Whipped Cream

I thought I'd share a weekly outing with you that Sam and I enjoy together.

Our neighborhood Dominick's grocery store has a Starbucks in it, praise the Lord, and when we go, sometimes I'll treat myself to one as we shop. Months ago, we started getting to know a barista named Kathy, a woman a little younger then my mom with six children of her own. She took a shine to Sam, loving little boys, and decided he needed his own "coffee."

Kathy turned back from the register, grabbed a tall cup and filled it to the brim with whipped cream. On a good day, she or her other partner Lucy will drizzle it with chocolate or caramel sauce, pushing it towards Sam with a spoon tucked into it.

Sam thought he had died and gone to heaven. At barely 18 months he'd say "Coffee? Coffee? Whipped cream?" when we even DROVE by a Dominicks and quickly realized that stand alone Starbucks offer the same benefits.
So this morning, we'd just walked into the store, chosen a cart and rounded the corner when Kathy popped out from behind the counter and handed Sam his "coffee" with a huge smile.
Such a little thing makes us both so happy.

Easy Meals

I'll admit it, I've been lazy.

Like, really lazy when it comes to our week night meals. I wanted to quickly share a few that took less then 30 minutes to pull together and really were no trouble at all. All of these rated a "I'd eat that again," from Scott.

1) Chicken Chili Verde (mexican frozen section at Trader Joes), cooked until reduced by half on the stove top, then add a cup of frozen corn and a cup (or less) of shredded cheese, stir until melted

-Serve on warmed tortillas with with shredded lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream

2) Trader Joe's Marinated Mahi Mahi filets, grilled, I added fresh lime juice and kosher salt

-served with white rice (I made it with half pineapple juice and half water, added shredded pineapple and the juice and zest from one lime after it was cooked)

-steamed green beans in their bag, also from Trader Joe's, tossed with lemon juice

3) Good pasta tossed with pesto, sun dried tomatoes and peas

-I'm sauteing chicken apple sausage to throw in there too tonight, almost all these ingredients are also from Trader Joes...are you sensing a theme?

Marmalade Emergency!

Mildly funny story.

I decided to make my dad some homemade marmalade for Father's Day this year, seeing as it's a favorite thing of his. Canning is not my forte, let me preface with. I've done a recipe or three of the famous Loibner salsa and that's about it. Maybe an unsuccessful batch of Ina Garten's strawberry jam a year ago as well.

So Anna Pump's Orange Marmalade was entirely new territory.

Most of my ten half pint mason jars were already tied up with the formerly mentioned salsa, but I was betting that the two I had remaining and several other small ones would be enough for the 3 pint recipe.

Wrong.

Making this marmalade is a two day process, and the second day requires about 3 hours of watching, stirring and skimming to make sure that all goes well. After finally coming to the end of the recipe and pouring it into my two jars, I still had a least half the pan left.

Of course. Because I am an idiot about math and have been since we hit long division in fourth grade. (Ironically I was bond trader, but I always told people that I only work with numbers in the "millions.")

So what to do, what to do with the quickly cooling jam in my pot?? I threw a protesting Sam in the carseat, jumped in my car and drove to our nearest Williams-Sonoma in hopes that the utterly fabulous and infamous Dana Williams (no relation to Chuck, at least I don't think so...) would be working and be able to direct me to some new jars within the hour. (I was lucky enough to get to know her during our wedding registry process...five full pages long and I got every item on it. Knew and loved almost everyone in the store by the end of that year.)

Walking into the store, I announce "Marmalade emergency Dana!" and she runs me over to the wall with the plethora of gourmet jams. I proceeded to explain that I was attempting to make it on my own and had run out of jars.

Her face fell, eyes flickering behind her funky black glasses as she thought out loud rapidly, "Nope, not a jar in sight. We carried canning items about five years ago or so, there was a huge display right there." She glanced over towards the checkout and then looked back at me, a smile coming to her face.

"ACTUALLY", (her voice rising and words coming quickly as she became more excited). "I bought a bunch of canning equipment when it went on clearance way back then and I think IT'S STILL IN THE BAG IN MY BASEMENT!!!"

She raced over to the phone behind the desk and says, "Stay right there, can you wait two minutes while my son Max checks to see if it's still down there?"

Sure enough, Max dug around their basement, by the "Fourth of July chairs, over in the corner" and there it was.

Two gorgeous Williams-Sonoma bags, full of $100 worth of beautiful german canning jars and canning equipment that she bought for something like $9 five years ago.

Thanks to the adorable Max, and a quick trip to their house, all the marmalade is now in it's new home and I am utterly grateful for my friend's generosity.

It is now 8:48pm and the 2 hr 30 min (yeah right Ina,) project is finally at a close.

Dana, check your mailbox tomorrow. It'd be really good on your homemade french bread. Love you.

Anna Pump's Orange Marmalade (totally worth the hassle)

4 large seedless oranges

2 lemons

8 cups sugar

8 cups water

Cut the oranges and lemons in half crosswise, then into very thin half-moon slices. (You can use a mandoline if you wish.) Discard any seeds. Place the sliced fruit and their juices into a stainless-steel pot. Add 8 cups of water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar until it dissolves. Cover and allow to stand overnight at room temperature.

The next day, bring the mixture back to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours. Turn the heat up to medium and boil gently, stirring often, for another 30 minutes. Skim off any foam that forms on the top. Cook the marmalade until it reaches 220 degrees F on a candy thermometer. (Unfortunately very necessary for this recipe, but only a $5-$10 purchase.) If you want to be doubly sure it's ready, place a small amount on a plate and refrigerate it until it's cool but not cold. If it's firm, neither runny nor too hard, it's done. It will be a golden orange color. If the marmalade is runny, continue cooking it and if it's too hard, add more water.

Pour the marmalade into clean, hot Mason jars; wipe the rims throughly with a clean damp paper towel and seal with the lids. Store in the pantry for up to a year. (Ina didn't call for you to boil the jars in order to create the vacuum, but I did anyways, just to be safe.)

Yield: 3-4 pints (hint, you will need MORE then 2 half pint jars. Ahem.)

The World-Is-Ending Blueberry Muffin

I'm not even kidding you, if I knew the world was ending I'd flip through our wedding photos one more time, make a few phone calls involving words of love to family and friends and eat as many of these muffins as I could.
Seriously, I've made my second batch in a week and they are heavenly, only involving two more steps then your average blueberry muffin recipe. With much credit and love to Cooks Illustrated.

Best Blueberry Muffins

Lemon Sugar Topping

1/3 cup sugar

1 and 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from one lemon

Muffins

3 cups fresh blueberries, picked over

1 & 1/8 cups sugar, plus 2 teaspoons

2 & 1/2 cups flour

2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

2 extra large eggs

1/2 stick (4 TB) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

For the topping: stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl until combined, set aside.

For the muffins: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Bring 1 & 1/2 cups blueberries and 2 tsp. of sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 6 minutes. Cool to room temp, 10-15 min.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl, add butter and oil until combined. Add buttermilk and vanilla to egg mixture until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining 1 & 1/2 cups of blueberries into the flour mixture just until moistened. Do not overmix.

Divide the batter evenly among about 14 muffin cups. Spoon one teaspoon of blueberry jam into the center of each and swirl slightly with a toothpick. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden brown and just firm, 17-19 minutes. Cool in tins for 5 minutes, the finish cooling on a rack. They freeze well and can be reheated in the oven for a freshly baked texture.

Back at last

I apologize for missing the entire month of May!  Between being sick on and off with random colds and flu's, and entertaining half the town at our house for birthday's/dinners/pool parties, blogging has been at the low end of my list of things to do.

New recipes coming up, pictures of Sam's birthday and more coming.  

"Big-Bed"

Somebody moved out of his crib last night and is loving life in his "big-bed."  

That phrase is usually whispered in my ear as I'm putting him down in his crib, "Momma, lay in the big-bed?"  We finally pulled the trigger and let him spend the night in it.

Didn't hear a peep until 6:30 am this morning when I heard his door open, then the sound of little feet pattering towards our room, and finally saw his blonde head sticking up at the foot of our bed.  Scott and I leaned up and said "Good Morning littl budd..." and were interrupted by something soft and round flying towards our heads.  It hit me squarely in the forehead.  I looked at Scott in the darkness and he said, "I think that's a dia..." and another one came shooting towards us.

Sam starts cackling manically and says "I throw skinky pee-you's at your head!"  Lucky for us we throw the truly stinky ones immediately into the garage garbage, there were only two wet ones left in his waste basket.  Tightly rolled too....phew.

He's been giggling out loud randomly throughout the day today, whispering, "Stinky pee-you's at Momma's head."

Man-Pants

Today marks a historic occasion in our household.  Sam decided two days ago that he thinks it is great fun going potty on the toilet, (I believe it is more linked to his deep love of dark chocolate m&m's then anything else), and caught me completely unawares.

All I had heard from family, friends and books was that you shouldn't bother trying to potty train a boy until closer to three.  My 23 month old evidently didn't read those books.  So today we headed out to Gymboree to stock up on super-cool, manly, baby boy briefs.  I can hardly look at them without laughing hysterically, and am not holding my breath with this potty training thing.  

In case you can't tell, the navy blue ones on the bottom left have alligator heads on them.  "Alligator bite chew!"  Inside joke for Great Grandma.  :)

Boomsticks

So last night, Scott and I thought we'd give Sam a thrill by taking him to our local Guitar Center, seeing as he has been obsessed with all things drum-related for the past couple of months.  He has a specially dedicated cabinet in the kitchen filled with metal bowls, wooden spoons and other implements that are lovingly referred to as his "boomsticks."  Seriously, this child will sit on my lap and watch video after video of Buddy Rich and Neil Peart playing drum solos at drummerworld.com.  We pull up to church and he shouts out "BOOMS" and runs to the drum set in the corner to pester poor Phil, the amazingly talented (and patient) percussion guy.

So, I thought it was time for him to maybe take an up-close look at some electronic drum sets, and to see if there was anything small we could buy for him to play with at home.  We had no idea what we were in for.

On a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon, we walk into the unsuspecting store and head to the left, into the room devoted especially to drums.  There was an entire WALL with cymbals of all sizes mounted and ready to be hit.  Drum sets, snare drums, electronic drum kits, shakers, cow bells, bongos of all sizes, rain sticks...you name it, every kind of percussion instrument filled the room.  He ran in, the drool started to drip from his mouth, he began pounding with his fists on the cymbals at his level.  

The tattoo covered clerk, with a massive metal ring through his ear, asks, "Can I help you?"  and proceeded to be quite awesome about the whole thing.  Loved that Sam was into drums at not-quite-two and totally let him play on the electronic kit in the back.  My problem came when I stupidly handed Sam a set of junior drum sticks and let him run back to the cymbal wall.  After seven seconds we realized it wasn't a good idea and I attempted to take them back.

Big mistake.  My mild-mannered boy who has yet to have a public tantrum (knock on wood), lost it.  It was like I was trying to remove a kidney or something.  

His eyes filling with tears, he screams out, "NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooo, moommmyyyy", and dissolves into a limp puddle on the floor, hugging the sticks to his tiny, heaving chest.  The guys behind the counter are watching and I'm sweating and Scott is getting mad that we brought our toddler into a room filled with such temptation and basically I'm totally regretting the entire adventure.  

I look back at the tattooed man and giggle nervously and say to the clerk, "well, we'll take these drum sticks for sure."  And a shaker.  And a small set of bongos.  Scott thinks I am rushing it, but only time will tell.

He slept with the drum sticks last night in his crib.

Cracking Up

Scott and Sam enjoy a big ball from Target, random video for friends and family far away.  We love you!

ANGRY Peeps

I saw a big display of these at Target on Friday and could not stop cracking up about them.  Does this strike anyone else as a little strange? (Almost as strange as me taking a picture of the peeps at Target)  And dangerous for white carpeting and sticky hands.

They're watching you, always watching.

Oh, crap.

I know some people (my fabulous third cousin (what are we, anyways, Anita?)) would look at this as an opportunity, to enjoy one last taste of winter, or to focus on the coziness of the quiet morning, but I can't.  I just can't.  

I am done with winter.  It is APRIL 6th for God's sake, what is going on here!?  A part of me died inside when I looked out our window this morning at the two inches of snow laying on my newly sprouted chives and daffodils.  

There is something obscenely wrong with the sound of wind chimes over snow.

Wedding Pictures

I just spent WAY too much of Sam's precious naptime uploading a bunch of old wedding pictures to Facebook.  If anyone wants to view the album, click on this link.

A Place Where You Should Go...in Naples, FL

The second-to-last night of our two week vacation with family down in Naples, FL, Scott and I visited a magical little restaurant called Baleen's, in the La Playa Hotel.  We didn't feel up to ponying up for dinner, so our plan was to just have drinks and dessert and watch the sunset.

It was breathtakingly gorgeous and these sad little pictures I snapped with my phone don't near do it justice.
Every night when the sun goes down, they ring the big brass bell up on the porch and everyone claps.  The waiters light torches and heat lamps that lurk everywhere and the firepit is going to keep you cozy by the ocean, the sound of the waves in your ears.  
It was so fun to bury our toes in the sand, watch the sun slip into the Gulf and sip on pomegranate martinis as we fought over the last bite of homemade bananas foster ice cream over a moist dark chocolate cake, sitting on a bed of caramelized bananas, "Monkey in the Middle."  Scott had the White Chocolate Key Lime Tart, but I like mine better.  Good thing for him.

I highly recommend seeking out this spot if you're in the area, but prepare yourself for mediocre service if you sit in the bar section, as we did.  With only one waitress working the entire area it took an hour and half for us to order and receive one round of drinks and dessert. Worth it though...the drinks ended up being free.  Whoo hooo!

The perfect end to a wonderful vacation.

More Pictures from Morro Bay, CA

Incredible homemade ice cream at Hoppe's, a gem of a restaurant right on the ocean in Cayucos, CA.  Amy, Garett her husband and I had a wonderful meal my last day there.  What fun memories!  
The hot and sour soup Garett made on Valentine's day, I can still taste the ginger in that...awesome.
Amy on a walk down Morro Bay Beach.
Lunch at Rosie's, with sea lions swimming in the water down at our feet.  Great fish tacos and ohmygosh garlic fries.  Ohhhh.  Amy, Garett, their adorable son Wyatt (who is Sam's pen-pal, he just doesn't know it yet) and her dad, John.
Elephant seals sunning themselves, mating, and generally being huge and (the males at least) gross along Highway 1.
Morro Bay Rock.  Nothing like it.
Chefs in the kitchen on Valentine's Day.  Thanks again sweet friends!

Gale Gand's Cocoa Krispy Treats...for Mary

This was a dessert I made probably five times in two months over the Christmas season last year.  Super easy, better for you then regular Rice Krispy Treats (protein from peanut butter, ahem.) and just plain delicious.

Gale Gand's Chocolate Krispies (From her Chocolate and Vanilla Cookbook)

4 cups cocoa krispies

1/2 cup light Karo corn syrup

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

4 oz. chocolate chips, melted (optional if you're lazy like me)

Boil the sugar and syrup together until sugar is melted completely.  Remove from heat, stir in peanut butter.  Add cocoa krispies and combine well.  Press into a greased 9x13 pan and drizzle the melted chocolate over top.  

Unfortunately, they don't freeze well, that's about the only bummer.

Trip to Central Coast, California

These pictures are LONG overdue, I had a dream trip back in February to see my precious friend Amy out in San Luis Obispo.  Our first night we stayed at this brilliant little place with Yurts, called Treebones.  Check it out, great concept and super affordable for that part of the country.

Cozy little bedroom with a sink and an electric heater.  Now that's what I call camping!

I was obsessed with the fact that succulents grow in the wild out there...who knew those tiny plants at Trader Joe's in the pots had flowers!

A New Talent

Sam learned this new trick while we were down in Florida, more to come.

"Whatcha doing, Sam?"

I was busy preparing for a small dinner we were having last night when I heard a funny noise coming from the dining room.  

What a funny little fellow.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Scott's Favorite)

I've been staring at the four brown bananas on my counter for the last couple of days, not having enough energy to do anything productive with them until today.  This recipe, based off Kathleen Tate's, is fabulous.  Moist, dense and tasty, you've got to use Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate chips to get the full effect.  A four star recipe in our house, they freeze beautifully and you can heat them up in the oven for a few minutes to fool your friends into thinking they're freshly baked.  No one will be the wiser.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. table salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tps. vanilla

2 large eggs

1 & 1/2 cups smashed bananas (about 4 medium, you can squish them up right inside the peel and then squeeze them out into the mixing bowl...no need to dirty another dish!)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 & 1/2 cups Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

About 2 TB. raw sugar for topping the muffins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare about 18 muffin cups, or use the fun medium sized white baking cups from Schweppe's, you don't even need a muffin pan then.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Cream the butter and sugars in a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and eggs and mix well.  Squeeze in the bananas and mix in the sour cream.  Fold in the flour mixture, then the chocolate chips.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups.  Sprinkle them with raw sugar if desired, it gives them a little crunch on top which can be nice.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Sam eats ice cream and misses his Great Grandparents

Sam enjoys ice cream like his mother does, all over his face.  We miss you Great Grandma and Grandpa!