Happy 4th!

We don't have any exciting plans for the day -- just a lunch barbecue with a friend in the area -- because July pretty much caught us by surprise! Sadly, the sun doesn't finishing setting until around 10pm these days... so no fireworks for us either this year (almost makes me miss living downtown... the fireworks were in our back yard!) I know that Benjamin won't miss it, and there will be lots of other times for him to see fireworks, so we're just going to enjoy a day of no work. (Naturally, I say this as I'm sitting on my rear at the computer and my husband is trying to man-handle a new bookshelf into place...)

I don't have a patriotic picture of our little guy because he's passed out and in his pajamas (I'm not going to mess with that!!) so until I get one, behold the little cherub one year ago today:



(BTW, It's when I'm sifting through these pictures that I think, "Crap! We're about to start this all over again??!")

AND on an unrelated note, I had my first experience with tofu the other night. OK, so I've had tofu before, but never had to cook it for myself. We decided that it would be good for Benjamin to try eating it, since he seems to prefer the softness of fish to the chewiness of chicken, and thus I ended up at the store, staring blankly at tofu and wondering where to begin. (Firm? Extra Firm? Silky? What does it all mean??) Thankfully, the extra-firm had a subtitle (best for grilling and stir-fry) and I thought, "Aha! I'll make a stir-fry." When I got home, I stared blankly again at the strange substance before me and wondering how in the heck I was supposed to cook it. I felt pretty ridiculous, not even knowing how to cut it up or if I should rinse it, but thankfully there's this beautiful contraption called "The Internet," and within it a place called "you tube." I spent about 20 minutes watching OTHER people cook tofu and that was mildly helpful, except that all of them started with pre-prepped tofu. I then seriously considered calling my friend Molly, who surely knows how I should be handling all of this, but seeing as it was about 11pm in NY I decided against it. In the end I cubed it and seasoned the heck out of it, then handled it as though it were chicken in any other stir-fry. The result:


(I should also note that I ran out of soy sauce about half way through this cooking adventure... so next time I'll make sure to have enough!) Not too bad, and Benjamin absolutely loves the tofu -- so we'll call it a success! Now, if any of you have some tofu-tips for me, I'll gladly take them for 'next time.'