The things a month can bring...

1. New job
2. Bruce - daycare, teeth, mobility, sheer size...
3. Family
4. FALL!

(Yes... I do need to organize my thoughts via numerical lists. So there.)

1. I GOT A NEW JOB!
- My last day at the college was August 14th - giving me my first free weekend in MONTHS - and I have never been happier with my career situation. I am the Office Assistant for an insurance and risk management pool specializing in water and sewer districts in Washington state. It's a public entity company, meaning amazing Government benefits. I run the office, plan the meetings, book the retreats, and go on business trips. I know I sound completely immature and gushing, but I'm truly happy here and feel like I might have found 'my place'. The only two down-sides? One, it's in downtown Bellevue, making my commute quite a bit longer than it was to the college. Two?

2. Bruce
- ... in daycare. After spending the first 7 months of his life with his Mommy, my sweet boy had to be plopped into daycare for roughly 9 hours/day. It's not all gloom-and-doom, however; Anita, who runs the daycare along with her husband, Dan, has been at this for 27 years... and lives across the street from us. Score! They really love Bruce, and he's thriving there.

- Teeth: My not-so-little man (8.5 months already?!) has his two bottom teeth, and will soon be the proud owner of his upper-chompers as well. His upper right tooth has broken through and is coming in nicely, and the upper left seems to be soon to follow. He loves being able to eat what we're eating... something that he couldn't do beforehand.

- Mobility: Squishy can crawl! Granted, it's still early (and by "early" I mean "hilarious part army-crawl, part launch-forward, part backwards movement"), but he can definitely get himself around now. He's also pulling himself up (something that he's been doing at various ability levels since he was 3 months old) and walking around, holding on to our fingers. I can't believe that MY offspring is so ready to get-up-and-go! Where's my lazy baby?

- Sheer size: Yeah. Um, Bruce is a little big. Not "fat"... not even "chubby"... just BIG. At 8 months, his stats are as follows:
Weight = 24.5 lbs (96th percentile)
Length = 30 in. (96th percentile)
Head = 19.25 in. (97th percentile)

3. Family
- Steve's dad fell and broke his neck in the garage two weeks ago, and is finally starting to realize that fact. To say that he has been 'stubborn' would be wildly inaccurate, but at least he's getting better. The plus-side (because there always is one)? Christopher, Steve's brother, has started talking to Dad again after almost 6 months of not. Progress.

4. FALL IS COMING...!
- Eee!
- On Tuesday, Sept. 22nd at 5:18 p.m., I will be the happiest woman alive... or, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. Fall is, without a doubt, Krystal's Happy Time. Last year, I wrote a (MySpace) blog regarding all the wonderful things I have to look forward to, but this year I plan to do something different entirely:

Experience it.

This will be Bruce's first fall season, and that means I'll get to be as hyper and schmeepy as I want without Stephen making fun of me. Much.

That's about it for us. I have my first business trip next week (Lake Chelan... woot!), and then a couple of big projects to work on at the office.

Here's a list of what I'm brainstorming about now:
making a unique headboard for our bed,
fall wreaths,
Christmas wreaths,
fall cookie recipes,
finally tackling Alton Brown's Apple Pie recipe,
making a baby sling,
making Christmas blankets for family presents this year,

financial planning,

getting my AIS cert.,

the cost of a relatively new-ish Jetta/Passat (both TDIs),

headshots for voiceovers (thanks, Robert!),

voiceover representation and/or classes,
quitting Avon,
squeezing in skating time,

recipes using squash and any other gourds,
Halestorm (nothing in particular... I just love their music),

a trip to Florida with Bruce to meet his great grandpa and grandma,
start looking at houses by mid-2010...

Recipe Madness Monday!

The joy...

Serrano Ham and Manchego Cheese Croquettas
(*What are these? Basically, you turn your leftover mashed potatoes into wonderfully cheesy, fried balls of heaven. Eat them. You will see.*)

Ingredients:
3 cups mashed potatoes, leftover or freshly made
1/4 pound manchego cheese, frozen 1 hour then finely chopped with a food processor (1 cup), plus shaved manchego cheese, for serving
6 ounces serrano ham, frozen 1 hour then finely chopped in a food processor (1 cup)
2 large eggs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups panko bread crumbs
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Romesco sauce for serving
Chopped chives, for serving

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl or in the food processor combine mashed potatoes, cheese, ham and eggs. Season with plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper. The mixture should still be wet enough so the bread crumbs stick to the croquettas. Form into croquettas (makes about 2 dozen, medium-sized) and dip into panko bread crumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper. Pat lightly so the crumbs stick. Lay out on a tray, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before frying.
To fry, heat 1-inch of vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or heavy bottomed pot, over medium heat to about 360 degrees F. Fry in small batches, turning once until evenly browned. Each batch should take approximately 5 to 6 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season with kosher salt. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with chives and shaved manchego. Serve with Romesco Sauce.

Romesco Sauce:
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 poumd roasted red peppers, drained
*1 egg yolk
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 teaspoon orange zest and 1/4 cup juice, from 1 orange
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
Toast almonds in a skillet over medium heat until golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer almonds to a blender. Add roasted red peppers, egg yolk, garlic, zest, and season with salt and pepper. Pulse a few times to combine the ingredients. With the blender on low speed drizzle in the olive oil. Once it begins to emulsify, stop the blender and add the orange juice, and sherry vinegar. Buzz once more to fully emulsify.

Recipe Time!!

Meal: Dinner

Dish(es): Roasted chicken and parmesan couscous with shallots, chiken and apple sausage, and lemon pepper baby carrots.

Ingredients:
1 lg. shallot
2 boxes of instant couscous (one roasted chicken, one parmesan)
2 1/2 cups of chicken stock
2 TS olive oil
1 TS Italian seasoning
1 TS garlic paste
6 fully-cooked chicken and apple sausage links
2 ts basil paste
1 - 1 1/2 lbs. of baby carrots
3 TS lemon pepper
2 TS butter

Directions:
1. Put a medium pot of water on to boil (for the baby carrots).
2. Heat 2 TS olive oil in a medium pot, and turn to med-high.
3. Mince the shallot, and add to the pot along with 1 TS Italian seasoning. Allow to carmelize.
4. Add carrots to the boiling water, stirring occasionally. Boil for 10 minutes.
5. Slice 6 chicken and apple sausages on the bias (diagonally), and place in a large, non-stick skillet on med-high, stirring occasionally. (Since the sausages are already fully cooked, we're just warming them up.)
6. Add 2 ts basil paste, and 1 TS garlic paste to the sausage. Stir to distribute.
7. After the shallot has carmelized (will become translucent in color), add 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock and allow to come to a boil. Once it boils, add the couscous, stir, cover, and remove from heat. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
8. Once the carrots are done, turn off the heat, drain the water, place back on the stove, and add 2 TS butter and 3 TS lemon pepper. Stir to coat.
9. With a fork, fluff the couscous and shallot. Place on a serving platter, and serve with the chicken and apple sausage links on top.

So... what do you think?
This is my first attempt at actually posting one of my meals. We had this last night and, according to Steve, everyone enjoyed it!

Pollywogs and Pie

My son is a pollywog.
I'm looking at his little (ha!) tummy and, next to Buddha, it is the most round stomach I have ever seen on a human being. Put that together with his chubby, bent legs... and I've got myself a baby frog.

In terms of development, BMax and I went to Granny's work this afternoon for an early 2-month weight check. Want to hear the results?

Weight: 14 lbs., 7 oz. (95th percentile)
Length: 24.25 in. (90th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.75 in. (95th percentile)

Any worries that I had about him being on-track for growth are now pretty much obliterated!

He has his official 2-month Well Child appointment on 3/3, so we'll see what the tally is then. Poor guy has to get his first round of shots. I'm not entirely sure he's going to take it so well, even if I'm feeding him while its going on; he notices (and is bothered) when I pick something out of his hair while I'm feeding him... so I think he's going to notice getting jabbed in the thigh three seperate times. I'm sorry, but an infant doesn't understand "I know this is going to hurt, but it prevents whooping cough!"

I'm thinking about having one blog post a week be a recipe of some kind... something that I have either tried (complete with the results/reactions afterwards), or something that I plan to try that week (with the results/reactions to follow later in the week). What say you?