5 for Friday. Double Your Pleasure

We are back and better than ever. This weeks 5 for Friday is going to be a little different. Since I didn't post one last week we are going to do a double dose of it. That's right you get two for the price of.... oh wait, it's free! So hold to your mouse as we get going.

5 reasons I didn't post in a week

1. I was very busy the past week, with school and I was out of town.

2. There was no computer where I was at when I was out of town (the in-laws computer took a crap)

3. The wife was always on the computer hogging it.

4. I have been playing with Maggie in my free time after she was hogged by other family all weekend( I kid i kid). Did I mention she is standing!

5.I've been studying as much as I can. I think I need a new brain, this one is full.

5 of my favorite books everyone should read, in no particular order.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird. 'Nuff said.

2. Angela's Ashes. Great story told by a great story teller.

3. A Monk Swimming. Malachy McCourt, yep Frank's Brother. He makes me wanna open a bar.

4. Kitchen Confidential. Anthony Bourdain. Another great story teller. I relate because I worked a lot in food service and I witnessed much of the same stuff. I'm also a foodie and love to cook.

5. War. Sebastian Junger. I recently read this. He does a great job of really telling you what is going on over in Afghanistan and the struggles our troops go through on a daily basis.

Image via Wikipedia

Image by wynlok via Flickr

Cover of A Monk Swimming

Chef Daddy

Today it is going pretty slow. We stayed in last night and some friends came over and we had pizza. Stayed up until a little past midnight and today I feel I was out all night. I wasn't even drinking last night. The wife is worse off she went to work with about four hours of sleep.

Retro on Roscoe street fest is going on today so we won't be driving anywhere due to we will never find parking within a mile of our house. So we are taking it easy and I am making Maggie some baby food today. I made her some pears and green beans. I might make some carrots later but i have to wait for the pears and green beans to freeze. We put them in these ice cub trays and then transfer them into another container to store in the freezer. They are in about 1 oz portions so it makes it pretty easy to make defrost what you need.

Some of you may be asking why we make are own baby food. Well I personally like to know where my kids food is coming from. We are not some tree hugging, hemp purse and necklace hacky sack playing hippies. VERY far from it. We do have canned baby food. We take it with us when we are out of the house. It is just easier that way. We even order her applesauce at restaurants when we go out to eat. No big deal.

Now we do buy the produce used to make her food at Whole Foods (did you see the article about them in Chicago Magazine? Check it out). Her food doesn't necessarily have to be organic. We would prefer it to be but if I could only buy peaches or something that wasn't organic that would be fine. Whole foods is within walking distance and their produce prices are not that bad, sometimes much better than the regular grocery store (for those of you who don't know the two big grocery stores, Dominick's and Jewel, like to mark everything up, they are some of the most expensive in the country, Bastardos!).

Image by Dave_B_ via Flickr

I recently read Anthony Bourdain's new book and he talked about feeding his 3 year old daughter nothing but organic food (hell he can afford it), which is cool. He also talked about teaching his daughter that Ronald McDonald is the devil. I already know that Hamburgler is the a demon in disguise. I wouldn't mind so much if he taught that to my daughter. You wouldn't believe or you would, how bad that stuff is for you. Will I take her to get a happy meal? Of course I will. Will I do it a lot? No I won't. It would be a special occasion kind of thing. I would rather go to my favorite deli and get a nice Italian sub and a Cannoli. But really do I want her eating all that junk food? Not really, but I know she will be eating some. Would I freak out if she did? Na.

I enjoy cooking a lot. It relaxes me. Plus I enjoy creating things, especially when it is something I have not cooked before. I do like a challenge. I have I challenge coming up. We are having some people over for a Labor Day BBQ and fish has been requested. I don't do a lot of fish on the grill because my wife rarely eats fish. So I think I will do a few different kinds. I think I will do some shrimp. I haven't done that on the grill yet. Can't wait for our little party, the wife is making Jello shots! A holiday staple in this family.