The Cottage and The Weekend

On Saturday, I made my glorious return to Primary Series yoga class. It was tough but invigorating. Of course, certain things like jump throughs and lolasanas are no longer accessible to me, but thankfully I could still do most of the poses.

Afterwards, I was famished so Badge and I went to the Cottage for brunch. I got Eggs La Jolla (spinach, country ham, sundried tomatoes), Country French Toast, and a virgin Bloody Mary.




Badge got a Breakfast Burrito, Banana Pancake, and a fully loaded Bloody Mary (yes the waitress was slightly perturbed by how much food we ordered). Delicious! I'd forgotten how good this place is. By the time I got home, I was so full that I passed out on the couch for a pleasant afternoon nap...

...and woke up just in time for dinner! We met up with Spike, Frog, Kimbo, and Warren (visiting cousin) at Cucina Urbana. There was much eating to be had, but unfortunately no pictures. It was a night full of great food and great company. Can't ask for anything else.

The next day, Badge and I went to the La Jolla farmer's market to pick up some veggies and fruit. In the afternoon, Badge had soccer while I went to a donation yoga class (all proceeds go to Japan relief fund). The studio was packed full of people. It was really great to see so many folks turn out.


To conclude this weekend post, I leave you with this gift Dog got us when he went to Germany. Awww cute cat chocolates right? You might think this...until you realize that Katzenzungen means cat tongues.


Seriously? Who thinks of these things??

Yummy Dinner

Tonight I made Saag Paneer. Except because I'm lazy, I skipped the paneer and put potatoes in. Delicious!! Esp with yogurt.

I love home cooked indian food.

Yellow Layer Cake with Rich Chocolate Cream Frosting

This weekend, I was fiending to bake something decadent. After drooling over all 350 recipes in my Baking Illustrated book (courtesy of Monkey), I settled on a simple yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

This book is great. Following the Cooks Illustrated approach, it gives you a detailed scientific break down of how they arrived at each particular recipe. For this cake, I was surprised to see they used a two-stage procedure where you mix the butter with all the dry ingredients (plus sugar) first, rather than the traditional creaming of just butter and sugar, then adding the dry ingredients. Never heard of this! The results were great. From the fluffy batter, I got two light buttery layers with plenty of eggy goodness. The frosting was pretty easy too. You basically melt chocolate in some hot heavy cream. Done and done! Topped with raspberries, this cake was the perfect ending to a cozy rainy Sunday.


Imagine eating this with a cold glass of milk.


Become one with the cake.



Yellow Layer Cake
Courtesy of Baking Illustrated

1 3/4 cup (7 oz) plain cake four, sifted, plus more for dusting pans
4 large eggs, room temp
1/2 cup whole milk, room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz) sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
16 tbs (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but cool, cut into 16 pieces

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat to 350 degrees. Grease 2 9-inch round cake pans and cover bottom with parchment paper. Grease parchment and dust pans with flour, tap out excess.

Beat eggs, milk, and vanilla with fork in small bowl; measure out 1 cup mixture and set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of standing mixer. Beat at low speed to blend (~30 sec). Add butter 1 piece at a time; mix until butter and flour begin to clump and look sand and pebbly, with pieces about pea size, 30 to 40 sec after all butter is added. Add reserved 1 cup egg mixture and mix at lowest speed until incorporated (5-10 sec). Increase speed to med-high and beat until light and fluffy (1 min). Add remaining egg mixture in slow steady stream, taking ~30 sec. Stop mixer, scrape sides, and continue beating med-high speed until thoroughly combined, and batter looks slightly curdled (~15 sec).

Divide batter equally between pans. Baking until tops are light gold and tookpick comes out clean (20-25 min). Cool on wire rack 10 min, loosen, invert and cool completely

Rich Chocolate Cream Frosting
16 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped fine
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place chocolate in heatproof bowl. Bring heavy cream to simmer in saucepan over med-high heat; pour over chocolate. Add corn syrup and let stand 3 min. Whisk gently; stir in vanilla. Refrigerate 1 to 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 min until spreadable consistency. This frosting does not keep well, should be served within a day.

To Sushi or Not To Sushi

I'll be honest...I've sushi'd three times since finding out I'm pregnant.

Yes, my doctor told me no raw fish.
No, I'm not blase about my baby's health.
Yes, I understand there's a small risk of parasitic infection.
No, I don't want lots of mercury in my system.

Despite this, it really is my firm belief that everything is ok in moderation (except maybe pro wrestling). If you go to a restaurant you trust (for us, that's Edo Sushi, our little neighborhood restaurant) and have frequented many times, chances are pretty slim that the one time you happen to be dining there, they serve you bad fish. I know many women who wouldn't risk it, which is totally cool, I'm not arguing that they're paranoid or anything. But for me, I'm ok with it. I mean, look at the photo above (courtesy of some random site). How can I deny that?

Of course, I'm limiting my indulgences to once a month or less. Since I only really eat salmon during the regular week, I probably don't have to worry too much about mercury from one "sensual pleasure" roll (scallop and spicy tuna mmm) and some yellowtail pieces (mmm).

Training

I've read from a number of places now that you should train for your delivery like you're training for a marathon. Well maybe not that serious but you get the idea. It's important to be in good shape so you have the strength and endurance required for birthing.

This past week I did quite well on the exercise front. I went to studio yoga twice (yes I'm starting to go back to the crazy Sunday class, but taking it easy), work yoga once, and had two 3-mile runs (walking when tired). Sounds like a lot, but since work yoga isn't that hard, I don't really count it as full exercise. More like time to de-stress and practice breathing.

So that's going to be my work regime for as long as I can keep it up.

Mon: work yoga at lunch
Tues: after work yoga at studio
Wed: run 3 miles
Thurs: work yoga at lunch
Fri: run 3 miles
Sat: rest
Sun: yoga at studio

Glorious Return

These days, my green thumb has been limited to buying pre-cut flowers from the farmer's market (see above). While my indoor vase looks quite nice, my outdoor garden has been sadly neglected. In fact, I don't believe I've done any actual gardening in over half a year!

Well enough of that. I finally got off my lazy butt today and hit the weeds. I must admit, I was motivated by a visit from my mom and Uncle Jamie, who came down from LA on Friday. The sole reason for the visit? To bring me mulch and to trim my palm trees. Now, before you think me a slave driver, please know that this was completely of their own accord. My parents just love showering me with free mulch that they get in LA.

Today I went about hacking weeds, clearing debris, pruning, and fertilizing. Amazingly, many of my plants were doing quite well despite my lack of watering. Lucky for me, it's been unusually rainy this year. At long last, Badge and I harvested the compost (a two year work in progress) and have spread the black gold along our raised bed to dry and fluff. Still a bit odorous but definitely looks nutritious.


Amazingly, the fig tree my mom found as a sapling and nurtured to adulthood appears to bearing it's first fig ever!! Hooray! Will keep close tabs on this one.


The chinese loquat tree is also having it's first fruit bearing year. There's probably almost 15 loquats fattening up.


Can't wait to eat these suckers.


So overall things are in good shape. My three heirloom tomato plants are still alive and I will meticulously nurse them back to health. The bananas are still green but hopefully getting bigger. Flowers are sprouting on the peach, lemon, and lime trees. Life is good :).

Boycott

I've decided to boycott maternity clothes. It's not that there are no choices out there. I just balk at the idea of buying clothes that I will never wear again. Why can't I just wear loose flow-y tops with leggings? Or maxi dresses? Or really any empire waisted dress? Do I really need a pair of jeans with a funny band around it?

Next Tues will mark my 4 month mark and I'm not really showing yet. Aside from looking like I ate more than usual (which again no one can tell except Badge who sees me in my birthday suit), I still fit into almost all my clothes. I have begun employing the hair tie method to keep my jeans buttoned together, but other than that, I'm status quo. Of course, I'm sure I'll start exploding in the next few weeks so I may abandon the boycott and go running straight for a maternity store. But until that day, I stick by my plan to make it through the ENTIRE pregnancy without buying a maternity specific clothes. Wish me luck!

The Business of Being Born

On Mon, I made Badge watch The Business of Being Born, a documentary recommended by my yoga teacher. It's about the birthing industry here in the United States, particularly as it relates to hospitals and doctors. I'm too lazy to sum it up nicely but I got a few key takeaways:

1) In Europe and Japan, midwives administer 70% of births as compared to a measly 8% in the US. The documentary contained lots of footage of at-home deliveries with a midwife that actually seemed kind of pleasant. Well, there was still lots of pain since they were all completely natural births, but it did seem nice to move around as you pleased and in the comforts of your own home.
2) OB doctors are first and foremost, surgeons. They are primarily trained for complications that arise, not for normal natural birth. Never thought of it like that.
3) Intervention is often unnecessary and can lead to a snowball effect, i.e. they induce contractions, which in turn leads to more pain, which in turn leads to an epidural, which in turn slows the contractions, which in turn leads to more meds to induce contractions, etc.

It was a very interesting movie. I'm not sure I agree with everything but it certainly was an eye opener. Despite the attractive case they made for at-home delivery, my pregnant ass will still be at the hospital, because this is my first child and who knows, something might go wrong (God forbid). However, I would be open to the possibility of having subsequent children at home or with a midwife. I guess it depends on how the first goes.

One thing I did change my mind about was having an epidural. Before watching this movie, I was absolutely convinced that I want one, but now I think I'd really like to try having an all natural birth. Sure I may change my mind the minute I go into labor, but I'd really like to try and see how it goes.

And with that rambling review, I end with a four star rating. Worth watching (esp since it's available instant on Netflix). Definitely worth watching if you're expecting a child.