Tuesday, June 8, 2010
My Oh My, What a Bad Blogger am I!
Well, motherhood called and I just didn't have time to make updates. :) Rhodes will be 1 at the end of this month. It is true what they say...it just goes by so fast. I find myself becoming very emotional as his birthday approaches. I love the little guy so much! I am planning a pool party for him at Nana & Tot Valente's house and I just ordered his cake today!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Our Beautiful Baby
Well, after a couple of weeks searching for the perfect photograph, we finally chose one! This is the photograph we submitted for the Regis & Kelly Beautiful Baby contest. I think our little guy looks quite handsome here. The winner of the contest receives $125,000 towards college...what a prize!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Hungry Monkey
Rhodes is now 6 1/2 months old! I can hardly believe it. He is experimenting with a few different foods. He loves rice, likes peas and despises (yes - despises) green beans. It is so much fun to feed him.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thanksgiving
We had so much to be Thankful for this year. Rhodes tops the list followed by Jen's pregnancy and a Thanksgiving visit from RoRo! We had a fabulous dinner prepared by Isaac. Our turkey came from a local farm in Chestertown and was delicious!
Halloween
Rhodes celebrated his first Halloween by dressing up as the cutest little kangaroo! Isaac and I definitely enjoyed this more than Rhodes. We visited Grandma and Grandpa Valente and trick-or-treated at 3 houses in our neighborhood.
Llamas, Chickens and Turkeys...Oh My!
Ok...ok...so it is difficult to maintain a blog and take care of a 5 month old. Let's catch up. Prior to Halloween, we spent a weekend out and about visiting some local farm animals. I think Isaac and I enjoyed it just as much as Rhodes. We saw Llamas, chickens, turkeys, cows, goats and even a pig.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Baptism
Rhodes' baptism was in September. It was a beautiful day...we couldn't have asked for better weather. Many of our family and friends gathered to help us celebrate. We had a reception following the ceremony at Grandma and Grandpa Valente's house. Isaac did a great job catering as usual!
One of the favorite dishes was a delicious Spinach Pie. The recipe is from the cookbook "Arabesque: a Taste of Morocco, Turkey & Lebanon" by Claudia Roden.
Creamy Fillo Spinach Pie
1 pound young spinach leaves
7 ounces feta cheese, mashed with a fork
4 eggs
2/3 stick butter (or 5 1/2 tablespoons)
2 1/4 cups milk
12 large fillo sheets
7 ounces Turkish kasar cheese (or mature Cheddar), grated
1 pound young spinach leaves
7 ounces feta cheese, mashed with a fork
4 eggs
2/3 stick butter (or 5 1/2 tablespoons)
2 1/4 cups milk
12 large fillo sheets
7 ounces Turkish kasar cheese (or mature Cheddar), grated
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make the filling, wash teh spinach removing stems only if they are thick and tough. Put them to steam in a large pan with 4-5 tablespoons water over medium heat, with the lid on. Strain well and squeeze dry once they have cooled. Mix the spinach into the mashed feta.
Beat the eggs with a fork in a large bowl. Heat the butter in a pan. When the butter has melted, pour in the milk and heat until it is warm. Next, gradually beat this into the eggs.
Grease a rectangular or square baking dish a little smaller than the sheets of fillo. Open the sheets only when you are ready to use them and keep them in a pile so that they do not dry out.
Lay a sheet in the greased baking dish, pressing it into the corners with a pastry brush and letting the edges come up the sides of the dish. Pour a little of the milk-butter-egg mixture (about 4-5 tablespoons) all over the sheet. You will need a similar amount to pour between eacg sheet and a larger amount for the last one on top. Sprinkle on a little of the grated kasar or Cheddar. Lay a second sheet on top and repeat with the milk-butter-egg mixture and then the grated cheese.
Continue until you have used about half of the sheets, then spread the spinach filling evenly on top. To do this, press lumps of the spinach feta mixture between the palms of your hands to flatten them and lay side by side.
Continue laying sheets of filo, pouring over each the milk mixture and sprinkling with cheese until you are left with 2 last sheets. With a sharp knife trim the edges of pastry around the sides of the dish. Lay the remaining 2 sheets on top of the pie, sprinkling the milk mixture and cheese between them and tucking them down the sides of the dish. If there is too much to tuck in, trim with scissors. Pour any remaining milk mixture over the top.
Bake pie in the oven for 30-45 minutes until the top is golden brown - it puffs up & falls again. Serve hot, cut into pieces.
To make the filling, wash teh spinach removing stems only if they are thick and tough. Put them to steam in a large pan with 4-5 tablespoons water over medium heat, with the lid on. Strain well and squeeze dry once they have cooled. Mix the spinach into the mashed feta.
Beat the eggs with a fork in a large bowl. Heat the butter in a pan. When the butter has melted, pour in the milk and heat until it is warm. Next, gradually beat this into the eggs.
Grease a rectangular or square baking dish a little smaller than the sheets of fillo. Open the sheets only when you are ready to use them and keep them in a pile so that they do not dry out.
Lay a sheet in the greased baking dish, pressing it into the corners with a pastry brush and letting the edges come up the sides of the dish. Pour a little of the milk-butter-egg mixture (about 4-5 tablespoons) all over the sheet. You will need a similar amount to pour between eacg sheet and a larger amount for the last one on top. Sprinkle on a little of the grated kasar or Cheddar. Lay a second sheet on top and repeat with the milk-butter-egg mixture and then the grated cheese.
Continue until you have used about half of the sheets, then spread the spinach filling evenly on top. To do this, press lumps of the spinach feta mixture between the palms of your hands to flatten them and lay side by side.
Continue laying sheets of filo, pouring over each the milk mixture and sprinkling with cheese until you are left with 2 last sheets. With a sharp knife trim the edges of pastry around the sides of the dish. Lay the remaining 2 sheets on top of the pie, sprinkling the milk mixture and cheese between them and tucking them down the sides of the dish. If there is too much to tuck in, trim with scissors. Pour any remaining milk mixture over the top.
Bake pie in the oven for 30-45 minutes until the top is golden brown - it puffs up & falls again. Serve hot, cut into pieces.
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