December 21st, 2010

Kirk is getting heart surgery this morning and Trent is in Kansas City with his family for a couple days.  The girls and I planned to go to Riverview in the morning to visit my Aunt Maryann and hand out cookies to the residents there.  The girls wanted to dress up for the event in one of their Christmas outfits too.  Cathy called the day before and her, Debbie, and Grandpa Coco were going to go to and hand out some gifts to the staff, so it was going to be a nice family morning.  The girls went to every floor handing out cookies and then we gave Maryann some Christmas gifts.  It was a nice morning.  I never leave Riverview feeling happy, mostly I’m frustrated, sad, and confused, but for the first time I left feeling not awful, I’ll take that.  I have a little Christmas list left with a couple errands on it and decided to tackle some since I wasn’t on any schedule.  We went to Trader Joe’s, the girls LOVE their little grocery carts and push one around feeling very adultish.  We got good news from KC that Kirk’s surgery went well, which was a relief.  I decided to stop by Macy’s at the Galleria and it was 12:30, so the girls and I had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen.

Oddly enough, none of us ordered pizza.  The girls wanted pasta and I had a salad.  The manager came by our table to ask if everything was okay and saw the girls were dressed up and asked if we were going to see Santa.  Thanks manager lady, that wasn’t on my list, but once the girls got wind the big guy was there, it was all that was on their minds.  Even worse, they wanted to edit what they asked for….3 days before Christmas.  But I was in a mellow mood and decided to skip Syndey’s nap and to spend a nice afternoon at the mall.  We had a great time and it was the first time I was in a mall for hours and didn’t have a stroller or go back to the car to get it.  Huge.

 

    

Sydney was actually frightened at first, which was surprising because she happily sat on Santa’s lap at the Sappington Nursery when we picked up our Christmas tree.  Lauren hopped up and Sydney wanted me to pick her up.  I didn’t want to push the issue, why force her to sit on a stranger’s lap, kinda the exact opposite thing I want her to think is okay.  But the minute Lauren got off Santa’s lap and had a solo picture, Sydney changed her tune and wanted to chat with Santa about adding a Buzz Lightyear to her list and not wanting the Toy Story 3 Barbie.  She knew Lauren already had this exact chat and wanted in on that action.  (damage is officially done, but after some KC store checking by Trent and Sally and Jenny internet surfing this morning…and a fun shipping charge, situation is corrected).  Again, so loving that manager at CPK.  The rest of the afternoon we wandered the mall, scoped the sales, and watched all the shoppers.  We didn’t get home until almost 5 pm and left the house at 9:15 am, I think that’s a personal record. 

The girls had the leftovers from lunch, yogurt, and fruit. 

We had Ryan and Kevin over the night before for dinner and then we all went and saw The Fighter (highly recommend, so good!).  Ryan emailed me this recipe for Tyler Florence’s Green Goddess Dressing awhile back and I decided to make that with a mixed green and shrimp salad with a ricotta, artichoke, and spinach pizza.  There are so many times when I entertain I have every intention on using it on the blog, but then once guests arrive, I completely forget.  This was one of those times.  The only picture I have is of the dressing, which I took in the afternoon.  So long story shortish, I had leftover dressing from that and made a salad for myself.

Great day, Kirk’s surgery is behind us, and the girls and I had fun out and about with the people.

December 18th, 2010

Biscotti Day! 

Chocolate Cherry Biscotti

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 teaspoons almond extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup chopped candied cherries
• 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped white chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a large cookie sheet.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the almond extract. Combine the flour and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in candied cherries and mini chocolate chips.
3. With lightly floured hands, shape dough into two 10 inch long loaves. Place rolls 5 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheet; flatten each to 3 inch width.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until set and light golden brown. Cool 10 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut loaves diagonally into 1/2 inch slices. Arrange slices cut side down on ungreased cookie sheets.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until bottoms begin to brown. Turn, and bake an additional 5 minutes, or until browned and crisp. Cool completely. Melt white chocolate in the microwave, stirring every 20 to 30 seconds until smooth. Drizzle cookies with melted white chocolate. Store in tightly covered container

I got the recipe years ago from allrecipes.com and tend not to alter it too much, but if I have regular chocolate chips, I go ahead and use those instead of the mini’s.  I serve them on Christmas day (but make a double batch because a few tend to fall off the truck…)

December 15th, 2010

Every year for the holidays I make cinnamon rolls, candied pecans, and biscotti.  Then I play around with other recipes, either ones I’ve tried before and am in the mood to revisit or a brand new one.  Trent is a huge fan of the combination of mint and chocolate and it’s just not my cup of tea.  So I found these two recipes and decided it would be a wise choice to my barely acceptable waistline to make things I wouldn’t be tempted to eat.

Peppermint Bark

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

I get easily frustrated with baking, especially new recipes.  Both were very simple and no choice words were said (quietly, of course, for the kids) and I didn’t kick the oven.  That’s pretty good for me for 2 new baking recipes in one afternoon.

December 13th, 2010

As I reach the end of this year, I feel a little bit more retrospective than normal.  This year I’m really trying to think of the things that made me happy this year because I feel it was a pretty good year.  I think alot of it comes from having the project of the vegetable garden.  It was something I loved doing from April through November, which is a big chunk of the year.  It was something the girls loved and we got to play outside together in the dirt.  Being a stay at home mom is rewarding and I feel lucky to have the gig, but I can’t help but watch my brain turn into oatmeal at times.  I’m not the type to pick up books on the formation of icebergs or delve into the life of Andrew Jackson just to exercise my brain.  Even as a child, I didn’t like the learning field trips to the Old Courthouse about historical trials or the process of removing waste at the Metropolitan Sewer District (was a for real field trip in 8th grade, I’d rather sit in science class trying to pass notes than watch poop getting processed).  But gardening interests me and I think saved a couple of brain cells from atrophy this year learning the ins and outs, successes and failures.  Coming up with my 2011 New Years resolutions, 2 at the top of my list are to order specialty seeds from catalogs, then learn how to grow transplants from seeds with lights in our basement and learn the art of canning.  Who knows how either will turn out or if I’ll drive myself crazy with it all, but it’s fun thinking about it because every time I go outside I am faced with this:

It’s just depressing.  My playground is officially closed. But mother nature did throw me a bone.

The rosemary and sage is still usable, despite the blanket of snow.

I know in no time I’ll be taking pictures like this and I’ll be stressing about how in the world I’m going to use or give away these tomatoes, but hopefully canning will come in handy and at times like this I can go downstairs and enjoy a September tomato in January. 

Completely different topic, Sydney had her Winter Party at her school.  I was in charge of snack.

Krispy Kreme snowmen donuts!! And speaking of learning, you get to watch the donuts being made at the store.  That’s some learning I can be happy about.

She made an ornament for our tree and food for Santa’s reindeer.  Good thing, we don’t want Donner to go hungry in our zip code, I hear he gets low blood sugar fairly easily. 

December 13th, 2010

My mom made cinnamon rolls quite a bit back in the day.  She would also make them on Christmas morning for all of us to eat while opening presents, they were so delicious right out of the oven with a generous pat of butter on top.  When I established our first home, I decided I wanted to tackle the art of cinnamon rolling.  I found this recipe and they have been “my” cinnamon rolls to this day. 

Cinnamon Rolls from Allrecipes.com

I don’t have a bread machine, so I just throw it all in the mixer, let rise, punch down, and then make the rolls. 

I sent them with Trent to work and plan on giving a batch to my Aunt Cathy as a little Christmas gift.  Having cinnamon rolls in the house is dangerous, but I love making them, so off they go!  I did keep 4 in a little separate container for our dessert that night.

Which we had after we finished our bean burritos with guacamole and salad.

December 12th, 2010

We all woke up, looked out of the windows, and discovered snow.  I am so not even close to being a fan of the stuff.  It was Sunday and we really didn’t have anything planned or a list of errands to do, so I decided to put my nesting/snuggle hat on and make it a fun family at home day (that phrase is normally an oxymoron to me, but today it fit).

  

Lauren and Sydney played in the snow while Trent and I shoveled the driveway, walkway, and sidewalks. 

Post snow eggnog, the girls favorite holiday drink.  And it’s back into PJs for the day!

Afternoon with the craft box.

My ultimate comfort food is risotto, and not just any risotto, my dad’s family recipe for Risotto Milanese.  It sounds very cosmopolitan, but it just means risotto with mushrooms, italian sausage, and chicken. 

This is luganega, which is northern Italy’s version of a jimmy dean.  I roast it in the oven with 2 chicken breasts, let cool, then slice it up.  My sister says after I finish reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer, I will not be eating chicken anymore.  Thankfully I haven’t read it yet.  I seem to keep putting it off….

Start with sautéing your veggies in olive oil with a little butter, add the rice and let it get toasted in the pan, deglaze with white wine, then continually add chicken stock in small batches while stirring until rice is done.  Add your meat at the end and finish with parmesan.

Comfort in a bowl.  So good it even made me appreciate snow, that’s huge.

December 11, 2010

Every year I make candied pecans to put out on Christmas morning, to have for any holiday entertaining, put in salads, and give away.  I found a great recipe about 5 or 6 years ago on allrecipes.com.  It’s actually for walnuts, but I use pecans for a reason completely unknown to me.  I don’t know why I use pecans, I like both nuts equally, so I’m not discriminating in the least.

 

Added bonus, they make the house smell like Christmas.  I just have to get them into containers quickly because little hands that live here snatch them up quickly.

Dawn’s Candied Pecans Walnuts, but really pecans.

Ingredients

• 1 pound walnut halves
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spread nuts in a single layer over a baking sheet. Roast for approximately 8 to 10 minutes, or until the nuts start to turn brown and the smell of roasting nuts fills the kitchen.
2. Stir together sugar, cinnamon, salt, and milk in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat for 8 minutes, or until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage of 236 degrees F (113 degrees C). Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla immediately. .
3. Add walnuts to sugar syrup, and stir to coat well. Spoon nuts onto waxed paper, and immediately separate nuts with a fork. Cool, and store in airtight containers.