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It’s amazing how if you add lettuce and green beans to a salad, it suddenly becomes French. Of course that only happens if the beans are haricots verts and the lettuce is frisee. Maybe that was our problem, maybe because we had to substitute the frisee lettuce for Romaine, we couldn’t achieve the requisite level of Frenchness. Because this meal was just rubbish, a poorer version of yesterday’s already dull meal, minus the sausage. We may have to go make some pasta so we don’t feel that we have been cheated out of dinner two days in a row.

I would have to argue that this isn’t really a whole new meal compared to yesterday; perhaps if the salad dressing had changed, or there had been some mayonnaise in the potato salad, French Salade Superb wouldn’t feel like such a cop-out of a recipe variation. This recipe screams of lack of inspiration on the part of the author. Oh well, at least we’re done with the potato salads, for now at least. Tomorrow we’ll be having the perfect food for a summer evening; Baby and Big Bella Mushroom and Chicken Stew. Stew, oh yes.

This afternoon we had a home inspection done on our new house. Interestingly the man of the house refused to leave because his wife is leaving him and selling the house. The inspection went really well, despite the presence of an elderly man sleeping upstairs; it was great to spend some time in there measuring up and discussing new projects. There were only a couple of minor points, but overall the house is in great condition. There is a nest of tiny brand new baby birds on the back deck and a heavily pregnant lady in the house opposite. In my hormonal state I’ll choose to believe that these are great signs for raising our little brood. After the inspection we agreed to drop the price on our place substantially, which is making us a little twitchy. The point is to make our condo such a bargain that someone simply has to buy it, immediately. Let’s hope that happens, rather than leaving us with an empty cheap condo for sale. In the grand scheme of things, it could always be worse. The price drop is less stressful than the thought of not being able to sell, I suppose. Provided someone buys the place… Anyway, in other news, it’s Baby A’s Spring Concert tomorrow. We cannot wait. My money is still on “Rain, rain, go away”, although L thinks “Old MacDonald” may be in there. We’ll let you know.

If you are a realtor and you have no news, you should be forbidden from calling your client before 9am. This should be a rule, to protect fragile hopes from becoming shattered dreams before breakfast is even fully digested. If you are pregnant with your second child, you probably shouldn’t go to the park with a friend who has both a newborn and a toddler, as apparently it is not so easy to keep them both fed, safe, entertained and in view. This should be a rule, to protect fragile hopes of being able to leave the house with two children from becoming shattered dreams before baby #2 is even fully gestated.

This evening, L and I made German Potato Salad with Kielbasa, which seemed to be a more convoluted process than necessary. While the red potatoes cooked, the bacon was supposed to be cooked in the oven. Not wanting to coat our oven in bacon fat, I decided to cover myself in the fat while pan frying the bacon instead. The red onion was softened in olive oil, and then the kale was wilted in the pan. To this was added red wine vinegar and beef stock, and the heat was turned off. The sausage was then fried in another pan, then ultimately everything was mixed together with parsley, salt and pepper and some olive oil. I didn’t really understand why you wouldn’t just dirty two pans; one for the potatoes and one for the bacon, which you would reuse to fry the vegetables and sausages together.

L quite enjoyed this meal, I thought it was so-so; it was rather bland. The one thing I really couldn’t understand was why beef stock would be added once everything was cooked. It just made the salad wet in the bottom, but didn’t help flavour wise. As the stock was not cooked with anything, it just added to the institutional taste of the meal. In fairness, it was good to have potatoes and for it to be in a fairly light supper. Overall though, I have to admit I am sitting here scowling a bit. This is one of those days when you feel cheated out of a meal that you could have really enjoyed. It’s got me thinking about how long it has been since we have had lasagna or Bolognese. Mmm. Still, I’m sure that tomorrow when we make this meal over again without the sausage, but with the inclusion of green beans and lettuce it will be a whole new ball game. In fact, I bet it would change country of origin. Look at that, it does indeed; tomorrow it is that famous dish French Salade Superb. It must be famous because a quick internet search brings me right back to this website, and nowhere else. Oh well, at least there’s ice cream.

This evening we made the third variation of shrimp and grape tomatoes with Greek-Style Garlic Shrimp and Orzo. This is just as easy as the previous two meals, and is a good change of pace and flavour. While the orzo cooked, the garlic, red onions and red pepper flakes were fried in olive oil (as per instructions, this time). The shrimp were added, followed by the tomatoes, parsley, oregano, kalamato olives and salt and pepper. The orzo was spooned into a bowl, drizzled with olive oil and covered in feta cheese crumbles; the shrimp mixture was piled on top.

L doesn’t particularly like orzo or feta, but still thought the meal was ok. We both found it to be reasonable, but definitely the weakest meal of the last three. The feta seemed excessive (2oz per person) but actually it provided a good salty backdrop to what was otherwise a little bland. The red onions worked well with the orzo and grape tomatoes, but if I made this again I would double the called for amount of red pepper flakes to spice things up a little further. I’m not sure why this meal was only reasonable and not great, maybe it’s because we are suffering a little from shrimp fatigue.

Tomorrow we will be having German Potato Salad with Kielbasa which sounds less than appealing. We will probably spend at least some of the day fretting and worrying about our imminent financial demise, should nobody buy our condo in the next few weeks. We had another showing of our place today but we haven’t heard anything about any further interest. We have to believe that things will work out this year, as the consequences are unspeakably terrifying. At least we are excited about our new place, we are happily wasting minutes of every day stalking the outside of the house which is always fun. It is situated a few minutes from our local grocery store so we are always in the area picking up things we need for this project that we didn’t manage to get at our big Super Target shop. Other than that, we are very much looking forward to Friday, when Baby A is performing a song and dance routine at daycare with her class of 13 month to 30 month olds. We are guessing from her recent singing that she may be performing “Rain, rain, go away..” but it’s difficult to tell. She also has started doing some sort of chicken dance with her hands behind her back, so maybe they are going to be ducks or something. The occasion is Grandparent’s Day. We are inviting our neighbour to come along in lieu of any extended family. We’re wondering if we can hold auditions for fake local grandparent’s for our kids.

This evening we were not outside firing up the barbecue for a Memorial Day cookout, we instead cooked Spanish-Style Garlic Shrimp and Rice. This is a variation on the meal we cooked yesterday, substituting rice for the pasta, sherry for the white wine and pimiento olives for the basil. Again it is unbelievably easy and quick, and very tasty and good. The rice is vaguely risotto-like; white onion is sautéed in olive oil, then the rice is added and lightly toasted for a couple of minutes. Chicken stock provides the liquid content, and also a good level of saltiness. The finished result is gooey and sticky and hearty.

We modified the recipe ever so slightly this evening, based on our experience yesterday. I defrosted the frozen shrimp, as usual, by running cold water over them in a colander. I then dried them in copious amounts of paper towels to avoid the wet shrimp effect. Rather than cooking the shrimp first, then adding the vegetables, I started with the garlic and scallions. I sautéed them very briefly, then added the shrimp. The tomatoes and sherry followed, with the parsley and olives added once the heat was turned off.

The overall meal is very good, and would have been even better had we been able to track down some jumbo Spanish olives stuffed with pimiento. We had to resort to the small bottled ones, but even they were good; I would say that this is the best use we have yet found for them. Tomorrow is the last meal in our shrimp, garlic and cherry tomato trilogy, Greek-Style Garlic Shrimp and Orzo. It sounds really good with its feta goodness (incidentally Baby A can now say yummo, which is something that never would have happened if we hadn’t started this project). I think I’ll miss these light Spring-like meals in the coming week, what with the potato salad and the chicken stew and the pasta bake that are headed our way. Let’s hope the weather stays a little cooler for a little longer.

This evening we made Italian-Style Garlic Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes and Thin Spaghetti which was ridiculously easy to cook. The only challenge was getting the sauce and the pasta to be ready at the same time, without overcooking either. L chopped up garlic, cherry tomatoes, scallions, parsley and basil (fresh from the garden, well the pot on our front porch), and prepared the shrimp in lemon zest and juice. For my part, I cooked the pasta, sautéed the shrimp in olive oil then added the vegetables. I added some white wine and the herbs, then drained the pasta and tossed everything together with salt and pepper. Easy.

This meal wasn’t quite as fabulous as I had hoped, but it’s light and tasty nevertheless. It tastes fresh and spring-like, but could have done with a little kick in the form of some spice. We used frozen shrimp which were a little on the wet side. We were also surprised that the garlic was added after the shrimp had essentially cooked. Had they been cooked together, perhaps the shrimp would have been a little more flavoursome. Other than that, this is a good light summer supper. We left plenty of room for ice cream.

Other than that, we don’t have much to report of interest. We just started the 8pm showing of Night at the Museum on pay-per-view but can’t pause it as planned to finish this entry and make a cup of tea. So I will go and watch it now. Tomorrow we will be having Spanish-Style Garlic Shrimp and Rice, where the Spanish style apparently comes from the addition of olives.

After the longest day in the world trying to entertain an extremely grumpy/ screaching toddler (we were warned that her surgery would have repercussions for about 10 days), L made Spanish Fish and Chorizo Stoup. We were both so tired that we could barely stay awake to eat it; Baby A is not sleeping too well at the moment and we stayed up far too late last night discussing baby names. And the slightest change in atmospheric pressure or the flow rate of liquids seemed to cause Baby A to have an immediate hysterical meltdown which sounded akin to her being tortured, which can make for a hard day.

Anyway, back to dinner; the chorizo was fried in olive oil, with garlic and chopped potato added, followed by the leek and celery. Fish stock and diced tomatoes provided the liquid content, with seasoning provided by thyme, parsley, saffron and salt and pepper. The chopped cod was coated in lemon juice, then layered on top of the soup, followed by the clams. When everything was cooked, chopped parsley was sprinkled on top, and the soup was served with crusty bread.

If any of these meals called stoups could qualify as actually being a cross between a soup and a stew, then I would grudgingly say that this could be a stoup. Alternatively it could just be a soup with a low liquid level and large chunks of fish and vegetables, and no made-up name. This is a very tasty meal, and apparently very easy to cook. We did spend about $10 on the fish, but the servings were huge and we could have fed at least one more hungry adult. The flavours worked well together, and again this is a meal that we never would have thought of making at home. We used to eat mussels with chorizo fairly often in our pre-baby days, at a beautiful bar/ restaurant nearby. We’d sit outside on warm summer nights with friends who have since moved to Texas, eating fine foods and drinking tremendous enormous cocktails. Those were the days, how quickly things change. The tastes of this meal were reminiscent of that experience, minus the booze. The stoup is rich and the spice level is good, the vegetables and broth are great and chorizo makes everything better. L really enjoyed the fish and clams, personally I wasn’t too keen, but I think that’s pregnancy talking. Of all the ways to eat fish, putting it in a soup seems to be a winner. We agreed that we have probably eaten more fish soup this year than either of us have ever eaten previously. Fish soup is just not something I ever think to order if we’re out, maybe in the future that will change.

Tomorrow we will be having Italian-Style Garlic Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes and Thin Spaghetti. That does sound Yummo, and that is not sarcasm talking.

Well, finally our househunting days are over. We put in an offer on a house this morning and this afternoon it was accepted. All being well, we’ll get the keys at the end of July. It’s in our neighbourhood, about 12 blocks away from where we live, and it’s in immaculate condition. The couple selling it have lived there since 1964 and have taken really good care of it- there’s a new roof, the basement is waterproofed, all the electrics and plumbing are new. It is however coated in deep pile carpets and lace curtains and all things elderly couple. However, we will be bringing our own little slice of Ikea world with us to bring the house into this century. We are really happy, for what we can afford (barely) this house is perfect. Now we just have to sell our place…

But at least we should move before the baby arrives, and hopefully we’ll be settled there with the floors sanded and a new kitchen installed by mid August. That gives Baby A about two months to adapt to a new home before she has to adapt to a new sibling. No pressure there. And if she could transition to her own bed so that the new one can have the cot by about December, that would be great. Fun times ahead. We’re concerned about finances, obviously, as we may end up paying two mortgages for a while (and by concerned I mean terrified), but we couldn’t face moving either just before or just after the baby arrives. And the thought of lugging two children up and down the stairs in mid-Winter while L is at work seemed pretty impossible too. I had visions of being marooned in the condo whenever he was at work. In the new place we have a garage. How very mature! And a deck and a garden, with a fence, where Baby A can run. We are really happy.

When we got the phone call to say that our offer had been accepted, we also found out that a woman had fallen in love with our condo from the pictures she’d seen online, and wanted to see it almost immediately. I took Baby A to the grocery store on a fresh fruit and flowers run, while L cleaned the place once again. Our realtor was showing the property and sounded very hopeful that the viewing would go well. We went out to the park, again, and came back and bumped into our neighbour. He’d met the potential buyer who had been extremely enthusiastic and very interested, apparently. Cheered up, we fed, bathed and put Baby A to bed. Just as L was singing to her, there was a knock at the door and our downstairs neighbour asked if we’d lost a cat, because they had seen one run down the outside stairs to the basement. We hadn’t even checked that they were all present and correct.

Sure enough, two out of three cats were missing. L went to search for them, while I called our realtor (ruining his evening) and made some Lost Cat posters. Losing one cat is bad, but two in one night is terrible. Suddenly, after being really fed up with the cats and their neediness, I realised how much a part of our lives they really are, and how terrible it would be to lose them. One of the missing cats came with us from Scotland. Her sister was wandering around the condo looking for the others, looking really perturbed. I was about to call a friend to ask if she could stay in with Baby A while I went to help look, when L came in with Chutney, our resident feline Wisconsinite. She’d left down the back stairs and was hiding inside the abandoned washing machine outside the basement. She had apparently been petrified, and seemed really happy to be home. After much seeking, we pretty much gave up Biscuit for lost. She’s never been outside, but she used to disappear for days in nooks and crannies of our old basement. As a last resort, L checked all our cupboards again, and found Biscuit hiding in the bottom of one, presumably having been locked in and fallen asleep. What a relief, the bane of our life is back! Honestly, she’s the most annoying cat in the world, but incredibly loveable, although she does have really spikey hands.

I called the realtor back to report the news, much to his relief, and he said that he’s hopeful that we may get an offer in the next few days from the person who viewed today. So we have all our fingers and toes crossed, although it seems too good to be true. Let’s hope we get some luck- last year our condo was for sale for the entire summer with no offers at all…

Anyway, so after our emotional rollercoaster of a day, we made Super Mashers with Shrimp and Chorizo Hash which is a tremendous meal. The potatoes are the same as the last two days, with shrimp and chorizo replacing the steak or chicken. When everything is cooked, hot sauce and a double dose of lime juice finish the meal. The only comment I would say is that I blindly followed the recipe and put oil in the hot pan. Adding chorizo to the fat resulted in some kind of cholesterol overkill. The sausage oozed red fat, meaning that everything was swimming in fat. But it certainly tasted great.

This is one of those meals which make us really pleased that we are doing this project, although I’m pretty certain that I wouldn’t be saying that if our cats were still at large in the outside world. We would never in a million years have thought of pairing shrimp with mashed potato and cheese, we just wouldn’t have done it. The shrimp and chorizo are a tremendous combination, and the onions and peppers are rich and spicy and extremely good. We have to remember this meal for 2008, it’s our new favourite! Tomorrow we are making Spanish Fish and Chorizo Stoup, which means not only do we get to eat more chorizo, but we also get to cook clams; a whole new world for me.

This evening we went to a picnic at Baby A’s daycare. While she raced around on a crazy apple juice-induced sugar high, refusing to eat, I ate the plate of food that I’d put together for her dinner. You can’t beat having two big meals within an hour of each other. I blame the growing baby, myself. We made and took cheese scones, one of my all time favourites, and they were rather tasty, if I say so myself. We eventually got the overtired (but once again sweet smelling, hallelujah) child home and to bed, and raced to make Super Mashers with Chicken and Green Chili Hash in record time, so that L could eat before going to the Condo Association meeting. Fortunately, this meal didn’t require too much attention as it is almost identical to the meal we made yesterday. The steak was replaced with chicken, green pepper took the place of the red pepper, and green salsa replaced the hot sauce.

Unbelievably, these few changes actually resulted in a very different meal. The salsa added an entirely different flavour element while retaining the heat of the hot sauce. The chicken was seared so quickly that it didn’t have time to turn in to an old boot. Overall this meal was equally successful as version 1. Tomorrow we make the third version, Super Mashers with Shrimp and Chorizo Hash. This kicks off a five day run of fish and shrimp. I have to say that I’m looking forward to the three garlic shrimp pasta dishes. I think they were some of the few recipes I noticed before we bought the recipe book, back when this whole project was just a slightly amusing hypothetical challenge, rather than an occasionally ridiculous reality.

After a day of trying to entertain Baby A at home in the rain without messing up our show-worthily clean condo, we set about making Super Mashers with Steak and Pepper Hash [recipe] (although in that version the skins are left on the potatoes). This is a great meal but it certainly messed up the kitchen, L is in there now cleaning up after a very long day of meetings at work. Essentially there are two elements to this meal, the mashed potatoes and the beef stir fry. The cooked potatoes are mashed with sour cream, milk, and garlic and scallions that have been lightly cooked in butter.

The beef steak was sliced thinly before cooking and seasoned with salt and pepper. After searing it in a hot pan, red onions, red pepper and an Anaheim chili were added to the pan. Once everything was browned, lime juice and hot sauce were added to taste. The potato was piled on the plate with grated sharp cheddar on top. The recipe called for 2.5oz of cheese each, we went with a handful. The meat and vegetables topped the food pile and melted the cheese.

This meal was certainly hearty; we ate a ton and still had to admit defeat half way through the plate. It’s perfect starchy cheesy winter food- I’d forgotten how good cheesy mashed potato can be. The beef and peppers was spicy and crispy and excellent. It would have also been good on a bed of rice or some roast vegetables. This recipe is a winner but we’d save it for the winter months in the future. It’s wet and raining here but it’s certainly hot and humid. Yummo weather.

Tomorrow we are going back to look again at our shortlist of possible houses first thing in the morning, then we have some big decisions to make. We do have a picnic to attend at Baby A’s daycare which is a potluck dinner, before coming back to cook from the book. I need to come up with some instant food option for the picnic. I’ll think about that tomorrow afternoon, probably minutes before we have to go and be social. In the evening, we’ll have to draw straws to see who gets to attend our condo association meeting; never a fun-filled joyous occasion. One of us will get to do that and the other will look after Baby A and cook Super Mashers with Chicken and Green Chili Hash. We considered making a double, or triple, batch of the mashed potatoes, but decided that they don’t reheat well enough and that fresh is always best. I’d rather be cooking.

This evening, after a hectic day househunting, L and I made Bacon-Makes-It-Better Corn Chowder with Tomato and Ricotta Salata Salad. Whilst the title is dreadful, bacon really did make this soup better than a bacon-free version. Unfortunately for a garnish, the bacon sank into the soup without a trace. Obviously this didn’t affect the taste, but it would have looked nice in the photo. The soup is pretty easy to make and I am ridiculously glad that we could use fresh corn rather than frozen. We shucked the corn and simmered the husks in the chicken stock for maximum corn flavour. Meanwhile we browned the bacon then sautéed the onion, garlic, thyme, bay leaf and hot sauce in butter and olive oil. The corn kernels were added once the onion started to brown, then a handful of flour was sprinkled over the mixture. The hot stock and some heavy cream were whisked in to the vegetables, and the whole lot simmered for about 10 minutes. When the soup was ready to serve, we sprinkled the bacon and some oyster crackers over the top to garnish.

The soup with some crusty bread would have been a fine substantial meal by itself. A decent salad was also served alongside the soup. There was just far too much food with the salad, but it was nice to have some fresh vegetables. Cucumber, grape tomatoes, red onion, parsley and ricotta salata were mixed in a bowl with a dressing of Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil and fresh basil. The salad was good and refreshing, but did seem a little superfluous for a meal for two.

Tomorrow we kick off our 3 day mashed potato marathon with Super Mashers with Steak and Pepper Hash. We’re trying to make some big decisions about where to move. Today we revisited a big house which needs an enormous amount of work, and is in a not great part of the street in a good neighbourhood. It’s cheap and currently owned by a bank. We also looked at a smaller house in the same neighbourhood on a nicer part of the street, which just needs new paint and some landscaping. The kitchen could be redone via Ikea, but it has a beautiful Viking professional range. But it is smaller, much smaller, and more expensive, but we wouldn’t have to spend the next 10 years working on the house. But maybe we’d outgrow the house in a few years. But we’d just have to paint. There’s another house that’s bigger and more expensive but in a nice neighbourhood, but not the neighbourhood we’d ideally like to be in. I could go on, but I’ll spare you more of the fascinating internal dialogue.