• illos,  preg-nuts

    The Cat’s Out of the Bag!

    May 25, 2005 /


    The Cat’s Out of the Bag!

    The relatives have been told and now I am free to scream it from the rooftops! The mystery project that has been sucking my brain cells right out of my head for the last six weeks is finally NOT A SECRET ANYMORE!!!

    Are you ready for it? Of course you are. You already had this gig figured out five posts ago when I almost spilled the beans completely. I’m the worst secret keeper ever, which is very ironic considering I am a secret agent after all. Whatever!

    So here it is:

    I’M PREGNANT!

    Hooh Boy! Can you believe it? This never happens to me. I was going to be barren for the rest of my life. I was sure of it. Pregnancy test after pregnancy test, the hormone roller coaster, the inevitable let down and just when I’d just about completely given up hope, KABAMO! I’m pregnant. I really am. I’ve taken a blood test even.

    So you probably want the details (well, not those details but you know, dates and stuff). I’m only six weeks along, which is totally way too soon to be talking and getting excited about things BUT come on! It’s me and if I’m going to go through a miscarriage, I’m taking you down with me. If I have my calculations right I’m due mid January. Which is good, so I can be fat and lovely in the winter when it’s cool to wear big coats and slouchy sweaters. I’m going to be a moose. I can tell already. I think I started showing the year I turned 30 which was almost 3 years ago. No wonder everyone always asks me if I’m pregnant. But now I can say I am and watch them squeal.

    I haven’t seen an OBGYN yet but I do have an appointment. I’m not drinking coffee. The stuff turns my stomach. You know there’s something up when I don’t want coffee. I’m such a die hard coffee drinker that I actually went out and bought myself a little mini Hello Kitty Coffee maker so I could make my own decaf right next to Toby’s regular coffee. But I’ve only used it once and the cup I did take a fateful sip from went right down the drain. The smell has completely changed for me. It’s disgusting!

    So that’s the big news. The reason I haven’t been blogging much of interest lately is because I seriously have “baby on the brain” or “b.o.b” as Toby says. I’ve done so many stupid things since the day I found out, I can’t even keep track. But now that I can talk about I’m sure I’ll keep you posted. It’s just one stupid thing after another. Like the time I took all my Paris pictures to the one-hour-photo-place and I thought I could get 3 sets of 1000 plus pictures for about $60-$80. Ha!!!! Yeah. That was a $400 mistake. And the other time when I told the nurse emphatically that I was NOT four and a half weeks along but instead I was on the second day of my fifth week. What’s the difference?!!! 4.5 or two days into your fifth week? I haven’t a clue. I’m clueless. I’m brainless.

    I’m thinking about my tiny poppy seed baby.

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  • Family Matters,  Stealthy Spy Cooking

    Dad’s Chicken Wings

    May 24, 2005 /


    Dad’s Chicken Wings

    Because the Mystery Project that I can’t talk about is taking so much out of me, I’m typing up an old Ponnay family recipe for you to enjoy. This is one of those dishes that Toby used to beg me to make. So I finally got it from the in-laws and discovered it’s a cinch and totally yummy!

    Ingredients:

    8 to 10 chicken wings
    2 scallion stalks
    1/4 c. soy sauce (Chinese soy = never Kikoman. Ooops. I disobeyed this one.)
    1/4 c. sherry (either straight sherry or a Chinese cooking wine like “Shao Xing Cooking Wine”)
    l/2 c. water. 1-2 T. brown sugar
    1/4 tsp.five spice (not in original recipe)

    Directions:

    l. Chop off and discard bony tips of chicken wings; then cut each wing in two. (Mine came already cut up in the package) Cut scallions in 1 ” sections.
    2. Place wings and scallions in a pan with soy sauce, sherry, water,sugar and five spice.. Bring to a boil; then simmer, covered, 30 minutes.
    3. Uncover pan and simmer 15 min. more, stirring and basting frequently for uniform color. Refrigerate to chill if using as appetizers. We serve warm with rice and side dish of cucumbers sliced with cut up scallions and seasoned rice vinegar.

    Serves 6-8 (except in our family–Serves 4 or 2 really really big eaters)

    My mother-in-law informs me that the recipe is one they got from the Gloria Bley Miller’s “The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook” It’s called “Red-Simmered Chicken Wings”. on Pg. 108.

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