Halloween November 2, 2009

We celebrated Halloween on Friday night at a ‘Trunk or Treat’ activity at church with our friends Lyndi and Kevin.

We had a chili cook off as well.  Dave’s  Chili did not win.  Bummer but may have something to do with the red curry paste he added   He loves secret ingredients.

For a great chili recipe (without red curry paste), see this post http://mrsholbs.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/turkey-chili-cornbread-casserole/

We decorated our trunk with a ghost that popped out magically with the help of keyless entry.

Anabelle’s perspective on Halloween

Can you guess what our costumes are?

Lyndi, Kevin and Anabelle

You can’t see me! November 1, 2009

 

Anabelle was hiding!

That is until she couldn’t figure out a way to get herself out of the tv stand cabinet.  Then the whining ensued.

I think we have ourselves an illusionist in the making.  Don’t you agree?

 

Halloween pictures  to come later…the camera is missing.  Hmmmm.  Wonder if Anabelle had anything to do with that?

 

 

Alfredo sauce….it’s easier than you think! October 26, 2009

My cousin Stacey taught me how to make this recipe.  I will never forgive her and always hold her in high regard at the same time for this lesson.  The last time I made this, I licked the bowl… repeatedly. I have no shame.  I usually make this recipe very freely, without measurements, but I will try my best to re-create it.

Seafood Alfredo

1 pound fettucini

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 pint Heavy Cream

1/2 stick butter

5 garlic cloves crushed and minced

1 shallot, minced

bunch of parsley, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 pound of uncooked, peeled, deveined shrimp

1/2 pound of scallops

*and if you are really brave 1/2 pound of mussels, which you can find in the frozen seafood section and can microwave and add to the dish after. Make sure you drain the liquid from them.

1.  Bring water to boil in large pot.  Add pasta.  Make sure the water is well salted.

2.  Add garlic and shallots to melted butter in large frying pan on low heat and saute till transluscent and fragrant.

3.  Add shrimp and scallops and cook till no longer pink about 5 minutes.

4.  Add heavy cream and parmesan cheese and stir well.  Turn heat up and allow cream to come to a rolling boil but watch carefully as cream can run over.

5.  When sauce has thickened, add cooked, drained pasta. Turn pasta in sauce to cover well.

6.  Finish with salt, pepper and parsley.  Serve bread sticks on the side and a big salad.

Good-bye Summer, Hello Fall! October 18, 2009

Yes, I realize that in the rest of the United States, the first day of fall was nearly a month ago.  However, in our neck of the woods, we were splashing in the swimming pool earlier this week in the 90 degree weather we were having.  This weekend, we have temperatures in the 50’s. It’s a shock to the system.

Good bye, ice cream!  Good bye Summer!

Hello track suits!  Hello Fall!

We’ll miss you!

Mall Rat October 16, 2009

Anabelle has learned about the Mall.

She LOVES it!

It may be the clothes.

Or it may be the Indoor Playground.

Or it may be a place to pick up guys.

I wish I could have gotten more pictures but all I had was my cell phone.  And she did not sit still for a minute.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread October 16, 2009

This is my Mother in Law, Theresa’s divine recipe.  It is a perfect Fall indulgence and great for sharing because it makes ALOT!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

1/2 cup oil

1 cup water

6 eggs

2-15 oz cans of pumpkin (about 3 cups)

3 cups sugar

1/4 tsp ground cloves

2 tsp salt

5 1/4 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 baking powder

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in one large bowl and mix well.

2. Combine dry ingredients in another bowl and then add to wet ingredients.  Add 1 1/2 cups  of chocolate chips and mix well.

3.  Grease and flour 3 large loaf pans.  Make sure to fill them half full.

4.  Bake at 325 for about 45 minutes to an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Fried Rice October 13, 2009

This is the greatest Friday night meal when you have leftover rice, pork, chicken from the week’s meals, it seems like there is nothing to cook  in the freezer and there are only two eggs because you need to go shopping on Saturday morning.

Fried Rice

leftover pork loin, diced

leftover chicken, diced

2 cups leftover white rice

1/2 head of cabbage shredded

2 carrots shredded

1 can of bean sprouts

1/2 cup soy sauce (I use Ketjap manis which is an Indonesian sweet soy sauce.  You can get the same effect by adding sugar to regular soy sauce)

salt

pepper

canola oil

1. Saute cabbage and carrots in a tbsp of canola oil until tender.

2. Add diced meat and soy sauce to heat through.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add rice and more soy sauce if needed.

3.  Roughly fry/scramble an two eggs and add to the mix

I used some of the mixture before I added the rice and egg to make some egg rolls for a side.  You can get egg roll wrappers from the produce section of your grocery store.

Add about 2 tbsp of cabbage, carrot, soy sauce mixture to center of egg roll wrapper.  Bring right and left corners together.  Fold and tuck one of the other ends over and roll in to a cylinder.

This is a very delicate process and despite your most careful skills, the wrapper may tear.  It is ok if you need to double wrap.

I wish I could show you a picture of the finished product but they were eaten too fast!

Recipes October 8, 2009

Look closely.

Her pajamas have a cookie recipe on them.

Her Aunt Lorna, Uncle Harry, cousins Stacey and Michelle sent them to her from Baby Gap.

Again, why didn’t I think of this first.

Pre-order all recipes from my blog in pajama form now.

Some recipes do come in adult sizes.

Ha ha!

Behind the Times October 7, 2009

I am so behind the times!

I just discovered there are FULL EPISODE videos on foodnetwork.com

I can watch them ANYTIME!

In fact, I am watching Barefoot Contessa right now.

It is a shame I never knew this before.

Butternut Squash Risotto October 6, 2009

This is a very daunting recipe.  I know I shouldn’t start a blog post recipe like that.   I could obviously scare you away.  But it is SOOOO worth it if you stick around and try it.

I got the recipe from epicurious.com which is my ‘go-to’ for when I want to try something new.  I, of course, modified the recipe.

You do have to babysit this dish somewhat, but I managed to sit with my baby while I was cooking.

Butternut Squash Risotto

7 cups low salt chicken broth

3 tbsp butter

3  shallots

3 cups peeled, halved, seeded, diced butternut squash (about 1/2 to 3/4 inch dice).  The equivalent of one whole 2 lb squash.

3 sprigs fresh thyme, removed from sprigs.  Chopped sage would also be great.

1/2 cup dry white wine.  Non-alcoholic can be used.

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

2 cups arborio rice

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring 7 cups of chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan then cover and reduce heat to low.

2. Melt butter in LARGE heavy pot over medium heat and saute shallots until tender about 5 minutes.

3.  Add squash and thyme and saute for 1o minutes.

4.  Add rice and stir 2 minutes.  Add wine and simmer until evaporated, about 1 minute.

5. Add most of the hot chicken broth, reserving 1 cup some if needed later.  Reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes until butternut squash and rice is tender and risotto is creamy but the shape of rice is somewhat maintained.

6.  Add 1/4 cupfuls of remaining broth to maintain consistency and stir occasionally.

7. Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper to taste.

It makes a TON of food so I made Arancini with the leftovers, which Dave manages to mispronounce while simultaneously eating them ALL, purposefully.

Arancini

Roll cold leftover risotto in 1 inch ball and roll in seasoned Italian breadcrumbs and fry in canola oil until golden brown.