The girly side

Mia plays in the mud.  She colors pictures of dinosaurs and trucks.  Sometimes *gasp* she wears green.  She wears blue shoes and plays with golf clubs, balls and a baseball bat.  She has a Woody from Toy Story sippy cup.

She also has a play "kitchen" in her room.  She plays with baby dolls. She has a Disney Princess sippy cup.  Although, I will say she pretends to feed her baby doll then usually sticks her in the play oven afterwards.  Who knows what that means...hmm.  Anyway, point is...we try to give her a balanced viewpoint of "girl" things and "boy" things and try to not categorize them as such.  

But, I'm here to say, that this post is not balanced.  This is all about the girly side.  The unabashed, hot pink girly side. Summer seems to bring it out in us, I guess.

Every girl needs a pink bikini.  Just ask her nana who bought it for her :)

Mia calls this her "princess" skirt.

 

Sometimes, it's good to be a girl. Tomorrow we play in the mud.

Teriyaki Kabobs and a New Wall

I am SO homes and gardens today.  A recipe AND a new decorating tip?!?  Wow. 

So, we all know I LOVE to cook...my cooking idol is Ina Garten and if I had my way, I'd cook all day everyday and make millions of dollars from my ingenious recipes.  But, I live in the real world and the work and kid thing means the food I make has to be very quick, easy and mostly toddler friendly.  I try very, very hard to feed Mia the same food JC and I eat every night, for two reasons:

• It's a pain in the ass to cook a separate meal
• I hope it will help her become a "healthy eater"...kids mimic their parents, so if we eat good food, she'll eat good food.  And only have ice cream 3 times a week, instead of 5.

But sometimes you can't always do that.  Sometimes you just need to eat something that's spicy, has a "grown-up" sauce on it or is fish or fish-related.  None of those (in my experience) are very toddler friendly foods.  I'm here to tell you that this is one of those recipes:

Teriyaki Steak Kabobs

•  Chop up a yellow and orange bell pepper (if they're on sale, otherwise use the gross (but cheap) green kind), one yellow onion and a piece of steak. Throw in some button mushrooms and  skewer them on kabob sticks.

• Season with Lawry's salt and black pepper and drench them in Teriyaki marinade.

•  Let them marinate for about 30 minutes in the refrigerator and then put them on a HOT grill.  Make sure the grill is HOT enough that it sears the meat and locks in the flavor.

DELICIOUS? Yes.  Toddler friendly?  No.  At least not for my toddler.  But no worries, we had plenty off side dishes and fruit for her.  She did not go hungry.  Here's the little bugger playing in the yard while the kabobs were grilling...red-face and all.

In other news, I played decorator last weekend and re-did a wall in my kitchen "nook."  I have found that I am very fond of collages so I made a third one in my house.  What can I say, I like em.  Each one is special though, the one in my dining room is filled with pictures that I took in Europe, the other one in my dining room is pictures of JC and I when we were younger, pictures of my brother and I when we were younger, and just fun things that mean something.  This one, is no different.  I made this collage with framed sheet music from the 1920s that I bought at a consignment store in downtown McKinney, Texas.  How awesome is that?  Maybe one day it'll be worth enough to pay for Mia's college education.  Kidding! Kind of.

Balsamic Pasta with Asparagus, Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Holy cow this recipe is good.  I swear, I make the best meals when I'm throwing together what I have and don't really plan it.  I'm gonna stop buying cookbooks (except for Ina Garten's cause she's the bomb.)

Anyway, here's the recipe:

• Chop 1 bunch of asparagus  into three sections so the spears are about 2 inches long
• Slice one package of button mushrooms
• Halve 1/2 carton of cherry tomatoes and 1/2 carton of sunburst tomatoes. Don't know what the heck a sunburst tomato is?  Well, good thing I had my camera handy when I chopped them. They're the yellow ones.

•  Put about 1/4 cup of olive oil and 2 HUGE tablespoons of garlic in a saute pan and heat until aromatic and simmering but don't "fry" the garlic.  Cause burnt garlic is worse than a $2 bottle of red wine.
• Add the mushrooms and asparagus to the simmering olive oil and cook for about 5 minutes with the lid on.  Add about 1 tsp of course sea salt and some pepper.  As much as you want, I guess.

• In the meantime, cook 1 box of angel hair pasta (broken into halves) in some salted water, then drain and set aside.  (Do I need to make a big deal out of cooking some angel hair noodles?  No, I don't.)
•  Make some balsamic vinaigrette.  For those not familiar, that's equal parts olive oil and balsamic vinegar with some salt and pepper, then whisked until mixed thoroughly.  Need a picture?  Fine. I whisk with a fork.

•  Once the asparagus is fork tender, add the angel hair, balsamic vinaigrette and your halved tomatoes and toss.  More pepper and probably another turn around the pan of balsamic vinegar if you really like it.  I happen to love balsamic vinegar so the more the better.

 De-licious and vegetarian if you're into that.  Perfect for summer when it's so hot all you really want to ingest is cold beer and maybe some ice cream.  Is that just me?  Anyway, I had two helpings so that should tell you something.

The best thing I ever...grew

Okay, so I didn't grow ALL of this, but I did grow the basil...right out of my garden.  I know, I know...basil is the easiest thing to grow ever...but I don't claim to be Ina Garten.  I wish. Who doesn't wish they had the foresight to add coffee to every chocolate recipe they make? 

Alright, back to the task at hand.  First of all, fresh basil clipped straight from the ground is WAY more potent.  And way more rustic.  See?

No pretty, single leaves in a plastic container here, folks.  I wish you could smell it.

When I went to Europe a few years ago, I had the best Caprese salad EVER at a small cafe on the streets of Venice.  (I know, I know...sounds pretentious, but it's the truth) This salad, seriously, was the best thing I've ever eaten.  It was so good, that I took a picture and have it framed on a wall above my dining room table.  Don't believe me? Fine.  Here's the proof...

The basil was muddled and I think steeped in olive oil and sans balsamic vinegar...but oh man, it was so delicious.  Being 5 months pregnant and in Italian food heaven might have been a factor, but regardless, I STILL dream about that salad. 

So, here is my take on the classic. Get some tomatoes.  (These came from the store, the tomatoes in my garden are still green)

Clip some basil.

Open a beer.  Wait... what?

Grab some fresh mozzarella cheese and assemble the salad as so...

Super delicious, and perfect for summer.  Add some avocado and prepare to have your mind BLOWN!  

German Chicken and Dumplings and...Man Cream?

I'm a few weeks late on this, but better late than never, I guess!  I had a fabulous Easter weekend with my husband's family.  My absolute FAVORITE part was watching (and attempting to help) my German sister-in-law Iona make German chicken and dumplings and a wonderful dessert sent straight from German heaven called...Man Cream.  What an odd name, right?  I know what you're thinking, cause I thought the same thing too.  But seriously, it's delicious and I'll get to why it's called that in a minute.

We don't get to see Iona, Ben and their 4 month old baby girl Nora Elise (my favorite name ever), very often because they live in North Carolina and Ben is career military...which means he doesn't get to get away much.  So we made the most of it and I snuggled that baby as much as I could!  She is precious and just so chubby!  See?

My little munchkin has lost any remnant of babyhood chub and is now a lean and mean toddler.  I also forgot how much babies drool...

Anyway, Saturday night...Iona made us the traditional Sunday afternoon family meal in Germany.  Chicken and dumplings.  I WISH I would have copied her recipe, but it was in half German and half English (which is awesome by the way) and so I couldn't decipher it.  All I know is that I helped chop raw chicken livers and almost barfed.

Here it is in pictures...

The chicken...stuffed with sauteed hamburger, chopped chicken livers and onions.  She browned the chicken before it went into the water pot to boil. 

The dumplings, made mostly of bread, eggs, parsley and other stuff.  (No Bisquick here folks)

Then they are browned up to get a crunchy outside.

My sister-in-laws trying to turn the chicken in the pot.  They didn't really succeed, but I thought it was a great moment to capture. 

The chicken, boiling for a few hours in tomato sauce and water.

The end result was fabulous.  I mean...fabulous.  Definitely not my mom's version of chicken and dumplings, but this one took al ot more time and was truly a work of art.  I just wish I would have written down the recipe!

On to the man cream...I actually made most of this and I loved it!   Man Cream is a german traditional dessert made by the wives/mothers in the family to ensure that their men stick around.  Legend has it that it's so good, that it's supposed to keep them at home.  Let me tell you...I think legend is right.

First you make the pudding...but it's not just any pudding...it's this kind. It's made pretty much just like the jello stuff too.  Except it has a much richer taste and it's not as sweet.

Then you let it cool.  While it's cooling you whip your cream.

And then add this:

It's meant to keep your whipped cream stiff.  Once the pudding is completely cool, you add some rum.  Yup, the traditional German liquor of...rum.

Then you fold the cream in to the pudding very, very slowly...a little at a time.

Then you add chocolate chips, fold those in slowly and top with more chocolate.

Simple and delicious.  German food = Awesome.

My funny, funny girl.

God, she's cute.  Right?  I mean, like really cute.  I'm sorry if you're sick of it, but it's my blog.  My little corner of the internet and she just provides the best material ever.  I'll give you three reasons why...

Reason #1 - She doesn't cry, kick, scream of hit me in the face when I wake her out of a dead sleep at 6am.  On Saturday, Mia and I walked in the Dallas MS Walk and we had to be in Addison by 6:30am.  She was still very much asleep at 6am and so to wake her, I gently took of her pajamas and talked to her softly and after about 2 minutes of slowly waking up...she opened her eyes, looked at me, smiled and said "Shoes!" She was excited to be up and was just the best kid during the whole thing.  Here we are, pretty in orange.

Reason #2 - She gets red-faced after she plays too hard.  On Friday afternoon we went to the park.  It was about 85 degrees outside and pretty sunny.  Within minutes of walking around the park and then swinging, her face was beat red.  For anyone who knows me...knows that she takes after me here.  I don't sweat...I just get beat red. My heat expels out of my body in color rather than liquid.  Weird, I know.  I blame genetics.  But, FINALLY, something that she gets from me.  Up until now, it's been "Oh, look how much she looks like JC!" Here's the red face in action... this was after about 15 minutes of digging in the rocks.

 

Reason #3 - This.  

I love my daughter.  She's the funniest person I've ever met.

Corned Beef and Cabbage!

I'm not Irish. At least I don't think so.  Well, now that I say that...my mom said that in her dad's (my grandpa) heritage, there was one guy who came to the US from Ireland.  But that's not the point.  The point is that on St. Patrick's Day...everyone is Irish.  It's an excuse to drink beer and eat Irish food, all in the name of a holiday that we all claim as our own personal heritage day. 

I am no different, because I have done plenty of celebrating, none of it actually ON St. Patrick's Day.  Last weekend, JC and I went to the Dallas St. Patrick's Day parade in Lower Greenville.  We ended us missing the parade...but we got there for the fun part.  The after party...and oh dear lord...was it fun.  Definitely got a little "flavor" for Dallas.  It's something I've been missing since I moved here and so it made me feel a little more connected to this huge city I call home.

So, today is actually St. Patrick's Day and last night (in honor of my parent's last night visiting in TX), my mom made the annual Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner that my dad requests every St. Patrick's Day.  I can take no credit in this meal.  I worked at my office while my mom slaved in the kitchen.  Turns out...she actually didn't slave...because this little beauty...

Seemed to be really easy to make.  Recipe Time...

Ingredients:

2 Stalks of Celery
4 Carrots (or a bag of baby carrots)
1 Medium yellow onion
4-6 Red Potatoes (peeled)
1 head of cabbage (cut in large shreds)
1 12 ounce can of beer (we prefer Miller Light or Shiner Bock in our household)
1 big piece of Corned Beef with spice packet included (it contains coriander and other things)

Put celery, carrots, onions, cabbage and potatoes in the bottom of a crockpot.  Rinse the beef and sit on top of the veggies.  Add beer and spice packet and enough water to cover meat.  Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Okay, want to hear how it really went?

So, my mom wasn't satisfied with how the crockpot was cooking the meat.  She didn't "trust" it, she said.  So, here is how the cooking steps were modified...

About halfway through crockpot cooking time, take it out and put it all in a roasting pan...cover with tin foil and put it into a 300 degree oven until you think it's done.  (Usually just test the meat and make sure it falls apart.)

It was SO good.  So, really, no method to the madness...whatever works, I guess.  To finish up our fine St. Patrick's Day meal, we had a true Iris traditional dessert.  Ready to see it?!? 

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.  I hear it goes way back to Irish traditions in the 1600's.  Okay, just kidding.  But I'm all about making this MY holiday, so...why not? This cheesecake is homemade all the way by my mommy dearest.  Here it is in ALL it's glory:

Just beautiful.  Here's the recipe:  Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

In other news, I finally figured out how to get Mia to drink more water.  At the moment, she's all about apple juice...and that concerns me just a little.  So, the key to getting her to drink water...is to put ice cubes in it.  It's novel enough now to work.  And everybody knows...that novelty is what works in parenting...right?

Plain ol' Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have I mentioned that Mia loves Sesame Street?  It all started with a healthy obsession with Elmo (or La-La) as she calls him.  Then we moved on to Big Bird...now...it's Cookie Monster.  I bought her a cookie monster book and do the cookie monster voice when I read it to her.  She loves it!  She giggles and just wants me to read it over and over!

Well, all of that reading about cookies...made me want some.  So...

Tollhouse. Cookies.  Need I say more?  Except maybe that I didn't have enough tollhouse chocolate chips so I had to use 1/4 bag of Tollhouse chocolate chips, 1/4 bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips and 1/4 of Whole Foods brand dark chocolate chunks.  I think it improved the classic recipe.

Like I've said before...I'm not a baker.  It's too much responsibility.  I like to change my mind sometimes when I cook and when you bake...that's not really an option.

Well, today...my mom would be proud.  I followed the recipe perfectly (except for adding a few of the different chocolate chips as mentioned above)...I made sure each cup of flour I added was leveled off, I made sure my butter was actually soft as the recipe calls for and I EVEN TOOK THE TIME TO ADD EACH OF THE EGGS SEPARATELY!!!  I feel very accomplished.

Let me tell you...I get why baking matters.  This is the first time I've ever made cookies and they actually came out perfect.  They didn't stick to the pan...they weren't too "greasy" or too "cakey", they weren't burnt...they were perfect!

First, I had to spend a little time with the dough. 

Even the dough tasted better with all of the correct measurements and all.  But the real proof...is here:

Perfect!  The bottoms aren't burnt either! Seriously, I may have to file this under the "Best Thing I Ever Made" category...and they're just boring old chocolate chip cookies!

So now, I have a pantry full of girl scout cookies AND homemade chocolate chip cookies.  Awesome. I mean, Awesome!!

And the little girl got a great surprise when she woke up from her nap!  Her afternoon snack was a cookie, milk and grapes instead of grapes and cheese or something boring and healthy like that.  She loved it.  Of course.

Also, I don't give enough attention to my cat.  He's repaying me by clawing at all of the furniture.  Today, he was sleeping in the chair like this.  I couldn't resist.