Cody: The Da Vinci of Drool

Technical note: HA! Blogger! I tired to upload photos in Explorer -- no dice; in Firefox -- no can do. But I will not be defeated, so I went to Picasa and uploaded through there. But STILL not happening. So I copied and pasted the code, which appears in Picasa. Opened a post and pasted the code into my blog.
Ha! Ha! I have pictures!.
Each victory of the tyranny of machines/computers must be celebrated.

 
 
 
  

I spent 10 days in Ohio visiting my daughter Courtney and her husband, Dave, and preparing for the baptism of Cody: The Wonder Baby.

First, I'd just like to join all the grandparents who went before me in saying that my grandchild is the most beautiful baby EVER. While my parents were never down with the whole grandparent thing -- at least not when it came to my kids -- I've decided to take the pendulum back to the other side. My grandchild can suck his toes with a pensiveness that belies great genius. And drooling? This baby is the Da Vinci of drool.

All of Cody's grandparents and parents descended for his baptism and I was in charge of the food. This meant a lot of shopping in Ohio, which is kind of fun, but harder than I remember with a baby (Oh yeah, when I had my babies, we were so broke that shopping was out of the question.)

Each time I visit the Midwest, I'm reminded why I really hated that part of the world. The weather is way too dreary and I feel trapped. There's something about being able to look out over the ocean that is liberating.

I bought a Honeybaked Ham (my favorite), bread, cheeses and crackers and chips. I made potato salad and a pasta chicken salad. I serve hamburgers and hotdogs, which were OK, especially after we got propane for the grill.

Everyone seemed to have fun. I avoided the volleyball game: I had visions of my ex-husband's current wife cramming the ball up my nose (or me hers), and most parties don't need that much drama.

It was a great party and Cody entertained his guests with a precocious ease -- but then when chewing one's finger is all you need to do to enthrall the crowds ...

Chicken pasta salad
Two boxes of tri-colored rotini, prepared according to directions until al dente
Meat from six cooked chicken leg quarters or the equivalent (cook the chicken in a 350 degree oven for about an hour to an hour and a half).
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup slivered, toasted almonds
About 2 cups of grapes sliced in half

Salad dressing
2 cups mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 to 2 tablespoons Garam masala powder (Curry powder can be substituted)
Mix together.

Mix together the cooled chicken, prepared pasta, celery, almonds and grapes. Pour salad dressing over and toss until everything is well coated. You can dress up the top with grapes and almonds if you wish.