Sammiches for Dinner

I actually made something according to the recipe! I didn't change a thing.  Can you believe it?  Yeah, me either.  I had my doubts about the amount of parsley, but it turned out really well.  I also thought about upping the amount of couscous, but again, the proportion was great.  I think next time I'll seed the tomato, as the result was a leaky wrap, and I'd put the remaining parsley mixture in the couscous before cooking the chicken so it has time to soak into the couscous a little.

We had this for dinner one night.  It was really light and fresh and delicious.  As is often the case, this made three portions for us, not four, but because it's so light, I don't even feel bad about eating one and a half portions.  This is going to become one of our staples this summer.  The kids loved it, and it's great for leftover chicken.  Bet it would work great with tofu, too. 

Click here for EatingWell's Mediterranean Wrap recipe.

Ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch Cherry Bomb!

Join me in the delights of unconventionalism, won't you?  I this week made Cherry Jam.

This jam made it on to vanilla ice cream (with and without chocolate syrup), toast, and.... a grilled cheese sandwich.  No, wait.  Several grilled cheese sandwiches.  For lunch and then For Breakfast.  That's right.  I served grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast.  And I was right to do it.

I used the Cherry Jam, Cracker Barrel's New York Extra Sharp Cheddar, Tregula (omg, you have to try Tregula!) and some day-old boule from Patrick's Bakery.  Oh.  My.  Goodness.  Cherry jam on a grilled cheese sandwich is the most beautiful thing you never heard of.   It was suggested in the recipe from Eating Well for this jam, and it looked so good I had to try it.  Now you should.

The recipe below makes enough for 2 sundaes, some toast with butter and 1 1/2 grilled cheese sandwiches.  And tasting.  Lots and lots of tasting.  It is half of the original recipe, and therefore easily doubled.  It is also really easy to make with kids, as you just stir all ingredients together and stick it in the oven.

Roasted Cherry Jam

Modified from EatingWell's Smokey Roasted Cherry Jam (I don't do smokey)

INGREDIENTS

1 15oz pkg pitted frozen cherries, thawed and cut in half

1/4c orange juice 

1/2 TBS chopped fresh thyme

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/4 salt

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 450F

Combine all ingredients in a pie plate or baking pan

Roast, stirring occasionally until the cherries are broken down and the liquid has thickened, 35 - 45 minutes (same time for double recipe)

Laundry Day

As I spent time sorting what seemed to be Every Piece Of Clothing My Entire Family Owns in the laundry room last night, it occurred to me that I might be doing it wrong.  Or at least different.  As I sorted the adult clothes diligently into whites, lights and darks, I simultaneously sorted the children's clothes into their own basket.  When the kids clothes basket gets too full for one load in my (awesome) washing machine, I don't sort them into lights and darks.  I sort them into His and Hers.  Why is it that I don't feel the need to sort the kids' clothes by color?

Anyone else out there do weird sorting?

Also, let it be known that the kids stuff all gets washed on cold.  I'm not That clueless.

Filling my parents' fridge with food.

My husband travels for work about every 4 - 6 weeks for about 4 - 6 days.  When he does, the kids and I move into my childhood home with my parents, four miles down the street.  I am an only child, and my parents are so happy to have these days to spend with their only grandchildren.  Oh, and with me, of course.  Plus I cook, so that's good.

When we arrive at my parents', we do so with whatever perishables we have in the house.  I also then go grocery shopping.  My parents either shop for ingredients for that evening's recipe after work, or make reservations for dinner.  I need to plan ahead a little more than that.  And so I shop.

This week I jammed their refrigerator with eggs, bacon, asparagus, greens and scallops and made my last two dishes from April's EatingWell.  The results were delicious.

Unfortunately, the Spinach and Frisée Salad with Tangerines & Coriander Crusted Scallops were served without my taking a picture first.

Mine totally looked like that.  And it was as delicious as you would imagine.  Only took 25 minutes to make, too.  AND it's only 5 Weight Watchers Points for the whole thing.  Go make it.  I used previously frozen scallops and oranges.  I also added a little of the herbs from the dressing (dill, chervil and chives in my case) to the greens.  I was really glad I did.  (Who's ever used chervil?  Well do.  It's really lovely.)

We also made some pizzas.  I used Pillsbury roll out crust (in the can, like Crescent Rolls) which worked just fine.  I also didn't remember to take the picture until after we were half way done... but here they are:

The first is a Bacon, Egg and Asparagus Pizza.  Except for the crust, I actually followed all the directions and used all the ingredients as shown in the recipe.  Amazing, I know.  

The second was a regular cheese pizza for the kids.  Trader Joe's marinara with some tomato paste to thicken it, and pre-shredded mozzarella.  They ate it for lunch the next day, too.  AND they ate the crust!

I have since come back to my own home and emptied fridge, cleared out the riff-raff, gone through my new June EatingWell and stocked up for this week's newest recipes. My parents went to Corner Table. 

Stiletto Award

A few weeks ago (on my daughter's birthday, actually), I was given a Stiletto Award by Siri at siriouslydelicious. I know, right? That's some fast recognition for someone who had only been blogging for 14 days at the time the award was given. Today, on day 31, I am writing about it, and giving out my own. I know, I'm a slacker -- but I'm new; gimme a break. Here is what the Stiletto Award is all about. I am grateful and humbled to be given this award, especially by Siri.

I only know Siri through the magic of the internet... and the greater magic of food. Her blog makes me laugh, makes me hungry, makes me inspired, and sometimes makes me wish I knew her when I lived in Santa Monica so we could hang out and drink wine and make food and eat it together while our kids played. She also writes another blog where she writes letters to her son. It is also amazing. You should all go visit siriouslydelicious and bask in her loveliness. Thank you, Siri!!


It is now time for me to give out some awards. Here we go:

My first comment from someone I don't know was from Jennifer, A Self Confessed Foodie. She lives in Minneapolis, loves food, and sometimes invites you to play along with her in her "Your Turn" posts. I think we should probably hang out and eat some food together, seeing as I live in Minneapolis, too.

Baby Barto chronicles Sara's adventure with her son, Turo. I went to high school Sara's husband, and though I have never met her, I love keeping up with this family through her blog's honesty, sweetness and gorgeous pictures. She has a secondary blog, A Toddler Lives Here which encourages submissions of photos of the random stuff you find around the house you share with a toddler. It's brilliant.

Kate, of From the Mixed-up Files of the Siegels fame is a library-working, geek-loving, awesome-kid-having, grave-visiting, celebrity magnet. You'll like her.


Finally, I Like Your Face. This is written by my lovely and talented cousin. She is an art teacher in an elementary school. This blog is all the amazing and hilarious things that her students say and the situations that she so gracefully, lovingly and good-humorously witnesses and guides them through. She is one of my favorite people on the planet. For reals.

Congratulations, ladies. Flaunt your award. I did. It's fun!


THE RULES!
This blog is meant to be shared, to be given out, to be bestowed upon any and ALL women who exemplify what the stiletto represents. If you’ve received this award, here’s what you do:


1. Display your Stiletto Badge of Honor on your sidebar!

2. BRAG ABOUT IT! -write a post about your award. Include the link to this page so everyone will understand what it’s all about! http://bit.ly/thestilettoaward

3. SAY THANKS! - include a link to the friend who nominated you for the award.

4. SHARE THE LOVE! -nominate 5-10 blogs that you feel deserve the award. Include links to them in your post -and- leave them a comment to let them know they are nominated.

5. DO WHAT YOU DO! -keep at it. Keep inspiring and encouraging and sharing your life! We love it and we thank you!!!

Birthday at Piccolo

This man inspires me.  Chef Doug Flicker of Piccolo.  Thanks for another amazing meal last night, and all the fancy treatment.  I got that great Birthday Feeling you get so naturally when you're a kid and turning 6, but rarely access when you're an adult and turning 36. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I will write more about this meal and the awesome things that are happening down the street at Piccolo soon!

Tofu Coconut Milk Curry with Wilted Spinach and Almondy Rice

Some days I'm so glad I have a well stocked pantry.  It was 5:00 and I realized I had nothing to cook for dinner.  I was going to run up to the store, but unfortunately that requires the cooperation of two other people who were playing fairies so nicely together that I hated to ask them to transition yet again at the end of the day.  I could just tell that tantrums would ensue, and decided that it just wasn't worth it.  I have actually have plenty to eat in the house at all times - I should really take a look around.  I came up with this:

It's pan fried tofu with a curry coconut milk sauce over chopped spinach, served with Trader Joe's frozen basmati rice mixed with toasted almonds.  It was really good!  The sauce recipe is from this recipe (which is really awesome and has been one of my staples for over a decade).  It's from the Rush Hour Cookbook which has it's own story for another blog post.