Días de los Muertos - Days of the dead

Over the last week or two we've been celebrating the days of the dead in their various forms. San Antonio is brilliant; not only do we get the usual American Halloween fun including work celebrations, dressing up, lots of sugar and trick or treating but we also get the Mexican / Catholic celebrations of El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) which is both a memorial and celebration of those who have passed on.

First off there was the work Halloween party which included a hallway decorating contest, costume contest (I was a judge, ha!), mummy wrapping game and dessert contest! The photo below is our friend Katy's 3rd place dessert entry (I think it should have won).

Katy's jelly brain dessert with berry sauce

Then there was the actual night of Halloween. I made a big pot of my Tassie Devil chilli (and a vegetarian version - neither of which actually include devils) and we headed on down to John and Jo's since their house is in a better neighbourhood for the festivities (you don't really get trick or treaters at apartments unless organised by the complex). There were a bunch of us going, some to trick or treat and some to man the door and hand out candy, but the deal was we all had to dress up. We thought we were all organised with Marty's costume since we had this fabulous chilli-pepper outfit we bought before he even existed... but at the last minute we discovered a wardrobe malfunction! Every time he moved his legs it popped open! It was too small!! (Actually, I think it was designed by someone who had never seen a real baby...maybe one of those people who design costumes for dogs) We did manage to get a few pics before retiring the chilli.

Awww

He was remarkably chipper all through the dressing up process!

Hot stuff (aww come on, someone had to say it!)

RAWR!

Luckily his mama did some fancy footwork and secured him a replacement outfit at the 11th hour... even if I did have to drive to the back of whoop whoop to pick it up!

It's a rainbow glow bug, I think. We'll it's cute whatever it is! (Poggie not in costume at this point)

Rainbow bug and his Papa Bear - make sure you check the Bears for more pics and news

Halloween loot for just one child o_0

Our church also does a lovely and very moving day of the dead celebration where members bring photos and stories of people they want to remember.

Altar of remembrance

Finally, to wrap up all this celebrating death/life we popped down to First Friday, which is a arts/beer festival in Southtown, the San Antonio arts district. This particular first Friday included a day of the dead parade as well as a Muertitos Fest!

We started First Friday with drinks, fried mushrooms and jalapeno poppers at our favourite Texan icehouse, La Tuna. We met up with friends and their little girl Camille and then headed down to Muertitos Fest at Say Si, arguably our favorite gallery in San Antonio. Say Si is a student art program but the quality of the work is excellent, as you will see in a moment.

Some of the incredible altars at Say Si

More altars. Call it my Catholic roots but I love these!

Some of the artwork. Hard to tell from the pic but these were gorgeous.

This was our favourite piece by far and we would definitely have bought it if it hadn't already sold! It is a combo of found paper, block printing, woodwork and resin.

After we'd checkout out the artwork we popped outside to catch some of the traditional dancing, including this incredible routine where they danced with real candles on their heads!

After that we did catch the parade, but my photos suck so if you want to see better ones check out the Bears.

Day of the dead parade at Say Si

And of course we dressed Rooey for the occasion so that everybody stopped to goo over him!

Foster Botanical Gardens - Honolulu (or an excuse to post pictures)

We visited the Foster Botanical Gardens while in Honolulu - totally worth the short cab from the hotel. I have no idea what most of these plants are (other than pretty) and frankly I'm too lazy to work it out. This post is just an excuse to post lots of photos.

(Remember that, as always, you can click on any of the pics to see the big version)

A tiny bit smaller than coconuts but waaay more plentiful, I was pretty nervous of standing anywhere near this tree!

See, not just one or two cannonballs but enough to scone you several times over!

And wicked thorns to boot (this is still the cannonball tree) but I did risk getting close because the flowers were so pretty... Ahh, tricksy!

See!! Look at that flower. It looks as thought it could just eat you up... wait... aaaghh!

Jo and Roo at the gardens

Some kind of large, toothy palm

Jac messing with the camera

Still messing with the camera...

Nuts! Big as grapefruit!

Jo by one of the trees she's had photos taken with at 3 and 14 years old

Giant squid monster tree?

Looks like fireworks to me

This one reminded me of a cylon resurrection ship... clearly due for that holiday!

We'll eat you up we love you so!

This tree rebelled by flowering from its trunk

A lunch fit for for a lizard

A huge and glorious painted gum

Munch crunch lunched

Josie, Roo and the Bears - proof that we all survived unsconed

Where to eat in Waikiki if you're trapped at the Hilton Hawaiian Village

Apologies that it has taken me longer than I hoped to get this post out. I came down with the dreaded lurgie, no doubts contracted from Mr-lack-of-personal-hygiene who was sitting across the aisle from me on the plane, coughing willy-nilly into the communal airspace and flossing his teeth in his seat. Blergh. Anyhow, I've been feeling rotten but doing my best not to pass it onto small boy (so far so good).

Back to the important stuff. When we first arrived in Hawaii and settled into the cruise ship like mega-plex that was the Hilton Hawaiian Village we suddenly realised that we needed to find 3 squares a day for the next week and the room service menu was not only dismally small but looked like the budget sheet of a small country... Not a good start. The Hilton has 20 something restaurants within its bounds, some of which are half decent and I'll cover them, but we also wanted to get outside the plastic-fantastic security blanket and eat what the locals eat. Our restrictions were price, exhaustion (within a short walking distance), small-boy friendliness (although he is such a champion restaurant baby now) and also the food had to be good! Here's how we survived.

#1 Chiba-Ken Japanese restaurant. This place was my favourite hands down! Not even a whole block from the hotel (but down an unassuming side street) we thankfully stumbled over this little gem. One look at the menu showed me no cream cheese in any of the sushi and I was sold. I ate here three times but I could happily have come back every night. The chirashi special was really good, so was the tsukemono and the slow cooked, sticky pork belly (melt in your mouth goodness). I am not usually a miso fan but the miso was the best (and freshest) that I've had in a long time! Definitely worth a visit (or 3) if you're in the area.

Edamame, tsukemono and unfiltered sake at Chiba-Ken

Gorgeously fresh chirashi special (with uni and fresh wasabi) plus tasty-tasty miso at Chiba-Ken

#2 The Wailana Coffee House. This diner is right across the street from the hotel, open 24 hours and had the (I wish I could say faint) odor of urine, but the breakfasts were fast, filling, cheap and pretty darn tasty - plus the menu was big enough that you could breakfast for a week and not get bored. Great omelettes (I can recommend the Chinese style), good pancakes and Jo liked the muesli (cup not bowl people).

#3 The ubiquitous ABC stores. While not exactly a restaurant, these places were a lifesaver in terms of foraging. From yoghurt and juice for the early morning jetlag munchies through to a bottle of wine and some plastic glasses (plus a Hawaii themed bottle opener) at way less than room service prices. They also have all your trashy (and not so trashy) souvenir requirements covered.

#4 Pho Minh Thu>. This little Vietnamese place was hidden away about a block from the hotel and like most pho houses it looked pretty Spartan, but the food was delicious and so fresh and cheap too. Good pho, vermicelli bowls and great summer rolls. We ate in and grabbed take out several times, since this was the perfect food for hungry travellers craving something fresh.

#5 Two honourable mentions from within the Hilton complex. Round Table Pizza which is a US West Coast pizza chain (and it doesn't get more West Coast than Hawaii, sorry California...) The Guinevere's Garden (vege) and King Arthur's Supreme were both very good and even better with a bottle of red from the ABC store! Also within the Hilton complex was Hatsuhana, a sushi place that opened early for breakfast. I was on my own here but I loved the toridori udon (chicken udon soup) - it was exactly what I felt like for brek!

Flight 22 is off to Honolulu

(It's an Avalanches reference that's been stuck in my head for weeks - we weren't really on flight 22)
We are home, back from a week in Hawaii with Jo, Marty and the traveling bears (Jo's folks). I was there to give a paper at the ASHG conference and to catch as much R&R as possible (defined, in my book, as good food), but also get into the swing of traveling with my family! Speaking of which, Marty did an incredible job on the flights. Saying he was well behaved implies he could have behaved badly and I think he's still too young for that (mostly) but he was very chilled out about the whole traveling thing. We had a one hour flight to Dallas, then a very quick dash through the airport to make our connection which was an ~8 hour flight straight to Honolulu. The flight over was the trickiest because it basically ran through the entire 'awake' part of his day. Combine that with the fact that he usually likes to be held and walked, not held sitting down - he did remarkably well! He slept, fed, chilled out and only cried briefly a few times. On the return flight he slept for the entire 7 hours!

The traveling Roo

We also managed to work out why Marty hates his car seat... We always thought it was simply that he didn't like the reclined position but now we discover that it is because we've been attaching it to the wrong sort of car! How silly of us. While trying to get a taxi for 5 people plus baby/car seat from the airport to the hotel they eventually gave up on minivans and sent us off in a limo! So my first trip through Honolulu was riding in style (and at taxi rates!) When the driver offered to pick us up for the return we jumped at the chance - and it seems that two trips in a limo was all it took to cure him of his seat-hating 0_o

We were staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village - an all encompassing fake plastic shiny shiny mega-plex of vacationy goodness. It provided the impression of a whole Hawaiian experience without you really having to have a Hawaiian experience at all! Five towers, various pools and waterparks, an artificial lagoon filled with fresh seawater about 50m from the beautifully clean Pacific Ocean (I guess so you can virtually swim in the Pacific?)

On arrival at the huge indoor/outdoor central reception you're greeted by incredibly well manicured tropical gardens, fountains, pools and a vista out to the palm-tree studded Waikiki beach and sparklingly clean Pacific Ocean. Plastic fantastic and non-native as it was, it was impossible not to be impressed.

Josie with the Roo in his carrier* at reception, looking out over koi filled ponds, the main pool and the beach.

*Every new parent should be given one of these, they are the most useful baby thing ever.

The hotel complex was set up so that you never really had to step foot outside into Honolulu proper. There were more restaurants and shops than you could poke a stick at, some of them even half decent! The gardens were incredibly well tended and an absolute delight for us San Antonians whose daily dose of botanicals consists of live oaks and more live oaks.

The many ponds were full of water lilies, stripy blue fish, massive koi and even turtles!

The hotel complex was also filled with an incredible array of wildlife (although I'm not sure any of it was Hawaiian per se) including stinky African penguins!

There were randomly placed giant parrots all over the place and I spent an amusing few minutes watching one particularly bad tempered one refusing to come to its handler to be put away by hopping to the absolute top if its climbing frame! There was nothing more between us and them than a warning sign, although those beaks were warning enough not to get too close.

The complex was also filled with all sorts of other bird life including these wonderful flamingos!

Marty also adjusted really well to the 5 hour time difference...better than we did in lots of ways. The conference started at 7am each morning (argh!) but the time difference was in my favour there. My talk was Thursday morning (we arrived the Saturday before) and it went pretty well. The conference was huge with 6000+ attendees, but the exhibit (read freebie) section wasn't so hot this year...I guess the companies didn't want to have to take too much stuff with them. Aside from the conference we spent most of our time working around Marty and his sleep/eat/play schedule, which allowed us to do quite a lot including a trip to the Foster Botanical Gardens (more about that later), a wander through China Town, shopping at the Ala Moana shopping mall (best food court ever...again more on that later), swims in the pool and the ocean as well as lots of yummy food experiences!

Mama and Roo getting ready for a swim

Our room was perfect for the three of us - quite big with a separate kitchenette area (great for handwashing) and the bed was ENORMOUS! Marty loved it, as you can see.

The room was big enough that we didn't feel like we were going mad when we were forced to spend time there, by our own jetlag/exhaustion or Marty needing to nap. We even had people 'over for dinner' a few times.

Me and my boy reading the comics on our huge couch

Our room was on the 28th floor of one of the towers so it had some pretty specky views, although I had to be careful taking Marty on the deck (lanai) since Jo developed some pathological fear that I would somehow manage to drop him over the side.

Evening view out over the Hilton lagoon and the ocean

View towards Honolulu City from our deck

Sunset over the Pacific from the deck

Yes I know there's a shot like this already but I liked them both and couldn't decide!

The pools were nice but the ocean was simply delicious, aside from the sharp bits of dead coral underfoot.

The breakers were a fair swim away so the beach itself was very calm. The water wasn't hot like the Texas Gulf Coast, but it didn't bite like Tassie either!

Looking out across our little patch of beach down to Waikiki proper and across to Diamond Head (volcano crater)

Jo wanted photos of palm trees and there were plenty! The don't offer quite enough shade though...

I could have done a lot of lying down and looking up at this, well, if it wasn't hot and I was entirely burn resistant!

Literally meters from this gorgeous beach was the equally gorgeous if entirely artificial Hilton lagoon (which was public access at least, unlike the rest of the pools)

The Hilton lagoon early in the morning before it was swarming with people - it looks like a deserted island but it is an illusion!

I'm guessing this s why lots of people opted to swim in the lagoon, although we didn't really have any trouble in the ocean (maybe a few tiny stings but nothing worse than Oz)

These signs seemed to suggest that the ocean was incredibly dangerous - Lions and tigers and bears oh my!

Anyhow, this post is way too long so lets just say it was a great trip, we all had a fab time and I'd love to go back one day. There are two more Hawaii posts coming, one quick one about food (of course) and one for the bot gardens (simply for the pics). Aloha!

One last shot of the lagoon looking back towards the entire Hilton complex

Visited by 'escapees from the bathroom'!!

A present arrived in the mail today that made me laugh so hard I had to share it with you all immediately! My sister and her partner ordered these little beauties from Sweden for Marty and he is going to love them (we sure do!)

Pee and Poo! Although I think we might call them Pipi and Popo (which I think is the Spanish version?)

We're off to Hawaii bright and early tomorrow for the American Society of Human Genetics meeting, and some much looked forward to R&R! I probably won't be able to post any photos until we return (not taking the camera transfer cable) but I will be sure to take LOTS. For now though, here's a vid of Marty practicing his pool swimming (from September)

Honolulu here we come!

Gnocchi (or my latest obsession)

I always thought I hated gnocchi. Tough, chewy, tasteless lumps of potato dough masquerading as pasta. That is, until Tre. Tre Trattoria is a restaurant here in San Antonio. We first visited for two reasons - it was Josie's birthday and we needed somewhere new to take 'the group' and it looked (from the online menu) more like the places we ate at in Italy (ok make it 3 reasons, they had linguini with clams on the menu...my favorite!) That night 90% of our party ordered the wild mushroom tagliatelle and the rest went with the clams (best I've ever had outside Italy) and we were all smitten and there was much rejoicing and the people were happy. The point is, it wasn't until a later visit when a generous friend ordered an extra plate of gnocchi to share with the table that my obsession began...

This gnocchi was panfried and crispy on the outside, soft and fluffy on the inside and tasted absolutely delicious! I was in love. Not only did I want to never stop eating it, I wanted to make it, to master it, to own it! I obsessed about this gnocchi for days. I read recipes online, watched videos, I even got in touch with Jason Dady, the head chef and one of the owners of Tre for tips. The other night I had the ingredients and some time on my hands so I took the plunge. I won't post the recipe here, not until I practice a few more times, but as a starting point I used this one from Gourmet (side note - I still can't believe Gourmet is over). I'm not sure if you can get to the recipe without registering but it is from Urban Italian.

The big difference between this recipe and lots of others I read was baking the potatoes, and adding the egg/oil/seasoning mix to the sieved potato flesh while it was still hot enough to bind the egg protein somewhat. Also minimal dough manipulation to keep it fluffy. Here's my dough ready to go (black flecks are pepper, probably leave it out next time).

Then I immediately cut it into 6 pieces and gently (but quickly) rolled out dough strings and cut them into diagonal slices.

I kept the cut ones covered in cling wrap while I worked to stop them drying, although the whole process was so quick they'd probably be fine.


The trick Chef Dady told me was to poach them (about 2 mins, till they float to the surface) them (gently) plunge them into ice water. From here I let them drain on paper towel, dry out a little, and them pan fried them in butter until they browned on each side.

Bit of fresh grated Parmesan and some pepper and we have dinner!

Oh and if you're looking for updates on the Roo, make sure to check out the Traveling Bears.

Visitors

Marty has shown himself to be a real social animal of late since we've been lucky enough to have a steady stream of visitors. Our friend Julie came to visit for a week as part of her 'North America 09' tour. She didn't get to see a whole lot on San Antonio, although she did spend a day exploring downtown and the river walk on her own, but she slotted in well with the daily Marty and Mama routine. We did make it out a few times, including a trip to our new favorite restaurant Tre Trattoria (more about that another time).

Jules and a somewhat floppy Roo

Our dear friend Brandon has also come to visit us twice in the past few weeks! He's a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines but San Antonio is still well out of his normal route. Brandon is such a lovely boy - we'll be incredibly lucky if Martyn turns out to be half the man Brandon is (pr half as good looking). Marty definitely enjoys his visits, lots of big grins! This last trip Brandon came for breakfast (a good Aussie cook-up but healthy too!) then, since it was such a perfect day, we went out for a walk and some shopping. Brandon carried the Roo in the front pack and had fun pretending to be the handsome daddy :D

Marty helping Brandon with his stomach crunches

Also, in between Jules and Brandon, our friend Lara dropped in for dinner and brought her absolutely adorable 4 month old girl, Lynnea to visit Marty. He was a gentleman and shared his 'lucky Claire blanket' with her!

Lynnea and Marty getting to know each other

And to top off visitor season, the traveling bears (aka Jo's parents/my outlaws) arrived last night looking not too shabby for 30+ hours in transit! To herald their arrival San Antonio turned on the weather with stormy skies and 100% chance of precipitation, typical!

These visits are bittersweet, however, since we know there are so many other people who wish they could meet Marty (some of whom are even foaming at the mouth -yes I'm looking at you Rennie). Not too much longer to wait.

Marty Roo - sucking people in like satellites since 2009...

A special treat from the Roo to his fans

One of the best things about having your own child is being able to torture them dress them up in their fancy duds. These particularly awesome duds came from Katy and Jennifer (she made the hat!)

See my dimple? I'm flashing it for you!

The post immunisation post (and a griffin)

After crossing the 2 month barrier Marty was rewarded by the Texas government with a bath of immunisations...in 5 separate injections! The little trooper did remarkably well and put his mums to shame (I held him down and tried not to faint while Josie huddled in the corner!) Prior to the shots the nurse gave him some infant tylenol (panadol) in cherry flavour!! The poor bugger, the first thing he tastes other than breast milk is nasty cherry flavouring - blergh. Anyway, he did me proud by sicking most of it back up; a discerning palate already.

He's 11 weeks today (how did that happen?!) but he was 9 weeks when we went in for the shots, which means he also had his 2 month measures taken. At 9 weeks he weighed in at 12 pounds 4oz or 5.56kg (50th percentile) and 23 inches or 58.4cm long (also 50th percentile) so it seems he is entirely normal! The doctor didn't believe the figures (because he still looks chunky) so measured him again, but nope, still normal as anything. I guess he just isn't dense ;)

Here's a family photo we manage to shoot just before walking out the door to go to the doctor.

In other news we've managed to get the Roo not only sleeping for solid 6 hour blocks in the night but also sleeping in his cot! Ok, so his Poggie still wakes up every half an hour to make sure he's breathing but I'm sure I'll get over that soon, right?

Also, I bought a griffin... Not just any griffin either, but a giant griffin puppet! It was there, I was there, it was on sale and I'm a total sucker not only for puppets but also for animals whose existence is denied by some ignorant folks. I'm guessing he was on sale because your average punter here doesn't know what a griffin is unless it has a Harry Potter label on it.

Taking suggestions on a name for him...other than Grif!

Got milk?

Because we sure do! Mama Boo the milking cow has slowed down somewhat but she could probably go to Vegas for a week before Roo would start getting hungry.

Just a sample of out milk bank!

And of course I doubt I could get away with posting without there being a photo of Mr Roo so here's one of his big marsupial eyes. Ignore the naked mole rat! Oh wait, that's my beloved...

Whatchoo lookin at people?

Finally, a food post!!

Ah my blog, how I've missed you. Let me break the chain of fawning Marty posts with a food post! Actually, not just one but three food posts all neatly wrapped into one like a blog-lasagna.

First off I have to thank Gourmet magazine, to which we subscribe, for our latest dinner fabulousa. I don't often cook by following recipes but this one grabbed me by name alone - Figgy piggy Cornish hen! I've been bursting to find an excuse to cook Cornish hen for a while - they're not really Cornish, just young chickens. I won't repeat the recipe in detail here since it isn't mine (although I'm hoping it'll appear on their website soon) but the best thing about it is that it is incredibly quick, simple and delicious! Basically I took a bird, halved it and seasoned it (salt/pepper). Meanwhile I crisped up some bacon (or what passes for bacon in the US), then some garlic slivers in the bacon fat, then the bird halves skin side down in the bacon fat until the skin browned. Then I simply roasted the bird (450F) with some halved black figs (delicious and in season here right now) and some thyme sprigs. Served it with mash and a sauce made from the bird/fig juices and the frypan residue, along with some white wine and lemon juice - brilliant!

Little miss figgy piggy in all her faux-Cornish glory

Secondly, this is a shout out to everyone who lives in San Antonio to get out of your HEB monopoly on the supermarket routine and get yourself down to Tim's Oriental and Seafood Market on Bandera Road just past the Huebner intersection. This place is a gem, I just love it. Not only is it a really extensive Asian grocer (and I really do mean extensive) it also sells fresh seafood (including live crabs) as well as whole Peking duck for only $15.99 each and the most delicious sticky BBQ pork and crispy roast pork belly. The other amazing thing is this place is recession heaven - no matter what I purchase my bill always seems to be about $25 (well, except when I buy a duck and a slab of roast pork on top of everything else and then the beloved opens the shopping bags before I've had a chance to warn her of said purchases...but that's another story.)

Here are a couple of examples of recent expeditions:

Clockwise from the top - bamboo shoots, enoki mushrooms, lap chong sausages, huge and delicious dried shiitake, flat rice noodles made in Houston and so good for chow fun, fresh shiitake, spring onion, bitter greens whose name I forget... All up ~$16

Again, clockwise from the top - frozen udon noodles of the highest caliber (meaning chewy and bouncy and perfect, not those crap ones that break when you even point a chopstick in their direction), baby bok choy, magically mysterious but delicious little bags of preserved vegetable that I love snacking on at work, more dried shiitake, tiny hot peppers, more rice noodles, gyoza, tofu balls (silken in the middle, fried on the outside), more lap chong and more enoki. Total bill - $23

There are so many reasons I love Tim's. The fresh vegies are wonderful and you never know what will be there. We've bought delicious fresh water chestnuts, sweet coconuts, all manner of greens, and the shiitake and enoki are just wonderful! And so cheap. I love bamboo and Tim's keeps me supplied with about 15 different kinds, from fresh frozen to brined to dried to hot-pickled. The ingredients cover Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Filipino and so much more. Not only that but you can also find tins of milo and Cafe Du Monde coffee with chicory from New Orleans amongst many other gems.

And finally (because no post can be completely Marty-free) I have to say well done to Mum for guessing the profession!

Master Chef Marty Roo mixing it up in the house!

As much as his Poggie might like to dream, I doubt I could ever really handle it as a profession, but who knows, he might! I'd be happy if he became a carpenter but he's going to have to do some pretty fast talking to convince me he wants to do a PhD!

Guess the profession

Marty is wearing a 'potential future profession' outfit - can you guess what might be on the front? Aunty Mona isn't allowed to answer since she bought the outfit!

Also, here's a super short and unedited clip of the Roo chilling out. He hasn't done a lot of that lately. Mr Grumpy pants has taken to being an insomniac and drama llama but I'm sure he'll calm down soon! (I have to believe that). Anyhow, here's his happy face :)

Fish is fish (live action!)

As promised, video number 2 in the Marty Roo series - Marty Roo the incredible fish boy shows off his swim shorts and his new slimline body!



Check it out, you know you want to. And I promise the music isn't Playschool this time!

How cute? (aka stalling for time...)

I know I'm long overdue for an update. I'm long overdue for all sorts of things! I have some very cute footage to post but I have to make it all pretty first so for now you're going to have to deal with this teaser shot of the incredible fish-boy.

Our little fish - and that swim diaper/nappy is brilliant!

Marty has changed so much the past few weeks. He's lost his hamster cheeks, he's sleeping 5 hours blocks during the night but his hair is still entirely untamable. He's totally got the hang of the smiling thing now and will smile away at anything, like the wall, for hours. Here he is helping me put his toys in his toy-box. Of course we had to try a few out...

Nom nom nom

What?

What am I, on parole? Get this bear off me!

So, footage coming as soon as I have time to throw it together. But for now, bottoms up!