Me Too!

We have a very badly behaved cat - and its entirely our fault. He is the most enchanting beggar. It starts with his purr - on full blast, then its the rub up against your legs as you fry the eggs, the gentle head butt to your elbow as you eat or the resigned paw pat to your knee half way through dinner. Yes - he can be pesky, but overall he was just too cute in all of his antics and so we fed him from the table and that is how we got our badly behaved cat who knows the wrath of the spray bottle only exists when it is in our hands and when we are in the room.

Occasionally he has stolen things from the table - once it was a baked potato (plain - Alister put it in his dinner bowl to finish it off after he stole it), occasionally it is the stray brussle sprout or broccoli that we leave on the table as we go off to watch a tv episode after dinner before going back to the work and chores (so cats crave green things sometimes), and of course we always had to guard any defrosting meat and never leave a plate of chicken or beef unattended.

Now that Saphira has started solids - Haggai has expanded his pallet - we made such a big deal of her eating - all the mmmms, yummies, and isn't that good? - got to him as well. He has now decided he eats beets and pumpkin (he continues to enjoy broccoli). When food hits the ground - he's there in a flash and the food is gone. Just wait till we get to meat, then he'll really be in heaven.

Just checking!

Soviet Cartoons

Just found this on YouTube while I was trying to find some Russian Lullabies. It was in a collection of favorite songs from Soviet Era cartoons. The title is "We are bandits" I think you can figure out the rest yourselves.

Superbly Simple Sweets - part 4

Last, but not least, we have arrived at the Ukrainian chocolate sausage - I know - the name is not really appealing - but WAIT TILL YOU TRY IT - not only is the recipe delicious as is - there are about a billion differnt variations that you could add.

Julia's Chocolate Sausage (шоколадная колбаса)

200 grams cookie crumbs

100 grams finely chopped walnuts

150 grams melted butter (less than 1 cup)

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

3 Tbsp cocoa

Mix butter, sugar, egg, and cocoa on stove rapidly till frothy and until mixture is hot and steamy (NOT BOILING) keep it like this for about 3 minutes, mixture will thicken slightly. Add cookie crumbs and walnuts. Mix well. Pat into a log (sausage) shape and allow to cool. Slice and serve when solidified.

VARIATIONS

Add a liquor or alcohol to the stove mixture

Press flat in a pan or tupperware + frost with chocolate or mint frosting

Dried fruits - (like cherries) can also be added

Sky is the limit for other variations - enjoy!

Solids!!

I know you are all waiting for the wonderfully delicous and final saga of Sinfully Simple Sweets with its culmination in Chocolate sausages . . . but you'll just have to wait. I've been busy with highchairs. Can you believe we're almost at the sixth month mark??? Saphira has been interested in what we are eating and drinking for awhile and when we are all at the table - her favorite toys are a spoon and a sippy cup. No food yet, that will come this month - but she so loves playing with the means for food that food itself is going to be fun by my reckoning.

The problem - How to give her a space to eat? Our kitchen is small. Not as small as some - but small enough for something extra to be in the way. Second, not only is our kitchen small, but our table is small, so I wouldn't trust those clip on chairs to support her weight without the whole table tipping over. Third - we don't have chairs with backs, only stools and a bench - neither of which can accomodate a strap on booster.

The contenders:

So, originally I was all sold on the amazingly small Concord Spin. Marketed as the smallest highchair in the world, it has positive reviews with the main complaint being that the tray had no lip to stop items from falling to the floor as easily. We were all sold on it and about to buy it - but fortunately I actually found a physical store and was able to go check it out - small and compact though it is, the Concord is a PAIN in the B to fold up. What is the point of being small if you can't make it small? Not only did I need two hands to collapse it - I could have used a third! The store assistant had to help me at each step because I just couldn't get the darn thing to collapse.

#2 The next smallest item we found in the store and on the internet was the Graco TeaTime it also had positive reviews and the next smallest footprint that we found. It was also handier as the tray had a lip and 3 adjustment settings, where as the concord was basically an airplane tray with a big gap between it and the baby. Most important, I could collapse the Graco one-handed and though it was only a vertical collaps - at 18 cm it was still small and we decided we would just have to store it on the balcony. I was all set to buy it - BUT the store didn't take creditcards, there were no change kiosks AND all the nearby banks were on there lunch break. And I just didn't get around to ordering it from the internet.

#3 - Enter "Accidental" choice number 3 - I had to go meet up with the registration Lawyer to get my passport back and we happened to to meet at the Metro near a place called "children's world" where not only is there a huge children's department store - but tons of other stores and kiosks selling nothing but children's things. It was saturday morning (9am) and most places didn't open till 10, and I had Saphira so I wasn't going to wait around, but there was one Kiosk nearby and I thought - might as well ask . . . At first I only saw the ones that are chairs that stack on top of a table - which theoretically is also great - multifunctional and all that - but it CAN'T fit in our kitchen (at least not if you want to USE the kitchen)- Then she showed it to me - the Geoby Y 280 it is absolutely amazing!!!! not only can you unfold and fold it up with one hand, but it is basically the same dimensions as the concord and only 1 kilo heavier. Not only that, it was cheaper than both of the other options. The only downside is that the tray is fixed, but we'll cope.

So now for some fun - can you spot the highchair?

There it is!


Saphira trys out a spoon - and her new highchair!


Here it is collapsed from a front-on view - at only 6 kilos - we can even take it with us for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner!