Goo Goo over the Man of Pork

O.K. So, I have never been one that has fallen all over myself by the presence of celebrities. I have never wanted to pay BIG bucks to see a particular band because I was SO in love with the band or a member there of. However, I do have to say that idea of taking a cooking class with Michael Symon overwhelmed me.

Bob got me a cooking lesson in comfort food with the Foodnetwork's newest Iron Chef for X-mas. He has 2 restaurants here in Cleveland and 1 he just opened in Detroit - Roast. He is an interesting character with an infectious laugh. His restaurant Lolita is the one that I raved about back in November.

I did take my camera with me to take some pictures. I was hoping to get one of me with him, but I chickened out. I didn't want to seem too much like a star crazed fan. But hey - I did get a few of him cooking.

He cooked/demonstrated the entire meal. It was Pot Roast over creamy cheesy polenta, a creamy tomato & blue cheese soup and a sweet potato & apple & pear crisp. He showed various techniques and fielded many cooking related questions in the process. I was very impressed by the amount of information that was provided and how much I learned even without lifting a hand to cook. Then after the demonstration of all of the courses, we were seated and served the meal with pairings of wine. YUMMY!!! can only describe the meal. I almost felt guilty that I left Bob and the girls to chocolate chip waffles. Almost. We also received cards with the recipes on them. I have made the pot roast 2 times once with the polenta and once with mashed potatoes. Bob prefers the mashed potatoes.

I wish I had the funds to take more of his classes because I have a feeling the vacancies will be hard to come by. He just won a James Beard award and is coming out with a cook book in November. Maybe next year.

Here he is explaining the importance of searing the roast prior to putting it in the oven.


Here he is whipping up the creamy tomato soup in the Vitamix Blender. (this is my next high end purchase - this commercial blender is INCREDIBLE. However, they have an annual sale - this weekend - mother's day - where they are 1/4 of the price. Which definitely makes it a little more palatable for an expense. One of those dream expenditures.)


Here he is making the crisp. He admits to having hot hands so he doesn't do desserts well. That is why he hires the best pastry chef that does all of the desserts for his restaurants. He doesn't do it very well and relies on his pastry chef to do it.

Baking with the Girls

It is always a challenge - to bake without the girls wanting to help. Most of the time it is fun and I am willing to "try" and be patient and let them help. It is good for all of us. Well, Bob wanted some Chocolate Chip cookies and so the girls and I set out to make some.

Anna is fearless. She loves working the mixer, pouring in ingredients, etc. This was definitely a time of comic relief. See for yourself below.

Another Bear Hunt

On Sunday, we decided to go for another bear hunt. This time we parked along the Parkway and headed west along a path that I thought might be easier because I didn't think that it had any hills. I was sadly mistaken. There were hills, but small ones.

Prior to leaving, I put pigtails in BOTH of the girls hair. Celie was used to it, but Anna was not. She didn't want to stay still to let me get them even, so one is off to the side while the other is in the back. She kept them in the entire time.


Jake did his usual take a nap the entire time we are bear hunting.

A bridge in the reservation park. The bear could have been in there.


Anna didn't want to walk anymore, so up on dad's shoulders she went because Celie & Jake were occupying the stroller.


Celie peeking through "sun roof" of the stroller.

Recent Pics

They are admiring each other's cool hair do. :)

Jake has been giving us some great smiles. It is a challenge to capture them though.

I love this picture.

Job Hunting - update

Both Bob and I are still looking for jobs.

Kelly Update:
I did have an interview with a company in the Cleveland area, but that was over 3 weeks ago and I have not heard anything back from them. I did get brave (I believe, on my part) and called to see where they were in their process. I did not receive a call back. So, I am taking that one off my list. I have applied to several other jobs, but haven't heard anything back from anyone. I also met with a recruiter that only places people in a direct hire situation. She doesn't have anything for me currently, but you never know what might come up.

In the mean time, I do have a part time job. I am working as an admin assistant for a law office and funeral home. It is very interesting, really. I work about 20 hours a week. I answer phones, help with reports, filing, faxing, etc. Normal office stuff. So far it has been great. I am earning a little extra cash and I am helping my friend's husband. So, it is a win win situation. They are also very flexible in knowing that I am really looking for a permanent gig and if that happens, then I will not be working anymore for them.

Bob Update:
He continues to pursue the possibility of going back to school to become a nurse. He has applied to KSU, but is also looking at some other schools as well. It all depends on the time line for the various programs. He has looked and applied for other jobs in the area, but nothing has hit. He did receive a 2nd phone interview with Abbott Labs - I am not sure if I posted that or not. That was a couple of weeks ago. They just got in touch with him yesterday and want him to come out for an onsite interview some time this month. So, we are trying to work on some dates so that we ALL may go out there and be able to see the area and some family as well. We will see how it goes. We are not convinced that it is the correct move for us, but we are trying to keep an open mind about everything. We are also trying to keep all of our balls moving forward.

Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Celie Update

Celie began crawling the day after surgery. She was walking by Saturday morning. She is such a trooper. She went to the Drs. for a check up. She took her x-rays fairly well and did well with the Dr. He said that things look really good on her left hip and that we will continue to monitor her for any changes. Anna & Jake will be followed up as well.

On another note, since she is very mobile now - not only walking around but running and jumping (we have to watch that for a little while yet) - she has taken an interest in potty training. We have 2 small potties in the foyer/hearthroom (where there is a solid floor/no carpet). She started using them on her own. At first, she was going pee through her underwear. But now, she actually runs over the potty, pulls her pants and diaper down and goes potty. She then takes her deposit into the bathroom and puts it in the toilet. She flushes the toilet and says "bye, bye, pee pee." We then clean up any mess, wash hands, etc. We were originally bribing her with chocolate to go in the potty, but all of the positive praise has definitely worked, because she is doing it all on her own. We are very proud of her. Now, if only she would poop in the potty. I guess one step at a time. Then it will be to progress to the "real" potty. We will take it for now though.