Father's Day Lunch

What do you give a man who already has his quiver (very) full, and who doesn't want you to spend any (of his hard-earned) money to buy him a gift?

If you guessed paninis, you would be right! (and weird)

Here's the Fortunate Father and his lunch, which just happened to be made by me, Mary-Faith, and Hunter. And yes, it did take 3 of us to make paninis for 10 - but for smaller families you may be able to do it yourself.

But first, here's where we got our inspiration. The fact that it is my daughter's blog has nothing to do with why I chose it.


The pictures on the inspiration blog are more appetizing than mine, but I'd be willing to betcha a couple of jars of marinated artichoke hearts that mine were just as good. (Maybe better.)

And for dessert (not pictured...which is a sign of just how good it was!) we had the Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever, made popular by the Pioneer Woman, but made even better by adding Breyers coffee ice cream on the side.



Not sure what the father thinks, but I believe I speak for all his progeny when I say it was a good - albeit high-calorie, Father's Day.

P.S. Lest you think it was all about the food, we did go around the panini-laden table and take turns expressing what it was about Good Ol' Dad that we would like to (a) emulate when we are a father, or (b) be sure to marry a man who emulates. It was very touching, with mentions of diligence, initiative, and a continuing thirst for knowledge heading the list. Although the sentiment that brought tears (of laughter) to our eyes was when a certain child mentioned that he hoped to grow up and have a scruffy beard and hair loss. (Sounds like he wants to be a homeless, bald guy, doesn't it?!)

Summer Preview

Memorial Day weekend has come and gone....and I'm a bigger person because of it.

About 5 lbs bigger is my unofficial guess. (And it will stay unofficial since I'm not getting near any scales until I have several days of exercise under my ever-expanding belt.)

My husband outdid himself with the barbecuing this year - ribs, chicken, corn on the cob - plus, pasta salad, baked beans, garlic bread (brought by guest Shelley), brownies and ice cream (brought by guests Cannella family).

I'm trying to remember what my contribution to the party was this year.....Hmmm.... I think I made the lemonade. No..that was Mary-Faith. I know for sure I bought the plates and napkins - and I think I cut up the limes for the water. No...that was Molly.

Oh, I know! I did the hard job of figuring out who to invite. And I even called (most of) them. And I also gave the orders regarding house, yard, and pool preparation. Whew! For a minute there I was feeling a little superfluous, like I wasn't really needed.

I don't think I ever told ya'll I got a new camera. Isn't that just like me? (that's rhetorical...just in case it doesn't go over like that in BlogVille...) I've bellyached in dozens of posts about my inferior camera...then I get a new one and it doesn't warrant even a Blog Sentence. Geesh! What are you going to do with me?! (more rhetorical bantering..)

I love my new camera (Canon D40...with the extra lens that makes the background fuzzy...as soon as I learn how to use it), but it does have one little problem. (And you know how I hate to complain..) My camera doesn't do a good job of reminding me to use it. Because of that one little design flaw I keep missing moments that would have been great photo opps.

But I did take some pictures today. Even though it was after all the guests had left and it was just 'us'. And I have no pictures of the great food we ate.

(And the kids rescued a baby flying squirrel from a ruthless, mean, grey furry cat named Lafayette, who just happens to live with us - And I was going to take a picture of it...But it died before I remembered. Stupid Camera!)

Here are Molly and Daniel doing a little post-party relaxing. Bo and I went to an estate sale Saturday morning and he bought this "antique" float for $2. I had my eye on a gorgeous white, wrought iron kitchen table - but we went with the float.

And this is Winston, working off a little post-party adrenaline. In praise of my new camera - I could've never gotten a shot like this with my old one.

And here's the Cook himself, who looks like he's either plumb tired out from all that rib-grilling.....Or maybe he's been hittin' the sauce. (Plus the "antique" pool chaise looks a little smallish for him. Maybe men weren't quite so big back in the (19)80's.)

And lastly, here's Daniel taking a rest from....er....let's see.....Giggling! That's it! He was the official Memorial Day Giggler and he did a bang up job if I must say so myself. One of the families we invited over has three of the most adorable girls you've ever seen (and could've seen... If the camera would've been a tad more reliable!). Alot of Daniel's time was spent following those girls around saying funny, witty things - and then giggling at himself. The girls pretended it was "annoying", but Daniel and I know there's nothing more attractive to a 4-8 year old girl that a giggly boy in a Hawaiian bathing suit!

This next picture has nothing to do with Memorial Day -but it does have something to do with proving that I'm not totally inept in the kitchen. Friday night I made this amazing meal of chicken cutlets, marinated then cooked with red onion and topped with swiss cheese. I served it with couscous and a side of tropical salsa made of papaya, mango, pineapple, avacado, and green pepper jelly. I had this meal one time at Lea's (it was my payment for rearranging her living room furniture..) and it was to-die-for.

Thing is....My family does not have very discriminating taste buds. I shouldnt have told them about the green pepper jelly in the salsa... they all kind of picked at it. However, they did scarf down the Red Lobster biscuits that Bo made (probably knowing ahead of time the kids would not like the part of the meal that "I" had slaved over, going to three stores to try to find tri-color couscous. And I doubt if it helped my cause when Our Usual Chef mentioned that he thought couscous tasted like sawdust but with less flavor.

Here's visual proof of why I'm not wasting my pepper jelly and tropical salsa on these tastebuds anymore.....

tomorrow is the last day of school for us. the big question for me is: will i have more or less time to blog? I do know I'll have more Blogging Material, aka things my kids do and say.

stay tuned.

Meet My Magazine Mentors

You may have heard the Blog Buzz that I'm blogging Every Day (except the weekends) in May about magazines. I'm on a quest to see if magazine reading is a worthwhile pursuit for an educated, savvy, middle-age (if I live to be 106) modern woman like myself. And of course, I want to share my findings with you. Because I'm just selfless like that.

After much thought, and two comments, I've decided not to limit myself to one particular magazine.

I'm going to be reporting on the wealth of knowledge I glean from the magazines pictured here:


The picture is a little blurry, but I think you can make out most of the titles, and of course you can see Dolly on the cover of the AARP magazine. Can't really miss her. In that issue she tells about getting her exercise by picking cotton, since she finds treadmills too boring. Looking at her waist size in that photo makes me actually consider getting a membership to a cotton field.


But you'll have to wait to hear more about Dolly since my magazine Pick for the Day was Cook's Illustrated (which I think is going to turn out to be one of my favorite journals....even though I don't really cook and when I do it's not really something one would want to illustrate) where today I learned the answer to a question I'm sure you've often asked yourself.

Is draining canned beans really necessary?

Turns out the answer differs according to what you're making. "Canned beans are made by pressure cooking beans directly in the can with water, salt, and preservatives. As the beans cook, starches and proteins leach into the liquid, thickening it." (I may not be a writer for a cooking magazine, but I know better than to use the word leach when talking about food....)

What I like the most about Cook's Illustrated is that they have a test kitchen that experiments around to find the best recipes, tools, ingredients, etc. - then they report their results.
With the canned bean dilemna, when they did not rinse the beans it made no difference in recipes with mixed flavors and different textures - like chili. Some recipes actually tasted better with the unrinsed beans. However, the hummus they made with unrinsed chick peas was too pasty and had less flavor.

So, there you have the definitive answer, dear readers. Sometimes you should rinse, and sometimes not.


Another really cool tip was to use a metal cheese slicer instead of a spatula when you're trying to remove warm cookies from a cookie sheet without breaking the cookies. The thin, sharp blade is better suited for this task than a thick spatula.

I definitely plan on trying that tip tomorrow!

Isn't this fun?!

In the issue I read today (March/April 2008) I also learned whether Super-Premium Orange Juice was worth the super-premium price. They compared five different juices ranging in price from $3.99 to $9.99 for 64 ounces. Tropicana Pure Premium, one of the lower costing juices, beat out Naked All Natural Juice. I'm sure it was neck and neck all the way!

And the most riveting article of all, "Can One Serrated Knife Do It All?"
And yes, wonder upon wonders, if you get yourself a Wusthof Classic Bread Knife ($79.95) or even a Victorinox Forschner 10 1/4 Inch Curved Blade Bread Knife ($24.95) you can have one knife that cuts bread, tomatoes, cake, sticky dough, and even club sandwiches.

And apparently, you can even go online and watch some behind the scenes test kitchen videos.

The recipes in this issue were also good, but I didn't feel right reporting on them until I had actually cooked something. Which may or may not happen in May. (Get it? MAY or MAY not.....)

For a free trial issue of Cook's Illustrated go to www.cooksillustrated.com
It's a cool site with tons of good recipes.

See you tomorrow, when I tell you a couple of things I am NOT going to do that were suggested in the May/June 2009 issue of AARP (which mistakenly gets delivered to my address every month. They must think some old person lives here!)

Fudge for Dummies

So if you are like some relatives of mine (no names) who claim that cooking is really "too hard" and "not fun" (those quotes are for you WSPIV) this is THE recipe for you. You can make it in five minutes- good for those with short attention spans or an inability to delay gratification- and it always turns out. You can not mess this up. Not even you. (You know who you are.) And you will wow your friends and family when you serve this at your next Christmas or office party. This has become a tradition for our family and the Christmas season seems lacking or empty without it (I know fudge does not play a role in the true meaning of Christmas, but it IS important...)

So here it is:
5-minute fudge
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/five-minute-fudge-wreath-recipe/index.html

See the link for complete instructions, but here's the gist...

Melt the following over low heat:
1 bag of chocolate chips
3/4 bag of some other kind of chips (butterscotch, peanut butter, white chocolate, mint)
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Stir in some vanilla. Add (or not) nuts, craisins, etc. Follow instructions on the link to make into a wreath, using the empty condensed milk can. Very cool, and impressive.

The only thing I do differently is put it in a springform pan which makes it a whole lot easier to transfer to plate whole (which means it still looks like a wreath vs. cutting it up into delicious pieces). I did use a regular cake pan per the instructions when I made it today and I just had to cut the wreath in half to get it out of the pan, and put it back together. It will still be delicious.

Warning: the recipe says it makes 2 lbs or 32 servings. It always makes AT LEAST 2 lbs. on my hips and rear end.

Here is a picture of my two year old making fudge last Christmas...

Cranberry-Orange White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Hi everyone, it's Jacqueline -- the really huge daughter Debbie posted a picture of awhile back. I've been asked to post a recipe on Mom's blog, Pioneer Woman style. I'm not doing a lot of real cooking these days, with the huz out of town, but my baking hasn't slowed down much. Typically I bake whatever I'm craving, and then go in search of neighbors/church office workers/unsuspecting friends to pawn off the calorie-laden baked goods on. I'm told my unborn child weighs about 5 pounds at this point, so I'm either carrying 6 or 7 babies, or I need to lay off of the cookies.

Speaking of cookies, may I introduce my new best friends:
Cranberry-Orange White Chocolate Chunk Cookies!

My friend Lauren emailed me this recipe + I just happened to have all the ingredients right in my kitchen, so I tried them out. They're delicious!

You will need:
1/4 cup butter (half a stick), 1/2 cup each of brown + white sugar, one orange, an egg, a teaspoon of vanilla, 1 1/2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon each of baking powder + soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1 cup of cranberries (fresh or frozen), and 1/2 cup white chocolate chips or chunks

Do you have all that? Then we can get started! Or, you can start without all the ingredients and then run out to the store halfway through ... I like to do that sometimes, too.

First, put that butter in a mixing bowl. If it's not soft, nuke it.


It looks lonely, so let's add some sugar. Half a cup of white:


and half a cup of brown:


(My butter enjoyed its time in the microwave a little TOO much.)


Beat the butter + sugars together.


Throw the orange in there and beat until smooth.


Just kidding! First, zest the orange. You should end up with a nice little bowlful of orange peel shavings, and an orange that looks like it's been attacked.


I use this for zesting.


NOW you can beat in the orange zest until smooth.


Next, add in the egg + 3 tablespoons of orange juice. You should be able to get this much out of your orange, but I cheated and used a bottle of orange juice because I plan to eat that mutilated orange later.


Also throw 1 teaspoon of vanilla in there.


Mix it all up!


Into a separate bowl, measure 1 1/2 cups of flour. For the purposes of this post, I even spooned + leveled it into the measuring cups like a good girl.


Add 1/2 tsp. baking soda:


+ 1/2 tsp. baking powder:


and 1/4 tsp. salt.


Mix it up with a good old wooden spoon,


And then add it to the orangey-sugary goodness you mixed up earlier.


Just so you know, you're not supposed to beat cookies with a mixer after you add in the flour. It makes them tough. Use a wooden spoon -- it's how your grandma did it!


Stir it up just until it's combined.


You might have to taste it to make sure it's combined. Salmonella don't scare me.


Next you need the cranberries...mine are fresh ones that I threw in the freezer because I wasn't sure when I'd use them. If yours are frozen, don't thaw them first. I don't know why, that's just what the recipe says.


I used this cutting board with a rim because cranberries always try to escape.


You might try to escape too, if this was your fate!


Once they're coarsely chopped, measure out 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips or chunks.


Throw it all in on top of your cookie dough.


Now fold it in. You'll see I didn't use all the cranberries I cut up ... it started to look like an awful lot + I got scared because they're kind of sour.


Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Make a mental note not to wear horizontal stripes on your belly anymore.


Put those cookies into a preheated 350 degree oven!


Bake them for 8-14 minutes.


Take off your apron + drink some coffee out of your favorite mug.


My cookies looked like this after 8 minutes ... I didn't think they were golden enough, so I banished them to the oven for 3-4 more minutes.


And then they were perfect! Don't the cranberries look like little jewels?


Perfect for the holidays! Bon appetit!