Al Parque, Al Parque

In his very precious and very limited spare time (I hesitate to call it that, inbetweenworkandschoolandsleep time is more like it) Thomas tagged along with us to the park. I don't say it enough but I admire his ability to work as hard as he does and still make time to be a great dad to Dylan. I also think that even if I said "Thank you" one million times every day he would never know how much I appreciate him gifting me our son's childhood.

Applauding the birds, or perhaps Daddy for reminding us that Geese belong to the avian super order Neognathae, sub-order Anseriformes.

I'm starting to spice things up in the kitchen once again! Before my pregnancy I cooked twice a day every day. During my first trimester I couldn't stand the smell of anything on the stove so I counted on Amy's burritos from the oven, prepared hummus and fresh fruit and veg to sustain me until Dylan arrived. Since then, I honestly don't know what we've survived on because I certainly haven't been cooking.

I'm here to tell you today is a new day, we're all hungry, and since Dylan eats what we eat (except added sweeteners and salt) the heat is back on.

My current favorite technique is roasting squash whole. Any variety will do but today it was pumpkin.

This was painfully simple. Scrub, rub, bake, and out comes a delectable calabaza with skin so tender it's butter by any other name.

 I wasn't sure what to do with it when it came out so I peeked into our fridge only to find a pot full of lonely, boring, short grain brown rice that was practically begging to be made into risotto. Before you finish that thought, let me just say I know it's not traditional risotto if the rice is pre-cooked and non-arborio. I was just working with what I had and since I was a little over-zealous earlier in the week when I decided to cook two cups of rice instead of one, cheater's risotto is what became of this beautiful meso plant.

What you don't know is that I roasted a butternut squash alongside the pumpkin. Add Maritza's fresh roasted, pumpkin, butternut, cheater's risotto with sage, carmelized onions, and green peas to the list of food and (non-food) items that Dylan devours. And while we're at it add red grapefruit, kiwi, orange and yellow bell pepper, Muchi and other curries, broccoli, yams, and roasted garlic.

So far he's exceeded my expectations. I couldn't ask him for an inch more. He's already a foodie, and cute to boot.