Sketchy Santa

This Christmas is only the second year that we've gone to visit Santa Claus.  Ruby's first Christmas when she was about 6 months old, Steve and I were both working and just didn't muster up the energy to tackle the weekend crowds at Union Square.  By the time of Ruby's second Christmas, she was already afflicted with deep-seated stranger anxiety, and handing her off to a large, hairy man in a red suit seemed like a special kind of torture.  Last year on Ruby's third Christmas, we finally visited Santa at Macy's in Union Square.  We went during the week when there were no lines with Ruby's BFF, Eva.  Not surprisingly, Ruby would not sit on Santa's lap, but we still got a pretty good picture with Ruby on my lap.

This year, we visited Santa with Ruby's preschool friend Sydney.  There are two Santa Clauses in Union Square, one at Macy's and one down the street in the Westfield Mall.  After some debate, we decided to try out the Westfield Santa this year as he had received some favorable reviews from other parents.  While this Santa did look very authentic and gets an A+ on facial hair, he gets a D- on jolliness.  I almost felt like I was in a movie with the quintessential surly, move-it-along-dumb-kids type of Santa.  Lucy didn't mind at all and sat on him like he was a couch, but Ruby was quite off-put and refused to even stand next to him.  So Santa instructed me to sit on his lap and put Ruby on my lap, which was all very awkward.  The sketchy part is that in all the pictures with Sydney and her little brother, this Santa's expression was downright melancholy, despite the angelic smiles of Sydney and Noble.  However, in the photo where he had insisted I sit on his lap, he looks strangely pleased.

Dissatisfied with our Santa experience, we all decided to walk down the street to Macy's to visit Santa #2.  Fortunately the kids are not at the age to be too confused by this.  The Macy's Santa was much nicer, so Ruby deigned to stand next to him but still refused to smile despite much cajoling.

Merry Christmas everyone!

What Ruby Eats, 1st Edition

I decided to start a food section on this blog that documents the things I make for dinner.  One reason is that we just got new dinnerware from Crate and Barrel (Cyber Monday deal) and now all of our food looks better.  The other reason is that perhaps my efforts to cook dinner may be enjoyed for longer than the 5 minutes that it takes for Steve to inhale it and the 1 hour it takes for Ruby to stare at it and complain that she wants a different fork.  My strategy for cooking dinner is to make at least one thing that Ruby historically has liked.  Of course that is no guarantee that she will eat it that day.  Some days she eats a ton, which makes me feel amazing, and other days she eats nothing, and I am inevitably crushed.  Such is the fickle hand of preschooler food consumption.

Saturday - Stir fried beef with carrots, broccoli, yellow bell pepper, and mushroom:

Ruby's reception:
This is actually Ruby's favorite preparation of broccoli, so she will specifically pick out all of the broccoli from this dish to eat.  She also really likes the beef even though I get grass-fed and it's therefore pretty gamey.  She will also eat the carrots, but the peppers she only eats raw so I have to save some from my prep bowl.

Sunday - Stir fried chicken with purple potatoes and orange bell peppers:

Ruby's reception:
Purple and orange are two of Ruby's favorite colors, so I was going for visual appeal on this one.  Unfortunately this was one of the days she decided she didn't want to eat anything.  I also baked a small pumpkin that night, and she ate a few bites of that, and I think I will save the rest to make baby food for the 1st Edition of What Lucy Eats.

Monday - Stir fried pork tenderloin with nagaimo root and wood ear mushroom:

Stir fried on choy with garlic:

Ruby's reception:
On choy is now the only leafy green vegetable that Ruby will eat.  She can sometimes eat almost the whole dish on her own, leaving me with just some scraps!  She also has always liked nagaimo which is a root vegetable that has the consistency of an apple.  She claims to not like wood ear mushroom, but it doesn't seem to bother her if she doesn't realize she's eating it.

Until next time!

Turkey #6

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year.  Our first Thanksgiving with 2 kids was quite successful and surprisingly low-stress.  This was our 6th year hosting, and by now I've gotten it down to a science, the Thanksgiving production.  I know when to pick up the turkey, when to start brining, what to make on Tuesday, what to make on Wednesday, and how much I can do on Thursday without feeling overwhelmed.

Steve and I started hosting Thanksgiving the year we were married because I knew that if I didn't want to eat Chinese food for Thanksgiving that I would have to cook it myself.  Growing up I had always forced my mom to buy a pre-made turkey and sides, which she would then supplement with some Chinese dishes.  I had never met a raw bird before so the prospect of cooking my first turkey was very daunting.  That first Thanksgiving in 2006 was probably the most stressful one since I was reinventing the wheel and was also overly ambitious and made too many things all by myself and all from scratch.  It was also the year that we bought our largest turkey (an 18 pounder) which turned out to be a mistake because 2 of our guests were vegetarian.

My first turkey:

It was by far the best turkey I had ever tasted, if I do say so myself, as we had brined it, which is key to preserving moistness.  After about a week of turkey for every meal, we had had our fill for the year.

Turkey #2:

Our second Thanksgiving we had a mix of family and friends, which made for some slightly awkward dinner conversation, but was once again tasty and suitably overindulgent.  I believe this was also the year that Steve got two of our glass serving bowls stuck together while washing the dishes and had to break one with a hammer in order to free the other.

Turkey #3:

Our third Thanksgiving, aka The Announcement, was when we told family and friends we were expecting our first baby (future Ruby!)  That year Steve's parents, my cousin Hao-hao, and our friends Mark, Sue, and their son Johann celebrated with us.  I didn't have a lot of pregnancy symptoms so I really didn't cut any corners with that meal, but once we told everyone I was pregnant, I was no longer allowed to even lift a plate.

The year that Ruby was born was the only year that I didn't cook on Thanksgiving.  We were leaving for Hawaii a couple days later so we couldn't have any leftovers, and that was also an extremely busy and stressful period of time in lab, so I just couldn't get it together to cook.  We ordered a pre-made meal from Whole Foods, which was sort of sad and disappointing relative to the usual production, so we will not count that year.

Turkey #4:

The following year saw the return of the Zhang family Thanksgiving.  We had moved into our current house but it was pre-remodel.  That year my mom was there as well as Ruby's little buddy Zach and his mom Wanda (Zach's dad was home because their dog was sick).  Much cuteness ensued.

 I believe Ruby ate some of the vegetable sides that year but no turkey.

Turkey #5:

This was the Thanksgiving we spent at our temporary apartment while our house was being remodeled, winning it as the Thanksgiving meal cooked on the least amount of counter space.  The guests that year were Steve's parents, our friend Eric, and teeny tiny Lucy in fetal form.  It was still a bit too early in the pregnancy for us to have the announcement, so I was nauseous in secret.  Fortunately the nausea didn't really affect my appetite, so I was still able to pack away a good meal and blame my emerging baby bump on that.

Turkey #6:

This brings us finally to Turkey #6, enjoyed just a week ago with Ruby's long-time playgroup buddy Alex and his family.  This was the first year that Ruby actually consumed turkey!  Ruby had a great time playing with Alex.  It's so nice that they are now at the age where they can play on their own and entertain each other.  I only felt a little sorry for Lucy who could only sit and watch the rest of us eat.  It was one of the best Thanksgivings yet, especially because we have more than ever to be thankful for.

Belated Halloween

I am woefully backed up with holidays due to serious blog neglect, but I just wanted to get on the record that this happened:

Some of you may recognize this as the reincarnation of another little cow from days gone by.

Since Ruby and Lucy's birthdays are so close together, they are nicely age matched for holidays and special events.  In an effort to reuse this Halloween costume, I artfully steered Ruby in the direction of a Western themed costume.  When I initially asked Ruby what she wanted to be for Halloween, she said a horse.  I really wanted to steer clear of large, bulky costumes for Ruby for fear that she would change her mind about wearing it at the last minute due to discomfort, fear of horses, etc.  Now that she's older, costumes that are most similar to normal clothes seem to work the best.

Mommy:  What do you want to dress up as for Halloween this year?
Ruby:  I want to be a horse.
Mommy:  ....  You want to be a horse girl?
Ruby:  Yeah, a horse girl!
Mommy:  Oooh, like a cow girl!
Ruby:  No.  A horse girl.

So this is how we revived our Western-themed Halloween from 3 years ago.

2009:

2012: