When life hands you lemons....FLY!

Enjoy this Max's Tale video to start your week off right!

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CLE Blogger Holiday Party and Cookie Swap

On Tuesday, the Ohio Blogging Association had their CLE Blogger Holiday Party and Cookie Swap...

...and Max was more than ready for a night on the town (just ask his Mom)!

Equipped with a bottle, extra clothes, a diaper bag, and a baby carrier, the two of us headed out to the Battery Park Wine Bar...

...and got to catch up with some blogger friends like Nidhi from Nidhizzle. (Photo: Jen fromWhy CLE?).

Other bloggers present who I got to chat with included...

• Alicia from Poise in Parma
• Amanda from Clue into Cleveland
• Brian from Run Swanson
• Crystal from Eat Drink Cleveland
• Julie from Am I There Yet
• Julie from ROJ Running
• Kimberly from SMITTEN…in cleveland
• Lane from Lane Baldwin Photography
• Sarah from Cooker Girl
• Stuart from sosAssociates

Although Max and I decided not to take part in the actual cookie exchange...

...I couldn't pass on the happy hour menu...

...with some nice smoked chicken sliders (not so easy to eat with a baby at your chest)...

 

...and some nice coconut shrimp (which were easier to eat).

In fact, Max got hungry around the same time my food arrived (a constant phenomenon that only tells me he can't wait for solid food), so I took bites in-between bottle sucklings...

...as bloggers circled the cookie table...

...and grabbed many of the delightful-looking creations.

Just look at that yummy frosting (made by Julie)!

Meanwhile, as the bloggers grabbed and Max and I ate, Alicia of Poise in Parma (and Ohio Blogging Association leader) was sweet enough to grab a container...

...and make us a care package to take home.

Thanks, Alicia!

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When pounding your meat will only bring compliments (and not jail sentences) - Plus one way on how to use all that extra sauce

Usually, when Julia and I pick up some meat from the store to cook for the week, she often suggests boneless, skinless Amish chicken breast.  I can't help but say that I'm usually lacking enthusiasm with this selection.

The meat gets dry (I prefer dark meat) and there are usually leftovers that she doesn't eat, which means I take them to work for lunch because it pains me to see food tossed in the trash.

But recently, one of her colleagues and friends brought us some homemade mole sauce with just enough chocolate and spices to bring a big smile on my face.  I've was putting them on eggs and eating spoonfuls every so often...

...it was just THAT good!

So when my trainer was telling me how she made chicken piccata, I thought...

I can make something similar with the mole sauce!

Genius!

On the night of the experimental dinner, I pounded the chicken breast - which is crazily therapeutic -  passed it through flour, fried it quickly with butter/oil (yes, I used both) and then removed the chicken to heat up the some mole sauce with freshly squeezed lime juice.  Once the sauce was bubbling gently, I put the chicken back in and let it simmer.

Melt some cheese over top and...

 ...here you go - the leftovers that I happily took to work the following day!

The pounded chicken breast just seemed more tender and delicious.  I even tried it a second time...

 ...with a sauce consisting of green olives, grape tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic.

Delicious once again!

And notice that toast in the background...that was to collect the sauce (Julia's idea)!

Before signing off and advising that you should all pound your meat for more satisfying meals, let me just show you one more recent creation...

The setup:  Julia and I didn't know what to eat for dinner and neither one of us felt like cooking.  We did notice that we had bread, turkey and ham lunch meat (limited), some cheese (very limited) and lettuce.

So we rather unenthusiastically decided to toast up some sandwiches.

Then I remember the ton of cranberry sauce I cooked up the night before...

...we could put this on our sandwiches!!!

I put a heaping tablespoon of cranberry sauce on both slices of bread, a decent amount of turkey, a little ham, some cheese and then toasted it up...

 

...and the holiday Monte Cristo was born.

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The Mirror Game

The other day, Max and I were matching our many expressions...

 

 

 

I'm not sure who was mirroring who, but it sure was fun!

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First come babies, then kittens

On Friday morning, a coworker told me she heard a kitten crying from the direction of my car.

When I went outside to listen, I heard a kitten as well, but I couldn't make out exactly where it was crying from, thanks to traffic and the other parked cars near mine.

I checked under my hood and under the car, but I didn't see a kitten.  As the traffic increased, I also didn't hear it any longer.

When the end of the work day arrived, all the other cars were gone and I heard no crying kitten...

...so I figured it wasn't my car.

Of course, as I headed to my mom's to meet up with Julia and the baby, I happened to hear the faintest kitten cry while at a 4-way stop.

Uh oh!

I pulled in my mom's drive, parked the car and turned off the ignition, popping the hood and jumping out of the car.

I heard that kitten cry, I felt its presence and there, under the hood, I saw it look up at me and...

...meow meow meeee-ow!

I quickly grabbed a broomstick and we nudged it out of the front of the car.  When I peeked under the car, I saw its little paw try to come down, but it was too scared to make the jump.  It rested there in the car frame and looked at me, unsure of what to do.

I was unsure as well.

How the hell would I get it out?

Every 20 minutes, I came back out and tried to figure a new approach...

...tuna fish, honking the car, knocking on the car, etc...

...but the kitten couldn't come out.

Eventually, it even disappeared inside the car, still crying occasionally.

I decided to leave the car there for the night, coming back the next morning with Julia to try again.

My mother was convinced that the hose was the best bet (I was leaning toward jacking up the car), so we moved the car up to the garage, brought the hose down and turned it on.

The little kitten jumped out of the car in 2 seconds flat!

With gloves, I eventually nabbed him (although he threatened to jump up into Julia's car at one point)...

 ...and got him in a carrier.

After a vet checkup and shots...

 

 ...my mom started keeping him in the garage...

 ...where he initially took to hiding...

 

...but initially came out to eat. 

Of course, it wasn't long before she brought him in the house and exposed him to the dog...

 

 

 ...making him want to hide again...

...but I think they'll be fine together.

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Storytime with Max: Peacocks

Storytelling is apparently genetic.  This little guy can talk my ear off for hours.

Enjoy!

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Troikas, liver and a short nap - Mole (Mo-lay!)!

 

Friday, as the baby went through his usual cycle of eating, pooing and sleeping, my Uncle Dave and Aunt Kim stopped by with a very special baby gift...

 

 ...a specially made hand puppet.

What made it particularly special was that it is a Troika...

 ...a character from the book I wrote/illustrated...

 ...called Will and the Wish Flower.

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY!

Needless to say, Julia and I were both really moved and tearing up as we hugged and thanked them.  It was definitely the most memorable gift we've received...

 

 ...and Max seemed to like it...

 ...almost as much as his daddy.

Later that evening, we took Max out to Berardi's Restaurant in Huron so that I could get myself a good ole plate...

 ...of liver and onions with a side of famous Berardi fries.

Although rather delicious, I unfortunately couldn't eat them right away.  Max, who usually slept through dinner after a long car ride, decided to stay up this time and I let Julia eat as I fed him a bottle and bought us some eating time.  Once she finished eating, she took Max and I got to splash my plate with plenty of malt vinegar and enjoy.

So good!

Toward the end of the meal, plenty of people came up to us to admire Max and tell us about their own children and grandchildren.  It was really nice talking with everyone, especially since we are still a little wary of taking him out to eat with us (since we don't know what he's going to do).  But everyone there complimented us on how we calmed him and we felt like more confident parents in the end.

With our chests proudly out, we ended our evening with a nice drive out to Sawmill Creek Resort's Festival of Lights and relived our experience two years' ago, which you can read HERE.

Max, all the meanwhile, slept.

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On Sunday afternoon, I got to take a nice 20 (maybe 25?) minute nap as Julia fed the baby.  Since he was a little fussy afterwards, I offered to take him so that she could take a nap.

I rested him on my chest and he squirmed a bit before finally finding a spot...

...and falling right to sleep.

So adorable and what a wonderful way to end the weekend!

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Before ending this post, I would just like to compliment Julia's colleague and our friend Nanette for the wonderful mole sauce she recently made.  I added some to this morning's eggs...

...along with some avocado and cheese that I melted over.

I loved the flavors, the chocolate and the heat that all came with it.  I even dragged my finger along the container to get the remaining sauce.

You can bet I'll be making this again tomorrow!

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