Travel avec bebe

We have just returned from an amazing week in Paris.  Zacky was a terrific traveler.  He even enjoyed some sightseeing - that's a photo of him and Daddy admiring the stained glass windows at Notre Dame.  We learned a lot about traveling with him, and I'm looking forward to our upcoming travel adventures.

Z's newfound nursing ability certainly made the airplane travel easier, since we didn't have to worry about keeping milk cold, warming it up, or cleaning pump parts.  Nursing in Paris was a little more of a challenge when he was hot and distracted.  In some ways, pumping might have been easier and saved some time. But we didn't encounter any discrimination or disapproval (maybe because we were doing touristy things and were obviously American?).  And we even got some help - a lovely cleaning lady at the Orsay found us a cool, quiet spot. In general, tourists and locals alike were charmed by Zack.

We got lucky in several instances: a flight attendant who moved us to a row with an empty seat on our outbound flight, a ticket agent who put Zack and me in a row by ourselves from DFW to OKC. 

We found some gear and arrangements extraordinarily useful:

• Our Graco Snugride carseat and Snugrider stroller frame: Z loves his car seat anyway, so he was always comfortable.  And we were able to easily take it apart to lug him up and down stairs.  The frame is light enough that Mom and I had no trouble with it while one of the guys had the baby and carseat.  We had thought about babywearing him exclusively, but I'm glad we didn't try.  He's ridiculously heavy, and he found the mei tei much too hot.  We just about did the wheels in; but at that price, I have no problem replacing the frame if necessary.
• The Brest Friend travel pillow and Bebe au Lait nursing cover: For a nursing newbie like me, it made a world of difference not to have to hold Zack in the right position.  The pillow inflates and deflates easily.   And I had no problem with the slipcover, unlike some of the reviewers.  Here we are at the Louvre: 

• Renting an apartment: We went through Paris Perfect, which is owned by an American, so the apartment came with comfy beds and proper pillows and showers.  With three sleeping areas, we didn't feel on top of each other, and we were all able to get some stretches of baby-free sleep.  We were able to eat at home and do laundry. 
• A foam bath cushion like this one: We have the Munchkin brand one from Target.  I use it at home as an insert in his plastic tub.  But it worked great in the sink for travel, since it smooshes easily in to a suitcase and weighs nothing. 
• A Diaper Dude backpack
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Z is so little that we didn't take a ton of toys or activities, but this is one of his favorites (thanks, Grammy!).  We attached it to the stroller bar at just the right height for him to see and kick, and he had lots of fun.  
• Lightweight swaddle blanket: perfect for swaddling on hot summer nights and for using as a sunscreen over the stroller
• The grandparents: delightful travel companions and invaluable baby helpers

Not so worth it: the best-laid plans

• Our itinerary: We tossed most of our plans our first day, when we decided that one activity a day was sufficient with the baby.  We could have done more touristing, but it would not have been worth it.  We were able to have leisurely mornings with croissants, do a little sightseeing, and have some rest time before dinner.  It was just a taste of Paris, rather than a complete tour, but it made for a relaxing vacation.
• Dinner reservations: I paid a concierge recommended by the apartment agency to make our dinner arrangements.  We only ended up using one reservation (it was the first night, and we were tired, so it still might have been worth it, but...).  We canceled several because our plans changed.  With a less-ambitious touring schedule, we just weren't in the neighborhoods I had planned.  But we had to cancel one reservation because we didn't think the restaurant was appropriate for the baby; and we were turned away from another that refused to accommodate a baby. This was frustrating because I had specifically asked the concierge to make reservations at appropriate restaurants.  Fortunately we were familiar with the neighborhood and eating early enough that we had no trouble finding dinner.  

Despite that wrinkle, the food was amazing.  We had four delicious dinners out, all at restaurants that were more than happy to accommodate the baby and his stroller: Au Bon Acceuil, Cafe Constant, Cafe de l'Alma, and La Fontaine de Mars.  We recommend all of them!  The staff at Au Bon Acceuil and La Fontaine de Mars were particularly kind to Zacky.

How sweet it is

It sounded weird, but it was oh-so-good: sauteed chicken with a sweet potato-spinach salad, from the February 2009 issue of Real Simple.

Real simple comfort food

The February 2009 issue of Real Simple was full of goodness. First, we had chicken pot pie:

Then pasta, with roasted broccoli and walnuts:

Then, from Cooking Light: brown-butter gnocchi with wilted spinach:

Hummus for dinner

It's so good, we had it twice this week: chickpea, lemon, and cumin stew over polenta.

Island flavor

I'm almost reluctant to post this, because it doesn't look very appealing in the picture. But Island Papaya chicken is one of our favorite dinners. It's comfort food around here -- chicken sauteed with papaya with a sweet and spicy marmalade sauce on top of coconut rice. I suppose it would look better sprinkled with cilantro, as the recipe calls for, but I can't bring myself to buy a whole bunch of cilantro for garnish. Trust me, it's so good. For the coconut rice, we make jasmine rice, substituting low-fat coconut milk for half the water and adding some sugar.

Cooking Light in 2009

Brent received the Cooking Light 2009 recipe collection. It's helpfully organized by month, so we can always stay in season. The January-February recipes include lots of dried fruit, which we paired with broccoli and sauteed spinach. Brent has just finished In Defense of Food and informs me that we need to branch out from eating brussel sprouts every night. We started with pork with orange-apricot sauce:

Rather than buy an entire pork tenderloin for the two of us, I substituted thin-sliced pork loin, which worked great. We then had Moroccan chicken with fruit and olives. I served it with pine nut couscous and spinach, which I sauteed with leftover onion and garlic from the chicken.

We'll be returning to this cookbook all year.

Winter feasts

We headed to the grocery store in advance of our first storm of the season in search of inspiration. We found lamb chops, which we grilled and served with roasted brussel sprouts and creamy goat cheese polenta. It wasn't quite my dinner at Tonto, but it was pretty close, at a small fraction of the price.

Then we pulled some whole wheat pizza dough out of the freezer and topped it with our favorites: roasted sweet potato, caramelized onions, cranberries and goat cheese. We used herbed goat cheese, rather than spending a fortune on fresh herbs. It worked great.

Color me Red

I needed to make dessert to take to some friends' for dinner tomorrow night. Ipso Fatto had recently made Red Velvet Cake for a Christmas party, and I remembered that Brent had brought me Red Velvet Cupcake mix many moons ago. Now normally everything here on the blog is from-scratch, but these are pretty darn close.

And with leftover roast chicken, we dined on chicken tortilla soup:

Second Christmas dinner

Pork stuffed with cranberries and apples, along with Trader Joe's stuffing. The basic pork recipe is from the Whole Foods website, although I used the Cook's Illustrated instructions for roasting. Real Simple Magazine picked TJ's as the best store-bought stuffing.

Christmas in Cave Creek

While in Arizona for Christmas, we went to Tonto Bar and Grill in Cave Creek.

Local sweet desert shrimp:

Buffalo top sirloin with bacon quinoa:

Braised lamb shank with brie polenta:

The remains of buttermilk chocolate cake with candied pecan ice cream:

First Christmas dinner

Bleu cheese au gratin potatoes and pumpkin whoopie pies from the new Henrietta's Table cookbook:

Not beautiful, but delicious!

Thanksgiving treats

Cranberry bog turkey burgers:

Risotto with roasted sweet potato and brussel sprouts:

Putney Pasta butternut squash ravioli with brown butter, sage, and walnuts:

Classic Libby's pumpkin pie on Whole Foods crust:

Pumpkin bread:

A taste of Spain

Paella, with roast chicken and sausage

Date with Zoe

Zoe the Butterfly came over for Mexican pizza and fizzy water out of her Zoe cup. Then she checked out pictures of herself on my cell phone.

Feeding the masses

While Brent was out of town(!), I hosted my students for dinner. We had a delicious spinach and pesto lasagna, brownies, and pumpkin cake.