It's Moving Day!

We're moving!
Well.. virtually moving, not physically...but maybe physically as well but that's a story for a different day.

The story for today is that myself and my wonderful and like-minded friend Jess and I have decided to merge our blogging personalities into a dually authored blog titled BabyFoodScoops. 
('The Scoop,' get it? what? it makes you think of ice cream? oh.. me too.. I tend to blame that on the pregnancy...)

Anyway, as a reader this allows you more frequent updates, less ad space from Google, the perspective of more than one lovely blogging lady, and hopefully some darling photos of Jess's little lady Wren sporting her ever-stylish duds. So update your blog readers and hop on over to www.babyfoodscoops.com ..I'm looking forward to your feedback.

See you there!

Chicken, Sweet Potato & Grape Puree

First of all, my grandest apologies for the lack of blog posting as of late. I've been spending my precious free moments in the kitchen, as well as actually completing a project I started nearly two years ago: electronically cataloging the mounds of recipes I have collected over the past fifteen years.  More on this later.. but yes..  you read that correctly.. fifteen years! This lady has been a kitchen inhabitant since middle school, likely the marriage of a like-minded cooking mother and hungry siblings who weren't into eating dinner at eight pm.

For those of you who haven't met Annabel Karmel's book First Meals, it comes highly recommended from this house! As a mom constantly looking for new ideas on flavor combinations and creative meals for our LittleOne, I have found more than a two dozen go-to recipes to work with. Karmel has the chapters segregated into stages based on age and/or texture preferences. Although our LittleOne is now over a year, we try to keep variety to her diet in terms of texture - similar to myself, some days she prefers her food in fingerfood-appropriate chunks, and other days a lumpy puree is right up her alley. This particular recipe is from Karmel's earliest chapter (6-9 months, or first tastes) and has gotten two thumbs up from our LittleOne's sticky little fingers.

I will warn the reader that the first, second, and third time you open the refrigerated puree, the smell may widen your eyes. At first I thought it was first trimester smell-sensitivity, but The Husband ensured me that he had the same response. Unless your puree has been in the refrigerator for two or three weeks, don't assume it has gone bad. Pureed chicken just smells that appetizing. Once it has been warmed, the smell dissipates and your LittleOne will be eating her protein and beta-carotene by the smell-free, blissful spoonful.

As with most of our cooking, we generally avoid peeling vegetables. Four reasons: 1. Time saver 2. More fiber 3. Adds texture 4. In the case of baby food that will be pureed anyway, we're not concerned about large pieces of peel.  However, if you're into that, both the grapes and sweet potato were recommended to be peeled in the original recipe.

Chicken, Sweet Potato and Grape Puree
Ingredients
3 Tablespoons onion, peeled and chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 sweet potato, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1 cup unsalted chicken stock or broth
6 seedless grapes (we used red, however I'm confident either will be fine)

Preparation:
Saute the onion in the olive oil until softened but not colored.
Add the chicken and saute for 3-4 minutes until browned.
Add the sweet potato and chicken stock.
Cover and simmer for about ten to twelve minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Add the grapes and puree in a blender, food processor, or food mill until desired consistency.
Serve warm.
Refrigerate for up to one week.


Adapted from: First Meals by Annabel Karmel

Valentines Day

Happy Valentine's Day! Albeit one day late, I say we spread the love and stretch out the red/white/pink celebration for an entire week. <-- Is she making excuses for posting late? or truly 'spreading the love'? You'll never know..

I didn't actually intend for this message to be late, but .. well.. I'll explain in a minute... so although the mister and I tend to avoid extravagantly celebrating the holiday, we have had fun the past two years with the LittleOne making crafty-but-simple homemade valentines to send to family members and her favorite little baby friends.

Though I will admit to helping with a few aesthetic touches, the stamps and stickers were almost entirely positioned by my 13 month old -- and she had a blast! Once she realized that the stickers would stay where she pressed them, we were on a roll. And here I was thinking that it would be a year or so before "craft time" could be a family event!

This year's valentines were extra special, as she had some big news to share -- hence the postponed postage of this message -- call me considerate, but I wanted to make sure that the grandparents were all alerted to the latest in the event they stumbled online and came across a blog post about it. Scratch that, I'm actually laughing outloud to myself about the prospect of that because my dear parents are still clicking on pop-ups that tell them they just won a $100 Target giftcard. I wish I were kidding. But, you know, just in case they found out what a blog was and decided to scour google.com to see if their daughter had one.

In any respect, I was thinking of you all yesterday and hoping that you had a warm and wonderful Valentine's Day! XOXO

February.

Well, since I started the year with the plan of short-term monthly goals, I figured it best to hold myself accountable with an update from the previous month. January was a bit less successful than I had hoped when it came to accomplishing my objectives, however you may have heard me mention that we've been 'busy' with some unexpected time-consuming business that we can all discuss at a later date. The point is not to beat yourself up over the things you didn't do, but to realize that without writing them down ahead of time, the likelihood that these things would have been accomplished is slight. So without further ado, my January goals, I'm 3 for 6 .. 

-Take vitamins and fish oil daily.

-Cook, Sit, and Enjoy five family dinners

-Cook with fish at least once. 

-Email to the LittleOne once per week (see Email for Babies) (2/4)

-Orchestrate Interactive Dinner Party 

-Make and Attend an Eye Appointment

(Red: Not Started/ Yellow: In Progress/ Green: Complete)

Moving forward into February, I'm taking some of the unaccomplished January pieces as well as challenging myself to move forward. At this pace, I won't want to see the length of my December 2011 list!



-Email to LittleOne once per week.
-Acquire fresh fish, and prepare for a glorious dinner.
-Read a novel. 
-Blog & Share three additional toddler-favorite recipes.
-"Spring Clean" the RedDoor master bedroom, bathroom, and closet.
-Finish Step 1 of adorable knitting project

Three Bears (Purple) Porridge

As with many other parents who work outside the home, our weekends at home with the LittleOne are sacred. At least once per weekend we try to sit down together and enjoy a long, lingering dining experience as a family. One meal together really shouldn't be ridiculously challenging to coordinate, but sadly it tends to be. We've been 'busy,' remember?

So rather than aim for dinnertime, where timing can be hit-or-miss with the LittleOne, this weekend we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast together of Purple Porridge. As we ate, we recited to the LittleOne the infamous story about Goldilocks and the Three Bears, adding our own touches. (i.e. she made sure to knock politely before entering, and of course she was sure to take her shoes off at the door..) Anyway, the recipe was a huge hit and The Husband can't wait to revisit the leftovers early next week!

Note: We do quite a bit of cooking on the weekends to ensure that everyone is adequately nourished throughout the week. This recipe was doubled with no changes to cooking time, and is easily reheated on the stovetop or microwave for repeat enjoyment. 

Purple Porridge

Extra blueberries for the Little One

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups water
dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons agave nectar (or honey)
2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 teaspoon finely chopped or grated orange zest
1/2 cup milk (we had vanilla soy milk)

Bring water to a boil in a medium-size saucepan.
Add salt, cinnamon, agave and oatmeal.
Stir well.

With extra cinnamon, for The Husband

Reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for five minutes or until most of the water has been absorbed before adding blueberries, orange zest and milk. Bring to a simmer, and cook five additional minutes or until oatmeal is thick and creamy and the blueberries have begun to burst.
Remove from heat, cover, and let stand five minutes, then serve.

*Note, mom added bananas, which everyone thought was a grand idea and soon all three of us had them in our bowls. Highly recommended addition to an already-stellar oatmeal experience. 

Bananas for mom, highly recommended!

Roasted Root Vegetables with Rosemary

Today's recipe is brought to you by the letter "R" .. 

Everyone has a favorite food, and although she can't communicate much beyond pointing, clapping, signing for "more," babbling "that," "this," and rooooaring like a lion, we are quite sure that the recipe that follows is her favorite. The Husband is also a fan, so much actually that we had to start doubling this recipe to use as an adult side dish as well.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Rosemary
Ingredients:
1 parsnip, washed and trimmed, wax removed
2 carrots, washed and trimmed
1 sweet potato, washed
Olive Oil
1-2 tablespoons Rosemary, crushed

Procedure:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Chop all vegetables to a uniform size (if feeding to a young child, we tend to choose something between 'finger food' size or a bit smaller).
Toss vegetables in 1/8-1/4 cup olive oil, sprinkle with rosemary.
Spread in 8x8 or 8x13 glass pan and cook, uncovered, 30-45 minutes, or until vegetables are fork-tender.
Allow to cool.
For adults, may add salt and pepper to taste

We hope you enjoy as much as our LittleOne!

So touched.

Those of you who know me personally know that I work in oncology. Sometimes those days are rough, some days are joyous. Sometimes you rush home and hug your family, and sometimes you are so touched by something that you can't help but share it. I hope you don't mind the digression from normally scheduled programming, but this was one of those stories.

Life is so much shorter than it should be for some people. Do me a favor and think of the thing that has been aggravating you the most today.. and then watch this video and put it into perspective. I know it made me feel pretty grateful to have a healthy family and friends. I wish the same for you, I really do.

Slow Cooked Red Curry

Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the WorldGourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World

In the 'words' of LittleOne, "Mmmmmm"
(okay, so she has like five words/sounds, I picked the one that worked..)
 
We had been craving the savory flavors from our favorite local thai restaurant for what felt like weeks before we realized that life is just too 'busy' right now. If either of us would be lucky enough to get home from work early enough to make it to Cy's, the other would inevitably be stuck in the traffic, snow, office or hospital fuming with jealousy and imagining the other's Fusion Curry. What's a curry-craving lady to do?

We had tried our hand at homemade curries in the past with several semi-successes, but the latest from a gem of a new library release (see "adapted from" below) was a wonderful new addition to the permanent recipe file. The added bonus? Sweet Potatoes!!

An aside (similar to the lentil tangent..) - Sweet Potatoes are another one of those wonder-foods that we try to use frequently, feed to the LittleOne often, and hopefully this summer harvest our own. Why? Well first off, they're delicious.. but equally important: their beta-carotene content is unmatched! You'll notice this recipe has FULL FAT coconut milk; this is important to not substitute. First for the texture, but second because research has shown that 3-5 grams of fat in a meal is required to reap substantial update of beta-carotene from sweet potatoes. The same is true for carrots, which is how I justify dipping mine in gobs of guacamole. Also, we tend to leave the skins on our potatoes when we cook with them (fiber, people!!). In this particular recipe you won't even realize the skins are still intact, but if you have extremely picky eaters in your house, feel free to peel them.

Ingredients:
2 pounds small red potatoes, cubed into 1 inch pieces
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk (regular style, not 'light')
2-3 tablespoons red curry paste (the more curry, the more spice)
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or brown sugar)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 large sweet potato, cubed into 1 inch pieces
2 cups fresh or frozen green peas
salt to taste

Preparation:
Scrub potatoes, cube, and place them in the slow cooker with sliced onion. 

In a small bowl, mix coconut milk, red curry paste, agave and soy sauce together and pour over the potatoes. Cover and cook on low for about 3 hours, or until the potatoes are slightly tender when pierced with a fork.

Add the sweet potato, cover, and continue to cook on low for another 2-3 hours, until all of the vegetables are tender.

Add peas and salt to taste.
Continue to cook, uncovered, for 15 minutes longer.

Serve over rice. And if you're fancy, you can garnish with cashews and/or fresh cilantro. As you can see, we're either not fancy or we were out of garnishes (turns out, the answer is 'all of the above'). 

Adapted From: The Gourmet Vegetarian Slow Cooker

Email for Babies

Like many well-meaning new parents, we had every intention of documenting the milestones of our LittleOne's first year in a beautiful homemade scrapbook -- each page personalized to her story, artfully laid out and filled with photographer-caliber images of those first twelve months. I even omitted registering for the traditional "Baby Book" because I was so confident that I would create my own.

And perhaps I will.............................someday (oh, that infamous word..)

In addition to the standard new-parent haze, concurrent to our LittleOne's first year was a seven month work assignment across the country for The Husband.. a new time-consuming job for yours truly.. and a myriad of other things that kept my scrapbooking ambitions stifled like wine glasses at a baby shower.

If you are reading this and think, "Oh.. how sad.. I finished my baby book concurrent to each milestone in my child's life!" I have two things to say to you: #1. Shush. and #2. My child enjoys sitting on anything she knows I am intent to work on. Like, sitting right on top of it.  Reading a magazine? PLOP. Not anymore, says LittleOne. Folding Laundry? PLOP. Organizing something? Oooh.. My favorite!! PLOP, tear paper, PLOP.

I first attempted to keep shorthand in a spiral bound notebook -- Easy, I thought! --once I got around to that baby book, I could just reference important dates and such from this wonderful little time capsule. Alas, we traveled quite a bit those first seven months, back and forth to visit The Husband.. back and forth to visit my parents.. back and forth to visit anywhere that kept us out of the house that desperately needed dusting (but I digress..). So we were traveling, and that trusty little notebook never seemed to be in the place I needed it when a story, new tooth, or milestone needed to be recorded. Hmm...

Then, it hit me one day -- she must have an email address! Why, my husband queried, must a four month old possess such a thing? Well, I explained - anyone can contribute. From anywhere. Grandma, Grandpa, Other Grandma, Other Grandpa, Aunts, Uncle, Friends.. they can send photos and stories and we can email her when things happen in her life.

Currently, she receives emails regularly from her mom and dad - occasionally just a short "New tooth today!" message, and about once a month a quick chronicle about what is going on in all of our lives. Also, LittleOne's grandparents send messages every month or so, and some playmates we met while traveling like to keep in touch as well .

Additional ways we have found this useful: 

• Sending 'Hello' and 'Thank You' messages from LittleOne to cherished babysitters and little friends.
• Photos: Whenever emailing photos to others, I cc:LittleOne as a virtual photo album
• Forward birth announcements and virtual holiday greetings from friends with children of similar ages
• News: Cut and pasted articles from local and national newspapers when big events happen (links likely will no longer be active when their little fingers learn qwerty) 

Added bonus: if gmail still exists when she is old enough to type, she has rights to her very own name and won't need to be highschoolnickname-plus-year-of-graduation at hotmail dot com. 


Oh, and if "someday" ever comes and I decide to create that baby book, we will have a quick dated reference with a plethora of information and photos.. and if that someday never comes (gasp!) as the very least she'll have a chronological record of her early days, as well as a couple of emails to catch up on! May as well start her off like the rest of us -- with a full email box and people we haven't replied to in ages!

What have you done in lieu of a traditional baby book? 

Ten Minute Decadent Popcorn

Things have been 'busy' in the Red Door house this week. Too 'busy' to explain, yet not interesting enough to bore you all (or you three??) with the details. That said, 'busy' has never kept me out of the kitchen, and the intensity of said kitchen's productions may have been far less time consuming as of late, but were still quickly consumed by occupants, babysitters, and visitors alike.

I actually feel guilty calling this a "recipe,"as it is more of a "conglomeration." It was also an absolute favorite at the appetizer table. Salty & Sweet -- can you really go wrong with such a combination? Easily doubled, Easily altered -- my suggestions? Improvise! The butterscotch chips were a last minute decision (by The Husband) and took this from 'good' to 'great!'

Ten Minute Decadent Popcorn

10 cups air popped popcorn, cooled and buttered (or microwave buttered popcorn, popped and cooled)

three handfuls mini marshmallows

1 bag butterscotch chips

1 bag dark chocolate melting chips

Olive oil, as needed

1 cup pecans, halved

Spread waxed paper on two cookie sheets or jelly roll pans. 

Sprinkle popcorn on waxed paper, followed by marshmallows, pecans (& anything else you can think of)

Melt butterscotch chips in double boiler or slowly in microwave. Add olive oil as needed for 'drizzleability'

Drizzle melted butterscotch over popcorn.

Repeat with dark chocolate, attempting to drizzle chocolate in places the butterscotch missed.

Cool 1-2 hours or until chocolate has hardened.

Break into pieces and store in airtight container until ready to serve.

 Easy, right? 

Lentil Tacos

Four years ago, I could not have picked a lentil out of a lineup, muchless provide any guidance on cooking one. Not that I would now consider myself any type of legume expert, but let's just say that more often than not there is a lentil leftover of some sort in our over-crowded, stainless-steel (translation: fingerprinted) refrigerator.

What are they? Technically, lentils are a legume - rather than a bean, they actually grow similiar to a pea. Most grocery stores stock standard brown lentils and red lentils; however I was lucky(?) enough to drop a pretty penny on some beautiful french green lentils while visiting Whole Foods in a substantially-sized city earlier this week. I like to buy them in bulk because they are generally cheaper and there is less packaging waste, however one pound bags are also often found in the supermarket aisle near the beans.

So, why lentils? They are a quick fix for many of the nutrients my nearly-vegetarian diet is missing. Lentils are high in protein, iron, B vitamins and folate. All important, many tough to acquire from a heavy vegetable diet like ours. But more importantly to me personally, they are very high in cholesterol-lowering dietary fiber and prevent blood sugar peaks after a meal. As someone with uncharacteristically high cholesterol and some other fun genetic maladies for another day, I need to be diligent about such things. Crafting health benefits into things that also taste wonderful is an added bonus.  

The other nice thing about this recipe is that it's a conversation starter and a crowd pleaser. The Husband loves it. The Little One uses her little fingers to pick them up one by one. A few of our more carnivorous friends claim that they do not even miss the meat; however in the nature of full disclosure, they could have just been being kind! If you're interested in additional favorite lentil recipes or unsolicited nutritional advice, be in touch! And without further ado..

Ingredients:
1 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons dried cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup fresh salsa

For assembly:
(our creations usually depend on what is in the pantry, but a few ideas) 
-Tortilla shells
-Fresh guacamole
-Taco sauce
-Lettuce
-Shredded cheese

Preparation:
In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender.
Add lentils, chili powder, cumin, and oregano; cook for an additional minute.
Add broth; Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until lentils are tender.
Uncover, cook for 6-8 additional minutes or until slightly thickened.
Fold in your salsa. 
Assemble tacos and enjoy!


Source: Unknown. Passed along by a wonderful friend.

Lentils

Saturday Reflection

Highlight: I have been wishing for a full length wall mirror for our back entry hall for what seems like years. Er.. it actually has been years. In my defense, it is a tough space to fill -- the diagonal wall is nearly 5 feet wide, so many beautiful mirrors fell out of contention due to not being substantial enough to fill the space.  Initially, I did find a beautiful bronze mirror at Hobby Lobby that I had placed on my Christmas list for the past two or three years. Christmases came and went.. Aerogardens, Microwave Bacon Crispers, and American Flag Sweaters.. but no mirror. Santa was missing my heavy hinting.

One frustrated Tuesday morning last November, I found myself standing in the bathroom, teetering in my high heels on the edge of the bathtub, attempting to determine if these shoes did indeed match my outfit (not something you want to notice on the walk from the car to your office..). I declared aloud to whoever could hear me (hello, neighbors..) that "THIS IS THE LAST STRAW! Santa is bringing me that mirror!" I cleaned the stroller and carseat out of the back of my car and drove to Hobby Lobby to bring home said mirror, only to discover that the very product I had had my eye on for the past 24 months was now no longer carried in the store. Really?!

One month and 25 questionably-coordinated outfits later, I was out for a wonderful lunch with a friend at Carmella's Italian Bistro (yumstown, I wish they could cater my life..but I digress..). In a post-prandial haze, the Little One and I stumbled into the new Appleton location of Kirkland's. We meandered through the front of the store aimlessly, then spotted a beautiful domino of full length wall mirrors leaning against the back wall. And as they say when important things happen.. "the rest is history.."

So this Christmas, with the help of the Husband, Santa answered my pleas for bringing more natural light into our back hallway. Today the mirror officially moved to her new home, and we're all very happy. The Little One spent twenty minutes getting to know the new baby in the house; The Husband enjoys not having to 'waste electricity' and turn lights on to walk through the back hall, and I can see that my red flats absolutely do not match the red cardigan I was trying to pull off today. Knowledge is power.

January.

I'm a firm believer in that old adage:

"shoot for the moon.. blah blah blah .. land among the stars." 

I'm also a firm believer in boiling things down to simple terms that often sound so easy that your eye glosses over the text and you nod in agreement without really letting the information sink in. So I repeat, and emphasize .. read this next bit aloud if you must.. setting goals for oneself yields ridiculously higher outcomes than not doing so. 

Easy. 

Oh, and incentives help, too!

The word 'goal' often sets people off straightaway.. goals don't have to be huge.. studies would show that it's actually better when they're not! Have you ever written yourself a list of things to do for the day and then added things in there like "drink coffee" and "get the mail" just so that you had an obvious daily task to put that glorifying strike through? If so, you know what I mean. If not, try it! Psychological dark chocolate for the over-achiever...

One more thing before I get off my motivational soapbox. Goals need to be measurable, specific, and achievable. I have typed that phrase so many times to my graduate students that I can do it with my eyes closed, but what does it mean? 

Examples 

Poorly worded goal: "Understand how to bake bread with yeast." 

'Understand' is tough to measure

Better: "Bake loaf of yeast bread."

Poorly worded goal: "Spend more time with family."

What is 'more'? Once per week? Once per month?

Better: "Visit at least one family member each month."

We've never really been into "New Year's Resolutions" per say at the RedDoor house, but we are into small, measurable, achievable lists. My such list for January:

-Take vitamins and fish oil daily.

-Cook, Sit, and Enjoy five family dinners (1/5)

-Cook with fish at least once. 

-Email to my daughter once per week (more on this later, stay tuned..) (2/4)

-Orchestrate Interactive Dinner Party 

-Make and Attend an Eye Appointment

(Red: Not Started/ Yellow: In Progress/ Green: Complete)

Short. To the point. Keeps you easily accountable. Avoids overwhelming weight of huge New Year's Resolutions.

Easy. Now you try! What is your January list?

Day 1.

Today, it's 2011. Day 1. Day 1/1/11, to be exact. I only have eleven minutes (no one-related pun intended, It's seriously 11:49pm, CST) left in this day to get this off and running, so here goes nothing.

It's been nearly two years since I have ventured into the virtual vulnerability of the blogging world. I've imported some recipes from a former life, but today is Day 1: I'm giving myself a break. I cannot crank out the work of 4 people in one day. I cannot cook three square meals and work full time and categorize my recipes by both season, vegetable, and flavor palate. (Lesson 1: I'm a perfectionist. Like, a textbook organize-my-life-I-love-lists-98%-is-not-good-enough perfectionist. I'm working on that). I cannot function on 4 hours of sleep and 5 cups of coffee. I will not read each magazine that comes through my mailbox and try each recipe that I have collected for the past 10 years.  But what I can and will do is enjoy the time that I do have to cook, to work, to craft, and to spend with my sweet little family.

I've been hemming and hawing about blogging for what seems like years. Sometimes I think it sounds like just another thing to add to my to-do list.. sometimes I read other's blogs and think that I have something to share.. and somewhere in my head a nagging voice has been telling me to hurry up already and give it a try - quite honestly, my crutch has been that I was never really quite sure what kind of a blog I wanted this to be..


.. a food blog? nah.. my photography really isn't up to par ..
.. a family blog? eh.. there's Facebook for photos and we really haven't been doing anything remotely bloggable lately..
.. a crafting blog? .. fun, but at the rate I've been going, there would be approximately 4 posts per year.
.. a professional blog? .. risky, with disclaimers and whatnot..


I started to consider what my favorite blogs were, and the answer is the ones whose authors seem real.. those blogs that give me creative ideas to institute in my own life.. those that are beautiful (sorry reader, I'm no graphic designer..) and the ones where a motivated author thereby motivates me.

So what kind of blog is this? It's mine.

Red Finger Shrimp

Don't make this when your husband's boss comes over for dinner, or when your wife wants to have a very romantic dinner. Choose guests who you know well and don't mind getting their hands messy, as these shrimp need to be peeled prior to eating. I've trialed "cleaning it up" by using peeled, devined shrimp, but the flavor is compromised. So just roll with it, shove up your sleeves, and enjoy!

Red Finger Shrimp

4 pounds unpeeled, large fresh shrimp (or frozen shrimp, thawed)
2 lemons, cut into wedges
2 bay leaves
1 cup butter, melted
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 garlic chopped cloves
3 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Crusty French bread

Place shrimp in a 13- x- 9-inch pan; top with lemon wedges and bay leaves.

Combine butter and next 6 ingredients. Pour over shrimp.

Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 35 minutes or until shrimp are pink, stirring every 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Serve with bread and lemon wedges (and napkins).

Hiatus..

Communication is on hiatus as we are in limbo for the next 40 days. We are relocating from Washington to Wisconsin with an interim at a Marriott Residence Inn..

I plan to attempt a cooking feat or two in the hotel room kitchenette, however I make it a point to only blog things that are .. well.. "bloggable" so perhaps we'll all be surprised by dinner a'la hotel room.

Stay tuned though, many more great things to come from our new and improved kitchen in a house with a Big Red Door!

Longing for Fall..

I know, I know -- as all of you out there long for the snow to melt and spring to be in full-swing, this crazy girl can't wait until fall. Instead of breaking out the flipflops, I daydream about hosting our first "big" Thanksgiving dinner, leaves changing colors, watching my brother play college football, and all things pumpkin. Therefore, in the spirit of these daydreams --


Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread
1/2 cup applesauce (or canola oil if you're not into the moist, healthi(er) option ;)
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs (room temperature)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup toasted chopped nuts (optional, like pecans or walnuts)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Lightly spray a loaf pan with cooking spray (or grease and flour)

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a medium size mixing bowl, mix together the applesauce, pumpkin, sugar, brown sugar and eggs until combined. Carefully mix in the flour mixture and stir until well blended. (fold in nuts and raisins, if using)

Gently pour and spread the batter evenly into prepared loaf pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 40-60 minutes or until the top of the loaf springs back slightly when gently pressed. Cool in pan for 10-20 minutes and transfer to rack to cool completely.

COTF Calzones

We have visitors coming next week -- that's right folks, the absolute population of Yumstown is about to double! This calls for a "Clean-Out-the-Fridge" (COFT) meal, undoubtedly to make room for wine, beer, and more exciting food than leftover marinara.. 1/2 a tomato.. a handful of mushrooms...etc.

Usually, these meals consist of a mini-buffet of these bits-and-pieces -- but somehow the combination of me having an afternoon off, coupled with the intriguing mishmash of randomness in the fridge and my recent interest in working with yeast yielded these whole-wheat calzones -- five of which I froze for future baking, and one (see below).. that we immediately devoured..


Calzones with Whole-Wheat Dough
Ingredients:

1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast (1 used one packet, which is a little less than 1 Tbsp)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

In a large bowl (I used my KitchenAid mixer bowl), dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy. Stir in olive oil and salt, then add the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Either knead 10 minutes by hand, or use the dough-hook on a mixer and knead until the ball of dough becomes smooth.

Place dough in a bowl sprayed with cooking spray, and turn once to coat the dough. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

When the dough has doubled, divide into 6 equally-sized balls. Let rise again for about 45 minutes, until doubled.

Roll each ball of dough with a rolling pin into a circle. Roll until dough will not stretch any further. Place fillings (see below for ideas) on 1/2 of the circle. Fold remaining dough over top of fillings to create a half-circle. Pinch edges of dough together.

To cook immediately: Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake for 10-12 minutes in preheated oven, until the crust is crisp and golden at the edges. Serve with marinara on the side for dipping.

To freeze: Place calzone on waxed paper. Wrap loosely, place inside freezer bag (I use 1 quart Ziplock bags) Label bag with fillings and directions on cooking. Freeze. To eat, thaw fully before cooking.

Whole-Wheat Dough Recipe adapted from CDKitchen

Filling ideas:

• Sausage, mushrooms and mozzarella, marinara sauce
  
• Deli ham, honey mustard, spinach, cheddar cheese
• Deli turkey, spinach, mozzarella, dried cranberries
• Cooked chicken, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes
• Ricotta cheese, spinach
  
• Any other sauces, cheese, vegetables or meat -- be creative!
  

Banana Chocolate-Chip Biscotti

If a food has the name banana in the title, I'm likely to try it -- enter the "banana/turkey meatloaf disaster"...sigh... nonetheless, while perusing the menu of a local bakery, I got the idea to try replicating a banana-flavored biscotti and I'm still patting myself on the back. MMmmm. Of course they're great with coffee or tea, however I found myself snacking on them throughout the day like cookies!


Banana Chocolate-Chip Biscotti
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 1 medium-sized banana)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs (at room temperature)
3 cups all-purpose flour (not self-rising)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease large cookie sheet

Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together in small bowl. Set aside.

Beat sugar and butter in large bowl on medium speed. Beat in banana, vanilla and eggs until smooth. Stir in flour-mixture until well-combined. Then stir in chocolate chips.

Divide dough in half --shape each half into a long rectangle on the greased cookie sheet. (dough will be sticky, greasing your hands might help)

Bake about 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool 15 minutes on cookie sheet.


Cut crosswise through the biscotti-log to make about 32 one-half inch thick slices. Lay slices cut-side down on cookie sheet, bake 10-12 minutes or until the top is golden brown and dry; turn slices and bake about 10 minutes longer until golden brown. Remove from oven; cool biscotti on wire rack.




Things I will try next time:

• Dipping one end in melted chocolate
• Adding some chopped pecans or walnuts

Bye, Bye Deep Fry!

It started with a discussion about Mexican restaurants... progressed into a general craving for Mexican food... and ended up a full out NEED for a crispy, crunchy, fresh taco salad.

My general dislike for salty, greasy tortilla chips led me away from purchasing ready-made taco salad shells, and I entered the trial-and-error process of homemade shells. It must be said that a small number of tortillas were harmed in this experiment -- some too crispy , some too soggy -- but at long last yielded a perfectly proportioned taco salad shell.

Best of all, these shells are incredibly simple! All that you need is an oven safe custard dish, empty soup can, or ball of aluminum foil.

Homemade Taco Salad Shells

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (hot, hot, hot!)

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, then place one can or aluminum foil ball or custard dish on the sheet for each shell you intend to make.

Brush torillas on each side with a small amount of water, followed by a generous spray of cooking spray or olive oil.

Drape shells over soup cans.

Bake the shells until they hold their shape (about 4-5 minutes), then remove the cans and invert the shells "right side up" on the cookie sheet. Bake an additional 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before adding salad components.

Fill with shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, black olives, cheese, taco meat, sour cream, jalapenos, and taco sauce or salsa. Enjoy!