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Thursday, April 29, 2010

A new phase of baby food

I gotta tell ya: cooking for a nine month old is way, way more exciting than cooking for a six month old.

Where we used to simply roast and puree to a silky-smooth texture appealing to new a palate, now we actually season, experiment and cook.

This afternoon I made some meals for Cayden so delicious sounding, Dad and I are actually eating baby food tonight. Or at least food made from recipes in Cooking for Baby, my new favorite cookbook.

Doesn't toasted barley with mushrooms and garlic, creamy asparagus risotto and potato-squash stew sound wonderful? We're having the barley with mushrooms alongside our pork and spinach tonight, after Chicken goes to bed; the three of us will share the asparagus risotto on Sunday. Mmmmm.

(Now Cayden has had a tiny bit of asparagus before, but I must admit I'm very curious to see if a dinner with a lot of asparagus will make his diaper smell like asparagus pee. Who knew having your own baby could be a personal science experiment at times?)

At nine months a whole new world of possibilities opens up, as we can now introduce cheese and yogurt into the mix. So dinners that used to be simply a pureed veggie with some ground turkey as finger food, now become more gourmet meals involving things like edamame-yogurt-parsley spread, goat cheese and roasted red pepper dip and all sorts of new ideas using beans!

Oh, and for dessert tonight? Cayden will try a ricotta-blackberry parfait, infused with a little cinnamon and nutmeg. And Mama will enjoy the other one. And how perfect do our little three-ounce Brewfest mugs work for baby parfaits?! Considering they've been collecting dust in our cabinet for almost two years, I'm glad to have discovered a new purpose for them.

4 comments:

Lesli said...

I have that same cookbook and LOVE it!!! So many unique recipes. Keaton is liking them so far.

Becki said...

I think I need that cookbook when baby #2 comes along. I didn't cook DS's purees, so he didn't try asparagus until much later. But after having some for dinner for the first time, I definitely noticed the familiar smell of asparagus pee when I entered his room the next morning.

C and M said...

I have to say how jealous I am of these recipes!! I can't wait until Ethan can have foods like the ones you described.

MEM said...

And here I was, all proud of myself for managing to puree sweet potatos, carrots, and green beans - and getting them all in the freezer in their respective little trays. How gourmet are you! We're completely on table-food at this point, but I think I'll have to be a little bolder with Baby #2. Put this one on my library list!