Backyard Berries and Grapes

Today I spent some time out in the backyard which I haven't done in a while now.  This past week has been go-go-go and Adam has been extra clingy to me.  Attached to my hip he's a happy mound of smiles but try putting him down and he's a frantic puddle of tears.  I don't know what's gotten into him.  Teething? I've been hearing that from people for months now ever since his drooling began at 3 months.  Separation anxiety?  Seems like it but that doesn't really tell me anything more than what I can clearly observe.  Poor guy...but poor me too!  It's hard getting any cooking, laundry, sewing, or even eating done when you have a 19.5 pounder clutched around your neck for dear life.

Anyway during his naps today I did finally get outside and stain the wood door leading to our detached garage.  Then I transplanted some parsley and basil into bigger pots and plucked a few raspberries from our bushes.  It's the most productive I've been all week. These bushes along our fence were here before we moved in and we've heard from several people to beware of raspberry bushes because they grow like weeds. It's true, this year the leaves do seem a bit unruly but I can't really complain about the lovely taste of raspberries fresh from the yard!

Now it's just a matter of getting to the berries before any squirrels or birds do!  Actually I'm not really sure what animals go after raspberries but it would be nice to avoid red sticky goo all over the yard in any case.

Got me a nice haul today, third bowl of raspberries in a week :)

We have grapes too but I discovered last year while tasting some in the yard that they are S-O-U-R! That's because they're wine grapes and we have plenty growing along the fence opposite the raspberries. Technically the wine grape vines belong to our neighbours but many have migrated over to our side and we've been told to take whatever we want.  Too bad I don't make wine. Wanna know a little secret? I don't even like wine (gasp). Ok, well...for anyone who knows me that's really no secret at all.  

Perhaps I should look up some recipes that make use of wine grapes for foods other than wine.  I wonder if there are any.  I think I should make it a challenge (goal?) to find a good recipe where I can use these wine grapes.  Alright, Challenged Accepted (we've been watching waaay too much How I Met Your Mother)!. Stay tuned for a follow up post.

Mish Mush?

This past month I've been trying various pureed foods out on Adam to get him used to new textures and flavours.  So far he's sampled mashed or pureed bananas, avocados, sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, apple sauce, oat/barley cereal, and now....broccoli!

I'm happy to report that he gobbles down the non-sweet foods (e.g. avocados and broccoli) as readily as the sweet ones.  I've been giving him a new food only every three days or so to make it easier to identify any potential food allergies (none so far, knock on wood).  Now that we've tried a pretty good variety I think I'll make his purees in larger batches and freeze them so he can have different tastes day to day.  Yesterday I started with broccoli and carrots.  

I put the carrots (chopped into smaller pieces) and broccoli florets into the steamer basket, then steamed for about 20 minutes.  Possibly could have removed the veggies after 15 minutes but I wanted to make sure the carrots were nice and soft.  Then I put the carrots and broccoli (separately) into a blender along with some of the water from the pot and voila - orange and green mush!

I had read previously that ice cube trays come in handy when freezing baby purees and yes, each cube really is equal to an ounce (I tested it)!  Adam will easily gobble down at least four cubes at a time though so one tray only lasts about three meals.

Next I tried to put the tray into a large freezer bag but as you can see it was just oh so slightly too small. Darn.  I thought maybe if I just sealed the zipper as much as possible it would be ok but there was some frost after a few hours.

Once the purees solidified I popped the cubes out of the tray and stored them in a smaller freezer bag.  Don't they look delicious?  Maybe because they look like little popsicles....mmmmm orange and green apple :)