December 2006 Archives

OK, so Boy and Girl are getting a little sick of the leftover potatoes, but this was the end of them. I took the leftover Garlic-Onion Home Fries, some browned, crumbled, low-fat breakfast sausage, some scrambled eggs and a little cheddar, stuffed it inside a whole wheat tortilla and there you have it....a Texas breakfast staple. A BIG hit with hubby (he doused them in Sriracha, as usual) and Girl, but Boy didn't like the tortilla (it was a low-carb brand that I have to admit wasn't very tasty - won't be buying those again) and ate the filling out of his taco with a fork. The one in the photo is mine - I don't like eggs in mine (just potato, sausage and cheese).

OK, so I used Manwich canned sauce (tons of sodium and high fructose corn syrup) to make these, but Boy and Girl LOVE these. To make them a bit healthier, I used bison (VERY low fat) meat from my in-laws' farm (my in-laws don't raise them, but have an arrangement with the producer to re-sell it), added a can of organic pinto beans (drained and rinsed to get rid of the excess salt) and served them on mini whole wheat dinner rolls, to cut the portion size. Add a salad and it turns into something pretty healthy. Bison meat (same as buffalo, I think?) is really healthy, but we do find it to be a tad "gamey" to eat on it's own. It's OK, though, if it's going in a tomato sauce or will be pretty heavily seasoned. Hubby made some great ravioli with it for Christmas Eve dinner, but I forgot to take a photo - DRAT!

The potatoes were some of the leftover boiled fingerlings from Christmas dinner (before they got smashed, buttered, parsleyed and horseradish creme fraiched). I cut them into chunks, heated some olive oil in a pan over high heat, added the potatoes and cooked them on high, tossing/turning every few minutes, until they were crusty and browned all over. Then, I set the potatoes aside in the serving dish, added a tiny bit more oil to the pan and added 2 minced garlic cloves and about 1/4 cup finely chopped onion and sauteed those until soft, then added the potatoes back in (I was afraid that if I sauteed the onion and garlic with the potatoes, that they would get too brown and bitter before the potatoes were done).

This dinner was a big hit with Boy and Girl!

From left to right:
Cream Cheese-filled, Strawberry-filled, Original banana-filled.

This French Toast was yummy, crusty, rich, sweet and flavorful. I tried two other fillings, in addition to the original banana, which is very good. Girl doesn't care for bananas, so I made a strawberry paste by simmering and mashing some frozen strawberries with a little water until it was thick and pasty and used that to stuff the toast instead of the banana. That was very yummy. The other version was with sweetened cream cheese; I added a sprinkle or two of cinnamon and about 1 Tbsp of sugar to half a brick of lowfat cream cheese and used that in place of the banana. That one is my favorite.

The great thing about this recipe is that a lot of it can be done in advance (making the creme anglaise) and that it bakes, so you don't have to babysit and turn the French toast on a griddle while it's cooking.

A Pullman pan is the culinary term for the long, rectangular (square when viewed from the "end") loaf pans that bakeries use to make sandwich loaves in. Some Pullman pans have lids that slide over the top to keep the bread from rising so much, so that the baked bread will have a dense "crumb". I did have to special-order the Pullman-pan brioche from my local grocery store, since they normally only make brioche rolls, and not loaves. If I looked around, I could probably find a store that makes it regularly, but, I just ordered it then cut the crusts off and cut it into 3-inch thick slices and froze it until I was ready to use it this morning and that worked fine. I do think that using brioche is worth it - it made it really light and flavorful.

I cooked the creme anglaise a little too long, so it was really thick. I actually made a half-batch of the toast this morning, but made a full batch of the creme anglaise, thinking that I would put the leftover creme in the fridge to make it again another day soon, but because my creme turned out so thick, I actually used the whole batch of creme for a half-batch of bread.

I found that it took longer than 12 minutes to bake, but that may have been because I over-soaked my toast in the double batch of thickened creme.

This recipe was adapted from Brunch by Marc Meyer and Peter Meehan, but I saw it when it was published in the February 2006 issue of House Beautiful. I've looked for the recipe online, so that I could link it for you, but haven't been able to find it. I don't own the cookbook, but it looks like a really good one. The authors are the owners of the Five Points Restaurant in New York. Boy and Girl really loved this, as did Hubby.

Baked Banana French Toast

For creme anglaise:
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup warm heavy cream

For the French toast:
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 loaf Pullman brioche or similar bread, crust removed

about 4 very ripe bananas, mashed
warmed maple syrup

Prepare creme anglaise: Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla in a pan. Whisk in 2 Tablespoons cream. Add remaining cream, whisking constantly. Cook, over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until sauce barely coats the back of a wooden spoon. Pour sauce into a shallow bowl and let cool.

Prepare French toast: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly butter a sheet pan and place in oven.

Cut bread into 8 3-inch-thick slices. Cut each slice diagonally into 2 triangles. Cut a slit into the wide side of the wedge, creating a pocket. Fill pockets with mashed banana.

Dip stuffed bread slices into sauce, lightly coating each side. Place slices on preheated pan and bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Serve with maple syrup. Serves 8.

The photo that was in the article with the original recipe had the toast pictured like this, with 2 slices together, filling sides together, but I served them differently. I think that they must have baked the slices together that way, since their slices fit together that way better than mine, but I placed my slices on the baking sheet with the filling side up, so that side would toast and the filling wouldn't be soggy. I also didn't make any effort to "pair up" the bread slices that had originally been together before the bread was diagonally sliced.

I think that the toast looks better served like this, with the slices angled up off the plate, filling sides up.

My mother used to be an assistant district attorney in Beaumont, Texas. The country jail was in the same building, a few floors above. The jail cafeteria made these rolls regularly (at least when the grand jury was in session, I don't think they made them for the prisoners), and they smelled so good while my mother was at work that she had to ask for the recipe. They are a holiday MUST for our family now. My mother and I used to make pans and pans of them to give as teacher gifts at Christmas and it would be unthinkable to have a meal with the extended family without them. My kids (and Hubby, and my dad) go CRAZY for them. They are rich, moist, yeasty and YUMMY. My mother insists that using margarine (instead of butter) and instant mashed potatoes (instead of "real" ones) provides a lighter texture. That does go against my real/slow/whole food philosophy, but I must admit that I wouldn't change a thing about the way these rolls taste, so she must be right.

"Jailhouse" Rolls

1 cup mashed potatoes (reconstituted instant ones recommended)
2 sticks margarine
3 eggs
7 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 package dry yeast

Mix yeast in water; blend and set aside. Mix potatoes, eggs, margarine, sugar and salt. Add flour. Add yeast water. Mix. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a cool, damp cloth. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove from refrigerator. Roll dough out to about 3/4 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter. Place in buttered pans (8" round cake pans work well). Brush the tops with melted butter and let rise for several hours. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes until lightly browned on top.

Cinnamon Roll Version
(too delicious for a description to do them justice - just trust me)

1 recipe prepared Jailhouse Roll dough

for cinnamon rolls:
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional, unless you're making them for me)
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

for icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 or 3 Tbsp milk

Prepare dough as above. Divide dough in half after removing from the refrigerator. Roll each dough half into a large rectangle. Brush each rectangle with melted butter. Sprinkle each with a mixture of the sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add chopped pecans and/or golden raisins to each rectangle, if desired. Roll rectangle into a log. Cut into 3/4 inch slices and place in a buttered pan. Let rise for several hours. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Let rolls cool in pan. Mix together powdered sugar and butter in the food processor. Add vanilla and milk. Drizzle over cinnamon rolls and DEVOUR.

Christmas Day Lunch Menu:

Romaine Heart Salad with Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette
and Emerilized French Bread Croutons (recipe follows)

Suzanne Goin's Slow-Roasted Prime Rib Roast
(from December 2006 Fine Cooking magazine)

Smashed Fingerling Potatoes with Horseradish Creme Fraiche
(from the same issue, but here's a synopsis)

My mother's Orange-Glazed Carrots
(recipe follows)

My mother's Jailhouse Rolls
(explanation and recipe will follow in next post)

This roast was SOOOO good.
The actual recipe is not available on Fine Cooking's website, but here is some info. from the article: http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/pages/c00251.asp

The Prime Rib recipe is available here.

It's worth a visit to Fine Cooking mag to get the back issue, though, for the potato recipe and lots of other great stuff (http://www.taunton.com/store/pages/backissue_fc.asp). That was a particularly good issue.

The "Roast Beast", as we called it, in the oven.

I would definitely recommend it and would make it again in a heartbeat. My only reservation was the cost of the meat. The roast that I used was a little over 6 pounds and cost $80!!! Prime Rib is so tender and juicy that it was definitely worth it, but I think that the flavor profiles of the herbs, garlic, etc. were so good that this recipe would definitely be worth trying with a "lesser" cut of meat for a more everyday meal. The horseradish cream from the potatoes was GREAT on the roast, too.

Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, pressed through a garlic press
3 Tbsp. roasted red pepper puree
(just pop the peppers in the blender - if you use jarred ones in oil, be sure to drain the oil first)
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together vinegar, garlic and pepper puree in a high-sided bowl. Whisk continuously while slowly pouring in olive oil. Salt and pepper generously - remember that each salad will only have a bit of the dressing, so will only have a bit of salt and pepper on it.

This basic vinaigrette recipe can be adapted to almost any flavor combination. One of Girl's favorite recipes is raspberry vinegar and a bit of raspberry coulis instead of the peppers (omit the garlic) to make a Raspberry Vinaigrette.

"Emerilized" French Bread Croutons

1/2 loaf French bread (not baguette, but the larger, softer type)
about 4 Tbsp. melted butter
about 1 Tbsp. Emeril's Baby Bam seasoning
(recipe here)

Note: You may need a little more or less butter and seasoning, depending upon the size of your loaf of bread.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Cut bread into bite-sized cubes (your choice, but I like them on the chunky side). Toss bread cubes with the butter in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the Baby Bam until each cube has a light coating of seasoning on it. Toss again until butter and seasoning are evenly distributed. Bake on an ungreased sheet pan until lightly crunchy and VERY lightly browned (20 - 30 minutes), gently stirring/tossing/turning about every 10 minutes. You will need to watch them carefully. Allow the croutons to cool before adding them to your salad. Store any leftovers in an airtight container or zipper bag.

(Emeril's Baby Bam seasoning is really yummy and is good as an all-purpose seasoning on lots of different things. It's worth the extra step to mix up a batch.)

Orange-Glazed Carrots
(Thanks, Mom!)

1 1/2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
pink of ground ginger (or garlic, if preferred)
1 pound fresh carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into 1/2 inch pieces
(or 1 pound whole baby carrots)

Steam carrots until tender but still slightly crisp; set aside. Mix juice, sugar and butter in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until it gently bubbles. Mix water with cornstarch until there are no lumps, then add to the juice mixture. Cook until thickened. Add ginger (or garlic). Pour over carrots.

I took Hubby with me to my exercise class today. Apparently, it wore him out, because he came home and took a nap. The cats (who are littermates) were THRILLED to have a snuggle buddy in the middle of the day and enthusiastically (err....well.....sluggishly) joined him in his lethargy.

I apologize for this horrible photo - guess my camera skills were off tonight!

We had my little brother and his wife over for dinner tonight and made this short rib recipe from Epicurious. These were SO delicious and flavorful and really not too much trouble to make. There's a little chopping and a little time browning the ribs then sauteing and simmering the sauce ingredients on the stove, but then the ribs cook for 2 and 1/2 hours, so you're free to fiddle around with the rest of your side dishes. We made Smashed Fingerling Potatoes with Horseradish Creme Fraiche to go with them - a recipe from the December 2006 issue of Fine Cooking. I love that magazine and that particular issue is a really great one. I'm going to make a Slow-Roasted Prime Rib recipe from the same issue for our Christmas Day lunch and the potatoes were so good, I'm going to make them again for Christmas. Here's an excerpt from the article. I don't want to risk any copyright issues, but I'll tell you the basic instructions for the potatoes, without giving away any "secrets":

Boil fingerling potatoes (the ones that I found were a mix of different potatoes, like Red Bliss and Blue and Baby Yukon Golds) until tender when poked with a fork (the recipe says use water, but I used chicken stock). Drain the liquid off - reserving a little bit of it. Smash each potato, individually, with a spatula or wooden spoon, just to smush it a little and break the skin. Put a little butter and chopped parsley on the potatoes after they're smashed, using a little of the cooking liquid, if necessary. For the horseradish cream, blend 1 Tbsp. of prepared horseradish sauce with each 1/4 cup of creme fraiche that you would like to use. Top each serving of potatoes with a dollop of the creme fraiche.

Little Brother made a WONDERFUL, rich, gooey Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie for dessert - I'll have to get his recipe!

This idea originally came from a community service project that Girl's Girl Scout troop did a couple of years ago. I like this idea, because while we want to help those in need, it would be naive to ignore the fact that a lot of these people in need have substance abuse problems that giving them cash would enable them to pursue. This project, I believe, is a more suitable way to help. I am nervous about giving someone cash that they may use on booze or drugs, but I would never begrudge anyone food. This project was such a hit that we've adopted it and done it several times, as a family. I was worried, at first, that the intended recipients of these bags might be rude: "What do I want with this, Lady? Just give me money!", but that was not the case at all. Every single person that we have given one of these to has responded graciously and gratefully.

The kids bundled up 29 of these bags this morning. We are going to give some to our family and friends this holiday season, in the hopes that they will keep a couple in their car, to hand to someone in need of assistance. If you are interested in trying this yourself, this is what we packaged in the bags (this is "survival" food and needs to be non-perishable, so I know that it's not the most healthy, but it's necessary) :

one individual pop-top can of fruit
one pop-top can of Vienna sausages
one granola bar
one plastic spoon
one paper napkin
one sanitary hand wipe
one small water bottle
one individual package peanut butter crackers
a printed card with information on places to go for help
(If you are in the Austin area and would like to use our list of Austin-area resources, you may download it here.)

All of these items were packaged in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Photos of the Gingerbread Houses that Boy and Girl decorated. This is how we use up any leftover Halloween candy (and we bought a little more extra Christmas candy, too). The little foil gift boxes are specially wrapped chocolate "presents" that I found. Perfect. They had a lot of fun doing this. I can't believe that I forgot to take photos of them actually decorating the houses - Bad Mom!

Boy's Gingerbread House, complete with licorice swag and candy cane supports and roof beams

Girl's Gingerbread House with candy cane/gummy Life Saver tree

My favorite desserts are ones that have fruit in them, especially citrus. I will bypass ANYTHING made of chocolate for a good, homemade lemon square or lemon meringue pie. I know that makes me a bit of an oddity amongst most chocolate-crazed females, but I am definitely partial to citrus. I will post my ALL TIME FAVORITE dessert sometime soon (Saucy individual Lemon Puddings - with a crunchy "brulee" topping). My best friend (I love you, Eileen!) made those for me for my birthday one year and I've never been happier! So, as unique and citrusy as these cookies are, they are a really nice change from all of the gingerbread and sugar cookies that are around at this time of year, or are a great cookie to round out the assortment on a cookie tray or in a cookie gift box. This recipe was torn out of a magazine that I found so many years ago that I don't even remember which one it was. The copy of the page that I have is so torn up that I can't even read the name anymore, so I will apologize now to whichever publication I am about to blatantly plagiarize. This recipe is SO good and the finished cookies are so pretty - these are a sure-fire winner. the powdered sugar in the dough gives them a nice, crispy texture, almost like a "sandie" cookie. I only make these at Christmas, so every year I have to go and hunt to find the recipe. I am thrilled that I will now (thanks to this blog) be able to effortlessly find the recipe every year from now on.

Orange Slice Cookies

Makes about 80.
Prep. time: about 20 minutes
Freezing time: at least 30 minutes
Baking time: about 13 minutes

Dough:
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. freshly grated orange peel
(I always end up using clementine tangerines, because that's what we have around at this time of year)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 large egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Icing:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. freshly grated orange (or clementine) peel
(For the icing, I grate the orange peel and then chop it finely, so that it doesn't get clogged in the tip of my pastry bag. This is not necessary for the peel that goes in the cookie dough.)
3 Tbsp. fresh orange (or clementine) juice
1 cup orange-colored sugar
(check a craft store or cake decorating store if your supermarket doesn't have this)

For the dough:
1. With mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, orange peel, vanilla and baking powder until fluffly. Beat in egg. Reduce speed to low; gradually add flour, beating just until blended.
2. Divide dough in half.

Shape each half into a 10-inch log. Press down on each log to flatten 1 side completely. Wrap and freeze at least 30 minutes, until firm enough to slice.
3. Heat oven to 325 degrees.
4. Cut 1 log at a time into forty 1/4 inch thick slices; place 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheet (I usually line the sheets with parchment paper).

5. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until very lightly browned. (I find that these usually take the whole 13 minutes to be lightly browned on the bottoms, and sometimes more.) Remove to wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

For the icing:
6. In medium bowl, whisk ingredients, until thick and smooth. Place in quart sized ziptop bag (or you may use a pastry bag with a small, round tip, like an Ateco #5). Pour colored sugar into a bowl. Snip tip off 1 corner of ziptop bag; pipe icing on cookies to resemble orange slices.

Gently press cookies, icing side down, in colored sugar. Shake off excess.

A friend from Minnesota gave me this recipe about 15 years ago. It's one of our favorites when soup (cold) weather arrives. We're still waiting (sigh) for soup weather in Texas this year, but we're enjoying our soup, anyway, even if we're wearing shorts while we eat it! Boy especially likes this soup. It is a great first course, if served in very small cups, or add a salad and some bread and make a meal of it! The salad pictured above was an odd mixture of romaine hearts, black beans, purple onion, chopped tomato and chopped, toasted pecans with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette. I have a tendency to throw whatever I have in the fridge on top of a salad. Sometimes they turn out great (like this one), but sometimes they're just weird. If I had it to do again, I would have left either the pecans or the beans out - they weren't a good combination, but not awful....

Wild Rice Soup

1/4 cup minced onion
4 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup flour
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen green peas or grated fresh carrot
(I usually use carrots, but didn't have any today, so I used peas)
1/2 cup cubed ham
2 1/2 cups cooked wild rice (I cook it with chicken broth, for extra flavor)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Turn heat off and whisk in the flour until well blended. Gradually pour in the chicken stock, whisking to incorporate. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until very slightly thickened (5 - 10 minutes?). Add peas or carrots, ham, rice and parsley. Stir to combine and cook over low heat for 5 more minutes or so. Gradually pour in as much milk as necessary to reach the proper soup consistency (you may need slightly more or less than 2 cups). Simmer 2 or 3 more minutes to allow the soup to warm through. Salt and pepper to taste.

If you're feeling like REALLY rich soup you can substitute half-and-half for some (or even all) of the milk, but we like a slightly lighter flavor so that we can make a meal of this. I would only make it with all cream if you are planning to serve VERY small portions.

Other possible variations:

Add a little finely diced celery (about 1/4 cup?) to the onion. Saute the celery with the onion and proceed with the recipe as usual.

Add some sliced or chopped, sauteed mushrooms (about 1 cup?) to the soup when you add the rice and ham.

Substitute chopped, cooked chicken for the ham.

This icing can be adapted to be used for almost anything. It's great for cakes, cupcakes and even cookies, if they don't need to be stacked or wrapped (this icing really won't "harden" enough for that). I made this batch of icing to go with the cookies for Girl's school Christmas party tomorrow (see previous post - I made the cookies a few days ago and froze them). I thought that it would be easier for the kids to grab icing and decorate their own cookies if the icing was already portioned out, so I used these handy plastic portion cups. Even though they are not as environmentally friendly as I would like, I know that it will make it much easier at the party (and more hygienic), instead of having to scoop out enough icing for each kid and hoping that there will be enough left for the last kid.

Basic Buttercream Icing

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, cut into chunky cubes
1 pound (1 box) powdered sugar (sifted, if there are any visible lumps)
1 tsp. extract of your choice
about 1/4 cup liquid of your choice
(more about extract and liquid choices later)
pinch of salt, optional
1 Tbsp. Meringue powder (I like Wilton brand, but any powdered egg whites will do. This is also optional, but does help the icing maintain it's consistency.)

Cream butter lightly in a stand mixer until it is slightly softened and not lumpy. Add extract, meringue powder and salt, if desired. With mixer on low, pour powdered sugar in slowly until blended (mixture will be sort of coarse and crumbly). Add liquid gradually (1 Tbsp. at a time), until icing reaches the consistency that you want.

One batch makes a little more than 2 cups. You probably need a double batch of icing to frost one round two-layer cake or one batch of cookies. For a batch (24) of cupcakes, you could maybe get by with a single batch if you frost them lightly (my preference, anyway). If you are using this to frost cookies, keep in mind that the icing will stay soft, so the cookies cannot be stacked or easily stored, but it's great for parties where the cookies will be eaten as soon as they are frosted and it's much tastier than most typical cookie frosting.

A note on flavoring (extracts and liquids) choices:
I usually start with 1 tsp. vanilla extract and add just a touch (1/4 tsp.) of almond extract, too, but you can use any extract that you like (peppermint, lemon, etc.). For the holidays, mixing vanilla and peppermint extracts together is a festive flavor. If you want your icing to stay super WHITE, you can buy special clear extracts at a cake store or craft store. REAL vanilla extract tastes MUCH better, though, and I don't think that having your icing stay WHITE WHITE matters, unless you're making a wedding cake! If you really want WHITE icing, you have to use shortening, anyway, instead of the butter (ICK!). As far as liquid goes, I usually use milk, but if you want a really rich icing, you can use half-and-half or even whipping cream. If using cream, the icing will need to be refrigerated afterwards; if you use milk, the frosted cake/cupcakes can sit out for a day or two (covered) without you having to worry. If it will not be consumed before then, I would refrigerate it, just to be safe. This icing can also be easily adapted to make chocolate frosting - just add about 1/4 cup melted chocolate before adding the liquid. I usually use chocolate chips just to make it easy. To make a nice "grown-up" mocha-flavored icing, you can make chocolate icing, using strongly brewed, black coffee as your liquid in the icing, instead of milk.

Just in case any of you are wondering what I did to help with Boy's Christmas party, it was yesterday and I was there, helping make pancakes on an electric skillet and serving them to the kids. They have been studying Jamestown and had a Colonial-themed party. They dressed in pseudo-Colonial garb (this was much more exciting to the girls than the boys), made clove-studded orange pomanders, practiced calligraphy, made yarn dolls and played Colonial games. We called the pancakes "johnny cakes". It was very festive and fun.

What's really funny is that Boy is now fascinated with making more yarn dolls. He put together a couple more after school today. When Girl was in 3rd grade (and they did this same EXACT party), she made lots more yarn dolls, too. She made little beds for them and experimented with creating different ways to make their hair. Boy, on the other hand, is creating elaborate yarn trapezes in his room for them to swing from to catch their little yarn adversaries. Amazing how different the genders can be, even with the same toy. When Boy was very small, I didn't believe in these gender stereotypes and bought both of the kids little doll strollers. It seems pretty silly now, but I was convinced that he should be allowed to play with dolls, too, if he wanted to. I needn't have bothered - he was absolutely NOT interested. Girl used her doll stroller to push her baby dolls around, lovingly covering them with teeny little blankets. Boy used his stroller, too - to make it easier to cart his toy cars around from to room.

Some of Boy's friends, eating pancakes

Boy (in the green sweater vest) playing "Colonial games"

Girl's class at school is having a Christmas party this week and they requested some cookies for the kids to decorate with frosting and sprinkles during the event. This recipe is JUST the thing.

All-Purpose Sugar Cookies

2 cups (4 sticks) butter
3 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 beaten eggs
6 cups flour
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. McCormick's Vanilla Butter & Nut extract (if you can find it), optional
tiny pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut sticks of butter into chunky cubes. Cream together butter and sugar in large bowl of a stand mixer. Add eggs, soda, and extracts. Mix until just barely blended. Blend in half of flour until just barely mixed. Repeat with remaining flour. Roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes.

Decorate, if desired, with M & Ms, Red Hots, raisins, etc. If you are planning to serve them as "plain" sugar cookies, you may sprinkle them with a bit of coarse sugar (raw sugar or sanding sugar - you could even use plain white sugar if you don't have either of these on hand) at this point. Bake about 10 minutes, depending upon size of cut-outs.

Watch carefully, because these will become overdone very quickly. Makes about 5 dozen cookies that are about 3 and 1/2 inches across (plus one small little ball of dough to make one special mini-cookie for Boy).

Other ideas to use dough:

Chocolate Chip cookies:
Mix chocolate chips into dough before baking for a lighter cookie (no brown sugar).

Snickerdoodles:
Form dough into small balls and roll in cinnamon-sugar before baking.

Decorative Edge cookies:
Roll dough into a log about 2 inches across. Wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate until firm. Cut log into slices about 1/2 inch thick. Roll edge of slices in decorative sprinkles (jimmies, colored sugar, etc.) and bake as usual.

Kiss cookies:
Roll dough into small balls and then press an unwrapped Hershey Kiss candy into each ball before baking.

Iced, decorated cookies:
Decorate with your favorite icing and/or sprinkles after baking. I will post spreadable icing and poured fondant icing recipes soon. I am planning to make another batch of these soon, for the Christmas holidays and will likely pipe designs in multiple colors on them. Look for another entry soon. Here is a photo of some angel cookies that I made like this last year:

This is a great, old-fashioned, back-of-the-box kind of recipe, but it's actually quite yummy and is great for cold mornings when you want a hearty breakfast. It's a super recipe for when you have company staying with you and you need to make an easy breakfast for a crowd. Add a fruit salad, some OJ, (maybe some muffins or bagels, if your crowd isn't too carb-conscious) and you're all set!

Girl and her cousin enjoying some casserole

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

3 cups water
2 packages boxed, dried hash brown potatoes (see note below)
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (mild or sharp, your choice)
2 cups milk
10 beaten eggs
2 cups chopped, smoked ham (see note below)
1 cup thinly sliced green onion (see note below)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Pour into an ungreased 13 X 9 inch pan. Spread to make sure that potatoes, ham and cheese are evenly distributed in liquid.

Casserole, ready to go in the oven

(At this point, casserole can be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight, if desired. Pull out of the refrigerator and bake as usual the next morning. This is what we always do on Christmas morning - the casserole cooks as the kids empty their stockings.)

Bake, uncovered, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean (about 60 minutes or maybe a TAD more) and the top is lightly browned. Let stand for about 2 minutes before cutting into serving pieces. This recipe can easily be halved (bake in a small square dish - 8 X 8 or so).

Note on hash browns:
I use B*tty Cr*cker brand - they're a little hard to find, but I think Safeway/Randall's/Von's carries them pretty regularly. They will be next to the boxed, scalloped potatoes mix (ick!). Try Giant, if you're on the East coast.

Note on ham:
When you buy the ham from your store's deli, have them cut it REALLY thick, tell them "for cubing" or "chef salad style". Bring it home and cut the dark "rind" off of it, then cut the ham into 1/2 inch strips, then cut the other direction, into 1/2 inch dice. Feed the rind to your dog, if you have one. He will LOVE you for it. I like nitrite-free Black Forest ham. It's expensive, but if you watch for it to go on sale, you can cut it up and freeze it. 3/4 lb. will yield about 2 cups chopped, with a little bit left over after you remove the rind. Save any that you have left over to toss into a Denver omelet later (or a frittata, of course!). Watch for more great recipes soon that also use this thick-cut chopped ham: Baked Homemade Mac and Cheese with Ham and Peas and Wild Rice Soup with Ham.

Chopping ham, removing rind

Note on green onions:
I wasn't able to find any green onions yesterday that looked decent. They all looked old and slimy, so I'm leaving them out this morning. It's really better with the green onions in it, but I've left them out before (if the kids have a buddy to sleep over and I'm not sure if the buddy likes them) and it's OK. Of course, when I heard the news of the great "Green Onion E-coli Panic of Ought-6", I was glad that I hadn't purchased any.

I made some more of these today, to put in the freezer. They will likely get served at a meal over the holidays. I decided to "spruce" them up a little and added a bit more chopped sage, cheese and some finely chopped pecans to the filling. I used a fancier, fluted cutter, too, to make them look more festive. I made about 48 (2 trays). I think they'll freeze just fine and that the extra filling additions will be an improvement, but I'll let you know!

Next blog entry will be Christmas Sugar Cookies!

I am the Goddess of Leftovers!

For instructions on how to make a fritatta, see this entry here:
http://www.feedyourkids.com/2006/10/fritatta_with_roasted_white_as_1.html

Since the leftover potatoes were already cooked in today's version, I could skip the step of sauteing them. You can put ANYTHING in these - they are a GREAT way to use up whatever leftovers you might have. Sometimes I'll even throw a little baggie of leftover meat or cooked veggie into the freezer, if I don't have time to use it right away, then I can pull it out to toss into a frittata later. You can use any cheese you like, or none at all.

OK, so I gave Hubby the choice between the butternut risotto and the butternut ravioli for tonight. I am SO glad that he chose this. This was SO delicious. I was worried that it would be too similar to the gnocchi that we love (with the orange veggie and brown butter sauce), that we wouldn't like this, but it was FABULOUS!

Here is the original Epicurious recipe, but I ended up changing it around enough that it will be simpler for me just to write my version here for you, rather than list all of the modifications that I made, so here is my version:

Butternut Squash Ravioli

filling ingredients:
2 cups roasted, mashed, cooled butternut squash
(get it that way yourself - a one pound squash will yield about 2 cups)
1/2 medium-sized onion, chopped (about 2/3 cup)
2 tsp. chopped fresh sage
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
1/3 cup grated hard goat cheese (I used Parrano)

1 stick unsalted butter
1 package won ton wrappers (there were 52 in my pack)
1/3 cup good quality fresh pecans, cut into large pieces (each pecan cut into about 6 pieces)

In a large bowl, mix together the squash and cheese. Saute onion, garlic and sage in 1 Tbsp. of the butter until onions are softened. Add to squash and stir well to combine. Put a large pot of water on to boil (I usually add a little salt and olive oil).

Working quickly so that won ton wrappers don't dry out, put 1 wrapper on a clean work surface and place one level Tbsp. of squash filling in the center.

Brush the wrapper (around the filling) with water and a pastry brush (or a clean finger). Put a second wrapper over the top, push down around the filling to push out any air bubbles and seal the edges well around the filling.

Trim around the filling with a small round cookie cutter (the one that I used was a little less than 3 inches across).

When you cut, don't twist the cookie cutter, but cut straight down, so that sealed pasta edges will not become loosened. As ravioli are completed, place them gently on a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Repeat until all filling is used up.

Sit ravioli aside as you prepare the butter sauce. Place the remainder (7 Tbsp.) of the stick of butter in a skillet with the pecans. Cook over medium heat until the pecans are toasted and the milk solids have just started to turn brown. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set sauce aside and keep warm.

Cook ravioli, in 2 separate batches, in the boiling water for 1 or 2 minutes, until they start to float and are tender. Turn the heat down, if necessary, to keep the water from boiling too rapidly, which can make the ravioli come apart. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon or spider strainer. Set aside, slightly separated, on waxed paper or a lightly greased platter, so that they don't stick together, until the second batch is cooked and you are ready to serve them. Pour brown butter sauce over them carefully, trying to get some sauce on each one, to keep them from sticking to each other.

Makes about 24 ravioli.

Other possible modifications:
More sage in the filling would be good. Some finely chopped toasted pecans in the filling would be nice, too. You probably don't HAVE to have the goat cheese in the filling - parmesan would be fine, if that's what you happen to have on hand. Hubby said these are so good they really don't even need the sauce, but I'm not too sure about that. I REALLY like browned butter.

I served these with some herb-rubbed grilled chicken and some broccolini cooked with garlic and chicken broth. I accidentally overcooked the broccolini a little, but everything else was really good.

We didn't get time to do the gingerbread house decorating tonight, but we have all of the "stuff" (candy canes, green gummy Life Savers to make a wreath on the front door, etc.) and will try to do them and post photos very soon.

I have started a new "boot camp" like exercise program and have been EXHAUSTED for the past couple of days and not cooking. I have to put "boot camp" in quotes, because Hubby is a former Marine and says that this couldn't POSSIBLY be anything like REAL boot camp. Maybe not, but it's plenty hard-core enough for me - there was actually ICE on my workout mat yesterday (we meet outdoors at 5:30 am).

We don't have much in the way of after-school activities today, though, so I'm planning on cooking something blogworthy. Haven't decided what yet. It will either be Butternut Squash, Sage and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Hazelnut Brown-Butter Sauce or Butternut Squash, Rosemary and Blue Cheese Risotto. I have some roasted, mashed butternut squash that I prepared a while back and froze and I want to use it up. I made even do a simple Butternut Squash soup with some ginger.

I bought some plain (undecorated) gingerbread houses yesterday, too, and there may be enough time this evening for the kids to decorate them. I'll post photos of them when they're done, too. Will depend upon how much homework they have tonight.

Stay tuned!

We are having a BIG cold snap here today, so it's perfect weather for soup. I made this for dinner tonight. This recipe is from a now-closed restaurant called the Inn at Brushy Creek that used to be in Round Rock, just north of where I live. This soup was always the first course, served in small bowls. It's so hearty, though, that we just serve it in big bowls and make a meal out of it. It is SO easy to make, your house smells terrific while it's cooking and it's VERY kid-friendly (it's got ketchup in it!). I'm going to go here and pick up a nice loaf of something yummy to go with it. Their Spinach Feta bread is delicious, but it does have high fructose corn syrup it it (their Honey Whole Wheat does not).

Portugese Soup from the Inn at Brushy Creek

2 white onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
6 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pound garlic-flavored, smoked pork sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
(Elgin sausage is great, if you happen to live nearby and can get it, or Linguica)
10 cups beef stock
2 cans kidney beans, with liquid
1 head green cabbage, cored and chopped into medium pieces
12 small new potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
1/4 to 1/2 cup vinegar (less to taste)
1 16-ounce bottle ketchup (more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and garlic in oil.

When they are just transparent, add sausage slices and brown lightly.

Add beef stock and all other ingredients.

Bring to a boil, stirring often to keep the bottom of the pan from burning. Reduce heat, simmer 35 - 45 minutes or longer, stirring occasionally. Correct seasonings to taste. Yields about 1 gallon. Share this with your neighbors - because of the potatoes, this soup will NOT freeze well, but it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.