Yes, I'm Still Alive

Yikes it’s been a long time since I last posted. I can’t really tell you why - some days I’ve been too busy with other projects and other days it’s just pure laziness.

At any rate, my social worker’s suggestion of a Shutterfly book was a stroke of genius. I have been a bit too obsessive about it, but so far, I’m pleased with the results. It is much more polished than it ever could have been if I took the scrapbook approach. The only downside is that it doesn’t allow a lot of space for text so I have to find a way to say a lot with just a little. In a way, this is good because I don’t want to overwhelm the people who will be reading it. On the other hand, it’s difficult to describe our relationship, our personalities, and why we’ll make kickin’ parents in just a few paragraphs. I’ve probably rewritten the text 50 times already and it’s still not exactly how I want it. I can’t express how intimidating it is to create a way to say “I’m sorry you feel you are unable to raise your child, but if you are going to have someone else raise him or her, please let it be us” in just a few paragraphs.

Another benefit of using Shutterfly is that I learned how to use my scanner and finally scanned my wedding pictures. After 6 years of marriage, I am finally ready to create a wedding album. Yes, I take procrastination to a new level.

New recipes since I last posted: I made a cous cous with pine nuts from the Barefoot Contessa At Home cookbook. It was easy to make, tasted great, and comprised mostly of ingredients I usually have on hand. It’ll definitely be a side dish I make over and over. I also made Sweet-and-Sour slaw from the Cook’s Illustrated The Best Recipes Cookbook. It was fine but not exciting enough to be worth remaking. I also made Boston Baked Beans from The New Basics Cookbook. These had excellent flavor and I’ll definitely make them again. The only issue was that bean dishes that use dried beans are my nemesis, if recipes can be your nemesis (or whatever the plural of nemesis is). Typically, the beans wind up either incredibly undercooked or overcooked mush. This was my best attempt yet but the beans were still a bit undercooked. Mark my words, though, I will conquer this cooking technique.