Teething and family gathering
The robin cut tooth number four yesterday, and a significant amount of it is now protruding through his gum. Last night was quite a good night though - he woke several times for feeds, but no crying or extended party-party-party time - unlike the night after he cut tooth number three; let's hope it stays that way.
We had MrM's brother (and partner) and his sister with her husband, son, and son's girlfriend here for a late lunch today, which went very well. Everyone brought contributions to the meal, so there wasn't too much cooking for me to do, which was good, because I also went to Preggibellies and had a haircut this morning, so the schedule was pretty full. I made rumballs yesterday and wrapped them as presents this morning before going to the gym. I also made potato salad last night, with a sourcream and bacon dressing - yummy - then put the roast on when I got home from the hairdressers at 1 o'clock. I've been following Stephanie Alexander's advice on roasts, which is a shorter cooking and a longer resting time, and it seems to be working well: today's roast was beef girello, which I cooked for 40minutes at 220 degrees, then rested, wrapped in foil, for 30 minutes (actually longer, because everyone was late - situation normal for this family!) I always think of roasts as difficult to cook properly, but I've done two in the last week, and they've both been very easy as well as tasty, so I may have to do them more often. I had hoped to serve lunch on the new table on our (newly re-oiled) back deck, but the weather had other ideas, so we brought four of the outside chairs inside and squeezed them around our dining table, which will indeed seat eight people (provided they're friendly people who can keep their elbows under control) and served the food buffet-style in the kitchen.
Tonight MrM has gone to the MonUCS concert while I stay home with the small one - a fair trade, since last Sunday I went to the Aussies dancesport championships and left him with the baby.
We had MrM's brother (and partner) and his sister with her husband, son, and son's girlfriend here for a late lunch today, which went very well. Everyone brought contributions to the meal, so there wasn't too much cooking for me to do, which was good, because I also went to Preggibellies and had a haircut this morning, so the schedule was pretty full. I made rumballs yesterday and wrapped them as presents this morning before going to the gym. I also made potato salad last night, with a sourcream and bacon dressing - yummy - then put the roast on when I got home from the hairdressers at 1 o'clock. I've been following Stephanie Alexander's advice on roasts, which is a shorter cooking and a longer resting time, and it seems to be working well: today's roast was beef girello, which I cooked for 40minutes at 220 degrees, then rested, wrapped in foil, for 30 minutes (actually longer, because everyone was late - situation normal for this family!) I always think of roasts as difficult to cook properly, but I've done two in the last week, and they've both been very easy as well as tasty, so I may have to do them more often. I had hoped to serve lunch on the new table on our (newly re-oiled) back deck, but the weather had other ideas, so we brought four of the outside chairs inside and squeezed them around our dining table, which will indeed seat eight people (provided they're friendly people who can keep their elbows under control) and served the food buffet-style in the kitchen.
Tonight MrM has gone to the MonUCS concert while I stay home with the small one - a fair trade, since last Sunday I went to the Aussies dancesport championships and left him with the baby.