Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Photoshop Play

So we lounged away today (doing odds and ends like setting up trash collection services and utilities) while we wait for the keys to our house (YAY!!). Though Noah needs to help, I played around with photoshop a little--unfortunately we only have Photoshop elements, so I was somewhat limited. I wanted muted tones with just the blue of his car seat coming through. I wish the initial photo would have come out a little more clear, then it would look a little better.



I also wanted to share this picture of Isabella and Mimi. Doesn't she just love her Mimi?


While we worked on the house on Sunday, Bella played with these wooden "paper" dolls by Melissa and Doug. They were a steal at only $3 at the Family Swap Meet earlier that morning.



Here is our nice scraped ceiling in the master bedroom. No popcorn here! (Check out the view)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Our Little Flower Girl



I hope I'm not spoiling her debut at the wedding, but check out our cute little flower girl. We picked up her dress today at David's Bridal. Since we were the only ones in the store, they let her try on her dress on the bridal pedestals. She had a lot of fun playing Cinderella.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Early Milestones

I just received an email from the hospital with the milestones that Noah should be hitting in the next few months. Amazingly, he's already hit most of them. I attribute his early physical skills to sleeping on his stomach.

He first rolled over September 18th (at 6 weeks)--4-7 months milestone

First smile September 15th (5.5 weeks)--1-3 months milestone

He's been cooing for several weeks--1-5 months milestone

He's been grasping for his binky this past week--2-4 months milestone

He's just starting to turn to objects of interest but hasn't mastered this--3-5 months milestone

Monday, October 5, 2009

Pictures Soon...I Promise

If you haven't noticed, our camera has been in the shop since the beginning of last month. We're having it serviced (from an incident where Abel sat on it) and recalibrated. For about two weeks, we were using a point-and-shoot camera, but then Bella misplaced it. It'll turn up soon (I hope) but fortunately we were informed yesterday that our camera is in the process of being shipped back from the Olympus repair center. YAY!

Sushi and Sashimi Rice

When I was pregnant with Noah, I couldn't eat any sushi...and I have certainly missed it. I really love California Rolls and used to make them all the time with my friends in college, but we were recently given some fresh tuna, so we made some tuna sashimi.

Many people don't know the difference between sushi and sashimi. Sushi is bite-sized pieces of cooked or raw fish or vegetables with rice and is usually wrapped with seaweed. Sashimi is raw fish on a bed of rice served with soy and wasabi.

Now that you're a sushi and sashimi expert, I thought I would share with you a quick sushi and sashimi rice recipe. Typically sushi and sashimi rice is a very involved process which requires several rinses and multiple soaking and straining sessions...this is much easier.

3 cups short grain rice
3 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon salt

Soak the rice for 30 minutes in cold water. Strain then cook the rice in 3 1/3 cups of water. Simmer for 15 minutes. At the same time, combine the remaining ingrediants and heat until combined and the mixture turns from cloudy to clear. Once the rice is finished, put into a wooden bowl (not a metal bowl) and pour the vinegar mixture over the rice, stirring with a wooden spoon. Fan the rice while you stir to facilitate cooling and drying of the vinegar to make the rice glossy. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Tip 1: Wet your hands with the rice vinegar when forming the beds of rice or rolls for your sushi and sashimi. This will prevent the rice from sticking to your fingers.

Tip 2: Sushi rice should be stored at room temperature and covered with a moist cotton cloth. Refrigerating sushi rice will cause it to become too firm.

Tip 3: If the water is milky when you are soaking it, rinse the rice and change the water. If you fail to do this, your rice won't taste fresh.

Tip 4: Don't make the rice in accordance with the directions on the bag. Sushi rice takes less water to create a firmer texture than everyday rice.