$$$ Talk

I really don't like money talk. And I mean really don't like it. People start talking figures and investments and my eyes start to glaze over and all I hear is "blah-dee blah blah." I wish I knew more about money, really I do. It isn't that I don't know how to save because actually I've always been pretty good at that. It's more that I feel I have a slight knowledge deficit when it comes to big "adult" financial issues like saving for college, stocks, bonds, real estate. Ick.

It's funny, if you want to talk food or medicine, talk away. I usually can contribute something remotely intelligent to the conversation. But bring up cars, home repairs and money and I become strangely silent. Unfortunately as someone who a) owns a car, b) owns a home and c) has (a little bit of) money, these topics can't be avoided.

It's great being married to a medical guy. We come home from work and talk about poo and puke over dinner and neither of us our phased. But on the flip side, this means that our knowledge spectrum overlap more than say a couple who work in business and construction and we end up doing a lot more consulting with friends or experts in these areas when we are trying to wrestle with tough decisions.

I'd say we've come a long way since we first got married but there are still plenty of moments where I want to take an "Investing for Dummies" course. I'd even read a book about it, if it's not too dry. Does anyone have any ideas for me? I don't want any of the "3 Steps to Becoming Rich" sort of stuff, just some down home, trustworthy advice on saving for college, the stock market, budgeting etc. This is a challenging time to be thinking about all these things given that we don't have lots of spare change with my working part time and Graham and school, but I still want to be planning for our future..

Isla's Birthday Party

We celebrated Isla's 1st birthday on Aug 29th with a big bash at St Edwards Park. We, of course, chose a ducky theme since our daughter is currently obsessed with all things duck. Her birthday menu included Asian Noodles with Veggies and Chicken (almond noodles for Isla and peanut noodles for everyone else), delicious salads, fruit, cheese and crackers and juice. It occured to me just now that I should have served Asian Noodles with DUCK, had I really been thinking...oh well. If I counted correctly, we had 47 people in all make an appearance! It means a lot to us parents to have this many people invested in Isla's life so thanks everyone for coming! I'll let the pictures tell most of the story in this post but I want to document a few things so that we'll remember them in the future.

Isla Girl,

-I made you a ducky "fishpond" centerpiece using a glass cube vase and all your rubber duckies. It was meant to be for looks only but ended up providing a half hour of entertainment for you. Uncle Ben was very patient and helped you splash around and grab each duck, throw it back in the water and then repeat.

-Your Grandma Crozier made the 3D ducky cake. She put a lot of work into it and it was a hit! You were really excited when you saw it for the first time.

-I didn't want you to get your hands all over everyone else's cake so I made you your own Carrot Cake Cupcake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting. You seemed to really like it...eventually.

-You were not sure what you thought about having 47 people sing Happy Birthday while looking at you. I think I would have been scared too.

-You didn't really like having that many people watching you eat your cake either. It took you a really long time to get you to take a bite. Everyone watched for a while but you weren't doing much. It wasn't until everyone stopped paying attention about 10 minutes later that we turned around and saw you'd gobbled up your entire cupcake! (LONG video, but here to watch if you missed it).

-You loved opening your presents and didn't lose interest at all. You figured out pretty quickly that there was something cool IN each box which helped keep your attention.

-Of course, you also really liked the bows and ribbons, but most of all, you were REALLY into the cards. I saved them for you to look through later.

-You were really spoiled by all your guests. Some of the gifts included: FOUR baby dolls, clothes, a percussion set, toy piano, Seattle Sounders jersey, a cooking set (woo-hoo!), books, pjs, bird hand puppets and a ball and hammer game, among others.

And now, for the story of your first cake, in pictures....

Day 12 - To the Riviera!

Isla woke up at 3 AM and Graham worked for ~40 minutes to get her back to sleep with out feeding her as we really didn't want to reintroduce night feeds again. Needless to say, it wasn't a very restful night. Thankfully, another delicious breakfast awaited us: muesli, bread, cheese, cantaloupe, cherries and coffee. We bid au revoir to our Provencal paradise and were on the road by 10:30 AM. The sun finally reappeared after a few stormy days.

We stopped in Aix-en-Provence, a college town bustling with tourism and shops. We didn't really know anything about the place, but it seemed really fun from our brief exposure.

We grabbed a delicious salad with greens, goat cheese, ham and tomato, a chicken wrap with carrot, rice and beets, and a berry parfait with fresh white cheese (instead of yogurt) to-go from a French Jamba Juice-ish place and sat down on some steps to picnic/people watch.

We really didn't pay any attention to the building behind us until we were finished eating. Graham turned around and saw that we were eating on the steps of a church and so decided to take a peek inside. It was gorgeous! It had a circular opening in the ceiling that allowed the sunlight (and probably rain too) to pour through which was pretty awe-inspiring.

We hit the road and headed toward the coast. Our Google map directions once again led us astray. It probably didn't help that I couldn't remember the name of the town we were supposed to stay in. I knew it was a suburb of Antibes, but apparently I never wrote down the name...For the record, the town was called Juan-les-Pins and it is known for having more of the party scene (not why we chose it!)

We did find our place, Hotel Eden, eventually, shortly after 3 PM. It wasn't anything spectacular, but we did have a view of the water out our window (we were about a block away). We'd found the hotels on the coast to either a) be horribly expensive or b) not allow children so our options were quite limited.

The reception desk was quite accommodating and got us set up with beach mats, towels and an umbrella. Because we'd been sun-starved for the prior few days, we were changed into our suits and out the door within 15 minutes of arriving to our room.

We walked to a nearby public beach, recommended to us by our hotel. The place was packed! I have never seen a beach that full in all my life. We literally had to spread our towels right at the bottom of the stairs leading from the promenade to the beach as they wasn't room elsewhere. We didn't bring our camera and it was probably a good thing because you wouldn't want to see what we saw anyway. It took a couple minutes before I noticed the topless lady nearby. I firmly instructed Graham NOT to look to the right. But as I started scanning the crowd, I realized he'd pretty much have to close his eyes and not open them until we got back to the hotel to avoid getting an eyefull. I guess I was not prepared for this. The funny part about it was that all the topless women were ~40 and up. It wasn't like the people my age were doing it. And most of the women were laying there with their man, who didn't even appear the least bit interested. I guess when it's the "norm," it really is the norm and nobody (except for the naive American tourists) are phased. Oh, and by the way, Isla needed to nurse while we were at the beach. And yes, I still used my hooter hider. And yes, it felt really strange.  

Back to swimming....we took turns dipping in the water but it was hard to really swim as we didn't want to leave our stuff unattended since we'd had to settle so far from the shore. Isla tried to eat a rock but we fished it out before she swallowed and she cried when I dipped her feet in the water. One day she'll be grateful though that I made her touch the Mediterranean. We spent most our time lounging and reading.

After cleaning up, we took a 20 minute stroll into Antibes. The streets were so fun, colorful buildings pressed up against one another with lots of flower boxes and pretty shutters.

We passed a Patisserie and went in to buy an apple dessert and a mini chocolate pie with banana on top to enjoy later. After much deliberation, we opted to eat Italian at the Rick Steves recommended Le Brulot. They had those really long cracker bread sticks that kept Isla entertained for a long time until she shoved it into the back of her throat and began gagging...

I ordered the Daube Nicoise with ravioli because I thought it would be a salad AND pasta (rookie mistake: nicoise does not always = salad). It turned out to be quite tasty! I didn't know at the time but daube is a French stew made with wine, vegetables, garlic and herbs. Graham had farfalle with pesto cream. We drank the house red because it was cheap, but we pretty much got what we paid for.

The walk seemed longer on the way back but I was charmed by the city, even at night.

We ate our dessert back at the hotel while Graham watched the World Cup (in French!). We were in bed by 11 PM and unfortunately, Graham's throat was beginning to hurt....

Day 11 - Provencal Market

Isla woke up at 3:40 AM this day and I gave in and let her have a middle-of-the-night feed (after 11 days of travel, she'd worn me down to the point of submission). She willingly went back to bed and we all got up around 8:30 to enjoy one of our highlight breakfasts, a fresh Cherry Clafoutis. Never had one? Neither had we but Monique informed us it was a very common French breakfast. To me, it tasted like a cross between a souffle and a very thick (1 inch or so) Swedish pancake. It was so delicious and filled with fresh cherries. Of course we also had bread and cheese, jams, Nespresso and yogurt.

Following breakfast, off we went to the local Provencal market in Carpentras. We entered through this old city gate and then from there on, every street was lined with vendors.

It was bustling with people and you could buy pretty much anything you wanted: food, clothes, lavender, adult diapers...I had fun trying to pick out a Provencal tablecloth. But then it got stressful when I couldn't make up my mind on a color and when I couldn't figure out whether a rectangle or square cloth would work better for our tables that both have extensions that we use quite frequently. In the end, I didn't even buy anything. :(

We did buy some edibles however, in preparation for dinner. We selected some olives (there were probably 25 varieties to choose from), fresh goat cheese and haricot verts.

Graham also bought a French shirt from one of the vendors (no pic available...watch for a white-collared short sleeve shirt in future posts). After spending close to two hours wandering the market, we purchased half of a caramelized onion pizza and half of a fresh goat cheese pizza and ate it in the city square. We happened to be right near a lot of clothes vendors and I wondered aloud if this is how people fill the majority of their wardrobes, buying clothes off the racks without even trying them on. I guess I can't be French after all because this set up would be far too stressful for me as I like to take my time and see what things look like on.

We headed back to our B&B, just as the clouds arrived. Isla look a nap and I snatched the opportunity to blog a little on the community computer at the B&B. When Isla woke up, we dipped out feet in the pool until the light rain began.

Since it was not really sunbathing/swimming weather, we decided to make a "quick" fun to Avignon, as it was supposed to be one of the most visited cities in the region (Maybe in all of France too? I can't remember...) The rain had let up and so I did not pack coats for us, silly me. Our first impression of the city was not a positive one as I think we entered through the "back side." There was graffiti all over the city walls and everything was dirty. We found a really tight parking spot in what we hoped was a free lot and went out in search of the city center. The further into the city we traveled, the better it got. We passed by some pretty swanky looking clothing stores in a hip shopping area (I guess this is a college town). We made it to the main square where we saw the Palace of the Popes (pictured behind me).

This was the official residence of the popes in 1309, when they moved here from Rome (did you know that they weren't always housed in Rome?) They stayed here until 1377 when they returned to Rome. Crazy! Oh, and by the way, the picture above pretty much sums up what I looked like as we toured the various French cities. I look like a local, don't I?

We walked up to this view point where we could see the Rhone River below and the "famous" St Benezet Bridge. I say "famous" because there is apparently a nursery rhyme that "everyone knows" about this bridge, according to Rick Steves. "Sur le Pont d'Avignon." Do you know it? Neither did we. The bridge was still cool to see though because it only extended halfway across the river (I think the rest was washed away with flooding). Tourists were allowed to walk out onto it, but for a small fortune, so we opted out and headed back to the car because.....

it began POURING! And look my lovely "rain gear" outfit. Ha! We pretty much ran the whole way to the car, only getting a wee bit lost on the way. We drove quickly back to our B&B, motivated by the fact that we didn't want to miss our nightly glass of complimentary rose wine that we planned to enjoy with dinner. :) We were too late though. Oh well!

This time, I cooked dinner using the ingredients purchased at the market. I sauteed garlic and haricot verts (French green beans that are AMAZING) in olive oil, along with shrimp and tomato. I served this mixture over mesclun greens, adding the herbed olives and rounds of goat cheese for a lovely main dish salad. I also cooked up some of the leftover pasta and dressed it with olive oil and herbs for a side.

We put Isla to bed around 8 PM. It was still raining pretty hard so we opted to watch a movie on the community tv and eat bowls of delicious dark chocolate ice cream. We chose Bucket List, which neither of us had seen before and I pretty much sobbed buckets (I don't remember crying that hard in a movie since seeing PS I Love You). It was a great night, despite the tears!

Espresso-Rubbed Steak with Green Chile Pesto (and then some)

It has been a LOOOOOONG time since anything kitchen-related came out of Kelsie's Kitchen. Probably partially because Kelsie's Kitchen (as in my actual kitchen, not the blog) has not been producing share-worthy meals as of late. I hesitate to admit this because--gasp--I supposedly love to cook. And I do. Don't get me wrong. But I've been struggling to adjust my menus to accommodate the wee one who is usually hanging onto my pant leg come dinner prep time. I'm learning to balance gourmet with speed, keeping the under arching theme of nutrition in mind of course. I am not super mom and, much to my dismay, I don't always provide the perfectly balanced meals I imagine to my family, though I certainly do try!

So, I'm thinking about starting a 2nd blog, a strictly food, cooking and nutrition blog. It would sort of be a tale in the life of a major foodie who also happens to be a busy mom, wife and registered dietitian. Novel idea, huh? Probably not. I'm sure it's been done before but my hope would be that my nutrition background could provide a unique angle that could benefit fellow moms and/or woman/men of the work world. Thoughts?

Oh yeah, back to topic. You probably started reading this post because you thought you were going to get a new recipe. So here it is, courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens. I made this flank steak last night and it was quite the hit! The recipe makes a pretty hefty batch of pesto so plan on having some leftover to toss with pasta or put on roasted vegetables. I served the steak with a grape tomato and corn salad with fresh cilantro and some sauteed red potatoes. The only thing I would add next time is some avocado (Graham thought the leftovers would make great taco filling). 

Espresso-Rubbed Steak with Green Chile Pesto
(From Better Homes and Garden Magazine)

1-1/2 lb. beef flank steak
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. instant espresso coffee powder (or instant coffee granules)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 recipe Green Chile Pesto, recipe below
Cilantro leaves (optional)

Score both sides of steak by making diagonal cuts in a diamond pattern. In small bowl combine chili powder, salt, espresso powder, garlic powder, oregano, and pepper. Sprinkle over steak; rub in.

Coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat until very hot; add steak. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 12 to 14 minutes for medium-rare (145 degrees F) or 14 to 16 minutes for medium (160 degrees F), turning once halfway through. Transfer to cutting board. Cover loosely with foil; keep warm while preparing Green Chile Pesto .

To serve, thinly slice steak against grain. Pass Green Chile Pesto. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves.

For Green Chile Pesto: Halve 2 medium fresh Anaheim or poblano chile peppers lengthwise; remove stems, seeds, and veins. Coarsely chop peppers. In food processor combine peppers, 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, 1/4 cup crumbled Cotija cheese (I used feta), 2 tablespoons pine nuts, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, and salt and black pepper to taste. Process to finely chop mixture. With processor running add 1/3 cup olive oil in steady stream through feed tube to combine into a coarse paste. Makes about 1-1/3 cups pesto.

Makes 8 servings.

Espresso-Rubbed Steak with Green Chile Pesto (and then some)

It has been a LOOOOOONG time since anything kitchen-related came out of Kelsie's Kitchen. Probably partially because Kelsie's Kitchen (as in my actual kitchen, not the blog) has not been producing share-worthy meals as of late. I hesitate to admit this because--gasp--I supposedly love to cook. And I do. Don't get me wrong. But I've been struggling to adjust my menus to accommodate the wee one who is usually hanging onto my pant leg come dinner prep time. I'm learning to balance gourmet with speed, keeping the underarching theme of nutrition in mind of course. I am not super mom and, much to my dismay, I don't always provide the perfectly balanced meals I imagine to my family, though I certainly do try!

So, I'm thinking about starting a 2nd blog, a strictly food, cooking and nutrition blog. It would sort of be a tale in the life of a major foodie who also happens to be a busy mom, wife and registered dietitian. Novel idea, huh? Probably not. I'm sure it's been done before but my hope would be that my nutrition background could provide a unique angle that could benefit fellow moms and/or woman/men of the work world. Thoughts?

Oh yeah, back to topic. You probably started reading this post because you thought you were going to get a new recipe. So here it is, courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens. I made this flank steak last night and it was quite the hit! The recipe makes a pretty hefty batch of pesto so plan on having some leftover to toss with pasta or put on roasted vegetables. I served the steak with a grape tomato and corn salad with fresh cilantro and some sauteed red potatoes. The only thing I would add next time is some avocado (Graham thought the leftovers would make great taco filling). 

Espresso-Rubbed Steak with Green Chile Pesto

Start to Finish: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1-1/2 lb. beef flank steak
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. instant espresso coffee powder (or instant coffee granules)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 recipe Green Chile Pesto, recipe below
Cilantro leaves (optional)

Directions

1. Score both sides of steak by making diagonal cuts in a diamond pattern. In small bowl combine chili powder, salt, espresso powder, garlic powder, oregano, and pepper. Sprinkle over steak; rub in.

2. Coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat until very hot; add steak. Reduce heat to medium. Cook 12 to 14 minutes for medium-rare (145 degrees F) or 14 to 16 minutes for medium (160 degrees F), turning once halfway through. Transfer to cutting board. Cover loosely with foil; keep warm while preparing Green Chile Pesto .

3. To serve, thinly slice steak against grain. Pass Green Chile Pesto. Sprinkle with cilantro leaves.

Makes 8 servings.

Green Chile Pesto: Halve 2 medium fresh Anaheim or poblano chile peppers lengthwise; remove stems, seeds, and veins. Coarsely chop peppers. In food processor combine peppers, 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, 1/4 cup crumbled Cotija cheese (I used feta), 2 tablespoons pine nuts, 2 cloves garlic, 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper, and salt and black pepper to taste. Process to finely chop mixture. With processor running add 1/3 cup olive oil in steady stream through feed tube to combine into a coarse paste. Makes about 1-1/3 cups pesto.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 244, Total Fat (g)17, Saturated Fat (g)3, Monounsaturated Fat (g)9, Polyunsaturated Fat (g)2, Cholesterol (mg)31, Sodium (mg)335, Carbohydrate (g)4, Fiber (g)1, Protein (g)20

Wilson Family Road Trip

Good Morning Folks! I felt it high time that the World Wide Web hear about it our lovely family vacation a week and a half ago. We had such a great time, particularly since Graham WAS able to join us part way through (I'm sure my pleading blog post to his coworkers had everything to do with it). This meant the WHOLE family was together for 5 straight days, spouses included. It's worth noting that we have now officially expanded beyond the capacity of any of our motor vehicles when we are all together. But, rather than split up and take to cars, we cozied up and crammed into the Suburban and had someone ride in the back, because by golly, we were in the country! 

We began with plenty of car space as only half of us (my parents, brother Ben and Isla and I) made the road trip there. We pulled over in Yakima on day 1 so that Ben and Mom and I could make a 2+ hour float on my parents' new fancy tubes down the river. My Dad graciously offered to take Isla. I think he was hoping to be able to fish from shore while watching her but that didn't work out to well because of somebody. But I won't mention names.

We stayed in Pendleton, OR that night and then Boise the next. We stopped for a picnic lunch on day 2. 

Such a trooper! And look at her DQ ice cream swirl hair!

We found this swimming beach immediately after arriving in Boise because it was HOT. Isla loved floating in her inflatable starfish and I savored my opportunity to relax while she was under the watchful eye of her grandparents.

We ate dinner that evening at a delicious Brazilian restaurant that basically served all-you-can-eat meat. We picked up Lani and Michael from the airport in Boise the following morning and continued our journey to Josh's place in Soda Springs, ID.

Stretching legs at a rest stop

Soda Springs, ID is quite rural. For instance, they have about 3 restaurants. Subway, A&W/Taco Time combo, Mexican and "Restaurant." Ok so they have 4. But still. Josh lives in the more ritzy area, 3 miles down a long, long road. Look at the view from his backyard! Gorgeous! And he has it all to himself...

We visited the town's famous geyser which goes off every hour on the hour. Apparently it was messing with Old Faithful's performance in Yellowstone when it first started spewing but they got the kinks worked out now. Honestly though, I found this geyser to be much more impressive than Old F which gave us quite the flop show at Yellowstone.

Isla got to spend time with her Uncle Josh and he was a great back rubber when she started feeling sick.

BBQ....in a wheelbarrow?

We got to spend a full day in Soda Springs where Josh took all of us non-prego, non-baby types to tour his plant, Monsanto. He is a mechanical engineering co-op (intern) at their phosphorus production plant. It was quite wild. We got to wear hard hats, safety glasses, steel-toed boots, earplugs and even got to carry our own personal emergency respirators. My favorite part was when we were walking into the furnace and Josh said "The phosphorus gas in here makes sure cough but you should still be able to breathe alright." Just hearing him say that made me start hyperventilating. The tour was fascinating as the plant basically takes dirt, turns it into red hot lava rocks and then breaks it down into elemental phosphorus. One of the byproducts is this stuff called "slag" which is liquid "lava" that they transport in giant basins. It's bright orange (red hot) and was pretty entertaining to watch. The tour confirmed a couple of things for me:

1) my brother is a genius

2) I am claustrophobic

I'm glad I went though because I learned a lot. But I don't think I could work in a plant like that.

The next day, we were off to Jackson, WY to pick up Graham who flew in to meet us. We stopped for some pics by the Grand Tetons where I promise no immature jokes about womens' hoo-haa's were made.

Next stop, YELLOWSTONE! I was a Yellowstone virgin before this trip so I was quite amazed at what the park had to offer. My only request goes out to Mr. Grizzly. Next time, could you bring yourself and mama and baby bear just a little closer to our car? Like right next to us would be great.

Look how beautiful this place is!

Oh and the people visiting were pretty good looking too.

After spending the weekend in Yellowstone, we journeyed back to Soda Springs. But first, a picnic in the park! The best part about it is that Josh hates horses, yet he was the first one hopping the fence

Josh has a couple of horses for neighbors who are quite friendly. The best part about it is that Josh hates horses, yet he was the first one hopping the fence to feed them carrots.

Our last night there also happened to be Josh's 1/2 bday so we enjoyed some homemade stir fry in his backyard. His place is up at 6000+ ft elevation so as soon as the sun goes down, the temperature drops ~30 degrees. Crazy!

Thanks oh so very much to my parents for a great trip! We have many memories we will cherish, thanks to your generosity!