It wasn't that long ago...

...when both Baby1 and Baby2 took to their first bites of food. I should have realized, when I was pregnant, that my eating habits paralleled both palates: with Baby1, I ate everything, and couldn't get enough of fresh fruits and vegetables; and with Baby2, I had this ongoing nausea the first 5 months, that I really didn't want to eat anything at all - and especially not meat. Just the thought of meat would make me sick to my stomach. But then... there was Thanksgiving... and suddenly I couldn't get enough to eat.

So now, here we are, as Baby1 makes her own choices about food (OK, I will try it) and Baby2 ventures into the same (Nah nah nah!!). Both have fallen into the bad bottomless pit of junk food heaven, from wanting only goldfish at each meal to getting on our bar stools to open upper cabinets for granola bars and tortilla chips. But there are moments when both kids really surprise me, by being willing to try new things or showing excitement over healthy options. Like, my vegetarian Baby2, who surprised me by delving into tandoori chicken this evening, eating his sausage tortellini with sauteed kale last night, and loving the peas in his curry butternut squash soup as last night's starter; or Baby1, who gets excited by apricots on the store shelves (so do I!), tries everything we serve her at least just once, and gets excited to see freshly-cut fruit as dessert.

So now, as friends hold new little ones in their arms, I figured I'd repost some oldies but goodies for the newest little palates as they venture into the big huge world of food. Making your own baby food is not difficult, and at least you'd have a fairly good idea as to what exactly goes into baby's food.


A general rule of thumb: whenever you try new foods with baby, try it for 7 days to confirm that there are no allergies to the food.


The three basic processes I used:

STEAMING: Orange vegetables usually are the way to go for first foods for baby. Steam chopped carrots, and let cool. Reserve the steaming water - it holds a lot of nutrients which may have leached out from the steamed carrots. Once both carrots and steaming water have cooled down, puree in a food processor to a fine and even puree. Use this same process for:

Sweet potatoes
Peas (you won't believe how green the pea puree will be against store-bought jars!)
Zucchini, peeled
Beets
Spinach (food process finely first to break up the fibrous stems)

BAKING: any squash under the sun, with the exception of spaghetti squash, which is immensely fibrousy and may be difficult for baby to ingest. Split squash in half, and bake cut-side down in about 1/2" of water, for about 40-60 minutes at 350 degrees. Once squash has cooled, you should be able to easily scoop out the supersoft flesh and serve just as is. You may elect to serve the squash sans water - it's up to you. I've typically found that the baking water just doesn't give much to the puree flavor.

STOCK: make any vegetable or meat stock, but keep the sodium down. Impart more flavor into the stock by adding a variety of vegetables and mushrooms. Do take care, however, to not put in too many vegetables that can cause gas - babies will protest. Avoid large quantities of onions, garlic, cabbage, or strong herbs until later in baby's first year. You may elect to food-process the meat if you make a meat stock, and add to the stock to expand the meat side of the palate if you so wish. Stock will help give the veggies a different dimension in flavor and help expand the possible combinations of foods you give to baby.

For storage, we filled ice cube trays to 3/4 full for each cube, and once the cubes froze, we emptied the cubes into freezer bags for extended storage. After the initial weeks of food trials, we found that we could take a cube from each of the bags we had, and be able to present baby with a multi-dimensional meal whenever we sat down to eat.

To supplement the veggies, stock, and meat, we also steamed quite a bit of rice. I would make the rice a little more sticky, and freeze in the same ice-cube trays. The rice would defrost quite nicely, and add a textural, albeit soft, dimension to baby's meals.

Hurrah Hurrah

Oh what a weekend it was. Penn. Alumni Weekend. Tradition. All the fun of time with my college friends without the stress of finals and papers. The grounds of our University awash in red and blue, with alumni descending on the campus in droves, young and old. And can you believe, the 65th reunion for some - you do the math! It's all I could have asked for, to let me reminisce about my college days days of ole walking on the same ground tread by many before us, spending my time in the breadth of study - ok, just sometimes - and parties - well, all right, most of the time.

And as we hugged and cheered, and met our friends again as they came from near and far, we danced into the night while the rain pitter pattered on Locust Walk and cast a quietude over the entirety of the campus. It's this Penn that I always remember - the quiet campus, too often so as I headed out late after long hours in studio or in study, just in time for rambunctious revelry at a friend's house or at our favorite watering hole (can you believe, Smokes still smells the same after all these years!). There was something wonderfully romantic about the campus this past Saturday night, as three of us walked arm in arm from one party to another, under an umbrella just big enough to leave our heads dry. And as we recalled distant memories from our days on campus, our freshmen fascination when we first set foot on these grounds in West Philly, our stroll along Locust Walk engulfed me in the breath of life I felt when I lived, at Penn.

May I take care to add, that Hubby was not part of our evening festivities, as he stayed home to take care of our little ones so that I may spend the time in revelry with my fellow classmates! Gracious, gracious thanks.

The campus is still amazingly romantic. It's like an old sweater to me - well worn, familiar, and much loved. We had a great time with the reunion festivities, between parades, picnics, and photographs. And the kids' tent at our picnic, complete with kid-sized chairs and tables; straw bales for outdoor seating to watch the jugglers, magicians, and acrobats; and activity tables where the kids can make beaded Penn keychains or decorate a Penn frame for your photo from the nearby photo booth - just perfect for us parents with little ones. Our enjoyment of the weekend events even led Hubby to entertain plans for how we will celebrate my 20th reunion, in just 5 years. To think - the kids will really be ordering me around by then. Amazing.

So to toast our dear ole Penn, I pass along the recipe for my drink of choice. While I didn't realize it until I googled it just now, my signature drink happens to be a highball. Providence, I tell ya.

Highball (I call it a Jack and Ginger)
2 oz whiskey
Ginger ale or soda water/lemon
Ice

Fill a highball glass with ice. Pour in whiskey, add ginger ale to top off, and stir. Enjoy cold, any time.