For those of us who didn't get an instruction manual with our babies and for whom parenting hasn't always gone as planned. On a more serious note this blog is about supporting a woman's ability to make her own choices about parenting including the choice, for whatever reason, to bottle feed her babies formula.

BlogHer Ad Network
More from BlogHer
Advertise here
BlogHer Privacy Policy
Flexible Recognition

ROFL button

Best of Blog Exchange



GNM Parents Hot Stuff

Flexible Links

My Blogging Inspiration
Campaign for Unshaved Snatch (CUSS) & Other Rants

Flexible Affiliations


Parent Bloggers Network
- Crazy/Hip Blog-Mamas+
(Random Site)
A Member of Bust's Girl Wide Web
Parenting Blogs - Blog Top Sites
blog search directory
Search For Blogs, Submit Blogs, The Ultimate Blog Directory

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Something to Say about Denial

With my first triathlon tomorrow morning, I have been trying to be particularly careful in my eating and sleeping habits this week. I have also tried hard to manage my progressively escalating case of nerves as the week went on. So you might expect that I would have gone to sleep as early as possible yesterday. Almost as if I were in denial about my need for rest, I did the opposite, and enjoyed what was for me an unprecedented social opportunity that I could not refuse.

I was honored to receive an invitation from Soccer Mom in Denial to join her and Jenn from Something to Say about Life in the Netherlands for dinner. That's right, for this weekend Jenn in Holland is Jenn in Massachusetts! How cool is that?


We had a fun evening typing talking and talking and talking. Plus there was fabulous food. We were the last ones to leave the restaurant. Hmmm...I bet my triathlon training buddy and our trainer would have something to say about that. If they ask me about it, I may need to deny it. Afterwards, we went to a bar. Relax! I was willing to stay out late for friends, but I did deny myself alcohol in order to avoid derailing my training and triathlon prep. Actually, I had such a good time that I really feel it helped me to relax before my big event tomorrow. The Big Giraffe also denied me the consequences of my late night by generously encouraging me to sleep in today! I certainly have something to say about his kindness.

I have enjoyed what SMID and Jenn have to say for almost as long as I have been blogging, and there was no denying from our prior meetings that SMID is a fabulous person. I quickly felt that I could say the same about Jenn. I have to admit that as much as I enjoyed getting to know Jen and getting to know SMID better, what most stuck with me today, other than just having a great time last night of course, was what Jenn had to say about Life in the Netherlands.

Of course, I had to find a metaphor in what Jenn described to apply to my own life. For example, Jenn described the way she shops by going from specialty store to specialty store like the cheese store, the nut store, and the bakery, just the way things used to be in the US before supermarkets became so prevalent, except that they bike everywhere. So today I didn't just go to the supermarket, but made a stop at a specialty store, Trader Joe's, to stoke my yogurt craving as well. Technically, I haven't ridden my bike in two days, but I will be on it bright and early tomorrow for the first leg of my triathlon. Yeah, not as nice and neat as in the Netherlands, but if you add biking and choosing the right store for each purchase... Of course, in the Netherlands, an employee would have started pulling together my usual order for me when I walked into the stores. Trader Joe's didn't even have my normal order; they were out of the cheaper Greek yogurt. I silently rejoiced at the "excuse" to buy the more expensive Greek yogurt that tastes twice as good.

Tomorrow's my big day. I'm all packed and just about ready to go to bed. I'm definitely nervous although not nearly as nervous as I would have thought. Apparently a night off was just the ticket.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: When preparing for something stressful, there is something to be said about denial.

Labels: , , , ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 8:06 PM   9 comments
9 Comments:
  • At 5/10/2008 9:57 PM, Blogger Heather said…

    I think it's good you got to relax a little. That has to help!

    Good luck tomorrow!

     
  • At 5/10/2008 10:59 PM, OpenID FishyGirl said…

    Good luck tomorrow! Have a great time.

     
  • At 5/11/2008 2:41 AM, Blogger Dani said…

    Have a great time!

     
  • At 5/11/2008 7:23 AM, Blogger Sally HP said…

    Good Luck! I'm seriously in awe of you guys...you've worked really hard to meet this goal. An added bonus of the whole process is that you're modeling goal-setting/achievement for your kids at the same time that you got to do something for your kids...who could ask for more?!

     
  • At 5/11/2008 7:24 AM, Blogger Sally HP said…

    I meant to say "at the same time you got to do something for yourself"...I need to go to Starbucks to wake up my bean before commenting next time!

     
  • At 5/11/2008 8:57 AM, Blogger Count Mockula said…

    You're going to be great! You should be so proud of yourself!

     
  • At 5/11/2008 10:40 AM, Blogger Kami said…

    You will do fine, in fact you are probably in the middle of your swim or bike right now!

    GO ALEX!

    :-)

    Can't wait to hear how it all went.

     
  • At 5/11/2008 11:36 AM, Blogger Jen of A2eatwrite said…

    How wonderful that you had that time together! I'll bet it was great fun.

    And I hope today's event goes beautifully. I'm in awe of you! Rock on!

     
  • At 5/11/2008 3:20 PM, Blogger jodifur said…

    how fun! I'm so, so jealous.

     
Post a Comment
Home
 
Thursday, May 08, 2008

Bare Naked Ladies Snacktime Concert

Today I felt like I was on an international flight filled with preschoolers and babies. A flight where there was only one parent for every 2+ kids. In typical flight tradition, it was hot and there was hardly any room between seats. I was getting kicked by the kids behind me, and I had to pry my own kids off the seats in front of us on more than one occasion.

Parents all around me had diaper bags chock full of premiere snacks (aka junk food (aka bribe food)) for their kids. The ones who hadn't thought to do this were luckily able to purchase good bribe food. Some parents had thought to bring crayons, paper, books, toys, stickers, you name it to entertain their kids. Others like yours truly felt blessed that they hadn't cleaned out their diaper bags in a while and were able to pull out a bunch of cheap plastic toys.

Parents started out on a happy, enthusiastic note and cheerfully comforted their kids who were tired of sitting still. Within a short period of time, threats were being issued left and right. By the end I felt like an insane person. I was hot, tired and I felt like...well...I was on an international flight with little kids. Except I wasn't. I was at a free Bare Naked Ladies concert in Barnes and Noble.

Yes, you did read that right! BNL was promoting their new CD Snacktime. I have always imagined going to a BNL concert, although I never pictured two little kids hanging on me. I have to admit at first I thought this was some weird MA thing, I mean a concert in a bookstore, but it's actually a national tour. And it turned out to be totally worth it. I had a great time, and the boys really enjoyed themselves. In fact my younger son (YS) enjoyed himself so much that I had a flashback to a conversation with my aunt where she said YS had the personality of a golden retriever and would be one of those kids who is always up for a party. Watching YS quickly get into the groove and start clapping to the beat, caused me to make a mental note to remember to order some of the Say No pamphlets that are always advertised on TV. I'm kidding, he's just shy of two...but on the other hand he was really into it and I could picture him in his teenage years swaying back and forth with a lighter....

The concert was for 30 minutes. In addition to singing songs off their new album, they sang one of my favorite workout song, Another Postcard, and One Week. We even got to meet them after the show.

Bare


A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Bare Naked Ladies are definitely appropriate for small children.

Labels: ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:37 PM   11 comments
11 Comments:
  • At 5/09/2008 12:50 AM, Blogger Tracey said…

    :) I love that "serious" groups are doing children's music more.

     
  • At 5/09/2008 10:15 AM, Blogger Chicky Chicky Baby said…

    Am. So. Jealous.

    I bought the CD yesterday morning at the local B&N and only then was I told that BNLs were playing in Framingham. I'm so sorry we missed the show! I saw them years ago at the Garden and they were fantastic.

     
  • At 5/09/2008 10:22 AM, Blogger Not Jenny said…

    I love BNL!! I have been a fan since their first album. They put on an awesome show. I will be getting this CD for sure. (I am now going to look for Canadian tour dates....)

     
  • At 5/09/2008 12:50 PM, OpenID FishyGirl said…

    AAAAAAHHHH! I AM SO JEALOUS!!!

    I got to review this album pre-release and we LOVE it. LOVE it.

    So jealous. Glad you had fun, though.

     
  • At 5/09/2008 2:39 PM, Blogger jodifur said…

    I'm so jealous. If they are coming here I am so there.

     
  • At 5/09/2008 6:07 PM, Anonymous CableGirl said…

    Oh very cool. You just don't expect a cool band like that to show up in a bookstore. Sounds like a great time. :)

     
  • At 5/09/2008 9:26 PM, Blogger Jen of A2eatwrite said…

    Very, very jealous!!! So glad you got to see them, though. So, is this a record for children? I can't believe I didn't know there was a new release.

     
  • At 5/09/2008 9:59 PM, Blogger Mayberry said…

    NICE! I hadn't heard about this new album.

     
  • At 5/09/2008 11:08 PM, Blogger painted maypole said…

    i am SO beyond jealous. and off to order their new album right now! because I know who is about to become The May Queen's new favorite group!!! :)

     
  • At 5/10/2008 11:37 AM, OpenID pincushionpoints said…

    Thanks for the comment. The girls totally love their capes. I'm glad you had a good time at the concert.

     
  • At 5/11/2008 9:35 AM, Anonymous Amy said…

    Awesome, I love BareNaked Ladies! I've seen them in concert a number of times and they really know how to put on a great show. I didn't realize they'd made a kids album, but I'll have to check it out.

     
Post a Comment
Home
 
Sunday, May 04, 2008

Baby Gear: Discard Now or Later?

When I first had my older son (OS), I could not imagine giving away one single item of his. What if I regretted it? What if I needed it later? When I worked at our moms group yard sale, it almost pained me to see the high chairs, strollers, and Pack N Plays donated. How could people part with these items? I'm sure those of you with older kids are laughing about that one.

The Big Giraffe and I have decided to move! Yes, we're really excited about it. There's a catch though. After meeting with our financial planner, we're probably going to wait another year to year and a half. Probably. We're meeting with a realtor tomorrow evening to find out where the market challenges have dropped our home value and to get an early idea of what work we need to do before putting our house on the market. The fact of the matter is a year will go by pretty quickly.

Our annual moms yard sale is also later this month. I went into our basement a few nights ago to try to see it through a realtor's eyes and, after fleeing in horror, I came to a rather shocking realization: I'm no longer attached to baby items. In fact, the yard sale can't come quickly enough. I am excited to casually donate my high chair, baby toys, etc. I decided to take a stab at selling some of them and have been amazed by the response. Anything that doesn't sell is going to the yard sale.

It doesn't take a background in rocket science for me to realize that I had been hanging onto these items because I wasn't ready to say that I was done having babies. Sometime between then and my current look at the basement, it became alright to let them go. Yes, I know getting rid of things is a sure fire way to get pregnant again. I already checked my birth control prescription. Phew!

As a prospective buyer was checking out the high chair today, I noticed that the white plastic had started to yellow in spots. This high chair is only just about 5 years old, and I've kept it very clean. In fact, it was less used than most of my baby gear, because my younger son (YS) went straight to a booster chair, so he never used the high chair. I was a little surprised by how quickly it had begun to age. Then I had another realization. If I didn't get rid of it now, it would be a guaranteed fight with my future daughters-in-law.

I imagine that the conversation would go something like this:

Alex Elliot (AE): I've saved this high chair for all these years for my grandchildren.
Future Daughter-in-law (FDIL): It looks like it's aged a little. Why is it yellow? It was white in the pictures with my husband
AE: (defensive) It's perfectly fine (and to me it would be!).
FDIL: What year was that plastic made? I remember reading in a history book that there were many issues with plastic when we were born.
AE: That was BPAs, and I don't remember any high chair trays being recalled.
FDIL: All the same, though our plastic regulations are much better now. It's been 30 years after all. I just don't want my baby actually eating off of old, degrading plastic. Seriously a high chair tray is the baby's plate. That's just gross not to mention dangerous.* Maybe we can take and keep a picture of it.
AE: Fine. (rushing out of the room to call the Big Giraffe). But I saved it all these years for you!!!

Alright maybe I saved it all these years for me. That would be hard to admit though.

*If this is YS's wife, she can point out that he never even used the high chair in which case I will pretend I don't hear her.

Wow! I'm exhausted from this fight. May all my fights with my FDILs be this easy to avoid! Off to tell the Big Giraffe how I'm the best FMIL ever! Alright, at least let me have this moment!
A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: Deal with baggage and other gear before it poisons future relationships.

Labels: ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 6:11 PM   14 comments
14 Comments:
  • At 5/04/2008 7:58 PM, Blogger Heather said…

    Ah, good points all.

    After this baby, I'll be doing some selling too. This is the last one that's coming from my body.

    Hope you sell lots!

     
  • At 5/04/2008 8:02 PM, Blogger Mayberry said…

    I'm still a-clingin' over here.

    Funny thing: My parents used an antique wooden high chair with all of us kids ... and now both my kids have used it on visits to their house!

     
  • At 5/04/2008 8:47 PM, Blogger SUEB0B said…

    You know, as soon as you get rid of the baby stuff, you get pregnant again. Or at least that's what my mom says, and she had 6 kids.

     
  • At 5/05/2008 8:02 AM, Blogger Ashley Winters said…

    If you did want to hold onto your 'old' stuff, you would need to buy a much bigger house to store it all. I'm with you, sell it and make some extra cash.

     
  • At 5/05/2008 8:05 AM, Anonymous CableGirl said…

    See and I'm not willing to get rid of anything yet, but that's because I know I do want another kid. However, I've lent out everything I could to a friend who has a newborn so that it's not clogging up my closet space in the meantime. lol. How's that for planning. :)


    LOVE the hypothetical conversation between you and FDIL. 8snicker*

     
  • At 5/05/2008 8:44 AM, Blogger Count Mockula said…

    Your imagined fight with FDIL cracked me up.

     
  • At 5/05/2008 10:43 AM, Anonymous Chantelle said…

    Too funny.
    I already know how you feel. We are moving in June/July and although we want another kid, it doesn't make sense to move everything from Europe to the US. But how am I going to get rif od his baby stroller? That thing was basically an extension of myself for over a year!

     
  • At 5/05/2008 11:40 AM, Blogger Whirlwind said…

    Hah! That's too funny!

    I too recently started getting rid of the baby stuff. In fact, I gave away the pack and play (and blankets to it as well) just yesterday. I have a highchair to get rid of as well. Of course, it's missing the straps (we never used them) and the cover - after three kids, it didn't last. My problem was getting rid of the clothes. I've saved some.

    A move is exciting. We've been looking but not actively. We have 6 years, I figure before we need to move:P

     
  • At 5/05/2008 11:58 AM, Blogger Kami said…

    As a mother to two sons, I so relate to the fight with the daughter in law! It's going to be interesting to say the least :-)

    We too have parted with all the baby stuff. For us it was the baby stuff or us! We don't have room in our house for that kind of storage.

     
  • At 5/05/2008 12:27 PM, Blogger Sally HP said…

    Yes...purge, purge and then when you think you've done all you can, purge 10% more of your stuff (very scientific, eh?)

    Sounds like it's time for a Granny No-Mercy Day...I'll be having mine soon enough, and you can come laugh at my pain.

     
  • At 5/05/2008 5:43 PM, Blogger jodifur said…

    I've already gotten rid of or donated most of Michael's baby stuff. My house is too small to keep it all.

    We are also planning to move. We meet with our financial planner in a few weeks.

     
  • At 5/05/2008 7:07 PM, Blogger painted maypole said…

    haha. that's a great reason to get rid of stuff!

     
  • At 5/06/2008 4:51 PM, Blogger skiplovey said…

    Good for you!

    We plan to have another so I'm saving the good stuff but I am definitely parting with the stuff that was just ok. The oversized bassinet that was practically the size of a crib. It's outta here.

     
  • At 5/07/2008 3:21 PM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    Heh heh. Love the fight with your FDIL. Hilarious.

     
Post a Comment
Home
 
Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Another Addition Goes Down the Toilet

Yes, we over in the Elliot household are getting a little wild. First it was the $3 zester. That was unbudgeted item. Alright maybe, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but this next item certainly was an unforeseen expense. Perhaps if we had acknowledged it a little earlier, it wouldn't have been unexpected.

The moaning groaning had been going on for about a year now. Every time we had a sitter, we would need to tell her not to think she needed to call the police or Ghostbusters if she heard it. Honestly at the beginning it would wake the boys up at night...not to mention me. The Big Giraffe is a deep sleeper so it didn't seem to bother him too much. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, so I sought help. The problem was actually solved, but a new one arose. It just couldn't be satisfied. It became so time consuming that I had just about had it. Until there was a flood. That was the final straw.

Today we are the proud new owners of a brand-new toilet. That's right. For the amount we spent on this toilet (which was the cheapest one we could find that had a good reputation) we could have bought a ton of zesters.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: If your toilet is moaning and groaning it's probably time to call in a plumber.

Labels: ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:13 PM   4 comments
4 Comments:
  • At 4/30/2008 9:23 PM, Blogger Jen of A2eatwrite said…

    We may be heading that way ourselves. The aqua (yes, aqua) 1960s edition clunker in our main bathroom seems to be groaning it's way into toilet history...

     
  • At 5/01/2008 6:53 AM, Anonymous Chantelle said…

    A new toilet! You are getting wild and crazy over there!

     
  • At 5/01/2008 9:42 AM, Blogger Heather said…

    Ooooo. Someday I hope to get a shiny white or cream colored toilet. Instead of the baby blue version.

     
  • At 5/01/2008 11:56 PM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    I am jealous of your aqua and baby blue toilets. My in-laws have a black toilet, which I do not recommend for a variety of reasons. My parents have a peach toilet with a grossly mismatched lid because the original one broke and no one makes peach colored toilets any more. Husband and I have a plain white one, albeit with a ridiculous clear plastic lid embedded with fake money.

    Anyway, congrats on your new member of the household. May you use it in good health!

     
Post a Comment
Home
 
Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Where the Streets Have No Name

I'll give you a moment to get the U2 song into your head (or click on it so you can actually hear it). It will set the tone for this post. Then you can be mad at me for the rest of the day when you can't get it back out of your head.

One of the many things that just leaves me staring in amazement is the way streets are named in Massachusetts. Many streets do not appear to have a name. That's not to be confused with streets that change names every block. I've had quite a few debates with people over the names of streets. They will insist that a road may be called Belmont Street or Boston Turnpike, while I will point out that if I follow the signs for Route 9 and ignore when it is called Belmont Street, Boston Turnpike, Highland Street, or any other name, I will get to Natick and see the fabulous new mall with the Cheesecake Factory. Quite honestly, if it takes you to cheesecake, does it really matter what it's called?

This brings me to this past Sunday. I decided to take a second stab at running the course (literally) for the triathlon. Well...most of the course. I didn't do the swimming. I did the biking again with no problem. Then armed with the handwritten list of street names for the running course that I had copied from the triathlon website, I took off. Everything seemed fine, until I realized I was back at the main street without having run through every street on my list. Based on the amount of time that elapsed, there were two possibilities: I had doubled my running speed or more likely, I had somehow lost a mile of the course. How weird does that sound? It's true though. The same thing happened the week before when my triathlon training buddy and I also attempted the running part of the course. The only difference was that time she had written the directions.

Determined to find where I took a wrong turn, I retraced my steps. That's when I realized the third possible explanation. I had stepped into a Harry Potter book. You HP fans know that in order to get to Diagon Alley, someone (usually Hagrid) has to tap a strange pattern of swipes onto what looks to the average person like a brick wall with his umbrella. The wall then magically disappears revealing a magical town. I believe that the triathlon course is similar. I needed Hagrid to bring his magic pink umbrella to tap on one of the luxury driveways in this neighborhood to magically cause another street to appear. I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside.

Of course in this very nice neighborhood it is hard to distinguish driveways from small streets; I suspect one of those non-driveways may be the missing link on the secret triathlon route. I did take a gander down several driveways, but after getting weird looks from a homeowner or two, I decided it was better to hedge my bets that the course will be marked on race day than spend the next several hours in jail after the cops were called on me for trespassing. That would make me want to run and want to hide. This does impact my race gear. In addition to needing shoes, a bike, a swim suit, a helmet, brown and a bag to wear over my head or throw up in (but not in that order), I also need a magic pink umbrella.

Alright, I am sure the prosaic among you may have come up with another explanation for the missing mile on my triathlon route. It is possible that the map on-line was wrong. It could also just be my mistake. My spinning instructor told me that she missed the microscopic street the first time she ran that triathlon while waving back at a friendly (or mischievous) neighborhood kid who waved at her. HP magic sounds way more fun. My favorite explanation remains the possibility that I developed superpowers and ran the until course in record breaking speed...

All I can do is what I told my training buddy. "When I go there, I go there with you. It's all I can do."

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: The amount of time required to finish a triathlon depends on your speed, the length of the route, and the amount of the route that you follow.

Cross posted at New England Mamas

Labels: ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 5:50 PM   6 comments
6 Comments:
  • At 4/29/2008 10:17 PM, Blogger Heather said…

    See? Now it's things like that that make me appreciate the (mostly) grid pattern of my city. It's so easy to find places.

    Maybe the wizards just don't like Minnesota though.

     
  • At 4/29/2008 10:55 PM, Blogger painted maypole said…

    i like magic as an explanation for just about anything. ;)

     
  • At 4/30/2008 12:10 PM, Blogger Kami said…

    I think your HP one is the most logical! Next in line is that you doubled your running time... or maybe both ;-)

    I am hoping that the route is marked on race day!

     
  • At 4/30/2008 6:45 PM, Blogger soccer mom in denial said…

    If you don't know the street names, then you don't deserve to know them. That is the logic in this here parts right? :)

    I like the HP logic. I will remember it the next time I'm missing a street.

     
  • At 4/30/2008 8:54 PM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    Damn, I adore you.

    Also, there will be a Cheesecake Factory just down the street from us during the BlogHer conference. I am hoping that the other attendees somehow do not notice or like cheesecake so we will have an easier time getting a table. Or we can just get it to go and eat it in our hotel or wherever. (I've done that before, too.)

     
  • At 5/01/2008 9:49 AM, OpenID cablegirl said…

    One of my most confusing automobile navigation moments was when I was living in Boston and was trying to get a friend of mine's house on the other side of town. I stopped at an intersection and looked up to see signs designating the corner of Tremont and Tremont. Ahhh, the days before GPS.

    I was scratching my head over that one for quite awhile. :)

     
Post a Comment
Home
 
Sunday, April 27, 2008

A New Addition

I'm going to leave you in suspense for minute. The Big Giraffe and I got married almost 7 years ago. We both lived in our own apartments and we each owned a set of dishes, pots, pans, silverware and kitchen appliances. When it was time to register, we decided that since we already owned these things (some in duplicate) we weren't going to register for them. We would only register for things that we absolutely needed like the waffle maker...the one that's been sitting in a closet for almost 7 years that we've used twice.

As we looked at aisles and aisles of kitchenware, I remember thinking that it was all such a waste. Didn't people know how to minimize? In my boldness, I may have even said something to that effect to the salesperson in my engagement giddiness. This giddiness is now making me blush as I type this.

Now that I have delved more into cooking over the past four years of being a stay at home mom, and my husband has gotten into cooking on the weekends, I would like to go back and shake my 25 year old self and ask what I was thinking when I registered! Why didn't we replace our things with good stuff that we actually liked instead of the odds and ends of things we already had most of which weren't in great shape? Why didn't we expand on what we had? Why on earth do we have a waffle maker sitting in our guest closet? Alright that's a conversation I should also be having right now with my 32 year old self.

Last night I actually baked. I'll pause for a moment of silence because this is a rare event in our house. Pause. This was for a baby shower that I'm hosting today. One of things I made was lemon bars. Lemon bars (or at least my recipe for lemon bars) require lemon zest. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. For the past seven years, I have used many recipes that have required zest. Most of them tend to be low fat chicken ones that require orange zest. I have always done the logical thing: skip the zest. Why did I need to skip it? Well, a zester is one of the items that I scoffed at when registering. Truth be told, I'm not sure I had even seen one before I registered, but I do remember what it looked like at Crate and Barrel when I did register. The handle was shaped like a lime.

Yesterday I decided enough was enough, and I shelled out $3 for a cheapo zester at the grocery store while fully aware that had a I registered for one instead of... oh let's just say for example... a waffle iron, I would have a nice cute one that didn't look like it was going to fall apart. We are now the proud owners of a cheap zester! Note to self: next time I'm near a place that sells decent kitchenware, buy a decent zester. Second note to self: do something about waffle iron.

A. Elliot's Lesson Learned: If you plan to bake with zest, you need a zester.

Labels: ,

posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:58 AM   11 comments
11 Comments:
  • At 4/27/2008 8:53 AM, Blogger slouching mom said…

    Oh, I KNOW. We had a very small wedding (20 people) and didn't register...anywhere.

    So we have no good set of dishes, no high-end silverware, no fancy mixer, etc.

    Yeah. I regret it sometimes.

     
  • At 4/27/2008 11:22 AM, Blogger Heather said…

    Really? I've never needed a zester...and I cook all the time!

    The waffle iron? Yeah, it would be in a closet at our house too.

     
  • At 4/27/2008 11:55 AM, Blogger Jen of A2eatwrite said…

    We finally gave our waffle iron to some folks who appreciate it more than we ever did. ;-)

     
  • At 4/27/2008 12:24 PM, Blogger painted maypole said…

    all my china. why did i register for it. if I had waited about 2 years I could have had a lovely set from my grandparent's farm.

    we got rid of our waffle iron. and our wok. that thing took up WAY too much room, and my frying pan worked just fine for stir-fry, thank you.

     
  • At 4/27/2008 1:31 PM, Blogger Whirlwind said…

    We registered and you know what, people brought any old thing and nothing from our registry. A few weeks ago - Husband went out and brought a full 8 piece ceramic dish ware set plus an 8 piece silverware set and serving spoons along with napkins, placemats ect. And you know what, he should have brought a 16 piece setting (what with 5 of us, that means we can only have 3 guests at a time or serve on mis-matched dish ware).

     
  • At 4/27/2008 2:23 PM, Blogger Stacey said…

    If you are not using the waffle iron.... it is the thing I failed to register for 12 years ago that I now wish I had. I have a crock pot that sees use 3 times a year, maybe, that everyone convinced me I had to have instead. I'm probably the only person in the world who cannot make a decent tasting meal in a crock pot, everything comes out tasting like warm water.

    I use a small grater to zest things

     
  • At 4/27/2008 7:30 PM, OpenID cablegirl said…

    a cheese grater works just as well if nott better than a zester... and it's a multitasker automatically making it better in my book. :)

     
  • At 4/27/2008 9:39 PM, Blogger Bitter Mom said…

    I got the C&B zester as a wedding gift (but not the one shaped like a lime). It's going on 4 years, and I have yet to use it. I'm not sure I even know how.

    I use lemon/orange peel from my spice rack in recipes instead.

     
  • At 4/27/2008 10:45 PM, Blogger Sally HP said…

    Mmmm..those lemon bars were DAMN good! Well worth using real zest :) Baby C appreciated them for sure.

     
  • At 4/27/2008 10:57 PM, Blogger Suzanne said…

    I think you are onto something. You should set up a registry where people can list the items they got for their wedding but no longer want. People who need those items can offer to trade the useless ones that they received for something on the list. It's brilliant.

    As for me, I wish held firm and didn't register for china. We received a vegetable bowl and gravy boat. That's it - no plates or anything else to go with them. Two useless items for the exchange registry.

     
  • At 4/28/2008 7:48 AM, Blogger Not Jenny said…

    I don't own a zester, but I do own a microplane grater that I love enough I would marry. It zests, it grates fresh nutmeg, hard cheese, garlic (don't own a garlic press either)..., I use it all the time. I also use my waffle iron regularly--I hate buying eggos and a double batch of waffles on a Sunday morning gives me enough to feed the kiddos twice. Leftover waffles freeze beautifully and heat up in the toaster quite nicely.
    I buy plain white dishes from the bargain rack at the hardware store--as we break one set of dishes a new one integrates very easily even if the plates have different shapes and designs.
    I am cheap, what can I say???

     
Post a Comment
Home