Dave's family serves celery salad on most holidays and special occasions. I was having an intense salty craving the other day and I tried finding the recipe online. Turns out, it doesn't exist anywhere in the form I'm used to.

Sure there's something called Italian Green Olive Salad, but it's a much grander affair, with anchovies and capers. This is a simple thing, with just olives and celery. I'm suspecting ours is the "home" version that evolved in Italian homes on a budget.



It's very simple, diced celery with olives in their brine. You can also dice the olives if you like, but I think gathering a spoonful of celery with a big burst of olive flavor is part of the fun.

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Baby Liloia had his or her first photo taken on December 5th, and we thought that was the last picture until the 20-week ultrasound (typically when they tell you the gender). Here's the little one at nine weeks:



But at the most recent appointment, someone decided not to cooperate with the hearbeat-checking doppler device and insisted that his or her photo was taken again instead. Here's the sneaky babe at 13 weeks:



Head on the left, two legs curled up on the right and arms above and below the tummy. See you in a few weeks for another picture, baby!

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