my baby sleeps in the closet

We live in a small house. A very small house that isn't much bigger than a matchbook. No, really, I mean it. Our humble little abode is about 900 square feet, and yes, I know that is a HUGE space in terms of NYC, but we don't live in NYC.
So, when baby makes three, we had to make a few decisions with our space. I gave up my office space, moved into the sun room, and crammed a few baby bejos necessities into the guest room. Now that he is 7 months old we figured it was time to move him into his own room. After seeing this post on Ohdeedoh we decided, in the vain of Harry Potter, that we would move the baby into the closet.

The pictures aren't very good for whatever reason, but you'll get the point

It has worked out quite well and, most importantly, we still have a guest room! The next challenge is to find space for everything that came out of the closet and is currently living in a pile on top of the guest bed. Good thing the room isn't booked in the near future, although I HATE living in the disorder that the reordering of rooms has created. Oh well...

Baking Disaster

Another highly anticipated recipe: Chocolate Coconut Bread.
Turns out there is a very good reason why the recipe calls for unsweetened coconut. Sweetened coconut burns at high temperatures like the 475 degree oven one is intended to bake this bread at. Duh!

The salvaged bits, although undercooked, had promising flavor. I guess I'll have to try this one again, but this loaf will go unnamed...

baby bejos is 7 months!

And he is sitting up all on his own...with the occasional topple. Makes us rethink the lovely tile floors.

We spent the weekend pulling out the Christmas decorations, hanging lights, and, to SG's chagrin, attending holiday festivities. I love Christmas lightings and Santa sightings and was delighted this year to be able to share my excitement with baby bejos...I think a little bit of the holiday cheer even rubbed off on SG too.

Dear Santa,
all I want for Christmas are kitchen utensils, as I find them waaaaay more entertaining than typical baby toys.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread

Yum! 

This is the recipe I have been most excited about trying and it did not disappoint.

Bread

We have become a household of homemade bread, and not the kind out of a breadmaker. We are not purists, as we use a no-knead method, but the results make us look damn talented. And this is the book that makes it all possible

The issue is that I have stuck to the same few recipes time and time again. So, starting this week, I am venturing out and trying new recipes.

first up: Jim's Irish Brown Bread

Guinness, buttermilk, whole wheat flour....yum!

And thanks to my BFF, Auntie A , we are in the habit naming each loaf we bake. Perhaps you remember Cliff? Coming out of the hot oven this bad boy brought me back to Ireland and conjured up all things Irish, for it was in wintertime that we honeymooned in Ireland, and the bread was perhaps the highlight for me, a semi-vegetarian, in a not so veggie friendly place. On top of that I caught a fever induced sickness (we fondly dubbed it "the Irish Ick") and the only thing I could stomach was tea and toasted brown bread. This bread is nothing like the brown bread I enjoyed so much in Ireland but it does deserve an Irish name. So, I dub thee.... Murphy
because all that time I was sick all I really wanted was a Murphy's Stout