From fried pickles to hand-dipped ricotta

Thanks to our parents' visits this month, Matt and I have been able to enjoy two dates made possible by free babysitting. The first was to Public House Chattanooga, which "plays to the comforts of good, solid food, while applying the principles of premium food products to a more casual setting." (their words, not mine, but nicely put, I think!)

We went there in December, actually, but just ordered dessert while our friends ordered dinner and a starter of fried pickles accompanied by bruschetta and housemade pimiento cheese. At the time I was pregnant, and what pregnant woman can resist a pickle, let alone one that's fried?! This dish has been on my mind ever since, so of course I ordered it on our date and since then have been mildly obsessed with the fried pickle as well as concerned that if the restaurant ever closes or takes this off the menu, what in the world will I do?

Lo and behold, on my way to the grocery store this weekend I happened to notice a restaurant much more casual than Public House, more like a diner, and it actually has a drive thru ... as well as a sign out front indicating they serve fried dill pickles.

You can imagine my relief and elation in learning that I could indulge myself without even getting out of the car (a true bonus with a baby) on an outing I make at least once a week?! God bless the South and its deep fryers.

Just this past weekend we dined at Alleia, one of Chattanooga's most popular new restaurants. An Italian restaurant, it has a very urban, yet rustic feel to it. Beautiful inside. And the appetizer we had there has gotten my mind off fried pickles on bruschetta (for the meantime), and onto hand-dipped ricotta on bruschetta with local honey and fresh thyme. Amazing. All I want to do is recreate this, as I have thyme growing like crazy outside, but I hesitate to do so with my Walmart honey and Publix ricotta that's verging on expiration.

Not sure hand-dipped ricotta (whatever that really is!) is in the grocery budget this month, but a fried dill pickle at the drive-thru? That I can spring for. Whew!

Miscellaneous

I've been putting off blogging recently because I'm just not sure what to blog about ... I feel so scattered these days. For example, twice now in the last week or so I've had a pot on the stove and forgotten all about it, only to return later and find all the water evaporated! Perhaps this is what having a baby will do to you?

Here's some of what's been going on:

• Sleeping (Emery that is, not really me) - of all the baby books I've read, my favorite has been "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. The best thing I've taken away so far is that up till about four months old, infants can't tolerate being awake more than two hours at a time. This little fact has taken all the guesswork out of understanding Emery's meltdowns! It also means I have to become a sleep nazi, which isn't always fun ... however, having a well rested, contented child is a ton of fun, so sleep nazi I will be! Dr. Weissbluth also says that sleep begets sleep - this is very reassuring, especially on days when Emery seems to barely be awake and I start to get nervous about what that means for the night ahead.
• Talking- I've heard that it's good to talk to your baby a lot, so I'm trying to do that, but I must confess, it's not always easy. Right now, even though she's getting more interactive, it's usually like talking to a wall. Sometimes I feel a little ridiculous giving her a play-by-play of what I'm up to, what we're going to do next, etc. when I often don't even get a coo in response! Her stuffed singing giraffe gets more of a response out of her than her own mother! But I will not give up. I will not be bested by a stuffed animal.
  
• One errand a day - In my endeavor to respect Emery's need to sleep, I try to limit us to one errand/outing a day. This requires a lot of willpower since we're in a new town and there's a lot I'd like to see and do, and a lot I need to buy and do, too. Now I realize how much I took for granted the ability to run out and do whatever I wanted pre-motherhood, because no matter how hard I try, it always seems like we end up at Walmart or the grocery store! In all honesty, though, I'm thrilled that I'm able to go to both of these places, that Emery is so easy to take out, and that one of these days I'll be able to squeeze in a trip to the dry cleaners, too!

You know you're in the South when ...

you hear "Oh I Wish I Was in Dixie" on the radio, the sign on the restaurant down the street indicates that they serve gizzards, livers and fried green tomatoes ... and literally every salesperson I encountered in the past 48 hours wanted to be very sure I was going to have a happy Mother's Day. You have to love Southern hospitality!

A new kind of "Sunday blues"

I used to get the "Sunday blues" on Sunday afternoons, and often even late in the day on Saturday, with the prospect of the work week and daily grind starting up again all too soon.

Well, I'm realizing that the maternity work week is really 7 days a week, 24 hours a day (of course with obvious perks and I wouldn't trade it for anything), so the Sunday blues should be a thing of the past, right?

Wrong. I felt them coming on yesterday as the prospect of Matt returning to work set in! Ironic, since for the past six months all we wanted was for him to be able to go to work in the first place!

This was our first "normal" weekend as mom and dad, in our new place in Chattanooga, taking care of Emery, enjoying some down time, trying to unpack, etc. And he's such a huge help! I was able to go to the grocery store by myself, take a run and a longer than ordinary shower.

So I suppose I might always be dealing with the Sunday blues ... on the bright side, Emery is learning to sleep on her own and that more than compensates for any case of the Sunday blues.

Too much Food Network

You know you've been watching too much Food Network when you see Giada whip up penne with treviso and goat cheese twice in the same week. (and by the way, for any Giada fans out there, is it just me, or is she always cooking with penne, and never any other kind of pasta?)

I'm normally not much of a TV watcher, but sometimes I just need a diversion when feeding Emery ... ok, a lot of the time. :) My rotation is basically made up of Good Morning America, any show revolving around buying or selling a home on HGTV (which pretty much sums up all of their shows) and practically any cooking show on the Food Network.

Paula Dean is starting to drive me a little crazy though, despite the fact that I'm moving south and should be warming up to all things buttery, creamy, cheesy and greasy ... and Giada is too, especially with how she always has to articulate her ingredients with an Italian accent and starts every sentence with the word "now."

Today I rediscovered a cooking podcast that I don't often get a chance to listen to (Spilled Milk) and am thinking that podcasts might need to replace TV, at least for a little while.

A happy reunion

I'm trying to reassure Matt that he's not missing too much of Emery's life as he works in Chattanooga during the week and visits us on the weekends. However, a friend did jokingly point out that he missed half her life while in Chattanooga last week.

Still, I don't think he missed too much other than her putting on a few ounces and getting a little cuter with each passing day. This week her only new trick has been spitting up.

We're thrilled that we get to go down to Chattanooga with Matt next week for a visit, leaving us only one short week on our own again before we make the move!

Beds

Emery likes her day bed (and night bed for the time being) AND Mom and Dad's bed!