Hummus Experimenting

So, once upon a time, I used to make a lot of hummus with my picky younger guy. Then Bobbi's was created and came to our market and it was so so good we stopped bothering.

Now Bobbi's is unavailable. I could weep. And now I am stuck testing hummus recipes again.

I got some tahini but one of the awesome part of Bobbi's was that it was tahini free. I know that is sacrilege, but it allowed the garlic and lemon to shine. I tried this recipe from a mothering site that claimed to be like Bobbi's but it was so runny, it was soup, rather than hummus, and I cut back on the liquids! I ate it anyway but more as a sauce than a dip.

Next up: Ina Garten's hummus. She is usually reliable.

I am wishing I captured the hummus the little guy liked once upon a time! Oh well.

This is post 600, if you are counting. Blogger is, so I'm not. :)

Mistakes Were Made

Too strong a title for this post, but it was stuck in my head.

I made the Monster Dough Cookie Bites tonight, without the baking soda because I am one of those people who doesn't love cookie dough. Cookies, yes, but the dough I can take or leave.

Mistakes: thinking these could be an "energy bite." They are not. They are cookies.

Using the good Trader Joe's peanut butter for this. It was creamy, and chunky would help, and it is one of those almost-pourable peanut butters, which didn't help it set. But it helped me feel better about the huge amount of sugars in these.

Waiting so long to make them. These are yummy, though I might honestly be the only one in my house who thinks so.

Using my "little" scoop. I only got about 18 cookies, so they should be half this size. That would probably be an improvement.

This is a good basic recipe. I will tinker with it. Me being me, I think coconut would be an awesome addition but I could be wrong. For my purposes too I will probably use 1/4 c chocolate chips and M&Ms, but they are very decadent this way!

Monster Cookie Dough Bites {naturally gluten free recipe}
Yields: 30-36 cookie dough bites, depending on size
(printable recipe)

3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (optional, but it adds a distinct "dough" flavor)
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup mini m&m candies

Stir together the butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, baking soda, syrup and vanilla until creamy. Add the oats and stir again. Add the chocolate chips and m&m candies and stir once more. Scoop into 1" balls and smooth with your hands. Refrigerate until ready to eat. Bring to room temperature before serving, if desired. The cookie bites will keep well in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week or in the freezer for 3-4 months. Enjoy!
- See more at: http://www.barefeetinthekitchen.com/2013/04/monster-cookie-dough-bites-recipe.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+BarefeetInTheKitchen+(Barefeet+In+The+Kitchen)&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher#sthash.X5iZVyxQ.dpuf

Strawberry Agua Fresca

This was delicious. I liked it thicker, almost like a thin smoothie, rather than like a flavored water. The sugar helped.

http://sweetcomfortkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/07/strawberry-agua-fresca.html?m=1

I used my hand blender, which is my pet kitchen accessory of the summer.

I intend to make the Tipsy Baker's strawberry milk next but when I have almost-ready-to-go strawberries, this is my new go-to use for them.

Magic Raspberry Cookie Bars

I made these for a dinner with my mother in law--they are off the box for Keebler Graham Cracker Crumbs. They were a gigantic hit and cemented my reputation as bar cookie queen of the family (as designated by my niece, who heard about them two states away).

Magic Raspberry Cookie Bars

2 cups Keebler Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/4 C sugar
1/2 C butter, melted
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups seedless red raspberry preserves (I think I used slightly more by just emptying a small jar)
1 1/3 C flaked coconut
1 C chopped pecans or walnuts (I skipped these on half because I ran out--both halves were good)

In a small bowl, combine crumbs and sugar. Add butter. Toss until combined. Press onto bottom of a 13x9x2 inch baking pan. (Note: I buttered the pan, and the crumb layer was pretty thin.)

Evenly drizzle sweetened condensed milk over crumbs. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Spoon preserves over top.

Sprinkle with coconut and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until light brown.

Cool completely. Cut into bars. Store, loosely, covered, at room temperature.

Yield: 24 delicious, crave-worthy servings.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/kid-recipes/ground-turkey-shepherd-s-pie

I have used this recipe for years and it rocks. For a while both boys were on strike with it but now one will eat it and a recipe 75% of us like is a winner.

Armagnac Chicken

I have no interest in violating any internet copyright laws but I don't have a NYT subscription and wanted to be able to access this. This is a genius recipe and all credit to Dorie Greenspan for it. I usually use more potatoes (though still small ones) and more baby carrots (because it's easier) and I rarely bother with the official gravy. But if you have the enameled cast iron pot, this is a great way to use it. I do not find that my chicken turns brown, though; it tends to stay an alarming shade of white. But none of us are skin eaters anyway, so as long as the meat is cooked (and it always is), it is awesome. The one thing to note: a 3.5 pound chicken is pretty darned small when you come down to it, so if you are feeding four or more, you will have very few leftovers, as indicated.

M. Jacques’s Armagnac Chicken

Serves 4.

From “Around My French Table,” by Dorie Greenspan.

This recipe, une petite merveille (a little marvel), as the French would say, was given to me years ago by Jacques Drouot, the maître d’hôtel at the famous Le Dôme brasserie in Paris and an inspired home cook. I’ve been making it regularly ever since. It’s one of those remarkable dishes that is comforting, yet more sophisticated than you’d expect (or really have any right to demand, given the basic ingredients and even more basic cooking method).

1 tablespoon olive oil or vegetable oil

8 small thin-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and halved lengthwise

3 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced

2 carrots, trimmed, peeled and thickly sliced on the diagonal

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1 thyme sprig

1 rosemary sprig

1 bay leaf

1 chicken, about 3½ pounds, preferably organic, trussed (or wings turned under and feet tied together with kitchen string), at room temperature

½ cup Armagnac (Cognac or other brandy)

1 cup water.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees. You’ll need a heavy casserole with a tight-fitting cover, one large enough to hold the chicken snugly but still leave room for the vegetables. (I use an enameled cast-iron Dutch oven.)

Put the casserole over medium heat and pour in the oil. When it’s warm, toss in the vegetables and turn them around in the oil for a minute or two until they glisten; season with salt and white pepper. Stir in the herbs and push everything toward the sides of the pot to make way for the chicken. Rub the chicken all over with salt and white pepper, nestle it in the pot, and pour the Armagnac around it. Leave the pot on the heat for a minute to warm the Armagnac, then cover it tightly — if your lid is shaky, cover the pot with a piece of aluminum foil and then put the cover in place.

Slide the casserole into the oven and let the chicken roast undisturbed for 60 minutes.

Transfer the pot to the stove, and carefully remove the lid and the foil, if you used it — make sure to open the lid away from you, because there will be a lot of steam. After admiring the beautifully browned chicken, very carefully transfer it to a warm platter or, better yet, a bowl; cover loosely with a foil tent.

Using a spoon, skim off the fat that will have risen to the top of the cooking liquid and discard it; pick out the bay leaf and discard it too. Turn the heat to medium, stir the vegetables gently to dislodge any that might have stuck to the bottom of the pot, and add the water, stirring to blend it with the pan juices. Simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce thickens ever so slightly, then taste for salt and pepper.

Carve the chicken and serve with the vegetables and sauce.

Serving

You can bring the chicken to the table whole, surrounded by the vegetables, and carve it in public, or you can do what I do, which is to cut the chicken into quarters in the kitchen, then separate the wings from the breasts and the thighs from the legs. I arrange the pieces in a large shallow serving bowl, spoon the vegetables into the center, moisten everything with a little of the sauce and then pour the remainder of the elixir into a sauce boat to pass at the table.

Storing

I can’t imagine that you’ll have anything left over, but if you do, you can reheat the chicken and vegetables — make sure there’s some sauce, so nothing dries out — covered in a microwave oven.

Bonne idée

Armagnac and prunes are a classic combination in France. If you’d like, you can toss 8 to 12 prunes, pitted or not, into the pot along with the herbs. If your prunes are pitted and soft, they might pretty much melt during the cooking, but they’ll make a sweet, lovely addition to the mix.

Memere's Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Another lost and found recipe. I never tried this one before tonight--Mardi Gras, before my Lenten chocolate fast. It was amazing. So glad we tried this one before I lost it forever. It is from Guideposts from February 2008 by Aylmer Given of Jaffrey, New Hampshire.  All credit where it is due!

Memere's Chocolate Fudge Sauce

We began serving this over chocolate waffles when the restaurant opened. Now we serve it on profiteroles with fresh strawberries. My kids eat it the way I used to, by spoonfuls straight out of the fridge.

1/2 C cocoa powder
1 1/2 C sugar
1 can (13.5 oz) evaporated milk
1/4 pound cold butter, cut into pieces
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Start with a heavy-bottomed saucepan, at least 2 quarts because sauce doubles in size. Place sugar in pan with cocoa powder. Stir with wooden spoon until well-blended. Add evaporated milk. Continue to stir until blended well. Once it's mixed well, turn heat to medium. Stir constantly. Bring mixture to boil, about 5 minutes. Let it boil for another five minutes, stirring constantly. Make sure chocolate doesn't burn. Pull sauce off heat and add butter. Stir sauce until butter is completely melted. Add vanilla and serve over ice cream. Store sauce in refrigeration and reheat in microwave or water bath.

So really a total no brainer that we would all love this, but we all LOVED this. My son ate a half pound of strawberries one by one after dipping them in this. We had it hot on vanilla ice cream and it was perfection. Highly, highly recommend.

White Bean Dip

This is another lost-and-found recipe. I used to love this, then lost the recipe and couldn't replicate it.

Alas, no idea where I printed it out from but I will put it all here and maybe I can google it.

Party Pleasers

The bean topping can also be used as a dip for pita toasts, and the pesto can be dolloped into soup or mixed into any pasta dish.

White Bean Topping
makes 2 cups

2 Tbs olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 15-0unce can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook until very fragrant, being careful not to let the garlic brown. Remove from heat. Place the beans in a small bowl. Add the flavored oil and season to taste with the salt and pepper. Using the back of a spoon, smash the beans to form a very rough paste. Add more olive oil if necessary. Drizzle with additional oil and sprinkle with more salt and pepper before serving. (This can be made 2 to 3 days in advance and kept in the freezer for up to 2 months.)

Pesto Topping
makes 2 cups

3 cups fresh basil leaves
3 Tbs grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
2 Tbs pine nuts
3 small cloves garlic, minced
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for storing

Combine the basil, Parmesan, pine nuts, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. With the machine running, pour in a thin, steady stream of the oil, blending until the mixture is well combined and emulsified. Sore in the refrigerator in an airtight container covered with a think layer of oil (to preserve the color) for up to 1 week. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan (and basil leaves, if you wish) just before serving. (This can be made 2 to 3 days in advance and kept in the freezer for up to 2 months.) Note: to make this recipe even simpler, buy prepared pesto and spruce it up at home with chopped pine nuts and freshly grated Parmesan before serving.

Warm Corn and Shrimp Salad

I am so, so happy. I was looking for a shortbread cookie recipe that I never put on this blog (and hope I will rectify that soon) and I found the recipe I was desperately seeking last summer. I couldn't figure out what I was missing, and I was really sad because I love, love, love this dish. It is from the August 1996 Glamour Magazine Gourmet on the Run column by Susan Quick. All credit goes to her. And now as the wind blows outside in the nine-degree sun, I am dreaming of summer.

Warm Corn and Shrimp Salad
This salad supper takes only minutes to prepare. (Even fewer if you use Trader Joe's corn out of a bag. And I might have to do that now.)

1 Tbs butter
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper (which of course I do not use but I am sure it would be delicious)
4 cups corn kernels (kernels and juice from 6 to 8 ears, or uncooked corn or 4 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed)
1/2 pound shelled medium shrimp
1 C quartered cherry tomatoes or 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
1 Tbs seasoned rice-wine vinegar
6 cups salad greens, rinsed and dried

In a large skillet with a lid, heat butter and 1 tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add onion, pepper, and corn kernels; cook, covered, 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If the mixture seems dry, add 1/4 cup water.)
Remove lid and add shrimp. Cook, stirring, until shrimp turn pink, about 3 minutes. (YMMV--I find this more like 5-7 minutes.) Remove from heat. Add tomatoes, cilantro (or parsley) , vinegar, the remaining olive oil, and salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Arrange salad greens on 4 plates. Top with warm corn and shrimp. Makes 4 servings. (Or two.)

Calories per serving (with it being for 4): 315; fat per serving 10 grams.

Oh. I am so happy. I just love this. Thank you, Susan Quick, wherever you are.

This and That

For the first time in the seven months since he's been working from home, my husband and I had an actual lunch date at a restaurant! We both had work appointments in the same neighborhood and a miraculous break in the middle. We went to Honeygrow, and it was good. I didn't love love love it but I liked it a lot and would definitely go back to try more. I had a lemon-tahini stir fry but the salads looked amazing too.

I tried this recipe for pork chops with apples and onions and it was good. I used boneless of course, and it does take forever, but we enjoyed it anyway. "We" is of course the grownups in the house.

I am in a little bit of a panic--Two Fat Als, one of my go-to websites when the boys were small, suddenly popped up with a spammish ad. I freaked out, worrying that I wouldn't be able to find my favorite recipes of theirs. They are still available but I am still more than a little concerned about how something from the spam site (twofatals.com) moved in to my Blogger feed if they didn't disconnect it.

This is the recipe for the amazing cookies:
Ingredients:
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 - 10 oz. bag toffee candy bits
1 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/3 cups sliced almonds

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the first mixture. Mix the almonds, coconut, toffee bits and oatmeal together in a large bowl, then mix them by hand into the dough. Drop dough balls (about 2 tbsp per ball, about 2 inches apart) onto a greased cookie sheet (or one lined with parchment paper). Bake for about 10 minutes, let cool, and serve.

Note to E: We found your favorite heath bits at the Fresh Grocer at 40th and Walnut!

And this is for the cranberry blondies:

http://twofatals.blogspot.com/2007/11/cranberry-and-white-chocolate-blondies.html

My mom sent me this recipe yesterday, and it reminded me so much of Starbucks' cranberry bliss bars that they required immediate baking. The Starbucks bars were my favorite cranberry dessert bars until 20 minutes ago, when they were eclipsed by cranberry and white chocolate blondies. Lara describes the bars as festive, rich and scrumptious. Good adjectives. They tasted ridiculously good.

So here's how the baking went: we made one batch, thought it looked like not enough batter, and decided to double it. Except we only increased the size of the pan by a little, and had to bake it for a lot longer. So we can't say if the baking time is correct, but if you double it, add about 20 minutes to the original time. Bakes easy, goes down easier. Easiest with milk.

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely topped

Instructions:
Line a 7x11 or 9x9 baking pan with tin foil, and spray with non-stick oil. Preheat to 350. Beat the butter and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla and continue mixing. Mix in baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour. Beat in dried cranberries and white chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the pan. Sprinkle with the fresh cranberries, and press down with a spatula. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until knife comes out clean.




Please know: I am not at all trying to plagiarize, I am happy to give credit where credit is due, and all credit goes to Two Fat Als. But these two desserts in particular are huge family favorites and I will cry if I lose them. So here there are to be preserved from whatever spammity thing is happening over there.

Still on Hiatus, but This

How Cooking for Others Can Be Selfish. From the indispensable Tipsy Baker.
I'm not quite there--my kids are too little, I can't be--but in Taco Tuesday and Wednesday Spaghetti, I can hear myself whispering Yes. My job is to fill those bellies with the most nutritious food we can both stand. Yes, I am grateful not to be my mother, coming up with a different impressive meat-starch-veggie meal every night and avoiding what my father had for lunch that day (a good trick, when they both worked in different places, though to his point, usually she was fine if she avoided ham and cheese hoagies for dinner). And Yes--I'm done. I want this to be at least a little interesting and am failing even at that. So barring interesting--allowing them to thrive despite themselves.
Back to making more pumpkin muffins.

Hiatus

No, the blog isn't going anywhere, and neither am I. But I wanted to put a placeholder post here since I am doing more and more of my meal planning on the back of an envelope and less and less online.

This blog will stay here for the links on the side and my recipe notes, and if I get back in to the spirit of the thing, for posts when I think of it. To my eleven readers: it's been fun cooking with you, and I hope I stay in your feedly or whatever for the times I return.

Meanwhile, I wish you happy meals with your families and thank you for your inspirations for mine.

Summer Recap into Fall

We are off and running in to our final year with two in the same school. I will miss these days! But I am thrilled I won't have to miss them yet. And a fun new twist this year: they are old enough to bike to school! (School's rules, not ours.) They have really enjoyed doing that and we love that they get the exercise and fun time with friends. We still go with them because of traffic; sadly we trust our kids more than the grownups on the route. But I think later in the year, once we get them across the one major dangerous intersection, they will be able to take it themselves the rest of the way.

Because of the home renovations earlier this year, we did not get to go anywhere or do anything extravagant this summer but it was a great one nonetheless. The kids' camp moved to the school building a block from our house and the kids loved walking and biking to camp for all five weeks. Then after a week off, it was two weeks in the mountains--a little long for my homebody but how lucky we were to have the time with Grandmother and cousins! Then the last two weeks had lots of pool time and day trips...it worked out well. Summer 2014 in a list:

Summer 2014 

Make milkshakes at home

Explore college woods

Yogurtland 

Oreo soak in half and half lay on wax paper freeze 1hour for mini ice cream sandwich 

Popsicles

Franklin Institute

$1 movies

1000 lap tshirts

Write to C

Write to E

Camden Aquarium pref with friends

Beach beach beach

Try Joe's pizza

Not on list but did it anyway

Bobby's Burger Palace

Ice bucket challenge

Lots of books (for 3 of us at least)

scientific study subjects (earned $40 each!)

Did not do:

go see Philadelphia Freedoms play

McFaul's/Baltimore 

Hardy boys

Make a video game

Dog elevator

Added in August: did not do but move to next year/days off:

Diggerland 

Zoo

This week: we met our new academic advisee; he is 13!!! I cannot imagine being brave enough to send my child away at age 13 though of course I know it has been done for years. Snuggling up my boys a little tighter and welcoming this one even more warmly.

Today: picnic for the new students. I am bringing the Giada orzo and Greek dip.

Monday: pulled pork sandwiches, mashed potatoes, green beans

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Spaghetti

Thursday: pulled pork (might make it bbq), sweet potatoes, cucumber salad

Friday: We will see but I am leaning to the sausage bake.

This was the week the freezer finally left. I miss it but only a little. I am working hard on clearing out the decently sized freezer we have in the kitchen to make it more...realistic. Some of the things in there--pie crusts, mixes for drinks no one in our house consumes--are a waste for us. We can do better. But right now, it's time to enjoy the gorgeous day. Wishing you a great week!

Every New Beginning

Happy September! And happy 9th birthday to my little guy! I am so happy for him that he has this one last day of summer on his birthday, but so begins the rocket ride of a school year.

Monday: Olive Garden (birthday choice)

Tuesday: Lego build after the first day of school--woo! So we will eat in the mall.

Wednesday: spaghetti, of course

Thursday: tacos

Friday: leftovers, I hope, for the picnic at the kids' school to celebrate the new playground equipment

This is the last year (for a bit) that I get to talk about the kids' school! They are starting 3rd and 5th grades, so starting next year, they are apart again. I dread this more than they do, though maybe it will be a good thing? Once they get through this year, they will be apart four of the next five school years. Then I get a last two years of high school. Yikes.

Have a great start to September!

Coming in to the Finish Line

Ah, August. Can you ever end too soon? Or too quickly?

We were in the mountains for two weeks, but I pretty much stuck to the meal plan, only with a ton more peaches. I have had the overnight oatmeal with a variety of dried and fresh fruits (fresh: mostly peaches. And blueberries! But really peaches). And we are now just fitting in the last of the realistic summer goals, treading water until my paychecks begin again (thank you Lord, and not a moment too soon).

The other recipes I tried lately were Smitten Kitchen irresistables: her easy dill pickles, and the farro tomato one-pot meal. Both were, predictably, delicious. The pickles were crazy easy and good--I think I chopped five of the Trader Joe's Persian cucumbers and ate two right off the bat. Prep time was minimal and since I used the ziplock bag trick, even though I wasn't around to shake them, they all settled in and brined nicely. Nom nom nom nom.  The other was totally worth buying the farro for. Trader Joe's sells it in neat little bags, though there is way more than a cup in there. Also I over salted but for me--that is not a problem. It was fabulous and a great way to use up some CSA tomatoes of a variety that I'd have a hard time using otherwise.

We lucked into a friend's CSA this week, which you will see a little bit of reflected this week...

This week:

Sunday: Armagnac chicken (with Old Grand Dad--why I even have OGD in the house, I do not know) augmented with Crazy Jane's, scalloped tomatoes (heaven in a dish), and green beans.

Monday: out with friends--I think to an actual restaurant, otherwise I will bring Greek dip and ... something.

Tuesday: tacos, or ALS fundraiser at Chik-Fil-A

Wednesday: spaghetti (I have been making sausage sauce with Trader Joe's chicken sausages for my husband, who is very happy about that)

Thursday: tacos probably, but there is also an open house that will probably have food. Either way--I will be taco ready.

Friday: believe it or not, I have book group this night. I can't wait. No idea what the boys will eat. Hopefully leftover chicken.

And there it is--the Labor Day weekend approaches. We are just about ready for the school year to begin, though I am sad to see this summer go. There were lots of sleepovers, home and away, lots of goals met (I will go over the list next week), and lots of books read. So--here's to the last week! Wishign you a good one.

Time is...fleeting....

Sing it with me: madness....takes its toll.

No time warp here but I just cannot believe that we are in the final throes of August. In some ways: I am totally 100% grateful because entertaining the boys without just throwing the Kindles at them is wiping me out. On the other hand--I love love love being with them. And I am soaking in these days for the ones when we are scattered to school and jobs and I am grateful I have this time.

So another week of uninspired but super-easy meals on tap:

Monday: Joanne's pork tenderloin, veggies

Tuesday: tacos

Wednesday: spaghetti

Thursday: grilling. Probably a London Broil (found one in the freezer) and maybe I'll make potatoes to go with it.

Friday: leftovers. I will be sure to grill enough to have some!

Keeping it short because there's not much to tell. It's summer, is all. Reading, swimming, trying to keep the dog cool...Enjoy your week!

Augusta Wind

You know that old joke, If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring? One version is (of course) Pilgrims, but my friend had her own schtick: May flowers bring June bugs! And June bugs bring Julilacs. And Julilacs bring Augusta wind. Which is to say--happy August!

I know it is time for the month to change because my boys are starting to have school anxiety again, worrying about who will be in their classes and other school related issues. Summer projects are perking along--one of my favorite moments of the summer (year!) was when my older son got his 1000 lap t-shirt. What an accomplishment! He is the first in the family to do it and I couldn't be prouder.

On a far more mundane note, I have been trying to crunch my way through some recipes. I have been looking to recreate the sour cream cucumber salad my mother used to make, and this recipe came pretty close. Naturally my mother's recipe would have had a ton more of the dressing (and none of the low-fat stuff), so I adjusted a bit but overall I did like it very much. The kids would not touch it, which takes away part of the joy of the cucumber (the one veggie Mr. Picky will eat, though under duress). But I liked making it and my dill in the hanging basket is going crazy (my husband's great idea to save the herbs from slugs; verdict--awesome for dill, less so [mysteriously] for basil) so it was good to trim that back a bit.

Anyway. This week:

Monday: Crazy Jane's chicken, summer veggies (whatever looks good!)

Tuesday: taco Tuesday (we do not interrupt this for summer veggies)

Wednesday: spaghetti (Young Mr. Picky still eats with butter and cheese but my husband has been whipping up awesome fresh tomato sauces for the grownups...yum)

Thursday: leftovers (chicken, etc.) I want to make a quiche for the mister and me but I know it will not be popular with the under-five-foot crowd.

Friday: maybe out, maybe a freezer meal--I just found some pulled pork, yum!

Tap dancing (not really, but hey! there's an idea) as fast as I can to keep the boys entertained. Last week was library camp and Apple camp...this week...all activities appear to cease. This is giving me agita so keep us in your happy thoughts. Happy week!

Summer Transitions

Oh, the melancholy end of camp. The kids had a great year, and especially in the traditional (non-sports) camp, they really let out all the stops for the last week (Carnival Day! Pony rides! Tattoos! Science show with explosions!). Alas, it just makes life at home look Even More Boring by comparison. But I'm working on it.

And this weekend was not boring--it was feverish. Instead of competing in the A-champs, my little guy was battling a fever that peaked at 104.1. I hate those. Fortunately he seems to be just about over it but it was loathsome while it stayed.

So, this week:

Sunday: grillin'. And corn because summer.

Monday: farmer's chicken (didn't get to it last week)

Tuesday: taco Tuesday

Wednesday: Wednesday spaghetti

Thursday: leftovers, I hope, freezer meal if not

Friday: out!

Have a great week!

Just When You Think You Have No Readers

Of course I invited people to come check out my blog. And the tone of my last title was all wrong, though the sentiment was one I meant in a straight-up way. And yet people find themselves here via the Hansel-and-Gretl breadcrumbs of the internet: links from friends' blogs, or my thanks on Smitten Kitchen from 2008. Strange, how you know the internet lives forever and yet it startles me that something I wrote 6 years ago resonates enough with someone today to click over and see how I'm doing.

The answer is: I am still learning. I am still not an intuitive cook. My sense of kitchen adventure is dragged down by fussy eating kids (well, one fussy eater and another who, if Fussy likes it, will declare immediately that he doesn't, and we have always been at war with Oceana, thereby preventing one-meal-fits-all meals in the house) and a part-time job.

I am still weak at figuring out the timing of having all meal elements ready at once. I am still baffled how my cabinets and refrigerator end up with the random assortment that ends up there, and unlike my husband, who can suddenly whip random ingredients into something delicious, I buy more random ingredients to make it work.

But I have had some successes. There are things I enjoy making and my kids haven't starved. Even if more weeks than not have a lot of repeated favorites, I am ok with that. The good ones (for the most part) make it to the sidebar; the less-successful are kept here so I can go back to remind myself what did and didn't work.

So, thanks for visiting. You are welcome anytime, and questions are always welcomed as well. I am glad you are here, whoever you are, as long as you come in peace and bring no malware.

Monday: Leftover Chinese, salmon, and shrimp (not all together but we all ate well)

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday

Wednesday: Wednesday Spaghetti

Thursday: farmer's chicken, maybe corn on the cob

Friday: just me & Mr. Picky, so I have no idea what we'll do. If I am lazy I will make him more pasta and he will be over the moon with joy. If not, I will try to figure something else out. (In some ways, he is very easy; he adores the Crazy Jane's chicken and will cheerfully eat it night after night, complimenting me on how delicious it is. Nothing too wrong with that.)

Wishing you a good week. This is our last week of camp and the second half of summer is staring me down and making me a bit crazy but I am lucky to have these as my worries and I know it!

Having No Readers Is Freeing

Ah, the end of the age of amateur blogs. It was fun to be here while the form morphed and I enjoyed it. I'm not stopping what I'm doing--it absolutely serves the purpose I meant it to serve. But it is strange watching my Feedly depopulate.

For anyone stopping by, we had a really calm week here last week, at least by summer standards. A swim meet here and there, lots of pool time otherwise, fun camp days for the boys, and a shockingly closely followed meal plan. One note: I will not be making those banana-oat bars again; they attracted fruit flies like crazy and they drive me...well, bananas.

Meanwhile, I, for one, welcome back the polar vortex with open arms. We are not in the worst of it but it has already depressed the humidity so even the 90 degree heat didn't feel so bad. Winning.

This week:

Monday: Armagnac chicken (because I have all the veggies for it)

Tuesday: taco Tuesday (now with *soft* tacos! oooh. I am pleased b/c they are cheaper and more versatile, though just as nutritionally bankrupt)

Wednesday: Wednesday spaghetti, of course (another swim meet too so it will be early)

Thursday: leftovers, with any luck

Friday: the Independence Eve race in our town was weather-delayed to this night, so we will have a cookout at home and cheer on the runners as they come down our street.

Wishing you a great week, and a fun time watching swim meets, the World Cup, the Tour de France, World Championship Lacrosse, or whatever else strikes your fancy this week!