as cozy as spring

Mini Madeleines

Little lemon madeleines made yesterday afternoon and eaten in a matter of minutes.  

I used this recipe (+ 1/4 tsp of baking powder) and a mini madeleine pan I found at Williams-Sonoma.  We picked the non-non-stick pan and while I'm suspicious of teflon, my madeleines stick just a bit without it (despite all efforts to butter, flour, and chill).  We dipped the warm madeleines in a bit of lemon glaze, as served in our local bakery.  They are so much more remarkably delicious than I expected and I think they would be perfect served at a baptismal reception.  

Or just on a cool and cloudy afternoon like today.

 

Tasha Tudor Toffee Bars

These popped into my head yesterday and I made them this morning.  Yikes, they are dangerously good and so very easy to make.  They are going into the permanent collection.  Recipe found here (towards the bottom).  Perfect for a quiet afternoon at home. 

Happy Friday!

In the kitchen

Kristen wrote about not wasting gifts last week.  This is sort of why I love blogging.  You never know how your words will affect your reader.  This is the very simple solution to a lot of the mental struggles I've had lately.  In short, thinking about what I don't have and not taking care of the gifts I've been given.  It's hard to write that!  Complacency.  Taking my blessings for granted.  I'm not well known in my family for providing good meals.  I am absent minded at the grocery store and very frugal, only buying the bare minimum.  But I can cook well when I put my mind to it.  To my husband's delight, I've decided to put good, healthy family meals a little higher on the priority list.

I've been trying a few new recipes from my favorite food blog, smitten kitchen.  Last week I made the cranberry walnut chicken salad and the roasted tomatoes and cipollini.  I love anything combining tomatoes and cannellini beans, but the latter dish didn't really hit the spot.  It was oddly bland.  Alas, that could have been due to the store bought tomatoes.  I will try this again next June when our garden overflows.

But!  I made the most of the situation.  For the longest time I've ignored the idea of homemade chicken stock.  The last thing I want to do in the kitchen is deal with spare parts, so to speak.  I used a rotisserie chicken for the chicken salad and had plenty of onions and celery left over as well. I added lots of water, a few bundles of herbs and six hours later I had the most amazing chicken stock.  And instead of tossing the roasted tomatoes, I put the leftovers in the blender with my super awesome chicken stock and made super awesome roasted tomato soup.  This, I will definitely make again.

Does anyone else have a good use for really good chicken stock?  (I don't like risotto)  Favorite soup recipes?

Miracle Food

When we returned from California, I was cheerfully looking at the photos.  When I hit the first one of myself, I began to feel a little faint.  Who took regular Jennifer and inflated her?  It seems as if I put on a few pounds this winter.  My clothes still fit so I didn't realize it until I saw the photos. 

Now I could go into all the different ways that my normal diet is actually quite abnormal.  I have more food aversions than I can count and even in the best of times I only grudgingly eat meat (and only chicken and turkey ever).  My parents took us fishing in Colorado when I was six.  It was one of those charming "catch your own dinner" places.  My parents thought it would be a fun treat.  They were wrong and the seeds of vegetarianism were sown in me that very day.  Furthermore, I don't actually pay a lot of attention to what I eat.  Just whatever is around and easy and won't dirty too many dishes.

I stumbled upon Jenn's Saint Diet and thought I'd try it out.  I started about four weeks ago.  I was amazed at how my appetite was suddenly regulated and I no longer had the irresistible urge to sit down with a giant bag of chocolate chips in the afternoon (just add whipped cream and it's a meal fit for a king!).  Now I confess that while I was eating far less than normal (no cheating, I was counting calories) I didn't lose a lot of weight at first.  This was very disappointing, but the upside was that I was eating better than I ever had in my life and that was satisfying in a grown up sort of way.  So I decided to continue and just a few short days ago I noticed my jeans slipping off my hips again.  Nice.

So friends, I will share with you my secret weapon.  My power breakfast that is so satisfying I have actually forgotten to eat lunch.  

1 piece of Ezekiel Bead (toasted) with 1 tbs. of Justin's Maple Almond Butter and 8 ounces of milk.  It ranges from 260 - 350 calories.  Now there is a good bit of fat in the almond butter but I'm eating less fat overall because this kills (really!) my craving for unhealthy cheese and desserts.  It also provides more protein (I don't think I've ever eaten enough protein).

For lunch I'll eat one of the Amy's (vegetarian) frozen pockets or a veggie packed salad with only a touch of dressing.  Dinner varies.  Either I'll have a small serving of whatever everyone else is having or if I'm in a hurry, I'll just repeat breakfast.  I pretty much cut out white flower completely, something I never thought I'd be able to do.

OK!  I'm out of time.  Jenn has written more about this, so head over there.  This is just my (successful) two cents.

Bread rising in a sunny window

I shy away from making bread these days because I've noticed a tendency to actually eat it as well.  But I made up a loaf of our favorite rosemary bread yesterday for the children.  I think it was 3/4 gone in under 15 minutes.  This recipe is perfect.  I bake it in a round cake pan which makes all the difference, but my children prefer the crustier top side.  

In related news, this rosemary bread + an entire box of Girl Scout cookies = enough guilt to fuel a nearly seven mile run.  I no longer fear the 10K - forget carbo-loading, I'm talking shame-loading.  

And in more related news, I'm not bringing anymore Girl Scout cookies into the house.  My brother mentioned receiving boxes while he was deployed (he was very happy about this).  I'm not sure how it worked, but I'm going to look into it.  That way I can support my favorite Girl Scouts and the troops, AND still fit into my jeans.  If anyone has any information on how to do this, would you let me know?  

Dulce de Leche Shortbread

I have been pondering this idea since my sister arrived with her carmel shortbread.  Here's what I did.  First, start the dulce de leche - easy enough except that it really does take 3-4 hours of simmering and those of us who see the electric company as their greatest adversary will be freaking out over the stove being on for that long.  

While the can is rattling incessantly in the pot of water, bake the shortbread.  My very most favorite recipe is Gale Gand's brown sugar shortbread.  I seriously doubt I've used either cornstarch or cinnamon in all the times I've made this recipe.  I used cake flour yesterday for tenderness and a bit of salt for flavor.  Shortbread needs salt.  Also I baked it in a 10 inch square pan.  There was a bit more dough than that, but I needed the correct ratio of shortbread to dulce de leche.

So when the dulce de leche is done, whisk until it is smooth and pour over the shortbread.  Wait a bit until it sets up and then spread melted semi sweet chocolate on top in a thin layer.

Let it all cool.  It's a bit rich.  My husband and I enjoyed it most in smaller pieces.  Though curiously, half the pan is gone this morning...  It must have been the children.  Yes.  That sounds believable. 

Apple Cider Doughnuts - Fail

A few weeks ago Lissa mentioned something about apple cider doughnuts.  I had never heard of such a thing, but I was intrigued.  I googled a bit and found a recipe.  And because I fancy myself an accomplished baker, I decided to give it a try this morning.  

My friends, if you want to know what kind of blogger I really am, this is the post where I could show you lovely photos which would lead you to believe our home is nothing short of a cider scented autumn paradise.  Instead, I will tell you that my daughter walked around with her nose pinched for half an hour.  I ended up with two pans of hot oil and burned dough on our back porch and in my final attempt, I served two doughnuts to my husband and he said, "Hmm, they're heavy."  Oh honey, you flatter me.

So frying's not really my thing.  I don't like the mess.  I don't like looking into a pot of oil wondering if it's just the right temperature (my baking thermometer was broken by one of my children recently).  Most of all I don't like that smell that lingers and makes its way into every corner of our home, leaving the children's rooms smelling stale and greasy.  

And frankly this doesn't look appetizing to me.  I don't think I've ever actually seen intestines, but this is what I would imagine they look like.

Recipe verdict: Not worth the trouble. 

  

Great cookie or the greatest cookie?

With the cooler weather and early evenings, I am in a baking mood.  A few days ago I made oatmeal raisin cookies.  Now I don't much care for raisins, but these cookies are amazing.  My super secret recipe?  The one that comes on the lid of the Quaker oatmeal (made with butter).  Oh my.  I'll pour myself a glass of ice cold milk and sit down with some warm cookies and then....

"Honey, you know what these taste like?  They taste like joy and love."

My husband agrees, "Yes the are good."

"No, but they are really good.  They taste like sunshine and home.  Honey - they taste like America."

He starts to glare at me and turns the TV up in hopes that I will just be quiet about the cookies.

"I mean they don't just taste good in my mouth, they taste good in my soul."

I'm not doing this but I think you should

I was sitting at dinner with a friend over the weekend and she asked about our Election Night Party!  I'm still brainstorming over what exactly we'll do, but I've got an Electoral College map that we will color as the states come in and maybe a states puzzle or whatnot.  But if I were having a large party, here's what I would do for food:

• Boston Baked Beans
• Texas Chili
• New York Cheesecake
• Philly Cheesesteak
• Memphis Barbecue
• Kentucky Fried Chicken - ha!
• Wisconsin Cheddar 
• Georgia Peaches 
• Etc. Etc. Etc 

And maybe each person would be responsible for one dish and the children would have to make a place mat for their dish in the shape of the state they represent.  And maybe everyone would dress in red or blue depending on their affiliation or which way their state is predicted to go?  Oh it would be SO much fun!

We'll probably just end up ordering a pizza and watching Brian Williams, but if you have enough friends I think this is a great idea - maybe for a homeschool co-op or something.  (I say "or something" a lot.  I noticed my son repeating it back to me.  I also address people as "my friends" - John McCain stole it from me.  Sarah Palin stole my hair style.)

The children are telling me my computer time is up, farewell for tonight, my friends.  (At least I don't address you as my "prisoners").

P.S.  I like John McCain so I wasn't taking a cheap shot at him.  As many speeches as he makes, I'm shocked he hasn't had more slip ups.  I can't get through a phone conversation without forgetting what I'm talking about.

Updated to add: My Dad is irritated that I said I'll be watching Brian Williams.  He said he won't be coming to the party if we are watching NBC.

Slow Cooked Autumn

Lucy and I made up a loaf of this rosemary bread this morning (very similar to the restaurant version - yum).  I haven't made bread in ages.  It seems like I'm only in the mood in the cooler months, when the bread is sure to take ages to rise adequately.  But there's something so charming about slow cooked food in the autumn.  In the spring and summer, it's all about the grill.  But in the autumn, the crock pot comes out and is filled with spicy chili on football Sundays.  The bread sits rising in a stoneware bowl in the window and is shifted periodically to follow the moving sunlight.  Beans are baked in the oven for hours, the smell of onions and bacon combines with the mulling spices, ever present on the kitchen counter.  Even just the act of letting butter and eggs come to room temperature to work into oatmeal raisin cookies makes me smile.  

And we ate it outside in the sun, on a quilt. :)

Tea time is always a bit hectic around here so I've started preparing a jar of sun tea (hold the sugar) first thing in the morning.  It sits on the children's picnic table through the morning and is perfect after an hour or so.  

And finally, the King Arthur catalog arrived earlier this week.  The white bean and sausage stew on the front cover looks perfect for this weekend, except the sweet potatoes... I'll have to replace that with something.... and I don't eat sausage and my husband doesn't like beans, so maybe....  Anyway, the photo is nice, isn't it?

Lucy is behind me now, working in Faith and Life.  Linus is outside turning anything and everything into a light saber.  And now he is beating on the football with a bat, as if the football had wronged him.  Boys are strange little creatures.  Wonderful, but strange.