Potatoes in the Mist

So I was returning from a veggie burger excursion tonight (D is at a family thing out-of-state) and I got the urge for something sweet. The dilemma was: 1) a square of carrot cake from the corner grocer or 2) fat-free Edy's Fruit Bar (a popsicle, really) from my freezer. The popsicle won, because the carrot cake would have required me to walk an extra block. D and I saw Baby Mama on Friday (no movie would be complete without a guy in the ticket line yelling, "Better hope you won't deliver in the theater, huh?"), but remarks from random morons aside, it was quite enjoyable. Although I must admit the video featured in the movie (no clips were shown, thankfully) gave me pause. The video was entitled: "Extreme Delivery!!" and showed mothers delivering 15-lb infants.

Tidbits from today: 1) I went swimming this morning. A while ago, I asked myself, "Who are you trying to impress?" and gave in to the urge to use a pink noodle under my arms while I do the breaststroke. This way, I can do 30 minutes of laps and not get tired. Anyway, the old man I was sharing the lane with said, "You move at a remarkable clip! I thought I would have to pass you, but you were always ahead of me." I wonder if it's that I was fast (thanks to a little help from my pink noodle friend) or he was slow. But it was a nice compliment all the same :) 2) I was contemplating my toenails and realizing I should clip them, but this is a Herculean task that is just not going to get done -- by me, anyway. I'm still shaving my legs but even that involves gymnastic contortions, and toenail clipping requires fine motor skills in addition to the contortions (shaving just requires broad strokes). And I'm too much of a germophobe (and cheap/frugal/whatever) to ...

I got weighed today. But the doctor is not worried about my weight gain at all. She calculated my weight gain since October (mind you, I got pg in September, but I hadn't been weighed since May. I was using my May weight as a starting point. But now I'll use the October weight, like my doctor did. Because doctors know best!). Anyway, she said, "I'm not concerned at all. You're probably going to be under fifty. How tall are you?" "Five seven." She made a pshaw-type sound. "I'm five zero , and I gained fifty pounds. I'm not worried at all," she assured me. "Just don't see my partner, Dr. ___. He'll tell you you've gained too much weight." "I'm seeing him next time." "Oh, when he says that...just let it roll off," she said airily. Actually, I have my response planned. If he tells me I gained too much weight, I'll advise him, "If you had ever been pregnant, you would know that you d...

It feels like there is a bowling ball in my pelvis. A heavy one. Not the kind you use with candlepin bowling. But I guess it's normal. The doctor I saw last time told me everyone has pelvic pain and everyone has back pain; the thing to worry about is if my whole stomach gets hard. That's an early contraction. I'm glad she told me that, because I had no idea what a contraction felt like. I should tell you we had a very good dinner tonight. D was going to his doctor and so we met at this Burmese place near the doctor's office. I had steamed vegetables with peanut sauce on the side (they serve it that way :) and yellow rice which had bits of corn in it. The rice might sound iffy to you, but it worked. The dessert (which they gave us automatically) consisted of fresh orange slices. If they were closer, I'd go there more often.

D and I tried this new (to us) diner today. It was fabulous. The decor was Art Deco. I had a lentil burger in pita with horseradish mayo on the side. It really doesn't sound very good, so it could have gone either way, but it was quite tasty. Lentils are like impressionable children; you can mold them in either direction. I also had some of D's garlic cheese bread, which was made with some unusual, tangy cheese (but it was melted, so no listeria worries), and topped myself off with a brownie. The waiter walked by as I was contentedly mowing down on it and he smiled broadly. It must have been obvious how much I was enjoying it. I finished the brownie as we walked because D had to get to his office for a meeting. Unable to contain myself, I exclaimed, "This is @$^$^@ fabulous!" A Jamaican lady walking behind us laughed and said, "I heard you."

After dinner tonight, I wanted a cupcake, so we headed over to Billy's Bakery, which was nearby. We passed a really cute dog tied up outside a restaurant. He had little doggy dreads -- soft, furry ropes of hair that made him resemble a friendly carpet. We both patted him and decided to visit him again on the way back from the bakery. At the bakery, we got a perfect vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting -- I think they called it a "Yellow Daisy" cupcake. The cashier took one look at my stomach and said it was on the house. (The cupcake, not my stomach ;) He also guessed that it was a boy. He was the first guy to guess correctly (the women always guess right). Some woman held the hotel door open for me in Miami and said, "It's a boy, right?" On the way back, the dog was still there and *very* fascinated with my cupcake-scented fingers. We spent some time with him, and after we walked away, he gazed after us, forlorn. Then he jumped up on the window of the ...

D and I had dinner at a diner tonight...one with nicer decor than most, lots of windows and hanging plants, but a diner nonetheless. I was enjoying my grilled cheese (Swiss on wheat, my favorite combo) and strawberry milkshake as we overheard a guy giving his children a morality lesson at the table behind us. "You have to be honest," etc. And "you'll be much closer when you're adults." As they filed out, the waiter said, "Pretty exciting, huh? An actor, huh?" D: "What was he in?" The waiter: "I dunno." Neither of us got a good look at the guy, so my eyes shot to the entryway. There he was...Ethan Hawke. With a curly-haired woman I didn't recognize, and two kids. The girl was tall, thin and blonde...she'll probably end up looking like Uma. She had sparkles on the seat of her jeans. He should recognize *me* by now ;)

So D and I went out to dinner tonight and he had the strawberry risotto (one of the specials) and I had the orrecchiette with broccoli rabe (also a special). I love the mild bitterness and texture of broccoli rabe. The strawberry risotto came with gold leaf on top. It literally looked like tinfoil (except gold) folded across the top. I thought it would be grated, like Mario Batali did on the one episode of Iron Chef I've seen. Anyway, the waiter told D it was edible, but D didn't buy it and scraped it off. Next to us were seated one man and six women. I pointed out the sexual discrepancy to D and he said conversationally, "They're visiting from Utah." I took him seriously at first. When we got home, we found a package in the mailbox for "Baby ____". It was a Valentine's Day bib from my mother. The bib is very cute, with some pink in it, but E is secure in his masculinity :) It was kind of humiliating at the doctor's office today. The nurse slid t...

Ben & Jerry's closed. Yes. It was tragic. So I went to Baskin Robbins instead. I got the strangely named Tax Crunch, which really tasted like Heath Bar Crunch, and was quite good. So I give Baskin Robbins the Bearette stamp of approval. They also gave me a sensibly small scoop -- none of this large-masquerading-as-a-small business. I'm also very excited about tomorrow morning. I'm bummed that the strike is keeping Desperate Housewives (the only show I really miss, aside from The Office) off the air...but breakfast makes up for it. I recently discovered 365 brand Frosted Mini Wheats and I love them. It makes me look forward to morning. Are you infatuated with any breakfast items?

So D and I had another delicious dinner tonight. The atmosphere was great too...flickering candles, a cozy space on a secluded street in the village. I had: white bean bruschetta (the white beans were in some kind of vinaigrette, truly awesome -- shared with D) organic mixed greens with lemon thyme vinaigrette (the dressing was outstanding) white bean ravioli and... We shared a " Po sundae": mint gelato with chocolate sauce and a dash of cinnamon. And I think some pine nuts were floating around in there. Sadly, our favorite Barnes and Noble location is closing. I do usually go to the library, but my branch doesn't always meet a girl's needs. A moment of silence, please. *Oddly enough, Blogger doesn't like ampersands...they wouldn't let me put one between Barnes and Noble. Who knew?

So D and I had a fabulous dinner. I was off swimming and he called Babbo to see if they had a table available. Turns out they had a last-minute cancellation and could accommodate us at 5:30. Pregnant women like to eat early and often, so I was up for it (after a little concern about the non-vegetarian-ness of the menu. AND they broke D's "household pet" rule -- they had rabbit on the menu. But he wanted to go anyway.) We've been there before, but tonight was our best experience there. We sat upstairs, away from the hustle and bustle. Two tall, thin bookcases filled with wine stood against the walls. The women's bathroom had a tub of pretty flowers. I ended up getting: roasted beets with ricotta salata (though D's appetizer, a mushroom crepe with vinaigrette, was better and I need to remember to get that when we go back. Neci con funghi mista, I think it was called). pumpkin lune (homemade pasta stuffed with pumpkin, in a moon shape, hence the name) chocolate ...

Yesterday I had organic Raisin Bran cereal with skim milk, 2 glasses of orange juice, 3 oranges, 1 nonfat yogurt, yellow split-pea soup, some healthy chickpea-potato concoction, rice noodles with broccoli and tofu, and salad. Oh, and a (vegan) pecan blondie. Which I shared with D. Not terrible, right? I am the size of a house. Did I mention I walked 2-3 miles yesterday and swam for half an hour? I'm still enormous. I passed this corner where bums gather, on my way to the pool. Usually I cross the street to avoid them, because they hit on any woman who is (a) under 80 or (b) has some teeth. Yesterday, I had a feeling it would be okay to pass them. It was. I'm mostly relieved. But still...

Today, there is a big rainstorm/thunderstorm in Manhattan; it's romantic and scary all at once. AND I had the perfect cookie. I love the peanut butter cookies at Whole Foods, but they do not always get the texture right. I am seeking soft and chewy, but with a touch of "al dente" - i.e., Pepperidge Farm Soft-Baked are too soft for me. Whole Foods makes their p.b. cookies either perfect or hard (overcooked and brown). There is no in-between. I test the cookies by pinching them gently with a piece of parchment covering my fingers. Yesterday they had a perfect one, but some hooligan took a bite out of it and PUT IT BACK. I know, I know. Even grosser - my mind briefly entertained buying it, but I reasoned I had no idea what germs the transgressor left on the cookie. But today, I found the perfect cookie. And it was bite-free. Also, they were playing "Alone" by Heart in the store. I had forgotten this song's existence, but it brought me back to the summer of 1987...

My stomach is starting to precede me into a room. Or maybe it's just tonight. I have added a food baby to the regular baby. We went to Pizzeria Uno -- partly b/c I wanted pizza, partly b/c I wanted to give D a break from my persistent Thai craving -- it was like a voice chanting in my ear, "Red curry, red curry, red curry." So I gave the curry a break and got an individual deep-dish pizza. But that was not enough! It should have been. But it wasn't. So we got this really big, vile yet delicious dessert - a giant peanut butter cup with ice cream on top. I'm happy to say we didn't finish it. But we made more of a dent in it than we should have. The peanut butter cup had an Oreo cookie crust on the bottom. It reminded me of what I called "dirt" in Carvel ice cream cakes when I was four -- this textured, gravelly chocolate in the middle of the cake. I think I called it dirt to illustrate my simultaneous repulsion by and attraction to it. I found myself s...

So last night was not that bad after all. In fact, it was much better than I expected. Maybe the key is low expectations ;) Although they say the opposite with childbirth pain - if you think you can't stand it, you can't; if you think it's manageable, you'll be okay. We had dinner with DG at a restaurant with golden walls and a very kind owner, who said, "Can I say congratulations?" after I took my coat off. They gave us some strawberries and biscotti at the end, dusted with confectioners' sugar, just to be nice. My eyes were closing at the end, I was so tired, but DG thought a change in venue would invigorate me. It did -- we proceeded to a party at a gorgeous apartment that costs $6700/month (sometimes the wealth floating around Manhattan freaks me out) and there was a sweet black Lab there who greeted us. This was the best-behaved dog I have ever seen. Most dogs bark, jump or freak out when there is company, but this one just wagged sedately, as if to s...

I just started Karma and Other Stories by Rishi Reddi. Some readers have criticized her for being too similar to Jhumpa Lahiri, but I think she is good in her own right. The first short story is about a man who orders a bean-and-cheese burrito at a fast-food establishment, and they bring him a beef-and-cheese burrito instead. He feels the cashier was rude to him, as well as violating his vegetarian preferences, and decides to sue! That sort of thing happens to us fairly often - D will order penne a la vodka and ask them to leave out the prosciutto at this one place, and sometimes they'll include it anyway. Or we'll ask for split pea soup, the waiter will assure us it's vegetarian, and it'll arrive with chunks of ham floating in it! Of course I wouldn't sue them (and it never occurred to me that someone would). I want to see how the lawyers handle that, in the story.

Thanks for the food suggestions so far! I went grocery shopping today (pre-suggestions, but I plan to implement them next time) and stocked up on what I planned to get, plus Reese's peanut butter cups (I am only human), cheddar rice cakes (cute bite-sized ones), Ritz crackers, sharp cheddar cheese, natural crunchy peanut butter (I found a generic brand that was a steal, and contained only roasted peanuts and salt!), canned pineapple chunks in pineapple juice, etc. While I was shopping, I heard 2 clerks talking enthusiastically in the cracker aisle. "The lioness wants to be admired," said the female clerk. "That's why she has a mane. She wants to feel beautiful." "Thanks!" said the male clerk in a really heartfelt way, and I wondered: why does he care? Is he going on safari? The female clerk nodded sagely. "Yup. You just need to stroke her ego. That's all you need to do." That's when I realized the male clerk's girlfriend was b...

I have learned something weird. If you are obsessed with chocolate chip cookies for a while, you *will* get sick of them. I have a bag of them sitting totally unmolested in the kitchen cabinet. The same goes for ice cream. I have a nice pint of B&J in the fridge but it just doesn't call out to me the way it once did. (Okay, I had a few spoonfuls yesterday. But I didn't attack it as I would have previously.) My current thing is dairy: skim milk with my cereal every morning, lowfat yogurt, and CHEESE, glorious cheese...I ate a whole big chunk of Muenster yesterday and the day before. Just by itself. And it was awesome. But I am need of inspiration. Before I was pregnant, I would eat oatmeal for breakfast, something fairly healthy for lunch and dinner, a couple of pieces of fruit, and a nonfat yogurt. That's it. That was my daily intake. Now I need to sate G's* ravenous appetite, and I'm not as into sweets as I was. I'm putting together a grocery list and have ...

There's something disgusting but very satisfying about pregnant eating. Here's what's gone down my gullet today: 1) Blue cornmeal pancakes with bananas. I had brunch with a friend. It's one of the places where we go a lot. I used to feel the pancakes were mountainous, intimidating; now I thought, I'm not sure if it's enough. (Oh, and I had an apple and a teacup of lemonade BEFORE the brunch, because I woke up a couple of hours before we were supposed to meet.) 2) Another apple. Not bad. 3) Homemade mac and cheese. It's a somewhat lighter version...no eggs or butter, with skim milk, low-fat silken tofu and nonfat yogurt subbing in for some of the cheese. But it still had almost 2 cups of cheddar. I had, um... 3 bowls. 4) A few spoonfuls of Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. This is now one of the great loves of my life. I regard it with the same rosy glow with which, in June, I will hopefully greet the epidural man...

D likes to eat whatever I'm eating. I got up to have a cracker and some lemonade, and he asked me to pour him some. If I was not into the lemonade, it would rot in the fridge, uneaten (unconsumed?). It's kind of cute, I guess :)