Something New

I will admit that I am not too creative in the meal planning department lately. We have been trying to fix meals that Colin might also like, which he usually doesn't really like, and then we all end up eating something none of us is too fond of. In my mental food prep list each week, I tend to think of food categories by nationality: Mexican, Italian, Thai, American, etc....but I found something a bit more inventive this week and fairly easy: Korean!

I bought some short ribs in the clearance section at Safeway (a great way to get great meat for 30 - 50 percent off). The check out clerk asked what I was going to do with the short ribs and I mumbled something about having to find a recipe....so here goes -- and it was pretty yummy:


KOREAN STYLE BROILED BEEF SHORT RIBS(Compliments of cooks.com)

2 lbs. short ribs
4 to 5 tbsp. sugar or honey (I used agave nectar)
3 tbsp. oil
6 tbsp. soy sauce
2 scallions, chopped (which I didn't have and it tasted fine)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Dash of salt and pepper
1/4 c. rice wine or sherry

Have ribs cut into 2 in square serving pieces. Score both sides of each piece deeply with knife. Cut away excess fat. Add sugar and oil to ribs. Mix well. Let stand.

Marinate 2 to 3 hours. Broil on both sides. Combine remaining ingredients; mix well with ribs. Serve hot.

Happy St Paddy's Day

We joined friends yesterday at a place called Jump Planet. Colin had so much fun chasing around the other boys and jumping throughout the various 6,000 square feet of pure energy zapping kid fun! The boys then agreed to sit together so that I could capture them in all of their "green-ness" before we headed to lunch at Wendy's.

Winter Sledding Adventures

Yep, still lots of snow around here! We had big cotton ball snow at the house last weekend, which turned into rain, but up in the mountains it made for at least 4 more good inches of fresh powder. We took Colin up to Snoqualmie Pass for some sledding fun, and he had an even better time rolling in the snow and having snow ball fights.

Max the Dog

Our neighbors spent the past 3 1/2 months dog sitting a golden named Max since his owner was over doing missions work in Rwanda. Many afternoons in late February, particularly when the sun was out, our neighbors would go out into the cul de sac to throw a ball for him. I would then take Colin outside so he could "play" with Max.

Max has now gone back to his family, but Colin still talks about him and calls the neighbor's house, "Max's house." And every golden he sees is now named Max. Good bye, Max the Dog!

My Little Protestor

Colin still hates the camera. This second picture was taken at home on picture day for his preschool. He looked so handsome that I wanted to get a picture of my own. I hope the Yuen Lui folks had better luck than I did....guess we'll find out in a few weeks!

Pirate Ships, Airplanes and Clown Fish, oh My!

Colin enjoyed a visit from his grandparents the end of February. We were on the go much of the weekend, exploring new places.

We joined Matt at work that Friday and then walked down to Pike Place Market, which is always an interesting sensory experience with the flying fish. Colin gawked at all of the huge fish on ice, and one of the fish mongers was a bit of a comedian with Colin: he put the fish on the ground and pretended to do chest compressions as though he was doing CPR to revive the fish....silly, but interactive and cheap entertainment nonetheless.

We later had a traditional seafood dinner down at Ivar's on the waterfront. We sat next to a window where we could watch the ferries come in and out, and we were parked next to one of the fire department's fire boats, which Colin coined a pirate ship. Arghhhh! Too bad he didn't have on the cool pirate hat his grandma brought out for him.

The following day we made a visit to the Flight Museum, which was Colin's first visit there. The last time I was there was for a company event, so I didn't realize how many interactive exhibits there are for kids his age. He sat in a small airplane and had fun running through the space capsule. After lunch at the cafe we headed over to tour the Concord and Air Force One, which was retired in 1972. Gotta love the early 70's design that has been captured forever in this plane.


Colin and Dad aboard a retired Air Force One

The following day we headed over to the Aquarium, where Colin loves the wall of water right as you enter. It has so many great fish and is fun to observe. And this time he enjoyed watching (not touching, just watching) the starfish. He's a recent Nemo fan, so he called them "Pete the starfish" (Pete is from the fishtank in the movie.) The aquarium even has a special tank filled with 2 clown fish (Marlin and Nemo) and a Dory fish...kids just eat that up and now we know why! And thanks to one of his favorite books, he successfully named a stonefish, leaf fish, lion fish, and sea horses. Can you name those, too?

Thanks for a fun weekend together, Grandma and Grandpa!