Eggs!

You know those moments when you stumble upon a new way of doing a very simple task and feel utterly lame and excited all at once? That's me with this video of how to scramble eggs.

I know... how to scramble eggs. Every child's first cooking project, right?

I've always scrambled eggs by cracking them into a mixing bowl, whisking, and then putting them into a warm pan with a little melted butter or olive oil. I thought I made some pretty decent eggs. But then yesterday, I got an email from Tasting Table showing me just how shortsighted I've been my whole life.

Here's what they recommend:

• Crack your eggs right into the pan, which should be cold
• Add butter after your eggs
• Use one extra yolk in addition to your whole eggs
• Use a spatula, not a whisk
• Don't stop stirring

I followed Tasting Table's recommendations to a tee today, and holy cow... seriously a thousand times better than any eggs I've ever made before. Absolutely creamy, and without any milk, cream, or cheese. SO yummy.

There are more details in the post itself, so go get your egginess on at The Perfect Egg. And look, a video!



Mind blown and bellies full over here. Please tell me I'm not the only one who's been scrambling eggs the wrong way!

Edited to add: Don't let the runniness in the video scare you! Mine have never looked like that. And yes, you can limit the amount of butter and they'll still be delicious :-)

Grand Cayman or bust

The wind chill outside is currently in the single digits. In March. In Washington DC. Yet there is hope on the horizon, in the form of an anniversary getaway.

We've spent our last two anniversaries in New Orleans, as you might remember. It's one of my favorite cities in the world, and there's something about the vibe there that just speaks to us. Strolling the streets hand in hand, music in the air, our bellies either full of delicious food or on the way to eat more delicious food... my kind of city in every way. This year, though, with baby in tow, New Orleans just didn't feel right. We also really wanted to get away, to take real time off (unlike our usual long weekends), to celebrate each other but also our little gal, and to go someplace new. Here's what we settled on:

Yes please.

We've rented a condo at Grand Cayman Island for a week in May. A week! T and I have actually never been to the Caribbean together, so it'll be new for all of us. H will turn six months old while we're there, and I practically squeal when I think about her baby toes in the Caribbean. I'm also excited that we have a condo instead of a hotel room to help create more of a "home away from home" atmosphere. Other good things: having a washer and dryer, having baby furniture already there, and being able to toast English muffins for breakfast instead of having to order $30 omelets every day. (Ever practical over here!)

We've booked a direct flight and to T's chagrin, I've placed us in the very back row of the plane to hopefully limit the annoyance factor if she's fussy. Fingers crossed!

For those of you who've taken your wee ones on beach trips, do you have any recommendations that were vacation-savers on the beach or in the pool together? We'll obviously be taking swimsuits, rash guards, and hats, but what am I missing? I have my eyes on a tented pool float that packs flat, for one. Anything else? Flat-packed beach tent? Oh, and what's your favorite baby sunblock?

Now excuse me while I stare at those palm trees the rest of the afternoon.

Snow days

Here in the winter that never ends, we're trying to maintain a sense of humor. Although yet another snow dump is certainly testing the patience of everyone, I keep a couple of things in mind:

• This isn't anywhere as bad as my freshman year of college in Boston, when I was naïve enough to believe that spring actually existed in New England and then suffered through an April Fool's Day blizzard (followed promptly by an "I must see green immediately" trip back home to North Carolina, of course).
• Even though I literally pay for the privilege of skipping work to stay home snuggled in with H due our nanny contract's coverage of snow days (standard procedure here - in any other year it would be a complete non-issue!), it's still pretty awesome. (Our nanny is fabulous, by the way. Not complaining!)

I find myself cooking a lot when the family is snowed in together. And playing with (store-bought) flowers. Last time, two batches of cookies, a salted caramel pie, and a big pot of chili. This time, a big pot of soup, some fresh, oh-so-spring-green chive oil to garnish anything and everything, decadent baked oatmeal, and a couple of kick-ass dinners. Something about seeing white outside makes me immediately want to fire up the stove.

Mostly, though, I laugh a lot with our little gal, who manages to squeeze more personality into her 14-lb frame than I ever thought possible.

I really didn't know that babies could have this much personality. I think that's been the best part of this whole parenthood thing... this girl makes it so much fun.

We set up a swing in our crazy floor-to-ceiling windows, which is hilarious both from the inside and outside. Cue the "baby in a window" jokes. We already stop pedestrians in their tracks when the pets are sunning themselves in these - by the time we warm up a bit and the weekend rolls around, I expect crowds out on the sidewalk smiling at the roly poly grinning machine doing her thing for all to see.

Life is really good these days. I mean, look at this little creature. Even when she's the Hungry Hippo or having an off day, I swear she's a total delight. I sort of feel like I did when I was pregnant, waiting for the awful shoe people talk about to drop. My "maybe I'll feel like crap during the third trimester" has become "maybe this will become awful when she's teething." Time will tell. (I never did feel awful when pregnant - I know it's weird how much I loved it. Except for the swollen feet at the end!)

We're two nights in with H sleeping in her crib, by the way - woo hoo! Everyone's making progress but you, weather. Everyone but you.