Another Food Network Fan

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!

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

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

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!

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

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

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!