What's Cookin': Holiday Treats

Here is where I am about to publish a super secret family recipe (it's not really secret, I'm pretty sure it's just that no one has ever asked). Every Christmas my family makes chocolate covered cherries. These are not your gross, goopy boxed cherry cordials from Rite-Aid. And they are not the maraschino cherries just dipped in melted chocolate some lazy people like to pass off as chocolate covered cherries (I mean, I guess those ARE technically chocolate covered cherries too, they're just not really worth putting in your mouth after you've had these). These are the real deal. They are out of this world, and probably 3000 calories just for one little bite, but that's how every good holiday treat should be, right?

Chocolate Covered Cherries

2 16 oz. jars of maraschino cherries with stems

For the filling:
1/3 c. butter, softened
7 1/2 oz. jar of Marshmallow Fluff
3 - 3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

For the chocolate coating:
2 - 3 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 T. shortening

Cream the butter in an electric mixer. Add in Fluff and beat until combined. Gradually add in powdered sugar until the dough is stiff and sticky. You may have to hand knead it to get all the sugar integrated into the dough. Refrigerate 1 hour.

Drain cherries. I set up two cookie sheets covered with wax paper to put the cherries on after they are covered. Break off small balls of dough, flatten with fingers and wrap around cherry. You may want to dip your fingers in powdered sugar between cherries if the dough starts to get too sticky to work with.

Once I've filled a cookie sheet I'll pop it in the fridge to keep the dough stiff. If it gets too warm it will fall right off the cherries when you go to dip them in the chocolate.

Melt the chocolate and shortening in a double boiler over simmering water. Coat cherries in chocolate. I use a big spoon, take a scoop of melted chocolate, then roll the cherry around in it and repeat. (I couldn't get a picture of this because it takes two hands and Jeff was at work).

Pop back in the refrigerator until the chocolate is hardened. Then blow co-workers and neighbors away with your talent in the kitchen. (Keep refrigerated).


Secondly: Spinach Artichoke Dip or The Best Damn Dip in All the Land. Seriously, this dip is crack. My family asks me to make it for every occasion. Lord, I can't even express how good it is.

The recipe is here. It is from Cooking Light, but I doubt it is really all that light. I mean, there are 2 bricks of cream cheese in it. I don't care if one of them is 1/3 less fat, that can't be good for you. The only modifications I make are that I use the whole package of spinach, not half, mainly because I didn't catch that part the first time I made it and dumped the whole thing in, and it worked, so I just do that every time. And I mix all the cheese in with the dip. I don't save any to sprinkle on top, because I found that it just makes an impenetrable layer on top that breaks your chips and crackers. No one wants that.

I also did some baking this week. I made this Eggnog Pound Cake, which was easy and good and used up the rest of a quart of egg nog I had tempting me from the fridge.

Then I made these Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies which I thought would be a party in my mouth, but they were a bit bitter, even for me, someone who loves dark chocolate. If I were going to make them again I would still use the bittersweet melted chocolate in the dough, but I think I'd use semi-sweet chips for that extra 1/2 c. that gets added at the end.

Christmas Craftiness

I like DIY home improvement projects, but I don't really think of myself as particularly crafty. The idea of scrapbooking or making my own Christmas ornaments or anything small scale like that appeals to my DIY/artistic side, but when I get right down to it, it's not for me. I run out of patience and the craft never comes out looking like it should. It always ends up looking like a kindergartner with unmedicated ADD did it.

I bought Christmas stockings for myself and Jeff a few years ago with our initials on them, but when I went back to buy another one, they no longer had the same ones. I really wanted them all to be the same, and I like fairly plain stockings, no animals or angels or glitter. Of course I couldn't find anything like that. So I came across this picture on pinterest (which came from Cottage Instincts)(Gah, that mantel is gorgeous!) and I thought, duh, I could make my own personalized stockings with some cheap plain stockings and some wooden letters.

So I did.

Cheap plain stockings, which ended up not being that cheap,
because I really wanted white or beige and apparently that's unheard of!

Not-so-cheap plain stockings with wooden letter (both from JoAnn Fabrics) which I spray painted silver

I decided to just glue the letters on with hot glue because figuring out a way to attach them, as cute as it looks, might be above my level of craftiness, and I feared would end up looking, quite frankly, like shit.

Then Jeff thought they were TOO plain and suggested adding some snowflakes. (Look at him being more crafty than me!)

So I did.

And I'm really happy with how they turned out, even if from across the room the snowflakes look a bit like the Star of David. We're multicultural up in this house.

28

This guy turns 28 today.


27 has always been his lucky number. He declared that 27 would be his year.

On his birthday last year he won $300 on a lottery ticket from his parents.

I would say that's a good start.

Between December 7, 2010 and today he finished his master's degree, had his first child, and started a new job with a significant increase in pay. This year he got a new car, two new bikes and won several bike races. I don't know that it can get more monumental than that. I mean, having Mia was enough to make this the best year of MY life, forget all the other stuff.

Hopefully it's not all downhill from here!


Happy birthday to the most patient, hardworking, handsome guy I know and the only guy who will put up with my shit. May 28 be just as awesome as 27!

What's Cookin': Chicken Souvlaki Salad

This a recipe loosely based on one from Cooking Light. Very loosely based. Maybe "inspired by" would be more appropriate. It's a good one to make when Jeff is working late because it's good cold, so I don't have to reheat anything when he gets home, and the leftovers are good too.

The original recipe is here.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cubed
• 1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion
• 1-2 cubed peeled cucumbers
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• 2 ripe tomatoes, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1 pound)
• 1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
  
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dill
• 1 package whole wheat pita
  

Preparation

• Combine first 7 ingredients (garlic through chicken breast) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal the bag and shake to coat. Allow to marinate for a few hours.
  
• Remove chicken from the bag, saute in a pan on medium-high heat until opaque.
• Add onion to the pan and cook until chicken is done.
  
• Combine chicken and onions, cubed cucumber, feta and tomatoes in a large bowl.
  
• Combine yogurt and remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over chicken mixture; toss well.
• Cut pitas in half and fill with salad.
  

  

Dear Mia: Part 4

You are 8 months old today, and oh Mia, what can I say? You are... Well, you are you. You are having an explosion of personality and letting us know exactly what we are in for. I have a feeling I can look back on this post in 5, 10, 20 years and think, yup, that's Mia.

You? Are a firecracker. You are volatile and loud. You are opinionated and goofy. You are stubborn and tenacious. To be honest, I feel strange putting you in frilly, girly outfits. As much as I want to, it just totally doesn't fit your personality. You aren't "boyish," but you are spunky and tough. You are no princess. You never, ever stop moving. From the moment your eyes open in the morning to when they close at night you are going. You don't even slow down for nursing or diaper changes. I am surprised you have not mastered crawling yet, with your constant on-to-go-ness, but you find other ways to get from here to there. You want to touch everything and taste everything. You go from 0 to 60 and 60 to 0. One moment you are whining, the next you are shrieking with laughter and the very next you are asleep.


Speaking of sleep...

That's all I've got.

I'm too tired to finish that thought. Someday when your daughter is laying in your arms at 2am looking up at you with tired eyes and you have rocked and shushed and lullabied for what feels like an eternity and yet she still won't just close her eyes and go to sleep. Do not call me. Instead, imagine me sleeping on a cloud of fairy's wings in a soundless vacuum under the influence of many Ambien. Imagine me sleeping the delicious sleep of the childless. And be jealous.


Here is, I believe the crux of who you are at the very core: if you do not want to do something you will not do it. If you do not want to sleep you will just not sleep for as long as you deem appropriate to illustrate your willpower. You do what you want when you want, and if you are unable or not allowed you protest loudly until your desires are met. Right now - and I'm sure for years to come - this trait is so very frustrating for me, but please don't ever change.

I said last time that you don't like strangers. It would be more accurate to say you actively abhor any one but your dad and me. Sometimes Grandma and Auntie Sarah are okay, but everyone else is met with suspicious stares and then wails of discontent. Someday? Maybe? You will like other people. Otherwise you will have to take your dad to prom, and that might be awkward.


You are becoming a little parrot. When I cough you do a little fake cough with your tiny tongue sticking out. If I make a kissy noise, you smack your lips together. If I say "Ho Ho Ho," you parrot back "Huh Huh Huh." For the first time I feel like we are communicating with each other, and it thrills me to no end. The other day as you rode in your carseat I asked you, "Mia, can you say 'Hi?'" and you waved to me. I about died. It was as close to a conversation as we've come, and I can't wait for more.

Your love for cats runs hard and deep. You stop everything you are doing the moment a cat enters the room, and then you set out to get to them. They are so good with you too, but it just encourages you to grab onto their tails with all your might. When we look at your pictures books, you always pause and giggle at the pictures of the cats. It is so awesome to see how your little mind works.

People always say you look like your dad, then they inevitably pause and say, "But she's got mommy's eyes." It's true, you have your dad's smile and chin, but my eyes (the jury's still out on who's nose you have). It is surreal and strangely familiar to look into those eyes every day. Those eyes that are mine, but filled with promise I'll never know.

Mia, I am so excited for Christmas this year. Obviously, I know you don't understand it yet, but I just love the Christmas season so much, this year is only the beginning of the excitement to come. Two Christmases ago I sat at Aunt Amy's house and thought, "next Christmas I want to be pregnant." that was really the moment I knew I was ready for a baby. I was so sure in that moment that even when I later questioned whether I was really ready to get pregnant I could remind myself of that feeling and be reassured. Then last Christmas we all imagined what this year would be like with you here. And I can't believe my dreams have come true. Here you are, and it's better than I could have imagined.

Love List

In honor of Thanksgiving, it's good to put energy into thinking about what makes me happy and thankful.

I love baked goods and hot showers and eating out. I love reading a good book and watching bad reality TV equally. I love weekends.

I love new shoes. I love a good deal. I love shopping with my mom. I love white wine and gin & tonics. I love having a clean house and sleeping on clean sheets. I love a perfectly ripe cantaloupe. I love movie theater popcorn drenched in butter. I love long walks and road trips. I love book stores and libraries.

I love fall leaves crunching under my shoes. I love the smell of spring rain. I love listening to the cicadas on a hot summer night, and as much as I hate to admit it, I love the first snowfall of the year.

I love the ocean. I love crashing into oncoming waves and letting them swallow me up. I love the sun sizzling on saltwater soaked skin and the exhaustion that follows a day at the beach.

I love the Christmas season. I love the bustle of the mall and the warmth of watching holiday movies wrapped in a blanket on my couch. I love baking Christmas cookies, white lights and crowding in with family on Christmas day.

I love Mia's pizza dough belly, her soft, dimply hands and her high-pitched giggle. I also love the first moments after she goes to bed at night when I feel myself unclench and relax for the first time all day.

I love the way good music washes over me and through me. I love cats. I love MY cats. I love taking pictures and the thrill of uploading them to my computer to see what I've captured.

I love my family. Dear God, I love my family.

I love weddings and babies. I love picking out and giving the perfect gift. I love to check out my husband when he's not paying attention. I love filling out forms and writing lists and doing puzzles. I love appetizers. I love a good coffee buzz. I love Diet Coke. I love board games.

What's Cookin'

Jeff and I have been trying out some vegetarian dinners lately. I've always liked vegetarian food. I think it's more flavorful, it's cheaper and it's obviously healthier. Not that I don't enjoy a burger now and then, but I've never loved the flavor of meat. I've also been looking for good quinoa recipes. I wish I had tried quinoa years ago when a friend educated me on it, but I thought it sounded too healthy to be good. Now I'm hooked. So, when I saw this on pinterest I had to try it.

Quinoa Stuffed Red Bell Peppers. So, so good. The only modifications I made were omitting the celery - I just don't really like the texture of celery hidden in things - and I used chicken broth I had leftover from another recipe instead of water (I know, I know, this was no longer a vegetarian recipe).

This recipe will definitely go into the rotation in our house, and next time I'll try it with vegetable broth instead of chicken to make it a true vegetarian meal.

I've also been baking some.

First, I tried this Pumpkin Coffee Cake to bring to a party. It was so good I kind of didn't want to bring it to the party. I wanted to be alone with it and savor every crumb.

Then I read somewhere about making pumpkin muffins using just a can of puréed pumpkin and a spice cake mix. Meh. Maybe if I had added walnuts or chocolate chips or something they would have been better, but they were kind of spongy and definitely not very pretty. I don't think I'd make these again.