The Blue Plate Special

Guest Blog by Brian - A little square of heaven

2012-02-14T21:11:00.000-05:00

As anyone that has followed this blog should be aware I love to spend hours in the kitchen pretending that I know what I am doing, and once in a while even pull something off. Tonight was one of those nights. I toiled over oven, stove, toaster oven (and what a great toaster oven it is - thanks to my In-Laws), and microwave trying to turn out a restaurant style dinner instead of braving the over-crowded restaurants on this Valentine's Day.

The goal was to plate an exquisite Surf and Turf meal, NY strip steak, lobster tail, sweetened brussel sprouts with bacon, baked potatoes, and dinner rolls. The lobster gave me some trouble but in the end I think, if I may say so myself, that I achieved a delicious meal for our at home Valentine's celebration.

Now with that said, and keeping in mind that I have had other successful meals come out of that kitchen, I must now admit that I have been outdone. Of all the dutch babies, pies, cakes, cookies, steaks, chicken, lobster, salmon, shrimp, french toast, pancakes, waffles, and all other sorts of gastric pleasures that I have produced none have compared with the brownies that were baked by our Blue Plate Specialist.

I'm sure there will be more posted here regarding said brownies, as there should, but for now know that I have doffed my chef's hat (no I don't really wear one) to the champion of all things gooey and chocolatey.

But in defeat, oh boy did I have some unbelievable eats!

A Brownie Preview

2012-02-13T21:02:00.000-05:00

I've never been really "into" Valentine's Day." As a whole, I find it to be commercial and forced. Plus, I still remember being single on Valentines Day and just wishing the day to be over. Sure, we used to go out to dinner on Valentine's Day, or get flowers or gifts. Restaurants on V day are for suckers....and the last time I made a reservation on Valentine's Day and STILL waited an hour for a table, well that was the end of THAT! In short, it's become a very simple affair, cards and a little treat for the boys, and cards for Hubby and I.

But when Hubby suggested we make ourselves a really nice meal, I couldn't say no. It's a well-known fact, neither of us can say no to good food! He decided on the menu (filet and lobster tails) and I decided to make a chocolate dessert. Nothing too crazy, after all, it was going to be a weeknight so there wasn't enough prep time. I posed the question to my friends on Google Plus, and my (real life) friend Alisha came to the rescue with her Lindt Chocolate Brownies.

I had never made brownies from scratch before, and that's a damn shame. After all, there's nothing wrong with a dessert recipe that starts with this:

Chop 'em up, and melt 'em. Luckily, I had Alton Brown's final episode of Good Eats, entitled "Turn on the Dark" to help with all of that. And thanks to him, I know to chop and microwave. Smooooooooth.

Look at all that chocolatey goodness!

Now they're baked, Hubby is still at school and the house smells like a chocolate factory. I texted him to give him a preview and he said "We have to wait til TOMORROW?? But I'm starving."

And I'm weak. If he comes home and wants to cut into them, I won't be able to say no.

After all, from-scratch brownies that look like that can't be anything short of amazing, right? :)

Overnight French Toast

2012-02-13T20:04:00.000-05:00

After some speculation, I think I know why I've never been a big fan of French toast. It's because I've been making it wrong. Sure, you can make it by dipping pieces of sandwich bread into egg mixture and then cooking it on a griddle. It comes out a bit dry.

But if you let it soak in a milk and egg mixture over night in the fridge, it's nothing but soaked creamy goodness. And if you put blueberries, brown sugar and pecans in it too, then that's just French Toast Perfection in my book!

Happiness is: reaching for the box of Kashi in the cabinet on Monday morning and then remembering you have Blueberry Overnight French Toast leftovers in the fridge. Totally made my Monday Morning!!!

The Beginning of the Mac n Cheese Quest

2012-02-05T13:59:00.000-05:00

Today I'm working on my list of 100 Things in 1,001 Days. Specifically, #6, "Perfect Macaroni and Cheese from Scratch."

I've said it before, sauces are not my forte. I've only attempted homemade baked mac n cheese once. The results were awful with a capital A, Aw-FUL! I made it for our friends, Tracy and Michael, before we headed to a charity event together. The failed roux, the clumpiness, it was just a mess through and through. The sauce separated and it was in a word, disappointing. However, Tracy is ridiculously polite, and they both ate it. (What's wrong with you people?:) ) I called it for what it was (total flop) and haven't tried again since.

I follow a blog called The Brown-Eyed Baker, my friend Alisha from knitting turned me on to this blog. Every post looks SO GOOD, but I've never tried any of the recipes. But when I saw a post this week about stovetop macaroni and cheese, I knew that I had to give it a shot. And it came out fantastic: very creamy and lots of good cheese flavor. Plus, it's REAL cheese instead of orange powder, so it must be better for you. (I can rationalize anything!) I did make a couple of minor changes: 1. I used up some small pasta shells instead of opening a new box of elbow macaroni, and 2. Have you ever seen shredded American cheese at the grocery store? I haven't. I would've been OK shredding my own from a block of cheese, but all I could find was the "singles." Not going to work. And then I saw this, and brought home two of 'em:

This turned out to be a really good recipe to cut my teeth, so to speak. I won't cross this off from my list until I make baked mac n cheese, but now I feel like I have a bit more confidence.

Sunday Morning Breakfast

2012-02-05T10:13:00.000-05:00

Waffles fresh off the iron, bacon and a warm pineapple compote.

The pineapple compote was completely improvised...I had bought a can of pineapple chunks yesterday because Sean loves them for a snack. Brian opened the can this morning and put them in a pan on the stove, adding brown sugar and apple cider vinegar. The end result was so delicious, there were three pieces of bacon left at the end of the meal. There's NEVER leftover bacon.

With breakfasts like these, I never feel like going out to a restaurant for breakfast on the weekend. No need...it's just as good if not better in our own kitchen!

Panko.

2012-02-04T19:37:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Dinner: Panko-Crusted Chicken Strips with Homemade Honey-Mustard-Tarragon Dipping Sauce. Accompanied by Rice Pilaf and Yes, more Broccolini!

I adore panko. I haven't had it much, and so far just on chicken and once, Brian made a side dish with broccoli and panko. It has such a satisfying crunch and is just a bit different from regular old breadcrumbs. Not that I have anything against breadcrumbs per se, it's just good to change it up once in a while. I liked the broccolini so much last night I decided that we should have it again. This time with lemon and garlic. Mmmmmm. :)

I did the grocery shopping today, I hadn't done it in months. When I was first co-habitating with Hubby, I LOVED to do the shopping. I enjoyed picking out meals, trying out recipes, getting the ingredients, etc etc. Now I absolutely loathe the grocery store. Especially on Saturdays. It's always super crowded and I just want to get the hell out as fast as possible! So I just have to say again, Brian rocks because he doesn't mind doing it most of the time.

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl, Pats vs Giants. So we are heading to my parent's house for the big game, and spending time with them, as well as my brother, sis-in-law and niece. There is sure to be good food there, I believe we're doing a sandwich buffet and THEN a make-your-own-sundae bar! :) And tomorrow afternoon, I'm working on one of the food items on my "100 Things list" so stay tuned.

Friday-Night Scallops

2012-02-04T10:31:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite dishes: scallops! So versatile....last night's were pan-sauteed, and tossed with linguine and a little alfredo sauce. The veggie of the night was broccolini, something I had never tried before. It was great, with a little shredded parmesan romano, but I think next time I'd like a little lemon juice. And there certainly will be a next time.

The boys? Not big fans of scallops. But that won't keep us from getting them to try other kids of fish. And someday, I hope we're successful in finding something that they'll like eating.

Italian Wedding Soup

2012-01-15T11:25:00.000-05:00

From my Day Zero List, or 100 Things in 1,001 Days:

71. Make four different kinds of soup from scratch that I have never tried to make before.

Soup #1: Italian Wedding Soup

Got the recipe from allrecipes.com. I've had this soup before and it's pretty simple. Just spinach, mini-meatballs, mini shell pasta, chicken broth and diced carrots. I briefly considered adding a can of cannelloni beans, but I know that Hubby doesn't like beans and I wanted him to eat some of this soup. Plus we have a rule around here, the first time you make a recipe you do it as-is. The next time around, if it's worth keeping, is when you tinker. I'd say we obey it about 80% of the time.

The most challenging part was dicing the carrots and making the meatballs. I used to make my own meatballs to go with spaghetti and sauce all the time. I'd make them just like I used to watch my mother make them: mix the ground beef with bread crumbs, herbs and egg, roll out, and fry in oil. Now she and I both buy the kind frozen in a bag, because they taste good and are really a timesaver! As for the carrots, I don't have a ton of experience cutting up veggies other than coarsely chopped. Hence, the reason for #42. take a “knife skills” cooking class.

So there you have it, Italian Wedding Soup on a chilly winter day. No wedding required!

The Breakfast Experiment

2012-01-11T12:01:00.001-05:00

A friend's facebook post yesterday about oatmeal for dinner caught my eye yesterday. (If you're reading, Hi Jes!) She made a mean oatmeal for her kids for dinner the other night, with add-ins such as almond meal and cinnamon. It got me thinking about oatmeal, which I like a lot. I've never really considered it for dinner, because only Sean likes it. Will won't touch it, which is too bad because it's delicious!

I'm not really good about breakfast during the week, I never eat enough and I'm always starved at my desk long before lunch. Guess what...I'm not great with snacks either. So this morning, I was standing in front of the fridge looking for a quick meal. That's when I saw the leftover pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes, in a Tupperware container with no lid. Obviously I cannot bring tupperware with saran wrap on top to work too easily, so how about eating it for breakfast? I've always prided myself on being able to eat anything at any hour. Hostess cupcakes at 6AM? Sure. Cold spaghetti at midnight? Yep. Buffalo wings before bed in college? I'm your girl.

Into the microwave it goes, and I go off to dry my hair. Soon Will wanders into the bathroom, informing me that I need to check his brother's diaper. I check, and it's fine. (Which is good, since I had just changed him.) I told him that it was fine, and he said, "Well, what's that disgusting smell then?" The smell: leftover Brussels sprouts.

Humph. Turns out that there IS something that I can't eat at any time of the day. However, mashed potato and pork tenderloin weren't too bad for breakfast. :)

A Side Dish Worth Remembering

2012-01-09T20:08:00.000-05:00

Dinner tonight: pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes and Brussel Sprouts with Bacon.

BACON!!!! it makes everything fantastic. But especially brussel sprouts.

They were so good, I ate them first. Eat your veggies!

Birthday Fiesta!

2012-01-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is Sean's second birthday, so yesterday we had the family over for a little Tex-Mex birthday party! The boys love flour tortillas, cheese and meat so it was a meal enjoyed by everyone. Plus, a casual birthday party with family is perfect for when your little boy is turning two.

Brian making Alton Brown's "Man Nachos." I loved his (Alton's, that is) making of "spacers" (i.e. big balls of crunched-up foil) to sit between the nachos. These nachos were special! Plus homemade guacamole, soooooo good!

Taco station in the kitchen. Everyone plates their own meal and then finds a spot to eat. Love it :)

Followed by...dessert and our Happy Birthday song stylings. Vanilla buttercream cupcakes with ice cream. As usual...Cake Doctor recipe. Something strange happened when we went to put the sprinkles on the cupcakes...the buttercream had set and the sprinkles would HIT the cupcake, bounce off and land on the floor. It really was pretty funny.

The birthday boy is very serious about his chocolate ice cream....not a drop was wasted.

Happy Birthday, Sean!

Friday Night Breakfast

2012-01-06T21:33:00.000-05:00

Tonight's Dinner: "Man Breakfast" by Alton Brown. Big slabs of bacon, eggs, and the best hash browns I've ever had courtesy of Brian. The secret ingredient? They're cooked in a bit of bacon fat. No wonder they're so damn delicious. :) No pictures. By the time I thought to take one, my plate was clean!

Also, with Sean's impending second birthday in four days, we decided to throw caution to the wind and gave both boys peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for supper. Sean devoured his like it was going out of style! I think it's safe to say that he likes peanut butter.

Made with Love

2012-01-01T10:45:00.000-05:00

First breakfast of 2012: Homemade Eggs Benedict. I suspect that Brian picked this so he could cross off one thing on his own "Day Zero" list on the first day of the new year!

A labor of love, indeed. Hollandaise sauce is a bit of a pain to make, but it's creamy deliciousness is worth the work. The cookbook said that you should be able to mix it up in about 15 minutes....it took Brian 35 minutes. Probably because it was his first time.

Poached eggs, crispy strips of Canadian bacon, whole-wheat English muffins and a little hollandaise. What better way to start the year?

New Year's Cake

2011-12-31T10:41:00.000-05:00

We have a little tradition around here of having a New Year's Cake. On New Year's Eve we pick out a cake recipe, and make it to have while ushering out the old and bringing in the new. It's usually not too fancy, just a recipe that's simple and delicious.

This year's cake is from the original Cake Doctor Book: Maryann's Simple Chocolate Cake. Instead of the called-for homemade chocolate syrup frosting, we opted to use a cannister of chocolate fudge Duncan Hines in the pantry.

Happy New Year from our family to yours, and Best Wishes in 2012!

Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Over Toast

2011-12-27T19:51:00.000-05:00

Last Friday was a flurry of activity: getting out of work early and then preparing for the weekend's Christmas festivities. But we took some time to make something really, truly fantastic out of one of my Rachael Ray Cookbooks: Creamy Chicken and Asparagus over Toast. I chose this recipe based on the awesome-sounding title and didn't even read it.

The recipe was a little misleading. I was picturing something like a creamed chicken with bits of asparagus, over some regular sandwich bread toast. WRONG!

Chicken breast, shredded gruyere cheese, fresh asparagus, ham strips and caramelized onion. Served atop buttered baguette, broiled. How could this be anything short of amazing?? It did not disappoint. Dinner was a silent affair for the most part, as we hungrily enjoyed every bite. Upon telling my mother about the recipe, she said what I think every time I make a RR recipe: "She really doesn't pay any attention to calories." No, no she doesn't. But we were also in agreement that if you eat just a small portion, you're good to go. We cut this meal into four portions, and had one for dinner and one for lunch the next day. A perfect meal, for when you are wrapping and running around!

Cook with Me, Sesame!

2011-12-23T18:42:00.000-05:00

This week's cookbook in the spotlight: "C is for Cooking", a Sesame Street cookbook that Will got for his birthday. We made two recipes, Cookie Monsters "Me Love Meatloaf" and Grover's Pork Meatballs.

Both recipes were received with mixed results. The meatloaf one, Will right off the bat wasn't interested. Meatloaf? UGH I don't like meatloaf. However, he has graduated to taking a bite, chewing and swallowing and then telling us no thank you. Well, most of the time. :) I liked that the meatloaves were cooked in individual muffin cups, but they kind of "stew" in their own fat, there's nowhere for it to drain off. However, this was also filled with some great ingredients, like oatmeal and shredded carrots. Good way to "hide" these kinds of things.

The sesame pork meatball recipe was really good, but dry. There needs to be a sauce of some kind for the meatballs, without it it's just dry pork with no ingredient to hold it together. (Like an egg) The rice was basmati rice though, which we had never cooked at home. It was just like white rice from a Chinese restaurant!

So there you have it, first two recipes from Will's cookbooks. He is really enjoying the work in the kitchen. Somebody's gonna be just like his dad. :)

Birthday Treats

2011-12-18T20:18:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is my birthday, but my family got together today, being the weekend and all. Nothing is better than having my family over for my birthday, I love family dinners.

Today's dinner was ALL. ABOUT. ME!!! A nice dinner at home, and I got to pick everything that went in it. So Italian it is....with both chicken and eggplant parmesan! Good Lord I love both of those things. To have them both on the same plate is just about as perfect as it gets!

For dessert I chose a Cake Doctor Recipe...one that resembles one of my favorite childhood treats. Hostess Cupcakes!! Devils' food cake, creamy filling and if they spell out "Happy Birthday Ginny," well, that is just sweet.

Surprise Pancakes

2011-12-16T18:24:00.000-05:00

Conversation at Casa de Crafty Mama tonight:

What's for dinner?

The menu said stir-fry garlic chicken. But we had that for lunch. So we'll pick something else to make with the defrosted chicken.

Did you defrost chicken? I didn't defrost chicken.

Ok---so I guess we won't be having chicken.

Hmmmm......go out?

No. Don't want to spend the money for neither kid to really eat their meal, and everywhere we can go to eat will be mobbed on a Friday night.

True, true. Soooo....pancakes then?

You know, I like how you think.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A trip to the grocery store for maple syrup, juice and bacon later, and we're all eating chocolate chip pancakes with bacon. I don't know how we'll deal with that. I mean, that's just so sad. :)

Truckstop Fare

2011-12-13T07:44:00.000-05:00

You can always tell when Winter Break starts for Brian....there's a stellar menu on the side of the fridge. This week's cookbook featured is "The Joy of Cooking" so it's a "Week of Joy!"

Last night's kitchen experiment: chicken-fried steak. I personally had never had it, but it sounded delicious. (It's breaded steak with gravy. What doesn't sound delish about that??) I posted it on Facebook and got several responses of "OMG, that is sooooo good!" And at least two people insisted that you MUST eat it with mashed potatoes. Which was good, because that's what we were having as a side dish. Since the potatoes were my responsibility, I chose to go the extra mile and added whole milk instead of 2%. It really does make for a better-tasting mashed potato.

The verdict? Brian and I loved it, and "squabbled" over the leftovers for the next day's lunch. (Turned out there was enough for both of us to have them, BTW) The kids...ehh. Sean liked it, but he was more into the apple slices and corn on his plate. Will politely tried a piece (which is a miracle in itself) and announced "Dad, I tried it and I don't like it." So he had a hot dog instead.

Lobster Ravioli Night

2011-12-09T20:53:00.000-05:00

Since Brian had the day off from work today, he got to make something that he's always wanted to make: homemade lobster ravioli. Both of us love it, especially at Paul's Pasta in Groton, CT. (This is one of our favorite restaurants from when we were dating. We went back for our tenth wedding anniversary and the place was as delicious as we had remembered!)

I wasn't home for the making of the dough, or the filling. So I think that I will just let the photos speak for themselves. I will say this though: for Brian's first foray into ravioli, it was deliciously successful.

Coconut Macaroon Thief

2011-12-07T08:34:00.000-05:00

Hubby's favorite cookie: coconut macaroons. They're a very easy cookie to make but we seem to only make them at Christmastime. I like coconut, but nowhere near as much as Brian likes it. It would truly be impossible for me to like coconut as much as he does. Pair it with chocolate and he's the happiest guy on the planet.

Last night on a whim, he decided to whip up some macaroons. Upon inspection, I discovered that these were a little different. They were light brown on top and soft throughout, instead of crispy and crunchy like I make them. After he went to bed, I stole two out of their Tupperware container.

Watch your cookies, Hubs. "Cause if you keep making them like that, you may have some competition in eating them!

Another Food Network Fan

2011-12-06T17:22:00.000-05:00

We have an issue at home...one that is far from unique. The preschool that our older son goes to, like many other preschools, has a scheduled "rest time." After lunch, all the kids take to the mats with their blankets and "lovies," the lights are dimmed and everyone rests. Will actually falls asleep during this time, almost every day. The problem is, Will doesn't need the nap. It's a surefire guarantee that he won't be tired at all at bedtime, and if he goes to bed at 8-8:30ish, he will come out several times saying he is not tired. Or worse, playing in his room and having a grand ol' time until after WE are in bed as well. Then in the morning he is not well-rested at all and Mr. Crankypants has come to visit our home. Then he NEEDS the next day's nap. It's quite the cycle.

So we tried something--we moved bedtime back to 9pm. And interestingly enough, it's helped. But...BUT! That takes away a precious hour of Mom and Dad's quiet time. Knitting, watching hockey, etc etc etc. So the last hour of the evening is quiet time for everyone. Usually I'm knitting in my chair, and Brian's watching a show on the Discovery Channel like "How it's Made" or something on the Food Network, or hockey. . Will's taken an interest in the Food Network, and will sit quietly and ask questions about the shows. This is to our great delight--being foodies ourselves! It's a good thing--putting things on the TV that aren't all cartoons or animated educational kidstuff. Right now we're all enjoying the show "Chopped." It's where four chefs compete in appetizers, entree and dessert categories. Each chef is given a basket of ingredients that must show up in their finished dishes and are judged at the end of the round. All four compete in "appetizers" and one gets chopped from the competition in each round. The one at the end is crowned champion and the prize is $10,000.

One of the things I like best about this show is that it gets us to consider different ingredients in our cooking, and putting things that don't traditionally go together, or using ingredients in different ways. It also gets Will looking at different foods and not judging them for what they look like, and trying different things. For example, he never would have put his cereal with fruit. Lately he's been asking for "salad for breakfast." His salad consists of cheerios, blueberries and craisins mixed in the same bowl, with shredded toast topping. I asked if he needed a spoon, and he said "No Mom, it's more of a hand salad." The fact that he's willing to eat all of that together, I have "Chopped" to thank. And who knew that a pushed-back bedtime could bring us closer together? :)

Sweet!

2011-12-04T10:25:00.000-05:00

Brian made one of my weaknesses last night...sweet potato fries. Actually, I love sweet potatoes any way I can get 'em...sauteed, baked, pureed, whatever! They go well in a lot of things, including baked goods. We don't eat them a lot, because the boys turn their noses up at them and Brian's not crazy about the texture. But it turns out if you roast thin strips of them in the oven with an thin orange and olive oil coating, they're pretty amazing. So I guess that they weren't "fries" in the proportional sense. But they were pretty damn good.

Potluck Party

2011-12-03T12:50:00.000-05:00

Last night was the Fourth Annual Hook and Needler Potluck and Holiday Swap! It was the third year that I hosted, and I really love hosting this party. Somewhere between 10 and 15 people congregate at my house, bringing food to share and gifts to swap. We have lots of great food, and gather around my dining room table to knit/crochet, laugh and chat, and swap gifts. It's low-key and casual, and I love it.

Brian loves it too, because he loves to entertain. He had some vacation time to burn before the end of the year, so he took a half-day to clean up and make sure that the house was festive, and to make an appetizer: Buttermilk Chicken Tenders with dipping sauces. You know us...anything fried is delicious and we don't have it that often. The sauces were pretty awesome too, fresh peanut sauce, feta and chive and Brian's new favorite, "molasses gravy." Other foods that were here were chocolate cake shaped like a snowman with a coconut frosting, homemade custard flan (wow!) and authentic Italian Cookies. Mmmmm.

I don't have any pictures of the event, really. That's because we were all busy eating and enjoying. This get-together is always a fabulous way to start of the Holiday Season. :)

A Love Affair

2011-11-25T12:54:00.003-05:00

Nobody comes between Sean and his....ketchup?

Baby loves this stuff! We've quickly learned that Sean will eat anything, as long as it's dipped in ketchup. Homefries? check. Crackers? check. Eggs? check. Turkey??? Ummm....check! It was a bit weird to put ketchup for the little man at the Thanksgiving table. but hey, if it gets him to eat? I'm alllllllll about it. Heck, if I could figure out a way to add ketchup to milk without it being gross, I'd do it. Lately he doesn't want anything to do with drinking milk, he's always opening the fridge and either grabbing the orange juice carton or pointing and yelling "Ju! Ju! Ju!" However, I think the ketchup and milk thing....I won't stoop to that.

Another thing that Sean was absolutely gaga over this Thanksgiving was my mom's pumpkin flan, and his own lil' bowl of ice cream. We gave him a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a little plastic bowl and he was very serious about getting every last bite. Then I gave him a nibble of my pumpkin flan and he kept coming back. "More? More?" He probably ate an entire piece on his own. So we were sure to bring some home for him.

Brian and I are about to embark on our leftovers lunch. I hope Thanksgiving was fantastic for all of you!

Pie Tonight!

2011-11-23T09:55:00.000-05:00

The day before Thankgiving....that means that tonight is Pie Night!

After work tonight, Hubby and I will bake pies. This year will be apple, pecan and pumpkin pies. I roasted sugar pumpkins weeks ago and froze them, which is a good thing because there are no sugar pumpkins to be had in the stores. We have a variety of apples on-hand, to make the perfect apple pie. And back after a long hiatus, we're going to try our collective hand at a pecan pie. Last time was a disaster, it was pretty much liquified. However, it still tasted delicious. :)

Chef Will will be giving us a hand tonight, he's pretty excited about it. Sean, well, his job will be to watch television and stay away from the oven. Or perhaps he'll do some "cawlah....cawlah..." at the kitchen table. (Coloring)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Shake n Spicy

2011-11-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

Remember those old Shake n Bake commercials...."It's Shake n Bake...." and the little girl would chime in "And I helped!"

I made Shake n Bake pork chops back in college. My senior year, I lived in a house with two roommates and though I was still learning, I quickly became the cook. (this was definitely a good thing!) Anyway....pork chops. We never had Shake n Bake at home growing up that I can remember, so a box of it found its way into my grocery cart one week. It was.....OK at best. For one thing, it was so salty. I never bought it again.

Tonight, I've got crumb-coated chicken thighs in the oven. (bread crumbs, paprika, cumin, curry, chili powder, salt and pepper) And they were just the same thing, only you go and mix the spices and bread crumbs yourself. (or panko. Panko sounds pretty fabulous too.) It was so easy! The only part that's hard is waiting for them to come out of the oven with the roasted red potatoes and garlic. My kitchen smells better than a restaurant right now. If this stuff tastes half as good as it smells, we're in for a real treat.

Weekend of Take-Out

2011-11-13T17:50:00.000-05:00

I went to Maine this weekend for a night just to get away. (yes, I was my own personal Southwest Airlines commercial.) Just to visit a college girlfriend, where we indulged in yarn and food. Oh yeah! All take-out, and none of it featured cartoon characters or had chicken fingers on the menu. Because sometimes you really, really need that.

Lunch: Sushi in Dover, NH. We each got a lunch special with two kids of rolls and miso soup, and then shared the rolls between us so we each got a little bit of different stuff. And man....their wasabi was a mind-altering experience! I think that my sinuses were cleared to my brain!

Dinner: Mexican and Margaritas in Portland, ME. Two of my very favorite things. Hot corn chips and salsa, accompanied by a frozen margarita. In a word, awesome.

Then there was breakfast this morning in Wells, Maine. Wells is one of my favorite places, with family vacations growing up and all. We went to a famous donut and breakfast place, where the line was kind of long so we each got a donut while we waited. And then it was coffee, eggs, toast...the works. And I was kind enough to bring home some donuts for my guys!

Now there's a roast chicken in the oven, and potatoes and fresh green beans on the stove. What a weekend. I've had way more than my fair share of sodium, but damn, it was worth it!

Cook All Weekend

2011-10-30T15:06:00.000-04:00

We found ourselves with a free weekend with no plans, due to an early-season snowstorm. It's not even Halloween yet, and there was a decent-sized Nor'easter knocking on our door.

Snowy weekends always make me feel like cooking. This one was no exception!

First up: applesauce. Done right this time, I remembered to COVER THE PAN of apples while it was cooking. Made all the difference in the world.

Brian made Chicken Divan for dinner, which is one of my favorites. It's a tricky recipe though,if you prepare it the way that it's written (on the can of cream of chicken soup, that I saved the label many moons ago) the chicken turns out raw in the middle. We've tweaked it over the years, but it still sometimes comes out wrong. A little microwaving saved dinner! And the meal is cooked perfectly for leftovers at work tomorrow...it certainly won't be overcooked from microwaving.

Then last night we lost power. It was heavy snow falling, and a lot of Central MA was without power. We're one of the lucky ones, losing it for only three hours. So this morning, Brian made waffles. (And those were so special, they need their own blog post, with a little co-authoring.) After breakfast, I baked some banana walnut muffins. Don't get too excited...they're a box mix. I did stir in half a bag of chocolate chips to dress them up a little, though.

At the grocery yesterday, I bought the last two sugar pumpkins that were in Stop and Shop. And today, we've roasted them in the oven, to process the pulp for Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie later on. (And muffins, or bread, or whatever we feel like making. Gosh, I love pumpkin!)

On the stove right now: baked potato soup. I had this soup at our local coffee shop a few months ago and honestly I've wanted to have some more since! Hubby is not usually a fan of soups, unless, according to him, they clog his arteries upon digestion. :) This ought to do the trick.

My back is aching, and I should call it quits soon. But I'm still dreaming about baking some cookies for the kids, and I just found the recipe for the Squash and Apple Turnovers that we made last year from the October 2010 Cooking Light. AND I just found a recipe for beef and butternut chili. Yes, I'm the only one who will eat it. But who cares?? A girl needs lunch at work.

Sammies and Shakes

2011-10-28T19:34:00.000-04:00

I saw a recipe in a magazine for stuffed peppers that caught my eye. Instead of the usual hamburger and rice, this one featured bulk sausage and potatoes. In other words, something different than the same ol', same ol.'
It would have been helpful to read the recipe through though, because was a slow cooker recipe. D'oh! Certainly not a Thursday night dinner. Instead, we ended up using Will's birthday burger coupon and heading out to Red Robin. (YUMMMMM)

So tonight, we still had the sausage patties in the house. (BJ's doesn't carry bulk sausage.) So they became Sausage Sandwiches with Colby Jack and sauteed pepper n' onion. Perfect Friday night dinner. :)

The boys? Waffles and strawberry smoothies were the intention. I still have some strawberries from the summer in our freezer and since we're getting our first snowstorm this weekend (Before Halloween....what!?) it's time to use 'em up.

Only somehow they ended up being milkshakes instead. And they were beautiful...so thick that the straws stood up by themselves in the middle of the glass. Everyone enjoyed them, even Hubby and I. Which was strange...I don't normally like strawberry drinks. But these were very fresh strawberry, not that artificial strawberry taste that I detest.

Good Friday night, perfect start to the weekend. :)

Autumn-in-a-Bowl

2011-10-23T18:40:00.000-04:00

Last year, we had lunch at a friend's house in Pennsylvania while visiting family for Thanksgiving. We had grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches, on french bread with sauteed peppers and onions, and butternut squash and apple soup. Well, *I* had the soup. Brian dislikes butternut squash with the passion of a thousand suns. (Good. More for me.) Since then, I've craved the soup but haven't found it anywhere.

So while shopping yesterday, I decided to do something about that. I know that no one else in my house likes butternut squash. And you know what? I don't care. I can freeze some, and give some away. Sometimes when you want something you just want it. And I really enjoy making soup, there's something quite satisfying about chopping up ingredients and simmering for hours. Simmering for hours???? This time, I let the crockpot do it for me.

So at BJ's Wholesale, I grabbed two boxes of already-cubed butternut squash. (butternuts are difficult to peel, so if "Green Giant" did the work for me, I was all about it!)

The ingredients. (Not pictured, six cups of chicken broth)

The recipe didn't call for sweating the onions in butter on the stove. However, onions sauteed in butter is one of my absolute favorite smells in the world, and doing so doesn't take away from the recipe. Saute away!

Everything into the crockpot, and set for 5 1/2 hours on low. At that time, the spices go in. I added allspice and cinnamon as the recipe called for, but didn't have cloves. And I couldn't resist a little tinkering: a bit of sage and a little ground ginger.

Then it was time for it to be blended together. A stick blender is a really handy thing, especially one that can be dismantled for the dishwasher. :)

The end result: perfectly delicious butternut squash and apple soup!

I really need to do this again soon....perhaps pork and black bean soup next time. (Cooks.....we're always looking ahead to the next challenge!)

Dismal.

2011-10-18T14:52:00.000-04:00

Yes. Dismal is the word that I would use for the cooking that's gone on recently in our home. That's because when you plan on going away for a weekend, plus the two adult household members are out of the house three nights per week (not together mind you. Though that does sound nice!) you tend to slide into Rutville. That's us all right....we have a new address in Rutville.

This weekend food-wise was unfortuately all about junkfood. I blame it on the traveling. Plus we went to PA to visit family and the boys of course got spoiled, with the trick-or-treating at the campground, plus donuts, cookies and other sweet treats that they don't know how to say no to. And since they don't get a lot of this at home, a little spoiling is good.

Then an all-time low: cereal for the writer for dinner on Sunday night, and then GASP! I forgot to eat dinner last night. Well, I didn't forget to eat per se....I ended up having a few of the boys tater tots. I was going to make myself a sandwich after the aforementioned tots, but got busy and simply forgot. My stomach reminded me two hours later as I was unpacking and sorting clothes and doing all those things that fall by the wayside when you're traveling and doing too goddamn much. Did I find something substantial to eat? No. I waited until Brian got home and we had a little ice cream. He was adventurous and brought me home pumpkin ice cream. Normally I like it, but this was a brand I'd never had before. It was disappointing. Not much pumpkin flavor, heavy on the spices. And the aftertaste....ugh. So to bed hungry it was.

But the light at the end of this dismal period is shining. There will be a "real" dinner of Chicken Quesadillas tonight. I started writing a menu today for next week and found myself looking at recipes for Beef and Pineapple Tacos, and stuffed peppers with sausage, onion and potato. I really want to make some Butternut Squash and Apple soup, even if it's only me that eats it.

Good things....they'll be back soon.

A Weekend of Food

2011-10-03T12:50:00.000-04:00

The Good

Brian's pork roast came out absolutely beautiful. It had roasted for several hours, in a citrus-herb marinade. Fork tender and delicious, everyone had extra servings. Dinner was made complete with rolls, baked potatoes, carrots and green beans. And dessert, oh dessert! We served two desserts, because we were honoring TWO birthday guests. Mom's birthday was last Monday, and Dad's was on Friday. There was coconut cake with chocolate frosting and toasted coconut on top, and there was a fresh apple pie. A little of each was left over, as well as some pork. The pork made for a great sandwich yesterday, too.

The Bad

Dinner last night was from one of my favorite cookbooks: "9x13...The Pan that Can." Meatball and Polenta Casserole. The recipe was a total disaster. Sometimes simplicity ISN'T a good thing. Meatballs, polenta and cream of mushroom soup....not necessarily a delicious dinner. Oh wait, I forgot the mozzarella cheese. The cheese could not save this dinner. We each ate a bit off our plates, then I said "I'm sorry, I just can't eat this," and Brian agreed. The polenta was like a corn sponge. So instead of making something else, we just had a slice of leftover apple pie for dessert.

Stuff from This Week

2011-10-01T13:34:00.000-04:00

There was a lot of good things this week, but I don't want to dedicate a blog post to each one. So...here we go!

On Thursday night, Hubby made steak tips on the cast-iron grill pan on our stove. Just seasoned with little salt and pepper, we dipped them in steak sauce and they were awesome. Add some pan-roasted red bliss potatoes and broccoli with a light cheese sauce, and you've got dinner. The only thing to be sad about was that there were no leftovers for the next day.

Turns out though, that I had nothing to be sad about. On Friday, I went out to lunch with a co-worker and some people from the City. We went to this little hole-in-the-wall place called Sweet T's. The place was Southern cuisine and soul food. Fantastic! I can't really say that I've ever had soul food, but I know that I will be coming back for more. The first thing I noticed was the big signs everywhere, proclaiming that they use peanut oil for frying, so basically don't eat there if you're allergic to peanuts. The menu featured chicken-fried chicken, pulled pork, black-eyed peas, okra, cornbread, macaroni and cheese, mashed potato and your choice of brown or white gravy. Everything is cooked fresh to order in the back, and was worth the wait. I liked everything except the fried green tomatoes, which I've always wanted to try. They reminded me of a hot jello....I wouldn't say I disliked them but I didn't like them either. The drink choices were either sweet tea or Coca Cola. I say "Coca-Cola" because it was no ordinary Coke. No, this was real Coca Cola, made with sugar and served in glass bottles. I could have easily drank two of them!

Then we get to dinner last night. On the menu was potato-chip encrusted chicken tenders. Here's the surprise: it was a Cooking Light recipe! I loved them, Hubby loved them, and the kids, well, they thought they were "allright." Ah well. Brian also made a "grilled" caesar salad, where one wilts the romaine leaves in a cast-iron grill pan. This was modeled on a "grilled caesar salad" that we had at a restaurant in April. The end result is a slightly charred romaine lettuce, with traditional Caesar dressing/cheese/crouton. Awesome.

And now, a preview of what's to come: We're celebrating my parent's birthdays tonight with dinner at our house. It will feature a pork roast, potato and vegetable, cake and pie. Stay tuned!

"I'm not eating it. And you can't make me."

2011-09-28T14:19:00.000-04:00

As I experiment with food and feed my family, I get some surprises sometimes. Sometimes, something that looks only so-so ends up being something that I rave about. And other times, something that I expect to be amazing turns out to be well, not. Here's to looking back at some of our surprises

There is a small window of time that while babies are learning to eat solids and table foods that they will eat pretty much anything you put in front of them. (This is how it's been in my house, anyway.) Sean used to love bitty pasta shapes and frozen peas. Now, he pushes away the peas and cries. Or, more likely, squishes them. I was a bit taken aback by the slamming-down of the window this time. After all, Sean eats so many more things than Will ever did, mostly because we experimented with food more with the second child than the first.

Will loves apples. A sliced apple with dinner and he is a happy boy. But homemade applesauce? Forget about it. Only those "Mott's Cups" will do with this kid. When I dropped him off at school this morning the teacher was reading a book about apple picking. Will was excited and told everyone "My mommy just made applesauce with the apples that we picked!" It was hard for me not to add, "Yeah Buddy, and you refused to touch it!"

Also, the child that doesn't like homemade applesauce also hates corn. But he loves popcorn, go figure. And cornbread? I baked some to go with chili and chili leftovers at the beginning of the week. (mmm, there's nothing like crumbled cornbread over a bowl o' red!) I caught him sneaking a piece twice, he's obsessed with it. If I could find a way to sneak in veggies to the cornbread, I'd have it made!

No green veggies for either kid, unless it's canned green beans. However, both kids like zucchini bread. Because they don't know about the zucchini! Mwahahahaha. :) Same goes for sweet potato muffins and pumpkin waffles, bread, pancakes, etc.

What are some of the surprises in your family, or for yourself, that you have experienced?

You Will Assimilate!!

2011-09-24T14:04:00.000-04:00

We did our family applepicking last weekend on a gorgeous fall day. It's been kind of a busy week, so we haven't made a whole lot of things with the apples just yet. However, on Monday night, I had the ultimate applesauce fail.

Mom dropped off her food mill on Monday at Brian's work. After dinner I eagerly picked out three pounds of apples and started to chop. With a food mill, peeling is unnecessary. Which is good because I hate peeling and coring apples. I cooked the apples on the stovetop as the recipe indicated. A couple turns on the food mill and it wasn't the happy experience I remembered from the year before. Not as bad as using a wooden spoon to PUSH the APPLES through a STRAINER. Now that's a workout! The apples were just....not squishing into a big beautiful bowl of applesauce. Alas, there was to be no warm applesauce to pour into oatmeal the next day, or a snack for the boys. The trash ate well that night.

I couldn't figure out what I did wrong. The apples, no matter how long I cooked them, never really softened and refused to acquiesce when I put them in the food mill. I chalked it up to getting distracted, being home alone with the boys while I tried this culinary adventure.

Today I gave it another go. Cored and chopped the apples, cooked them on the stove as indicated. Back into the food mill. NO GO. What gives, man? What kind of Frankenstein apple doesn't soften after 30 minutes of cooking?

Guess what. Apples will assimilate under the power of a food processor. And if you pulse it enough, you don't even realize that there's peels in there. It tastes pretty good too, although my little applesauce taster is currently taking a nap. Take that, apples. You LOSE!

Next up in Apple Land: apple fritters, which I've never had. And of course, an apple pie.

Dinner of the Week: Ham And Farfalle Pasta

2011-09-23T10:33:00.000-04:00

Last night we tried a new pasta dish. It was from a Rachael Ray cookbook, I don't remember the title exactly, but I know that had "2-4-6-8" in the title. The pasta was very different than the usual tomato sauce and meatball that I throw together. This one had julienned canadian bacon, walnuts and shredded four-cheese Italian blend. And when you took a bite, there was some spicy kick. Can't wait to have some more for lunch today! Hooray for something dramatically different. :)

Perfect Fall Breakfast

2011-09-18T11:00:00.000-04:00

Since last week's waffles came out so well AND we went apple picking yesterday, how about two of the best fall flavors together on one plate: Pumpkin and Apple.

Ladies and Gents, today's recipe: Pumpkin Waffles with Maple-Apple-Walnut Compote.

Yes, every bite was as delicious as it looks.!

Plus, now there are pumpkin waffles for the freezer and some compote left, so we can have this tomorrow, too!

Up next for today: apple pie, and Brian's going to be tinkering with a cupcake recipe. I love weekends. :)

Birthday Spoils

2011-09-18T10:52:00.001-04:00

Last week was Brian's birthday, and per tradition he made his own cake. Don't feel bad for the birthday boy--he enjoys making his cake, it's really a gift to himself!

This year, it's a chocolate and peanut butter swirl cake from The Cake Doctor. Complete with chocolate pan frosting. Delicious. And even tastier the second day, if I do say so myself.

The boys and I got him a new puzzle of the New York City skyline, and it glows in the dark. (Hubby's other hobby, besides cooking, is puzzles. Loves 'em. Especially really difficult ones.) And a cookbook called "Cooking for Geeks." And yes, it is definitely for geeks. I can't understand half of that cookbook, with its references to computer programming parameters and binary code. But he loves it. Score!!

And from my parents......a wafflemaker! This one is more professional-grade, with the turn handle that flips it upside-down while cooking so it comes out evenly. Is the waffle curse broken in our house?

Yes, I'd say that it is. With some homemade strawberry-lemon syrup from the freezer, a broken curse has never tasted so delicious.

Afternoon Coffee

2011-09-16T10:27:00.000-04:00

Four nights of crappy sleep. Sunday-Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday. Thursday afternoon I find myself doing something I NEVER allow myself to do. I stop at Starbucks for a coffee so that I can make it through the rest of the day. Yes, caffeine in the afternoon is a bit counter-productive. But it was either that or snooze at my desk, especially with the September heat beating me down.

When I got there, I was excited to discover that their pumpkin line is in! My favorite time of year has arrived: Autumn. So a cinnamon iced coffee and a pumpkin scone and I'm ready to take on the afternoon. And because I am attempting to still behave, it's a small coffee, and half of the scone. Almost a year after my weight loss classes at the hospital, and I'm still surprised sometimes by the fact that a small anything is enough. But it is. And now I have half a pumpkin scone to look forward tomorrow.

Overnight, a cold front moves in, and it is the perfect sleeping weather. Everyone sleeps through the night with no trouble, and it is a good day. Hello, Autumn.

To celebrate, we're going apple picking this weekend. Bring on Applefest!

Local Restaurants

2011-09-04T10:07:00.000-04:00

I was cleaning out my knitting bag this morning; organizing projects, winding yarn into cakes, putting away spare needles from previous projects and mostly, throwing out trash. I came across a free magazine that I picked up somewhere, though I have no idea where. It was the spring/summer edition of "Foodies of New England."

Now, I absolutely know WHY I picked it up, because I definitely consider myself a foodie! The articles listed on the cover were certainly ones that I would find interesting: a sushi place in Worcester that I'd like to try someday, a local farm that I have been to in the past and a feature on Bananas Foster. All wonderful things. But the thing that caught my eye was the list of sponsor restaurants on the back two pages. I grabbed a pen and started checking them off, ones that Hubby and I had been to together or separately.

Of the restaurants, we have been to forty of them. Some of them we reminisced about, remembering exactly what we had eaten. Others weren't fond memories. Some of them we hadn't been to in years and had forgotten existed!

Next, I circled restaurants that I would like to try someday. (fifteen in all.) Some of them are little hole-in-the-wall diners or pizza joints, some fancypants restaurants that would have probably been best suited B.C. (Before Children!) Anyway, now there's a list of places to try the next time we have Date Night or even with the kids. Here's our list of places to try and the type of cuisine:

BABA Sushi (sushi, duh)

The Citizen Wine Bar (i'm not sure how to clarify this one, but it looks awesome. I love the billboards on the highway advertising their cheese, chocolate and wine. Sign me up!)

EVO (again, just intrigued and not sure how to classify. I've driven past this place a million times and am curious.)

Four Seasons (An odd-looking place not far from the house. It's definitely out of place in a residential neighborhood and always looks empty. But it's been there forever. There must be a reason why it's still around.)

Haiku (sushi)

La Scala Restaurant (Italian)

Luciano's Cafe at Maxwell (If this is the same Luciano's as our wedding reception, then we're in for a treat)

One Eleven Chop House (after almost ten years in this area, we have still yet to eat at this famous Worcester establishment!)

Pho Dakao (I've always wanted to try Vietnamese food.)

Plaza Azteca (Mexican or Tex-Mex, not sure. I think this one would be kid-friendly though)

Rovezzi's Ristorante (Italian. And from what I hear, swanky)

Takara (Japanese steakhouse)

Tortilla Sam's (kid friendly, Tex-Mex)

The People's Kitchen

The Wexford House (we know people who go here all the time. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but they love it so there must be something good there!)

Reviews to come---someday! And I hope that I find out where I got this freebie magazine, I really liked it a lot and would certainly read it again!

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.....

2011-08-30T07:02:00.002-04:00

I've been following the "Thirty Day Blog Challenge" on Life in the Carpool Lane, and today's topic seemed perfect for the Blue Plate Special as well.

Day 29: List ten people, living or dead, that you would invite to dinner. Include the menu.

I'm not much for hosting BIG dinner parties. But if I had ten people to invite (immediate family not included in the ten, since they live here and would be here anyway), here's my list:

1. Alton Brown, for obvious reasons (and probably more for Hubby than for me)
2. My maternal grandfather, (aka "Pa") whom I've mentioned cooks a mean roast. Plus I've always wished that he could have met my husband.
3. My mother and father
4. My old friend Jen R of Crafty Mom of 3, who I don't see often and also loves Alton Brown
5. Jen R's husband Scott, a fellow foodie and lover of the Food Network
6. Jennifer Weiner, my current favorite chick-lit writer
7. Stephanie Pearl McPhee (aka The Yarn Harlot)
8. my brother
9. my sister-in-law
10. Julia Roberts

Also, Jen R and her husband Scott have three kids, and of course they would be welcome too. They'd play together with my kids, so we could all have adult conversation. And yes, I'm aware that I included my Mom and Dad as one person. Yes, I'm aware it's cheating. Oh well!

Now, Dinner. This is harder to come up with than the list, but I will give it a shot. We're going buffet style.

The name of the menu: All of Crafty Mama's Favorite Things!

Appetizer: chicken nachos from Chilis, (I really wanted these the other night!) shrimp cocktail, fried mac n cheese and a big heaping bucket of Price Edward Island mussels.

Salad: Caesar with fresh croutons and plenty of shaved parmesan

Entree: Roast Beef (my Pa is going to show me how he made his so I can have it whenever I want.) BBQ Chicken, mac and cheese, fresh bread and roasted garlic to smash on it, mashed potatoes, roasted mediterranean veggies, baked shrimp and feta over rice, cornbread, Brian's "Kabobs from heaven" (pineapple, green pepper, chicken, bacon and scallops) and Chicken Francese. Hot dogs and tacos for the kids, though they'd better save me a "Chicago-style hot dog!" Oh, and ratatouille over pasta for the Yarn Harlot, the only vegetarian in the group.

Dessert: Ice cream in several flavors, double-chocolate brownies, cookies for the kids, a flan and individual pumpkin creme brulees.

Now, who's hungry?

(Cross-Posted at "The Blue Plate Special")

Dinner Donuts

2011-08-28T16:43:00.001-04:00

It's official: our garden has kicked the bucket. The "big" harvest this year was a few tomatoes, 2-3 handfuls of green beans and only two zucchini. There were green tomatoes on the vines when I checked the other day, but Hurricane Irene may have taken care of that!

So with the two lonely zucchini, Brian found a recipe for zucchini cakes. Kind of reminiscent of a crab cake. He had to make one adjustment, frying them in olive oil instead of canola because I killed the bottle of canola making chicken cutlets earlier in the week.

We knew that if we called them "zucchini cakes" the Big Kid would balk. So Brian coined the name "dinner donuts." Appropriate, no?

I also went as far as to call the green flecks "herbs." This passed muster, and Big Kid tried 'em. And didn't like 'em. The Little Kid tried and didn't like, either.

Oh well, at least there wasn't a screamfest to get him to try it. And this way....more for me and Hubby.

Name-Brand vs Generic

2011-08-14T09:22:00.000-04:00

A long time ago, we made a compromise to buy more generic products when shopping for groceries or standard supplies. Over the years, we've discovered that some generic things are just fine, and others, well, name-brand will only do.

Things that we get generic or store-brand, and it works out just fine:

sandwich bags
ice cream (Central Market brand tastes great!)
frozen waffles
maple syrup (though you have to be careful with what you bring home)
orange juice
milk

Things that we just cannot compromise:

Heinz ketchup
Hershey's Syrup
store-brand yogurt
English Muffins
canned veggies (the corn has husks)

What products do you get generic and what products have to be store-brand?

DIY: Iced Coffee

2011-08-10T14:11:00.000-04:00

In the summers, I like an occasional iced coffee. I really love the iced coffee at Dunkin' Donuts, but that is a slippery slope. One morning of hitting the drive-thru leads to another, and that's not good for neither my wallet nor my waistline. I do find myself on weekends wistful for a Dunkin' Run, and occasionally I give in.

When we were in Saint John last month. Brian and I stopped at this little cafe called Magnolia. I ordered blueberry waffles and an iced coffee, and he got a pulled chicken sandwich. The waitress asked me if I would like chocolate syrup and I said "Sure. Why not?" I watched her make the drink and said to myself, "Self? That doesn't look that hard to do."

And it is not. First thing to do is to make regular coffee. (reg caf or decaf, your call.) Make it double strength, I put ten cups of water into the machine but enough coffee for twenty. Pour the coffee into a pitcher and place in the fridge for when you are ready.

Fill a glass with ice cubes.

I decided to go the syrup route again, because regular sugar or splenda in iced coffee doesn't tend to dissolve, and I hate chewing on the sugar. There was a time in my life that I liked it that way, but those days are over for good. Anyway, squirt a little syrup onto the ice cubes.

Add a little milk to the ice and syrup, to taste.

Add the coffee, and stir a little with a spoon.

The end result? A little stronger than I'm used to, but actually pretty good! A nice afternoon treat.

Next on the DIY list (and also from Magnolia's Cafe, St. John New Brunswick, Canada) will be homemade potato chips. They will completely ruin you for regular chips ever again.

Pasta Talk

2011-08-05T12:22:00.000-04:00

Last night's dinner was a pasta saute with farfalle, bulk sausage, red peppers and feta cheese. It was pretty good, nothing out-of-this-world but I'd try it again. The boys had some chicken with the farfalle. We of course introduced the farfalle as "Look! It's bowties!"

Usually we stick to thin spaghetti or ziti, and this was really the first time that Will noticed that the pasta shape wasn't one of our usual. It opened an entire discussion in the car this morning, talking about different shapes. We talked shells, manicotti, and of course, macaroni and cheese. Then I totally blew Will's mind by saying "Hey, did you know that there are other spaghetti sauces besides tomato sauce?" Will absolutely hates tomato sauce, which is really too bad. If he liked tomato sauce he would likely get a lot more servings of veggies since they're easy to hide. He was pretty intrigued about "other" sauces though, but we didn't get past Alfredo sauce.

Alfredo sauce, we all know, is delicious! It's also fattening as hell, considering the amount of butter, cream and cheese in it. So it's obviously not going to add anything nutritious to the mix. Naturally, this is the one that Will shouts "Oh, I'd really like to try THAT!" Perhaps it's time to try some chicken and broccoli alfredo. If Alfredo gets him to eat the broccoli, that's a win, right? :)

Father and Son Baking

2011-08-04T19:34:00.000-04:00

Daddy and Will set out to bake their very first cake together, for us to bring to a cookout. The recipe? A buttermilk pound cake with chocolate ganache icing. Kind of reminiscent of the Stock's Cake that Brian's family in Philly brings to EVERY family gathering! (It's good stuff, too!)

I had bought them matching aprons at Christmas Tree Shops. Brian's said "Big Man" and Will's said "Little Man." Will did not like his apron, not one bit.

But he put it on, to be a good sport and appease Mommy.

The cake baking went pretty smoothly, until Brian went to put the batter in the KitchenAid mixer. Will asked what speed the mixer was going to and Brian replied, "As fast as it goes, Buddy. Ten!" Will freaked out a bit. I think he remembered the time that *he* put the mixer on ten and got a faceful of flour! He spent the total mixing time hiding in the dining room, with his hands over his ears.

Sean got a little jealous, and wanted to make cake too. He instead settled for wrestling his big brother while the cake baked in the oven.

The finished product, a gorgeous cake!

The cake got Sean's seal of approval at the cookout. He kept coming back for more bites, and had most of it smeared on his face. Success!!

A Double-Header in the Kitchen

2011-08-01T19:27:00.000-04:00

I worked on getting the Big Kid to clean up his room while Hubby whipped up this recipe: Saucy Steak! The recipe called to be served over mashed potatoes, but we opted for rice instead. The meal was rounded out with green beans fresh from the garden.

And bonus! There's plenty of leftovers. We gave the same dinner to the boys (minus sauce). Lately we've been trying harder to have everyone eat the same thing at night. I am really wishing that veggies had been showing up every night on the dinner table from an early age for Will, 'cause I'd be lying if I said it was a walk in the park to get him to eat them now! But still we try....

What's in the yellow bowl, you say? That there is homemade chocolate ganache....relaxing so that it can be spread on a cake to take to a cookout tomorrow night. And that cake....is a whole 'nother blog post!

Holy Green Beans!

2011-07-28T20:35:00.000-04:00

I took Will out in the backyard tonightt to get some of the fresh green beans that appeared while we were on vacation. Also, big THANKS! to my brother for coming by every day to water our garden. Without him, our veggies would have been victims of the heat wave that swept thru in our absence.

Show me the green beans, Mom. I don't see them!

Wow...it really is cool to grow our own veggies!

We grew them to eat them, Mom? Oh my....you're hilarious. Or barking mad.

Taking his watering duties very seriously.

This is the first bunch of green beans, I grabbed just enough for dinner. And there's still a plethora of 'em out there. What should we do with this first bunch??

Food, Glorious Food!

2011-07-28T20:30:00.000-04:00

Brian and I treated ourselves to a cruise vacation last week. We decided on a four-day package, embarking in New York City with one port call to Saint John, New Brunswick Canada. Being our first cruise, we boarded with no expectations. And we were blown away!!

For four days (kid-free, as the children were happily playing with their grandparents down in PA and getting spoiled) all we had to do was eat and play. And boy, do I mean EAT. If you are hungry on a cruise, then you have no one to blame but yourself. For there is food EVERYWHERE. And ALL of it is fabulous. The cruise director said in the beginning that the average passenger gains about a pound and a half a day. He was not kidding.

The day starts with a breakfast buffet. There's fresh fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, and the hot foods bar. The hot foods usually included scrambled eggs, pancakes or french toast, always bacon, and there was always something interesting at the end, like breaded whole eggs or a mini quiche or burrito. Also, an omelet station. The ship's coffee was terrible, so for a nominal fee we would hit the coffee bar on Deck Five for an iced mochachino. Then we'd lounge by the pool or walk on the top deck, enjoying the breezy sunshine. Lunchtime would bring us back to the buffet, where there were many cold salads to choose from, plus a meat dish and accompanying sides. If you didn't like what was for lunch or dinner, there was also a deli AND a burrito bar. (I never ate at either, I liked lunch every day.) There was a fish joint on Deck Nine that had mostly fried fish. There was a grill station, which we went to once for the most delicious cheeseburgers. For dinner, there was the ship's three restaurants, or the more casual buffet on the lido deck. And if that just wasn't enough.....there was gourmet pizza and soft-serve ice cream available 24 hours per day. I love, love, LOVE soft-serve and it's something I don't get to have very often. So my personal record for cones in one day? Four.

On our last full night on the ship, we got all gussied up and dined at the ship's fancy restaurant:

Dinner: the food was excellent!!! We each had tuna tartare for an appetizer, then filet mignon. The best part though?

The chocolate sampler that we shared. This thing was to DIE FOR.

So my recommendation is to try a cruise if you never have before. We certainly will be going back!

Healthy Foods Week

2011-07-19T12:28:00.000-04:00

This week is Healthy Foods Week at Will's school. When we got there yesterday morning, they were naming fruits and vegetables. Will rushed over the join the group, just as the teacher was asking the kids to name some vegetables. Will was really excited and shouted out "Broccoli!" Proud of him for thinking of it, now if he would just EAT IT. :)

Parents were asked to bring some fruits or veggies to share with the class this week. So last night I got three tubs of blueberries at the grocery store for Will to share with his classmates. I haven't seen him that excited to be at school in a while, though it *may* have had more to do with it being Sprinkler Day. At least he'll certainly eat some of the blueberries, as both of the boys are blueberry-obsessed monsters!

Improvement with Age

2011-07-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

The list of foods that are good served right away but improve as leftovers: meatballs, lasagna, chili.

Add chicken and snow pea stir-fry. It's an old Weight Watchers recipe that was whipped up quickly on Sunday night, with intentions of leftovers as we packed last night for vacation. I'm on my third serving in so many days for lunch today, and it's even better. And brown rice makes it taste really "earthy." Not sure exactly what that means, but in my head it's delicious. This one deserves to be made again!

Garden Update

2011-07-17T20:07:00.000-04:00

Everything's coming along nicely. No edibles yet, but there are a few small green tomatoes and the zucchini plants have squash blossoms on them. Something is eating my basil plant! It's got little bites in the leaves, and the bottom leaves look kind of scraggly. I weeded and watered tonight after the heat dropped a little. Man...those weeds! If I ever find myself really angry, I'm going to go out and weed something. Those stubborn suckers...they really take it out of you! I hosed down with the garden hose afterwards, just my legs. Yup...as cold as I recall from my childhood!

Can't wait to feast on green beans, zucchini and tomatoes. :)

I Scream for Ice Cream

2011-07-17T14:02:00.000-04:00

Happy National Ice Cream Day! Had I realized this sooner, I might have tried to do ice cream for lunch.

My favorite flavors: coffee ice cream is the front runner. Especially with a little Hershey's Syrup. Others that I really like: raspberry cheesecake, rocky road, cookies n cream and chocolate. For me ice cream is the ultimate treat, I've always got room for it. In the summer, it's so much fun to go out for ice cream after dinner, though we don't do it often. And I'm a sugar cone kind of girl. And Dairy Queen, Friendly's or one of the more local joints around...I love them all.

How are YOU gonna celebrate?

A Notebook Week

2011-07-12T18:29:00.000-04:00

Every Saturday, one of us writes the menu for the week. I usually like to concentrate on one cookbook or other source for that week's meals. Or, depending on how many nights one of us is going to be out that week, we stick to a short list of (kind of boring) quick and easy foods.

I guess I can name this the "Best of" week, since Brian focused on our notebook as a cookbook. If you don't remember or are new here, any recipe that's SO fabulous that we must make it again, it goes in a notebook. This week's favorites:

Mexican Chicken and Rice

Lemon Pepper Swordfish Packets

Parmesan Breaded Pork Chops with Pasta

Marinated Steak Tips

Bon Voyage Chicken Pasta.

It's already been a very good week, with the Mexican Chicken and Rice last night. And tonight's the swordfish. Oh yeah!!

Dessert...on a Grill??

2011-07-08T23:34:00.000-04:00

The grill was probably invented just as much to keep the house cooler in the summer as it was to have delicious grilled meats and veggies. At least, that's the way it works in our house. However, I've never given much thought to having dessert on a grill. Sure, I've seen Alton Brown make fruit kabobs and serve them with a homemade caramel sauce over ice cream. And a couple of years ago my mom followed a recipe that was slices of grilled pineapple, served with ice cream and sauce. (delicious btw) But actual baked items? No, not in my train of thought.

Fortunately, it was in Hubby's realm of possibilities. When down at my parent's cottage, we try to cook outside as much as humanly possible. It's a small cottage and though there is an oven, once you turn it on it's really hard to get that heat out of the house. After a little research online, some shopping at the new Target grocery store and some prepwork at home, Brian made a successful Granny Smith Crisp. He used the grill as an oven and a cast iron skillet to hold the crisp, carefully monitoring the progress. And it was spectacular, the special delicious, patriotic dessert and perfect for Fourth of July Weekend. Just goes to show, I never know what this guy is going to come up with next!

Steak Stretch-Out

2011-07-03T08:55:00.000-04:00

Recently the grocery store had a special on Sirloin Steaks, buy one, get one free. So Friday night's dinner was steak on the grill, foil-wrapped potato packets and fresh corn on the cob. (Nothing like just-bought corn on the cob.....summer!)

All four of us had the steak (neither kid would touch the potatoes, and only Sean ate a little corn) and there was some for leftovers. Last night my mother was over and we were doing Boboli pizzas on the grill. At first they were just going to be cheese pizzas, until we found the steak. Oh, and mini peppers in the fridge. Chopped up peppers and onions, sauteed in butter. (Not too many things smell as good as that.) I chopped the entire container, because they were already showing signs of age. Tomato sauce on the crust, followed by shredded mozzarella, the pepper/onion mix, thin slices of steak, finished with a touch of Colby Jack cheese and some fresh basil from the garden. Best pizza at home ever!!

This morning, we're doing a quick breakfast so we can spend the rest of the weekend at the cottage. I had saved some pepper/onion mix for eggs today, and Brian surprised me with yet more steak. So steak-and-cheese omelettes. Accomplishment: awesome food prepared at home, and ingredients used up. Mission complete! :)

Deep-Fried Kool Aid?

2011-06-22T15:40:00.000-04:00

Every year, an article comes out with the "latest and greatest" deep-fried thing that's being served up at County Fairs across the nation. Winners from previous years: twinkies, oreos, even deep-fried mac n cheese. (Which is delicious, BTW.) Deep-fried Kool-Aid though? Sounds intriguing. I'd go further and call it a Kool-Aid flavored donut.

Check out today's article on MSN: Deep-Fried Kool-Aid.

Father's Day Feast

2011-06-20T11:19:00.000-04:00

It's a tradition to spend Father's Day down at my parent's cottage in Connecticut. We usually have a big cookout, gifts and summer activities. This year's put every previous year's to shame: we had ribs!

Mmmm.....ribs. Mom got the Lloyd's ribs that come pre-basted with barbecue sauce, all you have to do is wrap them in foil and cook them on low. Ribs from scratch are quite a production, they take like three hours on the grill. You also have to be careful with what you use for seasoning, too much spice will render them inedible. So this was the perfect, easy meal for our growing family. Rounded out by potato packets, salad, coleslaw and fresh corn on the cob. Dessert was blueberry or apple pie, and cupcakes for the kids. (And my brother, a kid at heart.)

Happy Father's Day to my dad, my husband, and the dad-to-be, my brother!

Going on a Berry Hunt....Gonna Get some Juicy Ones

2011-06-18T16:47:00.001-04:00

Despite the fact that Dora the Explorer is going blueberry picking in the blog title, it pretty much works for strawberries too. We got up this morning early, and after haircuts for the boys (MUCH needed) we went strawberry picking.

I hadn't been strawberry picking since I was a child, and it was so much fun. Will, who doesn't like strawberries unless they're in a smoothie, had fun dashing up and down the aisles looking for red beauties. Brian and I took turns hanging out with Sean while the other was busily filling up a pint container. Sean kept looking down at the berries filling up the box and kept begging to eat some. I'm not sure how many he ate, but he was really enjoying them. When we weighed our take at the checkout, I was surprised to discover that we had picked twelve pounds!!

After a picnic lunch at the farm (and watching two wild turkeys run around the picnic area) it was time for picking up some strawberry donuts from the farm kitchen. And let me tell you, they are delicious.

Some of the berries will go to my parents, my mom loves fresh strawberries. Tonight we'll have some shortcake. And then....I've bookmarked recipes for Strawberry Muffins and Strawberry Pie. And but of course, strawberry-lemon syrup. If there's any left after all of that, then into the freezer they will go.

We went to the same farm that we had gone apple picking last October. That place is great, not too crowded, reasonably priced and very kid-friendly. We liked it so much, we'll be back in July sometime to go blueberry picking. (My boys are blueberry-eating monsters!!)

Never Met a Scone I Didn't Like......

2011-06-05T18:35:00.000-04:00

There's this old breakfast cookbook that I've mentioned on my blog before.....we refer to it when we want to make something special for breakfast and have time to wait for it. Today's Special Thing: Oatmeal Raisin Scones!

Scones are an English pastry, and they're usually more savory than sweet. They have a biscuit-like texture, and the sweetness comes from what you put in them, usually, (I really like dried cranberries, with a little squeeze of orange juice or orange zest.)

Breakfast ended up being more like brunch today, with the scones, scrambled eggs, bacon and breakfast potatoes. A nice leisurely pace, and everything was delicious.

However...I thought that the scones would be a home run with the Big Kid. Not so much. In fact, my little Bread Aficionado flat-out refused to try them at first, and then pronounced them "disgusting." (his favorite adjective.)

Oh well. More for me, more for Brian and more for Brian's co-workers tomorrow!

Return of Our Garden

2011-06-05T18:21:00.000-04:00

I just finished planting two tomato plants, basil, zucchini, green beans and cucumbers. All before the skies opened and the rain fell, so all in all I'm pretty happy. I also got one leaf off the basil plant so I got a little of that sweet basil-y perfume in a nibble, so now I'm VERY happy. :)

Since it's already June, this year's garden motto is "better late than not at all." We didn't have a garden last year, with a six month old keeping us on our toes and a three-year old running around, plus a trip to Wisconsin. So the motto last year was "we're buying basil and tomatoes at the grocery store!" I like this year's motto better already.

Pork and Sage...A Happy Marriage

2011-05-31T11:22:00.001-04:00

Friday Night.

Pork chops, cut into chunks. Sliced Golden Delicious Apples and onion. A little cumin, minced garlic, and a bunch of fresh sage that one of Hubby's co-workers sent home with him. Sauteed together on the stove, and served atop warm flour tortillas. Add a little shredded colby jack cheese. Let your teeth sink in.
DIVINE. :)

That's a Bowlful!

2011-05-25T14:09:00.000-04:00

Brian made pineapple chicken satay the other night. It called for sweet chili sauce, which neither of us could find in the grocery store so I bought a spicy sauce instead. I'm sure I'm not spelling this right, but it was called sriacha, and i know it's used a lot in Thai cooking. Dinner was the chicken, on skewers, plus a pineapple salsa and the sauce made from chillies and peanut butter. AH! Seriously spicy but I love peanut sauce, and little bits of the sauce instead of a big spoonful made it tolerable to my palate. Today's leftovers for lunch involved throwing the above ingredients plus a little white rice in a bowl. I love bowl lunches! Just a little of this, a little of that, all put together. Mmmmmmm.

Salmon Supper

2011-05-22T12:53:00.000-04:00

Last Night's Dinner: Salmon with Grainy Mustard Sauce. Buying the fish the day that you are planning on using it makes a bigger difference than I ever thought, this was so fresh!

The sauce was divine. Not heavy, with just enough creaminess. Onion, fresh chive and mustard all in there for savory flavor. This tasted what I imagine what eating at a French restaurant would be like. Garlic and pecan pilaf and sauteed asparagus rounded out the meal. What a special meal for a Saturday night. Who needs to go out to a restaurant when you can eat like this at home??

Chicken: It's What's for Breakfast

2011-05-20T08:34:00.000-04:00

Sometimes on Thursdays, I get lunch out with my coworkers. We order in, and someone goes to pick it up from somewhere on "Restaurant Row." I love their smokehouse chicken sandwich: chicken, bacon, roasted red peppers, onion and chipotle mayo on sourdough. The sandwich is waaayyy too much for me to eat in one sitting, so I take half home.

Last time, I had a lot of leftovers in the house and it was looking like it was going to be a busy day so I might not get to eat the leftover sandwich after all. To that I say nonsense! I had it for breakfast. And something interesting happened: I wasn't hungry until lunch. Most days I'm foraging for a snack around 10am or ready to eat my desk by lunchtime.

So today I salute the morning with a half a Smokehouse Chicken Sandwich. Nontraditional....and delicious. Happy Friday!

Using the "Good Stuff"

2011-05-15T18:28:00.000-04:00

Oven Fried Chicken Thighs with Roasted Potato and Corn

I went with a group of friends/family to Northampton yesterday for the Annual Tent Sale at my (our) favorite yarn store. All that yarn goodness certainly makes you hungry, and we had lunch at an Asian restaurant that we have frequented in the past. (side bar: the food was delicious as always, but the service left a bit to be desired. The sneezing waitress at the end was the straw that broke the camel's back...and I think we'll try somewhere else next time we're in Northampton) Anyway, we were talking about fried food and I lamented that though I know it is horrible for you, I miss fried chicken sometimes. My friend Holly made a point; that if you have something fried once in a while and it's quality (i.e not fast food,) that you crave it less. Interesting.

In the past six months, my fried food consumption has gone down significantly. And though I do eat it on occasion, it's usually something that we've made at home instead of something at a restaurant. (Though I had a fried spring roll yesterday and it was heavenly. Just one...and I was pleased to discover that it was enough.)

However, there are good substitutions for fried food out there, and the recipe that we had last night for Oven-Fried Chicken Thighs certainly was a good example. Another thing that helps a lot is using quality ingredients. we had leftover (real!) buttermilk that I had purchased for a recipe, as well as fresh grated Parmesan leftover from our Mother's Day pasta dinner. Usually I "fake" buttermilk by adding vinegar to regular milk. It really does make a difference!

So that's my soapbox talk for today: 1. If you're going to eat fried food, go for quality fried instead of fast food. And 2. Use the good stuff when cooking....at least as often as you can and can afford!

Mother's Day Treats

2011-05-09T10:55:00.000-04:00

My Mother's Day was filled with delectable treats. First up:

Buttermilk Pancakes and Fresh Strawberry Syrup. We've made this syrup for years, it's a recipe out of Cooking Light but you'd never know it. So good....someday I'm going to serve it over ice cream.

Spiced Squash Muffins with Dried Cranberries and Golden Raisins. I bought butternut squash last week and it sat in the fridge with no plans....so I went to allrecipes.com and found this recipe. Loved it! (and so did the kids, and they're packed with good stuff. So there.)

Chicken Pasta with homemade sauce, fresh italian bread, and salad for supper. Not to mention my parents and my brother and sister-in-law coming over for a big family dinner. :)

And the best for last: Melted Ice Cream Cake with Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting! Yes, another Cake Doctor creation!! A tub of melted ice cream replaces all the liquid in the recipe. Our ice cream choice: Central Market brand Caramel Caribou. Left on the counter to melt for the morning. Brian then scooped out all the caramel choco-cups with a slotted spoon and added them to the cake batter. Wow. That is some fine cake. :)

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Deception

2011-05-03T18:22:00.000-04:00

My new favorite veggie: sugar snap peas. I love buying a bag of these and just steaming them. They even taste good raw, nice and crunchy.

To get Will to try them, we called them green beans. "cause Will will almost always eat green beans. Close but no cigar, as soon as he took a bite a pea popped out and he dropped it. He did think it was funny, peas masquerading as green beans. In fact, he told everyone at school today about the silly green beans in his house that have peas in 'em. No go, though. Better luck next time, Mom and Dad.

Pork Woes

2011-05-02T12:57:00.000-04:00

Why is it when you want to buy a pork tenderloin, you can no longer buy a plain one?? Yes, I shop at the same grocery store weekly but I've been to others and there's not a plain pork tenderloin to be had. All of them come pre-seasoned: peppercorn, teriyaki, italian seasoning...I've even seen mushroom. Yes, this seems like a huge convenience for the at-home cook, but the end result tastes so salty! I'd much rather flavor my own, perhaps with mustard or rosemary and garlic.

Ok, I'm stepping off my soapbox now.

Sweet!

2011-04-29T11:56:00.000-04:00

Our friends Michael and Tracy are getting married tomorrow, and Hubby and I are the bridal party. That's it, just me the maid of honor (I refuse to say "matron" as it sounds so frumpy!) and him as best man. We went out to dinner to celebrate last night.

First we went to Via Italian Table in the Woo. I'd been there for lunch, and it's always been good. Dinner was even better, fancier and delicious! We ordered prosciutto-wrapped shrimp as an appetizer, they were the BIGGEST shrimp that I have ever seen! P.s. "Biggest Shrimp" is a fun oxymoron. Hubby surprised me by ordering Atlantic Salmon with white bean ragu because he hates beans. He's got a real problem with "mishy" texture, shunning foods such as beans and (gulp!) cheesecake. I ordered a spit-roasted beef tenderloin florentine with parmesano-reggiano risotto. God, that was good!

For dessert, we headed to a dessert bar on "restaurant row" called Sweet. I've driven past this place many times and it just looks like a bakery from the window. However, we pulled up the website at work the other day and WOW! It's a lot more than that! Michael had caramel bread pudding, Brian had bananas foster, Tracy had peanut butter donuts dipped in chocolate and I had s'mores. Not your typical s'mores mind you. They make their marshmallows from scratch in-house, and I am forever ruined for commercial marshmallows. (Not that I will stop eating them. I mean....really.) They bring you a little hibachi to toast your mashmallows and instead of graham crackers, they give you fresh cookies to sandwich it all together. This thing was the real deal. I've never had s'mores like that, they were out of this world. There was nothing typical about the donuts either. Right by the bar they have a cooking station. After we ordered, the pastry chef got busy frying something. The smell was pure heaven, and imagine the delight when we realized that they were frying Tracy some fresh donuts. They do have some things for the calorie-conscious....which clearly the four of us were NOT last night. (Live it up, live it up.) They had a dessert called "I'm on a Diet" which was homemade sorbet and fresh fruit. And from the bar you could order a "SWB" (Skinny White Bitch) which is just Stoli Vanil with Diet Coke. Think about it.....appropriately named, no? :)

Good friends, lots of laughs, lots of good food. Two places I would go to again in a heartbeat!!

Simple, Yet Satisfying

2011-04-12T20:19:00.000-04:00

Tonight's Dinner: Pan-fried tilapia, brown rice and broccoli in orange sauce. The first bite of broccoli and sauce was a little bitter, but not inedible. I'm really glad that Brian left out the orange zest. We don't seem to be citrus zest fans in this house, oftentimes it's just too strong of a flavor.

Simple, satisfying. Not every night is something fancy.

Flaky Beef Turnovers

2011-04-08T20:05:00.000-04:00

I got two cookbooks out of the library the last time I was there, I like to do that once in a while to mix it up. One of them was a Gooseberry Patch "Homestyle Favorites."

I have never, ever been disappointed in a Gooseberry Patch cookbook, they have great meals! We tried the Flaky Beef Turnovers the other night. Basically they were flaky pastry filled with steak and potato. Wow!!!!!!! Sean loved them, but Will ended up having yogurt and fruit. I enjoyed mine, and Brian had two. However, the only thing I would have to disagree with was that the recipe was listed in the "Weeknight Favorites" section. Any night that you have to wait for pastry to defrost and then roll out and fill=not a weeknight dinner in our house!

Next up: Turkey and Rice Casserole on Sunday.

Where's the Waffles??

2011-04-08T19:59:00.000-04:00

There are two well-known facts in our home when it comes to cooking. One: If the recipe calls for milk, we will probably forget to put it in. Two: Waffles cease to exist in our house, unless they come frozen in a box.

So when we were making the menu for this week's dinner and Brian wrote "Waffle Night" for Friday, I thought he was joking. He wasn't: stubborn as he is, he refuses to believe that he cannot make waffles.

So Waffle and Bacon night it is. The bacon, having fried up nicely on the stove, is keeping warm in the toaster oven. The entire house smells beautifully of bacon. The waffle iron is plugged in, and he's busy doubling the recipe so that we can put leftover waffles in there. First, he forgets the milk. Luckily, it is remembered before the mix hits the waffle iron. We wait, with baited breath, for our first batch of waffles.

I am working on the menu for next week and Brian says "What are we having for dinner on Friday? I say "chili and cornbread, why?" He says, "No, how about this Friday. You know, today?"

The waffle iron has been flipped open and there's.....waffle batter. The damn thing was plugged in to heat up and it never got hot enough. The damn thing is broken.

All you can do is nod and smile. Brian took it well, with a smile and "I can't believe this s*#t." The elusive Holy Grail of Breakfast Food has passed over our home again. So what the hell to do for dinner? I know! How about BLT's? No---No L, No T. How about bacon, egg and cheese english muffins? Every egg in the fridge is in the waffle batter. So with that, dinner is at Friendly's. The kids were thrilled!

We come home, and the iron is deemed trash. Waffles have been doomed to frozen and restaurants. And to add to the misery: Joey was sitting on the couch waiting for us when we got home from our impromtu Friendly's Feast. He was not pleased--we left him with the intoxicating smell of bacon and there was none for him to scout.

I'd say better luck next time...but there will be no next time.

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

2011-04-02T10:11:00.000-04:00

I'm always doing this. I buy fruit/veggies with good intentions but then they're starting to pass their prime. And I have to scramble to find something to do with them!

Four zucchinis in the fridge. This morning I turned 'em into Chocolate Zucchini Muffins. The recipe said that it yields two dozen muffins. I got......nineteen. Ah well.

They're a very subtle chocolate flavor, and I thought a little bit dry. My other two critics disagreed. Will has already devoured one on top of his froot loops and banana, and just asked for a second one. (Joke's on you buddy! There's zucchini in there!!!) And Sean? I'd say that Sean likes them just fine!

Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

2011-03-27T16:29:00.000-04:00

Brian and I had a date yesterday...an afternoon showing of Avenue Q and an early dinner at a little Italian place in our town. We have ordered pizza to-go many times from this restaurant, but have never eaten there, so we were really looking forward to it.

Avenue Q was hilarious! It's kind of like the dirty version of Sesame Street. Songs like "What do you do with a Degree in English?", "It Sucks to be Me" and "The Internet is for Porn." Very, very funny.

Dinner at the little Italian place was beyond amazing. It really is a crying shame that we have lived in our town for almost nine years and this was our first dinner there. The menu was in Italian, with English descriptions. We ordered an appetizer to share, mussels in broth. Brian ordered a plate with beef tenderloin, scallops and lobster ravioli. No cream sauce for the ravs, either, instead it was a brown gravy. So good! I ordered risotto, which is something I've never made at home. It's a lot of work, constantly stirring the rice and liquid, and more labor intensive than I can commit to at this stage in my life. This risotto came with veal, garlic, mushrooms and asparagus spears. It tasted like HEAVEN. And there was so much, it was great for lunch today too! No dessert, we were simply too stuffed.

I will certainly not wait another 8.5 years to go back there!

Puffed Apple Pancake

2011-03-26T23:15:00.000-04:00

Hubby was very kind to my sick butt today...he let me sleep in! When I got out of bed at a leisurely 9:30am, I found that not only was the coffee ready, but there was a Puffed Apple Pancake in the oven.

What exactly is that? Well, let me tell you......it tasted like a dutch baby and an apple pie got married. Empire apples gave it a really tart taste, with sweet pancake-y goodness around it. One slice per person, since it wasn't the healthiest thing on the planet. (Sometimes you just have to splurge though) This thing was AWESOME.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about our fabulous Saturday afternoon date, with dinner at a local restaurant that it's a crying shame we've lived here so long and never tried!

From the Freezer

2011-03-21T12:43:00.001-04:00

I guess you could say that I really like chili. .. in reading my previous posts I seem to write about it a lot. What can I say.... it's easy to make, nutritious and very freezable. Today's lunch came straight from my freezer. Added a little cheese, crushed corn chips and sliced avocado....best frozen leftovers ever!!

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Fish Tacos

2011-03-19T20:26:00.001-04:00

Despite him saying that he wouldn't like them, Brian suggested that we take "salmon" off the menu for tonight and try fish tacos. I was elated, since I LOVE fish tacos!

Grocery shopping on a Friday night--it's pretty tiring but it gets it out of the way so you're not looking to carve out some time during the weekend to get this chore done. I wanted to make fresh mango salsa to go with the fish tacos, but our grocery store only had green mangoes. I'm not really an expert in the mango field, but something told me that these aren't the mangoes that I used before. I whipped out my Droid in the produce aisle (Seriously.....smartphones are awesome!) and googled it. Yep.....green mangoes aren't going to work. So I brought home a fresh pineapple instead. Mmmmm......fresh pineapple is so, so good.

I came home from a trip to the spa to find that Brian and Will had already put together the pineapple salsa:

Good call on gloves for the little one, Daddy! Brian said that Will helped with the "dumping" the ingredients into the bowl. Looks like he's having a blast. :)

We settled on a tempura batter and frying the tilapia that I had bought. (that Will helped pick out in the grocery store. He's become quite the kitchen helper.) Brian was surprised with the ingredient that makes tempura so thin.......seltzer! The only drawback was that the seltzer choices in the house were flavored....raspberry and lime. He decided to throw caution to the wind and use it anyway. After all, it was going with a fruit salsa. It was a snap to throw together.

Add some corn tortillas, Boston lettuce and the aforementioned pineapple salsa and you've got dinner! Oh, and the corn tortillas were absolutely delectable, once they were warmed in a frying pan. Now that I have that taken care of, I'd be happy to eat corn tortillas any time.

First bite and I'm hooked. And you know what? So is Brian! He loved them! He was so surprised that he liked the fish tacos but I wasn't....I know him and I knew he'd love them if given the chance.

Weekend Eats

2011-03-13T22:57:00.000-04:00

Lots of cooking ambitions this weekend. The biscotti came out fantastic, and there was Southwestern Refrigerator Pie for dinner tonight:

This is Alton Brown's recipe for Refrigerator Pie, which I've written about before. (And, in my humble opinion, kind of a silly name for the dish. But I digress.) This one has chicken shortcuts with "southwestern flavor" that I had kickin' in the freezer, some diced onions and three kinds of peppers, a blend of Colby Jack and Cheddar cheeses and a bit of cilantro. It came out awesome! With no sides (usually we have salad) two slices apiece was enough for dinner, and there's some leftovers in the fridge. Hmmm....that might be good for breakfast. No different than an omelet, really. :)

I also made a batch of chili for dinner one night this week. Chili is one of those things that if given a day or so in the fridge it tastes even better. (also on the list: lasagna and shepherd's pie) The little taste that I got while putting it away tells me that the chili is pretty spicy. Good, just how I like it!

Also, mark March 12th on the calendar: it's the day Grilling Season 2011 opened in our house!

Grilled steak tips (naked, with no marinade, just steak sauce) baked potatoes and broccoli, all cooked outside. It doesn't get any better than that.

Biscotti, Anyone?

2011-03-12T17:59:00.000-05:00

I fondly remember my first taste of biscotti. It was horrifying....I bit into it and had to check to see if I lost a tooth! Nobody had told me to first dip it into coffee, for when I did that a biscotti lover was born.....

Biscotti are definitely one of my favorites. However, I don't indulge all that often, for they're a bit of a trigger food for me. One dip and I could eat the plate. However, Brian felt like baking and when he suggested biscotti, I couldn't resist agreeing right away!

Cranberry Pecan Biscotti.....with some surprising ingredients. For example, this recipe has corn bread mix in it. And lemon zest. However, they smell absolutely heavenly coming out of the oven.

Can't wait to have one (or two) with my first cup of coffee tomorrow. :)

Fond Memories of "The Bean"

2011-03-08T11:51:00.000-05:00

I was stuck at home this morning, at the mercy of the oil company to do our annual maintenance on the heating system. I ended up having an early lunch. We'd had roasted chicken on Sunday, so with the leftovers I decided to make some tarragon chicken salad. It's quite easy..just some cut up chicken, add a little mayo, some salt, pepper and dried tarragon. Sometimes I like to add chopped walnuts or pecans, but I didn't today.

Isn't it funny how food (the smell, especially) can whisk you back to somewhere else? I worked at a coffee shop nicknamed "The Bean" in college, where I used to make this very sandwich for customers, topped with avocado slices. That, and I learned the ins and outs of being a barista and really learned to appreciate coffee in its many forms. . My interview consisted of making sure I was a living, breathing person, and at the end I was given a key to the shop and told to show up for the bagel delivery at 7am the next morning. That was it. I guess I have a really trustworthy face!

The owner, Delia (not her real name) was an absolute bear. She was pretty short-tempered but she liked me, paying me 50 cents more per hour (plus tips) than anybody else. And allowing my then-boyfriend Brian to call me from his naval deployment in the Mediterranean. These were the days before cell phones were widely available and cheap as they are now...if he didn't get me at the house, he didn't get me on the phone at all. Delia thought it was pretty romantic, so she told me to tell him to call the shop if he got five minutes. (I'll always remember her for that.)

The coffee shop was a cute little place, on one of the main drags in Newport, RI. It was fairly expensive, being Newport and all, but people came in all the time and we had lots of regulars. Some of her specialties included fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies as big as your head, spinach and feta croissants, and she made a mean chicken and tortellini soup. Her husband, Greg (also not his real name) was some sort of executive for some foreign car company and he spent most weeks in New Jersey, working. On weekends he would come home and work in the shop as well. They used to get into the most terrific spats, with yelling and drama and usually somebody throwing something in the kitchen. She fired employees for trivial things, and often called them the next day to apologize and beg them to come back. My friends usually came by for chai lattes and veggie wraps, and if it was slow I'd sit with them for a spell. It sounds crazy, but I loved working there. I loved the fast pace, the steady flow of people coming and going. Working there fueled a desire to someday own my own coffee shop.

After graduation, I would stop in from time to time, whenever I found myself in Newport. (which wasn't that often.) The last time I was there was in 2004, when my college roommate got married. Delia wasn't there that day, but the place hadn't changed one iota. Two years later, I was in Newport for a conference. Pregnant with my first child, I stopped by to visit my old boss and her shop and to my chagrin, it wasn't there anymore. Delia had apparently sold the building, and the new owner had turned it into a tapas restaurant. Now, I adore tapas, but the place will always be "The Bean" in my mind.

As for my old dream of owning a coffee shop? It'll probably always remain a dream. Having that kind of place is like being married to a business. You put your all into it, and while I am an ambitious person, I don't know if I have the desire anymore. But I still love the coffee.

Thinking of you today, Delia, as I relish my tarragon chicken salad sandwich. Best Wishes!

Soup's On!

2011-03-06T18:56:00.000-05:00

I enjoy making soup. I don't do it often, though, because of the time committment. Boiling a whole chicken until the meat falls off the bones, then adding vegetables and a starch (my preference: rice or noodles) makes your whole house smell fantastic! But the time it takes to boil away the meat, the chopping of the vegetables...it's substantial. However, I do find the chopping, stirring and tasting to be somewhat meditative.

So when I saw a recipe in Cooking Light for Escarole, Bean and Sausage Soup with Parmesan Cheese, I thought, hey, I can do that! One of my favorite soups growing up was my friend Heather's mom's Escarole and Meatball Soup, so I knew that I would like this.

Shopping for it was a real who's who in the produce aisle: the recipe calls for fennel, garlic, onion, white beans and escarole. Happily, my local market had it all and I was soon on my way home. It comes together rather quickly too, and doesn't make so much that you have way more than you could ever possibly eat. I think I went a little heavy on the fennel, but the end result is delicious. Which brings me to another thought: I need to do this more often. Making homemade soup is good for the mind, and good for the soul.

Cook Once, Eat Twice

2011-02-27T11:06:00.000-05:00

This was from last week, so I'm playing catch-up.

Friday night's dinner: fried chicken with honey sauce from Mark Bittman's Kitchen Express. Only it was minus the sauce...in the middle of cooking it was discovered that there was no honey in the house. Ah well, it was good anyway. And fried chicken at home tastes so much better than KFC, less greasy.

However, the chicken breasts were so big. (AND how big were they, Ginny? :)) that we ended up putting one in the fridge for later. On Monday I was looking to put together lunch for three people. (Me, Brian and my friend Tracy.) Eureka! Sliced fried chicken breasts, on a flour tortilla with light honey mustard dressing, chopped tomato and a little shredded Monterey Jack cheese. (my favorite kind of cheese)

mmmmmmm.....tasted like a restaurant for no extra $$$. Gotta love meals like those!

Pork Tacos with Apple-Fennel Slaw

2011-02-20T08:16:00.000-05:00

Another one from Mark Bittman's "Kitchen Express" cookbook. This book is very different in the sense that the recipes don't really have a lot of measurements for their ingredients. So it's more of an advanced cookbook, you have to have an inkling of what you're doing when cooking from it. (Which is why many times it's Brian doing the cooking from "Kitchen Express" and not me! Ha!)

This recipe called for treating the pork with a dry rub, though for tacos I think that a sauce or marinade would be better. We served 'em on corn tortillas and put the slaw on the side. The slaw was delightful and very fresh, with granny smith apples and a bulb of fennel. Two tastes that I wouldn't have put together but it really works! Corn tortillas are um....drier than flour tortillas. I think that perhaps if they were warmed in a skillet first, they might be a little better. Just "as is" was a big disappointment.

The next taco experience I'd like to have are fish tacos. I love fish tacos! And I know that Brian would too if he'd just give them a try.

Valentines Day Dinner

2011-02-14T19:46:00.000-05:00

Mmmm....nothing says "I Love You" like sushi, soup and crab rangoon at home! No, I mean it...we haven't been out to dinner for Valentine's Day since......2003? The last experience was so crowded and horrible we made the joint decision to skip it and do something special at home. So this year is tuna and salmon maki rolls, crab rangoon and Tom Yum Seafood Soup from our favorite takeout place. We'd never had the latter, and well, we never will again. At first, one can't decide if they like it or not. It tasted kind of like a hot and spicy margarita. Limes and tomatoes should never go in soup together, that was the final judgement.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Steak Night

2011-02-11T19:16:00.000-05:00

Right around Christmas, Brian got a big roast for our dinner. We waited to hear how many people we were expecting for dinner, and then Brian trimmed the roast to include not only Christmas dinner, but ten steaks. And folks, it's some of the best steak this house has ever made!

Tonight's Steak and Potato Night: Rio Grande Steaks by Rachael Ray. Lots of spice...chili powder, cumin, coriander and cayenne. (not a kid-friendly night, they had cheese omelettes, fruit and English muffin.)

And you know something? The onions were "almost" as delicious as the steak! The only thing on 'em was salt, pepper and olive oil. Who knew such simple ingredients could dress up an onion?

Beans and Greens

2011-02-07T19:27:00.000-05:00

Upon seeing a photo in a magazine of a broccoli, bean and pasta dish, inspiration struck. I could do that!

Or something like that....I have a head of broccoli on its way out, but definitely salvageable. I parboiled that for five minutes, then tossed it with a can of small white beans, some penne, a bit of lemon juice, a package of sliced refrigerated chicken breast, a little minced garlic, dried basil and a dash of crushed red pepper. The result that was yielded from my labor was a light, fresh pasta dish with just enough bite. And, since I made a whole pot of it and I'm certainly the only one in this house that will eat it, I'm going to send some over to my parent's house this week. Enjoy, Mom! And Dad, don't worry, I didn't forget you, I have some sausage lasagna to go with it. :)

Thatsa Spicy

2011-02-06T18:36:00.000-05:00

It's Game Day, but since this house is full of Eagles and Patriots fans, we're not super-into the Big Game. Yeah, of course we're going to watch it. Gotta see the commercials :)

I made some Chili, but it's not really for the game, either. It's Tuesday night's dinner! I made it with some extra kick--serrano peppers, crushed red and garlic, and a bit of cayenne. Brian just has to make some rice when he gets home on Tuesday and we'll top it with the chili and some cheese. mmmm....love it!

Tonight's dinner is a Spicy Sausage lasagna. Lasagna is always good for leftovers, and sausage instead of ground beef makes it a bit of a surprise from the usual. The grocery store doesn't usually have bulk sausage, so let's celebrate! Can't wait to slice into it! (and that's what I'm going to go do right now.)

"Stuff" on Bread

2011-02-05T20:49:00.000-05:00

The last couple of days has found me putting some sort of meal on some sort of bread. Yesterday's breakfast was a dropped egg on toast. That way the yolk just soaks into the bread, which I think is delicious. Last night at the Ninety-Nine, I got one of their new "craveworthy" deals for $9.99. It was Angus Chopped Sirloin over Toast. It essentially was a hamburger patty over toast with mushrooms, a little red wine sauce and blue cheese crumbles. Today, we had a very late lunch, so for a late Saturday supper it was Creamed Chicken over Biscuits. Oh, and with a diet pepsi, to achieve balance. :) So there you have it, the trend this weekend has been "stuff on bread."

Tomorrow night's dinner will break the cycle: lasagna! It's good for a Sunday night, and fabulous as far as leftovers go.

Super Strawberry

2011-02-01T17:55:00.000-05:00

Seriously, check out this freaky strawberry! I've never seen two fused together like that.

Now that Sean's eating (read: MOWING) through all sorts of fruits and veggies, we can start buying our produce at the wholesale store. When it was just the two of us, it went bad rather quickly because we just couldn't finish ten pounds of bananas in time. Not without making a whole lot of banana bread! Now we have a rather large box of large strawberries (where the Freak lives) and blueberries too. Those are Sean's favorite, right after banana slices.

Bacon, Egg and Cheese Cups

2011-01-24T12:01:00.000-05:00

I love emails that start like this: "Darling, I found this recipe and I'd like to try in this weekend. What do you think?" Nick Jr sometimes sends out emails with kid-friendly recipes and he'd just signed up for their email updates. (I get them too, and my copy was in my inbox right before his forward)

Hubby forwarded me an email with six brunch items and told me to pick one. I chose Bacon, Egg and Cheese Cups and he put them together on Saturday morning for breakfast. Three favorite breakfast-y things, all put together into a treat you can eat out of your hand! The end result was a satisfying little muffin-like pastry that tasted like a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. What's not to like there??? This recipe is definitely worthy to be put in the Notebook!

The Beet Incident

2011-01-12T08:34:00.000-05:00

Long day at work.....and I'm hungry as soon as my feet hit the front porch! Brian usually starts dinner because he is home first, but tonight it's me. I take a quick look at the menu posted on the side of the fridge and am delighted to see Maple-Pecan Chicken. It's a new recipe and I'm looking forward to it. A quick scan of the cabinet and I decide on rice pilaf and fresh brussels sprouts as accompanists. On a whim, I grab a can of beets, too. I adore beets... they're delicious hot or cold, in a salad or as is. I've always wanted to roast some fresh beets but I'm afraid I'm the only one who will eat them.

I put Sean in his highchair and share my snack of pretzels with him. I then proceed to take out all of the pans that I need, and grab a can opener and start to open the beets.

SPLASH!!!!! I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the can slipped out of my hand and beets and juice went EVERYWHERE!!!! I actually shrieked as it was happening! Then I just stared at the kitchen in total shock and disbelief:

Say it with me...OH. MY. GOD!!!

My my my my my...where to start. I'm covered with beets, my kitchen is covered in beets and now I have to figure out the least messiest way to dispose of this ungodly mess. So the first thing I could think of was to get rid of my clothes. That's right....stripped down to my underwear and carried the scathed clothing to my hamper so not to permanently stain my tan carpet. Soon after, Hubby came home with the Big One and I didn't even want them to go into the kitchen. Unfortunately, the doggie doesn't care for beets, otherwise cleanup probably would've been a snap.

Half a roll of paper towels, two swiffer pads and a load of laundry later....it's mostly clean. Beets sure make a mess, and the juice travels pretty far. I am pretty sure that there is a much easier way to dye my kitchen a lovely shade of pink!

Birthday Pizza and Cupcakes

2011-01-11T17:57:00.000-05:00

We hosted a small family get-together for Sean's first birthday last weekend. Since it was about ten people, we had "make-your-own" mini pizzas. BJ's sells a big pack of personal-size Boboli pizza crusts and individual sauce packets. They came out great! Everyone got to have exactly what they wanted for toppings, how much cheese, etc. Brian put them directly on the oven grates so they would crisp up nicely. Mmm.....

The birthday cupcakes were out-of-this-world!!! We went back and forth about whether to make them or buy them, and I'm so glad we made them. They're from the Cake Doctor's second cake book, and they were the cookie-dough cupcakes. Yellow cake mix with Tollhouse Cookie Dough in the centers, then frosted with a homemade chocolate buttercream frosting. The frosting was perfect, perfectly chocolate and not at all sickly-sweet. We served them as is, I'm glad I didn't add ice cream to the plate because then it would have been just too much and taken away from the goodness of the cupcake. Everyone loved them! Sean especially enjoyed his:

Stockin' Up

2011-01-05T16:58:00.000-05:00

In almost every cookbook, every food-themed magazine, I have read about the importance of fresh chicken stock.

Mark Bittman swears that it makes every dish that he makes taste that much better and keeps it on-hand in the freezer. In "Kitchen Confidential" Anthony Bourdain insists that people who are serious about their cooking use it. And though I haven't heard it myself, I'm sure Brian's hero, good ol' Alton Brown, probably has an episode in the can of how easy and how much better homemade chicken stock really tastes.

Let's face it, canned or boxed chicken broth has something that homemade stock doesn't: CONVENIENCE. In a household where both parents work full-time and quite often dinner is a 20-minute affair, convenience of an ingredient weighs in heavily in preparation. But....making my own applesauce tasted so fresh and unlike its jarred counterpart. And pumpkin processed by us instead of paying for a can at Thanksgiving time? Heavenly!!

So, I have my eye out for a sale on whole chickens. There's going to be a weekend experiment; not just for flavor, but how much more difficult is it than just reaching for your can opener? Does it freeze well, and how much stock does one pot make? Is it worth coming off "the box?" Coming soon to a stockpot near you......

Ending the Year with....Meatloaf??

2010-12-31T10:32:00.000-05:00

Last year the final post of 2009 was a gorgeous cake that we were bringing to a New Year's Party. And let me tell you, it was just as good-tasting as it was gorgeous!

This year=no cake. :( We're having a quiet New Year's celebration at home, with some snacks, TV and a hockey game. Plus, as I have learned in the past couple of months, if the sweets are in the house, I will pick at them until they are gone. That's why you didn't see a lot of posts about Christmas Cookies this year. Yes, there were some cookies (baked on Christmas Eve and then the leftovers sent home with my mom for another family party on Christmas day) because it just is not Christmas without some cookies. I weighed in last night at my weight loss group and I have lost (ta-da) EIGHT pounds since 11/12/10! That's a miracle!! Honestly, I haven't had a tough time thus far. I think it's because I have been eating things that I really want, just less of them. I still eat ice cream. I still put sugar in my coffee. And I still enjoy carbs. I just eat ice cream one or two nights a week instead of every night. I no longer take my coffee light and sweet. And I'm (still) learning that portion sizes don't have to be an entire plate. I'm starting to appreciate the simple flavors of things, like sliced cucumber with just a hint of salt instead of heaped with dressing. It's a whole new world out there.

So, I had mentioned in my previous post about a new cookbook for busy families. Brian perused it while making the menu for the week and came across a recipe for Mini Barbecue Meatloaves. We're always looking for something different to do with a pound of ground beef besides spaghetti sauce or tacos. The night it was scheduled to debut on our dinner table, he read the recipe as he was pulling out ingredients and discovered something displeasing: the reason why it was a quick recipe is because you cook the meatloaves in the microwave! (Ga-ross.)

I love the microwave. It's great for leftovers, melting butter for a recipe, warming up some formula for the baby and the like. But a main course started and finished there? Hmmmm....that sounds like a disaster. Meat tends to get rubbery in there. But still.....we forged on to give it a fair chance.

You know what it came out tasting like? Barbecue meatloaf. It was just fine! The meatloaf patties were moist and not at all rubbery. So we've made an agreement to utilize this oft-overlooked appliance and try more recipes with it. Because really, dinner ready in fifteen minutes is pretty cool.

Happy New Year, everyone! (or to the four people that read this) I hope it brings good food, good times and great memories. :)

Post-Christmas Cooking

2010-12-31T10:17:00.000-05:00

Santa was very good to us this year. Brian got a full-size food processor! This is going to make a big difference in our kitchen, as a mini-processor is great but can't do all jobs. He also got many different spice blends and a bottle of real vanilla extract. But the coolest gift of all?

A cast-iron enameled dutch oven!!

Dude, this thing weighs a ton! When "Santa" bought it at Kohl's, (s)he had a four year old boy with him/her and the boy wanted to run off in the parking lot. Imagine running after that kid with a cast-iron dutch oven in one hand, AND your car is parked at the far end of the lot. Yep....good times.

The first meal in the Dutch oven: Mark Bittman's "Chicken and Garlic Stew" from "How to Cook Everything." One of our favorites, as there's a saying in this house, "there is no such thing as too much garlic!"

It was a very Mark Bittman year in our house. I got a copy of his "Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating" for my birthday on December 19th and his "Kitchen Express" book for Christmas. What can I say, I love the guy's work. Not quite as much as Brian loves Alton Brown (whose Good Eats: The Middle Years" was also under the Christmas tree) but I do love his fresh ingredients and easy preparations. Brian also got a cookbook from Taste of Home for busy families, that one should be interesting.

Merry Christmas to All! A little late, but always welcome. :)

How to make a Philadelphian Happy!

2010-12-21T01:46:00.001-05:00

It's not hard....it just takes some wins against New York. Philly has humiliated New York on three fronts in the past week so there's been some jubilation in this transplanted Philadelphian's house this week. But nothing beat what came in the mail today

A Flyers Limited Edition Tin....

......Filled with a variety of Tastycakes!

Brian said that he would share them with me if I could name two of the four players on the lid. I totally bombed the challenge. Luckily, I'm not a woman scorned, because he goes to bed earlier than I do and I seriously considered a third photo of me raiding the tin.

Love you, honey! :)

My Husband, the Butcher

2010-12-20T21:46:00.000-05:00

Our family hosts Christmas dinner, which is traditionally a roast beef. I can still remember how the kitchen used to smell in my grandparent's house, with a roast beef in the oven! Mmmmmmm....

This year, Brian thought about what we wanted to do, roast-wise. (this really is more his area of expertise.) He decided that we should buy a really big roast, figure out how many people we were having and then cut it up into the Christmas roast and some steaks. Ten NY strip steaks later, we had our Christmas Roast! And it is a beautiful sight:

We had some of the steak for dinner tonight and it was out-of-this-world! Can't wait for Saturday!

Snacks Should Taste Good

2010-12-15T13:00:00.001-05:00

At last week's weight center meeting, we talked in depth about snacks. Why snacks are important in the weight loss calculation. (i.e. how they keep you from getting so hungry you'd gnaw off your own arm) What consists as a snack, and what is just a meal masquerading as a snack. How much protein/carb/fiber/calories should be in a snack. Hmmmm....a lot to ponder.

They passed out free samples of these chips that I've seen in the grocery store, "Food Should Taste Good." They come in several different flavors and have wholesome ingredients like quinoa and whole grains. I took home two little bags.

The first one was cheddar. It boasts itself as a chip AND a cracker. It is certified gluten-free and consists of corn, quinoa, sunflower seeds and cheddar. Nothing crazy. I loved them!!! Will enjoyed them. And Brian thought they were pretty good too. All right, something that makes all of us happy! (and is still better for you than a greasy bag of potato chips.)

The second bag, I ate them while I was impatiently waiting for dinner. And then immediately poured a glass of water. No, two sips of milk. Folks, they're Jalapeno and crushed pepper. All the same wholesome ingredients, and a whole lotta spice! I love spicy foods! This one wasn't blaringly obvious as the chip makes contact with your taste buds. Rather, the burn builds up so you go from being totally fine to "Holy Hell, what did I just eat!"

Can't wait to try some more different kinds. This is a snack I could live with.