a weekend of culinary fun

we had a busy week followed by an even busier weekend.  but the weekend was all about fun stuff and hangin' as a family, which was just what we needed!  i think it was wednesday night when we looked at the clock after dinner, totally wiped out, and saw it was only 7pm. and i think even emre participated in our collective sigh upon realizing bath time was still an hour away!  luckily we had a last birthday present hidden away in the back closet that i figured would help us whittle that hour away.  

what a nut.

a first birthday present???  you ask?  well, let's just say this gift was actually bought as a first christmas gift, but i realized at the time that he a) wouldn't be interested in it yet and b) had already received plenty of gifts to keep his 11  month old self occupied.  i had then wrapped it to give as a birthday gift the next month, but yet again realized he wasn't quite ready for it & was already bombarded with toys.  so, it waited in the back closet along with a random assortment of other gifts we're keeping hidden until the right time.

only, i still don't think it was the right time, considering his enthusiasm for the wrapping paper far exceeded his interest in the gift itself.  ah, well.

the gift, pictured in part here, was a chicco dj music machine.  i wanted to encourage his musical interest.  as i said - ah, well.

his interest in the paper quickly faded when he noticed the camera.

the rest of the week was pretty normal, including the regular bouts of tantrums.

life just isn't fair sometimes.  ESPECIALLY when i don't get what i want.

on saturday we spent a blissfully lazy morning hanging around the house in our pj's.  we even had a nice breakfast with gigi, via skype.

he was loving his breakfast with gigi until - you guessed it - he spotted the camera.

smoothie-face, still wants the camera.

after breafkast i got to work prepping for our saturday night dinner party.  emre wanted to join in the fun, so i  set him up with some kitchen utensils which kept him plenty busy.  i love spending time together like this - each of us doing our thing, chatting away - an entirely new concept to us, now that he's old enough to enjoy playing on his own.

monsieur chef

don't bother me, ma!

my first order of business was making these brownies for our saturday night dessert. they are a cinch to make and so, so good served up with some whipped cream & powdered sugar.

bad ass brownies

then, once ben left with emre for gymboree, i got down to the real work of making coq au vin.  agatha & eric were coming for dinner - he's home for 3 weeks - and i wanted to make us a special meal.  

all prepped and ready to cook.  please note my bouquet garni, positioned above the carrots, which is worth including in any meal just to be able to announce it as you add it to the pot - but only if you say it like julia child, obv.

i also wanted to spend my afternoon in the kitchen - something i hadn't done in a long, long time.

it's coq au vin, suckaz!

i really got into it - even brought out the tapers!  that was when ben looked at me like he wasn't sure who i was.  i guess it had been a while since we'd hosted an adult dinner party?  thank god for 8pm bedtime!

a spring table on a snowy evening

agatha & eric arrived & munched on some cheese & olives while ben bathed emre & i put the finishing touches on our meal.  emre was asleep by 8pm, when we sat down to enjoy dinner, just the adults.  i don't know if i was more pleased with the coq au vin or the timing of it all, but it's certainly something we'll try to do the next time we have company for dinner.  what a treat, enjoying a meal uninterrupted!

agatha critiques my work

it was a fun night with good friends.  on sunday morning i woke up and, still in a culinary mood, decided to whip up some of kevin's famous scones.  emre did his thing again while i baked - a nice, quiet sunday morning activity.  the scones were delish - even though i used whole milk instead of cream (i swear you can't tell the difference - try it).  a nice treat for ben to wake up to.

gettin' our scones on

sunday was all about family time.  we skyped with ado & aydan, then took a long walk after breakfast - all the way to ben's folk's house.  emre loved the cool, crisp air & took a nice nap while we walked.  he then played with ben's folks for a while (ben and i watched from the couch & contemplated sneaking out the door), before his dad drove us home - for more naps (mommy too, this time).  it was heavenly.  then we skyped with the lansford fam & i whipped up a baked whole wheat rigatoni for dinner - which emre thoroughly enjoyed.  a perfect sunday!

is there something on my face?