What's yours is mine.

I've spent the better part of 3 weeks planning for a parents social event for my daughter's school. We did a cheese and wine tasting with some other nibblies and desserts. I contributed a recipe and a sampling of my Latin Crab Bites, which seemed to be popular. I also brought home some wonderful leftovers which I'll be eating for the next couple of days- my friend who owns a catering company called Festivities made us a Middle Eastern Platter of rolled grape leaves, hummus, baba ganoush, white bean salad, feta cheese and tabbouleh. I brought home some of the leftovers and can't wait to dig into it!

I took the girls for Chinese food with 2 of their friends tonight and invariably whatever I order, they end up wanting. We ordered our standard: spare ribs, rice and chicken with mixed vegetables. I ordered steamed vegetable dumplings and a bowl of wonton soup. My soup arrives and all 4 girls say, " I want a wonton!" So I hand over my 4 wontons and drink the broth. Their food comes and they're still thinking about the wontons. I tell them to eat their dinner and I'll order 1 more bowl of soup. They wolf down the chicken and vegetables, some rice and a rib or two. The whole time they're eating, I see them eyeing me as if I might be holding out on a wonton. Emma even asked for one of my steamed vegetable dumplings.

I've got a TV spot next Saturday the 7th on WTNH, and am excited to share a recipe for a Nicoise Tuna sandwich with hardboiled eggs, a good use for all of those leftovers on Sunday, I'll post the recipe next week.

White soup success

Week 2 of papa/kid cooking went well. Kirk was none too happy about having to use multiple pans to 1-steam clams and 2- brown bacon for the chowder. I will admit it was difficult to keep my mouth shut, and I eventually had to leave. I had a cup of Earl Gray on the couch while I listened to them pull out the clams when they opened, chop onion (Kirk did this) and cut potatoes. I don't know who this experience is more beneficial for, Kirk or the girls??

In any event, the soup turned out well, the girls were not happy to see that clams went into clam chowder, but they ate it anyhow. I ended up steaming some edamame and putting out the last of the pineapple and mango with dinner. Kirk had pretty much had it by the time the soup was ready! I realize that I still enjoy cooking A LOT more than I enjoy cleaning up, and Kirk was in complete agreement. He even went so far as to ask for his old job back. I am enjoying watching him struggle to find his ground, he's getting it, and I'm sure in a month's time he will be so much more confident in the kitchen.

The girls seemed to enjoy making the soup, even though there wasn't much to do. I wonder what they'll make next week.

We have a sitter coming tomorrow and I've bought pizza dough so they can make pizza together. It's so easy to buy dough, every store carries fresh dough, and we use tomato sauce, and shredded cheese. Emma sometimes has turkey pepperoni on hers, but Abby is a purist, preferring cheese. I like to have onions, mushrooms and prosciutto with a sprinkling of garlic salt and Parmesan cheese.

Duality dinners

I knew they were going to be unhappy... I took Emma with me to pick up two beautiful 1 1/2 lb. steamed lobsters. We bought a little coleslaw and some cherry stone clams for tomorrow night's soup. Emma held her nose the entire time we were at the fish store, proclaiming, "this place stinks!" I had to laugh, it's such a kid thing to say.

I bought 5 more ears of fresh corn while picking up supplies for work tomorrow and some chicken for the girls. I so rarely serve 2 things for dinner, Kirk and I ended up incorporating a bit of theirs into ours and we insisted they try a bite of the lobster.

I tried using a little reverse psychology telling the girls, "here's a small bite, but if you like it, I'm sorry, I can't give you any more." That sooooo didn't work. Emma (very dramatically) spit her minuscule bite on the table and Abby basically swallowed hers whole an chugged it down with water!

The Swiss Chard went down better!

I'm sure there will be quite a story to tell about the girls making the New England Clam Chowder...

winter food on a summer's day

If yesterday felt like spring, today really felt like summer. I was finally able to fling open the windows and enjoy the weather. We reheated the dinner we were supposed to eat from last night, the lamb, leek and white bean stew which was delicious tonight. We ate it with pasta and although the girls did't mix theirs together, they both liked it, and Emma even asked for a second helping. We had pineapple and mango at the table too.

I didn't really do any cooking except for boiling water for pasta and reheating last night's dinner. I've got my heart set on steamed lobsters for tomorrow night's dinner with more fresh corn, but I think tomorrow is the girls night to cook, and they're planning on making white soup a.k.a New England clam chowder. Good luck Kirk!

But I'm soooo hungry...

Dinner tonight was supposed to be a fairly easy ordeal. I saw this recipe on PBS from a lovely French guy whose name rhymes with Tepin... He made a delicious lamb, leek and white bean stew in the pressure cooker that he said only took 30-40 minutes.

No problem. With my usual alterations, I began with a drizzle of olive oil into the bottom of the pressure cooker. I popped in 3 cubes of frozen garlic. I quartered 2 leeks and rinsed them in a bowl of cold water. I warmed the olive oil and once it began to sizzle, I added 2 lamb loins to the pan. I added a pinch of salt, a few grinds of pepper and a sprinkling of Greek Seasoning. I let those cook for a few minutes on each side then added in the leeks. I added in a can of diced tomatoes, a handful of white beans that I had rinsed and a cup of white wine and 2 cups of water. I closed the lid to the pressure cooker and let it whistle away for the required 30 minutes.

During that time, my girls declared on a number of occasions that they were, " soooooo hungry mommyyyyy!!!" I told them not to worry, dinner would be ready soon, and why don't they set the table in the meantime. They set the table and returned proclaiming that they were, "really, really hungryyyyy!" I started to get a little nervous. To distract them, I told them they could wash and cut the strawberries, hoping they would eat a few. They did, and 30 minutes come and go. I open the lid and as I had worried, the beans were still little pebbles and the girls were gnawing on the dinner chairs.

I quickly popped the 1/2 of the leftover baked potato from last night into the microwave and the really, really leftover roasted turkey breast from a few nights ago. I had bought some fresh corn and hopped-to to get that boiling in some water.

As we ate our very very left over meal, I listened to the pressure cooker whistle away while I wondered, who times these recipes for PBS??? We had a nice dinner together, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow nights lamb, leek and white bean stew that ended up taking 1 hour and 15 minutes!

Optimism...

I awoke this morning with a plan. A plan for the day, a plan for the market and a plan to enjoy the first spring-link Sunday we've had in quite a while. I met a friend and her kids at our local bakery, we had a leisurely morning and the kids enjoyed watching the bakers roll out dough.

I had my recipes in hand for the week and was fortunate to drop the girls at a friends house so I could market alone. I have become so grateful for small things! I bought shrimp and rainbow Swiss chard for tonight and lamb and leeks for tomorrows meals as well as some other fresh veggies.

After putting the groceries away and picking up the kids, I popped 2 potatoes in the oven to bake and proceeded to make a schmear (for lack of a better word) of olive oil, 2 cubes of frozen garlic, panko, a little Parmesan cheese, a pinch of pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. I put a little chopped parsley on my shrimp, but I knew this would put the girls over the edge. I thawed a handful of shrimp, took the tails off and placed them on a foil lined cookie sheet. I turned the oven to 450 and put a nice dollop of the schmear on top of each shrimp and let them cook for 6-7 minutes.

Along with the shrimp, I chopped up the Swiss Chard. I sauteed 1/2 an onion in a little olive oil with another cube of garlic. After about 1 minute, I added the stems of the Chard, and sauteed for another minute or so, then added the leaves and about 1/2 C. of chicken stock. I let it simmer on medium until most of the liquid had drained.

With the usual complaints, the girls set the table and I pre-plated their food (to ensure they got a little of everything), one bite of Chard, 3 shrimp and1/2 a baked potato.

As I guessed, the Chard did NOT go over with flying colors, Emma said she didn't like the consistency and Abby just didn't like any of it, they did, however try 1 bite. The shrimp had mixed reviews. Emma ate one and then another, then decided she only like the crispy part, Abby surprisingly complained the whole way through. They ate their baked potato and we had a relatively uneventful dinner, even though I had introduced 2 (gasp!!) new recipes.

I think the girls were trying to get through dinner as quickly as possible tonight, although they were good not to make a big fuss.

Pantry pasta meals, A.K.A. lazy mama food

The cake made it to the school with no problems. Everyone was oohing and aahing. My daughter went over to admire "her cake" and the unthinkable happened, she knocked over the "Miss Spider's Tea Party" book onto the cake, shattering the spun sugar dome her mom had so meticulously made. She was upset and I was pretty disappointed, fortunately the cake still raised money for the school and no harm was done, except in my imagination...

We spent the day out with friends and got home at 5:21 p.m. I stuck the kids in front of the T.V. (thank God for Disney on Demand) while I pulled out 2 1/2 used boxes of pasta and a jar of sauce. Definitely a no frills meal. Kirk, who just got home from work, ate the left over turkey breast that I had roasted last night, and the girls had some applesauce with their pasta. I picked out the rest of the carrots and we had a pretty uneventful meal.

I told the kids they had a choice of 2 things for dinner tomorrow night. I know neither of these is their favorite, but I hoped that giving them a choice would at least make it more appealing.
We could either have fish or shrimp, they choose shrimp. I love shrimp, but I'm not sure how I'm going to prepare it . We're going to have baked potatoes and some kind of vegetable, hopefully I will be able to find Swiss chard.

Upon writing this, I realize now would be an opportune time to think about meals for the next few days, as I felt like I went to the market 3 times last week.

crazy cake!

This cake has gotten rather out of control... I started last night (after the kids went to sleep) with the sugar dome. I vaguely remembered how to make one, boil some sugar, water and a tiny bit of corn syrup, when it turns caramelly color, let it cool for a minute and begin drizzing.

Easier said than done! I got everything ready, sprayed the outside of a metal bowl with copious amounts of Pam, got my sugar syrup boiling away and when it looked ready ( My candy thermometer's disppeared) I drizzled the molten lava sugar syrup over the back of the bowl. Ok, this seems familiar. I try to gently slide the sugar bowl away from the metal bowl, it doesn't budge. Hmmm. That does not seem familiar. I quickly realize I haven't let the sugar cook long enough. I wash out the copper pot, make a new batch of sugar syrup. This time I let it boil, until it looks a beautiful copper color. Again, spray the bowl and with my fork, drizzle the syrup back and forth across the back of the bowl. I let it cool, and very gently slide my hand back and forth over the top. It slowly slides! I run upstairs and proclaim to Kirk that I am the "Queen of the sugar bowl!!"

I also made the dark chocolate ganache which is quite easy, 8 oz. dark chocolate and 3/4 C. heavy cream. Boil the heavy cream, when it boils, turn the heat off and stir in the chocolate until it melts. It turns beautiful and shiny.

I made the cake this morning. It's an "almost" flourless chocolate cake. It's a few steps, but still relatively easy. Melt 2 stick of unsalted butter with 10 oz. bittersweet chocolate. In a bowl, beat 5 eggs with 1 1/4 C. sugar until it thickens up. Sift 5 tablespoons of flour and 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda. Fold the flour mixture into the eggs and when incorporated, slowly add the melted chocolate. Pout into a buttered and flourered pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, then cover and bake an additional 30 mintues.

After the cake cooled, I garnished the sides with ground hazlenuts and made a spider web out of melted white chocolate.

Basically, I managed to waste almost 2 days with this cake! Ugh...

After cleaning up the copious amounts of chocolate all around the kitchen, I got to dinner.

I preheated the oven to 350. Rubbed the turkey breast with olive oil, kosher salt, peper and Greek Seasoning. I stuffed 1/2 an onion into the cavity and a bunch of baby carrots around the turkey. I made some white rice to go with our turkey.

The great thing about roasting poultry is that there is nothing to do, no checking, no basting, it basically cooks itself.

We had the rest of the ginger bread and some fresh strawberries for dessert.

No idea what to do for dinner tomorrow night, will definately be raiding the pantry for adding to our leftover turkey breast. :)

Don't forget the fish eggs.

Dinner tonight was at our local sushi restaurant. It's pretty much a no-brainer, a bit like groundhog day. For the kids: Edamame and miso soup to start, followed by chicken teriyaki and sticky rice, but don't forget the fish eggs on top for Abby. For me, California rolls with cucumber instead of avocado and spider rolls (soft shell crab) with salad. We usually walk over to Ben and Jerry's for dessert, and tonight was no exception.

When our first daughter was born, I was (crazy) convinced I would parent better (than who, I don't know), and my kid wasn't going to eat any jarred baby food. I spent (wasted) hours baking sweet potatoes, steaming green beans, you get the idea. Emma is a good eater. However, a short time later (17 months to be exact) when Abby was born, I didn't have the energy to make her anything. She simply ate whatever we were eating, only smushed up. To this day, I am convinced this is why she is such an adventurous eater. The kid will try anything, she won't necessarily LIKE everything, but she will always try it.

I went to the market today, I think I've gone almost every day this week. Yesterday it was because we ran out of olive oil (go figure) and today it was because we ran out of lunch meat. I bought a turkey breast that I will roast tomorrow so we can eat it for dinner and hopefully a few days afterwards.

I am baking a flourless chocolate cake with a dark chocolate ganache and a hazlenut praline for a cake drive at my daughter's school. To add a little more insanity to the project, I've decided to make a sugar dome for the top. I haven't made one in over 15 years, so I'm off to do a trial one now. I'll post the picture of the cake tomorrow night.

Napkin folding

Dinner went well last night. The meal itself was quite horrible as Kirk let the ribs cook for 45 minutes too long, but the kids were very proud of themselves, proclaiming, "this is the BEST meal ever!"

I got a kick out of seeing them eat what we can more aptly call spare rib jerky. They seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the meat was completely dried out. They enjoyed the process and isn't that the point of this exercise?

I held up my end of the bargain and set the table. I made napkin pockets which the kids thought were totally cool and we even went upstairs to the computer after dinner to Google how to make different types of napkin folds. We decided to attempt a Bird of Paradise napkin fold next, ohhhhhh...

The girls also decided they loved cooking so much that they would like to cook dinner with Papa once a week. They are going to make "White Soup" a.k.a. New England Clam Chowder next week. The girls have NO idea of what is actually in "White Soup" It should be an interesting time.

Dinner tonight was one of my fall-backs. A great way to use staple items. We ate burritos with turkey taco meat, black beans, guacamole, shredded mozzarella cheese and flour tortillas.

The taco meat is easy, cook one package of ground turkey. When browned, add a packet of taco seasoning and a little water. Set aside. For the black beans, I heated a little olive oil, diced up 1/2 of an onion, and popped in 3 cubes of frozen garlic. I sauteed those for a few minutes, and added in a can of black beans. I added a pinch of salt, a pinch of cumin and a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper. Those sat on low and simmered until we were ready to eat.

I defrosted a bag of guacamole, heated up a bunch of flour tortillas in the toaster oven, and let a bag of shredded cheese come to room temperature. I also chopped a head of lettuce. Each of these items are all things that I ALWAYS keep in my "pantry".

We had a nice meal and I always feel happy when it's still light out at the end of the day. We played a game called "which one isn't true?" Each person tells 3 things about either their day or themselves, 2 facts are true and 1 isn't. Then everyone else gets to guess which is false. It's funny to play with the kids because their fake facts are so outrageous. It was funny to play with my husband, who after 15 years was hard pressed to find a fact to fool me with.

We are going for sushi tomorrow night which is good, as we'd have to scrounge for leftovers otherwise.

walking a mile in my clogs

I've decided to keep a blog about my daily dinnertime meals. People have always asked me, "do you really cook every night?" For the most part, yes...

I begin tonight be telling you that I am NOT cooking tonight. Let's back up. Last night's dinner was teriyaki marinated New York Strip steaks with sauteed green beans and sushi rice. I marinated the steaks in a little Soy Vei Island Teriyaki in a Ziplock bag. At around 4:30, the kids were beginning to prowl the kitchen. I shooed them out and got cooking.

The oven went to Broil. I lined a cookie sheet with foil and boiled 2 cups of water with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt. I put the steaks on the cookie sheet and let them come to room temperature while I waited for the water to boil. As soon as the water came to a boil, I added the rice, covered it and let it cook for about 20 minutes. I put the steaks in the oven and set about making some sauteed green beans.

I asked the kids ( I think 4 times) to come and set the table. They did a lot of grumbling, but finally got everything set. They should know the drill by now, my girls have had the job of setting the table for over 2 years, but they still complain every night, go figure...

I turned the steaks after about 5 minutes and stirred up the green beans.

I bring the food to the table and Emma (my 6 year old) tastes the rice and says, "This is the most disgusting rice I've EVER HAD!!!" I try to remain cool and say, "ok, don't eat it." Then she says, "Mom, can I have dessert now?" I try to (calmly) explain that dessert is something we eat after our meal. "How many bites of dinner do I have to have?" she asks?

Meanwhile Abby, (my 4 1/2 year old) is chowing on the steak and going for seconds. Oh yes, the girls have had exactly one bite of the green bean.

I say, "ok, tomorrow night,you can cook dinner." silence... "you can decide what you'd like to make a healthy meal for everyone." "Great!" says Abby, "I want to make chocolate for dinner!" She is thrilled. I re-explain that dinner should have some protein, a vegetable and a starch.

My husband has been extremely quiet up to this point. I continue, "You and daddy can make a shopping list, go to the market and cook dinner tomorrow night. I will set the table and clear up."

They decide on a meal, spareribs, pasta and cucumbers and carrots. Kirk gets out my favorite cookbook aptly named, "How to Cook Everything" by Marc Bittman and finds a recipe. The make a list and fortunately for the well-stocked pantry of ours, there is very little to buy.

Kirk has to start the ribs because the recipe calls for slow cooking (hahahah!) the ribs for at least 3 hours! It's now 4:35 p.m., the girls are downstairs making the glaze for the ribs. They've combined hoisin sauce, soy sauce, white wine and honey. Abby thinks the red (hoisin) looks weird. Emma doesn't want to taste the honey. I've set the table and am staying upstairs. I hear Kirk (somewhat excitedly) to be careful of the peeler, put the bowl in the sink...

Kirk is still wondering how he got sucked into this whole affair. I feel a little bit like I've gone on dinner strike for the evening. I'm enjoying my Earl Grey tea and have begun this blog.

I'll let you know how dinner goes tomorrow.

Nicole