Marching!

While it has remained cold for most of March here in Michigan, we did have quite a lot of beautiful sunny days, thank goodness! The kids have had some opportunities to ride their bikes outside lately, so while Aidan tears up and down the street at speeds that make him look blurry, Esme labors up and down the sidewalk, trying again and again to really ride that bike without training wheels. She is too big for the training wheels now, but can't seem to master bike riding yet. Hopefully it will be soon, as I can't handle supporting her too much longer!

I've continued my adventures in cooking! Here are our restaurant-quality beef and noodles:



Aidan's lighthouse project is complete and on display in the media center at school. If you flip the switch, the light actually comes on! Very cool!


You can see the light switch in this picture.


Turkey Tetrazzini, yum, yum.


Marathi Yellow Fried Rice, at left, and Onion and Yogurt Egg Curry, at right. Really good!


Vanilla Sables, from my French desserts cookbook. Very, very good cookies.


We bought a Wii system and throughout the month we have been busy getting used to it and finding fun things to do with it. I have done Wii Fit every day since I received my balance board - I actually look forward to working out. Jim and I can both tell a big difference in our stamina and muscle mass in only a month of using Wii Fit Plus. We also have Mario Kart and Super Mario Bros Wii, and Band Hero, Guitar Hero 5, and the Beatles expansion pack for Band Hero. We have a drum set, two guitars, and a microphone, so we're our own rock band! Here's The Bofas (minus one of its guitarists, who was taking the picture) - Aidan on drums, Esme on guitar, and Jim on vocals.


Seven Cup Salad - a cup each of hard-boiled eggs, potatoes, cucumbers, apples, onions, ham and Miracle Whip. Delicious.


This was meant to be Veal Marsala, but as I picked up the wrong package in the grocery store, it was Lamb Marsala. It was very good anyway! :)


Nan Khatai - Indian butter cookies, which have pistachios sprinkled on top. Very good.


Pakoda Karhi - apparently pakodas are fried dumplings of chickpea flour, then the karhi is a delicious curry-yogurt sauce in which they are cooked. It was a little odd, but tasty all the same!


This Indian-Style Rice Pilaf recipe is from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook - peanuts and raisins make it just a little bit sweet - it was an excellent accompaniment to the slightly sour Pakoda Karhi above.


Good old-fashioned fudge brownies. Mmmmm.... They last a long time when we're all counting calories!


Chicken Jambalaya - a little boring, compared to what we've been eating lately, but with a spicy kick!


Ham & Bean Soup. We had this a lot in my childhood, because it was cheap. I had never made it before, because of the adverse effect on most members of my family afterward. Ewwwww. Well, we'll just say it still has that effect...but the kids really loved it, and asked for it at leftover time for several days after it was fresh. We had rather a concert of noises and smells going around here for over a week - and it wasn't from Band Hero.


Aidan went back to the orthodontist last week and got the individual bands traded for a single long band which will start to bring his teeth back together now that they are straight.


Jim took me to the Meijer Gardens a couple weekends ago, to take my picture. :) He's such a sweetie. And an excellent photographer - unretouched, folks.