Roasted Eggplant & White Bean Soup with Tangerine Gremolata

I'm hanging my head a little, and it's not just from the migraine that's kept me mostly non-functioning for a few days now. This post is a week late. In fact, not only did I miss the first deadline, I missed the second one!* sigh See, a couple of weeks ago a few of us were casually discussing comfort food on Twitter (as we often do, I wish I could surround myself with these people IRL so I could feel "normal") and the idea for a blogger collective soup-a-thon was born. Or something like that, who ever knows when I'm retelling the story? My first thoughts were along the lines of "yay, FINALLY a group-cooking effort I can easily participate in!!!" I've been creating soups out of seemingly nothing for the better part of the last 27 years (yeah, for realz! I'm THAT old!). Then I saw the mandatory ingredients -- eggplant, beans, and orange peel -- and I started whining, moping, and rending my garments. At which point, The Mister and The Dog rolled their eyes at me and put me on ignore for a few days.

*in another post I will address my fear of failure/success as it relates specifically to meeting deadlines

So this went on forever, and in the meantime Mo came back from the store with the best-looking eggplant he could find, one of only two at nearby supermarkets, which in this case meant something that looked almost unnaturally big, dark, and barely still fresh. I guess it's not a popular food item here in the hinterlands of NC? in early December? Hrmpf! I couldn't even bear to look at it; yes, mediocre produce gets the sideeye from me. See kids, when I think of eggplant, I think of those lovely lavender-hued ones I grew up on in Puerto Rico that I've occasionally managed to find at Summer farmers' markets here in the continental US. As an alternative, the long & skinny Japanese ones will do. But those big, dark purple things you USians are used to... eh, they've seemed ok for breading and turning into eggplant parm and such, but not anything requiring elegance and delicacy. I know, this is why The Mister rolls his eyes at me. By the way, part of my anxiety stemmed from the fact that the aforementioned has stated several times that eggplant is one of his least favorite foods ever, and also that The Boy is very picky about any new foods.


After all my kvetching (yes, PuertoRicans can kvetch, except we call it jirimiquear), I realized I better get myself in gear and figure something out, so I pawed through my cookbooks. Found nothing to inspire me there, except eggplant caviar, which sounds fascinating & delicious yet was no help for me here. So I hit the web, and after reading quite a few recipes, I settled on making a mashup of the one I found at Israeli Kitchen, and the one on Smitten Kitchen. Except that we are not creamy-soup people, we like our soups chunky. Which meant that adding the beans was easy, especially since we've made plenty of minestrone and pasta e fagioli from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, which then led me to decide to also add pasta to the soup (I never need much of an excuse to add pasta to anything, I even love spaghetti pizza!). But I still had no idea how to incorporate the orange peel, which in my case would be tangerine because I have this weird allergy to oranges and no other citrus fruit. I went to bed on that Monday night, stressed out about how to incorporate that last component into a soup I had to make the next day in order to meet the deadline (heh!), and woke up with gremolata on my mind the next morning. D’uh, sometimes I know more than I think I know!!!

I took to heart what Deb at Smitten Kitchen said in her recipe, about roasting the vegetables for extra depth of flavor. I also decided to roast the garlic in a separate pan, and to puree the garlic & onion after roasting to “beef up” the broth (and also to keep The Boy from complaining about the onions).

Roasted Eggplant & White Bean Soup with Tangerine Gremolata

makes appx 10 servings


1 lb dry white beans (we used Great Northern), pre-soaked**
4 qts water (I use distilled)
1 tsp sea salt
1 large bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh)
1 Tbsp dried basil (or 2 Tbsp fresh, chopped)
4 cups chicken broth***
1 large eggplant, or 2 medium, halved lengthwise and scored
3 - 4 carrots, peeled
1 large onion, peeled, trimmed & halved
1 - 2 bell pepper, cored, seeded & halved6 large garlic cloves, peeled
1 lb short pasta, preferably tube-shaped

Extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

for the gremolata:

¼ c fresh parsley, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
zest from 1 tangerine (appx 1 ½ tsp)


** There are many theories as to the best way to soak dry beans. I prefer to do a quick salt-soaking method with my dry beans: for every pound of beans dissolve 3 Tbs salt in 2 qts boiling water; combine dry, rinsed beans with hot salt water in pot and let soak for 1 hour (off the burner). Drain beans, discarding the soaking liquid, and rinse before continuing with the recipe.
*** I prefer to use Kirkland chicken stock or Pacific chicken broth as they have a cleaner flavor profile for me than other brands


Bring the beans, water, and salt to a gentle boil. Reduce immediately to a gentle simmer, add the bay leaf and cook, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender. Which, depending on the type of water you use and the quality of your beans, may take anywhere between 1 - 2 hours (we buy the generic supermarket beans, so ours always seem to take at least 2 hours!). Try a bean around the 45min - 1 hour mark to check the texture. If it’s still sort of hard instead of creamy, you’ve got some time to go yet. But you can go ahead and add the thyme, basil, and broth at this point.


In the meantime, set a rack in the center of your oven and the temperature to 400 degrees. I used a large shallow bowl to coat the eggplant, carrots, onion, bell pepper and garlic with the oil. Transfer to large baking pan (I put the garlic in a separate smaller pan so I could remove it after 10 minutes), place in oven, and delight in the smells. Now’s a great time to indulge in a glass of wine, a bottle of hard cider, or whatever floats your boat. And mix up the gremolata ingredients -- I had a couple of teaspoons of oil left in the shallow bowl I used for the vegetables, and I mixed that in with the parsley, raw garlic and tangerine zest in a small bowl. Set aside. I removed my vegetables from the oven at the 35 min. mark but I could’ve probably given them another 5 -10 mins. So, just watch them, make sure they get nice brown spots but don’t burn. Let them cool enough to handle, then scrape the eggplant off the skin with a spoon. I like to cut the rest of the vegetables to a size comparable to the beans and the chunks of eggplant. And I puréed all the roasted garlic and onion plus half the bell pepper in my small processor before adding to the soup. Cook together for about 10 minutes, add salt & pepper to taste, then add the pasta, turning up the temperature on the stove to Medium. Cook for however long the pasta manufacturer says it needs to be al dente. Then turn the stove off. I followed a Test Kitchen technique for Osso Buco, whereby you stir half the gremolata into the pot just before serving, then sprinkle a little on top of the individual portions. Ta-dá!!!


My thoughts: I tried this soup with and without the gremolata, and preferred it without. I found that the roasted vegetable flavor got lost when I added the last element. The Mister had the same reaction. I think the other two things I want to do differently next time is use a vegetable stock, and a parmesan rind. This is a very, very hearty, filling soup and I would suggest that if you prefer brothy-er soups, you can certainly make it without the pasta and it will still be a fairly hearty soup due to the beans. I didn’t have the ideal short pasta for this, like ditalini, so I threw in the ziti I did have.


Your thoughts? comments? Please visit the other #souperbowl posts and get some great, delicious ideas for your future soups!

conversations

when I was little, there was a running joke among my parents' mega-intellectual friends. We all lived near the university, and a lot of them were either professors there or they were working towards that goal. So the story goes that one day, Carlos was driving in the dark on his way home (after a long day at school, student-teaching and working on his dissertation) when he saw this huge, illuminated billboard with a single word that caused him profound excitement and roused his spirits despite his exhaustion. He came home to his wife and told her that apparently the government had started a wonderful and simple campaign that would surely have tremendous social consequences: he'd just driven past a sign that said "CONVERSE", people were being encouraged to talk to one another! His (American) wife, also a graduate student but ever the more practical of the two of them, gently broke it to him that the word on the sign was not a verb as he'd thought but rather the name of a company nearby that had a new shoe factory.

Their circle of friends lapped it up and repeated the story through the years, presumably as a reminder to never over-intellectualize things, although it never really stopped any of them from doing so. For years, I giggled every time we drove by that sign but I think deep down I did internalize the word as a verb. I'm no good at chit-chat. Don't get me wrong, I *can* do it but it exhausts me and makes me feel cheap, almost like I'm dirty and smelly with a big sign on my forehead that says "FAKE" in neon ligths. Have I said this before here? I don't remember. I'm the kind of person that wants to be able to sit with you somewhere comfortable and find out what you think, not about the weather or the latest celebrity breakup but about EVERYthing. I like to be able to have conversations about what makes people tick, why they get out of bed in the morning and why they want what they want and believe what they believe. Does that make me "intense"? I know some people have told me I'm too pushy, which horrified me because I don't ever push my beliefs on people (I don't think, at least I try not to), I just want to get to know them at a deeper level... which I guess is pushing intimacy, to a level that most people in this bullshit-coated society just aren't comfortable with. d'uh, funny the things I can figure out while I'm typing, I really need to do it more.

One of the reasons I haven't posted lately is because I'm very introspective right now. As much as I've been trying to get to know others at a deeper level, and reading blogs is so great for that, I've been finding it so very hard to open up and let others get to know me right now. There are so many parts of me that I feel protective over, that are too vulnerable, and I need to find a way to get past that and open up. It was the whole purpose of having a blog, having a place to air out my feelings, ideas, frustrations and my whole life. Mo and I had a big "feelings" talk last night. I feel bad for him because I've got enough angst for the two of us and sometimes I'm afraid that it'll drive a wedge in our relationship. He says he loves that about me, most of the time... except when I start grilling him about having feelings that he apparently doesn't have. *sigh* So, I guess I am pushy?
***

Last night, conversation around the dinner table was 99% about this year's football season, college and Pro. heh. All I had to contribute was that I heard the other day (on TV) that Clinton Portis' most recent injury shouldn't be so bad as to keep him out of the regular season. Mo's a huge Redskins fan, so I try and at least have a clue. However, the rest of the convo went over my head, it was like they were speaking Chinese. *sigh* Then Hyde spent most of the night farting, these noxious, loud and way-too-frequent fumes until I finally sent him to his room so that we wouldn't ALL have to suffer. Mo and Hyde were cracking up over the farting, while I really don't see what's so funny. Between the sports talk, the farting humor and the frequent comments about random boners, semi-chubs, and all manner of penis-related topics I'd rather not know about, I'm more convinced than ever that I need a daughter (or two), someone who likes sports as well as art, ballet, classical music. Someone whose biological functions I can relate to. But that's a whole other conversation right there...

National Association Of W Lovers

I don't know why but I love this song! And El Niño is obsessed with the letter W (I've mentioned this here before) so he's positively transfixed when I play this for him.




When the computer crashed last week, the one good thing that happened was that, once we got the PC back up and restored, the sound finally started working again. It mysteriously stopped working a few months after I bought the computer, and it was never a huge issue for us, I never cared enough to do anything about it. With the advent of YouTube and other video hosting sites over the past year, things are totally different now and I can honestly say that I'm enjoying the fact that I can now watch AND listen to all sorts of things on our PC.

ugh!!! (or, why I'm throwing myself a pity-party)

our (desktop) PC crashed on Saturday, I'm still not really sure why. It's been nerve-wracking for me to be without access to the Internet and it's a royal pain in the ass to try to restore the computer back to where I had it before the crash. I'm not even halfway done and I'm already frustrated and pissed. The OSs had to be reinstalled (Win 98 first, then XP on top) and now all the miscellaneous software that makes my life convenient has to be downloaded, setup, etc. I had no backup this time for my Outlook address book (last time this happened, I at least had the info on my PDA), so right now I don't even have my best-friend's phone number or email addy.

I'm now totally convinced that my next computer will be a Mac (as soon as that unexpected-anxiously-awaited-money comes in) because I'm sick of worrying about viruses and buggy software and having to be a pseudo sys-admin to keep the computer healthy and working right. I crave plug-n-play convenience and have been told by many that Macs offer that, so Mo and I have decided that a Mac lappy's in our future. Oh, and I know I've said it before but I'm gonna say it again: Picasa ROCKS!!! I've been using it for over a year and it's better/easier than pretty much any other photo software I've used (FYI, I'm not well-versed in Photoshop). Well, it just effortlessly restored all the pictures that were in my hard drive, I didn't even have to use the last backup disk that I'd made with Picasa's easy-peasy backup feature. Why isn't Microsoft software as user-friendly as Google's??? If I had any money to invest, I'd be buying me some Google stock. I love their email, chat and photo software, including the new Web Albums feature (that'll be competing with Flickr soon I bet, and I can't wait for them to add a video feature to the albums so they can totally own me).

Oh, and El Niño and I are sick, on top of everything. It's quite a challenge to deal with a computer in need of massive work when one's body feels like an eighteen-wheeler's driven over it, one's head is totally congested, and one's teething toddler is also sick and congested and refuses to eat or sleep. I'll go crawl into a fetal position now...

blah, blah, blah-di-blahblah...

I'll take a break now from discussing babycarriers to dish about one of my other favorite things: shoes! I recently got myself a pair of Croc-offs (pictured) because I went in to Payless looking for something else and when I saw these, I just HAD TO have them and fortunately I'd just gotten some birthday money. They're very comfy, and contribute to my ongoing habit of dressing like a toddler. (I think the last time I dressed like an adult was for a wedding we attended a couple months ago) I know a lot of people just loooooove to go on and on about how fugly Crocs are, and I sorta agree. But periwinkle tie-dye? You had me at periwinkle, baby! Now the clever folks at Crocs have come out with two more mainstream-looking designs for the Fall, one of which is a Mary Jane. OMG!!! It's like the best of all worlds... If, like me, you're convinced that Crocs are a blessing to anyone who walks and/or stands on their feet all day, Journeys has them right now in a few colors, or you can wait until the Fall release next month (which will offer more color options). I had to go try the MJ on and am totally sold, it's waaaaaaay cuter than the regular Crocs but still just as comfy. Mo will soon be getting one of the Rx options they offer, and I'll be getting the MJs as soon as I can pick a color.

Staying on the subject of shoes, El Niño totally screwed us over by outgrowing his practically-new-just-bought 'em-in-June shoes. I'm so glad they were all shoes from babyGap that we'd bought on clearance. (in case anyone's wondering, this isn't surreptitious product placement or blogvertising... this is really me propping up the stuff I like, and I plan to do that often because I'd like to make sure the products that work for me stick around, unlike the china and flatware we registered for when we got married) Buying shoes for this child is tricky because he seems to have a high instep and very sweaty feet. All-leather shoes are out, and a lot of slip-ons are as well because they won't, hrm, slip on. We'd bought him a pair of Ecco sneakers we all loved but he outgrew too fast, then we tried a pair of Stride Rite sandals that were extremely cute but he kept taking them off and much to my chagrin I saw they left red marks all over his feet. The two pairs of babyGap sandals he liked so much he'd put them on at home, while he was otherwise running around naked (great way to potty-train, more on that in a few). I'm finding that a lot of the shoes at babyGap are actually excellent, very bendy soles and well-made enough to take a beating being worn to the playground every day, as well as the constant toddler on/off at home. And of course I only buy them after they've been marked down at least three times and cost less than $10, because if I remember correctly from my days as a Gap employee (a lifetime ago), their markup on footwear and accessories is 300+%, and I'm not paying that. Unfortunately, he wore his verycute sandals for two and a half months before busting out of them to a size 8. Seriously, we were caught with our pants down again and at a difficult stage of Summer-to-Fall retail transition. (I wish I could shop at thrift stores like Dutch but I never find anything other than books to buy there) So, we were out on the Eastside on Tuesday for a business-sushi-lunch and managed afterwards to go to the Marshall's store at Lloyd Center and score some great deals on shoes for all of us, including our third and only successful attempt to get comfortable Stride Rites for El Niño and some Cross Country sneaks for Hyde. Oh, remember the toddler-sized blue flame Chucks I wanted to get? We finally got those too, for $12 at Freddy's, woo-hoo!!! But they don't fit yet, these are a size 9 so maybe next month... and I guess they're not really flames as much as a tattoo design. Whatever... he keeps trying to put them on, it's cute.
***
On the potty training front, El Niño's been consistently staying dry overnight for over two weeks now. This is huge! Now all we have left to do is get him used to staying dry while he's wearing something... a note to the fine, hardworking people at Kimberly Clark: the idea of the "feels cool/wet" liner in your Huggies Pull-Ups product is clever but it doesn't work for a lot of boys who couldn't care less about being wet or slightly cool in their crotch. I have no experience with potty training girls but I can promise you that *my* boys could lay in enough wetness to constitute a pond and neither one would care one bit, it wouldn't signal to them "hey, you need to go to the potty NOW, Bud!" Oh, and the fit is horrible on skinny boys, El Niño's pants always get soaked when he pees in his Pull-Ups. Can you guys do something about that too?
***
The talking thing is progressing now at quite a clip, and last week we were surprised when Hyde was heading out the door and El Niño went running after him, yelling "byyyyyyyeeeeee, I wuuuuv uuuuuu!" Sentences are becoming commonplace, and it's clear that English dominates at least his spoken language skills, even if he still understands what I say to him in Spanish. What's funny is that he's also making more of an effort to use signs now, after a few months where he wasn't really trying to use them. The other day he even grabbed my hand and "forced" my fingers to make a sign he was having trouble with, and had forgotten the spoken word for, it was one of those awesome moments where maternal joy and pride just welled up inside me and almost knocked me out.
***
Sesame Street has begun their newest season, with a much-heralded "lead female" puppet character, Abby Cadabby*. I'm not crazy about this pink puppet with fairy wings and I'm not convinced that she's a necessary addition to the SS cast of characters... call me cynical but I have a nagging suspicion that this was more marketing-driven than anything else (with less Federal money going to fund public television, they've gotta find ways to pay for the show and they've gotta compete with Dora and the Disney Princesses, right?). Don't even get me started on Elmo and his takeover of about a third of the show, blech. The good news is that by adding this new character they've also had to add new content, and it looks like this season the show's being truer to its roots as a result: I've noticed more songs and more of the educational content that I grew up loving. If you're wondering why I care so much about the show, it's because I benefitted immensely from watching SS when I was an intellectually precocious and bilingual little girl. And I was also (28 years ago) one of the kids CTW used to review content for its shows. Most children's television is garbage, and I wasn't happy with the direction SS was taking in the last couple of years I've been watching. So, I'll be watching and probably commenting on Abby in the near future. Oh, and can I just say that for some twisted reason, Cadabby in my brain gets turned into cadaver, so she's Abby Cadaver to me? Oy!
* I would've linked to the New York Times article, which was pretty interesting to read (especially between the lines) but apparently they now require you to subscribe even if you just want to read one piece...
***
We met our opposites on Saturday... at the Lloyd Center MAX stop on the way home. Mo heard the dude talking and asked me what language he was speaking, and I told him Spanish. My husband's ears perked up and he immediately asked me to go over there and "freak him out" by speaking Spanish to him. For some weird reason, he finds this sexy, that people are surprised by my unaccented efforts at communicating with them in Spanish. Except that this man is as fair-skinned as I am (or more, he's blonder than Mo), so I was certain it wouldn't even faze him. And it didn't. Well, dude's my freakish-counterpart-PuertoRican, living right here in Portland with his Indiana-born wife and three kids. Some pleasant conversation was had and phone numbers were exchanged. As busy as we seem to always be (I don't even know how that happens or how we even have friends still), it *would* be nice to add The Opposites to our social circle. I miss hearing Spanish spoken in my accent... not to be a snob or anything (which I guess I kinda am) but after a while, hearing only the Mexican accent really gets old. And I think it'd really be good for my boys to be around other bilingual/bicultural kids with a similar background. I've called and left a message and now it's their turn. Tag you're it & hope they call back!
***
I haven't really caught up yet on everything I need to get out of my system but at least this is a start (especially since I started writing this post on Saturday). I have some deep thoughts I need to hack up out of my brain like a hairball but I'm not there yet. Happy Friday!

Update: Abby Cadabby was named "Person of the Week" by the ABC WNT crew... sheeeesh, it's like I have my finger on the pulse of our culture or something!

help?!?!?

I've been offered the opportunity to work part-time from home doing some Spanish/English translation and/or interpretation services. This may turn out to be an easy way for me to contribute to our currently struggling household finances. The businessman offering this opportunity is even willing to print out some business cards for me (at his expense) but has asked me to come up with a business name to put on the cards and maybe a little art to go with it. Hmmmmmmm... I'm really drawing a blank here, no creative juices flowing in this head, in fact I've been trying to kill off a migraine since 4am. Anyone got ideas for me??? I can't promise cookies, like one of my friends has in the past, but my undying gratitude will *surely* reap spiritual rewards for you...

some fashion show pics

I love sharing pictures... some of these aren't all that great but I didn't get to take any of them so I can't complain. The first is of me, modeling a blue Panel Kozy (with a borrowed child on my back). The next one is of another local mamma, modeling a Bling Panel Kozy. *sigh*













The third pic is of Mo modeling the bECO XO, with El Niño on his back. The fourth, fifth and sixth pics are of the totally awesome Amautik. If you saw the movie Atanarjuat: the Fast Runner, you saw the traditional Amautiks made of skins and fur and decorated with beautiful designs; the one Kristi is modeling in these pictures is a modern version made with modern materials. Mo and I joke sometimes about moving up to Alaska ("just how much further away from our families can we go?"), and if we wind up doing it, I'm *totally* getting an Amautik!











The last picture is of me, breastfeeding onstage during the show. Woo-Hoo!

it wasn't *BlogHer* but it was MY kind of cool... part 2

Ok, I'll confess that the first ridiculous/obnoxious thing I did at the conference was on Wednesday afternoon when I went to the volunteers' meeting at Reed. (in case you're wondering, I took MAX and then a bus to get there from where I live in Beaverton) I had El Niño in the panel Kozy and Kelley Mason, the wonderful mamma who sewed it, was pretty much at the door when I arrived. She hugged me right away and we chatted like old friends. Then my friend Lori came down the stairs and suprised me! She's visiting from UAE and we'd kept missing one another while she was in town. Our whole group of volunteers and visitors toured the gorgeous Reed campus and went over some last minute stuff for the conference. Then everyone went around, drooling over everyone else's "stash" and I asked Kelley if I could go in her room & pet all the Kozys she'd brought! My uncivilized behavior went downhill from there...

Thursday was amazing, to be surrounded by babywearing mammas, to see so many different & beautiful kinds of carriers all in one place (even an Amautik that night during the first fashion show meeting!). I've never experienced this before -- I just recently joined the Portland NINO group and haven't yet been to a meeting -- so it was quite exciting and strangely comforting for me, like I was in a happy dream that I didn't want to wake up from. It felt like I was finally among my own kind. I was discussing it with Mo that night on the way home (on the bus), that it felt great to walk around during breaks and see lots of people -- moms AND dads -- meandering while they wore and snuggled their babes, and to see mammas happily and comfortably nursing everywhere. Ahhhhhhh, if only this was such a normal sight to see in the general population! I've been told that babywearing & NIP is a much more common sight in the NE and SE neighborhoods of Portland but where I live on the West side it's very rare. Oh, and to top off my day, Lori surprised me by giving us a beautiful batik embroidered FreeHand MeiTai, which my honeys napped in on Saturday.

This conference was an awesome opportunity to meet babywearing celebrities (like Maria Blois, author of Babywearing: The Benefits and Beauty of this Ancient Tradition) and many mammas who are starting their businesses and will likely be very successful in the next few years. There were also literally tons of carriers to see, touch and compare (we affectionately refer to them as fluffies, BTW). I'm overwhelmed, exhausted and excited all at the same time. I loved being there... it was still like a dream by day three. Even my normally-shy & reserved husband was chatting with everyone and having a great time. I met so many wonderful mammas and their kids. I learned so much. It's really hard to describe just how it feels to have this kind of opportunity, to learn about the creative process that goes into each person's sling design, to learn about the highs and lows of having a business (how many times did I hear one or another of them say that they wished they could give more carriers away and that they didn't get into this to make money but to spread the love?), to watch them be clumsy, creative, silly, clever, witty, loving, frazzled... to hold and love on so many other people's kids. I held so many babies I thought my uterus would figure out a way to self-pollinate! Oy!!!

OMG, did you *know* how gorgeous ChicKen ScRatch RingSlings are??? I must be living in a cave or something because I just hadn't realized it, and I don't even care for ring slings, seriously. But I'd volunteered to help at Along for the Ride's booth in the exhibit hall on Saturday and got to see and pet several of them up close. I think Kristen Gallagher (the owner) thought I was being really helpful and nice by staying at her booth to help as long as I did but I just really wanted to be close to all those prettyful slings she was selling! As Lori would say: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Kristen thanked me at the end of the day with a Brown Velveteen Hotsling that I just can't stop touching or looking at. I'll post pictures of my two new carriers soon... But I can't say enough how special it was to help people find a carrier they loved and were comfortable in.

We had a fashion show on Saturday night (sponsored by EllaRoo) and I think all the manufacturers tried to show off at least a few new products/colorways at the show. I'd volunteered all my guys to model but Hyde came back from Camp with an injured leg and had to stay home. Then Kelley asked me to model one of her panel Kozys, and I was honored. Of course, I had to say yes because she was asking. (I have a whole other post to write on the subject of me modeling) In addition to carriers, we had nursing clothes that had been donated for the show, so I got two tops out of that. One of them was multistriped and didn't match any of the carriers, so it was decided that I'd just walk out on stage with my boy in arms, tilt him sideways and nurse. All I could think about when I heard that were my mother's and Mo's mom's reactions if they knew: they'd be horrified!!! The show was chaotic backstage, and made me think of Dutch at BlogHer, since Mo and Kelley's husband got to see a lot of half-naked women running around backstage, trying to keep the show going at a nice clip by tossing off clothes and carriers before putting on the next ensemble. It was fun to get a sneak peek at some things that aren't yet available for purchase. There was the EllaRoo Extra Fino Rebozo that had a beautiful sheen to the fabric; I didn't get to pet it because I only ever saw it on Charlie Mason (of the Kozy Masons; I make it a point to never caress other women's husbands). But it looked really nice and soft, and the dark/light grays in it made it look very sophisticated. I really liked the contrast of browns in the new Moby-D too, very earthy and warm (much nicer IRL than in pictures). *sigh* There were so many beautiful carriers!!! (have I said that already?) The colors & pattern of the EllaRoo Selendang were rich, and I was surprised that it didn't have a "wrong" side to it. I really wanted Mo to wear that one too and was bummed that he couldn't because El Niño was having a meltdown. He did get to model the new bECO XO, he was actually the perfect model for it because at 6'5" 285lbs, he's exactly the kind of user it was designed for. Not only that but he loves it for its comfort and ease of use, so we'll be getting one soon. Gabby Caperon, the designer/CEO behind the bECO and Ecobabies, modeled one of the Fall Collection Hotslings, a (crocheted?) turquoise lace overlay on navy cotton sateen.* Yum! I want this one sooooo badly. And Kristi Hayes of Gypsy Mama was probably one of the biggest hits of the evening, since she not only modeled the most amount of carriers including the Amautik (I need to get her permission to post those pics) but at one point her toddler was so sick of going out on stage that she told him it would be a game and he should run towards her onstage... which he did, and she ran towards him, caught him, and wrapped him on her back so fast everybody was talking about it for the next two days (and he was laughing). The woman can wrap, and we have a huge crush on her. In fact, we were crushing on her so hard that at one point I was worried she'd think we wanted her to become our "sister wife" (and no, we're not into that). She's just another truly awesome, creative, funny woman & mamma that we were lucky to spend time with this weekend.

Ok, I need to go to bed so I'm just gonna mention a couple of other things that got my attention: the white Nori vest made out of solarveil fabric; it isn't up on their site yet, only the WindPro fleece one is. I think it's supposed to be a swimsuit coverup-type piece of clothing. Regardless, their fleece vest is definitely worth checking out. The MOM Tai with hydration pack; the water pack is stored in a cargo-type pocket on the back of the carrier and it holds 50oz; I've wanted something like this so many times! And then there's Rebecca of maMa by Design who makes beautiful carriers and bags, as soon as I can afford to I'm getting her to make a OOAK custom diaper bag to fit all my (neurotic) requirements. And her MeiTai has a very creative design twist to it that allows for the child's legs to be strapped in to the carrier, making it easier to put on, switch positions, and take off safely. My favorite of the ones she had for sale at the exhibit hall was the fairy-print fabric one w/ detachable fairy wings (for your tot to wear) that was absolutely adorable! I was very impressed with her designs and creativity.

A huge thank you to Jennifer Rosenberg (and her very supportive husband Andrew, daughters and parents) for this major undertaking in making the conference happen. And to Über-volunteers Kristine, Arwyn, Kelly, Nichol and Leslie for EVERYTHING. Also to Alison for lending me her adorable 3yo son so I could model a panel Kozy in the fashion show when my own child was having a complete meltdown. It was so sweet, he fell asleep on me before I even got him in the Kozy!!!

We didn't get to go on Sunday, Mo & El Niño apparently caught a cold and I twisted my ankle after the fashion show. It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone on Saturday night. I will definitely make the effort to go to the next conference in two years, wherever it is (probably the East Coast).

* as an aside, I wanted to add that if I'd been the right size -- a 3, I'm a 4 -- Kristen DeRocha (the woman who owns and designs Hotslings) would've given me the sling... Yeah, these women are THAT nice! This is after she was walking by our booth that afternoon and took the time to help me explain some things about the fit and design of her sling to a couple that had their baby in a New Native pouch that was at least one size too big.

it wasn't BlogHer but it was MY kind of cool

So, we went to the Babywearing Conference at Reed College this past weekend and worked as volunteers. I was SO happy to be a part of this effort! A lot of people I know looked at me like I had grown another head when I talked about the conference and even invited them to attend. I don't understand why anyone who *knows* me would think this is such a strange thing, it's not like it was a Gun & Knife Show or a Hobby Plane Convention... I've already written about why I am such an advocate for babywearing, even though I hate the label as much as I hate the labels Attachment Parenting and Elimination Communication.

Babywearing falls in line with my gentle parenting philosophy, which is basically to attend to my child's needs in a loving way so that he can grow up knowing he is loved and respected. Is that so fruity or out there? There's also a huge element of practicality and convenience, as I can easily get stuff done with my kid strapped onto my body and I can keep him safe & comfortable at the same time. I find strollers to be very inconvenient for many activities -- like taking the bus in an urban setting or going to feed the livestock when you live on a farm (like I used to). Even going to the Zoo is a PITA with a stroller because you have to get the kid out of the thing and lift him up in arms to show him the animals, over and over and over again... And with all the current debate about nursing in public (insert rolling eyes here), some mothers find it easier to breastfeed discreetly while their child is in a carrier -- I admit I haven't mastered this yet -- and they can also get things done while their child is nursing! The arguments in favor of babywearing are really too many for me to continue to list here, mostly because I just want to go ahead and share what an awesome time I had for the past few days. If you want to know more, read here, here and here, plus I encourage you to do your own research. I always prefer to do my own search for information. If I have one more of my friends tell me that they don't wear their baby anymore because it makes their back hurt, I'll scream. Would you stop wearing shoes just because the ones you've tried make your feet hurt? Or would you find a pair that works? (I have more analogies, like to jeans for example, if you're interested) Maybe the carrier you have doesn't work for you but another one will, if you try.

Actually, the other thing I want to say on this subject is that, from a Feminist standpoint, I also find that most all of the small businesses that have sprouted up to support the babywearing community are managed by women... creative, gentle, strong, amazing women who support (wholly or in part) their families by designing and sewing carriers or products that go on to help other women enjoy their children and their life. By buying their products, I support other women and their children and that makes me feel really, really good.

More about the actual conference in a bit...

broken strands

I've had so much going on, in real life as well as in my head, that I haven't had the time or words to get it all out... It feels like I have these strands of ideas, so many of them, and I can't slow down enough to weave them together into something smooth like a legible blogpost. Some have snagged and torn, in fact.

I never did post about meeting a wonderful group of blogging mammas local to PDX. That happened over a month ago. Or about how irritating it is that whenever I'm on the phone with a friend lately, all these different topics we start talking about get interrupted because of our respective children and their demands for attention, to the point where I never remember if we've discussed something or not; it's a good thing I don't lie to people or I wouldn't be able to keep track! This also happened at lunch yesterday with a wonderful, sweet mamma I met IRL for the first time. Which goes on to feed my sense of social inadequacy, and *that* was at an all-time high a couple of weeks ago after I attended a baby shower at a very snazzy restaurant... I felt like such a fish out of water that when I got home I literally burst into tears while Mo looked at me, trying to figure out what he could do to comfort me. There's also some stuff that's been gnawing away at me, about breastfeeding and nursing in public and how I just can't believe that people still, in this day and age, have issues with either!!! Plus, both my sons had birthdays, six days apart. I'm now the reluctant mother of a 15-year-old. I took him out to lunch on his "golden birthday" and watched him straddle the line between his childhood and his manhood, while I felt knots forming in my stomach. I'm waiting for the results of a repeat PAP, which are once again taking too damned long. AND, we found out last week that Mo's ex has quite possibly become an alcoholic, which obviously affects my stepsons greatly and has the potential to change the current relationship dynamic we're in (they've had us on IGNORE since we announced our engagement three years ago). Oh, I'd started a post about my ongoing issues with celebrating the 4th of July, which I couldn't bring myself to finish but I definitely need to because that's yet another shitload of feelings I need to unload.

We've volunteered to help out at the Babywearing Conference out at Reed College, which is coming up on Aug 3 - 6. If you're in PDX area and have children under the age of four, care for children, or plan to have children, please come to the conference. The exhibit hall will be open to the public on Saturday free of charge and many vendors will be there, so this will be an excellent opportunity to try out different styles of baby carriers, risk-free. The classes & workshops should be wonderful too. I'm especially excited about the classes being offered with regard to babywearing special-needs, medically fragile and/or premature babies.

So that was my PSA for today. And now it's like I've been skipping rocks with my thoughts... causing just a few ripples here and there with them as I cast them off into the interwebs. ugh, I feel my ADD taking over.

Happy Birthday, my sweet & silly TWO-year-old!

fire and loss

these are a few pictures of the Sweet Oregon Grill, a restaurant housed in two old barn buildings that burned down early this morning. The pictures were taken on our wedding day... see, this is where we had our garden wedding ceremony and reception almost three years ago. The site has now been declared a total loss and the owner says he will probably not rebuild.

We are so bummed, even Hyde was sad today. This wasn't the kind of place we'd go to all the time but we would drive by it often and joke that it looked like such a nice place to have a wedding. We're planning to go this weekend and see if we can take some pictures in the garden, if there's any of it left. My only regret is that we didn't get *more* pictures taken there on our wedding day. We have so many good memories from there, and it just seems wrong that a place so special to us is now gone...

breakthrough

Hi! Sorry it's been a while, I feel like I'm neglecting everyone lately no matter what I do.

Things ARE better with Hyde this past few days, and it happened by accident. It's been record-breaking-hot in the Portland Metro and as a result, I've been staying in the living room (where there's a ceiling fan and it's significantly cooler) until waaaaay past my usual bedtime. El Niño's sleep cycle is totally hosed now but we'll get all that sorted out later. So, Hyde's been hanging out with me, watching TV until the wee hours. Even *talking* to me in a non-snarky way! Out of the blue, on Wednesday night he asked me timidly if I was going to keep on doing that, staying up and watching TV in the living room and I said, "yeah... why?" And he said, "because I like it when we do that, we used to do that before, all the time... watch the 11 o'clock news and then Jay Leno's monologue, remember? It was fun."

Are you sighing a sigh of relief with me? Because, I was floored. Then I was giddy but I couldn't *show it* for fear he might shut down all over again. This is a confirmation of what my Godfather (the retired university-Dean-of-Psychology) had told me that very day during an hour-long conversation that was conforting not only because of his sage advice and wisdom, or his love for us, but because there was a loud coquí singing in the background (his home office has a courtyard where coquís live and thrive).

So, that's it for now, my baby's crying and I think Mo's calling me for dinner.

let's workshop this, hmmmmmmm?

all of you who say you were awful teenagers... please tell me how *you* define awful. AND how you define normal in the relative sense of a teenager's behavior. I was neither normal nor awful but I'll share more about that later. I think a lot of my problem has to do with the fact that I really have no frame of reference for dealing with this, for dealing with my teen son's attitude and behavior.

I think this could be therapeutic for you too, not just me. So, please share your memories and your definitions.

mammalodrama

I have to be brief because I'm exhausted. But I probably won't be able to sleep unless I do at least a partial dump, so here goes...

I sent Hyde to his room on Friday afternoon after he was disrespectful to me. He didn't come out for dinner, and when I went to check on him I found his room empty and the window mesh-screen ripped. No word from him all night, or Saturday morning, so we made a police report. When we got home, there was a message from him, left just a few minutes earlier that he'd been in a car accident while in his "other mother's" company (this is my friend who's in the middle of an ugly divorce). Turns out he'd called her, lied to her and she'd taken him and her kids to lunch. After lunch, she ran a red light (did I mention she's in the middle of a nasty divorce and custody battle?) and t-boned another vehicle. Everyone in her car, including my son, was fine. But it was a mess and the cops were there, so it's a good thing I was home to tell them that it was ok for my son to be in her car. And, since she didn't have enough to deal with, Hyde decided that he didn't want to come home that night so he got to spend it at her house. I spent the whole weekend crying, questioning whether I'm fit to mother anyone, and whether my family wouldn't be better off without me. Lucky for me, Sunday's sermon was dead on and snapped me out of my pity party. And that I have some amazing women friends who inspire and encourage me every time I want to shrivel up and die.

Hyde came home on Sunday night, after he and Mo (God bless my husband) played in a Father/Son Ultimate Frisbee game that some of our friends organized at a nearby park. Mo has been icing his knee since then, because no one was kidding about the ultimate part of the game. Things have been weird at home, to say the least. What's gonna happen the next time I say no to Hyde? And, as part of the whole ordeal, I've been on MySpace waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than I'd ever care to so I can keep track of the adolescent chatter and try to figure out where Hyde's head's at, as well as what his friends are like. It's scary. I'd like my blinders back on please, and bring me a stiff martini while you're at it...

So, today. After two days of relative calm, today I'm in the kitchen fixing lunch and look over to see my almost-15yo son pretending to repeatedly one-two punch his 23mo brother. I've warned Hyde before about the way in which he plays with his little brother, and I have to once again point out that this type of "play" is not acceptable. Fast forward to 7pm, Mo and I are getting ready so we can all go to a benefit concert and I hear a weird sound coming from my bedroom door. I open the door and, to my horror, see Hyde swinging El Niño towards the door like a battering ram... I. lost. it. After I made sure that the baby was ok and left him with Mo in our room, I went completely nuts and yelled at Hyde until I lost my voice.

I'm scared because I don't know how to fix this, because I feel like I've lost my first child. Some commenters asked a while back if Hyde is maybe having issues at being "replaced" by his little brother, and from having "lost" his place as man of the house when I married Mo. It's possible. My friend Vic also pointed out to me a few months ago that he may have anger issues tied to his absent bio-father. That's possible too. There are so many reasons, really, for him to be angry and dysfunctional. And this is what I'm dealing with, this is why I may be on a hiatus from the blog... not sure yet what I'm gonna do about anything.

fonts... WTF?

ok, can I just say it's royally bugging me that my old posts are all showing up with a thick font that looks awful? I've tried to edit them but it's not working... so now what?

and on a totally unrelated topic, if anyone out there can tell me how I can get some music I have on a children's music tape (that is apparently no longer available for sale) onto a CD, I'd be most grateful.

misty watercolor memories

So, according to Mo I'm acting strange... maybe another funk is coming on (or the last one never left me), maybe it's just PMS. Today I decided to listen with El Niño to some of the music I grew up with, and I found myself getting very choked up. He, of course, was totally dancing all over the place.

My dad loved music, and I've mentioned before that we had a routine on Sunday mornings of listening to Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, and then an assortment of other kinds of music -- classical, jazz (Daddy loved Miles Davis and Benny Goodman), the Beatles, and even some amazing recordings of Russian marching bands. While my mother's taste in music stagnated in the rarefied offerings of PuertoRican public radio (the worst most obscure operas anyone could ever dig up), I got to listen to everything else with my dad. He even bought me the Foreigner 4 album, Queen's Greatest Hits, Prince's Purple Rain and Cindy Lauper's She's So Unusual. But my first and somewhat secret love is the nueva trova music that I heard at parties, at the university (where my parents worked), everywhere I went in PR as a child of the late 70's and early 80's. Let me tell you, I have no idea how that 8-track of Haciendo Punto en Otro Son's debut album survived being played over and over and over, until I memorized all the songs and came to believe they were thinking of me while writing them.

I wish I knew how to set things up so I could share an online "mix tape" of this music with everyone, just like Dutch did. Oh well, I cannot... this is something else I'll have to learn how to do, right? I hope anyone out there reading this will feel like going through the trouble of discovering the music created by the incredibly talented musicians of the Haciendo Punto ensemble, as well as solo artists Pablo Milanés, Víctor Jara, and Mercedes Sosa. They are my favorites, the ones I listened to when I was a rebellious teen in Puerto Rico, a lonely college student in Manhattan, a melancholy and out-of-my-element single mom in Sacramento, and now... whenever I need to feel my roots, feel my heritage in ways I don't yet know how to explain.

The CD we listened to today was Punto Final, which was recorded live during what was supposed to be the final reunion concert of Haciendo Punto. My then-boyfriend and I stood in line because each person was only allowed to purchase two tickets -- the concert took place in the relatively small venue of the University of Puerto Rico Theater, once home to the Casals Festival -- and we'd promised my grandfather and great-aunt that we'd take them. The experience of being in that theater with them, of watching my Über-conservative great-aunt mouthing the words to every one of their beautiful, patriotic (and liberal, pro-independence, possibly communist!) songs with tears in her eyes while they performed is something I'll treasure forever. When I listen to that CD, I feel like I'm there again. It makes me hope for my country, even as my heart breaks and I'm reminded of how things are now, all these years after those songs were first written. I'm glad I can play it for my sons, so I can give them a taste of Puerto Rico, like when I cook rice & beans for them. Maybe they'll be the future of my beautiful island...

***

Speaking of music, I finally listened to Pink Martini this weekend, and I liked it. If you're not in the mood for Latin American protest music, this may be a more lighthearted and fun choice for you.

Carry on, then!

Supercalifragilistic-Kozy-a-lidocious

I mentioned a while back that I would soon be receiving a wearable work of art, courtesy of Kelley at Kozy Carrier (and Mo's mom, it was her birthday gift to me). Well, it's been here for about a month and I couldn't love it more! Yah, I know, I took my sweet time to post the promised pictures but it's very hard to capture the beauty of this carrier in pictures, much less indoor pictures (do you *know* what the weather's like around here?). We went to the park today with the camera because it was totally gorgeous outside, and Mo took these pictures so I could share with my blog peeps. StefanieRJ told me this looks like what she'll wear when she finally gets her "Queen of the World" title and I knew exactly what she meant because I feel positively regal whenever I put it on. That, and I get a little bit of a plushie thing going on when I'm near it, all I want to do is pet it!

Okay, in this second picture I'm carrying him way too high... honestly, we were all tired and ready to go home but mamma needed more piccies. The idea is that the child's head should be at a perfect level for one to effortlessly kiss the TOP of their head; anyone can see that I could've effortlessly kissed his neck the way I'm pictured carrying him. *sigh* I wanted to show off that I can carry my two-year old comfortably in this, so I can properly convey why it is that I love these carriers so much.


***
So, if you're in the PDX Metro, listen up!

there'll be a free babywearing workshop on 6/11 from 2-3 pm at the Wild Oats in Vancouver. Melissa Cole, of Natural Family 101, will be leading this workshop and everyone is welcome. There will be a brief discussion about the benefits of babywearing as well as hands-on practice and one-on-one help with many sample carriers to try out as well as handouts and resource lists.

If you can't make it, join the Portland NINO group and learn about upcoming get-togethers and workshops, as well as the Babywearing Conference at Reed College this August 3-6.
***

This last is an indoor picture. I decided to throw it in because I love the way my sweetie looks in it. And don't even think about rushing over to the Kozy site to order one of these. The opportunity is past. I sat on a waiting list for six months to be able to get this one-of-a-kind carrier. You'll have to make do with one made out of canvas, which is really not a sacrifice at all (and the little strap pocket they have is very convenient and ingenious, it's the only thing missing from my velveteen & silk beauty). Proudly made in the USA, baby!

wrap me up!

Remember when I said I'd gladly be mummiffied in a wrap? Well, let's make that two, shall we? I *thought* I was passionately in love with Purple Waves (left) but it turns out I'm also in love with Aubergine Waves (right)... they're slightly different in their purple/blue shading, and I'm a sucker for anything in that part of the color spectrum. Many thanks to Lori for allowing me to use her picture. If you visit her site you'll get to enjoy pictures of her incredible collection of Didymos wraps, along with her three adorable kids and many different domesticated critters. I think I may just have to go visit her one day...

I haven't posted a picture of my new "fancy" Kozy because I haven't managed to get a nice one taken outside, in natural light. It's very hard to capture the beauty of velveteen and silk indoors... plus, I've been so cranky lately I didn't think I could find the appropriate words to do it justice.

For those who are reading this and are interested in baby carriers but find wraps and MeiTais (like the Kozy) intimidating, there's always the Ergo or the bECOpack. I think if you get a BabyBjorn as a present or hand-me-down (I got one as the latter), it's fine and will do the trick for you, it's just that for the same amount of money you can get one of these other carriers that'll last longer, be more versatile and more comfortable for you and your baby. Just my opinion. And, I like the bECO better because it has a taller body AND it can be customized with different fabric choices. For me, the Ergo is too plain (I realize for some that'd be a bonus). There's a picture on the bECO site of a 4th Gen made out of Marimekko fabric -- look at the "customs" -- that made my jaw hit the floor. I've always been a sucker for Marimekko prints, and still prefer them over the usual Amy Butler and Robert Kaufman offerings. (ok, I know I'm gonna be pelted with tomatoes now!) Hmmmmm, if I could get enough traffic to this blog, I might be able to hook myself up with some ad-revenue goodness and fund babycarriers... would y'all that are reading this tell your friends to come by? We could sure use the cash, thanks!

Just kidding. Actually, I want to thank y'all again for reading and commenting -- those of you who do, I know there're also some regular lurkers who never comment. I've been really low lately (no! really?!?!? none of you had noticed, right?) and it's very encouraging & validating to read your comments. But I won't bore you by getting mushy.