Mama Montage: cookies and springtime

I made hamentashen cookies this weekend using this recipe.The cookies turned out decent and presentable, but I would call them more jam-cake tea cookies, than hamentashen. I used blackberry jam because I couldn't find the sweet poppyseed filling that I really wanted. The main selling point of these cookies was that they were for the "busy mom," and I actually finished making n' baking 'em during Sprout's 1 hour nap on Sunday. Now, I just need to figure out how to get dried cookie dough out of my wedding ring (whoops).

It was a pretty great weekend...exhausting, but pretty great. On Friday, I had a burst of energy which inspired me to take some exploratory drives around with Sprout in tow. First, I checked out the (new-to-me) Mickey & Mallory Bakery in Ayden, where I picked up two mini-canoli (one of my fave desserts!) and a breakfast cinnamon bun.

Then, I drove all the way out to Carolina Seasons plant nursury (practically on the other end of the county) in order to gaze longinly at their fruit/nut trees/bushes: persimmon, fig, pecan, blueberry, raspberry, peach, pear. Ah. I so want to start an edible garden in my fenced backyard (we're on 0.7 acres in our home lot), but I have no idea how to start. There's a company based in Durham called Bountiful Backyards which designs edible home gardens--assessing your land/sun/soil ph and drawing up a plan--but they cost a little over $300 for the consultation + travel out to me in eastern NC. Hmm, but we'll see. I want a garden, but don't want to invest in one and have all the plants die.

After that, I stopped by a friend's office. She works at an awesome childcare resource center called ChildLinks. I was able to pick up 3 toys for Sprout (two ring stackers, and a multi-texture plush flower thing), which I can keep for 3 weeks and then trade back in for more. They have a board book library as well! I also signed up as a member to use their lamination, stencils, colored paper, and criticut machine. I'll have to ask my friend for project ideas, but I initially thought the materials might be good for a basic chore/good behavior chart.

Finally, I also found the location of the gym that is closest to my house (it was hidden behind some other storefronts; I may sign up...soon...). I can't remember if I did much else on Friday, but that was enough!

All week and during the weekend, Sprout has been refusing all jarred pureed food--like spitting it out in messy raspberries. There's only so much splatter paint a mama can take! So, I've been having to get creative. She could live off cheerios if we let her, but I wanted to give her some other solid food besides carbs. Surprisingly, we discovered she looooves blackbeans smothered in mild green chilli sauce. I found out she was swallowing them sorta like pills (ask me how I know), but she enjoyed their taste. She also ate some scrambled egg, tofu, toast + creamcheese, banana, asparagus bits, and canned mandarin orange over the weekend. I'm hoping she'll allow for a bit more of her jarred food again, though, because of course the hubby bought two trays-worth (like ~20 jars!) of organic baby food last week! They may become some interesting 'dipping sauces' or muffin-fillers, heh.

What else? Ah, I returned to teaching yoga on Saturday. I had a regular class (8 people!) and a mama-baby class. I was exhausted after teaching, but happy. I also accomplished getting groceries, putting away 2 wks of laundry, and having the house cleaned (with much thanks to my cleaners, who hadn't been to my dog fur carpeted house in a month). All of that while the hubby was on-call, starting a new inpatient rotation (ie. he was gone most of the weekend).

I have a busy work week ahead of me, so next weekend may not be nearly as productive. I just had to reflect on last weekend being particularly good, with a large part of the credit going towards sunny springy weather and being in the company of a beautiful baby girl.