Friday, 8/27/2010

Ben, his brother, Spencer, Katie, and I drove down to Clackamas, Oregon, today. Their mom's birthday is tomorrow and we are throwing her a big party. We needed today to purchase the food for the party and start the general preparations. Our hope was that we would be done with all of our shopping and prepping before Jennifer got home from work. Nope, that didn't happen:) With a late departure from Seattle and shopping that took longer than expected, we weren't even close to finished when she got home. Instead of going out to eat, we ordered pizza from Garlic Jims. Boy, did that hit the spot! Spencer ordered a large, pepperoni and sausage pizza.

Katie wanted to eat it, but has recently decided not to like anything spicy. She takes one little lick or bite and then says "hot" or "yuck." It cracks us up! She ended up eating some vanilla yogurt and half a banana, chocolate/butterscotch chip bar. I admit--it wasn't the healthiest of dinner options for her.

Here's looking forward to the party tomorrow!

Thursday, 8/26/2010

Ben and I had left over pasta tonight.  Katie gave it a try, but quickly pushed her plate aside.  Instead, I chopped up some left over pork tenderloin, nuked it, and then told her it was a burger.  It worked really well the other day when I gave her some ketchup to dip it into.  Today, despite the ketchup, she seemed to be wise to my "little white lie". 

I did make some cheese straws tonight, following a recipe from my Williams-Sonoma cookie press.  They turned out pretty good, but a bit on the salty side.  I used Parmesan cheese instead of the Parmigiano-Reggiano that the recipe called for.  I went for the cheese that was on sale.  Here's the recipe.

CHEESE STRAWS

Ingredients:
8 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated
12 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the cheese, butter, egg, flour, salt and cayenne pepper and process until mixed.

Pack the dough into a cookie press according to the instructions and fit with the star-shaped cookie disk.  Holding the cookie press at an angle on an ungreased baking sheet, press the trigger twice, dragging the press away to make a 3-inch-long straw.  Space the straws 1 inch apart.  To make straws the length of the baking sheet, continually press the trigger and drag the press away, spacing straws 1 inch apart.

Bake until straws are lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes.  Transfer straws to wire racks to cool.  Straws may be sotred in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Makes about 60 three-inch straws.

Wednesday, 8/25/2010

It was a simple pasta night for us.  I browned a pound of Fred Meyer's hot Italian sausage in a saucepan.  After draining off the grease, I added a jar of Classico Spicy Tomato and Basil pasta sauce.  Instead of our usual Dreamfields low carb pasta, I chose Barilla's Whole Grain Penne Pasta.   Ben and I each dished up our own bowls of pasta and added sauce.  Oh, it was good:)  We had caesar salads on the side.  

Katie was not an eater tonight.  Although she had two big snacks of watermelon this afternoon (her choice), I was surprised she wasn't more hungry.  She ended the day with a big melt down while Skyping with her grandma, immediately followed by bed time.  Hopefully, she will wake up in a better mood tomorrow morning.

OH! I have to let it be known that she is now trying to sing the first four letters of the alphabet song:)  How fun!!!

Tuesday, 8/24/2010

Tonight our PEPS (Program for Early Parent Support) group met at Barb and Tad's house.  They put out all the fixings for chicken tacos--shredded chicken, guacamole, salsa, shredded lettuce and cheese, and beans.  We had brownies and blackberries for dessert.  The food was good, but the entertainment was great!  

Those kids were so much fun to watch and listen to.  Ronan has a small ball house that they all tried to get into.  I didn't think they all managed to get in at once, but Ben says there were a few seconds when all five where in there.  There were balls everywhere!  The normal sippy cup and toy stealing and food begging took place.  Katie definitely ate her share of Ari's cantaloupe.  I've got to say, I am so thankful that we were matched up with this group of parents and kids:)

Monday, 8/23/2010

It's nacho week at the Ackers home.  Well, really, it will only be nacho Monday and nacho Thursday.  Anyway, I covered two plated in tortilla chips, added a layer of shredded cheese, a layer of taco seasoned lean, ground beef, a little hot sauce, and then another scant layer of cheese.  Popped in the microwave and dipped into salsa, these were pretty good nachos:)  

I tried to give Katie some left over pork, grapes, and cheese for dinner.  She wanted nothing to do with them.  She was only interested in dipping things into the salsa.  The catch was that she really didn't want to eat any of the things she dipped into the salsa.  So, she would whine and grunt and point and make awful sounds to get something like a chip and then continue that noise until she was given the salsa to dip into.  She would dip in, lick it, then give it back to me.  I will admit it--it got quite annoying after a while.  Sorry Ben, I wasn't very patient with that tonight. 

Sunday, 8/22/2010

For a brief moment this evening we considered ordering pizza. We got a late start on grilling our pork tenderloin and kind of hoped that it would be much faster to order a pizza. But, when we finished adding up the grill heat up, cooking, and resting time it would only take a few minutes longer than it would take for a pizza to arrive. So, we grilled our pork tenderloin. It was our first time trying a Farmland Extra Tender Boneless Southwest Peppercorn Dry Rub Seasoned Pork Tenderloin. All three of us really enjoyed it. We had corn on the cob as a side dish.

Katie couldn't wait for dinner, so she had a watermelon and cheese appetizer.  What a good corn eater:)

Saturday, 8/21/2010

A couple weeks ago our friend Laura forwarded us an email for a "Groupon" to Zippy's Giant Burgers.  I had never heard of a Groupon before receiving that email.  It is basically a daily email that is sent out, featuring something cool that you can purchase at a really cheap price.  So, for instance, the Zippy's Groupon allowed us to purchase $15 worth of food for $7.  Here, in Seattle, the link for Groupon is: http://www.groupon.com/seattle/.  I'm now signed up for the daily email and look forward to the next unbeatable deal. 

Tonight we used our Groupon for Zippy's Giant Burger.  How nice is it that "Seattle's Best Burger", as crowned by the Seattle Metropolitan Magazine, can be found only 3 blocks away from our house?  The answer: really nice!  We loaded Katie into the Ergo Baby backpack and took off on foot.  It looks like a local fast food joint, but it isn't.  Expect a wait for these delicious burgers--the shop is very small with only a few indoor seats. 

Ben had a Zip Burger with bacon and cheddar cheese, no veggies or sauce, but with mustard added.  I had a Zip burger with bacon, cheddar cheese, pickles, and their special sauce.  Katie had her very own Little Zip--a small burger with special sauce and pickles.  I ordered her burger plain, but she didn't seem to mind the special sauce:)  We shared an order of fries, and Ben and I had chocolate milkshakes.  We sat outside at a picnic table, and Katie sat on the bench next to Ben like a big girl.  I was sure she was going to sit in one of our laps.  She reached up for her burger and ate it just like we eat ours.  So fun!  Ben was kind enough to share some of his milkshake with her.  He didn't think she would be able to get enough suction on the straw to get much.  Boy was he wrong.  She really put a dent into his shake.  

Ah, what a super way to end a pleasant Summer Saturday in Seattle:)  

Friday, 8/20/2010

Katie and I picked Ben up from work tonight and headed North to his brother Spencer's house.  It took us a 1/2 hour to get out of downtown Seattle and another 1/2 hour to get to his house in Lynnwood.  We all ate a bunch of goldfish and graham crackers while we waited for traffic to move.  It was well worth the wait.  Spencer made a delicious meal for us.  He had herb marinated chicken thighs and legs ready to put on the grill when we got there.  They cooked for 40 minutes on indirect medium heat and were never turned over.  The recipe he followed, which I believe was from a Weber Grill cookbook, said to avoid opening the lid on the grill.  The lid was not opened until the 40 minutes were up, and the chicken was perfectly done.  Fantastic flavor!  Well done Spencer!!!

He also had homemade macaroni and cheese for us, complete with a bread crumb topping.  While delicious, we all agreed that it wasn't as cheesy and creamy as we would have wanted it to be.  I know the recipe came from Williams-Sonoma.  Oh, and Spencer made us fantastic margaritas.  To be fair, he uses better ingredients than we usually use;)

Tonight we saw amazing developments from Katie.  First, she told us twice when she needed her diaper changed.  The second time, she went over to her diaper bag and pulled out everything we would need to change her diaper.  When Ben mentioned taking her upstairs to get her ready to go home, she ran to the stairs and started climbing. Then, as it was getting pretty late, she went over to Spencer's patio door, which faces the freeway, and started saying "home" over and over again.  We got the very distinct impression that she knew that she wanted to go home, and she needed a car to get there. 

Thursday, 8/19/2010

Today was quite busy for Katie and me.  We took a nice long walk with our friend Nancy this morning.  Then I worked while Katie took a 3.5 hour nap!!!  I really think she is in a growth spurt.  After lunch, we dashed off to Costco and Fred Meyer for a few errands.  I wasn't going to be getting home in time to make anything for dinner, so I picked up some fried chicken at the deli counter.  It was fine fried chicken, no QFC to be sure, but fine.  Katie ate a few bites of chicken, but mainly snacked on sugar snap peas.  I dipped some of my chicken in salsa.  Katie decided that her peas should also be dipped in salsa.  I love that little girl:)  

After dinner we said a quick "hi, bye" to Ben and drove off for a Casper Babypants concert in a West Seattle park.  We met our PEPS friends there and had a great time.  Katie danced for a good 1/2 hour straight.  She shared crackers with Ari.  She took crackers from Jackson.  She kissed Oliver on the cheek.  She gave lots of hi-fives and made cheesy smiles.  And, she touched Jackson's belly button!  It was a fun night to be her mom:) 

Wednesday, 8/18/2010

Tonight was a repeat of last night--homemade pizza.  Ben's quote for tonight, "This is good.  I LOVE this pizza!"  Ok, yes, the dough was purchased, but I did roll it out and put all the toppings on top:)  Katie has not been a fan of this pizza.  She asked for some both nights, but didn't do much more than lick it a little.  I actually was surprised she wanted to eat anything tonight.  We went to our friend Nancy's house this afternoon, and Katie did not stop eating the entire three hours we were there.  She drank milk and water, ate lots of watermelon, two large cookies, and a handful of grapes.  And then, she insisted on eating goldfish crackers the entire 15 minute drive home.  At home, she ate a little bit of turkey deli meat and some fresh peas.  Perhaps she is in a growing spurt:) 

Tuesday, 8/17/2010

I have to start out by quoting Ben.  He said "this is the best pizza you have ever made" about the pizza I made tonight!  I'm sorry that we ate it too fast to take a photo.  Here's what I used to make it.

Crust- I used Trader Joe's wheat pizza dough.  If you haven't tried this yet, and you live near a Trader Joe's, try it!  The dough it mixed up and ready to purchase in a plastic bag. For less than $2 you just have to turn the dough out onto a floured surface, wait 20 minutes, and then roll out into the pizza shape of your choice.  I chose to make four small, kind of round pizzas, instead of one large pizza.  

Sauce- I pulled sauce out of the freezer that I made probably a year ago.  It was still wonderful!  We started with a recipe that came from foodnetwork.com, but have made it our own with quite a few changes. 

ZESTY PIZZA SAUCE

Ingredients:
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup diced red onion
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
1- 11 ounce can tomato puree
8 ounces no sugar added tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flake

Directions:
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat olive oil and then sweat onions and garlic in oil, cooking just until softened and translucent.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for about 2 minutes.

Toppings- I covered the dough with a generous helping of the pizza sauce, a layer of low-moisture mozzarella cheese, and hot Italian chicken sausage.  I bought the sausage from the meat counter at Fred Meyer.  It was raw link sausage that I browned in a frying pan while the dough rested.  Once browned, I let the sausage drain a bit on a paper-towel-covered plate.  I put just a little more cheese on top of the sausage; you can never get enough melted cheese in my opinion.

Baking-  I put a pizza stone in the oven while it preheated to 450 degrees.  Well, it got super hot, released a bunch of oils which burned, and caused a bit to much smoke in the house.  The fire alarm went off a couple times when I opened up the oven.  I am pleased to say that the alarm did not send Katie into a hysterical crying fit like it has in the past.  Good job dealing with the noise Katie!  Once the alarm stopped, thanks to Ben's nice manual fanning and the addition of a rotary fan in the kitchen with the window open, I cooked the pizzas for 10 minutes.  The crust had turned golden brown and the cheese was bubbling. 

Tip- When you watch pizza cooks in restaurants and on TV, they always slide completed pizzas into the oven using a pizza peel.  Pizza peels are those large wooden spatulas the cooks use with such skill.  Well, I've looked at them in the past and have never found one I liked for the price it was being sold for.  Instead, I use a large, rigid plastic cutting board that I sprinkle with corn meal.  The corn meal helps me to slide the pizza onto the heated pizza stone with all the toppings already on top.  It works just fine for how rarely I make pizza. 

Monday, 8/16/2010

Katie and I picked up Ben from work today on our way home from the grocery stores.  I drove up to Ballard so that we could go to Fred Meyer and the relatively new Trader Joe's.  It is really hot today, and I didn't want to heat up the house by cooking. So, I opted to grill instead.  I bought a flank steak pre-marinated in kalbi sauce at Fred Meyer.  The butcher was nice enough to offer me a steak from the bottom, because it would have been sitting in more sauce.  Ben grilled the steak on direct medium heat while I made up a salad.  I used sweet butter lettuce and added a poppy seed dressing and glazed walnuts.  The sweetness of the dressing was a nice compliment to the kalbi sauce.  Ben said the steaks were on the grill too long, but I still liked mine a lot. Katie had a little steak and cheddar cheese.  I gave her a piece of lettuce, but she stuck out her tongue and gave it back to me. 

Sunday, 8/15/2010

We took our time getting out of Portland today.  Katie ate breakfast twice while Ben, Spencer and I got ready, packed, and loaded the car.  Then we drove to Cadillac Cafe, near Lloyd Center on Broadway, for breakfast.  It took a while to get a table, but the food was worth the wait.  After breakfast we went to the Portland Saturday Market.  We did our best to stay in the shade, because it was HOT outside.  We perused the art booths while drinking refreshing Italian sodas.  Katie kept dumping water on herself in her stroller, so we decided to let her play in the Salmon Street Springs fountain in Waterfront Park.  I think she was a bit overwhelmed at first.  There were lots of kids running around her, kicking and splashing water and screaming with excitement.  It didn't take long for her to drop into the water and enjoy the spray.  Eventually, we had to dry her off and get on the road for home.

We stopped in Olympia for dinner at Ruby Tuesday.  Katie had a pretty good melt down while we waited for our food to come out.  I must admit that I was a bit embarrassed by her behavior.  Thankfully, she settled down pretty quickly after her food came to the table.  She had a little macaroni and cheese and a chicken strip dipped into marinara sauce.  Ben and I shared two appetizers--beef queso dip with tortilla chips and the four way sampler.  The sampler included chicken strips, fire wings, southwestern spring rolls, and fried mozzarella.  I didn't think the dip had enough beef in it, and both Ben and I expected it to have more heat.  And the sampler items were all just so-so.  Nothing stood out as exceptional with our meal, but it was good enough to finish.  Spencer had the peppercorn mushroom sirloin.  He said the sauce was good, but didn't comment on the meal overall. 

It was a wonderful weekend, and we are glad to be home:)

Saturday, 8/14/2010

Happy Wedding Day Kelsey & Jarred! 

As I mentioned yesterday, we are down in Oregon for the wedding of Ben's cousin's step-daughter.  Kelsey and Jarred were married on her parent's property in Mulino, right by a river.  It was a beautiful setting for a beautiful wedding ceremony.  The only downside was that it was really hot at 4pm for the wedding.  Half of the seats at the ceremony were in direct sunlight.  Thankfully, the programs doubled as fans and sun shades. Katie was a trooper and hung out with Jennifer and Spencer for the wedding and most of the reception.  I should say that they were troopers too:) 

The reception was just up the road on Jarred's grandma's property.  The food was excellent!  They served a large fruit salad, pasta salad, watermelon, baked beans, caesar salad, grilled salmon, chicken, and ribs.  The salmon and ribs were notably the best parts of the meal.  The caterer had a hard time keeping the trays full of those two dishes.  They also had decorated heart sugar cookies and chocolate dipped strawberries on the buffet table.  It was nice to have a little sweetness before the cake was cut. 

Friday, 8/13/2010

We drove down to Portland this evening with Ben's brother Spencer.  Their cousin's step-daughter is getting married tomorrow, and Ben and I are the wedding photographers.  We stopped in Tukwila to have dinner at Panera Bread. We all enjoyed the meals we chose. I had a Bacon, Turkey Bravo sandwich--smoked turkey breast, bacon, smoked Gouda, and dressing, on tomato basil bread.  The bread is super moist and yummy. Ben had the Frontega Chicken panini--smoked & pulled white meat chicken, mozzarella,chopped basil & chipotle mayonnaise, grilled hot on Focaccia.  Spencer had 1/2 a sandwich (can't remember which one) with macaroni and cheese.  Katie ate some of the turkey from my sandwich, a couple tiny bites of apple, and a few chips.  

We got one large chocolate chip cookie to share.  Katie certainly does like a chocolate "cooka".  It takes her a long time to eat a cookie.  Eventually, I had to take advantage of her love of "sharing" her food with us.  Usually, that means she shoves her food into our faces whether we want it or not.  Tonight, I asked her for a bite in order to get a move on.  Thankfully, she was in the mood to share--more cookie for me!

Thursday, 8/14/2010

We are really getting a good run out of our rotisserie chicken this week.  Tonight we fixed chicken burritos.  I shredded some of the chicken into a frying pan, added 1 1/2 packets of chicken taco seasoning, and 2/3 cups of water.  After some of the water cooked off and the seasoning was nicely distributed, it was time to add the chicken to the cheddar cheese filled soft tortilla shells.  We drizzled on some hot sauce and nuked them in the microwave to melt the cheese.  I realize that this is exactly what we had a few days ago, with the exceptions of the taco seasoning addition and soft tortillas instead of tortilla chips.  Oh well, at least it tasted good:)  

Katie ate a ton for breakfast and lunch today.  So, it was understandable that she would only nibble at her dinner.  We gave her some unseasoned chicken, broccoli, raisins, and pears.  She loved the raisins, but it took some creative bribing to get her to eat the chicken and broccoli.  She really wanted Ben and me to drink from our water glasses.  Ben told her that he would take a drink after she took a bite of chicken.  Surprisingly, it worked.  I wonder how many meals we can play this game for before she figures us out?

Wednesday, 8/11/2010

Tonight I made the Southwest salad I planned to make last night.  It turned out just okay.  I tossed romaine lettuce, shredded rotisserie chicken, and corn in Briannas Chipotle and Cheddar dressing.  I had high hopes for the dressing, but actually think it was a bit too sweet and was definitely lacking heat.  Instead of breaking up tortillas into the salad, I decided to eat them separately so that I could down some salsa;)  Previously, we used Marie's Creamy Chipotle Ranch for this salad and loved the dressing.  I went to three grocery stores this week and can't find it anymore.  Maybe there is still hope, since it is still shown as a product on Marie's website. 

Tuesday, 8/10/2010

Katie and I were gone most of the day today.  I took her to Waterbabies swimming lessons this morning.  She is doing great!  She doesn't mind going under water at all anymore:)  She jumps off a platform in the water, goes all the way under, and comes up blinking and asking for "more".  Swim suit, or shee shee as she puts it, has become a frequent word in the house.

After swimming we went to Red Robin for lunch, Bellevue Square for an hour of shopping, the chiropractor, and then Redmond Town Center for more shopping. She did pretty well during the day, considering she only napped 5 minutes in the car, just before we got to the chiropractor's office. After all of our shopping, we drove back to Seattle to pick Ben up from work. Thankfully, she fell asleep on the way and had a good nap before we got home.

I planned for us to have a Southwest salad for dinner tonight. But, at the last minute, we decided to have chicken nachos instead. We took a plate of tortilla chips, topped it with shredded rotisserie chicken I bought at the grocery store, hot sauce, and cheddar cheese. After being heated in the microwave to melt the cheese, we dipped the loaded chips into salsa. It was a very satisfying dinner.

Katie ate deconstructed nachos for dinner--shredded chicken, cheese cubes, and chips. She is soo funny. She really likes to dip her food into condiments. So, it makes sense that she would want to dip chips and chicken into the salsa. But, she wasn't so fond of the salsa itself. She kept sticking out her tongue to taste it, but would shake her head "no" just before actually tasting it. Then, she would so kindly offer her food to us. I didn't mind so much when she decided not to eat the loaded chip I gave her and gave it back to me. It was like finding an extra fry in the bottom of the fast food bag. Thanks for sharing Katie:)

Monday, 8/9/2010

I made salmon cakes tonight.  I must say, they were simply delicious!  They could be served in a restaurant and people would like them.  Well, at least we would:)  Anyway, I stuck with the same recipe I've used in the past.  For the salmon, I purchased 6 ounce fillets at Fred Meyer--2 plain and 1 seasoned with lemon and pepper.  The recipe only calls for 2 cups of salmon, so there was a little left over for Katie and the kitties to munch on:)

I made a green salad with raspberries, pear, and glazed walnuts to go with the salmon cakes.  It was not the best pairing, but it was what I had available.  Ben thought the salad was too sweet overall and that the lettuce was blah.  I agree that the lettuce wasn't anything special and that it was sweet, but I really liked it.  The salad was dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. 

Sunday, 8/8/2010

I went to church with Katie this morning, but we turned right back around after only 5 minutes of worship, because she puked in the nursery.  Dang!  She wasn't sick--just really upset when I left and ended up gagging while crying intensely.  We are pretty sure teething pain was involved too.  Anyway, it made today a "stay at home and get stuff done" kind of day.

We finished off our package of Costco tamales tonight.  I keep thinking that Katie is going to want to eat some, but she consistently turns down our offers to share with her.  PB&J with grapes for her.  Ben and I added hot sauce to our tamales for extra kick:)  For a side dish, I put together a fruit salad of raspberries from my parent's yard, bananas, and grapes.  I tossed mine in a honey and lime dressing.  Yum!  Ben isn't a honey fan; so, he went with the natural fruit sweetness.   

I keep looking at the blackberries on the vines coming over our fence.  I want to pick them.  I want to eat them.  BUT, the vines are FULL of spiders this year.  I don't know why there are soo many.  If you didn't know, I have a terrible phobia of spiders.  Just typing the word and thinking about them is giving me chills from head to toe.  Anyway, this is either God's way of saying "Get over your phobia" or "You don't need any more cobbler".  Either way, those berries are staying put.  

Saturday, 8/7/2010

I had another wonderful day visiting with Nancy today. I am so thankful that we still keep in touch after all these years. My family moved to Spokane, Washington, from Gresham, Oregon, in 1989. Who knew at that time that I would love to get together with Nancy 21 years later:) After eating breakfast at Anita's Crepes in Ballard, working on a birthday party game, and lots of playing with Katie, we took Nancy to Federal Way to catch her ride back to Portland with her daughter Sonya.



We passed The Rock in Federal Way on our way to drop off Nancy. It seemed like a good place to stop for dinner on our way home. We started off with an order of potato chips with a bacon cheese dipping sauce. O.M.G. they were sooo good. We polished off that basket. Ben chose the "It's Your Thing" pasta dish--A flavorful red sauce with ground pork and beef, tossed with fettuccine and topped with Parmesan cheese. I chose the "Born on the Bayou" pasta dish--Pan blackened chicken, hot sausage and dry-aged pepperoni with crushed garlic and roasted peppers in our cajun cream sauce. Tossed with penne rigate and topped with shredded Parmesan cheese. Both dishes were delicious. We each managed to restrain ourselves so that we could take home leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

For dinner Katie ate animal crackers and drank milk. She tried our pasta dishes, but wouldn't have more than a bite. I think she was too distracted by the television directly over our table showing the Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony;)

Friday, 8/6/2010

More company! This afternoon my mom's best friend Nancy, from Portland, Oregon, came up to visit us. The last time I saw her was at my baby shower, almost two years ago. She will be staying with us until dinner tomorrow night. We spent the afternoon playing with Katie and talking and talking and talking and looking at photos. Eventually it was time to make dinner. I decided to make Spaghetti Carbonara and a caesar salad for dinner.

This carbonara recipe came off of the Dreamfields Pasta spaghetti box. The texture of the dish was great tonight. Ben was in charge of mixing all the final ingredients and kept the eggs from cooking completely. Unfortunately, we both thought that something was missing. I think the bacon I used was of such good quality, that it wasn't salty enough. Also, the recipe calls for Parmesan and Romano cheeses. Tonight I only used Parmesan. Maybe it needed the bite of the Romano. It was good, but left something to be desired.

SPAGHETTI CARBONARA

Serves 6
By Chef Antonio Cecconi

Ingredients:
1 box Dreamfields Spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic minced
8 ounces sliced bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 eggs
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. In a 2-quart Dutch oven or sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Cook garlic and bacon for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp; drain off fat.
3. Mix together eggs, Parmesan and Romano cheeses, parsley and pepper; set aside.
4. Drain spaghetti; immediately return to saucepan over low heat. Add egg mixture; quickly toss with spaghetti. Add bacon mixture; toss. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper if desired.

After dinner, Katie went to bed and Nancy and I continued to talk for several hours. Ben took a run and then we all enjoyed some wine and ice cream:)

Thursday, 8/5/2010

Yay, it's hamburger night! After my failed attempt to season hamburgers with Worcestershire sauce a couple weeks ago, it was time to go back to our standard seasoning. Ben mixed a good amount of A-1 Steak Sauce, Lawry's seasoning salt, an egg, and cayenne pepper into our lean ground beef. Even though this was our standard mix, the pre-cooked burgers seemed really juicy tonight. As a result, they did not flip very well. Thankfully, it just didn't matter. They were sooo good. We topped them with slices of cheddar cheese and dipped them in ketchup (for me) and A-1 sauce (for Ben). I was going to grill strips of yellow squash too, but the squash was no longer good when I cut into it. So, we will just have ice cream with chocolate sauce later tonight:)

Wednesday, 8/4/2010

We enjoyed leftover pork chops with stir-fried bell peppers this evening. Katie was kind enough to eat some of the pork today. Yesterday she wouldn't touch it. And, the bell peppers, red and yellow, were really good. Ben sauteed them in olive oil, salt, and minced garlic. I expected to have leftover peppers, but ended up eating 1/2 of them. They were super tasty. Unlike my previous attempts, Ben managed to avoid burning the garlic. Nicely done Ben!

Side note: at 9:40pm, Ben and I polished off the blackberry cobbler with a little ice cream. YUM!

Tuesday, 8/3/2010

Tonight we broiled marinated pork chops for our meal. I marinated them in Grill Mates Zesty Herb Marinade. They were pretty thick chops and would have been better baked than broiled. We had a simple spinach salad--spinach leaves, sunflower seeds, and an Asian sesame dressing. Katie worked on a pb&j sandwich, leftover from lunch.

Monday, 8/2/2010

The last time I purchased chicken breasts from the grocery store, I neglected to notice the fine print that noted that they came with rib meat. I thought I was purchasing just chicken breasts. Oh well--I made the most of it by cutting off the extra meat and then chopping and freezing it. Tonight, I used that chopped chicken to make burritos. It thawed pretty quickly and required no knife or cutting board cleaning today! I cooked the chicken in a skillet with vegetable oil until no longer pink, added a packet of Lawry's Chicken Taco seasoning and 3/4 cups of water. After the water evaporated a bit, we had tasty meat for our burritos. In the Ackers house, burritos are just meat, hot sauce, and melted cheddar cheese. Ah, simple and good:) We had corn on the side.

And for dessert...homemade vanilla ice cream and blackberry cobbler! Our neighbor's back yard is almost completely engulfed in blackberry bushes. Although we don't like them invading our property, we don't mind if a few berry laden branches make their way over the fence each year. While my parents were visiting, my dad picked a bowl full of berries for me to use. I tried a new cobbler recipe and it was pretty good. Ben liked it and his was the most important opinion here:)
I got it from the cookbook titled "Basic Baking" by Sebastian Dickhaut, Jennifer Newens, and Cornelia Schinharl.



BLACKBERRY COBBLER

Makes 8 servings

For the filling:
4 cups fresh blackberries
1/2 cup sugar, or more or less to taste
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon

For the topping:
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter
1 cup whipping cream, plus more for serving if desired
1 tablespoon coarse sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. For the filling, pick over the berries to remove any leaves and other foreign material. Put the berries in a bowl and toss them with the sugar, cornstarch, and lemon zest; set aside.

2. For the topping, put the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and mix well. Cut the butter into small cubes. Put the butter cubes into the flour mixture and, with a fork or your fingers, blend the mixture until it resembles cornmeal. Slowly add the 1 cup of cream, mixing just until the batter is moistened.

3. Pour the fruit into a 10-inch pie or springform pan. It's a good idea to put the pan on a foil-lined baking sheet to catch any drips--it's better than cleaning out the oven! Spoon the topping over the fruit, letting some space remain between sections of topping. Sprinkle with the coarse sugar.

4. Bake the cobbler for 15 to 20 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is bubbly.

A couple comments about the cobbler. The topping was pretty thick. It was a nice golden brown after 20 minutes, but was still doughy next to the berries. Ben didn't mind that at all. It didn't taste bad, but I felt like it was supposed to be completely cooked. I used a heart shaped pie plate my mother-in-law Jennifer gave me at my bridal shower. I should mention, blackberry cobbler is one of Ben's favorite desserts. It seemed like a good time to use the plate:) Also, you wouldn't think that zest from 1/2 a lemon would impact the flavor much, but it really did add a lemon flavor to the whole dish. Although I didn't mind the lemon flavor, I would have preferred a little less. All in all, it was a nice cobbler, which I'm sure we will completely consume. However, I think I will try to make one more cobbler with a different recipe before the blackberry season is complete.

Oh, and the ice cream recipe came with my Kitchen Aide Mixer ice cream attachment. Pretty basic...lots of egg yolks, half & half, whipping cream, vanilla extract, a little salt...churn, churn, churn...freeze, freeze, freeze:) So nice over a warm bowl of cobbler!

Sunday, 8/1/2010

Mom and Dad left this afternoon. We can't thank them enough for everything they did around our house. Playing with Katie and Harlon, weeding the entire backyard terrace, picking blackberries and making a cobbler, washing endless dishes, helping with meals, unsqueaking Katie's bedroom door, babysitting, and homemade bread! We love you both:)

We enjoyed a tasty dinner with Jamie and Harlon. Ben grilled up barbecued chicken drumsticks, and I made a spinach, mandarin orange, and goat cheese salad. Here are a few photos from Jamie and Harlon's visit. Thanks for visiting friend!

Saturday, 7/31/2010

What a great day we had today. Not only were my parents visiting, but my best friend from college, Jamie, and her son Harlon came over to spend a couple days. Harlon was born just 9 days before Katie. Boy did those kids have fun. They still don't really play with each other, but they are super cute being near each other. They both took their turn being drug around while holding onto our cat's tail. Sooner or later he will learn that he doesn't have to let them get that close;)

Tonight I performed with my Trillium Soul friends Bron, Betsy, and Irene in a concert at our church. Mom helped me out by fixing dinner for our family and our house guests. I picked up a box of Whole Grain Helper- Lemon and Herb Chicken. Surprisingly, it had great flavor. Usually, we find that boxed meals are pretty bland. Along with several ears of corn, it was just enough to feed five adults and two toddlers.

Friday, 7/30/2010

Whoo hoo...it's date night for the Ackers! My mom graciously agreed to take care of Katie this evening so that Ben and I could go out on a date. We went to SIP in downtown Seattle for dinner. When Katie was around 6 months old, we ate at the SIP in Gig Harbor. I'm glad we could enjoy it at our own pace this time:) For dinner, we shared a fantastic caesar salad, sweet roll sliders, and potato frites with sage and garlic. Yes, that is just a fancy way to say french fries. They were really good frites! With dinner, I enjoyed two glasses of Malbec, Ksana, Mendoza, Argentina, '06. Ben had a cab, which doesn't seem to be listed on their online wine menu. For dessert, we shared a crepe cake with hot fudge drizzle. It was literally a stack of thin, sweet crepes, cut into a wedge like a slice of cake. It was tasty for sure, but not something I would order again.

After dinner we watched Inception. It is a good movie that I don't need to see again. Ben, on the other hand, says he will definitely see it again. Thanks Mom for the date!

Thursday, 7/29/2010

My mom, Katie and I went out to dinner and shopping with our good friend Sydney tonight. We chose Eats Market Cafe for dinner and were not disappointed. I had the "crazy good grilled cheese" sandwich with cheddar, swiss, a little stilton, apples, and bacon on rosemary bread. My mom had the curry chicken wrap, and Sydney had the "simply b.l.t." sandwich. I ordered a pb&j sandwich tower and apples for Katie. Like at home, she separated the pieces of bread and ate only the pb&j, no bread. At least she was entertained:) I just can't say enough about how accommodating this restaurant is for kids. The servers are kind and easy going and seem to anticipate what parents need for their kids. Sure wish they could help us with dinner every night:)

Wednesday, 7/28/2010

In exactly a month, Ben, Katie, Spencer and I will be driving down to Oregon to celebrate my mother-in-law, Jennifer's 60th birthday. We are planning a wine and cheese tasting game along with appetizers, followed by dinner and dessert. Tonight we did a test run of the dinner. Everything was delicious and went very well together. I'm not going to go into detail now, just in case Jennifer is keeping up with my blog:) I'll just say, stay tuned for my 8/28/2010 post!

Tuesday, 7/27/2010

First thing this morning, Katie and I picked up my mom at the airport. I have a department retreat tomorrow and Mom is going to take care of Katie for us. Mom and Dad were planning on visiting this coming weekend already; so, it was easy to fly Mom over early to spend the week with us. Poor Dad got the short end of the stick this time. I'm sorry that he will have to drive over by himself.

After a day of grocery shopping, swimming lessons, work, and play, it was time for a simple dinner. We steamed tamales and made a caesar salad.

Monday, 7/26/2010

Ben took today off so that he could spend more time with Thad and Shannon. During the afternoon, we visited the Ballard Locks (Hiram M. Chittenden Locks). We got there just in time to join a guided tour group. I am so glad I went. It was my first time there, and I really had no idea what they were. Since we were already in Ballard, we wanted to find a restaurant there to try out. Thankfully, our friend Melissa gave us a great list of recommendations.


First, we went to Carta Oaxaca. We got there at 4:55pm and were told to wait 5 minutes until they opened. Given that it was warmer inside than outside, we opted to not wait. Instead, we went to Hi-Life and had a really nice meal together. Ben had the Firehouse Grill Burger. He said it was good, but lacked flavor. He's not sure he would order that again. I went a completely different route with two small plates. I had summer skewers of grilled peaches and fresh mozzarella wrapped in pancetta, drizzled with some kind of raspberry sauce. YUM! And, I had two little tacos-- roasted pork shoulder & grilled pineapple salsa. Again, YUM! Ben was kind enough to share a few of his french fries with me. They were really good. We ordered simple grilled chicken and green beans for Katie. She ate some of the chicken, but only with ketchup to dip it in.

For dessert, Ben had the bread pudding drizzled with espresso carmel. He said it was the best bread pudding he has ever had. High compliments:) I had the tin roof sundae without peanuts. Very tasty indeed. Needless to say, we ate too much.
Thanks to Thad and Shannon for taking time on their vacation to visit us in Seattle. We hope to visit you on the East Coast some day too.