Thursday, 12/9/2010

I made an Impossible Taco Pie for dinner, baked in a heart-shaped pie pan for fun.  Katie got a kick out of it:)  I was pleased that the pan seemed to have enough room for all the ingredients.  The center of the pie hadn't set up when the pie was supposed to be done.  I baked it for another five minutes, until the center stopped wiggling and the top was getting quite golden brown.  It was done enough to eat, but it was not as done as we would prefer it to be.  Well, I was just about to say it still tasted great, when Ben walked into the room and said it was lacking something.  He often adds hot sauce to this dish and didn't this time. Maybe that is what was missing. 

Wednesday, 12/8/2010

Ben and I enjoyed left over jambalaya tonight.  Katie still wouldn't touch it.  Tonight she finished off the chicken nuggets she had last night.  Nothing else to report tonight:)

Tuesday, 12/7/2010

Yesterday afternoon I made up a batch of jambalaya, just in case our babysitters needed something for dinner.  They must have brought their own food, because none of the jambalaya was touched.  So, Ben and I had left overs tonight.  For the jambalaya, I used a package of Zatarain's New Orleans style jambalaya mix and added a pound of sliced, fully cooked Cajun Andouille sausages.  It is super easy to make and was quite delicious.  It only took 25 minutes to cook once the water for the rice boiled. 

Katie usually likes rice, but wasn't interested tonight.  She ate chicken nuggets and dipped them in ketchup instead. 

Monday, 12/6/2010

A while back, our neighbors, Cary and Mike, offered to babysit Katie for us sometime.  We took them up on their offer tonight.  After getting Katie settled with Cary, I drove downtown to meet Ben for an evening out.  I got tickets for us to see the Pacific Lutheran University Christmas concert at Benaroya Hall.  I sang with the PLU choirs while studying there and expected it to be a great concert.  And, it was.  The symphony orchestra and two choirs performed wonderful pieces.  Throughout the program, they invited the audience to sing Christmas carols while the choirs moved in and out of the hall.  What an awesome experience to sing with such a mass of people, many of whom have outstanding voices:)

As an alumni of PLU Choir of the West, I was invited, along with Ben, to a reception at The Capital Grill prior to the concert.  The invitation said there would be heavy appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages.  By the time we got there, the reception had been going on for about an hour.  And, unfortunately for us, most of the appetizers were gone.  We each had some cheese, crackers, and fruit.  Ben got the last of the shrimp being offered.  He did pick up two small lobster and crab cakes as they passed by, which he said were excellent.  I am not a fan of lobster, so I passed on that offering.  Instead, I opted for a piece of bruschetta.  It was only okay.  We both ate an outstanding miniature creme brulee.  And, we enjoyed a very friendly conversation with another couple during the reception.  We were glad we attended, even if there wasn't much food being offered. 

Sunday, 12/5/2010

Katie still had a bit of a fever this morning, so Ben stayed home with her while I went to church.   The children put on the most fantastic Advent Pageant today.  A ten-year-old in our church wrote the play and our music director wrote the music for it.  I was moved to tears by the whole production.  The props and costumes were perfect, the songs were touching, and the script was humorous and clever.  Wow...nicely done! 

For dinner, we finished off last night's pepperoni pizza.  Katie's fever is down, but she is still not back to her normal self.  She ate some pizza, but just doesn't seem to be hungry.  Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow. 

Saturday, 12/4/2010

Katie developed a fever today and was quite irritable.  We were planning on going out to see Christmas light displays this evening, but decided to keep her inside and warm instead.  We were also planning on going out to eat.  Since that didn't work out, we ended up ordering a double pepperoni pizza from Garlic Jim's.  Katie was watching Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" when the pizza arrived.  Rather than upset her by moving into the dining room, we just ate in front of the TV.  Ben and I used to eat in front of the TV every day, but have grown to love our time at the dinner table as a family.  Even so, it was kind of fun to do the TV thing as a family too:) 

Friday, 12/3/2010

Ben and I ate left over turkey stir-fry tonight. I reheated it in a skillet and added several drops of chili oil to the pan. We thought that the recipe lacked a little umph. The chili oil made the dish much more flavorful.  I would guess that I added 1/2 teaspoon of chili oil to the left overs.  

Katie didn't seem very hungry tonight, but she did eat most of a delicious pear.  Ben said it might have been the best pear he has ever eaten.  Thanks Fred Meyer for the yummy pear:)

Thursday, 12/2/2010

Tonight I made Turkey Noodle Stir-Fry.  I got the recipe from the same Sunset Magazine we used for our Thanksgiving meal.  It was a suggested way to use Thanksgiving left overs.  It turned out pretty good:)  I was proud of myself for choosing a recipe that included mushrooms.  In general, I'm not a big fan of mushrooms.  I am willing to try them, but rarely choose to eat them.  Thankfully, they were totally edible in this dish.  Ben said he loved them and would have eaten more.  The recipe makes enough for four servings.  I think tomorrow we are going to try to add just a little more heat to the dish.  I've included a link to the recipe above, and I am including it below too. 

TURKEY NOODLE STIR-FRY

Ingredients:
9 ounces fresh Asian egg noodles
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 cup sliced red bell pepper
2 cups quartered mushrooms
8 ounces snow peas
2 cups cubed cooked turkey or rotisserie chicken
3/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup sliced green onions
1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Cook noodles according to package directions; drain and spread out on a serving platter.
2. Heat oils in a large wok or frying pan over high heat. Add garlic, ginger, bell pepper, mushrooms, and snow peas and cook until fragrant and peas are bright green, about 4 minutes. Add turkey, broth, and soy sauce and cook, stirring once, until mixture is hot, about 3 minutes. Pour over noodles and sprinkle with onions and sesame seeds.

Wednesday, 12/1/2010

Turkey, turkey, turkey.  We still have turkey left over from Thanksgiving.  We heated some of it up for dinner tonight and fixed a light fruit salad to go with it.  For the salad, I cut up a banana, added a small can of mandarin oranges, and some frozen raspberries from my parent's garden.  Katie was very excited about the oranges, until she saw the raspberries.  After that, she wouldn't touch an oranges.  While I was getting dinner ready, she would ask for "two" berries at a time.  She wanted to hold one in each hand.  Her fingers were quite red by the time we sat down to eat:)

Tuesday, 11/30/2010

We celebrated 2nd birthdays with our PEPS group tonight.  Barb, Tad, and Ronan hosted the party.  Barb made a fantastic beef stew and fixed up gnocchi to go with it.  Continuing with our cycle of potlucks, we also had snacks for the kids, a spinach and strawberry salad, and crusty bread.  I signed up to bring the dessert.  What fun to make the birthday cupcakes:)  I used a recipe my friend Taran passed to me several years ago for a spice cake made with cream sherry.  Usually made in a Bundt cake pan, it was different to go the cupcake route with the recipe.  Thankfully, it worked great!  Here's the recipe:

SPICE CAKE

Ingredients:
1 yellow cake mix
1 small vanilla instant pudding
2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup cream sherry
4 eggs

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a Bundt pan. 
2.  Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add oil, sherry, and eggs. 
3.  Bake for 25-35 minutes.  The cake is done with a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.
4.  Loosen the cake from the pan with a spatula.  This helps it from sticking to the pan when you turn it over.  Place on a plate and let cool completely.
5.  It tastes great with a cream sherry/powdered sugar glaze on top, or just powdered sugar.  For the glaze, mix a small amount of cream sherry with a large amount of powdered sugar until it reaches a very gooey, non-translucent state.  Pour over top of cake and let harden.  Voila!

Note: This recipe made 6 large and 12 medium sized cupcakes that were all bulging at the top.  I baked them for 23 minutes.  Since the cakes were mainly for 2-year-olds, I didn't think the cream sherry glaze was appropriate.  I frosted the cupcakes with store bought cream cheese frosting instead. I added green sprinkles for the boys and purple sprinkles for Katie. 

Monday, 11/29/2010

Tonight we used Thanksgiving left overs, with a twist.  I wrapped some of the turkey and BBQ sauce in foil.  Then I cooked it in the toaster oven for 30 minutes or so on low heat.  I put too much BBQ sauce on the turkey, but it was still good.  I had one sweet potato that I didn't use for Thanksgiving.  I cubed it and then tossed the cubes in olive oil, salt, pepper, and chopped rosemary.  I baked the potatoes on a cookie sheet in a 400 degree oven for about a half hour.  They had the nice flavor of the potatoes we grilled for Thanksgiving, without having to use the grill.  

For our salad, I used bitter greens and made a lemon and olive oil dressing to go with it.  I made it on a whim; so, I don't have the exact amounts for the ingredients.  I know I started with the juice from half a lemon, then I whisked in olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little sugar.  It ended up being a fine salad:)

Sunday, 11/28/2010

My cold has been lingering on with a good cough.  Knowing that people at church would worry that I would get them sick, we decided to stay home today.  We spent the morning getting the house decorated for Christmas.  We managed to get the tree up and in place while Katie was "helping", but I waited until she was napping to add the ornaments.  Ben worked on adding new LED lights to the front room windows.  They look great:)  

For dinner, we had our first of many left over Thanksgiving meals.  The turkey, dressing, and gravy were still delicious!

Saturday, 11/27/2010

We drove down to Olympia this afternoon to have dinner at Ben's Aunt Carol, Uncle Jim, and Cousin Austen's house.  Carol made burritos with shredded left over Thanksgiving turkey.  I'm not sure what was in the sauce she poured over the top, but they were delicious.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie:)  We haven't visited with Jim, Carol, and Austen for several months.  It was really nice to catch up with them.

Friday, 11/26/2010

For the last three years, we have spent Thanksgiving in Portland with Ben's mom, brother and extended family.  Traditionally, we have enjoyed the turkey meal on Thursday and then shopped on NW 23rd Avenue on Friday.  Since Jennifer and Spencer were at our house this year, we decided to substitute University Village for NW 23rd.  We had a great day of shopping....and eating:) 

We started with breakfast sandwiches at Specialty's Cafe and Bakery.  The food was quite tasty, but the accuracy and timeliness of our orders could have been better.  It took us until 1:30pm to get hungry for lunch.  We then enjoyed great burgers and sandwiches at the Ram Restaurant and Brewery.  Sufficiently stuffed, we didn't really need dinner.  After putting Katie down for the night, Jennifer, Spencer, Ben, and I sat down at the table to play Banagrams and eat cheesecake.  What a great way to end the night!

Thursday, 11/25/2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

For about a month, we have been tossing around the idea of using the Mexican-inspired, Thanksgiving menu from the November 2010 issue of Sunset Magazine.  Ben checked with his mom and brother to see if there were any traditional dishes that they needed to have included in the meal.  Spencer said he needed stuffing with sausage in it.  Since the Sunset menu included Chorizo Apple stuffing, we decided to go for it.  Although we didn't make the pumpkin tacos or the suggested desserts, we did not deviate from the printed menu for the main meal.  You will find each menu item below, including links to the Sunset recipes and my notes.

For the table setting, I started with a simple off-white table cloth and our regular plates.  I put a large clear glass vase filled with mandarin oranges in the middle of the table and flanked it with orange taper candles in cut glass holders.  For the place cards, I traced Katie's hand on paper eight times and then begged her to color on that paper with turkey colors.  She was never enthusiastic about coloring with orange and brown, but she did enough to help me out.  I cut out the hands, glued them to paper tents, and then added eyes, a beak, and a gobbler.  Okay, I am sure it is not called a gobbler, but it's the part that hangs down below the beak:)  They turned out really cute!

Chile and Spice Grilled Turkey: We brined our turkey in a boiling-water canner.  The recipe called for the turkey to be placed in the brine, breast down.  Ours went into the pot breast side up, oops.  Ben realized it with about two hours of brining to go and flipped it.  But, that may have been too late to do much good.  Thankfully, the turkey was moist, but it's hard to know if the flavor of the turkey would have been stronger if the breast had been down.  The turkey we grilled was just over 16 pounds, and it took 3 hours for it to reach 160 degrees.  Ben had a hard time regulating the cooking temperature for the first hour, particularly out in freezing, windy conditions.  But, after an hour of adjusting the gas over 10-15 minutes, it finally stabilized.  It was great to use the grill and leave the over free to cook the side dishes.  We would definitely grill again.

Mole Gravy: I am normally not a fan of gravy.  But, this gravy was a delicious sauce!  I think it was my favorite part of the meal.  Maybe it tied with the stuffing;)  The only thing that caught me by surprise with the gravy was how long it took to make.  I didn't read the recipe all the way through and missed that it would take 12 minutes after the turkey juices were added.

Chorizo Apple Stuffing: Laura and David pre-made the stuffing, and then baked it at our house.  It made our house smell fantastic!  The Chorizo and apples gave the stuffing the perfect balance of spice and sweet.  It was amazing with some of the gravy on top. 

Grilled Rosemary Sweet Potatoes: We decided to bake the sweet potatoes in a 325 degree oven last night, rather than grilling them.  I think they baked a little too long.  They were a bit close to becoming mashed potatoes.  Thankfully, they did set up a bit over night, and we were able to warm them up on the grill today.  The flavor was delicious, but I bet they would have been better if we had grilled them. 

Roasted Chile-Lime Brocollini: Nancy fixed this dish at our house this afternoon.  The ancho chile and lime flavors worked very well with the brocollini.   We all thought it was done enough and moved it into the warming drawer.  Unfortunately, we pulled it out of the oven too early.  And then, the other dishes weren't as close to being ready as I thought they were.  It would have been better to leave them in the oven to crisp up a bit more.  Katie enjoyed chewing on one of the stalks.

Roasted Chile Cornbread:  Spencer made the cornbread at our house last night.  The roasted chile's made the house smell good:)  The cornbread was wonderful.  It wasn't too sweet and was enjoyed by all. This is definitely a recipe that would work well with other Tex-Mex meals. 

Cranberry, Apple, Orange Relish:  Jennifer made the relish at home earlier this week.  The recipe said it could be made up to a week prior to the meal.  Well, I don't think any of us truly loved the relish.  It was pretty sour, and the recipe made way more than needed for each person.  The magazine did say that it would be good on a left-over turkey sandwich.  I'll have to try that. 

Fall Salad with Nuts and Pomegranates:  Nancy made this lovely salad for our meal.  Wow, what great flavors!  I really enjoyed the crunch of the walnuts and pomegranate seeds.  And, the fresh thyme was a delightful surprise each time I got a bite of it.

Orange Chocolate Cheesecake:  This recipe came from the Kraft Foods quarter magazine: Food & Family. I've had the recipe in my recipe box for several years now.  When it came time to decide on a dessert for this meal, I thought the citrus and chocolate would go nicely with the Tex-Mex theme.  I was right!  Everyone loved it!  Spencer made a delicious cordial to go with the dessert.  It was called a "Betsy Ross".  There may be more, but here's the list of ingredients I know the drink included:  tawny port, Grand Marnier, Fundador Brandy, and a special bitters, not sold in the state of Washington.  It was sweet and warming:)

All in all, it was a delicious meal that I am so thankful to have shared with my family and friends.

Wednesday, 11/24/2010

Ben's mom and brother will be spending Thanksgiving weekend with us.  This has been the plan for months.  The menu for the weekend has been planned, and the food has been purchased.  I am not sure why it took me until 3pm today to realize they would both be with us for dinner tonight too.  Ack!  Ok, what's in the freezer?  Thankfully, I found the big container of spaghetti sauce that I froze after the comfort food throwdown.  Oh, but we didn't have any noodles to go with it.  Spencer came to my rescue.  He kindly added spaghetti to the list of ingredients he needed to pick up at the store for tomorrow's cornbread.  For a side dish, I just happened to have a caesar salad in the fridge that was still good.  Phew!  Dinner was saved!!!

Katie must have been hungry, because she ate a lot of spaghetti. 

Tuesday, 11/23/2010

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I didn't want to make anything for dinner which would create more left overs.  We will be creating plenty of those on Thursday:)  So, we made breakfast sandwiches.

I used some Jimmy Dean sage sausage, which was already open in the fridge, to make sausage patties. I fried them in a skillet on the stove top while I prepped toasted buns, sliced cheddar cheese, and fried eggs. Tonight, I used an egg ring to keep a round egg shape for our sandwiches. For breakfast sandwiches, Ben likes the yolk in eggs to be slightly runny. That is definitely not my preference. I always break the yolk when frying my eggs. One solid egg please:)

Katie wanted her own little sandwich. She nibbled on the bread and eventually just ate the egg and sausage.

Monday, 11/22/2010

Yikes, the weather was not nice to Seattle today.  Katie and I were supposed to go to Molbaks nursery with my friend Sydney this morning.  We go every year during the holiday season to enjoy their lovely display of decorated Christmas trees and poinsettias.  On her way to our house, Sydney's car slid on ice and hit a curb really hard.  She made it to our house, but we decided it was not in our best interest to go up to Woodinville given the road conditions.  Knowing how the rest of the day went with road conditions, that was a really smart decision.  We did make it to Downtown Seattle to return our rented photography gear.  Then, Katie and I followed Sydney to a tire shop, where she left her car for repair.  The three of us did our grocery shopping for the week, and then we delivered Sydney to her home and got back to our house safely.  

Ben had his longest commute ever tonight.  He got on a bus at 4:44pm and didn't get home until three hours later.  After spending an hour and fifteen minutes on a bus and going nowhere, he got off and started walking.  He walked for an hour and a half and finally got onto the main road that leads to our house.  Katie and I bundled up and drove our trusty Subaru WRX to pick him up.  Boy, was I ever glad to see him.  He was cold and hungry and has sore feet, but is in fine spirits.  

And for dinner, I made oven-fried chicken for the first time.  It was GREAT!  All three of us really enjoyed it.  I found the recipe in my Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.  Here's the recipe:

OVEN-FRIED CHICKEN

Prep: 20 minutes   Bake: 45 minutes

Ingredients:
1 beaten egg
3 tablespoons milk
1 cup finely crushed saltine crackers
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 to 2 1/2 pounds meaty chicken pieces (breasts, thighs, and drumsticks)
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted

Directions:
1.  In a small bowl combine egg and milk.  For coating mixture, in a shallow dish combine crushed crackers, thyme, paprika, and pepper.  Set aside.  Skin chicken.  Rinse chicken; pat dry.  Dip chicken pieces into egg mixture; coat with crumb mixture.
2.  In a greased 15x10x1-inch or 13x9x2-inch baking pan, arrange chicken so the pieces don't touch.  Drizzle chicken pieces with the melted margarine or butter.
3.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 to 55 minutes or till chicken is tender and no longer pink.  Do not turn chicken pieces while baking.  Makes 6 servings.

Notes:

1.  I am not sure how many pounds of chicken I used, but I baked two drumsticks, two thighs, and two breasts, all bone-in.

2.  I added a few dashes of hot sauce to the egg and milk mixture.   I gave this particular bottle of hot sauce to Ben for Christmas in 2007.  It's called "Smack my ass and call me Sally".  I don't think I added enough of the sauce to make a difference, but I did enjoy adding it to the recipe.

3.  I didn't want the mess and hassle of crushing saltines.  Instead, I used a cup of plain bread crumbs and added approximately a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt.

4.  I used ground thyme.

5.  I had to melt a little extra butter, because I didn't drizzle evenly enough to cover all six pieces of chicken. 

Sunday, 11/21/2010

We had a nice, relaxing morning at Ben's mom's house.  She made a great breakfast for us, and then I took a nap:)  I didn't sleep well last night and just needed to get some extra shut-eye before driving back to Seattle.  Spencer drove to Centralia, and then I drove up to Seattle after lunch at Pizza Hut/Wing Street.  Lunch was kind of late; so, Ben and I didn't really have dinner.   Katie had yogurt and a spoonful of peanut butter for her dinner.  

Saturday, 11/20/2010

Happy Wedding Day Jason & Josalyn!

Ben and I started our work day at 10am.  After a quick stop at the venue, The Laurelhurst Club, we went to the hotel to take photos of the bride and groom getting ready for their wedding.  Back to the venue to shoot the portraits of them with their wedding party and parents.  The happy couple chose to until the ceremony to see each other, so our formal portraits were split between before and after the ceremony.  

And then, there was the great reception with eating, toasting, and lots of dancing.  For dinner, they offered their guests a nice buffet of appetizers and finger foods.  There were large fruit and veggie trays, cheese and crackers, deli meats, chicken skewers, and stuffed mushrooms, which I was told were fantastic.  Their cake was quite divine--white cake with either butter cream or chocolate mousse filling.  It was good:)

Friday, 11/19/2010

Ben, Katie, his brother, Spencer, and I are driving down to Portland tonight.  A family friend is getting married tomorrow, and Ben and I are the photographers.  Leaving after work is always anti-climactic.  We just get out of town and have to stop for dinner.  The easiest place to stop is in Tukwilla, near the Southcenter Mall.  We chose Panera Bread for our meal on this trip.  The menu has a nice variety, and, it goes without saying, the bread is outstanding. 

I had half of a Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich.  It's smoked turkey breast, bacon, and smoked Gouda on tomato, basil bread with a signature dressing.  I opt out of the lettuce and tomatoes that come standard on the sandwich.  For side dishes, I had macaroni and cheese and some chips.  Ben had the Asiago Roast Beef Sandwich, also with mac and cheese and chips.  The sandwich had oven-roasted beef, smoked cheddar, and creamy horseradish sauce on Asiago Cheese Demi bread.  After snacking on turkey from my sandwich, I got Katie her own small turkey and cheese sandwich.  She skipped the bread and cheese and only ate the turkey.  And then, she gobbled down the tube of strawberry yogurt that came with it.  I'm not sure what kind of sandwich Spencer had, but I know he had mac and cheese with it.  

It took us over four hours to get to Portland, but we made it with a happy toddler.  Not too shabby:)

Thursday, 11/18/2010

We had breakfast for dinner tonight.  Yum!  I tried out a pumpkin spice waffle recipe and fried bacon to go with it.  The waffles tasted very good, but made me realize that we don't have the best waffle iron.  The waffles did not cook evenly.  The recipe, from CountryLiving.com, made more than we needed; so, we froze some to have for other meals. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon(s) baking powder
2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon
1 teaspoon(s) ginger
1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon(s) salt
1/2 teaspoon(s) fresh-ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon(s) cloves
4 large eggs
2 cup(s) buttermilk
1 cup(s) pumpkin purée
1/2 cup(s) dark brown sugar
1/4 cup(s) (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon(s) pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat a waffle iron. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cloves in a large bowl and set aside.
2. Whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin purée, sugar, butter, and vanilla in another large bowl until smooth. While whisking, add the flour mixture and blend until smooth.
3. Generously coat the waffle iron with vegetable oil and cook the batter in the waffle iron as recommended in the manufacturer's instructions. Repeat with remaining batter.

Notes:

1.  I didn't have buttermilk, so I used the following substitution:  For every cup of buttermilk needed, start with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and then fill up the cup with milk.  Wait for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.  2.  In most of the recipes I use, 2 or 3 of the following spices are used:  cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves.  Rarely do I see all 4 included in the same recipe.  I think they worked great together for this application.  
3.  I used left over apple cider syrup from Halloween weekend on my waffles.  Ben used Mrs. Buttersworth.

Wednesday, 11/17/2010

We finished off the left over pork chops and couscous tonight.  I admit, we were too lazy to fix veggies to go with the meal today.  Again, Katie wouldn't try any of the pork and would only eat the couscous.  She is adorable when she says "couscous":)  She is adding more words to her vocabulary every day.

It is impossible to keep track of the words she can say.  She is still only saying a couple words together, and most combinations include the word "it".  For example: have it, want it, need it, hold it, take it.  I'm sure it won't be long before she is stringing more words together.  She is also trying to sing a bit!!!  When we listen to songs on the iPod (high-pod in Katie-speak), she will randomly shout out words she knows.  There are even a few "la, la, la's" during her favorite Caspar Babypants songs:)  What a joy she is!

Tuesday, 11/16/2010

We hosted our PEPS group tonight.  It was a really fun evening.  The kids played together nicely, for the most part.  I particularly enjoyed the end of the evening when they were all wearing and sharing Katie's Mardi Gras necklaces:)  And, the adults were able to have good conversations.  

In the past, the hosting family would provide the complete meal.  Tonight was the first time we tried making it a potluck.  We are going to give it a full rotation before we decide to stick with the potlucks or go back to the other option. 

Ben grilled chicken drumsticks and thighs, that I prepped in a lemon and herb marinade, and we provided beverages.  The rest of the group brought the rest of the meal: a green salad, pasta salad, bread, snacks for the kids, and a spice cake from Macrina Bakery.  We got the chicken marinade recipe from Ben's brother, Spencer.  He used it several months ago when we had dinner at his house.  In order to marinate 14 drumsticks and 8 thighs, I tripled the following marinade recipe.

LEMON HERB CHICKEN MARINADE

Mix together the following ingredients.

1/2 cup Canola Oil
1/4 cup White Vinegar
1/4 cup Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Lemon Zest
1 clove Garlic, chopped
1 tsp Lemon Pepper
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Thyme
1 tbsp Oregano

Marinate for 2-6 hours.

Monday, 11/15/2010

We had marinated pork chops, roasted garlic and olive oil wheat couscous, and a green salad for dinner.  I marinated the pork chops in Stubb's Pork Marinade for six hours.  I broiled them in the oven on high for 7 minutes on the first side and 6 minutes on the second side.  They were cooked perfectly according to Ben:)  Couscous continues to be a big hit in our house.  Katie loves it, but it is even more messy than rice.  It gets everywhere.  I like how quickly it cooks--only five minutes after the water boils.

For our green salad, I added diced pears and glazed walnuts to sweet butter lettuce.  I dressed the salad with a delicious homemade balsamic vinegar and honey dressing.  A little of this dressing goes a long way.  I have historically used too much when I have made this salad.  Tonight I used less than normal, but it was still too much for Ben.  Even so, he gladly finished his salad.  

Sunday, 11/14/2010

Katie is the only one in the house who ate dinner tonight.  We had our good friends Melissa, Dave and Lucia over for a big lunch after church.  It was so very nice to catch up with them.  The last time we saw each other was Easter weekend.  Yikes...that was a long time ago.  For lunch, we recreated the delicious bacon, chicken sandwiches we made a couple months ago.  We couldn't find the same marinade mix at the store, so we opted for a carne asada chipotle marinade.  It said it was good for beef, chicken, or pork.  Thankfully, it truly was good for chicken:)  We made a banana, mandarin orange, and mango fruit salad to go with the sandwiches.  

For dessert, we had butterscotch, orange oatmeal cookies in bar form.  The directions said to bake the bars for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.  Well, after 18 minutes, they were quite golden.  Unfortunately, they didn't set up very well.  Luckily, they still tasted delicious and held together better a day later than when relatively fresh out of the oven.  

Oh yes, dinner.  Ben and I just weren't hungry for dinner after such a large lunch.  We snacked a bit, but had nothing formal.  Katie was hungry around 5pm.  She had chicken nuggets, dipped in ketchup, of course;) After a quick Skype with my parents, we took her to bed.  Hopefully, an extra hour of sleep tonight will make up for the missed nap today. 

Saturday, 11/13/2010

We finished off the rest of our spaghetti sauce tonight.  Katie took a super long nap this afternoon and woke up in a fun mood.  When we got downstairs, she asked for her mittens, hat, and sunglasses.  The resulting outfit was hilarious.  It inspired Ben to set up a mini photo shoot while I cooked up the spaghetti noodles.  Unbelievably, she was a good sport and stood still so that he could take her photo.  Here are photos from her photo shoot, followed by a couple from dinner.

Friday, 11/12/2010

We ate out at Cactus tonight.  Ben and I both had half orders of nachos with chorizo and chicken.  They remain my favorite nachos ever.  We ordered Katie a grilled chicken breast, which came sliced.  Knowing her like we do, we asked the waiter to bring her a bowl of ketchup.  Sure enough, she was only willing to eat the chicken once it had been dipped in ketchup multiple times.  She also ate a good helping of olives from my nachos.  I just order them on the side so that I can give them to her to eat.  

After we got Katie down for the evening, we watched the movie "An Education."  It was the last movie nominated for Best Picture in the 2010 Academy Awards that we needed to see.  Yes, I know that the Oscars were in March, but it just takes time to get through 10 movies when you stop to watch TV series like Mad Men:)  It was a good movie that I am glad I watched; although, I don't think I would watch it again.

Thursday, 11/11/2010

Ben got back from his trip to Huntsville really late last night.  I think he was in bed by 3am.  And then the smoke detector in our room started chirping at 4:30.  UGH...poor Ben!  He got up for a 7:30 conference call and then went back to bed for an hour and half.  It is not a surprise that he didn't feel well today.  We kept dinner really simple so that he could eat and rest.  We finished off the rest of the Lemon and Herb Chicken Helper and then watched Elf with Katie. She thought Buddy the Elf was funny and really liked the singing. It's a good thing we watched it after dinner.  If we had watched before dinner, she might have expected syrup on her noodles;)

Wednesday, 11/10/2010

My friend Lauren came over for dinner tonight.  We haven't seen each other since her wedding in May.  It was so nice to catch up:)  We had spaghetti with a side salad for dinner.  Katie barely ate anything.  Dinner is definitely not her favorite meal of the day.  I've still got enough spaghetti sauce to last a couple more meals.  Sorry for the repetitive posts;)

Katie entertained us for an hour or so after dinner.  When it was time to put her down to sleep, she let Lauren read her a book.  It was very sweet.  Hopefully Lauren and I won't take so long to catch up the next time. 

Tuesday, 11/9/2010

I had left over lemon and herb chicken helper for dinner.  Katie wouldn't even taste it.  Surprisingly, she would eat applesauce with cinnamon in it. That is usually something she won't eat either.  Not much else to say about our meal, but here is a cute photo of my girl:)

Monday, 11/8/2010

Katie and I made Lemon and Herb Whole Wheat Chicken Helper for our dinner.  Well, I made it and Katie observed.  She wants to "see" everything I am doing when I am cooking.  When I am patient enough and when I remember, I show her what I am doing each step of the way.  Ben flew to Huntsville, Alabama, this morning for work, so it was just the two of us tonight.  Here are a couple fun photos of Katie from dinner tonight.

Sunday, 11/7/2010

Well, we definitely did not need to make three batches of spaghetti sauce for last night's throwdown.  We ended up bringing home at least one batch.  Half of it was frozen to use in the future, and we kept half in the fridge to use this coming week.  Tonight we had the sauce over whole wheat rotini noodles.  

Katie had a little bowl of noodles and then an even smaller bowl with pasta sauce in it.  Katie ate pasta just fine while she was dipping in the sauce.  And then she asked for a spoon.  Once she got a spoon and started to dump sauce over the noodles, she wouldn't eat any more of them.  Just when I expected her to say "all done", she asked for some peanut butter. Spaghetti sauce and peanut butter are not a good flavor combination for a meal.  But, it just doesn't matter much, as long as she is eating. 

Saturday, 11/6/2010

Our church supports Family Promise, an organization that helps homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence.  Ben and I have prepared several meals over the past couple of years for the families staying in our church.  The program in our area had to stop operations a couple months ago due to a lack of funding.  The hope is that it can be started again after enough funds have been raised to sustain it successfully. 

Tonight we competed in a Comfort Food Throwdown to benefit Family Promise.  Individuals in the Family Promise network paid $15-20 to attend the meal.  And then we, along with 9 other churches or individuals, prepared our favorite comfort foods to serve to the masses.  We volunteered to bring spaghetti, using Ben's family's secret spaghetti sauce recipe.  We were supposed to be able to feed 100 people, so we made three batches.  It took us all day to prepare the sauce.

We took dry noodles and a large stock pot with us to the hosting church and cooked the noodles there.  It was a little chaotic and a large burner was not immediately available for us to use when we arrived.  The noodles were finally done cooking just as we were supposed to start serving.  We chose to dish up the plates of spaghetti in the kitchen and bring them out to the serving table.  It worked okay while people were getting their first servings.  But then, the pasta just sat on the table, waiting for people to want it.  And, it got cold.  I decided to make up a new batch of noodles and then serve on demand at the table.  It worked better and everything stayed warmer.  Oh, and I garnished each dish with a parmesan crisp that I made earlier today.

We did not win, but we were beat by an young gal with an excellent chicken soup from Guam.  Money was raised for Family Promise and the people were fed.  It was a good night.  Katie spent half of the evening on my back in the Ergo carrier and then played with two cups of water instead of eating for the second half.  

I'm not going to go into all the details, but there were a lot of things that could have been improved with how it was organized and promoted.  But, since no one asked for my opinions or my help in planning, and I didn't volunteer to do so, I need to keep my mouth shut.  I might volunteer my services next time:)

Friday, 11/5/2010

Our friend Sydney babysat Katie tonight while I joined Ben for his alumni dinner at the Bellevue Hyatt.  When I left the house, Sydney was heating up chicken nuggets for Katie.  Katie dipped the nuggets and apples in ketchup.  Yes, she dipped her apples in ketchup.  It is gross, but I guess there is technically nothing wrong with it.

Ben and I pre-ordered the chicken meal for dinner.  It was a roasted chicken leg in a bed of orzo with some kind of gravy-like sauce around the plate.  It was delicious!  For dessert, Ben had flan and I had chocolate cake.  The cake was good, but nothing compared to my dad's cake:) 

Thursday, 11/4/2010

Ben was at a conference today that ended with a dinner banquet.  That left Katie and me on our own for dinner.  I did my best to salvage the charred grilled turkey from last night. Once I cut off the charred parts, it wasn't so bad.  Again, the best part of the meal was the left over rice.  Katie ate a few pieces of turkey, but really only wanted rice.

I wish rice wasn't so messy to feed a toddler.  It ends up everywhere.  It is in her clothes, all over the high chair, and all over the floor around her chair.  But, at least she is fun and happy when she eats it:)

Wednesday, 11/3/2010

Ooh, tonight I had a dinner fail.  I purchased turkey tenderloins pre-marinated in a lemon and peppercorn marinade.  The package said to grill them on medium heat for 35-40 minutes.  I looked in several of our cookbooks, including some specifically for grilling, for additional grill temperature instructions.  I didn't find anything that said indirect or direct medium heat.  We cook boneless chicken tenderloins and breasts on direct heat--why would turkey be different? Since the packaging didn't say indirect, I assumed direct was the best choice.  Well, it appears that I was wrong.  The turkey was charred on both sides and the meat barely retained any moisture.  Too bad it was enough for two meals.  Ugh!

The best part of the meal was the seasoned wild rice I made to go with it.  We all had a second helping of that:)

Tuesday, 11/2/2010

Tonight we had dinner with our PEPS friends.  Sara, Aaron, and Ari hosted.  We had lasagna, caesar salad, and garlic bread with ice cream sundaes and chocolate cupcakes for dessert.  As usual, the food was great!  Sara also put out bowls of crackers for the kids to munch on and a cheese plate for the adults.

Since we weren't able to get together at a pumpkin patch two weekends ago, we decided to take our group Halloween costume photo tonight instead.  And by group, I mean the kids.  It is always entertaining trying to get them to sit still long enough for a group photo.  The easiest one was definitely when they were all still 5-6 months old:)  Here are the kids in all of their Halloween finest. 


Jackson as Thomas the Train.
Ronan as a frog.
Katie as a kitty.
Ari as a giraffe.
Oliver as a vampire.



Monday, 11/1/2010

I stopped by the seafood counter at Fred Meyer this morning, just to see what was available.  I was pleased to see talapia fillets crusted with crushed tortilla chips, chili, and lime.  They looked good enough that I purchased three fillets for tonight's dinner. 

I heated olive oil in the bottom of a "stick" frying pan.  Once the oil was hot, I put the fillets in the pan.  Only one side of each fillet was coated in the tortilla crust.  I put the non-crusted side down in the oil first.  I cooked them for 3-4 minutes on the first side, flipped them, and then waited until the crust started to turn golden brown before I removed them from the pan.  It was an excellent preparation for talapia, which is a pretty bland fish in my opinion. 

We had sauted bell peppers as a side dish.  Ben got me a mandolin for my birthday, and I used it to slice the peppers.  It wasn't the best application for the mandolin, but it was fun to try it out.  I can't wait to make potatoes au gratin with it!  Anyway, I used a non-stick pan for the peppers.  I heated olive oil with a touch of sesame oil in the pan until it was hot.  I then added the sliced peppers and a teaspoon of minced garlic.  They cooked in the oil until the peppers started to char a bit.  

Katie wouldn't eat the fish, but she did eat several slices of pepper.

Sunday, 10/31/2010

Happy Halloween!  Katie wore her pink kitty costume to church this morning.  All of the kids, big and small, were encouraged to wear their costumes.  During the children's moment, they marched around the sanctuary while our music director played "Thriller" on the piano.  Katie was adorable walking around the church with her daddy:)

Our parents left this afternoon after lunch.  Katie cried when they left.  What a sensitive little girl:)  After her nap, we made up some penne pasta and finished off the roasted red pepper and bacon sauce left over from last night.  Instead of pasta, Katie ate a little beef taco meat.  We were all full and happy when the meal was over. 

We decided to end our Halloween festivities with church today.  Katie still doesn't get what the holiday is all about; so, we didn't push it.  We kept our porch light off, put her to bed on time, and enjoyed some quality time in front of the TV with some chocolate candy.  It was a great day and a wonderful weekend. 

Saturday, 10/30/2010

My parents, our friend Gail, and Ben's brother stayed at our house last night following my concert.  Ben's mom drove up from Portland, Oregon, this morning to spend the weekend with us too.  After she arrived and we had lunch, we drove up to The Farm at Swan's Train in Snohomish, Washington, to check out a pumpkin patch.  It was raining, but we didn't have many other options since Halloween is tomorrow:)  We had a great time despite the rain.  Katie tromped in the field, tried to pick up large pumpkins, and looked adorable in her raincoat and mittens.  Here are a few of my favorite photos from our pumpkin patch outing.

Today I got to celebrate my birthday for a second time. Lucky me!  We went with an Italian meal for our dinner.  I made bucatini pasta with my KitchenAid pasta attachment.  Bucatini is a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through it.  Ben was in charge of making the roasted red pepper and bacon sauce.  We had a caesar salad and soft breadsticks on the side. 

For dessert, my dad brought his blue ribbon winning whole wheat chocolate cake.  It was delicious and definitely deserving of a blue ribbon.  We had mint chocolate ice cream to go with the cake.  Katie wasn't very interested in cake, but she could have eaten twice as much "hih-cream" as we let her have. 

Friday, 10/29/2010

I perform in a quarterly concert series, called Sweet, Sweet, Music, with my friends from church.  Tonight, our theme was "Stage and Screen".  Ben and I needed to get to the church around 6pm; so, we ordered pizza for ourselves and Katie's babysitter.  We got a large pepperoni and sausage pizza from Garlic Jim's.  We all sat at the table and ate together while we gave our sitter the scoop on Katie for the night. 

We had a great crowd at the concert.  There were close to 150 people in the audience.  My CD release was very successful.  I sold more CDs than I expected to.   After the show, the performers and their families went over to Endolyne Joe's for some food and drinks.  Ben and I shared a plate of Mob Boss Mama's Mozzarella and a plate of Marco's Torta della Salsiccia. The fresh mozzarella was pan fried with herb breading and marinara sauce. The torta was a pastry stuffed with house made Italian sausage and ricotta salata with an herb cheese sauce. Both were outstanding dishes. 

Katie, bless her soul, was busy and excited "talking" to her sitter during dinner.  She didn't eat much, which resulted in her being wide awake and hungry at 3:00am.  We had a house full of guests, so she was sleeping in our room.  There was no avoiding her:)  She washed down a half a banana and crackers with milk for her midnight snack.  Thankfully, she was willing to go back to sleep after her snack.  Ben and I didn't go to sleep until almost 1am; so, Katie's 3am wake up was quite rude.  We were disoriented, cranky, and almost sick from it. 

Thursday, 10/28/2010

They are here!!!  My first album, Favorite Things, arrived this morning.  Whoo Hoo!!!  Katie and I went to Ben's office during the lunch hour so that she could show off her pink kitty Halloween costume, and so that I could sell some of my CDs.  It was surreal to see my photo on a professional CD and to be asked to sign it.

After leaving Ben's office, Katie and I ran errands until 3pm.  That is when the Halloween party at my office began.  I was very thankful for Judy and Danielle who provided non-candy treats for the little kids.  Katie picked up a toy ring, jelly bracelets, bubbles, and play-dough.  After the party, we picked up Ben from work and headed home.  Katie did not nap today until we were .25 miles away from home.  It was not a quality nap:)  After a day with no break from Katie, I was exhausted.  Ben took on Katie and dinner duties while I took a quick nap.  Thanks Ben!

We had beef burritos for dinner, and they were goo-ood.  We used non-lean beef, which always improves the overall flavor.  Ben made one burrito a little thicker so that we could cut off the end and give it to Katie.  She did a great job eating it, but the hot sauce did a number on her little lips.  They got all swollen and red:(  She didn't seem to mind it too much and just licked them a lot.  I was thrilled that she was willing to eat something with a lot of flavor. 

Wednesday, 10/27/2010

Tonight we grilled the pork chops that I didn't defrost in time for last night's meal.  The pork chops were part of the bulk meat purchase I made at the beginning of the month.  They were beautiful, bone-in chops that were full of flavor.  We dredged them in Char Crust's roasted garlic and peppercorn dry-rub.  I've been very pleased with how long the dry-rub has lasted us.  It was definitely worth the purchase price.  The pork chops came off the grill moist and delicious.  

We each made an iceberg lettuce wedge salad to go with our chops.  Ben used blue cheese dressing and blue cheese crumbles.  I used Italian dressing on mine.

Note: It's been a busy week since I updated the blog.  I remember what Ben and I ate each day, but can't remember what Katie ate each day.  Forgive me for leaving her off of a couple posts while I catch up:)

Tuesday, 10/26/2010

I was going to grill pork chops tonight, but the pork did not defrost fast enough.  Rather than risk partially cooking the chops by using the microwave defrost feature, we pulled out plan b.   We grilled roasted pepper and asiago cheese chicken sausages and made up macaroni and cheese with peas for a side dish.  The sausages were really good.  Ben dipped his in cajun catsup, and Katie and I dipped in BBQ sauce.  Katie cleared her tray of the sausage we gave her very quickly.  She wanted "MORE."  I cut up some left over chicken from last night and she finished it off too.  I like meat-eating Katie:)

This was my first time purchasing a box of Kraft deluxe macaroni and cheese.  It was definitely better than the original, powdered cheese mix variety I am used to.  The noodle quality seemed to be a little better and the sauce was pre-mixed and in a packet.  All I had to do was squeeze it out of the packet and stir it into the hot pasta.  It worked like a charm and was a nice compliment to the sausages.  Katie ate a good helping of the mac and cheese and peas too.  It was a good meal.

The best part of the evening, so far, is that when we took her upstairs for her post-dinner diaper change, she was ready to go to sleep.  She hit the sack without a peep a good 30-45 minutes early tonight.  Wow!  Thanks Katie:)

 In other news, my CDs should be ready to ship out tomorrow!!!

Monday, 10/25/2010

Just like yesterday, today didn't go as I planned.  Our internet connection went down yesterday afternoon and still wasn't back today.  I waited around the house this morning for a call regarding the service appointment that never came.  So, our morning grocery shopping trip was postponed until this afternoon.  The technician showed up about 10 minutes before I was going to put Katie down for her nap.  She was so excited to have the tech in the house, that there was no way I could get her down until he was gone.  She kept saying his name, Jason, and "fix it" over and over again.  It was pretty cute:)  She also kept trying to make sure he knew that there was a vacuum in the room with him by saying "vacuum" repeatedly too. 

When our connection was re-established and Jason said goodbye, Katie finally went down for her nap.  We weren't ready to go grocery shopping until 4pm.  I looked out the window and saw a sheet of rain outside.  Great.  I called Ben and offered to pick him up from work so that he wouldn't have to come home via the bus in that weather.  He was kind enough to accept my offer and then go grocery shopping with us.  Katie had been asking to be in the car cart at the store all day.  When we got to Fred Meyer, the car cart was already claimed by another family.  Fortunately for us, the dad offered us the cart since his son had been in it many times.  His son was not very happy about it.  In fact, we "drove" past him once and he glared at us.  Oh well.  At least Katie was happy! 

When we got home, we broiled chicken breasts that I had marinated in Grill Mates Chipotle Pepper Marinade.  The chicken was moist and delicious.  Ben and I really enjoyed it.  We had iceberg lettuce wedge salads with the chicken.  Katie would not even touch the chicken to her lips tonight.  Instead, she ate half a hot dog, dipped into ketchup, and drank water with ice and a little diet lemon/lime carbonated water in it.  She was a happy girl:)

Sunday, 10/24/2010

Katie didn't nap today.  She was in her crib for over an hour this afternoon and never stopped chattering for long.  Her fake nap ended when the chattering turned into crying.  Needless to say, it ended up being a very long day for her parents.  At one point this afternoon, Ben and I both laid down on the den floor to rest while she played around/on us.  Ben was actually able to doze off.  I guess I was more in her way than he was;)

Katie was not in the mood to eat dinner, even though we knew she had to be hungry.  We got her to eat a little ham in her high chair, but then she threw a tantrum in order to get down.  She kept crying each time we tried to guide her away from something she couldn't have, like my phone.  We finally got her back into her high chair, but only after she insisted on having it moved into the middle of the kitchen.  Then she scarfed. She ate a bunch of tuna fish, pickles, and grapes.  She just needed to eat.  Too tired to make anything new, Ben and I just reheated the remaining BBQ pulled pork from last week and last night's cheesy noodles.  Rather than eat at the table, tonight the Ackers family dined in the kitchen with Katie. 

Saturday, 10/23/2010

Today was a good day, but nothing like we planned it would be.  We were going to go to a pumpkin patch with our PEPS group this afternoon.  When the weather looked like it would be unpleasant, we decided to cancel.  After Katie woke up from her nap at 3pm, Ben and I played a game of "I don't know...what do you want to do?"  We finally left the house at 4pm, heading to the mall to get him a new dress shirt.

After shopping, Katie got to run around in the mall's play area.  It was crazy and loud and crowded.  But, she ran right in there with all the kids and had fun.  I helped her climb up to slide down the leaf several times.  Here's a video of her doing it:)

At 5:30 we left the main mall in search of dinner.  I know it is silly, but we thought we might be able to get into the Olive Garden with only a small wait.  We did not.  It was going to be a 45 minute wait, so we decided to try someplace else.  We went to Joey, a pretty swanky restaurant.  Ben and I have been to the Bellevue location before, but never with Katie.  We were both a bit nervous that bringing a toddler in would be frowned upon.  We were pleasantly pleased that we were welcomed quite warmly. 

The hostess told us that we just "had" to have the macaroni and cheese.  She said she ate it all the time and loved it.  So, when we sat down we tried to find it on the menu.  It wasn't listed.  We asked our waitress for it and she said no problem, she'd have the kitchen make something up.  Hmmm....why would the hostess recommend something that wasn't on the menu?  The first dish brought to the table was chicken fettuccine alfredo that wasn't meant for us.  When Katie's dish did arrive, she wouldn't take one bite.    They used fettuccine noodles and then made up a creamy cheese sauce for it.  It was excellent for not being on the menu.  Ben and I both enjoyed some of it and ended up taking most of it home.  The best part was that they only charged us $1.99 for it:)

Ben ordered a Better Beef Dip-- thinly shaved beef, served with grainy mustard on an Italian bun with atomic horseradish served with red wine au jus and fries.  He said it was excellent.  I had an equally excellent chicken sandwich that included a grilled chicken breast, bacon, aged cheddar, and a spicy sauce.  I asked our waitress if it had anything else on it.  She said, "no."  Obviously, she doesn't know the dishes well, because it came with a tomato and greens on it.  Thankfully, they pulled off easily.  I just don't find that veggies add anything positive to a sandwich. 

The only things Katie would eat for dinner were our fries.  And, she was happy, quietly eating them while people watching.  It made for a pleasant meal for us.  Until...she choked on a fry.  She gagged and gagged and gagged some more.  We've started asking her to say "momma" or "daddy" when she gags, so that we know she has recovered.  This time she couldn't say anything.  It was noisy and dark in the restaurant, so we don't know how blue she got.  But, she ended up puking before she recovered.  It was quite scary for us.  Our waitress went above and beyond to help us clean everything up.  She ended up earning a nice tip.  Thanks waitress for not making us feel bad about our puky toddler.  Katie was wiped out by the ordeal, but stayed awake until we got home.  It was no surprise that she went to bed happy. 

Friday, 10/22/2010

Katie and I met Ben at Buddha Ruksa, our favorite Thai restaurant, for dinner tonight.  We got there right at 5pm and were only the second party seated for the evening.  The waitresses fawned over Katie.   One helped Katie to buckle the strap on her high chair and then brought her a shorter straw for her cup and a small spoon and fork.  And, when Katie needed to spit out the fried tofu, which she wouldn't swallow, a stack of napkins appeared on the table instantly.  We were definitely in good hands:)

I ordered food for Katie right away, because she was super hungry.  With help from the waitress, I picked Phad See Iew-- stir-fried fresh wide rice noodles plus egg, broccoli, and chicken in blackbean sauce.  When I glanced at the menu, I thought it said "wild rice" instead of "wide rice", and then I completely missed "noodle" in the description.  Katie did eat quite a bit of the chicken and a piece of broccoli, but only had a few nibbles of noodles.  Ben and I helped pick up her slack;)

We also ordered fried tofu with a sweet garlic/chili sauce, cashew chicken, and brown rice.  The tofu was just okay on its own, but the sauce was excellent.  So, I guess I was just using the tofu as a way to get the sauce into my mouth:)  The cashew chicken was alright, but I felt there were too many onions and carrots in the dish and not enough chicken.  When it comes to chicken dishes, I still prefer the restaurant's signature dish--Crispy Garlic Chicken.

Ben concluded the meal with a bowl of coconut ice cream.  I chose to pick up ice cream at Baskin-Robbins on our way home.  I had a few gift certificates to use and thought it would be a good night to cash them in.  I was sad to realize that the ice cream wasn't that good.  I wonder if the quality has changed over the years, or if I have just developed taste for more refined, fancy ice cream.

Thursday, 10/21/2010

Last Friday I picked up some short ribs in Kalbi marinade from the Fred Meyer meat counter.  I thought we would have them over the weekend, but we never did.  I wanted to use them tonight, but was pretty sure they were not going to be good anymore.  It must be my lucky day, because they were still good!  Ben grilled them on direct high heat for 5-6 minutes.  We had iceberg lettuce wedge salads to go with it.  My salad was exactly as I wanted it to be.  1/4 of a lettuce head + bacon crumbles + Kraft's Zesty Italian Dressing = tasty salad.  Ben's didn't turn out as I expected it to.  I got him blue cheese crumbles and assumed we had a blue cheese dressing in the refrigerator.  While it is hard to tell if blue cheese has gone bad, Ben was pretty sure the dressing wasn't good anymore. He opted for the same dressing I used, but was not thrilled with it. 

Katie was willing to eat some rib meat, but mainly just ate grapes and cheese.  

I cooked up a pound of bacon tonight so that we could use it for our salads and then breakfast over the next couple of days.   Rather than using a frying pan, I baked the bacon.  I lined an old cookie sheet with heavy duty foil and then placed two square, metal cooking racks inside the sheet.  The racks had to overlap to fit, but it allowed me to use the entire sheet's surface for bacon.  I covered the racks with one layer of bacon and put the cookie sheet into a cold oven.  I then heated the oven to 400 degrees with the bacon inside.  I first checked on the bacon after 27 minutes.  When it wasn't done yet, I continued to check on it every 3 minutes until it was done enough for my taste.   For thin sliced bacon, 27 minutes is often enough.  For the thicker, leaner cuts of bacon, it takes a while longer.  The cooling racks keep the bacon out of the rendered fat.  This is a method Ben learned from Alton Brown on the Food Network several years ago.

I was just about to write about how sad it is that we can no longer watch Alton Brown's show "Good Eats" on TV anymore.  We gave up cable in January and it has not been available on Hulu.com or through Netflix.  But, as I was pulling up the show to link to it for the blog, I found that there are five full episodes currently on the Food Network's website!  So, if you want to learn about salmon, canned tuna, celery, popovers, or home freezing...check it out here:)  You learn a lot about the food itself and then how to prepare it.  We've learned a lot from Alton.

Wednesday, 10/20/2010

Tonight we enjoyed the simplicity of left overs. We all gladly finished off the corn bread/BBQ pulled pork dish I made yesterday. Katie called the corn bread "cake." Very cute:)

Our evenings this week are filled with prepping for my first album to be released.  Ben took amazing photos of me and has been designing beautiful CD case inserts.  His attention to details astounds me.  It's a good thing he is in charge of the design and not me.  I could never make it look as great as he does.  We hope to have the design all done by tomorrow night so that we can submit the CD order.  Yikes...I can't believe this is happening! How very, very cool:)

Tuesday, 10/19/2010

At our potluck on Saturday, our friend Shellie brought a Mexican casserole. I'm not sure exactly what went into it, but it did have beans, corn, and seasoned beef under some kind of cornbread crust. Not wanting to just have another pulled pork sandwich, I decided to experiment with tonight's meal. I used the Mexican casserole as my inspiration.

I took an 8x8-inch glass baking dish, sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray, and covered the bottom with about an inch of leftover BBQ pulled pork. Then I mixed up a batch of corn bread batter, using the recipe on the back of the Albers Yellow Corn Meal box, and poured it over the pork. I baked it in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. Although the toothpick I stuck in the middle came out clean, it wasn't quite done cooking. Given another 5 minutes in the oven, we would have avoided the soggy middle. It tasted good even though it was a bit soggy. It was fun to experiment. I rarely cook or bake without a recipe to follow.

Here's the recipe to make the corn bread by itself. When I was growing up, it was the recipe my parents would make to go with dinner. I always slather my cornbread with butter and a coat of cinnamon/sugar:)

ALBERS CORN BREAD
Makes 9-12 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup yellow corn meal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease 8-inch-square baking pan.
2. Combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl. Combine milk, oil, and egg in small bowl; mix well.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until blended.  Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Serve warm.
Note: Recipe may be doubled.  Used greased 13x9-inch baking pan; bake as above.

Monday, 10/18/2010

Happy Birthday to ME!   

What a fantastic day I had!  It started with a trip to Downtown Seattle on the West Seattle Water Taxi.  Ben went in to work a little late this morning so that the three of us could eat breakfast at a Starbucks near his office.  Katie really enjoyed the boat rides:)  Here are a couple photos of us this morning.

Katie and me waiting for the water taxi.

Katie and me on the water taxi.

Katie and Ben after breakfast at Starbucks.

Our friend Sydney and Ben's brother Spencer joined us for a birthday dinner at Porterhouse.  This was our first time eating at this restaurant.  We were really pleased with it.  We shared the house fries as an appetizer.  We thought one plate was going to be enough, but they were so fantastic, we had to order more:)

House Fries w/ Parmesan-Truffle Salt and Curry Ketchup

Me & Sydney

Katie and I each ordered fish and chips, although, I substituted a caesar salad since I already had fries for an appetizer.  And, Katie substituted apple slices for her fries.  Ben and Spencer each had a steak sandwich with a side caesar.  Sydney had the tuna melt.  It was the first time I had seen a tuna melt with asparagus on it.  She said it was great! 

Steak Sandwich w/ Caesar Salad

For dessert, Ben and Spencer both had Porter Floats.  Ben said it was good and that he was glad he tried it.  But, it wasn't something he will order again.  I wonder if Ben ordered the float knowing that he wouldn't be forced to share it with Katie:)  I would definitely order my chocolate lava cake with chocolate ice cream again.  It was divine--just as a birthday cake should be.  Katie chanted "cake" in such a cute way, that I couldn't resist sharing with her.  

Chocolate Lava Cake w/ Chocolate Ice Cream

Wow, it was a truly wonderful day.  Thanks family & friends!!!