Now that I'm noticing these things, I've been seeing more and more off-color, obnoxious baby tees around. Who would put their kid in a onesie that reads "I met my dad on Maury"? or "Hung like a five year old"? I'm not a prude, but that's just an abuse of free speech. It's not like the baby can read his t-shirt, but his older siblings might have a few questions about it. There's a big difference between a funny onesie and an offensive, tasteless, not so funny onesie. If you put your kid in a shirt with a message that you think is funny, but 99% of the world sees as indecent and distasteful, the message is clear: You're a nincompoop, and hopefully your child can overcome the countless additional bad decisions you'll make for him!

We make (what we think are) funny onesies. We are proud of the baby clothes we carry, and our babies have worn many of our ideas proudly on their chests! Some of the shirts don't apply to our family, obviously. "Future Ballerina"? With three boys, probably not. "Future Mac User", now that's a shirt I know will apply. In fact, 2 of the 3 are already now Mac Users!  They are hooked on PBSkids.com, a great site with tons of fun learning games. We've got their little eMac's set up so they can't go anywhere besides a few chosen websites, and all they want to do anyway is play Super Why's games.  At 15 months, Bodie is not quite yet a Mac user. A funny onesie idea for him would be "Mac Abuser". His idea of computer usage is to bang my mouse until the batteries come out, put the parts into the office trash can, then climb onto my chair and start wailing  my keyboard like a pipe organ, re-naming the files on my desktop if possible. He has many virtues, but a tactful approach isn't in his playbook.

Our boys have always had cool baby clothes. Sara and her sisters have made sure of that. Now that Sara is in the business of making baby t-shirts, I notice different designs everywhere I go. To be honest, I don't think I ever paid attention to whether or not other parents' kids had hip baby clothes or not. Little did I realize that all these little baby clothes accessories would become such a big part of my life!

I get a lot of ribbing at work from the guys. Mostly because I'm a part-time baby onesie maker, and partly because they want to see us get a little edgier. They always come up with ideas for us - sometimes in jest, but mostly I think they really want their vulgar slogans on our baby onesies. They are a great group of guys, and a riot to work with, but their ideas can be pretty crude and tend to be mostly boob related. One of my buddies was in DC for the weekend and saw a group of topless protesters in the street with signs proclaiming "Boobs NOT Bombs". He came back on monday practically begging me to use it on our funny onesies section. I told him I'd put it in Sara's suggestion box. 

Looks like I'll be doing a whole lot of baking this week. Much more than is the norm for me. Unfortunately, it's supposed to be in the 70's all week, instead of the crisp weather we should be having this time of year. Especially since the oven will be pumping out the heat and there is clam chowder on the menu!

The last menu plan I put together was just... so so. The only thing worth mentioning again was the Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. They were truly incredible and loved by all. Best grilled cheese I've ever made, by far. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect pizza dough recipe, though. The one we tried from the last menu plan just didn't cut it. :(

I reference everything on the menu with a link to the recipe, unless it's something that doesn't require one. If the link directs you to another website, it means that I have not tried the recipe, and therefore have no idea whether it is good or not. :) If the link leads to a posted recipe here on my blog, it means that it is a tried & true family recipe that we love. I will also revisit some of the recipes I link to and leave comments about how they turned out for us the following week.

Dinner Menu :: November 16th - 22nd 2009

Monday
Pasta with Pink Vodka Sauce
Grammy's Simple Salad
French Bread Rolls

Tuesday
Apricot-Pistachio Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Chips
Cantaloupe Slices
Cottage Cheese

Wednesday
Leftovers/clean out the fridge night!
Best Cake Brownies

Thursday
Martha's Vineyard Clam Chowder
Amish White Bread

Friday
Midwestern Sloppy Joes, circa 1965
Baked French Fries (frozen)

Saturday
Leftovers from Thursday and Friday.

Sunday
Sweet Bean Burritos
Lime Jell-O

If you try anything listed here, I'd love to know how it turns out for you! For more menu ideas, or to submit your own plan, visit orgjunkie.com.

I was never a fan of clam chowder until I visited Martha's Vineyard as a teenager and bought a styrofoam cup of it from a street vendor on a chilly morning. Wow, did it hit the spot! I loved how you could drink it, as Martha's Vineyard cooks rarely thicken their chowders. I worked on perfecting the recipe as I remembered it, and I think I'm as close as I'll ever be. I wouldn't make it any other way!

Martha's Vineyard Clam Chowder

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:
3 (6.5 oz.) cans chopped clams, undrained
1/2 lb. thick sliced bacon
2 medium onions, chopped
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1 1/2 cups diced celery
1 (16 oz.) carton heavy cream
2 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions:
In a heavy kettle, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp and golden. Remove the bacon. To the fat, add the onions. Cook slowly until tender and transparent. Add the potatoes, celery and sufficient water to rise about 1 inch above the mixture. Simmer, covered, until the potatoes are tender, but not over cooked. Add the clams and butter. Once the butter has melted, add the cream. Warm until the mixture begins to steam, but do not boil or it will curdle. Season with worcestershire, sugar, salt and pepper. Serve immediately with saltine crackers if desired.