Christmas in June

I recently received a package from my sister-in-law. The box was so battered, it felt almost like a stuffed animal. Inside, though, was the best thing a pregnant lady could ask for: hand me downs! The box was stuffed to the gills with baby clothes.

I feel so much more prepared now. At the very least, the baby will have clothes. Now I just need a crib, some diapers...

Speaking of the baby (what else do I do these days?), she's recently learned how to hit both sides of my uterus at once. So now I get hit simultaneously on opposite sides of my stomach. She's also figured out how to turn around in there, which means I get kicked on the opposite side from normal, something I find quite disconcerting.

I think my hopes of a sedate little child like R have now gone out the window. This one is probably going to need a leash.

Working through the backlog

Of late, R and I have been trying to get things done. I think it is the looming presence of our impending loss of free time, but all of the sudden we've been very productive. He's been finishing up games he hadn't finished, we've finally got some pictures on the wall, and I've been doing my best to go through my collection of saved recipes. A couple of nights ago we decided to have pot stickers for dinner, so I decided to look for an appropriately flavored side, eventually settling on superlative sesame noodles.

"What are you making?"
"Sesame noodles."
"So, what do they actually taste like? They always call them something completely different from the predominant flavor."
"I think these might actually taste like sesame. Crazy number of sesame products in there."

Indeed, the noodles did taste of sesame. They were also pleasantly spicy, though I think I might have put in a slight bit more hot chili oil than was strictly required. In any case, they were good unadorned as a side (well, I had a little cucumber on mine), and I imagine they would also make a fine main dish. Definitely glad I kept this recipe around.

In other news, friends of mine from my college band had a baby yesterday. Given that I learned about a couple more on the way when they announced the birth, that will bring it up to six babies from band alumni this year. Apparently it was time to start breeding.

Making myself look stereotypical

I've been eating a lot of pickles lately, but it is not because I'm a crazy pregnant lady. No, I'm placing the blame squarely on the blogosphere for this one. All the fresh vegetables of spring seem to turn food bloggers minds (and stomachs) toward briney vegetables. It's either that or the fact that I've started reading the blogs of Deb and David Lebovitz, two seriously pickle-crazy people. In any case, I've been driving R crazy lately by making the house stink of vinegar, but the results have been seriously delicious.

I suppose I can foist some of the blame on Deb, seeing as two of the three recipes I've made have come from her blog. I've made pickled carrot sticks twice now, once with white wine vinegar and once with cider vinegar. I think I like them a little bit better with the white vinegar, but they're really tasty either way. Since you don't cook the carrots, they retain a nice crunch. (Actually, now that I think of it, none of the recipes call for cooking the vegetables, so they're all crunchy and delicious.) I picked up some peas while at the store yesterday so that I would be able to make picked sugar snap peas, and they certainly have not disappointed. As suggested, they're definitely ready to be eaten after only a day of soaking in brine.

I did get to take advantage of the whole "pregnant women eat crazy food" mythos when I brought a container of quick pickled radishes to work. While delicious, I didn't realized quite how pungent they were, and so for a half hour after I ate the radishes I got to hear anyone who walked by wonder what the horrible smell was. Apparently the combination of ginger and vinegar reminds some people of decomposition, so, while I was excused from blame due to my pregnant status (unlike the time I microwaved salmon), the boss lady still Febrezed my office.

New talents

I've discovered something both awesome and gross. When I try to puff out my belly, it no longer changed much in size, however my belly button pops out.