Baby Canuck Fan

Moving away from the "Great Steak Debate" :), here are some photos of the youngest Canuck fan at our house! Can you say cute?!

I could just eat him up!!

E

Teething...

Loic has three teeth in now. We are waiting for the last big front tooth to come in, and it is proving to be a slow go.

Poor squid is not happy today and last night he got up a lot (he hasn't done that for months). For the past few months he has been such a great sleeper - he goes to be at 7:30 or 8:00 and sleeps until about 4:00 or 5:00, nurses, then goes back to sleep until 7:30. Not last night! Last night he was up at 2:00, then from 5:00-7:30 (!). I gave him some Tylenol at 6:30 and that seemed to help him go back to sleep by 7:30, but he got up at 8:30. Needless to say we are all tired today.

Poor baby, I hope this last big tooth comes in asap.

E

The great Steak Debate - for you Erin

We don't eat steak often (maybe once or twice a month) but we have the same "argument" at our house every time we cook it. Rob and I don't agree on how we should cook steak. I will tell you how we each do it, but my way is much tastier :)

To start with, buy good steaks. We like small, thick cut steaks - my mom showed me which ones to buy and I can't remember what cut they are! Mom - feel free to email me what kind you buy. Don't buy big cheap ones, go for small more expensive cuts, it is worth it. And don't ever, ever buy "quick cooking" T-Bone steaks - they suck. And don't buy any marinating steak - save those for the beef marinade I posted a few weeks ago.

The women on my mom's side of the family are very good at cooking meat. My mom roasts a lovely chicken, my aunty Christine cooks all sorts of game meats very well and my Aunty Sylvie cooks a mean roast. I can cook a great chicken and steak, I am not so big on cooking the bigger cuts of meat but one year I made a delicious organic turkey for thanksgiving. But I digress.

Rob's way to cook a steak

1. Bring steak up to room temperature and coat liberally with steak spice.

2. BBQ on med temperature for 6 minutes one side, 4 minutes on the other.

3. Let rest and eat.

Erika's way to cook a steak (taught by my mom)

1. Bring steak to room temperature and coat liberally with salt and pepper (my mom would use steak spice, like Rob)

2. Melt a good amount of BUTTER in a frying pan.

3. Cook steak on medium/high for 6 minutes on one side, 4 minutes on the other.

3. Let rest and eat.

Ok, my way produces a much tastier (read: yummy butter) steak while Rob's way produces a steak with a distinctive BBQ flavour. I find that the BBQ steak is a bit dry and not as "meaty" tasting.

It is the differences that make the world go round!! :)

E

Grouse Mountain

Jody and I took Loic up to the top of Grouse Mountain today to check out the bears. I stupidly brought my stroller and not my baby backpack, and had to leave the stroller at guest services while we hiked in the snow. It was foggy and after seeing the bears, who were very interesting and were eating lettuce and a quarter of a dead calf, we got lost. In the snow. While carrying my baby! It was a lot of fun though and we were only really lost for a few minutes. That baby is heavy to carry in the snow! We passed him back and forth for the half hour hike, which he thought was quite funny.

Jody holding a very wiggly baby

Loic and I lost in the snow, but still laughing!

We commandeered a snowmobile for this shot, had I noticed that the keys were in it I might have been tempted to go for a ride. Just kidding (kind of, I have a thing for snowmobiles)

Baby and I safe and sound on the tram on the way down!

Cutest Clothes

Deb has bought Loic some of the cutest clothes that I have ever seen for little boys! She know my love of all things dinosaur and dog too :) Here are my two current favorites:

Camo hoodie with EARS

Soooo cute!!

Dinosaur PJ's - wonder if I can find some in my size?!

We had a very, very busy day today and had a lot of fun. Jody has to get stamps at 15 tourist attractions this month and gets in free, so Loic and I volunteered to go with her today! First we went up to the top of Grouse Mountain with to see the bears (where we got lost in the snow...), then Rob and Jody went to the suspension bridge while I fed the baby in the car, and then we all went out for lunch to the noodle house! I love that restaurant. Rob then took the baby home and Jody and I went to a crazy clothing sale, where we each got a few nice things. Will post the adventure photos from today tomorrow! Stay tuned for a photo of Loic on a snowmobile, Loic and I lost in the snow and many more :)

E

For Erin

My big boy!

Heading out to go swimming with Daddy!

Adorable little ducky!

The BEST corn salsa and baby in a shopping cart :)

Tonight it was nice and sunny outside and after mowing the lawn (which took forever today) I decided to make some fresh salsa! It was amazing and here is the recipe. I made it up and I know that my mom adds fresh basil in hers, which is also good. If you wanted to add cilantro that would work too (I don't add it because I think that it tastes like soap).

Fresh Corn Salsa

All you need to do is dice up the following into tiny pieces - Erin, the pieces need to be the same size as the corn kernels - then add in the lime juice and oil and you are done! This is a chopping-intensive dish but so worth it.

In a large bowl put in:

- 2 cups of corn kernels, use frozen corn, not canned. Just thaw the corn and you are good to go, don't cook it.

-half a red onion, diced

-one red pepper, diced

-two tomatoes, diced

-one jalapeno pepper, diced. I removed the seeds from mine but if you are brave, leave them in

-the juice from two limes

-one tablespoon of vegetable oil

Mix well and set aside at room temperature for a few hours; this will let the flavours mingle. Refrigerate after eating, this dish is even better a day later! We had grilled steak, grilled veggies and a lot of this salsa with taco chips for dinner tonight - so tasty.

Fresh corn salsa, so tasty and healthy too!

Today we went grocery shopping as a family and Loic rode in the cart like a big boy for the first time today! He seemed to really enjoy himself. When I take him alone I won't be able to let him ride like this because he is still a bit unsteady, but Rob monitored the baby and cart while I did the shopping.

I have the cutest picture from this morning to put up! Rob took Loic swimming (awwww) and he wore a duck housecoat. Need I say more?! So cute. I will download that pic soon!

E