Halloween!

Today is Halloween! Not my favorite holiday, but a pretty fun one nonetheless. Growing up we had a combination of store bought, self-made and Goodwill assembled costumes. We also carved pumpkins, but truthfully, I never really liked it. I don't like the stringy, slimy, smelly insides of pumpkins. But I do love roasted pumpkin seeds. So I was super psyched to find some for sale at our local grocery store (surprisingly, most places don't sell them because they assume you'll do it yourself). 

And we found this awesome kit at Target for $5 to turn our pumpkin into Cinderella's carriage! I had actually thought of doing this, albeit more elaborately and thus probably more expensively. All of this came in one nice little box, super cheap, with everything you need (except the pumpkins) and instructions. And Lily had a blast helping make it. She really liked painting it, sticking all the glittery stickers on, and stabbing the small pumpkins with bamboo skewers to use as wheels. All in all, a total, cheap success. 

I've been feeling like Cinderella has been taking over our life recently, though, so I was determined that Lily was NOT going to be Cinderella for Halloween. So instead, we decided to dress up as a family as The Wonder Pets, probably my favorite of the Nick Jr. shows that we watch on Netflix. But for some reason they don't sell a lot of Wonder Pets merchandise any more, at least not at reasonable prices, so I decided to use my newly acquired sewing skills to whip us up some capes and find the other pieces at thrift stores or wherever. Easier said than done. 

I found a pattern for the capes online, and didn't actually read the instructions just bought some cheap cotton fabric and went at it. Turns out I was supposed to use fleece so as not to need any hems. So I ended up sewing the edges of all of them, and adding a piece of ribbon to tie at the neck. Turns out that pinning and sewing circles is hard. But they turned out okay. Making the Wonder Pets badge to put on the capes was easier because I used felt and fabric glue. Then my plan was to use fusible webbing just because it was going to take less time. I should know that's never the case. It wouldn't really stick at all, so I ended up just hand stitching them on. I think that actually was a good thing because they look cute and homemade. 

As far as accessories go, Ming Ming Duck wears an aviator hat with goggles, Linny the guinea pig wears an orange baseball hat, and Turtle Tuck wears a red and white sailor hat with blue water shoes. I was able to get most of them from Goodwill or borrow from family. Then the night before we went to Boo at the Zoo I decided Lily needed some duck feet to complete the costume. So I used some left over felt from the badges to make little shoe covers. Lily calls them her Ming Ming slippers. 

And here's the whole outfit together. Ming Ming Duck! I think she looks pretty cute. 

And here's all three of us. Joe was a super good sport in wearing the blue fleece slippers I got instead of water shoes and my Where's Waldo hat from the Monster Dash last year. I look particularly special in this picture, but remember, I'm a guinea pig so it's kind of appropriate. Lily wanted to fly like Ming Ming, so she did. I like how her little duck feet hang down. 

And here we all are together at the zoo. It was really nice to hear people say 'Look! It's the Wonder Pets!' when we were all together. Totally validating. This was taken right before the costume parade that Lily was willing to be in for all of 20 steps before she realized we were walking AWAY from her grandparents. She decided she would rather just stay with them than keep walking. So we ducked out early (ha!) and rejoined our families. 

As for Halloween day itself, Lily and I dressed up to go to a little kid party at the neighborhood club. She wore her Ming Ming cape for all of 2 minutes before she found a Cinderella dress she would much rather wear instead. She got her face painted like a cat, made a glittery pumpkin, ran around with lots of other little kids, and didn't eat too much sugar. We didn't actually go trick-or-treating because our neighborhood isn't that accessible. And no one came to our door because we live on the 10th floor of a locked apartment building. So it was pretty chill. 

Happy Halloween!

Honey and Spice Make Everything Nice

I was going to hold off on writing about these until I made at least one more batch, but they're just too good not to share. They're from my new favorite cookbook, A Feast of Ice & Fire, of course. They are officially called Modern Honey Biscuits, but I like the sound of Honey Spice Cookies better and I think it's a more accurate description. 

These are really good. Like, really really good. They're spicy. And sweet. And fluffy. And chewy. And buttery. And are the perfect pair to coffee or tea in the morning. Or the afternoon. Or evening. They're really fun to make with little people as well because you can mix it all up with your hands and nothing will kill you. Yes, yes, there's raw flour (and I've heard that's more dangerous than raw eggs in terms of potential salmonella) but I'm willing to risk it. And honey is probably my favorite sweetener EVER. 

One change I would make, is I would use less ginger next time. They are delicious as is, but I would like to taste more of some of the other spices. After getting the ginger to other spice levels work out, I would try adding a dash of nutmeg on top of the dough balls for a nice finish. I know there's nutmeg in pumpkin pie spice, but I really like nutmeg and I would like to taste a little more of it in there I think. 

You need to go make these now. 

Modern Honey Biscuits
2 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1/2 cup honey
1 cup raw sugar for decorating

Preheat the oven to 300*F. Either line two baking sheets with parchment paper or plan to bake in two batches.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, granulated sugar, and ginger. using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Heat the honey in a small saucepan over medium heat until it is warm and runny (or microwave it for 1 minute). Add the honey to the flour mixture and work with a wooden spoon or spatula until a soft dough forms. 

Pour the raw sugar into a bowl. Roll the dough into 2-inch balls and coat them with raw sugar. Place eight balls onto each prepared baking sheet, without flattening them; leave room around the sides for spreading. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits are just cracked. Let them stand on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool. 

Eat the biscuits right away or store them in an airtight container for up to a week. 

Pushing the limits

I'm writing a post at 10:30 AM on a Monday. I should not be able to do this because Lily and I should be at Wiggleworms, the music class we go to run by the Old Town School of Folk Music. Lily LOVES Wiggleworms. It's one of her favorite activities of the week. But today, we had to leave because Lily was being totally uncooperative, wouldn't sit down or even just stand next to me, and the instructor had to stop class twice to ask her to stop running around the room like an idiot. 

In general, we follow a three strikes rule. I ask Lily to do something three times, and if she doesn't we leave or whatever she was playing with gets taken away. If it was something big, like having to leave class, we leave and then about half way home we stop and talk about why we left and do the same when we get back home. Then the issue is generally dropped. I mean, she's only 2 and her memory only goes back so far. I'm a big believer in natural consequences for bad behavior, and having to leave class seems appropriate. At the beginning of class next week I'll probably remind her so she remembers that there are consequences to not listening to mama or Miss Shanta and hopefully things will go better. I also try really hard to not say no or to stop doing something for arbitrary reasons, only for safety or being a civilized human. 

But there's a problem with this. When we leave class Lily gets to ride her bike home, which is possibly her second favorite activity to do. Then she gets to be at home and do pretty much whatever she wants. 'Punishing' her further at home seems pretty pointless because it's too far removed from the action that instigated it. So suddenly her natural consequence has turned into a natural benefit. 

And she's doing it all the time now. Testing the limits of everything, willfully and stubbornly. (I wonder who she gets that from?) When we're at home trying to get ready to go out somewhere, she usually crawls under the table multiple times to prevent me from putting on her socks, shoes, jacket, whatever. What am I supposed to do then? If I say 'do this or we're not going' that's partly what she wants, even if it's someplace fun we're supposed to go. And usually it's someplace that I HAVE to go, so not going is not an option. We don't take toys or things with us most places, so there's no threat there. Bribes don't work either, nor do I think they're the answer. 

I get so frustrated with her not being cooperative. And it's not like she's throwing a fit, she just thinks it's a fun game to make mama pull her out from the under the table, or chase her through the grocery store. I've done the waiting it out thing, too. Like at home if it's not somewhere I need to be at a certain time I'll just wait until she's ready to come out. That works pretty well, also with her toys when she refuses to clean up before starting the next thing. We have a mini battle of wills, and so far mine always wins because I'm happy to just sit on the floor doing nothing waiting for her to pick up her blocks before getting out all of her dolls. Neither of us gets bent out of shape, both end up pretty happy, and in the end what needs to get done does. But when time is an issue, or it's at someone else's house that doesn't work so well. 

Evening update: At dinner my mom asked Lily if she went to Wiggleworms today and she looked at me sadly. I said "We had to leave Wiggleworms. Lily do you remember why?" and she looked sadly at my mom and said "Run." Then I asked her who asked her to stop running and she said Shanta. I'm pretty encouraged that she was able to process and remember all that and feel a little bit bad about it. Maybe things aren't as bad as I think they are. 

And truthfully, this happens like once a day. As long as I can control my frustration about it, she responds pretty positively. I think I just needed to vent a while. Wiggleworms is one of the few things we pay to go to, and it's not cheap. And it's embarrassing to have the kid that's acting out of control, especially when you're 7.5 months pregnant and have a hard time getting up and down from the floor let alone trying to chase your two year old around in a circle. 

How do you deal with uncooperative children? As usual, any suggestions are welcome. 

Second Feast

There may or may not have been a small grease fire associated with this dinner preparation. I'll never tell. 

This weekend we made the Modern Beef and Bacon Pie with Modern Buttered Carrots, a mixed greens salad with green peppers and cherry tomatoes from our garden, and 17th-Century Baked Apples and ice cream (not pictured). Joe picked up some good English hard cider on his way home from school. It was really delicious and surprisingly easy to prepare. The pie came together quite quickly, leaving me plenty of time to prepare the sides while it baked. The carrots are wonderfully savory. I really dislike sweet carrot dishes, and this one is so good. The chives really make the dish. And Lily loved it to boot. Then we threw the apples in the oven to bake while we ate dinner which made the house smell heavenly. We served this with vanilla coconut milk ice cream. I could have eaten a lot more of it.

I just can't get over how much I love this cookbook, A Feast of Ice and Fire. I love the recipes, I love the presentation, I love the writing, it's all just great. I also love the simplicity of the techniques and ingredients. I know none of this is rocket science or particularly new, but I just love it. Joe and I are also fans of Cooks Illustrated which can be a little overwhelming, and after years of cooking "The Best (fill in the blank)" with whatever crazy techniques and ingredients they call for, the wholesome rustic-ness of these recipes is refreshing. And the writers always add a fun little twist to the modern versions to make them seem older and somehow fancier. Seriously, yesterday's entree featured a bacon lattice. A BACON LATTICE. And there are leftovers. Delicious, bacon covered leftovers. 

Modern Beef and Bacon Pie (from The North)

12 strips bacon

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 onion, diced

1 carrot, cut into small chunks (I had two smallish carrots, so I used them both)

1/2 medium potato, cubed (I had a small Yukon Gold, so I used the whole thing)

1.5 lbs chuck steak or stew meat, cut small (we had ground beef, so...)

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 cup beef broth (we had the Swanson concentrated broth cup things so I used one of those plus 1/2 cup water)

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Large pinch dried rosemary, or other savory herbs (I keep thinking we have rosemary when we don't, so I threw in some thyme and oregano instead)

1/2 bath Medieval Pastry dough, or enough dough for a single-crust 9-inch pie, unbaked (I just bought a pie crust)

Preheat the oven to 400*F.

Weave the bacon strips into a lattice, alternating each strip under and over the others. Make your lattice as wide as you can, reserving any extra strips of bacon. Place this woven bacon and any extra strips on a baking sheet with high edges to catch the bacon grease. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy. Set aside to cool, but leave the oven on to bake the pie. 

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and potato, and cook gently until the onion is soft and golden. Toss the beef with flour until each piece is covered. Add the beef to the vegetables and stir over low heat for 5 minutes, or until brown. Stir in any extra flour and cook for 1 minute longer. (Note: because we used ground beef I did not toss it with flour before adding it to the pot. Instead I browned the meat with the vegetables and added a tablespoon of flour at the end and cooked it for a minute before proceeding. If I were to do this again, I would cook the meat completely separately from the vegetables and drain it before adding it to the plan, then the flour, etc.)

Add the broth, salt, pepper, and rosemary; mix well, and simmer for 10 minutes, until a gravy has formed. Let the meat mixture cool. 

Place your empty pie pan facedown on top of your lattice-work bacon. Using a sharp knife, cut around the pie pan until you have a circle of lattice. Crumbel the leftover cooked bacon and add it to the filling.

Roll out the pastry dough and line your pie pan, allowing any extra dough to drape over the edge of the pan. Pour the filling mixture into the shell. Cover with the bacon lattice pinching off any excess, then fold the extra dough over the top of the bacon. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden. 

Modern Buttered Carrots (from King's Landing) 

3 tbsp unsalted butter

2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/4-inch slices

Kosher salt

Ground black pepper

2 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives or scallions

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the carrots and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, covered, until steam begins to escape from under the lid, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook, covered and stirring occassionally, until the carrots are just tender, 15 to 20 minutes. 

Remove the lid, add 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook, stirring occassionally, until the liquid is evaporated and the butter begins to brown, about 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with chives and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Serve.

17th-Century Baked Apples (from The North)

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

4 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 firm, tart red apples (we used Honeycrisp because that's what we had. They tasted great but sort of fell apart)

Preheat the oven to 350*F.

Mix together the cinnamon, sugar, and butter.

Slice the apples in half vertically through the core. Cut out the core and seeds (a melon baller or grapefruit spoon works well for this), then price the inside of the apple all over with a sharp knife. Place the apples cut side up in a baking dish and pour in enough water to just cover the bottom of the dish. Divide the cinnamon filling among the apple halves, spreading it to coat the cut surface. 

Cover and bake for 1 hour. Provide a fork and knife for your guests to eat the apples with, and enjoy!

First Feast

We LOVE Game of Thrones. To be honest though, we haven't read any of the books. Joe is reading the first one, sort of, and I would love to read them all but it's taking me months to finish the one book I started way back in June. So admittedly, we're not hard core fans of the whole series, although I have a sneaking suspicion we would be. 

We had heard about a cookbook based on the series on NPR one day and decided to check it out. So I requested it from the Chicago Public Library, and whaddayaknow, 4 months later it's finally here! It's called 'A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Cooking Companion'. It started as a blog, Inn at the Crossroads, and after the authors and fans brought samples of the dishes to George R. R. Martin on his book tour, he gave them his blessing to be the official Game of Thrones cookbook. 

Since Game of Thrones is sort of medieval-ish and sort of English and sort of old, I was fully expecting this to be filled with all sorts of really old boiled meat and vegetables kind of dishes. And it is, but it's so much more. The book is arranged by the different regions of Westeros, and takes its inspiration from the dishes described in the books. There are two versions of most recipes: one really old, historically researched version that's kind of intense to make and one more modern version using more current ingredients, techniques, and pallet to achieve the same effect. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of lighter dishes (salads, sides, soups) and the pastries, oh the pastries. I am most excited about the breads, tarts, cookies, biscuits, and pies. I seriously can't wait to make them all. The recipes aren't really earth shattering, they just all sound so delicious in their simplicity. And it's fall. Need I mention again about how all I can think of is warm, filling, delicious, fresh food? After spending an afternoon drooling over the library copy, I decided we needed to own it and promptly ordered it from Amazon. In the meantime, we just had to try it out. 

So this is our first feast! We made the Modern Bean-and-Bacon Soup and Crusty White Bread, both dishes from The Wall. We paired it with a small mixed green salad with chopped tomatoes and fresh mozarella. I plated it up on our most rustic plates, lit a few candles, and as the sun went down we feasted!

First, the bread. This is delicious bread. I'm not a regular bread maker. I went through a phase in grad school where I made it almost weekly in Tempe, but since moving to our current apartment with it's tiny kitchen and Lily underfoot, I haven't done much. This is a nice, crusty white bread just as the name would suggest. It has a good savory flavor, and a great crust. It's kept pretty well, too. My favorite way to eat it, other than dunked in a bowl of soup is with a layer of fake cream cheese and a shmear of honey on top. I could eat a whole loaf of it at once like that. 

Next, the soup. This is a truly great soup. Quick to make, few ingredients, and warm and filling after a chilly fall day outdoors. We substituted prosciutto for the bacon because we had some that needed to be used up. Most of the ingredients are get pureed together after cooking, so it's a pretty smooth soup, but you add pieces of bacon and cook some orzo in it at the very end. I wasn't sure how I felt about the orzo as I was making it, but it gives it a really nice body. It's not as noticeable as rice can be, but it made it feel really good in your mouth. I don't have a more elegant way to describe it than that. 

We threw together the salad as sort of a deconstructed caprese on top of a drizzle of balsamic vinagrette because we had those on hand. It made for a really nice end to the meal. I like to have a little crunch after something so warm and hearty. And Lily gobbled this all up. She can't get enough of the bread with just a little bit of honey on it and she ate a whole bowl of the soup. She would have eaten more of it if there were any. 

Then after we were all stuffed, we sang happy birthday and blew out the candles. Because that's what you do with candles, not because it was actually anybody's birthday. Lily's version of the song goes like this "bird-day doo, bird-day doo, bird-day doo cake, bird-day doo.... blow!" It cracks me up every time. 

Now for the recipes.

Crusty White Bread

No rocket science here, just good simple bread.

1.5 Tbsp dry yeast (two packets)

1 to 2 tablespoons honey (I used one)

3 cups warm water

6.5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed (I kneaded more, ha!)

1 tbsp coarse salt

1/3 cup cornmeal

"Add the yeast and honey to the water and mix it up. Don't worry if all the yeast does not dissolve; it will finish mixing in the flour. Add the flour and salt and begin working them into the mixture. 

Dump the dough onto a clean, floured countertop or board and knead for around 5 minutes, pushing with the heel of your hand, then gathering the dough back into a lump. Knead until the dough becomes one big mass. You will know when it is ready by poking it. When the dough bounces back, you're all set. If it's still too sticky, add a little extra flour. 

Now place the dough into a large greased bowl, cover it with a towel, and let it sit in a warm place for about 2 hours. You can also put it in the refrigerator overnight; it will rise more slowly. You can even let the dough sit in the fridge for a couple of days, at which point it will begin to take on a slight sourdough taste. 

Once the dough has at least doubled in size, divide it into thirds. Pull on each piece to form a ball, tucking all the ends in at the bottom The balls should be semi-smooth. Dust the top of each round loaf with a bit of flour and make some light slices in the dough with a very sharp knife. Place the balls at least 4 inches apart on a baking sheet dusted with cornmeal and allow them to rise, uncovered for about 40 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 450*F. Fill a baking dish or broiler pan with 2 cups of water and place it under the rack where your bread will go. (This is the trick to making a nice, crusty loaf of rustic bread. The steam from the water adds a nice crunch to the surface of the loaf.) Bake the loaves for around 30 minutes, until the crusts are a dark golden color and the loaves sound hollow when you tap them."

Modern Bean-and-Bacon Soup

It says that it serves 3 to 4, but Joe and I could have easily finished the pot ourselves.

3 strips of bacon, plus extra for garnish (we used 2 slices of prosciutto)

1 tsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

One 15-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 tsp dried thyme, plus extra for garnish (we didn't add any extra)

2 cups chicken stock

1/4 feta cheese, plus extra for garnish

1/4 orzo

1 cup water (I only used half a cup because it seemed a bit thin)

Salt and ground black pepper to taste 

"In a small skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until it is well browned but not burned. Remove to a plate covered with paper towels to drain. Pour off all but 1 tsp of bacon fat from the pan. Add the olive oil to the remaining fat. 

Add the diced onion to the skillet and saute for 3 to 5 minutes, or until it is just starting to brown. Add the beans, thyme, and stock, then raise the heat to high. Bring the soup to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer. Half cover with a lid, and cook for 10 minutes.

Puree the soup with an immersion blender, or in batches with an upright blender. Return the soup to medium heat, then add the feta, orzo, 2 strips of crumbled bacon, and water. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the pasta is tender. Season with salt and pepper.

Ladle the soup into individual bowls, crumble a bit of the leftover bacon on top, garnish with thyme and feta, and serve."

Falling Up

I've been terribly grouchy the past couple of days. And for no real good reason either. So this post is mostly a reminder to myself that it actually isn't that bad, stop whining and enjoy the weather. 

Over the weekend we went to the Hyde Park Oktoberfest just down the street. There was live music, food and vendors, and a special children's section. We mainly went as an excuse to be outside together as a family (something that's harder to do when daddy stays at school until 5 or 6 and then it's starting to get dark!). This was Lily's chosen outfit for the day: reindeer PJ shirt that she slept in and purple princess dress. Since it was 40*F when we left at 11AM, I made her wear some warm fuzzy purple pants under it, a pink fuzzy coat over it, and a warm hat, too. It felt really nice to need to bundle up a bit. 

After walking through the main part of the street fair, we made our way over to the pumpkin patch so Lily could pick out a pumpkin to decorate. She LOVES pumpkins because she associates them with Cinderella. She kept running around picking up pumpkins saying "punk!" and showing the lady who was keeping an eye on things. Then she decided what she really needed to do was to line them up on all the hay bales around the edge of the patch. Oh my little one, you are an order muppet on the inside just like your mama. 

And of course Lily wanted to try the bounce house (Lily does this great thing when she's saying a two word phrase where she completely pauses between the descriptor and the noun, I don't know why, so bounce house becomes 'bounce... haus', just like that). She's too afraid to actually climb on the fun stuff and just wants to bounce a little bit near the edges. And oh my do I look like a pumpkin in this photo. Just ignore me and look at teh cute little girl in pink. 

Then Lily actually turned into a pumpkin! Just kidding, but Joe was in charge of taking pictures that day and when I went through the camera this was in there. 

There was also face painting. Lily said she wanted her face painted, but when the time actually came she chickened out and had the nice lady paint on her hand instead. She got a pretty purple flower ('purpa... fowr').

One of the things I've been trying to work on with Lily is her remembering what we did each day and being able to tell someone else about it. This means that when Joe gets home he hears a lot of 'Go tell daddy what we did today' and then he gets to guess at what she's actually trying to say. It's usually a fairly humorous conversation to listen in on because Lily likes to throw in random things that didn't happen. Like taking the bus to the beach (we have NEVER done this, we always walk or ride bikes) or taking the train to Ainsley's house (Becky - this is a frequent destination in our pretend travels. We'll have to come visit you for real soon). It's fairly obvious when she's making something up because she smiles very sweetly and tilts her head to the side. She is going to be trouble. But since Joe was around all day, she got to tell Grandma over the phone. And I was so proud of her! With minimal prompting she was able to tell her that she got a pumpkin, played in a bounce house, and had a purple flower painted on her hand. Language development is pretty cool. 

Sigh, I have to admit, I do feel like my mood has picked up a little bit. Hopefully it'll stay that way through tomorrow...