You could probably throw in some mayonnaise and cauliflower and it would somehow be good

So, Anna has started doing this thing where she sits in her high chair and sort of stares into the middle distance toward the hallway and laughs. At nothing. A few possibilities here: 1) infant schizophrenia 2) ahead of schedule on imaginary friends 3) our house is completely haunted by something that only she can see. It's something that really amuses her, so it's got to be the ghost of a Sesame Street character or a cat or a crying child. Ah, dammit, that started out funny and now I'm all freaked out.

Moving on: white gazpacho. It is a thing.



More specifically, it's an amazingly tasty thing considering that it seems to have arisen out of a game of "put all the light colored foods you can think of in the pot."

White food + white food + light green food + white food + light green food + white food = soup.

I'm really trying to master the art of cold soups because I live in a cast iron skilet Central Texas and it only seems sensible. I love soup. It is hot outside. This one was nicely garlicky and sweet and a little vinegar-sharp and possibly even worth the half hour I spent trying to blanche already-sliced almonds by picking off one millimeter of skin at a time. What can I say, turning "quick and easy" recipes into ridiculously epic endeavors is sort of a specialty of mine.

When she's not seeing dead Muppets, Anna spends her time enjoying her birthday presents.

This is her third-favorite toy, behind her toy phonograph and her toy sundial. Fourth-favorite is probably the toy dot matrix printer.