Friday Quicktakes–11/9

1. I made two delicious recipes this week while awaiting the birth of Baby #3. The first was steak pie, which was yummy and steaky. I am now allowed to cook savory pies for dinner whenever I want. 🙂 I also made French Onion Soup from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It was delicious as usual.

2. The baby came on Wednesday at 7:49pm.

3. It is a GIRL! Now we have three beautiful girls.

4. 2 hours and 49 minutes from 4 cm to birth is pretty intense. (Labor started around 4:40am but was not regular until 1pm)

5. 49 minutes from 6-7 cm to birth is crazy intense.

6. 6 minutes of pushing is less painful than 43 minutes of transition.

7. I will post a more detailed birth story soon for those who want to know. We came home 25 hours after delivery and my bed is way better than that hospital bed. I am feeling better at this point than I did after the other two as long as I have my 600 mg of Ibuprofen. Nursing is going great.

When there is no more room in the freezer…

can some peaches.

One of the best things I have learned from my husband and his mother is how to can fruit. Home canned apple sauce and peaches are two of my favorite ways to eat fruit. I am eager to try other fruits in the future. (We missed strawberry jam this year because of traveling, though my mother-in-law gave us a whole bunch of hers!) Home canned (jarred) fruits are so much better than store bought! I need to thank Trader Joe’s for stocking peaches one last time this year. Next year I hope to can some Minnesota peaches.

Blue Hubbard “Pumpkin” Pie

 As promised here are the results of my blue hubbard experiment. Blue hubbard makes pie that tastes exactly like pumpkin pie. It is pretty delicious. I followed the directions given here. I know nothing about the blog I just linked except that they have a great pie recipe.

The rinsed blue hubbard awaits its cleaving.

The knife has entered its side! It took a good 10 minutes to wedge this big guy open. This is my large chopping knife.

The inside looks like a squash to me!

Artsy shot.

Pulpy, seedy insides.

Further chopping. This photo was take by G.

One half of the hubbard ready to roast for 45 minutes (right), while the other half awaits its fate (left).

ROASTED! 

After both halves were roasted and cooled. I spooned/scraped out as much of the insides as would come out and then pureed in my blender about 1/3 cup at a time. I ended up with 6 lbs of puree. Each pie takes 15 oz. of puree. That means I can make 6 pies out of this monster, or 12 loaves of “pumpkin” bread, or some of each… TIP: If you are going to try this at home, a food processor would handle the hubbard flesh much more easily than the blender. When I made the pie, I re-pureed the squash with the eggs for the pie. It came out super smooth.
My two homemade pie crusts awaiting filling. I use the recipe in the Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary Edition.

The small mortar and pestle from the set of three given to me by my sweet husband for my birthday. This was the first time I got to use it.

Once I needed whole cloves and ground cloves, so I just bought whole and decided to grind my own cloves. Here are cloves awaiting grinding.

Ground!

The pies ready to bake.

Delicious pie and a three year olds’ hair.

Friday Quicktakes for Sept. 21 & 28

I could not come up with enough last week so here are a few ones I wrote last week and some new:

1. A few weeks ago I was really excited about a water-birth for the current child in utero. Then I learned that the hospital has a policy of breaking the water before allowing the water-birth and that led to a train of thought that made me realize that I would rather do a land birth. There were too many factors that could prevent the water-birth from being allowed and I decided I do not need the stress of not knowing what I was going to do. The hospital otherwise has great natural birth policies and a really low rate of c-section. My favorite part of my last two deliveries was that my water did not break until pushing time. 3 weeks until full term, 6 weeks until due date, ? weeks until the baby is here.

2. I am no longer dreading the newborn phase. It helps that about a billion of my 550 facebook friends have been having newborns in August and September and posting pictures of them. I am getting eager to meet this little one, and am running out of clothes that fit. 

3. We successfully canned 12 jars of applesauce from a bushel of the apples we got on our picking excursion. Win.

4. How to make vanilla extract: Put vanilla beans in vodka for several months. It smells amazing. I am not in the habit of taking swigs of vanilla and I am pregnant so I am not sure how the raw flavor compares to that of store bought or Mexican vanilla.

5. A big stresser taken care of this week is the purchase of our “new” used minivan. Thoughts on driving it: I can see around corners better, over other cars better. Today was warm enough to use the moon roof and it was fun to do that. And I could roll down the driver side window! Our poor Chevy Lumina has been without that feature for about four years now. Three words: power sliding doors. I feel like I am driving in luxury. My parents never bought a car with “bells and whistles,” so it is all so new to me. Also, whoever owned it before us took great care to keep it looking nice. I hope we do as well.

6. Our Lumina is still in our possession. We are contemplating, when we buy a house, living further out of the city (as opposed to walking distance of campus) with at least a 1/2 acre of yard. That might fit better with the home school lifestyle of a large family. I might discuss that another time, but I also want to talk with friends who live further out of whatever town they live near and how they like the lifestyle. (Also, M has decided he wants to live on a lake and own a boat. This idea makes me fear for my children’s safety and if this happens we will get a very secure fence…)

7. Meet Blue Hubbard squash:

My husband fears it is actually an alien life form biding its time to capture us and do who knows what. This also involves it growing tentacles. My plans for it involve making pie. It is supposed to be delicious and according to the farmer at the market it is the main ingredient in the store bought canned pumpkin. I will definitely update on what happens to this squash.

Meatless Meals: Quinoa Tostados With Avocado Sauce

 In anticipation of Lent and because yesterday was Friday, here is the meal I made for dinner last night. And by last night I mean, I prepped the avocado sauce and the quinoa in the morning when the kids were playing, a chopped veggies during nap, and spent about 15 minutes finalizing it before dinner was served. I love when I get my act together and make dinner early (which is a rarity). Quinoa is supposed to be one of those “super foods.” It is a grain full of protein and takes 15 minutes of cooking and 10 minutes of soaking. You can add it to lots of different foods.

Here is the link to the recipe since there is no need to type it out if it is already explained so clearly:
http://www.cookingquinoa.net/quinoa-tostadas-with-avocado-sauce

I used sour cream instead of cashew cream, and basil instead of cilantro. We decided it would make a really good summer dish when all these vegetables can be found fresh and local. It was like fresh salsa. Even G. ate all of hers, and she loved the giant “cracker” bottom.

I plan on trying out some of the other quinoa recipes on the site since I have a box mostly full in my pantry.

P.S. Let me know if you want me to type up one of my other meatless recipes from last Lent.

French Onion Soup

In high school my best friend and I loved to go to St. Louis Bread Company (Panera Bread outside of St. Louis). She always got french onion soup and I always had the chicken noodle (my favorite soup as a child). My reasons for not trying french onion soup were the onions and the swiss cheese.

However, it is very difficult to not try foods I never liked as a child with my husband who will eat anything and wants me to try everything. So, I never avoid onions anymore and have learned to really enjoy them. Then I ventured had my first reuben sandwich and loved it. It had swiss cheese on it. I ventured to put swiss cheese in my lentil soup and loved it. I still do not prefer swiss alone, but when combined with super salty foods it is delicious!

So, a couple weeks ago at Bread Co. I tried their french onion soup…it was amazing. Then I decided to make my own…and here is what I did:

First, you saute onions in butter with thyme for about 15 minutes until then just start to get golden:


Then you cook them for a ridiculous amount of time on low covered until the onions are a rich brown color. Once they are brown add cognac or sherry and saute on high until the alcohol cooks off. Add stock and salt and pepper to taste; cook 20 more minutes or so.


Shred swiss and put in each bowl. Slice some french bread and add to the bowl.


Put finished soup on cheese and bread and enjoy.


YUM!!!!!!!! We had this with homemade reubens. I have to make this dinner again soon… 🙂

Spätzle

And now for some spätzle! I made this to serve with German Meatballs. The recipe was in The Joy of Cooking, which is just about the best cookbook that any homemaker could have for learning to cook new things. Here’s what G. and I did during L.’s nap one morning last week:

We made the dough:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tspn baking powder
3/4 tspn salt
pinch of nutmeg

mixed with:
2 large eggs
and 1/2 c. water or milk

Beaten until batter was “fairly elastic.”

G. loved to try to mix it. Here is some of the dough:

Then I pressed it through a steamer into boil chicken broth. They make presses or lids and scrapers for this sort of thing, but I don’t have one. The steamer worked well:

Then cooked it until it floated:Finally, used a ladle sized slotted spoon to put it in a bowl:Don’t forget; the toddler must try the finished result while the rest of the cooking it happening since it took about 6 batches to cook all the dough:

40 Dinners Without Meat

I do not want this to turn into a cooking blog, but my sister asked me to let her know of any good meatless dinners I come across as I make meatless dinners this Lent and I thought I’d share them here. I am not going to post every recipe, but give the basics of the dinner I made and if you want the recipe email or comment and I will do my best to get it to you in a timely manner.

I actually do not have 40 meals total, since many nights ended up with leftovers and we may or may not have eaten at home every night:

1. Ash Wednesday-Lentil Soup, bread, and a green salad-the soup had carrots, lentils, onions, tomatoes, vegetable stock broth, and some sherry. Very penitential and much tastier if served with swiss. We had a green salad every day with spinach to keep iron in our diet.

2. Bean Burritos and a green salad-not very creative but easy if you buy the canned beans.

3. Garden Minestrone, homemade freezer biscuits, and a green salad-A minestrone with spinach and zucchini among other veggies and lots of beans! It was so full of protein I did not even miss not having meat! And these biscuits are great! I usually make a double recipe, and you freeze them and pull out and bake as many as you need! Each adult is usually satisfied with just one; since they are as hearty as the kind you can buy at the grocery store from a can or frozen.

4. Channa Masala, white rice, freezer biscuits, and a green salad-Masala is a combination of spices used in Indian food; in addition to garam masala, this dish also contained cumin, turmeric, and coriander cooked with butter and onions and added to a base of chick peas an chicken stock (I used vegetable stock in the Lenten version). This is served over rice. It could be used as a main dish or side depending on what kind of meal you are going for.

5. Pesto Pizza with Tomatoes and Spinach (and garlic for the husband) and a green salad-I buy the pre-made pesto from the olive bar at Wegmans since I only need about $1 worth of it and pesto takes time and energy and basil that I usually do not have while making pizza. I have a wonderful bread-maker pizza dough which I spread with pesto and then add the toppings. Mark wanted whole garlic cloves on his pizza, so he had his own half. I used mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. I think it turns out restaurant quality–if only we had a better oven!

6. Falafel, Pitas, Hummus, and a green salad– I confess that I use a mix for my falafel, grinding soaked but not cooked beans into tiny bits in the blender is not my cup of tea (Hence why I need a food processor). But the mix I found is amazing and just the right amount of spiciness. I do fry my own falafel and sometimes make my own pitas. This time I bought pitas and hummus. The falafel is to be eaten in pita pockets (or rolled up in one) with hummus and other sides. I like to mix garlic powder with sour cream. Pickles are particularly appetizing in this wrap or just plain old cucumber.

7. Spinach Lasagna Roll-ups, biscuits, and green salad-A recipe from my wonderful mother made with cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, cooked spinach, and nutmeg all rolled up in cooked lasagna noodles and baked in marinara sauce. Yum yum yummy!

8. Fish Sticks, Oven-Fried potato chips, and green salad-Frozen store bought fish sticks, easy! The potatos take time; peel, slice super thin, rinse, pat dry, toss in oil and spices, bake for about 20 min. We needed two tray-fulls. I kept them warm in the toaster oven while the fish cooked.

9. French Toast and Baked Apples-Breakfast for dinner! But it was soooo good. Baked apples are so easy; peel, chop, cover in juice, sugar, and butter and bake!

10. Oven-Roasted Chickpeas, Pasta with butter, garlic, and parmesan, green salad– We have had this one a lot before; it is pretty easy and if you cook the chickpeas in oil and garli long enough they are crispy and flavorful. This meal is an attempt to get protein and iron into the lenten meals.

11. Annunciation Dinner- Fish Sticks, Skoralia, and green salad- A traditional Annunciation dinner consists of dried salt cod battered and fried (hence the fish sticks) and mashed potatoes with olive oil, lemon juice, and scallions (instead of milk and butter). They were delicious and I was told to make them again.

12. Vegetarian Steamed Dumplings, green salad, biscuits- My first experience of cooking with tofu, and I think I will again. It takes on the flavor of what you cook with. These were chopped vegetables, tofu, hoisin and soy sauces wrapped in wonton wrappers and steamed. The steaming was incredibly easy, but the preparation took a lot of time. I had leftover filling, that I put in a frying pan with butter, frying it for a few minutes and then added some beaten eggs. This was also delicious!

13. Tilapia with lemon butter, oven-fried potato chips, and green salad– I sprayed the tilapia with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper and cooked it at 500°F for 7 minutes. The potato chips were the same as above. This is a really tasty and easy way to cook fish fillets!

14. Macaroni and Cheese, green salad, steamed broccoli-Your standard Macaroni and Cheese made with monterary jack and chedder cheeses, thickened in a flour, butter, and milk sauce and baked until the au gratin of crushed rice krispies and melted butter browned. I used to make real bread crumbs, but I like the crunchy toppings better. This recipe was enough for two dinners! 🙂

15. Lentil-Barley Stew (which actually was Great Northern Bean-Brown Rice stew), biscuits, and green salad– I was going to make the stew with lentils and rice, when I discovered that I had no lentils. After a quick panicked call to my sister while the celery and onions were already cooking in butter, we decided my beans would be a good substitute and they were! Mark liked it a lot, and he is not a big fan of rice or white beans. This also had tomatoes and shredded carrots.

16. Cheese and Spinach Quiche and green saladHomemade pie crust, and quiche filling. I did not whip the eggs enough; but deflated quiche still tastes like quiche. I will make this again and do it properly. I used to not like swiss cheese, but lately I have discovered that I like it in other things such as reubens, lentil soup and quiche. The next thing I want to try it in is French Onion Soup.

17. Garden Minestrone in bread bowls and green salad-I made the bread bowl dough in my bread maker. I am not satisfied with the bread we get in our bread maker. It is always way drier and not as soft as I would like it to be even when I add an egg with the water measurements. Not sure what to do here. The soup was saved in the freezer from when I made it earlier.

18. Tilapia seasoned with dill, boiled and seasoned potatoes, green salad, green beans- I cooked the tilapia the same way as above, except added dill to the spices. The potatoes were small red potatoes boiled with the skin on; after draining I heated them in melted butter and added salt and pepper and dill “to taste.” I am actually having cravings for fish (at least the plain white ones); which is either a sign that I have gone insane, need more protein in my life, or am becoming more like my husband and less like my father (who hates all seafood). This meal was so pretty on my plate I should have taken a picture. It was also very yummy!

19. Minestrone soup, homemade bread, and green salad- This was a soup I made a few months back and froze the extras. It is a recipe I got from my mother, with shredded cabbage, carrots, celery, tomatoes, beef stock base, kidney and navy beans, peas, green beans, and macaroni noodles. This soup makes you feel healthy while you eat it. And it is best served with freshly shredded parmesan.

20. Stir-fry vegetabes in teriyaki sauce, rice, biscuits, green salad– This was a lot of fun to make, steaming broccoli, chopping mushrooms, carrots, green onions and prepping snow peas; stir-frying them all together and finishing them off with a bit of teriyaki sauce. Served them over rice with extra sauce. It was yum!

Meals I have not made yet this Lent but plan too:

21. Syrian Lentils on Pasta– I have made this before. Lentils, onions, tomatoes, and cumin cooked and in a medium thick sauce over pasta.

22. Anchovy Pizza and Tomato and Spinach Pizza– My husband likes anchovy pizza. Don’t ask me why. It comes in little cans in oil, near tuna, in the grocery store. I will make this with a red sauce and use my yummy breadmaker dough. I will not eat the anchovies… G. might.

23. Two Bean Tamale Pie-I have not made this before, but it has tomatoes, beans, spices in the bottom half and a crust on top consisting of cornmeal, cheese and milk. I am excited to try it.

24. Alfredo Sauce and Broccoli on Pasta– There is a dish common in St. Louis called Pasta con Broccoli. I found a recipe online that we could barely eat it was so rich. So this alfredo sauce looks less rich, but just as creamy. I am going to give it a shot. We will see.

That is all I have planned and done so far. I need a few more recipes to get us through the rest of Lent. I have done a few repeats and we have done a few Friday Fish Fries. That is why you don’t get 40.

My Dream Kitchen

While talking to some other mom’s about cooking a few weeks ago, I admitted that if I would love to have someone watch my kids for me so that I could focus on cooking dinner every night. I really like to cook, and I like to cook nice meals and I want to learn to cook even better meals. I have also been day dreaming about what I would love in a kitchen. Maybe one day I will actually have counter space. I think a dream kitchen is not too much to ask for, especially if we have as many kids as we talk about having.

The Elements:

1) Children old enough to wash the dishes.
2) Children old enough to watch the younger ones while I cook.
3) Lots of counter space and an island to work on.
4) A six burner gas stove. I have only used gas at my mother-in-laws, but I know it is superior when it comes to cooking good food and want to learn how to use one.
5) Two ovens. I have seen kitchens with this feature and I love it. I guess having a toaster oven is kind of like this, but two full size would be wonderful!
6) A warmer drawer; my sister has one and it is so convenient! (I am taking a lot of things from my sister’s kitchen.)
7) A large two basin sink.
8) A large dishwasher.
9) Ample cupboard space.
10) A walk-in pantry.
11) A deep freeze.

Cooking appliances and accessories:
1) Kitchen-aid pasta flattener attachment.
2) Food processor that is easy to clean.
3) So glad to finally have a double boiler!
4) Round biscuit cutter; I am not sure why I do not have one of these yet.

I am sure there is more, and I don’t think this is too much to ask. 🙂