Under Construction

Fruit on the bottom

In case your lunchboxes are in a midwinter slump this is a fun addition:

Freezer jam container, frozen mixed berries, plain yogurt

Fruit, then yogurt, then lid. In the fridge overnight and ready for the lunchbox.

That's all I've got, folks. I'm still coughing up a lung over here. I was living on hot water with lemon and honey (SO GOOD for a sore throat/cough) but I went through all three of the lemons I got at the market. But, wait! As I was typing this I remembered there is a lemon on our front yard tree. I'm off to pick it and make more honey/lemon water. Too bad we're almost out of honey.

Candy!

I kind of loving having our Christmas tree up. So sparkly.

I always want to host a holiday making party and always run out of time but not this year. Last Friday I had a few friends over for candy making. It was so fun and much easier than hosting a crafting party. Granted, I invited folks only 24 hours in advance but three friends came over and we spent 3 delightful hours in the kitchen making

Peppermint Bark (so good!)

Caramel

Peppernuts (four QUARTS!--now I remember why I always halve the recipe)

Mulling Spice packets (aren't they pretty?)

Rum Balls (a friend made these with her family recipe)

Really, so fun. And productive!

They even did the dishes.

Sticks and preparations

Man am I tuckered. If ever there was a day I didn't want to make something this was it but these napkin ring/place cards only took about 15 minutes so it worked out.

Of course Biscuit had already covered place cards with her own work completed a week ago.

As you can see the table is set. The food isn't done but Biscuit has been working hard.

Harder than I thought she would, actually.

She's taken her work very seriously and doesn't even want much help. Of course I've been in the kitchen nearly the entire time just to answer questions and cut onions. The one time I left she ran outside screaming for help. The mixer was kneading the bread dough and it started bouncing around and nearly bounced off the countertop. Now that would have been sad!

Items completed include: rolls, butternut squash soup, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, turkey prep. Tomorrow's going to be busy

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Pumpkins

Last weekend I got a pumpkin spice latte (Mr. H got coffee) and we went to the pumpkin patch to try to get adorable photos of our children with big, orange vegetables. It didn't really work out.

My camera was on the wrong setting but at least I have blackmail photos for Oscar of the time mom dressed him as though Halloween vomited all over him.

We brought home a sugar pumpkin so I could try my hand at pumpkin pie from scratch. Yesterday we roasted the sugar pumpkin and scooped its guts.

And today, TODAY was pumpkinstravaganza.

PIE!

Which was enjoyed after a meal of pumpkin risotto (except Oscar who enjoyed his pumpkin puree straight up.)

CARVING!

She is so ready for Halloween.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

Experimenting with food

Oscar is four months old! At his four month appointment his doctor suggested we try solid food any time and for sure before his 6 month appointment. I've been more of an "only breastmilk till 6 months" kind of person but, eh, a few spoonfuls of applesauce at 4 months seems unlikely to cause permanent harm.

Plus, our feeding interactions with Oscar have been mostly unpleasant lately since he really doesn't like a bottle. Trying something new seemed fun and positive.

Feeding my baby sister her first bite of solid food felt like a very important thing when I was 8 so I wanted Biscuit to have this big sister responsibility as well. The kid has never taken a more efficient bath than when I told her after her bath she could trying giving Oscar his first bite of solid food.

Expressions captured to the contrary, he liked it alright. Minimal tongue thrust and he swallowed it so I guess the experiment was a success. Go, baby!

Girl Scouts and cookies (but not Girl Scout Cookies)

 Girl Scout Cookies aren't until January (sales) and February (delivery). But, Girl Scouts.

I'm having my post-Girl Scout Meeting glass of wine. It might be two glasses. And I'm wondering how anyone could be a kindergarten (or first grade) teacher. Only 8 girls tonight, only for an hour and I'm d.o.n.e. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I volunteered to be a leader and I'm happy to do it it just isn't really my strong suit and it exhausts me. Trying to keep the girls focused for 10-15 minutes is MORE than enough and then they have to dance it out so to speak.

Given the nice weather I sent them to the yard for a dance party. Of course that also meant a lot of "no, we're not going on the tire swing." "no, you can't 'skate' on the funiture dolly" etc etc. Our yard isn't first grader proofed. In the end, the dancing was a success and I was grateful to the wonderful parents who stayed around during the meeting and helped with kid control. I sometimes feel self consious to have the other parents there during the meeting as though they're watching/judging my lack of troop management skills. But, tonight, they helped take the clothes off the line and laid a soothing hand on a girl who needed a bit of extra help focusing and generally were awesome. So, Daisy Girl Scouts, fun, but phew, glad it's every OTHER week :)

Cookies.

I was involved in recent a Facebook debate with a local friend and blog reader and my cousin from PA about cookie and brownie recipes. I'm a devout follower of Ina Garten/Barefoot Contessa cookie recipes and I admit I have developed a bit of a cookie reputation (as in, I make good chocolate chip cookies). I use Ina's recipe faithfully except for a chocolate chip switch (I use only Guittard chips, half milk, half semi sweet). ANYWAY FB friend, said that the infamous Neiman Marcus cookies BEAT Ina's cookies. I didn't believe her so I had a taste off.

I followed the recipes precisely except for the chocolate chip ratio described above. I used the AMOUNT of chips called for but mixed up the TYPE of chips. And, for Ina's recipe, I left out the walnuts. I LOVE walnuts but, in cookies, they're divisive and I didn't want anyone's vote to be swayed by nuts.

First test group was Mr. H's poker night crowd. (not so blurry in real life but I loved the double fisting it of cookies)

Seven men, one woman. Vote was 5-3 in favor of cookie #2 which was Ina's. Those voting for #1, Neiman Marcus, all liked the coffee flavor. The recipe calls for 1.5 tsps of espresso powder and I used a Starbucks Via packet. The next day I took the cookies to a family event and the votes were 5-0 in favor of Ina. Now, I admit that's a crowd that is very familar with the Ina cookie since I make it a lot. Also, for the poker crowd the Ina cookies were a bit warmer since they were the second batch cookied. STILL I think Ina wins this one. Next step, add 1/2 tsp of espresso to Ina's recipe and see what happens....

Too bad I used all that cookie dough in taste tests. A cookie would go well with my wine about now.

PS Is this the funniest thing ever or is it just me?

Cooking suggestions

Not that you need me to tell you what to do but sometimes it's nice to have a links to a few tried and true recipes. Here are some winners that'll use up your bounty of late summer produce!

 

If you have a glut of:

CORN AND TOMATOES--make: Smitten Kitchen's Corn and Tomato Pie. Seriously, this is Mr. H and my new favorite recipe. Biscuit loves it too. (notes: I used sliced havarti cheese rather than shredded cheddar and it was just as good. The biscuit dough crust is a critical element. Don't worry about liquidy produce, just drain the pie after cutting a slice or two--sounds gross but it works)

GREEN BEANS--make: Emeril's Chinese Chicken and Green Beans. (notes: I always leave out the shrimp and it works fine. The Asian Spice Blend is a must but make it once and you'll have it on hand for ages)

ROMA TOMATOES AND ZUCCHINI--make: A recipe Jonniker tweeted. Yes, tweeted. Here it is in Jonniker's tweet words:

So quarter some roma or regular tomatoes, put in a glass baking dish and drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar....dried basil and garlic (I am generous with all). If you want zucchini, you can roast, or you can sautee, like I do....Roast the tomatoes for 15 minutes at 400. Mix with thinly sliced, sauteed zucchini and drained cannellini beans....then toss with parmesan, salt and pepper. Die happy.

(notes: I roasted thin sliced zucchini in the oven with the (non Roma) tomatoes and some finely chopped onion and tossed in fresh basil at the end. Also used garbanzo beans rather than cannellini and served over pasta)

EGGPLANT- AND BELL PEPPERS-make: Ratatouille. And, I'm sorry, because I know eggplant is pretty gross but this will use it up and feel very virtuous to eat and will taste a lot better than you'd expect from eggplant. (notes: I served over polenta which Mr. H and Biscuit do not like but I do. I also approximated all the vegetable needs substituting liberally between Japanese eggplant, different pepper colors and zucchini vs. summer squash)

DESIRE FOR COOKIES YET NO CHOCOLATE CHIPS AND VERY LITTLE REGULAR SUGAR--make: Smitten Kitchen's Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies (notes: This assumes you do have two 1.75 oz bars of Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate to chop up. That's something you should always have on hand so I'm assuming you do. It also assumes you keep coffee powder in your freezer for baking or have some Starbucks Via packets floating around)

A NEED FOR BREAKFAST BUT NO BREAKFAST FOODS--make: Smitten Kitchen's Perfect Blueberry Muffins. Yes, I'm kind of into Smitten Kitchen this week. (notes: substitute a scant cup of MIXED frozen berries from Trader Joe's removing the big ones, like strawberries. Way yummier than straight up blueberries)

 

Two days, two pies

Does that seem excessive? I think not when you have produce to use and guests to entertain.

On Sunday, Blackberry-Peach (with a woven top that Biscuit insisted upon). Inspired by Lauren's Blackberry-Strawberry but made using the recipe for Blackberry-Apple from Rustic Fruit Desserts. It cooked way quicker than the recipe said--guess peaches cook quicker than apples. We used up the rest of our blackberry crop on this one and it was a good use for sure.

Served with vanilla ice cream this was two thumbs up from the peanut gallery.

Today was Rhubarb Cream Cheese Pie with Fresh Strawberries from the same Rustic Fruits Cookbook. Wanted to use the rhubarb in the garden before it was too late.

As far as I'm concerned that's the best pie ever (even if the crust was a bit tough due to excessive love from the kid). I love rhubarb and the cream cheese custard on top was the perfect mix between custard (love) and cheesecake (love). There's one slice left for breakfast (for ME) tomorrow and that's it on pie.

Two pies (and two mini pies).Two days. Gone.

Oh, and that pretty plate? I now have service for 12 of that pattern which belonged to my maternal great grandmother and was carted here from my aunt's house in Iowa by my parents. Thanks, everyone! As much as I don't need more stuff (and certainly not more dishes) (and certainly not service for 12 with a soup tureen) I am really pleased to have received these. 

My New Year's Resolution in August is to use our china. I always forget to use our wedding china too but it was fun to serve lunch on this stuff today.

Now I need to go finish handwashing the dessert plates.

For ice cream

The plums are all ripe right now, the blackberries are in full production, apparently it's not too late to harvest rhubarb and I got a half flat of strawberries at the market. So, of course,Biscuit and I made fruit sauces for ice cream.

With the backyard bounty they were practically free and super delicious. Notes to self:

Blackberry:

Based on this recipe but I left out the butter and only did 1/2 cup water. It was a bit thin--next time no water.

Strawberry:

Based on this recipe. But I left out the orange zest and added a vanilla bean. It was actually a bit tart--maybe 1/2 cup sugar next time?

Plum:

Based on this recipe. Pleasantly tart (Santa Rosa's have a very tart skin) with about 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar. Unfortunately, too cinnamony for me. Next time leave out the cinnamon sticks and perhaps add a dash of powdered cinnamon.

Rhubarb

Hands down the most delicious. Two cups chopped rhubarb, 4 strawberries (mostly for color), 1 cup sugar and about 1/2 cup water. Cook until all mushy and thick. SO GOOD (if you like rhubarb).

Corn on the grill

This post is for my dad (and anyone else who may wish to cook corn on the grill). A recipe for corn on the grill (with useful images.)

Try and get untrimmed corn (at the store they sometimes take off layers of husk--you want lots of husk). Now trim just the tassels and hanging off leaves (from what is on the right, to what is on the left)

Preheat the grill on medium or so (our grill was between 350 and 400 degrees for most of the cooking). Put the corn on the grill. (note: we used to soak the corn for a while before grilling but it doesn't seem to matter so now we skip it.)

Turn every 10-15 minutes. Image below is after 21 minutes of cooking and 2 turns (nice that the camera documents time so I know exactly how long these cooked).

After about 25-30 minutes we put the steaks on the grill. I turned the corn down to low in the back and the steaks were on medium. Side note on the meat--they were filet mignon from the UC Davis Meat Lab. They weren't cheap but they were SO good. Really tender. And when we bought them we got a full tour of the meat lab. Photos at the bottom if you aren't too squeamish about where your meat comes from. Hint: it's an animal :) I should say, Meat Lab prices are really good, filet is just really pricey no matter where you buy it.

Back to the corn!

After 40 minutes it's off the grill. 40-45 minutes seems to be about right for corn.The husks are quite charred and browned all the way around. After a few minutes of cooling we used hot pads to peel back the husks....

You want a few browned kernels in there. And see how the corn still looks a bit dry and white at the base? That's not quite as done as I like. The kernels should be darker/yellowish and wet looking. They should wrinke when it cools.

Ready to eat--it was delicious!

Ok, so Meat Lab.

What you can't see in this photo of the retail area is the rack of meat hooks to the left. A touch of realism :)

We got offered an impromptu tour and it was fascinating. And a bit cold and smelly. Pork up front.

Beef in the back

Lots of tools/saws/implements. And blurry photos. A fascinating tour.