Life Lessons from Recent experiences in cooking

So...I'm one of those philisophical types who tries to see a metaphor in everything. Yesterday for breakfast I made a puffy pancake (Melt 1/3 cup butter in 9x13" glass pan at 400degF. Beat 4 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 1/4 teaspon salt and pour into 9x13. Bake for ~20 min. Cut and serve hot with powdered suger, maple syrup, lemon curd, or whatever you like). It is one of my favorites to make because it has lots of eggs, and I can't get Shannon to eat eggs any other way. However yesterday they didn't taste right. I finally realized that I had neglected to add the salt, so the flavor was similar to eating a plastic bag (don't ask how I know). The life lesson here is that no matter how much we simplify or no matter how repetitive the task I still must pay attention and focus on the details for things to turn out right. Also, since I left out the salt, it reminds me of that phrase in the Bible that we are the salt of the earth. Salt is an important part of many reciepies because without it the flavors just don't come out right.

Then this morning I made a new recipe called Cinnamon Breakfast Biscuits (Combine 1 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup wheat bran [I used wheat flour], 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut in 1/2 cup butter. Stir in 2/3 cup milk and 1/2 cup dried fruit [I used raisins] just until moistened. Kneed dough in the bowl until dough is smooth. Roll out until 1/2" thick and cut with biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 450 deg F. Remove and cool on wire rack. Drizzle with sugar glaze made from mixing 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 2 teaspoons milk.)Since my sister just got engaged, I was comparing this breakfast to our relationships (watch out this could get pretty cheesy). Anyway, over the 5 years of marriage that I've experienced there have been some lumps (raisins) some happy (sugar) lots of normal (flour) and as we've been put through the fire we grow and eventually we'll experience the kind of love that lasts forever. Congratulations to Jalayne and Luke and wish them all the best as they enter this new phase in their lives!

Mediterrainian Chicken

Mediterrainian Chicken is one of our absolute favorite meals to make for dinner! Puff pastry, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, feta, garlic, and pesto! So amazingly delish. However it is a little tricky to judge when it is done cooking. This night I happened to have used chicken that wasn't entirely done defrosting...so it was a little pink in the center when I cut into it. The pastry was done, but not the chicken. So thank heaven for microwaves! I just popped it in the microwave for another minute or so and it was done. This recipe easily serves 4, so we make it for 2 and eat it two nights in a row. The second night however, we had the missionaries show up...so it quickly became a meal for 4 when I cooked up some pasta and sauce as a side dish. Whew!

Double Apple Coffee Cake

This tasty cake has applesauce as well as apples in it. I used Macintosh apples because they get pretty soft when you bake them. The recipe called for Granny Smith apples, but these often stay too crunchy for my tastes. It also called for walnuts...gross. My husband and I both agree that nuts shouldn't really be baked into much of anything. However we do like almonds, so I tried those...still gross...I should have just stuck to the apples solo. We still managed to eat the whole cake none the less.

I had made a few cakes to keep in the freezer. This one used up the leftover frosting from the skateboard cake...which explains the strange use of colors! I've been trying to practice my roses and still working on it, it totally depends on the consistancy, and in my case the temperature of my kitchen. Needless to say, thank goodness my family loves frosting! It gives me a great excuse to make little cakes like this 6" round. Each time I bake, fill, and frost a cake I am learning a lot. I've also started watching many a youtube video tutorial...seriously helpful information out there, all for FREE!

Roasted Red Pepper and Chicken Orzo

Tonight was a "What do I have in the fridge??" night. I had 2 red pepper on the 'must eat today' list, an onion, 1/2 box of orzo pasta. I usually have a jar full of olive oil buried garlic cloves. So I roasted the peppers just to prolong their life and thought I'd use them later this week, but they smelled really good. I found a really simple recipe for a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, Michael cooked up some chicken, the orzo, and we topped it off with the sauce. Simple, easy, delish. It easily fed 2, with some left over...all for under $5.

Rafe had a strawberry (beet) banana milkshake and is getting in the groove of smiling on cue! Skye had milk. Again.

Falafel

We have discovered a new food in the past few months. Suprisingly one that Rafe will eat on occassion, falafel. I think it is the ball shape that gets him. This one we made on the fly with a matzo falfel mix (not particularly one of our favorites, but it was in the cupboard.) I used ranch and tahini with some cumin and other seasonings to make the sauce, threw in an avocado, and saute'd up the one and only egg plant from our garden efforts. Also some feta. It was pretty tasty, and a quick meal too.

Sourdough Pancakes

Grandma Wiltbank makes amazing sourdough pancakes with fresh strawberry syrup. We tried to make our own sourdough pancakes using a sour start given to Michael by a fellow 'foodie' co-worker. We found a recipe online that would work with our quanity of start. It was pretty good, but strangely called for olive oil?? Not exactly the same flavor as Grandma W's but it worked for that morning. We made Rafe Mickey Mouse shaped hot cakes, he ate 4!

Spinach Stuffed Pork and Cake

Last night we made Spinach Stuffed Pork with blue cheese, spinach, and bacon, WOW! It turned out moist and amazing. We had it with whipped red potatoes.

I've also been making a few cakes for people lately. Rafe loves to get in on the action, constantly asking for a taste or an opportunity to lick the beaters in a sweet, "On my finger please?"

Yesterday I made a chocolate skateboard themed cake for Marvin's birthday, and a yellow gerber daisy cake for my friend Jeanna's birthday. Every cake Rafe asks if it is for his birthday...coming in December. I say no, and he say's, "Not for Rafe, I want a _____ cake." Which has a different theme each time.

Kicking off "What I had for dinner"

(Almond Danish)

So Shannon and I have decided to give our family blog a slightly different focus. We have a secret hobby of making good food (at least we think it is good). So to celebrate our successes and cry about the failures we are going to post them all here and let the world know "what we had for dinner last night". Of course our postings won't be limited to dinner, because really breakfast is just as important as dinner as far as the culinary arts are concerned. Here are some of our latest efforts. Hopefully the postings will be a little more regular due to our love of food and desire to share.

(Spiced Peach Coffee Cake)

Updates

I have had quite a few people request links to my blog lately...perhaps I ought to update my postings. What have we been up to these past few months?

1. Michael is still working on his Masters degree in Optics, hooray for statistics?
2. Rafe is running, spinning, talking, laughing and playing with his friends and cars like there is no tomorrow. He is also becoming increasingly helpful! Hooray.
3. I am 7 going on 8 months prego, the baby is due May 27th. Then we will have two kids, no school for the summer, and plenty to keep us busy.
4. Michael is also working really, really hard at BAE to get through is many projects and enjoy his 30min commute to Lexington, MA.
5. I am also plugging away at my business, trying to keep my desk and office clean, and working on some really interesting projects, shoes, and quilting.
6. I'm also cleaning like a demon...ahh nesting.

Rafe's New Room!

Rafe is now in a big boy trundle bed in his newly painted lime rickey green room. He really loves being able to get himself in and out of bed. I'm in the process of making him a quilt with all kinds of transportation on it, cars, trucks, planes, trains, surf boards, motorcycles etc. I think he'll love it. Dad also sent some great pictures he took of rusting tractors in Santa Fe, which I'm going to put on his wall.