Presenting...My Family

Have you been noticing those family car decals people are proudly displaying on their mini vans and sedans with pride lately?  I thought they were pretty cute so I looked them up and found a company called The Sticker Family.

Then I got to thinking…how can I possibly choose one stick figure representation of each of my complex family members to reveal to the world (or the slight geographic area my car travels through) what they’re all about?

Sure my husband likes to barbeque but is his sole reason for being to wear a “King of the Grill” apron while holding a slab of meat pierced through a barbeque fork in one hand and a can of beer in the other?  Probably not…maybe…but probably not.  And there are lots of different mother decals.  There are mothers with gardening hats holding flower pots, mothers cooking, mothers shopping, mothers surfing, and mothers with computers indicating they are corporate executives or Wal-mart cashiers…a cash register is technically a computer isn’t it?  What if I’m all of those things?

I suppose you can’t go wrong with a plain dog or cat decal if you have one.  Unless your dog can jump through a ring of fire.  If I were a dog and could jump through a ring of fire and my parents put a plain old dog doing nothing decal on their car, I’d be upset at their lack of pride in my talents.

And let’s not even get started on the multitude of baby, boy and girl options. I could always just choose 2 monkeys, one big and one small for my two boys…that might sum it up.  But then people who don’t know me might think I really do have two monkeys, a plain dog and a barbequing husband?  O.K. I can’t think about this anymore.  I think I’ll just stick with my Hawaiian turtle that I have on there now leaving lots open for interpretation.

Back to the business of baby food.  Let’s make a quick Pear and Mango (peach of the tropics) puree today.  Perfect for the Solid Food Apprentices out there (6 months +) and beyond.

Ready…Set…Evolve…

Pear with Special Guest, Mango, Puree

Age – 6 months +

Ingredients

·         4 Ripe Pears

·         1 Ripe Mango

·         Yes, that’s it

Baby Steps

1.      Peel and core pears and cut into thin slices.

2.      Add pears to a medium sized pot over medium heat and add 1 tbsp. of water.  Cover and cook for approx. 15 minutes or until pears are tender.  Pears can be a bit gritty in texture so just make sure you’ve cooked them long enough that they are soft, tender and juicy so a small baby can handle the texture once pureed.

3.      Meanwhile, peel and slice down each side of mango around the hard large pit in the center and chop into chunks.  You can check out a how-to tutorial in one of my earlier posts “SunnySide of Grey”.

4.      Add mango chunks to pot with pears for the last minute or so of cooking time to soften them a bit in case they’re not quite ripe enough.

5.      Remove pot from heat and transfer fruit to a food processor, blender, or bowl to use hand held blender.

6.      Puree to a smooth consistency.

7.      Transfer to freezing trays to be used within 3 months, or to a food storage container in the refridgerator to be used within 48 hrs.

Makes – Approx. 13 servings (1 serving = 2 tbsps.)

Instead of worrying how I would represent myself in stick figure form to the world, I’ll heed the advice given in Whitney Houston’s song “My Love is Your Love”.

If tomorrow is judgement day and I’m asked what I did with my life, I’d say I spent it with you.