An Afternoon Snack as the Only Snack

This week has been fairly easy as cooking dinner goes and that totally excites me. I've even made a completely different dish every night, almost winging it the entire time! We started out Monday with a roast chicken and butternut squash risotto. Tuesday, we used some of the leftovers for roast chicken with Ultimate creamy mashed potatoes and gravy. Wednesday (Halloween!), we spiced it up, using the remaining leftovers for a rum and honey glazed chicken over spiced coconut rice. And of course, today...we started the leftovers routine all over again with a lemon beer glazed chicken with leftover mashed potatoes and spicy carrots. Chicken every night sounds a bit horrifyingly redundant, but even just changing up the sauce can help a repeated main dish do a 180. Of course, ideally, we'd have a range of main dishes, but this is as far as I could get myself to go this week. Baby steps! I can't even tell you the last time we had this much variation, so chicken every night is fine by me!

There's a reason we've been eating like this anyway; it simply makes life easier! I've felt so relaxed and at ease in the evenings, which is something that I never seem to feel. It started with G.'s goûter ("goo-tay"). Yes, I am using a foreign word to describe my kid's late afternoon snack. So sue me! :) The entire reason I even thought to start doing this is because I've read about the French tradition a few times now, so I've just made a little habit of using the word, though it really is just a sweet, late afternoon snack. It's like a Godsend to me, though. See, I'm against snacking...I just don't want to have a child who's hungry at any given time, in which case I need to constantly be prepared, lugging around little snack containers, "just in case." It seems a bit silly to me that parents should be toting around so many things to occupy their children rather than teaching them to contain themselves. That's a different topic, though...the point is, I try not to allow G. to snack.

I obviously have many, many opinions about food consumption...and on the point of snacking, my issue is that 1) I don't want to have to tote around "just in case" snacks, 2) I don't want my child to end up full by dinner, 3) I want my child to learn to deal with hunger and wait until the appropriate time to eat, 4) I don't want my child to learn to regard food as a reward or a soothing device--that's when people start to get themselves in trouble! I remember the first time I used food as a soothing device...I was having some love trouble, having found out heartbreaking news, and was suddenly consumed with the need to bake a chocolate cake and devour the entire thing. A box mix chocolate cake with jarred frosting off the shelf. Woo! Anyway, I'm usually the type to starve my emotions, but something different overcame me and I went nuts baking this cake and eating it in all its delicious, chocolate glory. That's what officially got me started on my love affair with food. Before that point, I was perfectly content cooking nothing, baking nothing, and eating buttered noodles or plain chicken with mashed potatoes every...single...night. I was insanely picky too. Surprise! ;)

Back to the point...I ate my emotions for the first time and continued to do so afterward. I couldn't stop baking and eating, baking and eating...so I went from 120/125 lbs to 140 over the next few years. Sure, some of it may have been my metabolism slowing, some of it my change in diet...but the point is, if someone learns to self-soothe with food, they can end up with a great love/hate relationship and find themselves in a position of unhealthiness, weight gain, and guilt when eating should be nothing short of pleasurable at all times. So, one of the last things I want is for my daughter to get upset or bored (worse yet!) and think "I have an odd craving for milk and cookies...I think they'll save the day!" The same goes for shopping. What could be worse than putting yourself in debt because buying clothes is the only thing that makes you happy when you're upset? Better pray you are NEVER upset!

Anyway...I'm always going off on tangents. The bottom line is, I don't want G. to get used to snacking. Of course, this is America, not France, so snacking is inevitable and I'll deal with that by teaching her to crave nutritious foods like fruit, vegetables, nuts, and the like. However, for the time being, I'm in control of everything my daughter eats and I say she's not getting a snack unless truly necessary...or unless it's 4 o'clock and time for her goûter :) Which first happened Monday...I can't even quite recall what made me think to do it at that moment, but we'd gotten home from my parents house and I just thought, "Let me toast an English muffin and spread a little hazelnut butter on top to tide her over until dinner," and it worked! She sat in her high chair, blissfully gnawing on little slices of English muffin, getting warm, gooey hazelnut butter all over her face, hands, and clothes. It was so cute...and so convenient. I got a lot of cleaning done in the kitchen! And even got a slight head start on dinner before Billy got home and was able to take care of G. from there while I got the meal truly going.

I've been doing this every day since then and it works like a charm each time. So, my latest plan to organize our time is to continue with this practice...allowing G. a late afternoon snack once she's gotten up from her nap, in which case I can take my time getting dinner together, ensuring that we only eat by 7 rather than frantically trying to get something finished by 5. It's world's easier. And, as such...I was able to make an amazing Monday night dinner with what felt like minimal effort.

First, I roasted a chicken in my new Le Creuset French oven (it's really a Dutch oven, but the company labels them as "French") and, honestly, I can almost think of nothing easier than roasting a chicken. It feels like people make it out to be some big to-do, roasting anything, but it's beyond simple and effective. So, I put a chicken in the French oven along with some softened onions, herbs, garlic, and cubed butternut squash, threw it in the oven, and then sat on my butt for the next hour. When the chicken was finished, I started the risotto--it had the perfect timing because a roasted chicken needs about a 20-minute resting period, which is about the exact amount of time it takes to cook risotto (which you have to serve immediately!). So, I stood at the stove for 20 minutes, leisurely stirring my butternut squash risotto (instant roasted squash since I had it cooking alongside the chicken) and, once that was finished, I only had to dice up a couple pieces of chicken and throw them on top! The end ;) Did I mention this was a one-pot meal? While the chicken rested on a cutting board, I used the French oven to cook the risotto! Though, I guess technically I used two pots because I needed a very small pot of chicken stock kept warm on the stove for the risotto. So much more to clean..... ;)

So, that was Monday and you know the rest from there...I diced up some chicken so it was ready to go for B. and I at our next meals (all I had to do was make sauces and warm up the pieces in the sauce before serving) and I shredded one little container's worth for G. I love having my main course ready-to-go :)

French Toast Sandwiches

I've never been a fan of French toast. It's just a bit too eggy, dense, and boring to me. It actually makes me feel a bit sick to think about! Egg-covered bread with pancake syrup on top...ugh. But that's not to say that I don't love certain varying takes on the French toast concept...

First, I discovered my love for baked French toast. I almost don't see a reason to eat it any other way. I suppose it's really just bread pudding, but the ingredients are the same as a traditional French toast, you simply bake it instead! And cube the bread rather than using slices. Wow, is it good! My best friend's mom makes it pretty much every time we go to their cottage up north. The first time I ate it, I was only being polite; I was actually half horrified that I was going to be eating that eggy nonsense. But when I put that first bite in my mouth...oh my goodness. I would have eaten the entire pan! I'm beginning to crave it right now, in fact! Too bad I don't have the ingredients on hand as I just used up all of our bread for French toast sandwiches this morning!

Now, French toast sandwiches are cooked in a more traditional manner. In fact, you might be able to claim that it's just stuffed French toast, though I've never had it, so I can't make that claim myself. I mean, you eat it with a fork and knife...though I suppose you don't have to ;) It'll just be very messy, haha. Anyway, these sandwiches are wonderful. Basically, you just make a little breakfast sandwich, dunk it in the same custard bath that you would plain French toast, and then cook it on the stove top. It's as simple as that! And the options for fillings are endless. Bananas, slightly crushed berries, apples, stone fruits, any spread you can think of (nutella, peanut butter, hazelnut, fruit jam), I bet you could even make a savory version!

This morning's choice was red pears with sweetened ricotta. It was so good. So, so, so good! The sandwich was rich, sweet, and creamy with a little hint of cinnamon spice. G. devoured her portion, which wasn't a sandwich, at all, but roasted pear slices topped with the ricotta cheese. Same wonderful flavors, but a little more toddler-friendly :)

That's something I love about cooking for my family. I can take any adult dish and make just a few adjustments to turn it into something a child can easily eat. When G. was only able to eat even chunky purees, all I had to do was mince our dinner up or throw it in the food processor for a few quick pulses and, voila, a "Stage 3" meal. I actually have often done the opposite too. One of my favorite baby food cookbooks is Tyler Florence's Start Fresh: Your Child's Jump Start to Lifelong Healthy Eating, not only because I agree with his take on how children and families should eat, but because the recipes are just so great! "Baked Apples and Barley," "Cauliflower Gratin," "Maple Roasted Pork Chops with Butternut Squash and Beets," "Ginger Chicken with Coconut." These are meals for babies! He's the one who gave me the idea for turning adult meals into baby-friendly ones and vice versa. So, I'll look at some wonderful puree recipes and simply stop before getting to the puree and suddenly I have a really delicious adult meal that was actually intended for a child. I feel like that may sound a little crazy, but I swear the recipes are appropriate for everyone!

This book is also where I came up with the idea for the pear and ricotta French toast sandwich. Tyler has a recipe for "Roasted Red Pears with Ricotta," as well as "Banana Breakfast Sandwiches," so I, essentially, just combined the two! And I'm so glad :)

Cravings Schmavings: Why Pregnancy is Not an Excuse for Unhealthy Behavior

*Disclaimer: I love my current and old friends and acquaintances. I know plenty of people, personally, who fall into the category I illustrate below and I absolutely understand the internal struggle with something that is, essentially, a form of addiction, especially for a pregnant woman with uncontrollable cravings. My frustration is more about how our country has allowed this frame of mind to become so common and to replace true common sense and conscientiousness about our health and bodies. This is not a personal comment about anyone and I truly hope I don't offend...

I know I'm a bit of a ranter when it comes to how I believe people should eat, but I'll just never understand being lax about your health! You see people every day on all sorts of medications with instructions from their doctors about the ways they have to change their diets or physical activities to keep from croaking too early, yet so many people are still walking around eating hamburgers, mac and cheese, and Twinkies while they drink a liter of coke, coffee, or both. I know these things taste good, but do you have no will power? 

Let me get to the point of this entry. Every workday, I listen to my favorite radio show of all time, "Blaine and Allyson in the Morning." I just cannot get enough and don't know what I'm supposed to do with the remaining 4.5 hours of my workday once the show's over. They're hilarious, smart, witty, and caring. Most important of all, though, they're incredibly amiable and easy to relate to. You want to be their friend, you want to have discussions with them, debates. You can't get enough!

So, one regular feature (which happens in multiple formats) is, of course, for listeners to write in with dilemmas that the hosts and listeners can help to solve. Whether it be "Helping Facebook Friends," "Therapy Thursday with Dr. Steve," "Love Court Tuesday," or anything else, there are many stories from listeners that are opened up to us for thought and discussion. Sometimes I think they're really interesting, sometimes a waste of my attention, sometimes blood boiling. For the most part, I'm just intrigued, but a listener problem on today's show had me particularly frustrated. One caller after another was giving the wrong answer until, finally, one sensible woman called in with reasonable advice and I was set at ease. However...I still feel the need to let out the rant that was building up inside :)

The story is, basically, that the listener's pregnant wife is eating junk food like there's no tomorrow and he's worried she'll gain far more weight than intended and will have a great struggle to lose it after having the baby (a struggle he's had to witness his sister deal with for a great deal of time). On the surface, it seems like this guy is just a chauvinist with his own priorities in mind--dear God, don't let my wife end up fat! And maybe that is what his real concern was, but that's far beyond the point I want to make. As he describes the gross number of Big Macs his wife is piling into her mouth to satisfy her pregnancy cravings, all these people are calling in to say TOO BAD! She's pregnant, she has cravings, this is what her body is telling her she needs, leave her alone! Seriously!? Is this what people really think?

Your body NEEDS hamburgers and french fries and ice cream with pickles on top and fried chicken slathered in the creamiest, fattiest gravy known to man? Does it really? I can't tell you why pregnant women have such odd cravings; I'm sure it has something to do with the grand changes her body is undergoing, including an increase of so many hormones. What I can tell you, though, is that pregnant or not, that food is not good for you and it, certainly, is not good for your unborn child. And pregnancy is no excuse to "let go" and gain 70 lbs, as if it's all going to magically drop away because, somehow, you believe that 70 lbs is simply because of the 8 lb baby you're going to deliver.

I'm not sure where women have gotten the idea that gaining weight to support a fetus relates and excuses gaining weight because of an unhealthy diet. Does nobody listen to their doctor? At 138 pounds, pre-pregnancy, the most weight I was supposed to gain was 25. Do you know how easy that is? My daughter was 8 pounds-even and various fluids and breast growth make up maybe another 7 or so, which means that, at delivery, I automatically lost around 15 pounds. If I'm only supposed to gain a total of 25, that only leaves me 10 pounds of fat. That means, in the 10 months that a woman is supposed to be pregnant (yes, 10, not 9), she should have only gained 10 pounds...Most of you realize how simple it is to gain 10 pounds, right? Probably something you could achieve in, oh, one month? Certainly something you could achieve, easily, in just a few, depending what you're eating and what your physical activity is like.

So, imagine that you're eating McDonald's all day with a side of ice cream, cupcakes, and whatever else has the highest fat, calorie, and sugar content. How much weight do you think you'll gain in 10 months? Definitely not the healthy 25. And, guess what, 25 is about the maximum any woman should gain; if you're overweight, you should be gaining less. Yet, somehow, we all think pregnancy is a free-for-all for weight gain. The perfect excuse to be bad! Forget the repercussions, I'm having a baby! That means I can do anything!

But let's think about all the things you're not supposed to do, that everyone knows you're not supposed to do, like drinking alcohol or smoking...or doing drugs. Why aren't you supposed to engage in these activities? It's certainly not for the benefit of your own health. It's because they affect the baby! When you consume anything, it's entering your bloodstream and going straight to the fetus, which is feeding off of that substance. This is how we get babies born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or drug addictions. There's no magical wall preventing anything from entering your unborn child's body. And this child is so extremely tiny. Think about how much alcohol it takes for you to get drunk and then think about how much your unborn fetus weighs in comparison to you. So, how much do you think it would take her to get drunk?

Everything you do greatly affects this child, so what I don't understand is how anyone could be so lax about what they consume while pregnant. I had so many people yelling at me about staying away from fish, from deli meat, from the tiniest sip of wine, from standing near anyone with a lit cigarette, yet these same people had no issues scarfing down a platter of double churned Edy's covered KFC on a nightly basis during their own pregnancies, as if that wasn't going anywhere near the kid. Or does that not matter? I suppose once the same baby is old enough to eat solids, they're feeding it the same exact things without any regard for the affect on his or her body.

It's just something that eats away at me. Why have people stopped caring about themselves? Why is all the concentration on weight and beauty? Probably about ninety-nine percent of the people who I've heard talk about their need to work out or go on a diet are referencing their desire to lose weight while maybe, maybe one percent want to do so, or are doing so, in order to be healthy. Forget the fact that eating a nutritious diet will likely aid in your weight loss; that doesn't matter. The main goal is to be thin at any cost, so filling our arteries with fat and cholesterol on the Atkins diet (because carbs are, apparently, the enemy. Confused as to how the French and Italians are thinner than us...) or eating a sliver of donut for x number of points and a drop of Mountain Dew for another x number of points on Weight Watchers is worth it. I just don't get it.

Can anybody clue me in? Is there anyone out there who wants to be on heart medication? Anyone who wants type 2 diabetes? Anyone who wants to give these issues to their children? When did we stop caring about the state of our bodies on the inside, about whether we have strength and energy, about whether we're healthy and whether our children are healthy. And that's what bothers me the most. Let yourself go, fine...but how can you do that to your child?

It's a very sad state our minds are in. And I can't believe only one caller thought to say that what she's eating is unhealthy for her and for the baby.

Now you see me...

Now you don't. That's 26 lbs of baby, fluids, breasts, as well as cantaloupe, watermelon, sweet potatoes, carrots, grapes, avocado, baked chicken thighs, grilled steak, baked french fries, risotto, pasta, and a glass of wine here and there (yes, wine!) and a bowl of ice cream every so often.

And this is what 1.5 months post-delivery looks like when you don't eat an entire Wendy's franchise in 10 months time. 

Mother Hen Toast

Breakfast might just be my favorite meal of the day, without any wavering, whatsoever. There are just so many choices and what's more fun than making a huge delicious breakfast? In college, I loved putting together a massive, home-cooked meal for my friends to enjoy: creamy scrambled eggs, crisp brown-sugar bacon, moist chocolate chip muffins, fluffy chocolate chip pancakes (with chocolate syrup and whipped cream!), simple toast with butter...

To me, breakfast is the perfect meal to put some real effort into. Since it's the beginning of the day, you're not interrupting anything and have the rest of the day to look forward to, plus you're already brimming with energy that just increases as you give your metabolism the jump-start it needs. I don't believe there's a meal I could be more excited about! So, last week during our honeymoon, I took full advantage to get back into the breakfast game.

I wanted to make wonderful, unique meals at all times--things we weren't used to eating with my tight and exhausting schedule. But we'd done so little grocery shopping as of late, there wasn't much to choose from, ingredient-wise. I searched quickly and desperately for breakfast ideas that only included what we had on hand and one of the first recipes I found was Tyler Florence's "'Mother Hen' Toast" or "Gallina de Madre." We didn't have the exact ingredients, but rather very good substitutes, so you might say I made more of a "'Gallina della Madre' Toast," (not a big difference between the Spanish and Italian, haha!).

Tyler's original recipe calls for Manchego cheese, horseradish, Serrano ham, and sage (among other ingredients I did have). For mine, I omitted the horseradish and substituted Parmesan cheese, brown sugar ham, and basil. Rather than display Tyler's original recipe, I'm going to give you my version, but you can find his in the book, Tyler Florence Family Meal: Bringing People Together Never Tasted Better. Aside from the missing horseradish, I imagine they taste very similar! As in...delicious :) The baked egg is wonderfully warm and runny (the yolk, of course, not the white), while the Parmesan bechamel adds a great sharp and creamy bite. Paired with the crisped ham and toast, you end up with a wonderful play of rich vs sharp and creamy vs crunchy. Think open-faced, breakfast Croque Madame with a slight variation on flavor. Love it!

Housewife Envy

The honeymoon is over and I'm just consumed with so much sadness about going back to work! Aside from the dread of waking up at 4:30 in the morning to rush getting ready and arrive at the office in the dark for an 8.5-hour day of numbing my butt in front of a computer with only a half hour lunch break...I just don't want to leave my family. I have major, major housewife envy.

It's not about laziness either. Maybe if my work were something I'm passionate about, I'd feel differently. I don't dislike my job, but it's not exactly the type of thing you wake up excited for. If I were a freelance photographer, writer, or baker...maybe!

We hired a string quartet for our wedding ceremony and when my dad and I met with the violinist to go over the music, I felt so jealous of what I imagined her life to be like. She teaches the violin and performs at all kinds of events not only with the quartet (or variation of it), but with a 12-piece band! She sounded so happy and excited talking about her work and my assumption is that her job is literally simply the violin--that she is her own boss, in charge of her schedule, in charge of her work. That would be amazing to me. I just wondered why I couldn't have mastered something like that and done the same. I can only imagine how much I'd enjoy life as a photographer, but I know so little and am so shy and awkward with zero networking skills, I have no idea how I'd get a job. I also don't know how we'd be able to afford for me to have that type of career unless I were exceedingly successful, like wedding photographers who make a few thousand a job and are booked every weekend of the year. I wish!

This is all rather beside the point of this entry, though. My career isn't something that matters so much to me because, at the end of the day, I just want to take care of my family. I don't want to spend 8.5 hours a day at work while my daughter is being raised by other people, after which I only get to spend the next 5 hours with her and my husband, anyway. And yes, I do mean to use the word "raised." If your child is spending several hours a day with any given person, that person is raising her. Sure, you are as well, but it's not solely you and that bothers me. Of course, I trust the people who my daughter spends her days with, let there be no misunderstanding, but it's just not the same. I want to be the mom who gets to wake up with her and decide what she'll have for breakfast and when she'll have it; who gets to decide when nap time is and what that routine entails; who gets to put together a fresh lunch and decide when and in what manner it's eaten; who gets to decide whether the TV is going to be left on or what is and isn't okay to play with; who gets to run around outside or sit and read the same book over and over; who gets to take her child to play dates, recreational activities, and after school events; who gets to have a 100% say in her child's learning process at home. I make myself sound like I just want absolute control or to have my daughter all to myself, but it's not about that. It's about believing that a parent should be the person who makes all those decisions and gets to be around every step of the way, while everyone else gets to play their actual role rather than having the responsibility of sharing mine.

I want to be the absolutely hands-on mom who's remembered as being there every minute and sharing in every moment, but it's not possible when you're away from your child most of the day and have other responsibilities besides her once you're home. Sure, we're in the same house for five hours after I get out of work, but we're not necessarily spending any time together and that makes it worse. I just feel complete envy for any parent who has the privilege to raise their own children...the privilege to be together with their children for so much time every day. To me, that's what a parent is supposed to be doing and if I had that opportunity I would snatch it up in a minute, even if I were still waking up at 4:30 every morning to start a full and busy day. I would love to get to raise my daughter.

And that's why vacations such as these make me so sad. To have woken up to her smiling, babbling face every morning...to cook us all breakfast and eat together at the table...to play together and relax together...to get work done or take some "me" time while she naps...and then to see her excited face, again, when she wakes up...to only have to miss her for a few hours while Billy and I go out for some alone time and her grandmother babysits and then get to come home and make us all a great dinner that we share together...to get to cuddle with my husband on the couch, in the evening, watching TV after she's gone to bed, with no anxiety about getting all of our breakfasts and lunches ready for the next day or making sure we've all had a good night's rest in preparation for work and babysitting the next day or anxiety over how to fit all that in along with cooking a proper dinner and actually spending time with my child...to get to do this all the time would be the most wonderful gift in the world, so when I finally get to have it for just a week, I'm overcome by sadness at its end. And all I have to look forward to is the next time I can take a week off of work and get to play stay-at-home mom, exhausting myself as I run around with the most wonderfully happy, laughing toddler in the world.

I'll miss you tomorrow, my little moo.

Apple Cider Muffins

Not to toot my own horn...but I made the most amazing apple cider muffins yesterday! I'm just astonished at how good they turned out, so I can't stop talking about them! Or eating them :) Thank goodness I made about a billion...I thought my recipe was only going to put out a dozen, so I doubled it and ended up with four dozen muffins AND a muffin loaf, ha! Everyone in this house has been devouring them for the past two days, though, so it was obviously a worthy effort.

When I come up with my own recipe, there are always certain characteristics that I'm afraid I won't achieve. For these muffins, would they be moist enough? Would they taste enough like apple cider? Would I have to soak them in cider after baking and, if so, would they become too moist? Am I adding too much cinnamon? Am I even adding enough cinnamon? Will the muffins overflow the pans as they rise? Will I burn them? Considering I made so many on my first attempt, this was an extra nerve-wracking situation. I couldn't have smiled bigger after that first bite, though. I could barely stand to wait for them to cool. I think I lasted maybe ten minutes before snatching up a muffin and pulling it apart to test. Holy crap was it good! All day, Gia kept pointing at them and making this high pitched noise that usually means, "Can I have this?" I'm sure we've already finished one of the dozens...even the dog has been eating them!

These muffins...they are so unbelievably moist. I don't even know how I pulled it off. Maybe it's the apple cider, maybe it's the apple shreds...I don't know. They're both a butter and oil-based muffin, which creates the perfect texture, in my opinion--not too dense, not too light, definitely not too dry. And the addition of dark brown sugar with the slightest hint of cinnamon (to the point where you have to ask yourself if you're really tasting it or not) rounds out the wonderful fall flavor of the apple cider. Amazing! Eaten all on their own, they're simply wonderful, but I'm extra excited to slice one in half and toast it with a little pat of butter. I'm salivating just thinking about it!

So, without further ado...here's the recipe. Do yourself a favor and make it! ;) And then, as I am right now, sit on the couch and yell to your husband to butter up a muffin for you to enjoy as you lay back and relax Sunday afternoon in front of the TV :)

Sweet Potato Latkes

Is there anything better than potato!? In all forms, potatoes are awesome! I just can't get enough. Smashed, whipped, boiled, baked, grilled, fried, flavored with nothing but butter, covered in tons of herbs and Parmesan cheese...however you can make a potato, I will probably eat it! So, it's no surprise that I would adore latkes. They're like comfort food, which I suppose all forms of potato are, but not in the same way. Think about hash browns, the great kind you get for breakfast at places like Big Boy, in which they're perfectly grated and a crispy brown on the outside, but soft and fluffy inside. Latkes are nearly the same! But fried in a shallow pan of oil and served alongside a tart, homemade apple sauce, they're even better :)

I first tried latkes in college. A close friend of mine since way back in the 7th grade is Jewish, so I had the privilege of growing up hearing about so many great foods that I was just dying to try (just check out my last entry about brisket!), one of which was latkes, of course! Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes. This particular year was around the dawn of The O.C. Remember that show!? Ugh...But, back then, we loved it! And, even moreso, we loved Adam Brody and the amazing holiday his character made up that would forever go down in history (for us). Christmukkah. Half Jewish, half Christian (like my friend was!), he received the gift of two holidays rolled into one and we took full advantage of this to begin a yearly celebration of two of the greatest holidays known to man, Christmas and Hanukkah (was that not obvious? Haha).

So, for our very first Christmukkah, we had to serve dishes that were both Christmas traditions as well as Jewish! Hence the latkes. I don't believe either of us had ever made them before; I certainly hadn't, but I don't believe my friend had, herself, either. Luckily, they turned out amazing! I found a recipe on Food Network that used equal parts sweet potato, Yukon Gold, and onion. Of course, I wasn't very fond of onions, so I greatly, greatly reduced that portion. And nobody missed them. Wow, what flavor! The guys at our party ate them up before we realized they had even been touched. "Those hash browns were really good, do you have more!?" What hash browns?? Haha!

When I decided to finally try my hand at brisket tonight, I couldn't miss the opportunity for a little side dish of sweet potato latkes. The only thing I missed was the homemade apple sauce, which was still in the freezer (yes, I have lots for my 1-year-old!), but I'll get it next time :) For leftovers, this week! Yummm...

Anyway, if you've never had latkes, especially if you're a potato lover and extra especially if you're a hash brown lover, you absolutely must try these. Even if you dislike sweet potato, you have to try this recipe. I used to hate sweet potatoes, but thought these were insanely good. Grated sweet potato with equal parts Yukon Gold and onion is not the same as a pure mashed too-sweet potato that someone probably threw some extra sugar into along with cinnamon and nutmeg, as if you're about to eat dessert or pumpkin pie. Seriously...give these a shot :)

Simple Pot-Roasted Brisket

I remember, for years, I was dying to try brisket. It just sounded so wonderfully delicious, but it didn't seem like there were any place that served it! Finally, in college, I found a bar with a brisket sandwich and what a disappointment! It was loaded with barbecue sauce and wasn't even that tender, which confused me because 1) I didn't know it was normal to serve brisket with BBQ sauce and 2) I always heard it was amazingly tender, like fall-off-the-bone ribs. After that experience, it's safe to say that I was afraid to try it again, especially if it were going to be the same type of meal.

Suddenly, everywhere I went there was some form of a BBQ brisket sandwich. No thank you! I don't understand why nobody appears to serve it in the traditionally Jewish manner (as far as I've heard) without BBQ sauce! Is it not supposed to be good enough to stand on its own without a massive amount of sweet and tangy goo? For years, this is all I ever saw on menus. BBQ Beef Brisket Sandwich. Until I went shopping for my wedding gown. Not only did the Heavens open up and allow me to find a dress immediately on my very first shopping trip, but it allowed me to happen into a deli where they actually served brisket without barbecue sauce. Hallelujah! Seriously, the first question I asked was, "Does this have BBQ sauce?" because I wouldn't have ordered the sandwich if it did.

So, my sandwich came and there was zero disappointment. My dreams had returned! It was tender, moist, and fully flavorful without being bogged down by some mixture of ketchup and brown sugar. Since then, I've been determined to try my own hand at brisket, which I finally did tonight. Let me tell you, I was so nervous! For one, I was afraid it would turn out tough like so many other roasts I've attempted. But two, I was frightened of how to flavor it! So many recipes use ketchup and brown sugar, which, in my opinion, IS barbecue sauce! Those are the main ingredients in pretty much every one! There was no way I'd touch a recipe with the two of those. I did find others without BBQ-looking ingredients, but was still afraid because what if we didn't end up liking the sauce, but it was all over my roast?

Luckily, I found a recipe that called for almost nothing at thefoodmaven.com. Interestingly, Arthur Schwartz (The Food Maven), claims that a brisket emits so much liquid on its own, adding any extra is completely unnecessary. And he would be right! Of course, to me, the purpose of any added liquid would be for flavor, but it's good to know that it's not important if you're looking for a pure and simple pan gravy straight from the meat juices. So, I went with his recipe. For the exact original, check out Jewish-Style Pot-Roasted Brisket at TheFoodMaven.com. Really, the big difference between mine and his is that I had a much smaller cut of meat, so reduced the ingredients by about a third and also reduced the temperature and increased the roasting time in order to ensure a tender result. I did make some Sweet Potato Latkes to have on the side, though, so you can find that recipe next :)

Bolognese -- Eat, Love, Crave.

I'm very wary when it comes to Italian food recipes. You know...one of those people who only wants to eat "authentic" Italian and gags at the mere thought of The Olive Garden. How such a place can exist and why anyone would set foot in it, I have no idea. Who cares about their salads and breadsticks!? There's better bread at Kruse and Muer and it's not fake Italian!

Anyway, I digress. I can be a bit of an Italian snob or at least a picky Italian eater. What it comes down to is that I don't truly, actually care if you're making or eating "authentic" Italian food. I don't eat all "authentic" Italian food! Take me to a bakery and I'm going to buy as many biancomangiare-filled cannolis as I can stand and not a single sweetened ricotta one, which any knowledgeable Italian can tell you is what's "authentic" and just about the only thing you'll find in Italy. Italian-Americans are the ones who "bastardized" cannolis with biancomangiare, an amazing, sweet, cinnamon-laced pudding. Why? Probably because Americans didn't want to eat sugary cheese for dessert. Yet, in my opinion, the Italian-American version is superior in texture and flavor.

The problem with "authenticity" is that it has no concept of what actually works best or how varying taste buds are from person to person. Just because something is the "original" or the "tradition" in the place in which it originated doesn't mean it's in any way superior. Yes, I put down Olive Garden for being "inauthentic," but it's really because I just think the food is gross. My assertion about authenticity is a front so I can ignore anyone who tries to claim it tastes good ;) SHH, don't tell my friends!!

What is my point in telling you all this? As I said, I'm very picky about Italian food...and while I don't necessarily care about "authenticity," I am very interested in it. I want to know what is "authentic" and "original" so that I can try it and see what it's like before going after all the variations out there. So, when it comes to Italian food, I go straight to the source I trust most, Anne Burrell. Trained in Italian cuisine, I haven't found anyone whose food has been touted as more authentic than hers...or tastier! So, she's my go-to Italian food source, which is why I went straight to her when I wanted to finally try my hand at Bolognese...the coveted meat sauce of Bologna.

And holy crap, have I ever tasted a sauce better than this? Addictive is a term that puts it lightly! I think my husband would have this for every meal and in between, if there were enough! However...Anne's recipe is a bit rich for my tastes. So, I altered it. *GASP*

From what I've read, an "authentic" and "original" Bolognese has no herbs and very little tomato, relying heavily on the meat and wine for flavor...hence the richness! While delicious, I found myself having difficulties cleaning my plate. Each bite was harder than the last and that made me sad! I wanted to devour the bowl of pasta, not slowly meander through it. Of course, Billy had no issues, but here is where we note the differences in taste! His tongue was made for richness, mine was not...so I added more tomato to bring in a bit of that acidity I love so much :) If you're interested in Anne's original, wonderfully rich recipe, though, you can find it here: Pasta Bolognese. I have no doubt you'll be addicted to that, as well!

Before I go on with my take, though, it should be noted that this is an invasive recipe. I'm not sure of a better word to describe it. You'll want to make it on a day off from work, preferably when your energy is at its peak and you either have at least a few hours before dinner or don't plan to eat it until the following day. Like a good marinara, Bolognese has to cook for about three hours or so. In addition to that, though...multiple elements need to be browned. First, there's the mirepoix (a cooking foundation that includes multiple pureed vegetables. Bet you didn't know meat sauce had carrots and celery, did you?). Then the meat. Then the tomato paste. THEN you can add the liquid and sit back and wait...while getting up every 15 minutes or so for a stir to ensure the sauce doesn't burn as all your hard work and sweat goes to waste ;)

Steam from the mirepoix as I brown it. See how light it looks? By the end, it is a toasty, toasty brown. Smells like toast too! It's simply a step you cannot miss. But do yourself a favor...turn on the fan ;)

Please don't be intimidated, though! I know I just killed you with all that, but it really is an insanely amazing sauce and well, well worth the effort. If you have a large enough pot, you can make massive amounts and have frozen sauce that will last you months. So, it's not like you have to go through this process often! Once it's over and you've tasted it, you'll forget you went through any trouble, at all, and will just emit a sigh of content, I swear :) Plus, I can't tell you the number of times I've come home exhausted from work and just said "get out some Bolognese!" so that I don't have to make an effort, yet we have a fast, delicious meal that doesn't miss out on veggies or protein. So, get yourself a nice big pot and let's get started.

One-Pot Italian Sausage & Rice in Tomato Sauce

I'm so proud of this dish, yet so sad that I didn't get a photograph. I was too keen to eat and skipped the entire process, though I am known to photograph everything I do, just in case! Looking through older pictures, I see tons of dishes with no clue as to what they are...which is even more unfortunate.

I can tell you what the basis of some of these things are...chili, chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, cranberry tartlets topped with seckel pears and the same with apple instead...but what are the recipes!? Each of these things has been an original that I came up with at that very moment and failed to find time to write down...and, as I recall, each was exceptionally delicious. The sweets, for sure!

But here we have the opposite dilemma and a far less saddening one. Perhaps, next time I make the dish, which will surely be again, I can take a nice picture! Until then, let me tell you what I did.

My inspiration came from Gina Neely's "Get Yo' Man Chicken," a really flavorful dish of chicken in tomato sauce. It's fairly incredible, let me tell you. She puts a decent amount of herbs and lemon pepper into the sauce, which cooks with the chicken, leaving you with a massive punch of flavor and some really moist meat. I love it! In Gina's dish, you soften onions, brown chicken thighs, and cook it all in tomato sauce; then you serve it alongside buttered rice. For mine, you pretty much do the same thing, but replace the chicken with Italian sausage and add a bunch of rice to the mixture to create a truly "one pot" dish. What you're left with is a pot full of rice and sausage that's absolutely covered in a really flavorful tomato sauce. I'm just not sure how this could be simpler or create less of a mess to clean up later! It was a really exciting moment for me :)

Before I get to the actual recipe, though, I want to point out that this is so versatile, you can really do it with any combination of meat, vegetables, and liquid that you like. All you have to do is make sure that you have enough liquid for the rice to absorb and heat coming from above and below so that your meat and vegetables are fully cooked on all sides--solution, cook your meal in the oven or with a lid on the pot. This particular dish was cooked on the stove top without a lid, but that was because I was afraid the tomato sauce wouldn't cook down properly without the intense heat of the burner or the ability to evaporate and thicken. The next time I make this, however, I'm going to try putting it in a 400 degree oven for the same period of time and see what happens. I'm confident the results will be the same!

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon with Roasted Compari Tomatoes

My take on Giada De Laurentiis' Balsamic-Glazed Salmon

Similar to my Italian "Stir Fry," Giada pairs the acidity of balsamic vinegar with the richness of salmon to create the perfect marriage. Always a lover of tomato and balsamic, I did a little editing and topped each piece of fish with a roasted Compari tomato and garlic.

Simple Italian "Stir Fry"

With just the right balance of sweetness and acidity, this easy meal will take you directly past your fill. Using one pan to cook the rice (unless using leftovers, which makes for an even easier meal!) and another to saute the chicken and "stir fry" the tomatoes and rice, you're left with a quick cleanup and more time to enjoy each other's company and, perhaps, a little bite of dessert in front of the television... 

Plans for Preparing Easy Weeknight Meals

Yesterday morning, Billy, Gianna and I were supposed to go strawberry picking. I received an email notification last Tuesday stating that the berries were ripe and ready to be picked as of Memorial Day, which meant I needed to get my butt over to the farm as soon as possible while they were still looking their best! I asked Billy to make sure he’d have Sunday off of work so we could head out as early as we could be ready, since this particular farm is over an hour away. I planned to pick as many strawberries as we could stand to carry, so that I could make dessert after dessert with those tiny, perfectly red berries. I was going to make strawberry pie, roasted strawberry gelato, strawberry and lemon cake scented with basil, little trifles with strawberries and cream, strawberry tartlets, and eat just plain, fresh strawberries straight out of the bowl. 

Sunday came, and we have no strawberries. Of course, that’s my fault for staying out late the night before. A friend is moving to Prague and I never get out as it is, so I couldn’t pass up this going away party! We rented a school bus, which took us down to Detroit to watch the Tigers play the Yankees. I’m not a sports fan, but I wore the perfect dress that happened to have the Tigers’ colors, and though my tolerance is far, far beyond what it used to be (it really is just zero, at this point), I allowed myself a few beverages on the ride down and once we got there! I was severely sleepy and dehydrated, to say the least, when I woke up at 7 am Sunday morning. I told Billy, “We’re not picking strawberries today…” which is exactly what I predicted to many people Saturday night :) 

No loss, though, because the farms closer to home haven’t had their berries ripen just yet! So, I got to have a fairly lazy Sunday at home. While Billy and Gianna were out to breakfast, I worked on this blog. We spent the afternoon at her Godparents’ house, playing in the yard, chasing the dog (as fast as a ten month old can while her momma helps her walk), and having a nice little barbecued meal at the table.

We left our friends’ house just in time for Gianna’s afternoon nap and a short trip to the bookstore and grocery store before dinner. I’ve had a mission to find the best cookbooks for busy, working moms. Fast, simple, yet delicious recipes with accessible ingredients, tips for utilizing leftovers or freezing make-ahead meals, anything that can help make the few hours between work and sleep lean more toward enjoying some down time with my family than rushing around the kitchen. I’ve looked up books online, read reviews, and though I haven’t found that perfect book that has everything, I’ve found some things that I think will be helpful.

So, home with a cookbook and some freshly purchased chicken in hand, I was ready to indulge myself in some new recipes. I didn’t actually end up making one from any of my books, let alone the one I’d just purchased, but did find inspiration! In Dorie Greenspan’s, “My French Table,” is a recipe for balsamic glazed duck. It involves scoring a duck breast and cooking it in its own fat until your desired “doneness,” then making a glaze of balsamic vinegar, honey, and lime juice. Sounds delicious!

I, however, did not have duck breast on hand…not surprisingly. As I said, though, I had some nice chicken breasts, bone in, skin on, as well as leftover basmati rice in the fridge from dinner a few nights prior. So, I deboned one breast (they’re large enough for Billy and I to share), seasoned and sautéed it, and then cooked down some grape tomatoes in the remaining fat, threw in the rice, and essentially stir-fried it with the vinegar, honey, and lemon juice (I don’t usually have limes on hand, either!).

What a simple, quick dish! Even if I hadn’t had the rice pre-cooked in the refrigerator, it would have taken the same amount of time to cook as the chicken; I’d have just had to dirty an extra pot to cook it. Though, another method could have been to put all of it together in the oven until done…a nice, simple one-pot meal. Love those!

And I have to say, the flavors hit the spot quite well. The sweetness of the honey balanced the acidity of the vinegar and lemon juice perfectly. Normally, I’m very careful about cooking with honey because it can sometimes overpower the flavor of a dish and I’m not actually the biggest fan of it, though I use it often as a sugar replacement. However, if I didn’t mention it, you’d have no clue I used honey at all. It was quite refreshing; no too-sugary bite at all. And the softened tomatoes were the perfect accompaniment. Though, I’m biased…I find sautéed or roasted tomatoes the perfect accompaniment for almost everything savory. I can’t get enough!

A similarly quick dish that I made the previous week was Giada DeLaurentiis’ Chicken Meuniere, a variation on the traditional French Sole Meuniere. It was just as easy! The boneless, skinless chicken was pounded thin for even quicker cooking, coated lightly in flour, and sautéed. While it rested, a sauce was made with the juices, some more grape tomatoes (go figure), black olives, and white wine. Now, this wasn’t exactly Giada’s recipe; hers included more ingredients like capers and lemon juice, but I had to omit anything I didn’t have on hand. The tomatoes and olives with a little wine deglaze created a wonderful sauce anyway! We served it over rice, again, and had ourselves the perfect, quick weeknight meal. I was very excited.

Dinners like this are a necessity when you have only a few hours between work and bedtime. Arriving home around 5 pm most nights, I have about three hours to make and eat dinner, prepare food for work the next day, play with my daughter (and make/feed her dinner), and “relax.” Let’s not even think about trying to fit some cleaning in there because it rarely happens. So, I really don’t have time to stand there peeling and chopping, working with two or three different pots, or cooking anything that takes longer than half an hour after whatever amount of time it took to prep. If I could cut out the prep work, period, that would be amazing.

One of my solutions was to make freezer meals. I made a batch of Coq au Vin, chicken cooked in herbed tomato sauce, and apple cider glazed chicken to keep in the freezer for easy weeknight meals. Each was prepared only until the point of cooking. I softened onions, browned meat, and mixed together all of the liquids, dividing two-person portions into Ziploc bags and leaving them in the freezer for a time in the future when we’d need them. It’s a pretty good method! Leaving a meal to defrost in the refrigerator overnight, the only thing left to do is drop it all into a pot and cook! Sometimes I have to thicken the sauce (such as with Coq au Vin), but that’s extremely minor effort. However, I wasn’t able to make enough meals for this to really have an impact and found that I’d feel bad removing one to eat because that would mean I’d have even fewer left for later! I’m a bit of a food hoarder, but with no time or money, can you blame me?

While I absolutely still plan to keep up with this practice as much as possible, I also need those fast, easy meals that can be cooked all at once, assuming I may not having anything in the freezer for us to eat. What I’m hoping is to find the ability to make those fast meals in bulk, freezing anything that’s not yet going to get eaten. I also make larger batches of Gianna’s baby food to keep in the freezer, so I figure I should be able to kill two birds with one stone doing that, as well. If I make her some lemony roasted broccoli, why can’t I make some for myself? If I make her buttercup squash and tomato quinoa, why not make some adult portions as well? A tip I learned from Tyler Florence, concerning making baby food for children over nine months, is to simply make dinner for yourself and lightly puree a portion for the baby. Instant baby food meal! It may not work with some meals, but most that we eat would be perfect. And, in that case, I assume I can do the opposite as well! Make large batches of food, pureeing some, leaving others in adult portions, and freezing everything. And, as I work on this more, I’ll continue posting my endeavors here. Then one day, hopefully, I and many others will have this routine pegged down :) 

Until next time, here are links to the recipes for:

Simple Italian Stir Fry

Giada’s Chicken Meuniere (Sorry, it's not up yet, but will be soon!)

My Sweet, Silly Croquembouche

This is Gianna, my little sugar dumpling. She's currently going through a phase of trying to put everything into my mouth (including her fingers, earning her the most recent moniker of my "little dentist") as well as her own. Toys, books, her sunglasses, my camera strap, her toes...And she has the curious habit of picking up a toy, extending her arm behind her back, and dropping it, turning to look at where it ended up. She'll hold herself upright at the bookshelf, pulling each stuffed animal from the shelf and dropping it behind her until either the shelf is bare or she's become distracted by, likely, some other form of mischief. Since she's learned to crawl, my living room is in an utterly constant state of disaster. Stuffed animals, rattles, teethers, books scattered all over the floor in piles that she simply crawls over or sits on like a queen atop her throne, my sweet, silly croquembouche.

She pulls herself up with anything and everything--the coffee table, couch, entertainment center (we had to buy a new one to safely hide Billy's video game consoles and strangle-hazard cords!), the kitchen shelving unit (where she has perfect access to all my beautiful produce, onions for her to peel, apples and pears for her to bruise), my pants...You know those film scenes in which children are always depicted hugging their mother's legs and pushing their faces between them? That's how we spend our mornings as I stand in the bathroom attempting to blow dry my lifeless hair and fix my tired mom face. She pulls herself up with my jeans, grabs hold of either leg and plunges her face down the middle, letting go every once in a while to try to open the cabinet doors, which I hold shut with my knees. I feel I could turn out to be quite the skilled acrobat with the ways I must manipulate my body to keep her out of things or multitask or set her into the crib without waking her up. At the least, I could be a contortionist.


She loves to taunt me, too. As she likes to get into things she's not supposed to, I'm constantly telling her "no, no," to which she laughs as if it's a game. "No, no, Gianna! We don't bite Momma," *grins and scrapes her teeth along my skin.* Lately, she's taken a great interest in the dog door. I let her crawl fairly close to it, asking repeatedly for her to come back to me (which is a regular practice in hopes of teaching her to listen and behave). Sometimes she will, other times she'll stop, sit, and smile at me, then turn back around and head closer to the door. By the time she starts to poke at it with her tiny hands, I rush over to scoop her up before she can actually head out the door, falling flat on her face where the patio drops. I think she must be plotting her escape. She sees the dog can retreat outside and must figure that's the quickest exit for the next time she hears the words "diaper change."


I love to let her have this independence, though--allowing her to crawl to the threshold before requesting she "come to Momma" or before telling her "no, no" and pulling her away. She needs to test her limits and needs some independence! It's wonderful to watch her play on her own, too--exploring, investigating, passing a new discovery from hand to hand, looking closely at it, touching it with careful caution, taking a little taste. I try to discourage the latter when appropriate, though. She'll put anything in her mouth from grass to dog hair and I would prefer certain items simply stayed out. "No, no," I say, and usually she listens. She spent ten minutes on a stroller ride examining a pine cone before discarding it on the ground and only tried to place it in her mouth once!


Her favorite activity, though, is reading. Eager to turn the pages or open flaps to find hidden animals or babies playing "peek-a-boo," she'll yank book after book off the shelf, holding it in the air and babbling or waving it about and yelling until you take it from her to start reading. And then she'll want to read it over, and over...and over...turning the pages faster and faster, more and more furiously like she needs to quickly get through with the book so we can start all over again.

One of the books she chooses most often is "Where's Spot?" which I remember as a childhood favorite of my own, back in 90's (oh my, how old!). It's no wonder considering her utter fascination with dogs. They completely mesmerize her; if she spots one, she won't take her eyes off of him, looking all about the room, twisting her head and body in all directions so she can look at him. She'll flap her arms fervently and yell, like she's calling the dog over to her. I always screech, "Do you see the puppy!? Where's the puppy, Gianna!?" She likes to follow ours (Dookie, named by my fiance, of course) up the stairs and steal his dog toys, seemingly to taunt him. She giggles when he tries to lick her face or when his thick, fluffy fur brushes against her; though, he's skiddish and retreats when she tries to pet him. "Gentle, gentle," I show her how to stroke his hair, lest she yank it like she does mine. "No, no! We don't pull Momma's hair. Gentle," and she yanks again...

She's the sweetest when she's asleep, of course. I adore my loud, energetic, active near-toddler, but when she becomes soft and quiet, her eyes gently shut, her cheeks puffed out like little cream puffs, her body snuggled up into a little ball pressed up against mine for a snuggle or a drink of milk, she turns back into the tiny infant I knew only months ago. Unlike most, though, I'm not saddened by her fast growth and development; I'm excited. Each day, even each minute is a new beginning, a new memory, and I can't wait to capture them all.