Posted by Jenni on October 2nd, 2008 in Cookies, Cooking with kids, Desserts, Foreign Food
Last week Guenna and I made these delicious cookies for our Homeschool Co-op. We were supposed to bring an authentic Mexican snack food and I found this recipe online. The only thing I really changed was that I didn’t add the anise seeds (thought the kids would appreciate the cookies better without that spice), and they called to make these in the food processor. I tried it in my high powered VitaMix, it did NOT work so I finished them by hand and they turned out just fine. So if you have a food processor then blend it all in there, otherwise follow my instructions and you will do great it’s just a little more work. By the way, if you are thinking these look an awful lot like Russian Tea Cakes, you are absolutely right! I think it’s the same recipe :) Hope you enjoy!
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Posted by Jenni on September 9th, 2008 in Breads, Pastries
I just watched this very inspiring video with Julia Child on How to Make Croissants, taught by chef Esther McManus.
I think one of these days I’m going to have to try this! I need a little bit more space in my kitchen, and a little more time to spare, but other than that I think I could do it :) This is a great website, I’m sure I will be spending some more time there looking around. Hope you are as inspired as I was! She even makes some croissants with chocolate in the center, now I might have to try them just for that reason :)
Here’s a recipe for Croissants if you are up for the challenge!
Posted by Jenni on September 9th, 2008 in Dinner, Restaurants
On Saturday night, Chris and I had the pleasure of going on a dinner date with two other couples, to one of our favorite restaurants in the Valley, Il Granaio. They have amazing Italian food, it’s the real deal, and a beautiful atmosphere. I wish that I would have taken more pictures, but alas, I was on a date with my husband and it just wasn’t on my priority list! Before we got to the restaurant we had a little extra time so we sat in a park and took pictures of ourselves together. I love this guy, isn’t he handsome? :)
Anyway, I had the Vitello Marsala (Veal with mushrooms and a wine sauce). Honestly I was a little nervous because I had never had veal before but it was tasty. Chris had the Filetto al Madera (Filet Mignon sprinkled with Gorgonzola), and wow, it was superb and worth every penny! We shared some red and white wine with our meal, perfecto! Then afterward Chris and I shared the Chocolate Decadance with a steaming hot cup of coffee. What better way to end an incredible evening with good friends! Thanks you guys for such a lovely evening, we had such a great time, hope to do it again sometime soon! And for anyone who might be looking for a nice restaurant in the Skagit Valley, Mt. Vernon WA, this is the place. Their prices are definitely affordable, the food is excellent and the building is just classy. My favorite dish they serve so far is the Blackened SalmonCaesar, it’s amazing! Just a little tip :)
And of course, thanks to nana and papa who had mercy on us and watched our little rascals. They had a great time at your house, as always, and didn’t want to go home! They even smelled better than they did when we dropped them off! You guys are the best, we love you!
Posted by Jenni on September 5th, 2008 in Breads, Meats, Salads, Sandwiches, Side Dishes
The other night I made Batter Fried Fish with some salmon that I bought from Costco. I knew that i would have too much for our family to eat if I made it all up. I didn’t want the salmon to go to waste, I love my chickens but I don’t want to feed them expensive salmon! So I froze about half of the salmon to use later. Tonight I tried a new, to me, recipe.Knowing that this recipe was a little bit out there for the kids, at least the boys, I decided it would be easy to make them something similar, in order to let us try something a little different without having to fight with them about trying something new. If you know me, you know that I am NOT a short order cook, but I know my kids limitations, and I know when I’m feeling up to pushing them to try a new dish :) I decided tonight was not the night for that!
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Posted by Christian on September 4th, 2008 in Meal Planning Tips
The Husband here with a guest post.
For over a year I have wanted someone to build an online meal planning site that you could plan meals and the ingredients would end up on a shopping list that you could take to the store and plan what is supposed to be on your shelf.
Well I am happy to say that someone finally did it, Its called Tasty Planner and its free.
In their words,
Tasty Planner is here to help you create, plan and share recipes, menus, grocery lists and more. We take out all the hassle in planning great meals for you. We’ll also help you make a few chef friends along the way.
I would suggest taking a look at their features and see if this is something that could help out your family.
Posted by Jenni on September 3rd, 2008 in Cakes
This past March we had 4 birthdays to celebrate, three of our kids and one nephew, so we had one big birthday bash and I decided that cupcakes were in order!
For the girls, I had purchased a flower shaped cupcake pan. I decorated them with pink frosting and very girlie sprinkles and then wrote out their names, one letter on each cupcake, on top of the cupcakes. I had them displayed on a pretty plate and the girls, and boys loved them! Very simple and of course it will be fun to reuse the cupcake pan some day.
For the boys, I chose blue frosting to hold on the decorative candies. And the cupcake pan? Was a birthday present from my mother in law, I love it! I’ve also used it for muffins and corn bread and it works really well. The decorating was easy, just time consuming but those sweet boys in my life, they are worth it! I have not done many cupcakes so I thought this would be fun for a change, the kids seemed to really enjoy all the sweets! And I guess I just love seeing the looks on their faces when they see my birthday creations, maybe that is what spurs me on to be more creative.
Posted by Jenni on September 2nd, 2008 in Homemaking Tips
These thoughts have been rolling around in my heart and mind for the past few weeks. Thoughts on wives, and how we set the tone in our homes. At the table when we sit down to sup with our families, during the day while we play and work with our children, and when our husbands come home from their day at work, our attitude really affects the mood of all present in our home.
Proverbs 19:13b “…And the contentions of a wife are a constant dripping.”
Picture this: You’ve been dealing with little Johnny’s whining all day, and it’s starting to wear on you (of course to make you feel worse, later you discover that he’s teething and you didn’t know it but had been irritated at him all day long!). It’s almost time for your husband to come home and you are trying to be the “good” wife and have dinner ready by the time he gets home. But while you are flipping burgers you splatter grease all over one of your nicest T-shirts and burn your hand, bad timing. Continue reading this post…
Posted by Jenni on September 1st, 2008 in Uncategorized
‘Tis the season for making zucchini bread! Our neighbors gave us a nice sized zucchini and we made fried zucchini the other night with some left over batter for our fish. The remainder, I shredded for zucchini bread. I got this recipe from All Recipes and changed a few things. I used only whole wheat flour where they called for part whole wheat and part white. I used olive oil where they called for canola oil, and I used pecans instead of walnuts and added a cup of chocolate chips, yum! We were all very impressed with how this bread turned out, even Aidan who had decided before it even went into the oven, that he didn’t think he would like this bread because it had zucchini in it :) Well, he changed his mind real quick when it came out and smelled so good, and chocolate chips always help!
Note: This recipe makes a triple batch.
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Posted by Jenni on August 30th, 2008 in Gardening
Hey wait a minute, I thought summer was just getting going? Don’t we still have another month or two? It’s September I know, but my garden is still wanting more sun. Last week we had a LOT of rain and wind and colder weather and I went out the other day to check on my garden (between the heavy rains) and was sad to see that my one tomato plant that was in full bloom and bearing a lot of fruit, was completely dead. It’s still got a little bit of fruit that I can pick this weekend but that will be it. So sad, but I got my money’s worth for sure, and was able to bless a few families with the fruit as well.
Here are my pumpkins, I’m hoping that we get a little more sun to make sure they can mature and ripen. They are so pretty even if they don’t ripen :) There are rumors that we will have an Indian Summer but after these two weeks of tons of rain, I will believe it when I see it!
And we have tons of corn! I don’t know if they will continue to ripen if we don’t get more sunshine, I will have to see. It’s been a hard year for a successful garden, a late start and an early end. But it’s been a learning experience and I will definitely do it again next year with a year of successful gardening under my belt.
So let the fall come, I actually really look forward to the fall season it means that our baby is coming soon. I especially love apple season, I will forever have the emotionally charged memory of the smell of cooking apple butter filling the house connected with the labor and birth of our sweet Eamon. Who knows, maybe the week I’m expecting this new one I will get up the energy to make a bunch of applesauce. I also love all the changes that fall brings, the colorful changing leaves, the harvest season, pumpkins and pumpkin pie, and all the lovely warm soups and hearty meals I find myself preparing for our family. Good times.
Posted by Jenni on August 29th, 2008 in Desserts, Sweet Things
I have a confession to make. Tonight I went to Starbucks to work on some blogging (which is not a good idea considering I was really distracted by all the conversations going on around me, I got to know these two people sitting next to me, way more than I wanted to!) My Confession: I did order a drink, but I brought my own dessert to eat with my coffee, I wrapped it in a napkin and put it in my purse :) I had been wanting to try this recipe from everybody likes sandwiches all week. The only thing that I changed about her recipe was that I doubled it and used a 9×13 inch pan instead of the 8×8. And wow, what a delicious dessert bar! The flavor was amazing and the smell in the kitchen was very inviting, it finished cooking before dinner which made it hard to want to eat dinner first. I’m glad I tried this recipe, thanks!
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