eXasperated

X is for exasperated; frustrated by all the foods that I am currently not supposed to eat.  Reading through May's Bon Appetit was slightly tortuous yesterday, and Pintrest just mocks me each time I log into it.  I think I'm going to create a board of all the verboten items for pregnant ladies, and then next year make everything on it.  It's especially hard because summertime is coming up, and that is the time I want to most make and eat these things.  These things are:

Soft Cheeses:  Goat cheese, brie, an Icelandic cheese that a friend of ours brought to a party and I can't find around here.  Every night I crave a giant cheese platter.  It's gotten worse since we recently watched Ratatouille with the boys.

Sushi and Shellfish:  I love seafood, but it's not normally something I pine for.  Now, I shoot dirty looks at people enjoying spicy tuna rolls or crab cakes (I don't really. I think horrible things about them, but I don't project it).  Soon it will be summer and I wanted to hammer down on some crabs up with my sister in Maryland, to have perfectly seared scallops, host a clam bake.

Runny Eggs: not much I can say about them, except, yum, and I miss you.

Caffeine: Bon Appetit just featured a recipe on Vietnamese Iced Coffee, made with condensed milk (I've been making it that way for a while, and I didn't know I was being gourmet).  Iced coffee and Thai Iced tea are two of my favorite summertime drinks.  Even on the hottest days, I love to start my weekends with fresh brewed coffee.

Booze:  It's not that it's really hard for me to give this up, but an ice cold beer on a summer day, or having a mojito or margarita on a warm evening, or just the right glass of wine with a great meal, these will be missed.

I'm going to be honest, I applaud all the women that really follow all the rules, but I know I won't, and I'm not going to feel guilty about it.  I drink coffee and tea, not as much as I used to, but it's more than just occasionally.  They just opened a Jimmy John's not too far from my house, so I've already broken the "no deli-meat" rule.  While I'm not about to go out and order a sushi platter, I probably will make a beet, arugula, and goat cheese salad this season.  Besides, sometime between the second and third trimester the baby's taste buds start to develop, so I'm just giving her an early start for an expansive palate.  

On another note, thanks for all the well wishes for my son.  His fever is finally going down, and he's gotten some of his appetite back.  Hopefully he'll be back to his normal self tomorrow.