blatant random silliness

Day 1: Saying goodbye to Dayton and hello to Chicago

 Dylan and two of his best buds, Jax and Mary-Clare

 MC cuddled up next to Dylan and then played hard to get when it came time for goodbye smooches.

After staying with our good friends Mary, Steve and Mary-Clare all week long, it was hard to say goodbye this morning.  Dylan was so comfortable at their house that he didn't ask to "go home" at all.  Sweet boy.  He had so much fun at Mary's house!  I don't know that he quite understands that this goodbye is different than other goodbyes.  It will probably be a long time before we see our Dayton friends again.  I'm so thankful for being able to keep in touch via Facebook and free long distance on cellphones.  It makes it so much easier to stay in touch when we move.  

This morning was spent packing up and getting the car ready for the start of our road trip.  After saying our goodbyes and making a couple of maintenance stops (gas and tire check, and of course Starbucks) we hit the open road on the way to Chicago.

 I bought this brown bear for Dylan and when Denny saw it he immediately made it our official "road trip to Alaska" mascot. He is riding proudly on the dashboard all the way to Alaska (or until Dylan spots him and wants to hold the brown bear. And I have a feeling after that he's gonna want a red bird, a yellow duck, a blue horse, a purple cat, a white dog, a black sheep and goldfish and a teacher. (if you don't get this, you may not have kids or have never read the book "brown bear, brown bear")

Despite Dylan's runny nose (that of course started yesterday), he was mostly a happy little traveller.  We crossed the state line into Indiana and our first stop was to see the giant candle just off the highway.  It was the Warm Glow Candle Outlet in Centerville, Indiana and served a triple purpose–bathroom break, sandwich making stop, and kitschy photo opportunity next to the really big candle.  Plus they had a koi pond!  

 Dylan and Denny sitting on the bench at the base of the really freakin large candle.

 The bathroom at the Warm Glow Candle Outlet.  Really, really cool as was the whole store.  Too bad it was really crowded or I might have wanted to look around more.  

 Denny and Dylan enjoying the koi pond. Taken with my iphone (as were a lot of these). I will get out big nice camera tomorrow, I promise (because this would have been so lovely dslr).

 One of Denny's favorite things today were the windmills in Indiana. There were lots and lots of these along the highway and as far as the eye could see.

Other than stopping for gas (and snacks - cheese, crackers and salami), and crossing into Illinois, the rest of our trip was fairly uneventful.  We checked into our hotel (The Marriott Oak Brook Hills Resort) where I got a special "romance package" that included champagne, truffles and free breakfast for only $10 more than the regular room price and searched for a nearby pizza place so that we could sample some Chicago pizza.  We ordered a "stuffed pizza" from Giordano's.  What a creation.  First, the aroma that came from the pizza box was heavenly.  The crust is flaky and layered, almost like a pie crust.  Then comes the meat, we ordered pepperoni and sausage.  There wasn't too much of it, (like the famed disk of sausage from another Chicago pizzeria, Gino's).  On top of the meat is a thick gooey layer of cheese and that is topped with their special tomato sauce.  The whole thing was just ridiculously good.

Yum! Too bad leftovers aren't really practical on a road trip. Although early morning cold pizza wouldn't be terrible :).

And now, as my husband says "it's 10:30 to our bodies".  This never fails to make me laugh.  I see time zones differently than he does...I want to adjust immediately and forget what time it is to my body.  And he will remember what time it is to his body for a week.  Good thing we are taking our time flitting from time zone to time zone then isn't it?

Tomorrow I have my fingers crossed for no rain so that we can visit the Lincoln Park Zoo.  Here's hoping!

my new food blog

I decided  this week that I'd really like to post more about what we are cooking and eating, mostly so I can keep track of what was good and what wasn't and what I can do better next time.  I also want to make notes of what Dylan liked and what he didn't (or what he didn't even touch).  So for those of you who like when I post about food, you can click on the "What do you want to eat?" button to the right.

Here's an excerpt from my food blog that goes with the photo above: 

For over a month now, we've been getting a box of fresh vegetables every week through a local farm's Community Shared Agriculture program.  The first few weeks were mostly a lettuce mix and mescalune with some radishes thrown in.  We also have been getting fresh mint every week.  One week we got asparagus.  The past couple of weeks have been more interesting though.  We've had kohlrabi (for the first time ever), garlic tops, rainbow Swiss chard, baby kale, and english shelling peas. And last week in addition to the mint we got a large bunch of fresh basil.

I decided it was time to do something with the peas Sunday evening and pulled out the peas to start shelling.  Dylan decided he wanted to help.  And it turns out shelling peas is a great toddler activity.  It went slowly at first because I had to hold the pea pod for him (he had a plastic tomato in one hand), but once he set his tomato down, he just needed me to open the pods and he dumped them into the bowl, said "all done" and handed me the empty shell.  [Read the rest of this post]

roast chicken

I made this roasted chicken a while ago.  I found a La Creuset pot on sale at Williams Sonoma...it was about 50% of the regular cost which is an excellent deal.  So, I went back and picked it up.  To inaugurate it, I decided to roast a chicken in it.  I searched out recipes and ended up combining a few.  If I remember correctly, I stuffed the cavity with an onion, a lemon, garlic and fresh rosemary and thyme.  I made an herbed butter and rubbed in under the skin and on top of the skin. 

It turned out beautiful and quite tasty.  I haven't done one since then, but maybe will have to again soon.  The pot meanwhile is lovely for soup making.

curry lentil soup with kale and sausage

I need to take a new photo of this one.

There is nothing better than a big pot of soup in the wintertime. I first made this soup several months ago so that we could introduce lentils to Dylan. My first version didn't have the sausage and kale, two additions that I think really make the soup extra tasty (and nutritious). Dylan really liked his portion (I took out some before adding extra spice and salt and pepper), so I've made it a couple of times since. I love the recipe that has evolved and made sure I wrote it down so that I could share it with you (this is one that I usually just throw together without really measuring anything).

Curry Lentil Soup with Kale and Sausage

Olive oil
1 lb sausage (I use Hilshire Farms Turkey Smoked Sausage)
1/2 onion, diced
2 leeks, diced (I made this soup recently and forgot about the leeks..used a whole onion instead...just as good)
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1 tsp. garam masala
1 tbsp. curry powder
1 dash hot curry powder (you can increase this if you like heat..I'm a wuss, so I don't use a lot at all)
1/2 tsp. cinammon
4 cups of chicken broth
4 cups water
1 lb lentils
1 bay leaf
1 bunch of kale, chopped
1 lb sausage (I use Hilshire Farms Turkey Smoked Sausage)
salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Brown the sausage in the bottom of the pan. Remove from pan and set aside. Add a little more olive oil. Add in onion, leeks, carrots and garlic. Add seasonings. Sauté until veggies soften a bit, then add lentils. Stir around and pour in the chicken broth and water. Add in the bay leaf. Bring to a boil and simmer (covered) for 30-40 minutes until lentils are tender. Put kale on top of soup and cover. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes until kale is bright green. Stir the kale into the soup and add the sausage in to heat through. Take a taste and add salt and pepper and more seasonings as needed. Enjoy!

This soup freezes well (although you may need to add a little extra liquid when reconstituting). If making for a baby, leave out salt and pepper and cut the spices in half until you remove their portion. For a younger baby, I would pureé the soup. For an older baby you can pureé some and leave some whole, then mix together for a nice texture.

Serve with some nice crusty Italian bread, toasted under the broiler, rubbed with garlic and topped with butter. Use this as your spoon!

i know Christmas was last week but....

...I have to share this lovely Japanese Christmas cake with you.  Chiemi and Kevin brought over a couple of these miniature cakes for Christmas Eve.  They were quite yummy.  I'd love to know what goes in the frosting.  Unlike American frosting (which is basically just sugar), this frosting has a yummy flavor (that isn't sugar).

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pumpkin pie

I have been meaning to post about Thanksgiving for awhile now, and here it is almost Christmas and I'm finally doing it *grin*.  For Thanksgiving, we went over to our friends Cheimi and Kevin's apartment.  I made my Mom's Butternut Squash Souffle, Mom's Stuffing, and a new take on Pumpkin Pie.  Kevin made a delicious turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and green bean casserole.  Everything was delicious and even though we didn't cook the turkey, we still got to take home leftovers.  Dylan really enjoyed playing with their dog Pepper for a little while and really didn't want to eat the turkey.  However, the next day, he tried the turkey and seemed to like it.

The Pumpkin Pie recipe that I used is actually for a Pumpkin Soufflé from my friend Crucibel from Puerto Rico.  She brought the Pumpkin Soufflé (known as Soufflé de la Calabaza) to a potluck and it was so good that I knew it would taste good as pie filling.  So, I made my crust and used her recipe for the filling.  It made enough for two pies and they were sooo good!

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Pumpkin Souffle (souffle De Calabaza)
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Recipe By: Crucibel Rivera (actually from her grandmother)
Serving Size: 1 soufflé or 2 pies

1 stick of butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 lb. pumpkin (or 2 cans of pumpkin purée)
1 pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients together (I like to put all the dry ingredients through a colander before)
After that put all the mixture in a blender as a result you'll have a smooth dessert.

[If using a mixer:  Cream the butter and the sugar, then add the eggs one at a time.  Add flavorings and the flour.  Then add the coconut milk and pumpkin. Mix until blended and smooth]

Pour into two pie crusts, or into a casserole dish. Put in the preheated oven at 325º for abut 35 minutes or until a knife or a toothpick comes out clean. [Mine took a little longer to cook, the original recipe said 1 hour, but oven temperatures vary].

ham and cheese corn muffins

Last week, we had a potluck after playgroup.  Denny was out of town and I hadn't gone to the store in a few days.  Conveniently, I forgot about the potluck until the night before after Dylan went to bed.  So, I looked in my cupboard for inspiration.  I found two boxes of corn muffin mix and remembered I had ham in the freezer leftover from a holiday party.  And voila, these yummy ham and cheese corn muffins were born.

Mix up the corn muffin mix following the directions on the package.  Mix in a handful or two of chopped ham, grated cheddar cheese, and canned corn (frozen would work just fine too).  I also added some Herbs d' Provence.  Scoop into muffin tins, about 2/3 full then top with more grated cheese.  Bake according to the package.  They turned out nice and flavorful with a chewy cheesy crust on top. 

cinnamon crescent rolls

I whipped these up a couple of weeks ago when I last hosted playgroup. I needed a snack and had crescent roll dough in the fridge.  So, I laid out the rolls, spread on some butter and sprinkled generously with cinnamon and sugar.  I rolled them up and sprinkled on some more cinnamon and sugar.  Once they were cooked, I let them cool and then drizzled on a thin glaze made with powdered sugar, cinnamon and water. They turned out delicious...a nice substitute for real cinnamon rolls.

pumpkin-apple butter

With fall upon us, I've been cooking more "autumnal" fare.  (Denny really likes to say the word "autumnal" this time of year).  I was remembering back to when my Mom made a big batch of pumpkin butter and how yummy it was.  I wanted to make some of my own, but I don't have her recipe...so I did a google search and turned up with all sorts of recipes, most of which called for more sugar than pumpkin.  I stumbled across a website called Fat Free Vegan Kitchen and the recipe for Pumpkin Apple Butter, that used raisins, apple juice and applesauce to help sweeten the mix.  It turned out sooo delicious that I had to share.  It truly tastes like pumpkin pie on toast.  Enjoy!

Click here for the Pumpkin Apple Butter Recipe at Fat Free Vegan Kitchen.

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ginger pork with stir fry veggies and brown rice

Last week I stumbled across a delicious looking recipe for gingered pork in my Japanese Home Cooking cookbook.  I haven't really cooked anything out of this book since I've had it (and I don't remember when I bought it) and am so glad I finally did.  The pork was delicious paired with the stir fried veggies and brown rice.  The only recipe I really stuck with was the one for the pork.  I improvised a bit on the veggies and served over brown rice instead of sushi rice. 

I started the brown rice first, as it takes awhile to cook.  I used 2 cups of rice (so I'd have leftovers for fried rice the next day), 2 cups of water, and 2 cups of chicken broth.  I then added a couple of whole cracked cloves of garlic and a few slices of ginger to add some flavor.

For the veggies, I found a stir fry recipe in the cookbook.  However, it called for bell peppers, cabbage and bean sprouts and I had snow peas, carrots and broccoli.  However, the sauce worked for me and would probably work with any combo of veggies you like.  The sauce is 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of instant dashi and 1 tablespoon of mirin.  I just added this after stir frying (and steaming) the veggies for a bit.  It really added a nice flavor.

Ginger Pork
(buta no shogayaki)
From Japanese Home Cooking by Shunsuke Fukushima

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon mirin
2 tablespoons chicken stock or water
1 lb pork fillet, trimmed of sinew, cut into slices 1/2 inch thick (I used a pork tenderloin, sliced)
1/2 cup peeled and finely grated ginger
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 scallions (shallots/spring onions), thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, for garnish

In a small saucepan over medium-high-heat, combine sugar, soy sauce, mirin and stock or water and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove sauce from heat and set aside.

Dip both sides of each pork slice into grated ginger. Reserve any leftover ginger. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add pork and fry, turning once until pork is no longer pink, 3-4 minutes. Add sauce to pan with any remaining grated ginger and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 minute. Remove pork from pan and divide among 4 warmed plates. Spoon any remaining sauce from pan over slices. Garnish with sliced scallions and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve immediately.  (serves 4)