Kind of a weird week here

I woke up at 2 a.m. on Tuesday feeling crampy. This being exactly how labor started with JJ, we figured things were getting underway. We kept on thinking that for the next couple of days, but as I am posting this on Saturday, still babyless, you can infer that this was not the case. It's been pretty exhausting and frustrating; having an occasional contraction seems like a cruel tease on nature's part.

What with trips to the hospital and fretting, I didn't end up doing nearly as much cooking (or anything else) as I was planning to last week, but these new recipes made it in before things got stressful:

• Chicken fried rice with bok choy -- Excellent. I even got L to eat some of it, by keeping the various pieces separate for her consumption.
• Bo nuong cha (about halfway down the page)-- A lot of trouble to make and to eat, but totally yummy; a keeper

At least the false alarm gave us a chance to get things sorted out at home; the baby's room has been cleared of moving boxes, the clothes are washed, the car seat installed. Yesterday I went in for my trifecta of appointments: ultrasound to check fluid levels (fine), non-stress test to make sure the baby's doing okay (fine), general -purpose appointment with one of the midwives (fine, though they have a whole new batch of them who all seem terribly young).

We made it to the market this morning regardless--a bright, chilly day after yesterday's storm, the first one that has really felt like autumn to me--and made the rounds. I have been trying to buy some meat there every week, stocking up the freezer, but I am a bad locavore, since I have not yet been able to bring myself to pay $25 for a chicken.

Back at home, we had what is becoming our traditional post-market lunch of fresh mozzarella on focaccia with sliced tomato--quite possibly the last tomato of the summer. I am planning next week's menus, and feeling more than a little grumpy about, well, everything. I am going to try to put that grumpiness to some productive use this afternoon, but we'll see.

No links this week because most of these are improv to at least some extent:

• Zucchini fritatta; squash soup
• Braised chicken and root vegetables; mashed potatoes
• Pizza
• Pasta with beans and broccoli
• Something in which I can use Thai peppers (so cute I had to buy them) and bok choy
• Calzones with chard and....?

It would be nice to get some baking done, too, but I've been saying that for weeks now and haven't managed to do any.