Watermelon Salsa

One evening, while in Seattle, we had dinner down by the lake and Mark's sister, Pat, brought a delicious watermelon salsa.  I had never had such a thing and I couldn't stop eating it!  It was so fresh and clean tasting!  Of course, I asked for the recipe and would love to share to it...

Pat's Watermelon Salsa

3 cups petite chopped watermelon

2 jalapeños, chopped small (I removed the seeds cause I'm a woos)

1/3 cup red onion, chopped small

1/3 cup chopped cilantro

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

Mix all together and enjoy!  Serve with tortilla chips or pita chips.  I also think it would be good over chicken, pork or fish for dinner!

Party Popcorn

For Grace's birthday treat at school we sent in Party Popcorn!  It fit several requirements of ours- it wasn't loaded with sugar, was gluten free*, and was fun and festive to serve to friends!

I found the recipe here but sort of played it by ear since I popped our own popcorn.  It was so easy and literally only took 10 minutes to make!  I eyeballed how much popcorn would feed the whole class and then melted about 8 ounces of white chocolate chips (if you add a teaspoon of canola/vegetable oil to the white chocolate chips they will melt smoothly and not get weird and goopy) and poured it right over the popcorn in the bowl.  After we mixed up the chocolate and popcorn, Grace went to town pouring sprinkles over the popcorn!

To make serving the popcorn a little easier for the classroom teacher, we packed individual amounts in  wax bags and sealed them with a fun sticker I made on the computer and printed out.  Grace reported that the Party Popcorn was a big hit with the class!

*A classmate cannot have gluten and we wanted to make something the whole class could enjoy the treat

Christmas Menus

One of my very favorite meals of the Christmas season is Christmas Day breakfast.  I love the excitement in the air, family gathered round our table, the contentment of having all morning with no where to be, the light shining in our dining room and last, but certainly not least, the food!

We always gather together as a family in our pajamas for Christmas morning breakfast- even those who are driving to join us come in their pajamas!  It's a fun tradition that we've been doing since we got married (maybe even before?).  This years menu was perfect and I don't think it needs to be changed at all.

Christmas Morning Breakfast

Breakfast Casserole (made the night before)

Cinnamon Rolls with Eggnog Icing (also made the day before)

Candied Bacon and Regular Bacon

Gingerbread Waffles with maple syrup

Fruit

Hot Cocoa for the children with marshmallows and peppermint sticks

Coffee

Our Christmas Eve dinner is our more "dressy" meal.  We eat before we got to our church service and then have dessert once we get home.  We don't have a traditional dinner, though we've tried to find "the" menu.  We've tried everything from lobster to steak to seafood gratins but nothing has struck gold with us yet.  The problem is that we want a special dinner but we don't want all the clean-up!  To spend hours cleaning up in the kitchen on Christmas Eve, especially when you've got other matters to attend to, is frustrating.  Therefore, I've looked for something that's extraordinary but can be made ahead.  This year, I'm not sure that I struck gold but it sure was tasty!  I think perhaps it can be tweaked a bit to make it just right.

Also, years ago, Bryce used to make an Eggnog from scratch that was really tasty.  However, we somehow let that go and it has been years since it appeared on Christmas Eve.  No longer!  He once again made a delicious and tasty Eggnog that will always be on our Christmas Eve menu (there is absolutely no comparison to store bought.  None.)

Christmas Eve Dinner

Homemade Eggnog

Cheese Plate (Champagne aged cheddar and Wensleydale Cheese (Cranberry) with red grapes

Lobster Mac and Cheese

Boston Lettuce Salad with pomegranate seeds and  Champagne Vinaigrette

No-Bake Miniature Cheesecakes

Carving Pumpkins + Pumpkin Bread Bowls

One of our traditions around Halloween is to go pumpkin picking and then carve them one evening.  We got our pumpkins a week ago, but didn't carve them (with the exception of the Airstream carving) until Wednesday night.  As the children have gotten older they have gotten quite adept and comfortable at handling the carving tools (though Grace did get a small cut) and they enjoy designing their pumpkin's face.

 

 

I've also always made an effort to have something for dinner that involves pumpkins and this year I tried Pumpkin Bread Bowls again (I tried them several years ago and they were a complete failure).  They turned out darling and were really easy.  I served pumpkin soup in them, but would probably go with Butternut Squash Soup next time as it was just ok and not delicious.  I used this recipe for the bread bowls and only made 5 bowls instead of the 12 the recipe called for so that they would be entree size and not too small.  I added food coloring during the mixing stage and set a side a bit of dough to color and attach the stems.  

Limes + A Bullfrog

Late last spring, I excitedly bought a lime tree and two lemon trees, all of which were dwarfs so that I can bring them in when it gets too cold for them.  I love the idea of being able to walk out my door and pick my own lemons and limes.  Much to our excitement, the lime tree immediately set blooms and fruit started to grow.  However, at some point the limes just stopped getting bigger, and I'm not sure what happened or went wrong?  Did they get too dry?  Is a fruits size directly proportionate to the plants size?  Are they actually Key Limes instead of regular limes? I just don't know.  I do know that even though they were tiny they acted/smelled/tasted just like a regular old lime!

We made a fun drink to celebrate our first lime harvest, it's called a Bullfrog and is perfect for this frog loving family!

The Bullfrog

5 oz. lemonade

1 oz.  gin (the better the gin, the better the drink)

a lime slice for garnish

Marilyn's Salsa

For as long as I can remember in our married life, Bryce and I have coveted his Mom's homemade salsa.  Whenever we would get a jar we would save it for special occasions, gorge ourselves when we finally opened one and get weirdly excited whenever we got one in the mail!  It's that yummy!

Last year, Gretchen and I canned jars of Marilyn's Salsa and they turned out very good but a little liquidy.  This year, we tried again and I think we got it just right!  Turns out that the key was letting it cook stove-top for a lot longer than we would have guessed, we let it go a good 6 hours!

We took Marilyn's recipe and quadrupled it since we figured if we were going to do it we would do it up big (and we made two batches!)!  After all, if we are going to chop a few tomatoes, we might as well chop a lot of tomatoes!   I would highly recommend canning salsa with a friend.  It doesn't feel tedious or exhausting when you are laughing, talking and chopping together.

I'm going to share the recipe we used (this is quadrupled) but please remember that the salsa has to be processed as you would any canning recipe (this does not include instructions on how to can).

Marilyn's Salsa

32 cups tomatoes*, peeled and chopped

2 quarts diced onions

6 jalapenos, diced and 1/2 the seeds removed

2 green peppers, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 teaspoons cayenne

4 teaspoons paprika

4 teaspoons cumin

12 teaspoons salt

4 cups white vinegar

1 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients in a large pan and simmer for at least 4 hours or until mixture is nice and thick.  After filling your canning jars, process for 15 minutes in boiling water.

*Be sure you get sauce tomatoes

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

Happy Fall everyone.  This is one of my favorite seasons and it somehow always ends up feeling like the shortest season of the year! This year we are celebrating from the get-go and for the first day of fall we celebrated by making our very favorite fall treat, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars.  I actually had to do a search on the blog because I couldn't believe I'd never posted about them before.  Friends, they are so, so good.  They are a Martha Stewart Recipe and the only change I made was to swap out semi-sweet chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars

2 cups flour

2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

12 oz. dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda and salt.

In an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth.  Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.  Beat in pumpkin puree (it might look curdled but it's fine).  Mix in dry ingredients. Fold in chocolate chips.  

Spread batter in pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.  Cool completely in pan.  Lift cake from pan, peel off foil and cut into squares (approximately 24 squares). 

A Fireside Picnic + Snowball Cookies

Friday evening we got snow!  We've had several periods of snow, but until now it really hadn't amounted to much and so the children were thrilled to wake up Saturday morning to lots of snow to play in.  They quickly got to work building a snow fort and I got to work making a batch of celebratory snowball cookies.

We had a fireside picnic out on the porch with chicken pot pie hand-pies and hot cocoa.  The hand-pies are a perfect winter picnic food since they warm your hands as you are eating them!

It was also the perfect time to snuggle up together!

I remember that my Mom used to always make these cookies around Christmas time and they are so, so good.  They sort of melt in your mouth.  I decided that they are a perfect snow day cookie and they are so easy and quick!

Snow Ball Cookies*

2 sticks softened butter

5 tablespoons sugar

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons vanilla

powdered sugar

Cream everything together and form into little balls.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Let cool just a bit and then roll balls in powdered sugar.  

*(the original recipe also called for 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans.  we leave them out due to Harris' allergies and they are still delicious!)

Bacon Jam

On Saturday we moved my Mom to a new house!  We are super excited about it because she's even closer to us and we can ride our bikes to her house (the children are envisioning even more frequent visits to see their Grandma).  It didn't make sense to hire movers to move her 10 miles down the road so we imposed upon a few friends to help move her.  Ron, John, Tucker and Craig were so generous to help for the day and we really appreciated their hard work.  I was trying to think of something I could make as a little token of appreciation- some manly food!  Of course, bacon came to mind.  I had made this Bacon Jam for Bryce for Valentine's Day and it was a hit, so I decided to make a jar for each of the guys.  It's a slow cooker recipe and pretty easy to put together.  It's delicious as an appetizer, on burgers, toast, pizza and a slew of other things too.  To quote Bryce, "Bacon makes everything better."

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving was perfect.  We had a slow, happy day at home.

My Mom came over and she and the children made adorable turkey fingerprint art for the table.  I even found a note in mine!  How awesome is it that Harris included a thanksgiving banner?

Our fresh turkey was delicious!  It was moist and flavorful and we have a ton of leftovers!

We had all the usual suspects for dinner- turkey, stuffing, green beans, sweet potato souffle and cranberry sauce.  Delicious.

Dessert was a big hit!  It was over the top good.

I hope that you all had a wonderful day too!

Beer Bread

As the weather has cooled down around here, I have found myself having the urge to cook soup once again.  Oh, how I love soup!  And the only thing that makes soup even better is warm from the oven bread!  I have a favorite go-to bread that gives all of the pleasure of serving my family fresh, homemade bread without the hassle of waiting hours for the bread to rise.  It's Beer Bread*!  Our whole family loves it, it's healthy and it couldn't be easier.  Seriously, it takes 5 minutes to throw together and is ready to eat thirty minutes later!

Beer Bread

1 12oz bottle of beer (use a beer without preservatives)

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached flour

4 Tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Preheat over to 350 degrees.  In a small saucepan warm up the beer and maple syrup (I've also done this in a measuring cup in the microwave).  Mix together remaining ingredients, pour warm liquid into the flour mixture and mix it up.  Pour batter into well-buttered loaf pan.  Bake for 30 minutes.  

*This recipe is adapted from a Susan Branch recipe.  And when I say adapted I really mean that I just leave out the Caraway Seeds that she includes in hers!  Susan Branch now has a blog!  I just love her.

Fruit Art Palette

I'm sorry for this very poor picture, but I was in a hurry and didn't take time to see if I got a good shot!  As we were working on one of our art pieces, I served the children this fruit art palette.  I originally thought I would serve mini-cupcakes with different colored icing but a healthy snack and ease won out!

P.S.  I promise the palette was clean!

Herb Pesto

Last week I went on a bit of a pesto making frenzy.  One of my all time favorite foods is pesto and so when I found recipes in Southern Living for different varieties of pesto I knew that I wanted to try them.  The mint pesto was not our favorite (though Marilyn thought it was good) and I wouldn't make it again but the herb pesto?  It was very, very good and will be added to our recipe box!

I love that I can get a lot of the ingredients from my herb garden and that it has a variety of uses.  So far we have had the pesto atop fish and chicken and mixed in with scrambled eggs!  Delicious!

Herb Pesto (from Southern Living Magazine)

2/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves*

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup pine nuts**

1/4 cup cold water

1 to 2 garlic cloves

2 Tbsp. fresh oregano leaves

1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves

1 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed.

*I used curly parsley because that is what I had.

** I toasted the pine nuts because I like the flavor that brings out!

Moonshot and Moon Pies

Forty-two years ago Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot on the moon!  Isn't that simply astounding?  It absolutely blows my mind that cell phones and computers weren't a household staple but we were able to put someone on the moon!

I thought that today was a great day to read, Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca to the children,  and since we haven't made anything together in the kitchen lately, we tried our hand at making old fashioned Moon Pies.

Moonshot is a gorgeously, and realistically, illustrated story of Apollo 11's trip to the moon.  It's a wealth of information in several different formats- there is an illustrated timeline on the front pages and an essay detailing the history of the flight on the back.

In an effort to not have to go to the store, I cobbled together several different recipes to make the Moon Pies.  I used this recipe for the graham cracker cookies and this recipe for homemade marshmallow fluff.  I sort of cheated and spread chocolate on the top of each Moon Pie instead of dipping the whole thing.  A big glass of cold milk was a perfect accompaniment!

Butterbeer

Kathleen and I have tried four different butterbeer recipes in the past two days, and I'm sorry to report that we still have not found "the one."

Three of the recipes we tried used cream soda as the base of the drink and three involved ice cream.   They were all good but all a little too sweet.  In my mind, the butterbeer that Harry, Ron and Hermione enjoy is not a dessert drink.

The first one we tried used a whipped cream head for the cream soda base with a little added butter extract.

Next, we tried a drink that had spices and butter mixed in with the ice cream and warm cream soda poured over the ice cream.  This one was actually very tasty but did not have much of a butter undertone at all.

We mixed butterscotch syrup with ice cream and poured cold cream soda on the ice cream.  This one just tasted like a cream soda float.

Lastly, we tried the same ice cream combination as above (cinnamon, nutmeg, butter and brown sugar) with warm apple cider.  I thought this one had the most potential but it had too much of an apple pie taste!  However, I thought it looked great!

Next time, we are going to try to make butterscotch syrup and add that to various combinations, maybe with some rum extract?  The search goes on...