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March 25, 2009

Back to the beginning

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Things have been wildly busy around here - too busy.  Brian and I have been traveling a bit for work, putting out professional fires right and left, and trying desperately to remain fully focused on what matters in our lives - slow time with the girls.


Being that our house is for sale, we are constantly shoved out of our home for numerous showings.  We know that we should be grateful, but as the weeks flicker past and these showings don't necessarily result in legitimate offers, we find ourselves feeling mostly disrupted.  The girls also continue to acquire every respiratory pathogen circulating within a 30 mile radius.  So, uninterrupted sleep continues to be a figment of our imagination.  This does not help us.

In an effort to reclaim our lives in the midst of all this chaos.  I gathered up the girls the other day (or was it the other week!) to make banana muffins.  It seems cooking together, something I used to do with them multiple times a week, has slipped to the sidelines during these spinning times.  It felt so good to bring it back to the front and center.  

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When I first began blogging, over here in 2007, one of my first posts was about our weekly muffin-making adventures.  It seems appropriate to find my way back, by going back to the beginning.  I decided to let Sizzles wield the knife, and take on the task of chopping the walnuts.  As you can see, she took her job very seriously.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), all twelve muffins were consumed so quickly by the four of us that I didn't get a picture of the finished product.  

But, I will tell you that they were mmm tasty!  :)

Posted at 09:46 AM |

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Recipe of the Week

Archives of Recipe of the Week

  • Cranberry Pumpkin Energy Bites
    * 11.5 oz box Nature's Path Organic Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola * 1 cup of dried craisins * 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon * 1 cup Lundberg Farms Brown Rice syrup * 1/2 cup creamy soynut butter Spray a 11x7 inch pan with nonstick spray. Stir together granola, cranberries and spices into the bowl; set aside. Bring brown rice syrup to a boil over medium high heat in a small saucepan. When bubbles start moving from the outside of the pan to the center, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and quickly stir in soynut butter. Immediately pour over granola mixture and stir well. Press into prepared pan and let cool completely before cutting in squares. Store in airtight container.
  • Watermelon Pie-sicles
    Take a large watermelon and cut it in half. Then cut each half into two pieces.
  • Take one of the smaller pieces and remove the melon from the rind.
  • You can either cut the melon into smaller chunks or simply proceed to the next step using the huge hunk of melon.
  • Place the melon in a fine strainer and place the strainer over a large bowl.
  • Using a potato masher, smoosh the melon until there is only pulp and seeds left in the strainer. The juice will drip into the large bowl under the strainer.
  • Using the back of a wooden spoon, push the remaining pulp against the bottom of the strainer to get the last bits of juice out of the watermelon.
  • Pour the juice in a store-bought popsicle contraption or a do-it-yourself popsicle contraption.
  • This should make about 4-6 small popsicles, depending on the size of your container.
  • Freeze for at least 5 hours, preferably overnight
  • Remove from the container. If the popsicles won't come out, place the holder in a bowl of warm water and try again. 6/10/08 12:58 PM
  • Beach Pasta - Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil and Brie
    From the cookbook, "Seaside: Pastels & Pickets"
  • 4 large tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 pound Brie, rind removed, torn into bite size pieces
  • 1 cup firmly packed basil leaves, cut into strips
    • 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
  • 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
    • 2 zucchini, sliced, broiled
  • 1 eggplant, cut into bite-sized pieces, broiled
  • 6 quarts water
  • 1.5 pounds linguine
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • Combine tomatoes, Brie, basil, garlic, 1/2 cup olive oil, chicken broth, white wine, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, zucchini and eggplant in large bowl; mix well. Let stand, covered, at room temperature for 2 hours. Prepare the pasta as directed. Toss linguine with sauce in bowl. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • Serves 6.
  • Popeye Pasta
    1 pound of bow-tie pasta
  • 3-4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
  • 1 bunch of asparagus chopped into small pieces
  • 1 small bunch of lacinato kale leaves chopped rather small
  • 1 small or medium vidalia onion
  • 8 oz. of whole milk ricotta
  • 1/2 cup of grated parmesan
  • 2/3 cup of toasted pine nuts
  • big pinch of coarse salt
  • lots of fresh ground pepper
  • tiny pinch of thyme

    • Place a little olive oil in a large pan. Once the oil is warm, add chopped onion. Cook for about 4 minutes and then add asparagus. Cook for about 2 minutes and then add salt, pepper, and thyme. Continue saute on medium low heat until your pasta is done, making sure not to burn the vegetables. In the meantime, bring a large pot to a rolling boil. Once the water is boiling add 4 large pinches of salt, then add the pasta. Boil the pasta for 10 minutes or according to the package instructions: After 8 minutes of boiling the pasta, throw in the chopped kale. When the pasta is done, drain the whole pot (pasta and kale) in the strainer.

    Toss the pasta into the large pan with the asparagus and onion.

    Add ricotta, parmesan and pine nuts. Toss and serve with more parmesan cheese.

  • Patty-Cake Lemon Bars
    For the crust
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1.5 sticks of unsalted butter, frozen, plus more for the dish
  • 3/4 cup of confectioners' sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoons coarse salt
  • For the filling:
  • 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 1/3 cups of sugar
  • 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp coarse salt
  • 3/4 cups fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup whole milk

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish, and line with waxed paper.

    Make crust: Grate butter on a cheese grater with large holes: set aside. Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add butter; stir with a wooden spoon until combined and mixture looks crumbly.

    Transfer mixture to prepared dish: press evenly onto bottom with your hands. Freeze crust for 15 minutes. Bake until golden, 16-18 minutes.

    Meanwhile make filling. Whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and milk. Pour over hot crust.

    Bake at 325 degrees until filling is set and edges are slightly golden brown, about 18 minutes. Let cool slightly on a wire rack. Lift out; let cool completely then cut. Dust with confectioner's sugar.

  • Cast-Iron Cookies
    Cast Iron Cookie Adapted from the blog My Messy Thrilling Life

    • 2 cups of flour
    • 1 tsp. baking soda
    • 1/2 tsp. salt
    • 3/4 cup butter softened
    • 1/2 cup sugar
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla
    • 3/4 cup brown sugarr
    • 1 egg
    • 1 tbsp. whole milk
    • Lots of chocolate chips

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
    Bake for 35 minutes. p>

  • Cowgirl Cookies
    2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter
  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 2 cups of fresh granola (fruit and nut; Bare Naked or Great Harvest fruit version are good substitutes)
  • 1 cup raisins OR dried cherries
  • 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

    • Whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.

    Beat on medium-high speed the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

    Reduce to low and add flour.

    Stir in oats, granola, dried fruit and chocolate.

    Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. 4/27/08 6:44 PM

  • Strawberry Bread
    Strawberry Bread

    Adapted from allrecipes.com (Ellen Rainey)

    • 3 cups of fresh strawberries, smashed
    • 3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
    • 1/8 cup wheat flour
    • 2 cups white sugar
    • 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
    • 1 tablespoon vanilla
    • 1tsp salt
    • 1tsp baking soda
    • 1 1/4 cup vegetable oil
    • 4 eggs, beaten

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans
    Sprinkle smashed berries with some of the sugar.
    Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking soda in large bowl and mix.
    Blend oil and eggs into strawberries.
    Add strawberry mixture to flour mixture, until just moistened.
    Divide batter in half into pans.
    Bake 45 to 50 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes on wire rack. Turn loaves out and cool completely.

  • Rainbow Rice
    Open a ziploc bag. Place several drops of food coloring inside the bag. Add one tablespoon of white vinegar to the bag. Place two cups of rice into the bag. Seal the bag and squish the rice around the bag until all the grains are colored. Pour the rice on a cookie sheetl, spreading it out into a single layer of grains. Bake on 200 degrees for 30 minutes.