7 Quick Takes Friday – I’m Hungry

I’m back again. We returned home from our trip to PA on Monday night and we all made it!

7.

But before our trip, we celebrated Maggie’s half-birthday with a party for her friends. For the 3rd year in a row we were unable to have it outside. Maybe next year?

It stormed for the whole party, and then the sun came out right when everyone was leaving. How nice.

We had a great visit with Maggie’s god parents and our great friends Elizabeth (of Coppertop Kitchen) and her hubby and baby girl. So glad they were able to make it!

Maggie loves “baby Anne”

I hope this bodes well for interactions with brother(s) or sister(s).

6.

On Tuesday we headed out to PA and stopped for the night at State College.

Relaxing before dinner. I ate all the steak. It was good.

5.

We spent the 4th with my grandparents and visiting, eating, and talking. A good time was had by all.

My grandma was awake and we had three really great visits with her, which is wonderful considering the uncertainty of dementia.

Maggie with Pop-Pop, and her namesake, my grandma Margaret

Maggie loved visiting with “Nannie and Pop-Pop” and asked everyday to go to “Pop-Pop’s house”.  I’m sure the cat and the 1 acre+ of lawn to run on had nothing to do with that.

4.

I also stumbled upon the gold mine of my grandma’s recipe box. Everybody, my grandma was an amazing cook and baker. I’m so excited to organize the more than 100 recipes (some more than 60 years old) that I found, and to try these with my family. Love passing on those traditions!

What’s your favorite food that your mother or grandmother made when you were a child?

My favorites were my grandma’s mac and cheese (always from scratch), her beef stew, and the many cakes and cookies she made over the years. Oh, and the fudge. She made homemade fudge every year for Christmas, and it remains the most delicious fudge ever. So making it this year.

3.

On the way back we stopped in Wheeling, WV and met up with a dear blogger friend, Rebecca.

By the end of our lunch at Cracker Barrel, Maggie and “Miss Rebecca” were fast friends.

She is so much fun to chat with, and was so generous to give us some prayer books, a St. Gerard medal (which I have worn everyday since!) and a lovely pink rosary for Maggie which she wears every day.

Friends make road trips more fun.

2.

I’m 16 weeks today. And I’m hungry. I can’t seem to stop eating and thinking about food and what to eat next.

Here’s a run-down of a typical day in the last week or so, when the hunger has started to pick up.

Breakfast: Kashi cereal with whole milk and berries and a scrambled egg (or two)

Snack: cottage cheese and fruit

Lunch: some kind of meat or maybe egg salad, vegetable salad, whole milk, cheese, more fruit, bread or crackers

Snack: greek yogurt or cheese with fruit or nuts (or sometimes I go to the McDonald’s drive thru and get chicken nuggets, shhhh!)

Dinner: steak, chicken, fish or some kind of meat with pasta or rice, salad, veggies, and maybe more milk

Snack: ice cream. always ice cream.

Then sometimes I get up in the night and drink a huge glass of whole milk.

I think I finally understand what it must feel like to be a teenage boy eating 3,000 calories a day.

1.

This weekend Maggie is attending her very first princess party. All of the little girls in attendence will be dressed as princesses. She’s been talking about it every day for almost a week. She’s going as Cinderella. Yes, I’ll be taking photos.

Happy weekend all!