An Homage to Grandpa Baker

For anyone who doesn't know, Grandpa Baker does a great long underwear sock trick...so Oliver thought he would try the look too.

Appropriate...

Given the recent wave of illness sweeping through the Mom and Oliver, it seems all the more appropriate that Oliver has discovered one of the favorite toys of all children - the toilet paper roll.

Bathtub News

So...one of the joys of an older home is discovering all the ways that people used to do things that seemingly were fine, but are now really bad for us. For example, our bathtub is apparently coated in lead. This means two things. First, we are refinishing our bathtub next week. Second, Oliver now is getting his baths in the kitchen sink!!

Fun Day at the Park

The Prindivilles, the Ansaris and the Kunkers all went to the park on Saturday. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as warm as we all would have liked, of course that didn't keep Spencer from going barefoot the whole time. Everyone had a good time, except for one person - see if you can spot him in the photos...

Meat March Madness - Bacon Makes Championship Game

Regional Final(1) Bacon vs. (2) Spare ribs. Ask vegetarians what they miss most, and what tempts them to fall off the wagon, and most will tell you, "Bacon." There's a reason for that.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/090323

Evidence that the male obsession with remote control is innate.

"Must..... get the remote control."

6 month photos.... 3 months late!

Oliver is now 9 months old. His parents are a bit behind schedule these days. Here are a few fun shots from his 6 month photo shoot.

Losing Control

We're losing control. Aren't children suppose to crawl before they walk?

Nose Scruncher

We are not sure where he got this from (from Mom), but he certainly is cute when he does the nose scrunch when he tries to smile.

Hover Bacon

Floating bacon video
http://www.rathergood.com/bacon

Back from Florida

We got back from Florida last night, and as you might imagine, Oliver was the star of the trip. He was great on the plane both times and had a ball whether it was on the beach, at the pool or watching the sunset. We had a great time and even managed to get in a nap or two.

Off to Florida

So the Kunkers are off to Florida on Saturday. We are all looking forward to a week of having no real responsibilities for a week. Everyone is hoping we can further develop Oliver's favorite Kunker habits of drinking and eating!

One Cute Kid and his Faux Hawk

Cheese on Seafood???

On the Baker family trip to Italy in 1998, we had dinner in a small restaurant in the countryside. One of the Bakers ordered a seafood pasta, and then had the audacity to ask for fresh parmesan. From the reaction of the restaurant owner, you would have thought we had just shot the pope. Lesson learned - no cheese on seafood, at least in Italy. For a little more on the topic....http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/the-cheesemonger/the-fish-and-cheese-debate-the-cheesemonger-076178

Canada - It may take 6 months to get an MRI....

But they do seem to have a number of things figured out that put Canada in a pretty strong financial position going forward.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/183670

Remember Why America is Great

Thomas Friedman's suggestion to open our borders to the smartest of the smart, certainly has some logic to it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/opinion/11friedman.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Caramel Shrimp (Tom Rim)

I haven't made this yet, but it sure seems like something we need to try soon. Apparently simmering or braising in nuoc mau (Vietnamese caramel sauce) is fairly common in Vietnamese cuisine. Who knew??

Ingredients:2 tablespoons sugar, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup water1 tablespoon oil, 1 shallot (chopped), 2 cloves garlic (chopped), 1 teaspoon ginger (grated), 1 small chili (chopped), 1 pound shrimp (peeled and deveined), 2 tablespoons fish sauce, pepper to taste, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon cilantro (chopped), 1 lime

Directions:1. Heat the sugar and water in a pan on medium-high heat until it caramelized and turns a dark brown. 2. Add the water and heat until the caramel dissolves. 3. Remove from heat and set aside. 4. Heat the oil in a pan.5. Add the shallot, garlic, ginger and chili and saute for 3-5 minutes. 6. Add the shrimp, 2 tablespoons of the caramel sauce, fish sauce and pepper and simmer until the shrimp is pink all over, about 2-4 minutes. 7. Remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil, cilantro, and a squeeze or two of lime juice. 8. Serve over jasmine rice.

Thanks to http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/ for the recipe.

Valentine's Day - Praise the Lard

In case anyone is curious what the man in their life would like for Valentine's Day - fret no more - the "Praise the Lard Gift Box" is available now at http://www.zingermans.com/Product.aspx?ProductID=G-PTL. The box includes - A pound of Benton's Bacon, Broadbent Kentucky Sausage, Sam Edward's Virginia Breakfast Sausage, Spanish Chorizo, Zingerman's Peppered Bacon Farm Bread, Mo's Bacon Bar (Bacon+Chocolate=A sweet kind of serious Valentine's deliciousness).

Vacation

This is the view from the balcony of one of the rooms at the tiny hotel in Mexico (Villa Amor) that was in the running for a brief winter getaway. I imagine it would have been wonderful....However, I am "equally thrilled" to be going to Florida instead. While Florida certainly does not have the same panache, we certainly will not be bored. Three couples, five kids, one house, one pool, lots of alcohol - should be interesting.

Maternal Instincts

This picture is a helpful reminder of what a beatiful wonderful child we have. Sometimes, at 1am, 2am, 3am and 4am, it is a little tougher to remember how great he is.

We are starting down the path of trying to convince Oliver that sleeping can take place in the crib, not just on grandpa's lap. Needless to say, this is a less than smooth process. What I learned last night, is that it only takes Oliver around 2.5 hours to "self-soothe" and fall back asleep. During this time, two of us did not sleep. Amazingly, Cristina slept through a good portion of the crying, flipping, turning in circles, grunting, and pacifier rattling against the crib like he had a tin cup and prison bars. Apparently, the motherly hormones that kick in when a child cries were on vacation last night. Lucky her!

We are very proud of our son

We aren't sure where he got his political acumen at such a young age, but we are very excited that he is starting down the right path.

Oliver Being Oliver

Welcome

The Kunkers come to the web - there will be some photos, some opinions and some just plain random stuff. Enjoy...