Channeling Martha

All in all, it was a much busier and much less lonely Labor Day weekend than I had anticipated. I knew that I would be alone with the kids the whole time and I dread holidays when everyone else I know is having family time but DrRuckus has to work. This time, though, he had to work the entire weekend, really extra long shifts, with very little help. This has been a hard stretch and has sucked for all of us, but especially my amazing, hard working husband. We have missed having him around and are looking forward to a few days together at home and all of the festivities surrounding Little Ladybug's first birthday.

Saturday I was very ambitious and adventurous and took both kids by myself to Houston to the Farmer's Market. There is actually a pretty great one and we had a blast and got a lot of good stuff. I had even planned ahead and brought coolers so that we could do what we wanted afterwards. From there, we went over to Hermann park where we got to do the Z-Man's favorite thing - ride the train! We timed it right, got right on, and then back to our car quickly. By now, it was lunch time and I had been wanting to try a Thai place in the Heights for a while. It is called Asia Market and is a Thai grocery store that serves made to order, out of this world Thai food at some tables in the store. Fan-frigging-tastic and the nicest people! While there, I bought some sticky rice and a sticky rice steamer so that I can make my favorite dessert at home, Mango with Sticky Rice. After lunch, we went down the street for a sweet treat at Mam's House of Snowballs, a trailer where two women serve New Orleans style Snowballs in a mind boggling array of flavors. Exhausted after this, we headed home and both kids promptly feel asleep in the car. I only wish I had been able to do the same.

Sunday morning I woke up at 4:30 to do part of my friend's 20 mile run with her before DrRuckus had to go to work. That done, I decided to use the child care at the gym to have a little Mom Me time. I sat by the pool (in the shade, bien sur) to read my book for two hours. Why hadn't I done this sooner? It was heavenly, two hours of reading and free childcare? Of course, that night, I had to try my sticky rice steamer and it worked like a charm. It is such a simple, unwieldy contraption, but it does make perfect sticky rice. I didn't have any mangos, but had mango sorbet and it was out of this world. I used the epicurious recipe but substituted maple syrup for sugar. Mmmmm, devine!)



Monday night, we had a rather impromptu block party. Well, you know me lately, that seemed like an opportunity to try some new things! We had gone to Sam's Club that day and I bought a box of mangos, so the first thing I did was use the leftover sticky rice with some fresh coconut sauce and a lovely layer of mangos on the top. This was child's play. Next, I decided to bring a quinoa salad that I had stumbled across recently. This salad was out of this world. Fresh, healthy and delicious. It will be a staple in my house from now on as it lends itself to countless variations and pairings.



But, for dessert, I had to make my Tuesdays with Dorie recipe for the week. More on that in the next post.