Week 18 Sunday, December 13, 2009

Pasta Bolegnese, Chocolate Cheesecake

It was time for a yummy pasta again. I always love a JJ red sauce, so he decided to try a new Bolognese. This time he blended the raw squash and vegetables in our new blender we were trying out. It worked well and saved some cooking time.

Scooping it out.

Meet the Ninja our 5th blender since we got married 9 1/2 years ago.

We love smoothies and make them frequently, sometimes almost every night. We have been quite hard on our blenders. Here are some things we have learned through the years.

*The glass jar will break if dropped on the floor

*If the bottom isn't screwed on 100% tightly, the bottom threads will be stripped and render the blender useless.

*Too much frozen fruit can lead to a strange sound and smell of a fried motor--- twice.

*The straightest possible shape allows for more movement with the fruit. The heavily tapered ones lead to jamming in the bottom and poor circulation. Which leads to chunky smoothies.

And so... with our experience in blenders we decided to try the "Ninja" Personally, I think JJ liked it because of it's cool logo. It's a little reminiscent of the As Seen on TV Magic Bullet, only bigger!

We tried it out with some ice and ended up with Snow!

The kids were excited for the snow and we were excited for it's incredible demonstration of it's crushing capabilities. Ninja-- I like you, hopefully you have a longer shelf life than your predecessors!

Snow in Arizona!

Video

The Warriner Snow ball fight. Pretty pathetic, but they had fun!

Video

Talking Starwuvian

JJ and Jordan spoke nearly the entire time cooking in what I termed "starwuvian." an unintelligible gibberish that sounded like a cross between a Wookie and Cookie monster. I think JJ was a little embarrassed to have his silliness documented on film, but it was too good to pass up!



Light Saber Fighting- a classic pastime in the Warriner household!

We took the kids to Glendale Glitters with our good friends, the Georges family, on Saturday night. There were decorated tree lights, street vendors, bouncers, and an amphitheater with local dance company performances. We had a great time. They were selling these lighted up light sabers and we just couldn't resist getting the kids some.

JJ and Jordan spent the rest of the time fighting in between stages of cooking. You can tell how much Jordan "appreciates" the cooking part.

At Glendale Glitters

Jordan, Isabel, Laney, and Kathleen

"Izzy and Izzy"

Izzy opted for light up false teeth instead of a light saber.

They were pretty cool!

While the boys fought wih light sabers we were busy basking in the joy of butter, chocolate and sugar as we made the Chocolate Cheesecake!

Offering me a cracker.

I love how when children are eating a snack/treat without asking, they offer you one in hopes that their generosity will keep them out of trouble or that you will refuse it and let them have it instead. They think I am blissfully unaware of what they are doing. Well I am not! But.... aware or not, it usually works, so I have to hand it too them-- no pun intended-- for their efforts.

Licking the remains of the crust, Yum Yum!

The Egg Crackers

No, Laney is not doing a Frankenstein impersonation.

She is racing to the sink to rid her hands of the egg white slime. She often avoids the privilege of cracking the eggs because she doesn't like getting her hands dirty. In a moment of weakness she cracked one and immediately began running like this shouting "Disgusting!"

Melting chocolate with the double boiler effect.

Chocolate Face :)
Interesting... She doesn't mind her hands dirty when they are covered in chocolate. The criteria must be something of lickability in order to be acceptable grime.


Big Teeth
I love Laney's smile. It's saddening to see her big teeth coming in to fill those endearing little gaps. She lost about 5 or 6 teeth before any began to grow in which resulted in the cutest toothless grin for months. But alas, she is growing up and will need her large canines. Sigh.

I love JJ's red sauces. and This one was a definite keeper!


Pasta Bolognese

Ingrediants

5 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Tbsp Butter
1 carrot finely chopped

1 onion diced

1 celery stalk chopped

1 cup butternut squash chopped

1 clove garlic

(I know he didn't use this much or kind of meat, I think it was Italian sausage)
1 lb Veal

1 lb. Pork

1/4 pancetta or bacon

1 -2 cans diced tomatoes

1 cup milk

1 cup dry white wine
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Brown meat in sauce pan, ( he blended the veggies and liquids this time) add veggies and cook until soft. Add liquids and tomatoes and cook simmer until tomatoes and veggies are broken down into a nice thick sauce. Our self stirring pot cooks it quicker and without burning. On the stove it is tricky to boil fast and not burn the bottom. It needs supervision.

JJ, the gorilla, beating his chest per Jordan's request. He tried to do it fast so I couldn't get the photo, but he forgot how much practice I've had.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust
9 oz. (1 3/4 cups)Chocolate Wafer Cookies ( I used grasshoppers)

6 tablespoons butter

Filling
2 8oz. Pkgs Cream Cheese

2/3 Cup sugar

3 eggs
1 pkg. Semi-sweet chocolate chips (melted)

1 cup whipping cream ( I used milk)

2 Tbsp. butter melted

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

Combines crust ingredients and press into ungreased 10" springform pan. I used a flat pan because I don't have a springform, but it's so much prettier in the springform. For filling: beat cream cheese and sugar together, add eggs and beat well. Add melted chocolate, beat well. Then add remainder ingredients. Beat until smooth. Pour over crust and Bake @ 325 for 55-65 min or until edges are set, middle will be soft. Cool before serving.

This has been JJ and I's favorite dessert so far. It is very rich and creamy. Unfortunately I didn't pay attention to the fact it would need to cool before we cut it. So the kids weren't able to have any that night. I felt bad, so I promised them they could have some for breakfast. Luckily our friends were fortuitous and ended up bringing by some Christmas treats that night. Everyone was happy and they were Delicious!

I am embarrassed at how bad the cheesecake looks in pan. I need to get a springform, but I had to document a funny story.

Isabel and Laney have memories of an elephant with regards to promised treats. So they happily went down to have Cheesecake for Breakfast. While I was getting ready, Isabel comes in and says sheepishly. "Mom, I kind of ate a big piece of cheesecake, I feel a little sick. I'm sorry I didn't mean to eat such a big piece." I went down stairs expecting a third of the cake to be gone. I about died laughing when I saw what she was apologizing for. It's hard to tell he scale from the photo. This pan was smaller than 9x13 and the two pieces gone for the girls were probably 1"x3" and 2"x2". Her stomach ache was undoubtedly from the lack of other food rather than how much she ate. They didn't realize I meant eat the cheesecake with breakfast rather than for breakfast. Aaah, I love them!