Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

For the past few years I've been making Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies from a recipe I found on www.verybestbaking.com. I never add the glaze and always included chocolate chips. They are a hit every time. Last week I made a batch with Katie. We didn't have quite enough left from that batch to take with us to PEPS this week, so I decided to make another batch. At the last minute, I got brave and experimented. I reduced the flour by 1/4 cup and added 1/4 cup of Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa. So, they ended up being a double chocolate pumpkin cookie. Ben wondered if he would notice the chocolate flavor of the dough without seeing the color. I wonder if we would notice the pumpkin if the cinnamon and nutmeg were omitted. I guess I might need to bake a few more batches and do a blind taste test. 

Here's a link to the original recipe:   Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies

Here's the adjusted recipe for Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN COOKIES

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat.
2. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl until creamy. Add pumpkin puree, egg, and vanilla, mixing until smooth.
4. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.  
5. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto prepared cookie sheets.
6. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until edges are firm. Let rest on cookie sheets for 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

July 4, 2011- Cake and Ice Cream

Kate, Spencer, and Jennifer had to leave this morning.  Ben, Katie, and I are staying an extra day so that we can avoid the holiday traffic. Hopefully not everyone else has the same idea;)

We had a small breakfast, and then ended up having a big late lunch.  We stopped at a Mexican restaurant in Tumalo and filled up on nachos. I had hoped to get a grilled hot dog at the golf course snack shop, but it closed early due to the holiday.  We went back to Jennifer's house and fed Katie a small meal of deli meat, cheese, and grapes for dinner.  After we got her to sleep, we sat out on the porch and had left over chocolate cake and ice cream.  Yes, we did indeed have dessert for dinner, and it was good.

July 3, 2011- Steaks, Asparagus, & Baked Potatoes

Jennifer and I have been planning a surprise bridal shower for Kate for several months.  We wanted to have it this weekend in Redmond since many of our close family friends usually spend holiday weekends there too.  Well, in the end, we were the only ones in Redmond this time.  So, we hosted a shower for Kate and Spencer with just our immediate family.  It was quite nice:) 

For dinner, Jennifer purchased lovely tenderloin steaks.  I brought a tin of Aromatica Organics Nebraska Prime Steak Seasoning with me, which was rubbed on the steaks.  Ben was in charge of grilling them, and he did a fantastic job.  The steaks were all cooked perfectly for each of our preferences.  So, the combination of the great meat, the delicious rub, and the careful grilling resulted in excellent steaks.  We grilled asparagus and baked potatoes to enjoy with the steaks.  

After dinner the dogs were walked and then the shower continued.  We played a couple games-- "Future spouse trivia" and "Name that white baking ingredient".  They were fun even with our small group.  After the games were over, we enjoyed a delicious chocolate cake topped with whipped cream and strawberries. And, no bridal shower would be complete without a few presents:)  It was a perfect evening!  

Well, I should be honest and say that Katie puked just a little bit while eating cake, but we cleaned it up so quickly that it was like it never happened. Other than that, it was a perfect evening.

Monday, 4/11/2011

Ben took today off to extend our vacation a bit.  Even though I had to work a couple hours this afternoon, it felt like an extra day of vacation with him home.  Tomorrow Ben and I are going to start an Atkins diet.  I'm addicted to carbs right now and need to cut back.  I can only seem to cut back when I follow a strict plan.  Since Atkins worked for me before, I know I can do it.  I am thankful that Ben is willing to try it with me.  It would be hard to follow it while making him foods I can't eat.  Since tomorrow we will have to cut out almost all carbs, we went out for the last carb-loaded meal we will have for a while.  

We finally had a meal at Jak's Grill.  We've heard nothing but great praise for this restaurant.  We got there just after 5:00pm and were seated right away.  Ben and I each had a burger.  I went with pesto mayo, bacon, and cheddar on my burger.  Ben stuck with the standard red pepper mayo and added bacon and blue cheese.  The burgers were outstanding.  The Seattle Metropolitan magazine ranked them in second place behind Zippy's Giant Burgers for the best burger in Seattle.  We do not agree.  Jak's should be #1.  There really is no comparison.  We both opted to upgrade from french fries to potato pancakes.  The pancakes were good, but I preferred the fries I swiped from Katie's plate.  Katie had chicken strips and fries for her dinner.  For dessert, Ben and I each got a chocolate mousse layered cake a la mode.  Yes, we could have shared, but I didn't want to.  Katie had a single scoop of vanilla ice cream.  

I am sufficiently STUFFED.  I think I will be ready to cut out carbs tomorrow:)

Friday, 4/8/2011

We had a wonderful day at Disneyland today.  Here's what we did:

*Saw Mickey Mouse first thing.  I got Katie her first pair of ears while she waited in line with Ben.

Katie kissing Mickey's nose

*Katie and I went on the Buzz Lightyear ride while Ben, Jennifer, Spencer, and Kate rode Space Mountain.

*We all rode the Peter Pan ride.

*We had our only non-Disney character brush with fame on the Teacup Ride.  Dancing with the Stars couple, Chelsea and Romeo, got on the ride just before we did.  Kate yelled out "I love you Romeo", to which he replied "I love you too."  Pretty cool!

*We waited for about 45 minutes in line at the Princess Fantasy Faire.  Once it was our turn, Katie got to have special time with princesses Ariel, Belle, and Tiana.  What an amazing experience for her!

*We had lunch, and then went on the Jungle Cruise.

*Katie and I met Jasmine and Aladdin, with Ben taking photos, while Spencer, Kate, and Jennifer rode the Indiana Jones ride.

*Ben, Katie, and I watched the Mad Hatter play musical chairs with several park guests, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan.

Alice told Katie that she was cute:)

*We met Cinderella's Fairy Godmother and avoided Snow White's evil Stepmother.  She was one of the only characters Katie didn't want to go near.

*We didn't make it in line fast enough to see Cinderella the first time we spotted her, but we did find her in the same place a little while later.  One more princess crossed off our list!

*We finished our time in the park with about an hour in Mickey's Toontown.

*And then, we had dinner. Ben's Webb classmate, Michelle, her husband Dan, and their daughter, Annalise, met us for dinner in Downtown Disney at Jazz Kitchen. For appetizers, we all had Southern garlic cheese bread with fresh basil and mozzarella.  It was, by far, the best bread I have had in months, maybe this year. Ben and I each had a plate of pasta jambalaya--gulf shrimp, andouille sausage, roasted chicken, spinach fettuccine, Creole seasoning.  I passed on the shrimp.  Katie had carrots and chicken strips.  The mojitos we had were nicely sweet and strong:)  For dessert, we shared a Double Chocolate Bread Pudding.  OMG...I can't even describe how wonderful it was.  What a fabulous dessert!  The meal finished with a glass of port. I am thankful that our friends could join us for this great meal.  It was so nice to finally meet the little girls:)

Monday, 2/14/2011

This afternoon, Ben and I had the pleasure of shooting his brother's engagement photos.  Whoo hoo for Kate and Spencer's upcoming nuptials!!!  Ben was the official shooter, and I was the light stand;)  We strapped Katie on my back in the ergo baby carrier and took off for a couple hours of shooting at Pike Place Market.  It didn't take long for Katie to become tired of being on my back.  After listening to her shout "down" and "walk" in my ear, I reluctantly gave her my iPod so that she could watch "Toy Story".  That was the best decision I made all day.  She didn't drop it and was mostly content with it.  

After the shoot was over, we picked up asparagus and steak at the market and headed back to our house.  I still had some work to do, so Ben was in charge of dinner.  He got the steak and asparagus on the grill and Spencer made up a batch of roasted garlic and herb couscous.  Other than a pretty big meltdown from Katie right as the food was ready to eat, we really enjoyed our meal.  We finished it off with chocolate cake.  

I used a Duncan Hines Decadent Triple Chocolate Cake mix, baked in a bundt pan, and made my own chocolate frosting.  The cake was delicious.  YUM!  The frosting was very tasty, but the texture wasn't what I was going for.  It was very dense.  I used butter, whipping cream, melted unsweetened chocolate, vanilla extract, a couple dashes of salt, and powdered sugar.  My dad recommended heating it all in the microwave for a few seconds to get everything to melt a bit.  That way, it could be spread on and would set as it cooled.  I'll have to try on the left overs;) 

Friday, 1/28/2011

Tonight, Ben and I had a fantastic date night.  A year ago my name was selected in a drawing for a free night's stay at the Hotel Monaco, Downtown Seattle.  That is the same hotel we stayed at on our wedding night and our first anniversary.  How very cool!  Anyway, we had to use the gift certificate by the end of this month.  It's January 28th.  Yes, it was time to use it or lose it.  Thankfully Ben's brother, Spencer, was willing and available to stay with Katie while we took a night off.

After getting Katie and Spencer settled, I took the bus into Seattle to meet Ben.  We checked into the hotel and went out in search of food.  We ended up being able to get a table quite quickly at the Purple Cafe and Wine Bar.  What a great meal!  Here's what we ate:

Appetizers

I had the pork and chicken sausage with cranberry-apricot chutney and pecorino sardo gran cru cheese.  Ben had lamb chili with polenta croutons and rogue smokey blue cheese.  The cheeses were served with a fig jam which was delicious.

Drinks

We each enjoyed a flight of wine--four wines to sample.  I had the red wine flight from Italy with these wines:

• cabanon ‘augurio’ . provincia di pavia . 09
• fattoria pogni . chianti . 08
• il trullo . primitivo del salento . 08
• vinosia aglianico . irpinia aglianico . 08

Ben had the red wine flight from Washington with these wines:

• substance merlot . washington . 08
• l’ecole syrah . columbia valley . 07
• gamache ‘boulder red’ . columbia valley . 07
• brand cabernet sauvignon . columbia valley . 08 

The Substance merlot in Ben's flight was fantastic.  We each had a glass of that with our entree.  It was divine.  

Entree

We shared the artisan cured meat pizza with soppresata, coppa, spanish chorizo, mozzarella, fresh oregano and tomato sauce.  The flavor of the meats took us back to our vacation in Italy.  On that trip, we purchased a variety of cured meats in Greve and ate them with cheese, bread, and wine for a meal at our bed and breakfast.  Who would have thought this meal would take us back to that wonderful vacation.  Here's a photo of that picnic meal for fun:) 

Dessert

The desserts were perfectly sized--small:)  I had the ruby port chocolate torte with cocoa nib whipped cream and port fudge sauce.  Ben chose the bittersweet espresso truffles.  He said the truffles were good, but mine was definitely the better of the two desserts.  Yum!!!  

After dinner we saw Black Swan.  I'm so glad we saw it in the theater.  There were parts of the movie that just needed to be presented in a bigger scale than our TV would have.  While it was definitely a disturbing movie, it was beautifully acted and had amazing cinematography.  

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. 

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!!!

Friday, 9/10/2010

Today is technically not the first Friday of the month; however, Ben's company celebrated "First Friday" tonight. In a nut shell, employees from his company gather together the first Friday of each month at a local restaurant or tavern to chat, eat, and have a few drinks.  Due to Labor Day weekend, this month's gathering was postponed a week, until today.  Katie and I had been out and about, running errands, and stopped by Ben's office to take him home.  When he mentioned that first Friday was in progress, we decided to park the car and partake.  We met his coworkers at El Malecon, on the corner of Seneca and Post Alley.  It is just a block away from his office; so, it is convenient.  The servers are nice and the food is OK.  The best part is that there is always room for a large party. 

I was starving by the time we got there, so I basically ate nachos along with a margarita for dinner.  Ben only ate a couple chips, so he had left over spaghetti and garlic bread when we got home. Katie was quite entertaining at the restaurant.  She said "hi" to everyone, gave fist bumps and high-fives, and played with her food.  She didn't eat much, but that does seem to be a dinner trend these days.  

After we put Katie down for the night, I started to bake cookies for our church's 2nd time sale tomorrow.  If you are in or near West Seattle and you like to hunt for treasures, you should stop by Fauntleroy Church UCC tomorrow, between 9am and 3pm.  In addition to the great deals, you will find delicious baked goods...like my cookies:)  I baked Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies using a recipe I got from www.verybestbaking.com--a Nestle website.  The specific recipe is found here:  http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=32364. 

A couple notes about the cookie recipe:

• I add in a cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips for each batch.  The recipe says you can add an optional 1/2 cup.  I found that I needed more chocolate:)
• I have never made the glaze that the recipe calls for.  I don't think the cookies need it with the chocolate chips.  Also, the glaze would make them too sticky to stack and store efficiently.  
• In my oven, the cookies are definitely done in 15 minutes.   
• I don't grease the baking sheets, because I line my baking sheets with Silpat--non-stick baking mat. 

After eating his first pumpkin cookies of the season, Ben said "Ah, Fall is here" with a big smile on his face:)

Saturday, 9/4/2010

Our dear friends Karen and Michel invited us all, Matt, Jenna, Braelyn, Ben, Katie, me, Jennifer, and Spencer, over to their home for dinner tonight.  Jennifer is in town to celebrate Spencer's birthday tomorrow.  They had a lovely spread of veggies, crackers, cheeses, cured meats, fresh berries, and wine ready when we arrived. 

For dinner, they roasted potatoes and carrots, had mixed salad greens and a variety of dressings, jalapenos bread, corn on the cob, and roasted pork tenderloins.  Everything was delicious!  At the end of the evening, we enjoyed a fantastic birthday cake for Spencer.  

Michel got the cake at a local French bakery.  The cake was chocolate; the filling was chocolate mousse; the outer frosting was unlike anything I have had before.  Without knowing for sure, I would say it was a French buttercream.  I think it was made with shortening, instead of butter.  All I know for sure is that it was fantastically delicious.  Ben had to share quite a bit with Katie...she loved it too!  Not only was it wonderful to the taste, but it was beautiful too.  I just love the lettering on the cake. 

Saturday, 8/28/2010

It's party day...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNIFER!!!

It is my mother-in-law's 60th birthday today.  Ben, Spencer, and I are throwing her a big party along with her friends Chris and Larry.  They graciously agreed to let us hold the party at their home in Oregon City, Oregon.  Thank you Chris and Larry!  After a delicious coffee cake breakfast, the three of us took off to run errands and prep for the party.  Katie got to stay behind for some Grandma time.  Maybe I should say, Katie stayed behind so that Grandma could have some Katie time:)

Our first stop of the morning was JaCiva's for the birthday cake--chocolate cake, chocolate mousse filling, and butter cream frosting.  Spencer forwarded a photo of the napkins we purchased for the party to be used as cake decoration inspiration.  They did a fantastic job matching the colors and overall floral theme.  The cake was quite yummy, although, I did eat too much in the end.  I planned on sharing my large corner piece with Katie, but then she wouldn't eat a bit.  So, I ate the whole thing by myself.  Later, Katie really did want cake and insisted on sharing it with me.  Yes, I ate a lot of cake tonight.  And yes, I had it with vanilla ice cream too. 

Once at Chris and Larry's home, we arranged flowers, decorated, arranged tables, washed potatoes, stuffed peppers, chopped rosemary, sliced citrus fruits, prepared appetizer dishes, and got ready for the wine and cheese tasting.  We were busy!  For the first two hours of the party, we served appetizers and had a blind wine and cheese tasting activity.  Yesterday we shopped for wine and cheese at New Seasons Market, located not far from Jennifer's home.  Ben did pairing research ahead of time and took his list of 10 wine and cheese combinations to the store.  He and Spencer did their best to pick out the right cheeses first.  Then, they talked with a wine steward who helped pick out the right wines to pair with the cheeses at the right prices.  After the wines were selected, the cheese expert was back from her break and helped tweak the cheese selections a bit.  In the end, we were under budget on wine and cheese and super pleased with the service we received.  Just so you know, if you buy a case or more of wine at New Seasons Market in one purchase, you get a 20% discount.  That is huge!

For the tasting activity, we covered the wine bottle labels and numbered them.  I made the cute covers:)  The cheeses that complimented each wine were cute into bite sizes and piled in front of the bottles.  We made a large poster that listed the wines and cheese in random orders.  If the guests were interested in participating in the activity, they could take a stab at guessing which wines and cheeses they were tasting.  I am very proud of myself for guessing 8 out of 10 wines correctly.  Unfair advantage you say?  Nope...I left Ben alone for his research and didn't pay any attention to the wine steward while he recommended the wines.  I'm just that good ;-) We purchased a wine glass for each person who said they were coming.  I made personalized tags to circle the base of each glass.  With 28 adults expected, we did our best to avoid wine glass confusion.  I think it worked well! 

We had quite a few appetizers to choose from.  Chris prepared stuffed jalapenos and a fresh veggie dish with a Peppercorn Parmesan dip.  I made a Hot Mango Chutney Cashew dip, a Spicy Lemon Veggie dip, and roasted elephant garlic.  Ben blanched a pound of sugar snap peas to go along with the veggie dip.  We served sliced french bread baguettes to spread the chutney cashew dip and roasted garlic on.  The dip recipes and peas I made are included at the end of this blog entry.

For dinner we made Pollo Pibil--citrus spice marinated chicken, roasted potatoes with rosemary, and our standard household spinach, mandarin orange, and goat cheese salad with balsamic vinaigrette on the side.  For the salad, we ended up using about a pound of spinach, 1 1/2 small cans of mandarin oranges, and a 1/3 of a pound of crumbled goat cheese.  Follow the imbedded link for the chicken recipe, previously posted on this blog. The potato recipe will be at the end of this blog entry too.  

At the end of the day, we feel like we threw a great party.  The guests enjoyed themselves and Jennifer had a wonderful time.  It was a lot of work, but TOTALLY worth it:)  

Jennifer, Spencer, Katie, Ben, and me

Here are the recipes:

HOT MANGO CHUTNEY CASHEW DIP- from my friend Taran


Ingredients:
8 ounces cream cheese
2/3 cup sour cream
3-5 tsp curry powder, depending on preference
1/2 cup hot mango chutney
1 cup chopped cashews, divided

Directions:
Mix together all ingredients, saving 1/4 cup of the cashews for later.  Spoon into a serving dish and top with the reserved cashews.   Spread on slices of french bread baguettes or similar bread. 

Notes: I doubled this recipe due to the high number of guests expected.  With the amount of food available, we ended up taking home one recipe worth of the dip.  I'm not complaining, but it is worth mentioning.  It is a rich dip. 

SPICY LEMON DIPPING SAUCE- from Alton Brown's cookbook "I'm Just Here for the Food, volume 2.0"

Ingredients:
2/3 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
Zest from one lemon, chopped fine
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and tarragon.  Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.

Notes: This really is a spicy dip.  The spice hit on the tongue is a bit delayed.  The recipe calls for 12 ounce of sugar snap peas.  I have found that you will end up with 2-3 times more dip than you need for 12 ounces of peas.  So, either have more peas available or make a smaller batch of dip.  

SUGAR SNAP PEAS- also from Alton Brown


Ingredients:
Heavy pinch kosher salt
12 ounces of sugar snap peas, trimmed and rinsed (approximately 4 cups)

Directions:
Bring 2 quarts of water and the salt to boil in a 4-quart saucepan, covered, over high heat.  Add the peas and cook uncovered for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes.  Drain the peas and immediately plunge into ice water.  Drain and set aside.  The actual time of course will depend on the peas.  These aren't big ole green beans, and few things are as awful as limp sugar snaps.  So stay right with them as they cook.

Even if the dip is perfect and the peas are dead on, the dish will fail if the peas are wet.  Once they've chilled down, dry them well or the dip just won't stick...and that would be sad. 


ROASTED POTATOES WITH ROSEMARY- from the Safeway brand Produce Stand fresh rosemary package

Prep time: 10 minutes--for one batch;)
Bake time: 25 to 30 minutes

Ingredients:
2 pounds small (1 1/2 to 2-inches) red skin or White Rose potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, course type preferred
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Scrub potatoes, dry well and cut in half lengthwise.  Pour olive oil into a rimmed baking sheet into which the potatoes fit comfortably.  Heat in oven until oil is hot, about 3 minutes.  Swirl to coat pan and place potatoes cut side down in hot oil.  Sprinkle with salt.  Bake for 25 to 35 minutes or until cut side is golden brown.  Remove from oven, turn with a spatula, sprinkle with rosemary and toss to coat.  Serve immediately.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Notes: We made approximately 9 pounds of potatoes for the party.  Thankfully, Chris and Larry have two ovens.  With two full baking sheets in each oven, the potatoes were ready in 30 minutes.  Be warned, the oil heats up quickly in 450 degrees and starts to smoke.  Keep your fan running when you open the oven door to reduce the risk of a smoke detector going off. 

Saturday, 7/24/2010

Happy Wedding Day Laura and David!!!

We started taking photos of the big event at 1pm today and didn't stop until just before 10pm. It was a beautiful wedding. Laura was stunning, and David was very handsome. What an honor to record their special day in photos.

The reception was held at The Hall at Fauntleroy and was catered by Tuxedos and Tennis Shoes. Our wedding reception was held in the same place and catered by the same company, so we knew the food would be good. Thankfully, there was a good break during the reception during which we could get some food. I had a green salad with dried cranberries, goat cheese, and a raspberry vinaigrette, a watermelon, blueberry with mint salad, salmon, grilled asparagus and peppers, and bread for dinner. Ben opted for steak instead of the salmon.

Laura and David chose two different cakes to serve their guests. Ben and I both had a piece of chocolate cake. It was divine! I can't be sure, but I think the filling between cake layers was a chocolate butter cream or mousse and the frosting was cream cheese. What made it so amazing was that the cake was chilled. The reception hall was quite warm, so the chilled filling and frosting made the cake quite refreshing:) I believe Laura said the cake came from the Macrina Bakery.

Although the dinner was delicious, the best part of the catered food was the double chocolate chip cookies that were served around 9:30pm. Laura's mom told us that they were her favorite thing that they ordered. She was soo right. They were outstanding!!!

Friday, 7/23/2010

We attended the wedding rehearsal for our friends Laura and David this afternoon. We are going to be their photographers tomorrow. They were kind enough to invite us to their post-rehearsal reception downtown Seattle at the Red Lion Hotel. They reserved half of the lounge and patio for their guests. We were lucky to find a table to sit down at. We enjoyed pulled pork sliders, egg rolls, hummus, potato wedges, fried shrimp, and plenty of cookies and tasty desserts. It was a very nice evening until...Katie puked. Yes, that's right...she puked at the reception. (Just warning you now that I am going to get a bit graphic in the rest of this post.)

We think that the puking was triggered when she choked/gagged on a small piece of chocolate truffle. She had been drinking a ton of water and eating cheese just prior to the incident, so it was like a small, yet foul, geiser that mainly landed directly on my sandal covered foot. YUCK!!! She seemed fine and was only concerned about the puke which was running down her leg. Ben ran to go get some help from the hotel staff. The nicest waitress name Monica came to our rescue. She brought us wet towels to clean up with and even took our soiled shoes into the back to wash them for us. We stripped Katie down to her diaper cover and clothed her in a very large tie-died shirt. It was a youth size small:) Anyway, we got cleaned up enough to leave, said our goodbyes and went home.

Sunday, 7/18/2010

We took a trip to Costco today. We didn't really need anything, but ended up getting a few things anyway--halibut, ground beef, eggs, foil, and pork tamales. The tamales were super easy to prepare and were delicious for our dinner. The pork was wonderfully seasoned to be a bit spicy. They were all prepared in corn husks. All we had to do was steam them for 10-12 minutes. Piece of cake! Plus, it gave Ben a chance to use our All-Clad steamer basket:) We've used the pasta insert numerous times, but this was the first time we used the steamer basket.

Katie threw a most spectacular tantrum after her nap this afternoon when we wouldn't give her a cookie before dinner. I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies while she was napping, to take over to our neighbors. They welcomed their first son, Oliver, into the world over the weekend. When she came downstairs after her nap, she spotted the cooling racks full of cookies. She immediately began chanting "cracka, cracka, cracka", which is her way of saying cracker. We did our best to explain that she could have one after dinner. That didn't work.

There were huge alligator tears rolling down her cheeks. She flung herself onto the floor over and over again. She hit her diaper bag and pulled stuff out of it kind of violently. For a little while, we thought she might be having serious teething pain based on her irrational behavior. But no, she only wanted cookies. To be fair, I must note that we had a very busy morning and that her nap didn't start until after 2pm--about 4 hours later than normal. Anyway, she woke up on the wrong side of the crib without the patience to wait for a cookie. The funniest part of the story is that, when she finally finished dinner and got her cookie, she barely ate any of it. She was more interested in sharing it with daddy than actually eating it. Worked out fine for daddy:)

Sunday, 5/16/2010

Happy Birthday to my husband Ben!

We celebrated Ben's birthday tonight with our friends Ryan and Vanessa. I wanted to meet somewhere near Tacoma, half-way between our homes, so that none of us had to drive too far. I did lots of internet searching and finally found the Adriatic Grill. The restaurant's website was really nice, easy to navigate and full of great information. I don't know about you, but I have a hard time getting excited about an unfamiliar restaurant if it's website is poorly designed. Anyway, the menu had a lot of variety, the entree prices looked reasonable, and they advertised 1/2 priced bottles of wine on Sundays. Also, I was thrilled when Google Maps showed me a photo of the restaurant and it had a parking lot. Sweet! No street parking!

I made my reservation online and was pleased to receive a call a couple days ago to confirm. They had our table prepared for us when we arrived, complete with our requested high chair for Katie. They gave her some crayons and she actually used them to scribble with! Ok, she did try to eat them later on, but the nice waitress let us know they were soy based. We took advantage of the 1/2 price wine and shared a bottle of chianti. We toasted Ben for his birthday. Katie took notice and insisted on clinking (or clunking) her sippy cup into our glasses too. SO CUTE!!!

Ben ordered Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo. I had Steelhead Salmon with Fresh Pesto off of their Fresh Sheet menu. Vanessa enjoyed the Pesto Shrimp pizza. Ryan tested the lasanga, and Katie had a cheese pizza. For dessert, Ben got a complimentary cup of ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate sauce. He shared that with Katie, who showed, once again, that she loved ice cream! Vanessa and I each had a chocolate amaretto cake with amaretto ice cream. Whoa, sooo rich and delicious. Neither one of us could finish our dessert even though we wanted to. Ben had Affogato Al Cafe- a white chocolate ice cream drizzled with espresso and topped with whipped sweet cream and chocolate covered espresso beans. Ryan enjoyed a dish of spumoni.

Bottom line: I would HIGHLY recommend visiting this restaurant if you live anywhere near Tacoma.

Saturday, 4/17/2010

Mom and Dad had their community dance this evening, so we were invited to Matt & Jenna's for dinner. They ordered pepperoni pizza and beer buddies. The beer buddies were little rolls of pizza dough rolled in garlic butter and parmesan cheese. Dipped in a little pizza sauce...soo tasty! We brought the girly drinks (for Matt) and beer.

After dinner we took a long walk around their neighborhood. Braelyn got a 2 seat radio flyer wagon for her birthday. Katie and Braelyn got strapped into the wagon facing each other, and Matt towed them. The girls had a blast! They didn't stop smiling, reaching out to each other, chatting, and playing peak-a-boo. Oh, it was heart warming to see them enjoying it so much.



We finished the evening with big servings of Tillamook Udderly Chocolate ice cream. White Chocolate and Milk Chocolate ice creams swirled together with chocolate flakes. YUM!!! Thanks for a fun evening Matt, Jenna, and Braelyn:)

Tuesday, 3/23/2010

SPICY PEANUT CHICKEN

½ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons white vinegar
½ teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into ¾-inch pieces
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or crushed
2 teaspoons grated gingerroot
1 medium red bell pepper, cut into ¾-inch pieces
1/3 cup unsalted cocktail peanuts

1. Mix broth, cornstarch, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar and red pepper.
2. Heat 12-inch skillet (or if you’re advanced, a wok) over high heat. Add oil, and stir-fry chicken, garlic, and gingerroot until chicken is done (about 3 minutes).
3. Add bell pepper to chicken and stir-fry for about 1 minute.
4. Add cornstarch mixture to chicken. Cook and stir about 1 minute or until sauce thickens. Stir in peanuts.
5. Serve over white rice.

For years I made white rice by using 2 parts water, 1 part rice. And then I saw a recipe where you saute minced garlic in a little vegetable oil in your pot until fragrant, and then add the rice and let it get a little opaque. Add chicken stock instead of water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 20 minutes. The result is much more flavorful rice that doesn't dry out as much.

Dessert- simply Nestle's toll house cookies. The only things I do differently is that I add a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the dry ingredients, put in 2 1/2 cups of chocolate chips instead of just 2, and leave out the nuts. Also, I find that bringing the eggs and butter to room temperature makes the cookies bake more evenly.

This recipe was one Ben adapted from a cookbook years ago. Tonight we made it for my friend Elly. Elly and I are planning a bridal shower for our friend Lauren. Katie scarfed the rice and only had a little of the red pepper and chicken. She was far more interested in hollaring at us to pay attention to her. Now, the chocolate chip cookies were a different matter. She couldn't get enough! Back and forth to Ben and I for nibbles;)