My little Amsterdammer

So, he had to come to Cape Cod to learn, but our little boy, not even 5, is a true Amsterdammer:  he now rides a two wheeler!

Food Friday: Our Boy Makes Us Breakfast

A couple of weeks ago M decided he was going to make us breakfast and there was no talking him out of it.  Basically, he scrunched up a tortilla in his hand and served it with a little peanut butter spread on it, garnished with some apple slices.  This is a variant for "breakfast burrito" which we often serve to him, a lover of the tortilla.

It really wasn't that bad, but we did bin some of it when M walked out of the room.

Looking pretty proud of his breakfast creation.

Food Friday: Beer Can Chicken

I've never made that thanksgiving dish with the winter squash and marshmallows.  My favorite white trash food is Beer Can Chicken. I saw someone make this on the Today show about 10 years ago (it might have been Bobby Flay, but then again it might not have).  He had special seasonings he used and did it on the grill, but basically I just adapted my regular roast chicken recipe and use a half full, opened-with-a-church-key beer can as an upright roasting rack.

My delicious roasting chicken, next to the pot of brown rice I also cooked in the oven so we could go to the playground while it cooked.

I hadn't made this in a while, basically because in the States we didn't often buy beer in cans.  I made it Monday and it was delicious!  I seasoned the outside with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and paprika, removed the top of the beer can by punching it about 4 times with a church key, poured out about half the beer and plunked the chicken on top.  I roasted it for about 90-100 minutes at 175'C, which is about 350'F.  Served it with some brown rice and green beans.

And here's  a big Thank You to my friend Devina, who watched M on the playground for 15 minutes so I could get it started.

At dinner, when I told M how it was cooked he said, "I'm not eating THAT," but when I reminded him he already tasted it and seemed to like it, he changed his tune and said, "I get to taste BEER!"

Rain

Pardon my French, but it's absolutely pissing down with rain. I'm not usually one to complain about rain, and good thing, since I live in Amsterdam.  But this isn't any ordinary rain; it's the kind that sounds like a freight train from inside the house and gets you soaked to the skin outside the house, especially if, like me, your 5 year old Gortex jacket took this week to stop being Gortex-y.  Gortex has a shelf life, and once you are past it, the jacket becomes as rainproof as a dress shirt.

Anywhoo, I took M to school this morning and forgot my intention to stop by Blocker to pick up garbage bags.  Last night I took out the trash (I almost never do this but Peter wanted to iron some shirts for a business trip to Paris today and it was already 11, so I decided to be nice and take the trash downstairs).  I wasn't nice enough to put the bag in the trash, however, and when I woke up this morning I thought, "how nice, Peter put the trash back together."  Fifteen minutes and three particularly messy bits of trash later I realized he hadn't put a bag in, and since I never take out the trash I didn't immediately recognize that the reason was we are completely out of trash bags.  And, thanks to our environmentally conscious bag-bringing, we don't really have a whole lot of plastic shopping bags in the house, either. So, I'm waiting for a break in the weather to head out to Blocker.

The view from my window when I started this post.

I haven't quite identified my relationship with the weather here, but it's shaping up to be one of mostly ignoring it. I don't know if it's a regular thing or just lately, but it seems like the forecast is almost never right. Case in point last week, which was supposed to be rainy all week.  Actually, we had some really gorgeous weather with a few sprinkles.  We even attended an outdoor birthday party on Saturday, which was forecast as a wash out.  For a forecast of about 10 rainy days, we actually got to the playground a whole lot.  A friend here recommended not paying much mind to the weather forecast and carrying on with whatever you want to do.  I've been following that advice for about 6 weeks now and haven't really been disappointed (or significantly rained on).

OK, so it's not incredibly sunny, but it is noticeably brighter and nothing is falling from the sky.

So, now it's brightening up and I think it's my chance to head off.  Here 10 minutes can make a huge difference with the weather here.

Back With Big News

Ever notice that people fall out of touch for a while, then re-emerge with big news?  Haven't seen your neighbor for a couple of months? Well look at that, she's pregnant!  Haven't heard from the college roommate in ages?  Uh oh, he's getting divorced.  Coworker been unavailable for lunch?  She's found a new job.  I think people tend to turn inward as they make big decisions or maybe even to digest news before they are ready to share it with the world.

Well, we have some big news here.  No, no babies or divorce.

We're staying in Amsterdam!

A few months ago there were some changes at Peter's company which created a great opportunity for him.  At the same time, the more perspective I got on my job the more I thought it might be time to leave.  And, of course, the more time we spent outside of New York the more we realized how hectic our life was there.

Since our little guy was born almost 5 years ago we have made many different choices to be sure that he could have the best quality of life possible.  When he was 7 months old and I returned from maternity leave I used my vacation to work a 4 day week until his first birthday.  For the next year I worked one day 3-11 so M and I could have a midweek morning together.  We lived in a one bedroom apartment for two-and-a-half years so that we wouldn't have an extra minute of commuting to keep us away from him.  Once we did move Peter and I both adjusted our schedule to pick him up from school once per week.  So, naturally staying in Amsterdam is yet another choice we are making for our kid. Living here gives him a better quality of life.  And believe me, he appreciates that we are staying.


And with my renewed commitment to the blog there will be even more adventures posted for your reading enjoyment.

Speeltuinen: 5 Stuks!

Last week we had beautiful, sunny spring weather that seemed like it would never end.  Monday morning we made plans with a school friend of M's who also has Mondays off.  For a variety of reasons we decided to go to Beatrix park.  M doesn't love Beatrix because, unless the kinderbad is open, the playground is designed for younger children.  M and I had the idea that we would visit all 5 of Vondel Park's playgrounds (speeltuinen) and decide which one we liked best. 

The "wire playground" (as M named it) was fun, but the climbers were more appropriate for kids a bit older.  

But, he could easily climb the dome.  The playground has definite possibilities with its adjacent outdoor cafe.

 

"Treetopolis" was our next stop, with a climber about 10 feet up.  

The next playground was promising but M was too tired to try it,
so I smartly rode around until he fell asleep in the trailer.

Once he fell asleep we visited playground #4, which is the usual Vondel playground we have visited a million times.  Good thing, because M slept through it.

M woke up after an hour with some serious sleep marks on his forehead.

Then we headed to the Kinderkook Cafe to decorate cupcakes with his friend D.

I was proud of M for not eating all of his decorations, although he ate a few spoonfuls of the frosting.

Then we went back to Treetopolis, the undisputed winner of the playground competition, to burn off the cupcake!

Food Friday: Fast Food French Style

The day we arrived in Paris we were all a little tired to consider finding a restaurant.  Luckily our hotel was not only equipped with a kitchen and dining table, it was also located a couple of blocks away from a market.  We bought a delicious rotisserie chicken, roasted potatoes, some green beans (which I microwaved for the adults and served raw to the kid) and a bagette and voila!  Dinner is served.

OK, messy table but delicious food (and yes, Dr. Torgovnik, I am taking my anti migraine vitamin cocktail, even while on vacation).

For a kid who prefers the crust cut off his peanut butter sandwiches, M has a very surprising love of baguette.