Go Baby Go

Apple-Dipping

I took on a project last week for my lifelong friend Heather who got married this past Saturday. I agreed to make 50 caramel apples for her pumpkin patch inspired rehearsal dinner. Since I worked at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in college, I had an idea of what to do, but it was still really different doing it in my own kitchen and with little Jackson tagging along. I started Wednesday night when Dan got home from work and he kept one eye on the baby and one eye on the Giants game so that I could make the caramel.

 The sticks arrived in the mail just in time, the day I needed to use them. Thank you Jesus, I was literally praying all day for the stupid sticks to get here. I love how God is faithful in the smallest of things.

 All of the gooey caramel ingredients before they're melted.

 Two too cute helpers

 Getting that concoction to 236 degs took forever since I was trying to be patient and resist cranking the heat up to high.  It was spattering and even closer to the top of the pot at the end, so Dan poured it to the dipping bowl without burning anyone.

 Finally ready to start dipping.

 The caramel is smooth and perfect!

 Letting the liquid caramel set up overnight in the fridge.

 Nice and pretty in the morning. My wonderful friend Elaine came over the next day with her little one Emeline so that they could entertain Jack while I decorated the apples. I didn't realize how much help that would be and how long the process would take. Thank you Elaine!

 Here I got distracted and managed to burn the first batch of white chocolate to the point that it was unusable. Luckily Elaine stayed with the babies and I flew over to Safeway for more chocolate.

 Here are the plain and peanut apples boxed and ready to roll.

 The turtle apples are complete (caramel, pecans, white and dark choc)

 These are my favorite.  The tuxedo apples with chocolate bow ties.

 The all white bridal apples.

 The completed bride and groom apples

 So excited about how these came out.

 My smiling little helper on the last day as I was packing up the load for transport to Santa Rosa.

 He got tired of being supportive after a while

 Everything's ready to go.

A last minute rest before we hit the road in the rain.

What a fun little adventure.  I heard that people at the rehearsal really enjoyed the apples and I was so glad that they added a special touch to my friend's special weekend.  

Fall always makes me feel nostalgic, so I will quote from Robert Frost's "After Apple-Picking":

"I kept hearing from the cellar bin

The rumbling sound

Of load on load of apples coming in.

For I have had too much

Of apple-picking: I am overtired

Of the great harvest I myself desired.

There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,

Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall"

The End

Weekend Playtime

 Just some fun we were having this weekend. Sorry this one's a little on the long side since I put 3 clips together and couldn't figure out how to edit it down.

For Papa Barrett

TOUCHDOWN!!!

Changing my shirt

Sitting Baby

As you can see, a few days later and lots of improvement and no catching required my mom.  Also less distractions.  He seems so huge now that he's sitting!

 

A good start

 Jack's learning to sit up by himself.  So far he's needing a lot of help with spills, especially when there's a lot going on or if Daddy's around.  He loves to look at Dan, so his presence is enough to break Baby's concentration.

 

Highchair

I was waiting anxiously to order our highchair, but it was out of stock for weeks. Finally it's here! I started assembling it and Dan finished it up when he got home and we did a test drive.

I completely love it!  Now we're just waiting for some cute pics of Jack eating his first foods.  For now he can sit at the table with us during dinner and play with his blocks.

A Giants Weekend

Like many of you, we had a weekend that was focused primarily on the Giants' pennant race. Since we don't have that many TV channels, we pulled out the radio and listened to the games that we couldn't watch. Dan almost couldn't bare to watch it on TV anyway because the national commentators were annoying him to no end with their superficial and frivolous Giants knowledge. He had to keep yelling out corrections or expounding on their explanations. It would have been awesome to be there when they finally won it. Dan was seemed more relieved than excited. If you somehow don't know this, Dan lives and breathes Giants baseball, so to me, it looked more like a personal victory in Dan's life than just a win for the local team.

Watching the game on Saturday

 

 Dan needed a rally cap and it just so happen that Jack was done with his hat...

 Listening to the game on Sunday. Giants orange for the diaper completes the look

 Getting all tuckered out.  Needed a nap mid-game.

Our big sitter. He's gettin' pretty stable, even without the couch for help.