You may have been wondering about my lack of postings lately… as of January 4th I haven’t had much time to blog because of the arrival of Lukas and Benjamin, our twin boys who decided to show up 6 weeks earlier than planned. This resulted in an extra long hospital stay for me and the boys and then once they were big enough and finally ready and able to come home we found out that Luke needed to remain at the hospital as he was found to have a heart defect that would require immediate surgery. Consequently our world was turned upside down and our hearts were broken as we were sent home with only one of our two boys. Daily commutes to the heart clinic in St. Augustin, which is about a 45 minute drive from our home, with Anna, Ben and Thomas to visit Luke proved to be very taxing both physically and emotionally. We were able to stay part time at the Ronald MacDonald house there, which was quite a saving grace actually, especially when caring for a 3 week old newborn and a 5 year old. Thomas and I had to take turns visiting with Luke before, during and after his surgery as Anna and Ben weren’t allowed into that part of the hospital where he was staying. January and February was a very stressful time for us as a family and there were a lot of tears and sleepless nights… there are still a lot of sleepless nights now but that’s all part of having infant twins at home and we are very glad to finally have Lukas at home with us. He is doing well post surgery and only requires a little bit of special handling when we pick him up but other than that he is a normal, healthy little guy. He is on the slender side compared to his younger brother Ben who is 3/4 of a kilogram heavier than him but we’ve been working hard to fill that gap with feedings every 4 hours around the clock. Meals in our house have been fast and simple lately and since I’m nursing (and pumping) for both boys I’ve had very little time to spend in the kitchen cooking or baking. This salad is one I’ve wanted to post about for awhile now as it is so simple to make you hardly need to follow any instructions for it. Even in winter or early spring (which is still like winter right now for some) this dish will bring freshness to your table and your taste buds!
Fennel Salad
1 Fennel Bulb
1 Lemon
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Wash the fennel bulb. Trim off the ends on the top and bottom of the bulb and discard. Slice thinly width wise or cut into bite sized pieces. Drizzle with olive oil, the juice from half a lemon, salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Enjoy!