Suburban Homestead

Beanie Goes Abroad - Taxidermy, Macaroons + Musee d'Orsay

Last Tuesday was THE BEST...or was it...Wednesday?? I have this seemingly unattainable goal to keep all posts on-time and in chronological order, as if that matters to anyone else in the universe other than moi. But unless you pull it together and post religiously, every day, it all starts to get a little blurry after about the twelfth hour. Which brings me to my original thought - last Thursday was grrr-eat!

Somewhere, somehow, I came across a tip to visit the nearly 200 year Deyrolle. I guess you would call it a store of taxidermy, which also sells some animal and plant art, gardening supplies, etc. It is just incredible - like a petit musee d'histoire naturelle!  I told my son that I would absolutely grab him a souvenir from Deyrolle, because of course, why wouldn't you do that for your animal loving son?  But with a single bug running upwards of 70 euros (the stuffed lion above was 30k euros), he was forced to get happy with a $4 postcard instead.

Down the street from Deyrolle was Laduree, home to the original macaroon and what has to be one of the city's most exciting window displays. We shoveled out an exorbitant amount of money for sixteen bites of heaven to-go, and then headed over to meet my mom at the Musee d'Orsay.

We didn't make it to the Louve this trip, but the Musee d'Orsay was one I made sure not to miss. I knew there would be more recognizable art here for the four-foot tall art lover. The fact that it's in an old train station made preparing her for it a breeze - anyone heard of a little old movie called or Hugo?

 

 

Walking through the top floor, we got to see the museum's cafe, which I loved. More that the lighting or the orange wire space dividers, I loved, loved this large, Art Nouveau piece that hung above the dining room. {Eugene Grasset, Harmony}

Drool-worthy, no?  My mom treated us to lunch in the main restaurant, a space she was really wanting to see. We had a great meal, and while watching Beanie sketch the ceiling above her, my mom talked about how she now prefers to sketch her travels more than photograph them. She says this way, the visual information is imprinted in your brain and never leaves you!

We Love You, Gong Hey Fat Choy!

Happy Everything! So much culminates on this weekend - Valentine's was Friday, the Chinese New Year celebrations wrapped up last night in SF with the big parade, and tomorrow we celebrate all our great favorite presidents.

We did some really fun things this week in hopes of bringing all these important celebrations full circle, at least Valentine's and CNY. (I, admittedly, dropped the ball on everything presidential.)

I often tell people how homeschooling has become a sort of healthy addiction for me. I crave and seek out creative ways of make learning 210% fun for all of us. It's what I focus on and research late at night (instead of blogging). The ideas bring me energy, and the entire process of bringing it to my kids has fueled a new learning for myself. We could argue all day long about who is loving homeschooling more.

Our Tuesdays bring us into the city where the 9yo takes a three hours science course at the Exploratorium. This week, life cycles and germination were discussed, plants and fruits were dissected. 

After class, I grabbed a couple books at the gift shop and we walked to Chinatown where we visited the Golden Gate Fortune Cookies.

Located down a barely-marked alley, this "factory" consists of little more than two women and a man running a very sweet (and crunchy) show. We hung out, marveled, paid a couple quarters extra for the privilege of taking pictures, and then we stocked up on vanilla and chocolate fortune cookies and headed home. 

Back home, after we devoured a huge platter of Chinese food from Trader Joe's, we gathered together all our fortunes and I read through them with the kids, challenging them to understand the deeper meanings. I convinced myself that this was in some way good for them, and counted towards some sort of learning block. ;)

 

But my favorite part of this weeks Valentine's/Chinese New Year/President's Weekend focus was the 9yo's and my crafting of Chinese fortune cookies from scratch. It started with the idea that we would make one of his favorites, pot stickers, as a project that studies not just food and culture, but math and chemistry. When I realized how difficult they are to make (hence the name "stickers", I suppose), I opted for fortune cookies on the heels of our exciting factory visit. The first recipe we followed...and tripled (read: math), was a late night disaster followed by a young boy's pleas to "try again" because this was "the best night EVER". I acquiesced, we changed course to this recipe and found great success! Our second attempt produced what are likely to go down as the BEST fortune cookies either of us have ever had -- like crispy, pancakes folded-up in to bite-size-goodness. Part of this project called for The Kid to create his own fortunes that would be applicable to the friends he planned to share them with in him nature class the following morning. I told him he would get invisible, bonus points for relating them to both nature and love. 

Our Christmas Cioppino

We hosted Christmas dinner at our house and for the first time in YEARS, I made the most incredible cioppino recipe, a long-standing favorite of mine, originally from Rose Pistola restaurant. There appears to be several Rose Pistola cioppino recipes online, spanning the last decade. The one I always use is from 2003, the same year Rose Pistola won the Best Cioppino in San Francisco award by SF Weekly. You get where I'm going with this, and so, you need to try this.

Here is my modified version which is laid out a little differently much better and in a way that is easier for people *like me* to prepare. This is not a simple dish, but it is quick if you prep everything before turning on your burner. It should also be said that it is best on day two, which is why it works so well on a big holiday.

 

Rose Pistola Cioppino, 2003   Serves 4-6

 

Bowl No. 1:

- 1/2 cup olive oil

- 1/2 cup finely chopped white onion, rinsed

- 2 tablespoons leek, white part

- 3 oregano springs

- 2 bay leaves

Bowl No. 2:

- 1 garlic clove, minced

- 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

- 3 anchovy fillets, chopped

Bowl No. 3

- 2 Dungeness crabs, cleaned and cracked

- 10 oz rockfish fillet

Separately:

- 1 cup dry white wine

- 4 cups chicken broth

- 2 cups tomato sauce

Bowl No. 3

- 16 black mussels, well scrubbed

- 12 oz cleaned squid, bodies cut into rings

- 6 oz rock shrimp, shelled or not

1.  In a large, heavy saute pan over high heat, saute ingredients of bowl No. 1 until onions are translucent, about five minutes. Stir in ingredients of bowl No. 2.

2.  Add crab and rockfish and stir until rockfish cooks and begins to break-up. Add wine and cook to reduce slightly. 

3.  Add chicken stock and tomato sauce and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer. Taste and adjust if needed.

4.  Add fish in bowl No. 3  and a healthy drizzle of olive oil. Cover and cook 3-4 minutes until mussels open up. Turn heat off and discard any unopened mussels.

5.  Serve immediately or next day for a more developed flavors. Excellent with a big, hot loaf of garlic bread for dunking.

 

After dinner I served this Buche de Noel (phenomenal!) and decorated it with toy woodland animals because I didn't have time to craft them myself out of marzipan. Ha! Also seen on our Christmas table was peppermint bark, my sister's homemade fudge...store-bought cookies, more homemade cookies and Hershey's Kisses.

Needless to say, I consumed only water and raw kale today. 

Fabulous Friday

We got back-to-school this week - in more ways than one, which is mostly to blame for my absence here. While Frijoles returned to our public school for the first grade, her big brother started-up his studies here at home, with me. That's right, we are home schooling. :)

Our week did not go at all as planned, but we learned very early on that that is OK. It was a beautiful five days here with my boys (Noodle has a few more weeks of summer), and I started to see signs of the big guy's love for learning re-ignited. I can't wait to see where this year will take us - it's bound to be good.

I've actually kept up with Friday's desserts, but haven't been posting them with all our end-of-summer scrambles. This Friday's dessert, Avocado, Coconut and Lime Sorbet, (found here) was a very enticing *school lesson* that touched on mathamatics (fractions, measurements), home economics (how to turn the stove on, where we store the sugar) with a little bit of chemisty thrown in for fun. ;)  It is the second time we've made this (the first while I was doing my vegan exploration) and we love it! It offered the perfect finish to our turkey taco dinner.

Have a great holiday weekend!

Olive Oil Cake with Fresh Summer Fruit

Nana is in the house cabin this weekend and Nana LOOOVES fruit desserts. Upon her arrival she was already talking about, and excited to make, a new recipe she'd just spotted in the latest addition of Sunset Magazine - Campfire-Glazed Peaches + Figs with Olive Oil Cake. Unable to find figs, a cast-iron skillet or a logical reason to build a campfire in 100 degree heat, she opted to macerate peaches and strawberries on stove-top instead.

This creation was incredible and so perfect for a hot summer night. The cake was similar to angel's food cake, but with a thicker and sweeter outer crust that offered just the right about of crunch to each bite.



This one is absolutely getting filed under *Favorites* -  right after I eat a piece for breakfast.

Here is how she did it:

 

Olive Oil Cake with Fresh Summer Fruit

Ingredients

• 2 large eggs
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lightly packed lemon zest
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• Macerated fruit
• Sweetened whipped cream

Cake Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Butter a 10-in. round and 2-in.-deep cake pan. Set a piece of parchment paper, cut to fit, inside, then butter parchment and dust pan with flour. Set aside.
2. Beat eggs in a large bowl with a mixer, using the whisk attachment, until frothy. Gradually add sugar and beat on high speed until mixture is pale and leaves a ribbon when you lift whisk, 6 to 8 minutes; scrape bowl halfway through.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk milk, oil, and lemon zest and juice together in a large measuring cup.
4. Add one-third of dry ingredients, then half of wet ingredients to egg mixture, beating after each addition until smooth; continue until all are added and stop a couple of times to scrape inside of bowl.
5. Pour batter into prepared pan and set in oven. Immediately turn down heat to 350°. Bake until cake pulls away from pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.
6. Cool on a rack 15 minutes, then loosen cake from pan with a knife. Turn out onto a plate, remove parchment, and carefully flip cake back onto rack. Let cool completely.
7. Make ahead: Up to 2 days, wrapped airtight.

            Note: Total time includes 1 hour to cool.

Fruit Preparation

Adapted from this recipe, Nana macerated 3-1/2 pounds of peach and strawberry with butter and sugar on the stovetop. It could NOT have worked better! Serve warm fruit on top of a slice of cake and with a giant dollop of freshly whipped cream.

Now what are you waiting for?!?

In Anticipation of The 4th

We jumped on the patriotic food bandwagon a little early this summer. With a full house this past weekend (seven kids and seven adults) I couldn't help but go to all the trouble of making Ina Garten's Flag (Ginormous) Flag Cake. When you have that many guests at the table, it's always fun to bring out the big guns.  This cake is nothing short of insanity, and I love making it every summer. It helps to make a Costco run before as it uses lots of cream cheese, butter and fresh (organic!) berries.

And on a slightly less organic note, I threw these red, white and blue nachos together one night with veggie taco leftovers. I picked up the chips at Cost Plus for a holiday treat and have to admit, they were pretty fun in this instance...despite the neon food coloring. ;)

We've also been cooking up lots of the usual summer fare - bbq ribs, cheese burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches with pesto, and tacos. One vegetarian visitor cooked up the most incredible polenta-based veggie lasagna that had us all running for seconds. I hope you too are enjoying good food, great friends and hot summer heat this week!

Fabulous Friday + The Last Day of School

I love the last day of school... and I hate it, all at the same time.

I love it, hate it.

Love, hate, love, hate.

I love it because it marks the beginning of what will be a magical time in every child's mind - summertime! I love it because it gives way to camps offering new and unique adventures, heightened by warm weather, late nights and lazy mornings. I hate it because the last day of school has become a logistical nightmare with off-campus class parties in different zip codes and too many heart-felt *goodbyes*.  As we powered up yesterday morning for a an intense day of tag-team parenting, I wondered if it wouldn't be a better idea to just skip the last day of school all together and go to the beach. ;)

We started a tradition on the last day of school many years ago, when the big kid was still the only one in school. Even though it was just pre-school, we celebrated the end of his year with a special dinner out - just the three of us, along with a gift of some quasi-educational books to keep him busy during summer. Eventually his sister got in on the action after her first year of pre-school, and this year, Mr. Noodle joined the fun for his first time.

Last night was the third year in a row where we've celebrated at Umami, in the city. The kids love the food and always ask to go back.

After ordering food and drinks, we gave each of the kids their packages...

...and then the food arrived! Pot stickers, Ahi tacos, beef sliders, edimame hummus and flat bread, and veggie fritters.

The real reason we keep coming back to Umami - the dessert roll made of vanilla ice cream wrapped in chocolate chip cookie dough, drizzled in chocolate and served alongside wasabi whipped cream and ginger candies!

Hello summer!

Fabulous Friday

Tell me you don't love Fridays.

See - you can't do it! Fridays are THE BEST. And with summer upon us, and one. more. week. down., I had to pee my pants when I read this post about the marathon that is the end-of-the-school-year-shuffle.

I'm feeling a little bit more pressure these days than normal, but to be truthful, Jen Hatmaker's description of the end of the year is kind of how I feel all year long. I'm always feeling like the worst mom. My paperwork is always late, I'm always forgetting volunteer shifts (despite checking my calendar upon waking), I've yet to muster up the strength to volunteer for a *board position*, and our pediatrician just called to say she hasn't seen either of our boys in over two years. We haven't all five enjoyed a *similar looking dinner* in over two weeks and I really need to make an OBGYN appointment - cos it's been 3.5 years (as in, since I last gave birth).

But I'm pretty sure I did something right today when Mr. Noodle asked me if we could make a dinosaur garden outside his window and I said "YES!" My enthusiasm to oblige was completely selfish though. See, that sweet kid pretty much has the worst view in the house - all cinder blocks and ivy out his window. Every time I take in that view I silently fear I am crippling his creativity with my lack of motivation to make it more interesting.

But that was Thursday, and today is Friday...

After the big kids left for school, and after Mr. Noodle and I scrambled to get to the kindergarten concert, we went to our favorite nursery and stocked up on all sorts of wonderful succulents fit for a dinosaur habitat.

"Hey look at this one, Mama!" he'd say. "This one looks super dinosaur-y to me!"

And so we selected, purchase, planned and planted our garden. The final touches came in the forms of little plastic dinosaurs that now call these high-gloss orange pots their home. Overall, the finished pots didn't add quite the punch I'd hoped they would there on the wall, but they are pretty cute up close, and Mr. Noodle is in no way critical of our work .

All that said, we didn't have much time to do our usual Friday morning dessert making. But I figure it doesn't have to be homemade every single week. (Right? That's OK to do that, right?) So this afternoon we picked up one of everybody's favorite at Miette Bakery. Each one of these desserts (I'll admit I sampled three) tasted *perfect*. They honestly tasted just as pure and perfect as they looked. Nothing unusual or unexpected, just pure goodness. I'm glad we cheated this week, in the name of the dinosaur garden.

Fabulous Friday

I realized this week that I wasn't clear in defining my dessert criteria in last Friday's post. (Not that anyone is losing sleep over this one, but...) It's not that I will only eat a fruit dessert if it's in the form of a crisp/cobbler/crumble, it's that I'll only eat a fruit dessert that doesn't contain chocolate if it is in the form of a crisp/cobbler/crumble.

Because I love fruit with chocolate! (Unless that fruit is an orange, of course.)

This all dawned on me when I remembered this other incredible dessert that was also served at the Shrine of the Rhubarb Coffee Cake (aka A Clean Well-Lighted Cafe, c. 1990) -- the equally intoxicating Raspberry Tart. I know it doesn't sound too fancy, I mean we see fruit tarts everywhere, right? But this tart was special because underneath its layer of French buttercream was a thin layer of dark chocolate. Simple yet brilliant.

So I gave it a shot today and I will say it tasted great to us considering all things. Like...considering I chose to use gluten-free flour in the crust (super crumbly)...considering I used too much chocolate (thick layer hard to break)...considering my vanilla cream layer jelled up before I could pour it into tart (think school pick-up), considering all these near disasters, it still tasked great. It didn't cut great, it didn't hold together great, but all the flavors came together well, and we loved it. This is definitely one worth me working on. In the meantime, all you need to take away from this is that every fruit tart could benefit greatly from a 5oz. layer of dark chocolate in it. Oh, and that a molded Eames chair can also serve as an excellent backdrop for a colorful dessert.

Happy Friday!

 

Cinco de Mayo Party

1. She dressed herself and wore it well

2. Taco platter from our local supermercado

3. In intimate circles he is known affectionately (and respectfully) as Señor Thomas

Fabulous Friday

I could go on and on about my affection for the Rhubarb Coffee Cake that was a signature dessert of A Clean Well-Lighted Cafe, just off the same-named bookstore in what used to be Larkspur Landing. Anyone remember that spot?!?  I waited tables there my last year of high school and that dessert played a large role in the teenage years of my emotional development. While I tried to recreate it once, nothing will compare to my seventeen-year-old-former-self's memory. Nothing.

I could also go on and on for equal time about how little I care for fruit in my dessert. It's a rare colorful dessert that could steal my attention from...say, an all brown dessert. And orange in my chocolate? No thank you. A cherry on my sundae? Now that's just gross. The only exception I can make in the fruity dessert department is for the crisp/cobbler/crumble (and btw - that Rhubarb Coffee Cake totally qualified).  Any warm fruit dish topped with a brown sugar oatmeal mixture AND a scoop of vanilla ice cream is as colorful as I can get in the later hours of the day.

It goes without saying that Ina Garten knows how to make a fruit crumble and when I came across her strawberry RHUBARB crisp recipe, I was happily transported back to 1990. It should also go without saying that it is now 2013 which is why I made this dessert cutting the sugar in half. I still enjoyed the heck out of every last spoonful. Here is my modified version:

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp (reduced sugar)

Ingredients

4 cups fresh rhubarb, 1-inch diced (4 to 5 stalks)
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved, if large
3/4 cups granulated sugar (original calls for 1-1/4 cup)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed (original calls for 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, diced (original calls for 12 tablespoons)
Vanilla ice cream, for serving (Haagen Daz is our favorite)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the fruit, toss the rhubarb, strawberries, 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar and the orange zest together in a large bowl. In a measuring cup, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice and then mix it into the fruit. Pour the mixture into an 8-by-11-inch baking dish and place it on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

For the topping, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the flour, the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, salt and oatmeal. With the mixer on low speed, add the butter and mix until the dry ingredients are moist and the mixture is in crumbles. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit, covering it completely, and bake for 1 hour, until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm with ice cream.

Fabulous Friday

I love me some Friday mornings. It's just me, this little guy, a tandem bike ride to the store where he's throwing out prom queen waves to everyone we pass, and then back home for some cake making.

Fabulous Friday

At the risk of sounding like a super annoying overachiever, I should probably just come clean and say that we celebrate half birthdays over here. (For the kids, that is.) It's not because I'm desperate to seek out more work for myself, or because my kids need another excuse to celebrate something, it's just that I have a child with a birthday depressingly close to Christmas, and my heart breaks that her special day often gets lost in the craze of the holiday season. So almost four years ago, I decided to get her a special dessert on her half birthday, and to make her feel a little extra special.

Of course now I have to do this with all the kids. :) Nothing fancy, no hats, certainly no gifts, just a lot of half-birthday talk throughout the day, and a song and dessert after dinner. Today Mr. Noodle reached three-and-a-half years old. He requested Chocolate Mousse and so once again, like most Friday mornings, we took a long walk to the store, gathered up all our ingredients, and came home to make dessert together. I served it up in my mother's beautiful wedding crystal from 1954!  It's been a long time since I've had chocolate mousse (or dessert served in crystal, for that matter) and I do still love it. Takes me back to my childhood for sure!

Fabulous Friday / Accidental Genius

I didn't post much this week, although that's not because I haven't been online. I've been behind the scenes these last few days, making changes to the look of this blog, changes I'm excited to share in the next few days (hopefully). Friday night's dessert is worth coming out for. Strawberry-Coconut Meringue. I've made it before and it was incredible! I made it Friday night cutting out half the recipe's sugar, and it was still incredible!

We started out with Sweet Potato, Brie and Kale Quesidillas, an adaptation from this post.

The dessert came from a great book my SIL gave me a short time after we got chickens and I started this blog. Notice the subtitle. :)

This book is filled with great recipes and photography, especially for fans of backyard chickens. Such a great gift!

Honestly, half the sugar didn't stop us from licking our plates - literally! Adapted from original recipe found here.

MERINGUE

4 egg whites

Pinch of salt

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

FILLING

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt

2 teaspoons tablespoons sugar

2 cups halved fresh strawberries, quarted

DIRECTIONS

Toss strawberries with two teaspoons of sugar and set aside to maserate.

To make the meringue: Preheat oven to 300ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat the egg whites with the salt in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Beat in the cornstarch, lemon juice, and vanilla and continue beating until firm peaks form. With the mixer running, very slowly beat in the sugar (this should take about 1 minute). Continue beating until the egg whites are stiff and glossy and the sugar has dissolved. Gently fold in 1/4 cup of the coconut. 

Pile the meringue in the center of the parchment paper and spread evenly making a circle shape 6" in diameter (it will puff and expand as it bakes to about 8 inches in diameter). Gently smooth the top and sides of the meringue. Sprinkle the top and sides with the remaining 1/2 cup of coconut. 

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the coconut is golden brown and the meringue is firm on the outside. Slide the meringue and parchment paper onto a wire rack and cool completely. Gently peel off the parchment paper. 

To make the filling: Beat the heavy cream in a medium bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until soft peaks form. Add the yogurt and sugar. Continue beating until firm, but not stiff, peaks form. Pile the cream in center of the cooled meringue; top with the strawberries and natural juices. 

 

Serves 5 - 8, depending on how much willpower you do or do not have. ;)

 

Fabulous Friday

Happy Saturday! I know it's the weekend and I know we are all gathered around our kitchen tables at this point sipping tea and coffee, iPads and laptops out, catching-up, waking-up, cartoons on, jammies on, but I couldn't help but post this Friday's surprise - it was a true winner!

Yesterday, the little man and I kept our end-of-the-week tradition going when we sat down on the floor with a stack of Ina's cookbooks and contemplated pretty pictures of decedent desserts. Together we agreed on her Fresh Lemon Mousse. He was sold on the image alone, I was extra excited knowing that his big brother and Nana are lemon lovers. All three grandmothers would be banding together to tackle the kids while Daddy and I went out to celebrate a old friend's 40th. I had high hopes that six mouths would polish this off and leave no temptation for our late night return. No such luck. Daddy and I were licking spoonfuls of this lovely as Friday turned into Saturday.

The Accidental Tourist

I made a big, big mistake recently when I accidentally booked our trip to Disneyland the week after our school district's ski week. I don't know how it happened exactly (honest truth), but it did, and so we just decided to roll with it. Last week we stayed local while everyone else was traveling, and now that school is back in, we are down south introducing the three-year-old to places like The Madonna Inn, Disneyland and Santa Barbara.

Last night we spent the night in the Jungle Rock room at The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. You can imagine the kids excitement when they first walked in...

Valentine's Day

1. We ate eggs and chocolate for breakfast. (Just kidding. {Not really}).  2. My Alexander Girard inspired fuse bead project  3. Baking a special cake for our Valentine's party  4. She sat under the counter the entire time, waiting for drips and drops  5. Ina Garten's incredible Coconut Cake  6. Nap time  7. Art time  8. Making a valentine for the pooch  9. Beautiful flowers for his mother  10. My favorite chocolates, from his mother  11. All the single ladies grandmas helping us celebrate the day  12. Paella and family  13. Hot sauce for the adults

Hope you are feeling big love today and always!

Fabulous Friday

Way back when I was pregnant with number two, and having mad cravings for French bread with butter, fettuccini Alfredo and anything with chocolate, I got a very specific craving for a chocolate and caramel coated apple. I had been introduced to the idea at a friend's wedding not too long before, where every guest left the event with an apple rolled in caramel and M&M's. Madness I tell you. An on-line search for ANYTHING close to the memory led me to the discovery of Mrs. Prindables.

That was six years ago and I've been a big fan of Mrs. P. ever since! Once a year, I order us one of her gift baskets, and I love giving them as gifts too. I recently sent one to my niece and nephew for their birthdays, then went ahead and threw four more into my shopping cart for us and our Friday night dinner.

The best part about this story is that our four petite carmel and chocolate covered apples arrived today, right before I headed out to attend a friend's luncheon where she gifted everyone with - Anyone? Anyone? - a signature Mrs. Prindables apple!!

Fabulous Friday - Let's Go Nanners!

I recently saw a beautiful image of some chocolate and candy coated bananas and was reminded that, well... I love chocolate and candy coated bananas. I decided we'd give them a shot for our end of the week, pre-Super Bowl celebration.

I don't know if it's just the combination of chocolate and banana, or if it was the quality of the leftover chocolate I used, but these were so ridiculously good. After our dinner, I set it all up and we had the kids take turns rolling their melted chocolate-coated nanners in M&M's, shredded coconut and crushed almond bits. Daddy challenged himself to incorporate peanut butter into the experiment. We eventually got them onto a pre-chilled plate in the freezer to set for twenty minutes, and then told the kids they couldn't have any unless they got in their jammies, picked-up their rooms, scooped the dog poop and cleaned the hamster cage.

Way to go kids!!!

(Daddy's paleo plate.)

Happy Super Bowl Weekend - Goooo Nanners!

Fabulous Friday

My Dearest Tiny Son,

Did you love your chocolate cake?

Will you remember this day like I will?? How the earth gave hints of springtime with a welcoming blue sky, and a brisk air that carried us to the grocery store on bike? The way you helped me select ingredients in your miniature shopping cart or how we stopped to enjoy clementines while sitting on a stone wall at the street corner? Would you please try to not lose sight of your confidence or the way it gives you courage to do things like yell "Good morning to you!" to the cyclists flying by? Will you promise me to forever approach the making of cake with the same unabashed enthusiasm you did today??

Thank you for insisting on a chocolate layer cake, Bud! It was nothing less than THE perfect chocolate cake - wouldn't you agree? Remember this morning, how when we sat down on the floor with cake books (and coffee), in search of a recipe for tonight's dessert? How I passive-aggressively pushed for Deb Perelman's Chocolate Pudding Pie, and how you insisted on Tish Boyle's Sour Cream Chocolate Cake - the one so perfect, it made the cover of her book? And remember how I pouted about not getting my way, with that annoying, exaggerated, pushed-out lower-lip, and how you patiently watched my immature and manipulative tactics with complete and total empathy only to say - "It's OK, Mama. I still love you."

Ha! That must have been so hard for you to watch - and yet you handled yourself so well!

You are so, so good like that, Boo. You really do ask so little of us, and yet give so much: the hugs, the I Love You's, the offers to help, the I Love You's, your efforts to be big and independent so that Mommy and Daddy don't always have to work so hard.

Did I mention all the I Love You's?

You deserve whatever cake your heart desires on this Friday, and every one hereafter. It's the least I can do for you at the end of the week when you've probably initiated a dialogue of I Love You's for seven days straight.

This is your cake, My Love. Enjoy! - Your Mama xo

PS - Your idea to put a candle in the half eaten cake and sing Welly a Happy Birthday song after his near-escape from his house (and our home) was adorable. Thank you for all you are, Sweet Boy.

Beanie Love's Birthday (Cake)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well our 14lb. turkey rubbed in 2 cups of sage butter, wrapped in a pound of bacon and drizzled with maple syrup is finally in the oven and three generations of family is about to sit down and relax before the final push.

May your home be filled with love, laughter, beautiful music and incredible food tonight.

(A Pilgrim cookie creation by the five-year-old, atop one of our favorite desserts - Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Spice Cookie)

Orla Kiely Cupcakes

This is a story about two of my absolute favorite things - cupcakes and Orla Kiely - and how one very sweet woman made sure the two were combined into one giant *thank you* for my family and me.

Last August, we hosted my second cousin, his wife and family for two nights while on their cross-country move from Alaska to Louisiana.

They came down and their little family took us all by storm. (I mean this in the best way possible, of course.) At the time, I had only spent a few hours with my cousin Kody over the past 30 years, and I hadn't yet met his wife Rachel, or their two boys. After getting them quickly settled and giving them a caffeine-fueled tour of the best our town has to offer, including a trip to Kara's Cupcakes to pick up the evening's desserts, we had a little mini-family reunion at our house. My sisters were there, all their kids, my mom and dad. It was simple and effortless, and so we just sat around in a big circle on patio chairs talking, just like our shared family members back in South Dakota might have done, middle of the last century.

Could I not have remembered to take some pictures?!

Anyway, I can't remember what I ended-up serving for dinner, beyond trying to keep it all local and fabulous for our Guam->AK->LA guests, of course. I do, however, remember what I did NOT serve - and that was a promised Orla Kiely inspired cake for Rachel, a woman who deserves to have someone bake her a cake for once.

Let me explain. Rachel is the incredibly talented cake designer/maker, and face of Fondant Flinger.  Our entire California contingency had been following her work on Facebook for some time, despite having never actually met her. One day, she commented on this Facebook post of mine:

Now I realize you can't even see all my bags in this modified shot, but trust me - the whole ensemble was thoughtless and I couldn't help but laugh at myself. The point is Rachel loved my bags and because I knew she was coming, I told her I was going to make her a cake inspired by my Orla Kiely bag. I made a big, big promise.

(Thump)

If only I could stick to my word. If only I could have delivered. If only I could sign-up for *just enough* and not *too much*.

So by the time their family arrived on that warm, Monday night last August, my tail was shoved sufficiently between my legs as I leaned my body weight against the entryway closet, hiding all the last bits I'd just picked up off the floor. There would be no spectacular cake for Rachel, her husband or their to-die-for little boys. All I had to show for my idea was a raindrop cookie cutter that I had purchased thinking it could double as an Orla Kiely leaf. "Look! Wouldn't this have worked great?!"

(Cue the trumpet)

And yet, she could not have cared less. She got it. She understood. She knew I was crazy to have made that promise. She knows what it's like to play with fondant. Little did I know, she was plotting something even more spectacular.

So despite all the gifts they gave to use on their departure - Salmonberry jelly, deer jerky, fresh smoked Alaskan salmon, as well as toys for the kids, she still, for some crazy reason I will never understand, thought that she needed to craft cupcake toppers that pay homage to one of my favorite designers, coordinate their debut on top of everyone's favorite cupcakes (Kara's), and have them delievered to our house on cold, rainy, fall night.

Love that girl!

I actually saved one of the twelve cupcakes and am letting it dry out right now. I plan to shellac it and frame it in a shadow box on our picture wall!

Three Days in Venice

It's about time I knock-out a post on our three days in Venice earlier this month last month.

Venice was really the whole reason why we took this trip to the Mediterranean. My sister and her husband were planning on wrapping up their 20 year anniversary celebration in Italy with three days in the floating city...and so we said, "You two could probably use some company." It was all rather spontaneous - we used the excuse of our ten year anniversary(!!!) - and I'm so glad we did. To meet up like this was really a once in lifetime event.

My brother-in-law organized a walking tour for us one morning - The Ecology of Venice. Our tour guide Luca, a marine biologist who gives tours on the side, was a wealth of information. We learned all about the history of the city and why it's *sinking*, he pointed out all the ways Venetians are trying to slow the process of erosion, helped us read buildings by pointing out the salt collection on their facades left after water has been absorbed and then released, and so on and so forth, and on and on and on. Luca, sweet sweet Luca, his tour was only meant to be two hours but after three-point-two-five we had to gently cut him off so we could get on with our lives.

Above, you can see a metal stair placed at the front door. The original stairs sat about one and a half feet under water.

The most surprising thing I learned on our Ecology of Venice tour was that all of Venice's raw sewage flows through them. I guess that explains why only drunk Americans can be seen swimming in these waterways. Luca said that Venetian children have a long tradition of pooping, flushing and running to the window to see their work wash out into the canal below.

On to dessert! Above was a window we passed everyday on our way out of our hotel. How I wish I could have brought a fish made of marzipan back to my little fly fisherman with a passion for almonds.

I carried around the information for the bakery that sold these out-of-this-world macaroons for a very long time. I have since misplaced it. :(

I just love this picture of my sister...and this one of her husband. :)

Our best meal in Venice - if you can believe it - was a vegetarian restaurant off the beaten path. It felt like Osteria La Zucca might be a local favorite, if that's even possible in Venice anymore. Every small dish we ordered and shared was incredible, our favorite being the pumpkin flan. The restaurant shared their recipe with me, in Italian, of course. We snapped a picture of it and I'm hoping to ask a friend for translation. More on that later...

Of course, I wasn't letting anyone leave Venice without a gondola ride.

Lazy Mom's Flag Cake

If you've been on Pinterest this week, you most certainly saw this cake pinned.

Again. And again. And again.

My friend Jill and I tried to make something similar, but with a lot less effort involved.

Don't assume us unpatriotic. We just prefer to spend our summer days floating in the river, chatting.

Raw Cookie Dough Bites

A friend of mine recently turned our family on to the raw cookie dough bites craze when she came over for dinner and gifted us with a bag of them - frozen!

How cool of a hostess gift is that?! Raw cookie dough bites?!?

The best part is they contain NO dairy and NO flour, are PACKED with good nutrition and taste (almost) exactly like the Nestle kinda dough you eat in tablespoon quantities before baking. I adapted her recipe, found here, adding flax seed and tripling the quantities to make enough to last us a week two and a half days. Here's how I did it:

Raw Cookie Dough Bites

Makes 36 bites

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup pre-ground flax seed
• 2 cups raw almonds
• 2 cups raw walnuts
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup raw agave nectar
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup cacao nibs or dark chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. In a food processor, process the flax, almonds, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and salt to a fine meal. (Note: Because this is a triple batch, and depending on your processor, you may have to stop the mixture and stir a bit by hand to get an even mixture.)
2. Add the agave nectar and vanilla and process to combine.
3. Add the cocoa nibs (or chocolate chips) and pulse just to combine.
4. Roll the cookie dough into balls (about 1 tbsp. each) and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the pan in the freezer for about an hour to firm up then transfer to a zip-lock bag or tightly covered container in the freezer.

Pictures of a Father's Day

Homemade Donuts

I have not been doing a whole lot of cooking lately, but you probably already noticed that. With everything going on, we've done a lot of take-out...and maybe even invited ourselves over to the homes of friends and family when it served us well. ;)

Speaking of food and friends(!), one of mine recently got me thinking about homemade donuts (made from pizza dough) when she sang their praises via a Facebook post. I asked her if she wouldn't mind sharing the details so I could give it a shot - maybe even blog about it - and this is the cute note she wrote me back (I detailed it out in recipe format at the end):

"We start by buying a tub of pre-made organic pizza dough at the Good Earth market here in town. When we get home B. tosses it pizzeria style and E. then rolls it out and cuts it. Because we are so fancy, E. cuts the shapes using a drinking glass and the lid from our vinegar bottle - they make the perfect size donuts and holes. We heat up coconut oil in an old Le Creuset (nice deep sides). We use about 1/2-3/4 inch coconut oil. They bob around for a bit until they are golden brown and crispy. Then we set them on a brown bag to de-oil for a bit before glazing them. Lemon butter glaze - the key to the whole affair! We start with a huge chunk of butter. We LOVE butter. I juice a lemon from our tree (and sometimes a lime because I am exciting like that) directly into the melting butter and also zest - lots of zest- a bit of warm water, and because we live dangerously - a dash of powdered sugar. Wisk-wisk-wisk and then dunk those babies in. When they come out of their glaze bath, I sprinkle a bit of shredded coconut on them and usually they are eaten before they even reach the plate. Happy donut making! --M."

"OK," I thought, "let's do this."

(It's just a photo so no, I did not cook with plastic. But yes, we did deep-fry for breakfast - so there's your daily dose of irony.)

These were so fun to make and so delicious to eat for a special weekend treat. The kids were able to help and just like the donuts at M's house, ours never even had the chance to cool down. Here's how we did it:

 

HOMEMADE DONUTS

 

INGREDIENTS

1 serving of fresh pizza dough, either store bought or homemade

Coconut oil (we used a 14oz. jar)

4 tablespoons of melted butter

Juice and zest from 1/2 lemon

Pinch of salt

Shredded coconut (optional)

Powdered sugar (not optional)

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Remove pizza dough from refrigerator and let it sit for 30 minutes.

2. When dough is ready, begin heating coconut oil on med-high. Hot oil should be about 1/2 - 3/4" deep, and bubble rapidly when a test donut hole is tossed in.

3. On a floured surface, roll out dough and cut out as many rings as you can, using a round cookie cutter or glass, as well as a balsamic vinegar cap. ;)

4. Moving quickly, and working in batches, drop 3 - 4 rings of dough into the oil and allow to cook both sides until golden brown. While donuts are frying, melt butter in a bowl and combine with lemon juice, zest and salt.

5. With a slotted spoon, remove donuts from oil and let cool on a paper towel.

6. When cool to the touch, dunk donuts in melted lemon butter, remove and sprinkle with sugar and coconut

**It's really impossible for me to say how many this recipe *serves*. How many donuts one should eat for breakfast and how many homemade donuts one ends up eating for breakfast, are two entirely different numbers. You make the call.

I enjoyed these with a fresh brewed cup of Bosnian coffee(!!!) - a gift from a new friend who just returned from a trip back home. Blissful Sunday morning.

(Vegan) Granola Bars

I have long been a fan of homemade granola bars.

I'm not saying I've ever actually made them, I'm just saying I've always really liked the idea of it.

Organic "bars" run a little high with just six to a box and price tags running you around $6. Don't get me started on all the packaging and extra sugar... blah, blah. What's my problem(?)...I need to start making homemade granola bars.

Soooo...last week in the throes of early, onset veganism (no commitments yet), I tried to find a good recipe. Did I want to trust all the vegans online that claimed their recipe was the best? Or did I want to go straight to the queen and see if I couldn't modify her dairy fortified recipe?

Knock, knock - Hey, Ina!

I was super relieved to see that Mrs. Garten's tried and true granola bars only contained 3 T of dairy/butter. An easy fix, no? I wondered if three tablespoons of peanut butter might not be a good swap and so I gave it my best.

Is subbing peanut butter for regular butter a well-documented vegan trick? Because it worked SO well and I want to claim this brilliance as my own!

Once all the moving parts had been toasted, melted and tossed, I found a really strong young man, with super big "muskles" to help me with the heavy pushing part.

Focus on the food, you can't actually eat her.

These were so divine. And the added dark chocolate made them a much healthier dessert-type food than I would normally reach for after dark. Here's how I did it:

Vegan Granola Bars

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, loosely packed
• 1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
• 1/4 cup ground flax seed
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup chopped dried figs
• 1/2 cup chopped unsalted pumpkin or sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Using vegan butter, grease a 8 x 12-inch baking dish and line it with parchment paper.

Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ and flax seed.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.

Place the peanut butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the dried figs, seeds and dark chocolate and mix well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper and firmly press mixture down flat and evenly into pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

** I played around with this recipe some more this week, most recently removing the brown sugar, halfing the honey and adding in two vegan egg substitutes before baking. So far so good! Of course, each revision is less sweet than the batch before it, and maybe a bit more crumbly, but I love that I'm taking down the sugar content for all of us.

Rainbow Cakes in Jam Jars

Happy St. Patrick's Day! (Personally, I'm on the lookout for a rainbow and hoping I get *lucky* with a call from the Genius Bar. I want my computer back!)

I made these little individual cakes last night to surprise the kids with today. Apparently, I *could have* done more. "Why didn't the leprechaun stop at our house last night?" "Why isn't our toilet water green, Mama?" "Why were there no green surprises left in my room last night?!"

Oh, brother.

Here I was, in all my delusion, thinking I was doing so well! ;-)

I fell in love with these desserts when my friend posted pics of this post on Pinterest. I modified mine and made them in 1/2 pint jars instead (I didn't think anyone in this house needed a whole pint of cake). I did use a white cake mix from a box, but drew the line at frosting and made a small batch of buttercream from scratch. Once the jars were fully cooled, I inserted little surprises into the cakes - chocolate gold coins, like I did with last years cake. The kids added their own sprinkles and coin to the top this morning.

I had high hopes for my Weck jam jars shaped like little pots of gold (see this shape, top left of first picture). Unfortunately, as the cake cooled it peeled back from that glass and didn't look so good - the straight jars worked better.

Happy St. Patrick's Day and don't forget to wear green!

This day last year: St. Patrick's Day Surprise Cake