The Big Freezer Stock Up - Round 2

I mentioned that I have a chest freezer almost bursting in the basement. I'm pretty excited. Pear's arrival is sneaking closer and closer, and the Girl Scout in me needs to be prepared on all fronts. Food is obviously the most important thing to prep, since everything else (nursery decor, new clothes, sleep) is really just icing on the cake. Fun icing, but not really essential in the end. Food, though? Absolutely essential. 

I am so blessed to have a crew of incredible mamas who are doing a Meal Train for us in the first weeks after Pear's birth, but after that, I still don't want to have to cook. My hope is to go a full month without having to make anything more complicated than a sandwich. To that end, I have been stockpiling, batch cooking, and freezing like mad. The last few freezer parties I had were great fun, and the lists and recipes for those are wonderful (and can be found here), but this time it was easier to just do the prep on my own. I stretched it out over a few weeks and just cooked when I had time, or when Jude took a really long nap. I also added some breakfasts to the usual dinner freezer prep, because nothing is worse than a hangry nursing mama with a newbie to deal with. 

Since I didn't actually plan a party, I don't have a full shopping list or printable labels for you at the moment. I may get around to it, I may not. Depends on this girl and her time table:) In the meantime, here is a grand list of recipes for all of the things I have stocked up for the next month! Hopefully you can find a little inspiration here to get you stocking up for September and the dreaded beginning of school!

Breakfast:

Chocolate Chip Pancakes - Made with Martha's Best Buttermilk recipe and a few chips tossed in!

Strawberry Banana Muffins - This recipe is great, and freezes well. I did substitute whole wheat flour for white, so I increase the yogurt by 1/2 a cup.

Wild Goose Inn Muffins

Steel Cut Oats with Dried Fruit and Nuts

Lunch/Dinner:

Oven Baked Fajitas - I froze these in large aluminum pans with the plastic tops. Double wrap the pan with foil, add a package of shredded cheese and a package of fajitas on top with your note for baking info, and pop the plastic top over it all. That way your full meal is ready to go when you pull it from the freezer. No hunting for ingredients!

Enchiladas - No you don't need to make your own sauce, but it is worth it if you have time!

Beef Chili - I really like this Emeril recipe. It has chocolate and beer in it. No brainer!

Meat Lovers Lasagna - I make it different every time, but here's a good recipe for it!

Honey Dijon Curried Chicken - This is a new one for me, so I don't have a review yet. I added a sliced onion and peppers to each pan with the chicken, and plan to serve it over rice. it sounds delish, so here's hoping since I prepped three pans full!

Fish Cakes with Corn and Cilantro - I made these a few weeks ago and Jude loved them! I add a handful of finely chopped cilantro and some cayenne to the mix and they froze up beautifully!

French Fried Onion Chicken Fingers - I changed this recipe up a lot as well, but the onion in the breading is key! Dip and bread your fingers, line them on a baking sheet ad freeze. Once they are frozen solid, toss them in a big ziploc bag for safekeeping and you can pull out a few at a time to bake!

BBQ Pulled Pork - I did a huge pork shoulder in the crock pot, served up half for dinner and froze the rest. This makes great fare for sandwiches, pizza, nachos, anything! It may not be a full meal in one pan, but it is still a good time saver! I love this recipe from Slow Cooker Revolution. Hands down the best slow cooker cook book ever, by the way!

Peach Pie FTW!

We have about 3 weeks until the arrival of Baby Pear, and this house is in full nesting swing. The nursery is almost completed, the freezer is almost fully stocked with meals, and we have just enough time to squeeze in some more family summer fun before she arrives. Today's adventure was the Peach Festival at our favorite summer market: Ramsey Farmer's Market.

Of course, because I'm a maniac, I decided this morning to bake a peach pie for the contest they were hosting. I've never made a peach pie before, Actually, I've never made a pie before! My grandmother makes the world's best pies, so I have never felt the need to bake my own. But there I was, a huge bag of peaches on the kitchen counter and a few hours to fill before market opening, so a pie I made. I used the crust recipe my mom swears by, and modified my peach cobbler filling a bit (since I am out of bourbon, the shame!). Of course, my peaches felt a touch under-ripe to me, so I blanched them a bit longer than usual and ended up freaking out that I had overcooked them. Then Jude started climbing on me, I spilled a bunch of cream on the floor, we had a matchbox car emergency, and in the end, the pie came out of the oven at 11:45, 15 minutes before I had to enter it in the contest. I didn't have high hopes, though it did look pretty! I had to carry the hot as lava pie plate at a full preggo clip through the crammed market, but thankfully the judges were all late. I was all nervous to see one of the judges was Produce Pete, so I assumed he'd be a tough judge and figured, whatever, at least I'll have pie to stuff in my face later. To my surprise, about half an hour later they announced the winner and it was me! Sweet! Apparently the winners from a bunch of markets have to compete in a regional contest for a big prize, but that takes place in September, a few weeks after Miss Pear's due date. Methinks I will have to pass, but you never know. If preggo hormones inspired me to bake today, nursing hormones may inspire me to do it again!

Prize Winning Brown Sugar Peach Pie
Ingredients:

Crust:
3 cups AP flour
2 Tbls granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
2 sticks plus 2 Tbls. chilled butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 Tbls white vinegar
1/2 cup ice water (you likely won't need it all)

Filling:
8 cups peaches, peeled and sliced
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbls. cornstarch

Topping:
2 Tbls heavy cream
raw sugar


Preparation:
In the bowl of your food processor, pulse flour, salt and sugar to combine. Add chilled butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add vinegar and 8 Tbls. of the ice water and pulse until just combined. If the dough is too dry, add more ice water by the teaspoon and pulse quickly until the dough begins to come together. This happens fast and you don't want to add too much water or overwork the dough, so be careful! Turn dough out onto your work surface and gently shape into a mound. Cut the mound into two pieces, press each into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Prepare the peach filling. In a large bowl, toss peaches with brown sugar, nutmeg, vanilla, and cornstarch. Set aside.

Once the dough is fully chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove one disc of dough and roll out on a floured surface. Place dough into a pie plate, fill the shell with foil and pie weights or dried beans and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and beans/weights and allow to cool.

Using a slotted spoon, spoon peaches into bottom crust. Discard excess juices. Remove second disc of dough from the refrigerator and roll onto a floured surface. Cut into 1/2 inch strips. The quick cheat way to make the lattice top is to simply layer 6 stripes across the pie horizontally, about 1/2 inch apart, then lay the other strips on top of them going vertically. If you'd like it to be fancy and official, you can weave them ala Martha. Press your strips gently to adhere to the bottom crust and trim any overhang. Brush lattice top with heavy cream and sprinkle with raw sugar. Place in the oven for 30 minutes. If your pie is beginning to bubble over, slide a cookie sheet underneath to catch any drips! Cover loosely with foil if the crust is beginning to over brown and bake another 20 minutes until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown.

He wouldn't stop chewing for a second, not even to smile. I guess it was good!

So yeah, guess what?

30 weeks seems like long enough to post our official announcement... The Bean family is expecting another little sprout in September! 

To celebrate this big event, I'm hosting a little contest!

Jude immediately gave his baby sister a nickname, one that is sure to stick. If you can guess it, you will be entered to win a full set of personalized plantable note cards! Just type your guess into the comments below and I will announce a winner next Wednesday, July 2nd! You get an extra entry if you like my page and "Share" this post on Facebook, just leave a second comment saying you did so.

Hint: It's a fruity name;) And no fair entering if you already know the answer, friends!

The "It's Not Really a Cookie, But Almost" Bar

The boy and I are completely obsessed with Larabars. It all began back when I was first pregnant with Jude and I was looking for a snack that was good on the go and packed a protein punch. I discovered the Cherry Pie Larabars and was done for. It wasn't until I began making baby food for him that I realized I could make my own, and later whipped up the Baby Truffles version for his little fingers. Time went by, I got lazy, I forgot about Larabars. Then I got knocked up again and realized it is a pretty good time to start looking closely at what I'm putting in my mouth. 

Since Larabars are almost never on sale and the jumbo packs on Amazon don't have all the yummy flavors in them, I have had to go back to making my own. And you know what? I like them so much more! They take literally minutes to make, and you can use absolutely any combo of dried fruits and nuts. Jude still loves the PB&J and Pina Colada flavors, but now Oatmeal Cookie is my favorite. It's sweet, but not too sweet, and gives us both enough energy to make it through a full morning of art class, playtime, and Morrisey-esque meltdown drama (because toddlers). Keep them in the fridge for up to two weeks, but they likely won't last that long!

Oatmeal Cookie Fruit and Nut Bars

makes 8 bars

Ingredients:

10 oz. walnuts

10 oz. raisins

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preparation:

Pour raisins into a shallow bowl. Pour enough boiling water into the bowl to just cover the raisins. Set aside for 10 minutes to re-hydrate. Line a jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with a full sheet of wax paper. Drain the raisins and squeeze out any excess water (you want them plump and moist, but not drowning).

Add raisins, walnuts, oats, cinnamon and vanilla to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until combined and a ball begins to form. If the mixture looks wet and very sticky, add a bit more oats and pulse again. Turn the mixture out into one end of  the prepared pan. Fold the wax paper up and over the mixture and press it down into the ends and corners of one half of the pan, until you have a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Slice into bars and refrigerate up to two weeks wrapped in wax paper.

Sweet Indulgences

I made the mistake of making a Tres Leches Cake for a belated Cinco de Mayo celebration dinner with some hot mama friends. It was really only a mistake because the cake was so incredibly delicious that everyone wanted to take pieces home to their husbands, and there wasn't enough for me to eat for breakfast the next day. I should have made two. 

Tres Leches Cake is one of the simplest and most delicious little sweet things on Earth. If you haven't ever made it, I highly recommend you do so immediately. I really like the recipe from Pioneer Woman, which you can find here. The problem with any recipe for Tres Leches Cake is that you always end up with extra sweet cream. Sometimes a lot of extra sweet cream. And what would any sane person do with extra sweet cream? Why, make ice cream of course. Luckily, I not only had plenty of extra sweet cream, I also had extra cake. 

Some would argue there is no such thing as extra cake. I just happened to have baked a ton of vanilla layer cake for a cake pop order, and a full layer was wrapped and waiting for its destiny to unfold. Its destiny was to be crumbled by my adept little fingers into a bowl of frosty sweet cream, along with a swirl of dulce de leche, and a cherry on top. Good Heavens.

Tres Leches Cake Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Enough heavy cream to equal 2 2/3 cups liquid

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup vanilla cake, crumbled

1 can sweetened condensed milk for cooking or 1 can dulce de leche

In a large liquid measuring cup (at least 3 cups), whisk evaporated milk and one can sweetened condensed milk until well combined. Add vanilla and enough heavy cream to make 2 2/3 cup liquid. Stir to combine and set aside in the refrigerator.

Skip this step if using prepared dulce de leche! To make your own dulce de leche, peel the label from the second can of sweetened condensed milk. Using a can opener, pop two small holes at opposite sides of the top of the can (as if you were going to pour it out). Place the can holes up in a small pot and fill with water so that about one inch of the can is above the water line. Heat over medium high heat until simmering. Keep the water at a low simmer for three hours, checking to be sure the water is at or about one inch from the top of the can the entire time. You may need to add water occasionally. After about three hours, your dulce de leche will be soft set, perfect for this ice cream. Remove the can with a pair of tongs at set it aside to cool. Once cool, open the can, pour it into a bowl and whisk to combine.

When you are all set up to make the ice cream, remove the cream mixture from the refrigerator. Process according to your ice cream makers instructions. For the Kitchen Aid mixer attachment, that means turning the speed to the lowest setting, pouring in the cream, and mixing for 20-25 minutes. Once your ice cream is soft set, Remove the bowl and gently fold in both cake crumbles and dulce de leche. You want to see swirls in the ice cream, you do not want it fully incorporated. Alternately, you can spoon 1/3 of the ice cream into a freezer safe container, top with a sprinkle of cake crumbs and 1/3 dulce de leche, repeating layers. That's just up to you! Store in the freezer for at least an hour before serving to allow the ice cream to set up completely. You'll want to eat this up within a week, as homemade ice cream tends to crystallize a touch if left too long, but I don't think that will be a problem for you. It certainly wasn't for me!

A Sprinkle and a Strawberry Cream Cake

My next door neighbor and awesome friend K is expecting her baby girl any second now. Another friend and I put together a little baby sprinkle for her to celebrate and to make sure her little lady is fully adorned in pinky-pink goodness. She has a little boy already, so the dudes outnumber her, but not for long. Any baby shower or sprinkle is really just an excuse to sit around and gossip, but remember, a party without cake is just a meeting. This cake is a stunner if I do say so myself, and not just because it is pretty. This was the first time I actually decorated a cake with roses, and though it is a bit sloppy, I love the way it turned out! I underestimated how much frosting I would need, so you'll notice that the top layer has two shades of roses. I had to whip up a last minute extra batch and it didn't have time to set up before I needed to finish decorating! As pretty as this cake ended up looking, it is really the flavor that matters! I love strawberry cream cake, but I was worried about it becoming soggy since I had to put it together the night before. I decided to try using stabilized whipped cream as the filling and hoped for the best. It was perfect! It kept the cake moist, but prevented the fresh berries from making it wet. The combination of the light cake and the fresh berries and cream is so perfect for a shower, and the frosting is delicious (albeit a bit on the "whoa there" side for my personal taste. Those roses make for a LOT of frosting on each slice.). 

I see myself making this one again and again!

Strawberry Cream Ombre Layer Cake

Cake:

3 cups Jiffy Baking mix

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs at room temperature

4 Tbls. vegetable oil

1 1/3 cups milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Frosting:

2 cups vegetable shortening

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 lbs. powdered sugar

1/4 - 1/2 cup milk

Filling:

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. gelatin 

4 tsp. very cold water

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8 inch cake pans (I also add a parchment paper circle to the bottoms, just in case!)

For cake: 

Sift together dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients. Beat wet into dry until just combined and pour into prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is just golden. Drape a clean kitchen towel over cakes and alow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Tip cakes out onto a rack to cool completely, then slice each into two layers. (Not feeling too confident in your cake layer cutting skills? Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nipmRVMfXWg)

For frosting:

Beat shortening and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and 1 cup sugar and beat until combined. Continue beating and adding 1 cup sugar, alternating with a drizzle of milk, until desired sweetness and consistency is reached. (*Note: I usually find that I don't need all of the sugar!) If you want to create an ombre cake, you'll want to divide this frosting into three equal parts. Tint each one with natural dye (like beet juice) or food coloring, making each batch just a shade darker than the one before.

For filling: 

Whisk water and gelatin in a small pan until combined and let sit until thickened. Place pan on the stove top over medium heat and stir, cooking until dissolved. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat cream until slightly thick. Continue beating and add vanilla. Gradually add sugar and then gelatin, beating until peaks form. 

To assemble/decorate:

Smear about a tsp. of frosting on your plate or cake circle and top it with a layer of cake. That's your glue:)

Cover the cake with a layer of whipped cream, then a layer of berries, and top with whipped cream.

Place a cake layer on top and repeat, ending with the last cake layer. If you'll be doing ombre rosettes or any other fancy decorating, you'll want to do a crumb coat. Just a quick skim coat around the entire cake to cover it and prevent any crumbs from getting into your final beautiful product! Pop the cake into the fridge to set for about an hour, but as long as overnight if you cover it in an airtight container. To create those lovely ombre roses, this video is a nice little tutorial! http://iambaker.net/patriotic-rose-cake-video-tutorial/
You'll see that I used my ombre dyed frostings for my crumb coat, too. See how sloppy it really is? No big deal! Once this is chilled all of the brumbs will stay put and your little roses can stand out. It was way easier than I thought it would be, but I know my next cake will look even better!

Sprin-ter?

It snowed last night.

I know, it was only a dusting here, while some of you got actual inches of accumulation, so I shouldn't complain. But come on. I left Michigan for several reasons, one of the biggest being that I hate the winter. And here it is mid April, and there is frigging snow falling. My body is so confused by this weather that I have springtime allergy sneezes and a wintery cough at the same time. It's sprin-ter. If the weather doesn't perk up soon I'm buying a UV light.

I don't know what to cook. Monday we spent outside in tee shirts, lunching at a park picnic table with fruit, baguettes and fresh cheese. Tuesday was so dark and rainy I made a creamy risotto to warm things up. Today, I baked muffins just to have the oven on and mixed in some strawberries so I can pretend they are in season and it's actually summer. Cold makes me grumpy and lazy, so I didn't feel like pulling out my canisters to mix the usual batter. I had some pancake mix, so I figured that was worth a try. A baking mix is a baking mix is a baking mix, right?

These actually came out incredibly well. They were moist and soft in the center, with a good, lightly crusty muffin top (because there is still such a thing as a good muffin top). They are a little nutty and not too sweet, as well as being incredibly versatile. Mix in any fruit or nut you like, and they would easily be as delicious. The boy ate two for breakfast after he helped me mix them up, which took all of 5 minutes. Win win.

Strawberry Pancake Muffins
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups pancake mix (I love Hodgson Mills Buckwheat Mix)
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup strawberries, hulled and chopped
raw sugar (optional)

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl, mix dry ingredients. In another bowl, whisk wet ingredients together and then fold into dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in strawberries. Scoop batter into lined muffin tins leaving 1/4 inch space from the top. Top with a sprinkling of raw sugar if desired. Bake 15 minutes or until tops are golden.

Three

Again this year I am blown away by the fact that my kid had a birthday. Is that going to happen every year? I just don't know how it is possible that we have a three year old, despite the obvious passing of time. Another year closer to pre-K, and school buses, and bike riding and all of those big boy things that will future cement the fact that our Bean is not even close to being a baby. It should be obvious since he is huge and talks like he's twelve, but it's like I'm the last person to figure it out.

This year's birthday celebration was art themed, since we spend a good chunk of our time getting crafty, and he loves it! I also figured that since most of Jude's buddies have come to our craft workshops at least once, it would be an easy way to corral them all into something organized and almost noise/motion less for at least ten minutes. With 30 people in the house and gloomy weather all day, that was a necessity.

We did a little bit of prep every day the week before the party and Jude helped with a lot of it. That way it kept him happy and busy during the day and kept me from getting overwhelmed by last minute stuff! One nice thing about his being a big boy is that he is actually incredibly helpful! So now you can get ready for the barrage of party photos and details... or just skip it:)

We spent an afternoon splatter painting with watercolors, and the big sheets became the base for the invitations. They are based on the idea of a gallery opening notice, so I kept the texts and design very simple. I wanted it to be bold, but didn't want to obscure the spatter paints. We stuck with primary colors so that became the color scheme for everything else! If you'd like to order invites, please visit the shop!

I covered all of the kitchen art with art of our own to make a little family gallery wall. The hearts and truck drawing (yes, those are trucks spraying out a fire!) are Jude's, the peach is mine, and the scene in the window is E's. He's actually very artisitic (just don't tell him I told you).

Kitchen decor was really simple, just primary colored streamers and balloons, a paint brush banner wrapped around the light fixture, and inexpensive table cloths. I spread some kraft paper on the table for people to draw on, and the paint dripped mason jars were another kid craft project. Again, if you'd like to order a banner, you can visit the shop!

Food is obviously the most important part of any party, and we stuck with brunch items since it was early! Bagels and different spreads, a big fruit salad, danish in primary colors, mini strata cups (which were in the oven at the time I took this photo), "creative juices," a paint dripped cake, and parfait push pops.

The cake was a version of my mom's lemon layer cake, but only one layer was lemon. I added a layer of cherry filling and a layer of blueberry filling to follow the primary color theme.

It was gooood. This is all that's left, so I may be having it with coffee later!

I didn't have a lot of decorating to do in the craft room, either, since it is basically decorated all the time with giant tissue pom poms and banners, plus our big art display board. I hung some balloons and drew up a little faux gallery wall background on kraft paper during a "Call the Midwives" marathon one afternoon, and that was it.

The kids worked on monogram canvases, which was super fun, and they came out so cute! I used green painters tape to make it easier to pull off, and it was kind of a PIA honestly. Most of Jude's buddies have curvy initials, so cutting and lining up all of the pieces of tape for 13 canvases took me forever. It was the most time consuming thing of the whole party! In the end it was worth it, since it kept them busy and they all had a ready to hang work of art to take home in the end!

We spent another afternoon making playdough favors, which Jude loves. We used my favorite playdough recipe (which I will post later since I have a few tips to add to the original!) and colored it red, yellow, and blue. I added a little color blending chart (similar to the ones that are on the parfait stand) and stamped tags from the scrap paper leftover from cutting the invitations.

Don't know why I don't have a clear shot of these, so use your imagination!

I stenciled a shirt for Jude to wear with a Basquiat crown, since he's one of my favorite artists, and this is the only photo I have of it somehow! It's probably just as appropriate for my child to wear Basquiat as it is for him to wear his Old Dirty Bastard shirt, so I'm cool with it. Only one of the parents knew what is was anyway, so we didn't have to delve into how fitting it is to use my toddler to pay homage to one of the 27 club members.

And the obligatory blowing-out-the-candle shot. He didn't even spit on the cake! 

But he didn't eat it either. He still prefers bagels.

*If you like this post, please take a moment to head over to the party post on Project Junior

and show a little comment love or 

click the stars to add your rating! 

Some like it hot

I mentioned that E has been training for the NYC half marathon for the last few months, which means I have been cooking carbs like crazy. Aside from pasta and pizza, these chicken and black bean enchiladas have made several appearances on the dinner table. We are a little obsessed. It had been ages since I made enchiladas, because they tend to feel like a little indulgent cheese bomb of heat, but they work out great for obsessive runners. Carbs, protein, veggies, boom. I now make a double batch and stick one in the freezer for another day cause I'm crafty like that.

I can't stress enough the difference it makes to have enchilada sauce from scratch. It's easy, cheap, and so much better than the canned stuff! One batch of this sauce easily makes a 9x13 pan of enchiladas (or two smaller pans like I make) and leaves extra for reheating leftovers. Once you make this you will never go back! The same goes for homemade refried black beans (which I'll post later so as not to clog your brain with too much tex-mex-amazement in one post).

Once you make the sauce, you can do anything you like to fill your enchiladas. I like to spoon a bit of sauce into the bottom of the baking dish and then brown the tortillas over an open flame (or the grill) to soften them up and give them a little toasty flavor. Fill each with your choice of fillings and a generous sprinkling of cheese before rolling and placing seam side down in the pan. Pour enchilada sauce over the whole pan and cover with another handful of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until bubbly and browned on top.

Green Enchilada Sauce (two ways)
Ingredients:
1 lb. tomatillos
1 1/2 lbs. Cubanelle or Anaheim peppers
1 dried habanero pepper
3 cups chicken stock
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbls. cornstarch
salt and pepper

Preparation:
Boil 1 cup of water in small pot. Drop the habanero pepper in and set aside to soak.

Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil and spread the remaining peppers in a single layer. Broil, turning as needed, until softened and skin has blistered, about 15 minutes. Once cooled, remove skins, stems, and seeds and set aside. Drain the water from the habanero pepper, remove stem and seeds and set aside.

Peel and wash the tomatillos. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the tomatoes and boil 5-7 minutes, until all of the tomatoes float to the surface. Drain and add to the bowl of a food processor. Add peppers and pulse until pureed.

Pour puree into a large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add stock, oregano, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Dissolve the cornstarch in a few Tbls. of warm water. Add to the tomatillo sauce, stirring, and return to a boil. Simmer an additional 5-10 minutes until sauce has thickened.

**When I make this sauce, I leave out the habanero until the end. That way most of the sauce is mild, perfect for making enchiladas for those who aren't heat crazed, or for a toddler with developing taste buds.
I reserve 1 1/2 cups of this sauce and then add it back to the food processor along with the habanero pepper. Pulse to combine and you have a nice spicy sauce that is a great accent to add over the top of the cooked enchiladas when serving.

Jude's first foodie photo bomb.

Baking with the Littles

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day for us has generally been the same as it is for most Americans. Beer. Stupid green outfits. Beer. Corned beef and cabbage for dinner. Beer. The parade. More beer.

Now that we have a toddler, things in the partying category have clearly jumped ship, and I started looking for other ways to celebrate the day. Since I'm only a quarter Irish and E is maybe a drop, it isn't a huge deal. My Irish grandmother passed away years before I was born, so I don't have any family recipes to pass on, or any traditions that are specifically Irish. I also am not ready to jump on board the "every little holiday is the new Christmas" bandwagon and deck the halls with shamrocks, build a leprechaun trap, or dye every bite of food green. That will start when Jude goes to school, so I'm giving myself a reprieve. In the meantime, we will have our corned beef and cabbage for dinner, and today we made this yummy Irish soda bread. No, it's not the kind you usually see studded with raisins and caraway seeds (which I will also make, but by myself, and which is an Irish American construct). This bread is more like what the Irish actually made in Ireland, before it came over here and got sweetened up. It is perfect for little helpers, because it doesn't contain any eggs and they can get elbows deep in dough if they want to. 

We used this recipe for craft class today, which became baking class, since we ended up with a very small group. Each kiddo got an apron and we took turns adding scoops to the big bowl, mixing, and making a general mess. I split the dough into equal parts and they shaped mini loaves, then cut the traditional cross shape into the tops before baking. It was really fun, even if Jude couldn't stop eating dough off of his fingers. Disgusting, but he swears it tastes good.

He ate his smeared with goat cheese and pickled beets for lunch. I had mine with butter and jam. It's a very simple bread without a ton of flavor, so this is more of a fun project than a go-to baking recipe. You can certainly mix it up by using different flours, adding seeds or dried fruit, etc. so get crafty and have some fun with it. Just please don't dye it green.

Traditional Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups of flour (we use whole wheat)

3/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add enough buttermilk to make the dough sticky, but not runny. Stir using a wooden spoon, or just use your hands! Turn dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a ball (or four small ones as we did). Cut a cross shape about halfway down into the ball with a knife and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40 minutes (or 20 for the mini loaves), the bread is ready when you tap on the bottom and hear a hollow sound.

M's Honey Bear Baby Shower

We could start a rugby team with all of the new babies that have been born to our crew over the last few months. It's been a bonafide baby boom, and there appears to be no end in sight. My sister M will be the next mama to join the crew, welcoming her first bambino in just  a few weeks time. To celebrate, we had to throw her a baby shower fit for our cuddly baby bear to be, and it was a little too much fun. 

Typical of my craft addicted ways, I went slightly overboard making fun paper goods, but in the end it all looked so adorable that it was worth the last minutes of inky fingered mania. 

My mother made a gorgeous set of crib bedding for M in vintage teddy bear prints, and that became the inspiration for the party theme. Since Baby's gender is still a surprise, honey yellows and browns were a perfect neutral color scheme. I used as many personal touches as possible (that's Jude's favorite teddy in the center), and really wanted everything to be reusable  in the nursery (I think you all know how this girl hates to throw anything away).

The invitations, printed on plantable seed paper in lemon yellow and available here.

The favors were small jars of local honey made by my pal Leeann. They were a huge hit, wrapped in tulle and tied with plantable seed tags. You can find the honey bears in Lee's Etsy shop, and the tags in mine!

Each table was decorated with pint sized mason jars wrapped in kraft paper and tied with yellow striped bakers twine. Place settings were set with these fun game cards. Each had a Baby Shower Bingo game on one side and a Celebrity Baby Name Matching Game on the other. 

The gift table was adorned with paper pinwheels and little honey and bear themed baby onesies on a line. They were a last minute addition, so the onesies are just iron on images of designs used for other pieces of the decor! Hopefully they hold up through the many washing of a newborn babe! On the top of the table we set another of Jude's teddy bears with a large mason jar. The sign says "What will it bee?" and guests were asked to place their votes for Baby's gender. The majority vote was a boy, but I'm still holding on to hopes for a little lady!

No family party is complete without my mother's maids of honor, a recipe handed down from my great grandmother. They are my favorite thing on earth, and the inspiration for the Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes I posted from E's birthday. Sadly, they had a bit of a mishap on the way to the party, and all of the cute coconut grass meant to be set beneath them on the stand ended up on top. My mom was a little bummed, but they still looked so cute! I made tiny paper flags for them and I still can't get over the perfect little bear candies she stuck on top. She found them at WalMart of all places.

And an obligatory 'smiley preggo opening presents' shot. 

Because no one is cuter than a pregnant girl, at least not until the baby is born.

New twists

I am going through a serious food boredom phase. Blergh. After I started the Bon Appetit Food Lover's Cleanse in January, I had a solid two weeks of being excited about everything I was cooking, followed by a quick plunge into carbaholic overload. This girl just can't get by without the occasional bagel with cream cheese, so a week of withstanding the temptations ended up leading me down the slippery slope into binge town. It has lasted about two months. Yup. That isn't to say I have eaten nothing but junk for two months, but I haven't been all that diligent. E is also training for the NY half marathon. His Sunday afternoons are taken up by 14 mile training runs, which means Sunday evening visits to our favorite pizza joint where we inhale penne ala vodka, grandma's pies, and garlic knots like our lives depend upon it. I do always order a salad, so there's that.

This ridiculously cold weather, constant snow, and desire to do nothing but cuddle on the couch with my kiddo doesn't help. It has all led to my feeling a bit blah, so I did a big fridge clean out, got back to my meal planning and borrowed some new workout DVD's from the library. Time to regroup. I'm kick-starting some new food fun with a couple of new recipes, including these fritters. I have seen all kinds of Paleo zucchini fritters floating around, but I'm just not ready to jump on board that Paleo train just yet (note the aforementioned carb addiction). They also all seemed to be lacking a bit in the flavor department, so I did some adjusting and ended up with a really delicious veggie packed fritter that you could serve as a main dish or a side. You can also make them smaller for little fingers and use them as a kid friendly snack. Love.

Carrot and Zucchini Fritters

Ingredients:

3-4 zucchini, to make 3 cups shredded

1 large carrot

1 small shallot

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup flour

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cayenne

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

4 Tbls. butter

Preparation:

Using a food processor with a shredder blade (or a box grater), shred zucchini and place in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt, toss to combine and set aside for a few minutes. Shred carrot and shallot and place in a separate bowl. Using your hands, squeeze all excess liquid from the shredded zucchini. There will be lots! Keep squeezing by handfuls even if you think you are finished! Add to the bowl with the carrot and shallot. Add flour, cornmeal, seasonings and egg and toss to combine.

In a large skillet, melt 2 Tbls of butter over medium high heat. Using a large batter scoop (about a 1/4 cup) scoop up the veggie mixture and press gently into the scoop to mold. Flip the scoop out into the hot pan and press lightly with your fingers to flatten. Don't crowd the pan, start with 4 or 5 fritters. Cook on one side until crisp and well browned, about 4-6 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until the other side is crisp and browned. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. Melt the remaining butter before adding more fritters to the pan. Serve hot with a dollop of plain yogurt and some hot sauce. That's habanero green enchilada sauce in the photo, to which I am currently addicted. That recipe can be found here!


Linked to Healthy Roots, Happy Soul, Premeditated Leftovers

Happy Birthday, E!

Yesterday E turned another year older. Birthdays are kind of a big deal around here, but even more so since we had Jude. Having a kid has given me a new excuse to be ridiculous with any celebration that pops up, it just gets harder to top myself every year. This year Jude and I drew a giant birthday card for his annual "Happy Birthday, Daddy" Facebook photo, and as cute as it is, it still can't beat the original.

Anyhow, along with crating and photo taking antics, we had dinner at E's favorite Mexican place, followed by birthday cupcakes and candles. The perfect birthday cupcakes for someone who isn't into chocolate? PB and J of course. Nothing could stop me from whipping up a little bit of fudge frosting for the extra cakes, though. Because despite E's aversion, it isn't a birthday in my kitchen if there isn't some chocolate floating around.

These cupcakes began as a spin on an old family favorite, the maid of honor. They are a little pastry that my great grandmother made, then my grandmother, and now my mother is in charge. They have a pie crust base and a lightly sweet vanilla cake on top, with raspberry filling and almond frosting. No family event is complete without them. And though there are many versions of peanut butter and jelly cupcakes out there, most of them are missing the essential crust. This version has the lightly toasted crust, fluffy white bread-esque cake, a jam center and the fluffiest peanut butter frosting known to man.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes
makes 18-20 cupcakes

Ingredients:
Filling:
1 cup strawberry, blueberry, or grape preserves
Crust:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
3 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbls. sugar
1/3 c. very cold shortening
1/2 c. cold water
Cake:
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. buttermilk
Frosting:
1 c. peanut butter
6 Tbls. unsalted butter at room temperature
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. confectioners sugar
1/2 c. cream

Preparation:
Grease muffin tins with butter and dust with flour.

Prepare crust. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse flour, salt, and sugar until combined. Add cold butter and pulse a few times until the butter resembles small peas. With the processor turned on, add the cold water a Tbls. at a time, until the dough forms a ball. Dump the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and knead into a ball. Wrap tightly in the wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes. Once chilled, slice dough ball in half and return one half to the refrigerator. On a floured board, roll the other half into a 1/4 inch thickness. Cut rounds using a biscuit cutter and press into prepared muffin tins. Repeat with the remaining dough.

In a small bowl, stir the jam until smooth. Spoon a generous teaspoon into the center of each muffin cup. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar using a mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture and milk gradually, alternating between additions and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Pour batter into muffin cups, leaving 1/4 inch space from the top. This should be just enough to cover the jam.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until cakes are just golden. Allow to cool 5 minutes in the pans before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Prepare the frosting. Beat butter and peanut butter at medium speed until combined. Add vanilla, salt and sugar and beat until fluffy. Add cream and continue beating until pale and fluffy. Frost each cupcake and top with sprinkles if desired.