Has rapidly risen to the top of the “Books that improve my quality of life” list.

Recently, Gavin read the Eric Carle classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, at school. Upon finishing it, his 3-year old brain made the causal connection between eating lots of food and turning into, as he so eloquently puts it, “a big, fat caterpillar.” Since then, he has morphed into something resembling the Weight Watchers police… for his father.

I think the problem actually stems from Gavin and my Ex having similar food preferences. Fruit snacks, waffles, and string cheese have become major sources of contention in our home. (If you really want to see a preschooler get mad, watch him wake up to discover his father has eaten all the Scooby Doo fruit snacks the night before. It isn’t pretty.)

Now, Gavin monitors his father’s food consumption like a 3-foot tall hawk. Whenever he thinks his father is eating too much of a single item (thus increasing said item’s chances of not being available when Gavin wants it), he informs him, “Daddy, you shouldn’t eat so much food, or else you will turn into a big, fat caterpillar.” My Ex doesn’t find it very funny. I, on the other hand, am still giggling about it as I write this post.

Admittedly, I don’t help the situation. I egg Gavin on and ensure this saying sticks, often prompting him with, “Hey, what happens if Daddy eats a lot?” to which Gavin, practically on autopilot says matter-of-factly, “Big, fat caterpillar.”

Thank you, Eric Carle.

In stumbling around the Internet, I came across a funny site entitled “Oh, Crap. My Parents Joined Facebook.”

I joined facebook in 2004, as a senior at Harvard (the school where the site originated). My member number (the order in which you joined the site, relative to everyone else) was in the hundreds. Facebook now boasts millions of users. Though I am late 20s, I felt no shame in my social networking addiction.

Until my parents joined. And my crazy relatives. And they all friended me. Not only did they friend me, but they started posting on my wall and messaging me PROFUSELY.

Suddenly, I saw a vision of myself 20 years from now. I hope to god I have enough self awareness not to put Gavin through what my “I’m 20-something still, aren’t I?” relatives are currently putting ME through.

This blog is slowly morphing into a food blog. I realized that most of my time not blogging is spent cooking or simply thinking about food, so I suppose that writing about it is quite appropriate.

Anyway, my new food obsession is making my own handmade bread. The scent of fresh bread baking in the oven is heavenly! Today I made a whole wheat oatmeal bread and yesterday, I made a delicious, hand-braided loaf of challah. It was so good that me, the Ex, and Gavin ate all of it within minutes of taking it out of the oven.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 1 package yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs for challah dough
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 egg for egg wash

Recipe:

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a big bowl. In a separate bowl, pour 1 cup of warm water, add the yeast, and let it soak for 5 minutes. Add 1-1/2 cups flour mixture to the water, beat, set aside with a dishtowel covering it. Let sit for 30 min. Add two eggs, beat, then knead in the rest of the flour mixture for about 10 minutes. Let rise again for about an hour.

Knead the dough on a floured board for about 3 minutes, and cut dough in thirds. Make three “snakes” with each and braid, pinch ends, tuck under. Let rise again for a about an hour or so while covered with a dish cloth.

Brush gently with egg wash (1 egg and 1 tsp. water), bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce to 375 degrees and continue baking until a nice, golden crust forms.

Enjoy!