Let's play a game

Do you remember those close up photo quizzes on the back of Weekly Readers?  Do Weekly Readers still exist?  I can vividly remember sitting in my first grade classroom, reading a Weekly Reader article about the Bush vs. Dukakis election.  Oh, I loved those stinky little 4 page magazines (I think they must have been printed at the same place as book orders- same thin paper and strange smell).    Anyway, here's a photo quiz for you.  When you are done, pass your paper to the person in front of you to be graded.  

1.  

Any guesses?

How about a hint...

Paint!

2. 

Tyler says this one is creepy.

Same comment, different picture.

I'll agree, this one is creepy.  

Baby doll!

I would love to own a macro lens for my camera, but they are way too spendy.  I found a $10 extension tube on ebay, and figured it was worth a shot as a cheap stand in for a true macro lens.  I haven't played with it much yet, but for the price I can't complain.  Want to see one more example?  

3. 

Hmmm...what could that be?

Do you know?

There we go, it's a (half eaten) pumpkin muffin.  

Did you hear that there was a pumpkin shortage last fall?  Well, I did, and I bought a can or two of pumpkin puree every time I went to the grocery store.  Thus, I now have a stockpile in my cupboard.  I needed a last minute treat to bring to a new mom last night (she needs major calories to nurse twins!), so I used this pumpkin bread recipe, baked in muffin form to speed things up.  The recipe made 24 muffins and one mini loaf of bread.  I think it tasted much better in loaf form, perhaps because I over baked the muffins.  I checked them at 25 minutes (based on recipe recommendations to bake muffins for 40 minutes) and they were well done.  The mini loaf took about about 30 minutes.  Over done or not, the kids loved them.

Here's the recipe with my changes in parenthesis.  

Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread

via allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 4 eggs 1 cup vegetable oil (1/2 cup oil, 1/2 C applesauce)  2/3 cup water 3 cups white sugar (1 1/2 cup white, 1 cup brown) 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (2 cups AP, 1 1/2 cups whole wheat)

2 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (add 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice)

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
2.	In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, water and sugars until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
3.	Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (18-20 minutes for muffins, 30 minutes for mini loaves) Wait, you want to see one more out of focus picture?  Of course!  This one has a funny store behind it.    We were driving in the car and somehow got on the subject of Blake's chipped tooth.  We have no idea how it got chipped; in fact, I swear that it came in that way.  Tyler mentioned that he has a similarly chipped front tooth, and jokingly said, "maybe it's a genetic chip."  Hadley heard this and said, "I want to eat genetic chips at the hockey game!"  Last night, she saw a bag of tortilla chips and asked if they were "genetic chips."  Oh man, that kid makes me laugh!

This and That

I love the blog Color Me Katie; she does happy things.
Katie's boyfriend?/husband? Matt Adams works with Improv Everywhere.  Their latest project was the No Pants Subway Ride.

Did you notice that they gathered in Foley Square?  Fitting; us Foleys are always riding the subway pantless.  

I noticed yesterday that our co-op sells quail eggs.  Wondering what you'd make with those tiny eggs (tiny omelets?) I came home and started googling.  Turns out, quail eggs are supposedly nutritious and delicious.  Want to see for yourself?  For only $26 you can incubate your own eggs, then raise the quail to provide you with an endless supply of eggs; enough to make thousands of tiny quiches!  Now that's a deal!

Does the man in your life need wardrobe help?  Check out Nerd Boyfriend for historical fashion inspiration.  I love the old pictures!

Speaking of pictures, these photos make me feel a little anxious, but they are amazing none the less.  Craving more insanity?  Check out the video.  I think my heart stopped at the 35 second mark.  Yikes!

Happy Sunday.  Time to get saggy!

Today is brought to you by the letter C.

The alternative title for this post was, "A curry, a cookie and a cracker walk into a kitchen..." However, that seemed like it had the potential to be the opening to a really offensive joke.  I decided that a Sesame Street reference might be more politically correct.  Okay?  Good?  Alright, on with the recipes!



Curry

Curry photos are not very appetizing, so here's a photo of Morocco (via National Geographic)

So you have a fridge full of vegetables and no dinner plans...what to do?  I stumbled upon this Moroccan curry recipe the other night, and I'm glad I did.  I basically followed the cooking method and spice combination, substituting the veggies that I had on hand (cauliflower, broccolini, red and green peppers, onions and potatoes).  The results were very good the first day and even better as leftovers.  I planned to serve it with brown rice, but alas the rice cooker didn't come through.  The rice was still crunchy, even after adding more water and cooking for an extra 20 minutes.  I made couscous as a quick fix, which was a good accompaniment and probably an authentic side dish for a Moroccan meal.  Determined to conquer the brown rice challenge, a google search brought me to the answer: baked brown rice.   How come nobody told me about this sooner? 

Cookies

Remember the homemade nutella that was taunting me from the fridge?  It desperately needed a purpose, so I found this recipe for nutella chocolate chip cookies.  Yum!  Hadley was my sous chef, and she gives the cookies two oven gloved thumbs up.

Graham Crackers

image via Martha Stewart

Homemade graham crackers are delicious.  That is, unless you double the salt.  Then they are salty.  If you are willing to carefully measure all ingredients, these are definitely worth the time to mix, roll, chill and bake.  I usually use this recipe from Smitten Kitchen, but decided to try Martha's version last time.  I think I like the flavor of the first recipe best, but the second recipe has a lighter texture that I enjoyed.  Try one and let me know what you think.  

Dinner parties as distant memories

Mmm...homemade tortillas.  They were delicious!

Before having kids, we threw dinner parties.  We cooked (and cleaned) for hours, trying impressive new recipes, socializing and acting like adults.  Before having kids, other people invited us to their dinner parties.  Now, dinnertime usually consists of a few rounds of "twinkle, twinkle, little star," scraping food off the floor, walls and windows, and begging people to eat what I cooked.  And I love it.

However, I have to admit that I miss civilized dinners.  When I read about Thursday's at Worth Street, I swooned a little.  Every Thursday night, Tamy and Felipe cook a gourmet meal in their apartment for 6-8 friends and strangers.  If I find myself in Manhattan in the near future, I think I'll try to get on the list; their food sounds delicious.

Hosting a weekly meal is not an attainable goal, and being invited to a weekly dinner is even less attainable.  But what about a monthly meal?  Something totally basic and easy, unpretentious and with no goals to impress.  Families welcomed, parents chatting, kids playing, lots of eating.  When Oprah went to Australia (which is now on my travel wish list), she visited a woman who has a weekly taco party.  I think we could handle that once a month.  We'll throw some chicken in the crockpot, you bring some tortillas and maybe your friend brings the salsa.  Oh yes, I will be assigning people to bring food.  Although the thought of it would have made me cringe a few years ago, I am now all about potluck style meals.  And yes, of course you can help with the dishes.

So, who's in?  I'm serious here (local) folks!

Deal alert!

At Fred Meyer, Pur water pitchers and two pack replacement filters are both on sale for $7.99 this week, normally $19.99 each.  Grab a flyer in the front of the store for an additional 10% off.  My cashier took an extra 20% off- I guess he has a thing for short ladies wearing ponytails and sweats (sans makeup, of course).

To start your morning off right

Pecanella?

This morning was cool, dark and rainy.  After burning a lot of calories at Stroller Strides, I naturally wanted to come home and bake.  I thought about making banana bread, but most of the bananas were too green and I didn't have any eggs (darn post vacation fridge!).  Next, I decided to make graham crackers (no eggs needed), but realized that I didn't have any whole wheat flour.  While looking through my baking cupboards, I found two large bags of pecans.  In an act of desperation, my makeshift dessert (morning snack) consisted of pecans and dark chocolate chips, straight up.

Pecans and chocolate are one of my favorite flavor combinations.  When I make turtle cake, I like eat toasted pecan halves coated in chocolate frosting, eaten chip and dip style.  Inevitably, it always leaves me feeling a little sick, but it is so worth it.  So, back to those two bags of pecans... what to do?  A couple of days ago, there was a post on Smitten Kitchen about homemade nutella made with peanuts instead of hazelnuts.  Which got me thinking, what about nutella made with toasted pecans?

So, Hadley and I got to work.  The results- awesome!  If you like this flavor combination, you will love this recipe.  In fact, you probably shouldn't make it alone.  Have a buddy there to either eat half, or at least make you feel self conscious about eating spoonful after spoonful of this sinful spread.

Step 1:  Toast about 2 cups of pecans (350 degrees for 7-10 minutes).

Step 2:  Puree in food processor until liquified (3-5 minutes).

Step 3:  Call Grandma to tell her that you are "making sugar pecans."

Step 4: Blend in 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp salt and 1-2 TBSP of peanut oil.

I didn't have peanut oil, so I used coconut oil.  The end result was a bit thin; I think the oil could be reduced or left out.

Step 5: Enjoy!

Step 6: Put in covered container and refrigerate for up to one week.  For best results, place in the back of the fridge, hidden from view.  Otherwise you might find yourself eating a spoonful every time you open the fridge.  Don't say I didn't warn you.  

Does this picture remind you of anything?   80's flashback, perhaps?  If you do make this recipe, find yourself eating too much and need something to kill your appetite, than watch this video.

If you are trying to figure out what to do with the leftovers, check out this list of nutella recipes. 

Home Sweet Home

The end of a vacation is always bittersweet.  It's sad to see the fun come to a close, but boy is it good to be home.  We had a wonderful time in Denver, and now I have the pictures to prove it.

Vacations mean eating out, which we love.  However, this means eating very differently than we normally would.  For example, the kids ate chicken strips, french fries and pink lemonade at the hockey game yesterday; I seriously had to have Tyler feed them because I couldn't bear to watch.  Needless to say, they loved it.  Now that we are home, we've decided that we can't eat out for the next couple of weeks, both for our physical and financial health.  That plan lasted for about 2 hours, as fatigue won over, take-out beat cooking and Tyler chose Flying Pie Pizza for his birthday dinner.  The positive is that we ate veggie pizza with whole wheat crust and that it was free due to a prior not so positive experience there.  To follow it up, fatigue once again won, and Tyler and I had toasted marshmallow milkshakes for dessert instead of a birthday cake.  

image via A Cozy Kitchen

Toasted Marshmallow Shake (serves 4)

adapted from recipe by Spike Mendelsohn of Top Chef fame (Who else thinks hulu.com needs more Bravo shows?)

• 1 bag jumbo marshmallows
• 1-2 cups milk (less for thinner shakes, less for thicker)
• 1 Tbsp. sour cream
• 3 cups creamy vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt

Directions

Preheat broiler.

Place marshmallows on a cookie sheet and toast until charred (watch them closely!)

Remove from oven and set aside 4 to top the milkshakes.

Blend milk, sour cream, ice cream and charred marshmallows.  

Pour into a glass and top with toasted marshmallows. 

Rocky Mountain High

Hello old friends!  I've skipped posting two nights in a row, but I promise that I have a good excuse.  On Wednesday night, I was busy, busy, busy packing for our vacation.  Last night, I was on said vacation and I was exhausted from a long day of traveling with two unruly munchkins.  We are in Denver this weekend to visit old friends, celebrate Tyler's birthday, and take in the sights.  So far we've gone out to eat (oh Chipotle, how I've missed you), took a morning stroll with views of Red Rocks in the not so distant distance, visited the aquarium, and laughed until we cried, because that's what the best of friends do.

The picture above was taken with the computer camera on the flight here.  We've taken many more since we arrived, but the camera is currently with Tyler, watching The Lakers vs. The Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.  Last night Tyler and the camera went to The Avalanche vs. The Predators, and tomorrow we will all be going to The Avalanche vs. The Boston Bruins.  Tyler is pretty much in heaven.

I'll post more about the trip, including pictures, when we get home.  For now, I'll give you my favorite quotes of the trip.  Our friends have a very adorable Cockalier, which I'm sure you all know is a Cocker Spaniel/ Caverlier King Charles Spaniel mix.  You did know that, right?  Anyway, the kids are smitten with this dog.  When we first got here, Hadley went pee on the potty (yay!), and said, "I peed on the Betsy's potty!  Betsy's doggy will be SO proud of me!"  Blake's quotes are a little more simple, and go something like this, "Hi cat!, hi dog!, hi Izzy!, hi dog!, hi cat!, meow!"

Speaking of the cat, I can officially say that I am still very much allergic to feline friends.   I finally gave in and said, "bring on the drugs!"  Oh, Claritin, I'm just waiting to sing your praises!  Please, kick in soon.  How are allergies positive?  Well, at least now I know and will have a rock solid reason to refuse if anybody tries to give me a cat.  And yes, people try to give me cats; surprisingly often actually.

That's all for know folks.  The air is thinner here and my brain isn't working quite right.

Cute commercials

While we were watching Parenthood (my favorite show) tonight, we noticed how many cute kids there were in the commercials.  I can't imagine ever allowing my children to enter the realm of showbiz, but I'm sure glad that the parents of these kids did.  There's nothing profound about any of them; they just make me smile.

So the next one doesn't have a child star, but the elephant looks like it's a baby/child, right?

An oldie but goodie

We only get a few channels, so I'm sure I'm missing a lot of advertising cuteness.  Do you have any favorites to share? 

Some links that I like...

Well, my first giveaway has almost come to a close.  Wasn't that fun?  Tonight's post is a quick one, but I have a couple of interesting links for you.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee is the 2011 Caldecott Medal winner.  How many of the past winners did you read?

I love this story about Fargo retirees helping refugees.

And just for the heck of it, here's some gratuitous food porn:

This is a Boccone Dolce that I made last summer.  It looks and sounds complicated, but was actually quite easy.  The result is an interesting flavor and texture, and it looks quite impressive.  You can find the recipe here. 

Making an honest Idahoan out of myself

I live in Idaho, a state known for its potatoes.  Even my license plate will remind me, lest I forget.  I've always felt like a bit of a bad resident, as the russet is a rarity in my kitchen.  But last night, that all changed.

Enter the Hasselback potato:

image via joythebaker.com

Have you heard of these?  They also go by Swedish potatoes.  No, still not familiar?  Well, it's time you get acquainted; Tyler called these the best potatoes he's ever eaten.  They would make a totally easy but completely impressive dish to serve to guests.  Basically, you wash, dry and slice potatoes (but not all the way through!).  Stuff some sliced garlic cloves in between the layers, top with pats of butter, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Bake at 440 for 60-75 minutes, until the insides are fluffy and the skins are crispy, basting every 15 minutes with the olive oil and butter that has dripped into the pan.  Enjoy!