meals – Page 2 – Peaceful Reader

Weekend Cooking; Mother's Day menu

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and many mothers will be taken out to brunch, lunch, or dinner to be celebrated. Yahoo. It is a wonderful day to show our mother’s how much we appreciate all that they do.

Now that I have a family of my own I don’t always get to spend the day with my own mother. I did send her a pretty e-card, my way of saving a tree. I know in my childhood my brothers and I gave her our fair share of handmade cards, bright floral arrangements (dandelions), and burnt breakfast foods all arranged on a tray. I know my mother appreciated what we pulled together for her as I appreciate what my kids have done for me on this sacred Sunday but what I think matters most is the everyday celebrations that we can share together.

I often call my mother in the morning as I’m driving to work. I have a peaceful drive to work with no chaos or traffic. I love how her voice reflects joy in my simple phone call. “How are you?’ What are you doing today?’ and we chat about the day ahead of us. When I’m making dinner I often call my mother with cooking questions especially as I get used to cooking meat which I did not do for years. “At what temperature is the chicken done at?”

Mother’s Day can even be celebrated at the end of summer as my mom and I put together our salsa using all her late harvest tomatoes. We cook and talk and reminisce about my grandmother, her mother. She loved to cook also, her specialty was jam and pies. Mother’s Day can be a year round celebration as we toast those who raised us and did their best. Whether you take them out for a meal, buy them a fancy bouquet, or just spend time with them the important element is thoughtfulness Think about what your mother truly wants; does she need another knick-knack from the drugstore or would she prefer just your time? Could you bake her muffins? Could you take her for a walk?

If my mom were coming to town I would make her this big crumb coffee cake if I had rhubarb in my freezer. If I could fly us both somewhere for breakfast I would fly us to La Jolla to eat at The Cottage~we’ve both always wanted to try it. I might also take her for pie at this little joint right here in Iowa. There are so many great ideas out there that go beyond-try and find one that includes food and time. Enjoy your mother. Seek her out on a regular basis though; not just on the second Sunday in May.

I predict my daughter will serve this to me come Sunday morning:

Mother’s Day Menu:

1 bowl of cereal light on the milk
1 piece of sourdough toast
1 glass of orange juice
with a flower or plant of some sort on the side

all brought to me in bed on a bamboo tray.
Sounds yummy, I know. Lucky me.

She has not yet mastered cleaning the kitchen up after this cooking extravaganza.

Here are a few sites to learn more about the origins of Mother’s Day as a holiday.

Mother’s Day History
Wiki article

This year my husband and Groovy Girl already gave me one surprise; an manicure and a pedicure so my toes would be sandal ready for the wedding we are attending this evening in Iowa City.

{my toes in purple}

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find more recipes and food-related posts. Have a wonderful weekend.

Weekend Cooking; Katie Workman's Lazy Oven French Toast

(source)

As she points out though it’s the cook that’s lazy not the oven. I love this recipe. French toast is easier to make than waffles or pancakes truly and this recipe makes it easier to enjoy all together at the table, especially if you have guests. It is assembled the night before so the bread soaks up all the egg while you are sleeping. I served it for breakfast for the five of us on New Year’s Day and it would be excellent and easy for a brunch.

Lazy Oven French Toast
Serves 6-8
Vegetarian

Butter or oil spray
4 cups milk
6 large eggs
2 T granulated sugar
2 T maple syrup, plus more for serving (optional)(to which I say really, optional?, I don’t think so)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher or coarse salt
1 large loaf challah bread, preferably slightly stale, sliced 3/4 to 1 inch thick
3/4 cup whole raisins, chopped dried fruit, or chopped nuts (optional)

Fresh fruit such as berries, sliced peaches or pears, and/or confectioner’s sugar, for serving.

1. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with butter or spray.
2. Place the milk, eggs, sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and whisk to mix well. Set aside.
3. Arrange half of the bread slices in the prepared baking dish, cutting the bread so that it fits in a solid layer. Pour half of the milk mixture over the top, then evenly distribute half the dried fruit or nuts, if using, over the top.
4. Repeat, creating a second layer of bread and then pouring the rest of the milk mixture on top and distributing rest of the fruit or nuts over the bread. Lightly press the bread down into the liquid.

5. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap (luckily my pan has a cover so I’m able to skip this step) and refrigerate over night. The bread will have absorbed almost all of the milk mixture. Uncover the baking dish and if there are dryer looking pieces on top, take them off and carefully tuck them underneath the bread on the bottom so that the more milk-soaked pieces are now on top (this is messy but it all works out in the baking). Note that any dried fruit sitting on top of the French toast will get pretty chewy when baked and nuts on top will get toasty; the fruit and nuts tucked into the French toast will be softer, so disperse the fruit and nuts as you see fit.

6. Preheat the oven to 425*F.
7. Bake the French toast, uncovered, until it is puffed and golden, 30 to 35 minutes.
8. Let the French toast sit for 5 minutes to firm up a bit, then cut into squares and serve it hot with your choice of maple syrup, fresh fruit, and/or a dusting of confectioner’s sugar.

On the side notes Katie adds perfectly helpful hints as to what the kids can do to help but since I created this at about 11:00 on New Year’s Eve Groovy Girl was too busy being silly with her older siblings to help me pour and squish. It was her first late night NY’s Eve and I can’t blame her.

I made this exactly as the recipe states EXCEPT since my kids are not fans of either nuts or dried fruit I did a cranberry twist. I made a compote out of one bag of cranberries, a little orange juice, local honey, and some lemon zest and let it simmer on medium heat while I prepared the French toast. I poured this in-between layers and on top. The cranberries were a pretty addition against the yellow/white bread/egg mixture plus they were tart and perfect with our real maple syrup.

This post is connected to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click her link to find many other food-related posts. Happy Saturday. I know have to cart Groovy Girl to a drama class and an art class. I plan to take my laptop so I can do some writing and a book-I am just about finished with Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

Weekend Cooking: Random Eating

All five of us were together this past week as Kaylee came to stay in between her NY internship and the beginning of her junior year at Oberlin. I tend to go an extra mile, culinary-wise, while she is here. We have happy hour with lots of tomato-based appetizers; like bruschetta and tomatoes layered with fresh mozzarella and basil clipped fresh from the garden.

Tofu stir-fry

This week I made a frittata, quesadillas with lots of toppings, and an Asian stir fry with peanut sauce. The stir-fry is Groovy’s Girl’s dish-she honestly said to her older sister-“it’s my signature dish” sounding a bit like a nine-year-old Martha Stewart as she brought the big bowl to the table. We made a quick peanut sauce, tossed it with stir-fried veggies and tofu and mixed it up with Asian rice noodles. She loves to whip it up.

The quiche was beautiful also but I failed to get a picture-people were hungry. I used a recipe from Super Suppers Cookbook; More Everyday Family Recipes by Judie Byrd.

Frittata with Spinach and Tomatoes

Makes 4-6 servings

4 large eggs, beaten

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1/2 cup slivered fresh basil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 cup chopped onion

1 T. vegetable oil

1 10-oz bag prewashed spinach

3 medium tomatoes, sliced

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375*F. In a large bowl combine eggs, milk, Monteray Jack cheese, basil, salt, and pepper; set aside.

In a large ovenproof skillet cook onion in hot oil over medium-high heat until tender. Gradually add spinach to skillet; cook just until wilted. Stir in egg mixture. Cook until eggs are almost set but still moist, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Arrange tomato slices on top and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Transfer to preheated oven. Bake frittata for 5-6 minutes until set in center.

Serve right out of the skillet. This was such an easy meal to whip up after school, serve with a tossed salad, and orange juice. Groovy Girl said it looked disgusting and refused to eat more than three bites but the older kids ate it up.

She did finish these cupcakes though…

We had Williams-Sonoma Sweet Treats checked out from the library and Groovy Girl chose Sweet Lemon Cupcakes to make. They are delicious and this is a wonderful kid’s cookbook. It gives detailed descriptions so she really understood the steps. It also has problem areas included for some recipes to look for and the cupcake example was about overfilling your cupcake tin. Science corner also pops up in a few recipes so kids (and adults) can understand ingredient combinations like vinegar and baking soda. Beautiful photography shows a diverse population of both boys and girl baking and creating through the steps of each recipe.

It was a great week for eating at our house. It’s not even the weekend anymore but I’m still in my pajamas and it is afternoon here-it’s a lot like a weekend day! I love a three-day weekend…