We Did Not Put Her In the Pose

Isn't that just too cute? Just relaxing in the tub during bath time...

Cinco de Mayo: Our First Guacamole

Yay! Our avacado tree is finally producing! We've had two avocados so far, that we've eaten in salads and on toast. We've also given two away. And then today, in honor of Cinco de Mayo, I made guacamole with an avocado that fell to the ground a few days ago and we ate it with our super nachos.

I am pleased to report that our avocados are green and lush and buttery. Let me know if you want any! Today, we lay on the grass in our backyard and spotted probably 100 more avocados. Ian got out the super long plucker device and cut down six of the biggest (most of the ones we counted were small). I'm conducting a trial now, to see what ripens them faster/better - I put three in a brown paper bag and left three on the counter. Stay tuned for the riveting details!

A Food Post (Shocking, I Know)

As I was titling this post, I realized how very many of my posts are about food. But what can I say? I like cooking and I like eating!

I recently bought a ton of pecans for the cake I made for Ian's grandparents anniversary and you know how I like to use up things before they go to waste. So, I began searching for recipes with pecans. Naturally, I added pecans to my weekly batch of granola, but I after two weeks of that I still had lots left.

Then I remembered a Cooking Light recipe I had cut out a few months ago called Pecan Crusted Trout. As is my usual way, I subbed the trout for tilapia, because that's what I had. But it still turned out great! I also tried my hand at creamed spinach with mushrooms and shallots - also very delicious. Here's a photo of the final product (that's my standard cous-cous with parsley, cranberries, lemon juice and almonds). Very yummy!

Date at the Melting Pot

Several weeks ago, Ian and I took Ruthie to Brea so my parents could watch her while we had a date night. It was a date day, actually. =) In the early afternoon, we went to see Hunger Games at the movie theaters on Birch Street. We went back to their house where I nursed Ruthie and then we headed out again to find a restaurant. We were originally thinking of something low key (and cheap) but then we stumbled upon the Melting Pot and were hooked. We had a little bit of my Christmas bonus left (which I think we blew through on the first course) but boy did we have a good time. If you haven't been to the Melting Pot, you should for sure check it out!

For the first course, we had cheddar cheese with beer and chives melted in, with fresh veggies, fruit and bread. Yum!

Then we had salads, which I didn't take a picture of. But you all know what salads look like. =)

Our main dish was beef, pork, chicken, mushroom dumplings and shrimp. They serve it to you raw with a boiling mixture of broth and wine in your melting pot and you skewer each piece one by one. It's so much fun. One of our favorite things is slow dinners and this is the epitome of a slow dinner - you have to wait for each bite to cook! But so delicious.

Naturally, for our fourth course, we had chocolate fondue. Sadly, I was so excited about the marshmallows, strawberries, vanilla wafers and other goodies that I didn't take a picture of it. But trust me, it was super good.

I tell you, there is not much better than free babysitting and a great time out with my husband!

Book Musings: Finding Calcutta

I'm reading Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Meaningful Work and Service. It is very interesting, written by a professor in her mid forties, about the semester she spent in India. In this books, she frequently address criticisms and accusations against Mother Teresa. When I first read her quoting from Mother's Teresa's biggest critic, a man by the name of Christopher Hitchens, I was shocked. Seriously, you feel the need to criticize Mother Teresa? And then I was just saddened. It seems like the perfect example of the brokenness in our world, that someone would think they were somehow doing something noble in criticizing a woman who dedicated her life to serving the poor.

Another one of her critics, Germaine Greer, called her the "glamour girl of poverty" and said that the Missionaries did nothing to cure poverty in the world, rather just help individual people. Not to get all "starfish on the sand" on you but how can you attack someone for helping people? It makes me want to yell at them, "And what have you done to help anyone?" I suppose Mother Teresa's wouldn't really approve of that attitude...

I was telling Ian that I wanted to get the book by Hitchens, titled The Missionary Position (which I find very offensive), but he cautioned me that it would probably only make me angry. I'm sure that's true. But in church today, when one of the leaders in our church was praying for our congregation, he confessed on behalf of us all that some of us are too angry, and some of us are not angry enough. Perhaps I should be stirred more to the injustices of this world...

A Trip to Disneyland with Grandma

For the first time ever, just my mom and I went to Disneyland (with Ruthie, of course). Lots of times, my parents join me and Ian, or if we're going mid-week, one or both of my sisters come along, but this time, it was just me and Nellie. Both Mary and Sarah's passes are expired (temporarily, they assure us), but we aren't letting that stop our fun. =)

We went on two rides and then had a lovely lunch at the French Market. We also did a little window shopping. We went into the Mad Hatter Shop and had lots of fun trying on various hats. Here is me and Ruthie in a our fancy Minnie headbands:

And here is Grandma and little Ruth Nellie on the tram on the way back. Grandma was very worried she was cold (as you can tell by my mom's hair, the tram really does blow your hair back - literally and figuratively!), hence the Mary, Mother of Jesus, look. 

Man, are we so blessed or what? How many people can spend their Monday morning at the happiest place on Earth? 

This past weekend, we hosted the McCurry and Driskill families in celebration of Grandfather Driskill's 5th wedding anniversary to his wife, Dena. Ian's grandmother died about 6 years ago and his grandfather married again, to a woman who takes great care of him.

Ruthie has met her great grandfather before, when we went over to their house in Baldwin Park, but it was a special treat to have them in our home. And of course, when you are 91, you never know how many more visits you're going to get, so we took a lot of pictures to commemorate. (Sorry, didn't mean for that to sound so morbid...)

Here is Ian, with his Grandfather (my mother in law's dad), and Ruthie, who enjoyed grabbing her Great Grandfather's face.

Ruthie actually has three great grandparents. Isn't that amazing? She hasn't met the other two, my father in law's parents, as they live in Colorado. But hopefully someday soon!

Since we had everyone over, we also decided to get a picture of all the McCurry grandchildren.

Quite a contrast from the 14 on my side, huh? That's Rowan and Finnley, Ian's sister's kids, with Ruthie. Finnley is only 7 weeks old, so she's still working on sitting up. =) Doesn't Ruthie look so dark compared to them? I think of her as pretty fair, but she's got nothing on them!