The next level of pancaking

I sent this note out to some friends this morning. I love these.

Guys,

You may not know this but Jon is a pretty accomplished pancake maker...I try not to be a braggarty wife but he's gotten quite a few requests in his day. However, on this...the eve of the start of his 38th year I'm publicly going to issue a challenge to him. We need some 3D pancakes, Jon.

Click here for the Jim's Pancakes site.

This goes way, way beyond the silver-dollar specials that I dish out. The bar has been raised.

Food Practice

I've been waiting to start Ever on solids for a bit but that doesn't mean she can't get in some practice!

What to choose, what to choose?

Carrot hunk.

Mushrooms. Of the fuzzy variety.

Future gourmand - finished!

Summer Food

I bought Jon an electric grill starter for Father's Day. (Thanks to this post on charcoal grilling). He already used it because, you know what, neither of us could wait 3 hours for the coals to get hot enough to grill up some bratwurst on Tuesday. The thing is awesome. It made me really happy that there are people out there willing to share their little successes online so that other people can benefit as well.

Along those lines I thought I'd share some posts I've come across. A few great recipes that I've found...and tried...and loved. All thanks to the bloggysphere.

Cantaloupe Freeze - what do you do with too much cantaloupe? This is a delicious option.

Ge Rhee Gai - takes Trader Joe's Thai Curry sauce to a whole new level.

Greek Quinoa Burgers - Yummy. I make them with black beans.

Alfredo Pasta with Asparagus and Ham - so good.

Kale Salad Pizza - I would say trust me...but why should you? What I will say instead is that EVEN JON ATE THIS PIZZA. Make it now.

Along those lines, I'm officially addicted to the the Kale Salad - just plain, by itself. I ate about four servings. By myself, alone, in front of my computer. I'm hopefully that it's going to become my new ice-cream replacement. Sorry about the garlic breath, Jon.

Thanks interweb!

Ugly but yummy

Honey oatmeal

Mango, banana, pineapple, orange popsciles

We are BIG popsicle fans here. By 'we' I mean me...and I'm assimilating Owen.

We finally replaced our broken popsicle molds and I was so excited to start freezing. I thought I'd just go with the usual suspect flavor - lemonade. However, a shortage at TJs left me bummed and waiting.

Then Owen got a bad case of diaper rash and I started looking for ways to incorporate yogurt into his diet, thinking it might help. So I mixed up some plain yogurt with a bit of fruit juice, froze it, and voila! Yogurt pops.

They were ok...not stellar. Jon ate a few bites of one and gave it to me to finish. His face was so sadly disappointed during those few nibbles. It's hard to expect something syrupy sweet and get a tangy mouthful instead. (which Owen and I like but, eh, it's not for everyone.)

These popsicles are super awesome though. I've stumbled onto my new favorite. Yesterday I was looking for a way to use a slightly overripe mango and banana sitting in the fruit bowl. This is what I came up with.

1 ripe or overripe mango - make sure to squeeze at much juice out of the stone as possible.

1 orange or juice of 1 orange.

1 slightly overripe banana

2 cups of frozen pineapple chunks

Blend until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds. (makes about 10-12) Freeze. Wait impatiently. Yum.

You could also freeze into cups and stick a spoon for a handle (in once they get slushy so the spoon will stay straight while it finishes freezing).

I also threw in one cup of plain yogurt to a second batch...we'll see how those come out. You could stretch it with some water or extra juice as well.

Might be my new summer way to eat fruit. I love that it's the actual fruit...not just the juice. Gotta get that fiber!

Anyone else have any popsicle combo ideas?

They're ALIVE!!!!

Mwahahahaha!!

basil

cilantro

garlic chives

After Dinner

Desiccated Artichokes.

Possibly the best hot-summer-day meal.

(Even Owen licked a few petals)

A little heaven in each bite

This is for Pete, Ryan, Mike and all the other air-puffed-snack haters out there.

Owen loves Pirates Booty.  I think he'd eat it all day.  In fact, he told me it tastes exactly like a snack they serve in heaven.  

And he would remember something like that.

And he will probably say the same thing about rice cakes.  So there.

117 - going green.

Today I harvested this from our little garden.

Yes, today, as in December 7th.  I figured I should pick the last of them since, oh, you know, it snowed this weekend.

Why are my amazing tomato plants still producing these shiny green gems?  And seriously - there are still flowers as well.   Should I thank global warming?  GMOs?  Baltimore's arsenic and chromium laced soil? My mom??  (the plants were a gift from her)

I just can't get over how many there are. 

(hint - it's in the title)

Anyone know of any good green tomato recipes?  I hate to waste these beauties.

Oh, and thanks mom!

Spicy Week: Yum

Good blogs feature food, right?  Yummy food that is easy to make and pretty to look at.

So...here is a great recipe for a quick and delicious appetizer.  Thanks to my mom.

What you need:

Asparagus (thin is good)

horseradish

mayo

lemon juice

sliced ham deli meat

crescent roll dough

Parmesan cheese

Step one:  mix up a little mayo, horseradish, and lemon juice - you just need a bit.

Step two:  spread some of the mixture onto a piece of thinly sliced ham.

Step three:  wrap the asparagus in the ham

Step four:  unroll the crescent roll package dough into a long strip (don't split into individual rolls).  Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out super thin.  Maybe sprinkle with some parmesan cheese.

Step five:  slice dough into thin (1.5-2 ince strips)

Step six: spiral wrap the dough strips around the asparagus.

Step seven:  bake at 300 F - watch them - they don't take long to brown up since the dough is so thin!

Step eight:  serve warm or cool!  Yum!

Sadly - I have no pictures of the final product.  I was too busy eating.  

Around here...

...we've all needed meals like this.

First flu of the season.  

Courtesy of the sick guy who sat next to Jon in class.

Mango Tango

We all can have slow starts to things.  Solid food wasn't high on Owen's "things I love to do" list at first.  I tried the rice cereal.  I understand.  

But he did find it easy to love frozen mango right away.  Who wouldn't.  It's like an icy cool popsicle of spicy mango yum.  

He is crazy about it. Would eat it constantly if we let him.  Which is a little tempting because I pop a few pieces in the mesh baggy-pop and he is happy for 30 minutes - sucking every drop of moisture out.

In fact, he is slurping one now I as type.  Happy baby, happy mama.

Yummy

This little guy had his first taste of cereal on Monday.

The verdict:  Yum.

By the third day though he wasn't feeling the rice.  So I made him some oatmeal.

After looking at a box of Gerber baby cereal I decided that if I couldn't pronounce at least half the ingredients maybe I should just make my own cereal.  

It was super easy actually.  

Steal cut oats (which I had).

Blended until it's ground into a powder.

1/4 cup oat powder with 3/4 cup water.

Simmer (while whisking) for 10 minutes.

Mix with milk until it's thin enough.

Baby tested, mother approved.

I love pears

Probably too much. Is this a pregnancy thing? I brought a pear to work today, thinking I would save it for an afternoon snack. But then I thought about it. Once it was in my brain, the idea of a juicy, delicious pear would not leave.

The poor thing couldn't even make it through a photo shoot.

Weekend Update

This weekend Jon and I visited the PA side of the family and got hit with a double whammy of parties. On Sunday my mom, sister, and sister-in-law took me to Cafe Chocolate in Lititz. We had taken Trish there for her baby shower last year. It's awesome.

All four of us got the house salad (with oranges, artichoke hearts, and walnuts with a dark chocolate raspberry viniagrette) so that we'd have room for this...

Yeah...that's only a dark chocolate fondu. See how the white bowl of chocolate seems to glow with all the chocolatey goodness?

Trish and I shared a pot of organic chocolate-mint tea. It was nice and minty with a hint of chocolate smell - really nice.

Afterwards we went back to my sister's house where the guys were supposed to be babysitting. It was a surprise baby shower!!!!!!!!

What do you get when you add.....

With this....

And this... (notice the hockey player...baby's first collectable Flyers figure)

One wonderful, overwhemling family baby shower. It was quite a day.

What's Cooking

Whole Wheat Pasta with Creamy Pesto Sauce of course!

Wow - so good.  Thanks to the Well Rounded Pregnancy Cookbook.  I adjusted it to meet my tastes...but it's pretty basic.

Pine nuts, parmesan cheese, a little pecorino romano (my call), olive oil, garlic, and half basil half spinach (my call again - I love spinach and find it cuts the too strong basil flavor).  

The creamy part is sautéed garlic and spinach with cream.  Stir it all up and there you go!

If anyone ever wanted the exact measurement/quantities of the ingredients they could leave a comment.  I have a memory like a steel trap so I don't need them.  I also have the cookbook since the last statement is a complete lie. 

What's Cooking

Why turkey soft tacos of course!  

Tonight's dinner was so great that I had to post it.  (I mean, how else will I remember to make it again?)

Here's the scoop.  Ground turkey, spinach, corn salsa, black beans, cheese, avocado, and whole wheat tortillas.  Sounds great right?

My tips for the best tacos ever.  

1) Heat up the tortillas.  In the oven - just on warm - while you're cooking everything else.  It brings out the nutty flavor of the whole wheat and makes them slightly crisp.

2) Cook the turkey on medium low heat.  I find that cooking ground turkey on high or medium high makes it too chewy and tough.  Maybe everyone else knows this but no one told me that lower is better with turkey.  I added the turkey, a drizzle of olive oil, cayenne and chile powder, onion, real garlic, and (my secret) some Worcestershire sauce - just a few splashes.  I just threw in everything together - it cooks for 10 to 15 minutes so it has time to absorb the flavors. 

3) Use this salsa (thanks Anna!).  It's tangy and slightly sweet - a great compliment to the slightly spicy turkey.

A little freshly grated cheese, sliced avocado, warm black beans, and these tacos are AWESOME!

He thinks so.