Thankful Days 2

let it be known, i am thankful for FOOD! food, glorious food! that i can go buy groceries to make meals, and go to restaurants to be fed is amazing.

this here food is a roasted mushroom risotto i made not too long ago, yum!

MAking School Lunches

i have always had a love/hate relationship with making school lunches. our school doesn't have a cafeteria so making homemade lunches is not a choice, but necessity. some days i wish i could drop off the kids without having to make a nutritional, kid friendly lunch. we do have pizza day on wednesdays, but only i would give birth to the kids that don't like delivery pizza. now with our #1 diabetic kiddo, making lunches has gone from a 2-5 minute throw down, to about a 30-45 minute nightly thing. i have to make the lunches at night because there is no time in the morning running around with those 3 girls to do all the mathematical note taking bee's lunches require. these are my tools.....

my calorie king book, scale, notepad, and calculator.
i have to have these to make lunch, dinner, breakfast, well, anything.

this is an example of both the girls' lunch for tomorrow, and popi gets a smaller version of this. 2 oz of cucumber, 9 olives, 1 cup whole wheat pasta with basil and parmigiano, sugar free jello(juni got some sugar filled orange cream jello thing), and a stevia sweetened lemonade.
on that little yellow note all folded up and tucked in her lunch is the exact measurements of the food with the carb content. i take that number, divide it by 20, and voila! i get the number of units beila's teacher needs to inject her with before lunch.

i put the lids on, tuck them in the fridge, and go collapse into bed. i was snuggling in bed with my Greek boo an hour ago watching tosh.0 and laughing, i wanted to stay there, i did not want to make lunches, i did not want to get up, i wanted to stay there, but someone has to feed my chilluns!

Asheville, NC 2

my parent's favorite place to eat in asheville is early girl eatery. now it is my favorite. my kids have been sporting early girl tshirts for years now, so it is nice to have finally eaten there. it the kind of restaurant i would like to have one day, local ingredients, and simple, good food.

i was excited to see that they had local mead on the menu. i have been hearing some about this resurgence of mead and was eager to try some. i got my chance! i liked it, i like honey, i like wine...what was not to like? for dinner i had grilled pimento cheese with tomatoes and spinach, with a side of pickled cucumbers, heaven. we ate breakfast there too, it was that good!

Nashville, Tennessee

Loveless Cafe

right outside of nashville is a restaurant i have been wanting to eat at for awhile, Loveless Cafe. it did not let me down! they give you a plate of fluffy, soft biscuits with butter and jam to eat while waiting for food (the blackberry jam is to die for). i got fried chicken, fried green tomatoes and creamed corn and it was all so good. juni had chicken and dumplin's with mac and cheese and green beans. my parents got sampler plates that were fabulous! i would weigh 400 lbs if i lived near there!

I miss the kitchen

and when i say kitchen, i mean the line. i miss working on a busy line.
i often watch anthony bourdain's no reservation, i originally fell in love with tony when i read his 2000 book kitchen confidential. i was working in a busy kitchen at the time as a line cook and felt a warm love of recognition with his book. it was my life in a book, and i loved it. i have not worked on a "line" in forever, and i miss it every day. it is not for everyone. i laugh when people say they want to be a "chef", they probably have no stinkin' clue what it is about. you don't know until you have lived it. we have the cooking channel now where a person can dream through the television but there is no reality in it. that is where tony gets things right. he did a special no reservation where he went back to work on a line in NYC. it was so nice to watch and tugged at places in my heart i haven't felt in awhile. there is so much that goes into working in a fast paced kitchen. i remember walking into the quiet restaurant dining room at 2-3pm with my knives. i would wear my kitchen pants, clogs, and a t shirt, hair in a ponytail all pinned back, because i would sweat. i would go to my station and get my mise en place ready. i would have to check the menu for specials to see what extra mise i needed. so, if i was on the saute station i would have to make sure i had things like stock, garlic, butter, parsley, veg, sauces, garnish, the meat not grilled, and other things. i had to make sure i had everything and everything in it's place, hence mise en place. if i did not have everything in hands reach my rhythm would get messed up, food would be messed up, timing messed up, as a result things would be out of whack and the diners would notice. you have all afternoon to get ready for the night, sometimes it took longer and you would be prepping through tickets. i hated slow nights, fun is when we were busy when we had a rush, it's when i got my rush. there is nothing like slinging hot saute pans around, having all your burners full, clean white towels folded up ready for you to get dirty, reach-ins being slammed, food being fired, everything going smooth. it is like a dance with everyone on the line, we moved in perfect unison, everyone doing their part. after a rush when things get calm, i would eat dinner or go outside sit on the laundry bin, chill out with the wind blowing on me, waiting for late diners to come in. oh how i miss it! i traded all that in for mommi-hood. another fast paced stressful job, but a different outcome.

Creamed SAlmon and Biscuits

after church i wanted to make something easy for lunch. upon looking in my fridge i found canned biscuits, frozen salmon, and frozen peas. creamed salmon over biscuits was meant to be.

3 tbs butter
3 tbs flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp dill, if you want
1/2 cup peas, or more or none if you want
1 lb salmon, i poached mine, you could grill it or saute it, the flavor will be different

In a saucepan or skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly, until a smooth paste is formed. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly, until a smooth thick gravy is formed. You can add more or less milk depending on the thickness you like of the sauce.

Flake salmon into a bowl, breaking apart any large pieces. Stir salmon and peas into the sauce carefully with a wooden spoon to avoid mashing the peas. Cook until heated through. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and dill. it might have added lemon if i had it.

i made the biscuits following the directions on the can. and poured the creamed salmon over the biscuits. easy peasy and yummy!

Dutch Baby, an Oven Pancake

serves 4
2 tbs veggie oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tbs fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups skim milk(you can use another milk, but it won't be as crispy)
1 tbs butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla
3 tbs powdered sugar

put your oven rack in the middle of oven and set oven to 450 degrees. brush the inside of a 12" skillet with the oil and place skillet in oven to heat, about 10 minutes.
in that time mix flour, cornstarch, lemon zest, and salt in a bowl. in another bowl whisk eggs till frothy, about a minute. to the eggs add milk, butter and vanilla. whisk 1/3 of wet mix to dry mix until no lumps remain, then add the rest and slowly whisk till smooth like velvet.
carefully take your hot skillet from the oven and add your batter to it. let sit in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the edges are raised and browned and crisped. yummy. take skillet from oven and pour lemon juice all over it and sprinkle with powdered sugar. cut into wedges and try not to eat it all:)

Today Was a Good Day

resting at home after a nice day. i got to hang out with a friend over coffee this morning. went up to my craft hideout to sew a little (i'll show you later). went to the gym. hung out with kristen for a little. picked the kids up from school. went to church. ate dinner with my Greek at rio verde. on my way to rio verde i stopped at a local chocolatier, glacier confection on brady. i bought 2 chocolates thinking i would give one to my hunni bunni. it ended up that they took a one way vacation down my gullet.

banana caramel and peanut butter and jelly
holy chocolate luvin', i need to go back there, now.

monday, i had a lunch date with my friend lorinda. we ate at mi tierra at 81st and sheridan. it is a peruvian restaurant, and guess what. i will be going back, soon. i ordered appetizers and they were awesome! if you go, don't be afraid to venture outside the box, i had a cold mashed potato chicken thingy that was phenomenal.

now popi and i are chilling in bed. i'm trying to get her to say ma-ma. she mimics me with her mouth but she's not there yet. it is nice to cuddle with her and make her eyes twinkle, i love us time!

Popi's First Food

i didn't want to feed her food, but i kinda sorta needed to. the american board of pediatrics gives you this window of 4-6 months to feed your child food so there will be less allergies, weight problems, etc. she is 22 weeks old, about time i did it, huh? last week i was eating something and holding her and she kept sticking her tongue out trying to lick my food, and she was eyeballing it, crazy eyes big time. so food time it was. with the girls i gave them rice cereal and breast milk, what i did for popi was i ground up oats in my food processor, added breast milk to make a runny oatmeal, then added some applesauce i made, really just pureed apples. no sugar or salt or preservatives:) she was excited.

first bite.

of course it didn't stay in.

she was enthusiastic about it.

funny face.

that is my favorite popi face, when she bites her bottom lip, so adorable! well, now we broke the ice, there is so much more to feed her. i am so excited, i already have pureed carrots, butternut squash and white beans in the freezer. i need to do the basics and freeze them that way i always have good food for her on hand. i don't feed the kids meat or sugar for the first year. no meat, because i don't like pureed meat unless i am eating pate, it looks gross. no sugar till first birthday cake, because she doesn't need excess sugar in her diet, i can sweeten things with fruit, it also is neat when they taste their cake for the first time!

ps. the borscht yesterday was sooo good.

Food Today

i was super hungry today:) i made biscuits. i love biscuits. i make the best biscuits.
2 c. flour
1 tbs baking powder
1/3 c crisco...i use lard-because it is super yummy.
3/4 c milk

cut your fat into the flour and baking powder till it is a coarse meal, you can use a fork or a pastry cutter. add the milk, but this is the key, barely mix it. make a ball without overworking it and put that ball on a lightly floured work surface. pat it down and fold the dough over on itself 4 times. cut with a cup or biscuit cutter, bake at 425 for 8-15 minutes, watch them!

then i wanted chicken and dumplings. i have a sore throat and some congestion, so some homemade medicine was in order.

we went to whole foods and bought a whole chicken. we buy only hormone free meat. i do this because of the girls. i do not want the girls running around with extra hormones, isn't that suicide?

i cut the chicken into pieces and put it into a pot of water, 2 qts. i added a chopped onion, 3 celery ribs chopped, and 3 carrots chopped, and 2 bay leaves. i let it all boil for about an hour or until the meat fell off the bone, all the while skimming the yuck off the top. i took all the meat out of the stock after that and took off all the fat and bones out. i ripped the meat up and threw it back into the pot. i then made dumplings!

2 c. flour and 3/4 c. ice water. mix together, roll in a ball, roll out onto a floured work surface and cut into noodles! toss with flour and let dry for a couple minutes before tossing them into the pot of stock. when you put them into the stock put them in a little at a time so they don't clump. add salt and pepper and yummy!

and i didn't stop there. i made roasted beet salad with green beans and goat cheese, with a lemon thyme vinaigrette.
i miss cooking at a restaurant. cooking at home is fun, but i usually make too much and end up inviting lots of people over to eat! maybe i'll call you next time...

18 Weeks at Queenie's

pop-tart is 18 weeks today.
she rolls over from her tummy to her back. she talks, and raspberries, and blows bubbles. she grabs her hands, chews on her hands, sucks her thumbs. she picks toys up and brings them to her mouth. she giggles, boy does she giggle:) she takes two naps a day. she drinks lots of milk from her mama. she is working on sitting up. she loves to watch tv, i don't endorse this, but if i am not careful, her head is craned half way around her body and she has found a television. she doesn't like her car seat anymore. she likes to be in the center of attention, not herself the center, but in the midst of everything.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

my june-bug and beila-bot. yes, that is a blue mustache and goatee, with pink freckles.

family.

Christmas Gift Guide, Harry and David

Christmas is right around the corner folks. i am here to help you with ideas:) i love Christmas shopping and finding the best gift for the right person. each day this december i will have a lovely gift idea for you.

today your gift idea is from harry and david.
i love harry and david's riviera pears. love love love. seriously. one of the best things i have ever eaten in my life, and i'm not a usual pear eater. i wait every year for this time to get one, just one will do, but to get a box full would be heaven. harry and david have many other yummy treats, but the royal riviera pears are fit for the gods, and my tummy.


image from www.harryanddavid.com

Carrots Into Baby Food

did some finishing touches on winterizing the garden this weekend and realized i still has carrots to dig up. i planted a lot of carrots! with popi turning 4 months soon, i thought i'd make baby food for when she was ready to eat. yummy home grown, organic carrots.

so, i cleaned and trimmed them, sliced them and steamed them.

i don't have a fancy baby food maker, i don't need one, i have a food processor. if you have a food processor on hand, in my opinion, you don't need a fancy baby food maker. i put my steamed carrots in there, and pureed with the water i used when i steamed them, so i didn't lose a lot of nutrients because i put the water back into the puree.

then i used my nifty beaba brand, bpa free baby food freezer container. i have ice cube trays in the past, but these are nice and flexible, so you can poke them out when you need one.

loaded up with carrot puree, i put them in the freezer for my munchkin!

8 Days of Thanksgiving

on the fifth day of thanksgiving my true love gave to me, food-glorious food!
I am so thankful God saw it fit to make food so glorious. I love to eat and I am very blessed to have food available to me whenever i want, how much I want, and what I want. having a degree in culinary arts, I am a self-proclaimed foodie. I love fine dining and non-fine dining, if it involves good food I am happy. traveling to different cities always involves research on where to eat and we plan our days accordingly. I have loved raising the girls with different food in their lives, whether they like it or not, the introduction to the food is good for them.
we are so lucky to have clean food and water in our lives. we can go out to the grocery stores in our town and buy food whenever we want. most people in our world don't have that. i am so thankful for this.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Fall Weenie Roast

last night we had an impromptu weenie roast with the whole fam and the Greek's brother. for some reason we had a ton of hot dogs, so we roasted them! the weather was perfect. i wanted to do marshmallows too, but juni and bee were high on life as it was and needed no sugar, darn. well, we'll have more time for that later.

Mod's

on wednesdays after church we frequently like to go to mod's coffee and crepes. what their name doesn't tell you is that they have gelato. and on wed it is only $2! the place is only a couple blocks from our church on beautiful boston. so while bee is eating her birthday cake gelato(always) and june and i are eating our flavors,(june had b.d. cake too, i had hefewissen) we get to look at the gorgeous downtown architecture and people watch:)

The Best Cooking Show Ever

what do you get when you cross pee wee herman, cooking, and an Asian chick?
that's right folks! Food Party!!!!

Gummi 101

i like to think of myself as a gummi connoisseur. from a young age i have loved the gummi. but i am picky. only the best gummi for moi. so i have three favorite brands, all other people hawking gummi can go elsewhere.

haribo is the best gummi brand in the whole world, they are also the largest gummi manufacturer in the world. they were founded around 1920 in Germany, and today they are made in other haribo factories around europe. i think there is a total of 18 factories, you can look on the back of your package and see where your gummi was made. i remember when i was in germany all the little gummi stores and the gummi i could not get here in the states. amazing! spain was the other country who had a lot of gummi, there is a haribo factory there. i don't remember gummi in other countries as i do spain and germany. what makes gummi great is the consistency, which comes from gelatin. haribo uses beef and pork. with out the gelatin, gummi is not gummi.

my next favorite brand is trolli. it is another german company, they were started in 1948. where haribo is a gummi making machine, trolli does a lot of other things as well. they began as a pasta company. but it wasn't till 1975 they came up with the trolli logo and candies became a front runner. in my opinion they do a good job, not as good as haribo, but better than everything else out there.

don't let the name deceive you. the black forest gummi is not from the great land of gummi, germany, but from chicago, il. that's right folks, the united states can make some gummi. black forest is made by ferrara pan company. it was founded in 1908 by an italian immigrant i do believe. what they have going for them is the gelatin they use. if your gummi is not al dente, then it ain't gummi.

so there is a little lesson on my favorite candy....next lesson will be in peeps!

My Favorite Soda POP

i love where we live. close to downtown, close to my parents, close to utica square, close to the highway, close to "little mexico"....
i love living near my favorite mexican mercados, restaurants, and taco trucks. 2.5 blocks from my house is a little convenient store where futbol is on every time i go in and i can always count on them to have a nice cold sangria senorial. ahhhh, my favorite soda. i just googled it and found out it has been around since 1960, well in mexico any ways. i love this beverage, especially the "sin alcohol" part of it. the weird thing is, i can almost taste some sort of alcohol. like a red wine extract or something. i know it's not there but boy howdy, they do a darn good job of making it. now if i had one of those sno cone ice shavers , i could douse my fuzzy ice with one of these and be happy for a whole 3 minutes.

I Got Up Early This Morning

i woke up at 5am. i sat in bed for an hour till i heard my fledgling rooster crowing at 6am on the nose. my goal was to remove him from his hutch, put him in the garage where i could not hear him and his awkward attempts at male-hood, and go back to bed. but after being outside in the cool morning breeze, the quiet air, wink running around, chickens pecking the ground, and petting my sweet teenage chicken, i decided to clean the back yard some. it is always so hot when i am awake, but this morning was perfect! then in the kitchen i boiled some water, ground my coffee beans, took out my press and made myself some nice hot liquid gold. it was so peaceful with everyone in bed. everything was so still, but me. i then made blueberry corn muffins. i love blueberry muffins. i am very particular about them, but this recipe is so lovely. not too sweet, and the blueberries were from our pickins' a couple weeks ago. just tart enough to compliment the fine sweet corn taste:)

2/3 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/3 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs

• cream together the first 4 ingredients with an electric mixer or stand mixer for about 5 minutes till creamed. add the 2 eggs one at a time, and mix well after each addition.

2 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. yellow corn meal
1 1/3 c. milk
frozen or fresh blueberries

• on parchment or in another bowl, combine dry ingredients and mix well. on low speed, add half the flour mixture alternately with half milk until all ingredients have been added.
• at this point i added about 2 cups of my frozen blueberries. spoon into paper-lined muffin cups and bake for about 20 minutes, or until lightly brown.

i think this recipe made about 24 muffins, and i ate about 5 while drinking my coffee:)

for summer treats i like to take the kids to get a sno cone. this week i thought we'd try this josh's sno shack i'd been hearing about on the other side of the world(south tulsa). i love shaved ice, the kind that melts in your mouth, not the crunchy kind. this was very good. the menu was huge and intimidating, and you can get add ins such as my favorite, gummi bears! bee settled on rainbow,juni got wedding cake, which she thought tasted like bubble gum, and i got firecracker-sweet and spicy.

summer is happening right before our eyes, gotta get in as many sno cones as we can:)