Thursday, June 16, 2011

"In Other News": aka. Our life outside of food......


Hello Everyone! While Mommy is busy in the kitchen, Lilyana and I thought that it would be good to let you know what is going on during those few times we are not eating the marvelous meals prepared by our live-in gourmet chef. Life proceeds at its normal breakneck pace, and this will give you a glimpse as it goes wooshing by..... (Great word, "wooshing", you can almost feel the wind rushing through your hair when you say it, "wooshing". Go ahead, try it, you know you want to, and there isn't anyone nearby to hear you. Unless you are reading this while at work, and then it would be wise to limit "wooshing" in such environments. Maybe a whisper "woosh", just to tide you over until later!)  

The bright eyed baby continues to grow!
Big event of last week was a WEDDING! Long time family friend was tying the knot, and that meant helping out in the kitchen. Everyone likes the kitchen crew, and we like to be liked. Plus, you get to munch the entire time, and don't have to wait for the photos to be done, and the wedding party to arrive! Tiffany and I are very fond of costume dramas, and often discuss being more "Upstairs" or "Downstairs" type of people. In this case, we were fully "Downstairs"......

Pops holds the baby so Mom and Dad can work. You can tell he is put out by this fact. 

Don't do it Anton! Think how long it would take to work all of that off! P-90X wouldn't cut it.....
Since I am writing this post, and not Tiff, I can brag on my wife a bit. The bride requested that instead of a wedding cake, she would like to have pies instead. So, with my wife at the helm, and my parents and siblings to serve as the capable crew, 32 apple and apple-berry pies were made the day before the wedding, enough for 250 guests. They were a hit, if you had any doubts!

Beautiful and delicious. Take that you $2000 wedding cakes!

After the wedding we were exhausted! Eighteen hours in the kitchen, over two days will do that to you! So, we decided to flop back, the baby grabbed her silver rattle, and we relaxed on a Sunday afternoon!

No more pie!
 
That doesn't mean I can't munch on something else.....
Brothers Matthew and Nic recently returned from the Bahamas, where they were vacationing with the great G-ma! They brought gifts, and so I present to you....... Jamaica Lilyana!

Hey, mon!

Chilling with the pineapples. They show great hospitality.....

Speaking of fruit. What do you get when you cross 5 pounds of American strawberries with 2 quarts of Russian vodka? Strawberry cordial! Now we just have to be patient for the several months it takes to age.

"Money, like vodka, turns a person into an eccentric." ~  Anton Chekov (It turns strawberries eccentric too!) 

Mommy is showing her patriotic side again, dressing up the baby in flag swimsuits to go run through the sprinklers.

Trying to get any metal casting done has been tough. What with a wife to feed and a baby to clothe, there is hardly time for anything else! I am worked to the bone! **grin** Well, even so, I finally got around to using one of the Christmas presents my wife got me, and tried my hand at sand casting. For the first few hours, I learned how not to sand cast. Thanks to some web searching, and a bit of help from the experts on YouTube, I finally got my first casting poured!

An odd assortment of things on the table.....

Resting between failures. The ladies in my life are good at cheering me up.

Ready to melt some metal! Yes, my wife is an angel, and let me work in the kitchen, and use her good oven mitts.

A button, and a pendant. Oh yeah!

Enough metal work, this is also the time of year for planting. Yes, a liiiiiittle bit late, but there was this baby who came along, and she kind of messed with our whole schedule. So, we are just now getting to these things.

Tomatoes in the foreground and a sweet little peach in the background......

Practicing CPR on the kirvish (bunny, for you non-Assyrian readers).....

That is the "wooshing" for this week. Come back on Monday to hear all about our next set of fabulous meals, and every couple of Thursdays we will give you more "In Other News" segments! Say bye, Lilyana......

"Are they gone yet, daddy?"

9 comments:

Deanna Rabe - Creekside Cottage Blog said...

You are really good friends to provide all those pies and to do kitchen work!

Your little one is darling and is growing fast! She has great eyes!

Enjoy her -

Deanna

Stacy McDonald said...

Oh my - so adorable! We can NOT wait for her to get here (oh, and everyone else too)! I bet she smells scrumptious!

Oh, and Ben, we have your birthday present, but we'll just let Tiff take it home with her when she cometh.

Love y'all!!!

The Girl with the Red Lenses said...

So fun! Miss you guys! I hope to meet your little girl soon. :)

kymk99 said...

The pies were incredible! (I would love the recipe!) Thanks for letting me hold little Lilyanna, she sure is precious!
Mrs. Reynolds :o)

Amanda Read said...

Lilyana is so cute! What a precious little girl; such pretty eyes.

Anthony said...

Bright eyed baby not only continues to grow, but is getting more beautiful than ever!

LOL. Ben I really could have eaten all of that bread.:) I was so hungry and the smell of the chicken did not help. You are right though, P90X would not have helped.:) It was a blast helping in the kitchen, and I cannot wait to do it again. Thanks for sharing a bit of your life. Love to you and all that is yours.

Anton, Esq. to be

JB said...

It's fun to see your view of the week. We, too, were exhausted, but pleased with the outcome of the kitchen fare. (Well done McD family for raising such a capable, artistic daughter!)

Lilyana just keeps getting cuter!

Ben, the casting looks good. I like seeing your artistic side appear. I knew it was there.

Love all three of you, Mumsie

Lindsey said...

Ahhh, yes...first-borns are usually the cutest, aren't they. Lilyana, you represent us well!

Poor fourth and fifth-borns. Somehow we never end up with as many photos of them.

Simply Tiffany said...

Deanna,

We love being in the kitchen...it's where the magic happens! *grin* Oh, we are SO enjoying our baby...and you're right, it goes by way too fast... *sigh* Two months already....

Mom,

I can't wait to see y'all again! And I'm just dying to let Lilyana share her expressions and noises! She has that delightful baby smell about her...I love that smell. :) Love you!

Becca,

You comin' down anytime soon? *grin*

Mrs. Reynolds,

I'm glad you liked them! They were really fun to make...though my hands were sooo sore after rolling all of that dough out! The recipe is yours when we see you again! And you're welcome...glad to share my little bundle of joy! :)

Amanda,

Thanks...her eyes are STILL blue! Here's to hoping that they stay blue... :)

Anton,

You have to agree that the bread was much better grilled... :) It was fun to be in the kitchen, but a good break before the next big event will be nice. Pretty baby is sleeping...which means I should go finish dinner. :)

Mumsie,

Ben is very artistic...and I love it when he gets his "toys" and and makes things...it's what he really loves to do. But you knew that! :)

The kitchen crew was fun...and I couldn't have done those pies alone! Thanks for all your help! Love ya!

Linds,

*laughing* No, I think that third-borns are... *grin* But my firstborn is awfully cute...and so it my other one. *grin*

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