Holiday in SC

For those of you who don't know, I'm off to SC tomorrow for a week of puppy sitting, and shopkeeping, and dog training, and hanging out with Grandmom, and cooking, and mostly loving on my Allen Boy. Maybe I'll be able to check in over the next week, but if not I'm sure I will have lots share next month.

In the mean time, I need to get some stuffed shells in the oven for Josh. They've been in the freezer in preparation for my trip, and now I will finish them so it will be just like his has leftovers. I'm also going to move a container of the Irish Beef and Stout Stew that I made a few days ago from the freezer to the fridge. Again, leftovers. I dragged him to the grocery store with me yesterday to make sure that he had all that he needed (especially for his lunches). He didn't exactly kick and scream, but he did pout a little bit. ("Do I have ice cream?")

I'm really just procrastinating about packing, and I have to put an end to it now.

Ciao,
KMS

no recipes, just kitchen type tips

Well sadly the picture I took of my favorite kitchen tip, disappeared. I don't know where it went. I'm using a new camera, but I'm pretty sure I didn't intentionally delete it. And it was a pretty cool picture, too. It involved fruit flies, those pesky little stowaways on the tasty fruit you bring home. They were dead, too. That leads me to my first tip:

• to lure them to their death (I want to believe that it is a painless and quiet death), add several drops of dish washing liquid to a glass of cider vinegar. I did this last weekend because I thought I had a couple flying around. Turned out it was 8!

Nobody likes to wash dishes. No matter how much we like to cook, the cleanup is the pits. If you live in household where the division of labor is "you cook, I'll clean up," you are very fortunate. In my house if goes more along the lines "you cook, I'll eat." I don't mean to be harshing my Joshy, he does do the dinner dishes (into the dishwasher) and he makes me wonderful cocktails. Except on date night when I make the cocktails, cook the dinner (including appetizers and dessert), and clean it all up. I've gotta rethink this whole date night concept. Anyway this leads me to my second tip:

• apply a good hand cream or lotion to your hands and then don a pair of rubber gloves. The result is mini spa treatment for your hands. The gloves allow you to use hotter water, which leads to cleaner dishes, and the heat and the lotion leads to softer hands. No dishpan hands for me.

I get frustrated when a recipe calls for 1/4 c or 1/2 c of fresh juice. How does one know when they have juiced enough lemons or limes or whatnot? Tip 3:

• use a permanent marker to mark the correct levels on a juicer. I prefer this glass jar with a juicer lid for 2 reasons--I can put my back into juicing the fruit and I can use a good ol' fashioned measuring cup full of water to mark the desired amount.

You can see that I have marks at the 1/4 c level and the 1/2 c level.

I'm to my next tip. I like to use plastic cutting boards. Mostly because they go in the dishwasher and I'm sure that they will get thoroughly clean that way. I don't, however, have super countertops--they're just run of the mill formica. Thus my boards tend to slide around. So, are you ready for this, tip 4:

• I use jar opening grippy thing under my cutting boards. I used to use grippy shelf paper, but the jar things I keep in the drawer above the cabinet with the cutting boards an under the counter top closest to the garbage disposal. (My counter nearest my stove which would allow me to "chop and drop" isn't large enough for a "garbage bowel. I didn't get to design my own kitchen.)

This isn't to say that I don't cut myself. This time it was with my very sharp chefs knife. The good news is that, although I was mincing the mint for that tomato and ricotta spread (see previous post) for a break night treat after book study, I was able to find the fingernail and fish it out.

Okay, this is my final tip. It allows you to remove brownies/bars/or other dense baked desserts for easier cutting and....are you ready for this...you don't have to wash the pan!

• line your baking pan with aluminum foil! You can just lift the entire dessert, in one peice, cleanly out of the pan, and then cut onto a cutting board.

The dessert in the picture is a pan of key lime squares. You'll have to wait for the recipe, because this a "tip only" post. And I'll be making them next week for my family in SC and I can blog about it then. Along with mac and cheese. MMMM. I wonder what I have for lunch?

The fire alarm works....

I know it's not an exciting picture, but I don't have any of pictures of food for this blog, so I'll give you what I've got. The story will come later

Since it's been more than week since my last post, I guess I should begin with dinner at Lovell's. Or maybe I should start with breakfast on our anniversary. I made French Toast...from scratch. Not very creative. I was going to use nutmeg, but when I opened the jar there were buggies in it! Yech! (We've had this ongoing problem with mealy flies (that's not their official name, just my own personal pet name for them), usually they are in baked thing--chips, bread, cereal. I never thought to check my spices. Again, yech!) I used cinnamon instead. And lots of butter. Josh said they were yummy. Even though I FORGOT THE BACON. Jiminy--I'd forget my own head if it weren't attached to my neck.

Dinner was nice, too. I had the filet trio--one was an Oscar-type prep with crab and asparagus; one was a mushroom fricassee, and I can't remember the third one. Josh also had beef, but I can't remember which cut. Maybe a rib eye? He started with crab bisque and I had an heirloom tomato salad. Yummy! For dessert we shared a type of Strawberry Shortcake but it wasn't shortcake it was puff pastry. A great modification to a classic dessert.

And I wore red shoes! That made me feel so sassy and a little sexy. Josh confirmed that, and Eileen (who bought the outfit) and Amelia who was with me for both selection of the outfit and then the shoes said I looked like a "Sexy Librarian." I kinda like that.

I didn't have the red purse then. That was purchased yesterday ($14.99 at TJMaxx). So now I have my own Ruby Slippers!

Okay, on to meals that I've prepared in the past week. I made Shepherd's Pie on Monday. Recipe from Everyday Food. The biggest thrill for me was that I got to use my new 5 qt Dutch oven from my momma. It was pretty good, in fact we're still eating it. Last of it tonight before meeting (Spanish has their CO--thus the schedule change). While the directions called for a Dutch oven, they didn't reflect that choice of cookware. The idea with the Dutch oven is to heat it before you add any food and only as high as med. heat (so the LeCrueset leaflet that was included directed). As a result, my beginning mirepoix (onion, carrot and celery) remained crispy (a good thing in our opinions) and the meat was pink (also good). The final mixture, however, was on the juicy side.

And then there was the mashed potato topping. I don't know what paste Martha's Everyday Food staff was eating that they directed the use of baking potatoes for the mashed. It just didn't work. They were semi-mashed semi-scalloped. It was a big potato-y mess as far as I'm concerned. They were mixed with grated cheddar and that was a hit. Like I said, it was pretty good and we will finish it tonight. I will make it again but I will use different potatoes. When I get it right, I'll share the recipe.

Well this is the part of my story that "tested" our smoke alarm. I mentioned that the meat and veggie mixture was on the soupy side. Then I put the Cheddar mashed on top. Well, it got all bubbly and good smelling in the oven as the juices spilled over the side. Until it got smokey and we nearly died from smoke inhalation. But the smoke alarm saved us. Josh disarmed it while I removed the meal from the oven and frantically opened windows.

Now for a less exciting dinner. I watched a lot of cooking shows over the weekend. When it time came to cook on Wednesday, I garbled up two chicken recipes into one. One of the shows featured lemon chicken, chicken picatta if you will, and the other was a bone in, oven baked preparation that was breaded in fresh bread crumbs, S&P and herbs de Provence with a little olive oil thrown in. I made the fresh bread crumb mixture, plus the zest of 2 lemons and then breaded boneless, skinless chicken breasts which I proceeded to saute in olive oil in pan. I used lemon juice and white wine to deglaze the pan and thickened the sauce with a little corn starch. Of course, I tried to make the sauce while the chicken was still in the pan because after 20 minutes they weren't cooked through yet. Take it from me that that doesn't really work. Despite all the angst, I loved the way this lemon chicken tasted. I will definitely repeat the breading, but bake it in the oven with some quartered lemons around it. This was accompanied by broccoli and cheesy Rice-a-Roni. There was lemon peel in the water with the broccoli. When I asked Josh about dinner while we were in bed that night, his response was that it was very good, especially the "cheesy rice." He's such a cheese ball.

Now for Date Night, which for the novelty of having a date night on a Thursday, was last night. I started with Manhattans (no surprise there--it is our signature drink). But just for kicks, I made a mini batch. Eileen got us some antique glassware for our anniversary--6 cocktail glasses and 6 wine glasses. They're Cambridge Glass from the 1940s. Cocktails and servings of wine were wee 70 years ago.

The stacked glasses to the rear are the cocktail glasses. Eileen thought that they would make good cordial glasses. So I greeted Josh at the top of the stairs with mini-Manhattan. He smiled. Then he made sure that there was a standard size cocktail waiting in the wings. There was.

In my mind the true star of last night's date night was my hors d'oevre. I just saw Giada DeLaurntis do this on Wednesday. I think she called it Mediterranean Crostini. I just call it yummy.

Giada's Version Kristen's Version
whole milk ricotta part skim ricotta
tomatoes, seeded and chopped heirloom tomatoes, seeded and chopped
fresh mint, chopped fresh mint, chopped
salt and pepper salt and pepper

Giada did a true crostini. She squeezed lemon juice over it then brushed it with olive oil and a little bit of dried oregano. I toasted a couple slices of this yummy farmhouse bread and cut them into triangles. Then I rubbed the cut end of some garlic over them and brushed them with olive oil and oregano. Delish! Josh, like a true foody, identified them as toast points as he dipped them into the ricotta/tomato dip.

The rest of the meal was refrigerator tortellini and salad. I didn't even have dessert because when I preheated the oven for brownies I was quickly reminded by the billowing smoke that I had neglected to run the oven on the clean cycle the night before. I think Josh scrounged out some ice cream and a lemon ice.

So that's it for me and cooking this week. Josh and I are going to an all day MS seminar tomorrow and then we have reservations at Morton's for dinner.

That's it for now. Ciao!

Date Night...for Real

Tomorrow is our fourth anniversary. Thus we have dinner reservations at Lovell's of Lake Forest. Kind of a special place for us. First date-date and this will be the second anniversary we've spent with the kind folks at Lovell's. (We spent one anniversary at Tom Moore's Tavern in Bermuda.) There was one year when the acclaimed astronaut Jim Lovell himself checked in with us to see if our meal was satisfactory. Plus, there was a year when they had both a single malt and a port flight. This Saxe family couldn't have been happier.

Josh is taking tomorrow off. Woohoo! With a busy theocratic schedule we never (except on vacations) have a whole day at home to ourselves. We have nothing planned. Except that I will be making breakfast. Usually Josh wants eggs/potatoes of some sort/bacon. Sometimes he wants pancakes....and bacon. Last week he put in his order for french toast. Oh yeah, and bacon.

Now, since we've been married the only french toast I've made was oven french toast that "marinated" in the egg mixture overnight. It was for a brunch at Eileen's house. It was to serve many people. Not 2.

Since I have memories of Mom making French toast when I was a little kid (younger than 9), I called her. Eggs, Milk (cream if I've got it, I don't), vanilla, and orange zest. Great. Mmmm-mmm. But being me, I checked the Internet, too. That helped with quantities of eggs and milk. I also got other, basic recipe suggestions. Like ground cinnamon. Or nutmeg. And being stuck on Mom's orange zest suggestion, I wonder about adding a splash of Cointreau. I'll let you know exactly what I do.

Josh's grandfather used to squeeze fresh orange juice for his daughters. So after we got engaged, Eileen pointed out the kind of juicer her dad used to use. Now I have one, too. I will squeezing fresh juice for my boy in the morning. And because we are officially in autumn, I have taken to adding pumpkin pie spices to my coffee. Very tasty. Similar in taste to Starbucks pumpkin spice coffee, but rather than being $4 a pop, you can buy a whole jar of the spice mix for $4 and make pots and pots of coffee. Really,that's my hot morning beverage of choice. Josh will likely prefer to have Lemon Lift or Constant Comment. Both teas. No problem. I have a tea kettle and the teas.

I've already turned the alarm off for tomorrow. And we will walk the pooch before bed tonight. Hopefully, this will allow me to sleep in a little before making breakfast. I may decide to allow Josh to sleep in. Or maybe just go back to bed after walks the doggie. We'll see.

If any of breakfast seems photo worthy, I'll share pictures. But probably not until Saturday.

hugs to all,
LKH

Now if only I can find the vinegar....

So now the pantry's loaded and I have to think very hard to find my things. I'm thrilled with it, but it will take a little getting used to. At least I don't have to worry about my spices toppling over.

So tonight is a semi-date night. I'm grilling sirloins (Olive Oil, salt and pepper), broccoli (olive oil, salt, pepper and minced garlic) and trying to fix the leftover mashed potatoes from the last date night. I think I'll roast some garlic and more Parmesan, butter, sour cream. I will make a Caesar salad for Josh and maybe a spinach-grapefruit salad for myself. Cocktails are most likely to be Manhattans but maybe I'll make them perfect (equal parts sweet and dry vermouth).

Tomorrow I will be making store bought cheese ravioli and my own gravy (probably with an additional can of diced tomatoes added).

Friday (our actual anniversary) we will spending at Lovell's in Lake Forest. Josh is taking Friday off so we get to spend the day together.

Sunday, we have hospitality for Steve Lundeen. We will either be taking him out (probably to Mickey Finn's) or I will making shepherds pie on Saturday for consumption on Sunday. Or maybe I'll make it for our personal consumption on Saturday. If I make it this weekend, I will share.

None of this is very exciting. So I'll stop.

Catch ya later,
LKH

Happy Anniversay, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary to

US!

So technically our anniversary isn't until Friday. But the festivities began a few weeks ago when Josh's presents (from me) started to come. There were three, if you count the new underwear. I also bought him a Cubs W flag, which he saved for the postseason, and thus has never been used. There's always next year! But the big present was a valet. Not a man, but one to hang his clothes on.


I'll try to get a photo of it loaded. He does really use it.

The next exciting thing that happened anniversary-wise is that Peter and Eileen took us to McCormick and Schmick's for dinner. Mm-mmm Good!


Did you see what it says? Below SEAFOOD RESTAURANT and the date? Isn't that so cool? And you know how some restaurants have those little curtained rooms right off the dining room? That's where we sat. It made me feel like a princess. And I ate Alaskan King crab legs.

They have wonderful classic cocktails. I mean really classic. Not a martini in the bunch. Cocktails hailing back to the 1850's. Josh was in hog heaven. Okay, we all enjoyed that! We had five very good cocktails. A Blood and Sand, a Pegu, an Old Fashioned, a Ward Eight and I can't remember the last one.

Dessert. I wish I'd had my camera. So the waiter clears the dinner dishes away. And then brings 3 creme brulees. Peter and Eileen ordered meals that came with them and they threw one in for Amelia. But our dessert was a slice of apple pie or tart with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and "Happy Anniversary" written beside in chocolate. With a candle which Josh wouldn't blow out with me.

So with all this good food and drink, Amelia got the hiccups on the way home. And then she shared them with me. I found this hysterical and laughed and laughed (a good way to burn some of the dinner calories) and kept telling her it was her turn after I hiccuped. Make of that what you will but I was not stumbling to slurring my speech.

And the last thing has little to do with my anniversary, but everything to do with the primary purpose of my blog...COOKING. My pantry is all over my kitchen. And not because of a infestation of mice to bugs, but because Randy Fiske is changing out my wire shelves for solid shelves. Yippy!


So you can see the contents of the pantry closet all over the kitchen and then Randy hard at work in the driveway. With all of this happening today and then needing to be reloaded and not having the counter space available for food prep, we will be having frozen pizza for dinner tonight. We did a pretty thorough cleaning out on the unload but I'll do more on the reload, too.

I'll post picture of the final pantry both pre- and post the reload.

That's it for now. Love you and miss you all.