Food. birth.

I made another batch of bread pudding a few nights ago, this time with apples and a little ginger added. It was pretty good, but definitely a fall/winter dish. Some foods have more appeal when it is cold and getting colder, and less appeal when it is warm and moving on toward hot.

My next dessert is going to be a simple one, more suitable for spring/summer-- banana pudding. It's on the menu for Sunday.

A few weeks ago, my life became somewhat easier in the evenings when I made up a calendar with a month's worth of dinners pre-scheduled on it. Between being in my last weeks of pregnancy, and the usual evening chaos, I reached a point where I was pretty exhausted and completely frazzled at dinner time, and had a hard time figuring out what I had in stock, much less what I was going to make for dinner. Now I can just look at the calendar, and know what I have and how I am going to cook it. It also helps to remind me to take things out of the freezer to thaw before I start cooking.

My 6-year-old daughter was very excited about the purchase of charcoal yesterday. She says she likes grilled meat, but not grilled hot dogs. Considering how picky she's been about any sort of marks on her food, I think this is a positive development. She's starting to get a little more adventurous with her eating habits.

I've got barbecue chicken on the menu for Saturday and steaks to grill on Sunday. I am looking forward to it, but I wonder if I will be here for it, or if my weekend plans will be scuttled by giving birth. Of course, if I give birth, the rest of the family will likely be eating at my mom's and I'll be eating at the hospital. The grill will still be there when I get home.

I was having all sorts of contractions last night. They got pretty strong. I was sleeping between them, but from the time I went to bed until 4am, they were strong enough to wake me up when they happened. This morning... nothing. I was hoping that today would be the day.

Tomorrow is right out. First, it is already the birthday of my mom and my sister-in-law. And my husband will be working in Philadelphia, not immediately available if I go into labor, also. Anyway, I've just about given up hope of giving birth in April at all. Maybe I've have the baby in time for Mother's Day.