We've had our Audi A3 for about 10 months now... and some review notes after driving it around for this amount of time. The car drives great - handles well, small turning radius, very responsive. We got it in manual, and it's fantastic. There are several items, though, that bug the hell out of me in this car, items that make me suspect that they didn't think the design through thoroughly.
When you sit in the passenger seat, the adjustment tuner for the clock blocks your view of it. Pulling up on the parking break causes the drop-down arm-rest to pop up a bit, a flaw that our salesman tried to sell us on as being "designed that way." I'm short, so I pull the seat all the way up to the front - but lo and behold, while driving sometimes, the seat re-locks itself into another notch just behind where I've pulled (and thought locked) it up to. The glove compartment has too many, um, compartments - enough to just not allow you to fit a whole hell of a lot of whatnot into it without it not being able to close properly or your stowaway to break. There are no pockets behind the front seats. It comes pre-hardwared for their own phone, and doesn't allow for you to hard-wire your own phone into it (but then, I haven't tried taking it after-market for off-the-shelf product installs either). The salesman toted the rear windshield wiper as smart for automatically turning on and wiping if you have the windshield wipers turned on and happen to go in reverse - but I've had this not turn on 2 times during the course of my driving our car. The head rests on the front seats don't seem to go all the way down. And, if only, there's power running to the rear-view mirror for auto dimming in bright light, but damn if they couldn't have just put a navigation compass on it too.
This is an Audi, right?
Storagewise - we got the smaller vehicle because I didn't want the mom-mobile du jour (read: SUV), but we also got the hum-v of the strollers. When we have the stroller with us, it's all that can fit in the trunk. The car is narrower, which makes for great maneuverability, but it also makes for narrower trunk space. I was thinking about it the other day though - I still think that the larger the vehicle, the more crap you lug around. So, I'll stick with the smaller vehicle, and lug less shit around. It's a sacrifice one way or another - either you get the monstermobile and lug all kinds of crap like you're carrying your living room with you when you go out, or you get the smaller vehicle and have to really prioritize what you do or don't want to lug out. It's all good.
OK, so Hubby, Baby, and I have ventured our way out into restaurants of late. You can read some of my reviews at my yelp.com site, http://www.preggiechef.yelp.com. I'm still cooking, learning to do things ambidextrously and single-handedly. What did I make recently - oh yes, celebration of Hanukkah, I made my first batch of latkes and matzo ball soup. Matzo balls ended up too heavy. Latkes were just a little too thin. Alas, it is the first batch after all.
My latkes, I did find, way easier to just process everything in the food processor - potatoes and onions all together. Definitely press the potatoes and onions out to drain out before mixing in the eggs. Frying, it really was about 5 minutes a side. They weren't the best batch, but they were latkes nonetheless.
And the world's easiest chicken soup to accompany the matzo balls: whole chicken, make sure to salt/pepper/season the inside cavity, and cover in water. Add chopped carrot (coarse, just 2" pieces); whole onion skins and all, with ends cut off; and celery pieces as well. Bring to boil, and let simmer for 1/2 hour. Remove chicken, and remove legs and wings. Place legs and wings back into soup, and set aside the breast/body of the chicken. Let the soup simmer for about 2 hours. Return breast to soup for another 1/2 hour. When ready to serve, chop carrots and celery into 1/4" thick pieces.
Honestly, I've let the whole chicken simmer in the soup, no problem. Really hands free, and oh so good for our winter nights.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
When all else fails...
Chicken breast, season lightly with salt and pepper each side. Pan fry to brown each side.
Place on baking sheet, and cover with tomato sauce. Bake for about 20 minutes. Take chicken out of oven, and lay on 2 slices of mozz.
Serve with pasta.
This is what I made tonight - sure shot, easy, and do-able with baby in one hand. The best part is being able to let the oven do the cooking, without having to watch it the entire time. And it's relatively healthy!
Baby enjoyed the pasta (spinach spaghettini) tonight immensely. I gave her a small plate of pasta, and she had the best time slurping up the pieces she could pick up. But then, when I gave her a small piece of my chicken, well, game over. She knew there was better food, and the spaghettini was last week's news. Alas... what can you do!
Place on baking sheet, and cover with tomato sauce. Bake for about 20 minutes. Take chicken out of oven, and lay on 2 slices of mozz.
Serve with pasta.
This is what I made tonight - sure shot, easy, and do-able with baby in one hand. The best part is being able to let the oven do the cooking, without having to watch it the entire time. And it's relatively healthy!
Baby enjoyed the pasta (spinach spaghettini) tonight immensely. I gave her a small plate of pasta, and she had the best time slurping up the pieces she could pick up. But then, when I gave her a small piece of my chicken, well, game over. She knew there was better food, and the spaghettini was last week's news. Alas... what can you do!
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Still cooking, still persevering
So a couple of days ago, I'm talking with a friend of mine, and he remarked that out of the people knows, I'm probably the one who cooks the most. Gotta admit, I was really surprised. I mean, yeah, I cook, day in and day out, and I prep all of Baby's food, but really, out of the people that he knows? I don't know. Maybe my surprise (and longing) at hearing about my friends' meals at home being hot dogs and pizza still continues through adulthood. I don't know.
My parents, or our nanny du jour (as my mother made firing our live-in nannies a task like drinking water) as most cases were, cooked our home dinners each day. Yes, this meant that some days we had just left-overs, but these weren't left-over green bean casseroles, or left over baked chicken. These meals were all Chinese in flavor, and there were a variety of vegetables and meats we'd have. But, comparitively, I missed being able to be "normal," and that included having "normal" meals, like pizza and lasagna day in and day out. Thank god I didn't.
Now, because largely due to my varied group of friends, I hope that I'll be able to deliver to Baby and Hubby the variety of foods that is reflective of all different types of cultures in our meals. Just Chinese won't cut it any more for me, and frankly, knowing that we'd be having Chinese again got really boring at home. My cooking these days is bordering on basic (simply-seasoned protein of some sort, with steamed vegetables with salt and pepper, and at times, a sauce of some sort or a side of rice), but it's slowly starting to get ramped back up again. I'm using the skills I've learned during the course of the last 8 months of Baby's life in food prep, from pre-cutting vegetables and even portioning butter or flour, to prepping the night before for the next day's dinner, and pairing those skills with my learned ability to prep one-handed. My knowledge I've gained in trying different spices and knowing what tastes like what and how long I'd have to cook whatnot how long or when to add cream to a sauce has proved invaluable now, as chasing around little Baby is quite the task of date. I have to admit, my skill-honing came to a complete standstill with the birth of Baby, so I'm lucky that I experimented with different ingredients and methods before having Baby.
Most recently - we produced, with help from our friends Bondrew, Thanksgiving dinner at our house for 10 (this includes Baby, as she's quite capable of eating her body weight's worth at each seating). I was in charge of stuffing, side of veggies, turkey, cranberry sauce, and salad. Here's a brief rundown:
The stuffing, I took a loaf of white bread (wow, when was the last time I had white bread!), cubed it, and baked the bread, single layer, for 15 minutes at 300 for a nice crisp exterior to dry them out. I used Trader Joe's chicken/mushroom sausage, removed the casing, and browned the sausage for the fat and protein. To this, I added raisins and cranberries. Stirred this into the crusted bread, poured in chix broth, and stirred together until well coated and mixed. I baked this for about 20 minutes, at 350. My big mistake was using too much bread... the meat and bread ratio should be about equal, and many thanks to Hubby for picking out the extra bread.
The turkey - I brined it again this year, and it yielded a wonderfully juicy turkey. Brine, about 12 cups of water with 1 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of peppercorns, rosemary, thyme. I got an organic turkey this year, and marinated the turkey in the brine for 24 hours prior to baking. I tucked butter under the skin, covered with honey (bad idea, browned and caramelized too early), but otherwise, the turkey came out great. I combined the left-overs with a pre-mixed frozen mixture of veggies, with some chix stock, for a wonderful turkey soup post-Thanksgiving.
Cranberries - 2 bags of cranberries, some orange juice, rind of 1 orange, and about 3/4 cup sugar. Cooked this 10 minutes, and let stand - oh yum!
So that's the quick rundown of our Thanksgiving this year from my end. We also had mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin roll (so good, from Bondrew!), a ham, flan, and lemon custard pie, to name a few other items. We feasted quite a bit. As did Baby. Oh boy, she was stuffed.
And now, Christmasbound!
My parents, or our nanny du jour (as my mother made firing our live-in nannies a task like drinking water) as most cases were, cooked our home dinners each day. Yes, this meant that some days we had just left-overs, but these weren't left-over green bean casseroles, or left over baked chicken. These meals were all Chinese in flavor, and there were a variety of vegetables and meats we'd have. But, comparitively, I missed being able to be "normal," and that included having "normal" meals, like pizza and lasagna day in and day out. Thank god I didn't.
Now, because largely due to my varied group of friends, I hope that I'll be able to deliver to Baby and Hubby the variety of foods that is reflective of all different types of cultures in our meals. Just Chinese won't cut it any more for me, and frankly, knowing that we'd be having Chinese again got really boring at home. My cooking these days is bordering on basic (simply-seasoned protein of some sort, with steamed vegetables with salt and pepper, and at times, a sauce of some sort or a side of rice), but it's slowly starting to get ramped back up again. I'm using the skills I've learned during the course of the last 8 months of Baby's life in food prep, from pre-cutting vegetables and even portioning butter or flour, to prepping the night before for the next day's dinner, and pairing those skills with my learned ability to prep one-handed. My knowledge I've gained in trying different spices and knowing what tastes like what and how long I'd have to cook whatnot how long or when to add cream to a sauce has proved invaluable now, as chasing around little Baby is quite the task of date. I have to admit, my skill-honing came to a complete standstill with the birth of Baby, so I'm lucky that I experimented with different ingredients and methods before having Baby.
Most recently - we produced, with help from our friends Bondrew, Thanksgiving dinner at our house for 10 (this includes Baby, as she's quite capable of eating her body weight's worth at each seating). I was in charge of stuffing, side of veggies, turkey, cranberry sauce, and salad. Here's a brief rundown:
The stuffing, I took a loaf of white bread (wow, when was the last time I had white bread!), cubed it, and baked the bread, single layer, for 15 minutes at 300 for a nice crisp exterior to dry them out. I used Trader Joe's chicken/mushroom sausage, removed the casing, and browned the sausage for the fat and protein. To this, I added raisins and cranberries. Stirred this into the crusted bread, poured in chix broth, and stirred together until well coated and mixed. I baked this for about 20 minutes, at 350. My big mistake was using too much bread... the meat and bread ratio should be about equal, and many thanks to Hubby for picking out the extra bread.
The turkey - I brined it again this year, and it yielded a wonderfully juicy turkey. Brine, about 12 cups of water with 1 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of peppercorns, rosemary, thyme. I got an organic turkey this year, and marinated the turkey in the brine for 24 hours prior to baking. I tucked butter under the skin, covered with honey (bad idea, browned and caramelized too early), but otherwise, the turkey came out great. I combined the left-overs with a pre-mixed frozen mixture of veggies, with some chix stock, for a wonderful turkey soup post-Thanksgiving.
Cranberries - 2 bags of cranberries, some orange juice, rind of 1 orange, and about 3/4 cup sugar. Cooked this 10 minutes, and let stand - oh yum!
So that's the quick rundown of our Thanksgiving this year from my end. We also had mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin roll (so good, from Bondrew!), a ham, flan, and lemon custard pie, to name a few other items. We feasted quite a bit. As did Baby. Oh boy, she was stuffed.
And now, Christmasbound!
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