Jedi Robes

Max really wanted a Clone Wars party for his birthday. And he wanted some more boy dress-up wear. So, courtesy of these great instructions, I made two Jedi Robes for his party. Cute, huh?

There were also two clone helmets (one from a year ago, one from a Captain Rex costume I got him for his birthday, which he really really wanted but has yet to put on).

Oh, and Colin made those excellent lightsabers out of pool noodles and duct/electrical tape. Very fun and hugely popular.

Green Food

Oddly, I don't think I've ever done green food for St. Paddy's Day. But the little guy requested some, so in addition to our corned beef, we had green corn bread, green mashed potatoes, peas, and just for the orange side, carrots. The potatoes looked like playdough. Luckily they didn't taste like it.





In unrelated news... Here's what they did to our bush near the driveway to fix our very local power outage today. Ouch!

Fun in the Sun

San Diego was lovely in Februrary - we need to do this again! Got to hang with two sets of cousins, Sister and Bro-in-law, Sis-in-law, and Grammy & Pops, not to mention all the fun activities.

Here's the view from the house:

Waiting for a beach to appear:

Climbing some rocks:

Watching over the kids:

Ah, finally beach time! San Diego cousins and their friend:

Legoland - driving the boats in Miniland:

Meeting Mickey at Disneyland:

More beach time with Utah cousins:

Last night - movie time with San Diego cousins:

Max eye view of what was important in the house:



Good time had by all.

More food

Still working on random recipes from random cookbooks. Tonight's dinner, courtesy of Cooking Light's The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook (p 363):

Skillet-roasted lemon chicken with potatoes
I say yum, the rest say "ick", but I laugh last because I get the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

1 large lemon, sliced
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 tbl lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chopped fresh or 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
10 cherry tomatoes (I added more)
10 kalamata olives (pitted)
8 small red potatoes, quartered (1 1/2 lbs)

450 degree oven

Arrange lemon slices in a single layer on the bottom of an oven-proof 10 inch skillet.
Combine oil and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken, tomatoes, olives, potatoes and toss to coat.
Arrange chicken on top of the lemon slices, then arrange vegetable mixture over chicken. Bake for 45-55 minutes, until chicken is done (was 45 for me).

4 servings.

I made some couscous too, and had some crusty bread on hand, and I also sprinkled a little feta cheese on top. Yum for me!

Maybe I'll try the technique again (because it was super easy!) only with some onions & peppers on the bottom instead of the tart lemon, and skipping the olives & tomatoes (like I said, good flavor combo for me, not so popular with the rest of the house) to make it savory rather than bitter.

Recipe frustration

I kinda hate baking cookies. They take so long. And they're messy. But it's Christmas, and you do cookies at Christmas time. Colin's our cookie baker (and a fine one!), and he's got a list o' cookies he wants to do. But there are some specific cookies from way back in my past that I really am hankering to make and I'm not sure why.

Cookie #1 - back in the mid-70s, when we lived in Suquamish, Sunset magazine did it's annual cookie spread and mom and I made these brown sugar cutout cookies in the shape of pine trees. They were finicky on the cooking time - easy to burn. But were nice & crunchy if you got them right. Sort of like gingerbread, only not spicey. I remember we thought them rather bland at the time, but for some reason, I really want them! Mom has no memory of these cookies. Web searches have turned up nothing. Colin made me some brown sugar cookies from his 1001 cookie recipes book, and they're good. And he pressed cute little shapes into them, and they were pretty & tasty enough to give away. But they are tender, not crispy. So, not quite a match.

Cookie #2 - I want a round chocolate cookie with turbinado sugar around the edge. So, looking for an icebox/refrigerator/freezer type cookie that you roll into a log, roll the log into turbinado sugar, and then cut into slices & bake. I'm being finicky and not finding a chocolage refrigerator cookie that looks just right.

Plus, did I mention that I don't really like making cookies? So when I find one that's sorta close, I start gathering ingredients and then think "but it won't be quite right anyway" and wander off.

Hmph.

Supper Club?

On a recent trip to the library, when I'd looked at all I wanted to in the children's section, Max and I were making our way to Literature, when he pointed out the cookbook aisle. A book caught my eye as we zipped past and I brought it home: The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper. I catch The Splendid Table on the radio sometimes on a Sunday afternoon, so I thought it might be fun to read. And it was! The layout of the pages was really eye-catching. Not enough pictures for my taste, but really good design with words. Quotes from chefs and other food notables, and many many tips & explanations of techniques. The recipes weren't just "Ingredients/Steps", but a little story about why the recipe is a favorite or where it came from, plus detailed descriptions of how to do each step. I actually read through most of the book in an evening, skipping the recipe details and just reading it like a book. Fun!

Three recipes in particular caught my eye:

• Pasta with Chopping-Board Pistachio Pesto
• Crisp Brick-Fried Chicken with Rosemary and Whole Garlic Cloves
• Little French Fudge Cakes

I thought they'd make a super-yummy menu, but I didn't have time to try them all at once (and unless I've got people coming over, I just don't have the motivation to go all out like that), so they got split up over a few nights.

First came the chocolate, of course. I've always loved those little chocolate lava cakes, with the gooey chocolate center. This recipe made it seem fairly easy & straightforward. Bought myself a LOT of dark chocolate and gathered the ingredients, and made these little cupcake size cakes on Saturday. Lemme tell ya - super rich! Oh my. I followed the advice "For the kids add another 3 tablespoons of sugar." Whew. Can't imagine if I'd left it out! I ate one with a REALLY big glass of milk (so that's why they serve them with little pots of cream at the restaurants), Max tried a bit and went "BLEAH" and Colin just looked. Maybe he tried a crumb. Guess I should try again with milk chocolate for the sophisticated palates around here.

One of the fun quotes:

After eating chocolate you feel

godlike, as though you can
conquer enemies, lead armies,
entice lovers.

- Emily Lychetti, pastry chef and author

Next up, brick chicken! I've also had this at a restaurant (so long ago, I no longer remember where). The chicken gets a little bit flattened under the brick and develops a nice, crispy skin. Yum. And I love rosemary and garlic with my chicken. Didn't have a "brick", so again, their great instructions came with a recommendation: "use a heavy skillet, about 2 inches smaller in diameter than the skillet you are cooking in...Balance it on the bird and add heavy objects to weight the pan down, such as a can or two, or a 5-pound bag of sugar, or a rock."

I went with the pan and three cans of miscellany from the pantry.

The recipe calls for a whole bird, butterflied (with tips on butterflying a chicken). I went with chicken quarters, but I overbought and had 6 quarters and only room for 5 in the pan. So, I ended up with one on its own. This was not a good decision for the lone quarter - after it burned, I had to remove the "crispy/black" skin. Ah well. The rest turned out yummy, with crispy flavorful skins and meat nearly falling off the leg bones. Next time, I'm going for just thighs, they should flatten nicely and cook more evenly than a quarter or whole bird, even though they won't be as photogenic.

Finally, last night, I got around to the pesto. I'm not a huge pesto fan, at least not of the Cuisinart kind. But this "chopping-board" style looked yummy (I like "rustic"). You put a little pile of salt & pepper on a big chopping board, smash some garlic cloves into it, add some red & green onions, and basil and then start chopping it all up together (the onions are pre-chopped, but end up re-chopped). Finally, you add the pistachios and chop chop chop some more. Throw on some olive oil, warm it up a little, mix with pasta, toss in a little Asiago cheese, and you're done.

I loved the chop chop chopping. Way fun, and I liked the fresh bite of the results. Very green, very fresh, very light. Better eat it RIGHT AWAY though, because even 15 minutes later it's not as yummy. And, whoa, garlic! Plus red & green onions. Whew. Max dove in, 'cause Abbey's fed him pesto before, but this had a little more bite than he was used to and he passed on most of it. Colin gave it the fish eye but tried it and said it was good (but didn't eat much). I scarfed it down. Um, did I mention garlic? And onions? Whew. Sorry about the breath, folks.

I think it'd be even better with some red pepper flakes, but then, I don't know, would you explode when you ate it?

So, loved reading the cookbook, liked the recipes I tried, but out of the whole book, these were the only ones I actually HAD to try out, so overall I was glad it was a library book. I should try out some more. Who's up for a supper club?

First week of First Grade

First off, Max and Abbey had their last full day together - we'll miss you Abbey!

And then, school began. First day photo:

And here's what I saw when I went to pick him up after extended day:

Fully engrossed in playing with a new friend. It's working out fine, so far!

Lunches:

(he didn't eat any of those cute cheese leaves)

(the mac 'n cheese was too dry and came home uneaten - we'll have to figure the Thermos thing out)

Like the napkins? I sewed them up the night before (not my fault, I ordered the fabric 2 weeks ago, but it didn't come till Tuesday), and he's been liking them. The fabric line is Rocket Scientist from In the Beginning fabrics. Seemed so Max, had to have it. But he didn't need another quilt, so napkins it is!

Now we're all enjoying lots of downtime at home, and getting ready for a full week!