food – Page 7 – Peaceful Reader

Vacation Blues

A vacation is a beautiful thing until you get home. Dirty laundry times 10, cranky kids and (a few) dead garden plants are what you get when you return. Oh, and a lot of wonderful photos.

Surfer Boy

We absolutely loved the OBX and would vacation there again in a heartbeat!

Handsome Husband and Teenage Boy

We stopped in Richmond, VA to visit my stepbrother, Sean, and walk through VCU-one of Teenage Boy’s college choices for soccer. We had lunch at a very earthy place right off campus, 821 Cafe, which served a well-rounded vegan, veggie and meat-menu.

Cousin with Groovy Girl on Roanoke Island boat

What I miss about vacation: my in-laws, watching the pelicans skim the water, dolphin sightings, watching the sand crabs scurry, walking in the sand, collecting seashells, hot tubbing, kids giggling as they chased the waves, cooking meals together, touring Roanoke Island and cocktail hour-appetizers included!

Owens’ Restaurant Anniversary Celebration (me, Teenage Boy and Writer Girl)

I’ve been in school meetings since our return but one day soon my laundry will be done, the house will return to normal and summer will flow forward.

I hope everyone has an amazing journey this summer-one that will bring you umpteen piles of laundry equaling the number of smiles!

Weekend Cooking; Little Klein by Anne Ylvisaker

Weekend Cooking is a weekly meme over at Beth Fish Reads. Pop over and see what she’s talking about.
This week I’ve been on the North Carolina coast (the Outer Banks) and I’ve done a fair amount of reading (5 books) but only a minimal amount of cooking as we’ve shared kitchen duties and handsome husband and I only had one night to cook. We made a variation of fish tacos after visiting a local fish market. Oooh, I loved picking out fresh caught fish and after thinking about mahi-mahi we choose sheepshead at the recomendation of the fish guy. We also bought a pound of fresh prawns, deveined them, sauteed them in butter and white wine and gobbled them up for an appetizer.

Another night we headed into town and on a friend’s recommendation and ate at Owens’ Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills. It was a culinary delight. The calamari appetizer was yummy as was the bottle of white wine we shared and toasted with to celebrate my in-law’s 50th wedding anniversary. I had the grouper and shrimp special with delicious sea breeze mashed potatoes! All ten family members loved their meals, except Teenage Boy who deemed his clam linguine a little too “saucy.” He didn’t leave unhappy though and I would recommend this excellent restaurant to anyone traveling to the Outer Banks.

One morning I made these banana pancakes thanks to Janssen at Everyday Reading-they were a huge hit. Thank you Janssen for sharing this recipe.

Our vacation is winding down (only one more day-aaaggg), we’ve had a great time and I’ll be sad, sad to leave the beach behind. I did read several fantastic books on this trip and one of them was… Little Klein by Anne Ylvisaker.

I adore this little book and will recommend it to everyone this year. One chapter in particular whispered “weekend cooking post”–Recipe for Sleep. It’s dear. Harold Sylvester George Klein is the smallest Klein boy surrounded by three older brothers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and an exhausted but nurturing mother. Little Klein’s mother worries and doesn’t like him to be out on his own-she’s keeping him her baby as her last little one. (I can relate) LeRoy, a stray dog with his own sweet character voice in the book, finds the Klein boys and loves the smell of them. Everybody should read this book.

Recipe for Sleep is one of the sweetest chapters I’ve ever read in a book. Little Klein is having trouble sleeping while his older brothers are gone and he’s plagued by nightmares and worry. He begs Mother Klein to let LeRoy sleep with him but she resists. Instead she reads to him, sings to him, tells him stories but nothing much works.

“Would you read to me about cake?” called Little Klein from the bedroom one night.
Mother Klein shrugged. “What do you mean?” she called back.
“I mean, will you read to me about cake? You know, crack an egg, one cup of flour, like that.”
Mother pondered.
Though he was small for his age, Little Klein had the appetite of one of the Bigs. He was transfixed by the magic with which water and heat turned crisp dry oats into warm mush for breakfast and the way an unappetizing lump of raw eggs and flour and cocoa could turn into a cake with the texture of a spring meadow. Even the power of butter to fuse two pieces of bread together delighted Little Klein.
“Well, excitement is in the mind of the beholder,” said Mother Klein. She pulled her worn cookbook off the shelf and opened it. “It’s worth a try.”
“What kind of cake?” she asked.
“Chocolate,” said Little Klein, snuggling down into his blanket. (199-120)

Charming and beyond. This chapter’s close connection to comfort food make me think Ysvisaker probably is no stranger to the kitchen! Mother Klein goes on to read recipe after recipe to Little Klein.

What a great book!!
Click for Anne Ylvisaker website.

Weekend Cooking; Heidi Swanson

Things happen in interesting ways, don’t you think. I had a meeting at Barnes and Noble just a few days before we left town for DC. I called my husband to tell him the meeting was over and we were on our way to see him and he said…

“There was a cookbook I heard about on NPR and I thought it would be great to bring to my mom.” Really. My ears perked. My interest piqued.

“What’s the name of the book, honey, I’d be happy to take a quick peek.”
“Super Natural Every Day, I think-something like that by someone Swanson…[he stops a minute and looks at his note] Heidi Swanson-yes, that’s it.”

And just like that Heidi Swanson came into my life. Many of you probably already know of her-this is her second cookbook and she runs the blog, 101 cookbooks.

I’ve perused the cookbook a bit (lie) and am now suffering from cookbook envy. I want my own.

In her introduction (19 pages long) she talks about her neighborhood, her love of cooking, pantry staples and why she chooses the ingredients she does. I liked this paragraph in particular because it takes back that word “natural” to what it should mean, not what it’s become (a fake word for not really natural).

“Some of you might be confused by the term “natural foods.” It is used in many different contexts, and it means different thiings to different people. By “natural foods,” I mean ingredients that are straight from the plant or animal. Or that are made with as little processing and as few added flavorings, stabilizers, and preservatives as possible, keeping nutrients and original flavors intact.” (3)
Exactly.

Natual Cooking Every Day is divided into 7 sections after the introduction; Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner, Treats, and Accompaniments. Easily I found several in each category that I would like to try and while I’m still “with the book” I may copy a few down into my google docs cookbook.

Top Ten Recipes:

1.Baked Oatmeal (oats, huckleberries, walnuts)
2. Ravioli Salad (Black olives and pepitas)
3. White Bean Spread (rosemary and toasted almonds)
4. Little Quinoa Patties (goat cheese, herbs)
5. Chickpea Stew (saffron, yogurt, garlic)
6. Weeknight Curry (Tofu, coconut milk, seasonal vegetables)
7. Cauliflower Soup (aged cheddar and mustard croutons)
8. Cucumber Cooler (honey, fresh lime, cucumber)
9. Macaroon Tart (white whole wheat flour, blackberries, coconut pistachios)
10.Whole Grain Mustard (using a mortar and pestle)

Oh, so many more to share but this is it for today. I’m hungry-how ’bout you?
This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads; Weekend Cooking meme. Click to her to play along or just read what she has to write about.

Sweet Baltimore

Enjoying the sunny backyard of friends in Hobart, IN

After a day and a half staying with friends near Chicago we boarded a plane at Midway and flew to Baltimore to spend time with my gracious in-laws. Usually when we fly to Baltimore we drive the hour to Silver Spring without stopping but this time my husband was determined to visit two places; Lexington Market and Edgar Allen Poe’s grave. Luckily both places are downtown Baltimore and within a few blocks of each other.

Lunch Time Stop

Teenage Boy with his Soft Shell Crab Sub

Adult Cold Brew with my Crab Cake

Handsome Husband with Poe

Weekend Cooking; I'm not actually cooking …but stop by anyway!

I haven’t cooked it yet but in a moment of relaxing after school I found this recipe while paging through my new Vegetarian Times magazine. I’m plan to cook it; maybe just not this weekend. My plan is to put my feet up a lot this weekend. Starting now.

Potato and Cauliflower Burrito

1 15-oz can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, drained
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 tsp. canola oil

1 small onion, halved and sliced (1 cup)

1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3 cups small cauliflower florets
1 medium Yukon Gold or russet potato (6 ozs), cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 T. chopped cilantro
4 8-inch flour or whole-wheat tortillas, warmed
1 cup cooked brown rice, warmed
1 cup grated vegan Monteray Jack cheese

1. Pulse tomatoes, chipotle chile, and garlic in food processor until coarse puree forms.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and oregano; saute 2 minutes. Stir in cauliflower, potato, and tomato mixture, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover, and simmer 5 more minutes, or until cauliflower and potato are tender. Stir in cilantro.

3. Divide cauliflower mixture among tortillas, top with rice, and sprinkle with cheese. Roll up tortillas, leaving one end open.

***I’m going to use regular (real) cheese when I make this.

This burrito is only 360 calories with 10 g. of protein. There are 4 other burrito recipes included in this article, Better Burritos which states “forget those monster restaurant burritos that may be yummy, but are anything but low-cal. (A typical veggie burrito from a chain offering fresh ingredients clocks in around 750 calories-and that’s without guacamole.) (35-VT, June)

Golly, that’s a lot of calories for a veggie burrito!! I do love Chipolte’s burritos-not so much knowing this. I’m not much of a calorie counter but that’s a large number for one item. Perusing Chipotle’s website I have to say I’m still a fan as they do use good ingredients and they have a handy nutritional guide-I rounded up and only got about 500 calories so I wonder which big burrito VT is talking about.

Hope your weekend is lovely. Happy Mother’s Day to all. I dropped hints to Groovy Girl and Teenage Boy about taking me for a long walk at our local nature reserve, if its not raining that is. Either way it will be a beautiful day.

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Everyone can play along with any food related post. Click over and see what she’s cooking up-it’s always informative.

Weekend Update; Library Loot

I had a meeting the other day at the library and because it started 30 minutes after my yoga class and they are right around the corner from each other-it left me about 20 minutes to browse at the library. Browse quietly at the library by myself, she said with glee.

I’ve become addicted to the NEW section of nonfiction, but specifically usually just for cookbooks. This time though I sort of did a swoop through all the nonfiction section. I’m not a nonfiction reader, prefering fiction hands-down almost always but for some reason I found a ton of interesting titles this week.

1. The Locavore Way; Discover and Enjoy the Pleasures of Locally Grown Food by Amy Cotler (2009). This one has lots of tidbits and helpful advice. As I paged through it there was plenty in there I didn’t already know so I had to bring it home.

2. Earth to Table; Seasonal Recipes from an Organic Farm by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann (2009). I love good farm stories and this one has beautiful photos as well.

3. The Power of Small; Why Little Things Make All the Difference by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval (2009). I liked the pages I read through and thought it might enlighten me a bit.

4. River House; A Memoir by Sarahlee Lawrence (2010). A dad and his daughter build a cabin together in Oregon. Proof that I miss my own Dad.

5. Scout, Atticus and Boo; A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird by Mary McDonagh Murphy (2010). This is a collection of interviews from authors and icons…Wally Lamb, Rosanne Cash, Rick Bragg, Tom Brokaw, Scott Turow, Adriana Trigiani and Andrew Young, just to name a few. I read part of one chapter while standing and was intrigued. Mockingbird is one of my all-time favorite reads.

6. Johnny Cash; The Biography by Michael Streissguth (2006). This wasn’t on the new shelf but on a music display. We love Cash in our house and I thought Teenage Boy might enjoy this.

7. Legendary Homes of Lake Minnetonka by Bette Jones Hammell w/ photography by Karen Melvin (2010). When I was a kid we boated on this lake (thanks, Dad) and now my brother lives near the lake. I recognize some of the landmarks and enjoy reading about the architechture of these beautiful homes. My mom was here on Saturday and it was nice to look through some of it with her.

Have you read any of these? Which section of the library do you usually frequent?

While it was strange to not have one fiction book in my stack, I am just about to finish Moon Over Manifest, I have to finish The Glass Castle for next Monday’s book club and I have two books to read for my 5th grade book clubs so I guess I’m fiction-full as well.

Happy Reading.
Hope you’ve had a peace-filled weekend.

Divine Intervention and Weekend Cooking

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads-click and read her wonderful post on Ina Garten’s Vegetable Tian

Yesterday was a crazy Saturday for this family. I was up at 6:00 to get Teenage Boy to school by 6:30 so he could get on the bus for a jazz competition. I had to follow the bus because I am “never” given the paper with the details of these events. When asked, Teenage Boy said, “oh, yah it’s in my locker.” A few days before he told us the event was in Union (a town 1 1/2 hours away) but because God gave me some sense I changed my original plan, which was to drive to Union using GPS and meet the bus when it arrived into town, then follow it to the school. I changed that plan just two blocks away when I flipped a u-turn and drove back to his school and calmly waited for the bus to leave. Divine Intervention as the event was only 20 minutes away at Union H.S., in a different small town-the complete opposite direction of where I would have been had I not turned around. I’m not pointing fingers at anyone but it would be so nice to get the facts, man!

After the event when I spirited him away from the competition I took him to IHop(not exactly the haven for local, organic or healthy food but it was for the Boy) for breakfast and some quiet time together. I knew our next event; a big funeral at our church, was going to be diffiuclt for the boy as the funeral was for a 96-year-old man; a mentor to Teenage Boy so I listened to my German grandmother whispering to me “Feed Him.” Yes, grandmother I’m still listening. While he and I were at jazz and breakfast, my husband had Groovy Girl at skating and by 10:20 we all met up for the funeral. To make the day even more thrilling my mom was in town so we could celebrate her birthday. Mom and I spent the late afternoon at a sweet Italian place having drinks and calamari. It was delicious, fun and we had a great waiter.

But the real food I want to share is what I made the night before (Friday) for the funeral luncheon. Mom, husband and I were watching Winter’s Bone (four stars) when at 10 p.m. I infamously said, “oh, I need to make bars” quickly followed by “and I have no eggs.” My egg supplier (another teacher) is having chicken troubles but have no fear I googled bar recipes w/out eggs and viola-this recipe popped up. Love it when the internet actually gives me what I want.

I made the bars in 15 minutes (during the last part of the movie) and had tons of compliments at church. Seriously, that never happens to me-my family can laughingly tell you because usually my stuff is labeled the “healthy” or “meat-free” stuff-making it much less worthy in their church lady eyes so a compliment was HUGE!! I had three ladies ask me for the recipe and they were joking with me about how they didn’t want to put my bars out on the table so they could just eat them in the kitchen…big score for me. I’ll be humble though and just graciously share it here with you. Cookie Madness, the blog that produced these wonderful egg-free bars is now under my peaceful food blog roll, which grows everyday. ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Brown Sugar & Honey Pecan Bars

Crust:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed (light)
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut up

Filling:

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 scant teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed (light)
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cups coarsely chopped, lightly toasted pecans.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8 inch metal pan with non-stick foil or line with regular foil and spray with baking spray. (I doubled the recipe and used a 9 x 13-inch pan) Covering it with tinfoil made it so easy to lift bars out and easy clean up)

Prepare crust. Combine flour, brown sugar and salt in food processor and pulse 3 times to mix. Add butter and process until mixture is crumbly – it will be really dry. Pour over bottom of pan and press tightly. Bake for 20 minutes.

Prepare the filling. In a heavy saucepan melt the butter. When the butter is completely melted, stir in salt, brown sugar and honey. Simmer mixture for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in cream, vanilla and pecans.

Pour the pecan mixture over crust and spread evenly. Bake on center rack for 18 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for at least an hour. To quick-cool, let them cool down as much as possible then shove them in the refrigerator.

Lift foil from pan and carefully cut into bars. I like to trim off the edges, cut the bars into 8 rectangles, then cut each rectangle into a square. It’s easy to do this if you have a big cutting board and a Chef’s knife.

Makes 16 squares (or 32 bars, if doubled)
____________________________________________________________________________________________

They were perfect chewy bars and great for adult events. My kids are not nut lovers unless it is ground up and called peanut butter.

This post is dedicated to Harold L. Brock-we thank you for your life lessons, your inspiration and for finding the light inside Teenage Boy. We know it will be alright, thanks to you. Peace.

****Honesty Disclaimer: Family….I am well aware that we actually fit more in our day than just these listed events but if I tell my one reader about the mid-year graduation, TB’s two soccer games and the bluegrass music event Daddy played for after the funeral-it will just seem like we are crazy!!

Holiday Traditions

Teenage Boy, Groovy Girl and two friends, after tree search.

We always get our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving at a lovely tree farm, Kris Kringle’s, and they serve hot cider and have a fire in an outside pit. It makes for a lovely few hours and two years ago we invited another couple and their children to join us, so we’ve added to our celebration.

That is what I love the most about the holidays-it seems we make more time for friends and family. We are having friends over tomorrow night just because we ran into them recently at my husband’s play and decided we needed to get-together for dinner and before Christmas is really upon us. They are coming for dinner tonight and I’m making a chicken. If you’ve ever read my sidebar list it says I’m a vegetarian that eats locally-raised meat (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver changed my mind) but not frequently. I met a farmer (through a friend) who raises chickens and other cute farm animals as well. He started doing it 10 years ago for just the same reason I didn’t eat meat-he didn’t trust what was happening to our corporate- produced meat sources. I’ve only been back to eating meat about a year now.

I digress-this post is supposed to be about food and friends-not cute farm animals, who might be friends also. My mother used to make this rosemary and goat cheese chicken so I searched around a little last night, looking for something similar and came up with a roast chicken recipe at Jamie Oliver’s website. He, like Kingsolver and Alice Waters, is making a difference in how people eat and I admire the work he’s doing with the British school lunch program. That would be my dream dinner party-cooking together with Barbara, Alice and Jaime! Thrilling!!

Tonight will have the roast chicken, mashed (home grown) potatoes, spinach and feta lasagna, brussell sprouts and a small salad. Half the group is vegetarian thus the reason for the lasagna which comes from this fabulous cookbook from The Grit, in Athens, Georgia. We’re starting off with champagne, with pomegranite seeds tossed in and will move on to a lovely bottle of red, which I haven’t purchased yet or I’d mention its name as well. Thinking about wine makes me think I should check my old version of The Wine Trials to find a perfect (and reasonable priced) wine!

Could I mention any more food links? Well, most definetely Yes!, but I’ll stop there. This is how things go at my house-inviting two people, one couple, for dinner has led me to all these dining spots, recipes and brought up all these whirlwind ideas.Like now my mind is thinking about a post debating hard copy cookbooks vs. online. My mind on food. Don’t ya just love the holidays!! Tonight will be filled with good conversation and good (hopefully) food and my mind will chill.

Happy eating and reading! Cheers.

p.s. last week’s Morrocon-Style Lentil and Chickpea soup was a huge hit with my family. We ate it simply, soup and fresh-baked bread. Yum.

***This food-related post is linked to Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Pop over there and read about Crescent Dragonwagon, a writer of children’s books and cookbooks, and her new Cornbread book. My husband might need this for a Christmas gift. He loves cornbread but makes it from a box. Hmmm.

Seriously, Have a Happy Saturday!

German Pancakes

My sister-in-law made thee most delicious German pancakes for us while we were visiting over Thanksgiving. My kids loved them and she said they were easy to make so I googled and found a great recipe on a blog called Adventures in the Kitchen by Cheri. I read around a bit on her blog and found other recipes I liked so now you can find her on the right-hand side bar Food and Wine section. Thank you Cheri-I used your recipe tonight and my children ate them all up.

We did have a very relaxing holiday with my mom and two of my brothers (oldest and youngest) and their families. My youngest brother and I love to cook-a skill we attibute to both our mother and grandmother. Throughout my childhood we had Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner at my grandmother’s house (over the snow and through the woods to Amity Drive we go) and she cooked up a storm. She used an old gas oven in the basement to keep up with the demandsof cooking a turkey, sweet potatoes, bread and pies for many of us. It has always been tough to get down her timing of getting everything to the table at the same time. We did it this year though between my mother, sister-in-law, brother and myself. Yeahhh, Grandma Bruch-we did it. And then we sat down and ate it (almost) all up.

The holidays of my childhood will live on through this yearly celebration but I still miss her and her cooking terribly. My grandmother was somewhat of a health nut but she was definetely a meat and potatoes women. She balanced it out with oatmeal every morning. My brother and I tend to cook more vegetarian now but we did have a 13 # locally-raised (right here in Iowa) turkey so the little ones, my husband, teenager and my oldest brother’s family would not miss the big bird. It was yummy-all of it. Yes, I tasted a little of everything. Even the dressing was worthy (thanks Mom).

Okay, I digressed from German Pancakes to our holiday time but we did have such a good celebration and it was all food-related. I didn’t blog once while gone as I just enjoyed my extended family. I hope you had a lovely holiday time as well.

Seriously Selling Books

(My organic, buy-local hero, Alice Waters)

One of my dear friends is the brains behind our (now 2nd) annual Christmas Bazaar. Last year she made me make chocolate covered pretzel sticks and cookies. This year she asked if I would be in charge of a used book sale as part of the bazaar. Well, that is right up my alley so it took about two seconds to say yes.

So here I’ve been for the last three hours, selling books at rock-bottom prices. We are a church filled with readers so the book selection is stellar-really! I have a stack right next to me of excellent titles I just couldn’t pass up. Two are cookbooks: Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Remolif Shere with a preface by Alice Waters and illustrated by Wayne Thiebaud. I’m buying it because I trust Ms Waters so much but also because it has recipes like Nutmeg Geranium Ice Cream, Langues De Chat and an entire chapter on just chocolate.
The other cookbook is a spiral-bound book called Screen Cuisine with a really silly illustration on the front. I couldn’t find an image of it and I don’t have a fancy phone to snap a picture to share. I happened to browse through it and discovered it was published by the National Film Society. The list of recipes arefrom a cornucopia of famous people such as Rosemary Clooney’s Viennese Goulash, Newman’s Own Marinated Steak, Carol Burnett’s Fresh Peach Souffle and Dean Martin’s “Dean’s Chix Dish.” Wow-this is a classic. After each recipe is their “signature.” I have to buy it just for the amusement. Only at a church bazaar could you find two such amazing recipe books. My husband, of course, rolled his eyes at the amount of books I brought home! You can’t beat 50 cents a book.

This post is part of Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking. She reviewed The Wine Trials; 2011-a fantastic book about blind taste testing a variety of wines and their rankings. I know it is a useful book because I have the first edition-2008. My thoughtful husband gave it to me as a birthday and I still use it. A gift that keeps on giving! Even though I haven’t tried all the wines in my version I’d love to take a look at this newer version. Thanks Beth Fish for a great reveiw!