Current Events

Do you want proof of the hipness of Watsonville?

This week my sister and I meet for coffee.  At Safeway.
That's the local nightlife.

Nobody else seemed to be there chilling with the in-store Starbucks bev.
Hmph.
We had a beautiful time.

Also this week, I had a major brain lapse situation.
I was on a super quick grocery run, while my guy was home for lunch break.
I put the car in park, grabbed my purse & jumped out of the car.
My radio was still going.
Hmmm...  Curious.  I wonder why?  Electrical malfunction?
Oh.  Keys still in the ignition.  Car still running.
Although I was only in the store for a 10 minute blitz,
probably still would not have been a good idea...
Close call.

We have beautiful sunshine this weekend.
Which is a relief.
Because last week we were really bearing the burden of winter
with day time temps in the 30's.  I kid you not.  Cold stuff.
Gillian & I were up for our turn in the parent/child outing rotation.
We scored on a gorgeous day.
I took her to my favorite quiet time place, the New Brighton Cliffs,
to explore and hang out.
Fabulous day with my girl -

I have another recipe to share with you all.
It's another dessert thing.
I don't bake every day.  Really, I don't.
But, I guess I more inspired to share the sweet recipes, lately.
I'll try to do a change up on that soon.

This one is Peanut Butter Frosting.  Swiss Meringue Buttercream style.
SO good.
I put in a top chocolate cookies that were only so-so.
I won't share that recipe with you.
Find your own cookie recipe.  Or a chocolate cupcake.
A rolled chocolate cookie, cut in the shape of hearts, made into cookie sandwiches?
Sounds perfect for Valentine's Day.  (I love that day.)

This frosting is a tiny bit more complex than just turning the mixer on.
But, do not fret!  It is NOT hard.  But, you do need an electric mixer.
And it is SO good.

Peanut Butter Swiss Meringue Buttercream
3 Egg Whites
3/4 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Butter, softened
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
2 teaspoons Vanilla extract

Fill a medium sized pot with enough water to come up about 1 inch high.
Put over medium heat and bring to a simmer.

In your metal mixing bowl, drop your egg whites & sugar.
Whisk the whites and sugar continually over the the simmering water.
Whisk until the sugar is dissolved.

Now, click your mixing bowl into the mixer, with a whisk attachment.
Mix on medium speed until bowl is cool to touch.
You should have a gorgeous white fluff.

Now cut you soft butter into several hunks.
Change out the whisk attachment for the paddle attachment.
Turn the mixer on low and add one little hunk of butter at a time,
until it is all incorporated smoothly.

Now add the peanut butter.  Now turn up the speed to medium.
Beat for about 5 more minutes, until creamy and smooth.
Now slowing add the Vanilla until well mixed.

Spread on your cookies or cupcakes.
Or, just scoop it with a spoon and sprinkle with chocolate chips!

Morning Cookies

I got this recipe from my mom, who makes these cookies as wafer sandwich cookies, 

with buttercream between cookie layers.

The first time I made them, 

my guy & I couldn't resist trying a cookie, prior to filling them.

They are melt in-your-mouth, yummy, not-too-sweet, 

perfect with your morning coffee cookie.

So, we never fill them.  

We eat them sans buttercream, as the perfect morning cookie.

Morning Cookies

1 cup of flour
1 cup of softened butter
 Whip these together until smooth.  
Now beat in 1/3 cup of whipping cream.  
It will be very sloppy.  
Pat your slop out onto a piece of plastic wrap.  
Press flat & refrigerate until firm.  
(Maybe a few hours will do.  I usually do overnight.)

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Roll flat on lightly floured board.  You don't want the dough totally coated in flour.  

You want the future sugar coating to adhere.

Cut with a cookie cutter.  

Dip each cookie into a bowl of white sugar or cinnamon-sugar, coat both sides well.

Bake on lined cookie sheets for 7-9 minutes, until lightly golden.

These are really delicate.  Transfer with care to cooling rack.

Don't eat the whole batch yourself in one sitting.

Bake Sale Report + the recipe for the Best Cream Scones

A few weeks ago we had a bake sale in our driveway to raise money for our adoption.
We were given a total of $1,450 by generous friends, family, acquaintances & strangers!

We were blown away!  What a blessing!  Thank you to everyone!

And, here's a recipe that many folks have requested.  Cream Scones.
These are from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking,
which is a super awesome cookbook.  I highly recommend it.
These scones are so good because they have a high fat content.
And, I think it matters that there are no eggs in these.
All other recipes I have found online have an egg or two in them.
I believe adding an egg to your scone is a bad choice.
Have your egg on the side, scrambled or however you like it.
But don't put it inside.

Best Cream Scones

2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons grated Lemon Zest
6 tablespoons cold Butter, cut into small squares.
1/2 cup dried Currants OR dried Apricots OR Chocolate Chips OR whatever
3/4 cup Heavy Cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Combine your dry ingredients (1-5) until well mixed.
Cut in your butter until it forms large, coarse crumbs about the size of little peas.
Scatter your fruit or chocolate or whatever, over the dough.
Pour in the cream and mix until you form a moist mass.

Turn your dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gently press it into a ball.
Press your mound down into a round that is about 1/2 high.
With a large knife, cut your round into 6 - 8 wedges.
Place the wedges onto your cookie sheet,
leaving about 1 inch of space between the scones.

Hopefully you have a little more Heavy Cream left.  About a tablespoon, or so...
Brush the tops of your scones withe cream.  Then sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in your 425 oven until lightly golden brown on the tops, about 13-17 minutes.
Let cool slightly.  But, these are good warm!

Day #7 Thanksgiving

I am thankful for the humble, and yet awesome meal -
Hainanese Chicken and Rice

Everyone eats this food.  Every single kid.

Tomorrow night's dinner is easy.
The night after Hainanese chicken we always have "leftover soup".
This is where you throw the chicken and rice into a pot and cover it with water.
Stir in the leftover ginger & pepper sauce.
Chop up a green, such as chard, bok choy or cabbage, and throw that in the pot.
When it is hot, serve it.
Toss some fresh cilantro, basil and/or green onion over the top.

Dinner for tomorrow is pretty much done.

Before their Season is Over - Favas

For those who wonder what in the world to do with Fava beans...

Source: gourmandeinthekitchen.com via Theresa on Pinterest

I am a bit late on this, as May was their season
& I don't know if any of you all will happen upon Favas right now.
I'm sorry.  : (
As you recall, Fava Beans need to be taken out of their big fuzzy pods,
like so -

Once you have all the beans removed from the pods,
you need to blanch the beans, so you can remove the skins.
If you have a lot of beans, I suppose it is time consuming.
But it is really simple & won't take too long for one small bag of beans.
Read here for more basics about the beans.

After you have blanched & removed the skins, you can do a quick saute in a little olive oil.
Sprinkle your favas with salt & pepper,
a splash of lemon juice & chopped chives, or maybe some shaved pecorino cheese.
Easy, fresh, healthy, yummy.

We got a second round of favas this week & I made a little red rice & fava bean salad.

I did a quick boil for the Favas, and fully cooked a little pot of red rice.

I let both cool.

(You could use any rice or grain for this, I suppose)

I chopped up celery & tossed the 3 items in a bowl.

I chopped about 1/2 a shallot & handful of flat leaf parsley. 

In a little jar I poured in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice & about 1/3 cup Olive Oil.

Salt & Pepper your dressing to taste & toss in the shallots & parsley.

Shake, shake, shake.  Pour over your bean, rice & celery.  

Tada!

This recipe here looks exceedingly tasty, too.

We loved butter braised radishes.  Why not add some favas to the party, right?

Cake Talk

Can we talk about cake for just one minute?

For Moira’s birthday I made chocolate cake with salted caramel frosting.

I found the recipe through Pinterest.  Looks amazing, right?

Source: kimberlytaylorimages.com via Erin on Pinterest

Through the process of making it all, I couldn’t wait to finish the final product.

The cake batter was tasty!  And Caramel frosting?  Yes please!

But…  I ended up being rather disappointed.

The cake has potential for me.  But, I found it far too heavy in thick layers.

I baked my cake in 6” pans.  The final cake ends up cool looking – slender & tall.

If I were to make this recipe again, I would most certainly spilt each cake layer in half.

And I think I would make syrup to brush on each layer, too.

This cake recipe seems it may be at its best in a trifle. 

The frosting was sad for me, too.  The flavor of caramel was great.

But, I am reminded with the frosting that I do not like basic powdered sugar buttercream.

I find it gritty & overly sweet.  Some people believe they don’t like frosting.

I think that belief may be the fault of powdered sugar buttercreams.

Before you write off all frosting, please try meringue buttercream.  

(like in this honey & jam post.)

The difference is incredible.

And, if you don’t want to make cake yourself, please try Kari’s Malva Pudding.

Really. 

Kari is a Santa Cruz local with a small business just making amazing malva pudding cakes.

We first tried the cake when she was giving samples at our Nob Hill grocery store. 

We loved her South African accent & her lovely personality.  And we loved her cakes.

The kids kept asking her for more & more (& she was happy to share). 

It was hard to pull them away. 

Gillian exclaimed multiple times, “I just can’t besist that cake!!”  (besist = resist)

The cake is not sold everywhere - yet..  Check out the locations here.

Kari makes a Chocolate cake & a Caramel cake. 

We get one of each & then we split each of them in half

& put half caramel cake & half chocolate cake in a box.

Then throw the boxes in your freezer for when you want an amazing dessert last minute.

We had the lovely pudding cake for our mother’s day treat.

  

Injera, Berbere & Red Lentils

Recipe for Fake Injera - 

The real deal would have Teff Flour.  I have yet to get any Teff flour.  

So, I can't tell you how much different this would be if I was using it.

Injera is much like a thick crepe or a thick pancake or maybe a bit like a tortilla.

It is very simple to prepare, but like crepe batter, should be mixed a bit ahead of time.

Here are the things I whisk together -

2 cups Self Rising Flour

1/3 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1/3 cup Cornmeal

2/3 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast

2 1/3 cup Warm Water

Cover & let it sit out for several hours, at least ( a day even).

Your batter needs to be bubbly & stretchy.

Now put about 2 cups of the batter into your blender.

Add some water, about 1/2 cup, & blend so it is pourable like a crepe batter.

It is a crepe pan that I actually use to cook mine.

You can use cast iron or non-stick.

Heat a dry pan (no oil!) to medium to med-high.

Swirl about 1/3 cup of batter in your hot pan & cook without disturbing.
You don't flip the Injera.  Just cook until done through, with tons of little bubbles across the surface.
It doesn't burn easily.  But, if it is on the thin side, & cooked too long, it will be crispy like a chip.
You don't want that.
You want a soft, flexi bread to dip in your lentils.
I pile mine in a towel, while they are all finishing, before serving.

Now onto the Ethiopian Red Lentils.
This is a slight adaption from the Saveur Ethiopian Lentil Stew

1 1/2 cup Red Lentils (or maybe called pink - they are more of a coral color, though)

4 teaspoons Butter

1/2  Yellow Onion, small diced

4 cloves Garlic, finely chopped

small can of Diced Tomatoes

3 Tablespoons Berbere  (of what?!!  I'll give you the recipe below.  It's an Ethiopian Spice mix.)

3 cups Water

Salt, to taste

Saute your onions in the butter, until onions are soft.  Add in garlic & saute for another minute.

Add in tomato & lentils.  Stir in Berbere.  Pour in 3 cups of water.

Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to keep a gentle simmer.

Partially cover, but come back to your pot to stir occasionally.

Cook for about 40 minutes.

Go over to Saveur for the Berbere - Ethiopian Spice Mix

Eat!  Remember you don't need flatware.  You can just use the Injera to eat your lentils with.

Pinwheel Cookies

Pinwheel cookies are a fun treat for a blustery spring day.

We made these cookie when I was a kid.
I've always loved them.
They are a little funny.  There is no sugar in the dough.
The sugar is all on the top.

Here it is spring time, begging me to make pinwheel cookies,
even though I had determined not to use artificial food coloring anymore.
I went to certain store specifically to get India Tree sugars.
I get there & the India Tree sugars they carry are NOT the nature's colors line.
Argh!!!  I got the ones with poison in them, because we we set on making these cookies that day.
If you plan ahead, you can order from Amazon.

The recipe is from Pillsbury, some cookbook that looks more like a little magazine.
I seem to have lost it, though.  So, this is my best recollection of it all...

Pin Wheel Cookies
makes about 30


3/4 cup Butter, softened
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
1 Egg, separated
2 cups Flour
1 T. Baking Powder

dough -
Cream together the butter & the cream cheese in your mixer.
Beat the egg yolk in & set the white aside for later.
Beat the flour & baking powder in, just until together in a sticky dough.
Pat into a flat disk & wrap with plastic wrap.
Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

sanding sugars
M & M's
30 Popsicle sticks

assembly -
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Roll dough into a rectangle, as evenly as you can, to about 1/8" thickness.
Trim up the edges to make it straight, into a size where you can get 3 x 3 squares.
e.g. a 9" x 12" shape will give the ability to cut 3 squares across & 4 squares down.
Cut your squares 3" x 3".  Then slice down about 2" from each corner, toward the center,
like so -

Place your squares on your cookie sheet, leaving room for the sticks between.

Lightly beat your egg white with a fork & brush your squares with the white.

Press a stick in the center & sprinkle with sugar.

Now you need to pull in every other corner to the center point at the top of the stick.

Now it looks like a pinwheel, right?

Stick the M & M in the center.

If you are tempted to add a dab of egg white to the top to "glue" it all together, don't do it.

Everything will slide apart.

Anyway.  So, put the M & M in the middle.

Gillian sorted the chocolate candies & very carefully planned the color combinations.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.

Tada!  Happy Spring!

Be sure to make enough to share with friends.

(p.s. we cheated on our 40 day simple food plan since we were hosting small group at our house...) 

Lenten Cooking

Is lenten a word?  Pertaining to lent?
Oh.  I'll google it.
Yes!  Relating to the observation of Lent.

So, after my "lesson" on cooking beans from the dry state,
my friend who is extremely skilled in the kitchen
politely questioned my sources...
I had some stuff wrong.
I have Harold McGee's text book
On Food & Cooking the science and lore of the kitchen.
My husband & I heard him speak.  He signed our book.
Shame on me for not consulting him on the matter of salt in the beans.
Thank you Kristen.  You are right.  (I'm not surprised.)
It is completely, scientificly false, to say that you will
spoil your beans by adding the salt too early.
Apparently the item that would hinder the softening of your beans is
 tomatoes & other acidic items.
So, beware when you fix your chili, I suppose. 
As for the soaking overnight issue - Harold still recommends this.
Your beans can cook without the soak.  But, they will not cook evenly.
The soaking soften the outer shell & allows the interior of the bean to cook,
once you turn the heat on.

Alright.  Enough about beans.
And, I should tell you.  We haven't been stricly faithful to our goal.
We "break the rules" occasionaly.
We were running late for church on Sunday,
so reached into the dark corner of the cabinet & got out Cliff Z bars.
Gillian said, "Mom, I love it when you break the rules."
That wasn't the only time, either...

Peyton has so many plans of things to eat for Easter.
Fruit snacks, burgers, bars, cereal, juice, Halloween candy,

In our simple eating adventure,
we have found a lunch menu to fall in love with.
Ethiopian Red Lentils & Injera
We love this little meal!  So super tasty!
If I took good food photos, I'd try to do a little post on it for you guys.
But I don't. 
But, maybe I still will. 
I'll just do it in a very unglamorous way.



bad food photo - injera batter being blended

Not very Beautiful Beans & stuff

Source: honeyandjam.com via Erin on Pinterest

I am thinking about this cake.
I would make it, but I can't.
Lent and all.
I'll plan to make this for Easter, I think.  I can't imagine any better ideas coming.
Can you?  the perfect party cake + lemon syrup + black tea frosting.
(My tea will be Earl Grey with lavender)

But let's not talk about cake right now.
Let's talk about beans, right?
We've are on day 7 of our simple eating.
I had told the kids no fancy food during our 40 days.
Peyton then renamed it as- no beautiful food allowed.
He'll ask, Mom, is milk beautiful? etc.

I was feeling rather proud of myself for how well we were doing.
Baking our bread, boiling our beans & thinking it all tasted good,
spending $15 dollars at the grocery store for vegetables & tortillas.
And then came yesterday.
Aunt Flo came for her monthly visit.
It wasn't exactly a surprise.
But it was a bit surprising how much more painful the lack of treats became.
I have a huge box of girl scout cookies that didn't get delivered until Lent had already begun.
(huge bummer.  I usually eat one whole box on the day I get my order.)
Boy, did I want a glass of wine.
And my husband was tempted to give me one.  (He is ultra safe.)
We did put Biore strips on our faces & watched 3 episodes on Downton Abbey.
He is a good friend to me.  

And with all that I forgot, for the first time this week, to put my pot of beans on to soak.
Bummer.
I had to do the quick soak/boil version.  I always get nervous about this.
I like to be traditional on the soaking of beans.  It feels safer.
I have had more than a couple nights in my married life
when I have had to declare last minute that dinner was inedible,
due to beans not cooking all the way.
(I also have had a Sunday meal in singlehood when I served up
hard as rock while bean chili to my whole family, plus another entire family, plus Scott.
When he & I were "just friends".
In a effort to prove his devotion, he ate 2 full bowls &
told me it was delicious.  And got quite sick.)
White beans usually seem to be the ones I struggle with.
And wouldn't you know it, white beans are on the menu tonight.

Emergency "quick" version for dried beans -
Rinse dried beans in cold water.
Put in pot & cover with cold water + a few inches on water above beans.
Bring almost to a boil.  Cover pot & remove from heat & allow to sit for 1 hour.
Now you can carry on with cooking, which will still take a few hours.
I start my beans before lunch usually & then turn them of & let them sit.
I like to be on the safe side.
Especially right now.  No treats.  No take out dinner to the rescue.
I've got to get these white beans cooked through.

A big no-no for dried bean cooking, that I think has been the death of me
on those times when they just would not soften, is don't add the salt until the very end.
Salt will keep your beans from softening!
Make sure they are already soft before you put it in the pot.


Okay, so here's the lowdown on cooking beans.
Plan a day ahead.
Rinse your dried beans under cold water & put in your pot to soak overnight.
Water should be a couple inches above the beans.
In the morning, rinse your beans again & fill pot with water again,
to cover beans by about an inch.
Chop an onion & toss it in.  Smash a couple garlic cloves & toss them in.  Splash olive oil in.
A sprig or two of fresh thyme can be lovely &/or a chopped jalapeno.
Bring your pot to a boil then lower the heat & keep pot partially covered.
Keep your pot going at a gentle simmer & add water if needed, to keep the beans covered.
I cook my beans gently for about 3 hours.
See if they are soft before adding salt to taste, and fresh pepper, too, of course.

Learning a Little about him

I am working to come up with some fundraiser ideas for our adoption fees.
But to start things off, we are doing a family fundsaver.

Now that we have a bed for future brother in the kid bunk room, the children ask about him often.

When is going to sleep there?  

When are you taking us to Grandma & Grandpa's so you can go see him?

Where will he sit at the dinner table?  Can I sit next to him?

What will his name be?

For our 40 days of Lent (first time, folks!  We have never given up anything for Lent.)

we are going to have an adoption fundsaver 

& a time of trying to learn a little bit more what little brother's meal time is like.

We are going to cut way back on the groceries.

I'll be honest, I am pretty nervous about this.

We are so spoiled with what we eat & drink. 

I've never really dieted or denied myself anything I wanted to eat.

I know, right?  Spoiled.

Our plan is no boxed cereal for breakfast.  Oatmeal instead.

No meat - mostly rice & beans & veggies.  

No candy, chocolate or goodies.

No alcohol.

We will save a lot of dollars, to save for adoption fees.

And hopefully we will learn a tiny bit what it is like to live with much less.

Does anyone have some good beans & rice recipes?

I found a few Ethiopian recipes I'll try- red lentils, chickpea wat &Injera.

We'll have pintos & spanish rice.

White beans & winter greens.

We'll have black beans & rice.

Veggie & barely soup.

Can anyone help us out with ideas?

For Ethiopian recipes, I bought this book 5 years ago 

& don't think I've ever made more than one thing from it.

Source: amazon.com via Erin on Pinterest

Now is the time to dive in.

What I am Into Right Now - August 2011

Stuff I am into right now, as summer moves into the school year.

On My Nightstand 

Twenty Things Adopted Kids Wish Their Adoptive Parents Knew - by Sherrie Eldridge

Are Women Human? by Dorothy Sayer

Playful Parenting by Lawrence Cohen

Yet to crack open - 

Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry - free audio download, until the end of the month!

Spiritual Parenting by Michelle Anthony

Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay Clarkson

On My TV

We are watching Star Trek Enterprise.  

As often as possible.

My husband is not a trekkie.  But he is.  

I am turning into one.  But I'm not.

In the Movie Theater

Captain America - love it.  
I wish I could see The Help, too.  But I'll wait for DVD, I suppose.

In My Ears

NPR Tiny Desk Concerts

On My Stove

Red Chile Sauce - I won't tell you exactly how I make this.  

I don't follow this recipe really.  It was my original springboard. 

What I actually make I will publish in a cookbook someday.

On My Laptop

Pinterest - gathering school ideas.

Here is a good groups of school boards I discovered. 
Oh, and another one! 

Source: modernparentsmessykids.com via Erin on Pinterest

{In the plan for tomorrow!  Isn't that cool?!!  M is for Magic Milk Paintings}


Do you other Pinsters have links to good early ed home school pin boards?  

Do share.

Here's my kid food board I've been working on.
Do you have any fun food ideas to share with us?

**  I am linking up with Megan - Sorta Crunchy. **

What's in Your Fridge (or cupboard or whatever) - Part 2 {Keys to Quick Dinners}

Last night, Kendall woke every single hour to nurse.  What?!  
Guess what else?  I happen to feel really tired today.
Dragging.  Not wanting to grocery shop or cook anything that requires thought.
What to do?  I happen to keep foods around my kitchen, for such a time as this.


There are grocery items that I try to keep around, to aid in "last minute" dinner.
By last minute, I don't mean,
you will literally have everything in your cupboard for a meal in 15 minutes.
I mean, I can be going about my day & not have planned a dinner for that night.
With these items on hand, I can throw something tasty together.
That is, with these items, plus whatever veggies I have from the weekly farm box.


I know not everyone has weekly veggies delivered,
or the ability to keep their kitchen stocked.
I know it is a privilege.
I don't know the best way to run a family kitchen.
These are just some of my things.
Take what you will.


I get most of these things at Costco to easily keep them on hand.

Pasta / Polenta / Rice - 
All items can be combined with a meat & veggies for a simple meal.
Polenta topped with sausage & veggies.
Spaghetti with tomato & ground beef sauce.
Rice with sauteed chicken breasts in light sauce.


Chicken Stock
Soup or Sauce Basic
Use to make Risotto, cook rice in it, or braise potatoes in it.


Canned Tomatoes
Make your own sauce for spaghetti or pizza, 
add tomatoes to sauteed chicken or fish.
Use with chicken stock & add to shredded chicken with olives & saffron, garlic, onion & thyme.
Serve that over polenta or egg noodles.


Bacon
You can add this to most any dinner to make it tastier.
Store it in your freezer.
You can make "breakfast" for breakfast, lunch or dinner.


Chicken Breast Tenders
They thaw faster than the bigger cuts.  
(But, I keep the bigger breasts in my freezer, too.)
I use the tenders for quick curry dishes.
Or maybe cook them up in some store-bought mole sauce.


Coconut Milk
needed for curry sauces - our favorite quick meal.


Ground Beef
Again, meat that thaws quickly.  And cooks quickly, too.
Spaghetti sauce, tacos, meatloaf, chili.


Canned Beans
Quick protein.  
Make a fast chili, serve in salad, serve with tortillas.