Announcing Eleanor Grace Rose

I thought you might want to see a few photos of Ellie. She came as planning on Friday - albeit, not as pain-free as one would hope. :) She weighed 9 lbs. 12 ozs. and is about 22 inches long. She's a big girl and is eating and sleeping great so far.

They induced me in the morning around 8 am and I got an epidural a few hours later which was very nice until it started to fade about 3 pm and then totally coped out shortly thereafter as my water broke and I dialated from a 5 to 10 in 30 minutes (yes, just like Evan and Cole.) So yah, I pretty much felt that part as if I didn't have one. Ouch. After thirty minutes of serious pain, I felt the need to push and surprise surprise to everyone except Brent and I, she was crowning and they all started rushing around trying to get things ready. The nurse ran and got the doctor - who must have been just out in the hall because he came right in, they slapped some gloves on him and two pushes later here she came. I tore pretty bad and am really sore but recovering fine.

All I can say is - she's here and I NEVER HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN!!!!! :) Thanks heavens for that!

Your next Erika! :)

Allison

Delmonico's Creamed Spinach

2 lbs fresh spinach, tough stems removed and washed 

1/4 c heavy cream

4 T of butter

1 teaspoon minced garlic (I added 3 teaspoons)

6 T flour

1 1/3 c whole milk

1 teaspoon salt

3 T finely chopped shallots

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup grated swiss cheese

1/4 cup grated fresh parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the spinach and cook for 2 minutes.  Drain and press out as much water as possible.  Set aside.  (You could even use frozen spinach, warm and drain extremely well)

Bring the cream to a low boil in a small saucepan.  Remove from heat.  Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat.  Add the shallots and garlic and cook stirring until soft and brown in the butter mixture, about 3 minutes.  Add the flour and cook, then reduce the heat to low and stir constantly to make a light roux.  Add the milk in a steady stream whisking constantly and cook till thick.  Approx 1 min.  Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and simmer 3 min.  Add the hot cream, stir, fold in the swiss and parmesan cheeses and mix till smooth.  Add the spinach, mix well and cook until completely warmed through 2-3 min.   Voila!