Nap Time!

I'm taking advantage of morning nap time (which began this morning at 7:45 since the little monkey is slightly jet lagged and was up at 5:45 with Grandma and Grandpa!) to bring you this little summertime treat. Growing up, we always celebrated birthdays at The North Woods Inn. For those of you who live in the Southern California area, it is the crazy looking restaurant in La Mirada off the 5 with snow on the roof. While it looks rather kitchy, the food is fantastic! The restaurant is decorated with tasteful taxidermy animals (gross), old hunting rifles, snow shoes, cabin-worthy paintings, etc. It is reminiscent of an old school winter retreat in the mountains. Anyfood, every meal begins with their signature salads: the red cabbage salad and the white lettuce salad and TO DIE FOR cheese bread. I sometimes wonder if we merely go for the starters and just stay for the entrees. BUT, the scallops are delish along with the bake potato with cheese butter. Yes, cheese butter. DELISH! So, the LA Times food section published one of the salad recipes and we've been devouring it ever since. It is a lovely take on slaw and perfect for a picnic, BBQ, or as a side to steak - yum!

Pretending to be North Woods Red Cabbage Salad
(I doubled this recipe for a party of 20 and had left overs)

Ingredients

1/2 head read cabbage
1/2 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp seasoned salt (like Lawry's)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder (I used about 1/4 of a small white onion chopped finely)

Instructions

Shred cabbage irregularly into bowl Add oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and onion. Let stand several hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend. Adjust seasoning as necessary (I found that after sitting over night, it needed a little more salt). BE CAREFUL: the juice that results from letting it stand can be stain-alicious!

California vacation update: the Lads were sports fans last night :) We are having SO MUCH FUN with cousin time!! They are absolutely adorable together. There is a little grabbing and some tears on someone's part (hmm...who do you think?), but in general they follow each other around and trade toys. Next post I will share the avocado incident :)

Just your typical Thursday morning...

Just kidding. I don't normally bake scones for breakfast on Thursday mornings. In fact, I don't normally bake at all. I tend to be totally impaired in the baking arena; I tend to forget an ingredient (crucial when baking) or I leave it in the oven not long enough or a tad too long. So I tend to avoid baking altogether and stick to the stuff you can't really mess up. Anyfood, I found this Cinnamon Scone recipe on Pioneer Woman and had to try it. I sent it to my sister (the consummate baker) and she made them over the weekend and raved. Thus, being a DONSA (Day of None Scheduled Activity - seriously, it is really called that) for Jeremy, I decided to bake, while he monitored Scooter.

"Can I get a little help here? I have no depth perception so I didn't know my noggin wouldn't fit through here..."

Sweet Cinnamon Scones
Makes 8 in the round


Ingredients
3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I recommend Penzey's Cinnamon - so delightful!)
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 whole egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup cinnamon chips (Now, my mom and sister cannot get these little gems in their super market, but the Midwest is chocked full of them. If you need some, let me know and I'll send you some! My mother-in-law used to be my supplier, but now that I am *lucky* enough to live in the middle of nowhere, I can buy them myself!)

Topping
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1-1 1/2 tsp heavy cream (I didn't have any heavy cream left, so I used a chunk of melted butter)

I'd like to give a shout out to my Helpy McHelperton!

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/3 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and baking powder. Cut butter into pieces, then cut into dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in cinnamon chips.

Mix together cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Pour into flour/butter mixture, stirring gently with a fork to combine.

Turn onto work surface (mixture will be very crumbly and falling apart.) Gently press together on the sides as you flatten (or roll, with a rolling pin) the top. Form either into a large circle or a large rectangle. Mix together topping ingredients, stirring with a fork. Sprinkle over the top of the dough, lightly pressing.

Cut into wedges (from a circle) or triangles (from a rectangle.) Transfer to a cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Serve with coffee.

I was a little freaked out at how large these suckers turned out and Jeremy wisely pointed out that they are "cowboy" size - per the Pioneer Woman :) Next time I will be rolling them into a rectangle and making them MUCH smaller. Mine were a little *too* flaky - and since I am a novice baker, I will be perfecting my craft and figuring out why!

Bon Appetit!

Spring Fever

We are warming up here in the Midwest and I wanted my table to reflect my Spring Fever! So I made this delightfully light and fresh dish sent to me by my dear friend Angela. Angela and I have known each other since the first grade - we are closing in on our 30th anniversary - crazy! For the past couple of years, we have sporadically mailed each other our favorite recipes, and I cannot believe I waited two years to make this one!

Jerked-Spiced Shrimp with Coconut Mango Rice
Serves 4

Shrimp Ingredients:
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/8 tsp ground allspice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp

Instructions
Combine first 7 ingredients in a bowl. Add oil and shrimp in large bowl; toss well to coat. Thread shrimp evenly onto 8 (8") skewers. Place skewers on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 6 minutes or until no longer gray; turning once.

Coconut Mango Rice Ingredients
2 cups water
2/3 cup light coconut milk (I was shocked I was able to find this in my super market!)
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup uncooked long grain rice
3/4 cup shredded carrots
2 cups diced, peeled mango (about 2 mangoes, or one large; can substitute with peaches)
1 1/2 cups diced red bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
2 tbsp fresh lime juice

Instructions:
Bring water, coconut milk and salt to a boil in a med saucepan; add rice. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Add carrots and next 6 ingredients. Toss gently to combine.

If you have left over mango like I did, Owen would be happy to take it off your hands :)

Good News! The Magnum is here!

And I am not referring to the P.I. Although I wish I were :) If you ever traveled in Europe you may have uncovered the most amazingly delectable ice cream treat there ever was: The Double Magnum. I am pleased to report that the DM has made its way to the States!! The DM is this yummy deliciousness beginning with an ice cream base, covered in a layer of chocolate, next a layer of caramel, followed by a final layer of chocolate - A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. My dad called me from Truckee to report he had found them at his local Safeway; I found them yesterday at my friendly HyVee.


Jeremy and I feasted on one each last night - although it was hard to wait until we finished dinner! Alas, go get yourself a box and enjoy! (Disclaimer: only three come in a box, so you will have to buy two boxes if you wish to share :)

Confession: I struggle to blog because taking pictures of food and downloading them is time consuming and I have a little scooter on my hands - thus, time is not on my side. Unless, of course, he is snoozing. Alas, he has never been a good napper and it doesn't look like he ever will find his napping stride. Once in a while we get a solid 2 hour nap in there, but it is completely unreliable. This morning he was up at 3:15 and never went back down - super fun! So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'd like to blog more about food, but I just don't have time. Thus, I am going to mix it up with whatevs, hope that is okay with ya'll!

I am heading to California at the end of the week with Little Man - I cannot wait to see him play with his cousin Will! They are both mobile now and super chatty. The last time they were together, someone was a little grabby, and someone was a bit of a cry baby...

So here's hoping for some good cousin time! If the weather cooperates, Owen will get his first experience at the pool and beach! Yay for springtime in California! Those poor souls in New York who are getting snow today - I think I might lose it if I lived there.

Until next time!

Mojo

Doesn't Owen look like he has a real life "flavor saver" or "soul patch??" I called him Pierre the rest of the evening. We are motoring along with real food. Prunes and Peas were NOT a hit. He cried a whole lot and at one point, Jeremy squeeze O's cheeks and he had been saving the peas like a little squirrel. Ah, the joins of big kid food!

Now then, for real life big kid food: "Grilled Mojo Chicken." TO.DIE.FOR. I pulled this little gem out of my Williams Sonoma Weeknight cookbook and we LOVED IT. It was even better on a salad the next day with some cilantro Caesar dressing with pepitas and tortilla chips. I LOVE FOOD.

Ingredients:
1 Orange
2 Limes
4 tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley, minced
1 tbsp fresh oregano, minced
1 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs or breast halves (I used my usual boneless, skinless breasts. I have a real life aversion to dark meat, bones, and skins.)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions:
1) Grate 2 teaspoons zest form the orange and squeeze 1/3 cup juice. Grate 1 teaspoon from the limes and squeeze 1/4 cup juice. In a shallow dish large enough to hold the chicken in a single layer, stir together the orange and lime zest and juices, 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the oregano, thyme, garlic and cumin. Stir in the oil. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the marinate and turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 10minutes, or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 hours. (We let it stand at room temp for 30 minutes before we had a chance to grill it.)

2. Meanwhile, prepare a gas or charcoal grill for direct heat grilling over medium-high heat and oil the grill rack. Or, preheat a broiler. When ready to cook, remove the chicken from the marinade discarding the marinade. Place the grill rack, or put on a baking sheet and place under the broiler. Cook, turning once, until opaque through, 10-14 minutes. Divide the chicken among 4 plates, sprinkle with the the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley and serve.

~Serves 4~

Bon Appetit!