her do something creative each evening and watch her enjoy the process of planning and executing the product of her efforts with enthusiasm.
Smiths enjoy a good meal. One of the wisest men ever to live considered life and in the midst of some sobering instruction about workaholism (cf. Eccl 2:18-23) he wrote:
May the following entries in the series "The Way to a Man's Heart is through His Stomach" be gifts to you too.
Our preliminary food rating rating system will be as follows:
Grand Slam: Not to be confused with the Denny's menu option, this is reserved for the best item(s) we've ever eaten. This is an exclusive club of dishes. Much better than a Home Run (HR) it cannot be topped. Everything was in the right place at the right time. The bases were loaded and everyone scores on one swing of the bat. Home Plate sees the most action ever in one play and its like there's a party in your mouth and everyone is invited!
HR (Home Run): As in baseball a Home Run will be reserved for dishes of great merit. There are also 2 Run HRs and 3 Run HRs where the dishes did better than the regular HR but not in the exclusive range of the Grand Slam.
3B (Triple): Pretty darned good eating! Definitely a good place to score from.
2B (Double): Also in scoring position but more work is needing to be done before reaching Home Plate.
1B (Single): These dishes are like solid hits. Sometimes they just beat out the throw to first base, but it is far from scoring still.
BB (Walk/Base on Balls): These dishes get a free pass to first base for some reason or another. Maybe it fouled off too many pitches and the pitcher just got tired of throwing any type of criticism at it and couldn't strike it out. Or it just gets walked intentionally for a free base.
K (Strike Out): This is the most embarrassing thing in baseball. Especially if you strike out looking. It is better to strike out swinging than to look at a called third strike and not do anything about it. This is reserved for huge disappointments and is therefore a warning to all to avoid at all costs lest you too be embarrassed.
Double Play: This dish is worse than a K (Strike Out) because it makes two outs not just one.
Triple Play: If you've eaten dirt this dish is worse than that. It is probably poisonous too. It kills a whole inning and therefore any chance of scoring is eliminated in one swing. It probably makes you wish you had not even been born. Yeah it's bad. Unbelievably bad.
Before Victoria and I were engaged I believe I only tasted two meals of hers. Spring Rolls on a date and Homemade Chicken and Noodles Soup with Dumplings when I was sick. I knew not in the slightest the greatness of her talent as a chef. She does an amazing job of cooking fine meals for us and others who we've had over. Her cooking has been a factor in binding my heart to hers. I am so grateful for her kind acts of service in this regard. She is so faithful too. It is always a joy to see her do something creative each evening and watch her enjoy the process of planning and executing the product of her efforts with enthusiasm.
Smiths enjoy a good meal. One of the wisest men ever to live considered life and in the midst of some sobering instruction about workaholism (cf. Eccl 2:18-23) he wrote:
There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God. For no one can eat and drink or experience joy apart from him. For to the one who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing wealth – only to give it to the one who pleases God. This task of the wicked is futile – like chasing the wind! (Eccl 2:24-26; NET)Perhaps "The Way to a Man's Heart is through His Stomach" should be read in this context too. It is a gift from God in the midst of life that can seem utterly empty at times. I'm so very thankful to the Lord each and every night I pray at the dinner table. God is most satisfied in us when we are most satisfied in him, not merely in the gift he's given.
May the following entries in the series "The Way to a Man's Heart is through His Stomach" be gifts to you too.
Our preliminary food rating rating system will be as follows:
Grand Slam: Not to be confused with the Denny's menu option, this is reserved for the best item(s) we've ever eaten. This is an exclusive club of dishes. Much better than a Home Run (HR) it cannot be topped. Everything was in the right place at the right time. The bases were loaded and everyone scores on one swing of the bat. Home Plate sees the most action ever in one play and its like there's a party in your mouth and everyone is invited!
HR (Home Run): As in baseball a Home Run will be reserved for dishes of great merit. There are also 2 Run HRs and 3 Run HRs where the dishes did better than the regular HR but not in the exclusive range of the Grand Slam.
3B (Triple): Pretty darned good eating! Definitely a good place to score from.
2B (Double): Also in scoring position but more work is needing to be done before reaching Home Plate.
1B (Single): These dishes are like solid hits. Sometimes they just beat out the throw to first base, but it is far from scoring still.
BB (Walk/Base on Balls): These dishes get a free pass to first base for some reason or another. Maybe it fouled off too many pitches and the pitcher just got tired of throwing any type of criticism at it and couldn't strike it out. Or it just gets walked intentionally for a free base.
K (Strike Out): This is the most embarrassing thing in baseball. Especially if you strike out looking. It is better to strike out swinging than to look at a called third strike and not do anything about it. This is reserved for huge disappointments and is therefore a warning to all to avoid at all costs lest you too be embarrassed.
Double Play: This dish is worse than a K (Strike Out) because it makes two outs not just one.
Triple Play: If you've eaten dirt this dish is worse than that. It is probably poisonous too. It kills a whole inning and therefore any chance of scoring is eliminated in one swing. It probably makes you wish you had not even been born. Yeah it's bad. Unbelievably bad.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
October 24th Ministry Group Picnic
Late afternoon/early evening we had our Acts 2:42 Ministry Group Picnic at Bob Woodruff Park in Plano, TX. Tossed a Frisbee, saw the sun set, and made peace among the sand throwers.
The sand volleyball park where the assaults occurred.
Two of the three blokes I threw a Frisbee with. Also two of the poker buds of Monday nights. Lenny (to the left) has played in the Ultimate Frisbee World Championship in Hawaii and been donned on the cover of a prominent Ultimate Frisbee magazine fully stretched out in a dive for a Frisbee in flight. Check out any of his sermons over at Bible.org as well. Jachin (to the right) is just being silly.
Caught Stump, a former Dallas Police Officer in an intriguing pose. He's kind of tall.
A favored children's spot. It actually played second fiddle to the sand volley ball court. Don't ask me why. I think kids like to use their imagination more in building sand castles than playing on a jungle gym. This one looks too safe for my tastes too. They just don't make 'em like they used to.
Cliff returning from the "lake" exploration. "The fountain is totally unnatural" he uttered. "Lewis and Clark would have been so disappointed." Despite the meager accolades the consensus has us returning to Bob Woodruff Park and retiring the use of Arbor Hills Nature Preserve.
Ladies enjoying each other's company.
The sand volleyball park where the assaults occurred.
Two of the three blokes I threw a Frisbee with. Also two of the poker buds of Monday nights. Lenny (to the left) has played in the Ultimate Frisbee World Championship in Hawaii and been donned on the cover of a prominent Ultimate Frisbee magazine fully stretched out in a dive for a Frisbee in flight. Check out any of his sermons over at Bible.org as well. Jachin (to the right) is just being silly.
Caught Stump, a former Dallas Police Officer in an intriguing pose. He's kind of tall.
A favored children's spot. It actually played second fiddle to the sand volley ball court. Don't ask me why. I think kids like to use their imagination more in building sand castles than playing on a jungle gym. This one looks too safe for my tastes too. They just don't make 'em like they used to.
Cliff returning from the "lake" exploration. "The fountain is totally unnatural" he uttered. "Lewis and Clark would have been so disappointed." Despite the meager accolades the consensus has us returning to Bob Woodruff Park and retiring the use of Arbor Hills Nature Preserve.
Ladies enjoying each other's company.
Due Date
Well, today marks "the date" the calendars say I'm due. It's now 7:40pm and nearing the day's end and no signs that baby wants to make its grand entrance today. And, I'm really okay with it. I feel more patient about this than I have about most things in life and I take it for the blessing it is. Ask me again this time next week if baby still hasn't come and it may be a different story, but for now I'm happy to wait. I must say though that I am getting more excited and feeling more ready for the day very soon that we get to meet our little one. Part of me feels like it will never happen, but then I realize that it is the inevitable and will indeed happen very soon.
We were at the grocery store tonight, Peter and I, and it was the second time he made me cry at Kroger. Yes, I will explain....The first time was one day when he surprised me and met me there after work to help me grocery shop and told me the results of his allergy test earlier that day. As it turned out he was allergic to everything under the sun, including dogs. I knew we'd never be able to have cats because of how allergic he is to them, but I was always banking on the fact that one day in the future we'd be able to have a dog. I adore animals and really couldn't imagine my life without them. It turned out he tested positive for an allergy to dogs. He told me in the Kroger parking lot and I just started bawling right there. I bet people around us were wondering what on earth he had said to make his wife cry like that, and would have never guessed it was, "Honey, I'm so sorry, but I'm allergic to dogs too." It turns out it's not as bad as his cat or mold or dust allergies, and that if we were to keep the house real clean he'd be fine with a dog someday, but at that point I didn't know this. So, today, as I was waiting for the deli lady to finish my lunch meat order and Peter was coming back from getting the carrots and celery, he held in his hand a miniature birthday cake....for our baby. It was the sweetest, most loving gesture, and it immediately put tears in my eyes, as it is doing again at this very moment that I write about it. We're going to have a baby, very soon. Somehow that little birthday cake made it more real to me than it has felt up to this point.
I am so grateful for my husband, who helps with laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, late night freak out I could be in labor moments, gives me countless foot rubs, back rubs, now takes off and helps put on my socks and shoes, and still thinks to love me and the baby in such a sweet way as picking out a little birthday cake for the day that will come very soon. Soon we will be three.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tool of the Month Club #1
My former roommate Jim (over at Postcards) taught me about the Tool of the Month Club. If you find a tool like this Allen wrench I scored in the parking lot then you are obligated to pick it up and add it to your collection of tools. Warning: if you don't your out of the Club. This usually involves an adventure if such an item is spotted in the middle of a busy intersection. This warning is also useful to quote when your wife is discouraging/prohibiting such retrievals. Good luck! And remember, "Don't Get Eliminated!"
Saturday, October 17, 2009
"Jumbo" Hot Dogs and Butterflies
Made it to the Butterfly Festival in historic downtown Grapevine, TX this late morning/early afternoon. Certainly a good day for a walk in the sunshine and cool breeze. Not something that has happened much in north Texas of late. We've had a ton of rain this year.
Our adventure was a good one. Saw plenty of cool art, including glassware and kaleidoscopes. The Butterfly Festival had a number of sightly butterflies from all over the world. A few were much larger than birds. Amazing sights. Many children, adults, and dogs were sporting butterfly wings. I wonder where you get those? There was a box of monarch butterflies in a box ready to be released to continue their trek to Mexico. I was looking for the birds that were going to swoop in and feast on them but none were in sight.
While there I also saw a fellow Baltimore Orioles fan. He was at the front of the face painting line and decided not to greet him and treat him to a beverage.
Speaking of beverages my wife spotted the "Steak on a Stake" booth where they sold drinks and "Jumbo" hot dogs and funnel cakes. I say "jumbo" because that's what they called the regular sized hot dog. A Jumbo hot dog and water cost $5. They probably made $4.50 in profit off the purchase. Victoria was hungry. This is rated as a K (Strike Out)
It was really put into perspective when we stopped by our local Burger Bueno and order 2 huge gyros... and free cold water for $10.72. The Burger Bueno gyros gets a 2B (Double). Definitely got gypped at the Steak on a Stake stand in Grapevine. Just like the State Gyp... I mean State Fair of Texas. Which reminds me that I am rooting for OU and my wife is rooting for UT in a tie game in the 3rd quarter of the Red River Shoot Out at the State Fair of Texas Cotton Bowl as I write... UT just pulled ahead with a TD. Good Pacific Life commercial with cheery music montage and whale activity!
So that was today's Adventure in Smithland. Sorry we forgot the camera. We had a few cool shots to take of the art and a dude in stilts walking around like he was the straw man in The Wizard of Oz and that "Jumbo" hot dog and butterflies.
P.S. My dad has photos of butterflies for sale I believe. Framed nicely and such. I can get you his contact info if interested. He sells his photography at some local shows in Maryland.
Our adventure was a good one. Saw plenty of cool art, including glassware and kaleidoscopes. The Butterfly Festival had a number of sightly butterflies from all over the world. A few were much larger than birds. Amazing sights. Many children, adults, and dogs were sporting butterfly wings. I wonder where you get those? There was a box of monarch butterflies in a box ready to be released to continue their trek to Mexico. I was looking for the birds that were going to swoop in and feast on them but none were in sight.
While there I also saw a fellow Baltimore Orioles fan. He was at the front of the face painting line and decided not to greet him and treat him to a beverage.
Speaking of beverages my wife spotted the "Steak on a Stake" booth where they sold drinks and "Jumbo" hot dogs and funnel cakes. I say "jumbo" because that's what they called the regular sized hot dog. A Jumbo hot dog and water cost $5. They probably made $4.50 in profit off the purchase. Victoria was hungry. This is rated as a K (Strike Out)
It was really put into perspective when we stopped by our local Burger Bueno and order 2 huge gyros... and free cold water for $10.72. The Burger Bueno gyros gets a 2B (Double). Definitely got gypped at the Steak on a Stake stand in Grapevine. Just like the State Gyp... I mean State Fair of Texas. Which reminds me that I am rooting for OU and my wife is rooting for UT in a tie game in the 3rd quarter of the Red River Shoot Out at the State Fair of Texas Cotton Bowl as I write... UT just pulled ahead with a TD. Good Pacific Life commercial with cheery music montage and whale activity!
So that was today's Adventure in Smithland. Sorry we forgot the camera. We had a few cool shots to take of the art and a dude in stilts walking around like he was the straw man in The Wizard of Oz and that "Jumbo" hot dog and butterflies.
P.S. My dad has photos of butterflies for sale I believe. Framed nicely and such. I can get you his contact info if interested. He sells his photography at some local shows in Maryland.
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