Adventures in Baby Food

Remember this post where I stressed that this blog is incredibly selective?  Well, let's consider today's post in the interest of full disclosure.

After G went down for her nap, I decided to forgo my own naptime and spend the afternoon to make baby food using local, organic vegetables from our CSA box.  I lovingly washed and peeled and chopped carrots, read up on vegetable purees and freezing in this book, and washed out some BPA-free freezer trays with my all-natural dish soap.  I was stopping during each step to take natural-light, macro shots of the food for this very blog.  Yep, I was feeling quite Earth-mama.  Like I'd got this homesteading housewife thing down.  I was going to make the most natural baby food ever, and I was pret-ty damn proud of myself.

I measured out the carrots.

I put them in the steamer.  I added plenty of water to my favorite, fancy-schmancy Calphalon pot and brought it to a boil (this where one should ask the question, how hard is it to boil water really?).  I lowered my special steamer, the one with the plastic feel to protect my nonstick cookware, into the water and covered the pot.  The recipe said to steam root vegetables for 15 to 20 minutes.  I checked after 15, and they were still a bit firm for baby food, so I set the timer for 5 more minutes and went to get out the food processor. 

At this point, I said to myself, Mmmmm, something smells like brownies.  This is because I like my brownies slightly burnt and crunchy at the edges--- I hadn't noticed that the all water had boiled off in twenty minutes and THE GODDAMN POT WAS FILLING THE KITCHEN WITH THE SCENT OF BURNING PLASTIC STEAMER FEET.

And so my happy Earth-mama reverie ended with me frantically grabbing a potholder, tripping over begging dogs, and running outside with a smoking pot of local, organic carrots that now smell (and probably taste) like burning chemical fumes.  The steamer feet are stuck to the bottom of the pot.  The carrots won't be used.  No artistic shot of the end product to be taken.

If I hate wasting anything, it's time, food, and money (it sounds awkward but I wanted to emphasize that order).  Nap times are precious, stolen moments where I get to focus on an activity completely, and yet I've been sitting on the couch since, pouting and trying not to cry about an afternoon spent on said cooking disaster (and afraid to attempt any sewing).  I suppose the upside is that Amazon is currently having a sale on this very pot, so I've already ordered a replacement, but I'm going to take my own nap before trying this again.