"American" Thanksgiving

We were so excited to be able to spend American Thanksgiving this year with friends.  Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, and after eight years, we are finally getting used to everyone celebrating Thanksgiving "so late".  We used to cook a turkey and celebrate in October, but, since no one else here was celebrating, we have slowly adjusted our holiday as well.  American Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday, so it usually becomes a four day weekend.  Our friends Tully & IY drove up to visit and we enjoyed a roaring fire all weekend with them.  We got our first snow fall the morning they arrived, so we hunkered down and had a lazy time.  Movies with Logan (Toy Story and Wall-E) and playing with an almost crawling Sadie.  We appreciate them driving to see us, and can't wait until we see them again.

We cooked a turkey, had our favorite stuffing (maybe we will share our Mom's secret one day), "Elsie's" Potatoes, a sweet potato casserole, purple cabbage, brussels with pecans & cranberries, homemade cranberry sauce and fresh buns.  For dessert, two pies.

Pumpkin Pie

1 pkg cream cheese softened
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, plus 2 yolks beaten
1 cup half & half
1/4 melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

pie shell
whipped cream for topping

Preheat oven to 350.  Put pie shell in freezer for ONE hour.  Line shell with foil, place in oven, bake for 10 min.  Remove foil and bake 10 min or until crust is dried and beginning to color.  In bowl, beat cream cheese, add pumpkin and combine.  Add sugar, salt, eggs, half & half, and butter.  Beat until combined.  Add vanilla and cinnamon.  Pour in crust and bake for 50 min or until set.  Top with whipping cream.

Chocolate Pecan Pie

1 1/2 cups pecans
1 cup chocolate chips
1 unbaked pie shell
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 375.  Spread pecans and chocolate chips evenly on bottom of pie shell.  Whisk remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Pour over pecans.  Bake until filling sets (about 45 min).  Let cool 30 min before slicing.

Sending Love,

Twin A

Shades of Beige

We had some good buddies over a couple of days before Thanksgiving and we had a Pot Roast.  Pretty yummy.  It took a weird turn, when I discovered the food that I had planned on, was all the same color.  Thus the "Shades of Beige" dinner was born.  Sounds bland and yucky I know, but it turned out not bad, it you could get past the color issue.
In the morning, I seared a pot roast in a pan with some olive oil.  Then I put the roast in the crock pot along with some beef stock, minced garlic, carrots, onions, and salt & pepper.  It cooked all day, until it was falling apart good.  We had a turnip & apple bake, roasted parsnips & carrots, popovers (that didn't quite "pop" because the oven was so full!) and some mushroom stovetop gravy.
For dessert another beige item, a Social Apple Betty with whipping cream.  Some of the recipes follow.  We didn't seem to miss the green veggies too much!

Turnips & Apples (The Rest of the Best, The Best of Bridge Series or the "Brown" book)

1 large turnip, peeled & diced
1 TBSP butter
2 apples
1/4 cup brown sugar
pinch of cinnamon

Topping:
1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP butter

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook turnip until tender.  Drain and mash turnip with butter.  Peel and slice apples.  Toss with brown sugar and cinnamon.  In a greased casserole, arrange turnips and apples in alternate layers, beginning and ending with turnips.  Mix topping ingredients until crumbly.  Pat on top of turnips and bake at 350 for one hour.

Mushroom Gravy (Canadian Living Magazine)

2 cups beef stock (approx)
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp each salt, pepper and thyme
3 TBSP flour

Scrape roast beet juices into glass measure, add enough stock to make 2 cups.  If cooking roast beef in crock pot like I did this time, use 2 cups of stock.  Set aside.  In saucepan, heat oil, fry onion, mushrooms, salt & pepper and thyme.  Stir until softened and no liquid remains.  Stir in broth/ pan juices, bring to a boil.  In small bowl, whisk flour with 1/4 cup water.  Stir into gravy and simmer until thickened.

Social Apple Betty (The Best of the Best, The Best of Bridge Series or the "Yellow" book)

6 apples, peeled, sliced

cinnamon, to taste

Crust:

1/2 cup butter, room temp.

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

Fill a small casserole 2/3 full with sliced apples, adding the cinnamon to taste.  If the apples are tart, you may want to add some sugar.

To make crust:  cream butter and brown sugar.  Add flour and mix to a crumble mixture.  Sprinkle over apples and pat firmly into a crust.  Bake at 350 for 40 min.  Serve warm with whipping cream or ice cream.

Sending Love,
Twin A

Extended Weekend

We found an extra day this weekend!  Daddy is home sick after "catching" what the littles were sick with last week.  Which meant that he came home early on Friday and didn't go to work on Saturday!  Wow, I feel like tomorrow is Monday, not Sunday.  I'll take it.  I feel bad that he is not up to snuff, but I'm not complaining in the slightest that he is home!  This morning, before the little little and I headed off to our weekly Baby & Mommy Yoga class, I was able to pull off the Apple Pancake breakfast.  It has become an almost every Sunday morning feat.  We are still enjoying the apples from the Cornell Orchards.

This morning's pancake.  It looks different every time we make it.  I think it depends on how much "help" I get making it.  The definition of truly "homemade" is in the love part right?  xxoo

While the "pancake" was in the oven, I noticed we had three bananas on the counter that were on their last legs and quickly whipped up some muffins.  These banana muffins are so good.  We have fond memories of the MANY MANY times that we ate these muffins hunkered down at one of the zillion swim meets that we participated in in our childhood!  Thank you Mom for the muffin memories and thanks to Dad for the encouraging "whistle" (xxoo).  This recipe was adapted from The Company's Coming Series.

Banana Chip Muffins

1 3/4 flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips

1 egg
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup milk
3 medium mashed bananas

Measure dry ingredients into a large bowl.  Mix.  Make a well in the center.
In small bowl, beat egg until frothy.  Mix in cooking oil, milk, and bananas.  Pour into well.  Stir only to moisten.  Batter will be lumpy.
Fill muffin tins (I use paper cups) 3/4 full.  Bake in 400 degree oven for 20 to 25 min.  Makes one dozen.

This "extended" weekend started nicely on Friday morning with a walk through the woods with our pals.  We love this walk, takes about 2 hours start to finish.  My California side almost "flaked out" at the first sight of the snow coming down, but my NY buddy Mackenzie convinced me that we should gear up the kids in their snow suits, load up our double strollers and head out.  Super glad we did.  All that fresh air (and chatting! xxoo) does wonders for the Mommy-brain and 'tude.  Here are some highlights...

The South Hill trail.  Trust me, it is not all this flat...  This picture makes it look like a breeze and gives no credit to my sore legs and back!

The big little with his feather art project from the Art Jump Start Program he started this week.

Cold nose.

Trapped in four layers of clothes...

She can still makes raspberries in the cold!

The swing works.  "Cold hands Mommy!"

Wheeeeeeee!

Car ride home!  Fresh air "happy".

"Fun".

Fresh air "tired"xxoo

I HEART blue cheese.

One last meal to blog from when Grandma was visiting.  A couple of weeks ago the big little started calling me "Mommy" (instead of Mama) and then transferred that to "Daddy".  He had always called Grandma, well "Grandma", but when she was visiting he adjusted once again and thought the more grown up version of Grandma (ends with Ma) was also "MEE".  So she became "Grammy".  Pretty creative if I do say so.  Grandpa has always been "Papa", so we will see if that morphs into something else more "grown-up", when they both return for Christmas.  In the meantime, I love hearing him switch back and forth between "baby" and "big guy".

Sibling fun with Grandma "at the wheel".

Looks like Grandma can "drive the bus" perfectly!

This is called the Blue Cheese Salad (my fourteen year old self would cringe at the thought that this is one of my favorite salads, I guess you do eventually grow up!)

-great with grilled steak in the warm months
-we had it with boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cheap!), that we wrapped with a sprig of fresh thyme (rosemary would have been better) and a slice of prosciutto.  I seared them in a skillet then transferred them to the oven to finish cooking through.

Okay, now for the salad:

2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP white-wine vinegar (or red works fine)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

1 package of mixed baby greens
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced or diced
crumbled Danish blue cheese

Combine all ingredients for the dressing in a jar and shake well, or whisk in a bowl.  Combine the salad greens, tomatoes, and red onion in a bowl.  Toss salad with the dressing.  Mound salad on plate and top with blue cheese.
Sending Love,
Twin A

Soccer & Soup

The big little got to show off his soccer "moves" for Grandma during her visit.  It was a touch chilly, but he couldn't get enough.  "Come on Grandma!".  He loves outside and only got distracted from the ball a few times to scope out and collect a few choice rocks to throw into our pond.  We then came inside and enjoyed this yummy fall inspired soup.  The roasting squash in the oven smelled SO good, we almost wanted to grab a spoon and scoop a little taste...

Come on Grandma!

Soccer ball!

Oops, that rock is a keeper!

Watch out, here I come... and FAST too!

Snuggled and warm.

This recipe is adapted from the The Rest of the Best book, from the Best of Bridge series.  Or as us twins call it "the brown book".

1 large butternut squash
1 carrot
1 medium onion
1 leek, while portion only (I used 2)
2 TBSP butter
8 cups chicken broth
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
1 tsp sugar
Salt & pepper
8 oz brie cheese
snipped chives

Cut squash in half lengthwise and removed seeds.  Place cut-side down on pan and bake at 350 degrees until tender, about 45 min.
Chop carrot, onion & leek into one inch pieces and place in a large pot.  Gently saute in butter.  Do not brown.
Add cooked squash to vegetables.  Add broth an bring to a boil.  Add apple, bay leaf and sugar.
Simmer, uncovered for 40 min.
Remove bay leaf and puree soup in batches or use a hand blender.
Season with S & P.
Slice off rind of brie and cut brie into pieces.  Place cheese in bottom of soup bowls and fill with hot soup.  Garnish with Chives.

We ate this soup with Three Seed Biscuits .

We were toasty and warm after playing soccer in the crisp fall air, with this soup in our bellies!

Sending Love,
Twin A

"Girl Food"

Okay, so I admit, when Grandma visits, I kinda get excited because I can try out some fun "girl food".  This means that salad can be the star of the plate, instead of simply a side.  I will admit though, that the hubs has come a long long way, and usually just eats up whatever I put in front of him.  Smart man.  We had a few nights of lighter food for dinner (made up "a little", for the chocolate & peanut butter!).

The best "girl".

This salad is "Sarah's Salad" in my mind.  We've had it when we visit her and her family in Toronto.  It is so good, pretty simple and really tasty!  Thanks for letting me copy Sar! xxoo  

I served it with a rotisserie chicken we picked up on the way home.

Spinach Salad with Oranges and Warm Goat Cheese

Ingredients
3 small navel oranges (or canned mandarin oranges, E_A_S_Y!)
6 oz fresh mild goat cheese (preferably in log form)
1/3 cup pecans
1 tsp whole-grain mustard
1 tsp white-wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of sugar
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb spinach, trimmed
1 small red onion, sliced into thin rings (I like to dice the onions)

Directions

Cut peel and white pith from oranges with a sharp small knife. Working over a sieve set over a bowl, cut orange sections free from membranes, letting sections drop into sieve.

OR

Drain canned or jarred mandarin oranges (EASY!)

Cut goat cheese into fourths and pat each portion between your hands to form a disk. Pat pecans all over each disk to coat. Bake at 350 degrees on a small baking sheet in middle of oven until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Measure out 1 tablespoon orange juice and whisk together with mustard, vinegar, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add oil and whisk until blended.

Add spinach, onion, and orange sections to dressing and toss well. Season with pepper. Divide among 4 salad plates and carefully transfer one (or more) goat-cheese disk to each salad.

The little is almost crawling!

Whenever I pick up a rotisserie chicken, we usually have a bit leftover.  So I always try to plan to make these Rice Paper Rolls with the leftovers.  Makes a nice lunch too!  Easy to keep the wrappers and noodles in the pantry on hand.  Any veggie you have on hand would work too!  Don't get nervous when you see the wrappers, it is super easy to do, once you make a mess of the first one!  This recipe is adapted from Julie Van Rosendaal's book "Grazing".

Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls

15 rice paper wrappers

Filling:
about a handful of rice vermicelli noodles (I usually just use the whole package, the big little likes to "play" with the extras)
1 TSBP rice vinegar
1 large carrot, peeled and shredded (I sometimes buy the pre-shredded carrots)
cooked and shredded chicken (or 15 cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined, cut lengthwise in half)
half a cucumber, peeled if necessary and cut into thin sticks
small handful of fresh cilantro (or mint or thai basil leaves)
1/2 cup peanuts (optional)

To prepare filling, place noodles in a bowl of boiling water and let stand about 3 minutes (or as package directs), to soften.  Drain well.  Add carrot and rice vinegar, toss to combine.
To assemble the rolls, fill a pie plate with hot water and lay a clean tea towel over your work surface.  Soak one rice paper round at a time in the water for about 10 seconds, until it is pliable, and lay it on the tea towel.  Pat surface with towel.
Place shrimp (cut side up) or chicken, cucumber, and a fist full noodle mixture down the middle of the round.  Sprinkle with cilantro and peanuts.  Fold over one long side to cover, then fold up both ends.  Roll the whole thing up as tightly as you can without tearing the wrapper.  It takes some practice to make these rolls "pretty", so keep trying to get the look that you want.

Serve with Ginger Mango Dipping Sauce

Combine 1/2 cup mango chutney, 2 TBSP water, 2 TBSP rice vine vinegar, the juice of a lime and 1 tsp grated fresh ginger.

Sending Love,

Twin A

PB & C

Whoo hoo is all we can say when Grandma visits.  It is a fall tradition that Grandma comes to visit during the Remembrance Day weekend, one that started when it was just the hubby & I after we moved to Boston, way before the littles came along.  Looking forward to the season changing always reminds us of Grandma.  Maybe it is also because her Birthday is in September and that she is a School Teacher too.  We LOVE the fall and our visit together.  This year, in Ithaca, was just as special.  Of course, Grandma got to be the big little's "favorite" for a few days and gave Mommy a break (nice!).  The little little batted her eyelashes and gave her best coos and smiles and had Grandma wrapped around her little finger even though she was recovering from her ear infection.

"Fais do-do" French Lullaby, Merci Grandmaman!

Doing "art".  Thank you Grandma!

I've been wanted to try to re-create a special dessert that Mom & I ate when she used to visit us in Boston.  We would go to eat at a Pizzeria down the block from our shoebox of an "apartment" (using that term loosely) and we would forgo ordering lunch or dinner in lieu of apps and this amazing dessert.  One of Grandma's favorite things ever are Reese's Pieces Cups.  Chocolate & Peanut Butter together is one of life's magical combos.

I got this recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars from my dear friend Jill (yay U of A nurses!).  I've only slightly adapted it here.  Instead of spreading it out in a 9 X 13 inch pan, I made individual "cups" using paper muffin liners and my muffin tins.  Worked well!  The only thing that needs to be adjusted, is that I usually put a big thick chocolate layer over the peanut butter.  Made for a challenging effort with the spoon, when served with ice cream (like the Boston dessert).

Trust me, you will not be disappointed with this one!

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 cups icing sugar
2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup melted butter

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips, melted (I use more!)
***optional melted butter*** (see below)

And so it starts...

In a large bowl combine crumbs, icing sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and melted butter.
Spoon mixture into a 9X13 inch pan, press evenly.
OR
Spoon mixture into paper muffin cups in muffin tin.  Makes 24.  Press evenly.

Pour melted chocolate over top, spread evenly.  If you want to make it easier to eat with a spoon, melt chocolate chips with some butter to thin out the chocolate layer.
If making squares, refrigerate uncovered for about 20min, slice into squares.  Return to fridge and chill until chocolate hardens completely.

We made the muffin tin ones, removed the paper and scooped on some ice cream.  You could also drizzle chocolate syrup and use any kind of ice cream that is your fav.  I got a great heads up on the flavor we used, thanks Mackenzie.  Yummy.

We ate these every-night that Grandma visited.

Sending Love,

Twin A