Food and Life
Weekend Dog Blogging is tomorrow. Participants have really dropped off the past couple months (way before holidays arrived), so I’m wondering if we reached our peak? Perhaps we’ve had our fill of cute pups for now? Tell me what you think, and that will decide if we continue.
Until tomorrow…
A year ago today… a great tried-and-true dessert.
I swear, if there was some Amazon Rain Forest disease, this kid would surely catch it. Back in early November, Nicholas had bronchitis. The doctor warned then that the cough could persist for weeks, and it surely has.
This past weekend, he had a barking seal, dry, croupy cough, and then yesterday and today, he mentioned that his mouth hurt, and his cough had turned a bit, now more congested. I called the doctor and got him an appointment this afternoon. The diagnosis? Scarlet Fever. When he was 3, he had croup. When he was 2, it was Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Now it’s Scarlet Fever. I didn’t think it even existed anymore, but doc says that when you have strep throat, a rash on your throat, back and chest and a fever, it qualifies as Scarlet Fever, and it’s fairly common with kids. And if that wasn’t enough, let’s throw in some fluid in both ears and a sinus infection for good measure. Poor baby.
Luckily, aside from sniffling and dragging just a tad, he’s not acting sick. Very little slows him down. Much to his dismay, I’m keeping quarantined from The Girlfriend until tomorrow night to give the medicine a chance to start working its magic (doc says 24 hours and we’re good). Until then, I’m off to work on a Pirates of the Caribbean lego masterpiece with him (a gift from The Neighbors). There’s a special place for people who give gifts with 150!!! pieces, but we love them just the same. Until tomorrow…
A year ago today … quick and easy recipes.
P.S. I’m working on finalizing our menu for our New Years’ Eve Seafood Feast. Inspire me! What’s on YOUR celebration menu?
Two years ago, we had a few of those white reindeer that go on your front lawn for Christmas. You know the ones, they’re everywhere. Well, I got bored with them and ended up selling them at a garage sale we had. Fast-forward to this year, and Nicholas has definitely gotten into the Christmas spirit big-time, everything from giving me detailed commentary on who has good decorations and who doesn’t, to tracking Santa’s every move.
Well, we decorate a lot outside, in good taste, I assure you, but Nicholas decided there was one thing we’re missing. I’m sure you can guess … our front lawn needed reindeer. I made a mental note of it and planned to go get some in the after-Christmas sales. And I tried wholeheartedly. I left the house on Tuesday at 10 am and didn’t stop until around 3. I set out to mainly look for the reindeer for him and a few ornaments, and the pink stuff at Pier 1 (you KNOW I was all over that. Hello? Valentine’s Day!). Every single store I went to was sold out of the reindeer, and sales associate after sales associate told me “they were the first thing to go.” What, is there a little group of four-year-old decorators getting a jump on next year already? And here I thought it was just Nicholas.
…
Last night, we got the chance to celebrate a belated Christmas with The Neighbors. Even though the kids still had to exchange their own presents, I think it’s safe to say that they’re over the whole opening presents thing. For now, anyway. I’m sure it will pass.
I wanted to keep the menu simple since I spent most of the day out, tracking down elusive items for Nicholas (a story for tomorrow). I turned to one of the new cookbooks I got for Christmas, Rachael Ray’s 2, 4, 6, 8: Great Meals for Couples or Crowds
The bread from the steak sandwiches was simply divine, full of crusty, cheesy, garlicky goodness; the recipe’s name does not lie. Her recipe didn’t suggest slicing the steak before putting it on the bread, but I did, and think it worked better that way. We decided the one thing to put it over the top would be a little light gravy spooned on the top of the finished sandwich, or melted cheese. We’ll definitely be making this one again though, probably using one or both of those additions.
The Italian BLT Club Sandwich was quite tasty too. A simple snack to throw together, the arugula gives the sandwich a nice, peppery bite, and who doesn’t love prosciutto?
The Neighbor Husband got into the act too, tackling a Rachael Ray recipe of his very own, from her Guy Food
Until tomorrow……
I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like I’ve been going non-stop since Friday, and haven’t stopped yet! Just need to make it to Monday and we’ll be in the homestretch. Or that’s the plan anyway.
OK, let’s see where we left off… ah, yes, Christmas Eve. I was incredibly organized all throughout the day. I dragged The Husband and Nicholas with me to do a few last minute errands in the morning and then made a few of our pre-dinner munchies in the early afternoon. I was doing SO GOOD … until I went to start gathering things to set the table. You may recall that our house has been on the market. We’ve packed up a lot of stuff that is sitting very peacefully in a storage unit (all the better to make the house look bigger), and a lot of my “entertaining stuff” was packed up then. For some reason, I packed half a set of brown napkins, leaving me with only 4. That’s fine for everyday dinner, but won’t exactly work when company is coming. I know my family would have thought paper napkins were fine, but when I put effort into decorating and coordinating the dinner table, I just couldn’t do it.
So there I am, an hour and half before everyone arrives, frantically calling a few stores to find one still open, and luckily I did. Dashed off to get the napkins and made it back home with an hour to spare. Luckily I had made most of the pre-dinner stuff already, and wasn’t planning on starting the Cioppino until everyone got here, but the lesson was definitely there. Check table setting stuff before you go to use it!
I actually stuck very close to the original planned menu, only nixing the salads along the way. Everything was good, and we even took the time to match wines with each course this time, which was a nice addition. The Spuma di Tonno was a big hit, with the bowl nearly wiped out before dinner (a tried-and-true for us, and a snap to make). The Cioppino is hearty, simple to make and encompasses a lot of the fish for our Feast of Seven Fishes, which is a nice perk.
After dinner, we all relaxed and watched Chevy Chase’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
Our living room won’t be the same for a few more days – still finding space for the Christmas presents. 
I got a bunch of kitchen goodies and other fun stuff … new cookbooks, napkin rings, placemats, Rachael Ray’s pasta pot
I’ll leave you with a few pictures from Christmas Eve/Day. Tonight we had our holiday dinner with The Neighbors, and that recap is on tap for tomorrow. Until then, hope your holiday was a wonderful one. 
Finally sat down last night and planned our menu for our Christmas Eve Feast of Seven Fishes. I kept it simple, better to enjoy company that way, and may end up nixing one thing as the day progresses, but we’ll see. Now it’s YOUR turn. What do you have planned for your holiday feast?
Pre-dinner munchies:
Bleu Cheese Chips
Smoked Salmon Spread and Spuma di Tonna with assorted crackers
Roasted Peppers and Capers with Balsamic Vinegar
Falafel-Spiced Nuts
White Bean Hummus Dip
Appetizer:
Shrimp Cocktail
Salad:
Tossed Green Salad with Honey Vinaigrette
Roasted Stuffed Pears
Antipasto Platter, Cheese Platter
Dinner:
Cioppino with French Bread
Until tomorrow…
A year ago today … another simple plan.
Last week, I asked for inspiration for my Baking Blitz, and you guys didn’t disappoint. Everyone’s choices sounded so good! I wrote down a bunch to add to my to-try pile, and ended up making one of the recipes that Merry suggested, Peanut Butter Crunchies. I whipped up a batch last night in literally just minutes, and they set up fairly quickly. Tasty, sweet without being overly sweet, the cornflakes give it that little unique twist. Another recipe to add to my tried-and-true pile. Thanks, Merry!
Until tomorrow…
A year ago today … winners from Rachael Ray.
Peanut Butter Crunchies
1 cup corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter
4-6 cups cornflakes
Heat the corn syrup and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar is desolved. Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter. Add cornflakes until you have the consistency you want (more cornflakes make them crunchier while less make them chewier). Drop on waxed paper or press into a buttered 11×14″ pan.
Growing up with a Parisian-born Mom, a cheese plate was a standard part of most of our meals, and even more so for the holidays. I tend to put out cheese plates myself too, but never give much thought to what should be on it. I pick a few cheeses that I know I and our guests like and let it be at that. Some Cambazola, a triple-creme Brie, Gouda for The Husband, a log of goat cheese that I roll in fresh herbs and one more, usually a Port Salut or Jack to round out the platter.
Recently though, I’ve been paying more attention to what should and shouldn’t go on a true cheese plate.
– First, your cheese platter should be a variety of flavors, textures and even countries and milks (i.e., sheep, cow and goat).
– Make sure you have something for everyone. Although we tend to lean towards the stronger (stinky!) cheeses ourselves, not everyone does. Be sure to include milder cheeses (like Brie) for those that aren’t quite as brave.
– Don’t pre-cut your cheese.
– Put a flag in each cheese to identify it, or a little paper sign or label near it. Don’t leave guests guessing. The book Real Simple: Celebrations
– When getting your cheese platter ready, let the cheeses sit at room temperature for a little while (30-45 minutes or so) to soften them up a bit. Brie tastes so much better that way rather then straight from the fridge….
A very full day today indeed. It seems like ever since I started working from home, I’m busier than I ever was before; funny how things work out. Nicholas’ school had their holiday party today and the kids were adorable with their little red Rudolph noses. They sang a bunch of songs for the parents, which he has dutifully been practicing for the past few weeks NON-STOP, and it was adorable. Hard to believe that the next time all the parents are going to be gathered together there, it will be for the kids’ graduation! And I know I’m going to be bawling my eyes out. I got choked up at the last graduation, and this time, HE’LL be the one wearing the cap and gown.
Managed to squeeze in an appointment at the dentist, a few errands, two catering orders and even a full load of writing assignments. For the catering orders, I kept it simple and relied on tried-and-trues. I made Barbara’s Watch Hill Sour Cream Coffee Cake, and a few cookies trays filled with Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Chocolate Dipped Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Chocolate Dipped Pretzels. Simple sweet items that take the edge off, but aren’t overly heavy. Perfect.
I had planned to put ARF/5-A-Day on hiatus until January 2, but a few entries arrived in my inbox today and I hardly want to discourage any ARF/5-A-Day eating, so I’ll leave you with that.
Until tomorrow…
A year ago today… sick bay.
Gluten-Free By the Bay joins in this week with Homemade Cranberry Applesauce:
Susan from Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen is back this week with the beautifully packaged Pumpkin Spice Bread:
Vanesscipes joins us for the first time this week, contributing her very hearty Green Olive and Chick Pea Tagine:
And lastly, Albion Cooks tackles Borscht for the holidays:
A little pink marker on his face, a little chocolate on his lips and 40 winks in between errands this weekend. Perfect contentment.
Ahh, the Baking Blitz of ’06 is over. I have a few small catering orders to finish up over the next two weeks, but I got the bulk of the baking done today. I spent 6 hours in the kitchen today and managed to bang out Peanut Butter Fudge, Peanut Butter Cookies, Brown Sugar Walnut Shortbread, Almost Cherry Garcia Cookies, Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies, Mocha Truffle Cookies, Cranberry Cinnamon Nut Bars and Chocolate Chai Cookies.
Without figuring out quantities ahead of time, I miraculously ended up with just the right amount of items to fill 11 cookie tins, two platters and 3 catering orders – it worked out perfectly. Somehow I managed to fall into a rhyhm. As one batch came out of the oven and cooled, I’d get the next one in. Once cooled, I put each batch in a big disposable holding tin to get it ready for cookie tin distribution later. I had a circle of three batches going at all times and managed to avoid big disasters in the kitchen. Well, kind of. I accidentally used confectioners sugar instead of flour in one batch of cookies; inadvertently reset the kitchen timer, forgetting I was already timing something; and lastly, ran upstairs to get something, knowing I had 10 minutes until something was ready to come out of the oven, got distracted and ruined it.
…
I finally got the majority of our Christmas cards in the mail today. Just a few more stragglers that I need addresses for, and I can finally cross that task off my list. Whew! Now I feel like I’m making a bit more progress and ready for the craziness of “Christmas week.”
I started my baking blitz today and will do more all day tomorrow. I have quite a list of stuff planned, but I know as it gets later in the day tomorrow, and as my energy wanes and my feet scream for mercy, I may end up cutting a thing or two out. The Newlywed Neighbor is going to try and come by and help out, and The Neighbors are coming by for dinner, but earlier to do baking, so hopefully everything will get done tomorrow and I can just coast through the rest of the week. It’s always more fun baking with friends. Once I get past getting all the Care Packages out, all that I’ll have left is to wrap presents and plan the Christmas Eve menu, and then I’m free to relax. Totally manageable.
The Sister-in-Law came over for dinner tonight, and since I spent some time running errands today, I planned a very simple meal, with, of course, the requisite chocolate to heal all love wounds. I went with all tried-and-trues tonight. For starters, I did a Tapas platter, making this and this. I love tapas. In just a short amount of time, you can whip up platter upon platter of tasty nibbles, without the guilt of eating heavy food. The main course was Fettuccine with Sage Butter, Bacon and Artichokes. I love this one because it’s fancy enough that it works for company, yet easy enough to whip up on a weeknight. Unfortunately, when I put the pasta in the pot to cook, I sat down to get the deets on The Sister-in-Law’s break-up and overcooked the pasta just a tad. Luckily not so much that it wasn’t edible, but I hate doing things like that. Also managed to burn half a loaf of French bread in the process as well, but that’s standard MO for me. I put things under the broiler and totally forget about them. Luckily, I still had half a loaf left. For dessert, I went with Chocolate Hazelnut Fondue, using poundcake, strawberries and mashmallows as dippers. I think Nicholas ate every last strawberry himself. At $4.99/container (!!!), at least they’re not going to waste. The fondue could not be simpler. Take Nutella, put in fondue pot, warm, eat. No need for a recipe and it tastes divine. And really, who doesn’t like Nutella?
OK, off to bed, early morning tomorrow. C’mon back and see what makes it into the Care Packages. Until then…
A year ago today… Rachael Ray, parties and more.
