Baby Crumpet goes to Five Spot

The week started with Team Mia returning home from the hospital on Sunday to some very confused cats and lots of laundry. La Gringa arrived on Monday morning and Mom & Dad on Monday night. It was great having them around the first week helping out. Even more fun was just spending time with friends & family and sharing the joy of having Mia around (she is a very funny girl). It also meant lots of opportunities for sharing good meals (er, as if you can't tell from reading this blog).

Mia is doing great and today reached a BIG milestone - she has graduated from ''preemie'' to ''new born'' diapers. Woo-hoo, that's right, little Mia is a Big (well, bigger) girl now.

Yesterday we headed to Queen Anne's and our favorite breakfast joint - Five Spot. Feast & carnage followed from which we have yet to recover. Pictured is Mia next to my Giant french toast, which is made with vanilla butter and caramel syrup. Dude........

Happy Year of the Dog to everyone! If you're anywhere near Mount Baker today stop by Grahams as Collins is doing his annual Chinese New Year Party and it's not too be missed. We're hanging low today, staying home & eating leftovers (we had risotto w/t cremini mushroom last night). Shawn (who does Terry Brooks' website) and his girlfriend Rachelle are coming by a bit later. Hmmm....what should I make for dinner tonight?

Crumpet gives the finger to George Bush

Er, I thought this was a ''family'' blog

Wonderful food with Crumpet & Friends

Team Mia vows to make everyone's life more enjoyable by eating, very, very well. On Thursday we made our own version of ''beer can chicken'' on the Weber and it turned out nice & juicy (check out the size comparison with Ms. Crumpet)

Friday was family night. In addition to mom & dad, La Gringa, cousin Prescott (and his girlfriend Jessica) and Wendy joined us for braised pork shoulder (see photo for size comparison w/t Ms. Crumpet). Momma Mia!

Recipe for Ku's Braised Pork Shoulder (with apology to Julia Child)

Brine the pork shoulder in water, kosher salt, sugar, clove and bay leaf

Marinade the pork shoulder in mead, oj, pepper, joe's stuff(tm), garlic, rosemary, lemon thyme, paprika, cinnamon, nutmeg and sage.

Brown the pork in skillet with butter on all sides, about 10 minutes. Remove the pork.

Sauteed onion & carrots under tender.

Add pork, veggies & marindate into large pot with lid and put into oven at 325 degrees. Baste about once an hour. At three hours the meat will be tender & juicy. At four hours the meat will melt like butter.

When done, remove pork from pot, cover in foil and let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Take the remaining juice/veggies and put it into fridge for same 10 minutes and remove layers of fat, then finish off on stove top (you can mash the veggies if you like)

Carve & serve!

Introducing Ms. Rosemary

Taking a break from the endless parade of baby pictures, a couple of shots of Rosemary doing yoga with big A and resting on momma's belly

BREAKING NEWS: Crumpet has a new cousin!

Yesterday (January 25th) at 10:24pm E.S.T. Crumpet's new cousin Abigael Sophia Wood was born to Adrian's brother Ivan & sister-in-law Heather. The two cousins are currently in training for Baby Olympics and plan to enter such contests including long-distsance spitting and speed swadling (parents involved).

Hmmm...... Donuts......

When Adrian went into the hospital last week we got tons of well-wishing emails and calls from friends. One of the most common question/concern was whether we have anything to eat. Apparently there is an epidemic of new parents who all of a sudden lose any ability to cook or eat real food and resort to making potato chip sandwiches.

Never! During the hospital stay we had piroshki, sushi & burritoes. Troy & Megan brought us pizza. Upon returing home we have made gumbo (roasted chicken, bacon, chicken tarragon sausage, shallots, file, baby corn and artichoke hearts), king salmon grilled on cedar plank (sugar, spices, kosher salt, lemon juice and wasabi) and swiss chard sauteed with bacon (vegetables taster better with bacon). Tonight we're grilling top sirloin with cherry tomatoes, brussel sprouts and, of course, bacon.

This morning we decided to introduce Crumpet to a crucial Seattle insitution - TOP POT DONUT. Yes, The Crumpet has eaten the donut, she is lost to us forever.

Crumpet, I Presume

Truffles: Crumpet, I presume. I heard about you. I'm not impressed. You're not very fuzzy. I hope I don't have to fight you for food.

Nightshade has a new posse....

Night Shade Books has a posse; apparently Crumpet is now a member of said posse. Who knew a baby could be so hip and tuned-in to cutting-edge literature???

Crumpet meets La Gringa...

... and wonders: "Do all adult humans have this many chins???"

Crumpet meets Grandma!!!

Crumpet finally gets to meet Grandma Wood!!!

(And boy, did THAT ever wake her up!!!)

Introducing Mia Jade Wood Liang!

Eager to arrive in a world populated by such wonderful things as Joe’s Shanghai, the city of Tuscany and Weber Silver Genesis II™ Gas Grills – Miss Mia Jade Wood-Liang was born at 5:24pm PST on Thursday, January 19th, 2006 at the Swedish Hospital in Seattle. (Does that make her Swedish? Maybe an extra discount at IKEA? Oh, the things to look forward to!) Our cats, however, are in for a surprise.


Mia (as in momma mia) was born 5 lbs 14 ounces and 18 ¼ inches long. Both baby & mom are doing great (dad is a little stunned). Mia expressed great control of bodily functions by immediately sneezing, burping, hiccupping and - to great applause - pooping.

Mom is doing equally well. By day two she was feasting on piroshky and sushi and enjoying a Starbucks vanilla latte. In between there is a lot of sleeping.

A few sneak preview photos attached – trust me – a lot (I mean A LOT) more to come. (Wa ha ha ha ha!!!!)



We’ll be home by Sunday. If you’re in the neighborhood come on by. If you wish to skip the parents and speak to Mia directly you can send her an email at babycrumpet@gmail.com. Thank you all for your love & support. It made the whole experience that much funnier.

Adrian, Ku & Mia Jade