Dinners on the deck

The weather's getting warmer and we're rediscovering the deck at dinnertime. This evening, I commented to Matt that a year ago today, Anna Kimball could have been walking and tromping around the deck making mischief as she has been this week with Emery, but the poor thing was still scooting. And this made having fun outside more tricky. Oh, how grateful I am that that season is behind us ... and oh how I pray this baby due to make his/her arrival any day now will outpace his/her sisters when it comes to walking. If not, well, oh well, We know no other way!

Last night Anna Kimball snagged my napkin and I sort of wondered why, but got distracted. Then, minutes later she started trying to drag the heavy cast aluminum chairs across the deck and I got frustrated. But then, Matt told me to turn around because bless her heart, she was just trying to "set the table" for her and Emery to have a second dinner. Melt me.

Last week Matt mentioned we hadn't had fish much lately and I then explained my fish frustrations - we can't get good fresh fish here, the mediocre stuff is still expensive, who really looks forward to fish for dinner, what nutritional value other than a ton of protein does the cheapest fish, tilapia, really have, etc. etc. etc. 

But then I went and bought a bag of frozen tilapia at Target and lo and behold the girls love it. So as much as I loathe being trapped into "we always have 'X' to eat on such and such a night," pan-fried tilapia might become a regular rotation in the dinner diary now.

Carrot soup and a snow day

Today I had no real plan for dinner, since I just didn't know exactly how this snow day would evolve or what kind of leftovers we would have from the nights before. I tend to lose a little steam when it comes to cooking on Thursdays, and when better to wing it than on a snow day?

I also tend to feel a little panicky if I don't have a stash of carrots in the fridge, but the sad truth is that they often get neglected until they are rubbery and pretty much unappetizing. Naturally, today I had almost two pounds of carrots sitting in the crisper, getting less and less crisp by the day. I knew I could do some kind of baked potato main/side, throw in some leftover pork for Matt, but what to do about a vegetable? Roasted carrots just didn't sound right. I did have kale, but I really didn't feel like washing it. But then I remembered soup! (How could I forget soup? I could eat it daily in the winter and be happy) And just as I was about to tackle a slightly complicated carrot soup recipe, I remembered reading this - how to make any pureed vegetable soup in 5 steps. Bingo. Easy. Peasy. Throw in some white beans from last night's dinner and it gets even more satisfying.

Our snow day should really be reclassified as a snow morning. Even though we had around six inches on the ground at daybreak, by early afternoon the sun and warm temps had done quite a bit of work melting away our winter wonderland. Oh well. It was beautiful and fun while it lasted.

New habits

I really wouldn't call myself a "crafty mom." However, since we've been spending more time at home recently and since perhaps I might subconsciously be trying to overwhelm the girls with my "fun-ness" before I become the sleep-deprived, irrationally emotional mother of a newborn, we've been seeing quite the uptick in visual arts around here lately.

Today's mess, I mean craft, was scented microwave puffy paint. I know, kind of sounds a little weird, but it's actually so easy and the girls had a lot of fun with it. I wouldn't say they created anything that resembled anything, although Emery did crank out a few E's that survived microwaving, but the process of whisking and squeezing the paint more than made their morning. Especially since the craft was preceded by a dreaded trip to the dentist for Emery, who screamed so hard that at one point we were surrounded by three dental hygienists as well as the dentist himself, all trying to placate poor Emery.

Since I expended so much effort with the craft and dentist, I decided to take it easy on myself for dinner. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I am coming to grips with the fact that I often put too much pressure on myself to cook complicated dinners. Not because I think anyone around here really expects complicated, but because sometimes I don't get satisfaction from making quick-and-easy chili recipes.

I'm realizing this is going to need to change some once Baby D #3 decides to make his/her appearance, so I'd better start adjusting now. Hence, turkey chili even an eight-year-old can make. This chili comes together in less time than it takes to conduct a scented microwave puffy paint project and actually has depth of flavor. If you're like me, you probably already have most of the ingredients on hand, making it an ideal finale to a day when dinner just doesn't need to be complicated.

A dinner worth making again

I recently mentioned that I hadn't cooked any noteworthy dinners recently. Well, last night that changed, in my humble opinion ... I think Matt would agree, which is why I feel validated in writing this post.

Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Caradamom and Yogurt has redeemed any negative feelings I previously had about boring, dry, roasted chicken. I couldn't figure out how to copy the picture that accompanies the recipe and I didn't take one of ours so please, click on the link now so you can see how amazingly crispy and delicious this chicken looks. I will wait ...

OK, agree? It looks fabulous, doesn't it? And if tasks like butterflying chicken and tracking down cardamom seem intimidating to you, please don't let that stop you from trying this recipe. Butterflying chicken is actually very easy. There are lots of instructional videos on the Internet that demonstrate how to remove a chicken's backbone. And yes, I realize it's not that fun to get your hands all over raw chicken, but the end result is worth it, I promise.

Cardamom can be difficult to find and it's pricy, but I found mine in the bulk section of our Whole Foods and it only wound up costing me pennies.

So two hurdles removed, right? Oh, you don't have mortar and pestle? You're still not off the hook - use a rolling pin. I did. It worked great.

The other fantastic thing about this recipe is that it tastes best when marinated in the yogurt spice mixture overnight. So while it's a pain to start fixing tomorrow night's dinner before you've even cleaned up from tonight's, the bonus is that you have dinner basically done before tomorrow even comes!

Make this chicken please. It's tender, juicy on the inside, crispy on the outside and loaded with flavors you probably don't usually enjoy during your average weeknight dinner. My only word of caution is to NOT roast yours in a cast iron skillet. Yes, it looks more casual yet impressive in one, but you'll be left with a cleanup job you'd rather not tackle or let tarnish your memories of the best roast chicken you've had in quite some time.

This and that

What have we been up to? Oh, this and that.

Anna Kimball keeps growing and growing!

Henny made us a pretty, feminine shower curtain to match our bathroom "sheet" curtains. 

                                                 

Emery transitioned to a big girl bed without much drama and especially enjoys getting under the covers and tucked in - love this!

 We spend a lot of time in the front yard these days, perhaps because there are more people to see? We've become fast friends with our neighbor two doors up who has teenagers and a soft spot for my girls. Emery goes to her house to play on a regular basis and I sit at home with Anna Kimball wondering how I lucked out and if I even deserve this gift from above!

And then there's your typical two-year old running away from you and hiding when you ask her to come ... of course when you don't need really need her by your side, there she is, pulling up a stool inches away from the stove with burners flaring, pots and pans and food and knives all within her little hands' reach.

I wish I could say we've been cooking some delicious meals recently, but nothing is really striking me as worth making over and over again. Hopefully that will change soon ... until then, we'll just keep making these, since we seem to go through them like paper towels!

Did you know that you can't get mussels at Whole Foods in Honolulu?

Well, you can't. I know for a fact. And no, we didn't spend Christmas in Hawaii. I wish!

Me, being the food safety freak that I am, started getting a little nervous on Christmas Eve about the status of the mussels I would be preparing on Christmas Day. I've only cooked with mussels once before but this didn't really concern me ... until the last minute of course.

Yes, around 8:30pm on Christmas Eve I decided to take a peek at the bag of mussels I had bought just the day before, the bag that the man behind the fish counter at our Whole Foods assured me would be fine to prepare on Sunday, and found that the majority of the mussels in the bag were gaping open.

Of course I hit Google right away and learned that I was to discard any that were open. But me, being the overthinker that I am, then started to get worried about the wellbeing of the mussels that were still closed and wondered what to do.

I started with my mother, who has zero experience cooking with live mussels. She referred me to our old neighbor who is a caterer. I boldly called her on Christmas Eve and she didn't really know what to tell me. Just told me to do what I read on the Internet. Hmm. I wanted a more authoritative answer than that.

So I decided to call Whole Foods in Seattle, since I figured they would still be open, which they were, for about 9 more minutes. The man at their seafood counter told me that I hadn't stored them properly, should have kept them in a bowl with ice, and of course they were all dying.

After hanging up with him I still felt uneasy about the whole situation, especially because I started questioning my judgement as to "how open is too open"with a mussel shell. What if it's open just a hair? Does that count as closed or open? What if I cook dead mussels and get everyone sick? Matt reminded me that they don't send you home with a magnifying glass when you buy mussels and to stop thinking so hard about it and to stop shoving mussels in his face for his opinion.

Point taken. I got on the phone with Whole Foods Honolulu - wouldn't you have done the same at this point? As I posed my question to their seafood worker I got an astonished "Wait! This can't be possible. We don't sell mussels here. It's against agricultural law." Then I had to confess that I was in Tennessee, a victim of EST on Christmas Eve and that I was sorry to be bothering them on a what might have been a busy evening, but did he have any advice for my remaining mussels and what to do with them and if he thought they were safe to eat? He referred me to his coworker, a "restaurant guy" who might have experience with mussels. And to be honest with you, I can't really remember what he told me other than that after hanging up with him I decided to just go ahead steam the mussels that were still closed, for fear that they would be dead by morning.

End of story? No. After steaming the mussels, I just still didn't feel good about the whole situation and started having terrible visions of food poisoning our Christmas Day dinner guests. In my head I knew they were more than likely totally safe to eat, but I had just spent an hour stressing about them and at that point had lost my appetite for even daring to try them. So I told Matt I wasn't going to eat them on Christmas and he said "Well, you can't serve your guests something you're too scared to eat!"

True. So I didn't throw them away, but didn't plan to serve them either. Until I told the story and everyone wanted to try them! Can you believe it?

So everyone but me and Emery had mussels with their ciopinno. As you can see, Matt even had many.

And would you believe it, no one got sick! Me, I'm still glad I didn't try any and have learned my lesson ... maybe. I'm actually not sure that I have, as I can definitely envision this little drama replicating itself the next time I cook with any unfamiliar fish, bird or beast ... I'll just try not to make it happen on Christmas Eve next time.

Thanksgiving antics

Learning the etiquette of dipping - "no double dips Emery!"

Riding horsie with Grandpa

Trying out seats ...

Yes, this one is just right!

Time to eat yet?

Peek-a-boo!

 Peek-a-boo again!

Thankfully Emery kept us very entertained while the turkey took longer than anticipated. Her antics were also interspersed with a few mishaps, including one broken serving platter, but I think (and hope!) we will all remember the day as one of fellowship, feasting and definitely more than enough football.

The dish I can't wait to make again, but on a weeknight?  Brussels Sprouts with Fig and Bacon - so simple, and best eaten right away, which didn't exactly happen yesterday. So all the more reason to give it another try soon!

This is what happens

when you don't prick a few holes in your baked potato.

Aretha Frankenstein's ... without the 2 hour wait!

For those of you who don't live in Chattanooga, Aretha Frankenstein's is a breakfast joint famous (or perhaps notorious) for its insanely long wait on weekend mornings, as well as its insanely outstanding pancakes and waffles.

Well, this weekend we got to enjoy the aforementioned waffles right in our own dining room, thanks to this recipe I found Food52.

Now I generally try to make my waffles a little healthy and go more for the multigrain, not too much oil, etc. route when I'm making them at home, but these were well worth making an exception. I doubled the recipe and did wind up cutting back on the oil a bit and that didn't seem to do them any harm.

The secret ingredient? Cornstarch! It makes them perfectly soft, chewy and moist on the inside, and just crispy enough on the outside to make you think you might be eating at a restaurant and not in your own home where you have to put away the syrup and butter, face the mound of dishes in the sink and get a paint scraper to deal with the waffle batter that's now permanently adhered to the kitchen counter.

Worth it, though? YES.

If you have a can of tuna,

the possibilities are endless. I've been thinking of writing a post on fallback, pantry meals you can whip up in a pinch, but I'm having trouble getting my list together. So I think I'll just post the ideas as they come to me.

Today I was reminded of the wonders of a can of good tuna (please not the gray, catfood stuff). It does not have to always turn into boring mayonnaise-tuna salad, though that's not half-bad, especially on top of a baked potato with some corn. Sounds strange, I know, but I ate tons of these when studying abroad in Scotland. And baked potatoes, well, they deserve their own post because recently I've made many a delicious meal out of odds and ends in the fridge piled on top of a baked potato.

My "tuna turnaround" today centered on white beans and wheat berries, both super pantry staples. I've gotten in the habit of cooking lots of different kinds of dry beans in mass quantities, then freezing them for later use.

To the tuna, wheat berries and white beans I added some shredded carrots, diced onion, diced cucumbers, chopped tomato, feta, chives, and a little salad dressing.

YUM.

The wonderful thing about this kind of tuna salad is that it doesn't depend on all of these ingredients. Many could be swapped out for other kinds of grains and veggies. I think chickpeas would work well, too, if you don't have white beans handy.

For a hot dish, you could always mix your handy can of tuna with some marinara, throw in some green or black olives, and whatever "pasta cheese" you have on hand and presto, there's dinner!

I'm sure there are many other avenues you could take with a can of tuna, but now my appetite is getting the best of me, so this post will have to end. Now.

A must make - Skillet lasagna with sausage and peppers

I impulsively bought a Cook's Country "Skillet Suppers" magazine in the checkout line at the store a couple of months ago and it hasn't disappointed. At all. The spicy steak soft tacos were amazing and now, well, this skillet lasagna is a new, promise to make again soon and frequently, favorite.

The magazine version of the recipe suggested the option of substituting the ground meat with 1 lb. of sausage removed from its casing (I used mild Italian chicken sausage) and adding a chopped red bell pepper with the onion. We loved the flavor the sausage added and even Emery could handle the mild spice.

Even better, it truly only took me about 40 minutes start to finish and didn't seem to create much of a mess in the kitchen.

This little girl, however:

does make quite a mess in the kitchen, and everywhere else these days, but we still love her!

Fearless ... and Spicy Peanut Dip

Words cannot describe Emery's elation at meeting Spike for the first time, though fearless might be a good descriptor. True, Spike is just a little dog, but even I wouldn't want to get my hands too close to his sharp teeth. 

Emery, on the other hand, was more than happy to give Spike kisses, put her hands in his face and pretty much give him all the attention he may or may not have wanted.

And in the world of food, last night I resurrected an incredibly versatile dip I'd made a few years ago. The combination of ingredients might sound strange to some at first, but I promise the end result is delicious ... and it's a great way to use up peanut butter if the only size jar they had available when you went to the store last week was WAY bigger than you normally buy. 

Spicy Peanut Dip 

From Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home

2/3 cup peanut butter

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2/3 cup prepared spicy hot salsa

1/2 teaspoon cumin

salt to taste

Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Mash all ingredients together in a bowl, adding Worcestershire sauce if you like more zing. Taste and add more lemon juice and/or few drops of Tabasco if you like.  Use it to coat linguini, soba or buckwheat noodles, as a sauce for steamed veggies and rice, or as a dip for veggies, pita crackers, etc. It keeps for about 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Dogs and popsicles

Don't Emery and her new friend Monk look like statues in this picture?

No matter the size or breed, Emery still loves dogs, so we've got another canine visit on the docket for this week.

Also on the docket is finding popsicle molds, which are seemingly nowhere to be found in this city, so that we can make these fudge popsicles again (borrowed a friend's molds in desperation over the weekend, because I just HAD to try these). I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder, which made them especially dark (imagine that!) and all the more delicious.

A progress report and more ...

So this week I brought up the Froggy Fun Pool from the basement and put it in the living room. Holding Emery, we walked past it and she wept. And clutched me. And had a bit of a hard time calming down even when it wasn't within eyeshot.

So I put it outside and later that afternoon we walked past it together ... and, no tears!

Yesterday we sat on a blanket outside right next to the pool ... and, no tears!

Though, I guess I was pressing my luck when I put her inside it after she impressed me with her bravery. She cried. 

Aside from getting familiar with the Froggy Fun Pool, Emery has also been enjoying some good Skype time with Henny and Papa, who now have an iPad and can carry her with them all over the house. 

And we're trying to enjoy the final few days of more moderate weather before the oppressive heat arrives. When we go to the park, Emery's adores playing with the stroller and chasing birds. The stroller can occupy her attention for so long that I think I'll make it an inside toy when it gets too hot to go outside.

In the land of food, this weekend we made "grilled chicken for people who hate grilled chicken," and it was a total winner. Because it's true - grilled chicken can be tough (literally) to like and lacking in flavor. Not with this marinade - the plain yogurt lends plenty of moisture and a little bit of tang.

Tempted in the grocery store line by a Cook's Country special edition of "Skillet Suppers," I picked up the magazine and proceeded to make Spicy Steak Soft Tacos. (in celebration that the flourless diet is over!!) Never did a tortilla and steak taste so good - and the homemade salsa verde was definitely worth the effort. 

A culinary challenge

Matt has been on a nutritional "challenge" for the past month - hence I have been on a culinary challenge, cooking without any sugar or flour. Now at first this doesn't sound so hard, right? It just means I get all the ice cream, but when you start to think about not cooking with any flour (and that includes all of the alternatives to flour for those on gluten-free diets), things get a little more difficult.

No pasta. No pizza. No burritos. No quesadillas. No hamburgers. No sandwiches. No waffles. No pancakes. No french toast.

Need I go on?

The other part of the challenge is that he must eat five servings of vegetables (that's vegetables, not fruits and vegetables) a day. Well, that has proved trickier than I thought, too. If I want to keep pace with him on the challenge, that means 10 servings of vegetables a day that our family is eating, and that's not including Emery!

My refrigerator is only so big. And yes, I know I have confessed my penchant for the grocery store, but even I have my limits.

Plus, I'm not crazy about eating meat every day (nor is my wallet), and this challenge definitely requires more animal protein.

YET, it has been good for us all, I think, because it's forced me to get more creative in the kitchen, use more whole grains, get out of some ruts, eat more veggies, etc.

Here have been a few of our favorite recipes this month:


Bulgur Chili with Beans and Loads of Veggies - a meatless favorite of mine, this was so satisfying you'd never have missed the meat.

Chickpea Tagine with Chicken and Bulgur - a great example of how you can cook with a small amount of meat, to please the meat lovers in your family, but not so much that you break the bank or feel that you've eaten more than your fair share of animal protein for the week, and still get so much flavor and heartiness.

Mixed Greens with Chicken Sausage and Mozzarella - this one is easy, barely requires a recipe.  Just cut already cooked chicken sausage (we use Bilinskis) into small rounds, brown on the stovetop, let cool and add to mixed greens with sliced mozzarella and any salad vegetables you have on hand. Toss with salad dressing of your choice.

How has Emery fared with all of this culinary upheaval? Well, she continues to eat less and less of what I put in front of her, but I think that has less to do with the nutritional challenge and more to do with just being 13 months old.

I think she's surviving though, from the looks of these pictures!

The only French Bistro in Chattanooga

was open for just one night. And it happened to be in my home!

Some friends and I have begun a cooking club and this month's theme was French Bistro cooking. I had the privilege of hosting, which meant all I needed to do was select some beverages and watch my mom set the table since she was in town for visit and just itching to get her hands a little dirty. Literally - she potted petunias in my fruit bowl!

And folded napkins into flowers, among many many many other things.

I will take credit for making the placecards, though, except that they weren't even my idea.

Like I said, it was really hard work picking out two bottles of French wine.

Our appetizer was a real treat - verrine avocat, fromage blanc, saumon fume - if you don't know what that means in French, well, it means DELICIOUS.

Then we sat down and feasted on sole meuniere, Potatoes Anna and beef with carrots and plums.

We ended on a light note with a mixed green salad with cherry tomatoes, thyme, toasted baguette with chevre and a balsamic reduction ...

Before deciding it would be better to end on a decadent note - Petit Pots du Chocolat. Bon Appetit indeed!

Miscellaneous

Here's a sampling of what we've been up to lately!

A hike at Lula Lake Land Trust - Shame on me for not getting a good picture of the stunning waterfall, but believe me, we saw it. 

It might have been that I was a bit distracted by Emery's discontent. Turns out the Ergo Baby Carrier may not be the ideal mode of transportation for longer walks with a nearly 12-month old.

A dinner of (partially) homemade thin crust pizza with bacon and onion - We almost always have pizza on Friday nights and usually buy it. Last night, though, I made a version of this plus this (with store-bought dough) and we might not be doing take-out again for a while. I loved how easy it was to whirl the sauce together in the food processor and the crust wound up being really thin, just how I like it.

Having tea parties - Emery's favorite thing to do in the kitchen is take out all the tea bags and strew them everywhere. Putting them back isn't my favorite thing to do, but it sure is nice how much they entertain her.

Groovin' to the music - I really need to take a video of Emery dancing ... whenever she plays with musical toy, she starts rockin' her shoulder to the beat. She's thrilled with these drums I got for $2.50 at America's Thrift Store, not as thrilled with the 38 cent tambourine, but for that price, who cares!

Keeping Emery away from cords - No matter how,

Determined,

She is to play with them!