Marriage is full of surprises....

...like finding out you married this guy:

No this has nothing to do with a ruminant based bride price, or revelations of beauty, it has everything to do with garage sales though. Remember how shrewd a trader Johnny Lingo was purported to be? Well meet my husband, Mr Baker; the modern day Johnny Lingo:

Yes, I did actually catch him eating a french fry with chopsticks, more on that in another blog.

Mr Baker and I happened to go Garage Sale-ing this past Saturday to start stocking up on baby clothes for the Bubala. I see onesies going for $ 0.50 a pop and I'm like "that's half as much as the DI, SWEET and I start nabbing them up. Mr Baker had strongly encouraged me to haggle down prices. So I see a box with plenty of like new, plain, white, newborn onesies and offer the woman running the show $5 for the whole box (with 24 onesies in them that's about $.20 a onesie) She gladly accepted the deal and I beamed with pride as I made my way over to Mr. Baker to show what a good little haggler I was. At first he wasn't very impressed and thought I could have got much lower. However this changed after I counted out all the onesies for him. Apparently he thought I had purchased only a handful but when he saw I got more than half off the original asking price he was well pleased. At another garage sale I picked out about five baby clothes items. Mr. Baker then prodded me to start my bid at $.25 which I did expecting I'd later be forking out at least two more quarters, but to my astonishment the woman took the deal. Mr Baker's secret is simply get a group of items in some miscellaneous container and then offer lower than asking price--and it works! At first I was squeamish and embarrassed to be so petty but once I got the hang of it I realized it's kind of like flirty with a cute guy--what have you got to lose?, if he's not interested move on to another guy no big deal and if he is well then you've got a date (or in my case, a husband who doubles as Johnny Lingo Saturday mornings in the Summer). In the end we came home after spending $12.25 at sales and our treasures included
1 infant bath
1 high chair
1 baby carrier cover
1 baby bunting wrap
39 pairs of baby socks
24 pairs of newborn white onesies
1 baby blanket
1 bib
12 cloth diapers with covers
2 pairs of baby stockings
4 pairs of little bloomers
4 baby hats
4 dresses
10 sleepers ranging in sizes from 0-9 mos
8 pairs of baby pant 0-9 mos
23 baby tops 0-9 mos

HELLO! That's including my wopping $5 for 24 onesies! Considering everything else I got for another $7.25, I was less impressed with my initial bargain as well--I'll know better next time

Bring on the Pink! Poppyseed is going to need it come Oct 23, 2011

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday with ultrasound and confirmed that we are indeed having a baby GIRL!!!

I am so thrilled about that-- let's face it, with 3 brothers and 3 brothers-in-law and no sisters, the appeal of a baby boy is somewhat wanting--do I really need any more testosterone in my life? Here are some pics from the ultrasound

She spent most of the ultrasound with her fist drawn up to her face like a little boxer or her arms crossed over her face, so good face shots were hard to come by

The technician said this was really cute because she was sucking on her lower lip

This one makes it look like she's got Andrew's nose and chin, but who's to say  until she's here (PLEASE have Andrew's chin!)

So happy she's a she

We were told by a very competent and confident ultra-sound technician at 15 weeks that we were having a girl. She's been doing ultrasounds for 30 years and promised us a baby outfit if she was wrong--a promise she had been making to expectant mothers for three years without buying a single outfit. It was very happy news to me but I was still holding my breath until yesterday because 15 weeks was rather early. I remember getting ready the morning of that 15 week ultrasound and realizing that if I found out we were having a boy, I honestly don't think I'd be as happy about being pregnant anymore lol--sounds horrible, but I cannot deny that is what true. Lying on the bed for my 20 week ultrasound, I said a silent prayer that Heavenly Father would help me be just as excited and happy for a boy as I would be for a girl. I just want two little girls and then He can send me all the little boys He wants. I've boiled football mouth guards, been forced to watch Baywatch, JAG, and Walker Texas Ranger, I've been made to turn off a Jane Austen movie in favor of a bowl game, can quote First Knight, Mr. Deeds, The Waterboy, and I cry just thinking about the end of Rudy. I've received nerf guns and remote control helicopters as Christmas gifts simply because my brothers got them. Mine was the only Barbie world where there were enough men to go around thanks to a surplus of GI Joes (however Barbie toted the kids around in a desert storm tan military jeep), I've sat on so many cold metal bleachers for football games that my bum is still permafrost. I had to buy the loudest most girlie colored socks just to insure that my brothers wouldn't take them and leave me those unstylish to the knee tube socks. I've had my shirts used as impromptu snot rags (thanks Eric), my makeup used as war paint (thanks Sam and kyle) and my cat dipped in a toilet and sent flying down the stairs in a plastic cooler (thanks again Sam and Kyle). And do you know how some families have the tradition of a "family gift" at Christmas time? Ours mainly consisted of a new video game consul. You should have been there--every year the boys would hoot and holler and gleefully squeal as they unwrapped yet another advancement in gaming delight, and my dad would happily advise, "Now remember it's for everybody" --and me in my head thinking "Who are you kidding, buster, it's for them and you KNOW it!" They only games I ever played were pokemon stadium and guitar hero. Let's not even get into what a mess they made of Mr. Baker's car at our wedding reception. My brother's thought I was a nutcase until they had their first girlfriends and realized I was just being female. Mr. Baker expressed remorse over his not putting the seat down---to which I assured him his just putting it up was all I needed. And I can bear the little whiskers on the sink from his electric shaver some days when he's running late because its not the daily morning lugi in the sink. I've been forced to endure pubescent boys ever shirtless whilst the mere sight of me in a tanktop going down to the laundry room for a shirt was met with protestations to rival the french revolution. There was never a want for any Manchester Football memorabilia. Do you know what it's like to find remnants of Capt D's fish in the couch cushions and not be able to remember the last time your family had Capt D's? You want to talk legos?--legos are the reason I have high arches and never struggled with walking in heels. By the time I went to college I had lost significant amount of smelling capacity thanks to sharing a bathroom with three boys. Do you know what it is like to have your snuggly flannel sheets, memory foam mattress top, pillow and mattress ripped to shreds by two lab/beagle mix puppies? At least I had my own room (most of the time) and always got front seat in Dad's van, and spared large portions of yard work and manual labor cause I was a girl haha.  I WANT TO BRAID HAIR AND PUT A PINK BOW IN IT FOR PETE'S SAKE! (But really Mom and Dad I'm embellishing the indignation for dramatic effect, I wouldn't want you to feel you failed as parents or anything.)

PS I love you Eric, Sam, and Kyle and wouldn't trade you in for anything,
love Mrs Baker

Tschuss!

...And Dine We Must

The last potential day for frost passed on Monday, so this week housecleaning has taken a backseat to garden planting and since we have a shorter growing season every day counts so now most of my house resembles this:

However, though I may be able to let the house go, there is one thing that I can do nothing about : Herr Baker hat immer ja hunger. So, lets clear and clean off about 1 1/2 sg foot of counter space and make something to eat. (No I did not use the above pictured table with all the dirty pots and pans so you know)
My inspiration came from the $0.93 26 oz can of Hunt's tomato sauce which I bought on sale this morning at Broulim's. Originally Mr. Baker and I went there to capitalize on the 5 for $20.00 meat sale going on there--that is 5 packages of certain marked meats for $20. The catch is that on any given day we can go to Albie's (Albertsons) and buy pork or $1.99 per lb. So some basic math tells you that a 5 items of $20 = $4 an item. In order for this sale to be to our advantage we have to find  5 packages of meat that are at least 2 lbs a piece. Sadly this was not the case we found at Broulims. I was disappointed at the prospect of not scoring some fresh beef, but what was worse was seeing  that sad, dejected look on Mr. Baker's face as we walked from the meat section to pick up some milk. He was so excited about this sale--the man loves a bargain and he loves meat. So it was my hope to make him a smashing lunch before he went off to work and then make him feel better. So here it goes, Today I made Spicy beef spinach Ravioli
I started with this lovely can of beef chunks

Thank you Mr. Baker's parents!

When I opened my first can of beef chunks from a box provided by my inlaws, I was more than skeptical--I was grossed out --canned meat?  But then I got over it as it didn't taste bad at all an is really quite versatile. Since it's from the LDS Church cannery you know it will be good quality. Well I started with this lovely gadget:

To get the beef into a ground beef consistency as follows:

There's just one problem that I could have avoided if I thought it through--the meat's already cooked, so when I mixed it up with the other ingredients it became more of a beef pate. This gave the resulting ravioli filling a "Chef Boyardiee" texture, which--although delightful to some--was not what I was planning.

 Looking back I would have simply reheated the beef chunks in a skillet with olive oil.
Next I chopped up some spinach--a helpful tip: spinach is much easier to chop up when frozen, so I always store my spinach in the freezer unless I plan to use it raw.

Bring on the Spice! Chopped up a few of the these bad boys and mixed it all in with some Basil, garlic and other spices

I thought that a hint of mushroom would also serve me well

I then added half a can of cream of mushroom, some olive oil and some of the beef juice from the can. In the end, I would have rather used real mushroom for a more potent flavor, but it didn't detract from the overall taste.
I mixed it all up and began to feel somewhat dubious that the results would be as palatable as I hoped, but perhaps it was my inner picky eater rearing it's ugly head from the depths I have tried to squelch it to. You'll have to decide for yourself if it looks like the makings of pure yumminess or bleh!

I promise this tastes good in the end

At this point I began making the pasta for the ravioli. I used a simply recipe of flour, water, and egg like any of the many you can find on the internet. I was running behind schedule and had to get it all made and on the table by 1:30 before Mr. Baker went off to work so I didn't take the time to snap a few pictures. After kneading and rolling out the dough I placed it on some wonderful pieces of plastic known as dough presses which Mr. Baker and I snagged at DI for  $0.50 a pop--perfect for making 3 different sizes of filled pastry or pasta. I scooped a spoonful or so of filling inside then folded the press over. Meanwhile, Mr Baker set water to boil so it was ready to go as soon as I was ready with the first batch of raviolis. I cooked the ravioli for about 3 minutes or so then scooped them into a colander to drain. After heating up some pasta sauce and plating the lovely results were as follows:

One thing I would have liked to have added was some provolone or mozzarella cheese slices to top, but Mr. Baker didn't seem to mind

Here's wind up...

...And the pitch...

...AND IT'S A HOMERUN!!!

Mr. Baker inhaled these puppies and went back for more! I had to gingerly remind him to save some for me as I was in the middle of finishing up the last of the batch. After sending him off to work, I had my taste of them. The taste was great, albeit I wasn't happy about the texture, c'est la vie

Tschuss!

That Clumsy ole' Pregnant Woman

So last week I recommenced my usual pre-pregnancy workout routine: exercise every day at six--> Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat= Jog, Tues, Thurs= fitness class. Followed by a postwork out smoothie (Today's was Coconut Pumpkin--recipe to follow post :]  ). I was surprised to find that I didn't feel as sluggish and out of shape as I expected to--the internet suggests that that may be a result of my increased blood volume and lung capacity from pregnancy. In fact I could almost get back to my usual rate easily. I've also found that the "exercise high" after a work out is also much more noticeable--I feel on top of the world after each workout. But it's also helping with regulating some of my hormonal symptoms of pregnancy--remember how my easy embarrassment issues. This is an important point as you'll see in my little anecdote from fitness class. Today I did step aerobics, a delightful method of exercise probably invented by some woman who dreamed of being a dancer, but only succeeded as a  high school cheerleader, and lived in a ranch home with a one step difference between two areas of the house. Anyway, while in the middle of doing a "T" step, my left foot slipped on the edge and I fell back straight on my bum, the end of a five pound, metal dumbbell weight breaking my fall. This was one of those moments I was particularly grateful to be the possessor of the legendary "Barker Bum"--so named for the prevalence of ample bums in the Barker side of my family.
I was also particularly amused that this little accident happened just as the instructor was yelling the ubiquitous, "How's everybody doing?" --to which I could laugh/reply "Great!"
Seriously though, it sounds worse than it was and I got right back up on my platform and carried on. I couldn't even feel it 3 minutes later--I wasn't kidding about that Barker bum ;)

Coconut Pumpkin Smoothie
4 tbsp canned pumpkin
1/4 -1/2 tsp imitation coconut extract
1 1/2 tbsp powder coffee creamer
dash or two cinnamon
1 cup skim milk
1/4-1/2 tsp vanilla
Honey to sweeten
Ice cubes
~Blend and enjoy :)

Pizza Blanca

Mr. Baker loves pizza... unfortunately we are ought of any sort of tomato product

However, Mr Baker also loves Alfredo sauce

So how about what is known as a "white pizza" or pizza blanca using alfredo sauce instead of marinara?

So I begin with some sourdough dough I got by using this book:

...thanks Mom

..and this bread recipe:

Except I omitted 2 cups of water, the yeast, and an ample amount of flour and added 2 cups of sourdough culture (ie homegrown yeast) DELISH!!

Why 'hello' there beautiful

before throwing and pushing the dough into a pizza shape (yes I did throw it) I mixed up some Alfredo from two of the immer ja viele (how did you like that flavoring particle Herr Haderlie?) packets of Alfredo mis Mr. Baker bought at Broulims.

I also prepared the pizza pan by using a basting brush to grease it with olive oil

Olive oil really makes a difference in this pizza blanca. Since you don't have the robustness of the marinara sauce   the olive oil gives it great flavor

hello alfredo...dont forget to baste the crust in olive oil as well

As well as being without marinara, we also are out of mozzarella so I grated up cheddar and swiss instead (don't knock it till you try it)

Add spinach and a few of these spicy baby's chopped up with seeds:

HELLO Hotness!

And what's the secret to a crispy crust?....steam, set a pan of ice cubes on the rack beneath your pizza and you're in business

Anticipation,

And then one arrival of a perfect husband and one phone call later:

How did I ever get so blessed:

So to recap you'll need

Sourdough bread dough

olive oil

alfredo sauce

cheese 

spinach

cayenne peppers

....mmm so good

                  ....Tschuss

It wanted for nothing, except the whipped cream...... actually a little coconut would have been a nice addition

I concocted a delightful new smoothie recipe:
Black Forest Smoothie

How it is made:
add the following to your blender
1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
2tbsp coffee creamer
a handful of frozen dark cherries--however much your taste or purse allow
Blend all the above and then add 4-5 cubes of ice, blend.

If I had it I would have topped with some whipped cream, maybe even added a dash of coconut extract to the whipped cream

Even so it didn't take me long to down this one

Tschuss!