Are you ready for some football?

ell, the game is in the second half and I could really use a nap, but if I don't post now, it won't happen. You know me. Out of sight, out of mind. Or, in tummy, out of mind! And while I'm not a huge football fan, the Super Bowl is a tradition, and there's food, right? At least, that's the way we roll around here. And from the look of all the food blogs this weekend, we're not alone. This is one big eatin' weekend in the U.S.

I think I cooked more today than in the three weeks prior, combined (which says something about how slack I've been in the kitchen lately). I'm tired like after Thanksgiving dinner, almost. But it was fun, and I got a chance to experiment with a bunch of new and different things, and a couple of tried-and-trues, too.

Here's what was on the Superbowl menu:

* Soft pretzel bites (for Seth). This was the biggest experiment for us, and well worth it. Very fun and easy to make, and yummy right out of the oven. I'm curious how they'll be tomorrow, as a lunch box addition for Seth. I'm sure he'll let me know!

 

Seth cutting up the bites.

  

I've never boiled something prior to baking before... It was pretty cool. Next up, bagels?

 

Golden, salty bites!

* Roasted chickpeas (for husband) and roasted edamame (for me).

 

Chickpeas with cumin and cayenne.

 

Edamame with garlic and salt.

* Jalapeno poppers (For the boys in general, though I got a little more into them than I thought... a bit of heat, but completely doable. And yummy.)

 

Before coating and oven

 

After: ready for poppin'

* Baked onion rings (have been making these for a while now. Love it!)
*  Zucchini sticks (ditto)
Both the onion rings and the zucchini sticks got eaten up before I thought of (remembered!) to take a photo. Alas. It was that kind of day. Food was going out of the kitchen like crazy.

* Salmon, grilled, for something healthy!

* Homemade tartar sauce (for the onion rings. I'm out of The IceBurg tartar and can't really take storebought anymore.)

Tartar sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. of lemon juice
1/2 cup dill pickle, minced
3/4 cup of white or yellow onion, minced
2 Tbsp. green onion, minced
1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper to season

Mix all ingredients together and let sit, refrigerated, for an hour or so for the flavors to marry.

I was planning to add capers, but the jar I had on hand was a wee bit old, so I pitched it and decided to go caper-free. I looked around at a lot of different recipes and the variations are vast! We were happy with our mixture, though. It went well with the salmon, the onion rings, the zucchini sticks... well, everything!

If you watched the game, I hope you were pleased with the outcome? For me, it's all about the ads. Did you see the Google ad? I thought it was a new one but when I went to YouTube I discovered it was not. It's still sweet as can be. Since my dear friend Corinne has been working on her Paris plans all day (well, in between Superbowl ad times, from what I could tell from her Twitter and Facebook posts!), I thought I'd share this for her.



Here's my other favorite ad, for Snickers!



Oh, and tomorrow is salad day around here. I noticed, a little late, the lack of fresh and green and leafy in our day... that can always be remedied tomorrow!

Friday night grateful moment

h sweet Friday night. Is there any night so lovely? Nope, not really.

This week the list includes but is not limited to:
* Some wonderful chats with Seth this week.

* A great few days away with husband. Wonderful to be away from the day-to-day grind, lots of good talks and walks and even some sunshine.

* That amazing sunshine deserves its own sentence of gratitude. It was simply blissful to be warm in the sun, sunglasses on. Felt so good. So foreign. Came home to gray again, but just this afternoon it cleared out for some beautiful end-of-day sun. Lovely.

* The ocean. Beautiful. Chaotic. Tide in, tide out. Gorgeous.

* Wonderful to have a lovely place to come back to. I always enjoy coming home.

* Grateful that in the chaos and uncertainty that exists in this world, there are support structures of family and friends to lean on. I'm wishing the strength of that support on so many right now who have lost loved ones, or who are going through a rough patch. Hang in there!

 * Always grateful for the creativity that abounds. I love the birdhouse room pictured above (featured on designsponge). And the thank-you note pictured below comes from a blog I recently found, thxthxthx, where the author writes a thank-you note each day to some aspect or object in her life. It's really fun to see what she's thankful for each day, though I suppose the one below sort of covers the gamut!

* Popcorn. Even though I broke a tooth last night while eating kernels at the bottom of the bowl (and I know better!), I still love popcorn.

* Grateful for a good dentist and office staff who rushed me in to take a look. So glad too, that there's no pain with the tooth... just that weirdness where your tongue always goes over to see what's missing.

* Grateful for color in this endless gray. Aren't those the coolest chairs above? I love the different colors in the various panels. Bold, baby!

* Grateful for words. Found some good ones this week in my little search for fun and new quotes. Here are a couple of my favorites to ponder:

When was the last time God worked through you in such a way that you knew beyond doubt that God had done it? -Bruce Wilkinson

Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. -Robert Brault

* Grateful for music. Always like a new discovery... Here's a band I found this week; love this song.



* Grateful for World Nutella Day. How could I not? And the shake I made after lunch? Amazing. I did indeed put the banana in, in case you were wondering. It was delicious.

*Grateful for the weekend ahead, for family time and relaxation. Hope yours involves a bit of the same.

What the world needs now: Nutella

urely by happenstance, I discovered that today is World Nutella Day. Well, Twitter told me. Or more precisely, it was tweeted and retweeted until it reached my little corner of the world. And filled me with joy. (See, Pa, there IS a reason to follow Twitter!)

Nutella is the wonderful spread made of chocolate and hazelnuts. It's quite rich and lovely, and I have used it over the years to flavor custards and ice cream and cakes, spread on crepes, toast or just eaten by the spoonful... you name it, Nutella makes it better.

So what to make today? I looked up all kinds of recipes--from tastespotting to the Nutella web site to my best friend Google--and decided to go with something different but easy this go around; I found this recipe on tastespotting... it was o-so-hard to choose...

Nutella milkshake
6 oz. whole milk
1 banana, sliced
1 Tbsp. of Nutella
1 tsp. of pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup crushed ice

Into your blender add milk, banana, vanilla and Nutella. Pulse together until well combined. Add in about 1/4 cup of crushed ice and pulse to combine.

I'm a bit iffy on the banana part... could be good, but could leave out. I'll decide when I get there.

Once upon a time I decided that I wanted to make my own Nutella, and researched gianduja, that homemade chocolate-hazelnut mixture I first fell in love with more than two decades ago in Sydney. There was a gelato stand out on Sydney Harbor that I would pass by, and while there were more than a dozen flavors, all perfectly lovely and acceptable, if gianduja was present, I couldn't bear to get anything else. Just heaven in a cup. If you are in the mood to make your Nutella from scratch, here's a really doable recipe.

Gianduja
55 grams dark chocolate (2 ounces, approximately 4 Tbsp.)
1 teaspoon of confectioner's sugar (powdered/icing)
2/3 tablespoon peanut oil (optional--I've made it without adding extra oil as I've found the nuts themselves to be oily enough)
35 grams hazelnuts (1.25 ounces, approximately 2.5 Tbsp.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Roast the hazelnuts for about 7 minutes and then roll them together between a teatowel to remove the skins, if you cannot get the skin off some you may need to bake them a little more but do not burn them, it is important to get almost all of the skin off the nuts.

In either a coffee blender, spice blender, small food processor or blender add the skinned nuts and blend until you have a very fine powder, the more fine the better. Add in the oil and powdered sugar and blend thoroughly.

Melt the chocolate either in a double boiler, or a microwave at 50% power for 1 minute, stirring and remicrowaving for 30 seconds at a time until it is completely melted. Add the hazelnut mix to the chocolate mix and stir in thoroughly, the mix will keep in the fridge for several weeks.

Happy World Nutella Day! Now go spread the word!

Thursday 13: Thirteen recipes I'm looking to make as soon as possible!

must admit the food posts have been a little light lately... need to remedy that. But having a cold is one excuse. Trying to eat a little more simply/healthful might be the other, but probably there's no real good excuse other than that I've been enamored of the crafty/arty/calligraphy blogs lately, so my browsing has been bent a bit that way.

However, I do have a file of food thoughts/recipes stashed away that I add to as I see exciting (to me!) pieces online, and I recently went through my file looking to prioritize and plan.

Here are the top 13 things on my must-cook list, in somewhat preferential order:

1. Valentine sugar cookies (I'm taste-testing from 4 different sugar cookie recipes sent from friends. This is going to be fun experiment! I will post, of course!) I have a real hankering for some cookie decorating, too!

2. Rainforest crisps. These are the best crackers ever! Made by a Canadian company, I have found them south of the border too (I think Whole Foods carries them), and have long vowed to figure the recipe out. And then, doh!, I googled it, and someone else has done the hard work for me. I can't wait to try this one.

3. Homemade salad dressings. Here are two I'm looking to make this weekend. They look easy and yummy.

Balsamic shallot vinaigrette
1 shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 cup olive oil
Put the shallot and basil into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse until the shallot is finely chopped. Add the balsamic, sugar, salt and pepper and pulse again. With the machine running, add the olive oil in a steady stream through the feed tube. Pour the vinaigrette into a small bowl and serve.

Citrus Vinaigrette

Zest and juice from one orange 

Juice from one grapefruit 

2 tablespoons sugar 

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 

Juice from two lemons 

Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

6 tablespoons peanut oil 

Zest from one lemon 

1 tablespoon minced parsley

Put the orange zest, orange and grapefruit juices and sugar in a small saucepan and reduce by two thirds over low heat. Meanwhile, in a small bowl whisk together the mustard and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Slowly whisk the oil into the mustard and lemon in a steady stream. Whisk in the reduced orange juice mixture. Just before serving, stir in the lemon zest and parsley.

4. Homemade manicotti. This craving is inspired by a food blog/site I check in on regularly: food52. Lots of great inspiration here.

5. Black bean pupusas. There's a local restaurant, a lunch favorite of mine (Someone's In The Kitchen, it's called), and they make a dish I have enjoyed a number of times. Of course, I want to figure out how to make these for myself! (A recipe doesn't hurt, either.) SITK serves their pupusas with poached eggs and a salsa verde, and it's lovely.

6. Blackberry kuchen. This one was on the Christmas list, but I didn't get a chance to make it myself. I did, however, share the recipe with my Aunt Bobbi, and got to watch her make it before her Christmas guests arrived (that's her kuchen pictured above). But I still want to make it myself. According to Bobbi, it will be worth all the anticipation!

7. Nanaimo bars. I am making a Canadian lunch at work to celebrate the Olympics--closing ceremonies, of course!--so have worked up a semi-BC menu, eh? And what more truly Canadian dessert could there be, than Nanaimo bars. Check out their origins. And marvel at their sweetness. These are powerful bars!

8. Neiman Marcus cookies. You've undoubtedly heard about this story (click the link for story and recipe), it's the stuff of urban legends. Now let's see if the cookies measure up, as well.

9. Red Velvet whoopie cookies. I just love recipes that call for a lot of red dye! Well, not really. But I love the idea of these, and maybe I'll add these to the Valentine's menu...

10. Rosemary flatbread. In my quest for homemade breads and crackers, these stood out as a yummy option!

11. Thousand layer apple cake. This recipe is so unique--all apples and not much else, slow cooked and it sounds so delicious.

12. Trashy Nutella fudge. The name says it all, don't you think? Yum.

13. Ebelskiver pan omelettes. I love my little ebelskiver pan. Why not make little omelettes? Sounds like a fun breakfast option.

Nothing like getting things down on paper to get the priorities in order! Let the cooking begin!

For other Thursday 13 participants, click here.

Wordless Wednesday: From the beach

Happy Groundhog Day!

he interwebnets are all abuzz with the news that Punxsutawney Phil DID see his shadow this morning, and apparently in this new media world, he texted his findings: shadow--check; six more weeks of winter--check.

According to Phil's entry in Wikipedia: "Of... 113 predictions on record so far, Punxsutawney Phil has predicted an early spring 14 times (13%). As to his accuracy, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, he is 100% accurate. However, according to the StormFax Weather Almanac and records kept since 1887, Phil's predictions have been correct just 39% of the time." Hmmm. That Inner Circle thing seems a wee bit suspect.

So in honor of this sad development, which we don't believe for one second, here's a clip from Groundhog Day, featuring the ever-lovely Ned Ryerson.



That bit where Bill steps off the sidewalk into the puddle repeatedly is just classic. Reminds me of all the times where I think I've learned something, only to need to learn it again. And again.

We have sunshine in our little corner of the world, everyone is mending more and more each day from our colds, and I am dreaming of sweet potato fries for lunch. It's gonna be a good day! Phil can go stick it.

Welcome to Love Month!

ove. That's how I feel about this artist I discovered recently. I have a soft spot for color and words together, especially when the words are inspirational. That really surprises you, doesn't it? The piece above is a perfect transition from one month to another... January is over and gone. That feels really good to say out loud, given how gray and long it seemed. And here we are at February, which will pass in a flash, I know, with everything that's on tap. And hopefully contain a wee bit more sunshine? We can always hope, right?!

Before it all whooshes by, here are some lovelies to kick off this month of love!

From paperfinger, a bunch of pretty cool stamps. Check them out.

From Make Something Happy, a beautiful vintage locket or two. Sweet.

A little DYI for a recessionary V-day, from How About Orange! A good one for the kiddos and you, together.

And of course, the choices at etsy are endless!

Red heart pins from The June Bride shop.

A sweet cupid hear lariat from Bbel's shop. I'm hankering for this one, especially.

Beautiful carved heart from Dean's Woodshop.

Lovely letterpress from Sweet Harvey's shop.

Sweet little crochet patterns for the kiddos, from anapaulaoli's shop.

And for a sweet pal, from aPassionforFashion's shop.

And because we just can't live without a few Valentine goodies from the kitchen...

Beet ravioli from Dirty Kitchen Secrets

Cake balls from Spork or Foon... originally billed as Christmas cake balls, but would easily do double duty for Valentine's too!

And a true original for lovers everywhere: coeur a la creme.

This one solves two food issues (for me!) at once: chocolate AND cupcakes. Nice. From bakeaholic.ca.

And last but not least, the basic, beautiful, sugar cookie. I have collected a few promising-looking recipes to taste test for my pick this year! (This pic is from sugarcoatedkitchen. That sounds like my kitchen some days!)

I hope these lovelies have inspired you! I know they have done the desired trick for me... I'm ready to get rolling on a little V-day crafty-kitchen action. Happy February!

Meals for a year: Good idea or not?

ust in case you haven't been paying attention, grocery shopping has changed dramatically in recent years. With an exponentially growing plethora of food products on the shelf, as well as food prices going up, it can become daunting to buy groceries each week and not feel like you're spending your whole paycheck! Even if you're not shopping at Whole Paycheck (one of Whole Foods' nicknames, in case you haven't heard that one).

This last week I heard about a woman who has saved a great deal of money in her grocery budget by charting out meals for her family for an entire year. Initially I was a bit skeptical. What would a free-spirit kitchen roamer like myself do with that kind of structure? Freak out, probably. And bust out of the albeit-self-imposed grocery bag...

But then I watched the video clip from Good Morning America and took a look at her calendar and was kind of inspired. I don't know if I need to do an entire year, but I could certainly chart a month or two and see how it goes. We have some pretty standard meals that we concoct on a regular basis, and if I leave a few nights here and there for the "free spirit" to run wild, we might all be happy. And after a couple of months, see how it goes and adjust--especially with changing seasons. I didn't see a lot of seasonal cooking going on with her calendar...

Side note: To be honest, I was impressed with this mom just on the basis of her having four boys! Women who have more than two kids get gold stars in my book just for showing up, period. I have a good friend who has four boys, and she's a genius homemaker, from-scratch baker, renders her own lard and spins wool at the crack of dawn (no kidding). So I know, by association, the challenges of cooking for a full and chaotic house!

I'm inspired to give this a whirl. I'll let you know how it goes.

Here's the calendar of the meal plans.

And here's a link to the video at Good Morning America. (It would NOT embed, no way no how. Frustrating.)

Happy grocery shopping! Is this something you'd consider doing? How many children would you have to have to make it worth your while?!

Friday night grateful moment

This week the list is long. Maybe because it's been a long week? Possibly. A mixed week. Some good--very good--and some not so good.

But always with the grateful...

* I am grateful to be a mom. And to be a mom to such an amazing son. Blessed. This video has been bouncing around the internet this week and I really enjoyed it. I think other moms can relate...



* I'm thankful for my spouse, so very much; that he's feeling better and better from that rotten cold. (I'm also grateful that I haven't succumbed to the cold, and knock on wood, won't get it this time around. I've been feeling a bit sore-throaty and puny today, but I've been dosing up my Cs and such, so keep your fingers crossed for me.)

* I'm thankful that Ma and Pa are safely in a warm place. If I can't be somewhere warm, my loved ones should be, right?

* I'm thankful that so many people I know took time this week to reach out to those around them and make sure they knew they were loved. When something sad happens, the pause can cause ripples far beyond the original act, and I'm hopeful something good will come of such great sorrow.

* I'm thankful for out-of-the-box thinking. Take a look at these art installations I found this week at a fun website, uniquescoop.com. Those are strawberries falling on a bird? Wild. There are other strangely beautiful art pieces too... check it out.

* I'm thankful for sweet babies to remind us that we all start somewhere. And it's usually somewhere pretty special. And it reminds me that there's a sweet (and fast-growing) baby that I need to go visit again soon!

* I am thankful for humor and laughter and the ability for us to laugh at ourselves. I really do try for that last part, most days. There are moments when I can be a dour, humorless wench (I know, shocking!)--but I do try to keep those moments to a minimum. As this whole thing with Conan and Leno has intrigued me, I couldn't help but tune in briefly to watch Jay and Oprah chat about it the other day. Such serious business, this late-night talk show stuff. Puhleeze. I think Jimmy Kimmel says it best in his clip below.

 

Don't you just love the Mad Men style art? Clever.

* I'm thankful for the opportunity to be a part of a community where volunteering is such a big part of the community's culture. I enjoy my time with fellow volunteers very much and have made some great friends among the groups I participate in. Next time we meet, folks, I'm bringin' cake. (Yes, courtesy of our friends at cakewrecks.com!)

* I'm thankful for hot lemon and honey.

* I'm thankful for popcorn and apples.

* I'm thankful for sleep.

* I'm thankful for friendship. For shared challenges and concerns, for listening and talking, for support and for cheerleading, whatever the day/week/month holds...

* I'm grateful the fog has cleared (for the moment), and while it's still gray, it's not sitting on our heads quite so claustrophobically.

* I'm thankful for straight talk. That in a world where so often it's all about posing and positioning and aligning and adjusting, I appreciate the people who are straight, who tell it like it is (kindly, please) and operate from the place where we're all eating at the grown-up's table now. Refreshing.

* I am thankful for pretty things. How about this cupcake holder? Sweetest thing ever.

* Thankful for the weekend. For peace and quiet and relaxation. Hope yours holds much of the same.