Creature Bug

7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 13)

: 1 :

Jamba Juice's Pumpkin Smash smoothie is back, and if you haven't had one, oh my goodness, you should. (Unless you don't like pumpkin pie, in which case, nevermind.) If you, like us, love it so much that you could probably have one every day but don't want to spend money on one every day, then here is a pretty tasty knock-off recipe courtesy Skinny Kitchen.

Blend together:

• 2 cups yogurt (we love using frozen yogurt)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin (fresh pumpkin is the best, of course, though canned would work)
• 1 cup soy (we use low-fat vanilla soy)
• 2 tbl. sugar
• 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups ice

It's yummy. Note: Jason can tell you from personal experience that should you happen to grab the similarly labelled jar of cumin instead of cinnamon, it will not be yummy. It will taste like pumpkin pie enchiladas.

: 2 :

Sometimes I wonder how much is too much when it comes to Sydney's extra-curricular activities. She has soccer practice two days a week, and then games on Saturdays. On Friday afternoons the girls have back-to-back ballet classes (Jules' class is first, then Sydney's). Now, Nutcrackerrehearsals are every Saturday until Christmas. Sydney is a mouse and bon bon again, so fortunately she won't have to learn new choreography. If she didn't enjoy both soccer and ballet, I'd take her out of them. But she does. So we'll keep at it until she decides she doesn't want to do it anymore, I guess.

: 3 :

I've been researching different methods of painting kitchen cabinets. I really want them to look nice and not crummy and cheap. I don't want the paint to chip, and I don't want the wood texture to show/feel through. I'm not going to pay someone to do it; I can do it myself. I'm just a bit nervous about it. Anyone painted cabinets before and thought they turned out good? Tips?

: 4 :

The other day, I put on some jeans that I haven't been able to wear in a couple years and remarked to Jason that they were pre-pregnancy jeans.

"Do you mean pregnancy jeans?" he asked.

"No," I replied, "PRE-pregnancy jeans."

"Aren't all jeans except pregnancy jeans pre-pregnancy jeans."

"Yes, but these are from before I was pregnant."

"Are you telling me that stores sell pre-pregnancy jeans?"

"NO. I mean, I haven't worn these jeans in a couple years and now I can because I've lost all the weight and my tummy is small again."

"That's what you should have said in the first place."

And that, people, is why women need girlfriends.

: 5 :

I am in a reading funk. I start books and then get bored of them and don't finish. I've been wanting to read something like The Thirteenth Tale, but not The Thirteenth Tale (not because I didn't love it, but because I know what happens in it). I suppose I should just re-read The Thirteenth Tale and be happy with it.

Of course, I just remembered that Andrea recommended I read some Bill Bryson (haven't read any of his stuff). So, maybe I should do that. Even though his stuff isn't even remotely close to being like The Thirteenth Tale.

: 6 :

Speaking of my sister, I miss her. I got a postcard from her last week, and it made me miss her even more. To console myself, I raided her closet at my parents' house and snagged a bunch of her clothes that she didn't take with her to Scotland. I still miss her, but at least I'm missing her in a cozy zip-up black sweater. New clothes for the win.

: 7 :

The Family Farm is in a ladybug migratory path. Last week, per their annual tradition, the ladybugs descended upon us and now we have millions of them all over the outside of our house, and (unfortunately) inside our house too. I don't actually mind ladybugs that much. They don't drive me as crazy as, say, sugar ants do. But when they start dropping on my head while I'm sleeping, that's no good. Or this morning? One crawled out of the microwave vent. Sheesh. I can't bear to kill them, so I just scoop them up and throw them outside hoping they'll smell the proverbial smoke and fly away home.

Interesting linguistic fact of the day: ladybugs are sometimes called ladybirds in the UK.

Happy Friday! Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

More Quick Takes found at Conversion Diary.

Soup Night Returns

Even though autumn officially started more than a week ago, and we even had some cooler temps and rain to suggest summer had moved south for the winter, the weather pulled a Brett Favre and came out of retirement. It was good timing because we had the house painted last week and all we needed were three good days.

We got them.

Sunshine = new paint on the house = happy me.

But all good things must come to and end--or, at least, September and warm temps had to come to an end--and so it seems the clouds and rain and crisp mornings are here to stay.

Since I'm a summer loving girl, I can't say that I'm excited for fall but since it does happen to arrive every.single.year. at about the same time I should just get over it and enjoy what we got. Especially since what we got today was the return of Soup Night. Every first Monday of the month from now until June, everyone on the Family Farm will meet up in my kitchen to catch up and eat soup.

(Photo from last year, but soup in pots pretty much looks the same no matter when it was taken. And I still have that green and black pot-holder!)

It was a perfect day for soup--my only plan was to clean the house and make soup, allowing me to leisurely chop up vegetables. And the outside temperature was just cool enough to make us believe that maybe we needed to drink something warm.

I knew what we were making: corn chowder and Stone Soup. Jules decided several weeks ago that we needed to make Stone Soup for Soup Night. She and Jason had gone down to the creek and gathered stones, which we washed and boiled and set aside, ready to be put in the pot.

This morning Jules got the stones, put them in the crock pot, and then with only minor assistance from me, assembled the soup according to the narrative/pictures in this version of Stone Soup. As it turns out, soup is perfectly suited to being made by kids. Spices can be shaken haphazardly, vegetables can be imperfectly cut, and if the parsley gets on the counter or the broth sloshes out of the bowl, it's no big deal. Soup is forgiving.

All morning, the soup cooked in the crock pot, and when my niece came into the house she inhaled deeply and said, "That smells good!"

Eventually 5:30 rolled around, and everyone wandered over to fill our home. We talked about the house being painted, talked about missing Uncle Don, talked about babies being born, and kids at school.

We slurped up corn chowder and stone soup, munched on bread slathered with butter and jam. The countertops filled with apple pie and chocolate cookies, the dining room table filled with empty bowls and crumpled napkins. The kids built forts and wrangled with each other, the rain streaked down the windows.

Last year, Soup Night started with an invitation to come hold newborn Addie and treasure the time we had left with Uncle Don. This year, Soup Night started with stones in a pot, gathered from the creek where we spent our summer days.

The story of Stone Soup is about people coming together, bringing a little of this and a little of that to create something wonderful. The people weren't perfect, but it didn't matter. Haphazard, imperfect, messy people pair perfectly with soup.

That is the beauty of soup nights.

An Attempt at Making Butterbeer

A few weeks ago, our local newspaper did a feature on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios in Orlando. You may recall that last year, on our trip to Universal, we got a peak at what the new park was going to look like.

Certainly there was lots of construction to be completed, but it was still cool to see what they did have completed. One of the amazing rollercoaster rides that we went on has now been incorporated into the TWWOHP and renamed the "Dragon Challenge." So, in a way, we've been on one of the Harry Potter rides. Small comfort knowing that we won't be able to visit the park for a few years yet.

Evidently, according the newspaper article, one of the hot items at TWWOHP is butterbeer. Naturally, Universal isn't giving away the official recipe--and if you Google the recipe there are MANY different versions, all of which seem to be quite a bit easier to make than this one--but the Huffington Post created a recipe they think is a close match to the drink everyone is slurping up in Orlando.

Just for kicks and because I can't drink any real beer, Andrea and I thought that it would be fun to try it.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
• 2 T water
• 6 T butter
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, divided (btw, "divided" means that this is the total amount you'll need but at various measurements throughout the recipe)
• 1/2 t rum extract (imitation)
• Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda (or a 2 liter works fine too)
• (optional) Reducio charm to counter the effects of all those calories on your waistline

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.

Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 cup heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature. (Unless you want to drink it hot, then don't wait for it to cool at all.)

It helps to have a really cute helper.

Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract. (We put the mixture in the fridge in order to help the cooling process along; we're impatient like that.)

While you're waiting for the mixture to cool, you can snack on some chocolate if you want. As if all that brown sugar and butter aren't enough calories (to Julianne's credit, she didn't drink any butterbeer so a little treat wasn't too out of line).

In a medium bowl, combine 2 T of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2-3 minutes. (As always when whipping cream, it helps if the bowl and the beaters are chilled.) (Also, we beat it longer than 2-3 minutes; maybe 4-5.)

To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, then stir to combine.

Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each.

Stir the topping in so that it gets a little fizzy, and then drink up. Do it proper and get the mustache.

Verdict: This is a seriously rich drink with strong butterscotch overtones. It was so sweet, I actually couldn't finish mine, leaving me to suspect that you could easily divide the syrup into six glasses rather than four (and that's coming from someone who regularly drinks soda). Also, using club soda instead of cream soda would probably help cut the sweet-factor down. That being said, Jason finished his and then finished mine, so evidently some people can handle their butterbeer just fine, thankyouverymuch.

It would be an easy drink to prep before a party--having the cooled syrup and whipped cream ready in the fridge--and then just pour the cream soda in before serving. It is quite tasty, and even though it takes a little longer to make than the dozens of other easier recipes, I'm sure this one has a more complex and delicious flavor. Also, you rarely have to worry about drinks being too sweet if you're serving them to the younger set. They'd drink this up and then chase it down with a sugar pixie stick.

It was definitely fun to try out, and now we are experimenting to see if we can do a frozen butterbeer, ala Frappuccino style. I'll let you know if we can find a suitable method!

Party Like You're Six, part 2

Even though I'm not an ambitious baker, for the past few years I've enjoyed doing creative cakes for the girls' birthdays. I admit, I'm a little more creative with Syd's cakes than Jules'. Sydney has had two horsey cakes and two butterfly cakes; Jules had a J/candy cane cake and a requested non-fancy red/green coconut cake (I say requested because I know some people think it's just wrong to make December birthday cake look too Christmas-y, but Jules and I don't seem to mind holiday-themed cakes).

This year I asked Sydney what kind of cake she wanted.

"I want a cake of a dog running after a cat!"

Clearly the girls have kittens on the brains, and while I suspect that a dog/cat fiasco picture would be really funny for the 6 and under set, I couldn't quite formulate a baking plan with those directions.

I know. Kittens are cute. Kittens are funny. Kittens with princess crowns on their head are especially amusing.

But I suggested she might want to go in a different direction. Particularly since she had wanted a fairy princess themed birthday party.

Her new instructions: "Fairies. Chocolate cake. Pink frosting with purple flowers. And Happy Birthday Sydney written in white frosting, in cursive." The cursive part was very important because that's Sydney's new thing--writing everything in cursive.

Those are the kind of specifics I can work with (even though my cursive was a bit lacking).

I baked the cake in two springform pans (actually 3, but then at the last minute decorating a 3-tired cake seemed a bit overwhelming). It's chocolate cake, and buttercream frosting (that I was going to make from scratch and then decided that store bought was perfectly fine), and I piped on the frosting with Sarah's cake decorating tips. I also remembered some advice from Andrea--she having learned some insight from watching the Cake Boss--and applied a frosting crumb coat. Thank goodness I did that or I would have been stressed out.

Not only did Syd help decorate/art direct/supervise the cake project, she also set up this whole photograph. Put the cake here. I'll sit here. With these bee-you-tee-full flowers. Oh, and on the right side there--where you have the two white candles and then the one pink candle--those need to be switched around so they form a better pattern. Mmm hmm. She's definitely my daughter.

(Photo pre-candle switcheroo) I ended up surprising her with the fairy on top. It so happened to be her "second favorite present ever!" so hooray for me. Evidently the fairy's official name is Rosetta (one of Tinkerbell's fairy posse), but we call her Lisa. That's a very nice name for a fairy, don't you think?

I wish I could say that I did something fancy for the food, and then I could--as Tamara requested--show you pictures of the amazing adult food. But really, it was just regular food. It was good food, but it wasn't anything fancy. I had thought about doing something fancy, ie: more labor intensive. But when I mentioned this idea to Jason, he said, "How about we just do something from Costco?" And 100 points to him for being practical and realizing that his easily stressed-out wife did not need to be fussing over food. So that's what we did. It was a perfectly wonderful lunch, and the best part was that I didn't have to spend a million hours in the kitchen.

I didn't even have to cut the cake; my sisters did that (I love Andrea and Sarah).

So, there you have it. Sydney's dream birthday party: the special cake, the fairy wings, the company of friends and family.

And, of course, presents. Sydney loved everything she got--she's not one of those kids who thinks that new clothes are boring--although thanks to her grandparents there was one present in particular that she's crazy about.

 

Watch out, world. Here comes a fantastic six-year-old.

My Three Newest Cookbooks

I love cookbooks. I love reading cookbooks. Reading recipes in cookbooks and magazines is one of my most favorite things to do. It's inspiring, relaxing, and informative all at once. Most of the time I look at a recipe and can quickly determine that my girls won't eat it, but sometimes I make it anyway. They'll happily munch on raw fruits and veggies while Jason and I eat Thai Curry chicken. I'm okay with that.

Over the holidays, I regularly used three cookbooks that made my life happier and more delicious. Just for kicks, I thought I'd review them.

-{uno}-

  The Complete Guide to Bread Machine Baking. Technically, I got this book years and years ago at a Books are Fun kiosk, but only have been using it loyally for a few months. I LOVE it. Added bonus: the girls love it because they love bread. If you bake bread or if you want to start baking bread, this is a great recipe resource. If you click through on the link above, Amazon has a "look inside" feature that will give you a good idea of what's in this baking book. I've made many of the recipes in here, and they always turn out yummy. The one I make most often is a classic apple bread that has applesauce in it. For Julianne's birthday I made Chili Cheese Bread (savory with a bit of spice), Parmesan Corn Bread (perfect with soup), and Apple Eggnog Bread.

The Apple Eggnog Bread is amazing. Even if you don't like eggnog, you'll like this bread. I promise.

In fact, here's the recipe for a 2-pound loaf:

• 3/4 cup eggnog (quick! before it's out of the grocery stores!)
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup chopped peeled apple
• 1 egg
• 3 T butter
• 1/2 t rum extract
• 4 cups bread flour (DON'T use regular flour, and if you don't have a sifter then spoon the flour into the measuring cup, leveling it off with a straight edge)
• 3 T sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 t active dry yeast

Add all the ingredients to the machine in this order, and bake on the basic white bread cycle. You can drizzle with an eggnog glaze--1 cup powdered sugar and 1-2 T eggnog--but I never do because the girls don't need to know that's an option. And frankly, neither do I.

-{dos}-

 The Pioneer Woman Cooks. The word on the Amazon street is that there aren't any new recipes in here that PW hasn't already featured on her cooking blog. I wouldn't know because I don't read her cooking blog. I read her Confessions blog, her Photography blog, and her Home & Garden blog, and that keeps me busy enough. Plus--and here's my little confession that I've never told anyone--I hate looking at recipes on the Internet.

As a general rule, I won't make a recipe that's on the Internet, no matter how good it is. I have a long and complicated reason for this, but it boils down to this: I want recipes on paper and printing from my laptop is annoying. I do use the Internet as a search engine in order to help me find a printed version in my cookbooks, and that's about it.

Back to the cookbook though...I pre-ordered it last fall since so many people were raving about PW's recipes, and I was not disappointed. I think it's charming and fun, and a lovely addition to my cookbook collection. The tomato soup is AMAZING. I made it three times in one week, and consequently gained 3 pounds. I sat in Sarah's kitchen as she made the pico de gallo and guacamole and ate it up as fast as she could make it. The creme brulee? OH. MY. SWEET. GOODNESS. The book alone was worth the money just for that recipe. And tonight I made the chocolate sheet cake, which smells very delicious but I have a tummy ache from eating too much of the icing, and will have to wait to try it tomorrow. I'm not usually a fan of chocolate cake, so we'll see.

My only complaint is that Ree isn't always very specific on her directions. I like things very laid out for me: melt over low heat? medium heat? what size baking sheet should I use? a pound of powdered sugar measures how much (4 1/2 cups, thank you Internet). So, she's a bit vague, but I can usually figure it out with some help.

-{tres}-

 Make It Fast, Cook It Slow. On my Christmas list was a crockpot cookbook. I've discovered that I really enjoy using my crockpot, but didn't have too many recipes to pull from. I had looked at lots of books, but was never really very happy with any of them. My dad, the fabulous shopper that he is (no sarcasm), found this one and gave it to me for Christmas. Even though it doesn't have any pretty pictures (which is usually a requirement for me), this is a great crockpot cook book. GREAT! I have made several of the recipes, and they have all been quite wonderful. If you click through on the link, Amazon will let you look inside the book at the table of contents, which will attest to the fact that crockpots can be quite handy for dessert and drinks too. Added bonus: the author follows a gluten-free diet, so all the recipes can be tailored that way (or not). Added bonus for someone, just not me: Evidently, the cookbook is a printed version of O'Dea's blog.

A few days ago, I made the Thai Curry chicken and it was quite scrumptious, albeit not quite the flavor I was hoping for (but I have in mind a flavor from a Thai restaurant in Salem). Next time I'll add basil. And maybe some pineapple. The azorean spiced beef stew was delicious, though. And the clean-out-the-pantry minestrone soup.

So, there you have it. Three of my new favorite cookbooks that I've grown quite fond of and will be regularly used throughout this next year. Since my parents also got me a zester, a flour sifter, and an awesome cast iron cookbook holder, my year of cooking and baking is off to a great start.

How about you? Any cookbook recommendations you can pass along? I can always make room on the shelf for more! ♥

Week 263: Big Boom Bash

I had every intention of posting pictures yesterday, but then I got caught up in another flurry of unpacking and organizing and when I was all done with that, Jason and I had to go out for dinner and movie. And consequently I now have a small crush on Ryan Reynold's character from "The Proposal." Quite an entertaining movie. But of course I've loved Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds for years and years.

But back before the movie, the dinner, and the organizing, there was a party.

And we here at the Family Farm seem to enjoy having parties.

Tyler and Sarah hosted their 2nd annual Fourth of July party, and while people would have naturally come anyway on account of all the fun and food, this year there wasn't even any competition from Ft. Vancouver's massive fireworks show since it was canceled this year. 

There was a ridiculous amount of good food, although for some reason I mostly just ate dessert. I tried to eat a hamburger, but the carmel corn was calling my name.

And the strawberry-rhubarb pie. And the yellow cake with chocolate frosting. And even the shiny top blueberry cobbler that I brought (which you can see pictured above in all its blueberry goodness). I was a bit disappointed that I evidently didn't cook the cobbler long enough, but it's pretty hard to go wrong with blueberries and three cups of sugar.

The girls managed to get in a few bites of this and that but were all in all having too much fun with the trampoline, the bounce house, the wading pool, and golf cart rides. Really. How can food compare to that?

But once it got dark, and the mosquitoes started nibbling at my legs, then we all settled down to watch some fireworks. I had decided earlier in the day that I would attempt to photograph the fireworks. I pulled out my mini-tripod, checked out some instructions from Ree the Pioneer Woman, and set my camera on the appropriate settings.

Earmuffs were optional. Glow sticks, however, were not. (Jules managed to bite not one, but TWO glow sticks and consequently ended up with glowing teeth and lips. TWICE. That child...*sigh*.)

I really have no business trying to photograph fireworks with my point and shoot camera. And yet. That didn't seem to stop me from trying.

I love those sparkles! I don't think I photographed this "correctly" but those sparkles make me happy. Like little fireworks fairies, yes?

I had a little bit of trouble getting my lens pointed in the right direction at the right time. Not helping matters was that I couldn't see a thing out of my viewfinder because, um, it was dark. And also, the camera was panicked about the lens having to stay open for several seconds to capture the photograph, so it was kinda freaking out.

Pipe down, camera. That's what I had to say. And then I had to go eat some more cake just for kicks.

Of course, I managed to not capture the really best parts of the fireworks, but hey! I had fun. Maybe I'll try it again when we're at Disney World next month (they have a terrific fireworks show). But first I have to figure out what exactly is the point of photographing fireworks to begin with...

Maybe I'll just eat some tasty Mickey Mouse dessert and call it good. I totally know what the point of that is.

It's Never Too Late for Pictures of Cupcakes

In the midst of all the packing and unpacking (thankfully, not of the same box or then you'd know I had totally gone off the deep end), I neglected to post pictures of Sydney's birthday bbq. Here's a smattering of the day's festivities, and if you're so inclined you can click on a photo and be transported to the Flickr set for more pictures.

Since the weather was hot enough for swimming, I decided to have the party down at the creek. It's usually a couple degrees cooler there, and then the kids can swim and all is well. Plus, we'd never had a full-blown birthday party at the creek, and I like being original like that. Or difficult. The line between the two is a bit thin.

It requires a little bit of extra work having parties at the creek.

There is a certain amount of finesse required to get a bbq down a steep hill. I didn't see how it got to the creek, but as if by magic, it was there when I got there. The BBQ fairies delivered it, I guess. Just like they delivered the tables and chairs. I love the BBQ fairies. They're so handy.

Sydney had requested a butterfly cake, so I did my best.

I was happy with how it turned out. I'm totally converted to icing in sandwich baggies. They're a cake decorating miracle.

I knew the cake wouldn't feed everyone, so I did some cupcakes as well.

That blue icing? It was purple until I took the cupcakes outside. And then the sun turned them blue. Fortunately, Sydney saw them when they were purple and so she didn't mind the color shift. Icing in baggies was again my decorating trick. As well as microwaved canned frosting to dip the cupcakes in. Makes them smooth. Or in my case, "smooth-ish."

I got my cupcakes tips and inspiration from this book. If you like creative cupcakes, you need this book. It's very cool.

All in all, it was a great afternoon. A little song,

a little sand,

and some big smiles

(that would be my super adorable nephew smiling like he always does).

Several of us stayed down at the creek long after the party ended, watching the kids build sand castles, the swallows swooping across the water. It was a perfect day for the greatest little five year-old I know.

Photographic Evidence...

...of my heart belonging to lemon meringue pie.

 

 

(Photos taken by Sarah...pie made by my mom...unkempt hair designed by my daughters)

Saturday's Silly Survey

Stressed out? Dead slugs under your couch? Another political phone call?

What snack do you indulge in to bring some sweet relief?

Without fail, I reach for a Snickers bar. Something about the peanuts and the chocolate and the notion that it gives me energy.

I've been eating a lot of Snickers bars lately.

PS: As Jen pointed out, there really ought to be an "all of the above" choice. Sorry. You only get one choice...just like on November 4th. Heh.

It's Like "Wearing A Princess Dress All Day" Good

(In case you missed it, yesterday's post was my return to blogging after being out all week. It provides some of the highlights of our move...)

*

This review and giveaway contest sponsored by Parent Bloggers Network.

Last night, I managed to sneak away to Portland for a few hours to attend my friend's son's Pashni--a Nepali celebration of the day a child is first given rice. I spent the evening admiring all the beautiful saris the women were wearing, eating the delicious Thai food catered by Typhoon, gazing at beautiful baby George, and visiting with my friends as well as some new acquaintances of the evening. It was a lovely way to officially end my summer vacation.

During the course of the evening, I talked quite a bit with the woman sitting next to me (who might be stopping by my blog, so if you are, then hello!). She has a daughter just a little bit younger than Syd, so we immediately had that connection. We talked about books, and Portland, and food. While we were on the topic of food, she talked about her daughter's severe food allergies. It has, obviously, meant huge dietary changes for her family. No sugar, no food dyes, no dairy, a gluton-free diet, among other food restrictions. It sounds impossibly difficult, but as a parent you just do what you have to do.

As I listened to her story, I couldn't help but think of the review I was going to be writing for this morning. Though I complain sometimes about Sydney being a picky eater, I really have it easy compared to the difficulties some parents have. Truly, we are blessed that she isn't allergic to anything. I know I take it for granted that I can give my girls a cup of milk, a bowl of ice cream, or a piece of cheese. Giving my girls dairy products is about the easiest thing I can possibly feed them, because there isn't any fuss over it.

Like yogurt, for instance.

Week 220: The Manners of Eating Out

We don't eat out much. In fact, I would say we eat out approximately once every six weeks. Many reasons keep us from eating beyond our own kitchen. The main reason is money, first and foremost. We have just enough money for groceries every month, so buying food somewhere else doesn't exactly fit in the budget. When we do eat out it's nearly always because we've saved money specifically for that outing. We also don't eat out because we are mostly against fast food, leaving us with the option of sitting down in a restaurant...

...sitting in a restaurant. Hmm.

I can't imagine what sitting in a restaurant would look like with our two girls. Sydney, of course, does fine in a restaurant except that she won't eat any of the food until we find a place that has watermelon and blueberries on the menu. Jules doesn't do fine. She doesn't sit. If forced, we can keep her entertained, but it's not fun. Not relaxing. Not what I'd rather be doing instead of eating at home. If one of the reasons to eat out is because it prevents you from having to cook, we already have the answer to that dilemma. Cereal. It's a perfectly acceptable meal, chock full of vitamins, and no fat.

We can arrange our life so that we don't eat out. What we aren't willing to give up is eating out at someone's house. The trouble is we don't even do that frequently enough to give our girls much practice at developing good manners. I know the answer lies in habits formed at home, and in areas of "please," "thank you," and taking her bowl to the sink, Sydney does quite well. But I don't often make food that she won't eat because, well, because she won't eat it. And the advice of "let her go hungry" doesn't work because she won't get hungry enough to eat. She'll just cry from the hunger pains in her stomach. Needless to say, meal times are my least favorite times of the day. Why oh why does there need to be three of them?

So, when my former student invited us over to her family's house for dinner, I was both excited--I had been anxious to see her new house since I'd heard all about the construction of it--and nervous. My girls, while charming, are not good dinnertime guests. Nevertheless, we made the drive out to Gaston, prepared at least with sippy cups.

The verdict?

The M&M appetizers were definitely a hit.

The watermelon and blueberries were cheered.

The steak was avoided, as was the salad.

The almond rice? "I only eat white rice," said my firstborn, much to my embarrassment.

But she did eat a spoonful of the non-white rice after seeing the chocolate truffles for dessert. She did. There were some tears, but she did.

Jules was appeased with a box of raisins, which she ate while running laps around the dinner table (the result of a meal sans highchair).

Fortunately, our hosts were not even the least bit bothered. I, however, am checking out some books at the library this week to inspire better manners. Not that book knowledge will translate to real life actions, but the only other alternative is to never go anywhere. Frankly, that idea doesn't sound too terrible.

If only I could check out a book that would inspire a broader taste in foods. I only eat white rice?!...good grief.

***

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a sweepstakes sponsored by Burger King Corp.

(c) Creature Bug 2008. All rights reserved.

All Around the Kitchen...Cock-a-doodle-doodle-doo

A cursory glance through my cookbook collection might have you wondering exactly what level of cook I am. I have my tried-and-true easy family meals cookbooks, and then plenty of fancy shmancy Martha books. Plus, a few party planning cookbooks, alongside my literary themed cookbook collection (for that special day when I'll have an opportunity to make a meal focused on Alice in Wonderland or The Secret Garden).

Overall, I'm a decent cook. Nothing spectacular, but certainly not a candidate for America's Worst Cook contest. I'm great at following directions; I can substitute; I can improvise if I need to. I'm not as good of a baker as my grandma is, but that's partly for lack of practice and will-power to prevent myself from eating that whole pan of brownies. I made cookies yesterday, and so far I've had six of them for lunch today. Yes, baking isn't good for me.

I got to thinking about my cooking skills when--thanks to a post at violetismycolor--I found a clever New York Times food article...Recipe Deal Breakers: When Step 2 is 'Corral Pig.' (You have to free-register to read it.)

The author of the article writes about what ingredient, special equipment, or process prevents a cook from trying out a recipe. I'm not afraid of ethnic ingredients, but that Martha Stewart recipe for creme brulee (my favorite dessert ever!) that requires straining through cheesecloth? Hmm...not so much. I think I'd be more adventurous in my cooking if I didn't know ahead of time that my girls will 99% of the time refuse to eat whatever I make. That's why almost every time we are having guests over for a meal, I'm trying something new...because at least I know there will be two more adult mouths polite enough to try what I've concocted. 

It used to be--and here's my semi-embarrassing confession here--that a recipe deal breaker was anything that involved chicken. Chicken! Oh, I can still feel a tinge of nervousness when I recall my dread of trying to cook chicken. You see, I came into our marriage knowing almost nothing about cooking. It wasn't because I didn't grow up eating wonderful homecooked meals; it was because I didn't pay an ounce of attention to what the adult women were doing in the kitchen. I'd wander through, comment on how nice it smelled, eat what was put in front of me, and be grateful. That was pretty much it.

So, when I got married, and found myself looking at recipes that included chicken in the recipe and yet NEVER directed the chef on exactly how to prepare said chicken, I was mad. "HOW DO YOU COOK THE CHICKEN?!" I'd rage at the cookbook. "Don't tell me just to COOK it! Tell me how!" I'm still convinced that authors of cookbooks could use a good education class on how to teach.

My fears were based on the knowledge that raw chicken is bad for you. I didn't want to poison my new husband, and raw meat just frightened the heck out of me. I could bake, I could pour milk, I could scramble eggs, but cook chicken? What kind of chicken? Skinless? Boneless? It sounded like an invitation to just dump a bucket of salmonella on our dinner plates. Clueless.

One time I did try to cook chicken, but at the last minute, when the chicken was sitting on the plate and Jason was about to eat it, I channeled my inner Anne Shirley--you know the scene from Anne of Green Gables? the one where just as she was about to serve pudding that had been the scene of a recently drowned mouse, but then screamed before anyone could eat it?--I cried out to Jason, "DON'T EAT IT!" And quickly threw the chicken away.

Some people gain weight their first year of marriage, but us? With our steady diet of cereal and instant rice? We were pretty scrappy looking kids.

Fortunately, at some point, chicken became an ingredient that didn't freak me out. The story would be sweeter if I knew the exact light bulb moment chicken was illuminated in my culinary life, but all I know is that a few years after we got married I finally decided to brave the big raw-chicken world and try to cook it. It might be that I saw a friend cooking chicken, or maybe there was some step-by-step recipe that showed me how--either way, I can say with full confidence that I can now cook raw chicken until it's ready for human consumption. However, I still am not about to try to "poach" a chicken. It sounds very feathery and illegal to me. I'll stick with my frying pan and oven, thank you very much.

These days a recipe deal breaker for me is more time or task oriented. I don't want to spend all day working on something. I don't mind a recipe that requires overnight marinating or firming, but if I have to babysit it, speaking to it in dulcet tones while it alternately boils and simmers in fresh seawater on the stove? Pass.

And you? Do you have a recipe deal breaker? If it involves chicken, I might be able to help.

PS: The title comes from one of my favorite Dan Zanes songs. I loved this song before I even had kids. Take a listen and dance around your kitchen.

***

This post was written for Parent Bloggers Network as part of a contest sponsored by the American Egg Board.

Stamps, Tiny Reads, TVs, and Energetic Cranberries

A few random items...

: stamps :

Postage stamps are going up in price on Monday, so you should do as I did and stock up on those terribly un-pretty Forever Stamps (seriously. would it kill them to put a flower on the Forever Stamps? the Liberty Bell is so not great). If you get them now, they're *only* 41 cents a piece. Starting Monday, they'll cost you 42 cents. Consider this your friendly PSA reminder.

: tiny reads :

I've added a new link feature to my left sidebar. Under the Tiny Reads heading, I've "shared" different blog posts from my Google Reader that have caught my attention, for one reason or another. I'll be updating it daily.

: tv :

We are now the proud owners of two TV converter boxes. In case you haven't heard, if you are one of the few dozen people who doesn't have cable and instead uses an antenna/rabbit ears to get your tv signal, then you'll have to get a converter box so that you can still get free tv after the signal changes to digital next February. We received converter coupons in the mail a few weeks ago--thanks to a reminder from Sophie (who, sadly, is no longer posting)--and each coupon is worth $40 off a converter box. Walmart sells the boxes for $49.95, but the south Commercial store was out when I checked last week. Fred Meyer sells the boxes for $49.98, and so I got ours there. Twenty dollars for the privilege of free tv. Yippee.

As it turns out, we may not even need the converter boxes if we sell our house before next February. Our new house will probably have to have cable, although I am totally willing to have an antenna on our house if it means we'll get free tv.

: cranberries :

And finally, here's a review for a drink I've been trying out this week...

Last week I got a sample of Ocean Spray's Cranergy juice in the mail, courtesy of Mom Central. Being someone who loves cranberry juice, I quickly drank the whole thing. It tastes a lot like...hmm...cranberry juice! With a healthy, green tea kick. Then I went to Winco and got some more. Then I went to Fred Meyer, saw they were having a sale on jugs instead of the more expensive personal-sized, and got even more. This could be trouble.

Even though I am perpetually tired all the time, I stay away from those energy drinks because I'm deathly afraid of them. I am certain I would drink one and drop dead from a heart attack within minutes. As someone who has no caffeine addiction at all, consuming that much caffeine in one sitting would totally screw me up. However, I am acutely aware that some amount of caffeine--preferrably something natural from a tea source--might actually help me feel better. Or at least, feel capable of folding laundry. So, after reading the label for the Cranergy juice, it evidently gets its caffeine naturally from green tea. And it has a whole host of B vitamins, which I think are supposed to give you energy.

Since it's juice-ish (23% juice isn't exactly Juicy Juice), since it has vitamins, and since green tea extract is a natural source of caffeine, then I've been drinking it every day with breakfast. It does have Splenda, although the juice doesn't taste crazy-sweet like some things do that have been sweetened with Splenda. Even Jason, who hates cranberry juice, has said it's not too bad (especially the cranberry-raspberry version), although if he starts drinking it then that means less for me, so...I don't know how I feel about that.

The thing is, I actually feel more energized after drinking it, but maybe it's just a pyschological trick I'm playing on myself. I feel like it should energized me, so then it does. But trick or not, I'm all for it. Probably someone who depends on energy drinks and/or multiple cups of coffee wouldn't notice a difference. Nevertheless, for me it's definitely better than drinking soda, it has cranberries in it, and even though I wouldn't let my girls drink it (no caffeine for them,natural or not, thank you. they have plenty of energy), I'm all for something that helps me stay just a little more focused on something other than dreaming of a nap.

Jason thinks I should exercise more often, but for as much as I do like to exercise, so often I'm too tired to even think about doing it. Anybody have any other suggestions for fighting fatigue? B vitamins? Multi-vitamins? Iron supplements? Less sugar? More sugar?

Please say "eat five dozen marshmallows" because I could totally do that.

(c) Creature Bug 2008. All rights reserved.

A regular joe

Way back when I was regularly trying out recipes from Deceptively Delicious (which isn't to say that I don't still use the cookbook, just not as diligently as I did when I was reviewing it), I noticed a recipe for a chicken noodle soup that used alphabet pasta.

"Well," I thought, "if those aren't the cutest little pasta noodles ever."

I wanted to make it. Right then.

So, I went to the grocery store to find alphabet noodles. They didn't have them. I went to another grocery store. And another. Couldn't find them. I gave up. Turns out, I'm not that committed when it comes to searching for food.

One day, I was talking about the cookbook with a group of friends, and I casually mentioned my futile alphabet noodle search.

"Trader Joe's," someone said. They all nodded.

"Alphabet noodles are at Trader Joe's? I guess I wouldn't know since I haven't ever been there." And then all my friends wrinkled up their noses at me and walked away. No, not really. But I did hear someone gasp, shake her head, and say a little breathlessly, "Trader Joe's is amazing."

I've eaten food from Trader Joe's. I've driven past one more than a thousand times on my drive up to Washington. There it is, right off I-5, in Lake Oswego. My most favorite memory of Trader Joe's is receiving a bag of their chocolate truffles when I was in the hospital after Jules was born. My friend Eiko was like an angel straight from heaven for bringing me chocolate within two hours of giving birth.

However, I've never been in a TJ's store. There isn't one in town, and why on earth would I go grocery shopping in Lake Oswego? Plus, I surmised, it's probably really expensive.

Then a couple weeks ago, I heard that TJ's isn't that expensive. What's this? Not expensive? And they have a great selection of organic food? Well, this I would need to explore on my own.

Still, I wasn't going to drive 45 minutes just to go grocery shopping. So I waited for the perfect timing, and that happened on Saturday. Sydney had stayed overnight with Jason's parents on Friday, and so I suggested that we all meet at Trader Joe's to do the switcheroo. This would be my chance to finally get my alphabet noodle soup.

I have to say, I wasn't disappointed in my first TJ's experience. I got the noodles (under $1.50! cool!), plus a few bags of salad, some scones, a tub of Cat Cookies for Real People, and lavender dryer bags. All organic. Total: under $20. How about that. The scones were delicious, and the alphabet pasta noodles a big hit that night for dinner (although I mistakenly misread the recipe and instead of putting in 1/2 cup of noodles I put in 2 1/2 cups of noodles...now we have two big bowls of cooked noodles in our fridge).

I hear that there are some rumblings to petition Trader Joe's to put a store in town (it worked for Corvallis), but I'm sure that by the time that happens we won't be living here anymore. Good news though: there's a TJ's in Vancouver, and downtown Portland, and, of course, the one in Lake Oswego, which will always have a place in my heart for being the first one that I visited. I'm sure I won't really be visiting the store that often, but now I know where to go for alphabet pasta noodles. And as another famous Joe once said, Knowing is half the battle.

*****

(c) 2008 Creature Bug. All rights reserved.

What's the deal with chickpeas? Where's the chick?

So, I've been trying out a new cookbook that I got from Parent Bloggers Network. I should say that I love cookbooks more than I love cooking (and I do love cooking) and have dedicated the cupboard above the fridge to cookbooks. And the little cupboard next the fridge. And a space on the countertop. And a space on the bookshelf in the living room (that's where I keep my collection of literary cookbooks). While I don't actually use all the cookbooks, I love to look through them, especially if they have great pictures of food. In fact, I will rarely buy a cookbook unless it has great pictures of food.

But, back to this new cookbook...

My newest cookbook is Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld. Perhaps you've heard of it? Because if you haven't, you really should get out just a little bit more. It's a NYTimes bestseller. It's been on Oprah. It's been reviewed all over the Internet. Even our local newspaper had a review (albeit, somewhat unfavorable). Combine all that media attention with the advertisements for Jerry Seinfeld's new Bee Movie, and chances are you've heard of at least one Seinfeld family member this week. They're taking over the world with pureed food and sassy honey-loving bees (make that pureed honey, please).

The Concept

This is both a how-to and concept book; specifically, how to get your kids to eat more veggies and fruit. The solution? Add pureed veggies and fruits to foods your kids are already eating. The book has a great section on how to puree foods (which I needed since I haven't exactly pureed foods before), as well as essential kitchen and pantry items. I should note--because you'll definitely find out if you read the message boards at Oprah or Amazon--the concept of adding purees to foods is not new. In fact, not all the recipes are even original with Jessica. Having not seen the other book that is generally compared with Deceptively Delicious, I can't say which one is better. But I can tell you what I do like about this one.

What I Like

• The design of the book is super cute. Lots of pink (we love pink!), and nifty cartoon illustrations of foods and kids. Also, it's spiral bound, a definite requirement for cookbooks.
• The full-page, glossy, full-color, please-eat-me, pictures of food. When I made the recipes I was able to get my food to look just like the ones in the picture, which is a testament to both the honesty of the photography and the simplicity of the recipes.
• The table-tips on getting kids to eat better. Jessica offers her own parenting advice on dealing with picky eaters, and shares stores from other moms.
• I had initially been skeptical to take nutritional advice from a celebrity. What qualified her to create healthy recipes? Fortunately, I saw that Jessica had help from a nutritional expert (Joy Bauer). Good to know.
• The index. One day I wanted to know what I could make with some cauliflower puree that I had, and rather than looking through the book for a recipe, I just turned to the index and saw that all the purees have been cross-referenced to their specific recipes. So handy.

Getting Started

• I admit that pureeing foods was not as exciting as I thought it would be. I didn't mind the steaming of the veggies, but I don't have a good blender to get the work down efficiently. Even my Magic Bullet wasn't very accommodating. I think if I had a food processor the job would have been lots easier.
• I found myself thinking, "Wouldn't it be great if the foods were already pureed? If someone already did the work for me, and I could just buy it in jars to add to the recipes?" Oh yeah, we call that baby food! True confession: I used jarred baby food for some of the recipes instead of pureeing the food. Definitely not cost-effective. Definitely easier than pureeing the food myself.

The Recipe Low-Down

• Our favorites were the recipes that called for pumpkin, not only because we're big fans of pumpkin but also because I can buy it already pureed in a can for cheap. We tried the pumpkin french toast (it was okay, but I had to add milk), the pumpkin oatmeal (we love it! Sydney asks for it specifically!), and the pumpkin yellow cake (it was good).
• I also tried several main dish recipes like the meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and they were both good. I added my own seasonings because the recipe doesn't call for any.
• The dessert section is no good for me.
  • We made the chickpea chocolate chip cookies that seem to get rave reviews all over the Internet, but Sydney and I did not like them. Jason and Rebekah the nanny did like them. So, it's a toss-up. I'm the one who makes cookies though, and I won't make them again.
  • The chocolate pudding with avocado. Hmm. It was good--Rebekah liked it the most of all of us--but since it doesn't have gelatin or milk then you don't get pudding skins. I make pudding just for the pudding skins, so I don't know if I'll make it again. It was pretty good though, even the next day reheated, but I had to eat every bite with a good dose of whipped cream because I'm so used to the milk quality of pudding.
• I tried a couple recipes without using the purees, and the consistency isn't exactly what it should be. Like the turkey chili was good, but because I didn't add the purees, then I needed to add extra cornmeal in order to get the chili thick enough.

The Kid

• Sydney is a picky eater. Very picky. It's all well and good to add carrot puree to the meatloaf to make it healthier, but Sydney won't eat meatloaf. Or mashed potatoes. Or turkey chili. Or eggs. Or chocolate chip cookies with chickpeas. In fact, when we ate the meatloaf, I just gave her a plate of carrots and she ate that instead.
• The trick was finding foods that she would eat and then adding the purees to those, but of the foods she'd eat (spaghetti, quesadillas, muffins) she is just as likely to eat the added puree as a raw food. She eats carrots. She eats butternut squash and sweet potatoes. Going to the trouble of pureeing those foods just to add to other foods seemed like a lot of extra work for me. I'm sure the point is, however, when you add the purees then you make those foods more nutritious.

The Question Marks

• Some people have issue with the idea of tricking your kids to eat healthy foods. Sydney has no idea what goes in food anyway, so there's really no issue there.
• Jessica uses trans-fat-free soft tub margarine, which I don't (and won't). I love butter too much to get rid of it. I haven't tried enough of the baking recipes to determine if this is going to be a problem.
• Several recipes call for peanut butter (as the added health benefit), but that's no good for us because Jason is allergic to it. No sense in making food that only Syd and I can eat.
• I understand the idea of making desserts healthier--if a kid is going to eat a chocolate muffin anyway, how about a chocolate muffin with spinach? But truthfully, I won't eat a chocolate muffin with spinach, and so I won't end up making this recipe. I want my desserts to be desserts. I don't want to think that they might have health benefits because then you set yourself up for other bad eating habits, like eating dessert thinking that you're getting some nutritional wonderment out of it.

The Verdict

I think you have to really view the recipes more as a way to eat healthier. Putting carrot puree into foods is no substitute for getting your child to like to eat carrots. Kids should learn to eat healthy foods, and I think this book is more about complimenting that idea instead of replacing healthy eating habits. I'm going to keep it on the kitchen countertop because it's a great cookbook to have around. It has fabulous tips on mealtime habits and practices, and I'm sure I will refer back to it again and again as Sydney learns to eat other foods, like eggs and meatloaf.

However, our cookies will be real cookies.

Key Lime Pie

If there's one thing I love during the summer, it's a good recipe that doesn't require turning the oven on. It's not like I don't do any baking in the summer, but it's safe to say I don't do much. Hot days and hot ovens make me cranky.

This summer we've been crazy about key lime pie. I know officially Key Lime Pie is supposed to be baked. It's supposed to have the consistency of cheesecake, but I don't do it that way because (1) that means I have to bake it and remember me and hot ovens? and (2) if it's rich and thick like cheesecake I'll get a stomach ache if I eat half the pie. And perhaps feel a bit guilty too. Maybe.

So, this recipe is what you might call the quick and easy kind.

And while I'm no Pioneer Woman, I'll do my best to give you the run down of how to make this pie:

Ingredients:

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
• 1/2 cup lime juice (preferably key lime juice, which can usually be found by the lemon juice at the grocery store)
• 1 carton (8 oz) of Cool Whip -- even if you're not a big Cool Whip fan (like me) the lime juice overpowers the Cool Whip taste and it's all good in the end
• 1 graham cracker crust (you can make your own, or you can be a lazy bum like me and spend the $1.07 and buy the premade kind)
• optional: few drops of green food coloring

 

In a medium bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk and lime juice; let it sit for a few minutes so they can become good friends. I supposed you could use real lime juice, or even lime juice from those little plastic green limes, but I'm partial to Nellie and Joe's 'Famous' Key West Lime Juice (because that's the only kind of Key Lime juice our grocery store has).

After the milk and juice have had a moment together, stir in the Cool Whip. If you want a green Key Lime Pie, now would be the time to add the food coloring. Or you could be tricky about like I get sometimes.

Spoon the pie filling into the crust and make it comfy in its new, albeit temporary, home. You can now put it in the fridge to chill for a couple hours, or...

...you can add a drop of green food coloring to a small bit of filling, mix it up, and use it for some Key Lime fun.

I take a toothpick and add polka dots because, seriously, what's not to love about polka dots? They're just so darn cute. But I'm sure you could get all Martha on this pie and draw in something fancy, or a miniature Eiffel Tower, or something. I still think polka dots are cuter.

And there you have it! A no-cook Key Lime Pie. It's good for any occasion, especially if you get a sassy new haircut. In that case it's mandatory to make such an easy dessert.

And, not to seem vain, but just one more picture because it was Jason's favorite, even though the lighting isn't so great.

Yes, that's Christmas music sitting on the piano. A bit of Christmas music, a lot of Key Lime Pie, and short haircuts: that's how we keep cool around here.

Blue Love

Last week when I was visiting the Family Farm, I noticed that my parents' blueberry bushes are looking rather lively. No berries, obviously, but lots of green foliage and all the grand stuff that means blueberries will be coming this summer. I find this especially wonderful because I do love blueberries, and my stash of frozen berries is getting a bit low. When I was pregnant with Sydney I had a huge craving for blueberries, but that summer's crop hadn't been good, and I wasn't about to spend $3 for a handful of bland blueberries, so my craving went unmet. If there's one thing that isn't good news for anybody it's a pregnant woman craving a food she can't have.

Last summer my parents had more berries than they knew what to do with, so I helped them out a bit by snagging a few, or several, bags. By September I had a freezer stocked with bags and bags of blueberries to tide us over for the year. If I wanted blueberry pancakes in February, then I was going to get them. And if I wanted shiny top blueberry cobbler in March? Done. Sweet delicious shiny top blueberry cobbler. It is so yummy.  I have been careful, however, not to completely use up our stash because I never know when I might get a hankering for blueberries and then they won't be there.

But guess what I found? BLUEBERRY JUICE! Oh people, if only I had known about this that year I was pregnant with Sydney. It would have saved us all a lot of misery. I don't know who all makes blueberry juice, but so far the only kind I've found is TrueBlue Blueberry juice. They've won juicy awards and everything for their juice, and I believe it. I can just feel those antioxidants making me healthier. Sydney asks especially for it -- "Blue juice, please" -- and since it doesn't have any high fructose corn syrup then I let her drink plenty of it (of course, we cut all her juices with water since she drinks no less than 30 ounces of fluids a day, and has unfortunately inherited my non-preference for water).  I was grocery shopping at Safeway and saw it on the shelves along with several other varieties like Blueberry/Cranberry and Blueberry/Pomegranate, and immediately wished I had thought of the idea so that I could now be rich and famous. Or at least rich. I could give up the fame. I don't want Sydney turning into Paris Hilton, you know.

If you're not crazy about blueberries like I am, then blueberry juice is perhaps no big deal. But around here, where we have an extra freezer in the garage that is dedicated to two things -- blueberries and frozen pizzas -- then blueberry juice is an exciting development. It's my new fave. The TrueBlue site has lots of recipes, but I just drink it straight from the carton. Don't worry, if you come over I'll let you have your own that doesn't have my germs all over it.

So good ahead and make the shiny top blueberry cobbler. You can always drink blue juice until the berries are around in July.

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Shiny Top Blueberry Cobbler

In a 13 x 9 pan:

• 5 cups blueberries in a 13 x 9 pan (I have also used cranberries mixed with blueberries and it's equally tasty)
• 1 1/2 T lemon juice sprinkled over the top

Stir together the ingredients below in bowl and spread over the berries to edges of pan:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cup sugar (I told you it was good!)
• 1/3 cup margarine (I always use butter instead)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk

In a small bowl mix the following ingredients and sprinkle over blueberries and batter:

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp salt

Finally, pour 1 1/2 cups of boiling water over all and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy the compliments.

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PS: Since I do reviews for other products, it's a legitimate question to ask if TrueBlue paid me to write about this. They didn't.

Gingerbread Cookies

 

Come Christmastime, there is one thing I can count on Jason to make: gingerbread cookies. He grew up watching his dad make gingerbread every year for their annual gingerbread house, and, of course, they always made plenty of extra batches just for cookies. When we got married, Jason got the recipe from his dad and was faithful to keep the gingerbread tradition alive for our house.

On Sunday, he made this season's first batch of cookies (AND he made breakfast, AND he vacuumed the house, AND he played with Sydney--all while I got to sleep in!), and here's the yummy recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

3 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 C softened butter
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C molasses

1/3 C water

MIX dry ingredients and set aside.
CREAM butter and sugar, beat in molasses.
BLEND dry ingredients with molasses mixture, mixing in the water as you do so.

ROLL OUT medium sized balls of dough on a floured surface and cut into festive shapes. The thinner the dough, the crispier the cookies will be.

BAKE at 375 for 8-10 minutes (we line our cookie sheets with parchment paper to prevent the cookies from burning or sticking).

OPTIONAL: after you pull the cookies out of the oven, top cookies with red and green sugar sprinkles.

MAKES about 3 dozen cookies

It's time for Jason to make another batch. Ours are all gone!

Pumpkin Seeds

Even though Sydney has her own jack-o-lantern up at my parents' house, we needed to get one done for her here at home. So, tonight we carved one up, and I decided to try once again to roast the pumpkin seeds.

Last year, my roasted pumpkin seeds were not so roasted. Soggy, bland, and eventually thrown away.

This year, I got a recipe from Randi, used her modifications, and now have a rather tasty snack. At least, I think they're yummy. They are, as Jason says, "still pumpkin seeds." Very true. They didn't turn into cookies while I baked them.

The original Martha Stewart recipe:

Place parchment paper on a baking sheet. Spread out 2 cups of washed pumpkin seeds and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and coarse salt to taste. If you want, you can also add 2 tablespoons of dried ground rosemary. Bake in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes at 350°.

I modified this by substituting the rosemary for some chile powder and cinnamon. And, as Randi suggested, I added baking time. My seeds took closer to 25 minutes to be finished. I checked on them every five minutes after the initial 15 minutes so they wouldn't burn. Maybe they took awhile because the seeds were still damp from being washed. Either way they turned out. So hooray for that.