Category Archives: Real Life : Dottie

Real Life:: The Peach’s Big Bed.

Real Life : Dottie

Folks, the Peach has a big girl bed. Finally.

We tried it earlier this year right after she turned two but she just wasn’t ready.  After spinning like a top and waking up crying a few days in a row in her big girl bed, the child actually ASKED for her crib.

But now, she’s ready. But I don’t know if I am! She’s just so little.  But she’s not. She’s a big girl and big girls don’t sleep in cribs.  They sleep in beds.

But she still uses the little quilt I made her when I was pregnant. And she has all of her friends near her too.

OK, I’m a little bit nervous about her rolling out of the bed, so we rolled up two towels and put them under the mattress cover.

But I think I  a bit more nervous about her getting up and demanding to come into Mama’s bed.  Or maybe just maybe, I’m kinda hoping for it.  To pull her into bed for a little extra snuggle.

How did you deal with the whole big bed?  How do you keep them in the beds all night long?

Real Life :: Making Marinara Sauce.

Kiddo Cooks, Real Life : Dottie

I love a well stocked freezer.

Actually, it helps to have a garage that you can put the mid-size energy efficient stand alone freezer your parents made you buy at an estate sale. But I love that freezer and the bounty of time saving joy it brings me in the form of frozen goodies.  CHOW’s old food editor swore that the freezer was the best kitchen trick she had to producing great food fast.

It’s one of those things that helps me sleep at night.  I always have a couple of quarts of frozen chicken stock and usually a couple frozen dishes for later.  But that’s my baggage from my college summer job working as a costumed interpreter at Old Sturbridge Village. (Don’t worry, I am SO going to write about that later…)

I noticed the wonderful glut of cheap organic tomatoes at the farmer’s market and thought, “hey–why don’t I make my own marinara that i can freeze and pull out when I want! It will be so much healthier and cheaper and not canned!”

Sure. Why not? Because I have all this free time. HAHAHAHAHA  (wipes tear away from laughter…)  Oh. and a million other projects that need to be finished and linen closets to clean out and. . .

Like THAT ever stopped me before. Over the past weekend, I made marinara from scratch. And it was crazy easy.

Here is what I’ve learned: making marinara sauce from fresh tomatoes to freeze is easy, but takes times.  Because of the steps. Oh, yeah. The steps. I basically used this recipe from Former Chef.

Here’s how it went:

I started with ten lbs of glorious tomatoes that I bought for a steal at the farmer’s market.

I thought this was going to be a serious pain in the kiester, but it wasn’t. Just drop each tomato in boiling water until the skin starts to look kinda wrinkly then pop it in icy water and pinch the skin off. Not too hard.

Next step was to ditch all those seeds, which was kinda fun believe it or not.  But messy—I’m not going to lie to you about that. And I’m glad I didn’t have any cuts because I’m sure the tomato juice would have not been too pleasant to get into a cut.

Then, just chop the tomatoes into quarters and run them through a food mill. So far, the whole experience has ten about an hour with a good size chunk in the middle. And at this point I decide to call it quits and put the nice puree into the fridge and deal with the rest of it Sunday.

The next morning, I pulled out the tomatoes and got cracking again.  I sauted a large onion until translucent. Added garlic and saute for a minute. Added tomatoes and some yummy dried herbs–oregano and basil and a bit of red wine.  And with some great bread my brother brought from his favorite bakery, we tasted it until it was perfect.

Afterward, I left the sauce cool and we put the sauce in jars the next day and popped in freezer.

Yes, that’s right–stare at the nice orderly jars of marinara sauce–not the bathroom floor. Or the linen closet. Or my closet. Don’t even look in the direction of my attic. Or garage. Or… Well,  Let’s just be happy about the sauce, alright?

Real Life :: Dottie’s Non Labor Day

Real Life : Dottie

I can’t believe it is already September! This summer just flew by and was filled with lots of work as well as fun with family and friends. I always like to cram a lot into my days, but I realized that I hadn’t scheduled a proper vacation and by September 1st, I was really feeling it.

Of course, I had planned to cram a whole lotta fun for the Peach into the three day Labor Day weekend. Carousel rides, trips to different beaches, as well as crafty stuff we could do together and swimming as well as knocking some items off my UFO list like making a picnic blanket, dying and refurbishing some slips.  I also wanted to make home-made play dough for the Peach as well as try my hand at making felt food to fill Miss Peach’s little kitchen larder.  I also had planned to bake a few chicken pot pies to give to friends who just had babies, as well as make an end of summer meal for my family that would be topped off with a peach blueberry pie and homemade ice cream.   You know, just a few things to keep me busy.

But last Wednesday night something inside of me just snapped. One of the people in my carpool called to ask if I could text her before I left so she’d be outside ready to be picked up for carpool.  And for some reason this tiny tiny favor was the proverbial feather that broke the camel’s back. And that feather unhinged this camel so much that it started  a two hour crying jag.   I was exhausted.  The reserves were empty.  My well was dry.  I was officially burned out, fried, exhausted, etc. Whatever you called it, I clearly needed a little break.

I planned to take Friday off and clean out the linen closet, take a Bikram yoga class, make a picnic blanket, go grocery shopping and prep for the weekend planning each day out for maximum awesomeness, but by Friday, I couldn’t even hold a pen.  I adore crafting and usually it is almost a form of meditation for me. But I didn’t even want to sew or embroidery or do any sort of crafting.  What did I do instead? Weep a bit. Watched cartoons.  Seriously, I couldn’t even watch an hour long program–too much effort. And take a three hour nap.

Oh yeah, and I went here.

Saturday, I had planned full day of wonderful things–a road trip, a surprise visit for friends, a museum. But instead we had a nice breakfast out with the Peach, followed by a very mellow trip to the farmer’s market, where I was not tempted to buy tons of food to turn into jams/pickles or sauces.

And that evening we bought Little Star pizza to some very dear friends who are moving to Seattle. It was so good to hang with friends. Oh, and I did have a two hour nap too.

Sunday, I was beginning to feel a bit more energy. Enough to make blueberry pancakes, which I think will turn into a special three day weekend tradition.

We did do a little road trip down to some tide pools in Half Moon Bay.  Unfortunately, half the beach was closed due to seals and their pups resting on the Beach. So, we only spent a half hour there, but it was beautiful and fun. Because I was with my family.

Since we were down there we had some artichoke soup at Duartes in Pescadero.

And a nice nap on the way back.

Monday, I had planned on a picnic to Muir Beach for the Peach and my sweetie and I’m sure do tons of things that I can’t even remember.  But I just didn’t have it in me.  And that was OK.

This weekend I learned that big gestures aren’t always necessary to enjoy time with my family. Just doing puzzles together at home was really wonderful.

For example, the Peach and I had a blast looking at all of the different fish for sale in the aquariums at the local Petco while we picked up some cat food.  I’m not saying it was the equivalent of going to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but for the half hour we were there, we had a grand time.

And I did do a bit of cooking.  Not the filling the freezer for winter cooking, but enough to enjoy the best tastes of summer.  Smoked salmon in eggs on blinis with mimosas.  And that great summer feast I planned was still pretty great albeit no lobster, but I picked up some fried chicken which went well with the fresh corn and tomato dish. And I did make the peach blueberry cobbler with delicious store bought ice cream.

So, I went back to work today with no finished sewing projects, no cleaned out closets, no major feats accomplished except some wonderful time with my little family and a chance to restore my much depleted energy.

How was your Labor Day Weekend? Have you ever felt I like I did Wednesday? How did you cope?

Halfway through two.

Real Life : Dottie,

Dear Peach,

I can’t believe you are already halfway through your second year.  It’s been quite a year. And for someone who has only been on this planet for 2.5 years, you certainly have rocked my world something fierce.  My life is so much sweeter with you in it.

I apologize right now for losing and not keeping up your baby book. And I’m still upset that I can’t find the envelope that holds your first haircut hair, but I will give you a little snapshot into your life that hopefully one day you’ll look back on and smile.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

You love to read about Thomas the Tank Engine’s stories.  And you like to tickle pictures of him. Because I guess the underbellies of steam engines are rather ticklish.

I love that when you meet someone new, you are quiet at first, taking a read of the situation and then just turn on the charm. You are a good sharer.

With a bit of prodding, you do clean up your toys.  Although you do enjoy your tricycle, you prefer to push it than actually use the pedals.

You ask me WHY a lot.  When I ask you WHY you say, “because I need it/did it.” The student becomes the master.

Last night when I scooped you up, you grabbed my cheek and gave me butterfly kisses.  You enjoy roasted brussel sprouts.

You have a very pronounced sweet tooth.

You love to run on your tippy toes. You have been known to greet the cat some mornings with a hiss. Although you still love her madly.

You love love love puzzles. You said the 25 piece ones were too easy. I need to get you tougher puzzles.

Child, you can be So. Damn. Stubborn.   Sometimes.

You are determined to stay in a crib for the rest of the year. You told us you do not want to meet Santa Claus.

You love to sing and dance and play your little piano.  You are on tune 85 percent of the time.

If they were giving out Olympic medals for playing Ring Around the Rosy, you would have certainly won the gold.  Your favorite color is decidedly orange.

You grow. You grow. You grow.

You call all of your stuffed animals/dolls your friends as in, “Hey, what’s my friend doing under my crib?”

And this you must know–you are loved. Loved to the moon and back, my sweetheart girl.

I can’t wait to see what you do next!

Love, Mama.

Real Life: I took a vacation from my commute.

Real Life : Dottie

I am a very lucky lady.  I love my commute. Commutes get a bad rap, which I completely understand.  But mind isn’t so bad.

Normally it is 40 minutes door to door and involves chatting with one of my dearest friends as we glide across the Bay Bridge in the commuter lane.  But this summer, I’m mixing things up as my friend takes her own vacation leaving me free to get to work any old way. So, I started taking the ferry to work and it’s really lovely-like a little mini vacation every morning.  It is so picturesque that I can’t help but take tons of piccies along the way with my iPhone, posting them on Instagram, where I post under the name Miss Dottie.

My commute starts with a sweet ten minute bike ride past chickens, a nursery the makes the air smell like rosemary and mint in the morning on a Bay trail to the ferry parking lot.

Then a 20 minute foggy ride across the bay and under the bridge.

To my San Francisco.

Sometimes I stop by the Ferry Building for a breakfast pastry.  In the morning not that many shops are open and not a tourist around.  And the Frog Hollow peach tart is divine with the most insane pastry crust.  It is like biting into summer.

And then start the 15 minute walk to work.  I love walking in the city. Such pretty things if you just take a moment to look.

And great fashion too… I love this banker with his hot pink socks and banker gray suit.

So, really, it’s a good commute. OK, it is an hour long door to door, but it’s a lovely hour where I can read or see such a pretty view.  And here’s the weird thing–for public transportation, it is incredibly clean and people are super polite and generally in a good mood too!  Which I must admit, isn’t really the case for BART and SF Muni commutes for the most part…





Do you have a commute? If so, what’s it like?