Everyday Champagne

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

2012-02-09T12:22:00.001-05:00

I don't want all my chef friends out there to think I just checked out and entered a Sandra Lee cult. I do realize this is the second 'no-bake'/'convenience food'-based dessert that I've posted in the past month or so...remember the Oreo-Chocolate Pudding one? That one was totally short cut filled. And funny enough, it has become one of my most popular recipes. But to all my friends who live in the 'only from scratch world', it may seem like I've lost my mind a bit. But let us not forget the Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Cheesecake, which didn't come from a box, the Spaghetti with Champagne, Prosciutto and Fresh Mozzarella, the Gluten Free Black Bean Burgers, and the most recent, Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese. All of those are 'real food' recipes that occurred in the past couple of months, so at least I'm posting a well balanced spread.

But here's the deal. I clip coupons, which means I get a plethora of packaged convenience snack foods for free that frankly, we don't eat a lot of. I donate a lot of it, but often I'm left with quite a bit that I use for parties or baking. Plus, no-bake desserts like this are just plain fun I think. Like I've said many times before, sometimes I feel like turning my oven on and making a custard over an open flame, and sometimes I feel like opening a container of cool whip. Today, and for the next 4 days, as I play the role of single-stay-at-home-mom* with two small kids, all three of us quite sick, I really enjoyed opening that container. You can quote me on that.

But back to the matter at hand. This is such an easy dessert to make. It takes less than 20 minutes to prepare, and then you just put it in the fridge for a few hours. There are only a small handful of ingredients used, and it's a great thing to make for a party because it just gets better the longer it stays in the fridge. I wrote this one for those of you who cannot resist a peanut butter cup. (Mom, Dad, I'm talking to you. Don't think I didn't know of all the times you stole my Halloween Reese's cups.) I tried to keep the filling itself on the simple side because I top this dessert with pieces of peanut butter cups, which provide all the sweet and richness you could ever wish for. Plus, if any of you know my recipes, you know that I don't like super sweet stuff. You can really taste the peanut butter and cream cheese, which I really love. (Side note- This filling makes an unbelievable frosting for chocolate cakes or cupcakes. Making the amount below would frost 2 round cakes, 24 cupcakes, or 1 9x13 inch cake, but I like to double it to make sure I don't run out and so I can really mound on the frosting. And if you're making cupcakes, place a secret peanut butter cup inside each cupcake before baking!)

I think this would be a great dessert to make around Halloween when everyone goes to candy-crazy. But by all means, don't wait til the Fall to make this. I say make it now.

*Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

-In the bowl of your food processor, place 8 ounces total of chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreo's) and chocolate chip cookies (such as Chips Ahoy) if you have them. (This is about 20 cookies.) You could use 8 ounces of just the chocolate sandwich cookies or 8 ounces of just the chocolate chip cookies, but I had both of them and decided to use a bit of each. Add 1/4 tsp of kosher salt and process your cookies until they turn to crumbs. Pour in 6 TB of unsalted butter, melted and pulse until all your crumbs are wet. Dump into a greased deep dish pie plate and press down firmly along the bottom and up the sides a bit. Set aside.

-In a medium mixing bowl, place an 8 ounce brick of neufchatel cream cheese, softened, and 1/4 cup of sugar. With an electric mixer, mix well until creamy.
-Add 1 cup of smooth/creamy peanut butter** and a splash of vanilla. Beat well until everything is fully incorporated.
-Add the contents of an 8 ounce container of whipped topping (such as Cool Whip) and beat well until completely smooth.
-Dump this into the center your prepared crust and spread towards the sides of the pan with a spatula. Spread evenly.

-Break with your hands or cut up 20 mini chocolate peanut butter cups (such as Reese's) and sprinkle over the top of your pie.

-Refrigerate for at least 4 hours to allow the crust to harden and the filling to set up.
-Serve chilled.

(*No, my husband didn't leave me. He's just out of town on business.)

(**I always use natural peanut butter to feed my family, but keep a container of the cheap stuff on hand for baking. If you're using natural, unsweetened peanut butter, then increase the sugar amount in the filling to 1/3 cup)

Pumpkin Mac n Cheese

2012-02-03T09:20:00.000-05:00

I have so many different macaroni and cheese recipes. There's my Macaroni and Goat Cheese, my Macaroni and Pimento Cheese, Hawaiian Mac n Cheese, and those are just the ones I've shared. It's just a perfect food, the Macaroni and cheese. I like to use whole wheat pasta when I can, (because when it's hiding underneath mounds of cheese and sauce, why not?) and sometimes I will sneak in some pureed sweet potatoes, carrots, or cauliflower so it's more nutritious. I also like to cut down on the fat, but only when it doesn't sacrifice flavor. I think an extra sharp cheddar is a great cheese to use in most mac n cheeses because its flavor is so complex and its an easy to find, inexpensive option for most people. But it is not available in low fat. This means I just cut back in other areas. I don't use cream or a lot of milk in mine usually, if at all. Instead I use some reserved pasta cooking water. That not only saves some calories, but money as well. And I rarely use more than a Tablespoon of butter to make my roux. It's just not necessary to use more. But do not get me wrong, here. I am not making some sort of diet macaroni and cheese. No, ma'am. There is no such thing. I just don't use unnecessary calories, in any of my recipes. If I can't taste every single fat gram, then it's not worth it and I don't want it in my food.

But I've been making this Pumpkin Mac n Cheese for awhile now and just never wrote down what I was doing. Until now.

This recipe is really good. It's not one of those recipes that uses pumpkin as a secret nutritious weapon, this recipe truly highlights the pumpkin flavor and weaves that flavor, seamlessly, into the flavor of gooey, extra sharp cheddar cheese. My whole family loves it-the baby and the child included. My son even had seconds and asked for it again tonight. And having him ask for more of it made me feel incredible as a cook, and also as a mom. Because I knew he was getting something that was actually good for him.

We ate ours lat night with my Balsamic Raw Kale Salad with Cranberries and Rosemary Candied Walnuts, and a Roasted Pork Tenderloin with a Dijon Mustard and Pepper Jelly Glaze. It was the perfect meal. And I'm counting down the minutes until lunchtime where I get to eat it all over again.

Enjoy!

*Pumpkin Mac n Cheese
(serves 6-8 ppl)

-In a large pot of salted, boiling water, cook 8 oz of whole wheat penne, or any other short cut pasta for 5 minutes, or until just before al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water before draining. Set aside.
-In the same pot, on medium heat, melt 1 TB of unsalted butter with a splash of olive oil. When the butter has melted and has begun to foam, add 2 TB of flour and whisk until you get a paste. Allow this to cook for about 30 seconds before pouring in your reserved pasta water, while whisking.
-Add in 1 can of plain pumpkin puree and with a spatula, stir til combined.
-Add a good squirt or small spoonful of Dijon mustard, lots of freshly grated nutmeg, 2 tsp dried sage or 1 tsp fresh, a pinch of kosher salt, 1/2 tsp of sugar, and a pinch of white pepper.
-Add 10 oz of extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated. Mix well until melted.
-Add 1/2 cup of sour cream. Stir to combine.

-Taste to check your seasoning and add more salt if necessary.
-Crack an egg into a small bowl and beat with a fork. Add a couple spoonfuls of your hot sauce to the beaten egg and beat with the fork to bring it up to a warm temperature so it doesn't scramble when you add it to the pot. Pour in your egg mixture while you're stirring the sauce and stir well. Turn the heat off.
-Add in your cooked pasta and stir well to coat the pasta in the sauce.
-Pour into a greased 9x9 baking dish.
-Top with 1 more cup of extra sharp cheddar cheese and enough unseasoned breadcrumbs to lightly cover the top.
-Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until bubbles form around the edges of the pan and the top is golden brown and crispy.

Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Cheesecake

2012-02-02T10:26:00.000-05:00

I wonder if I could fit any more descriptors in that title. I thought about editing it down, but then I knew it wouldn't properly describe the AWESOMENESS of this AMAZING dessert. So, it is what it is.

Last week my husband came to me and said,
'I want banana pudding.'

I said,
'OK.

Then a couple days later he said,
'I have an idea. Let me know what you think...What about a banana pudding bar?'

Um...awesome! My wheels were turning on this banana pudding bar concept for days and days. I literally lost sleep over it. I was sketching, brainstorming, going back and forth over how I was going to do it, until I finally came up with a recipe. During all my planning, I decided that I couldn't figure out how to make this dessert as delicious as I wanted it to be while making it a handheld bar type thing. I tried by using gelatin and it definitely made it firm, and yes, you could eat it with your hands, but it was too tall to do it without looking like a moron. So, I decided to just take the gelatin out and keep it as an eat-with-a-fork dessert.

This stuff is pretty freakin' awesome. And I don't even really like banana pudding. I love bananas, (only when still green) but have never liked banana desserts. This recipe has converted me, I think. It's incredibly well-balanced with the salted sweetness of the dulce de leche, the richness of the vanilla wafer crust, and the tangy sweetness of the cheesecake. I honestly am very proud of this one and I hope you give it a try.

This is a fairly time consuming dessert due to all the homemade components, even though it's technically a 'no-bake' dessert, but you could always use store-bought shortcuts to make this easier on you. Instead of making your own dule de leche, sub 2 cans of the store-bought kind. Instead of making your own vanilla 'pudding', sub 4 cups of store-bought (I recommend the really good stuff you find in the dairy aisle, like Kozy Shack Vanilla Pudding as opposed to the powdered or individual, snap-off containers that we all know of. I just can't guarantee that the end result will be firm enough if you use store-bought pudding. The pudding recipe I'm giving you is made much firmer than usual to ensure the perfect texture.)

*Salted Caramel Banana Pudding Cheesecake Squares

-For the Crust:
-In the bowl of your food processor, empty the contents of 1 11-12oz box of vanilla wafers and pulse until you've got crumbs.
-Add to that 1 1/2 sticks (12 TB) of unsalted butter, melted, and a rounded 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.
-Process until you get what looks like wet sand. You want to make sure all the crumbs are fully moistened.
-Press this firmly into a 9 x 13 inch baking dish (greasing isn't necessary but doesn't hurt).
-Set aside.

*For the Dulce de Leche:
-In a medium saucepan, empty the content of 2 14oz cans of sweetened condensed milk and season with a rounded 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.
-Turn heat on med-low heat and allow the tiniest of bubbles to appear. STIR OFTEN!!!
-Keep checking on it and stirring, never letting it boil, and cook until your milk goes from blonde to dirty blonde. You basically want it to look like caramel. And don't worry if you get some dark spots like I have in the picture, no one will ever know.
-Pour this onto your prepared crust and spread evenly with a spatula.

-Set aside to cool while you make the rest of your filling...

*For the Pudding or 'Bancmange':
(this can be done days in advance and stored airtight in the fridge):
-In a medium saucepan, combine 1/3 cup light brown sugar, 6 TB of cornstarch and a good pinch of kosher salt, set aside.
-In a microwave safe bowl, heat 2 1/2 cups of milk, half-and-half, or a combination of the two until hot but not boiling.
-Turn the burner under your saucepan on medium heat. Slowly whisk the hot milk into the cornstarch mixture, being sure to not cause any lumps to form. Keep whisking this until it starts to thicken, which takes about 1 minute. Once you see it begin to thicken, turn your heat on low and switch to a spatula. Continue to stir on low heat for 10 minutes.
-Turn the heat off and add a couple splashes of vanilla extract. This should be very thick.
-Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool a bit while you make the rest of your components.

*For the Bananas:
-Cover the entire cooled caramel layer with sliced, just ripe bananas. I ended up using 5 1/2 organic bananas, which are smaller than the usual, but I would make sure you have 6-7 just in case.

-Set aside.

*For the Cheesecake:
-In a large mixing bowl, add 2 8 oz bricks of neufchatel cream cheese, softened, the zest of 1 lemon and a squeeze of its juice, 2 TB of powdered sugar and 2 splashes of vanilla extract. With an electric beater, mix this until fluffly.
-Add in your prepared and cooled pudding (should be about 4 cups worth) and continue to beat until well combined. The texture should resemble mascarpone cheese.
-With a spatula, dollop large amounts of the filling onto your bananas, keeping them towards the center of the pan as if you were icing a cake. Then, using a large spatula, carefully spread the filling evenly over the bananas and out to the sides of the pan. You may need to wet the spatula with warm water to get an even layer.

-Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 5-8 hours, (unless any of your filling isn't cooled all the way... If any of the components are still warm at first, covering the pan will cause it to sweat. Fridge it uncovered for the first bit if this is the case).
-To serve, slice into squares and enjoy chilled, with or without a fork.
-Lick plate.
-Repeat if necessary.

Spaghetti with Champagne, Prosciutto, and Fresh Mozzarella

2012-01-25T16:36:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted a pasta recipe in awhile. But this one is well worth the wait, I promise. As you may have noticed in the title, I'm using sparkling wine in this dish. If you know me at all, you know that sparkling wine (Prosecco, Cava, Champagne...I don't discriminate) is my all-time favorite. Drinking it makes me feel happy and fancy and happy another time. My husband is very wise and knows that if I've had a bad day, he better show up with a Bottle-o-Bub if he wants to survive the evening.

So using bubbly in my pasta sauce is a big step for me. But I have to confess that I had about 1/2 a bottle of Cava in the fridge from awhile back that wasn't very fizzy anymore, so this was the perfect use for it. So I didn't really sacrifice some of my bubbles for my dinner. But funny enough, I was sipping on another bottle while I was making this! (It's an absolute perfect wine pairing, by the way...)

Now, obviously I'm not suggesting you go out and buy a bottle of Taittinger to make your pasta sauce. Use any of the lovely $10-$15 sparkles like a Prosecco from Italy, which tends to be more fruity or a Spanish Cava which usually is a bit dryer in style. But I thought champagne in the title just sounded so much prettier...plus, it got your attention didn't it?

This pasta dish is filling but still remains light because it's not overly sauced. It's one of those dishes that doesn't need a whole lot of extra finesse because you're using such wonderfully flavored ingredients to begin with.

I highly suggest all of you make this sometime very soon, it's delicious!

*Spaghetti with Champagne, Prosciutto and Fresh Mozzarella
(serves 4)

-In a large stockpot, cook 8 oz pasta (your choice of shape, but I used whole wheat spaghetti) in boiling, salted water until just before al dente. Drain and reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
-In the same pot, heat a little olive oil on medium high heat. Add 3-4 ounces of prosciutto, sliced (this is the size you would find pre-sliced in the gourmet cheese section of your store). Cook until crispy, remove to drain on a paper towel.
-Add a bit more olive oil and add 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced, and 1 small sprig of rosemary, leaves minced. (Don't allow the garlic to brown!!)
-Pour in about 1 cup of sparkling wine, a pinch of kosher salt, some fresh cracked pepper and 1/2 tsp of sugar. Allow this to bubble and reduce a bit.
-Add in 1/2 cup of your reserved pasta water and 1 TB of unsalted butter and continue to simmer.
-Once the butter has melted, stir and taste your sauce. Check seasoning. If it tastes too much like wine, reduce it more and then you may need to add more pasta water later.
-Add your cooked pasta to your sauce, along with several handfuls of frozen peas, and all but a few pieces of your crispy prosciutto.
-Toss well to coat the pasta with the sauce and allow it to soak it up.
-Add the zest of half a lemon and 8 oz of fresh mozzarella perline (this is the size of the tubs of fresh mozzarella in the gourmet cheese section. 'Perline' refers to the small, pearl-sized balls, but use whatever you can find.)
-Toss well and allow the cheese to begin to melt.
-Plate immediately or you will get mozzarella stuck to the bottom of your pan.
-Garnish with some freshly cracked black pepper, a small squirt of fresh lemon juice, and the rest of your crispy prosciutto.

(This meal sounds extra fancy, but because I use these TIPS it only set me back $13 for the entire 4 servings...that's $3.25 per person!!)

G-Free Black Bean and Corn Burgers

2012-01-24T14:14:00.000-05:00

So many people are choosing to or needing to eat gluten-free these days. And I would imagine a lot of vegetarians are needing to eat that way as well. Obviously there are several other sources to which these eaters go for recipes that fit their lifestyle, but if any of you who read my stuff are wanting a recipe like that from me, then this one is for you!

I'm not a vegetarian or on a gluten-free diet myself, in fact I am totally and completely in love with both meat and wheat, but I love these burgers, as do both my boys. They are a great thing to feed a kid when you want to sneak veggies and vitamins into an otherwise un-healthy and vitamin deficient meal. I made these for my 4 year old son the other night for his 'Special Friday Night Dinner', along with some oven-baked fries, just telling him it was a burger, and he gobbled it up quick. And my husband and I were standing over the stove picking at all the pieces that fell apart from the patties...these things are just that good.

There are many other spices you could add to these burgers... you could really play up the Southwest feel and add chili powder and a pinch of cinnamon, then eat them with guacamole on the bun, you could add minced ginger and chopped scallions to make them Asian, etc. This is just the basic version that I made. And add any other finely chopped veggies if you don't want to use the corn, just be sure to keep the total amount of veggies the same.

Enjoy!

*Gluten Free Black Bean and Corn Burgers

-Preheat a skillet on medium high heat with some olive oil.
-In a food processor, add half a small onion or 1/4 a standard, medium onion and pulse until finely chopped.
-Add to this 1 can of black beans that you've drained and rinsed, a handful of corn kernels (I used frozen), about 1/2 cup of raw, rolled oats, a garlic clove, a pinch of ground cumin and a couple pinches of kosher salt. Pulse this until everything is well combined and has broken down (especially the oats).
-Transfer to a bowl and check your seasoning before adding 1 large egg, beaten. Mix well.

-Using an ice cream scoop that you've sprayed with cooking spray, scoop out your patties and place in the hot skillet. (Depending on the size of your scoop, you should be able to get about 6 burgers.) Cook for a minute on the first side before checking to see if they're ready to flip. (These are very messy until they begin to cook and set up, so be careful and don't worry if they fall apart at first.)

-Once brown and crispy on the first side, carefully flip and cook on the other until brown and crispy and cooked through in the center.
-Serve immediately and store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple days or wrap tightly in plastic, then in foil to store in the freezer for a couple months.

Oreos, Cool Whip and Pudding, Oh My!

2012-01-20T11:59:00.002-05:00

Yes, I realize I am dropping a lot of product names in this post. No, I was not paid to write this recipe. Yes, you can use any old chocolate-cream-filled sandwich cookie and any frozen, non-dairy whipped topping, but those names don't really roll off the tongue like Oreos and Cool Whip do, do they?

Let's get a couple things straight. If you follow my blog at all you know that my recipes range from the very gourmet, made-from-scratch and fancy to the down-right-easy, open-that-can and dump-it-in. I get a lot of mixed reactions for the various recipes I post here. I'm either getting criticism from the chefs for my recipes like the one below or getting ignored my the non-cooks who read the word, dredge and then briskly exit the page. But I happen to believe that delicious comes in all shapes and sizes and forms. And, depending on the mood I'm in or the occasion, or the crowd, I will make something different.

I was raised on Cool Whip and Oreos and pudding from a box. My grandmother made me strawberry shortcake with a biscuit from a can and cool whip from a plastic tub and for that reason, I will never, ever stop using either for as long as I live. Do I make my own biscuits? Sure. Do I whip my own cream? Of course. Do I make my own pudding? Yup. Do I make my own cookies? Yes, often. But sometimes it is just so darn fun to whip up an absolutely delicious dessert in less than 20 minutes with your baby daughter clinging to your hip.

So I encourage you to enjoy this delicious and short-cut filled dessert!!

*Chocolate Cookie Pudding Mess

-Pulse, in the food processor, 16 Oreos until completely ground and add in 2 TB unsalted butter, melted and a couple good pinches of kosher salt. Pulse again until the cookie crumbles are all moistened. Pat this into an ungreased 9x9in glass baking dish. Press firmly and evenly.
-In a large mixing bowl, with an electric beater or stand mixer, beat 1 8 oz package of (room temperature) neufchatel cream cheese, 1/2 cup nutella and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Beat this until smooth. Add 8 ounces cool whip (you will need 16 oz total, so either buy 2 8 oz containers or the larger 16 oz one) and beat again until well combined. Spread over crust.
-Sprinkle with 8 oreos, crushed, and 7 ounces of dark chocolate, chopped or use semi sweet chocolate chips.
-In the same mixing bowl, beat 1 3.9 oz package of chocolate pudding mix with 1 cup of cold milk until well combined and slightly thickened. Add 8 oz more of cool whip and beat again until well combined. Spread this over your crushed cookies and chocolate.
-Sprinkle the top with 8 more oreos, crushed, and another ounce or so of dark chocolate, chopped.
-Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill for 2-3 hours.

Raw (and Healthy!) Cookie Balls

2012-01-18T10:18:00.001-05:00

Ever been to one of those health food stores (you know, the ones that smell like turmeric?) with the big bins of beans, grains and veganized versions of junk food? I love those stores. They're generally uber pricey but have such amazing things. (note- the raw ingredients in the bulk bins, specifically spices, are actually CHEAPER there than at a regular grocery store) One thing you can always count on these stores having is a big selection of 'energy bites'. There are usually spirulina ones, cranberry ones, carob chip ones, and they basically are some sort of healthy grain mixed with fruit or fake chocolate, among other things, and pressed together before cutting into squares.

These little bites remind me a lot of Larabars. Those are the only snack bars that I will buy because they are only made of ground up dried fruit and nuts. They are very delicious, and completely natural, even my 4 year old loves them. Well I saw a recipe for something very similar to those energy bites the other day and wanted to try it. Only, (you know me), I didn't really follow her recipe exactly...

These little bites are absolutely delicious! Both my 4 year old and my slightly older husband agree. I will be making these again a lot, if not weekly. They are a great thing to have on hand for a snack and great for when you have a sweet tooth. They are so easy to make that I literally made them in 3 minutes while the baby finished up the last of her lunch.

I have noted a couple different variations to the recipe, but I encourage you to make them your own with the things that you like or have on hand. For instance, replace the agave with honey if that's what you have, use raw barley or wheat flakes instead of the oats, add raisins or other dried fruit, chocolate chips, use nutella instead of the nut butter, peanut or cashew butter instead of the almond, etc, etc. The only thing I would pay attention to is that the ratio of grain to wet sweetener stay the same, and that if you take out the coconut (which helps with the moisture), replace it with an equal amount of another moist, dried fruit...maybe a pureed or finely chopped one like a prune? I also used unsalted, natural almond butter and sweetened coconut flakes because it's what I had, but if yours is salted butter and unsweetened coconut, then you probably won't need the salt and would need less sweetener (my agave version ended up being a little too sweet for me, actually, but I was afraid any less agave would result in a crumbly mess. That's why I noted a less sweet variation at the bottom of the recipe.)

So here it is, I hope you enjoy it!

*Raw Cookie Balls
(recipe makes 15-20 balls, depending on the size you roll them)

1 cup raw, rolled oats
1/2 cup unsalted almond butter
1/3 cup agave nectar*
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup ground flaxseed
Splash vanilla extract
Couple pinches kosher salt
-------------------------------------------
-Mix everything together in a mixing bowl until well combined. Roll into balls, pressing together well with your hands.
-Keep in a airtight container in the refrigerator for a week or two.

(*use unsweetened applesauce for a less sweet version and add 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon to it to make them 'apple cinnamon' cookie balls)

Mini Berry Pies...you know, like those pop tart things

2012-01-16T11:23:00.000-05:00

Don't get me wrong. Pop Tarts have a place in the world. Many, many of us grew up eating them on crowded school busses, in home room, on the long walk to school, they stayed warm and oftentimes forgotten about in the bottom left corner of our backpacks, bent in the middle ever so slightly. They were and are a yummy, convenient food that I happen to keep in my pantry for special occasions but I really like the idea of making something 'convenient' from scratch. I've made my own Oatmeal Creme Pies, Fruit Gummies, Marshmallows, Chocolate Pudding, and Teething Biscuits, among other things so I thought it sounded like a good idea to make my own Pop Tart-style treats.

These are essentially tiny fruit pies that you can eat with your hands, which is sort of my dream come true. They do not require a toaster oven, they are delicious on their own. They also don't require the frosting on the top, which I never liked in a Pop Tart. But if you are a Frosted Pop Tart kinda person, then I would simply thin out some confectioners sugar with a little water or lemon juice until you get the right texture, and spoon onto the cooled pies. And you could add sprinkles or sanding sugar, if you'd like. You can also color your icing with food coloring. This would be especially cute if you make the cookie-cutter shaped pies that we did below because you could make an orange frosting for a pumpkin shaped pie for Halloween, a pink frosting for a heart pie for Valentines Day, a yellow frosting for a flower shaped one for Easter, and so on and so on. And as for fillings, you can make mini pumpkin pies by using homemade or store-bought pumpkin pie filling, or apple pies, you could simply use some Nutella for a chocolate-hazelnut pie, you can make a sweetened cream cheese filling as well. The possibilities are endless here!

*For the Pastry:
(by doubling a standard pie crust recipe, you should end up with around 12 pies, depending on the size and shape you choose to make them.)
-Use store-bought, if you'd like (you will need 2 boxes to have enough for all of the filling) or use my quick shortening pie crust, or my all butter pie crust recipe, but remember to double whatever recipe you choose to use. (I always like to use Whole Wheat Pastry Flour whenever I can in my pastries to make my treats healthier, but use whatever you'd like.)
-Roll out your dough as thin as you can without ripping your dough and either cut into rectangles or do what I did and use large cookie cutters to make fun shaped pies. (I have the Wilton 101 Cookie Cutter Set, which has every possible shape imagined, large and small)

My son and I chose to do hearts, pumpkins, flowers, and circles.

*Construction
-Once you have your shape cut out, carefully place on a greased cookie sheet and spoon about 1-1 1/2 tsp of your chilled filling (my berry filling recipe is below) in the center and dampen the edges with some water before placing a matching shape over top.

-Crimp with a fork to seal and prick several times on top of the pie for venting.


My little Valentine's Pie-Isn't it adorable?!

You can get creative with your venting...

-Once all your shapes are constructed, spray the tops with cooking spray or brush with a milk or egg wash. Place your cookie sheet or sheets in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.

Perfectly golden brown and flaky!


As you can see here, some filling can easily leak out. So don't worry about it!

-Store these in an airtight container for a few days at room temperature or wrap them tightly in plastic, then in foil, and freeze them for a couple months.

*For the Filling:

-In a small saucepan, combine 8-10 ounces of fresh berries, (I happened to have blackberries and blueberries so that's what I went with. And if all you have is frozen, that will work as well. OR use whatever fruit you want!), 1/4 cup sugar (the amnt of sugar depends on the type and sweetness of the berries, so start small then taste your filling to see if you need more), the zest of half a lemon and all of its juice, and a pinch of kosher salt.
-Bring to a simmer and cook on med-low heat until the berries have broken down. Using a potato masher, smash them until you get your desired consistency. I happen to like my filling chunky, and I don't mind the seeds because, well, berries have them. But feel free to puree and strain yours if you'd like.
-In a small bowl, combine 1/2 tsp of cornstarch with a splash of water and mix well. Add this to the pot and stir well. Bring to a simmer again to allow the cornstarch to thicken the filling and then remove from heat.

-Transfer to a bowl and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, or place the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice water. You just want to make sure you have a cold filling or the warmth of it will affect the pastry when you're constructing your pies.

(note- You may have filling leftover, but it will keep in the fridge for a couple weeks so you can use it as a spread on toast or spoon some into your yogurt or oatmeal in the mornings-delicious!)

This Tastes Like Cookie Dough!....Well, Kinda. Sorta. Not Really.

2012-01-10T15:31:00.000-05:00

I'm sure many of you have noticed the Cookie Dough Craze that seems to be taking over the blogosphere. It's a little crazy if you ask me. I mean, cookie dough is yummy but I do not want or need a way to eat a bowl of it, nor do I want or need a pancake to taste like it. But I know there are a lot of people who crave such things and I suppose that's why those recipes exist. I'm fine having my cookie dough simply baked into a cookie.

But the other day I came across a recipe for a 'Healthy Cookie Dough Dip' and I had to check it out. Not because it excited me, but because it really bothers me when people throw the word 'Healthy' around. 'Healthy' (in my opinion) does not mean fake sugar and chemically altered food. 'Healthy' (in my opinion) means whole food, in as close to its natural state as possible. It means eating from the earth and staying away from preservatives (in my opinion). Now, I'm not saying this is how I eat or cook on a regular basis, I'm only saying this is what I believe the word 'Healthy' means.

Anyway, back to my point... So I came across this recipe for a 'Healthy Cookie Dough Dip' and I had to check it out. It even said 'No Sugar!' at the top of the page, (which was an immediate red flag for me). But I continued to read on. And what I found was a dip that this girl created that she swears tastes like cookie dough, consisting of chickpeas, dates and nut butter. I was baffled. First of all, I slapped my wrist for just assuming this adorable girl was about to share a 'fake food' recipe. Very bad of me to judge, and I would like to apologize to Adorable Girl. Second of all, I was extremely intrigued. (And a bit skeptical, I must admit...but aren't you?). I love the fact that she's using dried fruit as a sweetener, which is something I've been doing in my cereal bars for quite awhile now. But the chickpeas were something completely new to me. So I decided to give it a try with my son today. If anything, I knew we were going to be making something that was, in fact, 'Healthy'.

And after making this 'Healthy Cookie Dough Dip' almost like she did, but changing a few things due to the fact that I was short on a couple ingredients, confused by the addition of baking soda, and too impatient to 'soak the dates in water' (for 8 hours!), I must admit that this 'dip', is actually fairly tasty. It doesn't, however, taste like cookie dough. At all (in my opinion). It tastes like what it is, which is pureed chickpeas and dried fruit with a hint of nuts and vanilla. Very cool and different and yes, tasty for a 'Healthy' treat. I applaud this Adorable Girl for creating something so unique and satisfying for those who need to stay off sugar and gluten, which I know is the reason behind her recipe in the first place. This recipe is something that I feel good about giving to my son with some fresh apple slices because I know everything in it is what I like to call 'Healthy'.

So, in short, if you're looking for a 'Healthy', sweet dip, without the guilt of actual sugar or sugar substitutes, for your restrictive diet or curious mind, or for your young children, then I suggest you give this a try.

Below is my adapted recipe, but here is a link to the original. Thanks Katie!

*Chickpea and Dried Fruit Dip

-1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed well
-1/4 tsp salt
-good splash of vanilla extract to taste
-1/4 cup almond butter (I think macadamia or cashew butter would be better due to their sweet, rich and buttery taste, but I had almond on hand. She and I both feel that peanut butter would be too strong.)
-1 1/4 cup pitted dates (I was short on dates, so I used 1 cup dates and 1/4 cup figs)
-1/3-1/2 cup chocolate chips, depending on how chocolate-chippy you want yours to be. (Raisins, or dried cranberries could also be used if you didn't want any sugar in here at all.)
-2 T oats
-a little bit of milk (I used almond milk, but use whatever you'd like. It's only needed to reach the desired consistency)
--------------------------------------------
-Place your dates (and figs if you're using them) in a bowl and cover with 1/2 cup of boiling water. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to soak while you measure out the rest of your ingredients and place them in the bowl of a food processor.
-Once your fruit has softened, add them, along with the water they were soaking in, to the other ingredients in the food processor.
-Process as long as it takes until it becomes very smooth. Taste it. More salt? More vanilla?
-Transfer to a bowl or storage container and stir in your chocolate chips.
-Store in an airtight container in the fridge for several days.
-Use this as a dip for apples, or spread on a whole grain tortilla or pita with sliced bananas.

4 Year Old Approved.

Butterscotch Apple Cheesecake Squares with Brown Sugar Shortbread Crust

2012-01-09T13:47:00.000-05:00

If you couldn't tell by the title, (or the photo), this dessert is insanely rich. INSANELY. RICH. Butterscotch isn't really my thing. I can remember being a kid in my grandmother's house and coming across a crystal bowl of these beautiful, shiny orange candies. I reached out my tiny, sneaky hand and grabbed a handful to take upstairs. I ran inside my bedroom, closed the door and tore open the wrapping, giddy with excitement. Candy! Orange flavored, forbidden candy! I took one lick of that thing and spit it out, vowing to never again eat whatever horrific confection it was. Butterscotch and 6 year olds do not mix well. So I think that sort of ruined butterscotch for me. I maybe have had it one other time in my entire life. But I was cleaning out my pantry the other day and came across some butterscotch baking chips that I didn't even know I had. So, I decided to create a recipe using them. I've always felt that butterscotch is just too rich. So what did I do? I paired it with cheesecake. And shortbread. And brown sugar. In short, I made it a heck of a lot richer. So beware. You've been warned.

The bottom of these squares is a shortbread made with brown sugar, then the top is a thin cheesecake layer. In between those two lovely layers is a river of butterscotch and apples. So be sure to allow this to cool completely, or it will look like this...

Patience was never my strong suit.

*For the Crust-
-In the bowl of your food processor combine 2 cups of flour (whole wheat Pastry flour is always a great, high fiber, substitute) with 2/3 cup of light brown sugar, 1/2 tsp kosher salt and 2 sticks of cold butter that you've cut into chunks. Process this until the butter has crumbled evenly into the dry ingredients.
-Dump this into a greased and floured 9x13 inch glass baking dish and press down to create a firm, even layer.
-Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove and allow to cool while you make your filling.

*For the Apples-
-In a small mixing bowl, toss 4 large apples (about 2 lbs worth) that you've cored and diced with the juice of half a lemon (you will use the other half later). Make sure to coat all your apple pieces with some lemon juice to prevent oxidation. Set aside.

*For the Filling-
-In a large mixing bowl, with an electric beater, beat 2 8oz packages of Neufchatel cream cheese (I always use low fat) with a pinch of kosher salt and 1/3 cup of white sugar until smooth.
-Add in 2 large eggs, one at a time, while beating.
-Beat in the juice from the other half of the lemon and a splash of vanilla extract. When then mixture is silky smooth, set aside while you begin your assembly.

*Assembly and Baking-
-Spread your prepared apples over your cooled shortbread crust.
-Sprinkle over your apples 1 12oz bag of Butterscotch chips. Evenly distribute both the apples and chips over your crust.

-Slowly pour your filling over the apples and chips, being sure to get it as even as possible. Shake and jiggle the pan carefully to allow some filling to get through and to release any air bubbles.

-Bake in the 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the center is set.

-Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares. Seriously. And these need to be eaten with a fork...they're a little messy.


I love how the top has this beautiful cracked, marble effect. Gorgeous!

(Caramels would be a great substitute if the butterscotch flavor is too much for you.)

Nama would have loved these. Enjoy!

Cheesy Collards in Custard.

2012-01-08T15:48:00.002-05:00

I had several titles for this recipe before I settled on this one. There was Collards Casserole. Baked Collards. Cheesy Collards with Eggs. I don't even know if I like the one I actually picked, but I just got too damn tired of coming up with names for something I thought could speak for itself. So, feel free to call this whatever you'd like!

I grew up eating Slow Cooked Pork Shoulder, Sauteed Collard Greens, Black Eyed Peas, Stewed Tomatoes and Corn Muffins on New Years Day. I have eaten that same exact meal, every January 1st, for my entire life. It's delicious and every year my family believes it will bring us more luck, money and prosperity. We usually all go to my mothers house and eat it. And this year was nothing different, but at home I had my own pork shoulder and bunch of collard greens that I needed to cook. I didn't want to make the same thing we had just eaten days before, so I changed it up a bit.

I made my Milk Braised Pork Shoulder, which is something I've been making for years. The idea for the recipe came from Marcella Hazan's Milk Braised Pork Loin. It's an amazingly delicious dish and it was the perfect way to eat the same cut of meat in a totally different way. I highly suggest you give it a try. But for the collards, I wanted to create something new. I love the flavor of collard greens so much and didn't want to make anything that would muddle those delicious flavors, so I thought mixing them with a custard and baking them with some cheese sounded just right.

This dish is a slightly different and a little healthier take on the creamed spinach idea. It's more egg-y than cheesy, and more collard-y than anything else, but I happen to like it that way. If you want a more delicate dish, then I recommend cutting your greens into a smaller size and increasing the milk to about 1 1/2 cups so you get a creamier texture. But however you make this, I just suggest you do it before their season is gone. They're so perfectly wonderful now.

*Collards in Custard

-Wash and de-stem 1 bunch (1 1/2 lbs) of collards and set aside on a towel to dry while you heat up a large saute pan with a little olive oil.
-When the pan is hot (med-high heat), add your greens and let them sit for 30 seconds or so in the hot pan before tossing and allowing the top layer to now touch the hot pan. You will think you have over-filled your pan, but fear not-they will wilt down tremendously.

-Season with several pinches of kosher salt, fresh black pepper and a lot of freshly grated nutmeg. Toss well. Add 4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced.
-Once your garlic is fragrant and all of your greens have wilted, but have remained green and still have a bite to them, turn off your heat.

-Drain your collards and garlic in a colander, squeezing a bit if you have to and set aside while you make your custard.
-Grease a 1 1/2 quart baking dish, or a standard 9x9in pan.
-In a large mixing bowl, beat 5 large eggs until fluffly, season with a couple pinches of kosher salt and black pepper and a good squirt or spoonful of dijon mustard. Add 1 cup of milk and beat well.
-Add your cooled collards to your prepared pan and spread evenly.
-Sprinkle 5-6 ounces of grated, extra sharp cheddar cheese (white is prettiest, but I only had the yellow on hand) evenly over your greens.

-Pour your custard over, being sure to evenly distribute it. Gently press down with a spatula to make sure everything is coated and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45 min-1 hour, or until your cheese is golden brown and bubbly and the center doesn't jiggle when you shake it.

Big 'Ole Hawaiian Pizza Puffs

2012-01-03T15:47:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite things on the planet is pizza. It's probably just the bread and cheese combo that gets me. I don't eat it often and don't like just any pizza but I love really good pizza. And I love making pizza from scratch with whole wheat dough so I feel a little bit better about eating it. It's not surprising that my 4 year old son loves pizza too. Doesn't every kid? Whenever we have leftover homemade pizza from the night before, I always give him some in his lunchbox and it's one of his favorites. But he comes home with sauce all over him and I'm sure the teachers are cursing my name. So I wanted to figure out a way to give him something special that he loves without having it be so messy.

Making things in different sized muffin tins is always a great way to have a single portion of something otherwise large and messy. I do it with macaroni and cheese and quiches for cocktail parties, fritattas for brunch, it works great with pies too, both sweet and savory. I know you can make individual pizzas in jumbo muffin tins, but I still thought that would be too messy.

This recipe is like part muffin, part fritatta, and all pizza. It really tastes and smells just like pizza! I've seen a lot of versions of something like this online but none of them sounded cheesy, moist or filling-y enough for me, so I decided to make my own. I went with Hawaiian ones today, because it's one of my son's favorite and it's just what I happened to have on hand. But you could do this with any flavor combination you like. I didn't put the sauce inside because I didn't think it would work, but maybe you will and you will love it.

I use whole wheat flour whenever I can in my cooking and did here. I also like to use a low fat cheese whenever I think the flavor won't be compromised. I have no problem using a light mozzarella for pizza, and think the flavor and texture is perfectly fine. But I refuse to use a light cheddar when I'm looking for that extra sharp taste. They actually don't even make a low fat, extra sharp cheddar. So I say go light when it doesn't matter but go full-fat when it does.

I made these in the jumbo sized muffin tins because I wanted a lunch sized portion, but I think making them in the mini sized tins would be awesome for a party....Super Bowl maybe? Mmmm...I'm now thinking how awesome it would be to have a 'Supreme' style mini pizza puff. But for now, I have these big 'ole Hawaiian Pizza Puffs that are gonna make my little man big 'ole happy.

Enjoy!

*Hawaiian Pizza Puffs

(These are fairly delicate in texture due to the fact that the recipe only calls for 3/4 cup of flour, so be very careful when taking them out of the pan...I got a little too excited and lost a couple bottoms in the tins.)

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 cup shredded light mozzarella
1 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar
1/2 cup shredded or finely chopped pineapple
1 cup or 8 oz cubed turkey or ham
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-In a large mixing bowl stir together your flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
-In another mixing/measuring bowl/cup, measure out your milk and then beat your eggs into the cup. Pour into your dry ingredients and mix well.
-Fold in your shredded cheeses, meat, and pineapple.
-Pour* your batter into greased jumbo muffin tins (6 count), or whichever size you choose to use.
-Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes**, or until the tops are golden brown and they have begun to pull away from the edges of the tins.
-Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before carefully removing and cooling completely on a rack.
-Serve with your favorite marinara sauce.

(*note-I like to use a large, greased ice cream scoop when dealing with batter and muffin tins. It ensures that you will have an even amount of batter in each cup. I was able to fill each cup a little more than 3/4 of the way full, with no batter leftover.)

(**another note-If you're making these in the smaller sized tins, I say check them after 10 minutes in the oven.)

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bake

2012-01-01T13:08:00.000-05:00

I don't make New Years Resolutions. I guess when I was overweight, I would always wish that I wouldn't be, but that's about as close as I got to making a resolution. I would imagine, without having any sort of research to back this up, that losing weight or becoming healthier is the number one New Years resolution that people make. So, in honor of that I thought I would post a really healthy breakfast recipe.

This is my healthy take on a strata, one of my favorite breakfast 'casseroles'. But instead of using bread, I'm using raw oats. So basically this is oatmeal and fresh fruit held together by a custard. It's incredibly simple, very healthy and the possibilities are endless when it comes to other flavor combinations. I just happened to have some apples lying around needing to be used, so that's what I did. But I think in the summertime, a couple fresh peaches with some vanilla and almond extract would be great. It would be like the 'Peaches and Cream' oatmeal that was always my favorite growing up. You can do a Banana Nut version and add 1-2 very ripe bananas with some toasted walnuts and cinnamon. A berry version would also be delicious- a couple handfuls of Blue, black or raspberries with some orange zest.

In other words, the recipe I have below is merely a guideline. Use your imagination and whatever you happen to have on hand. If you wanted this to be richer, I would use half and half instead of the milk and add a 1/2 stick of melted butter to the custard. But I really liked that it was pure and simple and clean. This would also make a great work-week breakfast if you made them in muffin tins and baked for 15-20 minutes. You would just keep them in the fridge and grab a couple on your way out the door in the morning.

Easy, Healthy and Delicious!

*Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bake

-In a large mixing bowl beat 5 large eggs with 3/4 cup milk, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 cup + 1 TB light brown sugar and the zest of half a lemon. Whisk well.
-Add to this 1 large or 2 small apples, cubed, 2 cups rolled oats, and 1 TB each of ground flax seeds and toasted wheat germ (optional).
-Pour into a greased 9x9in glass baking dish and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the bottom has browned a bit and the center is set.
-Allow to cool for a few minutes before serving.
-Enjoy plain or with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Nice to meet you

2011-12-29T16:42:00.000-05:00

So, I don't know how many people actually read these things that I write. I'm always amazed when I run into someone in my town and they tell me they read my blog. I'm just so flattered that anyone even cares about what I have to say. It was actually a very big leap for me to start this blog. It's not that I don't like sharing with people, I actually suffer from the opposite problem. I'll tell a complete stranger my entire life story if they ask me how I am. Get a glass of wine in me and I'll even sing you a song. I don't have that button that most people have which tells me to stop talking.

And I used to be an actor in a past life so I'm definitely not scared of a crowd. It's just that I have this fear of the unknown. I type something, click Publish and then I have no control over what happens after that. What if, years from now, I hate what I wrote? What if I offend someone? What if...? That's me. Neurotic about the What If's. But my husband saw something in me and knew that I had these big dreams of someday being a food writer or television cook, so he pushed me into starting this blog. Because apparently one cannot be 'discovered' if they only cook for their family. When I first started writing, I was so scared to share anything that I never even mentioned my name. Then, slowly I began to chip away at my wall of defense and realized that it felt good to share with a voiceless stranger. Kinda like therapy. When no one answers back, you're allowed to be more honest with yourself.

It was also my husband who pushed me to advertise my blog on Facebook and Twitter, another one of my fears. I don't have a personal Facebook page or Twitter account, and probably never will, but listening to his advice has helped me meet new people who actually want to listen to what I have to say. And I learn something from them all the time.

So, in honor of the upcoming new year and the everlasting desire to move past my fears, I decided to let you get to know me a bit more.

And I would love it if you took the time to share something with me. Leave me a comment, even if you've never left me one before, and tell me something about yourself that you would never share with someone you just met. You can even stay anonymous, I don't mind. It could be silly, poetic, random, shallow or deep. It doesn't matter. Or if that's too much for you, share a secret trashy food crush like I did in #17. Because this is, after all, a food blog and I should try to stay on topic.

*19 Things You Don't Know About Me.

#1. I think apples have no business being in a fruit salad.

#2. I used to think that the world was literally in black and white before there was color TV or film.

#3. I still think the moon is following me home.

#4. I still do simple math on my fingers.

#5. I always close my eyes and make a wish if I see 11:11 on the clock, no matter what I'm doing. That becomes very challenging when what I'm doing is driving.

#6. I still use the bunny ear method to tie my shoes.

#7. I don't believe I've ever partied like it's 1999.
No wait. Yes I have. I forgot about that one time.

#8. I hate being the last one to fall asleep. I get very jealous of the sleeping one.

#9. I love Dolly Parton movies.

#10. My mind wanders very easily and I often forget my point midway through a sentence.

#11. I love Dolly Parton movies.

#12. I prefer my fruit to stay on the bottom.

#13. I believe in the power of a wishbone.

#14. I'm awesome at pretending to be asleep. I once convinced a whole slumber party that I was talking in my sleep for an hour.

#15. I gave accidental natural childbirth twice.

#16. I once stole a cat. (No, no, calm down. It was from an abusive family I came across while walking on the beach. They were throwing kittens into the ocean. I just shoved him up my shirt and ran.)

#17. I secretly love Velveeta and Cool Whip*.

#18. My Kung Fu pants from the 3rd grade still fit me perfectly. I'm not telling you this to somehow brag about my weight, I'm telling you this because this means I apparently peaked, height-wise, at 8 years old.

#19. I know all the U.S. states in alphabetical order and will sing them to you if you give me a glass of wine. Syrah please.

(*In lieu of an actual recipe this week, I would like to share how I love to use these two 'secret' ingredients. The first one comes from my mama. Velveeta makes the best twice baked potatoes if you add it to your boiled potatoes with some plain yogurt, fresh chives, salt, and pepper, then bake until bubbly. And Cool Whip makes the best 'frosting' for a coconut cake.)

Cranberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

2011-12-28T22:11:00.001-05:00

I know. I had you at the title.

I manipulated you, kind readers, and reeled you in with delicious buzz words like Chocolate and Cheesecake and Square.

I know it and I am not ashamed one bit. This dessert is too delicious for shame.

It's a cheesecake, made easier and faster, with a thicker, more cookie-like crust and then topped with a cranberry compote. The ratio of crust to filling is about 1:1.

I mean, come on.

I've made this dessert around the holidays for the past 4 years with much success but never added the white chocolate part until this year. It actually happened by mistake. I was dipping my Christmas truffles (and no, that is not a euphemism) in some double-boiled white chocolate and ended up with twice as much as I needed so I improvised. (This is kinda how all my recipes are created. I just hate to throw things away, so I create a recipe with its leftovers. Thank goodness I can cook, otherwise they'd create a TLC reality show about me.)

You can make parts of this dessert ahead of time. The crust can be pressed into the pan days in advance, kept in the fridge and then baked later. And you can make the compote and keep it well sealed in the fridge for days. But I wouldn't bake the cheesecake until the day you plan on serving it or else the crust will become a bit soggy. Maybe you can get away with one day in advance, but that's pushing it.

Obviously you can make this any time of year due to the frozen cranberries available year round, but I recommend making it in the fall or winter because it's just so festive. It would be incredibly easy to make this same dessert with a different fruit for the compote. Peaches or other stone fruits would be wonderful, rhubarb, summer berries, apples or pears even would work. But you wouldn't need the full cup of sugar. Go with 1/2 a cup, and then taste to see if you need more.

Enjoy!

*Cranberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Squares

...or you could do what my family did and just eat it straight from the pan.

-For the Crust...
-Grease a 9x9 inch baking dish and set aside.
-In a mixing bowl combine 1 cup of AP flour, 1/4 cup of light brown sugar, 1 cup of chopped walnuts, a couple pinches of kosher salt, and 1 stick of melted unsalted butter. Stir well and press into prepared pan.
-Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes until it becomes a light golden brown.
-Remove and set aside to cool a bit on a rack while you make your filling.

-For the Filling...
-In a mixing bowl (I always use the same one), beat 1 8 oz. brick of neufchatel cream cheese, softened, with 1/2 cup of sugar until smooth. Add in 6-8 oz melted white chocolate, (this is about half a standard bag of white chocolate chips) and beat well until no lumps. Beat in 2 large eggs, a splash of vanilla extract, a pinch of kosher salt, the zest of 1 lemon and half of its juice.
-Pour this into your cooled filling and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and set in the middle.
-Cool completely and top with your Cranberry Compote...

-For the Compote...
-In a small saucepan, heat 3 cups (12 oz bag) of fresh cranberries, 1 cup of sugar, the zest of 1 large orange, a good squeeze of its juice, a pinch of ground allspice, and a pinch of kosher salt.
-Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened and your cranberries have popped.

-Serving and Eating...
-Cut into squares and serve at room temperature.
-Eat.
-Repeat.

Disclaimer: I am not African. I am also not Moroccan.

2011-12-22T21:21:00.000-05:00

This recipe is so outside of my usual style. But that's good, right? Stepping outside of your usual style, from time to time? I'm just not a big soup or stew person. Especially if there's no meat to be found in it. But I was inspired by Top Chef alum, Carla Hall's Groundnut Stew. I saw her make it on Top Chef and then again on The Chew. It just sounded so cool. It's a stew that changes depending on who you ask, but you will usually find peanut butter, or ground peanuts, in it. I knew I didn't have a lot of the ingredients on hand to make her dish exactly but I thought it would serve as a wonderful starting off point for a new recipe.

Groundnut Stew is an African dish, and I still kept a lot of the African elements in mine, but added a little Moroccan flair by way of the cinnamon and cilantro. It came out really well and was incredibly hearty but still tasted very healthy at the same time (which it is). It's very comforting. I decided to serve this stew over some simple Israeli couscous, which I adore. It was the perfect accompaniment. The chewy texture of the couscous underneath the soft stew is perfection.

(The one thing I didn't do that I think would be great in this, is add a few handfuls of golden raisins to the pot. I think the sweet-tanginess would be great. Maybe next time...)

I do hope you enjoy it!

*Twisted Groundnut Stew
(due to my lack of fresh cilantro, I decided not to include a photo of the finished plate. A stew is just brown no matter how you photoshop it.)

-In a large pot with a little extra virgin olive oil, sweat out 1 large onion and 1 green bell pepper, diced. Season with kosher salt and cracked black pepper.
-Once the veggies have softened, add 3-4 cloves of garlic and a 1 inch piece of fresh ginger root, minced.
-Let the garlic and ginger cook for about 30 seconds, then add in 2 tsp of ground cumin and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Toss this with the veggies and allow them to toast a bit.
-Add 1 small can of tomato paste and 2 TB of light brown sugar. Stir well.
-Add in 1 1/2-2 lbs of cubed butternut squash flesh (this will most likely be 2 squashes, but could be only 1 if you have an extra large one).
-Pour in 1 quart of chicken stock, 2 cilantro bouillon cubes* and a cinnamon stick.
-In a small bowl combine 1/3 cup of natural, creamy peanut butter** with about an equal amount of the warm soup liquid. Stir well to break down the peanut butter and then pour it into the soup. Stir well.
-Add a can of chickpeas, drained.

Before boil.

-Bring the pot up to a boil and then reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 2-3 hours, or keep on very low all day. The longer you cook this, the more all the ingredients will break down.

After cooking on low, all day.

-Serve this with some Israeli couscous that you've simply boiled in salted water.
-If you have it on hand, which I didn't, I recommend serving this with some fresh cilantro.

(*I found myself with no fresh cilantro today (see the culprit, Enchilada Recipe) and went on to plan B. They make bouillon cubes in lots of different flavors, like ginger, garlic, onion, chipotle and cilantro, and I love to keep them on hand for soups in case I'm stuck at home.)
(**I happen to only buy natural peanut butter, so it's what I used here by default, but believe that it is the best option for this stew. Other kinds have too much of a candy taste to them and may over-sweeten the soup. But if that's all you have, you probably will not need the brown sugar.)

White and Greengo Enchiladas

2011-12-20T19:00:00.002-05:00

There are a lot of enchilada recipes out there by Americans like me who have a skewed perception of Mexican cuisine. I have actually been to Mexico and have studied the culture a bit, so I may know a smidge more than the average American, but still. I do not pretend to think that this recipe is, in any way, authentically Mexican in the slightest. It is, however, delicious. And super easy.

I cook fresh things, from scratch, 99.9% of the time but sometimes I need to cut a corner or three to pull a dinner together. Especially around the holidays when people are coming and going, I'm losing my mind, and that nights family dinner is the farthest thing from my mind. (Wait. I have to feed you people too?!). It is for recipes like these that I silence the Chef part of my brain and turn up the volume on the stay-at-home-mama part. (Hey, at least I'm using fresh cilantro!)

I have seen a great many Americanized enchilada recipes out there that rely on mostly pantry staples and seem easy enough, yet still require you to make a roux or sauté something first. I'm sorry, but if I'm gonna make a dinner like this, an easy, throw-together meal, then I'm not dirtying up more than one cooking vessel. So I created this recipe for myself and for all the other mamas out there who need a break. This recipe uses one bowl and one baking dish. Oh, and a spatula. And a can-opener. Ugh, and a knife if you use fresh cilantro. OK, so when I actually write out all the needed utensils, it seems like a a lot but don't be fooled. I whipped this up very early yesterday morning when I was up before the house. I had all the ingredients on hand, so it literally took me 8 minutes to throw together. This is a great use up for leftover roasted chicken, or even those store-bought, rotisserie chickens that are mysteriously delicious.

Here's what I did...

*White and Greengo Enchiladas (or whatever you wanna call 'em)

-In a mixing bowl, add 2 cups of shredded, cooked chicken*, 1 cup of grated mozzarella, monterey jack, or white cheddar cheese**, and a 14.75 ounce can of creamed corn. Mix this well.
-Place some of the filling in the center of a large, burrito size tortilla (whole wheat, if you can find it!) and roll up. Place each rolled tortilla, cut side down, in the bottom of a GREASED 9x13in baking dish. Repeat this until all your filling is gone. (you will most likely use 8 tortillas, but I would make sure you have 10 just in case.)
-In the same, now empty, mixing bowl add a 10 3/4 ounce can of cream of chicken soup, a 10 oz container of Original Philadelphia cooking cream***, a 4 ounce can of green chilis (do not drain), and then enough chicken stock or broth to fill up the can of cream of chicken soup. Add to this a large handful (at least 1 cup) of fresh and roughly chopped cilantro. Mix very well and pour over your stuffed tortillas, being sure to get it in between them and down on the bottom a bit.
-Top with 2 more cups of the shredded cheese.
-Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 20 minutes, and if the top isn't brown enough yet, but the casserole is hot throughout, then place it under the broiler for a few minutes to brown.
-Allow to cool and set for about 15 minutes before serving. OR YOU WILL BURN THE HECK OUT OF YOUR MOUTH.

(This can be made ahead and kept in the fridge before baking for 2-3 days. It also freezes well for about a month if you wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil.)

(*You could use any other meat in this and it would still be great. I've done it with leftover braised pork shoulder and it was awesome, but beef could also work. This is just the 'white' version... And you could easily make this vegetarian by substituting 2 cans of white beans for the chicken and using cream of mushroom or cheddar soup instead of the cream of chicken and vegetable broth instead of the chicken.)

(**I'm always developing my recipes with a 4 year old's tastebuds in mind, so they are always on the milder side. But if you want a spicier enchilada, use pepperjack cheese and/or a handful of chopped, pickled jalapenos. And, of course, if yellow cheddar is what you have-use it!)

(***This 'cooking cream' is a new product and is basically a pourable version of the classic cream cheese. If you don't have this, soften a brick of plain cream cheese before mixing it in. You could always use sour cream if that's all you have but the cream cheese is what helps make these enchiladas sooo yummy!)

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

2011-12-18T11:29:00.000-05:00

I don't know if Peanut Butter Bananas are a thing outside of my childhood home. It's like one of my mother's favorite things. And when my brother and I were kids, we had them as snacks all the time. Now, she gives them to my son. She takes a whole banana and scoops out a big dollop of Jiff Creamy Peanut Butter to put on every single bite. Years later I had to break it to her that the actual serving size of peanut butter is 2 tablespoons. I'm pretty sure we all ingested about 10 tablespoons of peanut butter per banana.

But the combination of Peanut Butter and Bananas, (or the Food Marriage, as my mother likes to call it), is one of the greatest. So when I set out to make my Banana Bread today to give as gifts this Christmas, I thought of that combination and decided to try something new. I usually make my Banana Bread with shredded coconut*, but this time I swapped it for some Peanut Butter chips. I considered using some creamy Peanut Butter in the batter, but felt that might be overkill. I thought that having a traditional tasting Banana Bread with the occasional Peanut Butter morsel in every bite sounded like a wonderful idea.

I like to make my Banana Bread a little healthier by substituting unsweetened apple sauce for half of the butter and then cutting back on the sugar just a bit. And I use a whole grain flour instead of the white. I feel like Banana Bread is one of those things that most people think of as a healthy bread, but it rarely ever is. So I like to make those people feel a little bit better about eating mine, but you can make yours however you want to, as long as you make it. Because this stuff is goooooood.

Here's what I did...

*Peanut Butter Banana Bread

-2 cups whole wheat flour (oat flour is another good whole grain option if you can find it)
-1 tsp kosher salt
-1 1/2 tsp baking powder
-4 TB unsalted butter, room temperature
-1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
-2 large eggs
-3 very ripe bananas, mushed (technical term)
-3/4 cup light brown sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1 cup peanut butter chips
---------------------------------------------
-Preheat oven to 350. Grease a standard loaf pan (or use a pan with 4 mini loafs like I did here).
-Mix your flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl and set aside.
-In a large mixing bowl, cream your butter and applesauce until smooth.
-Add in your eggs and vanilla and mix well.
-Add in your mushed bananas and brown sugar and mix well.
-Slowly add in your dry ingredients and mix until just combined, but be careful to not overmix.
-Fold in your peanut butter chips.
-Pour into your prepared pan.
-Bake for 45-60 minutes, or until the edges are a golden brown, the top of the loaf is firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out relatively clean.
-Cool in the pan for 15 minutes or so and then transfer to a cooling rack.
-Serve warm or room temperature.

(*If you want to make my Banana Coconut bread, just omit the peanut butter chips and fold in 1/2 cup of shredded coconut. 1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips can also be added, as well as 1/3-1/2 cup of chopped, crystallized ginger.)

(This freezes well if you wrap your cooled bread tightly in plastic wrap, then in foil before freezing.)

Mexican Hot Cocoa with Cinnamon Agave Marshmallows

2011-12-16T13:47:00.001-05:00

I don't know if you've ever thought about making your own hot chocolate mix, but it's simply too easy not to do. Plus, there are no chemicals in this recipe, which I feel incredibly good about. This hot cocoa mix will keep forever if stored in an airtight container and it's also perfect for gifts this season! I keep all of these ingredients on hand so it's super easy for me to make a quick batch for the family. This time around, I actually ran out of powdered milk, but remembered that I still had some non dairy creamer in the pantry, so I ended up using half that and half the dried milk (so much for 'no chemicals'...). The cornstarch (and the powdered sugar, for that matter) in this recipe really makes a thick and velvety cup of hot cocoa, and the cayenne gives it such great warmth. It's not necessarily something that you will taste as spicy, but it will definitely make you feel cozy. And I like adding some chocolate chips to the mix, so when you mix in your hot water, you get little unexpected pockets of gooey chocolate while you drink your cocoa.

The marshmallow part of this recipe is my Agave Marshmallow recipe with about 2 tsp ground cinnamon added to it (taste it and add more if you think you need it). I didn't think it was necessary to re-write the recipe here, so just click on the above highlighted link and it will take you directly to my original recipe. The cinnamon in the marshmallows really pair well with this hot cocoa, especially the cayenne part, which is a common combination in Mexican chocolate desserts, but if you're not up to making your own marshmallows, I recommend using a cinnamon stick to stir your hot chocolate so you get the cinnamon flavor infused.

(note-My marshmallows use agave nectar instead of sugar and corn syrup so when they get hot, they melt instead of get gooey, so don't be alarmed if they simply disappear in your mug!

Enjoy!

*Hot Cocoa

*TO MAKE 5 1/2 CUPS OF MIX:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups powder milk (or substitute non dairy creamer and go lighter on the sugar)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cornstarch
2-3 pinches cayenne pepper, depending on your taste
1 1/2-2 cups of semi sweet chocolate chips (optional)
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-Mix everything well.
-Store in airtight container and it will keep forever.

*TO MAKE A CUP:
Fill your mug halfway with some mix and pour hot water over. Stir well. Top with your Marshmallows!

Double Chocolate Poundcake

2011-12-12T13:40:00.000-05:00

This chocolate cake is not for the faint of heart. Nor is this for those who like that milk chocolate stuff. This deeply flavorful cake is for those of you, like me, who love the richness of bittersweet chocolate. It has in intense, authentic chocolate flavor and isn't overly sweet, by any means. It would be excellent with a cup of strong coffee after dinner, or even for breakfast during the holiday season when one can get away with eating cake for breakfast.

I hate it when a recipe calls for 1/2 a tub or container of something, don't you? Then you're left with a lot of half's just laying around needing to be used. Too much clutter for me. So I really think about that when I'm developing recipes. I came up with this recipe based on stumbling upon a chocolate poundcake recipe online the other day. The recipe sounded good enough, and I'm sure it was, but it called for half a container of this, part of a container of that, etc, etc, and I just thought that was silly. So I fooled around with some stuff at home and came up with this one, that will not leave you with anything leftover but 1/2 a stick of butter. And I would hope you could find something to do with that.

I'm suffering from a sinus infection and whenever I'm sick I like to bake. The only problem is that I bake with my senses instead of with a timer. I can always smell when something is ready. My husband calls it my Spidey sense. But when my sinuses and nasal passages are completely blocked, as they are today, I tend to overbake things. This batter is really thick and can easily overbake if you're not careful, so keep that in mind when you're making it. But even if you overbake it like I did today, it will still be delicious. Pinky Swear.

I decided to make this today using the mini loaf pans my mother in law gave me so I can give some of these away for gifts. I don't like giving people an entire loaf of bread or cake, (maybe it's because, selfishly, I like to have some of what I'm giving...) so I love using these little loaf pans, but you use whatever you like.

Enjoy!

*Double Chocolate Poundcake

*For the Cake
-3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
-4 ounces (1/2 brick) of neufchatel cream cheese, softened (you will use the other half for the frosting)
-1 1/2 cups white sugar
-3 large eggs, room temperature
-1 TB milk or cream
-3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
-1 TB instant espresso or coffee powder
-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (whole wheat Pastry flour is a great substitute)
-1 tsp kosher salt
-1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
-----------------------------------------
-Preheat your oven to 325. Grease and flour a loaf pan (or 4 mini loafs like I have pictured).
-In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until fully mixed. Add in the sugar, mix well. Add in the eggs, one at a time. Add milk, cocoa and coffee, mix well. Add your flour and salt, slowly, and mix until fully incorporated. Fold in your chocolate chips.
-Spoon the batter into your prepared loaf pan or pans and spread evenly with a wet spatula. Bake for 60-80 minutes if you're using the large loaf pan, or 40-50 minutes if you're using mini loaf pans. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center and if it comes out almost clean, you're good.
-Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then remove from the pans and cool on a rack completely.

*For the Frosting
-1 stick unsalted butter, softened
-4 oz (1/2 brick) neufchatel cream cheese, softened
-1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-3/4 cup powdered sugar
-good pinch of kosher salt
-several splashes of milk or cream
------------------------------------------
-Mix everything with an electric mixer until smooth. Add your milk slowly until you get the right consistency.
-Spread evenly onto your cooled cake (or cakes) and garnish with more chocolate chips.

My first Cracker.

2011-12-10T16:16:00.000-05:00

I have never had any interest in making my own Crackers. I saw Alton Brown making some on his show several years ago and I thought, Nope, not worth the effort. I don't even like Crackers that much. I'm just not much of a snacker I guess. I'd rather have a mini meal than some chips or Crackers. But then I listened to how Mark Bittman described making his own crackers. He said it was basically like a pastry dough rolled out very thin.

Hmm...Pastry dough? Pastry? Well, I love pastry.

So I thought I'd give it a try and serve them (if they were any good) to my husband's family when they come tomorrow for our Christmas gift exchange. We're cooking chili and I thought some extra sharp cheddar crackers sounded like a great accompaniment. Plus, the bonus is that my husband's grandfather loves crackers. I think he even travels with his own. I do hope he won't mind the switch.

Mark Bittman makes Parmesan Cream Crackers, and I used his recipe as a guide, but I wanted to make them my own by using some really good extra sharp cheddar cheese in place of the parmesan. They came out really well, and were so easy to make, I could have made 5 batches in no time. Seriously, these were one of the easiest things I have ever made. Next time I make these I will definitely play around with the flavors and add some chopped herbs or garlic powder, maybe even some chili powder and lime zest.

These homemade crackers would make a great hostess gift this holiday season or a good thing to serve at a wine and cheese party you may be hosting. Think about how fancy you'll sound when someone says, 'Oohh, these crackers are so delicious! Wherever did you buy them?' And you could be like, 'Buy them? Hell, I made these suckers!' (Ok, so maybe you'll sound a little fancier than I just did, but you get the point.)

So, here you go, friends- a recipe for something I thought I'd never be needing, but I'm so happy I was wrong. Enjoy!

*Homemade Cheddar Crackers
(yields about 4 servings)

-In the bowl of your food processor, add 1 cup of AP flour, 1/2 tsp kosher salt + an extra pinch, 3/4 cup finely grated Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese (you will have to grate your own because you can't find pre-shredded Extra sharp and I don't believe there is a substitute for it. Plain sharp or medium cheddar just doesn't have the same flavor) and 4 TB cold unsalted butter. Pulse this until the butter has broken down and been distributed.
-With the mixer on, slowly drizzle in some half and half or heavy cream (about 1/4 cup) until the mixture comes together but is not wet. You want it to later come together as a dough ball with the warmth of your hands only.
-Turn the dough onto a floured surface and form a ball. Roll this out to about 1/4 inch thickness and use a pizza cutter to score it into squares so that you can easily break it apart once it's baked. If you don't do this, you can always break apart your cooked dough into jagged shapes, it's completely up to you.
-Transfer the rolled out dough onto a lightly floured cookie sheet and sprinkle with some more salt (I like to use Maldon Sea Salt as my finishing salt).
-Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.
-Allow to cool for a bit on the cookie sheet until it hardens, then transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before breaking into pieces.
-Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.

(These cheddar crackers are extremely close in flavor to those Cheez-Its you can buy for several dollars in the store. So if you're a big fan, and want to save some money, I suggest you try making your own!)

Little Abbey's Oatmeal Creme Pies...or something a little less lame.

2011-11-27T21:15:00.000-05:00

My mother didn't allow sweets in the house when my brother and I were younger. Her version of dessert was a cup of Juicy Juice. Fruit Punch flavored Juicy Juice. And now I can't drink the stuff because I had so many damn cups of Fruit Punch Juicy Juice as a kid. But when she discovered Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pies, she changed her tune. This was before nutrition labels and I think she figured because they had the word Oatmeal in the title, they were acceptable. My brother and I didn't care why she had them in the house, as long as she kept them there. Those babies were delicious!

I've since eaten an Oatmeal Creme Pie and could almost feel my tooth dying. It's amazing how one's taste buds can change! But now that I have kids of my own, I've found myself doing what we all do...thinking about the things we loved as a child. So the other day, the Oatmeal Creme Pie entered back into my mind and I decided to recreate them at home so my son can enjoy them and still keep all his teeth.

I began with my recipe for Oatmeal Raisin-Cranberry Avocookies. These cookies are perfect to use for the Creme Pies because the use of pureed avocado in them makes them super soft. But I decided to deviate from my recipe a bit by using margarine* instead of the browned butter because I really wanted these cookies to remain as chewy as I remember the store-bought version being. I also left out the raisins and cranberries from the original recipe.

For the filling, I decided to add cream cheese, which I thought would add a lovely tang to the 'pies'. You could leave it out and substitute another stick of softened butter if you want a more traditional taste, but I highly recommend using the cream cheese. And at the last minute, I chose to also add some marshmallow fluff** to the filling to give it some structure. I also think that it helped with that nostalgic flavor.

These Oatmeal Creme Pies are absolutely delicious. They are sweet, but only sweet enough. And the texture is so soft and chewy, they're just perfect. I find that if you freeze your cookies after they've cooled and make your sandwiches or 'pies' while they are still frozen, it's a lot easier to do. Plus, the filling will harden up once it's placed between two frozen cookies. Once you're done frosting all of them, they will be thawed enough to eat, don't worry. And I recommend keeping these in the refrigerator due to the dairy content in the filling.

Enjoy!

*Little Abbey's Oatmeal Creme Pies or
*Better than Store-bought Oatmeal Creme Pies?
*...AvOatmeal Creme Pies?
Ugh. I dunno.
(yields 10 creme pies)

Heavy cream got booted out of the recipe and replaced by Marshmallow Fluff (not pictured).

*Oatmeal Avocookies
-1 stick margarine
-1 ripe avocado, pureed
-1 cup white sugar
-1 cup light brown sugar
-1 tsp vanilla
-2 large eggs
-2 cups whole wheat Pastry flour, (or 1 cup white and 1 cup WW pastry, or 2 cups white)
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1 rounded tsp kosher salt
-3 cups oats
--------------------------------------
-In the bowl of your standing mixer, cream together the margarine, avocado and both sugars.
-Beat in your eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.
-In a separate bowl, mix together your flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon and mix this into the wet.
-Add in your oats until fully incorporated. (I like to chill the dough for an hour to make them easier to scoop, but if you don't have the time, it's not necessary.)
-Scoop your dough onto greased cookie sheets using a medium sized ice cream scoop (1/2 cup size). press down with a wet fork until evenly flat. I get exactly 20 cookies using this sized scoop.
-Bake for 10-12 min, or until browned on the bottom. Check and rotate the cookie sheets halfway through to ensure even cooking.
-Cool on the cookie sheets until easy to handle, then transfer them to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
-Place cookies in a large freezer bag and freeze overnight for optimum results.

*Creme Filling
-In a medium bowl, place 1 brick (8 oz) of softened, low fat Neufchatel Cream Cheese along with 1 stick of softened, unsalted butter. Add a splash of vanilla extract, 2 big spoonfuls of Marshmallow Fluff (about 3-4 TB worth I suppose), a pinch of kosher salt, and 1 cup of powdered sugar.
-Beat this on low speed until the sugar has been absorbed and then on high for a minute or two, until the mixture becomes fluffy.

*Assembly
-Remove your cookies from the freezer and spread some creme filling onto the bottom of one, then match it with another. Continue this until all your cookies are sandwiched.

-You will end up with 10 creme pies and most likely a bit of filling leftover. This filling will keep in your fridge, tightly sealed, for a couple of weeks. I plan on using it to add to my son's carrot birthday cake frosting.

(*I do not use margarine on a regular basis, but do think it serves a purpose when you're trying to reach a certain soft and chewy texture. So for this, it is perfect. If you are completely against using margarine, I have also used vegetable oil in this recipe and it works just fine.)

(**Adding marshmallow fluff to your cake frosting is a great trick to help them set better.)

Pumpkin Brown Sugar Scones

2011-11-22T11:06:00.000-05:00

Have you heard that I make the best scones? No? Well I do. They're full of butter, sweet but not too sweet, moist but not cakey. They're just kinda amazing, is all I'm sayin'. And I make a thousand different kinds, Ham and Cheddar, Oatmeal-Brown Sugar-Date, Pineapple-Cheddar, Bacon-Parmesan-Date, and the scones that started it all- Cranberry-Orange. Those are the kind we have on Christmas morning every year. Although, they now have some fierce competition.

These Pumpkin-Brown Sugar Scones are freakin' crazily awesome. The pumpkin puree makes them even more tender than they usually are, and they almost melt in your mouth. I'm sure there are a lot of Pumpkin Scone recipes out there, but what I like about these is that they aren't overly sweet. They don't have a sticky glaze on top that overpowers the flavor of what's inside. They are simply wonderful Pumpkin Scones.

But...if you want something to eat with them I highly recommend cream cheese. And if you're feeling even more fancy, I recommend Cranberry Cream Cheese. Use a 2:1 ratio, softened cream cheese to jellied cranberry sauce from the can and mix really well. Add a little bit of orange zest if you'd like. Delicious.

Me? I like them just the way they are.

Enjoy!

*Pumpkin Brown Sugar Scones

-In the bowl of your food processor, add 3 cups of all purpose flour (I always like to use Whole Wheat Pastry Flour if I have it on hand), 1 cup white sugar, 1 TB baking powder, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 ground cloves. Pulse this until combined.
-Add in 1 1/2 sticks (12 TB) cold, unsalted butter cut into cubes. Mix this until you get the consistency of grated parmesan cheese.
-Add in 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!) and mix again until the pumpkin is well distributed.
-With the mixer on, slowly drizzle in some cold milk or cream (I like to use canned, evaporated milk) until the dough just starts to come together and is moistened, but isn't a dough ball yet, (If you get too much milk in, you can fix it by adding more flour once you turn it onto your counter top). You will most likely need about 1/4 cup. But remember to add this very slowly while the mixer is on.
-Turn dough onto a floured surface.

-Form your dough into a thick disk and cut this like you would a pie into 8 triangles. -Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and sprinkle the tops well with light brown sugar.
-Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven on the top rack for 15-20 minutes, or until the tops and edges are golden brown.

The Powers that Be.

2011-11-16T17:41:00.000-05:00

I had, what was perhaps, my worst day this week.
No, that's not a fair thing to say. Worst makes it sound like sickness and death was involved. Let's say Trying. Difficult.? Nightmare-ish.? And I'm exhausted from it. Too exhausted to try to be eloquent and clever, so I'm just gonna bullet-point the events that occurred during my day, just to get it off my chest. Here goes.

10:30 pm, Sunday. Go to bed after a long, but enjoyable weekend of party catering and cooking lessons. High hopes for the quiet Monday ahead.

1:30 am, Sunday. I hate it when I'm wrong.
Power goes out in entire town. We know this because my family uses sound machines (or sleep machines, as we call them) to sleep. So we were all abruptly shaken awake by sudden silence...then the sound of electronic chirping birds. This is because the manufacturer of our sleep machines decided that the default sound choice should be birds. So when the power cuts off, then flickers on again, that's what we get. Very loud birds. I am really trying to figure out who thinks chirping birds are relaxing. And the only answer I can come up with is Other Birds. And as far as I know, Other Birds aren't going out and buying their albums if they can get the live performance for free.
So...my son wakes up at 1:30 a.m. terrified and is now scared of birds. He climbs into our bed.

1:35 am, Monday. Try to explain to an almost 4 year old what Power is.

1:36 am, Monday. Go get the iPad to use the Sound Machine app (thank goodness for modern technology!)...only to find that my husband thought it was a good idea to let the battery get down to 4% before bed that night. Get mad at him a little for that.

1:40 am-4:30 am, Monday. All three of us smoosh together and try to fall back asleep. My husband, the Sleep Machine himself, falls back asleep immediately. My son can't relax, I can't relax, I get up several times to check on the baby, look outside, tap my husband on the shoulder to ask far too many questions. Finally put our son back in his bed and eventually fall asleep.

6:30 am, Monday. Baby daughter officially wakes up and needs my milk. We let the boys sleep. Still no power. Call the electric company and hear it may be off til noon that day. Awesome. My son's school is canceled today due to the lack of power. Awesome.

8:30 am, Monday. Husband goes to work...Because when the power goes out in an entire town, the insurance business is a popular business.

12:00 pm, Monday. Baby is awake from nap, everyone is starving and we can't open the fridge. I load them up in the car and press my garage door opener button thingy. Nothing happens. Oh yeah...no power.. Stuck in garage.

12:15 pm, Monday. Manually lift the garage door and head to Chick Fil A.

1:00 pm, Monday. Feed babies and grab food for working hubby. Call the electric company again. Now they say 2 pm. Awesome. Decide to go to Kohl's to return an item and do some shopping.

1:30 pm, Monday. Successfully return item but Kohl's lady at counter pushes too many buttons too fast and forgets I requested store credit, and I don't have the card that the item was charged on, so...no shopping for me.

2:00 pm, Monday. Walk out of Kohl's empty-handed and frustrated, call a neighbor to ask about Power. No power. Strap kids in car (wow, it's windy today), lean back to scratch leg, wind slams car door shut. Keys in baby's lap. Cell phone in baby's lap.

2:01 pm, Monday. FREAK OUT!!!!!! Call out for a stranger's help, use her cell phone, call the fire department, play peek-a-boo with children so they don't know to be scared. Cry A LOT behind extra large sunglasses, FREAK OUT!!!!!!

2:05 pm, Monday. Fire department comes, sirens blaring, (son smiles with amazement), jimmy my door open. Hug, kiss, and squeeze babies. Almost make out with Fireman.

2:06 pm, Monday. Tell my son that I really just wanted him to get to see a firetruck today and 'Wasn't that so cool, honey?!' Win points as coolest mom ever. Secretly cry some more behind sunglasses. Call electric company. New update is 4 pm. Awesome.

2:30 pm, Monday. Put very sleepy son down for very late nap. Loudly cry to husband who left work to console crazy wife. Decide to go out to eat later because nobody thinks crackers sound good for dinner.

3:00 pm, Monday. Put very sleepy daughter down, try to relax on couch.

4:00 pm, Monday. Call electric company again. New update is 7 pm. Awesome.

4:45 pm, Monday. Kids wake up, sun begins to set. Gather all flashlights, candles and matches to prepare for the darkness, wait for husband to come home.

5:00 pm, Monday. Husband comes home, then turns around to take us all out to eat. We meet my parents at the restaurant.

6:00 pm, Monday. Eat pizza. More importantly- Drink Margarita.

6:15 pm, Monday. Call electric company. New update is 9 pm. SOOOO NOT AWESOME!!!!!

6:30 pm, Monday. Decide to all stay at my parents house.

9:08 pm, Monday. Call neighbor. Power. Is. Back. On. Awesome. Secretly wish I was home to see it.

10:30 pm, Monday. Crawl into my childhood bed, in my mother's clothes, next to my (finally) asleep baby, sleep in 30 minute increments.

6:00 am. Tuesday. Wake up to confused baby, cat nap in bed together.

6:30 am. Tuesday. Head downstairs to a full house. Try to remember the last time my father's face was the first one I saw in the morning. Drink good coffee, watch kids play.

7:30 am, Tuesday. Arrive to a Powered home, take inventory of refrigerator. Throw Everything out. Silently mourn the loss. Make list to give to insurance company, (husband is very smart).

11:00 am, Tuesday. Take kids to store to buy everything I just bought two days ago all over again. (Grocery shopping, with or without two small children, is sooo much easier without coupons and budget watching.)

.....and so on and so on.

In short, I am incredibly glad that day is over. All day I felt like I was standing still, screaming out to someone for help, but no one could hear me (except the Huntersville Fire Department). The entire day was out of my control and I just couldn't take it. And I'm still paying for it now, days later. I'm tired and achy, and my kids are so thrown off their sleep schedule, but we are all fine and healthy.

It's unbelievable how much we rely on power. I walked around all day long, mindlessly flipping useless switches. It's actually pretty funny thinking about the cooking lesson I gave the night before the blackout. We were making a chocolate cake without a mixer and I remember saying 'Oh, it's ok. People were making cakes long before there was electricity, it'll be fine!' Ha. So... I kinda think I'm the one who brought on the power outage (sorry neighbors!) But the cake got made and it was fine. Just like me in the midst of my horrible day, the cake rose to the occasion and figured it all out. It was harder to do, of course, but in the end, we all survived one more day on this earth. And isn't that the most important thing?

We, as a culture, are so reliant on all things 'Powerful' that I think we forget how lucky we are to have the things we have. We have gotten ourselves into little routines that cause us to stop thinking about how things actually work. I think about my son, scared and fragile at 1:30 in the morning, asking what Power was. He is so new at this thing called life that he is constantly trying to figure out how things work, why they work, what he can do to make them work better, and I wish I was more like that. I wish we all were more like that. We should all have an occasional No Power Day and see how much we can learn from it (as long as I know it's coming and how long it will last!). Light a fire. Play flashlight tag. Go OUTSIDE. TALK. Make Fondue. Roast marshmallows. Play a board game by the light of a candle. Listen to actual sounds of nature, to actual birds chirping.

Like all things difficult and trying, I learned a lot during my day without Power. But the best lesson I think I learned is that all I really need to be happy is my family.

And coffee.

Ok, and some wine.

And maybe a sleep machine?

*Delicious Blackout Fondue
(This is such a fun meal to have with kids because they will eat just about anything if they know they get to dip it into a hot cauldron of cheese with a sharp stick. I remember having fondue during Hurricane Hugo, when the power was out for days here. I was around 8 or 9 years old and I remember feeling very grown up. If you've never made it before, it's so much easier than you would think. Plus, a lot of us have a fondue pot collecting dust somewhere around the house...)

-Grate 4-5 cups (about 12 oz) of Gruyere and another 4-5 cups of Extra Sharp Cheddar (9-10 cups/24 oz total) in a large bowl. Toss with 2 TB of cornstarch. Set aside.
-In a medium saucepan (or you can always make this in the actual fondue pot over the lit sterno if you need to), rub a cut garlic clove along the sides and bottom (discard the garlic) and pour in 1 1/2 cups of dry white wine. Turn heat on medium-low heat.
-When it starts to bubble, start adding your cheese by the handful while stirring in a figure-eight pattern with a wooden spoon. (No, I'm not crazy. You do this so that your cheese doesn't clump around the spoon.) Stir constantly until your mixture is smooth and bubbly. (This could take up to 5 minutes)
-Season with the juice of one lemon, lots of freshly grated nutmeg, some white pepper (if you have it, black is obviously fine), and a pinch of kosher salt.
-Transfer to your fondue pot and keep warm over the sterno.
-Serve with your favorite dippers. We like an assortment of steamed veggies like carrots, cauliflower, broccoli and brussels sprouts cut into large chunks. We also love to dip chunks of cooked chicken or pork, raw apples and toasted bread cubes.

Cranberry Gummies

2011-11-10T08:56:00.005-05:00

This is a fun project to do with the kids this holiday season. Their little tummies will be filled with so much sugar, grease, and junk, why not give them a treat with a little healthy kick to it? (Added bonus-they get to make them!)

I've shared with you my Peach Gummies and my Champagne Jigglers for the really big kids, so here's just another version of the yummy gummy. And this time it's cranberry-perfect for the holidays! Have your kids cut them into whatever shape they like, it's so much fun!

These are a lot firmer than the Peach Gummies, and contain lots of fruit bits, which I happen to really like. But if you want them more 'perfect', then I would strain the pureed fruit mixture before you add it to the gelatin.

*Cranberry Gummies
-In a small saucepan, combine 1 12 ounce bag of fresh cranberries, 1/2 cup of sugar and the juice from 1 large navel orange (about 1/3 cup worth).

(not the prettiest of oranges, I know...)

Bring this to a simmer and then turn the heat down to low to continue to simmer until the cranberries break down and fully soften.

-Using an immersion blender if you've got one, puree until well mixed. It should now be very thick.

Set aside.
-In a large, microwave-safe bowl, combine 5 TB or 5 packets of plain gelatin with the juice of another navel orange and enough cranberry juice* to equal 1 cup (you will need roughly 2/3 cup of cranberry juice). Stir well with a fork and allow it to sit for a couple of minutes at room temperature.

-Stir in 1/2 cup of agave nectar and microwave on high in 30 second increments, stirring after each, until you cook it for a total of 1 1/2 minutes.

-Pour into a glass 9x13 inch dish and chill until set. This can take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours.

-Run a sharp knife around the edges of the pan to help release the gelatin. It may take a little convincing to get it out, a hot towel on the bottom of the inverted pan can help, or if you can slide a spatula underneath it to release the seal, that can work too. But once you get get it loose, turn it out onto the counter and then cut it into whatever shapes you'd like. The side that was face-down in the pan is the shiniest side and should be your 'presentation side'.

-And you're done! These keep for a very long time in the fridge, stored air-tight. They're great for gifts and lunchboxes. Enjoy!

(*I always have the 100% cranberry juice blend on hand for my son, which is mostly apple juice, and that's what I used here. Cranberry juice cocktail, which is more common, has a stronger cranberry flavor but has sugar in it. Use whatever you'd like.)

Website Review: Coupon Chief

2011-11-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of coupon sites out there nowadays. I can remember back when coupons only came in the mail and you needed a pair of scissors to get to them. Ahh...the good ole' days. But now you can pretty much go online and find a coupon for just about anything and anywhere- grocery stores, restaurants, clothing, and so on and so on. It's almost become ridiculous to pay 'full price' for anything these days...kinda like how paying with a check is sooo yesterday? (Sorry, Old Ladies In The Grocery Store Line In Front Of Me)

I, as most of you know by now, am a big fan of the coupon. I go online once a week and print my grocery coupons and also clip 'em the old school way from my Sunday newspaper to help me buy the things I need for my family. I don't, however, use a lot of coupons for other things in my life. I mean, if a good one comes to me in the mail, I will happily use it, but I don't go out hunting for them. I'm just too busy to think about it. But then I was contacted by a company that asked me to review their site, Couponchief.com. I just assumed they were another grocery coupon site. So when I first checked it out, I was a little confused and wasn't sure what I was looking at...or for. But once I realized what Coupon Chief was actually about, I found it to be very cool.

Coupon Chief is basically a database for online coupons. They sort of do the research for you and collect all the available internet coupon codes and put them in one place. And they allow their users to comment and rate the coupons, so you know what you're getting before you click. They also give you the option to share any coupon promo codes that you have and then share in the profit. They have a ton of coupons (or promo codes) for online purchases of all kinds, separated by categories or 'popular tags' such as Fashion, Electronics, Travel, Books, etc.

Since my brain always goes directly to food, and this is, however, a Food Blog, I went straight to work searching for food-related coupons. Again, you aren't gonna find a coupon for a loaf of bread here, but I was able to find coupons for things like specialty chocolates and coffees, mail delivery steaks and candies, etc. None of those things I actually buy on a regular basis, but it did get me thinking about the one time of year that I actually do any online shopping. The holiday season! It is the ONLY time I will buy anything without holding it in my hands first. I've always been a fan of Amazon.com, which is known for having great deals, but now I think I'm gonna check out Coupon Chief before I buy anything this Christmas (they even have promo codes for various Amazon.com purchases, by the way).

Coupon Chief has a search box where you can enter a coupon type or store you're searching for. For instance, I entered 'Target' into the search box and 75 available coupons came up. I entered 'Shoes' and got 643 results. I was especially pleased with the Mothers Day tag. Who knew there was an online store called Sea of Diamonds?! See- you can get such great ideas from this site!... (are you listening, honey?)

In all seriousness, I really do think this site is helpful to those who enjoy online shopping. So go ahead, give it a try...you know you're curious about the diamonds.

Now I just need to figure out which one of my friends will be getting the lifetime supply of Ribeye's this Christmas.
_____________________________________________________________

(Follow Coupon Chief on Twitter or like them on Facebook to have great deals 'delivered' to you.)

If anyone else would like to request a site review, please contact me at Info.EverydayChampagne@gmail.com

Chilled Chocolate Torte with Walnut Pretzel Crust

2011-11-07T08:42:00.001-05:00

I should warn you. This dessert I am about to share with you is so good that you may want to think long and hard about who you give it to. You must only give this to someone you really and truly like because they will never go away after they have a bite of this unbelievable piece of chocolate heaven. They will cling like brown on rice.

I'm not even a big fan of chocolatey desserts. They are actually the last thing I will order off of a menu, and the last thing I will make at home. I think it's because there are so many chocolate desserts out there and very few of them are amazing...most are just a bit boring in my opinion.

But my opinion of chocolate desserts was changed the night my husband and I went out to dinner for our 7 year anniversary. We had eaten a good dinner, drank some good wine and wanted to try to end our date on a really high note so we asked for the dessert menu. There was a pumpkin cheesecake, some ice cream, some sort of pie, maybe a bread pudding, and a Chocolate Walnut Torte. We decided since it was late October, we should order the least Thanksgiving-y thing on the menu, so chocolate it was.

When I cut my fork into this thing, I almost gasped. First of all, it was ice cold. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. It almost flaked off of my fork, like really cold butter. Then I put the bite in my mouth and it absolutely melted. Again, like butter. It was unbelievable. And I knew I wanted to try to recreate it. So I did. And I have to say, I did a damn good job. I added salted pretzels to the walnuts in the crust so you get this incredible contrast and symphony of sweet and salty in your mouth. Delicious.

And now I would love to share it all with you. Because I like you.

(I actually think these would be awesome as mini tortes for a party if you used mini muffin tins. Just press a small amount of crust into the bottom and sides of the muffin cups and bake for about 10 minutes. Then just spoon some of the filling into each cup and chill as instructed below.)
The Crust-
-Pulse 3 ounces of salted pretzels in a food processor until you get the consistency of breadcrumbs. Dump into a small bowl.
-Pulse 1 cup of raw walnuts until finely chopped (don't take these too far or you'll get walnut butter). Add these to the bowl with the pretzel crumbs.
-Stir in 4 TB (half a stick) of melted butter and 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.
-Mix this with a fork until the butter has moistened the crumbs.
-Dump this into a tart shell with removable sides that is 9 inches wide and 1 inch tall.

-Press it down firmly into the tart shell and up the sides.

-Bake this in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool while you make your filling...

The Filling-
(If you want a taller torte and have a 9" shell with higher sides, say 3 inches or so, simply double the measurements for the filling.)
-If you don't have a double boiler, position a large bowl over a medium saucepan with a small amount of water in it. It's very important that the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water in the saucepan. The point here is to have the steam from the boiling water underneath slowly and gently melt the chocolate.
-Place 1/2 stick (4 TB) of unsalted butter, 1 lb. of semisweet chocolate chips (a standard bag of chips are 12 ounces, so you would need 1 bag and 1/4 of another), and 1 tsp of espresso powder in the bowl. Turn the heat on medium-low and begin to stir. (I recommend doing what I failed to do- Cutting the butter up into pieces before melting, otherwise the chocolate will melt faster than the butter and your chocolate will become clumpy before the butter melts. If this happens, don't panic. Just add more chocolate to cool it down.)

-When the mixture has melted and become smooth, turn your heat off and slowly add 1/2 cup of heavy cream (no substitutions!!) and using a whisk, mix until you get a smooth, glossy finish.

-Carefully pour this into your prepared and cooled crust (Use a towel to cover the bottom of the bowl so you don't drip water into your crust as you're pouring the filling in) and smooth it out with a spatula.

-Place this in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferable overnight. (It will be set after 2-3 hours, but still a bit soft. You want this to be incredibly firm when you're serving it).

-Serve with some freshly whipped cream or nothing at all. It's absolutely divine and rich and lovely and needs nothing but a fork and a smile.

You've been warned.

One Part Vinegar, Two Parts Worry.

2011-11-04T11:37:00.001-04:00

So...I had an interesting day yesterday. All day long, something just felt off. I was incredibly on edge, every little thing seemed to go wrong and I just couldn't get my bearings. Just to give you an idea, the day started off with me spilling my entire carafe of freshly brewed coffee all over the kitchen counter. It was the kind of day where you knew something was about to happen...like the storm clouds that roll in before the lightning strikes. I had a lot of work to do in the morning on the computer so my almost 4 year old son and I watched a movie for our bonding time while my almost 8 month old daughter took her first nap. She slept a lot longer than usual, which was helpful to both my work and my Son-Exposure. By the time she woke up, it was time for my son's nap, which took a lot of skill, patience and finesse on my part to get started. He wanted to sleep with every single one of his cars and couldn't understand why I was telling him he could only sleep with 3. Watching him choose 3 cars out of a sea of 500 was half precious and half agonizing. Again, things just weren't normal...

My daughter woke up fine and happy, ate a big bowl of pureed avocado and bananas. That part, actually, was especially un-normal considering avocados have been the one thing she hasn't liked in her lifetime. But I thought mixing it with her favorite food would make her enjoy it more, and I was right. She loved it, and ate a ton of it. She went down again a few hours later. Again, sleeping longer than usual, and, again, woke up fine. My son was also awake so the three of us played for awhile on the floor. Then it happened, the inevitable bad thing that had been looming all day. My daughter threw up all over me, herself, and her toys. And this wasn't normal baby spit-up, this was the real thing. And it freaked me out. She wasn't acting any different, but I do not respond well to this sort of thing. And here's why- When my son was 19 months old, he, my husband and I, all had the Rotavirus during Fourth of July weekend. All three of us together were violently ill at the same time. It was, hands down, the worst experience we've all been through as a family outside of him spending weeks in the NICU as a newborn.

So when my daughter got sick yesterday, I began to have horrible flashbacks. I cleaned her up, thinking it was most likely the large amount of avocado she ate earlier and I started to breathe a little easier. Then she did it again, and again, and again. I called my husband to come home, telling him I needed to take her to an Urgent Care center. Now. By the time I left the house, it was just past 5 pm, during rush hour, and I had only been to this Urgent Care place one other time, when I had a bad sinus infection. So, not only did I not really know where I was going, I also couldn't move for 3 minutes at every, single intersection I came to. I would actually like to take the time now to apologize to all the other cars at West Catawba and Bethel Church for running that red light. No, I was not drunk or 12, I was in Mama Bear mode and nothing was going to get in the way of me and that doctor. And let me tell you, when you're in the car during rush hour traffic, with your vomiting and crying infant alone in the backseat, you will do whatever it takes to get her help.

We eventually got to the Urgent Care center, (which I swear moved from the last time I had been there), and I ran inside, feeling certain that a violently ill infant would trump a giant man's sore elbow, only to find out that no matter the situation, the Urgent Care policy is 'first come, first serve'. Period. I almost gave that giant man a good kick in the elbow for not letting us go first. We finally got to go back to the room and wait some more. Then the doctor comes in and after her examinations of my child, I walked out of that room with absolutely no new information regarding her little tummy. The only thing good that came out of it was that apparently my baby girl had fluid in one of her ears, so we got a preemptive prescription for the possible ear infection that could pop up over the weekend. So...now, not only did I have a baby who was sick without expert explanation, I also had a baby with a possible ear infection?! Ahh!!!!

I filled the prescription, put on my doctor's cap and purchased some Pedialyte. Came home to the pizza party that was happening in my kitchen, now weak from the stress and lack of nourishment... (Wait. When did I eat last?) Sucked down a piece of pizza and nursed my daughter, giving her the first food she's had in 5 hours, tightly crossed my fingers that it would stay down, gave her a bath, nursed her some more until she fell asleep, latched on like she last did when she was a newborn. I couldn't resist continuing to let her sleep-nurse for half an hour more as she slept in my arms. I rocked and sang, stroked her hair, took it all in. (Why does it have to take an illness for us to 'get our babies back'?) And figured we wouldn't know anything more about her tummy until we see how the night goes. Even though I was nervous for the worst, my gut was still telling me it was the avocado. And I made a permanent mental note to not give her anymore avocados until she was old enough to have a margarita with it.

She slept completely fine, woke up starving, kept more breastmilk down, plus a little oatmeal mixed with Pedialyte. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I remembered her ear. Damn. I do not want another ear infected child on my hand (my son spent the first 18 months of his life with back to back ear infections and eventually needed tubes, so I was determined to nip this one in the bud.) I remembered back when I was at camp as a child and the counselors would pass around a squirt bottle filled with half vinegar and half alcohol for all us campers to squirt in our ears after we got out of the lake. The mixture was supposed to dry the ear out and make it less vulnerable to infection. So I dipped a cotton swab into a cup of half plain, white vinegar and half rubbing alcohol and inserted into her ear. Then later I remembered another at-home remedy for ear infection prevention- Dropping some warm garlic oil into the ears was supposed to clear them up. (Garlic is an excellent, natural, antibiotic and anti bacterial ingredient. Big kids can, and should, eat raw or Pickled Garlic to scare away infections.) After a little research I found that either a warm vegetable, olive, or garlic oil are equally good for scaring away ear infections in babies if dropped into the ear. So I moistened another cotton swap with some good ole extra virgin olive oil from my counter top and inserted that into her ear as well. Couldn't hurt, right?

Dear god, I just made a vinaigrette in my baby's ear. This better work.

She's now up there sleeping like a baby- so far, so good. And it got me thinking about everything we go through as a parent. Being a parent is not just about giving birth, then feeding, changing, cleaning and dressing your children. Or the buying them things, protecting them from evil, or entertaining them. The biggest part of being a parent, or in my case, a mother, is the stress and worry that goes into it. I wonder when that ever stops. Does it ever stop? When I'm sick, does my mother still feel it in her gut? I went to bed last night exhausted (at 8:30!), feeling like I just ran a marathon. I had been so worried about what could happen to my baby, what was happening to my baby, that every ounce of my energy was taken away from me. I suppose the idea is that if I spend and use up all my energy, thus putting it out into the air, then she would be able to suck it up and use it to better herself. Just like if she needed something from my body, a tangible item like blood or a kidney, I would give her anything and everything that I had, just to make her better, even if it meant I would have to suffer from having less. I don't know how much of that is the same with energy and worry, but it must be why we do it. THAT's what being a parent is all about. It's about giving a little piece of you every time your child needs something. It's about doing whatever it takes to make your child better, whether it's running a red light in mad traffic, almost beating up a giant man in a waiting room, or making salad dressing in her ear. You just do what you gotta do.

*The Correct Way to Make a Vinaigrette
This is not difficult, people. Making your own salad dressing is a cinch and incredibly cheap. I do not buy bottled salad dressings because they are a waste of your money. I also don't believe in salad dressing recipes because I find you never need as much oil as a recipe states. Just add it slowly, and taste it as you go along. Then stop when it tastes good. Here's how to make a basic vinaigrette-
(makes enough salad dressing for 4 servings of salad)
-In the large bowl you will be making your salad in, add about 4 splashes of any vinegar you'd like. Add 2 squirts of Dijon mustard, or 2 small spoonfuls. Season with about 1/2 tsp of sugar or a good squeeze of honey, a couple pinches of kosher salt and some freshly cracked black pepper (do this to taste, you can always add more later, but can never take away.) Whisk this until the mustard has broken down into the vinegar.
-Place a damp towel underneath your bowl to keep it still while you slowly drizzle some extra virgin olive oil with one hand and whisk with the other until your dressing has almost doubled in volume. Taste it. Add more oil and/or sugar if it's too acidic, more salt if it's bland.
-I like to remove some of the dressing from the bowl in case I made too much, knowing I can always add it back in if I need it, (this can keep in a jar in the fridge for a several days). Add in a handful of greens per person for a side salad and any other ingredients you'd like. Toss with your hands. A perfectly dressed salad doesn't leave any dressing behind.
(*change this up however you'd like by adding a citrus juice and its zest instead of the vinegar, some garlic, some ginger, some herbs or spices, crumbled cheese. Use your imagination!)

I'm Not French Onion Soup

2011-10-25T16:02:00.000-04:00

I am a sucker for French Onion Soup. It doesn't really have to be fancy French Onion Soup, it just has to be good. And by good, I really mean cheesy. Who are these people kidding when they bring you French Onion Soup with a tiny bit of cheese on top? Don't they know the only reason we ordered the soup was to eat the cheese?

I've made French Onion Soup many times, but just like my Chicken Pot Pie recipe I recently posted, I have never written down what I've done because I figure you all have your own way of making this dish and adding another one into the mix would just simply overcrowd the internet. When I've made French Onion Soup in the past it's always come out well, but some nights it's better than others. So, I decided to really pay attention to what I was doing this time and see how it turned out. Well, it turned out Good. Like, really good. I will forever now be making this version of French Onion Soup. Forever.

There are a few things I did differently this time around that I think made it stellar. I decided to use butter, which I haven't done before. And not only did I decide to use butter, I decided to use brown butter...which is like butter crack. It's my trick when I want a lot of butter flavor, without using a ton of butter. I do it in my Avocookies too. And I'm not even using a lot of it, just enough to give the soup an amazing butter flavor. I'm also using brandy. Mmmm...brandy. I use brandy in my 40 Clove Garlic Chicken recipe, which I think makes it better than others. You can use a fortified wine like Marsala or Sherry if you didn't have the brandy on hand. But the brandy is awesome. The third thing that sets this French Onion Soup recipe above the rest is the bread I use. No, it's not a fancy artisan loaf. No, it's not sourdough garlic toasts. No, it's not even homemade. But it is killer. I use Onion Rolls. You know, the kind you've used for hamburgers? Yes, those. After past barbecues and cookouts I have found myself with many a leftover Onion Roll. It has sat in my fridge for weeks just taking up space. But now I have given the Onion Roll a new life. It is sooo good in this soup. I don't even toast it beforehand, it's simply perfection combined with the cheeses on top of the soup.

So, here it is- My recipe for French Onion Soup. May it not get lost in the shuffle.

*Abbey's Brown Butter French Onion Soup with Sage Gruyere Toasts
(makes 3-4 servings, depending on your bowl size)

-In a large soup pot, melt 2 TB unsalted butter on medium heat. Allow the butter to crackle and foam. Swirl the pan a couple of times. Once the foam disappears, you are left with brown butter. Add 1-2 TB of extra virgin olive oil to the brown butter and then add in 4 large onions* that you've thinly sliced. Toss well in the oil and butter. Season with 1 TB of sugar, a few good pinches of kosher salt and lots of freshly cracked black pepper (I really love the tri-colored peppercorns for this if you have them).

Turn the heat down to low, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Every now and then, give the pan a good shake to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.
-Remove the lid and cook for another 15 minutes. The onions should now be buttery and spreadably soft.

-Bump the heat back up to medium and pour in 3 good glugs of brandy (a good, inexpensive brand to keep on hand for recipes is Korbel. You can find it at most liquor stores.) Stir well and simmer for a minute.
-Throw in 2 bay leaves.
-Add 1 32 oz carton OR 2 14.5 oz cans of low sodium beef broth and 1 beef bouillon cube (if you don't keep low sodium broth on hand, you may not need the bouillon. Just check your seasoning at the end).
-Let this simmer, on low, for 1-1 1/2 hours. (If you're in a hurry, you can boil it harder for 30 min or so.)
-Discard the bay leaves.**
-Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place your oven-safe crocks on the sheet and evenly distribute the soup into each. (The crocks I used are 2 cup size, and I was able to get 3 big servings out of each, but could have easily gotten 4 if my husband and I weren't so greedy.)
-Sprinkle some fresh, minced sage leaves onto the inner halves of your onion rolls (dried sage is fine) and top each half with 2 slices of swiss or gruyere (1 1/2-2 oz total), then sprinkle with a good amount of grated Parmesan. Top each crock with the sage/cheese buns.

-Place the cookie sheet in a preheated 375 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown.

-Serve with a simple green salad.

(*I always buy the bags of yellow onions at the store. I can get 3 lbs. of onions for under $2 that way.)
(**now is when you could stop and store for later. Then, at dinnertime, all you need to do is add the cheese bread to the tops of each bowl and bake.)

Because I follow these TIPS, this entire batch of French Onion Soup, along with the salad we ate with it, cost me only $4.

Surprisingly Easy Spooktacular Cupcakes

2011-10-21T13:18:00.000-04:00

Cupcake models are not really my thing. I'd rather make a really delicious cupcake that looks homemade than have a stale, overly sweet one that looks exactly like a duck. But my husband is out of town (again) and I've found myself in desperate need to do fun projects with my son. He has always loved baking with me, so I thought a fun project could be decorating some Halloween cupcakes. I made a batch of fondant yesterday, and today we set out to make some fun treats.

Let me tell you, this was so much fun and so easy that I'm not exaggerating when I say that 'If I can do it, you can do it'. Seriously, if you can mold something out of playdough, you can do this.

Let's begin with the fondant. Don't bother with making the traditional recipe for Fondant. It's difficult to do, and it tastes awful. But this is a recipe for Marshmallow fondant, which tastes just like marshmallows, only sweeter. Using the marshmallows removes the need to boil any sugar or use any candy thermometers. So I say, if it tastes better and it's easier to make, then why not?

*Marshmallow Fondant
(makes about 2 lbs.)

-Spray the insides of a large, microwaveable bowl with cooking spray. Empty an entire 16 ounce bag of mini marshmallows (not the large ones, they don't melt as well) into the bowl, and add about 4 TB of water. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring (using a well-greased rubber spatula) in between each interval, until they are completely melted. This should only take 1- 1/2 minutes.
-Add a splash of vanilla extract (or any other flavor you'd like) and then gradually add half a 2 lb. bag of powdered sugar, stirring in between, until you get a well-formed, yet still sticky dough.
-Turn the dough onto a powdered sugar-ed surface (using some of the other half of the powdered sugar bag), and with greased hands, knead this dough, adding more powdered sugar as needed, until you get an un-sticky dough.*
-Shape into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. This will keep for several days in the fridge.
(*If you wanted to dye your fondant all one color, now is when you would do it. Drop your desired food coloring into the center of the dough and knead the color into it with the powdered sugar until you reach the color you want. If you were planning on making this fondant for a cake, this recipe would cover a standard layer cake or sheet cake. But this recipe will be more than enough to decorate 24 cupcakes)

*Cupcakes
-If I'm going through all the trouble to make these guys look cute, I'm not going through any trouble making the cakes themselves. I'm even using canned, white frosting for these, which I can't stand the taste of (you could also make it even easier and use the frosting that comes in the whipped cream-style container, ready to be piped). But because I'm only using a bit of frosting here, there's no point in making a batch of the homemade stuff. My recipe for the easiest cupcake is to take 1 box of your favorite brand of mix, add to it 1 can of plain, pumpkin puree and mix well. Using a greased, medium sized ice cream scoop, fill your greased muffin cups and bake according to the box instructions until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out relatively clean. This recipe variation makes a fudgy, moist cupcake and is healthier than the standard boxed mix recipe. This will make roughly 12 cupcakes, depending on how full you fill your cups. Allow them to cool completely before decorating.

Now let's decorate some cupcakes! There are a lot of different options when using fondant to decorate, these are just the ones I chose to make with the time that my napping daughter allowed. Let your imagination be your guide!

*Ghost cupcake
-Take a small amount of fondant from the batch, about 2 ounces worth.


I'm using my hand to show you the correct size.

-Using powdered sugar as your 'bench flour', roll this out about 1/4 inch thick to this size.

-Place a large marshmallow on top of one cooled, cupcake. Use a tiny bit of frosting to glue it down.

-Drape your rolled out fondant circle over the marshmallow-topped cupcake. Press it down gently, if necessary, to shape it.

-Using a toothpick dipped into black or dark blue gel food coloring, draw on your ghost face.

*Mummy Cupcake
-Cover your cupcake with a thin layer of white frosting.
-Take another piece of the fondant from the batch, the same size as you did with the ghost.
-Roll it out again to be 1/4 inch thick, the size of your outstretched hand.
-Using a pizza cutter, cut into strips.

-Place these strips onto the iced cupcake, back and forth until you get a wrapped look. Add little fondant eyes, if desired, by taking a very small piece of the fondant and dying it purple, green, or black and then 'gluing' them onto the mummy face.

*Pumpkin on the Grass Cupcake
-Pipe some white icing onto your cupcake, and cover with green sprinkles or glitter. (or you could always dye the icing itself green). In short, do whatever you can to make it look like grass. I just happened to have some green glitter on hand so that's what I used but green sprinkles would probably be better.

-Take a small amount of fondant from the batch, about the size of a ping pong ball.

-Add some red and yellow gel food coloring to the ball and 'knead' to get the color evenly distributed until you get the correct orange color.
-Shape into a flattened ball. Press your thumb down into the top of the ball to make an indention.
-While holding it in your hand, use the sides of a toothpick to press into the sides of the pumpkin to create the vertical ridges in the pumpkin.

-Take a tiny amount of the fondant from the batch and dye it green. Shape some of it into a stem and 'glue' it on top of the pumpkin. Roll out some more and cut into a leaf shape. 'Glue' onto the pumpkin, next to the stem.

Done!

We were gonna make a witch using an inverted chocolate sugar cone as her hat, but then my daughter woke up. So I quickly cleaned my working space and put everything away. Then I stopped hearing her on the monitor. I went up to check on her and she was back asleep again. But her socks were off. Apparently she woke up to take her socks off, then went back to sleep again. So weird.

One More Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

2011-10-17T12:07:00.000-04:00

I've said before, I'll say it again- I love chicken pot pie. I've shared my Southwest Chicken Pie with Pimento Cheese Biscuit Crust before, but never my recipe for the more traditional version. I don't actually share a lot of 'traditional' recipes because I figure it would be a waste of your time. There are SO many recipes out there for Chicken Pot Pie, why would one more make a difference? Many of you have your own ways of making it, and I've made it so many times I've just never written down what I've done. Recipes like this are just things I make like a robot, but last night I actually took the time to jot down my 'recipe' so I could share it with you. And I'm glad I did because last night's pot pie is the best Chicken Pot Pie I've ever had. So now I actually have documentation of what I did that made it so good!

*Abbey's Chicken Pot Pie

This is actually a picture of the last pot pie I made since my son got a little carried away with the venting process of last night's pot pie.

-You can make your pastry dough in advance and keep in the fridge for a couple days or you can use your favorite brand at the store (If you're gonna use store-bought, the only brand I recommend using is the Pillsbury 'All-Ready' Pie Crust that you roll out, located in the dairy section of the store.) I have two recipes-One using shortening, One all butter, both are wonderful, very easy to make and freeze well.
-Place a 4-5 lb. chicken in a large stockpot along with 2 celery stalks, broken in half, 2 carrots, peeled and broken in half, 1 large onion, quartered with the root end still attached, 4 bay leaves, a good sprinkling of ground allspice, and several handfuls of salt. Just cover with water.

-Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hours.
-When the meat has pulled away from the legs, the veggies have softened, and the fat has rendered, you're done. Transfer chicken and veggies to a bowl to cool. Discard bay leaves. Allow stock to cool slightly.

-Remove the cooled chicken from the bones and skin and shred. Discard the onions but dice the cooked celery and carrots. Set aside.

-Skim the fat from your cooled chicken stock. You will only need about 1 cup of stock for this recipe, but you will end up with about a gallon. I strongly reecommend you to save this. Freezing it in small containers or zipbags is a great option.
-While you make your filling, roll out one pie crust and shape it into the bottom and sides of a greased, 2.75-3 quart glass dish that's 2-3 inches deep. (If you only have a standard 9x9in dish, then you will have extra filling...which is certainly not a problem). Set aside while you make your filling...
-In a large pan, melt 2 TB of butter with 2 TB of extra virgin olive oil on medium heat. When the butter begins to foam, add in 1 lb. of frozen, diced mixed veggies, (Corn, Peas, Carrots, Green beans, etc. Using frozen, chopped, mixed veggies here is just the easiest way to do it, and since I poached my own chicken, made my own stock and pie dough, I feel I earned the right to use pre-chopped veggies here! But by all means, chop your own mix. I also change it up a bit and sometimes add chopped asparagus or mushrooms in the springtime, diced potatoes, anything that you happen to have on hand, fresh or frozen.), and 1/2 lb frozen pearl onions. Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and allow the veggies to warm through and become tender.

-Add in your shredded chicken and poached, diced veggies, and toss to combine.
-Sprinkle in 5 TB of all purpose flour and stir well to distribute the flour evenly.
-Season with 1 TB dried tarragon, 1/2 TB dried sage, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, more salt if you think you need it (this all depends on how salty you made your stock), and 4 TB of dijon mustard. Stir this well and allow the flour to cook for about 1 minute.
-Pour in 3/4 cup-1 cup dry, white wine and stir well. Allow the wine to cook for about 1 minute.
-Add 6-7 ounces creme fraiche (sour cream is a fine substitute, even cream or half and half could work, it would just thin out your mixture, so you would add less stock in the end). Stir to combine.
-Add about 1 cup of your reserved chicken stock. Stir to combine. It should now be the consistency of those cans of 'cream of...' soup.
-Pour this into your prepared pie crust.

-Roll out your second pie crust and transfer to the top of the dish. Tuck under the sides of any excess dough or trim the excess dough and make pretty designs with them to be placed on top of the crust. Vent the center of the dough with 3-4 slits. Brush with heavy cream or half and half.

-Place on top of a foil-lined cookie sheet and into a preheated 375 degree oven. Bake for 1 hour-1 1/2 hours, or until the top crust is golden brown.

-Allow the pot pie to cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.

-Enjoy!
(This, like all casseroles or stews is actually better the next day. I love having leftover pot pie for lunch!)

(Because I use these Money Saving Tips, this entire meal, which can feed about 6 hungry people, cost me only $7.)

Call Me Superficial but...

2011-10-07T11:45:00.000-04:00

I've been growing my hair out since I gave birth to my daughter. It was all going pretty well for awhile until I looked at myself in the mirror for the first time the other day and realized how crappy it looked. I had just been styling it so quickly before I left the house over the last several months (OK, so I sometimes styled it...), and always felt that it looked fine. Then I went to get my drivers license photo taken. When I got my license in the mail, I almost passed out. (And I thought I looked good that day!!) I didn't even recognize that girl in the picture. She looked like the band mother of A Flock of Seagulls. It was bad. Even my husband told me I should go get the picture retaken. So that day I decided I would have cute hair again.

I cut my own hair, and have since college, so it's not like I just didn't have the time to make an appointment for the past 7 months. I just simply didn't have the time. Period. So that night I cut it and made it cute again. That made me feel better for a couple of days but then I felt yucky again. (This also could have had something to do with the fact that I hadn't sweat in 4 days, no matter how fast I ran or how deep I squatted, so I was incredibly puffy. I was retaining so much water I could have started my own lake.) So while my husband was on his way home from work the other day I asked him to pick me up a box of hair dye. Before I got pregnant with my daughter, I had very short hair that I would dye very blonde. My whole family has naturally blonde hair but I just wanted it to be really blonde so I would dye it. Then I stopped once I became pregnant. And since I wasn't spending as much time out in the sun as I used to, my hair had become pretty dull-looking. I knew that making it super blonde again would be the key to my superficial happiness.

So after we tucked in the kids that night, I went in the bathroom to dye my hair. I also wanted to go for another jog that evening in hopes to break a sweat. I figured I would put the dye in my hair, and while I was waiting the 45 minutes for it to set in, instead of just sitting and wasting time, I would go run. I put the dye in, put on my shower cap and went to go get dressed in my running clothes. Now, when I run at night, I make sure to not look cute. I make sure to look as masculine as possible so no perverts want anything to do with me. This all stems from a place where I have always been paranoid that somebody, somewhere, is always watching me. I don't know where it came from, maybe it's because I spent the better part of my adolescence on a stage, but it's the truth. So when I night-jog, I wear baggy clothes so no curves are detected, I wear baseball caps, sometimes I even grunt when I run. (Yes, I am aware of how crazy that sounds.)

As I was getting dressed in my baggy shirt and even baggier pants, my very smart husband brought up a very good point. He reminded me that if I did, in fact, break a sweat, the sweat would cause all the hair dye on my head to come streaming down my face and into my eyes. (That's why I married him, folks.) So my brilliant idea was to place a sweat band on my forehead to catch potential sweat and voila!- problem solved. Only, it's not 1984 and I don't have a sweat band. I did, however have a white sash. So I wrapped that sash tightly around my forehead, over the shower cap and stood up to walk downstairs. When I saw the look on my husband's face, I swear I thought he was considering divorce. Then he just broke out in hysterical laughter. I went back into the bathroom to see what was so funny, then I realized I may have never, in my entire life, looked so ridiculous. We both were laughing so hard I thought we may wake up the kids.

Then we started laughing even harder at how when I first told him I was going for a run, he was so concerned about me and told me which route to take because of the better street lights, he asked if I had pepper spray, told me what color to wear, etc. I was even going to bring my cell phone just in case. But now, I kinda looked like Ralph Macchio's stalker. And smelled like ammonia. I was walking pepper spray.

My poor husband, he thought he'd never have to see this girl again.

My jog was uneventful. No sweat happened, but there was also no need to lift up the shower cap in order to scare off an attacker.
Days later, my hair looks good for the first time in 7 months, I feel better, and my jog yesterday resulted in a very nice sweat.

Better!

I, like many stay at home moms, spend the hours of the day taking care of kids, and worrying about those kids, dressing them, undressing them, bathing them, making sure they brush their teeth, eat right, etc. and very rarely pay any attention to myself. I actually feel guilty when I do pay attention to my appearance. I feel like that time I took to put on mascara or fix my hair would have been better spent playing with the kids or cleaning something. But I gotta say that after this whole hair incident, I feel a little like my old self again. Looking better made me happier. And being happier made my kids and husband happier. So I no longer feel like I'm being selfish when I put on a little make-up just to clean the house, or put on clothes without an elastic waist band just to take the kids for a walk.

So in lieu of a recipe this week I have decided to give some tips on how to make yourself look better in a very small amount of time. Because, I have perfected the quick-get ready. I've spent all my life doing my own make-up (on and off the stage), and my own hair. And once upon a time, my husband and I used to run a photography business. He was the photographer and I was the make-up artist and most of our clients were actors. So I know a thing or two about cosmetics.
Here are just a few quick tips-

*Unless you have major blemishes on your face, mascara, lip gloss and a bit of bronzer on your cheeks are all you need to look pulled together in a short amount of time. And I swear by black mascara instead of brown. But for daytime, you can go with black on top and brown on the bottom lashes.

*Never underestimate the power of store-bought tanning lotions. Jergens makes a great product called 'Natural Glow Express' that gives you a gradual tan on your face and body. Use it as a moisturizer and lotion in the off-season and I promise you will look better without looking orange.

*If you have normal-oily skin and have blackheads, my mother and I swear by Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. It's incredibly cheap and you can find it at most drugstores. It pulls that gunk right out!

*Never wear shimmer powder on your face when you're going to get your photo taken, the shimmer comes across as greasy under a camera flash.

*A white eye pencil or light concealer pencil on the inner rim of the eye can make you look like you actually slept last night.

*Do not waste your money on dry shampoo. All it is is powder in a can. Use baby powder on your roots to absorb the oil on those days you didn't have the time to wash your hair. It gives you an instant root boost. A little goes a long way, you don't want to look like George Washington. (When I had red hair, I used to mix the baby powder with a bronzer so it better matched my hair color.)

*If you're a natural blonde and your hair is not currently dyed and you just want a quick highlight, my mother and I use Sun-In, even during the winter. Spray it on wet hair around the face-framing strands and then blow-dry to set if you're not out in the sun.

*If you want your lips to appear fuller, trace along the center of your top lip line (the cupids bow) with a shimmer pencil (an eye pencil works great) and blend in slightly. A small amount of gloss in the center of your lower lip helps make them appear fuller as well.

*If you're getting your photo taken at the DMV, always put on more eyeliner and lipstick than you think you need. Fluorescent lights take away half your make-up.

*Always keep a stash of make-up in your bag and/or car.

*And lastly, don't feel foolish putting it on! Remember, you will ALWAYS feel better after you do it.

There Are Two Kinds of People In This World...

2011-10-03T10:20:00.000-04:00

I have a good friend who refuses to stick her hand inside a raw bird. (This bird is not living, just to clarify.) She called me up one day and needed my help in cooking a turkey because she had never prepared one before. I explained that she needed to take the neck and giblets out and, unless she wanted to brine it, she needed to season under the skin of the breast, and shove some flavorful stuff into the cavity if she wanted it to taste really good. All I got was silence on the other end. Then I got, 'You mean, I have to put my hand inside the thing? Oh my god, I will not. No way. That's gross.' It was then that I realized there are two kinds of people in this world: The kind that are willing to get chicken skin under their nails, and the kind that aren't. My good friend was obviously a part of the latter.

Each time I roast a chicken, I try something new. There are so many different ways out there to do it, and every cook, including myself, has their own method of cooking they swear by. And I've always done the same thing to season it- I've made a seasoning salt with fresh herbs and lemon zest and rubbed it all over the skin, under the skin, and in the cavity. This time, however, I was hoping for an easier method that I could pass along to my squeamish friends. Last year we spent Thanksgiving with my husband's family and I watched his mother do her turkey in a way I've never seen before. The night before she was going to cook it, she poured salt over the entire bird. She didn't shove anything under its skin, she didn't brine it, she just salted it all over the outside, wrapped it up, and then placed it in the refrigerator until the next morning when she took it out, and cooked it for several hours. I watched her do this and kept my mouth shut. I thought, there's no way this turkey is going to have any flavor!! But when I tasted it that afternoon, I was shocked at the amount of flavor it actually had. The salt that she used the night before had seeped in through the skin and flavored the meat perfectly. It was awesome.

So yesterday when I set out to make a roast chicken for my family's dinner, I was thinking of that yummy Thanksgiving bird and decided to try out my other mother's method. I took the bird out of its plastic home, placed it directly on the roasting pan I was planning on using (no need to dirty up or contaminate another surface!), removed the giblets (you can't skip this part, sorry squeamers), and poured some fine sea salt all over the top, bottom, sides and insides of the bird. I didn't go under the skin, I didn't massage it, I really didn't even have to get my hands dirty if I didn't want to (but I kinda like that part...). A set of thongs could have easily flipped the bird around while I held the salt container with my other hand. I sliced a lemon and an onion, and threw it inside the cavity, along with 2 bay leaves and a sprig of rosemary, (this step could easily be avoided for the extra squeamish), covered it with plastic wrap and placed it in the fridge until I was ready to cook it that night.*

As I took my first bite of the chicken, I was a little nervous, I'm not gonna lie. But it was so good! The salt did in fact seep through to the meat and it was the easiest chicken I've ever roasted. The best part of it all was that I had dinner already prepared before I even finished my coffee. So I am happy to share with you this cool new method for roasting a chicken. I hope I can get more people out there doing this, because there is nothing better on a Sunday night than a delicious, juicy roasted chicken with your family.

Here's how you do it-

*Abbey's Easy Roast Chicken
(instructions for a 5-6 lb. bird)
-On the morning before you plan on cooking your bird, take it out and place it on a lightly oiled roasting pan. Remove giblets.
-Pour an abundant amount of fine sea salt all over the outside of the bird, into the crevices of the wings and legs, top and bottom, and even inside the cavity. You want to salt this at least twice as much as you would normally salt something, because there has to be enough salt to permeate through the skin.
-Place aromatics inside the cavity if desired, place the bird on top of a 'rack' of cut celery, carrots, and onions, if desired, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 8-9 hours.
-Remove from the fridge 20-30 minutes before you plan on cooking to take the chill off, and preheat your oven to 500 degrees. If you want to add some black pepper and other dried herbs to the top of the chicken, do so now.
-Place your roasting pan in the hot oven and roast for 20 minutes. Turn the heat down to 375, (Do not open the door!) and set the timer for 1 hour. If you want to roast some veggies along side of the bird, which I highly recommend, only set your timer for 30 minutes and remove the pan to add your veggies, (Do not season them!), then place the pan back in the oven and set the timer for another 30-45 to cook the veggies and finish cooking the bird. It's done when a meat thermometer shows an internal temperature of 165 degrees. (You can also use the Southern woman's method of testing a cooked bird- Shake it's leg and if it shakes back and jiggles with ease, you're good.)
-Allow your bird to rest for 15 minutes before slicing and enjoy!

(*note- I have trussed my birds in the past, and I have also skipped that step. Through my intense research I have discovered that trussing your chicken causes it to cook longer and doesn't result in a better tasting bird. I have never had a dry breast when I have roasted a chicken un-trussed, therefore I think it's an unnecessary step.)

Homemade Teething Biscuits

2011-09-27T09:17:00.002-04:00

My daughter is doing what I like to call, 'thinking about teething'. She doesn't have any visible evidence of a tooth yet, but she is gnawing on anything within reach, drooling on anything within reach and I just have that mama hunch that it's gonna be soon. At every supermarket on the planet you can buy 'biter biscuits' or 'teething cookies' or even updated versions of those Zwieback toasts that many of us grew up on, (and by 'updated' I mean, sugar-ed and preservativ-ed). Most of those products contain things I'm just not that comfortable giving my baby. Things like white flour, white sugar, shortening, names of things I can't pronounce...

So you could buy those and, regardless of what my tone seems, I will not judge you, OR you could make your own. Now, when I started my research for making my own teething biscuits, I came across a lot of recipes. A LOT. And I was shocked at the ingredients in most of them. Almost all of them contained the exact things I was looking to avoid in making my own! So, I created a recipe that I am super psyched about. There is nothing in here that I don't feel comfortable giving my baby. And the best part is, this recipe is so simple that it basically has 3 ingredients, in equal parts, and takes less time to prepare the dough than it takes to preheat your oven.

I decided to make this recipe using what a lot of new moms have in their cupboards anyway- baby cereal. Now, I have taught you all how to make your own Baby Cereal and that works perfectly in this, but I would imagine many of you mamas out there have a half-used box of baby cereal that your baby has either grown out of or you just forgot about. This would be a great way to use it up. I also use oat flour in this recipe, which is a great alternative to wheat flour. My daughter hasn't had any wheat yet, but she has had plenty of oatmeal so I know it's OK to give to her. Your child may be different, so feel free to adjust this recipe to your baby's needs. And the third ingredient is fruit puree. This one is up to you. Use applesauce, pear puree, peach puree, prune puree, or any other type of fruit puree or fruit baby food that you have. (If you're following me and making your own in ice cube trays, you would need 8 cubes to equal 1 cup. If you're making your own and serving immediately, 1 cup equals 1 large pear, pureed. But if you're shy of 1 cup, add a bit of sterilized water.)

Here's how you do it-

*PearRific OatTastic Teething Biscuits (or something a little less lame...)

(recipe makes 10-12, depending on the size you choose to make them)

-1 cup oat flour
-1 cup oat, barley, or brown rice baby cereal (if you don't have any of these, use another cup of the flour. They will just be a bit more dense.)
-1 cup pear puree
-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/8 tsp ground allspice

--Mix everything well in a large mixing bowl, then spoon some dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet or use one of those silicone baking mats using a large spoon.
--Using wet fingers, press the dough down and shape into long, flat rectangles. Remember that your baby will need to hold onto these, so make them in a shape and size that is easy to hold. (And don't be too fussy about the looks of them, remember who you're serving them to.) These do not rise, so the biscuits can be placed right next to each other.
--Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
--Remove from the cookie sheet and transfer to a roasting rack or oven-safe cooling rack set on top of the cookie sheet. Return to the oven and cook for another 10 minutes to crisp them.
--Cool on the rack for at least 30 minutes.
--Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3 days or in the fridge* for 2 weeks.
These also freeze well.
(*giving these to your baby cold from the refrigerator or freezer adds an extra soothing element to their teething pain.)
(*I should note that I am not a doctor, nor do I pretend to be. Ask your doctor before giving something new to your baby. And please give these to your baby with careful supervision because they can break off into chunks depending on your baby's strength...Also because once they combine with your baby's saliva, these biscuits can be slippery little suckers. See pictures below.)

yum!

whoops! (note the drool here...)

...almost

oh, you get it, mama!

Roasted Eggplant Parmesan with Balsamic Vinegar and Roasted Garlic

2011-09-25T19:09:00.001-04:00

I would say that most Americans eat eggplant only in the occasional Eggplant Parmesan. Perhaps they don't now that it's also great diced and used in Caponata, or cubed and roasted as a side dish, just to name a couple examples. But most Americans, I would say, are getting their eggplant by way of Eggplant Parm. I would also say that most Americans aren't the ones cooking their Eggplant Parmesan. It's not a difficult thing to prepare, but I think a lot of people are scared of doing it themselves because of the frying involved. I don't blame them actually, I don't fry at home. It's not out of a fear per say, but I just don't like the idea of feeding my family deep fried foods when there's a better alternative. And there is always a better alternative. When I make french fries or potato chips, I roast them. When I make egg or springrolls, I bake them. Fried plantains? Nope. When I make coconut shrimp, I bake them. It's just my preference. And I really don't think you have to fry the eggplant in order to make this dish delicious.

In my recipe I'm roasting the sliced eggplant and brushing on extra virgin olive oil with a pastry brush instead of drizzling the oil over the eggplant or tossing it with oil in a bowl. This trick works well with other large, soft vegetables you would want to roast like portobello mushrooms, sliced summer squashes, etc. Here's why: If you were to drizzle the eggplant with the oil, you would end up with very oily spots and very dry spots on each slice because eggplants are like sponges and soak up a tremendous amount of liquid very quickly. And if you were to toss the eggplant slices with the oil in a bowl, chances are, you would have too oily of an eggplant, rendering your Eggplant Parm very greasy. Brushing on the oil allows you to have a very even coating. I'm also making a roasted garlic and balsamic vinegar 'slather' to spread on the eggplant slices before they sit between tomato sauce, bread crumbs and yummy cheese. It's wonderful, not at all heavy, extremely flavorful, and you aren't missing out on any of the flavor you get from the traditional fried version. Here's how I did it-

-Preheat your oven to 375 and prepare your garlic for roasting-


Slice off the top of 2 heads of garlic (don't discard the tops! Roast it too). Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and wrap tightly in foil. Place in the oven while it's preheating and prepping your eggplants.

Take 7-8 small or 4 large Eggplants, totaling 3 1/2 lbs. (whichever variety looks the best to you at the store or farmers market) and cut off the ends before slicing about 1/2 inch thick.

-Line 3 cookie sheets with aluminum foil and spray well with cooking spray. Place your eggplant slices on the cookie sheets in a single layer.


Pour about 1/2 cup of good extra virgin olive oil into a bowl.


Using a pastry brush, paint each slice with a good coating of oil. Season the face-up sides well with salt and pepper.


Roast for 40 minutes or until it becomes golden brown and a little crispy on the edges.


Remove your garlic from the oven. (Bump the heat up to 425.) The garlic is done when it's golden brown and squishy. Allow it to cool a bit before handling.


Squeeze the roasted cloves into a bowl.


Mush the garlic with a fork. Add a small handful of fresh basil leaves, minced, 1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced, a pinch of salt, 1 tsp sugar, and 2 good splashes of balsamic vinegar. Stir well and set aside.

-Assemble your casserole-
-Spray a 9x13in casserole dish with cooking spray and cover the bottom with 2 cups of tomato sauce, (homemade or your favorite brand. You will need a total of about 7 cups, or almost all of 2 24 oz jars if you're using store bought). Layer half of your eggplant slices over the sauce, sprinkle the eggplant with plain breadcrumbs and top with 1 cup of sliced or shredded mozzarella cheese and 3 ounces of sliced or shredded provolone cheese, (you will need a total of 2 cups of mozz and at least 6 ounces of provolone).
-Begin the layering again by pouring another 2-3 cups of tomato sauce over the cheese layer, then placing the rest of your eggplant slices (overlapping if necessary) over that.


Take your garlic 'slather' and using the same pastry brush as before, brush it all over the eggplant slices.


Sprinkle with more breadcrumbs.


Layer another cup of mozzarella cheese and 3 ounces of provolone. Pour another 2 cups of tomato sauce over the cheese and sprinkle with enough grated parmesan cheese to cover the top.

-Place the casserole on a foil-lined cookie sheet to catch any possible bubble-overage (use one of the same foil-lined sheets that you used with the eggplant, no need to waste more).
-Bake in the now 425 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until the cheese is well melted and the top is golden brown.

-Allow to cool and set for at least 20 minutes before serving.

It's My Birthday And I'll Brag If I Want To.

2011-09-21T15:50:00.000-04:00

Let me brag for a bit. No, no, not about me, that would be rude. I would like to brag about my husband. My incredible, amazing, sweet and thoughtful husband. He had me thinking, for several days, that I wasn't doing anything special for my 30th birthday. And I have to admit, I was feeling pretty pitiful about it. Even my mom and best friend had me going. I was calling them feeling stupidly sorry for myself and they just listened to me whine. So when Sunday rolled around, (the LAST day of my birthday weekend!), we dropped off the kids at my folks' house then headed out to 'have a quick drink'. I continued to sulk (only slightly) up the stairs when all my closest friends jumped from behind couches and tables and surprised me. I seriously almost fell down. I've never been surprised before! Turns out my husband had orchestrated a night of food and wine tasting in my honor. And it was incredible. He based the tasting on the many restaurants and wine stores I've worked in and had multiple stations dedicated to each place. He printed out pictures and wrote out little blurbs about my experience at each place to give everyone a little insight on what they were eating and drinking. The food was amazing, the wine was delicious, the pairings were spot on, and best of all, I got to look around at so many people I love for several hours. My parents and friends helped him pull it off, and I just can't believe he did it or even thought of it. I also can't believe I had NO idea!! I'm still in shock. I honestly have never felt so special. We all ate, drank and laughed for hours before returning to the real world. It was just so cool.

Then two days later, after I thought I already received my birthday present, I woke up to the best blueberry muffins I have ever eaten, followed by the instructions to head to the best spa in town for an entire day of pampering. Absolutely incredible, this man. And although I must admit my first reaction to the news was, 'Wait. I have to be without my baby for 7 hours? The baby who drinks things my body makes?', I realized that if I did not get excited about this and enjoy every second of my special time today, I would regret it completely the next time I was covered in spit up peaches, with a baby on my hip, in the kitchen with 3 pots bubbling over and my 4 year old demanding that he deserves to have yet another cup of juice. So I left a little earlier, went out and bought a small hand-held breast pump and headed to the spa. Even though I was pumping in between my services, handing little cups of breast milk to the employees to refrigerate throughout the day, I most certainly did enjoy myself. I got the best massage, the best facial, my finger and toe nails painted, and my hair washed and blown out. No one except my mother, and my husband that one time I got rota virus and couldn't move, has ever washed my hair before so it was kinda great to just lay back and enjoy it. The girl who did it was this adorable little thing who looked just like Taylor Swift. I left that place a new woman and when I finally got home, the hugs and kisses that I got from my little family felt so much better than they ever have before.

So my point in writing this is really just to brag about my husband. Because he made my 30th birthday the best it could ever have been. Well, that and to give you this incredible blueberry muffin recipe. You simply must go and make them. Immediately.

Here's to being 30!! Turns out it does feel Awesome, after all.

**Brown Sugar Blueberry Muffins
(recipe adapted from allrecipes.com)

*For the batter-
-1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
-3/4 cup light brown sugar
-1/2 tsp kosher salt
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/3 cup vegetable oil
-1 egg
-1/3 cup milk
-1 cup fresh blueberries (frozen works fine, but I recommend thawing first and patting them dry)
*Crumb Topping-
-1/2 cup white sugar
-1/3 cup all purpose flour
-1/4 cup butter, cubed
-1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
--Preheat oven to 400. Grease a large 8 cup muffin tin or line with muffin liners (make sure you also grease the liners).
--Combine the 1 1/2 cups of WW pastry flour, 3/4 cup of brown sugar, salt and baking powder in a mixing bowl.
--Place your vegetable oil in a 1 cup measuring cup, add in the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Beat this with a fork until the egg is beaten.
--Mix this with the dry ingredients in the bowl.
--Fold in your blueberries.
--Fill your muffin cups all the way to the top and set aside while you make your crumb topping-
--Mix together the 1/2 cup of white sugar, 1/3 cup all purpose flour, 1/4 cup diced butter and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl with a fork. Sprinkle this over the muffins before baking.
--Bake for 20-25 min, or until the tops are golden brown and the muffin springs back when you touch it.

The Roaring Twenties and All Things Awesome.

2011-09-17T12:46:00.001-04:00

I'm turning 30 in exactly 3 days. This means I have 3 days left to do things like a girl in her twenties would do. I have 3 days left to get away with nonsense because 'I'm only in my twenties' and 'don't know any better'. Three days left to be in the same decade that gave me a college degree, love, marriage, life on two opposite coasts, a baby boy, a home, a baby girl and sadly, a devastating loss. I have done absolutely everything that I said I wanted to do when I was younger. I wanted to go to college and live at the beach. Check. I wanted to be on television. Check. I wanted to get married. Check. I wanted to live in Los Angeles. Check. I wanted to be a mother. Check. Check. I wanted to have a beautiful house. Check. That's everything I had planned for myself. And yes, I've achieved it, (so congrats to me!) but it's just a little weird that I've done 'it all'. I guess when I was younger I thought it would take me longer to do all of the things I have already done. So now that I'm approaching this big milestone, and I've done everything I always wanted to do, I'm just kinda left with a big question mark.

My twenties were chock-full of surprises, highs and lows, and I suppose if I look at it in the right way, I have set my thirties up to be a hell of a lot easier than my twenties were. I mean, I already had the babies, found the love of my life and tricked him into marrying me, searched for the perfect home to raise our family in, and experienced what it feels like to lose one of the most important people in my life. I know myself now, I've been through some amazing things and have come out of them a stronger and better person. So I'm guessing my thirties will be more about maintaining what I already have, which sounds like it should be a little smoother. But then again, we never know what will come around the bend. So who knows.

What I do know is that I'm not super excited about turning 30. I think it will be fine when I'm actually 30...but the turning it scares me a little. Turning 30 seems like it should be a really big deal, but I guess I haven't been in the mood lately for a 'really big deal'. I'm too damn tired for big deals. I think when I pictured my 30th birthday, I pictured a huge party where I was looking my best, feeling my best, showing the world that 30 looks awesome, and so on and so on. I mean, If 50 is the new 30, then 30 should be pretty Awesome, right? But when you just had a baby 6 months ago and you're still nursing said baby, chances are you will not be feeling Awesome-looking. I think that I look good for having just had a baby, (yes, I realize I'm pushing it by saying 'I just had a baby', but in the context of my argument, it's appropriate), but I, by no means, feel Awesome or even Awesome-ish. All these crazy hormones from still nursing make me feel like a lunatic on a regular basis, cause me to hold onto about 10 extra pounds, make my skin break out in weird places, make my boobs change cup sizes throughout the day, and make my hair either fall out or grow super fast. Not exactly Awesome material here. I wish I could turn thirty next year, I betcha next year I would be ready for it.

But it's not next year, it's this year. So I gotta face this thing head on. On Thursday I happened to walk by the same table I walk by twenty times a day and saw the same important piece of paper I've seen twenty times a day for several months now and it suddenly hit me that this piece of paper was telling me I now had exactly 2 days to renew my drivers license. Crap, how did that happen? I had been putting it off for months, hoping I had more time, maybe also hoping the laws would change, but I just simply wasn't looking forward to going through the hassle. I wasn't really concerned about the hassle of dropping off the baby with my mother at the perfect time, getting back to feed her and put her down for her nap at the perfect time, taking the test or waiting in the long line, I was mainly concerned about the fact that I would be documenting my current appearance on something permanent. I began to stress about what to wear, how much make-up to put on, how to style my 'in between' hair, whether or not to show my teeth, you know, the serious stuff. You see, if I smile with my teeth, I look 10 pounds heavier than the 10 pounds heavier I actually am, but I look happy. If I smile without my teeth, I look smug, but thinner and if I don't smile at all, I look mean, but skinny. What's a girl to do? Can I not just bring in a photo from 2005 that they can use? And while we're at it, can it be a full body shot so I can show everyone the incredible six pack I used to have? That would be awesome.

So Thursday night, I got incredibly emotional about the fact that I'm turning 30 and having to go get my picture taken when I've been feeling so yucky. (These hormones are crazy, I tell you!) But then I had to stifle my tears because I am not a good crier. There are some women out there who can do it gracefully, but I am a full-body, eyes-closed, ugly crier. My whole face gets puffy after I cry, and I couldn't afford to get puffier than I already am, so I just splashed a lot of cold water on my face in hopes to confuse the tears into thinking they weren't needed anymore. And then Friday morning, I put on as much make-up as the 6 month old in my lap would let me, put on some tight leggings and high heeled boots which I have to say, looked slightly better than decent on me, and dropped the baby off at my mothers before I headed two towns over to the DMV. I was feeling kinda good, actually. I caught a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror and almost recognized a pretty, confident girl I used to know. But after a couple of minutes driving I started noticing something was a little odd. My bottom was getting warm. I didn't think much about it considering I experience hot flashes from my 'nursing hormones' several times throughout the day, but this hot flash wasn't wanting to go away, my bottom only got warmer and warmer. Then I figured it out. The seat warmer was on in the car. But since I'm still driving a dealership loaner, I had no idea how to turn it off, which meant I had a very long drive, in very tight pants with a very hot tushy. (Side note- I don't think I'm a fan of the seat warmer...I find it entirely unnecessary. Shouldn't the bottom get warm on its own considering it's relationship to the seat?)

After a couple of minutes I managed to forget about my hot rear when I realized that I was in my car alone for the first time in....oh, I don't know...months maybe? So I turned the radio up a little louder, a little louder, and found myself acting like a 20 year old. I was bopping around, singing with my hands, I think I even threw a fist pump in there just for kicks. When Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' came on, I was so into it and I didn't realize how fast I was going and how much my car was playing it to the beat, that I had to stop and collect myself before continuing. (How awful would it be to get a ticket on the way to the DMV?) I had everything under control until Wyclef and Shakira started telling me that their hips don't lie. Then I became straight up Colombian. I challenge anyone to listen to that song and not move their hips. My hips were certainly not lying when I pulled into my parking space. And when I stepped out of the car, still high on music adrenaline, I immediately began to regret the vigorous dancing and singing I had just done on a flaming hot seat. In body-hugging leggings. My tush was now not only hot, but quite damp. Awesome.

The line inside the DMV seemed pretty short and there weren't many people around so I was feeling very optimistic. Once it was my turn in line, I almost sang to the lady what I was there to do. And this woman popped my bubble so fast I almost started crying again. I was informed that the computers and printers and cameras were all down today and that I would have to come back. Soooo... I left the DMV deflated and kinda pissy, and then got lost a couple of times on the way home because, apparently, I am incapable of functioning on lame music. (Thank you, Uncle Kracker). But, in my constant struggle to work on finding the positive in things, I realized that I needn't be pissy. So I have to go out again, so what? Even if my destination was a bust, the journey was incredible. I had a great time! I got to go somewhere without my children and feel like I did when I was in my early twenties. And it felt great. No, scratch that. It felt Awesome. But you know what else felt Awesome? Walking up to my parents house, an almost 30 year old woman, and seeing the baby that I gave birth to in my twenties smiling at me. I wouldn't trade that for another year if you paid me.
________________________________________________________________________________

This is the first really good recipe I created in my early twenties. It represents something I did when I was very young, but made better the older I became. It's perfect in the Fall and I hope you enjoy it!

*Fennel Rubbed Pork Loin with Dried Fruit Compote

(serves about 6 people, depending on the size of pork you decide to use)

-In a small saucepan, place a small handful each of golden raisins, dried cranberries, diced and dried apricots or peaches, diced and dried figs* and half of an apple, diced. Cover with either apple juice or cranberry juice (or a mixture of both) and throw in a cinnamon stick. Place the lid on the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook over low heat, until the fruit has softened, the apple is cooked, and the liquid has been absorbed. Allow to cool.
-Place a center cut piece of pork loin, roughly a foot long, on a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, make a vertical cut, lengthwise, along the center of the meat and stop the cut about 1 inch from the other end.
-Open the flap like a book and lay it flat. Cover with plastic wrap and take a heavy-bottomed skillet and pound it to an even thinness (anywhere from 1/2-1 inch thick, depending on how long you wish you pound a piece of meat).
-Preheat a large, oven-proof skillet in medium-high heat with some olive oil and your oven to 350 while you...
-Season your butterflied piece of pork loin well on both sides with my Fennel Rub (**recipe follows)
-Take your cooled fruit compote and spread over the center of the pork.
-Fold up the sides of the meat, overlapping if necessary and secure in several places tightly with kitchen twine. (if you don't have kitchen twine, you may use toothpicks. Just be sure to seal it as tightly as possible all over the roast so you don't lose your filling.)
-Place a digital thermometer into the center of the meat, making sure the tip of the thermometer is in the meat portion and not the fruit portion.
-Carefully place your roast in your hot skillet and sear on all sides until brown and crispy all over, then transfer to your preheated oven. Bake until the thermometer shows you a reading of 145 degrees and remove the meat from the pan to rest for at least 15 minutes while you prepare a pan sauce...
-Turn your burner on medium heat and add 2 TB of flour to the drippings in the pan. Whisk until smooth. Deglaze the pan with about 1/2 cup of dry, red wine and continue to whisk as you pull up all the bits stuck to the bottom. Allow this to bubble for a minute or so and add about 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Stir and bring to a bubble again. Melt in 1 TB of unsalted butter and taste to check your seasoning. Turn burner off.
-Carefully remove your twine or toothpicks from the pork and slice into thick pieces.
-Pour your sauce over each serving on the plate.
-Serve with mashed sweet potatoes or roasted root vegetables.

(*use whatever dried fruit you have on hand, dates and prunes are also a good option. You could even use a bag of dried fruit bits you can buy at the store.)

**Fennel Rub (original recipe doubled here)
-2 tsp kosher salt
-1 tsp cracked black pepper
-2 tsp ground fennel
-2 tsp onion powder
-1 tsp allspice
-zest from 1 lemon

Thinking Inside the Box

2011-09-08T11:41:00.001-04:00

My son starts preschool tomorrow. I'm crying (again, for the 99th time) as I write this. How is he possibly old enough for preschool?! It's insane. AND he starts soccer practice on the same day. He's old enough for school and practice?! What? Plus, I'm turning 30 in a couple weeks and thinking of that just weirds me out all over again. Where did all the time go? I'm obviously happy and excited for him because he will have the best time. And this is good for him. Structure, and all that. Blah, blah, blah. But he's my baby!

So now I'm entering into the world of school lunches. His school doesn't allow nut products of any kind so I can't rely on my old pal PB&J to help me out on those mornings where I forgot to pack his lunch the night before. No, I will have to be strategic and skillful. Luckily I was born to do this. So I've already got a list written out with different ideas to pull from when I'm doing his lunches. The list is separated into several categories-The Main Event, The Fruit or Veggie, The Snacky Thing, The Sweet Thing, and The Drink. (Obviously, he may not need something from all the categories every day) I will rotate each item out so he doesn't get the same thing over and over again and get bored. It's also a good idea to have your child pick out what he or she would like to have so they're involved in the process. Writing out this list will definitely help me later on because the thinking part has already been done. All I will have to do is pick and choose my items and throw them in the lunchbox the night before. Lately, there have been a lot of back-to-school themed sales going on at the grocery stores, so I was sure to stock up on things like juice boxes, individual snack bags of healthy chips and crackers, etc. Here are a few of the things on my list:

Main Events-
Veggie Burgers
Hummus and Avocado Wraps
Pizza Pockets
Grilled Cheese with Apricot Preserves

Fruits/Veggies-
Whole Apple
Carrot Sticks
Box of Raisins
Applesauce
Grapes

Snacky Things-
Whole Grain Crackers
Baked Potato Chips
Pretzels
Popcorn

Sweet Things-
Hershey Kiss
Real Fruit Snacks
Graham Crackers
Animal Cookies

A good idea for packing your child's lunchbox is freezing the drink the night before so it ends up keeping everything else in the box cold if you don't have an insulated container with an ice pack. If you are using an ice pack, be sure to place it in a sealed zip bag in case it gets punctured.

I've even gotten his school-day breakfasts made, which he helped me with yesterday morning. I needed his breakfast to be fairly healthy, satisfying, and good on the go because he will most likely be eating it in the car. We made a big batch of my Cereal Bars. They're super easy to make and kid-friendly because they contain marshmallows. You can make them even healthier if you use my Agave Marshmallows instead of store-bought ones. They also have a long shelf life if you store them in an airtight container. And although they contain sugar by way of a marshmallow, they are far healthier than your run of the mill store-bought cereal or granola bar. School mornings will be incredibly hectic, so having a breakfast like this already taken care of will be a tremendous help.

I also made one of the lunch list items today that I plan on freezing for later use. I made him spinach, mushroom and broccoli pizza pockets which are perfect for a hand held, easy to eat meal at school. You can use my Whole Wheat Pizza Dough recipe or buy your favorite brand at the store, and using frozen veggies and pre-shredded cheese for this makes your job a heck of a lot easier. It's so easy to make your own pizza pockets, it's takes about the same time to prepare them as it takes for you to cook the kind you buy at the store, and they're so much healthier. Don't think you have to fill them with the usual pizza toppings either, use your imagination and fill them with whatever your child likes. And like I always say, if you have your child help you make something, they will be more likely to eat it. Here's how you throw them together-

All you do is roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut it into squares about the size of your outstretched hand.

Take whatever filling you want and add a big spoonful to the lower half of the square (about 2 TB worth), add some of your favorite marinara sauce, then sprinkle it with cheese (don't over-fill).

Fold it over and seal the edges with a fork. Sprinkle the top with more cheese if you'd like.

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes on the bottom rack of your oven, then for another 5 minutes on the top rack, or until they're golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack and refrigerate for a couple days in an airtight container or freeze in a freezer bag for a couple months.

However you plan on packing your child's lunches, just keep in mind that it will really make a difference in their day if you pack something fun. And fun doesn't have to mean junk. Take these pizza pockets for example-they're fun and healthy. You don't need to buy all those pre-made lunch thingies at the store, Yes, they're easy but they're full of preservatives, fat and salt. If you just plan ahead and write out some ideas, pre-make some things on your day off, and keep your pantry and freezer stocked with good things to choose from, it will definitely pay off. And by all means, pack it the night before!

Does anyone have a tissue?

Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins

2011-09-05T14:35:00.001-04:00

It never occurred to me to make my own English Muffins until the first time I did it several years ago. I mean, I like English Muffins just fine. I'll buy them when they go on sale and throw one in the toaster every now and then, maybe make a breakfast sandwich out of one, but I've never thought they were all that great. They're always just kinda boring. And dry. But when I started making my own Sourdough Bread roughly four years ago, I began to play around with different things to make using the Sourdough Starter*. I've made Golden Raisin and Rosemary Focaccia, Sally Lunn Bread, Dinner Rolls, Pancakes, and these Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins, among other things throughout the years.

These are not your run of the mill English Muffins. They make the store-bought variety seem like sawdust buns. They're denser, chewier, and much more flavorful. You can use all white flour if you'd like, but I prefer using whole wheat flour whenever I can in my baked goods. Eat these however you'd like-simply toasted with butter and jam or cinnamon sugar, with cheese and a fried egg, or as the bun to your burger like we did last night. Enjoy!

*Whole Wheat Sourdough English Muffins
(makes 12-15, depending on thickness of dough and size cookie cutter you use)

-First you will need to make your sponge-
In a large glass or ceramic bowl, mix together 1 cup of Sourdough Starter* that was fed 12 hours before, 1 1/2 cups of milk and 3 cups of white flour. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to develop its gasses overnight. When it's ready, it will have at least doubled in volume, be covered with air holes, and resemble what a pancake looks like on the griddle before its first flip.
-After about 10 hours, add to the sponge- 1 TB sugar, 1 TB kosher salt, 1 tsp baking soda and 2 1/2-3 cups of whole wheat flour (start with 2 1/2 cups, and if your dough is still very sticky, add the rest in). Cover this again with the plastic wrap and set in a warm place for about 2 hours to rise again. (It will, again, at least double in size)
-Knead the dough on a floured surface until it's no longer sticky and roll it out to 1/4-1/2 inch thickness, depending on how thick you want your muffins to be. Cover a large cookie sheet with a dusting of cornmeal while you cut your dough. Cut out circles using a large 3-4 inch cookie cutter or use a glass if you don't have a cookie cutter big enough. (Keep in mind that whatever size cutter you choose to use, there will be some shrinkage, so go larger that you think you want. And be sure to coat your cutter in flour before each cut to prevent the dough from sticking to it.) Place each dough circle onto the cornmeal dusted cookie sheet and let them rest for 15-20 minutes while you preheat your griddle on the lowest setting until hot.
-When you're ready to cook, place your dough circles, cornmeal side down, onto the hot, dry griddle and cook until risen, about 10 minutes and then flip to cook for 10 minutes more.
-Transfer the cooked muffins to a wire rack and cool before storing in an airtight container.

(*My sourdough starter is made from potato flakes instead of flour, and instead of typing out everything you would need to do if you want to start your own starter, I found this site that explains it very well. I really recommend starting your own if you can, the bread is delicious!)

Tomato and Onion Tarte Tatin

2011-09-01T16:44:00.001-04:00

I've been kicked out of my house today. No, my husband didn't finally get sick of me (yet), I've been kicked out because we're getting a new HVAC installed. It's a two day job, so considering there will be no air conditioning, lots of big men lifting heavy things up and down my staircase and banging hammers into walls, I decided it was best to take the kids to my parents house so they would actually sleep. Oddly enough, my parents are out of town for the next couple of days, so I kinda feel like a teenager again being 'alone' in my old home. It's incredibly tempting to invite a bunch of people over, raid the liquor cabinet, then take their car out for a drive.

I actually got my son to go down for his nap on time, only he didn't fall asleep until right before I got the baby to go down for her nap. Once she woke up after a very short snooze, he was still sleeping so she and I walked around looking at old pictures for about 30 minutes until she realized she didn't get all the sleep she needed the first time. So I put her down yet again, and since now my son is still sleeping, I have a lot of time on my hands. I already picked the arugula from my mothers garden as instructed, so I decided to make good use of my time by posting a new recipe.

I made this yesterday, and although we ended up eating it for dinner, it would be best eaten for lunch with a simple salad (an arugula one would be nice...) I recommend making this with either cherry or grape tomatoes because I think they make a prettier tart, but using the halves of Roma tomatoes would also be good. This dish could still be made in the off season, you just may need to add a bit more sugar to the tomatoes as they're cooking. If you've never made a tarte tatin, it's nothing too scary...you're just basically making an upside down tart in a skillet instead of a tart pan that will be flipped once it's finished cooking. I like to make my own crust, but if you don't wanna bother with that, I suggest using store-bought puff pastry. The filling is so good, you could also just use it to make a standard tart and not even bother with the flipping. Your choice!
Enjoy!

*Tomato and Onion Tarte Tatin

Crust:
-In a food processor place 1 cup AP flour, 1 stick of cold, unsalted butter that you've cut into small pieces, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt + a pinch. Pulse this until it looks like grated parmesan cheese.
-Add in 1 egg yolk and pulse again. While you're pulsing, slowly pour ice water into the mixer, drop by drop until the mixture begins to come together. You just want everything moistened, not wet.
-Turn dough onto a floured surface and roll out to slightly larger than the 9-10 inch skillet you will be using.
-Carefully place the rolled out dough onto the back side of a cookie sheet covered in plastic wrap or parchment, and cover with more plastic wrap. Refrigerate while you make your filling...

-Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Filling:
-In the 9-10 inch skillet, saute 1 large onion that you've sliced in some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. When the onion have begun to brown, add in 2 pints of grape or cherry tomatoes. Toss to coat them in the olive oil, adding more if necessary. Season with more salt and pepper. Allow the tomatoes to wrinkle up and begin to burst (about 15 min or so), stirring often. (Poke any of the stubborn tomatoes with a knife to break their skins).
-Once your tomatoes have softened a bit, add 2 TB of unsalted butter, 2 TB light brown sugar, 3/4-1 TB minced rosemary, 1 TB tomato paste, 1/4 tsp ground allspice and 2 splashes of balsamic vinegar (about 2 TB). Stir this well and let it bubble for about a minute.
-Turn the heat off, remove the pan from the heat and allow it to cool a bit. Arrange your tomatoes and onions in a pretty way, because this will end up being the top of your tart.

-When the pan is cool enough to handle but still very warm, remove your crust from the fridge and carefully place it over the pan, tucking the dough under along the sides of the pan. Vent the crust by making 5-6 tiny slits in the center of the dough.

-Carefully place the skillet in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 min, or until the crust is a nice, golden brown.

-Place your skillet on a rack to cool for 10-15 minutes and then carefully invert your tart by placing a large plate over the top and flipping it over. If you're lucky, it will all come out. If you're slightly unlucky, just piece it back together and hide your holes with a garnish of either goat cheese or shaved parmesan, and some fresh basil leaves.

(*recipe idea inspired by Good Housekeeping magazine)

Flowers Fade, The Fruits of Summer Fade, but my memories shall not.

2011-08-16T15:27:00.002-04:00

She called me Sugar. She was an old, Southern woman, so she said 'Sugar', but we heard 'Sugah'. I would call her on the phone and she would say, 'Heeeeeeey Sugah!' She called me 'Stinkpot' when I was being cheeky, and I still, to this day, do not know what a stinkpot is. It was just one of her words. Like, 'sack'. It was never a bag, always a 'sack'. And it wasn't Shrimp, it was 'Srimp'. She called me Sugar and I call her Nama, the name I gave her when I was a baby. Nama is my grandmother. And Nama is dying. Her body is being overtaken by cancer and it is happening at a rapid pace. I took my children to see her two weeks ago and she didn't know who any of us were. It broke my heart. I remember thinking, angry almost, how can she not know who I am? I have all these memories of us together and she has none of them. How can that be? Half of those moments spent together are now gone because she can't remember any of them. Ever since then, her mind and her body have been deteriorating.

She is very weak, asleep most of the time and mostly confused as to where she is and what is going on around her. She asked my mother today what is happening to her. My mother told her she was very sick. Then she said again, but what is happening to me? And my mother simply told her she is about to go on a journey. She said, You are about to go on a journey to a place where there is no pain, where everyone is happy, a place where you will get to be with people who love you very much. My mother told this to her mother, as her eyes remained closed and she remained quiet. She asked her if she understood what she was saying, and Nama took my mothers hands and brought them close to her heart and nodded her head, yes. Yesterday I saw her and I believe she knew it was me because she held my hand as tight as the disease would allow. When she opened her eyes and saw my face in front of her, she reached out her frail arms and held me close. I brought pictures to show her, and stories to tell her. I don't know how much she could hear, but I felt that she knew it was me. I had to believe she knew it was me.

Nama has always been a superb grandmother. She was a far greater grandmother than she was a mother. I don't think she is to blame for that. She and her husband got divorced when my mother was very young and she had to work full time to support her three children on her own. So my mother was raised by a woman named Lizzy, who did everything a mother should do. Lizzy cooked, she cleaned, she scolded, she comforted, she loved, she healed. Nama worked. My mother and my grandmother never had a great relationship. But Nama, the grandmother was amazing. She would take my brother and me to restaurants, to movies, she would buy us things. We felt her love every day of our life. I always felt sad that my mother wasn't able to feel the love that I felt from the same woman.

My brother and I spent many Fourth of July's with Nama. She would take us to watch the fireworks at a park in Charlotte and I remember laying on the hood of her gold, Dodge Intrepid, mesmerized at the sky, while my little brother's sleeping head lay limp on my shoulder. She took us to the mall and we would eat lunch at the food court. Our lunch was always the same: Mexican Pizzas from Taco Bell. I spent many childhood birthdays at her condo on Sugar Mountain and many summers with her on Hilton Head Island. She would play her favorite musical soundtrack for me on the way to the beach. The Phantom of the Opera seemed to be the exact length of the trip and I now know she did it just to keep me occupied for the long drive as my brother slept in the back seat. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas was spent with Nama and on every Christmas day we would eat her famous Roasted Pecans and drink her Boiled Custard. It's been years since I've tasted either one of those things but I can still remember.

I loved going to Nama's house. It felt like a vacation. I can still smell it, I can still see it, every corner of that house is still in my mind. I remember playing with her Hummels and music boxes in the room with the bright green couch. I remember her hallway closet where she kept her vacuum cleaner and her bottles of Coca Cola. I remember wiping my nose with the peach colored tissues in the bronze box. I remember sitting at her dining room table that is now my dining room table. I remember her big basket of match boxes that she kept in her living room. I remember playing with her perfumes and her jewelry on her bedroom dresser. I remember it all.

Nama always kept the same things for us to eat at her house. Things that I can't look at now without thinking of her. My brother and I would snack on sour cream and onion Pringles from the tall, green can near her microwave in the corner of her kitchen. We would sneak handfuls of peanut M&M's from the crystal candy jar in the study. We would shove green grapes, ice cold from the fridge, into our mouths and laugh at the chipmunks we became. Cool Whip would be eaten straight from the container, even though she had it there for strawberry shortcake. We would eat fruit cocktail from the green glass bowls and fight over who got the red cherry until Nama would simply take it away and eat it herself, just to get us to stop fighting. Our dinner was always poached chicken breasts, buttered white rice and lima beans. And she made the best scrambled eggs on the planet.

My brother and I would watch Ziegfeld's Follies or Dirty Dancing on VHS, over and over again. Those were the only two movies she owned. And we listened to the Phantom of the Opera so many times I can recite the words in my head still to this day. She had the chance to see the show on Broadway and wanted me to feel as though I was in the audience as we listened to it. She would narrate as the tape played, describing the characters and explained the difference between Christine and Carlotta. She said she wanted me to be a Christine. She was sure to heighten her storytelling as it came to the point in the play when the chandelier swung into the audience. She did it so well that I became so excited and almost scared whenever it happened. It never got old. When I saw that play many years later, I felt like I had seen it a thousand times. Those songs still make me think of her.

When I was with her yesterday, she never let go of my hand. My mom and I stayed there for awhile, three generations of women together for possibly the final time. My mother will go back to be with her many more times, but I don't know if I can do it again. We stroked her hair, shared our favorite stories, and I tried to think of how to say goodbye to the woman who started it all. So when I had a moment with her alone, I held her hand in mine and sang her our favorite song from her favorite play.

Think of me, think of me fondly, when we've said goodbye.

Remember me once in awhile, please promise me you'll try.

Recall those days, look back on all those times, think of those things we'll never do.

There will never be a day when I won't think of you.

*Nama's Boiled Custard
-4 cups milk
-4 eggs, separated
-2 TB flour
-1 cup sugar
-1 tsp vanilla
--(You can use a double boiler, which is the traditional way to make this, or use this shortcut that my mother created below)
--Scald the milk in the microwave for 8-10 minutes in a large mixing bowl. Meanwhile, separate your eggs into two bowls and set aside. Mix the flour and sugar in another mixing bowl and add some hot milk, but not all of it, until you get a thick liquid. Beat your egg yolks and add them to the mix. Stir well and add more milk as you're stirring until your mixture has thinned. Microwave this for 6-10 minutes, checking and stirring occasionally, until you get a medium-thick consistency, like a milkshake. Allow this to cool. Beat your egg whites to soft peaks and fold them into the cooled mixture and add your vanilla. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Serve cold.
--(you can make this thicker if you'd like to eat it with a spoon by cooking it longer and adding a bit more flour. You can add bourbon to it to make a great after dinner drink, or it would also make a killer ice cream base. This is also the base for Nama's banana pudding.)

Making Your Own Baby Food Tutorial Video

2011-08-14T11:32:00.000-04:00

This is a video I made where I'm making an entire batch of baby food in real time. I just want to show you all how easy it really is. The batch I'm making yields 1 1/2-2 ice cube trays, which is roughly 28 ounces worth of baby food. It cost me a total of $3.

Something for the baby mamas out there...but if you work for a large baby food company, I don't recommend reading this.

2011-08-12T14:35:00.001-04:00

I am giddy with excitement. Giddy, I tell you! The most anticipated moment in my daughter's life has finally arrived. As of this past week, my little baby girl has been able to eat solid food! Hooray!

First there was the sweet potato...

Then the butternut squash...

Along came the avocado...

And her latest, and most favorite-ist food so far has been the banana...

This really brings me back. I had the best time feeding my son at this age. I would lay awake at night thinking of the next food I was going to introduce to him. There was nothing he didn't like. He was a fantastic eater and still is. He loved everything from garlicky avocado to curried cauliflower puree and I would like to think he eats so well now because I introduced him to good food at a very early age. I chose back then and again now to make my own baby food and freeze large quantities of it using ice cube trays because I stay at home with my kids and found the time to do it. I know this isn't an option for a lot of full time working mothers, but I still encourage all moms to give it a try. You can get a lot of baby food made in an hour on a weekend, trust me. Even if you're buying the organic, high quality, jarred baby food, you are still feeding your baby canned food versus fresh or frozen. And I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea of my daughter's first ever food being something that's been sitting on a shelf for months, sometimes years. There are, however, new products popping up on the shelves that allow you to buy frozen or vacuum sealed, bagged baby food, which I believe is a better choice than the jarred kind. And don't get me wrong, I will be purchasing a few jars or bags of baby food at some point in my daughter's life to keep in my diaper bag, or to take places where refrigeration isn't a possibility, I'm simply talking about food in her everyday, normal life here.

Most people start their babies on rice cereal because we have been told for years it is the right thing to do. The issue I have is that the boxed white rice cereal that baby food companies make is processed, constipating and has no nutritional value whatsoever. The idea behind feeding it first was that it's sensitive on their tummies and gets them used to the idea of eating a solid food. You could choose to use the oat or barley baby cereal instead, which has a higher nutritional value, but it is still manufactured and highly processed. If you want a better option for a baby cereal, then what I recommend doing is buying organic whole, rolled oats, barley flakes or short grain brown rice and grinding it in a clean coffee grinder, food processor or blender until it becomes a powder. You can make a large amount of this 'powder' at one time and store it, tightly sealed, at room temperature for months. Or you can also make large quantities of the cooked cereal and refrigerate it for 3 days or freeze in ice cube trays like you do the rest of your baby food and keep in a zip bag for up to 3 months. To make the cereal, simply add one part cereal powder to slightly more than one part boiling water. Whisk until the mixture thickens and then keep stirring until all the water has been absorbed and the cereal is soft and tender. This, again, could be done in a matter of minutes on a weekend day, no problem.

What many mother's don't realize is that you don't even have to start your child on cereal at all. You can begin them on butternut squash, sweet potato, avocado, green beans, apples, bananas or pears. (My doctor and I discussed this first, and I encourage you to do the same with your baby's pediatrician.) These are known as 'first foods' for babies 4-6 months. Everything but the banana and avocado needs to be cooked (peeled then boiled or steamed) and then pureed. Bananas and avocados are soft enough to simply mush with a spoon before feeding. Or you can do what I do and just open a really ripe banana or avocado and scrape off some of the flesh with your spoon like this...

(I promise she was upright when the video was taken...somehow she is now sideways)

Once they pass the 6 month mark you can introduce them to more exciting fruits and vegetables like parsnips and mangoes, and they can even have poultry, whole milk yogurt and tofu. From then on it keeps getting more and more exciting because you can mix certain things to create little meals and add herbs and spices as well. My son knew what cilantro and garlic was before he cut his first tooth.

I absolutely love feeding my babies things that I know came from a good place. I watched it being made with my own two hands and had complete control over it, so when my daughter looks up at me with a mushy smile on her face, I can feel damn good about receiving that smile. The main problem I have with the way we look at baby food in this country is that we think of it as its own thing. We don't look at it as food. It's 'baby. food.'. Generally, parents simply go to the baby food aisle of the store and pick out whatever the big, colorful labels tell them to buy because no one has informed them there's another option or they never thought they had the time to make their own. But if we can start to change the way we think about feeding our babies, or grown children for that matter, we can change the way our society as a whole will be eating in the years to come. Now, I understand parents are busy. I'm one of them, I completely understand. I'm not saying making your own baby food is as easy as buying it. Homemade food in general is never easier than buying pre-made food. But don't you always feel better about yourself after you've eaten a home cooked meal rather than one that came out of a box? All I want is for us to start thinking about our babies as people. As actual eating people. Then, maybe we can change the diet of an entire generation, one jar at a time.

Roasted Corn and Tomato Panzanella with Chicken Sausage

2011-08-10T11:19:00.001-04:00

I love a good panzanella. What's not to like? It's a salad made out of bread...which makes us all feel better about eating a large bowl of bread. You can pretty much make a panzanella out of any type of stale bread, cheese and vegetables. I've even done it in the fall/winter with whole grain bread, roasted butternut squash and sage. But I really love them in the summer. I'm using garden-fresh corn, tomatoes and tarragon and pairing them with basil pesto, store-bought chicken sausage and homemade cheesy-garlicky croutons and it was awesome. But I encourage you to use up whatever you happen to have on hand, it's pretty hard to mess this up.

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-In a large serving bowl, place 3/4 cup of your favorite basil pesto (make it yourself or buy your own) and add about 2 tsp of red wine vinegar. Stir well. Cut 2-3 garden ripe tomatoes into bite sized chunks and add to the pesto. Stir and allow the salt from the pesto to bring out the juice in the tomatoes while you prepare the rest of your salad components.

-Cut 1 day-old or stale Italian bread round*, French boule or baguette into cubes (equal to about 6-8 cups). Place on a large cookie sheet, coat in extra virgin olive oil and season with kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, 4 cloves of garlic, minced or grated, and lots of Pecorino Romano cheese (you will need a total of 1/2 lb for later). Toss with your hands to fully coat the bread and place in a 350 oven for 15 minutes until crunchy and beginning to turn golden brown. (Check after 10 and toss)

-On another sheet pan, place the kernels of 3 ears of corn and 12 ounces of your favorite savory cooked chicken (or pork) sausage, sliced on the bias into bite-sized pieces. Toss in some olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and a bit of sugar. Place in the same oven to cook with the croutons for a total of 30 minutes, until golden brown.

-While your croutons, corn and sausage are roasting, take the point of a sharp knife and dig into your 1/2 lb. wedge of Pecorino cheese, breaking off bite-sized crumbles. Set aside.

-Add your croutons to the bowl with your pesto and tomatoes first and toss to combine. Then add the rest of your components and a small handful of chopped fresh tarragon leaves.

-Enjoy!

(*here's a great Italian bread recipe)

Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza with Havarti and Caramelized Onion and Fig Jam

2011-08-02T10:19:00.001-04:00

I made this pizza last night for my family and it was gooood. I love 'outside the box' pizzas anyway, and every time we have pizza night at home, I try to create a new recipe. We will definitely be making this one again. The balance of flavors is beautiful, with the sweet and savory jam, the rich and gooey havarti, the buttery prosciutto and slightly bitter and peppery arugula...pure heaven.

I also plan on using this jam recipe for my next cocktail party. It will pair beautifully with a wheel of warm brie and toasts.

Here's how you make it...

-Spread your cooled caramelized onion and fig jam** over your pizza dough and sprinkle evenly with 1/2 lb. of grated havarti cheese (since this is a very soft cheese, place in the freezer for about 10 minutes before grating to firm it up a bit). Cook however you prefer to cook your pizzas and before serving, cover with 4 ounces of prosciutto and 1/2 cup of baby arugula leaves.

Enjoy!

**Caramelized Onion and Fig Jam

-In a medium skillet, heat some extra virgin olive oil on medium-low heat and thinly slice 1 large yellow onion. Add the onion to the skillet and season well with salt, pepper, and some sugar. Stir well, cover the pan and turn the heat down to low. Check on them after 10-15 minutes and when they are completely soft, add 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, and 1/2 cup dried figs, chopped (this is about 12 figs). Stir well to combine and allow to thicken on low heat for 20-30 minutes. Check your seasoning and add extra salt if necessary. Transfer to a bowl and keep at room temperature for an hour or so until serving, or place in the fridge for longer storage.

Chevre Vanilla Ice Cream and the best ever All Butter Pie Crust

2011-07-27T14:36:00.000-04:00

Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you how much I love goat cheese. You can specifically ask my mother in law who witnessed me eating my way through Los Angeles via goat cheese-filled meals. I love the tangy, creaminess of a young chevre, but I also love more aged goat cheeses as well, even though they're a bit harder to find in regular supermarkets. I specifically love the combination of goat cheese and fruit, which led me to believe it would also be good in desserts. So when my brain put the flavor of goat cheese together with vanilla ice cream, I knew it would be delicious before I even tasted it. This ice cream is awesome. Don't be put off by the fact that there's cheese in it (please!), my three year old son ate a whole bowl of it before I had the chance to tell him what kind it was. I love to make this and serve it with a fig tart when my mom's fig tree is in full bloom, but last night I served it over a warm slice of homemade Plum Peach Pie and the combination was heavenly.

*Chevre Vanilla Ice Cream
-In a medium saucepan, heat 3 cups of half and half, cream, or milk (or a combination of any, depending on how fatty you want your ice cream to be) with 3-4 ounces* of plain young, soft, goat cheese, 3/4 cup of sugar and a pinch of kosher salt. Allow the sugar to melt completely and the milk to almost simmer. Use an immersion blender to puree the cheese until the mixture is smooth. Turn off the heat.
-In a small bowl bloom 1 pkg of plain gelatin (or 1 TB if you have it in bulk) in a little cold water and stir it into the milk mixture along with a splash of vanilla extract.
-Pour into a bowl and chill completely before churning in your ice cream maker. Follow manufacturers instructions.
(*Use one of those small logs you find at the store, some brands are 3 oz, some are 4. I've done it both ways and it's good either way.)

I've been using the same shortening Pie Crust recipe for years now because it's so easy and has never given me problems, but yesterday I wanted to try a crust using all butter to see if I liked it better. And I think I might... it definitely had better flavor and it honestly wasn't any harder to make than my old shortening recipe. If anything, it was a heck of a lot easier to roll out and deal with. So I thought I'd share the recipe with you. It's adapted from the July issue of 'Good Housekeeping'.

*All Butter Pie Crust
-In a food processor, mix 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (Whole Wheat Pastry flour can also be used) with 1/4 tsp kosher salt.
-Add 12 TB of cold, unsalted butter that you've diced. Pulse until crumbly.
-While pulsing, slowly drizzle in 4-6 TB of ice water until the dough begins to form large clumps. Don't take it to the point where you get one big ball, this means you've added too much liquid and you will need to add more flour to get the consistency right. You want to be able to squeeze it and have it come together easily with the warmth of your hands.
-Shape it into 2 disks, one slightly larger than the other and wrap in plastic wrap.
-Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight (can also be frozen, well wrapped, for 3 months or so).
-When you're ready to roll it out, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, or soften it a bit in the microwave on defrost for 20-30 seconds until you can push into it with your finger, but it's still cold.
-Roll out the larger of the two disks for your bottom crust. Use the smaller for your top crust.

Crab and Potato Cakes with Poached Egg

2011-07-21T11:36:00.000-04:00

I was watching one of those cooking competition shows the other night and the challenge was Eggs Benedict. Each contestant dripped in sweat, with the clock ticking away, trying to make the perfect hollandaise and the perfect poached egg...both of which can be fairly difficult to do correctly. I felt their pain. Each require a great amount of finesse and timing, and most importantly, patience. I cannot imagine being on the line at a busy brunch establishment having to do it all day. But as I was watching it I realized it had been years since I had eaten Eggs Benedict. It's one of those dishes I have only eaten a handful of times, but find it very delicious. I also really like the different variations on the classic like Eggs Florentine (with spinach) and Eggs Neptune (with crab). When I was thinking about my family's dinner last night, I decided to make a Eggs Benedict/Neptune-inspired dish, only I made the decision to leave out the hollandaise since it was tricky to attempt with only one arm available. This recipe is basically a crab cake on top of a potato cake, topped with a poached egg. It's pretty awesome. You can serve it for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. Enjoy!

*Crab and Potato Cakes with Poached Egg

*Preheat your oven to 200 and line 2 cookie sheets with foil, grease well. (You will need this to keep your cakes warm.)

*To make your Potato Cakes (recipe makes 8):
-In a medium bowl, add 1 lb. potatoes, shredded, 1 medium onion, grated, 4 TB of flour and 2 eggs. Mix well with a fork and season well with salt and pepper. In a large, non-stick skillet, heat equal parts extra virgin olive oil and butter, (about 1 TB each), on medium-high. When the butter begins to foam, drop in your potato mixture using a medium sized ice cream scoop and flatten with a spatula. You will get about 8 cakes and will end up cooking them in two batches. Cook each cake for 1-2 minutes until golden brown, then flip. Once golden brown on the other side, transfer your cakes to one of the foil-lined cookie sheets and place in the warm oven.

*To make your Crab Cakes (recipe makes 7):
-In a large bowl, combine 1 lb. cooked crab meat (use whatever you can afford, canned or fresh. If you're able to get fresh, then I recommend mostly backfin with a bit of lump mixed in) with about 1/2 cup of corn, the zest of 1 lemon, about 1/3 cup of mayo, about 2 TB of dijon mustard, 1 egg, a handful of fresh tarragon and basil, 1/3-1/2 cup of plain breadcrumbs and some kosher salt. (As you know, I don't really measure, so I recommend checking for a very moist consistency before cooking and tasting it first to adjust the seasoning to your liking).
-Add 1 TB more of olive oil and butter to the same skillet and using the same ice cream scoop, drop your crab cake mixture into the pan and flatten down with a spatula (again, this will be done in 2 batches). Allow the cakes to become golden brown on one side (1-2 minutes) before flipping and browning the other side. Transfer to the other foil-lined cookie sheet and place in the oven along with your potato cakes as you poach your eggs.

*To poach your eggs:
-Bring a large pot of water, with a splash of white vinegar, to a gentle simmer (you want it almost boiling, but no large bubbles). Once you see tiny bubbles form and the pot of water looks a bit like seltzer water, take a spoon or spatula and swirl the water rapidly to create a tornado effect. Crack one egg (make 1 egg per potato-crab cake stack you are serving) into a small bowl and as the water is swirling, slowly drop the egg into the center of the swirl. Watch as the whites of the egg wrap around the yolk and allow the egg to cook for about 2 minutes*. You can cook more than one at a time, but I recommend doing just one if you're not very confident in your poaching skills. Use a slotted spoon to carefully remove each egg and place on a plate lined with paper towels to allow the water to drain. Season with salt.
(*you will know the eggs are done when there is no clear goo to be seen and the yolk is very jiggly when touched.

*Assembly:
-Remove your cakes from the oven and place a potato cake down on the plate first, then top with a crab cake, and carefully situate a poached egg on top of the crab cake. Garnish with some fresh basil and/or tarragon. If you're serving this to any hungry adults for dinner (like my weight-lifting, starving husband), you may need to serve 2 stacks, but I was perfectly satisfied with one.

Upside Down

2011-07-13T15:27:00.000-04:00

I've had a rough couple of days. No, scratch that. It's been a rough couple of weeks, but the past several days have been testing, for sure. Many of you know that I'm breastfeeding my 4 month old daughter, and anyone who has nursed a baby knows that it can be as rewarding as it is difficult at times. When my son was an infant, I nursed him for a year and although I had the usual hiccups here and there, for the most part it was a fairly easy process. Nursing him could solve any problem. He would eat anytime, anywhere. Then my daughter comes along and, during her first couple of months, showed no signs of feeding problems except for the fact that she does so very loudly. (Simply put, she has latching issues). But then recently she started to get extremely fussy and impatient when she wasn't getting as much milk as she wanted, as fast as she wanted it. It would take all the stars to align to get her to finish her meal.

When we took her for her last check-up, the doctor informed us that she wasn't gaining weight and that I needed to nurse her more. I crumbled. Isn't that what I'm already doing? Nursing her more? I felt utterly helpless and disappointed in myself. My one job is to take care of my children and give them whatever it is that they need, and I suddenly felt like a failure. So for the past couple of days, I've been trying to really make sure my daughter is getting all the milk that she needs. I haven't left the house because I've done nothing but try to feed her. But she is just so very hard to nurse. People have told me that I should supplement, my family included. But I don't want to and I don't think I should need to. Is that just my pride getting in the way? Or my motherly instinct telling me that it will soon work itself out?

After a rough night (one of many rough nights) with my baby, I woke up hopeful that maybe today will be a different and better day. But the morning was, again, rough. When I'm feeding her, I want to be able to relax and look down on her, knowing that she is exactly where she needs to be. I just want to feed her without it being so stressful. But she screams at me and she gets startled whenever anyone makes the slightest noise, and it has slowly become something that I haven't been able to enjoy in a very long time. My guilt about that statement has turned me upside down.

My son has remained a trooper through all of the tears, noise, and anxiety. But I feel bad for him because I can't be with him when I'm having to feed her (or try to feed her) during her every waking moment. During a particular rough moment this morning, he asked me if he could go to his grandmother's house. And I broke down in tears. He doesn't like me anymore!, I thought. Again, I'm failing at my job and again, I am sinking, upside down, into a dark tunnel.

After I put my daughter down for a nap (fingers tightly crossed), I decided I was done with the tears for today. I needed to buck up and move on. So I asked Cover Girl for a little help. See, I will not shed a tear if I'm wearing eye make-up. Won't do it. It's such a waste to me. So whenever I want to stop crying about something that doesn't seem to be getting any better, I will whip out the mascara and the rest of the day will be a dry one. From there I decided to put on some clothes that didn't have an elastic waist band. (I hadn't been in my closet in so long, I almost got lost.) From there, I walked over to my jewelry box. Dangly earings and my big turquoise ring from Mexico started to help as well. By the time my daughter woke up, I was beginning to feel like a new person. We all three went out window shopping and, just when I felt my stress creep back in as I was wrestling with the older one to get into the shopping cart as the younger one was strapped onto my chest, an older woman stopped me and said,

'Excuse me Miss, I just had to tell you that you have two beautiful children.

Boy, what I wouldn't give to go back to when mine were that small.'

I paused for a long moment, looked at her, with the beginnings of a tear in my eye, and said,

'Thank you'

I kissed my babies and swallowed that tear, because I knew at that moment, while I was feeling like my life was so hard, she was looking at me with a little bit of envy. What I can't possibly know now is that these are those precious days I will look back on when my babies are full grown and no longer in need of me, my milk, or my hugs to get them through their day. And I will be shopping one day at Old Navy, trying on a cardigan, and look over to see a frazzled young mother, with too much mascara on, fighting with her children to sit down, stand up, or stop crying, and I will make sure she leaves that store knowing that no matter how upside down she feels in that moment, she should cherish it.
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(This recipe is one I'm very proud of. It's my ode to Pineapple Upside Down Cake, with a little something special. It's a cake that can be served for a brunch, as well as a dessert because it's both sweet and savory. I was inspired to write this recipe by my family's favorite Thanksgiving side-dish. It's one of the easiest and quickest cakes I make from scratch. Enjoy!)

*Pineapple Cheddar Upside Down Cake

-Preheat oven to 350.
-In a 9inch round cake pan, place 1 stick of unsalted butter and place in the oven as it's preheating to melt. (This will take about 5 minutes.)
-Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle 1 cup of light brown sugar over the melted butter, stirring it a bit so that the sugar is evenly melted into the butter. Sprinkle a bit of kosher salt over the brown sugar. (Omit this step if you're using salted butter.)
-Drain 1 20 ounce can of crushed pineapple and reserve the juice for later. Pour the crushed pineapple over the brown sugar/butter mix and spread evenly. Set aside.
-Grate or shred 8 ounces of EXTRA sharp cheddar cheese into a small bowl. Mix with 1 TB of flour* and set aside.
-In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of whole wheat PASTRY flour (all purpose flour is fine as well) with 1 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp of kosher salt. Set aside.
-In a large bowl, beat 3 eggs with 1 cup white sugar until creamy. Add the juice from your can of pineapple and a splash of vanilla extract.
-Fold in the cheese until it's all distributed evenly.
-Pour your batter over the brown sugar/butter mix in the pan and place your cake pan on top of a foil-lined cookie sheet to catch the over-spill that will definitely happen.
-Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour, or until the center is no longer jiggly.
-Cool on a rack for 10-20 minutes and run a knife around the edges of the pan, breaking any seal that has formed.
-Carefully invert the cake onto a plate.
-Serve warm with or without vanilla ice cream. It's delicious either way :)
(*adding the flour helps keep the shreds of cheese separate and from not forming one big cheese clump in your batter.)

Creamed Succotash with Tarragon

2011-07-11T14:34:00.000-04:00

Succotash means something different to everyone you ask. Some people add bacon, some add tomatoes, some bake it, some saute it. But the two constants in all the recipes seem to be corn and lima beans. It's always been one of those 'throw together' side dishes I can rely on when I have nothing else on hand. I make it when I don't have any fresh produce around because I always have lima beans and corn in the freezer. Yesterday I had some fresh corn on the cob, however, so I decided to have some fun with it. The end result was like a cross between creamed corn and succotash and was very, very delicious. The lima beans in this dish are starchy and almost creamy and since you're adding the fresh corn at the end, it remains so sweet and crisp. The contrast is beautiful. The addition of fresh tarragon helped make this otherwise simple and homey side dish something elegant and special. Enjoy!

*Creamed Succotash with Tarragon
-Saute 1 small onion, minced, in some olive oil until softened and beginning to brown.
-Add to that about 2 cups of lima beans (I used frozen, and 1 box equals 1 1/2 cups. Be sure to defrost a bit before) and saute until softened.
-Add 4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced. Continue to cook until the garlic is soft.
-Season the veggies with some salt and cracked black pepper.
-While these are cooking, remove the kernels from 3 ears of corn and set aside. Break 2 of the cobs in half and place in a pot. Cover with a mixture of milk or cream and water* (equal to 1 cup). Season with salt, pepper and a little sugar. Bring this up to a boil, then cover and simmer on low for about 20 minutes for optimum flavor.
-Minutes before you're ready to serve, add your corn kernels to the pan and stir.
-Strain your corn 'cream' into the pan with the veggies and toss to coat. Stir well and allow the cream to soak into the veggies and thicken a bit.
-Add 1 TB of unsalted butter, stir to coat.
-Mince a small handful of fresh tarragon leaves and stir into the mix.
-Taste to adjust your seasoning and enjoy!

(*The reason for the water here is to stretch your milk or cream. It's not necessary, but I often do it.)

July Pasta

2011-07-09T09:43:00.000-04:00

This heat is driving me crazy. Crazy, I tell you!! I'm running out of creative ways to keep busy with my kids. We go for walks and play outside, but the heat is unbearable, my son is a sweater, I get light-headed from sweating so much while still nursing, my daughter is too young for sunscreen and her head is too small for hats. We drive in our air conditioned car to fun places but my daughter is unbelievably anti-car. She screams from the time we pull out of the garage to the time I turn off the car, only to do it all over again on the way home. So we've been keeping pretty close to home these days, but I'm going stir-crazy spending so much time indoors.

I knew I needed help when I found myself googling What Happened to Marina on Fresh Beat Band?

So to help myself feel better, I developed a new recipe.

This is one of the best pasta dishes I've come up with, it's such a celebration of the vegetables and herbs I love at this time of year. And I happen to think most any dish can be bettered with a runny egg perched on top of it. Once you cut into the yolk, it oozes all throughout the pasta and helps to create a yummy sauce. It's the same way my husband and I prefer to make our pasta carbonara at home, and I highly suggest you try it. This dish has such a depth of flavor because you're roasting the veggies before tossing them with the pasta, which gives them great texture and intense flavor. I prefer to use whole wheat pasta when I can, but feel free to use whatever you like. This is a dish I definitely will be making again.

*July Pasta
(recipe serves 4)

-5-6 medium zucchini, sliced into disks about 1/4 inch thick (If you're using smaller ones, you may need up to 8. They shrink a lot after they've been roasted.)
-3-4 ears of corn, (depending on their size), kernels removed*
-1 medium onion, sliced
-6 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 lemon, zested. (you will need some juice as well)
-8 ounces whole wheat linguini
-handful each of fresh tarragon and basil leaves
-4 eggs
-about 1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Boil your pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente, and reserve 1 cup of the cooking water. Drain pasta and set aside.
-Place your zucchini disks on 2 cookie sheets or roasting pans, coated in olive oil. Season with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little sugar. Place your corn kernels and onion slices on another pan, season the same.
-Roast on 425 for 30-45 minutes, or until most of the veggies are crispy and golden brown (especially the zucchini, you want them to be chip-like, but not all the way browned or they will be bitter). Set aside.
Place a non-stick saute pan on medium-low heat and add some olive oil. Crack your eggs into the pan, but do not scramble. Allow the whites to begin to cook, then cover your pan with another pan or some tin foil, and turn the heat down to low. Uncover and check your eggs after a minute. The whites should be entirely set, and the yolks should have some jiggle. You're looking for 'over-medium' cooked eggs.
-In the same large pot as you cooked your pasta, saute your minced garlic in a little olive oil. Add your lemon zest and cook for a minute or so, but don't allow your garlic to brown.
-Add your cooked pasta to the pot and toss. Add all of your roasted veggies except a handful or so of the crispiest zucchini disks. Toss to combine.
-Pour in your reserved pasta water and grate in your cheese. Add as much as you'd like, it will most likely be around 1/2 cup or so.
-Mince your tarragon and basil leaves and add right before you're ready to serve, along with a squirt of lemon juice (a little less than half of the lemon).
-Check your seasoning.
-Each serving of pasta gets on egg on top (you can either use a cookie cutter or a butter knife to cut each egg out of the pan), and can be garnished with some extra herbs and/or more grated cheese.
*(the easiest way I've found to remove the kernels from a fresh corn cob is to lay it flat on the cutting board instead of up and down. No kernels fly away when it's flat)

A Healthier Zucchini Bread

2011-07-07T11:45:00.000-04:00

Zucchini bread is one of those things that sounds healthy. I mean, it's a vegetable bread, so how can it not be? Well, unless you change a couple of things like I have, most zucchini breads are really quite the opposite of healthy...they're downright dessert-like. They have a lot of oil, sugar and white flour, none of which you can really call healthy. But my recipe renders a bread that is equally delicious as grandma's, but way better for you. I hope you enjoy it!

*Abbey's Zucchini Bread

-2 cups white all purpose flour
-1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
-1 1/4 tsp kosher salt + pinch
-1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-2 tsp baking soda
-1 1/2 cups white sugar
-1 cup light brown sugar
-1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
-4 eggs, beaten
-1/3 cup water
-2 cups shredded zucchini*
-juice from half a lemon
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-In a large bowl, combine your flour, salt, baking soda, spices and sugars.
-In another bowl, combine your applesauce, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice.
-Mix wet into dry.
-Pour batter equally into 2 greased loaf pans.
-Bake 50min-1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the bread.
-Cool on racks in the pans until cool enough to handle, then remove from the pans and cool completely on the racks.
(Freezes beautifully!)
*(this is where I use those baseball bat-sized zucchinis that are often hiding in the garden, but using the smaller ones is perfectly fine as well.)

Blueberry Rhubarb Cobbler Pie

2011-06-30T17:44:00.000-04:00

I love pie. Pie kicks Cake's flabby butt, in my opinion. I love making different kinds of pies, but I think my favorite type of pie is a double crust fruit pie. The more crust, the better. I also like crumbles, crisps, buckles and cobblers- anything with a thick, fruit filling and a buttery, pastry-like topper is heaven to me. So when I found some rhubarb this past week on sale, I knew what I had to do. Only, I didn't wanna make my usual Kiwi-Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, I wanted to do something different. I had a lot of blueberries, so I thought I'd give the combo a try. And it was amazing. I also couldn't decide whether I wanted to make a pie or a cobbler...so I did both. Again, amazing. The lemon I added and the rhubarb bring such a beautiful tartness to counteract the sweetness of the blueberries, and my cobbler topper is so good, I was stopping myself from spooning it right into my mouth like cookie dough.

Be careful, though, when you're making this because I suffered a few injuries while creating this recipe. Just as I was grabbing the glass dish to spray with cooking spray, I broke it on the side of my sink and it shattered into a million pieces all over my kitchen counter, floor, sink and disposal. I mean, this sucker BROKE. And it also cut my pinky on one hand and my thumb on the other, (there is actually still glass stuck in my thumb). Blood started to show, pain started to set in and I was standing in a sea of broken glass. My barefoot three year old had just woken up from his nap and my daughter was due to wake up to be fed any minute now. So, what does any strong, confident woman do in a situation such as this? She calls her mommy. My dear mother dropped whatever it is she was doing at the time and drove over to my rescue. She stayed to clean up the broken glass so I could nurse my baby. Now, that's love.

*Blueberry Rhubarb Cobbler Pie

Pie Crust:
If you're going to use store-bought, I only recommend the 'Pillsbury Ready-Made Pie Crusts', if you're going to make your own, use your favorite recipe or use My Easy Pie Crust Recipe. Roll your dough out to fit an 8x8in baking dish. Grease the dish and press the dough into the bottom and up the sides a bit. Place in the fridge while you prepare your filling.

Filling:
In a large bowl, combine 2 large rhubarb stalks that you've peeled and diced into 1 inch pieces with 2 pints of fresh, in season* blueberries (all the fruit combined will equal 5-6 cups total). Add to this the zest of 1 lemon and half of it's juice, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 3/4 cup of sugar and 3 1/2 TB of cornstarch. Stir well and pour into the chilled crust.

Cobbler Top:
In your food processor combine 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 cup sugar. Pulse to mix well and add in 1 stick of cold unsalted butter that you've cubed. Pulse again until the butter has moistened all the dry ingredients and the mixture becomes a dough. With your hands or a spoon, drop the dough in spoonful-sized amounts, on the top of your filling, but do not spread out.

Bake at 375 for 45 min-1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling has become completely thickened, like a jam.

(*if the blueberries are out of season, you may need to add more sugar. I like my desserts a little less sweet than most, so adjust it to your liking.)

When Someone Closes a Door, Just Open a Bigger Door.

2011-06-28T15:10:00.001-04:00

Normally I would say that I do not recommend traveling with a child under the age of 6 months, whether it's to visit family members far away or to take a family vacation. Because usually it's not a vacation. For anyone. No matter how hard you try, or how many positive thoughts you send out into the universe, things very rarely go smoothly. My husband and I just took both our kids, (3 1/2 years and 3 1/2 months), to Murrells Inlet, SC for a much needed family beach vacation. We decided to go for the same reason that all families decide to go somewhere- so that my husband could spend a little more time with the kids and I could spend a little less time with them. I was looking forward to the 'vacation' and the 'beach' part, but not looking forward to the 'family' part, to tell you the truth. Don't get me wrong, I want to spend time with my family, I just don't wanna get my hopes up by calling that time a 'vacation'. In the past, before our daughter was born, whenever we attempted a family vacation, I have not slept a wink and neither has our son. I have never been able to relax, and then couldn't wait to get back home where things would inevitably be more relaxing.

So... I had a lot of anxiety about this trip, (which is not really surprising if you know me at all). We were going to be in the car for 4-5 hours, with the dog who refuses to sit anywhere but in the driver's lap, the 3 year old who gets car sick, the 3 month old who hates the car, the mommy who gets car sick, all the crap-loads of stuff you have to bring to go anywhere with children, and the daddy who desperately tries to keep everyone happy and healthy.

The car ride there was actually a breeze, all things considered. We had to stop only once for us all to stretch our legs and allow me to feed the baby, and I had to ride in the back seat for awhile, squeezed tightly in between my children, until the baby fell back asleep again, but that's all. Once we got into town, we needed to go to the grocery store, and I had the brilliant idea that I should take the baby (who had just settled in to another nap) to the store while my husband and our son unloaded all of our stuff at the house. I would call him to come pick us up when we were done shopping and then we could all get started on our vacation(!).

The second I unsnapped the infant car seat and began to carry her inside the store, her little eyes popped open. This 3 month old was wide awake and my heart began racing. It was almost time for her to eat again and since she was now awake, my grocery visit was about to get really complicated. We made it through the produce aisle, all the way up to the bananas, when she started to cry. I decided I should take her out and put her in the front carrier thingy and 'wear' her for the rest of the time. She did not like that one bit. I think once I took her out of her seat, she thought she was about to get fed...then when that didn't happen, she told me, very clearly, that she was not happy with me.

I bounced her and tried all my mommy tricks to get her to quiet down, but nothing was working. I also think she was freezing, considering she was dressed for a car ride in the 95 degree heat, not for the 50 degree grocery store weather. So I'm still stationed in front of the bananas and now had crowds of South Carolina old ladies stopping by to either offer their services or supply me with never-ending compliments on how 'cute' my screaming baby was. It was very sweet, but unless they were able to shoot breast milk from their compliments, I had no use for them. Finally a manager came over to help when I was trying to simultaneously bounce my unhappy baby and bend over in a short skirt to put the car seat under the shopping cart. She took the car seat and told me she would keep it at customer service until I was done. As sweet as that sounds, I really think she was just trying to expedite my trip so I would get the hell out of her store. What I didn't realize at the time, was that when she took the car seat, she also took my cell phone that was inside of it, so there went my chances of calling for rescue.

My daughter is officially freaking out by the time I get to aisle one. So I take her out and hold her with one arm, while pushing the cart with the other. This seems to help a bit, but not enough. I'm trying to reach things in high places, while also trying not to drop my screaming child. I do manage to drop several grocery items from the shelves and am shocked at the amount of people who look at me, and continue to walk by instead of stop and help me pick up my things that are now scattered across the aisle. It was a disaster. Poor thing though, she was scared, hungry, and freezing. Believe me, I definitely considered whipping out the feeding bags right there in the coffee aisle, but decided against it since I was only going to be there for a little bit and she takes so long to eat. The only time she calmed down was in the wine aisle. (That's my girl...)

I finally finished, and surprisingly made it through check-out very quickly (it's amazing what you can get away with when you're holding a screaming baby). I eventually was able to call my husband to come get us and once we walked back outside into the 98 degree heat, she immediately stopped crying. Of course.

For the following couple of days, things couldn't have gone smoother. It was fantastic! I got to watch my son make buildings out of sand and we giggled until our stomach's ached while I hoisted his tiny body over too many ocean waves to count. I even got to lay out by the pool, all by myself. In order to do this, however, it was necessary that I wear a bathing suit. Ha. Yeah.... I just had a baby Three months ago. Who, in their right mind, chooses to put on one of those things after 'just' having a baby?! (Freaks of nature like supermodels and my daughter's Godmother excluded). When I was packing my suitcase for this trip, all my cute little bikinis just sat there and mocked me. They, and all my tiny shorts and mini dresses laughed so hard at the very idea that they would be coming along on this trip with me. So I found myself doing the one thing I vowed never to do as a mom or a woman. I had to put on the one article of clothing I swore I would never own. A tankini. I totally understand why these things exist now. Except I was (and still am) a little unclear as to how they work exactly. While laying out by the pool, I still wanted to get a good tan with no visible tan lines, so I removed the straps and tucked them into the top of the suit like I have done all my life, but the tankini revolted and every time a gust of wind blew through the harbor, my right breast came out and winked to all the other tankini-wearin' mamas and their tankini-wearin' daughters.

Both kids slept perfectly all night, every night, naps included. I actually got to relax on this vacation AND get a tan for the first time in over a year. I got so relaxed, in fact, that I forgot to flip over while tanning so now I look like Ross on that episode of Friends where he gets a spray tan and doesn't know how to count to ten. We accomplished a lot on this trip- My son fell in love with the ocean, I got to both look at and speak to my husband like a normal human being, we ate great food, watched many beach sunsets, and my 3 month old daughter laughed for the very first time. (OK, so it was actually the second time. But no one else was around when it happened the first time and I could never get her to reenact it. So everybody thought I made it up.) It ended up being the perfect family vacation.

As we walk through life and grow older, graduate from school after school, we think all of our studies have ended, and that there is nothing left to learn. The truth of the matter is that the lessons just keep coming and coming and they get harder and harder. It just becomes more and more difficult to spot them when they show up. I have learned that I need to allow those lessons to teach me something, and to not ignore that hard knock of opportunity on my door or I may miss something fantastic. Going on this vacation with my family, my perfect quartet, taught me to open that door a little more often. It taught me that we all four work so well as a team and that we can now take our show on the road whenever we want. I just hope that next time I can bring my cute little bikinis, because I really do miss them.

*The Droege Family's Fried Grouper Cheeks
-Go to your local fish monger, on the day you are planning to cook, and ask for the freshest grouper cheeks they have.
-Rinse them off in cold water and blot them very dry with paper towels.
-Place the cheeks in a large bowl and coat them well with House Autry Seafood Breader.
-Shallow fry the cheeks in some vegetable oil until golden brown on all sides.
-Remove and drain on paper towels.
-Season with kosher salt.
-Serve with lemon slices.

I thought I was the Master of my House...

2011-06-19T20:55:00.002-04:00

I thought I was the master of my house...until I had to do my husband's job today. Today is Father's Day. And I wanted my husband to experience what he gave me on Mother's Day, which was absolute perfection. Every morning, he usually gets up with our son while I'm feeding the baby, and feeds him, then feeds the animals. So I got up early this morning with the baby (who has a horrible cold) and brought her into our bed to catch just a few more Z's, waiting for our three year old son to wake up and the morning dance to begin. I rolled over at some point, after finally dozing off again, to find him staring at me...which was incredibly creepy. Even though I knew it was my child, something about opening your eyes to find someone looking at you just doesn't sit well first thing in the morning. (How long had he been there?!) I carefully got out of bed, (the baby was still asleep on my pillow, as was my husband) and took my son out of the room because he doesn't know how to whisper. I went downstairs to get the Father's Day presents to put by the bedside and told our son to stay put. (I'm quietly rushing now because once the baby wakes up, no matter whose job I'm currently doing, she will demand that I begin mine very quickly.) I get the presents on the bedside, take a moment to witness the sweet thing that is happening in our bed at the moment...

...and get dressed. Now our son is back in the room and starts to tell me what he wants for breakfast. Loudly. He wakes up the baby and the daddy. So I grab her and lead him out of the room, only halfway dressed. I begin to nurse her, then remember another present I forgot to put by the bed. So I leave our son downstairs, place the present on the table, then accidentally wake daddy up again. I mentioned I was nursing our daughter. What I didn't mention was that when she nurses, she sounds like Maggie Simpson. It's so incredibly loud. I can't talk on the phone to strangers while I'm feeding her because they become suspicious of what I'm doing. I leave the room and walk back downstairs, give our son his milk, and begin to make the Father's Day pancakes. With one hand. Doing things with one hand used to be a lot easier when my daughter was three weeks old...now she's three months old and has gotten a lot longer, and squirmier. As the first pancake touches the hot griddle, I hear our cat meow. Damn, I forgot about the cat. I grab the cat food and head outside to feed her. (Still nursing the baby...) I go to pour the food in her bowl, when I trip on our doormat and the bag of food spills all over the porch. I decide in that moment that our cat should be smart enough to find the food on the floor and eat it, so I leave it there. I walk back inside to the smell of burning batter. Damn, I forgot about the pancakes. I flip the black mess right into the trashcan and start again, remembering that Bobby Flay always says the first pancake is never good anyway. As I wait for the tiny bubbles to pop on the surface, I hear the dog rattling around in her crate upstairs. Damn, I forgot about the dog. I head upstairs to get her (still nursing the baby...) and take her outside. I open the door to let her out and she takes a sharp detour to start eating the cat food that is now spread across our entire yard. I'm trying to get her to go do her business, but she's not listening. She never listens to me. She is getting old and beginning to lose her hearing, but that's only half of the problem. She will only respond to the voice of my husband and my father, (Happy Father's Day to me...). So I'm standing there, in a sea of cat food, only partially dressed, nursing a baby, yelling at a half-deaf cock-a-poo to please, for the love of God, POO-POO and PEE-PEE!!! She does, then I try to get her to come back inside. I'm yelling, 'Come here! Come here!' over and over again to no avail, then my three year old hears what's going on and he comes outside in just a t-shirt and underwear and tries to help. He starts yelling 'Come There! Come There!' after every time I yell 'Come Here! Come Here!'. The dog finally decides she's done with the outside, and I wrangle her back in the door, past the dirty floor cat food to the smell of burning batter. Damn, I forgot about the pancakes. Again. I flip yet another black mess into the trashcan and start again, thinking maybe that Bobby Flay said the first two pancakes are never good...? I pour myself a cup of coffee and vow to now stand by the griddle until all the cakes are completed. I look down to see the dog staring at me. What? You just went out! Damn, I forgot to feed the dog. I just brush her off because I figure she's already eaten cat food this morning and focus back on the pancakes. I finish them, feed my son, drink my coffee, continue to feed the baby and wait for the man of the hour to wake up and his day to begin. When he did, we all showered him with hugs and kisses, thanked him for being a wonderful daddy, and I secretly wished it was Mother's Day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(I created this recipe for my father who loves both Oreos and Cheesecake. I thought I was being incredibly creative until my husband told me it was already a thing. Oh well. It was delicious.)

*Father's Day Oreo Cheesecake

Crust-
-16 Oreo cookies
-1/2 cup pretzels
-5 TB unsalted butter, melted
-pinch of kosher salt
--In a food processor, completely crush your cookies and pretzels to the consistency of sand.
--Add your salt and your melted butter and pulse until the butter has moistened everything.
--Press this into a greased 10 inch springform pan, wrapped well in tinfoil, and place in the freezer while you make your filling.
Filling-
-4 bricks (2 lbs) of low fat neufchatel cream cheese, softened.
-1 cup of low fat ricotta cheese
-1 3/4 cup sugar
-3 TB flour
-splash of vanilla extract
-6 eggs
-1/4 cup of milk
-20 Oreo cookies, crushed, but not pulverized
--In the bowl of your standing mixer, beat the cream cheese and ricotta until creamy.
--Add in your sugar and the flour, and continue to beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
--Add your vanilla, your milk and your eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat until everything is incorporated well and completely smooth.
--Stir in your crushed oreos by hand and pour the filling into your prepared crust.
--Bake at 500 for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 225 and continue to bake for an hour. After an hour, turn off the oven and crack the door with a wooden spoon. Allow the cake to sit in the warm oven for 30 minutes. (note-It will still have some jiggle in the center, but it will set as it cools. It will be a slight golden brown on the top and will have come away from the edges of the pan.)
--Remove the cheesecake and let it sit at room temperature to cool completely.
--Unmold the pan and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight.

Balsamic Peach Chicken over Sour Cream Grits

2011-06-07T11:58:00.001-04:00

This is a recipe that I wrote years ago, before I had my kids. I've made it a couple of times since then, but never wrote it down until today. It's a great dish and is fairly easy to make. I've even done it with a can of peaches when I didn't have fresh on hand. And choose whatever cut of chicken you enjoy the most. I've used chicken breasts and I've also used thighs, it's good either way. Enjoy!

*Balsamic Peach Chicken
(serves 4. If you're using thighs, plan on 2 per person)
-Season your chicken pieces well with salt and pepper and heat an ovenproof skillet* on medium high heat with some olive oil.
-Sear your chicken on both sides until golden brown and then set aside, (you're not fully cooking them yet).
-Add a bit more oil to the pan, turn it down to medium and add one medium onion, thinly sliced. Season with salt and allow them to soften and brown a bit.
-Add two peaches that you've pitted and then sliced. Season with some sugar if they're out of season and on the tart side. Allow them to soften a bit.
-Pour in 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar and scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add 1/2 cup of orange juice and 1/2 cup of chicken broth or stock. Season with 1/2 tsp of dried rosemary and 2 TB of light brown sugar.
-Stir well and nestle your chicken back in.
-Bake, uncovered at 350 for 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
-Remove your chicken and turn your burner on high. Allow the sauce to reduce until syrupy.
-Serve under a bed of Sour Cream Grits or Polenta ('recipe' follows) with your vegetable of choice. Garnish with fresh basil.
(If you aren't serving this over something rich like the Sour Cream Grits, you should finish the sauce with a TB of butter to help round out the flavors.)

Yes, I know, I know...it's a sloppy picture.

Sour Cream Grits
(This is what I serve under all of my stews in the winter time and it's perfect under the sweet and tangy sauce of this chicken dish)

-Cook your grits or polenta according to package instructions and stir in about 1/4 cup of sour cream per serving of grits.

(*if you don't have an ovenproof skillet, wrap the handle of yours with foil 2X and it'll be fine)

This Mother is Stayin' Alive

2011-06-06T10:44:00.002-04:00

It shouldn't be a shock that my body is different now than it was a year ago. I should be able to do the math and realize that I became pregnant almost exactly one year ago, then got even more pregnant (30 pounds more) as the nine months rolled on, then had the baby, then began nursing the baby...which brings me to today. No, it shouldn't be a shock that things aren't back to normal by now...and yet it is. I am out of shape. There, I said it. OUT OF shape. I'm all OUT OF shape. There's no more shape here. Excuse me, I'm looking for some shape, do you have any? Nope. We're all OUT OF shape here, come back in a year. OK, so I have shape, but it's not mine. I don't know whose shape this is, but it sure isn't mine. I would like mine back please.

Not only am I OUT OF shape, I'm out of coordination. I went to my first fitness class last week in an attempt to try to find my old shape, only to realize my coordination must be hiding somewhere with it. I used to be good at this stuff! But on this particular day, this sad, pitiful day, I was, well, sad and pitiful. I seem to have forgotten how to lift anything to the timing of any kind of music. And damn those big mirrors that force you to look at yourself! I used to like those mirrors, they used to point out muscle definition and tight things. But now they just drew attention to paleness, to the absence of tight things.

Not being sure what class to take, I just blindly followed the tight butts into a room filled with tiny people in tiny clothes following a mean man with a whistle. There were many stations set out on the floor, some with weights, some with mats and balls, there were jump ropes, traffic cones, resistance bands, lots and lots of stations. The class began with a whistle and everyone but me knew what that whistle meant. All the little tiny people were hard at work and I just stood there, confused. I'm not one to like looking like an idiot, so I just found the closest open station and did what the giant flash card on the floor said to do. Crab Walk, it said. So walk like a crab, I did. I did my best crab impression for a minute or so until the mean man blew his whistle. Everyone scattered across the floor again. I was kicked out of the crab station and thrown into the next one that said D.B. Press. D.B.? What the heck is a D.B.? I just picked up the weights and did shoulder presses...that's the only press I knew how to do standing up.

After awhile, I started to really get into it. I kinda forgot where I was and began singing and enjoying my freedom. I didn't care that the tight ones were staring at me, (I mean, who can keep their mouth shut when Micheal Jackson is calling you an abbreviated Pretty Young Thing? Or when Barry Gibb is telling you to keep Stayin' Alive, whether you happen to be a brother OR a mother?!) It was fun. The class itself wasn't necessarily fun, but I made it that way. I soon figured out, after about 45 minutes that D.B. meant Dumb Bell...that made me feel just about as dumb as the bell. And I soon learned to just copy what the person in front of me was doing, and I curled, pressed, walked like both a crab and a bear, jumped, jacked, crunched and stepped my way through the hour long class. And here's what I learned:
#1.) I do not wish I was a crab. Or a bear.
#2.) No one who has ever had a baby should jump without the proper protection, ever.
#3.) If you're not used to having breasts of any kind, you should rethink any sort of bouncing unless you are prepared to grab them with one hand as you work out the other.
#4.) If you are driving a loaner car from the dealership, make sure you know what it looks like before you enter a building or else you will be running around in confused circles for 15 minutes pressing your key thingy until you see lights flash.
And finally, lesson #5.) I may have lost my shape and my coordination, but my balance was impeccable. Because isn't that what I've been doing the past 3 months? Balancing? Every single day of this new life has me balancing something and everything. I could stand on that Bosu ball and curl and press my D.B.'s all day long without falling. Because I can balance. If I ever feel like I have lost anything, whether it be my shape or my sanity, I can take pride in knowing that I never lost my balance.
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(I've posted this recipe before, a long time ago, but thought about them the other day when I found several logs of the dough in my freezer. This is a great thing to whip up, freeze, and always have on hand for a cocktail party. You can use parmesan, asiago, cheddar or gorgonzola instead of the romano, and fresh thyme is a fine replacement for the rosemary, especially if you add a bit of lemon zest to the dough. These shortbread disks are deliciously addictive and have a wonderful Balance of sweet and savory.)

*Rosemary-Romano Shortbread Disks
2 cups AP flour
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp fresh minced rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 sticks soft butter
-Pulse everything in a food processor until combined.
-Form the dough into log shape (2 in wide) and wrap tightly in plastic, chill til firm, or freeze for several months*
-Slice into disks, about 1/2 inch thick and bake 375* for 12-14 min.
-Allow to cool completely before serving or they will crumble.
*you can slice and bake these without thawing if you're in a pinch, you just may need to adjust the baking time.