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!