After the business was wrapped up, it was time to focus on the family – James Dobson allusion intended.
This meant staying at my sister and brother-in-law’s and spending maximum quality time with the nieces, Emily and Ava. Since I last saw them in October, they’ve grown up so fast. Emily, in particular, has gone from being pretty whiny to being a young lady who is very capable and interested in helping. Such a pleasant change!
We did a lot of cooking and most of the time, Emily decided to be sous chef. She’s at the age where she can handle a knife (under very close supervision) and has only lost a few fingers so far. Just kidding…
Above, in preparation for dinner Emily chops peppers and I slice carrots to go with my homemade hummus.
Below, our spread of pasta with fresh tomatoes and onions, mixed green salad with walnuts (Jenn made this), and a gratineed dish of summer squash and zucchini.
Emily was very proud of her contributions to the cause. I was very proud of her contributions, too. Below, she points to the pasta she helped make. Worth noting that, true to form, she refused to actually try it. There is a precedent to this that you might find funny.
Our pickiest customer was Ava, Emily’s younger sister. She was even less willing to try my food. How could someone from my family not be willing to try new things? Maybe they aren’t actually related to me!
Above, Ava has decided she is too grown up (at two years old) to wear a bib, so she wears an oversize t-shirt during her meals.
After dinner, we took a trip to the park.
It is nice to see my family again.
Ava looks a little like you, especially that picture of her on the slide.Oh, I just had some hummus the other day. I used “everything” bagel chips for dipping. Heavenly! I must get back to the store. (You with your homemade hummus! Where do you find the time? I am jealous!)
That’s fantastic that you get to see your family. Your nieces are adorable 🙂
Both of your nieces look like you! What a couple of cute kids. Nice that you got to spend time with them.
that’s the cutest sous chef ever, and that squash gratin dish really intrigues me.
Those girls are adorable! Glad you’re getting to spend some time with family!
Just a minute, both girls ate the pasta that night and they had it for left-overs as well.
Such beautiful memories for them Chris. I bet they adore you. I still feel bad that you couldn’t make it up here. I am delighted though that you had such a good visit with your family.
@UFFda_oyVEY – Really? I don’t see the resemblance.
@jojobaDESIGNS – Hmm… multiple people are saying they see the resemblance, but it is lost on me. Thanks, though.
@TheCheshireGrins – @jasonbasin – @CareyGLY – thank you.
@oldpartner – Really? I thought Ava just ate the plain pasta without the tomatos, etc. I guess Emily did eat the pasta, though, since it had cheese in it.
@ZSA_MD – Thank you. All the time spent with friends and family creates special memories and I hope that with the help of this blog (or whatever I create from it in the future), those memories are easier to keep. Looking forward to the opportunity to come visit you and your family.
Ahh, kids! Love the older post. Sounds like something one of my kids would have done. I had to finely grate vegetables into spegetti sauce, meatballs…well, into anything I could just to get them to eat them. Before you leave, you should buy your sister the cookbook “Deceptively Delicious” by Jessica Seinfeld. Or another good one is “The Sneaky Chef”. When these came out, my husband said I should have wrote these cookbooks years ago. LOL.
Oohh… more food pics and kids too! I think it’s hilarious that she didn’t try her own cooking! hahahaha
@ElusiveWords – Well, my sister corrected me. She did try one dish, but none of the others.
@socaltransplant – “The Sneaky Chef” – what a great title!