It’s Her Party and She’ll Cry if She Wants To*
October 19, 2009 at 1:10 am | In Cookery, Crafty, Entertaining, Family, Recipes | 1 Comment
Yesterday we had a birthday party for Tabitha’s 2nd birthday (which is actually still 2 days away.) Last year we had a small brunch, but this year decided to have a few more people, even though we knew that with the iffy weather it was likely everyone would be indoors. They were, but that was fine. In fact, I’d have to say the whole party was a nice big fun raucous success. And cozy, too, because we had a nice fire going. Raucous because there were ten 3-4 year olds running around, not to mention four 1 1/2-2 year olds.
Here was the menu:
Hors d’ouvres: Hummus, Pita and pretzels, Carrot Dip, and pigs in blankets. What is carrot dip, you ask? Only the most delicious dip ever. An old friend of mine used to make this and I swear we could just gobble up a bowl and a bag of pretzels while eating a movie. The recipe is simply 2 carrots in the food processor, then add an 8 oz bar of cream cheese, whiz it around until nice fluffy, add in a dash of garlic powder, a good tablespoon of lemon juice, and 1/2 tsp (or more) of minced dried onion. You can add milk to think it out, but I had some extremely juicy carrots so didn’t add any. It’s a beautiful pale pinky orange color and it is very yummy.
Main food: a ham. Everyone loves a ham. And I had little rolls so you could make little sandwiches. Then I also had macaroni and cheese, sweet spinach salad, oriental salad, deviled eggs, and a green salad. No one touched the plain boring green salad, but they gobbled up the other two. The spinach salad was great-a recipe from Taste of Home and it had an orange poppy seed dressing. The oriental salad was that salad with the broken up ramen noodles in it, shredded cabbage and carrots, and the sweet tangy dressing. (I used a recipe from Cooking Light, but this is a pretty common recipe you could probably find anywhere.) I thought it all went nicely together.
The cake: First, in addition to the cake I made brownies and lemon bars. I tried a new lemon bar recipe-this one had cottage cheese in the filling. They were fantastic. So, on to the cake. This was a decorating thing I saw in a magazine and saved for quite a while. Unfortunately the pictures are not great (we have many wonderful photos of our family, but never great pics from our parties. I guess we are too busy hostessing and I finished the cake so late in the day I didn’t properly photograph it.) Basically it is frosted white and then there is pretzel fencing and little frosted animal crackers grazing on the top (on green coconut grass.) (Also, apparently the lens was slightly smudged. Really this was a cute cake, much cuter than the picture makes it out to be!!!)
Hilariously, it had not occurred to me that the animal crackers would be a huge draw. As soon as the cake came out five little boys started shouting “I WANT ONE OF THOSE!” and reaching out to the flaming cake. Good thing we had extras. The birthday girl enjoyed her cake very much, especially getting to taste frosting and the custard filling at many stages along the way before we actually cut into it.
As for party favors, I made caramel apples and tied them up with red ribbon. They came out beautifully but I will admit that when I went to eat one today it was a huge mess and the caramel was too gooey and I suspect that no one enjoyed theirs at home either. (But hopefully everyone will be too polite to say so. 
My favorite part thing was the “Happy Birthday” display pictured at the top. This was in this month’s Parents magazine as a Thanksgiving decoration (spelling out “Give Thanks”.) I gathered sticks, painted them, and then drew and cut out the circles and letters and hot glued them to the sticks. The vases are filled with split peas. I am so taken with this decoration and indeed going to use it for Thanksgiving and spell out a different message.
*In fact, she did not cry at all, but had a very good time. She celebrated her party day by not taking a nap and instead climbing out of her crib for the first time (and somehow lifting her doll’s stroller up into her crib.) Very pleased with herself about that. Here she is all worn out after the party and opening her presents:
Glitter.
December 5, 2008 at 12:18 am | In Basic Musings, Crafty, Recipes | 3 Comments
This afternoon I went outside and gathered some pinecones so that Clark and I could decorate them with glitter. This was his first glittering experience (though I think he may have done some at school, where I suspect he was not really allowed to get as gluey and glittery as he did here.) As you might expect we have glitter everywhere and my modpodge (why wasn’t I using Elmers?!?!) will never be used for decoupage again.
He was having so much fun, though, that it was totally ok and now we have some glitterific Christmas decorations. It occurred to me that one of the pinecones I took off the tree may very well have been the wee baby pinecone I photographed back in May!
So,this afternoon I tackled a project that is always ongoing in theory, but usually happens once or twice a year, and this managing all my recipe clippings. I finally got myself to tear recipes out (of all except Everyday Food, which somehow I can’t bear to not have intact) and recycle the magazines. But then what to do with all those recipes? I do have a lovely recipe box, but I also have a big three ring binder. Into the binder the recipes go-taped onto a sheet of paper, and slipped into those plastic sheet protectors so that papers can go into three ring binders. Is this practical? I don’t know. I felt a fool while doing it. I mean, how many thousands of clippings will I have in ten years? And how many of those recipes do I even make?? A wee wee fraction, I tell you. Should I only keep the ones I love and put them in my box? Should I do something all online? Or should I say why the hell not? and just keep it up. I love my the recipes and clippings my husband kept from his mother. Looking through them is a little slice of socio-economic history. I like to imagine in fifty years one of my kids looking through and saying “oh wow, I loved this” or “ew, did you actually make ham balls in barbecue sauce?” (for the record, no, but I was so intrigued/grossed out by the name of this that I just had to keep it) I do wonder what other recipe clippers do….
Eggcup Pincushions (and scones)
September 25, 2008 at 2:47 pm | In Cookery, Crafty, Recipes, Sewing | 8 Comments
“How is that even a craft?” my husband said when I showed him how to make these eggcup pincushions. OK, so they’re super easy, but there must be some trick to it because mine are not as cute as the ones in Pretty Little Pincushions (published by Lark, who makes awesome craft and sewing books.) Happily I have a nearly endless supply of eggcups to get it right. When I saw this little project in the book I knew I had to do it. As a kid my mom had a vast collection of eggcups, displayed in little window shelves by our front door. I was excited to unpack them and see them all again this weekend (they’ve been packed away 10 years now), but alas, we could only find a small box so far.
Basically you wad up some poly fiber fill, wrap your fabric tightly around it, wield your trusty glue gun, and glue it right into the eggcup (so don’t use valuable ones.) Voila! A cute little thing to put your pins in. I’d like to do this with a remnant of a sweater or some other fuzzy fabric, because that would be extra cute. You could also add some trimmings, but I did not for these.
On to food….I made the most heavenly decadent scones the other day when my cousin and her sweet baby came to visit. I was using my trust “triple dried fruit” recipe I got ages ago from Cooking Light. I use it as my basic recipe and then add in whatever I want. I usually cut in my butter by hand but decided to make use of my new food processor and it was speedy indeed and did not compromise the texture of the finished product. So, while rooting around on my baking shelf trying to decide what to add I came across my bag of King Arthur cinammon filling. I added pecans to my dough and split it in half. Patted each into a circle, mixed up the cinammon filling (you just add water), spread it out, topped with the other circle, and lavishly spread the top with coarse sugar. What a heavenly treat!
Scones
Dry ingredients: 3 c flour, 1/3 c sugar, 1 T baking powder, 1/2 t baking soda, 1/4 salt.
Mix dry ingredients together, then cut in 6 T cold butter until it looks like coarse cornmeal. Stir in 1/3 c chopped dried apricots and 1/3 c dried cranberries.
Mix wet ingredients–3/4 c buttermilk, 2 ts grated orange rind, 1 egg, and 1 egg white.
Add wet to dry, stirring until just combined. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead very briefly until it is smooth. Pat the dough into a rectangle and cut into 16 triangles.sprinkle the top with sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.
Now, I play with this recipe quite a bit. I might not add the orange peel if I’m not doing those dried fruits (or if I don’t have it.) I might just add raisins, or dried blueberries, or whatever I have on hand. I always used dried buttermilk (which you use by adding the powder to your dry ingredients and then using water for the liquid). And I always use big coarse sugar on top. Also, I doubt I’ve ever had 16 uniform triangles.
A great handy scone recipe, perfect now that the weather is cooler. Why not make some today and have them with a nice cup of tea?
Oh, and look how cute the two babies were together!
Simply the Most Perfect Chocolate Cookie
August 28, 2008 at 1:44 am | In Cookery, Recipes | 3 CommentsThis morning before breakfast Clark announced that he would like a chocolate cookie. Aside from no cookies before breakfast, we didn’t have any. But I said we could bake some later in the day and set out a stick of butter to soften. Chocolate cookies are not really anything I bake, so I didn’t have a recipe in mind. I searched Everyday Food and found the most perfect recipe. Why perfect? Because they all came out round, crackled just right, speckled with sugar just right, the most wonderful consistency, and just right. I am not a huge chocolate fan (I know, first tomatoes, and now this), though I do eat it (it’s just I would always choose a fruit dessert over a chocolatey one), but these are so great I’ve already eaten like seven of them.
So, indulge yourself with this perfect sweet, just right as summer winds to an end and autumn starts to tiptoe in.
Putting Food By ‘08
July 28, 2008 at 12:58 am | In Cookery, Farm Share, Recipes | 6 CommentsThe canning continues! Today I made peach chutney-7 half pints and one 12 oz jar. The recipe came from the Ball Blue Book again and it smelled great while it cooked. It consisted of peaches, onion, brown sugar, raisins, vinegar, mustard seed, ginger, red pepper flakes (recipe called for a fresh hot pepper but I forgot to get mine at the farm this week.), and I also added some fresh ginger. It simmered a bit and then was ladeled into hot jars. They all satisfyingly popped after they came out of the canner. I’m imagining that this winter this will be delicious on top of grilled salmon or roast pork. I’m also thinking that some lucky people will get a jar for Christmas.
Strawberries & Mint
June 8, 2008 at 1:03 am | In Cookery, Gardening, Recipes | 2 Comments
We grow a lot of mint at our house. Our mint comes from a bunch taken from my mom’s house, which was taken from our old house, which was taken from my grandmother’s house. Clearly mint is the world’s easiest thing to grow and, not coincidentally, hard to get rid of! Some might call it a weed, but I love it. I like it that if someone walks through it you can smell it, plus it’s pretty. Our mint is somewhat fuzzy. We use our mint in all of our iced tea. A special treat is mint sherbet.
It’s a weird little recipe:
Pour 1 c boiling water over 12 sprigs mint. (12 sprigs? what is that? mom and I cannot quite decide so interpret as you wish. I usually count 2-4 leaves as a “sprig”) Let it cool. Boil 1 c cold water with 1 Tbsp cornstarch. Boil for 5 minutes, then let cool.
Beat 3 egg whites until stiff. Beat in 1 dc sugar. Add 3 Tbsp lemon juice, then the cornstarch mixture and minty water. And don’t forget the green food dye to tint it a nice minty green! Pour it into a shallow pan and freeze. Then beat it. Then freeze it again.
This batch turned out rather dry and crumbly, but still was great tasting. Some might say it is an acquired taste, after all it’s not peppermint. I think it’s very refreshing. It’s also nice with strawberries. Next time I make it I’m going to try pouring the mixture right into my ice cream maker.
Today the temperature was in the 90s and it was humid, but I didn’t want to miss out on our pick-your-own at the farm this week–1 quart of strawberries. It was well worth it and Clark enjoyed picking them. The berries were huge and when we got back in the car they smelled heavenly as they were so warm. They tasted amazing, too, all warm and sweet.
We went right home and made strawberry popsicles. Yum!
Coconut Birthday Cake!
March 21, 2008 at 1:12 am | In Cookery, Recipes | 4 Comments
My mom happens to like coconut, which makes it a tremendous pleasure to make her birthday cake. So many people are not fans of coconut, so it can be a risky flavor to choose when you are making something for company. Thus, it pleases me very much that she does like coconut, as do I. For her birthday dinner this past weekend I made a recipe I had photocopied from Birthday Cakes some time ago. It’s called Comforts Creamy Coconut Cake. The cake itself has coconut extract in it and a can of coconut milk. The frosting is a rich cream cheese frosting (10 1/2 oz cream cheese!). I patted coconut around the outside of the cake. Since I did not photocopy the page that had the frosting instructions on it it is always possible that the recipe authors intended me to put the flaked coconut directly into the frosting, but I did not. The end result was a coconutty, rich cake. Very delicious and a very pretty white, all the better to set off the fantastic candles I used. Happy Birthday Mom!
Update: Here is the full recipe for the cake:
3 1/2 c flour
1 T baking posder
3/4 t salt
1 1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 3/4 c sugar
4 large eggs, separated (room temp)
1 t vanilla
1 t coconut extract
one 14 oz can coconut milk
1/4 t cream of tartar
Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottoms of 9 inch cake pans with rounds of waxed or parchment paper (my husband got me precut circles of parchment paper at Christmas and they are awesome. I will always use them for cakes now.)
Sift the flour, bp, and salt together into a large bowl. In another bowl beat the butter until smooth, gradually beat in sugar til light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks one at at time.Stir in the extracts. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, alternating with the coconut milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat until just combined.
Using clean beaters and bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until medium firm peaks form. Stir one third of the whites into the batter to lighten it, then gently fold in the rest. Divide the batter evenly between the pans and smooth the tops. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool for 15 minutes, and then turn out. Let cool completely.
To make the frosting beat together 10 1/2 ounces cream cheese, 1 stick butter, 1 t vanilla. Beat in 5 cups sifted confectioners sugar and a pinch of salt. The ingredients list 7 oz shredded coconut. I used this to put on the outside of the cake, though I suppose you could put it right into the frosting.
A Dinner Party
March 5, 2008 at 2:04 pm | In Cookery, Entertaining, Recipes | 2 CommentsThis weekend we had two couples over for dinner. I was possibly a little crazy for inviting friends to dinner on a night my husband was at work all day, but a combination of doing stuff ahead and the baby taking an astonishing 3 hour nap made putting everything together no problem at all.
The menu:
Baked bried for an hors d’ouvre (had to have something to snack on because we didn’t eat until after the kids went to bed)
Chicken stuffed with ricotta and spinach (Everyday Food recipe) *for my vegetarian friend I stuffed tomatoes with the filling and roasted them at the same time.
Tiella (Michael Ciarello recipe)
A nice loaf of bread with Asiago cheese grated on top and baked
Salad of mixed greens and Boston lettuce with mandarin oranges, red onion, and hot candied walnuts and a light vinaigrette
Dessert: Pear Bread with Ginger served with homemade almond ice cream.
Everything turned out great. The almond ice cream was my first time doing a cooked ice cream base and it wasn’t difficult at all. This particular recipe called for a tube of almond paste which, although I sieved the custard once, lent a somewhat gritty texture to the finished product. I think next time I’ll sieve it twice. The chicken called for a bone in breast per person, but it turned out to be way too much. I think next time I’d buy fewer breasts and then slice the breasts and present the slices on a platter. Possibly my favorite part of dinner was the salad. I was glad I took the time to make the nuts and put them in. They were Hot Candied Walnuts from, where else?, Party Nuts. I’ve often made these for gifts or just to have at the holidays. In this slightly sweet salad they added a nice bite (both flavor and texture).
Here’s the nut recipe: Put 3/4 c sugar in a heavy bottom pan. Cook over high heat until it turn sa light caramel color, 4 to 5 minutes. Add 2 T unsalted butter and stir until melted. Add 2 c walnut halves and stir to coat evenly (pull off the heat so the sugar doesn’t go past a nice caramel.) Transfer the nuts to a baking sheet lined with parchment or silpat and bake in a 35o oven for about 15 minutes, stirring around every 5 minutes or so. Remove from oven and toss the nuts with a mixture made of: 1 t kosher salt, 1/2 t cumin, 1 t freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 t cayenne pepper, 2 T sugar. Make sure the nuts get nicely evenly coated and spread them back out onto more parchment or the silpat and use a couple of forks to pull the nuts apart. Let them cool completely.
And here’s the pear bread recipe (from Simple Art of Quick Breads–a wonderful cookbook which I seem to have misplaced in my house somewhere) :
Cream together 1 stick of soft unsalted butter and 1 c sugar. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time. Add 1 1/2 t vanilla. Separately mix together 2 c flour, 1 t baking powder, 1/2 t baking soda, pinch salt, and grated zest of 1 lemon. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alnternating with 1/4 c buttermilk. Beat until smooth. Fold in 1 1/2 c peeled chopped pear and 1/2 c finely chopped crystallized ginger. Smooth into a greased loaf pan and bake in a 350 oven for 55 -65 minutes.
some days later…how funny is this post on Stuff White People Like–#90-Dinner Parties
Fresh From the Oven: Yeast Breads
December 29, 2007 at 5:47 pm | In Cookery, Recipes, Uncategorized | 1 Comment
After the delicious success of our Christmas breakfast I thought, “Why don’t I bake yeast breads more often?” My mom used to bake bread and it was always such a treat fresh from the oven with butter and honey on it. When I left my job to stay at home I thought I’d bake bread all the time, but then felt there was never a good time. It seemed too complicated to figure out a time to do it that didn’t involve Clark needing my attention. (In retrospect I look back on that daily nap and think, “What the hell? I could have done SO much with that time”) But now I resolve to bake homemade breads more often, and with that in mind I made “Honey Oat Pan Rolls” for our dinner the other night. And you know what? It worked out just fine with the baby and the boy. He is of an age where he likes to help bake and I gave him his own piece of dough. Plus he had new Christmas toys to occupy him while I mixed up the dough initially. The rolls were really quite simple and well worth it. The recipe called for 1/2 c oatmeal, which I did not have (we’ve been going through oatmeal like crazy for breakfast), so I substituted Hodgson Mills Mulitgrain Cereal–which is a ground milled cereal of oats, soy, and flax. The texture of the rolls was very nice and the flavor was really good-the combination of honey and whole wheat flour really shone through. The leftover rolls the next day were a bit dry, though.
P.S. In the picture you can see a wonderful Christmas present I received–a salt pig! I’ve wanted one for a while for easily adding kosher salt to my cooking and it’s really great already. Plus, now my 2 1/2 year old has the phrase “salt pig” in his vocabulary, which is pretty funny.
Christmas Morning Breakfast
December 23, 2007 at 6:51 pm | In Basic Musings, Christmas, Cookery, Recipes | 1 CommentNobody loves tradition more than I do, and one of my favorite Christmas traditions is eating sticky buns for breakfast on Christmas morning. My mom always made them when we were growing up and as an adult I took over making them. I can honestly say (corroborated by my brothers) that mine are better than hers! Our recipe (I don’t know where it comes from) calls for brown sugar and nuts for both the topping and the filling. This year I decided to buck tradition (the buns are a big messy process and this year it seems too difficult with the baby) and make something different–a Nutty Apricot Coffeecake.
I got the recipe from Fleischmann’s (the yeast people). I just took it out of the oven and it looks beautiful. 
For some reason I’ve never made a bread that had any sort of criss 
crossing or braiding, and it is very easy and looks quite nice. I took a tiny taste
but am going to pop it in the freezer so it is fresh Christmas morning.
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