CHEESESLAVE

This was breakfast — eggs scrambled in butter, plus half a banana.

For lunch she had the leftover chicken and beet greens and sauerkraut and goat yogurt cream cheese, with cantaloupe for dessert.

Dinner was chicken liver sauteed in butter, organic cherry tomatoes with sea salt, cantaloupe in goat yogurt (sweetened with a little maple syrup), and a little bit of homemade blood orange ice cream (blood oranges, raw cream, raw egg yolks, and maple syrup) for dessert.

Seth asked me what I wanted for Mother’s Day. Flowers? Dinner out?

The only thing I wanted was to do something together as a family. So yesterday afternoon we went to the Santa Monica festival and Kate played on the playground and all had a good time.

I woke up cranky because I haven’t been getting enough sleep so I asked him to watch Kate while I take a nap. I never nap. But I’m so tired and worn down today.

So I’m listening to Kate’s and Daddy’s voices in the other room as I rest. It’s really nice. He fed her a bottle, read Dr. Seuss, and now it sounds like she is crawling around, exclaiming things in her baby language. He repeats the words back to her. “Beeyah!” “Abee-abeeyah!”

I really want to garden today but we’ll see — I need to rest first.

I think we are going to go out for a late lunch or early dinner. Maybe seafood or something. Not much we can eat!

He just took her for a walk. Ahhh now I can nap.

When I emailed this photo to my sister, she wrote back:

“Tut tut, Governor! I’ll take your most aggressive investment plan, and a discretionary dispersement in small bills. Ones will suffice, which should see me through my needs regarding pureed items of most sorts for the foreseeable future. Good gentleman you are!”

“Grampotter” (Grandpa Otter) responded:

“…and my holdings in Pampers are quite substantial…”

This was taken the day before Kate turned one. By my friend Andrea who was visiting from San Francisco. We were playing in the front yard.

Sunday morning Kate and I got up and I felt like doing something special for breakfast. So I made my favorite: Eggs Benedict.

I hadn’t made it in a while but you know what? It’s really not hard. And what a healthy and delicious breakfast! All those egg yolks and tons of butter. This is a great way to get healthy fats into your family before a long day. Most of us don’t get enough good fats throughout the day so this is a nice way to get a jump start.

Of course, I did not give the English muffin to Kate since she is not eating grains yet. She loved the poached egg and Hollandaise.

Also, I didn’t have any Canadian bacon (or any bacon or sausage for that matter) lying around (it was all in the freezer) so I scrapped that. The Eggs Benedict was still absolutely delicious. (If you do add the bacon, fry it in a little butter or lard while you are poaching the eggs.)

I also used the food processor to make the Hollandaise sauce — so easy!

Here’s how I did it…

Ingredients (this makes enough for two):

2 Ezekiel Sprouted English Muffins (not perfect because they do have sprouted soy… next time I will make this with homemade sourdough bread)
3/4 cup raw butter plus 1-2 TBS
4 pastured eggs plus 3 egg yolks
1 lemon
1 TBS Dijon mustard
Filtered water

Add 2-3 inches of filtered water to large skillet. Cover and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, put a little water in a saucepan. Turn the heat on high. Take a stainless steel mixing bowl and set it on top of the saucepan. Add 3/4 cup of butter to the bowl. Let it melt and take it off the heat.

In your food processor (or use a wire wisk in a mixing bowl), process 3 egg yolks. Add the juice from one lemon (about 1/8 cup) and 1 TBS Dijon mustard. Continue to process and then slowly add the melted butter in a slow stream. When thoroughly mixed, set aside.

Butter your English muffins and stick them in the toaster oven.

Your water should be boiling by now. Reduce the heat to medium. Crack 4 eggs into the water, making sure not to let them touch each other. Cook for 2-4 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs (2 minutes for runny, 3 for medium, 4 for firm yolks).

Put the toasted English muffins on a plate. Using a slotted spoon, spoon the eggs onto the muffins. Ladle on the Hollandaise sauce. Add sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

Kate and I ate strawberries and sausage and leftover shepherd’s pie on the lawn at LA’s annual Festival of Books, the largest literary event in the country. I got Kate a few books, including the Spanish version of “Goodnight Moon” — “Buenos Noches, Luna”.

This is something I plan to do with the kids every year. I just hope it’s not this hot next year! It was so hot today that all the coconut oil in the house melted. The sun’s going down now, but it’s still so hot I had to put an ice cube in my glass of sauvignon blanc.

Despite the heat, day one of the GAPS diet went well. I gave Seth ginger tea and fresh carrot/celery/strawberry/cilantro juice and beet kvass and lots of broth.

I made pulled pork for dinner — it’s almost done cooking. It’s technically legal, but it’s a little too sweet, I think for the GAPS protocol. Although I did not use any sugar in the BBQ sauce — just honey. The ketchup is fruit-juice sweetened. Of course I won’t be serving it on buns or bread. I’ll just put it on a plate with a heap of lacto-fermented sauerkraut — and a side of chicken broth.

Okay, these photos are not from today — they are from Sunday (Kate’s birthday). But I had to share…

Kate LOVES her new sippy cup! She has so much fun playing with it, banging it on her tray, biting it, waving it around. She drank two whole cups of kefir the other day after lunch.

It’s the Foogo stainless steel sippy cup made by Thermos. BPA-free.

LOL! These photos make me laugh. She’s covered in goose liver pate.

Whoa — speaking of BPAs — I just read that Canada banned all BPA plastic in baby bottles. Even Wal-Mart is pulling them from the shelves. Read the story.

Turns out Seth and the baby love leftover frittata for breakfast. They are having seconds now.

Yay — I got two meals out of one!

We’ll be making that recipe again. However, next time I will try it with the goat cheese. I think the stronger flavor of the goat cheese will balance the flavor of the salmon a little bit better.

Here’s Kate with her “cake”. Shhh — it’s goose liver pate. She LOVED it!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c81e-yU9-w]

After the cake, Grandpa Ed and Grandma Nancy sang Happy Birthday to her — on the webcam.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRsnQflHt2Y]

That’s her new sippy cup. She’s getting the hang of it. Drinking kefir!