2010 in review, 2011 prospects

Bye bye to the old, and a warm welcome to the new! Planning the New Year's Eve menu for the adults was easy and resulted in a sumptious feast of foie gras, lobster and many, many other yummies.

The children's menu? Oh, yeah. Not as easy. Cooking for kids from three different households with different habitsand food preferences. Well, that was a bit more challening. A safe bet my 2 and 4 year olds is pasta in a light Alfredo sauce, with meatballs and green beans. Add to that a simple sour cream & chives dip and some veggies, and noone will go hungry. With the sauce on the side, I suppose there was enough variety in that, so that noone went hungry. Be that as it may, when it came to desert, the kids' table was so quiet you'd think there was nobody there. The reason? Raspberry ice cream in almond biscuit baskets with raspberry sauce! The adults got a hazelnut praline ice cream version of the same desert, but I must admit that the kids desert was better.

And 2011? The new year's resolution is to learn more about food. Why does the bread get too dry? Why is the meat dry sometimes and sometimes juicy? Cooking classes are to come, and reading some Alton Brown.

Recipes:

Meatballs Pasta Alfredo:

Meatballs: Any small meatballs will do. Trader Joe's pre-cooked meatballs are a hit at our house.

Pasta: We prefer Barilla and a shape that can catch a fair amount of a creamy sauce.

Alfredo Sauce (enough for 2 kids): melt a table spoon of butter in a sacue pan; add 1/4 cup milk, 1/4 cup whipping cream, 1 table spoon grated parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the sauce starts to thicken.

Combine pasta, meatballs and sauce, and prego!

The Ice Cream Desert:

From the French Recipe Cookbook, by Carol Clements and Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen, which I don't believe is in print any more (pity). For the French speaking, check out the following link, which seems to have a good recipe: http://www.cuisine.tv/cid9446/tulipe-gourmande-de-glaces-avec-sa-sauce-caramel-au-beurre-sale.html

Photo courtesy of:

Image: luigi diamanti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Apples, apples, apples ... and more apples

Ooh...going to the apple orchard. Sun is shining. A little bit of chill in the air. And it's the perfect family activity because the kids can participate. But here's the problem. Apples are big. They are not like blueberries that you can pick for half an hour and still only have a bucket full. If you pick apples for half an hour you'll end up with enough of them to feed a small village. For a year.

So here we are now. Happy apple pickers with tons of apples. And how many apples can you eat? Two batches of applesauce later the pile of apples still seems as big as pre-apple sauce. We've sneaked apples in here and there. First brussel sprouts with bacon and apples (OK, not that the kids ate the brussel sprouts). Then potato pancakes with bacon, sour cream and ... apples!

Conclusions: bacon and apples go really well together. Then, what doesn't go well with bacon?

Since it is impossible to sneak apples in to every normal meal, I will have to figure out more things to do with apples. Some ideas: www.applerecipes.us

And as for the potato pancakes:

1 lb potatoes - shred finely
1/3 of an onion - shred finely
1 egg
salt and pepper

Bacon

Apples, diced, as finely as desired

Sour cream

Mix the shredded potatoes, onions, egg, salt and pepper. Heat a skillet (needs to be well oiled so that the pancakes don't stick). Scoop up a large tablespoon full for each pancake. Pat it flat (not too thin). Fry on each side for a minute or two, until browning.

Fry the bacon until almost done. Add the apples and let them fry in the bacon fat. If the pieces are big, add them earlier. The apples should be just a little bit soft when ready.

Serve pancakes, bacon, apples and sour cream. Enjoy!

Predicting kids' likes and dislikes

So you think you have it all figured out. Your kid likes hot dogs, but not with ketchup or mustard on. Next day they want ketchup and mustard (aka the red and the yellow stuff). So, my son likes avocado. For dinner we grilled hot dogs and I made a veggie salad with tomatoes, cucumber and avocado (unbeknownst to kids also some onion). I ask him if he wants avocado. He says yes. Then he will not touch it. Conclusion: next time we make the same thing for dinner he'll eat the salad and refuse to touch the hot dog. Aargh.

Finalmente and hot dog pasta

Dear Blog,

You have not heard from me in quite a while, but I'm in love. And you know what that is like. The world around you disappears. The sun shines brighter. The birds sing, oh just so pretty. The object of my love - my new kitchen. After weeks of washing dishes in the bathroom sink, cooking on the grill, refrigerator on the patio - tadaa - new kitchen revealed!

Now the real quest begins - cooking for kids in the new kitchen. For today, here's my hot dog pasta recipe. Whenever I make this the kids turn bottomless:

INGREDIENTS:

Pasta of your choice. We often use small penne or wheels. Always Barilla.
Hot dogs, bacon, or other meat of your choice
A little bit of onion, finely chopped
One big table spoon of sour cream
Frozen peas
Some Parmesan cheese, if desired
Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Boil the pasta. In the mean time, heat up a skillet and start frying the meat. Add the onion towards the end. It should get golden, never browned. When the pasta is drained, add it to the skillet, on low heat. Add the frozen peas, the sour cream (it will melt from the heat and mostly get sucked up by the pasta and other ingredients. Add some water and more sour cream if you want more of a sauce). Add the Parmesan, salt and pepper. Voila!

Feeding kids during kitchen remodel is easy

Yeah. Real easy. You take them to McDonald's... Seriously though. Weather has not been cooperating and after-work swim classes have cut in to the time left over to cook. Though tonight I braved the rain at least to make hot dogs on the grill. Coupled with carrots and dip, apples for desert made a decent meal.

Kitchen is progressing but of course not as fast as we'd like. The new refrigerator is hooked up except for the water line. So, no point in moving food into it since it will have to be moved again. The to-do list is shrinking though.

cabinets and temporary cooking resignation

Returned home today to the sight of beautiful cabinets! Installation is about half-way done. I'm really excited about coming home tomorrow. If the electrician can come Friday we may actually have an almost working kitchen by the weekend. Sad part for now is that cooking is nonexistent. Argh...

Progress...but no cigar

Beautiful, refinished wood floors now in all of the kitchen. And today baseboards were added. But, cabinets are still in the garage. Family room and office hold pots, pans, dining room table, etc. and look like something out of those shows about hoarders... In other words, the excitement of figuring out how to cook a normal meal on a grill only is giving way to the annoyance of not having a sink. Thank goodness for a holiday weekend with nice weather!