Recent happenings

I'm back! I know, I never said I was going anywhere. It was an unplanned hiatus.
I'm going to do a little catch up here before getting back into some kind of routine.

In the time I've been away from the computer, we've:
Camped near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. (We managed to get a few hours of beautiful clear sky in between all the rain. The kids thoroughly enjoyed it.)
Celebrated my birthday. (Remember last year's?)
Celebrated my baby's birthday with homemade malted milk ice cream from The Perfect Scoop.
Visited the Shedd Aquarium downtown. (Look at that cloudy, cool summer day in Chicago. Good grief!)
Made butterfly contact and witnessed a sheep-shearing at the zoo. (We got lucky and caught one of the 2 yearly shearings.)
Toured Wagner Farm.
Filmed a craft demo for the Pioneer Press Mommy on a Shoestring column. (Should appear in about 3 weeks.)
Enjoyed a week long visit from my mom and started our homeschool History co-op classes.
Whew! And those are just the highlights.

I'll try to be back here soon.

Rainy days and Mondays=Cookies

I've noticed a theme here. For the last several Mondays, I've posted on food. Mainly, cookies, actually. Nothing wrong with that, right? We are so busy on Monday mornings that it just fits our schedule to have a food activity in the afternoon, I think. And when it's raining, what else is so homey?
Today's cookie is the Caramel-Frosted Brown Sugar Drop from Nancy Baggett's The All-American Cookie Book. Same one I baked from last week. The cookie alone is pretty good. Cakey with a pretty subtle flavor. Add the icing and pecans and it's a great combination of soft, chewy, and sweet with a bit of nutty crunch. Quite good. I'd like to say they're packaged and ready to be delivered to some meeting and shared with friends, but that's not the case. Hmm. Maybe Mondays should be veggie days.
You should be able to see the recipe here on Google Book Search.

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Well, I've got another recipe for you. It seems that when I'm not coming up with any new crafty projects, I'm baking.
I first made these a few years ago and really liked them. Last week I made them for a get together and they were well received again. I like them the way the are-with their sugary, crispy exterior and lemony, chewy middle-but I bet you could vary them by not rolling them in sugar and drizzling on a lemony powdered sugar glaze instead.
This recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated and was included in their cookbook The Best Light Recipe.

Lemon Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

3/4	cup unbleached all-purpose flour (3 3/4 ounces)
1/2	cup plain cake flour (2 ounces)
1/2	teaspoon baking powder
1/4	teaspoon table salt
5	tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
1 1/3	cups granulated sugar ( 9 1/3 ounces), divided
1	large egg , lightly beaten
3	teaspoons grated lemon zest , divided
1	tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. 2. Whisk the flours, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar together at medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the egg, 2 teaspoons lemon zest, and vanilla and continue to beat at low speed until just combined, 30 to 60 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the flour mixture and continue to beat at low speed until just combined, 30 to 60 seconds, scraping down the bowl as needed.

3. 3. Process the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest in a food processor until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Place the lemon sugar in a shallow bowl. Working with a level tablespoon of dough each time, roll the dough into 1-inch balls. (If the dough is too soft to roll, refrigerate it until firm.) Carefully roll the balls in the sugar and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 1/2 inches apart (you will fit 12 cookies on each baking sheet).

4. 4. Bake the cookies, one tray at a time, until the edges are light golden and the centers are just set, 9 to 11 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through baking (do not overbake). Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then serve warm, or transfer to a wrire rack and cool completely. Bake the second tray while the first tray cools.

Gougeres: Cheese Puffs

Gougeres (goo ZHAIR) have long been one of my favorite appetizers. I can't say I've actually had them in any restaurant, however, nor have I tried more than one recipe at home. But Mark Bittman's Gougeres recipe is so good, I haven't really felt the need.
These are easy to mix up and bake in 10-15 minutes. They make a quick and delicious, not to mention impressively titled snack.
Today I (with scooping help from my kids) made these, not for a fancy or even casual party, but for myself and the kids. Beware: it's hard to stop yourself from eating the panful.
I'll go ahead and share Mark Bittman's recipe, but from what I've read, it sounds like these cookbook authors have tasty ones, as well: David Lebovitz, Ina Garten (Barefoot in Paris), Rose Levy Beranbaum (The Pie and Pastry Bible), and Thomas Keller (The French Laundry Cookbook).

Gougeres
(minus the portion of the recipe for frying Gougeres)
From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

1 c water
4 T (1/2 stick) butter
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 c (about 7 oz) all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 c freshly grated Emmenthal, Gruyere, Cantal or Cheddar cheese
1 c freshly grated Parmesan or other hard cheese

Lightly grease a baking sheet and preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine the water, butter, and salt in medium saucepan; turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring, until the butter melts, just a minute or two longer. Add the flour all at once and cook, stirring constantly, until the dough holds together in a ball, 5 minutes or less.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating hard after each addition (feel free to use an electric mixer). Stop beating when the mixture is glossy. Stir in the cheeses.

Drop teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet and bake until light brown, 10-15 minutes.

Homemade graham crackers

Finally! Another cookie in my cookie-a-week series. I will be playing catch-up since I've lost time to holiday travel and computer breakdown. Unfortunately, I can't do all of my catching up right now as our computer is still broken. That means, cookie-a-week becomes more like three or four cookies in one week. As long as we have cookies, right?
Today's cookie: the homemade graham cracker. Yum! I had never made these before and now wonder why. These are simple, tasty, and versatile.
We used the recipe from Carole Walter's Great Cookies. I think. Shoot. I'm not at home and can't see it. It was a photocopy. I'll change this later, if I find I'm wrong. I hate to reprint the recipe, but can offer you two I found online. Here at 101 Cookbooks and this one at Baking Bites.
We cut ours in squares and coated half of them with chocolate, but you have a lot of options on how to eat these. You could draw lines down the middle to imitate store bought crackers, you could frost them, sandwich them, add peanut butter, etc. And really, delicious no matter which way you go.
Since I have access to these pictures, I'm going all out with a photo journal of our graham cracker making. See below for an updated 2008 Holiday Cookie list.

My holiday cookies, 2008:
#1 Molasses
#2 Cashew-Caramel
#3 Homemade Graham Crackers
To come....chocolate!!

My favorite molasses cookies

Alternately titled: Why I like taking pictures while my children are occupied.
I love molasses cookies. I have loved these particular molasses cookies as long as I can remember. My mom started making these for us from her Betty Crocker's New Dinner for Two Cookbook in the early 70s and we've been enjoying them as a family ever since.
I love trying out new cookie recipes and have previously tested a number of them in search of my favorite variety of chocolate chip or snickerdoodle or some other. But with molasses, I'm stuck. No matter how many other recipes I see claiming to be the best, I can never bring myself to make any but these. Truly. I agree there must be other fine recipes for molasses cookies out there and I would like to try them someday, but I think someone else will have to make them for me.
Find the recipe for yourself here.

Tips: You can substitute oil for the shortening and still have a wonderful cookie.
This is a simple to follow recipe and one that kids could easily help with. They'll particularly enjoy the rolling and dipping.
Also, if you want to hear one of my oddities: Almost every time I eat one of these cookies, I take a bite, squish it in my mouth and suck on it. I don't do this with any other cookie. I know, it's weird. But it's like some kind of molasses cookie nectar comes out and makes me love it even more.

P.S. I'm thinking of sharing a cookie a week up til Christmas. Anyone else like cookies??

Apple recipe No.3

We have eaten the last of our hand-picked apples. The final few were put to rest in an Apple Crisp with Nut Topping from Christopher Kimball's The Dessert Bible. (I think you can actually get the recipe by previewing the book here. See page 274). I don't make many crisps, since they aren't usually, well, crisp. But the nut topping does it. Good call, Mr. Kimball.
We enjoyed this on my husband's birthday over the weekend and due to his wacky work schedule, I believe I enjoyed much more of it than he did. Really, how long can you expect warm homemade crisp with vanilla ice cream to last in a house of sweet tooths? (teeth?)

Apple recipe No.2

You may not need a recipe for applesauce, but then again....I'm giving you three ways to fix applesauce at home.

One, suggested by Mark Bittman in How to Cook Everything: Take about 5 lbs. of apples (mixture of varieties best), halve them (no peeling or coring), dump into a large pot with about 1/2" water at bottom. Cover, heat over medium. Once water boils, uncover and cook, stirring, until apples are mushy (about 30 minutes). Taste and add sugar, if you like. Pass mixture through a food mill.
Now, I don't have a food mill, so I just pressed mine through a wire sieve. Maybe more labor-intensive, but it worked fine.
This is the smooth sauce, above, in fairy pink.

Two, suggested perhaps everywhere: Core, peel, and slice a bunch of apples. Try using one of these wonderful Apple Corer-Peeler-Slicers. Dump apples into large pot. Add some water (I'd stick with 1/2" to 1" of water at bottom). Heat to boiling. Reduce heat, stir occasionally until apples are mushy. Mash apples with potato masher. Sweeten if you like.
This produced the brownish, chunkier sauce above.

Three, Caramel Applesauce, from a Junior League of Springfield, MO cookbook: Core, peel, slice about 6 apples. Heat 3 T butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar over low heat until butter melts. Remove pan from heat. Add apples, mix until coated with sugar mixture. Add 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg. Heat to boiling over medium heat. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes until apples are fork-tender. Let apples cool, mash with a potato masher.

Ina's Spinach Pie and Kale Chips

Can spinach be any better than when it's baked in a pie? Ina Garten's Spinach Pie recipe makes me think not. This is another tasty recipe from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.
Of course, the picture in her book presents a slice of pie still gloriously green, but is that even possible? To cook spinach and have it retain bright green color? No matter. It's delicious.
Now, Kale Chips.

Has anyone mastered these (or heard of these)? I made them twice, but am still not convinced. I went into the kale chip experiment thinking it would revolutionize our greens consumption, but was somewhat bitterly (literally) disappointed. The internet is full of recipes for these, and they vary only slightly-using more or less oil, vinegar, and salt-so it appears someone is finding success here. I found my first batch way too salty and chewy, the second batch more toward bitter. Trying to cook the kale pieces evenly was difficult as the outer edges cook so much faster than the inside edges. In the end, my kids and I finished off an entire batch in one sitting, but the aftertaste was just about enough to turn me off of the chips forever. (Seriously, you won't want to burp for like 2 days). Now, though, after reviewing the online recipes and comments again, I'm tempted to do it all over. It seems such a shame to not master something that appears so easy and healthy and that some claim to be so delicious!
If you'd like to try them, you can begin your recipe/review research here:
Kale Chips at The Cleaner Plate Club (This one has a roasted green bean recipe in the comments section that also sounds intriguing.)
Kale Chips at Recipezaar
Good luck!

Happy birthday, baby!

We celebrated our baby's first birthday over the weekend with cupcakes in the park. My older kids chose the cupcake: Oatmeal Raisin with Banana Coconut Frosting. They were really good.

Above: My daughter is wearing her pillowcase dress for the 2nd day in a row.
My son does everything with great expression. Including, eat a cupcake.

Our cupcake recipe came from Krystina Castella's Crazy About Cupcakes. If you want my opinion on the book, while we're at it, I have been very pleased with the recipes for cupcakes and frostings. She has included some really great and unexpected flavor combos and so far, all of ours have turned out very well. This one, for example. That banana coconut frosting was good stuff. And how often are you served oatmeal raisin, hazelnut coffee, napolean, peppermint mocha, or pina colada cupcakes? I haven't found all the special occasion designs awe-inspiring, but many are unique and attractive. A little too much candy topping for me. I'd rather have the great cupcake with yummy frosting simply, yet artfully, spread or piped on top. The designs presented in her book, however, would still be crowd-pleasers, I'm sure.

Happy birthday, baby!

Squash balls and other secrets

Don't tell my kids: The squash you see mashed into a ball is the same squash that sometimes comes to you mashed in a mound.
Not that this trick will work every time, but it's amazing what a new presentation of an old food will do for little eyes and mouths. Of course, these were also sprinkled with cinnamon after they found out it was, indeed, squash, but often cinnamon alone doesn't cut it.
I'm not necessarily in a position to give tips on getting your kids to eat, but I thought I'd share some of my well-received secrets (which are probably not-so-secret) and you can take them or leave them.

So, number one...squash balls. Just change the shape of their food into something different or unusual. I have never gone the distance of making faces with their sandwich toppings or anything, but I can squish something up, cut out shapes, cut into skinny strips, etc. It may not work every time, but I count once a success.

Two...I make a batch of pizza sauce and freeze it in small containers so it's easy to pull out later. I buy wheat pitas and keep shredded cheese on hand. What does that make? Pizzas. Good ones, too. You can certainly add some veggie puree to the sauce, but I often spread very finely chopped, cooked broccoli over the sauce before topping with cheese (maybe seasoned ground turkey, mushrooms, pineapple, or something else if I think the kids are really hungry and not in a really discriminating mood). Then I slice the pitas up like a regular pizza and you get cute little slices. Alternately, just get the kids to assemble them and that usually makes a more eager eater.

Three...Steamed and finely chopped spinach makes a great addition to tuna salad and deviled eggs. If you don't have the kids who pick out every bit of green they see.

Four...Canned pumpkin mixed into refried beans is virtually undetectable. We use this as a dish by itself, with cheese or on nachos.

Five...It's okay to serve "dinner" food for breakfast and vice versa. For example, when my oldest daughter was a baby, I'd mix butternut squash into her oatmeal. This gets a veggie out of the way before you've even started your day. We have since gotten out of that habit, but do occasionally mix yogurt or unsweetened applesauce into oatmeal to help cool it off in a hurry (my kids tend to wake up extremely eager for breakfast). My youngest is about to start solids so we may be revisiting the squash mix soon.

Six...Grandma's Wholesome Candy. I don't know what book this came from (probably many), but it's exactly what it sounds like. In addition to being a healthy "candy," though, it's also an activity.
Ingredients:
1/2 c peanut butter
1/2 c powdered milk
1/4 c honey
Mix all together.
We let this firm up in the fridge, then set it out alongside dishes of wheat germ, raisins, rice krispies, etc. The kids roll the candy into shapes and add edible accents or roll the candy through the add-ins.

I may have other tips, but am too tired to think of them. Pardon me if these are so obvious, but you never know what other people are doing. When talking with friends, it usually seems like my boring ideas are new to someone else and their boring ideas are new to me. So, I figured it may be worth it. Of course, for "professional" tips on getting picky kids to eat, check out The Sneaky Chef, Deceptively Delicious, Feed Me I'm Yours!, and the many other baby/kid cookbooks out there.

(This post also serves as my atypical entry for Randi's Recipe Box swap today).

The Valentine Tea Party

For six years, my friends Mandi and Jess and I have thrown a lovely Valentine tea party. Each year, we go about it in exactly the same way. The three of us gather over hot tea and a sweet treat to create our invitations (which boast a different handmade design every year, but always read "The pleasure of your company is requested for tea and valentine-making.") and plan who will contribute which delicious food item for our long and mouth-watering menu, who will bring what serving wares, craft supplies, and, of course, the extra tables and chairs.
Before the party, we rearrange furniture to accommodate our 10-16 guests and our vast assortment of card-making supplies. We carefully set out and arrange the supplies. We dress the tables with vintage tablecloths, mismatched plates, saucers, teacups, vintage tumblers, trays, platters, cake stands, bowls, and lacy hankies for our delicate hands. We finish the last-minute brewing and baking (you know, you must eat scones fresh from the oven!) and fill the tables with our sweet and savory treats.
Our menu is different every year, but the dishes always fall into the same basic categories: sandwich, scone (with devonshire cream or lemon curd), fruit, bite-size sweet, bite-size savory, full-size sweet, hot tea, and cold beverage. We have served cheese blintzes with blueberries, chocolate-clementine tart, the Scarlet Empress charlotte (from The Cake Bible), homemade pink marshmallows, double-chocolate torte with chai glaze, mini-heart-shaped lemon cheesecakes, chocolate-covered cherry cookies, strawberries piped full of lemon cream, saffron madeleines, several varieties of scones, sandwiches, cookies, etc. All delicious!
After we've consumed to our satisfaction, we clear and undress the tables and begin the drawing, cutting, gluing, stitching, punching, beading, deliberating, and composing that goes into making valentines for our friends and family. By the end of the party, we have many lovely, sweet or funny, unique cards to ooh and ahh over, many leftovers to dole out and many dishes to wash.
I love our party.
This year, however, with 3 kids under the age of 4, I've decided it's a bit more than I can handle. Not wanting to abandon the idea completely, though, I do intend to share a relaxed evening with a few friends over a few delicious treats and a warm beverage. We will create something lovely together using few craft supplies. I'll have to post the outcome later.
Meanwhile, here are a few pics from parties past. (You know I rarely take quality photos and I never take as many as I intend to-I'm completely lacking 2 years worth-so a few of these are from Jess).

And in the morning, I'm making waffles!

We love breakfast in this house. We typically have breakfast food for dinner once a week and more often than that if we have run out of leftovers. Nothing fancy, of course, because it's often a last-minute decision. I'd rather have the fancy breakfast when cooking for other adults or when eating out, anyway. (At good restaurants...not IHOP or Waffle House). We have a few recipes we use all the time and I thought I'd share them. These recipes are simple, dependable, and mouth-pleasing.
Most often, we make these Multigrain Pancakes from Cooking Light. They're very good as they are, but last night I made some substitutions (as I frequently end up doing) that elevated their status for me from trusty, in-a-pinch, comfort meal to special Saturday morning breakfast . Instead of the 2% milk and yogurt it calls for, I used a combination of heavy cream, skim milk, sour cream and yogurt. Obviously, this changes the nutritional content, but I'm not really paying attention to that when we make them. They were so rich and fluffy.
One of my favorite add-ins for this pancake is crumbled cooked sausage, sprinkled onto the pancake after your pour it onto the griddle.
When we make waffles, I use Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. He offers 3 recipes: Overnight Waffles, Rich Buttermilk Waffles, and Quick and Easy Waffles. I recommend them all, but usually return to Quick and Easy waffles. We always substitute wheat flour for half of the all-purpose flour and I sometimes vary the dairy, as in the pancakes. My favorite add-ins for these are, again, the crumbled sausage or toasted coconut.
For something out of the ordinary, but still in the pretty simple category (especially if you have an apple peeler/corer/slicer), I like this baked Apple Pancake from The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham. It's a variation of the Dutch baby or German pancake. I make this every fall after we pick our bushels of apples and am always pleased. Here is the recipe:

6 Tbs (3/4 stick) butter
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (McIntoshes are good)
3 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
About 5 Tbs confectioners' sugar (depending on the sweetness of the apples)
3 eggs, room temp
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c milk

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet or shallow pan and take off heat. If the handle of the skillet is not ovenproof, wrap it with several layers of foil. Remove 2 tablespoons melted butter and set aside in a small bowl.
Put the apple slices in a large bowl with the lemon juice. Stir the cinnamon into the sugar and sprinkle the sugar mixture over the apple slices. Toss to mix. Put the skillet back on the burner and turn the heat to medium. Add the apples and cook, stirring often, for about 3 or 4 minutes, or until the apples are tender but still hold their shape.
In a separate bowl (or blender, or food processor) combine the eggs, salt, flour, milk, and the reserved 2 tablespoons melted butter. Beat until smooth. Spread the apples evenly over the bottom of the skillet and pour the batter on top. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden and puffy. Turn immediately onto a warm platter so the apples are on top. Dust with a little confectioners' sugar and serve at once.

I wish I had a photo from our last lovely batch of pancakes to post here, as I'm sure that would help to whet your appetite, but I baked them at night when light is terrible in here. This picture is the Apple Pancake right after it's come out of the oven, before being flipped over onto the plate.

Homemade Gifts For Kids

Some gifts to make for kids:

Felt hand puppets. I found the pattern for this monster in this book (from our library) and then began creating my own patterns. Chicken, cow.... It's really quite simple and very inexpensive, but could be time-consuming depending on how many pieces you put on each puppet. Monster, for example, time-consuming. The cow and chicken were not so bad. (I'd be glad to make and sell some puppets or share a pattern and instructions-if I could figure out how to do so!)
Aprons and cookbook. I will be making some of these dish towel aprons (little sewing required) for our kids and cousins. For our cousins, we're going to include a small collection of kid-friendly recipes we like. If you want to buy a cookbook to accompany the aprons, check out Kitchen For Kids or any other book specifically designed for little chefs.
Custom t-shirts. We bought a couple wee t-shirts and some iron-on transfer paper and will be creating custom shirts with our daughter's face drawing. Take a simple drawing of your child's and surprise them by making it wearable (in the way you want your children to wear their art)!
Custom totebags. Another simple dish towel project here at I Have to Say.... What a great way to make the most of your time and money and end up with a nice gift! Make a tote bag for your child or buy one and customize it with the iron-on transfer.
Edibles. Make these cute lollipop cookies (with the sticks) and package them in clear cellophane bags (try Michael's or any craft store that carries baking supplies) tied off with colorful ribbon for your playgroup friends.
Pillowcases. My kids have been asking for Sesame Street pillows, for some reason, and eventually I'll get around to it. For kids who already have their own normal-sized pillow, here are some tutorials, along with additional ideas for customizing, for pillowcases.
One, Two, Three.
Biographies. Make a book about your child to give your child. Kids love to see pictures and hear stories about themselves. Blurb.com offers a free downloadable program that you can use to create your own book and have published for as little as $12.95 (that's the 7"x7" softcover with 20-40 pages). It's too late this year, but I was thinking a good idea for our daughter would be a little book with 3 short stories in it:
1) Brynnen-pics and thoughts on her life from birth to now.
2) My best friend Kellan-pics and thoughts on her relationship with her brother-how they play and work together, take care of, love and help each other, etc.
3) Mommy and Daddy-pics and info about us from kid-dom to now.

Stay tuned for Homemade Gifts By Kids.