Week 10 Sunday October 18, 2009

Gnocci Pancetta, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week was a lesson in flexibility. It started when JJ took Isabel and Laney for a hike before dinner and they came back too late to start the planned Bolognese Red Sauce. Scrambling to figure out a speedier recplacement, we bent the rules a bit and JJ created his own sauce which he named Gnocci a la Pancetta e Zuccini. It sounds much more impressive in Italian. It means Gnocci with Bacon and Zuccini.

While the Girls were on their Daddy Daughter Hike...


This is what Jordan was doing

Jordan had the Stomch flu and spent the day like this. That morning when he bacame sick fortunately and unfortunately all he had in his stomach was a red vine found from last night's movie night. If you are a mom reading this you know what the unfortunate part means. All I can say is thank goodness for my carpet steam cleaner.

Also unfortunately, he had spent the night spreading his sick germs climbing over each and every blanket we owned during our debut backyard movie and campout under the stars. Which meant laundry time for me.

Our Movie Night and Campout

While the weather is nice maybe we'll invite our friends and neighbors next time if they are interested.

So while Jordan spent the night passed out on the couch, we hurridly raced to finish dinner.

Isabel quickly, perhaps a little too quickly, measured out the ingrediants for the cookies. When I came around to check the butter and sugar we realized she put in the amount for the recipe below the one we were making. So instead of chocolate cookies with peanut butter chips we had peanut butter cookies with chocolate chips. No harm, no foul.

The mixed up recipes

I went to quickly measure the peanut butter and found it was the kind you have to mix. Darn Fresh and Easy-- why do you have to be so fresh? :)

Gnocci's Ready

I found some pre-made Gnocci at Safeway for the lazy cook. Also for the lazy cook....


My Self Stirring Pot



Here it is, the videographic evidenece you have been waiting for. My pot in stirring action.

With a lid that allows steam to escape, this is perfect for making Sauces, Risotto, Stir Fry's, steamed veggies, soups, etc. Most anything that would need to be cooked in a frying or sauce pan can would be a candidate for this wonderful creation. It has a little arm that rotates around the bottom of the pot where the built in heating unit is so it doesn't burn. This is a key feature for the distracted cook such as myself. I tend to get busy doing other things and often forget the food cooking with only the smell of dinner burning to act as a reminder to pay attention. With my handy dandy pot I can busy myself and rest assured my food is well cared for. I have become so dependant on this little thing. A couple of months ago, to my horror, I pulled the little arm piece out of the garbage disposal freshly mangled and too warped to work anymore. It was a long week or two while I waited for a new pot to come in the mail. It scares me to be so codependant on a kitchen appliance, what if it becomes discontinued someday? What would I do then?.....ooh I shudder the thought.

Laney, Laney

I think this face means she's enjoying herself.

Everyone enjoyed dinner and dessert despite the change in plans. As long as there is Dinner and Dessert, actually I can leave out the dinner part, everyone is happy.

MMMM ....Cookies:)




JJ doesn't really remember what he put in as I can recall there are varying amounts of ...

Bacon

Chopped onion

Zuccini

Half and Half
Peccarino Romano Cheese

and after that I can't be sure.

I'll make sure I pay closer attention when JJ gets creative.

Peanut Butter Cookies- Herman Style

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup peanut butter

3 cups flour (use a little less)

2 tsp. baking soda

We added Chocolate chips because I'm a chocoholic.

Blend ingrediants & form into balls. Roll in sugar. Press with fork. The recipe said to bake @ 325 for 10-15 minutes but I just baked @ 350 for about 8 min. Don't overbake. These were yummy especially dunked in milk! I would use a little less flour next time.

For the record we have since made the Chocolate Peanut Butter recipe and has become our favorite chocolate cookie recipe so here is the recipe so I don't lose it.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

1 Cup Butter

1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 4oz. box instant chocolate pudding

1 bag peanut butter chips

Blend ingrediants. Add peanut butter chips. roll into balls and press flat. Bake 350 for about 9 minutes. Cool before removing from the pan. They come out like warm dough -- let them cool and then they melt in your mouth. Yummy Yummy!

Both these are great Halloween recipes. Easy and they have the black and orange motiff going for them :)

Week 9 Sunday October 11, 2009

Before I launch into the log of our Cooking escapade. I just wanted to make a little tribute to Laney. She turned six the day before on the 10th. These are a couple photos from her birthday.

My little 6 year old.

Eating her birthday breakfast of choice.

During the day, while I was making her special birthday dinner (she is celebrating next week with a few friends-- this was the off party year). I noticed Laney wasn't playing outside anymore with her siblings and neighbors. I found her curled up asleep in her bed with this writing piece laying next to her:

I like Myself

by Elayna Warriner

be kuse im me.

im happy

im silly

i like to read belkuese to i goe to bed.

I'm so glad she likes herself--we like and love her too for those reasons and more. She has always had such a zest for life, ever since she was a baby. She posseses an infectious spirit of happiness and silliness. Her little giggle is priceless. I've never heard a more joyful sound. We love you Lane. The world certainly became a little brighter six years ago!

Fajitas, Pumpkin Cobbler

Seeing as we weren't able to make the Fajitas last week, we opted for it this time. I had been craving some good Mexican food. JJ had made a trip to the Ranchers Market for some hispanic jems. Yummy peppers, mexican green onions, jalepenos, salsa, and of course some of their fresh homemade fajita size tortillas. That store really has great deals. I would shop there more if I wasn't worried about getting caught with a bullet from a drive by on the way in. Hence the reason JJ did the shopping. As for dessert, Inspired by the fragrance of my Pumpkin Spice candle we found a seasonal recipe online-- Pumpkin Cobbler.

JJ and the kids making the Marinade. He said "Let's hope it tastes better than it smells. I don't know about this recipe."

Laney liked the Apple Cider smell

Jordan, Jordan, Jordan

What are we going to do with you? We have been working on getting him to stop sucking his fingers. You can see how well it's going. Tonight when I was tucking him in. He got the cutest little look on his face as he said we was going to sneak sucking his fingers when I wasn't looking. At least he's honest.

The look she gave me because I took a picture of her spill




It's all in good fun.

Helping Hands in the Kitchen

Mmm...... Garlic

JJ using a bread knife to cut the meat :) interesting...
I'm glad I'm not doing that, I really loathe cutting raw meat.

JJ said I need to be in the pictures too.

Me and My big girl-- one day she won't need a chair to be taller than me.

Hear that Chicken sizzle!

Fajita Time!

Water... Water...
Jordan and Laney thought the Fajitas were too Spicy
Good thing JJ decided to only use 1/2 a jalepeno pepper instead of the 2 he chopped.

Whew!

Isabel Appreciates Spicy

She even went back for seconds.

Yummy Yummy, if you like spicy !

Warning, Warnig, Sugar overload--

This is a dessert to be consumed in small doses especially if accompanied by icecream , which is the only way to serve this decadent dessert. Bottom line, I would only make it if there are plenty of dessert lovers in the house.


Pumpkin Cobbler

1 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
30 ounces pumpkin
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces evaporated milk
1 lb yellow cake mix
1/2 cup sweet butter, melted

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together sugar, eggs, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and milk. Grease a 9x13 inch pan and pour the above mixture inches. Sprinkle the DRY cake mix on top. Pour melted butter evenly over the cake. Pour the butter slowly and carefully because it sometimes likes to go all in one spot! Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Serve warm!

Week 8 Sunday October, 4th 2009

Mac-n-Cheese, Cinnamon Rolls

It was our first week back cooking together after our trip. (See catch-up post below). In true form we had not yet decided what we were making until it was time to make it. I really need to get better at planning ahead. We found a several recipes that were serially rejected for one reason or another. Pesto Gnocchi-- too much work and we didn't have a ricer (whatever that is)
Chicken Fajitas-- we didn't have a bell pepper, or cilantro, or most of what it called for so.... We finally settled on.... a Mac-n-Cheese from an online website. Slightly more sophisticated than the Kraft kind it was decadent and sounded delicously creamy. After a week of meat and potatoes, It was time for a good pasta. Complete with a bechamel sauce to start, and a list of cheeses to which we substituted our own, yum yum.

As for dessert this may be cheating but we counted the cinnamon rolls we made for breakfast as dessert. Making cinnamon rolls on conference weekend is tradition. We did try a new recipe this year so technically it is keeping with the rules. There is no photographic evidence because I had fully inteded to make a different dessert for dinner. But then we ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, lunch and I'm pretty sure the kids would have had them for dinner, but that's where I drew the line. Even I have limits on sugar consumption. The thought of making dessert was sickening and so we were left without the photos. There are plenty from dinner however. Starting with this handsome devil.

Being silly



Karate chopping the butter

We bought the Julia Child's Mastering the art of French Cooking.

It is more like a text book than a cook book. It's awesome

I wish there was one like it for all
international cuisine, starting with our own.

We used her suggestions in making the bechamel sauce.

Look at that beautiful Bechamel --

Thank you Julia Child

Much of the time the most memorable aspect of the experience isn't the cooking but what they are doing before, during, and after the cooking

The Before...

While JJ and I were deciding the dinner menu. The kids were doing a magic show. JJ brought home two very large boxes from work a few weeks ago and they have been an endless source of entertainment providing such useful functions as a forts, rooms, trains, and now a magicians box. Isabel cleverly figured out she could create a false bottom by stacking one inside the other and make her siblings appear in the "empty box." This video is Lane and Jordan's version of the trick. They called themselves "The Magic Magicians." Kinda catchy, JJ and I contemplated renaming ourselves "The Cooking Cooks." Maybe next time.

During.....

Laney and Isabel changed their outfits several times while dancing to the Italian Opera playing in the background. Their costumes are as follows...

Regular clothes

Laney as the dog

Video-- Dancing as the dog

Who can resist the Brindisi?

Then Isabel became the dog

Then she became a .... I'm not sure, but I like her style.

Then Laney ended as a fairy.

Thankfully Jordan stayed in one set of clothes. Believe it or not, Jordan often is the worst when it comes to changing his clothes during the day. He has a thing for layering, sometimes I catch him wearing 4 shirts... in phoenix.... in the summer!

Silly kids.

The final product.

It was rich

It was creamy

Survey said it was too rich and too creamy.

Actually Laney and Jordon who are usually lucky to finish one plate, had several.

Isabel, JJ , and I who usually go back for seconds and thirds were done after one. I'm not sure what that means but, I never thought I would see the day when Isabel would say emphatically that she didn't want the pasta leftovers!

After....

Jordan chowed about 3 bowls of pasta.

By the time bowl 3 hit bottom he started to suffer from what is known as

"pasta shock."

October 5th Catch up time---Aaah!

Okay, I am pretty far behind, considering it is October 5, when I am writing this post and the last one was August 30th I think. That's pathetic. I don't know if I should even try to justify this with my lame excuses , but I will anyway. The two weeks prior to our leaving for our trip were pretty busy and then we were in Ireland (JJ had to go for work and I had to go because ... well it's IRELAND !! I couldn't let him have all the fun this time) the last two Sundays of September. We got back a week ago and I have been in a funk ever since trying to adjust to life as the cook and maid. I had forgotten how nice it was to have someone bring you wonderful meals all prepared. Meals with which I didn't have to help or feel guilty for not helping. For example, every morning I merely had to happily bounce (and I did bounce) down the stairs to a wonderful breakfast of freshly cut fruit and eggs benedict. Or how wonderful it was to leave the bed messy and come back to clean crisp sheets all neatly tucked in – it was magical. Now it’s back to reality. Cold cereal for breakfast and I can finally see the floor in my room as of this morning. But I am finally back to it and excited to play with the kids on their fall break over the next two weeks. With much will power I have ignored the temptation to skip the last four weeks and start fresh. This is for my posterity's sake and I can't just pretend those weeks didn't happen so, I am doing a super post with all of them together. Without further adieu.. the last four weeks in a very large nutshell.

Week 4 Sunday September 6, 2009

Chicken Courdon Bleu, Apple Crisp

After the Carmel Apple Cheesecake incident we decided to try Apple struesal part with something more suited to her attention span-- Apple Crisp. There she is hard at work.

Laney --stealing apple slices.

It's pretty hard to get after a kid for sneaking apples.

Jordon pounding the Chicken

You can imagine how much he loved that

--Being handed a large blunt object and

encouraged to use it to hit something very hard--

He was in heaven.

Kids were so happy to have their dad back to cook with in the kitchen.
I was too since he did the work

and I spent the time documenting it.






What they were doing while cooking...
Taking turns jumping off the bench shouting nonsense on the way down.
How do they come up with this stuff?

I have a couple cute videos of them doing this but it kept loading the video at the bottom and it was too much of a pain to move them up so look for them at the bottom of the post.


This was so good. It got very enthusiastic thumbs up!

JJ and I loved the apple crisp it was perfect.

The kids didn't however, not appreciating the slimy texture of the cooked apple. They discovered Apple Crisp is a misnomer,

which takes a crispy apple slice and turns it soggy.

That didn't prevent them from licking up the icecream and crumb mixture.

So much for a dessert with food value.

Week 5 Sunday September 13, 2009

Cafe Rio Pork Salad, German Chocolate Cake

This was a special Sunday. It was Isabel's 8th birthday and baptism day! She really enjoyed being surrounded with loving family and friends on her special day. We had Cafe Rio Pork salad from our ward cook book (and yes I will eventually post the recipes) I have been wanting to try this for a long time but alas it requires thinking ahead. The meat slow cooks over night. I can barely remember to start dinner by 4, no who am I kidding, 5 let alone the night before. But since it was a birthday dinner and I was feeding the masses, I pulled through. The kids weren't much help with this one, there was too much going on. But Isabel wanted German Chocolate Cake with white chocolate chips and she did cook the frosting. That is until she burned her fingers tasting it while it was cooking. I would have had more sympathy for her except that I learned she burned herself on about the 7th or 8th time sticking her fingers in. How thick can you get?

I had new helpers this time.

My Mom

JJ's Mom

It was a good thing too, because this is what JJ was doing.

The Spread
After dinner we went to Isabel's Baptism

She looked like an angel

Celebrating her birthday with family

It's hard to believe she is 8. I still remember rocking her when she was a couple weeks old and wondering what she would be like when she got older. I know I am going to blink and she will be 18. Then I will be nosalgic remembering when she was 8. As the kids get older the more I realize the importance of enjoying each and every moment--even the shrieking ones.

Week 6 Sunday, Sepember 20, 2009 (Kerry, Ireland)

Had I been more prepared I would have taken pictures of the food we ate. But instead I can only offer documentation of what we were doing during the hours we would have been cooking at home. Actually, to be honest the thought did occur to me to take pictures of our meals but I am more inhibited about pulling out my camera in populated places, I am pretty sure photographing my food would score highest on the shameful tourist meter.

This was a big day for Kerry county. There was the championship gaelic football game between Kerry and Cork at 3:30 that day. It's akin to being in the state of one of the teams playing in the superbowl the day of the superbowl. I might even venture to say possibly even the superbowl can't compare. There were flags hanging from just about every residence with the Kerry colors of Green and Yellow. Every where we went we overheard conversations about the getting ready to watch the game. In fact, the first thing the hotel receptionist said to us when we checked in on Friday night was "get yurself to a pub on Sunday at half tree (they can't say "th" sound it's really rather adorable. ) tere will be the big game, Kerry v.s. Cork at tree tirty." Then Pat our bed and breakfast host from Saturday night spent all Sunday morning during our breakfast telling us about the players and who to watch for as he reinacted some great moments in football history. (I'm serious, it was a riot) His sons had gone to Dublin to the game and he was so excited for them. We quickly realized watching the game in Kerry was not an experience to be missed. So, we stayed in the area before we headed on our 3 hour drive north to Galway, where JJ would be working during the week. Per suggestion of our new friend Pat, we had enough time to explore the incredible grounds of the Muckross House and Muckross lake in Killarney National Park. There was a trail that followed around the lake in a large loop. We had a wonderful time meandering through various paths and some trails less traveled through densely wooded areas that pictures can't even do justice to their beauty. We walked for hours and I think we calculated it must have been about 8 miles or so. We had worked up quite an appetite just in time to watch the game while we grabbed some grub. Unfortunately the more lively places weren't serving food--everyone was standing packed around a small TV suspended in the corner. So we ate at a more tame resturaunt with an older crowd, large flat screens, and not nerely enough spunk. After our meal of the best burger and fries (meat and potatoes are the bulk of Irish meals) I have ever had, we then moved to another pub to watch the end with the true excitement of the local pride.

Muckross House

This is Our new Dream House

Spacious Lawn for Kids, 10 orphans (or so) and myself to frolick on to our hearts content.

I have a bit of a grass fetish. (JJ makes fun of me) I admit it took some effort to suppress the urge to toss my shoes and run through the grass with my arms out like a bird flying in the wind. Okay that's confessing too much, cheeks are reddening now. Back to the dream.

Georgous Lake with which to build a private dock to go sailing (with the kids and orphans). Okay JJ wasn't too keen on the orphans part of the dream--a bit too altruistic for him. I say, come on with a house like this and servants there is plenty of time and room for homeless children, plus more hands on deck right?

Beautiful Muckross Lake

This pictures doesn't do justice to the blanket of Green covering the mountains around the lake. It was so pretty I almost couldn't stand it. It's as though you just want to bottle it up and bring it home to share becuase a two dimmensional replica just isn't enough.

Sample from some wooded area around the lake.

Everything coverd in Green!

On our walk-- see I'm wearing the Kerry colors.

It was the perfect shirt for the day!

Torc Waterfall

We ran up to this waterfall vista as a small detour of our trail.




Video -- Kerry Wins-- Celebration!

Week 7 Sunday September, 27 2009 (County Clare Ireland)

So I don't have pictures of the food again. But this is what we were doing about the time we would have been cooking. ...... Sailing on Lough (lock) Derg

JJ with his extrasensory sail boat honing skills, steered us to this little place where they rent sailboats on the lake. It turned out to be the perfect way to spend our last (sigh) afternoon in Ireland. We've discovered on our recent trips we really have a knack for "flying by the seat of our pants" when it comes to sightseeing. as JJ says in his great Irish brogue, "You've got to move your feet and keep your wits about you and good tings will happen."

JJ in his element. This was the highlight of the trip for him I would wager! All that boy needs is water and a boat to make him happy. (me too, actually )

So...what are we doing in arizona?......

"I am Sailing"
I think I'm wearing 4 layers to stay warm. It was a wonderful blustery day!

Now to Give you an idea of what we are used to-- meet Lake Pleasant, AZ
A pretty little oasis in the desert valley, and we enjoy escaping there to sail as often as we can.

BUT.....

It's not this....

or this....

Or this (sigh).

This, by the way, is a picnic spot we sailed to. We ate some really yummy Camembert Cheese and french bread we bought at a local grocery store. We had a great time "putting into port" here and another place that had a little pub where we ate some soup. All afternoon, we kept thinking how much the kids would have enjoyed having a lake like this to explore on our weekends. Ah (sigh again).


Now I am caught up --whew- I will have this week's post done before Sunday and all will be well. I am so glad we are doing this. It really has been a great experience so far. The kids reminded us when we got back that we hadn't done our cooking days while we were gone. I was happy that they missed having them. Maybe someday we'll be cooking together in Ireland....

I can dream can't I?

This is the Video from Week 4 it's pretty funny



Those sillies