Life, Love & Baking

The new guy is here!

2012-01-31T10:06:00.000-08:00

Wow. It has been a busy, busy, busy time for us. I haven't posted for a long time because when I get stressed and/or busy, all non-critical things get dropped from my life. And as it turns out, for me, the last trimester of pregnancy was one of those times. For basically all of November and December, we spent tons of time doing things that needed to be done before the baby arrived, like birthing classes, getting the nursery ready, choosing names, baby showers, writing thank you notes, visiting family, doing "the last time before the baby comes" things, etc. (not to mention Christmas baking and shopping!) The first half of January was spent nervously awaiting baby.

Then, just 12 hours early, the little guy arrived! His name is Pax Jacob and he is amazing. :-D See the pictures for proof. Today he is two weeks old. Here are some of the things I adore about him:

the super-cute baby noises he makes, (similar to the tired sounds you make as you go to bed at night)
his long fingers that might be piano-playing fingers :-)
the fleeting expressions that cross his face, lickety-split (from pure bliss, to rage, to horror, to peaceful sleeping--all in 3 seconds or less)
how he can be totally asleep and nothing wakes him up. Sometimes.
the fact that the dogs barking doesn't startle him in the slightest
no matter how many times he wakes me up at night, it still makes me smile when I see him
how his arms operate totally independently of anything he wants them to do (sometimes an arm just pops up straight out in front of him and stays there until I move it :-))
his Houdini-like quality of getting his arms out of the tightly swaddled blankets that Grandma made for him
his wrinkly little bum!
how cute he looks in Ben's arms (he looks even smaller when Ben is holding him)
how cozy he is in the sling (he slept straight through his first hike last weekend at Deem Hills)
his bright, blinking eyes when he's awake and alert in the mornings

Also, I'm attaching a link to the story of Pax's birth. I wrote it out in long form for my own sake, but also because I think it's something people don't hear very often. As Ben and I went through our birthing classes, we realized that we had absolutely zero knowledge of it, beyond what is seen in TV shows. Most people who have babies, the birth story for the general public goes something like this: "I was scheduled to be induced Tuesday morning. After 17 hours of labor, being induced twice and having an epidural, he was born." Or something like that. Hence, most of us go into the process of birthing a child with literally no idea of what happens in the mysterious intervening hours. That was definitely the biggest benefit to us in the birthing classes was simply knowing what to expect. Either way, for that reason, I wrote out the entire story of Pax's birth, in a fair amount of detail, mostly for people who have no idea what happens. Feel free to read it if you want, but consider yourself warned, it is most of 5 pages :-s

I hope to post more regularly now that we are back at home and my brain is starting to unscramble. :-)

Around the house these days...

2011-10-31T22:22:00.000-07:00

A few images from what's going on around the Shetler house these days...

First garden cucumber (Aremenian)

First window I've ever broken. A pan fell out of my hands in some inexplicable manner. I would love to blame this on pregnancy, but alas, this type of thing is a daily occurrence in my everyday, non-pregnant life.

One section of the (poorly-planned) garden right now. Giant bushy zucchini and cucumber bushes trying to overtake the climbing peas and green beans behind them. But, it looks like everything should produce, so that's good :-)

My one must-have Halloween treat :-)

Ben "practicing" for baby (or harassing Nimbus, depending on who's side of the story you get).

What 28 weeks pregnant looks like on me (and Rezzie).

Self-portrait at 11 PM :-)

Like Greased Caramel

2011-10-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

Caramel Pretzel Bites. A caramel unwrapped and flattened, wrapped around a pretzel nugget and dipped in chocolate. Sounds (and looks) amazing, and not terribly difficult, right? Such was my optimistic mood on Saturday morning when I got ready to try these babies. 3 ingredients, you can't go wrong. (Cue ominous music.)

As per usual, I couldn't quite do it exactly according to plan. I initially wanted to make these because I had a bunch of caramel left over from supper group the previous week, which I had made to dip apples in. The reason more of the caramel didn't get eaten was because I evidently boiled it a touch too long, so it was a little too stiff to dip things in, and it ended up being more of an item you spent the next 2 hours picking out of your back teeth, in a very unflattering manner.

So, my thought was that I'd heat up the caramel to make it a bit more fluid (which worked), and then roll it out. I got started by smartly covering the counter in wax paper. I dumped the caramel on top of the wax paper and put another on top of it and squished everything down. Then, I decided I probably better double-check that it wasn't sticking. Of course it was. Like the dickens, as the say. So, I painstakingly scraped most of it off the wax paper and threw the paper away.

Silly me, I thought. I should have greased the wax paper. Still optimistic, I greased up another set of wax paper good and proper. This seemed like it'd be a great solution, until I realized that as I rolled, the newly exposed caramel carried the grease away with it. Or something. Either way, the long and short of it is that the exact same thing happened. Disastrous sticking. More scraping. More throwing away of wax paper. (And yes, I was definitely losing caramel mass AND brain mass at this point.)

Finally, out of exasperation, I just greased the entire counter area and the metal rolling pin. Nothing stuck anymore. However, that meant the rolling pin just spun on the caramel and the caramel was moving all over the counter. The final solution ended up being me patting and stretching it into some generally desirable shape. (And trying not to scream.)

The next step was to stick the pretzels to the caramel. Turns out, when the caramel is as well-greased as mine was, the pretzels don't stick too well, but I was DETERMINED to make this work, in some form or another at this point. I more or less got the pretzels to wedge into the caramel a bit, and then tried dipping them in the melted chocolate chips (which actually is what the recipe called for). Apparently, I had conveniently forgotten (as I do once or twice a year), that I DESPISE dipping things, or doing anything that requires me to touch every single serving of something. With this background, the dipping was less than ideal.

After dipping three caramel/pretzel pieces, and realizing they were coming out looking like a big gloppy mess, to put it politely, I re-engineered the process. The final product ended up going something like this on some of my leftover greased wax paper: dab of chocolate, square of hardened caramel, dab of chocolate, pretzel. Done. End of story. While this definitely worked, I was more and more infuriated with every dab at how awry this activity had gone. (I had also just realized that these items would have to stay in the fridge if I didn't want the caramel to melt into each other, but that then the caramel would practically break off in your teeth, again leaving me with a lose-lose situation. At that point though, I was in too deep, I just had to finish it as a matter of principle.)

I thankfully finished all of the pretzel caramel situations, with an entirely greased counter, the belly of my shirt with giant chocolatey streaks, and chocolate up to my elbows. But, I still had a bunch of chocolate left over. I knew I should just throw it out and be done with it, given my current level of frustration, but if I was that sort of person, I wouldn't be in the current mess in the first place, as I would have thrown out the caramel a week ago. So, since I still had 2/3 of a bag of pretzels left, I just dipped those half way into the chocolate. Turns out, that was the easiest, most attractive thing I did all afternoon (though still time-consuming).

When all was said and done, I was so frustrated with the whole episode, I had to wash every dish in eyesight, wash every ounce of chocolate off me in a long shower, and throw the recipe away to even begin to alleviate the aggravation. I have not had a total disaster like that in the kitchen for a while. I would like to blame it on being pregnant, but we all know that is something that could have happened to me any day of my life. And I'm sure it will happen again. Oh well, here's to staying humble, right?

Church Cookbook Love

2011-10-25T20:51:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked by my dear husband if I'd cook breakfast for the board meetings our church was hosting this last weekend. I agreed, knowing I could use a similar menu to what I helped my friend Liz make last year for another event. The menu was as follows: Baked Oatmeal, Yogurt, Fruit, and Granola (for the yogurt). Added bonus: all gluten-free, as one of the board members is gluten-intolerant. (Though in case you're wondering, while oatmeal is gluten-free in theory, it's often processed in plants that process other gluten-y items, so you do still have to search out gluten-free oatmeal). I made the same granola I usually make and cut up some apples, bananas, and oranges.

When I looked up the recipe for the Baked Oatmeal in our church cookbook, I remembered why it was so good :-) A whole lot of brown sugar and oil!! I did substitute half the oil for applesauce and then added extra cinnamon and a handful of chopped apples so I could pretend that it actually had the slightest bit of health to it :-) I think it turned out pretty well, and I'll definitely be making it again. Thank goodness for church cookbooks! [And my philosophy on church cookbook recipes still applies: fantastic person = fantastic recipe ;-)] The recipe, as I made it, is listed below.

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1/2 c. applesauce

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

4 t. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon (optional)

4 eggs

2 c. milk

6 c. oatmeal

1 1/2 c. apples, peeled and chopped (optional)

Mix oil, applesauce, sugar and eggs. Beat until yellow and glossy. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well-blended. Bake in greased 9x13 pan at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Serves 10-12.

Other optional add-ins: 1 c. raisins, 1/2 c. sunflower seeds, any kind of nuts, coconut, or fresh or dried fruit.

Side note: the "Planning the Menu" notepad I bought a while back came in super-handy the past 2 weeks. They let you specify the recipe, source, ingredients, and notes on the results. I used them for supper group, 2 meals for the board, and a meal I brought to a family at church. Given the proximity of all of these events piled on top of an already stacked week, I needed the extra organization!

Side side note: Thank goodness for church cookbooks, but not for church kitchens! Despite the coordinator's best effort, it is always amazing the sheer quantity of random items that show up (or more importantly, DON'T show up) in church kitchens. Items NOT found in our church kitchen as of Saturday: scissors, pen and paper, large ziploc bags, and most notably a cutting board. I ended up chopping everything on a plastic serving tray!

Improvisation

2011-10-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, Ben wanted to stay home and do homework, but only after he saw the end of the Diamondbacks play-off game at his parents' house (who have cable). Since I knew this was going to be longer than he thought, I made supper there for all of us.

It was a supper of new and old things. The main dish was an improvisation of things that I had sitting around; specifically extra lasagna noodles and ricotta filling. I decided to use these to create broccoli lasagna roll-ups. Eventually, these ended up with the following: a lasagna noodle topped with ricotta, white sauce, broccoli, string cheese pieces (due to a lack of mozzarella) and then rolled up. All were placed in a dish and topped with more white sauce and a bit of cheddar cheese and then I baked the whole thing. It was a bit of an adventure, but it turned out pretty well :-) Also, yogurt dill sauce with roasted veggies was on the menu. I had bought strawberries this week and was waiting for a good reason to make strawberry shortcake and this was as good of a reason as any. (Who needs a reason for strawberry shortcake anyway??)

The very Greek yogurt dill sauce is from one of my favorite cookbooks, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and worked well on the random combination of veggies I had in the fridge (zucchini, red peppers, parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions). The strawberry shortcake is my all-time favorite. It's fantastic on it's own, but is killer with strawberries. It comes from the Mennonite Fellowship Meals cookbook.

Broccoli Lasagna Roll-Ups

8-10 lasagna noodles, boiled
2 heads broccoli, chopped finely
2 c. ricotta
3/4 c. parmesan, shredded
1 3/4 c. mozzarella, divided
2 t. oregano, dried
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. onion, chopped
2 1/2 c. milk
6 T. butter
6 T. flour
1 t. italian seasoning
1 t. parsley, diced
salt and pepper
2/3 c. shredded cheddar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan. Let noodles sit in a few inches of water to prevent sticking together. Chop broccoli finely and steam in microwave or on the stovetop.

2. Combine ricotta, parmesan, 1/2 c. mozzarella and oregano in separate bowl. Set aside.

3. Saute onion and garlic in butter. Add flour and stir till bubbly. Whisk in milk and stir until thickened. Add italian seasoning, salt and pepper, and parsley. Set aside half of the white sauce.

4. On each lasagna noodle, layer 2-3 T. ricotta mixture, 3 T. sauce, 3 T. broccoli, and a sprinkle of remaining mozzarella. Roll up noodle and toppings carefully, and place in pan, seam side down. Repeat with remaining noodles. Spread remaining white sauce over rolls in pan. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serves 6.

Yogurt Sauce with Cayenne & Dill

1 c. yogurt
1/2 c. sour cream
1 large garlic clove, crushed
Salt
2 t. dill, chopped
3/4 t. cayenne or hot paprika

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate before serving. Yield: 1 1/2 cups.

[This sauce, plus the roasted veggies, scrambled eggs and cheese made for a great breakfast burrito!]

Best Strawberry Shortcake

1 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. baking soda
1/2 c. plain, fat-free yogurt
1/2 t. vanilla
strawberries, finely diced

1. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Sift dry ingredients.

2. Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternately with yogurt. Beat until smooth. Blend in vanilla. Pour into greased and floured 7x11 pan.

3. Bake at 325 for approximately an hour. After cooling for 5-10 minutes, cut into 10 servings. Top with strawberries.

[Note, the original recipe is doubled and baked in 3 loaf pans. It also uses sour cream instead of yogurt. I've tried it both ways and can't tell the difference. I'd also love to make this in jumbo muffin tins for individual servings, but I don't have any. I don't know why it wouldn't work though.]

Super Supper

2011-09-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

I love it when meals are surprisingly good and/or make you say out loud, "Mm, that hit the spot!" Since we were gone at church retreat last weekend, and I knew I'd be working late yesterday, I got all my groceries for two weeks the previous weekend. (I usually only buy for one week at a time.) What ended up happening: I wrote down the recipes, but not where they're from, I've used ingredients for other things as I've gotten hungry, and I wasn't sure what was actually in the fridge. So, tonight's meal was definitely going to be a bit of a surprise ending. Additional point of consideration: Ben wanted supper before he left for a meeting, so I was hurrying through my somewhat improvised chopping to get it ready in time.

The original "entry" on my menu was for Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta and Chipotle Veggies. I intended to use the pesto (from here) that my dear mama purchased for me at the farmer's market when she was here recently, which I did (though I did have a momentary heart attack while the pasta was draining when I realized I hadn't seen it in the fridge in days and thought I had used it.) I have no idea what the tomatoes in the fridge were originally for, but they got thrown in the pasta for added texture. The parmesan cheese that I was planning on using is now "in absentia," so mozzarella got used instead.

For the veggies, I realized that 1) I had no recipe for it, 2) no idea which veggies I planned on using, and 3) the only available veggies were carrots, potatoes, lettuce, cilantro, and tomatoes. So, after a bit of mucking around allrecipes.com, I managed to locate an interesting-looking grill marinade that I adapted a bit to work for my situation.

Added bonus: I had been wanting salad all week and forgot I had lettuce, so that got chopped up along with some of the tomatoes and two random hard-boiled eggs left in the fridge. The dressing I used was ranch and chipotle salsa. End result? I really enjoyed everything. Ben didn't eat because he was working on homework :-) More for lunch tomorrow!

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta

1 lb. whole grain pasta
4 oz. sun-dried tomato pesto
2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced
mozzarella cheese

Boil pasta and drain. Return pasta to pan and add pesto. Mix with pasta until evenly coated. Toss pasta with tomatoes. Serve with mozzarella cheese sprinkled on each serving. Serves: 4-6.

Roasted Chipotle Veggies
8-9 medium carrots, peeled
5-6 medium potatoes, peeled

Marinade:
1/3 c. oil
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
3 T. cilantro, chopped
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, chopped
1 t. salt
1 t. paprika
1 t. cumin

Preheat oven to 425. Whisk marinade ingredients in the bottom of a large bowl. Chop vegetables in 1/2 inch chunks and mix with marinade. Spread veggies on baking sheet(s) and roast for 25 minutes, stirring half-way through baking time.
Serves: 4

Mexican Salad
1 bunch lettuce, chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 c. black beans, cooked
1 c. corn, cooked

Dressing:
1 c. ranch salad dressing
1-2 T. salsa

Combine dressing ingredients and chill until ready to serve. Toss remaining ingredients in a salad bowl and serve with dressing on the side.

[Photos from church retreat. The comic was made using my iPod Touch and the Halftone app, which I LOVE!.]

Aaaand...we're up and running!

2011-09-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy month, with school starting and getting everything organized. Ask any teacher how the first 2-4 weeks of school is, and inevitably you'll get some sort of answer along the lines of:

Whew!

Busy!

Running around like a chicken with my head cut off!

I still have TONS to do and I've been at school every night till 6!

I'm not so sure about this class...

I forgot how much work this is!

Collecting forms bites!

If only I'd stop getting new students!

Etc

I'm finally starting to get everything how I want it (though I still have emergency sub plans to write) so now I have a bit of time to consider the food that I'm actually putting on the table. Tonight for supper group, given that I had a bunch of quinoa around (thank you Costco!), I made this chicken with quinoa and vegetable dish from allrecipes.com, along with mom's italian vegetable salad, bread and jam, and these fantastic banana chocolate chip cookies from Taste of Home. They're almost cake-like :-) Definitely a fantastic use for bananas that are on the verge. There was definitely some double-fisting going on by the kids :-)

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/3 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg

1/2 c. banana, mashed

1/2 t. vanilla

1 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/8 t. baking soda

1 c. chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg, banana, and vanilla. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in separate bowl. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheet, leaving 1-2 inches between each. Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes, until edges have browned.

Yield: 3 dozen (though for the size I was making them, it was more like 2 dozen)

Summer Grilling Goodness

2011-08-11T22:12:00.000-07:00

It's August, which means we're midway through the dead of summer, with about a month to go. This also means that at this point, we're getting tired of salad and watermelon. Ok, I take it back, I can never get tired of watermelon, but we're definitely in need of some variety in the diet. Hence, when I ran across this quinoa salad from Canadian Living magazine on a blog, I thought it sounded like an excellent change of pace (along with some egg salad). However, since I was not paying attention when I grocery shopped, I had to make do with what I had (no big surprise). So, my version is a tiny bit modified (as described below).

Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad with Chipotle Vinaigrette

Salad:

1 c. quinoa, uncooked

2 bell peppers, quartered

1 zucchini (green or Mexican), cut in 1/2 in. thick strips, lengthwise

4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced in diagonal 1 in. chunks

1/2 c. goat cheese, crumbled

3 T. cilantro, chopped

Chipotle Vinaigrette

3 T. olive oil

2 T. red wine vinegar

1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced

2 t. honey

1/2 t. cumin

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

1. Boil quinoa in 2 c. salted water for 12 minutes. Remove from heat, fluff with fork and let sit for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together vinaigrette ingredients and set aside.

3. In large bowl, toss peppers, zucchini, carrots and 3 T. vinaigrette together until coated. Place on greased grill over medium heat, and grill until charred and tender (between 8-115 minutes, depending on the size of the vegetable chunk). Cut into large chunks and return to bowl.

4. Add remaining dressing, quinoa, cheese, and cilantro. Stir to combine. Serve immediately.

Serves 6.

Back to School with Ice Cream!

2011-08-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Every year, as people reluctantly trickle back into Phoenix in July and August (having spent as much of the summer as possible out of the heat), my church holds its annual Back-to-School Ice Cream Social. This event holds two purposes: 1-it raises money for a scholarship fund to help kids attend church schools, and 2-it functions as a blessing on the year, by praying for students of all ages, teachers, support staff, and parents. As I was preparing the ice cream I planned to bring, a friend said that she would have just bought some gourmet ice cream. I said, "No, you don't understand. Everyone who volunteers to bring ice cream is volunteering to bring an ice cream freezer of homemade ice cream." So, the event also ends up being a bit of an ice-cream potluck.

This year was a battle for me to get the ice cream done, since we had been camping all weekend. (Technically, we were yurt-ing :-) We stayed in a large, round, structured tent in northeastern AZ. Good times :-) See pictures.) We got home from camping at about 4:45, and I needed to leave the house at 5:45 with a finished freezer of ice cream AND shower. Yikes.

I picked a strawberry ice cream recipe, because I'm pregnant and that's what I'm in the mood for. And strawberries were on sale for 77 cents per container. :-) I was a little worried about the ice cream given that I had never made it before and it had no eggs (raw or cooked) in it. Every ice cream I've ever made has some amount of eggs in it. But, the reviews on the recipe sounded good, so I gave it a shot. After an ultra-fast shower, I chopped bunches of strawberries and mixed up the batter.

Going against some people's recommendations, I multiplied the recipe times 1.5, hoping it wouldn't overflow my 5 quart ice cream maker, which I'd never had happen. I felt pretty safe given the fact that this recipe seemed to make a lot less, and in reality, only filled up my ice cream maker about 2/3 full. (My normal recipe ends with "Then fill up the rest of the ice cream maker with milk to the top rim." Expansion has never been a problem.) I put the ice cream in to churn at 5:20, and at 5:43, the motor finally stopped. (Trying to "freeze" ice cream outside while its 105 degrees is a fairly humorous battle. I was outside adding ice at least every 5 minutes. And salt. Lots of salt.) The ice cream definitely did eventually expand enough to fill the entire container, but it only overflowed a tiny bit.

When I got there, my strawberry ice cream and I were standing among the likes of such flavors as Wendy's Frosty flavor, Very Peanut Butter, Blueberry, Coconut, and Mango Habanero (and 3 different versions of vanilla). As I dipped out my untasted ice cream for people when they walked through the line, people kept coming back and commenting on how creamy it was, that they loved the texture, and the generally yummy flavor. When I finally got a chance to enjoy some, it turned out they were right :-) I got the original recipe from Allrecipes, but modified it just a bit. Below is the 1.5x recipe along with my adaptations. (And a potluck success: I went home with an empty container!)

Summer Strawberry Ice Cream

2 c. cream
4 c. half and half
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1/3 t. salt
1 T. vanilla
3 c. mashed strawberries (to desired consistency)

1. Combine all ingredients and mix with hand mixer or whisk. Pour into 5 quart ice cream maker bowl and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

(Top picture: our yurt, in Lyman Lake State Park, near St. John's, AZ. In Steve's words, "all the good parts of camping, and none of the bad parts," i.e. setting up tents.)
(Middle picture: Darla & Steve Schrock and Laura Glass-Hess as we go on a self-guided petroglyphs tour at the campground.)
(Bottom picture: Darla has mastered the Jet-ski --probably due to the compressing features of the wetsuit--and celebrates accordingly.)

Not Too Much

2011-07-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

This is the final post in my series summarizing Michael Pollan's quick-read, Food Rules, in which he emphasizes basic ideas for healthy eating, without totally restricting your diet to one thing or the other. The first post I wrote reviewed this book, as well as one of it's pre-cursors, Omnivore's Dilemma. Following that, I wrote one post for each of Pollan's three main rules in Food Rules. The first rule is Eat Food, as in real food, not "food products" composed of unpronounceable synthetic chemicals and dyes. The second rule, Mostly Plants, emphasizes eating mostly plant-based food (and not just things based on corn and high-fructose corn syrup). The third rule, and subject of this post is Not Too Much. In other words, whatever you're eating, eat within reason, not unthinkingly. These are some of the specific rules that stuck with me:

44-Pay more, eat less.
In his explanation of this one, he also listed this old maxim: Better to pay the grocer than the doctor. This one got me, because I am definitely the one who doesn't buy organic entirely because of the cost. Based on the small portion of our budget that is food, it really wouldn't hurt me to spend a tiny bit more on more natural, local foods. When it comes down to it, I would MUCH rather pay more for food than for doctor bills.

46-Stop eating before you're full.
This rule, and several following ones, emphasize the importance of being aware of the food you put in your mouth. How often do we eat unthinkingly, out of a bag, only to realize after you dump a handful of popcorn down the front of your shirt that you haven't even been looking at the food? (Ok, maybe that's just me. My hand-eye coordination is atrocious.) My favorite thing he said about this rule was the words for saying, "I'm hungry" and "I'm full" in French. Before a meal, the literal translation of the French phrases is, "I have hunger." More strikingly after a meal, in France the phrase is, "I have no more hunger." The implication of this is that you do not have to be full to not be hungry anymore. I think this is a critical difference that explains a lot of the obesity problem here. Just that one little thing could help us be much more aware of the actual impact of food on our feelings of being sated.

49-Eat slowly.
Or another more practical way Pollan puts this is, Put down your fork in between bites. Even before the days of 25 minute lunches as a teacher, I have always been the one that is waiting for everyone else to finish their meal. I routinely look up (often for the first time) with three bites left, and realize everyone else is maybe half done. Hence, this rule hits home for me. Another way I've heard of explaining the same thing is to swallow each bite before you take the next one. As silly as these things sound, they serve two purposes: 1) You actually enjoy each bite of your food. 2) Since it takes 20 minutes for the message that you are full (or not hungry) to go from your stomach to your brain, the slower you eat, the more time your brain has to get the message that you should stop eating, thereby avoiding being stuffed.

58-Do all your eating at a table.
When you eat at a table, you're eating feels contained to the table, and tends to feel like the eating has a beginning and ending. On the other hand, if you don't eat at the table (for meals or snacks), you're far more prone to be doing something else at the same time, like watching TV, which means you're eating unthinkingly, and often, unendingly. Also, in terms of snacks, many times it seems silly to get a portion of a given snack and sit down at the table and eat it. However, if we did this, I suspect we'd be much more likely to eat less, because once you get up from the table, there is a much stronger feeling of the eating being finished. My husband is a good example of this, since he often sits down at the table with chips and a dish of salsa after work, and when the salsa is gone, he's done eating until supper. I, on the other hand, tend to snack while I do other things all afternoon (all in the name of multi-tasking of course), and I probably end up eating more in the process.

59-Try not to eat alone.
This is a fantastic rule on all sides. Obviously there are many situations where you can't avoid eating alone, but there are also many times when there is someone in the house to eat with, but you choose not to. One of the many points of eating with someone is that you spend time talking, and not just wolfing down your food, without thinking. Talking slows you down, which again, gives your brain more time to get the signal that your not hungry anymore. On top of that, it's just more enjoyable eating with someone else. :-)

60-Treat treats as treats.
Enough said.

63-Cook.
Again, this guarantees that you're eating real food, and it is significantly more likely to be much healthier.

And finally, 64-Break the rules, once in a while.
Like I said previously, one of my favorite things about this book is the way that Pollan rarely says Never. By emphasizing making good lifestyle choices on a regular basis, there is room in your diet to occasionally break the rules.

So, all these posts to say, Eat well on a regular basis. (And then break the rules every once in a while :-)

Mostly Plants

2011-07-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was struck by the wonderful simplicity of the book Food Rules by Michael Pollan, and decided to share some of the best ideas with you. The main premise of this slim, 140-page book, is that if we can follow 3 basic rules in our food consumption, we'll be much healthier. In my last post, I wrote about the first rule, Eat Food, which emphasizes the need to avoid processed food products (for instance, things like Velveeta, which is a "processed cheese product" according to the package).

The next rule which is based on the first, and subject of this post is eat Mostly Plants. This basically speaks for itself. The more food we eat that comes from plants, which of course equals fruit, vegetables, etc, the less processed food we are eating. Notice that he doesn't say all plants, which some people do advocate. (The raw food movement would fall into this camp.) Another reason I like Pollan's work, is that he doesn't say Never. He doesn't say never eat junk food, he says keep things within reason (which is the main idea of his 3rd rule, which I'll write about in the next post.)

These are the rules that stuck with me the most from this section of the book:

34-Sweeten and salt your food yourself.
Again, he doesn't say, never salt your food. The main idea behind this rule is that when you buy processed or pre-prepared foods (TV dinners, canned chili, flavored yogurt, restaurant food, etc.), they often come heavily sugared or salted. Ironically, many so-called health foods do this. It's not uncommon for companies to make something, "fat-free," but then pump it up with sugar or salt so that it still has some flavor. So, the implication is that when you prepare your own food, even if you do add a heavy dose of sugar or salt, you at least know exactly how much is going into it. The added benefit of this is that you're likely to use less, because you'll be more aware of the amount. If you had to personally add the sugar into a can of soda, you would probably be less likely to use as much, especially if someone else was watching you! :-) Here's a great video/site explaining the amount of sugar in a can of soda--10 teaspoons!)

36-Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.
Many of the rules in this book were things I'd already known of, but it was good to have them repeated in a concise form. This one, however, I had never thought of. Totally true. Pink, yellow, or green milk is just not natural. (Literally.)

39-Eat all the junk food, you want as long as you cook it yourself.
I love this rule, because again, it doesn't forbid you from eating junk food. What it does do is emphasize the impact of fast food in our lives. Let's face it, there's a reason people don't eat french fries at home. They're a pain in the butt to make! If I had to make them every single time I wanted them, I'd definitely eat them a lot less. Same thing applies to baked goods, chips, etc.

So, to recap: Eat food, mostly plants.

I know you'll be waiting with great anticipation for the breath-taking conclusion of this series! :-)

Eat Food

2011-07-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

As described in the previous post, I recently read Michael Pollan's book Food Rules, which is a description of 64 basic rules for how we can adjust our eating habits to make sure we're eating well. The short book is divided into three major sections, the first of which is Eat Food, meaning eat real food, not processed food products. One of his major points throughout the book is that our diet has not always been disastrous as a nation, but in the last 30 years or so, it has really fallen apart. To this end, he makes a point of examining old wives' tales and sayings from the past that have been proven to have actual scientific merit and truly are beneficial to our diets. Hence, some of the rules reflect previous eras. Here are some of my favorites from the first section of the book:
[Note: These are all general rules, with clear exceptions.]

2-Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.
A la "Go-Gurt." or "Tofutti."

6-Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients.
By following this rule, you avoid a lot of preservatives like high-fructose corn syrup, added salt and artificial flavoring, and "nutrients" that are artificially pumped into food. (Again, be reasonable. One of my favorite Christmas cookies has three ingredients: butter, flour, and brown sugar.)

8-Avoid products that make health claims.
I particularly like this one, because Pollan points out that things that make health claims have 1) packages, and hence are farther away from real food 2) come from companies that have money to package and advertise, 3) come from companies that have money to engineer their foods to meet FDA guidelines, (like fat-free mayonnaise).

10-Avoid foods that are pretending to be something they're not.
Like dairy-free cream cheese. This is an oxymoron. Or again, like fat-free mayonnaise or olive oil mayonnaise. There is no such thing. Real mayonnaise is made with eggs, oil and vinegar. Period. These are the ingredients in olive oil mayonnaise:

Water, Olive Oil, Soybean Oil, Vinegar, Modified Food Starch, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Eggs, Contains less than 2% of Salt, Mustard Flour, Dried Onions, Dried Garlic, Natural Flavor, Enzyme Modified Egg Yolk, Beta Carotene* (Color), Lactic Acid*, Potassium Sorbate* and Calcium Disodium Edta As Preservatives, Phosphoric Acid

13-Eat foods that will eventually rot.

Anything that will not rot in the coming days or weeks, is unlikely to be real food, based on the amount of sweeteners, shelf stabilizers and preservatives it apparently contains (i.e., Twinkies.)

16-Buy your snacks at the farmer's market.

In this case, you're much more likely to be eating real food, without preservatives, etc. Not only that, there's a much better chance the food is healthy in the first place, like dried fruit, etc. Given my pregnant state, I plan on heading down to the farmer's market soon, since I'll need something to get me through the mornings at school.

20-It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car.

I think this speaks for itself. :-)

Now, just as a point of reference, Pollan makes it very clear throughout the book that he isn't advocating NEVER eating french fries, Cheetos, etc., but just making the rules part of your general habits. (And occasionally breaking the rules. Not daily.)

Rules for Omnivores

2011-07-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

This summer, I've read a number of fascinating books about food, including two by Michael Pollan. The first is called Omnivore's Dilemma and talks about where food comes from. In this hefty book, Pollan discusses the origins of 4 distinct meals. First, he follows a McDonald's hamburger from the corn fields, to a ranch, to a feedlot, to a slaughterhouse and examines where the lettuce and tomato come from on industrial agriculture operations. The biggest issue he addresses is the methods of coaxing more products and meat out of corn and cows that they would not naturally provide, which in turn damage the environment.

The next meal is an organic meal from Whole Foods, and so Pollan goes to the beautifully-described, quaint organic farms to research the reality of the "supermarket pastoral" genre of writing that plasters organic food packages. (Not quite as small or "pastoral" as you might have imagined.) In a related meal, he looks for a less industrial organic experience and finds a "beyond organic" farm in Virginia, in which cows, pigs, and chickens are all grown on the same small farm, as well as small amounts of various kinds of crops. Essentially, he describes how all of the animals and organisms work together to create the most productive farm possible, while still living the lives they were more or less intended to.

Finally, Pollan goes all the way back to the beginning and decides to hunt and gather his own meal near his home in San Francisco. He describes his adventures into hunting wild boar as well as how to gather fresh mushrooms as they're in season. This leads to an excellent discussion of the merits and demerits of eating vegetarian, and whether or not he has personally come to feel that he should or shouldn't eat a vegetarian diet. The entire book was good, but this chapter made the book for me. It really addressed a lot of questions I had and provided a good rationale for eating and appreciating an omnivorous diet. I'd definitely recommend this book if you want to ponder where our food comes from and why we eat the way we do.

However, if you want a quick, down-and-dirty, just-the-basics description of the kind of foods and habits that will keep us most healthy (and least miserable), Pollan's latest book is called Food Rules. In the introduction it discusses how populations all over the world stay surprisingly healthy with all manner of diets, but how overwhelmingly unhealthy the western diet has become. The book discusses the collective wisdom that our culture has seemed to have lost over the years, which has led to our downfall (or up-gain, as the case may be). After the short introduction, it is literally 64 rules, with about a paragraph of explanation of each one. I read the entire thing in an hour. The book is categorized into three broad guidelines, which are 1) Eat food. 2) Mostly plants. 3) Not too much. I loved the simplicity of this book so much, I'm going to write a few following posts on my favorite rules from the book. Either way, I highly recommend this if you're looking for a quick read on healthy food habits.

Digging the Cuisine in DC

2011-07-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

When Ben was little (7ish), his parents took them to Washington, DC. He apparently remembers every detail of this trip, particularly the Air and Space Museum. Ever since I've known him, he's dreamed about going back and enjoying tons of museums as an adult. When we were considering our options for this summer, DC came up again and seemed like a good possibility, given that his brother Joe and his girlfriend live there. We were psyched to find a nice little bed and breakfast directly next to Joe's apartment building, which had a fantastic breakfast every morning.

On our last night in DC, Joe says, "Wow! You guys really did DC!" And that we did. We took in a minimum of 16 different museums/monuments, etc. It was a great place to get stamps in our National Parks/Monuments Passport book :-) We even managed to teach Joe something new: the art of planking. (See below.)

While Ben was thrilled at the museums (he would have preferred to have gone to more!), I thoroughly enjoyed going out to eat every night. Added to that, Joe and Jocie live in Dupont Circle, which between it and the next neighborhood over, seems to be foodie central. Here are some of the places we ate:

Wood-fired pizza at Pizzeria Paradiso and yummy gelato at Dolcezza
Ben had signed up for the DC area Groupon service, and had come across this Indian restaurant called Heritage India that was close to Joe's apartment, so we went there (and used the Groupon) and it was great! I had some nice appetizers including a fantastic yogurt and curry chicken, tomatoes in a balsamic reduction and a mango lassi (my favorite).
After a rainy afternoon to clear the heat and humidity on Friday, we ate at Ben's Chili Bowl, famous for having been an organizing spot for civil rights activists in the 50s and 60s.
We took in the Hirshhorn Museum of Art and the Air and Space Museum (see pic below for Ben's gleeful eyes!) and then found an upscale, fast-food Indian place in Chinatown called Merzi. It was very similar to Chipotle, and very good! Here's a pretty accurate review of it.
We also got Joe his fix of Astronaut ice cream. He hadn't had it since he had visited DC as a child, but this is how he described the flavor: "It's like hard cotton candy that tastes like ice cream with the consistency of chalk." Turns out, that was a pretty accurate memory! (See pic above)

Another day we had an early supper of Korean dumplings at a place called Mandu, which were quite enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised, given my general dislike for Korean flavors. We finished that day off several hours later after a thunderstorm at Shake Shack with a peanut butter shake that was amazing!! Added bonus: Michelle Obama had eaten there for lunch!
And just for irony, we went to Washington, DC, and had some excellent Mexican food :-) at a beautiful restaurant called Lauriol Plaza. I had tamales with a fantastic green sauce (my best guess: oil, broth, green chilis, cilantro and cumin).
Since our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 5 PM on Wednesday (and ended up being delayed another 2 1/2 hours), we had time to bum around that day as well. After an interesting walk through Ford's theater, I decided to stop and get some ice cream at a place in the guidebook called Cowgirl Creamery and have a late lunch at the airport. I walked into the store, and it turns out that it's a cheese store! (This is the next best thing to an ice cream store, in my book.) So I got some very flavorful string cheese and a fresh dill pickle and called it a day.

And that, folks, is some of our culinary adventures through DC!

1 down, 2 to go!

2011-07-15T15:31:00.000-07:00

1 trimester down, 2 to go! :-) Shetler baby #1 is due January 18! This picture is from about a month ago, when baby was about an inch and a half long, and had arms, legs, a heartbeat, and was moving around :-) I had another ultrasound today and saw eyes, ears, and mouth, and confirmed the unlikeliness of Down's.

We're really excited, but man, there are tons of decisions to make, not the least of which is what process to go about birthing a child. We know a number of people who have had home births (including the former owners of our house! 2 of their children were born here :-)), as well as a number of different other techniques (natural, standing, water birth, etc.). So, who knows where we'll end up on that one. And then there are all the other decisions like where to put a nursery (and what to put in it), disposable or cloth diapers, a name, etc. One thing we did decide on (and were thankfully in agreement on), was that we don't want to know the sex of the baby until it's born. Related to that, Ben said, "Then we get to pick out 2 names!" To which I said, "Then we have to pick out 2 names!"

Thankfully trimester one went pretty well for me. Actually, it wasn't even confirmed until I was about 8 weeks in, so that made it easier :-) I didn't have much nausea, outside of slight queasiness related to an empty stomach, which happens quite often. However, I was totally exhausted for much of May and June. If I hadn't had a positive pregnancy test, I was about to ask for a mono test. Thankfully, I'll have something to show for this exhaustion! :-) While I was waiting in a doctor's office for an hour this morning, I read at least 3 baby magazines, and one referred to the second trimester as "the honeymoon trimester" so I'm hoping it'll be a bit more enjoyable :-)

Welcome back!

2011-07-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

After a crazy month of being out of town 20 out of 30 days (Tucson, LA, Philadelphia, DC), I'm finally back in the sweet hot dry heat of Puh-hoe-nix (as my non-AZ friends say). After 7 super-damp hot (but fun) days in DC, I'm actually ready for some dry heat (emphasis on the dry). This is a post I've been meaning to write for about 3 weeks, and now I finally have time and energy.

A small habit that Ben's parents and we have developed is to have a meal ready on the table if either of us returns from the airport in the general time frame of dinner. This is fantastic for me, because when I get home from a trip at supper time, the last things I want to do are cook from my empty fridge or go out for yet another meal. This is a fun thing to be on the receiving end of, and it's also a nice way to get fresh stories from the returning travelers.

Hence, when Jay and Marilyn returned from Indiana last month, I took up the cause and had supper ready at their house when the Super Shuttle dropped them off. Since I had just received a 10 bottle shipment of Salsa Lizano (a tangy, non-spicy sauce that Jay discovered on SST in Costa Rica), I had a hankering to make our favorite food to go with it: the super-simple Cuban Black Beans from the Extending the Table international cookbook. They are ultra-simple and can be made with less effort than it takes to read this post.

Cuban Black Beans
from Extending the Table

1 c. green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 16 oz. cans black beans, undrained
1/2 t. dried oregano
3 T. vinegar

Saute green peppers & garlic in 2 T. oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. Serve over white or brown rice and a splash of Salsa Lizano if you have it. (I have 5 extra bottles if you want some!!)

To go with this, I made my favorite cold green bean salad from the More With Less cookbook, which is basically an egg salad with green beans and the best part: dill pickles.

Green Bean Salad
from More With Less

3 c. steamed green beans, cut in 1 inch pieces
4 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1 large dill pickle, chopped
2 T. vinegar
1 t. salt
2/3 c. mayonnaise

Combine beans, eggs, onion, and pickle in medium bowl. Mix vinegar, salt and mayo together and pour over salad. Stir gently to combine. Chill and serve. Serves 6.
[Note: I don't like raw onions, so I steamed the onions along with the beans to take some of the bite out.]

We also had some yummy hummus and garlic toasts they had sitting around, which rounded the meal out. For dessert, we had my favorite easy, "healthy" dessert: Peanut Butter Banana Tortillas. (Hey, it's got fruit, that makes it healthy, right?!)

Peanut Butter Banana Tortillas

4 tortillas
2 bananas
peanut butter
2 T. chocolate chips

Follow this process for each tortilla: lightly brown tortilla on one side. Take it out of the pan, and spread peanut butter on half of the browned side. Slice half a banana and lay them on top of peanut butter. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips over the bananas. (Careful: Put a few less than you think, because it's easy for the chocolate to take over the whole thing.) Fold tortilla over and brown both sides of the tortilla. Serves 4.

Happy summer eating!

Inspired by Jack

2011-06-03T21:27:00.000-07:00

After some very sleepy days, I've been waking up to Jack Johnson on my iPod. One day this week, the song I woke up to was "Banana Pancakes" and I swore the house smelled like syrup when I woke up. So, all week long, banana chocolate chip pancakes were on my brain. (And if you haven't heard the song, it's a great rainy day/call-in-sick song :-)) Hence, tonight, on my first day off from school, pancakes were on the list. I went straight to Allrecipes, and this is what I found. Hope you like it! I included some of the tweaks listed by reviewers as well.

Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes

1 c. flour
1 T. sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 egg, beaten
1 c. milk
1/2 t. vanilla
2 T. apple sauce (or oil)
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. chocolate chips (optional)

1. Mix dry and wet ingredients in 2 separate bowls. Combine the two mixtures. Batter will be lumpy.

2. In lightly oiled skillet, drop batter by 1/4 cup full into pan over medium-low heat. Cook on both sides until golden brown. Cooking slowly ensures the bottom doesn't get too dark, while still getting the inside done.

Guaranteed

2011-05-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, Hesston College's Bel Canto choir was in town, and a few of the choir members stayed overnight with us. When a friend asked if some of the others could come to our house afterwards for dessert, I said sure (as I love an excuse to make dessert).

As I debated what I wanted to make, I knew I had a bunch of extra apples, so I looked for an apple dessert. Since I had about an hour or so to make this before leaving for the concert, and pie and I have a testy relationship, I wanted something more cakey. This situation always leads me to the same answer: an apple cake recipe that Marilyn's sister gave me several years ago. I make this cake when I want an absolute guarantee that people will love it, and that's what I got. The cake is good, but the caramel sauce is unbeatable.

When all was said and done, there were 11 students and 5 hosts at our house till almost 11 PM that night, the cake was gone and everyone loved it. So next time you need a guaranteed yummy cake, try this one.

Caramel Apple Cake

3 eggs
1 3/4 c. sugar
1 c. oil
2 c. flour
1 t. soda
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
2 c. chopped apples
1 c. chopped nuts (optional)

Beat eggs, sugar, and oil. Fold in dry ingredients. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Caramel Sauce

1 T. corn starch
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. water
1/2 c. butter
1 t. vanilla

Cook in saucepan over medium-high heat until thick. Serve warm over cake.

What can I do with this?

2011-05-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

"Hmm, let's see. That's about to go bad. I have a ton of that. I always have a little of that. What can I do with these things? How can I put them together?" Anyone ever have this self-conversation? Anyone else talk to yourself? Ok, maybe that's just me. (At least that's what my first college roommate told me :-))

Either way, some people make dinner every night with this conversation. I, however, am not that person. I don't get home, and then see what's in the pantry. On Saturday, I figure out what I want to eat/make this week, and then get the ingredients for those things. This generally eliminates the rotting 3 tomatoes, the 14 cans of cream of mushroom soup, the extra cup of olives, etc. (In fact, I just ordered this and this, as depicted above, to assist in this process.)

However, since we started gardening, the "What can I do with this?" conversation is a bit more present in my extensive self-conversing. (Let's just say, we definitely lived through cilantro week, which I'll write about later. It's a close relative of strawberry or peach week.) I don't mind doing this occasionally, because it makes for some creative cooking. That's what happened a few weeks ago, when I was pondering my cilantro shrubs, the contents of my freezer, and my newest favorite flavor. As I surveyed these items, I concocted this southwest flavored cucumber corn salad. It's nice and refreshing, and I imagine there's quite a bit more creativity to add to it. See what you think-

Southwest Cucumber Corn Salad

1 cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 c. corn (fresh, frozen or canned)
1 T. cilantro, chopped
1/4 c. green onions, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. oil
1 T. white wine vinegar
1/4 t. southwest spice rub
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in bowl.

2. Put garlic and oil in small microwaveable container. Heat in microwave for 30-60 seconds. [Omit this step if you like raw garlic.]

3. Combine garlic and oil with vinegar, spice rub, and salt and pepper in small bowl. Whisk together. Pour over vegetables in bowl. Chill or serve at room temperature.

Adventures in Substitution

2011-04-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight's supper was brought to you by the letter S. S for Substitution. Due to the holiday last weekend and being out of town visiting family in Lake Havasu (home of the original London Bridge, as seen in the pictures) I wasn't able to get groceries until Tuesday night for this week. Apparently, I was not as thorough in the creation of my grocery list as I usually am, because I seem to have neglected to add ALL the things I needed for one recipe. So, when I got home tonight (Wednesday), I discovered I had about half the things needed for the recipe. Thus began my odyssey in the quest for making a dish that at least vaguely resembled what I was originally going for: Four Cheese Macaroni Casserole. (Click the link to see what the recipe was originally supposed to look like :-))

First, I realized I didn't have macaroni, but after a little digging, discovered half a pound of whole wheat rotini, which sufficed. Then, I remembered (or realized I DIDN'T remember getting) a large can of tomatoes. More digging turned up a large head of broccoli and some carrots, which of course, are not even close to tomatoes. But, it's what I had. I decided to make up for the lack of tomato acidity by adding white wine vinegar, lemon juice left over from citrus season and a bit of spaghetti sauce I had in the fridge. While I was digging around in there, I found some leftover Easter ham and threw that in as well. The more, the merrier, right?

Then, while adding the spices, I remembered that I didn't have any italian seasoning, because when I was planning on buying more, I had decided to just make my own with the herbs in my garden, but they aren't finished drying yet. I could have just gone out to the garden and gotten fresh ones, but...I didn't. So, I made do by adding bits of oregano, basil, marjoram, sage, rosemary and thyme.

And finally, the cheeses. The key element of the dish. I had cheddar and mozzarella, but I did not have any Parmesan cheese, fresh, fake, or otherwise, so we did the obvious: turn it into a 3 cheese casserole. Then, my standard substitution, goat cheese instead of feta, rounded out the dish. When all was said and done, I somehow ended up with a yummy, cheesy, italian-y, vegetable pasta dish. Luckily. My adventures in substitution don't usually end this well :-) Anytime they don't end in me running to Food City halfway through a recipe, I feel victorious though. Here's the final version:

Three Cheese Italian Veggie Casserole

3 1/2 c. uncooked whole wheat spiral pasta

1 large or 2 small broccoli heads (not bunches), chopped and steamed

2 carrots, peeled, chopped, and steamed

2/3 c. spaghetti sauce

2 t. white wine vinegar

1 T. lemon juice

1 1/4 t. dried oregano

1 1/4 t. dried basil

1/8 t. dried marjoram

1/8 t. dried sage

1/8 t. dried thyme

1/8 t. dried rosemary

salt and pepper

1 c. diced ham, optional

1 1/2 c. cheddar, shredded

1 1/2 c. mozzarella, shredded

1/3 c. goat cheese crumbles

1. Preheat oven to 350. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and pasta. Cook according to package directions and drain. Steam vegetables for 5-7 minutes, or just until tender.

2. Mix steamed vegetables with pasta sauce, vinegar, lemon juice, herbs, salt, pepper, and ham (optional).

3. Combine pasta with 1 1/4 c. cheddar, 1 1/4 c. mozzarella, and 1/4 c. goat cheese crumbles. Add veggie mixture. Place in 3 qt. casserole dish. Top with remaining 1/4 c. cheddar, 1/4 c. mozzarella, and 2-3 T. goat cheese crumbles.

4. Bake for 15-25 minutes.

Twitter 101

2011-04-17T21:59:00.000-07:00

I love Twitter. After a recent conversation with my aunt about what, exactly, Twitter is, (and realizing that I’ve had this conversation multiple times), I decided to put it in writing. As they always say, if one person has a question, there are probably many others who do too. So, for those of you who don’t understand what the big deal is about Twitter, this is why it is NOT what you think.

What Twitter is NOT:

Twitter is NOT about updates about what you had for breakfast, (unless you can say it in an incredibly clever way). It is also NOT a private, direct messaging service, a la Facebook, email, instant messaging, etc. Though many use it from their smartphones, it is NOT only available on phones, but is also a website where you can tweet from (Twitter.com).

What Twitter IS:

Twitter is a “micro-blogging” service. In other words, it is like a blog, in that all posts are public, and they are listed reverse chronologically, with the newest posts listed first. It isn’t like blogs in that it has a140 character limit. Because of this limit, tweets are approximately 1-2 sentences and many people and companies use it to post links to longer articles, blog posts, etc. (It IS possible to send direct messages to people, but they still have to be 140 characters or less. Because of this, it is not a common use of Twitter though.)

Due to the public nature of Twitter, it is most useful for keeping track of public organizations and people. You don’t have to know them or ask for permission to follow them. For instance, I follow AirFrance for European travel deals (@AirFranceUS), New York Times for news and commentary (@nytimes), and Jimmy Fallon (@jimmyfallon) and Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) because they are hilarious : - )

However, the reason Twitter is most useful to me in my daily life is that I can follow other people within the education community, many of whom are technology teachers like myself. We all post about things we’re doing within the classroom, open questions we’re considering in terms of educational technology, and other such things. Some of the teachers I know personally, but many I do not. Twitter gives me access to a much wider circle of like-minded people whom I can bounce ideas off of. I also follow some friends from my personal life.

Overall, Twitter is an excellent means of keeping abreast of news and information of interest to you, professionally and personally. There is much more to say in terms of effective ways to use Twitter, details about common abbreviations, hashtags, or trending topics, but hopefully this basic description helps you understand what it actually is and how it might benefit you. And if you decide to join Twitter, follow me @dierdreshetler ! :-)

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chipotle!

2011-04-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

[In case you didn't get it, the thought going through my head with that title was the Chia Pet jingle ;-)]

As you may or may not be aware, I adore food-themed parties. Hence, when I saw a page in the Sunflower Market magazine (the free magazine from the grocery store I shop at) describing three different toppings to put on corn on the cob, I was sold. (I also just had a hankering for sweet corn.) The three suggestions were a cilantro pesto, parmesan butter (butter, oil, and parmesan cheese), and southwestern spice rub. It was the last one that I fell in love with. The dominant flavor in this spice mix is chipotle powder, which has a fantastic kicky, smoky flavor to it, which I have now started putting on everything that needs some flavor. Basically, I've been using it like my husband uses Tabasco. So if you're looking for a new flavor, give this a shot. The ingredients are as follows (mix together):

Southwestern Spice Rub

1 1/2 t. sea salt
1 1/2 t. chili powder
1 t. chipotle powder
1/2 t. cumin

Greening Up the Garden

2011-04-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

After several years of winter gardens, we (I) decided to try a spring garden. Heretofore, the garden has more or less been Ben's project and he always agrees we should do it again, but somehow doesn't get to the details of actually making it happen, so this time, I did it. Since we no longer have access to a truck to borrow a friend's tiller, I dug up the whole thing by hand. Several blisters (and weekends) later, it was looking...better. Not as good as the tiller and with manure worked in, but better.

I planted the remnants of the seeds from the fall (zucchini, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, green onions, etc) across the space of several weeks, depending on what the county extension service recommended for each thing. Then, lucky for us, the Desert Botanical Gardens spring plant sale came up, and so since I wanted to get a few things (including more seeds) anyway, we both went and added a few landscaping plants to finish off the front yard.

The most exciting purchase of that outing were grape vines! Ben has been wanting to build a shade structure to shade the east side of the carport which bakes his car all summer, so this spurred him on. He put up 3 poles (16 bags of concrete later), and attached some fencing. Then the grape vines will get planted and start climbing the structure (and hopefully we'll get some grapes!) This is one of the vines, waiting to be planted.

I finished off the garden with squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, corn, and beans. We'll see how long all of these items last in the summer heat. Most things should be fine until about mid-June, from what I hear, though the melons will be good to go all summer. I've been like a kid, out there every day checking to make sure everything looks good :-) It's amazing how much enjoyment one can get out of just watching things existing! :-) Yay for simple joys!

Living up to a big name

2011-03-17T16:46:00.000-07:00

I've had this recipe for Garden of Eden Pasta Sauce for several years, but never made it. When I look at it now, I have no idea why I didn't make it sooner. The only thing I can think of is that I tend to shy away from recipes that start with something over the top, like "Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies," or "I Can't Believe I Waited This Long to Make This Amazing Lasagna," or "My Mother's Ultimate Secret Salad Dressing," or "Super Excellent Blow-You-Away Eggplant Parmesan." However, I did try it recently and fell in love with it. As odd as warm cucumbers in a pasta sauce might sound, they're actually really great. In fact, I think I'll make it again this week. Lots of veggies and great flavor. :-)

Garden of Eden Sauce

Yield: Makes enough sauce for 1 lb pasta.

2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 bell pepper (any color), chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled and chopped
1 c. cubed or shredded mozzarella cheese
2 green onions, sliced thinly
1/2 c. chopped fresh basil
1 t. salt
1/3 c. olive oil
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 t. dried cumin
1/2 t. dried oregano

1. Combine tomatoes, bell pepper, cucumber, cheese, scallions, basil, and salt in large bowl. Whisk oil, vinegar, garlic, cumin and oregano in small bowl. Pour mixture over tomato mixture and toss to coat. Cover and let stand at room temperature 1 hour.

2. Toss tomato mixture with cooked pasta and some reserved cooking water if necessary. Serve immediately.

Notes:
-The recipe specifies that short pasta (farfalle, penne, etc.) work best with this, and I agree.
-I don't personally like raw garlic, so I minced it and put it in a dish with 1 T. oil and microwaved it for 45-60 sec.
-When I ate this as leftovers at school, I really liked it heated up a bit, however I bet this would be tasty as a cool pasta salad in the summer as well.

It's called dip, not scoop

2011-02-13T18:56:00.000-08:00

Due to a QUICK trip to LA last weekend, I never got around to getting groceries this week, so we were winging it all week, in terms of meals. I had to stay late at school on Wednesday, so I didn't have much energy to come up with something brilliant to eat for supper. Luckily, I found some inspiration in the unlikely place of the lounge fridge. What did I see? Nachos and dip.

Whenever I feel the need for some dip, (and who doesn't feel this urge every once in a while?), I reach for my favorite dip recipe. Actually, "recipe," is a strong word. This is a very customizable recipe, if you want. But, I personally think it is best served in something that everyone can sit around and eat out of together :-) (And following the recipe is a funny clip from Jimmy Fallon about the beauty of dip at Super Bowl parties. :-)

The Dip

1. Brown 1 lb. hamburger and add taco seasoning according to packet directions. Add 1 can refried beans (or slightly mashed pinto beans in my case). Spread in the bottom of a 9x13 or equivalent pan.

2. Mix 1 c. sour cream with 1 c. mayo and spread over meat mixture. (I've also used ranch and plain yogurt, which is good as well.)

3. Spread chopped green onions and shredded cheddar cheese on top, as desired.

4. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

5. Spread shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, and/or salsa as desired on top. Serve.

Jimmy Fallon: It's called dip, not scoop!

Saucy!

2011-02-01T20:24:00.002-08:00

When we were in Barcelona, we fell in love with tapas. (Which, when spoken audibly sounds a lot like "topless" we've learned. That's not what we fell in love with. :-) We loved the Spanish meal of appetizers so much that we did our best to recreate some of them at a picture party we hosted. Then, when a Groupon popped into my email offering 50% off at a tapas restaurant in Scottsdale, I was all over it, like a monkey on a cupcake, as a friend would say.

Last weekend, we finally decided to try out this restaurant, called Iruna. When we got there, Steve says the following to the waitress: "We're accustomed to European tapas. How does this compare to that?" I love that we can say that :-) While the ordering and presentation style was a bit different, the food was just as good. Ben adored the Manchego cheese with jamon, and we all really liked the Romesco sauce that came on several dishes, including asparagus and the trout. The tangy, crunchy red sauce prompted us to spend a chunk of time trying to identify the different ingredients in it.

Oddly enough, I'd had a Martha Stewart recipe for this sauce for quite a while, but since I didn't exactly know what it was, hadn't ever tried it. Luckily, our tapas trip enticed me to try it. Before I started, I looked up a different recipe on Allrecipes just to have a comparison and to see what others had said about it. I ended up going with the Allrecipes version, which turned out excellently, but I'm sure either works fine. I topped roasted vegetables with it, and I've read that others have used it as a dipping sauce for a variety of things, including bread, fresh veggies, etc. Hope you like this tangy sauce! :-)

Romesco Sauce

6 Roma tomatoes, halved
1 red bell pepper, quartered
12 garlic cloves, peeled
2/3 c. olive oil
kosher salt to taste
1 slice bread
1/2 c. toasted whole almonds
2 T. red wine vinegar (up to 1/2 c. to taste)
1/2 t. Spanish paprika
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and grease baking sheet. Place tomatoes, red pepper and garlic cloves onto prepared baking sheet. Brush the vegetables with soem of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake in the preheated oven until the garlic has turned golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven, allowing to cool for 10 minutes. While the vegetables are cooling, bake the bread slice on one of the oven racks until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool.

2. Scrape the vegetables and and pan juices into a food processor or blender. Break the bread into pieces and add to the food processor, along with almonds, vinegar, paprika, and red pepper flakes. Puree until finely ground, then drizzle in the remaining olive oil with the machine running. Season to taste with additional salt if necessary.

Saucy!

2011-02-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

Kisses for Cupcakes!

2011-01-23T14:40:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, as I finished preparing ingredients for the meal I was cooking for friends the following night, (chopping, cooking beans, etc.), I checked to see if I could do anything in advance for the dessert I was making. I opened up the cookbook, and realized I was missing a few key ingredients, namely cream cheese. Since I refused to go out to buy ingredients, I looked for something else that might suit.

Since I'd been jonesing for chocolate lately, this recipe for Brownie Kiss Cupcakes (recipe and photo from Taste of Home) caught my eye. I had all the ingredients on hand, so I was good to go. I mixed everything up but the baking powder that night (it was a VERY thick batter) and put it in the fridge. The next day, I mixed in the baking powder, put them in muffin tins and plopped in the left over Christmas Hershey's Kisses, and put them in the oven. As I was making Mexican Bean & Barley soup, I kept trying to smell the soup to see if it needed anything additional, but all I could smell was the brownie cupcakes, and they smelled amazing! They turned out that way too :-) Dense and chocolatey from all the cocoa, with a nice melty chocolate kiss in the middle for fun as well! Next time you need a chocolate break, this is the ticket!

Brownie Kiss Cupcakes

1/3 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
9 Hershey's Kisses, unwrapped

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together. In separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Combine both mixtures. Fill greased muffin tin (or use muffin papers) with batter, about 2/3 full. Place an inverted Hershey's Kiss into the top of the batter of each cupcake. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until the top springs back when lightly touched.

Creamy + Puffy = Cream Puffs!

2011-01-19T21:10:00.000-08:00

As a kid, my health-conscious mom had a food pyramid posted on the fridge at some point. My "I've been working up a farmer's appetite in the field all day" dad added his own base to the pyramid. Under the original base of grains on the old food pyramid, he had penciled in the most important category that had apparently been inadvertently left off of the list: the Donuts, Pancakes, and Cream Puffs category. :-) Cream puffs are one of Dad's favorite desserts, and therefore something we had occasionally as a treat and something I learned to make.

I didn't think this was anything unusual until I began making them for friends after I got out of college. I got rave reviews, and people thought they were so impressive! Even better, they're SO easy with Grandma's recipe, with just 4 ingredients. Hence, when my friend Steve decided it was time to learn to bake, he wanted to learn to make cream puffs. So, tonight, he made them while I "supervised." They turned out marvelously!

Here's Grandma's recipe:

Cream Puffs

1 c. water
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sifted flour
4 eggs
(pinch of salt, optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat water and butter in medium saucepan until boiling. Stir in flour. Keep on burner, stirring constantly until mixture forms a ball (about 1 1/2 minutes). Remove from heat. Cool 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time until smooth and velvety. Drop from spoon onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake until they appear dry, about 30-35 minutes. Cool. Store in dry place so they don't get soggy. Cut in half. Fill with pudding, whipped cream, or a combination. Best eaten fresh. Yield: 8 large or 12 small puffs.

Love me some Colbert!

2011-01-05T20:05:00.000-08:00

That Stephen Colbert. I'm pretty sure he is the definition of sarcasm and irony (and my parents will verify that I know a thing or 2 about sarcasm, particularly around age 14). Check out this clip from an episode in which he back-handedly describes why some politicians have no familiarity with the life of Jesus and how he told us to help the poor. Enjoy the satire :-)

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Jesus Is a Liberal Democrat

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog</a>

March to Keep Fear Alive

Holiday Baking

2010-12-23T18:34:00.001-08:00

As stated previously, I did quite a bit of holiday cooking this week. My favorites are the simplest ones. I'm always a bit skeptical of recipes that have 5 ingredients or less, as some cookbooks like to promote, because I usually end up adding all the seasonings they have apparently deleted, or something else along this line. However, with the following two recipes, simplicity makes these the best ever. The first thing, shortbread, is something I began making several years ago because I often heard of it around Christmas but hadn't had it, so I found a recipe and tried it. Turns out, they're amazing! Not necessarily super-attractive (I had to jazz them up with cookie cutters and sprinkles), but it makes a beautiful dough (you'll understand if you make it) and they are SO good, SO simple (3 ingredients!) and a little unhealthy. :-) But hey, it's the holidays! (By the way, these are way, way, better than sugar cookies.)

Scottish Shortbread

2 c. butter

1 c. brown sugar, packed

4 1/2 c. flour

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter and sugar together. Add 3 3/4 c. flour and mix well. Sprinkle board with remaining flour, and knead dough for 5 minutes, adding enough flour to make a soft dough. Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into 3x1 inch strips or cut out shapes. Prick several times with fork and place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Yield: 3-4 dozen

The second simple sensation (man, I love alliteration!) is toffee. For some reason, the image that remains in my mind is from when I made this at home a few years ago. We broke it up and put it into a big Grinch mug (yeah, that's how we roll), and ate it up while we played Settlers of Catan, a family favorite :-) While candy might seem complicated, it only assumes you can do one thing: boil stuff. And that is really all there is to this: boil 3 things together until it gets to 285 degrees (use a candy thermometer), spread it in a pan, put chocolate chips on top, sprinkle nuts on top, and done! Give it a shot! It's definitely a Christmas classic in my house now!

Super Easy Toffee

2 c. butter

2 c. sugar

1/4 t. salt

2 c. chocolate chips

1 c. finely chopped nuts

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Combine butter, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Heat until butter has melted, bring mixture to a boil. Stir occasionally while mixture boils, until it turns a dark amber color, and reaches 285 degrees on a candy thermometer. [Watch carefully.] Immediately pour into prepared pan. Spread into pan with spatula. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top and allow to warm 2-3 minutes. Spread melted chocolate over toffee with spatula. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top of chocolate and press down so they don't fall off. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours. Remove foil, break into pieces and store in airtight container.

Christmas Food!

2010-12-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

It has been WAY too long since I last wrote, mainly because the past 3 weeks found me coming home at 6 or 7 most nights (or later) then making dinner, and then flopping down, exhausted on the couch. There were so many things that didn't happen in the last couple weeks, not the least of which are blogging and sleeping. So, when school was finally over Friday, I was thrilled to have time to myself, in which I slowly checked off things on a giant list. And slept. And now, Thursday night has come, and I'm finally able to sit and relax. [And this, folks, is why teachers need two week breaks during the school year. But that's another whole blog post...]

One of the few things I allowed myself to do this week that was just for fun, was to make my favorite Christmas foods. I love to make the classics, like Chex Mix which I adore, and Peanut Butter Blossoms with the Hershey's kisses in the middle. However, I also like to make some ethnic foods and family recipes (peppernuts, caramels, etc.). I was inspired to make one of these after my Grandma Schmidt made these seasoned oyster crackers over the Thanksgiving holiday (and we ate the entire batch during the weekend). They have a tangy lemon-pepper seasoning and are then baked for a nice toasted flavor. It turns out, they are also perfect for teaching the dog to balance food on his nose and eat it before it hits the floor. (This didn't happen too many times though, since Ben and I ate most of them!)

Savory Oyster Crackers

1 (1 oz.) pkg ranch dressing mix

1/2 t. dried dill

3/4 t. oil

5 c. plain oyster crackers

1/4 t. lemon pepper

1/4 t. garlic powder

Preheat oven to 250. Combine all ingredients but oyster crackers. Pour over oyster crackers and stir. Spread on cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. Stir once during baking. Store in airtight container.

Chocolate & mint in the air!

2010-12-07T20:12:00.000-08:00

Last week, I was reading the events section of the newspaper and came across this article which talked about the Chocolate Walk in Cottonwood, AZ, one of the many tiny, old, mining towns in rural Arizona. This quote from a shop owner in the Old Town area of Cottonwood made me decide that we MUST do this:

"It is by far my favorite night of the year in Cottonwood, with everybody strolling and the lights on and the smell of mint and chocolate. You just meander in and out of the shops, which are all decorated, and pick up your chocolate."

So, on Saturday afternoon, I sat down to buy tickets online, about an hour before Ben, Marilyn and I left. I was crushed to discover that, according to the town website, it sold out quite early. However, I kept reading and saw that a few local shop owners still had tickets, so I started calling them. The 3rd one answered, and the woman said she had 3 tickets left. I said we were from Phoenix and would she possibly hold them for us? Thank goodness for small town kindness, because she said she would :-)

As per usual, it took us forever to get out of the house and on the road, but when we finally got there, I was more than a little concerned that the shop would be closed up tight, and we'd be stuck. However, by asking a few people, we found our way to her shop and were good to go.

The event itself was fantastic, and totally worth the one hour/40 minute drive. Essentially, it was trick-or-treating for adults, minus the costume. At the Civic Center, we received a map of Old Town, and a decorated paper bag (decorated by the local glitter merchant!) From there, we walked up and down the Old Town area, where each merchant checked off their name on the map, and then we each received a hand-decorated something or other from the merchant (none of whom were actually chocolate shops). The treats included everything from chocolate-dipped pretzels, to many variations of brownies, to fudge, to truffles, to brittle, to rum-soaked chocolate cake balls.

As we meandered through town, many merchants had hot chocolate or cider, some had live music, and many were decorated marvelously. We were highly impressed with the quality of stores, including a gelato store, a cute coffee shop, a fantastic retro diner in an old gas station (Bing's Burger Station - see photo) where we had supper after we'd collected our bags of treats. For an added bonus, it was a beautiful night, as we're in the middle of a warm snap, with highs in the 70s and lows in the mid 40s. One of my favorite stops was an olive oil and vinegar store, where I bought an AMAZING fresh peach white balsamic vinegar :-) Finally, in a chocolate-glazed fog, we headed for home, down the mountain. What a lovely time!

Needless to say, this is something I'll definitely try to attend next year! What a great way to get in the Christmas spirit!

Grand prize winner!

2010-10-31T15:47:00.000-07:00

I wish it was me who won the grand prize, but I'm glad the lady in Taste of Home won a grand prize for this recipe, because it was fantastic. However, the hassle it caused me was less than fantastic.

I had a busy week this week and so I found some recipes that would use the slow-cooker, or could be started the night before. This was one. So, one night after cleaning up supper, I started this soup, basically thinking I just had to boil some beans to get it started. Contrary to my expectations, it ended up that I basically made the whole soup, which then simmered on the stove for 2 hours, before going into the fridge until supper the next day.

Since I wanted to go to bed and was worn out from making two meals in a row, I had Ben put it in the fridge before he went to bed an hour later. I was just about asleep when I hear cursing and things crashing to the floor. I go out to the kitchen, preparing to be furious that my whole evening's worth of work (and next day's supper) were now ruined. Luckily, it was just a container of liquid that had spilled while he was trying to adjust shelves to make the soup pot fit, though still not fun to clean up at 11:30 at night. Thankfully, the soup was fine, (my beauty sleep was less than fine) and the next day, it was hot and ready to go for supper, when I got home late. And, I don't know about you, but I think ham (I used chopped ham, not a ham bone) is an excellent addition to pretty much anything :-)

Click HERE for the recipe to Ham & Bean Chowder.

Civic Duty

2010-10-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

This morning, I spent my Sunday School hour doing my civic duty, by filling out my early ballot. It was SO long!! It literally took me 2 hours to fill it out, though there was some thinking/researching involved (which is TOTALLY why early ballots are the way to go). I knew that I was planning on using the description of all the propositions on the ballot from the newspaper, but I couldn't find it.

After some work, I eventually tracked them all down, and compiled them below. These were quite helpful, because they have a brief description of each proposition, give a short pro and con argument for each, as well as describing who is paying for/supporting each one. Additionally, to complete the vote for retention for a BILLION judges, I found a website that gives approval ratings of judges by attorneys, jurors, and defendants, which was super helpful. Since it took me so much time to find all this info, I thought I'd share it. Hope you can use it to make educated decisions!

Prop 106-Health Care

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/09/24/20100924arizona-proposition-106-health-care.html

Prop 107-Affirmative Action

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/09/28/20100928arizona-proposition-107-affirmative-action.html

Prop 109-Hunting and Fishing

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/09/26/20100926arizona-proposition-109-hunting-rights.html

Prop 110-State Trust Land

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/09/25/20100925arizona-prop-110-state-trust-land.html

Prop 111-Lieutenant Governor

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/09/29/20100929arizona-prop-111-deputy-governor-office.html

Prop 112-Petition Deadline

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/09/30/20100930arizona-prop-112-ballot-petitions.html

Prop 113-Secret Ballot

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/10/01/20101001arizona-prop-113-union-vote.html

Prop 203-Medical Marijuana

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/09/26/20100926arizona-medical-marijuana-prop-203.html

Prop 301-Land Conservation

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/10/02/20101002arizona-prop-301-conservation-money.html

Prop 302-First Things First Funding

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/10/03/20101003arizona-prop-302.html

JUDGE RECOMMENDATIONS from http://www.azjudges.info/home/index.cfm

Perfectly Pleasing Potluck

2010-10-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Last week we had potluck day and parent-teacher conferences at school. On the same day. Which happened to be the day before I had 850 grades due. Needless to say, it was a busy week. I love potlucks, not only because they give me a tasty meal, but I get to try a new recipe without having to eat the entire thing if it isn't fantastic :-) However, like I said, it was a busy week, and I wasn't sure where I was going to find time to bring something.

Since I'd been doing grades in every spare moment I had all week long, I hadn't had time to plan in advance what I'd bring. So, it came down to me warily eyeing my row of cookbooks at 8:15 the night before. As always, I was looking for a dessert, but it had to be quick and easy, and ideally use the crockpot, since that was the kind of time crunch I was under. Additionally, I have a co-worker who has celiac's disease, so I wanted it to be gluten-free for his sake.

Needless to say, I wasn't terribly hopeful I was going to find anything to fit all these categories, but I knew the best place to start would be the old Fix It and Forget It crockpot cookbook. Generally, this cookbook has not been my friend because the bulk of the recipes center around large (read: expensive) hunks of meat, which is just not the way I cook. Knowing this, I knew there was not a lot of hope that a gluten-free dessert would appear in the pages of this meat-laden book, but surprise, surprise, in the 12 page dessert section, there were two whole pages of something that fit the bill: rice pudding.

I couldn't believe my good luck. Not only was it a dessert that was gluten-free and made in the crockpot, it served 10 and was made in approximately 3 hours, which fit right into my time frame. I do know that some people do not have a taste for rice pudding, but this was just too perfect not to try.

Due to the order of things that needed to be combined, I just took the few ingredients with me to school. First, the milk, sugar, and rice boil together on high for several hours. (Every time I walked by that morning, it smelled wonderful :-) Then during the last half hour (when I had a prep), I added in the last cup of milk with the eggs, vanilla, and salt. It was just right by the time we were ready to eat, and since people had parent-teacher conferences, they wandered in and out the rest of the day. Every time I walked through the hall, there was someone else with a cup of rice pudding in they're hand :-) Lucky for me, I work with a group of teachers who actually do like rice pudding. Even my gluten-free friend said it was one of his favorite things :-) Give it a shot! It's just right for a cool fall day!

Crockpot Rice Pudding

1 c. white rice, uncooked

1 c. sugar

8 c. milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 c. milk

2 t. vanilla

1/4 t. salt

cinnamon or nutmeg

1. In slow cooker, combine rice, sugar, and 8 c. milk. Cook on High for 3 hours.

2. Beat together eggs, 1 1/2 c. milk, vanilla, and salt. Add to slow cooker and stir. Cook on high for 30-40 minutes.

3. Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg. Serve warm.

[NOTE: Non-crockpot rice pudding requires a good amount of stirring during cooking, like risotto, but this recipe does not, which makes it easier. However, this recipe is not as smooth and creamy as the recipe I usually make, while I'm standing by the stove cooking something else. Two different recipes for two different purposes...]

Chili Weather!

2010-10-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

This week has FINALLY heralded the arrival of fall in Arizona. A week ago,the temperature was hovering around 108 degrees for a high. Now, highs average in the low to mid 90s, with nights in the 60s. We can finally keep our doors and windows open at night! What brought this sudden change of temperature? A gigantic storm, that the Valley is still recovering from.

On Tuesday, the first big cell hit around noon, when the power went out at my school for the rest of the afternoon. I left school at 3, when it was sunny and starting to clear a bit. I was psyched for cooler temps and so I decided to take the dogs for a walk. By the time I got all of their leashes and whatnot ready to go, it had started to rain. However, at this point, there was no turning back, so we went around the block and got rained on. Unfortunately, the last third of

the block, we got drenched. So, upon return, I just decided to give Nimbus a bath since we were both soaking already anyway.

When I finally put on warm clothes and dried off, I was psyched to get my chili on. One of my FAVORITE things is to be inside and warm and cozy while the weather outside is wet and nasty (needless to say this doesn't happen all that often in Phoenix, so I enjoy it when I can). Hence, while I was making this chili, I put on some John Coltrane and enjoyed myself. Admittedly, the valley was getting pounded with hail at this point, (including our garden! see pic) and I knew many people weren't happy, but I was enjoying myself for the time being, at least.

I adore this chili though because it's got a great almost smoky flavor from the bacon and the beans. It is not a mild chili, but not burn-your-mouth chili. You might call it medium :-) But

you can adjust that with the amount of chili powder you put in. It's great served with cornbread. Hope you like it!

Black Bean Salsa Chili

2 cans black beans, drained, rinsed, and divided

2/3 c. water

1 T. brown sugar

1/2 lb. ground turkey

1 c. sweet onion, chopped

1/2 c. chopped green pepper

1/2 c. chopped red pepper

3 slices bacon, chopped

1 1/2 T. chili powder

1 T. cumin

1 t. dried oregano

1/8 t. crushed red pepper

1 1/2 c. mild salsa

3 T. tomato paste

1 14 oz. can beef broth

1/2 c sour cream

1/4 c. cilantro, chopped

1 t. lime juice

1. Combine 1 1/2 c. beans, 2/3 c. water, and sugar in a food processor and process until smooth. Combine bean puree and remaining beans in a bowl.

2. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add turkey and cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove turkey from pa.

3. Add onion, bell peppers, and bacon to pan. Cook 5 minutes or until bacon and onion are lightly browned. Return turkey to pan. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and crushed red pepper to pan; stir well to coat. Stir in bean mixture, salsa, tomato paste, and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes.

4. Combine sour cream, cilantro, and lime juice in a small bowl. Serve chili with sour cream mixture.

Yield: 5-6 servings.

Breakfast for Supper

2010-10-03T20:28:00.000-07:00

As a kid, the only time I ever saw my dad cook anything was when he made pancakes for breakfast (or dinner or supper). In fact, he made them so often, that I couldn't eat pancakes until I was 17 or 18. The issue was not their syrupy sweetness, the issue was the frequency. Syrup is, in fact, one of my favorites, especially on French Toast, just not multiple times a week.

As luck would have it, my husband loves breakfast food (for any meal), and last week was time for some comforting breakfast-for-supper food, so I busted out a pancake recipe from the first couple I lived with when I moved to Phoenix. They hit the spot that night, and hopefully they will for you too. If you need to call it healthy, there's even some fruit mixed in :-)

Puff Pancakes

(serves 2-3)

3 eggs

3/4 c. milk

3/4 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Beat eggs, milk, flour and salt till smooth. In a heavy 12-inch skillet or 9 inch pie plate, melt 1-2 T. butter, then pour batter over skillet. Bake 15 minutes, lower temperature to 350 degrees. Bake 10 more minutes.

Filling:

1 lb apples or peaches, peeled and diced

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 c. sugar

cinnamon

nutmeg

While pancake is baking, saute apples or peaches in butter, sugar, and cinnamon/nutmeg to taste. Place pancake on serving dish, add apples to 1/2 of pancake. Fold over and serve.

Fiesta de Fotos (y Tapas)!

2010-09-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

When we returned from Europe, there was about a dozen people who were very interested in seeing our pictures. (Really, they honestly said so.) Since many of them had already been to these places, we figured they were serious :-) And, since Darla and I had been looking for an excuse to make our favorite food in Europe, tapas, we added that into the festivities for the evening.

We knew they didn't want to see all 1500 pictures that the four of us took, so we narrowed it down to a manageable 100 (20 per country). While this was difficult, it worked really well to give an overview of our most interesting/beautiful/funny experiences in each place, which led to great conversations :-) All of our blog readers have seen many of these pictures here already. (For the record, I used Skype's "Share Screen" feature to share the same slideshow with my family, and it worked like a charm.)

While I love showing my pictures to people, my favorite part of the evening was making tapas. Tapas are basically little appetizers, which we had at tapas bars in Spain. Everything has a giant toothpick in it and are all priced the same. You take everything you want, and when you're finished, they count your toothpicks and charge you accordingly. My main souvenir from Spain was a tapas cookbook, which Darla and I used as we picked which things we wanted to make. We also used our pictures to remember our favorite tapas that we had in Spain, and then attempted to recreate them. (The first photo is from Spain. The other 2 are our attempts :-))

Darla made an egg and potato omelette cut into small pieces and served on a baguette, crab salad and an olive on a baguette, and marinated tomatoes and fried quail eggs on a baguette(yes, we used lots of bread :-)). I made baguettes, a garlic, potato and red pepper dip, toasted bread with 3 cheeses (square of semi-hard cheese on bottom, triangle of brie in the middle, and shaved hard cheese on top), mini-cream puffs with sweetened cream and drizzled caramel, andbreadcrumb fritters in honey syrup. While it basically took me the entire day to get everything ready, it was a lot of fun :-) I don't usually fuss over little things, especially little fussy things meant to look pretty, but this was a bunch of fun! :-) Give it a try sometime!

What? Quiche?!

2010-09-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday night, I got home from work later than usual and Ben said his stomach was feeling funny and that he wasn't really hungry. However, I WAS hungry, so I proceeded to make what I'd planned to make for supper. It was not the quickest thing, so by the time it was done (and given that I'd started late in the first place) it was closing in on 8:00 (which for the record, would be a super early meal in Spain, in case you're wondering). As it's just about ready to come out of the oven, Ben asks when it will be done because he thinks he'll try to eat something.

I pull it out and he goes to get some, walks into the kitchen and sees my beautiful supper, and cries out "Quiche??!!??" in an utterly crestfallen voice. (This is one of the few foods he generally voices any actual opposition to. But I didn't even think about it being a quiche because the recipe called it a "torta." ) He eats it anyway, because Ben does not eat because food is good (though that's an added bonus if it's true), he eats because the food is in front of him. Ten minutes later, as he munches in front of the TV, he grudgingly mumbles, "Sorry I made fun of your quiche...It's actually pretty good."

So now, I share with you the recipe for "Pretty Good Quiche" in Ben's book or "Spinach and Herb Torta in a Potato Crust" in my Vegetarian Cooking cookbook :-)

Spinach & Herb Torta in a Potato Crust

3 large potatoes

2 T. olive oil

1 bunch green onions, sliced

1 T. fresh dill, chopped

1/2 c. fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper

2 bunches spinach leaves, coarsely chopped

2 eggs, beaten

1 c. cottage cheese

1/3 to 1/2 c. feta cheese

Grated zest of 1 lemon

1. Peel potatoes. Slice two potatoes into 1/8 in. thick rounds. Slice the other potato length-wise into 1/8 inch slices. Brush some olive oil in a skillet, and fry potatoes until golden brown on both sides, in as many batches as necessary. Remove them to a paper towel as they finish cooking.

2. Add 1 T. oil to the pan and cook green onions, dill, parsley, and cilantro over medium heat until the green onions are bright green (about 4 minutes). Season with salt and remove to a bowl. Add the spinach to the same pan with water still clinging to its leaves (or add 1/4 c. water if it's dry). Cook over high heat until leaves are tender and wilted, about 4 minutes. Transfer the spinach to a sieve and press out any water, then add to green onion mixture. Add the eggs, cheeses, lemon zest and stir. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

3. Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan and set it on a sheet pan. Cover the bottom with the potato rounds, overlapping as necessary so there are no empty spaces. Place the long pieces overlapping around the sides. Pour in the spinach mixture, then bake immediately until firm and golden in places, about 40 minutes. Gently run a knife between the pan sides and the potatoes. Release the pan and lift off the side. Set on a serving plate.

[Note: the only things I did differently from what was listed is I substituted about half the dill for chives, used dried parsley, and used goat cheese instead of feta, which was awesome. :-)]

Enjoy the "quiche!"

Balsamic Ben

2010-09-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

After more than six years of cooking for my husband, I found a flavor that he really likes (as opposed to something he eats because it's in front of him). I made the dish below last week, and he immediately said, "Wow, this is good! It has great flavor!" As I pondered what this flavor could be, the only major flavor-izer (like my new word?) in the dish was balsamic vinegar.

I started thinking back and realized that whenever there was balsamic vinegar and oil on the table in Europe (particularly Italy) he used it every time with his bread and other things. On top of that, as I filed the recipe away with the rest, I noticed a number of other recipes that also featured balsamic vinegar, which had the note "Ben likes!" scrawled across the top, in my horrid, un-teacherly handwriting. (One of these recipes is my favorite sauce for asparagus) So, now I know. Use balsamic vinegar as much as possible to make my hubby happy :-)

Baked Chicken with Onions, Potatoes, Garlic, and Thyme

[Note: This is the original recipe. I adapted it to about 2/3 of the original amount so it'd all fit in a 9x13, and used 8-12 chicken tenders (smaller than breasts), which bake quicker. Either way, it's super easy!]

1 whole chicken (approx. 3 lb), cut into 8 pieces and breasts halved lengthwise

1 pound potatoes, cut in eighths

1 large red onion, cut in eighths

1 head garlic, cloves separated and left unpeeled

6 sprigs thyme

1 lemon, quartered

1/4 c. olive oil

2 T. balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange chicken, potatoes, onion, garlic, thyme and lemon in a 12x16 roasting pan. Whisk together oil and vinegar and drizzle over chicken and vegetables. Toss to combine and season with salt and pepper. Turn chicken skin side up. Roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 50 minutes.

By the way, if you're interested in the recent revival of our garden, check out Ben's blog!

Disastrous!

2010-08-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

I had an amazingly disastrous weekend last weekend, and I have to share it with you all, because it is so ridiculous, it's funny.

As a preface to the story, Ben was out of town all weekend with the PSMC board retreat, so I took in all this disaster on my own. Literal misfortune struck first when I got home from work on Friday, and there was a message from Visa saying that someone had helped themselves to my debit card number and went on a shopping spree at a Wal-mart in South Carolina, to the tune of over 500 dollars. So, they told me all the steps to take to fix that situation and I went on my merry way.

Come Saturday, my plans for the day were totally skewed for a variety of reasons, but this was no big deal and no big surprise. As I was grocery shopping on Saturday afternoon, I noticed that Hatch chiles were on sale at the store, and they are supposed to be a big, once-a-year kind of produce, so I figured I'd give them a try. Upon returning home, I read up on these chiles online, and it said that they are fantastic when roasted, (but that you should wear gloves when handling them and keep your hands away from your face). Needless to say, I did not wear the gloves, trusting myself to be "careful" and wash my hands a lot, which I did. Unfortunately, it turns out that the capsaicin in the chiles is more resilient than that. For the rest of the evening, I had burning sensations all over my hands and face.

I had gone out for supper for the evening (at a fantastic Brazilian steakhouse for a friend's birthday), and when I returned, things started to go swiftly south. When I got back at 9:45 PM and greeted the dogs who were thrilled to see me, there was a message on my answering machine from a member of my worship team saying she was sick and wouldn't be able to sing the next morning. This wouldn't be an issue, except that we had already only had 3 people on the team altogether for the week, one of whom has only been at the church for a month. So, after this person was out, it left me and the new guy. On top of that, it was Communion Sunday, and so we were doing a LOT of music! After calling a few people who I didn't feel terrible about calling so late on a Saturday night (and getting turned down by all of them), I figured I should just check my email, call it a night, and deal with it in the morning.

When I got to my laptop, which was sitting on the floor in the dark living room, I noticed that it felt funny, but I figured I must have gotten it greasy when I was using it in the kitchen, which I often do (I know, I know, totally not kosher). However, then I got suspicious, and turned on the lights, and discovered that one of the dogs had PEED on my laptop!!!!!!!! I was absolutely beside myself. When I calmed down, (and cleaned it off) it occurred to me that I probably shouldn't even try it until it had dried out altogether, so I just went to bed in hopes that the morning would treat me better. (But not before I had literally bleached and then soaped my hands, in hopes of finally ridding myself of all the spice on my hands.)

I got up Sunday morning and took the dogs for a walk (they were jerks to every other dog they met) ate breakfast, and then decided to try and fire up the old laptop (hoping it wouldn't literally fire up!) I pushed the power button with fear and trepidation and.....nothing happened. Tried again. Nothing. ANGUISH!!!! I could not believe that my laptop had gotten fried by dog pee!!! (I was mostly distraught at the thought of losing all my pictures and school files.) However, then I calmed myself, and thought that maybe, if I was "lucky", it had only ruined my (brand new!) battery. So I got my old battery (which only holds a charge for an hour or so), and tried it out, and sure enough, we were good to go. However, it was still frustrating that this was a $70 emptying of the bladder by the dogs.

Before church, I decided to try out my contacts which had been bothering my eyes the previous week, but I had let my eyes rest for a couple days, and figured I'd be good to go. I put in the first contact, and my eye nearly exploded into a bright red mess, as I realized that bleach is not enough to kill the spiciness of a pepper!!! So, not only did I have a blazing red eye with a contact searing in it, I had to stick my finger in my eye again to get it out! After quickly doing that, and putting in every eye drop in my cabinet, I headed off to church to do a duet for the entire service.

After this, things started to perk up a little. My eye didn't stay a burning mess all morning, our duets actually sounded pretty darn good, Ben showed me that my battery was not fried, but just really, really, really, dead and only needed to be charged a good, long while, and eventually the chile spiciness must have worn off :-) But for a while, I couldn't help but be amazed at how so many things were thwarting my plans for a calm, refreshing, relaxing weekend :-) Hope you all have a much better weekend!

Laughter and Tears

2010-08-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I'm tired of the heat and hoping for fall, with my new background :-)

I have to post this video because I was literally crying, I was laughing so hard at this clip of Will Ferrell on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. (The fact that Jimmy cannot keep a straight face for the life of him is fantastic :-)) I know, I know, it takes a certain kind of humor to find this entertaining, but as it turns out, I am just such a person. :-) Hope you like it!

Would you like some salad with your protein?

2010-08-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I made one of my favorite salads, which is particularly refreshing in Phoenix in the summer. As I was making it, I realized that it's really more protein than it is salad, (Ben's favorite kind of salad). I love to make it in the most effective method for consuming all salad ingredients: on a large platter. This way, you just layer everything on the platter, and since it's not deep, the heavy things don't sink to the bottom, so every bite has all the ingredients. See what you think!

Southwest Cobb Salad

1 bunch of salad greens
2 c. chicken, cubed
4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
2 c. black beans, drained
1 c. shredded cheese
12 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 avocados, peeled and diced
2 c. tomatoes, diced
2/3 c. ranch dressing
1/3 c. salsa

On a large platter, spread lettuce as the bottom layer. Layer chicken, eggs, beans, cheese, bacon, avocados, and tomatoes on the salad. Mix ranch and salsa and drizzle over the salad.

What goes up, must come down

2010-07-29T19:50:00.000-07:00

After a CRAZY, busy 2 weeks traveling in Europe, we have returned, safe and sound. However, after forcibly altering our internal clocks to skip 9 hours of our lives, we are now painfully yanking those hours back to where they belong. While the trip was completely worth it, jet lag sucks. The first day back I was fine, but in the last day or two I've definitely been getting sleepy at seemingly random times.

So, to wrap up an excellent trip, here are some of the things we did and did not miss :-)

Fantastic things that we miss already:
-the food! (though there was junky food to be had, by and large we ate quite well)
-the sub-100 degree temperatures
-cool nights
-eating somewhere new every night
-lovely hotel owners-people who didn't guess that we were American (one French vendor thought we looked French!!)
-simple, cheap trains to get you to where you wanted to be, instead of flying everywhere-a walking culture, where sidewalks are often more full than streets
-Alps
-street food (crepes, calzones, falafel, etc.)
-"secret" tiny, friendly, towns in the Swiss Alps :-)
-not being on a schedule
-simple airline security (no shoe removal necessary!)
-meals that literally only involve bread, cheese, wine and fruit
-greenery!
-water!
-meals that consist solely of dessert-cow bells-stumbling upon seemingly random parades of tall puppet-like items (we dubbed this la plaza de las personas grandes)
Things we were happy to come home to: -our own dogs (lots of dogs in Europe, but not ours!)
-the same bed every night
-cooking
-free toilets (this should be a fundamental human right, people!)
-all the water we want at restaurants for FREE
-consistent internet connections
-understanding what people are saying (the French grandma serving continental breakfast scared me!)-using more than 5 sets of clothes
-dryness (as opposed to humidity)
-driving
-air conditioning (not an assumption in many places in Europe)
-spending a WHOLE lot less money!

[Steve/Darla/Ben, if I missed anything, please add it via the comments section.]

One of my goals during the trip was to learn 5 new words a day in the local language, so here is a sampling:

London:
peckish=hungry
jug of water=pitcher (I knew the meaning, it's just now how we use the word "jug" to refer to something on the table)
peg=clothespin
armill=bracelet
trolley=cart (a la grocery cart)

Paris:
soldes=sale
gratuite=free
tour=tower
vous ete ici=you are here
ou est Steve=where is Steve (he tended to wander off)

Gimmelwald, Switzerland:
bach=river or creek
bio=organic
suppe=soup
see=lake
feure=fire

Venice:
saldi=sale
ingresso=entrance
casino=small house
d'ove il Steve=where is Steve
panna montata=whipped cream (rhymes with Hannah Montana, and is super fun to say with an Italian accent)

Barcelona (Catalonian Spanish):
benvenguts=welcome
rebaixes=sale
donde esta Steve=where is Steve
sortida=exit
gofres=waffles

(By the way, we honestly didn't do that much actual shopping, it's just that the word "sale" was on every single store window we passed.)

Having completed our European Sampler Platter (which was definitely what it felt like), I would say that 3 nights was about an ideal amount of time for us to get a good feel for a place. When we were only in a place 2 nights, it definitely felt like we were barely running through the place. However, now, we can all say where we might want to spend more time, and/or see next time. Personally, I'd love to go back and spend a week in Paris, and I'd like to spend more time in Italy (though I think I've seen most of what I want to see in Venice). I loved the food and the sights in Paris, and would love to see more of the surrounding area. If I went back for any length of time, I'd probably take a cooking class there. In Italy, I LOVED the language! I'd love to learn it. It sounds so cool :-) And now, good bye, in all 5 languages we took a dip in:

Cheers!
Bon voyage!
Auf wiedersehen!
Arrivaderci!
Adios!

Great Gaudi!

2010-07-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

[Note: Sorry for the delay on this post! We're home and now I finally have time to think and wrap up some loose ends.]

As we flew into Barcelona from Venice, there were many architectural landmarks pocking the cityscape. Over the course of the next several days, we had a fantastic time discovering them. We also had a spectacular time enjoying the food of Barcelona, including excellent seafood and tapas bars.During our first evening in Barcelona, we rambled Las Ramblas, a wide street with a large market-type area in the center with everything from tacky tourist things to pet birds for sale to flowers. Off to one side is the famous Boqueria meat and produce market, where we saw lots of fresh seafood and meat, gorgeous fruit stands, and fantastic arrays of olives (see Ben trying to decide?), nuts and dried fruits as well. However, since both of these places are so famous, they are also QUITE crowded. (Our hotel was just a block or two from the Boqueria, but it was far enough away to be quiet.) Once we got to the end of the Ramblas, we were basically at Barcelona's harbor and we spent a bit of time examining the boats in slips, including the racing sailboats in town for a regatta.

The next two days were mainly spent taking in one of Barcelona's main draws, the Modernista architecture that Antoni Gaudi (among others) made famous in the early 1900's. Ben and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how Gaudi apparently designed nary a straight line in his life, and took the majority of his inspiration from the waves and swirls of nature in things like the nautilus, bones, honeycombs, etc. Additionally, he was excellent at using new designs to serve a purpose that was what we would now call green or repurposing or recycling, etc. This was clear in his use of recycled glass for mosaics, and creating items that collected and reused rain water. Some of his creations that we saw included Casa Mila (La Pedrera), Casa Batllo, Park Guell (next pic), and the very famous (and very unfinished after 100 years of work) La Sagrada Familia cathedral. (Since we were in Barcelona and some of us are Olympics fiends, we did have to check out the site of the 1992 Olympics, which was pretty cool, though somewhat unused now.)Finally, we had an excellent time in Barcelona discovering the true meaning of tapas bars :-) On Sunday afternoon (when apparently nothing is open in Barcelona-seems to be true most afternoons, actually), we stumbled upon a small bar/restaurant that was open. We (and when I saw we, I mean Darla with her excellent Spanish) asked for a few plates of typical Spanish tapas. (Tapas are basically small portions of food on toothpicks, appetizer-style.) She brought us a plate of small toasted bread rounds with a bit of tomato sauce and a small square of egg/potato bake toothpicked on top, plus a plate of meat, a plate of cheese, a plate of sausages, a plate of fried fish pieces, a plate of baked sweet potatoes, and continued on until we'd told her at least 2 or 3 times we had plenty (see below). We were thrilled to discover that it was very inexpensive (1.67 euro per plate!) and that she essentially gave us a few on the house. She definitely seemed to be enjoying bringing us all kinds of new food :-) (We were all the only ones there in the middle of the afternoon :-)) One other evening we hopped back and forth between a couple of excellent tapas bars (in which you sit at/near the bar and pick however many tapas you like, and at the end they just count the toothpicks). We decided that we'd definitely have to try a tapas party when we got home :-)

Watery (and sticky) Venice

2010-07-23T14:40:00.000-07:00

While Switzerland was a cool 17 degrees during most days, Venice is a hot, humid, sticky 25 degrees. That's in Celsius for all of you across the pond :-) I actually don't know the actual temperature that it's been in Venice, but I do know that yesterday my knee caps were sweating. I often exaggerate, but in this case, I truly am not. The front. of my knees. were. sweating. Disgusting!!! Definitely 3 shower a day weather, which I know some of you are familiar with :-)

Anyway, while the weather has been less than comfortable, we've had a great time checking out all the ins and outs of Venice. While Ben was initially disgusted with the scores and scores of tourists and Steve was initially taken aback at the amount of graffiti that plaster's Venice's walls, it has since become quite the enjoyable haunt. Particularly enjoyable when one has multiple gelato/ice cream stops per day :-) (You gotta do something to beat the heat!)

There are incredible numbers of tourists at St. Mark's Square (see Steve in the Doge's Palace), but when we meandered away from the major tourist areas, we got to see a bit of what Venice is like to the remaining locals. (We weren't terribly afraid of being lost because, hey, it's an island. You can't get too lost! :-)) Additionally, since most tourists only come to Venice for a day and don't stay overnight, it is WAY more fun and local at night. One night we sat and listened to the various small musical ensembles playing on the piazza and watched older couples dance :-)

Last night, we decided we'd pay the extra and eat at the ultra-touristy restaurants right on the Grand Canal. It was totally worth it. Not only was the food great and the view spectacular, but since we were right on the water, there was a marvelous breeze blowing off the water that helped dry us out for the rest of the evening (which entailed more gelato :-)) And tonight we celebrated Steve's birthday...by continuing to eat good food and observe/take part in different cultures in Europe :-)

A few more Swiss Alps pix

2010-07-20T09:56:00.002-07:00

At the top of the Schilthorn mountain.

Gimmelwald.

A steep descent.

A true mountain lake.

Nothing beats a day in the Alps!

2010-07-19T13:02:00.000-07:00

After a LOOONG, crazy day yesterday, we hiked into Gimmelwald, Switzerland, our final destination of the day. It was a crazy journey filled with lots of trains and train stations. We started the day in Paris by walking to the bus stop and miraculously finding our way to the correct train in a gigantic train station that apparently services the entire rest of the continent. We spent a pleasant hour and a half in a nearly silent TGV (high-speed) train, which eventually deposited us in Dijon, France for a 4 hour layover. [This is already 3 modes of transport-walking, bus, train-and 1 leg of the journey.]

This was a beautiful location to have to kill some time! It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day (the previous days were all fairly cloudy, which the pictures probably gave away). So, since we had time, we stopped at the tourist office next door to the train station, grabbed a map (much to Ben's delight) and started exploring Dijon. We found a curious cathedral, beautiful Botanical gardens, and excellent little shops to supplement our lunch, which we'd gathered from local Parisian shops. Ben even found a bottle of local wine (since we were in the region of Burgundy) for us to enjoy. We ate our lunch in a shady park, explored some more, kicked back in another park, and finally got on our next train.

The rest of our trip was a blur of trains and train stations, which went as follows. From Dijon, train to Lausanne, Switzerland; from Lausanne, train to Bern; from Bern, train to Interlacken; from Interlaken, train to Lautebrunnen; from Lautebrunnen, cable car to Stechelberg; from Stechelberg, train to Murren; from Murren, we walked 30 minutes to Gimmelwald. More direct routes DO exist, but because a series of circumstances that we were confused about, this was the route we ended up having to take. But, it worked :-) However, the last several trips were all couched in unbelievable beautiful scenery, in the middle of which we are now residing.

Today, we took a cable car to the top of the Schilthorn, a 10,000 ft peak in the Alps, where one of the Bond movies was actually filmed (the restaurant at the top was the bad guy's evil lair :-)). We had amazing views and pictures. Afterward, we took the cable car down one more town, and then hiked the rest of the way back down to Gimmelwald. This sounds like it might be easy, only going down, but our legs are definitely tired!
For a quick introduction to Gimmelwald, it is a tiny town of a little over a 100, nestled in the Alps. It is almost entirely a farming community, and all the buildings are made completely of wood (walls, ceiling, everything). Everywhere you go, you can hear cows mooing and their cow bells ringing. There are a few B&Bs, but that's about it. Today we bought Alpcheese. We couldn't go till later in the evening when the farmer was home from making hay, and then we rang his home doorbell. He put his boots on, came out, and let us into the cheese hut. It was very cool :-) Anyway, that's just a bit about our time in Switzerland. One more full day here, and then on Wednesday morning, it's on to Venice!

Ah Paris, you had me at pain chocolat

2010-07-19T12:19:00.000-07:00

[Sorry, some of you may have read this already, but I had misposted it, so I fixed it now.]

When we got to Paris on Thursday, for some of us, (Darla mainly), this was the first experience having NO understanding of the language, which tends to be rather unnerving. After straightening out some confusion with train tickets for the next leg of the trip, we tracked down our hotel. After a quick scamper up the 6 spiral flights of stairs, (more of a winded, sweaty, stomping up the stairs), we dumped our stuff and prepared for a day in Paris! It was at this point that it became blatantly clear that 2 years of mandatory language study (like Ben's French) are apparently worthless. No idea how to pronounce words, letters, nothing. Oh well.

First and foremost we went to get Paris Museum passes, in order to avoid lines and save money. Since we happened to wander past it first, we checked out Sainte-Chapelle, an AMAZING set of stained glass windows in a small chapel that tell the story of the entire bible up to Jesus death. After grabbing a quick sandwich for lunch, we wandered up to the Champs-Elysses, past the Louvre (I know, I know, we're uncultured. None of us are particularly interested in that era of art) and enjoyed a respite sitting by a fountain in the Tuileries gardens.
As we wandered our way to the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs-Elysee, it was clear that there had been some large event there, which was being cleaned up (bleachers, streets blocked off, etc.) and then realized that the Tour de France had just ended at that location, days earlier. After window shopping at the high end places (like the flagship Louis Vuitton store), we climbed a never-ending spiral staircase to the top of the Arc, which had beautiful views of the city and the Eiffel Tower. When we came down, we watched in amazement as nobody was killed in the crazy traffic circle around the Arc, in which 12 streets all come into one gigantic, insane traffic circle.

Finally, we decided it was time to examine the Eiffel Tower in detail. When we got there, we decided to eat a lovely French supper overlooking the Eiffel Tower until twlight fell, and watch the tower light up and then climb it. In actuality, the sun doesn't set in Paris until like 10:00 PM, so we had things like goat cheese, quiche, and duck for supper overlooking the tower, and then realized itwas going to be at LEAST another hour and a half before it got dark. Hence, we just decided to start climbing, which ended up being cool, because we were on it right at sunset. We could only climb up to the 2nd floor, but it was amazing, nonetheless, especially lit up at night. The best part was that it lit up and had flashing strobe lights at the top of every hour, which was absolutely breath-taking from outside the tower, as the whole thing basically appeared to be sparkling. Even though it was packed with tourists and people selling crap, it was absolutely, 100% worth it :-) [In case you're wondering about my post title, pain chocolat is literally bread and chocolate but it's actually a layer of chocolate rolled into a fresh croissant- it's amazing!]

Lots of new experiences!

2010-07-17T00:29:00.001-07:00

Here we are, taking it all in in Europe. We landed without creating any international incidents in London and then proceeded to see a good portion of the classic landmarks. The first day, we met a cousin of my dad's at a pizza place and had a marvelous time. It turns out that uncoordination runs in the larger family as a whole! Then we headed out on a walk on the south bank of the Thames to see the London Eye, Big Ben, and the houses of Parliament, which are amazingly complex. This was definitely a great, "Pinch me, I'm in Europe!" moment :-)The next day, we were up earlyish to enjoy a full English breakfast at St. Athans Hotel where we were staying. This turned out to include coffea/tea/hot chocolate, toast/jam, beans, bacon, eggs, sausage, and stewed tomatoes. Darla loved it! Next we headed to the Tower of London so the boys could ooh and ahh over the moats, drawbridges, etc. After tracking down a cell phone store for the boys to get European SIM cards so we could avoid roaming charges, we walked (that's the theme of our lives so far) to the Tate Modern where we appreciated lots of 20th century art and sculpture, including Picasso, Warhol, etc.

Since we knew that London had obviously been blitzed during WWII, but essentially knew nothing about that side of history, we went to the Cabinet War Rooms, part of the Imperial War Museum. This was a fascinating underground bunker where the brains of the British war, Winston Churchill mapped, planned, and strategized. Most of it has been recreated to look exactly as it did in August 1945, when the lights were shut off for the first time in five years. (There were also the obligatory somewhat scary mannequins that always scare me.)

Finally, after a quick look at 10 Downing Street (home of the Prime Minister) we met at Trafalgar Square (crowds of people, hordes of pigeons :-)), we checked out the scene at Covent Garden, a quaint shopping/theater section of town. After poking about for a bit, we found a yummy Indian restaurant and enjoyed. To cap the day off, we went to a pub near our hotel and

tried pints on tap. We crashed at the hotel and packed up for our trip to Paris the next day. While it was a crazy busy pace, we saw a good amount, and fully enjoyed the experience :-)

Off on a wing and a prayer!

2010-07-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

You may notice the old blog has a spruced up appearance, because very soon, we will be winging our way to Europe! We leave on Tuesday evening and are SO excited. Our travel partners (and guest bloggers, though they don't know it yet ;-)) are Steve and Darla Schrock. [The first picture is us trying to find cheap plane tickets, and the second is Steve and Darla dressed as each other for Halloween :-).]

Half the fun is waiting and planning :-) We decided that even though we'd definitely take a free trip to Europe leaving the next day, it would still be a little disappointing, because you wouldn't have the waiting excitement :-) While this is not an ideal time to be leaving the country (weak dollar, I'm job hunting, Darla and I are/were students, etc.), we had been talking about taking this trip for EVER. So, we decided last summer that now is the time. If we don't do it now, who knows how many other reasons we'll come up with for not going.

So, after much planning (through all things Rick Steves -public radio/TV travel guru), discussion, and homemade ice cream, we are getting the final details ready for our adventure. One of those details includes letting our friends and family know they can follow our journey through Europe with 1) the itinerary below, 2) this blog (where I'm thinking we'll rotate who posts each day), and 3) our pictures on Steve's Picasa album. [You will need to have a free Google OR Gmail account to view them though... Sorry.] We'll likely post 1 or 2 photo highlights from the day on the blog as well.

So here we go!

Schrock-Shetler European Sampler Platter Itinerary

July 13 (Tues) - Depart PHX at 7:25 PM, British Air
July 14 (Wed) - Arrive London 1:10 pm local
July 15 (Thurs) - London
July 16 (Fri) - London-->Paris
July 17 (Sat) - Paris
July 18 (Sun) - Paris-->Interlaken, Switzerland-->Gimmelwald, Switzerland
July 19 (Mon) - Gimmelwald, Switzerland
July 20 (Tues) - Gimmelwald, Switzerland
July 21 (Wed) -Gimmelwald, Switzerland-->Interlaken, Switzerland-->Venice
July 22 (Thurs) - Venice
July 23 (Fri) - Venice
July 24 (Sat) - Venice-->Barcelona
July 25 (Sun) - Barcelona
July 26 (Mon) - Barcelona
July 27 (Tues) - Depart Barcelona 11AM, British Air Flight 479 to London. Depart London 2:35 PM on British Air 289, arrive at PHX 5:10 PM.

Super Summer Salad Dressing

2010-07-05T21:12:00.000-07:00

Since it's summer, here in the super-crazy-beastly hot Valley of the Sun, I aim to make cool foods. (Also because my ridiculous gas oven pours heat out as if it were trying to boil me alive in my own house--and this before I even open the oven door.) Tonight, I decided to try a dressing recipe from a Taste of Home cookbook (always fantastic) that I got from my Grandma Harder for Christmas. If you are not familiar with Taste of Home, get familiar. I love these cookbooks.

Pretty much all of the salad dressings I prefer are mayonnaise-based. I have a GIANT ranch tooth and when I want to pretend I'm eating healthy, I have a salad with fruit on it and poppy seed dressing. (I'm not a big oil and vinegar type fan.) However, today, I discovered that there actually are some healthier, yummier salad dressings out there :-) This dressing made me eat more salad for dessert. Try it out!

[I'm writing this recipe as I made it, with other possible options.]

Stawberry Salad Dressing with Spinach Salad

6-8 large frozen strawberries, thawed
1/4 c. water
1 1/2 T. apple cider vinegar (or other sweet/mild vinegar)
1 T. honey
1 t. vegetable oil
1/2 t. soy sauce
1/8 t. salt
1/8 t. dried thyme or 1/4 t. fresh thyme
1/8 t. pepper
1 bunch spinach or lettuce, chopped
1/3 c. sunflower seeds (or other chopped/roasted nuts)
1/2 c. dried cranberries (or other dried or fresh fruit)
Blend first 9 ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth. Combine salad ingredients and serve with dressing.

Yield: approx. 1 1/2 c. dressing

(By the way, you should also try this Rhubarb Cake with Vanilla Sauce recipe, that I made with rhubarb Grandma sent me :-))

Goat cheese makes everything better :-)

2010-07-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

Things I love: cheese. It's fantastically salty and yummy and makes everything better. Things I don't love: cheese product (a.k.a Velveeta. I do harbor a guilty pleasure though for Cheez Whiz and cheez in a can :-)) As a kid, I'd spend hours reading on our greenish recliner eating Ritz crackers and Land O'Lakes cheese. My grandma still gives me Land O'Lakes cheese for Christmas (at my request!) My sister recently introduced me to the goodness of the tiny little soft cheese wheels, which accompanied me on many lunches to school. And my new favorite is goat cheese. Feta cheese it good and super tangy, but goat cheese is so smooth and just a little salty. On a recent trip to Vegas (see pic below), I had a FABULOUS pizza that I'm going to try this week with just thin crust, pizza sauce, sweet onion slices, a little bit of sausage and goat cheese. It was amazing!

Recently, I discovered that goat cheese, which is generally fairly expensive is definitely cheaper at Costco in bulk. So I got some and have been enjoying it in lots of fun recipes. This last week, I attempted a Goat Cheese Souffle with Thyme, which I thought was awesome. Ben informed me that he's pretty sure he doesn't like anything with cooked eggs (souffle, quiche, egg bake, etc.) Either way, I thought it was yummy (and pretty!). It's from my favorite "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone" cookbook.

Goat Cheese Souffle with Thyme

Butter/2 T. Parmesan Cheese
1 1/4 c. milk or cream
1 bay leaf, several thyme sprigs, 2 thin onion slices
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
salt and pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper
4 egg yolks
1 c. crumbled goat cheese (4 oz)
6 egg whitesseveral thyme sprigs (leaves only)

1. Preheat oven to 400. Butter a 2 qt dish and coat with Parmesan cheese. Heat the milk with the aromatics until it boils. Set it aside to steep for 15 minutes, then strain.

2. Melt the butter in a saucepan. When foamy, stir in the flour and cook over low heat for several minutes. Whisk in the milk all at once and stir for a minute or so as it thickens. Then add 3/4 t. salt, pepper, and cayenne. Remove from heat. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time until well blended, then stir in the cheese. Don't worry about getting it too smooth.
3. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they form firm peaks, then stir a quarter of them into the base to lighten the mixture. Fold in the rest, transfer to the prepared dish, then put in the center of the oven and lower the heat to 375. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and just a bit wobbly in the center. Remove, scatter thyme over the top and serve immediately.

Cinnamon makes everything better!

2010-06-21T20:00:00.000-07:00

When I think of cinnamon, I think of my dad. Growing up, we never had a large enough container of cinnamon sugar to suit him. One time, mom had him stop at the food co-op to get some things, including cinnamon. He came home with a seemingly giant bag of cinnamon. (Maybe it wasn't that big, but it seemed big at the time. Mom has reminded me that I occasionally exaggerate my childhood :-).) He said that the woman who had scooped it out for him asked if it was enough, to which he said, "More!" She scooped some more in, and asked if it was enough, and he said, "More!" And so on. Or so the story goes, according to dad :-)

So anyway, in honor of dad on Father's Day, Ben's dad and a few others came over for dinner. I made a lentil curry to go over this fantastic Coconut Rice, from the classic More With Less cookbook (also home to my favorite Oatmeal Bread recipe). Hope you like it!

Coconut Rice

2 T. oil or butter
1/2 c. chopped onion
2-3 whole cloves (or 1/4 tsp. ground cloves)
2-3 cinnamon sticks
2-3 bay leaves
1/4 t. turmeric
1/4 t. salt
1 c. rice
2 c. coconut milk (1 can)Heat oil in saucepan. Add onion, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaves. Fry until onions are lightly browned. Add turmeric and salt. Fry a few seconds. Add rice and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and cook for 30 minutes, or until rice is cooked. If desired, whole spices may be removed before serving. Optional: add raisins, cashews or walnuts after rice is cooked.

Note: I found canned coconut milk in the Asian food section and it wasn't too expensive.

Then, in the evening on Father's Day we went rock climbing, as pictured below :-) It turns out to be a lot of fun! I'd highly recommend it! Everyone who did it, loved it, from ages 10-58. :-)

I thought this was a joke...

2010-06-21T19:57:00.001-07:00

I thought this was a joke from SNL, but this is actually real. Jean diapers. So funny :-)

Deep-Dish Focaccia

2010-06-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Since school is FINALLY over (180 days have never taken so long!!), I've had lots of time to bake, especially things that take ages to make. So, this week, I decided to make a focaccia recipe I have that rises 3 times! It's so thick, but SOOO good. I haven't tried it, but it'd probably make an incredible sandwich or pizza.

I got the recipe from a pizza cookbook that I gave to my brother and sister-in-law, which I can't remember the name of, unfortunately, but the deep-pan focaccia is fantastic! Make this when you'll be around the house for a while. I should say that I "dumbed down" the ingredients for the standard home cook (read: non-pastry chef). [I'll put up pictures that I took as soon as I find the cable to connect the camera and computer!!]

Deep Pan Focaccia

6 1/3 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1 pkg yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
2/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 3/4 to 2 c. warm water
sea salt
fresh rosemary sprigs (optional)

Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add yeast. Pour in 6 T. olive oil, then rub in the yeast until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Pour in the warm water and mix together with your hands until the dough comes together.

Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. The dough should be very soft (almost too soft to handle) but don't worry about it too much at this stage.

Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Uncover the dough, punch out the air and divide into 2. Shape each piece into a round ball on a lightly floured surface and roll out 2 10 inch circles and place in lightly oiled 10 inch cake, pie or pizza pans. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and let rise for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400.

After the second rising, dimple dough with fingers. Drizzle with olive oil. Top with rosemary and salt. Cover and let rise again for 30 minutes.

Spray the focaccias with water and bake for 20-25 minutes until rise and golden. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil, then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Eat on the same day or let cool, then wrap up and freeze.

To reheat: thaw, and then wrap in aluminum foil and reheat in hot oven for 5 minutes.

Push!!

2010-06-05T09:43:00.000-07:00

Check out this commercial my awesome sister was in recently! One look at this, and you can see why she just got into the American Music and Dance Academy in New York City!

Doesn't Bacon Make Everyone Happy?

2010-05-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday evening, my husband called from his afternoon meeting and explained that he was bringing home his meeting-mates for dinner and that one person would be staying overnight. Oddly enough, I am one of those strange people who enjoy cooking for others AND I don't generally care about the overall impression. This means I'm very adaptable, but meals can be hit or miss :-) Hence, my menu ended up being a little...unique, but it was workable.

I made a vegetable curry from the Everyday Food magazine (which I realized after the fact did not have any actual curry in it). This was a partially embarrassing thing since one of the guests was born and raised in India. It tasted alright, but wasn't anything special. Along with the dish masquerading as curry was homemade bread and jam, as usual (I love my freezer!) and a BLT salad that turned out to be the star of the meal! It was tasty, quick (from Taste of Home's Quick Cooking magazine), and tasted like the real deal :-) Enjoy this yummy summer dish. (Again, lucky for my freezer, I had a yummy Grapefruit Berry Sorbet in the freezer for dessert.)

BLT Salad

4 bacon strips, diced
4 cups spring mix salad greens
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 cup cubed cheddar cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup salad croutons

In a skillet or microwave, cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels. In a salad bowl, combine the greens, tomato and cheese. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour over salad; toss to coat. Sprinkle with bacon and croutons. Yield: 4 servings.

Side note: The overnight guest (an older Mennonite gentleman) informed me that he could tell I grew up on the farm because I had a guest room already ready to go, I knew how to "deal with" 4-5 dozen peaches (make jam, preserve, etc.), and I was so willing to be hospitable and host him. :-) Not sure how that makes me a farm girl, but I'll take a compliment, either way :-) Thanks for setting a good example, Mom!

Peachy Keen Peaches 'n' Cream

2010-05-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

As I may have mentioned before, when I was growing up, every summer contained a particular day of joy. It involved lots of ice cream pails, but no ice cream :-) It was strawberry-picking day, at a u-pick farm nearby. First, came the pain: getting up before 6 on a summer morning, so we could be there when the farm opened, as early in the season as possible. Then, when we were trucked out to our very own back-bending row, Mom and hungry children each took our requisite set of ice cream pails (the hefty 5 quart ones, not the cheater 4 quart-ers) and started digging through the shin-high green to discover ripe, juicy, glistening strawberries hiding underneath.

When at least 10-12 ice cream buckets were filled, we took them back to be weighed. (luckily they didn't weigh US before and after!) I was always impressed with my mom's patented method of carrying so many buckets: putting them on the handle of a hoe or rake and carrying 6-8 at a time. Then, we'd get home, and spend the rest of the day rinsing and hulling berries to make at least one strawberry pie, strawberry ice cream topping, a seemingly endless supply of strawberry jam for the year, and any other strawberry product we could think of. The following week was hence known as "The Week of the Strawberry" in which strawberries were inserted into every possible dish possible. In other words, a week of heaven :-)

Though I have looked high and low, no such strawberry-picking venue exists in Arizona, as near as I can tell. While I try to make do with making jam with store strawberries, it's not the same. However, I do have the luxury of having a u-pick peach/apricot farm about 60 miles away. It's a long drive, but it's totally worth it. The heavenly scent of peaches heavy in the air, and children running around with peach juice dripping sweetly down their chins (and mine) are a lovely setting. Therefore, every year I come home with at least 20 pounds of peaches and freeze them for smoothies, pie, and of course, jam. After some...less than ideal peach jam attempts in the past, I was thrilled to make an excellent jam this year. My next peach dish was an excellent version of peaches and cream from Allrecipes. (That's also where the photo is from.) Hopefully, you have some peaches around to try this simple, yummy dessert.

Grilled Peaches & Cream

4 peaches, halved and pitted
1 T. vegetable oil
1 c. soft cream cheese with honey and nuts (or mix plain cream cheese with 2-3 T. honey, and 1/4 c. chopped nuts)
2 T. honey

Preheat a grill to medium-high heat. Brush cut side of peaches with a light coating of vegetable oil. Grill them, cut side down, for 5 minutes, or until peaches have nice grill marks. Flip peaches over and place a dollop of cream cheese in the center hole of each peach. Grill for 2-3 minutes more (cut side up) until cream cheese is warm. Serve on a plate. Drizzle honey on peaches and plate and sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.

Lovin' Luscious Lemon

2010-05-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

The other night, when supper group was at my house, I was going to make caramel flan for Marilyn for mother's day, since I know she loves flan. So, since it had to chill overnight, I started on it the night before. The first step was to melt 1/2 cup of sugar on the stove. I followed the directions exactly, and by the time I put it in the dish, it was a block of sugar, which I then had to pick-axe out. I thought, well, I must have done something wrong and tried again.

After chipping the second brick of sugar out of the dish, I decided to bail and do something different, so I made Lemon Pudding Souffles. It turns out that they are a fantastic use of extra lemons. :-) I made the recipe exactly as stated below, except I multiplied it by 6, since I was cooking for 12 people. (However, that much made approximately 16 servings, for the record.) These are excellent straight out of the oven or cold.

Lemon Pudding Souffles
Yield: 2-3 servings

1 egg, separated
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. milk
1 T. butter, melted
1 T. flour
dash of salt
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. lemon peel, grated

In a small mixing bowl, beat egg yolk until slightly thickened. Gradually add sugar, beating until thick and lemon-colored. Beat in the milk, butter, flour, and salt. Stir in lemon juice and peel.

In a small mixing bowl, beat egg white until stiff peaks form. With a spatula, stir a fourth of the egg white into lemon mixture until no white streaks remain. Fold in remaining egg white until combined.

Divide between two ungreased 6-oz ramekins or custard cups. Place in an 8 in. square baking dish; add 1 in. of hot water to the square dish.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until tops are golden brown. If desired, sprinkle with coarse sugar and garnish with mint and/or pansies. Serve immediately.

Layers of Fun

2010-05-08T20:24:00.000-07:00

Recently, my friend Liz (an excellent caterer) threw her hands up in despair upon discovering that her 5 year old had pulled a cake for catering off the table an hour before the event. As Liz was explaining this to me, she said, "It's a sign! I'm not supposed to be doing dessert! I just need to have someone else do it for me." Being the baker that I am, I volunteered. Liz, knowing sloppy me as well as she does, said "Yes, but could you do the decorating?"

This is the million dollar question. On more than one occasion I have noted my absolute carelessness in appearance of food, because my goal is solely for it to taste good. Whereas my sister will spend time arranging each leaf and element of a salad on a plate, I simply mix it all together and let people serve themselves. All this to say that Liz brought up a valid point. (My last layer cake decorating event was disastrous, at best.) So, after a moment of thought, I said, "Yes, I think I could do the decorating; I'd just have to take time to practice or maybe even take a class."

Hence, this weekend, I borrowed Liz's cake decorating items and set off to make a cake. Additionally, I had my mentee, Kayla, join me in this adventure since she loves to watch the cake decorating shows on the Food Network. After debating between chocolate cake, caramel cake, or white raspberry cake, we decided on the Raspberry-Laced Vanilla Cake on the back of the cake flour box. It was to be a 3 layer cake, with each layer split in half (to make 6 layers) with frosting and raspberry jam alternating between the layers.

After the cakes had finally cooled (I tried very hard not to cheat on this part-I'm very impatient), we cut off the tops to make them level, and then split each layer in half. This was challenging, but doable. The hard part was moving them from the rack to the cake plate, since some weren't cut particularly evenly, and one of them had been nibbled on by a certain white fluffy dog who shall remain nameless. But, after a bit of maneuvering and a fair amount of crumb-making, we succeeded.The next issue was trying to decide what to do since I had two 8 in. round pans and one 9 in. pan. After a bit of hemming and hawing, we just sliced off the extra inch when all the layers were assembled. (See first picture.)

Next came the frosting. We took our apparent gallons of pink buttercream frosting, and started slathering it on. Then we had to decide how to frost it. We had Liz's cake decorating nozzles, which worked great on a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. However, it took some practicing on various flat surfaces to get the decor to appear marginally presentable. When all was said and done though, I thought it turned out quite well. It's not professional by any stretch of the imagination, but it was definitely presentable. It's still not something I'd do for my own dinners, but for catering, I could probably arrange it :-) Who knows? Maybe there's hope for me, after all!

Simple, Speedy, and Sensational!

2010-05-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

Since I've finished all my master's coursework (graduating on Friday, YAY!!!), I've decided its time to start having people over for supper again! So, on Friday, I had a few friends and family over for a quasi-Thai meal. It turned out to be a super-quick, tasty meal, so I thought I'd share.

The entree/main dish (which based on my prep for our time in France, actually means first course, not main dish) was a Vegetable Pad Thai from the newest Everyday Food magazine (probably my last issue, since I think my subscription just ran out). I also made an Asian tossed salad, and rounded it all out with carrots and celery, the standard homemade bread and jam (I know, not Asian, but it's my staple at dinner parties) and the classic chocolate zucchini cake. For those of you with tender palates, the most spicy item in the pad thai is soy sauce, so it's definitely accessible to all. (Also, it's gluten-free, and could even be vegan!) In the salad, I used lettuce, cubed oranges, green onion, ramen, and an Asian dressing, which was quite tasty!

Vegetable Pad Thai

8 oz dried rice noodles (or any noodles)

2 T. brown sugar

2 T. lime juice

3 T. soy sauce

2 t. vegetable oil

3 green onions, whites only

1 garlic clove, minced

2 large eggs, lightly beaten (optional)

½ c. fresh cilantro, chopped

¼ c. roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

1. Soak noodles according to package directions. Drain. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lime juice and soy sauce. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add green onion whites and garlic and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant; 30 seconds. Add eggs (if using), and scramble until almost set; about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate. Add noodles and soy sauce mixture to skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, until noodles are soft and sauce is warm; about 1 minute. Add egg mixture and stir in, gently breaking up chunks. Serve noodles with wedges of fresh lime, cilantro and chopped peanuts.

NOTE: Any noodles would work with this. You could also easily add chicken or turkey to make this more hearty.

Grrreat Granola!

2010-04-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

Man, it has been a loooong semester! I've been so busy with my final semester of master's classes and trying not to wring any necks at school, that I haven't been able to focus long enough to write consistently on my blog. But, as of now, that's changing. I'm going to be writing at least once a week. Since I now have time to enjoy cooking/baking again and am in the midst of planning BESPTE (Best Europe Sampler Platter Trip Ever), I should have plenty to write about :-)

For this week's post, I must write about the only thing that I have made more than once in the past 2 weeks: granola. While some people only eat breakfast that has a super-excited Tiger on the front of the box, I LOVE to make granola. While it can be a bit expensive, it lasts for a long time, especially it you eat it on yogurt or added to cornflakes with Craisins. I frequently make my mom's recipe for granola, but I found this recipe recently and find it to be a nice change of pace. I found the recipe in the Sunflower Market magazine, which they give away at the store.

Coconut Almond Crunch Granola

8 c. rolled oats
1 c. sliced almonds
3/4 c. shredded coconut
1/2 c. sesame seeds
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
3/4 c. maple syrup
1/2 c. oil
1/4 c. honey
1 T. molasses
1 T. vanilla
2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt

1. Preheat oven to 325. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and toss together until evenly combined.
2. On 2 greased baking sheets, spread granola mixture in a 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick layer. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes until golden brown.

NOTE: I used an extra 1/2 c. sunflower seeds and 1/2 c. chopped pecans instead of the pumpkin and sesame seeds, and dark corn syrup instead of molasses.

The tastes of summer

2010-04-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

When I plan a menu for the week, I grab paper, grocery list, and one or two cookbooks that I didn't use last week. This means I make sure I use all of them eventually, AND I actually know what's inside of them. (Too often, I think people buy cookbooks that sound good, and then continue to use the same two or three that they've always used, and the new ones continue to stack up.) This practice also feeds my "new recipe" addiction. One time, when I realized I'd made all of the recipes I wanted to try out of a particular cookbook, I was far less excited about using it, because then everything I made from it wouldn't have the potential of being a new, surprising kitchen victory (or disastrous kitchen failure) :-)

All of this to say that when I actually do make something more than once, it is because it is REALLY good. When I planned last week's menu, out of the blue, I decided that I really wanted the Tomato Goat Cheese Pie from the Simply in Season cookbook (one of my favorites). As I made and ate it this evening, I was SO glad I remembered this recipe :-) The goat cheese along with the tomatoes is to die for! Give it a shot!

Plum Tomato Goat Cheese Pie

1 1/2 c. flour or whole wheat pastry flour
7 T. butter, chilled
1/3 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
3-4 T. water
1/2 t. salt
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
3 T. dried bread crumbs
2 lb. fresh plum tomatoes or 5 Roma tomatoes, sliced
4 oz. goat or feta cheese
2-4 T. olive oil
fresh fresh basil leaves

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut flour and butter together until crumbly. Add cheese, water, and salt to the dough until it comes together, adding more water if necessary. Turn it onto a floured surface, and quickly bring together into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll out pastry on lightly floured surface into a circle about 15 in. in diameter. Wrap pastry around rolling pin and carefully lift on a greased baking sheet.

Brush most of the egg yolk over the pastry. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top, then arrange the tomato slices so they overlap in a circle, leaving a wide border. Scatter goat cheese over tomatoes. Turn edge of pastry in over tomato filling and brush with remaining egg yolk (mix with a little milk if there's not enough egg left). Bake until pastry is golden, 30 minutes.

Remove pie from the oven and drizzle with olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper. Scatter basil leaves on top of pie and serve.

Serves 2-4.

New Cookbook = Happy Tummy!

2010-03-09T17:30:00.000-08:00

Wow, I have had SO much fun using the new cookbook I got for Christmas! It's called Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and has SO much good stuff in it! (And no, I'm still not vegetarian, I'm just generally too cheap to buy much meat.) I'm actually not as big a fan of the main dishes, but it has a whole central section that lists each vegetable, descriptions of how to cook it, several recipes with it, and then it lists various sauces, toppings, etc. that the vegetable is good with (which are listed in a different section of the book). This is amazingly helpful for me with side dishes, since I generally have no ideas for side dishes. (I'm usually too focused on the main dish and dessert :-))

An example of the above (this type of list is given for practically every veggie you can think of):

"Good partners for summer squash:
-olive oil, butter, yogurt, parmesan, gruyere, goat cheese, garlic, parsley, basil, marjoram, thyme, dill, mint, lemon, walnuts, pine nuts, tomatoes, corn, peppers, eggplant, chiles"

"Sauces and seasonings for summer squash: (there are recipes available for all of the below in the book)
-Olive Rosemary Butter, Salsa Verde, Chermoula, Cilantro Salsa, Pesto, Parsley-Caper Sauce, Lemon Vinaigrette, Yogurt Sauces (with cayenne and dill, with tahini, with cucumber and spices, with mint, etc.) Walnut Sauce, Fresh Tomato Sauce, Tarator Sauce

So, when my sister visited last week, we tried out one of the 700+ pages of recipes last week. We had a marvelous time, and were thrilled at the yumminess of this corny, quinoa-y, side dish :-)

Quinoa and Fresh Corn with Scallions

2 c. sweet corn
2 c. broth (any kind)
1 c. quinoa, uncooked
salt and pepper
1 T. butter or oil
1/2 c. scallions
1/3 c. crumbled feta cheese or cheddar cheese

Boil the broth, then add the quinoa, and 1/2 t. salt. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Melt the butter in a small skillet, add the scallions, and corn, and cook over medium-high heat until the scallions are bright green, about 3 minutes. Toss them with the quinoa. Season with pepper and serve, garnished with the crumbled cheese.

Happy Birthday to me :-)

2010-03-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a crazy semester and I've barely had time to write any new blog posts! This is really too bad, because I do find that I enjoy processing things in writing. And nope, I don't journal. It's hard for me to do if no one is going to read it :-) Not sure what that says about me...

Anyway, here is one of my favorite recipes from the last several weeks. It was the birthday "cake" I made for myself when supper group was here the day before my birthday. Since my favorite cake is German Chocolate cake, I found this variation that sounded tasty, and turned out to be to die for! (And yes, the picture came right off the Betty Crocker website where the recipe came from :-))

German Chocolate Bars

2/3 c. butter, softened

1 box German Chocolate cake mix

1 c. chocolate chips

1 container coconut pecan frosting

1/4 c. milk

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 pan. In medium bowl, cut butter into cake mix, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Press half of mixture (2 1/2 cups) in bottom of pan.

2. Bake 10 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked layer. Drop frosting by tablespoonfuls over chocolate chips. Stir milk into remaining cake mixture. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto frosting layer.

3. Bake 24-28 minutes or until cake mixture is slightly dry to touch. Cool completely. Refrigerate until firm.

Yield: 24-36 bars.

The Gift of Time

2010-01-31T17:14:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, I decided to take the advice I had heard that experiences are more meaningful than things as gifts. Since I still needed gifts for the girls on my side of the family, I was trying to think of an experience that we could all enjoy together (and that was not a million dollars). Since Christmas for us happens in small town MN where blizzards are prone to strike at any moment, I knew that going anywhere was out of the question. Hence, it had to be something that was doable at home.

As I pondered things we might all enjoy doing together at home for not a lot of money, I realized that we were all pretty creative people. We've all spent time here and there making cards of various sorts, being creative in our cooking, engaged in fine arts, etc. That being the case, I decided that maybe we should attempt scrapbooking. To accomplish this, I covered my bases by guaranteeing that everyone would be home and have one day free during the Christmas break. (Easier said than done.) I knew my mom and my sister-in-law had a good chunk of supplies that would be helpful, so I made sure those supplies would also be in the house at the time. Then, I got to do the fun part. I took the money that I normally would have spent on the girls and bought scrapbooking supplies (the actual book, stickers, ribbons, embellishments, etc.)

The more I thought about this adventure though, the more it occurred to me that if I was going to do scrapbooking, I needed to have some kind of focus, so I decided that it'd be cool to do a scrapbook centering on photos of people in the kitchen and family recipes. First, I managed to find a library book about recipe-centered scrapbooking just to get us started. Then, when I was at home, Mom and I went through scores of old pictures and albums looking for pictures of people eating, cooking, or in places where we could associate a recipe with it. Then, we started tracking down recipes, and away we went. And for the final touch, we had the boys cook lunch for us while we were working!

When the day came, we spent a good chunk of hours making pages, as documented in the photos below. It was more challenging for some of us than others, but we all contributed to the album, and enjoyed spending time together. Lots of memories were made :-) Oh, and we also plan on adding to it at future Christmases as well. The gift that keeps on giving :-)

So, having now had experience with giving experiences, I would highly recommend it. :-)

New posts and old posts

2010-01-31T14:28:00.001-08:00

In case you're out of hobbies and don't know what to do with your time (like me, ha ha!), try this one on for size :-)

As often happens (ok, it's not that often), I clean off my desk and purge my drawers in an effort to feel less clogged with meaningless junk. (It's amazing how much I can throw out when I get right down to it.) Over Christmas, I found the pack of postcards that I've been adding to and digging around in the last 10 years of my life.

Collecting postcards is a bit of a hobby for me. There are 3 kinds that I "collect." The first are the kind that people send me from other places. As I skimmed through the bundle of postcards from other people, I was touched at the number of people that have sent me postcards from various places over the years (particularly my lovely little sister, among others :-)). I was also thrilled to discover a good number from my handsome husband, which were so sweet!

The other 2 kinds of postcards I collect are postcards I buy. Whenever I go somewhere, I always buy 2 postcards. One to send to someone and one to keep. By getting one to send to someone, I am forced to write someone snail mail, but it can't be long and drawn out, because it's a postcard! So, it basically forces me to keep in touch :-) (However, as I went through my postcards, I found QUITE a few that had never been written on, so maybe my system doesn't work as well as I thought :-))

The postcards that I buy and keep are to have memories of the place that are far better photographs than I could ever take, and they are micro-diaries of my adventures in that place. For instance, the back for a postcard from our trip to Philadelphia this summer gave the date and read something about our good times trying to get Dad to try new foods (and keep his voice down), touring a ship, and playing Settlers of Catan in the hotel room. As I put these into a photo album yesterday, I was so happy that I had all these memories collected in one place. AND, I am super-excited to get even more postcards and adventures this summer as Ben and I and our friends Steve and Darla Shrock head to Europe for 2 weeks!

Hence, if you're in need of a new hobby, try collecting postcards from your adventures and briefly documenting the events of that time. Along with regular photographs, they are great ways of remembering eventful times in your life! :-)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T10:03:00.001-08:00

For your viewing pleasure, a little musical Christmas card :-)

Yummy Greek Chicken!

2009-11-30T17:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes recipes sound good on paper, but when you actually make it, it gets an "eh" at best. Sometimes they look boring on paper, but turn out awesome! (That's a pleasant surprise :-))
But then sometimes, the stars align and it looks just as good as it tastes. Try this one out :-)

Chicken, Lemon, and Dill with Orzo

4 c. chicken broth
3/4 c. water
1 T. butter
1 1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 lb chicken, diced
1 lb. orzo
2 c. crumbled feta or goat cheese (4 oz.)
1/4 c. coarsely chopped fresh dill
2 t. lemon zest
1 T. lemon juice
1 c. grated Parmesan (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a saucepan, bring broth, water, butter, salt, pepper. In a 9x13 pan, combine chicken, orzo, feta, dill, lemon zest and juice. Pour broth mixture over orzo and stir once to incorporate. bake until orzo is tender and cooking liquid is creamy, 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

from Everyday Food Magazine

Hot drinks, anyone?

2009-11-25T15:12:00.001-08:00

After Rezzie ate what remained of my hot chocolate mix and spiced tea mix (I have a bright orange carpet stain to prove it), and the nighttime temps finally dropped into the 40's, I had to make more. Since I firmly believe my hot chocolate recipe is the best ever, (from my home away from home, Swan Lake Christian Camp) I'm sharing it here:
SLCC Hot Chocolate Mix
This makes a TON, as is appropriate for a camp. I usually half it. Below is the original recipe.

2 lb. Nestle's Quick
2 lb. powdered sugar
2 c. non-dairy creamer
8 c. powdered milk
2 pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix

Use about 1/4 cup per mug of hot water.

Spiced Tea Mix
I've heard this recipe go by everything from the above to Russian Tea, to Friendship Tea, and I'm sure there are more names...

1 pkg sweetened lemonade mix (3 oz) or enough mix to make one quart of lemonade
1 c. Tang
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. instant tea
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. cloves

Use about 1 T. of mix to a mug of hot water.

A few of my favorite things...

2009-10-22T19:39:00.000-07:00

For no particular reason, I felt the need to share some of my favorite things. :-)

1. On the rare occasion that I have time to read, some of my favorite books are ones that present normal ideas in a different light. One example is from Outliers, in which the author explains why professional hockey players in Canada all tend to have January/February birthdays. The reason that author Malcolm Gladwell noticed was because children's hockey leagues' age cutoffs are in December. Hence, the oldest, most developed children are the ones with Jan/Feb birthdays. Each chapter follows a different phenomenon. All of Gladwell's books follow similar topics. Freakonomics is another book in the same vein.

2. I am a faithful coupon clipper, (though I'm not quite as much of a genius as some) and I LOVE getting a good deal. I've discovered that you have to know how to work the system in the right places in order to get the best deal. My best recent example of this was last week when I got a pint of Starbucks ice cream (usually $4.49) and I had three coupons for it that took off $4 of the price. Luckily, I had a great checker at Safeway who ignored the fact that all the coupons were expired AND let me use multiple coupons for one thing :-) Can't beat $0.49 ice cream :-)

3. Since I've been on fall break, I've worked out every day, trying to get outside as much as possible. To keep my head busy while I'm working out, I've been catching up on my favorite podcast, Stuff You Should Know. A smattering of interesting facts of learned from it recently: employer-based health care started as a method of pre-paying for pregnancy/birth care for female teachers in the 20s; sarcopenia (or some of the physical effects of aging-stooping, drooping, some pain, etc.) can be reversed and prevented with physical exercise; and that the original Muppet Show characters can be directly correlated to characters on 30 Rock. :-)

4. Also, on fall break, I've baked bread a LOT. My goal has been to bake every day :-) So far, I've made zwiebach, pizza crust, bagels, and hopefully pumpkin chocolate chip bread from Simply in Season before the week is out :-) It does my heart good to see dough rising (I'm never sure it actually will) and then the smell of baking bread is unbeatable!

5. Finally, the most relaxing part of fall break has been catching up on my favorite TV shows (I LOVE the DVR) including The Office ("R is a very threatening letter. That's why it's called murrrderr and not muckduck."), Ugly Betty (Tu mama scared the living jesús out of me!), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ("What do you want Frank, you fascist meat hog?"), Parks and Recreation ("Viva Mayor John Gunderson!") and Glee ("Not everyone has the walnuts to take a pro-littering stance, but I will not rest until every square inch of our state is covered in trash. That's why I pay taxes. It keeps garbage men earning a living, so they can buy tacos for their family.") Laughter is the best medicine, right? :-)

And, an added bonus favorite thing, one of my favorite blogs to read is 1000awesomethings.com, which is dead on, and so funny!!

What are some of your favorites?

You Right to Jail!

2009-10-21T20:33:00.001-07:00

After a discussion at supper group tonight about the ridiculous situation the economy in, and how much responsibility the banks hold, we decided that the only thing that would make us feel better is if they went to jail. Which reminded me of this clip from last week's Parks and Recreation, which is a great show, by the way. (Especially if you like The Office.)

By the way, this is the recipe for the cookies I made for dessert, a great fall cookie :-)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Can't stop!

2009-09-29T20:54:00.001-07:00

So, I'm basically in love with this recipe I found for poppy seed dressing (and yes, that's the extent of the excitement in my life). Because of it, I haven't stopped eating spinach/strawberry salad for like a week! (Also, I've served it to basically everyone who has walked through my door, which is a lot, as of late.)

I think it's a good recipe in general, but it's awesome with some champagne melon vinegar I got on clearance at SuperTarget a LONG time ago. :-) As usual, the recipe came from Allrecipes.

Poppy Seed Dressing

1/2 c. mayo or Miracle Whip (I've been using mayo)

1/4 c. milk

1/4 c. sugar

2 T. vinegar

1 T. poppy seeds

Whisk all ingredients together and chill. Makes approximately 1 c. of dressing.

The only thing I've been changing is the amount of milk, because it keeps ending up really thin for me. However, as I type this, it occurs to me that maybe I could add some kind of thickener (cornstarch, flour, etc.) Have to try that...

Funky Photos

2009-09-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm just a touch obsessed with this website, www.funkyphotos.com See below :-)

Fall in AZ

2009-09-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

Reasons I know fall is approaching in Arizona:

(And yes, there are places in Arizona that can look like this, though I took this picture in Boston last year.)

1. Ben has vegetable seedings planted in cups, ready to go into the ground.

2. Steve is searching my cupboards for tea.

3. Just went to church retreat :-)

4. Nighttime lows are under 80 degrees!!!!!!

5. Mornings and evenings are incredible.

6. My students are no longer angels.

7. Monsoon season is gone (and the humidity), which means my skin is instantaneously dry.

8. It gets dark at 6:30.

9. We vote on the church budget. Again.

10. Darla and I start considering making pumpkin homemade ice cream.

11. The Office is on again!!

12. We can sit outside at restaurants again (withOUT misters!)

13. The Diamondbacks are not in the playoffs. Again.

14. Mexican Independence Day gets celebrated in AZ (Sept 15)

15. Ben's birthday (Sept 25)

16. We start dreaming about wearing sweaters.

17. I start pondering what to get people for Christmas.

18. My kids start obsessing about the state fair.

19. We start obsessing about seeing the Figure 8 Races at the fair :-)

20. Ben and I start taking tandem rides :-)

Pie in my face!

2009-09-07T21:29:00.000-07:00

I don't know why, but I had a craving for some old-school Coconut Cream Pie. This is even more odd, given my distaste for making pie crust. But, I figured the pie was calling my name, and who was I to deny a pie it's one true calling (to be in my stomach)? Hence, on my (awesome!) day off today, I made this recipe from allrecipes.com. By some stroke of luck, it turned out great (and now I want another piece of "pie in my face") so now I'm sharing the recipe with you. See what you think! [This is with the changes I made, below.]

By the way, best new trick I learned in the kitchen recently: Using a fine-mesh shaker container (which I had previously VERY occasionally been using for powdered sugar) for flour instead. Then you can use it to flour the counter or whatever without dumping a whole cup of it onto the counter and it being all clumpy, etc. And it's pretty :-) Don't know where I read this, but I've used it several times this week, including with the pie crust! :-)

Old-Fashioned Coconut Cream Pie

1 14 oz can. Coconut milk

Enough milk, half & half, or cream to make a total of 3 cups (along with coconut milk)

3 egg yolks

3/4 cup white sugar

1/3 c. cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup flaked coconut, toasted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked

1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

Combine coconut milk, other milk, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in microwaveable container. Microwave for 5-7 minutes, stirring every minute, until mixture is thickened to a pudding consistency. Then fold in 1 1/4 c. toasted coconut and vanilla. Pour coconut mixture into baked pie shell and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Spread thawed whipped topping on top and sprinkle with remaining toasted coconut.

NOTE: To toast coconut, spread on ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until browned.

By the way, I was telling Darla about this pie, and she said, oh, was it the one from More With Less? I went back and looked, and realized I had made that one previously and loved it. It is made with more eggs, no crust (it "bakes it's own crust), and is baked instead of chilled. I'd forgotten how good it is, so I might have to make that one sometime soon too! :-)

Couldn't Do That Again If You Tried!

2009-08-14T22:05:00.001-07:00

I can not get over this picture. (The cat in the piano tops it on the surprise-meter, but this is just about as funny!) I really have nothing to say about it, except that I am sharing it with you all for the joy of it :-)

For reference: this came to me by way of my iGoogle page, in which I have a Photo of the Day feed from National Geographic. Most of the pictures are pretty or interesting, but this one just cracked me up. I use them from time to time with my students. I haven't figured out how I'll use this one yet, but I'll spring this on them when they least expect it :-)

Wasn't planning on it...

2009-07-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago, I got 2 beautiful bunches of basil and made pesto (see photos). This week, I was planning on making the pesto pizza from the Simply in Season (among other things). Then, as I tend to do, I invited 4 friends over for supper to share the pizza with us (for a total of 6). However, I did not think of what I was planning on making. After looking over the options for which I had purchased groceries, I realized that all of my options (main dish, sides, etc) were for 4 people. So, I just decided to make them all. I made my favorite cucumber salad from the More With Less cookbook and an awesome kiwi-strawberry salad (kiwi, strawberries, a few tablespoons of citrus juice, a dash of honey and a bit of cinnamon) which I made that afternoon and were fine.

I also decided to make a chocolate layer cake, since it was one friend's birthday. I made the 2 chocolate layers according to the directions and waited the appropriate amount of time and then inverted the pans to take out the cakes. Unfortunately, I discovered why most cooking experts recommend putting parchment paper on the bottom of the pan in this case. Approximately 1/3 of the cake remained in the pan. Dangit. But, I was committed and doctored it back together as best as I could. Next, according to the recipe, the plan was to have 2 chocolate layers with a layer of cream cheese, whipped cream and Oreo chunks in the middle. Since I hadn't planned well (big surprise), I didn't have cream cheese or whipped cream, so I decided to go with white frosting which I did have. I pulled out the Oreo crumbs which I had from something else and mixed them in. What did I now have? Grey frosting. Dangit.

But, I had what I had, so I spread it on the cake, and then decided that was pretty ugly, so I spread some of the extra white frosting around the edges to make it look pretty. (On a side note, through this entire process, I was thinking about how much I hate caring about how food looks and that this is why I never bother!!) So, I get the frosting done in the middle and put on the top section (which is barely holding together). I spread my chocolate frosting just across the top, as the directions indicate. But, since 1/3 of the original top layer was falling apart, it looked really weird on one side. So, I just decided it'd be better to frost the whole thing, which I did. By the way, at the beginning of this whole episode I had put the cake on a piece of waxpaper on a plate and was planning to move it to the cakeplate off the waxpaper when all was said and done. (Again, should have known better than to care about appearance!!) As I go to move the cake to the cakeplate, I put it on the cake plate, and then pull out the wax paper. At this point, approximately 1/3 of the bottom layer pulls out right along with the wax paper!!!

Dangit again. But, it was as done as it was going to get, so I turned the now sloping side to the back, put the lid on and stuck it in the corner, hoping to forget about it until supper.

When I had finished the cake, I had turned the oven up from 350 to 400. After the whole cake episode, I got ready to put the chicken tenders for my salad into the oven. However, at that point, I discovered that my oven was now at 300 degrees, not 400. I thought it was because I bumped the dial, so I waited another 20 minutes, and still the oven was cooler. It appeared that my oven was broken. (Still does, for that matter.) So, I microwaved the chicken, much to my chagrin.

Meanwhile, my pizza dough was rising, but I now had no way to bake it! So, the best I could do was to grill it. Not that this is bad. Grilled pizza is awesome, but it has a tendency to become a disaster when I do it. Either way, I had no choice. So I make my pizza dough into five 8-inch rounds and oil top and bottom and throw them on the grill. After grilling one side, I pulled them off, spread pesto on the grilled side and put tomato slices and mozzarella on top. Then I put them back onto the grill for a few minutes (baked side up). (Meanwhile, I'm trying to beat the dogs off with a stick. They LOVE it when I grill because they inevitably get a LOT of food from my sloppiness). It turned out fine, but it was a crazy afternoon :-)

Un. Believable.

2009-07-19T13:55:00.000-07:00

This is easily the most unbelievable thing I have seen in the last 2 months. I would say longer, but I work with children on a regular basis :-) . This morning at church, I was uncovering what I like to refer to as "my piano" (our fancy-pants grand piano) in the sanctuary. I pulled off the cover and threw it behind the stage (a 10 sq ft area). Upon returning to the piano, I noticed little white hairs all over it. Having seen the same thing covering my house after just bathing our white dog, my first thought was, "How in the world did dog hair get on the piano? I know my dog has not been anywhere near it..." I said this out loud and began blowing the hair off the piano.

As I was commenting on the hair, I raised the piano lid onto the small post, about 6-8 inches up. At this point, one of the worship team members says, (and you must imagine this with the most uninspired tone of voice you can imagine,) "There's a cat in the piano." This did not compute, so I said "What?" He says, in the same tone of voice, "There's a cat in the piano." So, as I'm standing at the back side of the piano (the hinged side) I start looking for the stuffed cat that is giving off this annoying white fur. Just as I'm about to start doing so, I hear a small volley of dull thuds inside the piano, and at that second, a (LIVE) cat streaks out of the front of the piano, and disappears either behind the stage or into the sanctuary. At least 5-7 people saw this happen, but no one could find it afterwards.

Then we started to compare notes to figure out when the piano was last used, and near as we could tell, it had to have been last Sunday, when I played postlude, closed the piano and put the cover on it. Now, I'm fairly certain there are no large holes on the bottom of a grand piano that a cat could get into, but if this is the case, it has to follow that the cat had been in there for a week, which doesn't make any sense, but what else could have happened? Thankfully, the cat didn't die in there, which would have been disastrous for a piano that is $7,000 nicer than mine! I just can not get over this story. Un. Believable. This will probably top my story list at least until I get back to school :-)

I love it when that happens!

2009-07-06T21:40:00.000-07:00

Today, as I was making supper in a hurry, the thought occurred to me, "Why did I make something called "Lemon Pasta and Chicken" when I know I don't like lemon in things like this?? But, it was too late, the groceries were purchased, the pasta was in the pot, and the chicken was in the oven. My general policy is to NOT make food I don't like (which is why Ben doesn't get food with mushrooms, shrimp, etc, unless he makes them himself). However, this time, one key ingredient allowed me to overlook the offending lemon. The full title of the recipe is "Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken." Key word? Cream. :-) As I was making the dish and tasting it along the way, as is my practice :-), I kept being underwhelmed with it. But, the key ingredient was the last thing added, and it made all the difference in the world. Give it a shot, I highly recommend this one :-)

Lemon Cream Pasta with Chicken

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 lemon, quartered
2 t. garlic powder, divided
1 t. black pepper, divided
4 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
8 oz. uncooked, whole wheat rotelle pasta
1 c. heavy cream
1 T. fresh dill, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place chicken in a lightly greased baking dish. Squeeze lemon over both sides of the chicken breasts and season both sides using 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Bake for 40 minutes, or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink inside.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, season the chicken broth with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil and add lemon juice and pasta. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all liquid is absorbed, about 25 minutes.
Cut cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and stir into cooked pasta, along with the cream and dill. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir thoroughly before serving.

NOTE: This is the recipe, as I made it today. There are a few minor changes I made, compared to the original. See the link above for the original.

Added bonus: I had been making my favorite cucumber salad to go with this dish and had a big bunch of dill out that Grandma sent home with me. On a whim, I figured that a little dill couldn't hurt this pasta dish either (it wasn't written in the original recipe), and it was wonderful! Yay for Grandma's dill!

Still a "Golden" Girl

2009-06-29T17:06:00.001-07:00

Marilyn and I went and saw "The Proposal" last weekend, and if you like chick flicks, it was great. Loved it. Added bonus, it had an American Eskimo puppy in it!!!! SOOO cute. (Still not cute as Nimbus was when he was a baby before we got him though :-))

Another bonus: shot in Alaska with incredible scenery. Final bonus: Betty White was in it. Yes, Betty White of Golden Girl fame. I remember watching the Golden Girls with my grandparents :-) Good times. Well, in this movie she plays a firecracker grandma who is trying to get her grandson married. In one scene, she plays a tailor adjusting her old wedding dress for the "less chesty" Sandra Bullock.

Then, I saw her on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and it was hilarious. The best part was seeing her partake in a game of beer pong with Jimmy (throwing pingpong balls trying to get them into each other's cup of beer). It was great. He explains the game to her, and she goes, "Wonderful!"