Blue Ribbon Foods

Yesterday our Blue Ribbon Foods order arrived!!

We got a huge commercial-strength freezer (21 cu ft.) packed with 6 months worth of food! When Kelly and I first sat with Sylvia (our BRF rep .. who also happens to be a Baha'i!) to discuss the various BRF plans/options, I have to say it was a bit overwhelming. I never think of our food requirements in terms of "26 weeks of poultry" or "28 weeks of beef" ... or X number of pounds of ground beef to last X number of weeks or months. I can barely plan ahead for the following day or week, let alone for half a calendar year!

When all T's crossed and signatures in place, I thought for sure we had ordered way too much food. But yesterday, when everything arrived in neat packages, and the two BRF delivery men packed our brand new freezer with such order and precision, it hardly looked like a mountain of food we could not finish. In fact, it actually looked LESS than what I had imagined we would be receiving. Odd, but Sylvia assured me, after two months, our freezer will still look the same (i.e. the food WILL last at LEAST 6 months).

Anyways, I would promote BRF to all of my friends but this program is only available in the southeast USA. There are several other "food programs" around in the country, and in Canada, but I have to say so far (day 1) has been pretty nice.

Last night for dinner I cooked a top sirloin, medium-rare in about 10 minutes. Kelly had a chicken cordin-bleu (?? no idea how to spell it) and we both had steamed asparagus (super thick and green) and green beans for veggies. All in all, it was a quick meal, delicious, and supposedly very healthy and "top grade" foods. (whatever THAT means). But clearly it was enough to be sold on the program, and I have to say, it is nice having a "grocery store" in your basement freezer.

Hmmm.. what to try tonight??! I'm thinking tuna sashimi! (did I mention we got sashimi-grade tuna and salmon steaks?) Simply cut and eat raw :-D (I bought 16 steaks of tuna, Shar, since I know you won't want to miss this!)

Short Blurb

Hi Everyone!

We're back in Singapore after spending the past few days in Penang (Malaysia). Kelly's relatives met Ethan for the first time. We had many dinners, shopping trips, close encounters with wreckless (Penang) drivers -- or perhaps US driving habits are simply very tame in comparison -- and 499 pictures which are downloading as I type this entry!

With one more week to go until we are back in Blue Ridge, I will be sure to post a lengthy many entries and photos.

Love y'all,
Max

Kaleidoscope: Day Two

Ethan started daycare yesterday for the first time. We had put him on the wait list for infants (0-12months) back in February, and his spot came up just in time. Kaleidoscope is a popular and well-run daycare and learning center in Blue Ridge, and they have wait lists for all of their age groups (1yr old, 2, etc..). The infants group is especially hard to find spots for, so we are glad that we had put Ethan's name early.

But Ethan did not enjoy his first day so much. He cried when I dropped him off. I did not stay too long or else I would have made things worse for him. I stopped by once, around lunch time, to see how he was doing. The caregiver had just put Ethan to sleep for his nap and while placing him in his crib, Ethan woke, and started to cry again. Good thing I was there, though, since he was glad to see me, and I played with him some, to try and get him used to his new surroundings.

I stayed for about 30 minutes and left to run some errands and to not have Ethan then get used to me always being there in the daycare with him. He cried when I left.

So his first day at daycare, a day that started around 9:30 am and ended when Kelly and I picked him up at 4:45pm or so, did not really go so well (as expected). He ate nothing, slept but 30 minutes, and cried for hours probably.

Today was day two. He cried almost immediately when we got there, though I am not sure it was because he recognized I was soon going to leave him there, or that other babies were crying around him. I did not stay long and just left. Poor Noomz was crying.

I will check on him again soon. I hope he eats something today. It is quite a challenge even for Kelly and I these days to get Ethan to eat anything, so I am not expecting miracles here, and I know it will take a long time before he will trust a stranger to feed him. It is unfortunate that Noomz will have to lose weight before he starts eating in daycare, with all our worries about his weight not increasing since around his 6 month doctor's visit. But there is some hope. Just last night, after not eating all day at K, we fed him his usual dinner and then some yoghurt. He ate a little bit of his solids, but not enough I thought, since he should have been starving. So we tried feeding him yoghurt and to our surprise, Ethan loved it! Needless to say we packed him a yoghurt to go along with his milk and solids in his meal bag.

Just heart-wrenching.

As if moving and re-establishing one's life is not difficult enough.

Sushi Making Dinner Party

Last night we had a sushi making session at home with Krishelle and Jessica. We bought ingredients to make sushi rolls with eel, crab meat, pickled radish, cream cheese, bean curd, and the specialty of the night, SPAM. Yup, apparently a popular food (sushi) variety in Hawaii is one that has cream chese and fried spam. So we tried it, and I personally give it a 'thumbs up'.


Krishelle had a ton of sushi rice as well as the vinegar that goes with it, and sheets and sheets of seaweed - we could have made more rolls actually but already it was a bit excessive the amount of sushi we made. I ate sushi for breakfast this morning, and again for lunch, with Jessica, Krishelle, Hardene (Krishelle's guest/friend) and Amani.


Oh and I almost forgot, Jessica brought over this 6 pound (!!) can of fruit cocktail that she had bought from Sam's. Krishelle and Jessica had made almond jelly (to go with the fruit) for dessert and we nearly finished all the fruit cocktail, much to Jessica's delight :-D Smaller, individual packs, next time Jessica.

Graduation Time

This time in May is definitely graduation season everywhere, with college seniors saying goodbye to the campus world they've lived and breathed and partied and studied in, to the "real world" they are going to embark on. On Sunday, Chelsea's grandparents threw her a graduation/going away party. Chelsea finished her program at UNC and is moving to New Zealand with her husband, Zafar. The party was very well planned and the food was fantastic! Chels' grandparents' place was also very beautiful with gardens all around the house and very mature (over 20 years of planting has taken place and so the gardens have had time to totally develop). I loved it. Well anyways, here's a couple pics from that night.

Chalk Up Another Favorite: Carrots!

We discovered the latest food that Ethan likes to eat - carrots! A few days ago we introduced peas for the first time and he loved them too. So things are looking pretty good as far as eating veggies goes. We probably have to go to Target today to buy more baby food, or some broccas (aka broccoli) to steam for noomz. Ahh... noomsie noomsah. My precious.

Mmmmm..... Cookies!

For nearly every open house that we've held Kelly has been baking cookies to fill the house with the warm, fresh scent of cookies baking in the oven, and to also offer them to interested people seeing our home. This is actually quite a common thing in open houses I have attended, and so we've employed the technique, though most are actually too polite to accept any.

Chocolate chip cookies have been the norm. Kelly did make some chocolate chip oatmeal ones, and also a chocolate chip and raisin oatmeal variety. Today, however, Kelly set an all new standard for moist, super scrumptious, fresh baked chocolate heaven ... I forgot I was describing a cookie for a second ... ahem.. they are chocolate cake mix with chocolate chips in the cookie and drizzled with melted white chocolate chips for presentation (and added taste!).

Hands down, these humongous things will delite any palate :-)

Pear-fect!

Chalk it up to the list of food Ethan likes! It wasn't love at first bite though, but he has taken to eating pear pretty quickly and now really likes it. So among the foods noomie enjoys to eat include: banana, sweet potato, broccoli and pear! Next, we will probably try peas since we have a lot of it.

Brocc'a Brocks

It's been a while since I posted a blog entry. Things are pretty crazy over here. Juggling a lot of things, and, well, some things are just out of our hands. But anyways, Ethan loves his broccoli!! We steamed fresh broccoli and Magic Bulleted it to a creamy consistency, and mixed it with his rice cereal. Noomie can't get enough of his brocc'a brocks -- a chip off his ol' daddy's block.

Southern Tooth (Almost)

Yes!! I found the jackpot - in what Ethan loves to eat that is (besides rice cereal). I'd call it a sweet tooth, but he's got no teeth. Just gummy noomie-ness. And so the golden food (quite literally) is Sweet Potato!!

It has been well over three days since we introduced bananas to Ethan, and he is enjoying eating that now. So, I figured I could introduce the next fruit or veggie. I figured I would choose a vegetable this time, since we've tried applesauce (too tart) and banana (ok) so far. And boy, from the word go, the golden pudding was like buttah to my baby's belleh.

Since the jar of sweet potato baby food was a bit too runny, I mixed it with his rice cereal to thicken it up, and he ate every bit I offered him :-) Kelly and I will be quick to buy more tonight or tomorrow for sure. I have a feeling Ethan will also enjoy peas. Knock on wood!

My good ol' Southern Boy loves his Sweet Potato (Pie)... perfect since we're moving to Georgia.

Going Bananas

Yes, some times I feel like I am going bananas .. but that is neither here nor there. It would seem that Ethan is slowly enjoying eating bananas!! Woo hoo indeed! He still prefers his bananas only when mashed well and mixed with rice cereal at a ratio of no more than 1 part fruit to 3 parts mush. But hey, this is improvement! And four feedings later, Noomie actually consumed his first complete/entire/whole banana (albeit a smaller sized one).

Next up: Peas.

0 For 2

Ethan looooooooooooooves his rice cereal -- unfortunately this does not translate to everything else we feed him, now that he is eating solids. We have tried introducing 'applesauce' to him, and with a face, and a gag, we get the message loud and clear: "Daddy, this thing is too tart/sour/weird!!". So we try mixing it in to the rice cereal. Nope! It is just not as good as plain, good ol' fashioned, rice cereal.

Following Kelly's advice (after all she is a pediatrician), we waited 3 days before introducing something new. "The next food we introduce should be somewhat 'bland'", I thought. With this in mind, I figured bananas would be pretty tame, no? Again, nope! Same sour, skewed face with a gag or two to make the point VERY clear, he is not wanting any of this one too.

So back to the trusted creamy rice cereal. And he just eats so much of it!! Ethan is up to a whole cup each feeding (not a true cup, but a 'baby cup', and when I checked it measures nearly 4.5 ounces). So each time I feed him a bottle of milk afterwards, and he ONLY drinks 1.5-2 oz I know he is really taking in nearly 6.5oz!

But what to do about introducing fruits and veggies?

We have not yet tried vegetables, though we have already bought peas, sweet potatoes, among others, and I very much hope Ethan will enjoy eating them as much as he like his plain cereal.

Any tricks?

Eating Solids

So the exciting thing with Ethan these days is that he is eating solid food. We've started him on rice cereal - the typical stage 1 food recommended by pediatricians.

At first, Ethan would just play with the spoon with his tongue, or take in some cereal, only to dribble it through his lips and onto his chin and bib. Soon enough, his whole face (yea even in his hair) would be smeared with rice :-) And to think I used to cringe when my young nieces used to make a mess while my sister fed them their solid foods. Well (ahem) here we are, Ethan is doing the very same thing, and I am actually OK with it :-p Love you, Shar! (no 'I told you so's please)

But that was a whole week ago now (or more?) and Ethan is just loving his rice cereal. I am not sure exactly how much he is eating, but it sure seems like a lot. We use one of those cuppie things (it is probably a real 1/2 cup volume?) and a small plastic spoon, and most recently, Ethan was able to eat HALF of that whole cup! Mmmmm... I love it when he eats so much :-)

He gets his usual 2 or 3 meals with rice cereal and supplemented with breastmilk. His dinner is usually only breastmilk actually.

I weighed him the other day, and Ethan tipped the scales at 16lbs. Of course, once we go to the doctor's office for his 6-month well-child visit on March 19th, he will probably officially weigh somewhere in the 15's.

Steady progress. He seems to be tackling all developmental milestones pretty well and without much fuss - thank God!

He is starting to purposefully grab things - which is cute only for now I'm sure. Eating dinner with him on our lap is more difficult now.

Oh, and when I feed him with a bottle, he can even hold the bottle by himself! (though when I do this, his interest in his own hands grasping an object is enough to distract him from his drinking!!) Errr.. can't get a break. Soon enough, he'll be drinking his own milk from a sippie cup or bottle and he won't need his daddy for that -- that's when I'll probably miss these days now when he is so completely reliant on me for many things.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Happy Chinese New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Celebrating this year in style, Ethan is wearing his Chinese outfit given to him by his Ah Ma. The hat piece is a tad big on him, but otherwise he looks just like a cute little Chinaboy (as Adeline called him in one of her comments). Thanks, Mom, for Ethan's outfit and Ang Pao (Hokkien, Red Packet).

This year is the Year of the Pig. (Adeline's year -- hope it's a great one for you!!!)

Kelly was telling me, tomorrow night will be Reunion Dinner. All family members come together for this one big evening, and this year, as usual, Kelly and Adeline will not be in attendance. There will be tons of good food, and some really traditional foods too, and everyone together. Hmmm.. I hope one year we could be in Singapore to celebrate with all the family and relatives there.

Please take some pics, Mom and Dad, and share with me, and perhaps I can post in another blog entry. Mic and Yuske, please have some (pics) of the boys (Junn and Ryu) in traditional costume/outfit if any.



We wish we could all be there, but know we are thinking of you.

Can't wait for December when we will all be together there. And perhaps you can all come and visit us in Georgia, if not this year, than in '08.

Love to all!

Firebirds Rocky Mountain Grill

Kelly and I celebrated our 2-year wedding anniversary with dinner for two at Firebirds at Southpoint. And what an evening to be outdoors at all. It is storming. Wind. Rain. Chill. Brrrrrrrrrrr....

We tried to park as close to the restaurant as possible, but the parking lots were surprisingly full for a Tuesday, stormy evening. So, it was inevitable that we brave the elements at least for a little way. Somewhat wet, but very cold, we made it inside the cozy mountain cabin ambience of Firebirds.

This was Kelly and my second time at the Rocky Mountain dining place. The first time was nearly three years ago when we were both new to the area. I can still vaguely remember, it was dinner with Fariba, Carmel and Vipul. Yea, I can remember confiding in Vipul my guilty indulgence in buying a ginormous TV. Oh the good times.

Our host was an Asian. It was nice to have a bunch of young, diverse hosts and hostesses at this fine joint. Kelly ordered an herb baked half chicken that came with mashed potatoes and green beans and garnished with rosemary. I ordered a 14oz. ribeye, medium-rare, that came with sauteed veggies. The steak was very woody and peppered. It was ok. I would have appreciated it more if I had a bigger appetite. I was sort of full already before dinner.

Well HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, Honey!

Merlion

Kelly's dad's last evening was enjoyed at Merlion - a Singaporean restaurant in Southern Village in Chapel Hill. This place is slowly becoming a favourite for Kelly and I. We ordered: Roast Duck in a sweet plum sauce, Char Koay Teow, Mee Goreng, Thai Fried Rice, Sambal Shrimp and Calamari, and Mixed Vegetables in Brown Sauce.



It has been a fun past three weeks with Kelly's dad here. He now returns back to Haifa (Israel) tomorrow. My parents who just arrived have a week with us, before they retun to Toronto, and mom to return again in December, for two months or so. All the family visits have been such a treat. I am sure Ethan is benefitting very much also. I will certainly be glad to have the extra help and company once Kelly goes back to work in one week.

BOO! (Noomie Coming Through!)

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN!!

Ethan dressed up as a baby tiger... for all of five minutes while mom and dad helped me take pictures of him. Ethan was much happier out of the costume than in, but he was a good sport through it all. Afterwards, he was rewarded with some play time in his floor gym.



Tonight, we went out for dinner at Red Lobster - Endless Shrimp was still on the menu and so you know dad and I just had to partake. We just kept the plates coming, neither of us backing down, both holding our own, until, agreed by us both, we concluded with a final plate of fried shrimp, and the feasting came to an end.

I must say, had dad gone on to another plate, I probably would have weakened. Phew! The man can eat! (but I offered him pretty stiff competition too). :-p



And to finer palates. The ladies (mom and Kelly) wanted none of the all-you-can-eat nonsense. Instead, mom decided on Grilled Salmon and Jumbo-Shrimp-On-Skewer in a sweet and spicy pineapple glaze, and Kelly went for the no-fail Fish-n-Chips (aka Flounder with a bit of broccoli and tartar sauce) - oh how my many British friends would cry. But Kelly has this ability of making anything she eats, seem better than yours, and quite honestly, my popcorn shrimp seemed less and less appealing compared to Dr. K's Flounder over there.



Back at home, we managed to get a couple brave little trick-or-treaters. We didn't really plan Hallowe'en all that well this year, and so we really missed all the young children in the neighborhood in their costumes asking for candy. Now, we are left with about 5 pounds of candy, which will likely remain untouched until next year.

Transporter 2 (the movie) from Netflix arrived. Perhaps dad and I will wind down the night watching this movie, while Kelly (actually already fast asleep) and mom will prepare for a quiet evening with some much needed sleep.

Mr. Cranky Pants, Mr. Fussy Pot

Lately, Ethan has been pretty colicky. Crying, whining, until and unless he is carried and rocked and sung to :-) I mean, who wouldn't want all the love and attention? So, we've cheekily called him by two nicknames: Mr. Cranky Pants and Mr. Fussy Pot. Still, he is so noomie you just want to eat him up.

Today, Ethan's social security card arrived. So, Dad and I went to the bank to open a savings account for Ethan, and dad also managed to do some shopping at the local asian store. It has been pouring all day, so we tried to keep our outdoor errands to a minimum, and we hurried back home.

Oh yea... one other nickname we use for Ethan is - Mr. Tomato Head. We call him this name because in his effort to poop or pass gas, his face becomes completely contorted, and his whole head a dark red. Yea, I even call him, Mr. Gassy Man, sometimes.



For lunch, Kelly's mom cooked Kung Pao chicken. It was really spicy. Dad and I got our butts kicked with the red chilli peppers, while mom calmly removed the seeds from within each chilli, and ate only the roasted skin for flavour. Kelly played it safe and put all the chillis on her plate to the side.

Our next Netflix movie will be Transporter 2. Hopefully it will arrive by Monday.

Sympathy Weight

[Kure Beach, North Carolina, 2004]

I think I may have put on some weight. (a collective "no, really?" from the family in the background... gee thanks!) This picture was taken over two years ago, when Kelly and I were still dating, and I probably weighed around 165 lbs. The belly was still in check. Barely. Some have six-packs, I had (have) a one-pack. :-)

But ever since Kelly was pregnant with Ethan, I have put on even more weight. Some call the weight gained by the partner of a pregnant woman "sympathy weight" - a way of saying to your (pregnant) partner, "look, I'm getting bigger too".

Well, nearly 5 weeks since Ethan was born, Kelly has already lost upwards of 20 lbs. And she is going to lose more since the natural physiological reaction of the body to breast-feeding is such. (plus Kelly does not eat nearly as much as I do).

So can I ask some sympathy weight from others now? Probably not. I am probably on my own here, huh? Kelly's dad is even resorting to making me "Chinese Tea" to help me lose weight :-) Thanks, Dad. Appreciate it!

So just how heavy am I? Not anything ginormous by any means. I weigh in, at my heaviest, at a hearty 178 lbs. Being only 5 foot 8 inches tall (on a good day :-p ) this means my BMI (body mass index) is 25.8 (I think) - making me "overweight". (BMI >30 is considered obese).

Kelly attributes my weight gain to three main things: (1) portion size, (2) food choices and (3) empty calories from juices/sweet drinks. I would be first to agree to those, but also tack on a (4) decrease in physical activity.

With the holiday season yet ahead, I would only be setting myself up for disappointment by pledging to reduce food intake. (it's hard enough to just drink water than flavoured liquid of sorts). Hopefully, I can start with slowly curbing my juice intake, and work my way to portion size and food choices, all the while increasing my physical activities again.

I went for a run this afternoon to get the ball rolling. Not a great day for a run. It was so chilly that my face, ears, throat, and lungs were just aching from the cold air. Never an easy task to get going with a personal plan to change one's lifestyle. I will keep this up hopefully.

And perhaps, with the Baha'i month of Fasting (fast) approaching - ok that was cheesy - I will make more headway in my attempts to tackle (1) and (2).

Baha'is fast from March 2nd to the 20th (19 days in total), where we abstain from food and drink between daylight hours (between sunrise and sunset each day). March 21st marks the begining of the New Year (Naw Ruz) and also coincides with the start of Spring.

Mummy The Chef

Yesterday was a pretty crummy day weather-wise, and so for the most part we stayed indoors... Or at least Kelly, Ethan and I stayed indoors, while Mom and Dad braved the inclement weather and went for a 2-hour walk down the American Tobacco Trail to the Southpoint Crossing shopping center.

Having gone to the Grande Asian Market the other day, and Sam's and Kroger days before, we had A LOT of food at home that we needed to consume. Not to worry - although Kelly was already freaking out about the sheer amount of food that we (I) had amassed and that would go to waste if we did not start eating 'em all - we had a real chef right here at home.





I cannot even accurately remember when what dish was cooked first. I do remember Uncle Mike dropping by to say hello and see Ethan. We then had a late lunch with Mike enjoying Char Kway Teow (Malaysian - specifically Penang - flat noodle dish) and another dish with Glass Noodles, both care of Kelly's mom of course.

That evening (last night) we watched 7th Heaven on CW and had Sago pudding with Gula Mulaka and coconut milk sauce (home made!) and fried plantains with brown sugar for dessert. The tapioca pearls used for the Sago pudding were not the ideal small ones typical for this dessert - the GAM did not have any in stock. Instead, we bought an Indian (Indonesian??) alternative that totally expanded in water, so each pearl was really really huge.





OK so that was all last night.

This morning, for lunch, Mom was cooking up a storm. OK, quite literally. Every inch of counterspace was used for finely chopped ingredients in bowls all ready to be perfectly added to a dish being cooked. The entire house smelled like garlic and chopped onions and other Chinese herbs and sauces of which I do not know the names. But hey, you put up with the sniff, if you want to have the yum. (I just coined that saying - copyright!)



And yum.... ohhh... yum, was truly had. Dining out, it seems, has taken a back seat to dining IN. And Kelly is pleased we have managed to use a huge portion of the groceries we bought this past week. And when mom (Kelly) is happy, everyone is happy, right, Ethan?? :-p

We had a fish (Pomfret) dish with Shitake mushrooms, Chinese greens (Gailan) in Oyster sauce with spring onions and fried garlic for garnish, and Silken Tofu (I know nothing more of this dish, so need to ask Kelly's mom).

Although chilly, Kelly's mom and dad are now going out for a walk. They are quite good about walking it seems. Perhaps I will end this blog entry now and go for a walk with them.

Mom is already talking about cooking curry chicken for tomorrow! :-)