Wode Island

This was our conversation in the car today:

Josh: I don't really like Rhode Island.
Me: I don't either, but we've only been here for six weeks.
Josh: But, I still don't like it.
Me: Yes, after living in NY, nothing will be as cool.
Josh: I think I'll live in California when I grow up.
Me: Yes, California would be nice.
Josh: Soph, where are you going to live when you grow up?
Soph: Utah or Sun Valley.
Josh: Max, where are you going to live when you grow up?
Max: Wode Island.

cooking out of a suitcase

This should be the name of my blog for awhile since that is what I have been doing for the past month or so. I have been at a loss without my pots, pans, tools, gadgets etc. I have the basics, very basics. So, I've made do, eaten out a lot, and tried to remember what I cook on a regular basis. It's starting to all come back to me, but then I remember, I can't make that because I don't have this. One thing this apartment is equipped with is a grill, so I have been thinking of all the things we like to grill and eat. One of my favorite marinades for chicken is this:

1/2 cup mango chutney
2 T. dijon mustard
1-2 cloves minced garlic

Mix it all up and coat chicken breast pieces that you cut up. Skewer the chicken if you like let sit for an hour or so and grill. Delicious and so easy.

Another good one is for fish, I use tilapia or any mild white fish:

1 onion sliced (yellow or purple)
2 T. cilantro chopped
zest of 2 limes
juice of 2 limes
4 T. orange juice(fresh squeezed or Tropicana)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 t. cumin
5 cloves garlic, smashed
1 t. kosher or sea salt
pinch cayenne pepper

Mix it all up and put in ziploc bag with fish. Let marinate at least one hour before grilling.

Out, Out Darn Spot!

I know it is not a very clever title for this post, nor is this going to be a very exciting one because I am asking for help. How do you get lipstick out of a shirt?? Sophie HAD this great lipstick ring that she wore and could apply lipstick at will, meaning the whole car ride to RI from NY. So now we have bright pink lipstick stains and I do not know how to get rid of it. I know my clever friends will, so please give me your suggestions in the comments section.

I will post a bit about RI, or maybe my impressions. So, far not much to report. It's all a blur to me. I've been all over the state with the realtor, looking at houses, but none of it makes much sense to me yet. It looks a lot like NY, so when I go to Stop and Shop, I expect to run into someone I know and then I remember....I'm not in NY anymore...sniff. There is an inordinate number of Dunkin Donuts in this state. It makes me sick to see one on every corner, so I am boycotting, how many Dunkin Donuts do you need in one state? This state is not that big, one donut shop for the whole state would suffice. I did see a Krispy Kreme shop, now that is another story, you cannot ever have enough of those. We'll see how it rivals that of the true Krispy Kremes in the south.

Well, I digress...always about food. If you want to hear more about RI, I'll post more when I get a better feel for it. I just miss NY,nothing can compare.

Happy Pioneer Day!

#11

I can't believe I left this one off my last list...Entenmann's Fudge Iced Golden Cake. Maybe I've mentioned it before in here, but it is worth repeating. So bad for you, but so worth it. Best grocery store boxed cake ever, hands down. And now they have a personal size, just for me.

more good things

1. Fage Greek Strained Yogurt with Honey...mmm...never mind that there are 12 grams of fat in one lttle serving, that is why it is so good
2. Petit Suisse Yogurt...double mmm...
3. Rhodes Orange Rolls - cannot get them in New York...sigh...but I do may share of eating them when visiting the Beehive State
4. Chocolate Covered Strawberries -needs no explanation
5. Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream
6. Kouing Aman- I'm really not trying to sound like a food snob here, there really is such a thing, and it really is so good that I can't even tell you about them or you might buy every single one in the city!
7. Beard Papa's cream puffs...even if you do not like cream puffs, you will LOVE these, they make them so fresh, they have to be eaten in 24 hours, which is never a problem
8. Pizza-not just any pizza will do, you have to go to Stew Leonard's and buy the dough, and their own made marinara sauce, top it with Stop and Shop's mozzarella and there you have a serious pizza
9. Naan Bread-Trader Joe's has a good one and to go with it...
10. Biryani Rice -also a Trader Joe's favorite, makes a good meal together with the naan bread

Now these are all things that you can purchase and eat right away or throw together. If you are looking for a recipe, I will give you one since I have to make these twice in one week for my kids' International Picnics at school. The recipe is an old family favorite, although I am not sure how authentic, it works for me.

Swedish Meatballs

1 yellow onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
whole allspice, a few berries
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 cans beef consomme or broth
4 tablespoons flour
butter for pan and a little olive oil

Saute onion in butter and a little olive oil until cooked through. Stir into ground beef. Add egg and bread crumbs, mix, but do not overmix. Roll into balls and brown in same pan as you used for the onions(no need to wash it out, just add a little more butter and oil if needed). Once meatballs are browned all over, take them out of pan and set aside. Add more oil and butter to pan, mely butter and add flour, stirring and cooking flour through, about 1 minute. Then add consomme or broth all at once. Whisk until no longer lumpy. Add meatballs back into pan and simmer meatballs in gravy about 10 minutes or until heated through.

Serve with mashed or boiled potatoes and lingonberries if you want to get really
Swedish!

I realize this is more of a hearty, winter, comfort meal, but when asked to bring a dish of your heritage, this is the only thing I can make besides Swedish pancakes. Jag alskar du!

Prize Winner

Ok, so I tried to get a picture for this post, I really did, but I just can't do it. My pictures of food would make you want to vomit, not eat it. There are such lovely pictures of food on other blogs, so just look at those and try to imagine mine tastes like that. So, I keep thinking each time I post something here, will be my last, because so many other things are getting neglected as I do this. I don't want to turn into that lady that was one of my case's when I was a social worker. She would sit in front of the computer, naked, and meet these guys from who knows where and chat and what not with them. So, the "authorities" had to step in to make sure she was actually taking care of her kids and household admidst her extracurricular activities. I just don't want to turn into that lady. So, I'll be brief. I received a great birthday gift last year, The Search for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie cookbook. Do you need anything more??!! So, the grand prize winner after 2,600 recipes were submitted in 1987 turned out to be this one: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies I. It comes from the Junior League of Las Vegas. They are quite good, not a really rich, dense, chocolatey cookie, but chewy and gooey, ultimate comfort food. Anything that wins a prize deserves to be made and eaten, so I did just that. You should do the same. I give you now...the recipe.

1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Cream butter, add vanilla and sugars, beat until fluffy. Beat in egg. At low speed, add cocoa, then milk. Mix in flour and baking soda until just mixed. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes. Cool before removing from baking sheets. Makes 3 dozen.

Blueberries

I realize this is 2 posts for one day, but who knows when I will get around to posting again. I have not had a lot of time to dedicate to blogging lately. I will get right to it...blueberries have been on my mind a lot lately. They usually are on my mind about this time every year. I have a blueberry smoothie almost daily, I had to make blueberry muffins today because some left over sour cream was calling to be made into blueberry muffins, and I made a blueberry, lemon, cream cheese and white chocolate cake a few weeks ago. I think one of my favorite blueberry confections are these Blueberry Lemon Cream Tarts. Here you go:
crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 T. granulated sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
filling:
4 T. light brown sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 t. vanilla
8 oz. cream cheese
1 t. lemon zest, finely grated
a squeeze of lemon juice, or more to taste
1 1/3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
confectioners sugar to dust top

Preheat oven to 350 and set baking sheet in oven to preheat. Stir graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar together and press into mini tart pans or ramekins, whatever you have. Place pans on baking sheet and bake about 10 minutes. Then cool while making filling. If using tart pans, take crusts out of pan when completely cooled.

Whisk together brown sugar, sour cream, and vanilla in small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Beat cream cheese in small bowl, then add sour cream mixture, zest and juice until well combined. Divide filling among tarts, top with blueberries and dust with confectioners sugar. Refrigerate an hour or until ready to serve, may do overnight or just eat right away. You may also purchase the mini, pre-made graham cracker crusts to save time.

makes about 6 tarts
source Gourmet magazine July 2003, with a few adjustments

But if you don't feel like all that work, just make the smoothie...frozen, wild blueberries, vanilla yogurt, blender, buzz, buzz, pour,glass, straw, slurp...mmmm antioxidants...but don't burp...we never burp at our house...right, Robert??!!

More Peanut Butter and Chocolate

Someone had requested this peanut butter pie recipe awhile back so I will post it here. It is originally from Mrs Fields' Great American Desserts, but I have made a few changes of my own. My kids call it Spider Web Pie. It is good because it requires no baking, and with the summer heat approaching, I am all for anything that doesn't heat up the house.


Peanut Butter Mud Pie
aka Spider Web Pie
1 pre-made chocolate crust (or you can make your own, but I don't know why you would)


Filling:
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cups sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 T. vanilla

Topping:
1 bag Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
1/4 bag of Hershey's mini kisses or regular size, melted

Whip cream, set aside. In separate bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy. Scrape down bowl and add peanut butter and vanilla, beat until smooth. Gently fold in half the whipped cream, then the other half until well blended. Spoon filling into crust.

Next chop up half bag or so of Mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and drop over the top of pie, completely covering it. Next pipe a bit of chocolate around and around the pie every which way until you have somewhat of a spider web. Cover and refigerate for about 2 hours or so.


Photo: Allrecipes.com

Ketchup Toast

This is a picture of Max eating ...chocolate...not ketchup toast. This was some big, 1 pound chocolate car that one of the kids made at a birthday party. It was quite disgusting, but Max loved it and worked at it for days until he had successfully eaten the entire car. Anyways, I was looking through my pictures to see if I had any pictures of Max eating ketchup toast, one of his staples, but I only have pictures of Max eating treats, which could mean one of two things: I only take pictures of Max eating treats, or Max only eats treats. The latter probably would be more accurate, but Max does eat a few good, healthy things, FEW being the operative word here. I will now attempt to list the things that Max eats:

bagels with cream cheese (only white cream cheese, no pink please)
pizza bagels
pizza
pepperoni, but not on the pizza
pasta with red sauce
chicken nuggets (only nuggets, no grilled, baked or cooked chicken please)
french fries, what kids won't eat fries?
macaroni and cheese
ramen (pronounced: WAH -MAN)
raisins
grapes
berries
smoothies -occasionally
pop corn
and finally...ketchup toast

Don't ask me how this came about. My mom eats ketchup on toast and claims it is a Swedish delicacy. I think it was a poor, desperate, American Mormon missionary attempt at making toast seem not so boring. At any rate, Max had no prior knowledge of ketchup toast the day he asked for it. He just one day out of thie blue decided that ketchup should go on his toast instead of the usual...nothing. So, I made it thinking, "one bite and he'll be done". But Max ate not just one piece of ketchup toast that day but TWO! And ever since he has been a believer. He is getting his daily recommended dose of Lycopene for sure! Now it is no wonder Max is so small, given the above mentioned diet, but he is growing. I can tell because he is outgrowing his pants from two years ago and the treats supplement his diet sufficiently. Now those with kids who have serious food aversions probably think this is no big deal, and they are right. I am sure there are kids whose lists do not even amout to 15, like Max's list. I am not complaining one bit, I am quite pleased with his list, which has grown from 5 to 15. I just have to laugh because I have two other children who will eat pretty much everything and I always thought picky eaters had only their parents to blame. Try as we may, and we have force fed Max a few things, only to find that they sit in his mouth and sit and would probably sit there all night until we give in and take it out so he won't choke before bedtime. I guess the point of all this rambling is that I am always trying to think of new foods for Max to try, but he is content, and growing, and I am sure one day will eventually swallow the grilled chicken we force into his mouth. In the meantime I'll just be happy with ketchup toast.

I know you are all watering at the mouth for the recipe for ketchup toast. I will make you wait no longer:


Ketchup Toast

1 piece of whole wheat bread (for optimum health)
some ketchup

Put bread in toasteror toaster oven. Toast to your likeness. Pour or squeeze ketchup onto the piece of toast and spread an even layer over toast. Cut into squares or triangles, whichever you prefer. Enjoy.

Now if that does not satisfy some of you food snobs I will give you a recipe for Max's favorite chocolate chip cookies, they happen to be his dad's favorite too, and mine, and a few others'. They are affectionately named Big Mo's Cookies thanks to Stanton Neilson.


Big Mo's

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter - soft
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 oz. chocolate chips

Mix butter and both sugars together until well blended. Add egg and vanilla, mix until combined. Add dry ingredients, then chocolate chips. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet by the tablespoon for regular size cookies or by the 1/4 cup full for really big, dense cookies. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes depending on your oven.

more good things

Lindsey reminded me of the virtues of Tang. How can you go wrong with the drink of the astronauts? For an extra special treat, try mixing your Tang with some spicy water a.k.a Poland Spring Sparkling water. Now there is a lovely beverage for you.

Now for another very good thing: Lindt Peanut Butter Truffles
These MAY be even better than Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. They are so smooth and creamy going down, it's pretty easy to eat the whole bag. They aren't as rich and sweet as Reeses so it makes it easier to pound more down. Which brings me to my next subject, the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. I may sound crazy, but I don't like the standard sized cups. I have to have the miniature sized cups. The standard size are a bit imbalanced in their ratio of chocolate to peanut butter, therefore rendering the cup too sweet and therefore inedible after the first bite. However, one bite of the mini sized version lends just the right ratio of chocolate to peanut butter making it a much more palatable bite and allows one to comsume mass quantities of the stuff.

All of this talk of peanut butter and chocolate reminds me of an ongoing search I have had for the perfect peanut butter bar. I have been married for 10 years, so that is how long I have been searching, approximately. I happened to marry a man who attended schools where the lunch ladies actually made good, homey cooking, unlike the schools I attended where they just defrosted and heated the" schlop" up. Apparently these ladies made a peanut butter bar that made him very anxious. My husband, thinking that I am a culinary genius, thought I would be able to recreate these bars with no problem. I made my first attempt with a graham cracker crumb crust and melted chocolate over the top. I thought, "he'll be so proud of me, these must be the ones!" They weren't the ones. I attempted a few others over the years but never hit it even close. Whenever we would go to a function or a store that had peanut butter bars, we would try them, with no luck. I would try the rice crispy, chewy variety, and the, cakey variety, but could never come close to the lunch ladies. Then recently, I was telling Laura of my dilemma and she just pulled out a recipe from her aunt. I made a batch, but just knew deep down that they were not "the ones". There was nothing to them... a little flour, some oats... but lo and behold, my husband tasted them and declared that these were indeed "the ones". Could it be? all these years of searching, baking, testing, and poring over recipes to find it right beneath me?! My stars! Yes, the stars have aligned and we have found the perfect peanut butter bar. Perhaps that is the reason we have been brought to this place. Laura, you are an answer to many prayers. Thank you, thank you.

Without further ado I give you "the recipe" courtesy of Laura's aunt and a little help from the kitchen of Nestle:

2 cups flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
3/4 cup butter, soft
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 1/3 cups oats
2 pkgs chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325. Grease 9x13 pan. Combine dry ingredients. Beat butter, sugars, peanut butter and vanilla together well. Add eggs one at a time. Beat in flour mixture including oats. Stir in 1 bag of chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 28-32 minutes. Take out of oven pour second bag of chips over top and spread evenly over bars. May stick back in off oven until chocolate is completely melted.

These are very hearty and somewhat good for you with those oats in them, but if you are looking for a sweeter, more Reeses like version try this recipe. These are my personal favorite.

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)

1 bag of Hershey's mini kisses - melted

Grease lightly 11x 7 or 9x13 pan. Mis all ingredients together except chocolate. Press into prepared pan, then spread melted chocolate over top. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, then leave at room temperature for eating.

I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth

I love this picture because it reminds me of the song, Substitute by The Who. I think I may have been born with a spatula in my mouth instead of a plastic spoon. But I am sure the spatulas used when I was a kid were metal and full of lead paint. Kids today have a wide variety of choices when it comes to kitchen tools as toys. The turkey baster also makes a great chew toy. The garlic press can provide hours of fun with play dough. I think the spatula is ideal for teethers though. Another favorite is the empty Poland Spring Sparkling Water bottle. I am not sure if the bottle itself is the appeal, or the anticipation of actually getting something out of it. Enough rambling. I just like this picture because these are two of my favorite good things and it reminded me of a third favorite good thing, The Who.

I forgot to give credit to Ina Garten for the below mentioned recipe and say that I really love Ruby Red Squirt, but I can't buy it here in NY.

Favorite Good Things

If Oprah can have a list of "Favorite Things" and Martha can have her "Good Things" and Mireille Guiliano can "recommend" then Jenni can have her list of Favorite Good Things to recommend. It will be mostly a list of food items, since that is what interests me the most, but if I run out or think of other things, I will list those as well. It will be an ongoing list. Now for the list (note: these are not intended to be product endorsements).

Poland Spring Sparkling Water
raspberry lime is my favorite flavor, then mandarin orange is a close second, but my husband will argue that the lime is best. It's quite tasty for having no sugar, calories, fat, etc. feel the burn

Kettle Chips: salt & fresh ground pepper flavor
you can't eat just one to appreciate it's flavor, try four or five and then you get the suttle hint of black pepper...mmm....

Polar Orange Dry Soda
it's got about 10% juice so you can call it healthy, and lots more sugar than Orangina, so in my opinion much more smooth than Orangina, no bite to it, plus it is cheaper than Orangina...so it is like an Orangina for the common people...proletariat orange!

Swiss Miss Cocoa and Cream flavored hot chocolate
while not a huge fan of the mixes, this one is good

Now for the recipe of the week:

Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes
(do not be afraid of the ganache)

for cupcakes:
1 stick butter- softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs - room temp.
16 ounces Hershey's syrup
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 cup flour

for ganache:
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces good semi-sweet chocolate (I use Trader Joe's chocolate chips)


Generously butter 18 or so cupcake tins. Preheat oven to 325.

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, make sure they are room temp. so as not to make the butter clump. Mix in Hershey's syrup and vanilla. Add flour until just combined, do not overmix. Fill cups about 3/4 full. Bake 30 minutes. Cool.

Meanwhile make ganache by heating cream and chocolate over double boiler. Just stick a glass bowl over a pan with a little water in it. Mix cream and chocolate until melted and combined.

When cupcakes are cool, dip into ganache.

Once you see these, you might be reminded of Hostess cupcakes and you will want to pipe some buttercream on the top in a squiggle line and then once you try them you might want to fill them with buttercream if you are feeling ambitious. However, there is no need... they are dee-licious on their own.

Ummm, I just did this because I looked at someone else's blog and had to enter all of this information. I'll get back to this when I have time to collect my thoughts about my own blog. And now I realize I didn't have to make a blog...I was sucked in, yes Lindsey you sucked me right into the world of blogging and now I can't get out!