Michael Buble!

Whether you love him or not, you need to see his show. Trust me! It was hands down the best, I mean the BEST, concert I've ever been to.

Why? Because not only is a great singer, he is a true performer. He interacts with the audience. After the second song he stepped into the audience to pose for a photo with a woman holding a sign declaring her birthday. He was self deprecating; he was funny; he was a lot of fun to watch.

He told great stories. Watch this YouTube video. Sadly, it isn't from our show but it does have the 2 stories I would have shared.

I did get some video of my own (he pulled a little girl, who appeared to be about 8, onto the stage with him), but I'm failing miserably at the upload. I'll keep trying, but in the meantime, check out these still photos I took:






If you are wondering how I got so many pictures from behind him, he moved to a second stage on the middle of the floor.

Did I tell you where our seats were? 2 sections from the stage, 4 rows off the floor. Excellent.

I think that's all I have right now. I know this post is poorly constructed and awkward, but really, my hands are still shaking over the excitement from the show.

Kristen out!

Allen

Well, I tried again to upload videos of my boy singing, but the computer is just not cooperating. Sorry. I'll try again another time.

I do have some good Allen stories, though.

I'll go back to the Sunday that I was there. Allegra and I had just gotten home with groceries and Dad (aka Papa) was in the garage "tinkering" with his car (he has an Austin Healy). Brian was watching football and Allen was bouncing between Papa, Daddy, Mommy and Aunt Kristen. When Papa was done with his car, Allen declared that he needed to go for a ride with Papa and Aunt Kristen to look at houses. (Papa loved that Allen wanted to "spook" houses with him.)

Now, I love my monkey. But I was getting ready to make roasted veggie soup for my mom. This just wasn't part of my plan. As his face was getting screwed into the beginning of a minor fit, Papa asked why I had to go with them. "Because," he said, "I love her and I like her and I love her." That was it. I went. Allegra peeled all the veggies. The soup was really good.

Going back to the evening before, I babysat so Brian and Allegra could go out to dinner just the two of them. I had just purchased Beauty and the Beast (Josh said I had to have the movie because Belle is my animated Disney alter-ego. Who's yours?) Allen agreed to watch it with me. I talked to him all through the movie. I wanted him to see that Beast wasn't all mean.

So there are, in my opinion, two funny things about this evening that stand out to me. 1)I knew all the words to the songs (except for the new one! yes, there's a new song!) and sang every one of them. Loudly. When I asked Allen if he thought I'd seen the movie before, he said No. And B) When a child thinks a movie or something on tv is going to be scary, what do they do? In my experience, they cover their eyes or bury their face. Not Allen. He sticks his fingers in his ears. You gotta love him.

So my last Allen story is as much mine as his. He knows all the continents. He sings a song about them. It ends..."Don't forget Antarctica." I asked him about Uncle Arctica. He knows that Uncle Josh goes with Aunt Kristen, so what about Uncle Arctica. He thought about his seriously for a bit and then began to end the song with "Don't forget Uncle Arctica." Oops! Maybe I'd taken my joke too far. I explained to him that he could sing it that way to his teacher, but not with his whole class. I think he got it.

Allegra just told me that when she picked him up yesterday afternoon, he was standing beside his teacher. He told her, "When my aunt Kristen was here, she sang Uncle Arctica." Thankfully, Allegra was right there to declare Aunt Kristen as silly.

All agreed.

I wore many hats

1. I was nurse to Mom.
2. I cooked.
3. I did laundry.
4. I tended to maniac dogs. (Made me appreciate my Sonny-dog that much more.)
5. I was a shop girl.
6. I sat for my Allen-boy. He figured out that I was much better at reading stories than playing cars and I love him so for that.

All in all it was a good trip. I feel like my presence was appreciated. And I appreciate the Josh and Sonny let me go but I'm happy to be home now. So, I'm doing laundry and cooking and taking care of my own dog.

I wanted to upload some videos of Allen singing, but it was taking way too long. Sorry.

Kristen out.

The Haul

This has been a very culinary anniversary for me! I've already mentioned my gift from Josh...The America's Test Kitchen cookbook and 10th season DVDs. But it has gotten so much more exciting.

See for yourself:


This is Williams-Sonoma's newest "gold" bakeware. So excited to try it. Mom and Dad (Hunter) sent us a gift card. I was like a kid in a candy store. Thankfully, I had already shopped online and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted. Not wanting to hog the whole thing for myself, we did order this Martini Pitcher for Josh. No one knows why it's no longer available in store.


This is my immersion blender from Mom and Dad Saxe. Again, I can't wait to use. I'm pretty sure it will rule my little mini-prep food processor obsolete as it has a chopping blade in a canister. How cool is that?! They bought Josh this bar book. Only difference from the catalog pictur is Josh's has an S in stead of the D.


This is present from Amelia. Spiders! Aren't they cool? Good for more than just fried things. She also gave me a new set of measuring spoons. These are shaped to fit in spice jars AND the smallest one is 1/8 of a tsp. So excellent.

She got Josh the new Clapton cd and soap. She's not making a comment on her brother's cleanliness. These are Star Wars soaps. He thinks they are very cool. I'm pleased to say that they will be on display in his cube at work.



This is from myaunt and uncle. The cork screw says "One good turn deserves another." On both sides. Clever eh? There are a total of four coasters.

And last but certainly not least, is this frog from Brian, Allegra, and Allen. I love him. He looks like Josh. Very smug expression and with a crown on his head. Josh doesn't have a literal crown, but he does like/expect to be treated as royalty.

We got a lovely bottle of wine and some cleverly presented wine tools from our dear friends. And a couple of checks (being used for Josh's winter chapeau) from other members of his family. Thanks! The hat has been ordered.

Finally, at the request of an aunt, pictures of our room at the W.


Th best part of our room was the view. Quite possibly the best view we've had. We were overlooking the lake. Did I take a picture of that. Of course not. I can't remember to do everything, now can I?

And this is, well, it's Amelia. With a spoon on her nose. A heavy spoon.


That seems like a good place to end this post. I'll be back in couple weeks.

Kristen

Well, Well, Wellington

As in Beef. As in crusted with pastry. As in what Josh suggested I make for our at-home anniversary dinner.

I had never made such a meal. I had never considered it. I didn't think it was something I wanted to make. I didn't have a recipe.

But I did have the interweb and thus I had a world of recipes within my grasp. So I searched. And I found one. This one in fact:

Ingredients

For the Duxelles:

• 3 pints (1 1/2 pounds) white button mushrooms
• 2 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the Beef:

• 1 (3-pound) center cut beef tenderloin (filet mignon), trimmed
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 12 thin slices prosciutto
• 6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• Flour, for rolling out puff pastry
• 1 pound puff pastry, thawed if using frozen
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• Minced chives, for garnish
• Green Peppercorn Sauce, recipe follows
• Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
• Warm Wilted Winter Greens, recipe follows

Directions

To make the Duxelles: Add mushrooms, shallots, garlic, and thyme to a food processor and pulseshallot and mushroom mixture and saute for 8 to 10 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool. until finely chopped. Add butter and olive oil to a large saute pan and set over medium heat. Add the

To prepare the beef: Tie the tenderloin in 4 places so it holds its cylindrical shape while cooking. Drizzle with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper and sear all over, including the ends, in a hot, heavy-based skillet lightly coated with olive oil - about 2 to 3 minutes. Meanwhile set out your prosciutto on a sheet of plastic wrap (plastic needs to be about a foot and a half in length so you can wrap and tie the roast up in it) on top of your cutting board. Shingle the prosciutto so it forms a rectangle that is big enough to encompass the entire filet of beef. Using a rubber spatula cover evenly with a thin layer of duxelles. Season the surface of the duxelles with salt and pepper and sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves. When the beef is seared, remove from heat, cut off twine and smear lightly all over with Dijon mustard. Allow to cool slightly, then roll up in the duxelles covered prosciutto using the plastic wrap to tie it up nice and tight. Tuck in the ends of the prosciutto as you roll to completely encompass the beef. Roll it up tightly in plastic wrap and twist the ends to seal it completely and hold it in a nice log shape. Set in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to ensure it maintains its shape.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry out to about a 1/4-inch thickness. Depending on the size of your sheets you may have to overlap 2 sheets and press them together. Remove beef from refrigerator and cut off plastic. Set the beef in the center of the pastry and fold over the longer sides, brushing with egg wash to seal. Trim ends if necessary then brush with egg wash and fold over to completely seal the beef - saving ends to use as a decoration on top if desired. Top with coarse sea salt. Place the beef seam side down on a baking sheet.

Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash then make a couple of slits in the top of the pastry using the tip of a paring knife - this creates vents that will allow the steam to escape when cooking. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until pastry is golden brown and beef registers 125 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from oven and rest before cutting into thick slices. GarnishSauce, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, and Warm Wilted Winter Greens. with minced chives, and serve with Green Peppercorn

Green Peppercorn Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1 cup brandy
• 1 box beef stock
• 2 cups cream
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• 1/2 cup green peppercorns in brine, drained, brine reserved

Add olive oil to pan after removing beef. Add shallots, garlic, and thyme; saute for 1 to 2 minutes, then, off heat, add brandy and flambe using a long kitchen match. After flame dies down, return to the heat, add stock and reduce by about half. Strain out solids, then add 2 cups cream and mustard. Reduce by half again, then shut off heat and add green peppercorns.

This is Tyler Florence's Ultimate Beef Wellington.

Before Baking

On the serving platter after resting and slicing.

I made every part of it--including the Green Peppercorn Sauce. (I had to order the green peppercorns from a spice outfit in the Bronx. Then I had to find a brining recipe. Yeesh, the things I'll do for love,) I got to flambe it! That was fun. I'm not a big sauce person with my beef, but you just can't go wrong with cream and brandy.

Green Peppercorn Sauce (the green modifies the peppercorns not the sauce)

So let me go back to the beginning of the evening:

I made Ina Garten's Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms. The recipe said to bake them all squished together in a pan. I was only making 6. I didn't have a baking dish the right size! What to do?

Then I had what I thought was wonderful idea. The solution to all my problems. Use a muffin tin!

You can see that the mushrooms nestled in very nicely. They just didn't come out as cleanly as I had hoped. I thought that small tongs (like for asparagus) would have been the perfect tool. Not really. A paring knife and fork worked much better.

Josh made Manhattan's when he got home. He had to make the cocktails. You see, my anniversary gift to him was a Boston Shaker. (We exchanged gifts on Saturday. He is enamored of his new "toy." I got the America's Test Kitchen cookbook.)

We had salads. Caesar for Josh, complete with hardboiled egg and anchovies. Garden for moi. I forgot to take pictures of those. (If you like hardboiled eggs, you should really follow the link. These are beautiful and tasty.)

I made mashed potatoes. Josh told me that I make the best mashed potatoes. In the world. Better than any restaraunt. Better than his mom's. He likes that I leave the skins on. (Really, that's more of a lazy thingt than a culinary thing.) He didn't want me to do anything different from what I typically do. (Don't tell him I used buttermilk this time.) For the first time in our married life if not the first time in his entire life, Josh thought that maybe the potatoes were "too much with the starch" at dinner. I think the pastry on the beef was a slight sensory overload. We'll see how he feels about that tonight as we eat leftovers.

Mashed Potatoes

I made a spice cake for dessert. I forgot to take a picture of that, too. Sorry, I'm only a girl. The recipe came from my new cookbook. It's tasty, but not particularly special. Oh well. Live and learn, I guess.

I have been doing a lot of cooking and baking and I'm sorry I haven't been sharing. I will try to do better. I will tell you all, though, that I'm off to SC on 10/13. Mom's having sinus surgery and my presence as nurse and babysitter are required. I return on the 22nd, so maybe I'll have more to post then.

Till later,
Kristen

Meringue

I know, It's been a long time. I'm sorry. And really, I do have lots to share. Now I'm overwhelmed and not entirely sure where to begin. Since I title this post "Meringue," I guess that's the best place to start.

So, you want to guess what this week's date night dessert was? You got it...Red Velvet
Cake!

No, I made meringues with roasted berries. Boy were they yummy. See for yourself:


And, true to my blogs...I started with dessert. But that is how this meal began. I started preparing them at 7:30 Sunday night. Then I had to stay up till 10:00 to turn the oven off. I will definitely be making these again! I even think that I solved the "mess" problem. Let's just say there was meringue ALL over my kitchen when I was done. Thankfully, if done in short order it's not too difficult to clean up.

Now I'll go back to the beginning of the meal. We had shrimp cocktail. Always a hit. Usually I buy 3-5 jumbo shrimp for each of us. This week, I got a 1/4 lb of medium shrimp. Immediately I felt buyer's remorse. I just wasn't sure they'd be big enough for dipping. I even told Josh my concerns in bed on Sunday night. I always feel it's better to give him a heads up on my mistakes and culinary failures.

Not necessary! He took one look at the shrimp edging the bowl, clapped his hands in delight and exclaimed, "There's so many of them!" All that worry for nothing. (I'm sorry; I didn't take a picture.)

Manhattans accompanied the shrimp.

Dinner was filet. I cooked them in butter and crusted them in pepper. Maybe a little too much pepper. Not so much that we didn't eat them up.


I served the filets with broccoli, wild rice and a tomato salad with tomato from my "garden."




Did you notice how "juicy" the berries on the meringue got? It was so yummy.

Lastly, I think I set a beautiful date night table, don't you?


Kristen out...for now.

Look for posts about potatoes, increased energy, and rearranged studies.

baby shower

Almost all caught up. Oh, wait, I think this does catch me up! Whew, it's been a long time coming.

So Saturday, 5/22 was a baby shower that I was involved in throwing. I did not do this alone. I had three very good friends helping. The four of us provided punch, coffee, and cakes. Yes, I said cakeS with an S. Meaning plural. The mom-to-be wanted ice cream cake. So ice cream cake she got. And there was a more traditional cake, too.

Dairy Queen, who did the ice cream cake, was able to scan the image from the napkin onto the cake. And despite all of our mocking, the ice cream cake was very good.

There was no shortage of food, though. Our sisters as a whole made this a beautiful event.

My responsibilities included decorations, punch, and coffee. I ordered 39 balloons. Josh's car is pretty big, but that was a lot of balloons to try to cram in. LoPe and I had to spend about 20 minutes untangling them. But we got it done, and it was very pretty, if I do say so myself.

The other decoration thing that I did was silk flowers in a turquoise can. (The colors for the shower became turquoise and kiwi. I found cans super cheap at Target 2 months ago.)

So you can't see the can's in this top down photo. But I think you get the idea. And not a one of these flower arrangements (with which I had no idea what I'd do after the shower) came home with me. We played Baby Shower Bingo and only had 4 prizes...there were 7 winners...three of whom actually WANTED the flower arrangements. Go figure. I think I gave the last one to somebody who just asked for it.

Finally, I had 13 "dead" bananas in my freezer and 4 that were "dying" on my counter top. Not to let all those bananas pass without use, I made banana bread. And muffins. And mini muffins.
I used my current go-to recipe but added a few twists I saw on Barefoot Contessa. (I so want to be Ina Garten when I grow up.) She adds dried banana chips to the top.


And she cuts up a less ripe banana and mixes it in with the batter before baking. You can see the baked banana chunk at the bottom corners.


Well, that's the end of baby shower.

Next up, my Tea Party and book discussion with my 9 year old friend.

Staycation

Josh and spent Friday 5/14 in the city. It was a really nice little recharge for us. We ate dinner at Gibson's, stayed at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, slept in, walked to a neat restaurant where we had eaten before and then, with bellies full, took a cab to Shedd Aquarium.

There we were met with this line:

Crazy, huh. We waited in line for about 40 minutes and then couldn't get tickets to see the ocean show.

We did get to go underneath the pool where the show takes place and shoot this video:



We also saw Happy Feet 4D. You know the movie...penguin can't sing but he can dance and humans are eating all their food blah blah blah. Shortened to 30 minutes. If it's raining on screen you are being misted with water; if Mumbo get's kicked/poked in any way, you get poked in the back with some strange mechanical thing in the back of your chair; many penguins dancing means your chair rumbles; when they dove in the water, bubbles (like air bubbles) were released. You get the idea.

And the best part of our time at Shedd was watching the otters. Here's another video:



Aren't they just adorable? I love otters.

And after the aquarium, we returned to our hotel for a cocktail in the "Big Bar." Our car was parked until 6 so we took advantage of that for some appetizery things and some drinks. The bar is pretty impressive. See for yourself:


They serve these GIANT cocktails, I mean huge, like $30 big. We watched a table do 2 rounds of these. Yowza!

Okay, I'm almost caught up now. Next up is Baby Shower. I don't have any pictures of the event, and only a few of the prep.

Kristen out!

Anniversary Dinner for the in laws

So now I'm up to May 8. (I know, I'm very slow at this blog thing...it's been a busy week.)

My sister-in-law asked if we would like to go in a dinner out to celebrate the in laws 39th anniversary. Of course, we said yes. (Even though we had already gotten them a gift.)

She made the reservation at Pete Millers. At the request of the guests of honor, the reservation was early...5:30. That worked out beautifully as they run an "early bird" special thingy. Each of us got soup/salad, our entree, and dessert (key lime pie or some super chocolatey thing) for the price of our entree. Can't beat that with a stick!

So pictures of dinners:

Peter had Beef Wellington. I'm pretty sure it was made with tenderloin. And his accompaniment was garlic mashed. Mmmmm.


Eileen, after much deliberation and consultation with the waitress, had sirloin. On a previous dinner at Pete Millers she had the best sirloin she'd ever eaten. She opted for the mixed veggie side dish


Josh had some kind of bone in Kobe beef. He asked to bring the bone home with is leftovers so I could make stock. Boy is always thinking.



I had "steak and cake." Three filet medallions and a crab cake. Also with the garlic mashed. Eyes definitely bigger than belly. I ate all of the crab cake (doesn't make a good leftover) and only half of one medallion. Josh had good lunches that week.


Okay, not the best example of my photography skills, but this is Amelia's dinner. It was very much in focus at the time. A filet and french fries.

Josh and Amelia opted for the chocolate cake and the rest of us had key lime pie. The chocolate cake was served with vanilla ice cream which was a deal breaker for Peter.

We started with calamari.

Next post will be our staycation in the City.

DDCP '10

I know it's been a long time. I have a lot to tell you. I'm going back to May 1.

Do you remember from last year what DDCP is? It's the annual Derby Day Cocktail Party. This year's came off without a hitch.

However, having aux. pio'ed in April and being that the first Sat. was the first of the month I was very tired and more than a little cranky when our last guest left. I didn't mail invitations this year. I will next year and will state the party's time as 4-8. 9:30 was just too late and there was still clean up to do.

Sadly, I neglected to take any pictures. I know...I usually have you guys in the back of mind all the time which means I take a lot of weird and sometimes useless pictures (think "mother goose" from last spring).

The menu hasn't really changed a whole lot since DDCP prime. I did make muffaletta sandwiches instead of doing my more traditional meat and cheese spread. I also made my green goddess dip (at 2 requests...they like me, they really like me) and had fairly significant veggie spread. And a fruit spread. And a nice antipasto thing in my beautiful Tuscan antipasto tray set.

Okay, that's all I remember about DDCP '10. Oh, wait, there's one more thing...one of our guests is preggers, and wanting her not to feel left out and to feel as if her beverage was just as special as the ones Josh was making...I made punch. In my new punch bowl. Easy, peasy recipe--one bottle of lemonade (from the refrigerator case) and one bottle of ginger ale. Not wanting to water down the punch, I made lemonade ice cubes and froze a raspberry in cube. Oooh...I can show you a picture of those. Be right back...I have to go take it. (I made more yesterday because I am making the punch again for a baby shower on Wed. That's a whole different post. It's 4th or 5th on my list.)



Okay, that really is all. I have to go to the market now. We're having our good friends for burgers and pie tonight. (Also fodder for a future pie...my escapades with homemade crust.)

Kissy out.

I'm still alive

Just barely.

It's been a month and blogging has exactly been at the top of my list.

This one will be no better. I'm just letting you all know that I haven't stopped blogging or cooking.

Just this week, I made vichyssoise, meat sauce, and an apple pie completely (including the crust) from scratch. The meat sauce was good. The other recipes came from a trial cookbook that was sent to me. I'm sending the book back. The pie recipe called for margarine (not butter--ugh) and didn't specify a variety of apple...not even a suggestion of one. It's a shame...it was a rather pretty book, but I won't use it. Ever. I tried. Twice.

So that's all from me.

I hope all is well with you.

Oh, vote for my mom and sister's shop in their local best of competition. They are under gift shop...Joli Home and Events.

Thanks,
Kristen

Cubs Win!

We went to the Cubs game yesterday! It was perfect baseball weather...high round 81. As soon as we found our seats, (row 8 along the first base line!) the Fan Foto guy came by and took our pictures. You can see them here.

I told Josh I wanted to see a home-run. The last time I said that, I saw 4! Well Geovany Soto came through for me. I love my Geo!


Right as he connected and started to run!

Theriot had four hits. Here he is cooling his heels at first. He didn't stay there long...he stole second several times.


Who doesn't love the 7th inning stretch? Guess who led us in it...Plain White Ts. I was thrilled!

The game was little touch and go. We were down as we entered the bottom of the 8th but we rallied and won. Marmol even made Fielder cry like a little girl to end the game. Okay, I don't know if he actually cried, but he did look pretty silly striking out!

And, so as the game ended the cheering gave we to my new favorite song...Go Cubs Go!



What a perfect day!

Dun dun a dun!

Much cheering and fan fare. It has only taken me 18 months to achieve this, but it is my 100th post! Woohoo and Yay for me!

Okay, enough of that. It's Monday, it's date night, so here goes.

Cocktail hour:
The usual: our house Manhattan
cheese and crackers with grapes (nothing too fancy here)

Dinner:
Salad: hearts of Romaine, cucumber, and sliced red onion with a roasted tomato vinaigrette
Here is the recipe for the main course, courtesy of Rachael Ray:

Carbonara Deep-Dish Pasta-Crusted Pan Pizza

• Salt
• 2 packages fresh linguini, 9 ounces each
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 pound pancetta, cut as thick as bacon, chopped
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, grated or chopped
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, depending on how spicy you like it
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• A handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 cup shredded provolone or mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Heat water for pasta in large pot, salt it and add pasta for 3 minutes.

While water boils, heat a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes.

Drain pasta, add to pan and toss. Stir in Parmigiano-Reggiano and season with salt and pepper. Beat eggs with cream and pour over top of pasta. Let eggs begin to set up, about 1 minute, and pat pasta into even layer to make the pizza pie crust. Place in oven and cook 5 to 6 minutes.

Mix together the ricotta and parsley. Remove pie from oven and smooth the ricotta over the top. Scatter with the provolone or mozzarella and return to oven. Bake 8 minutes more until cheese is melted and golden at edges. Cut into wedges and serve.

Dessert is a raspberry custard (recipe found in my latest Everyday Food magazine.)

Some random notes about date night:

1. It doesn't have to be a huge deal.
2. It doesn't have to be a lot of work.
3. It doesn't have to be terribly expensive (we'd go out if it did!).
   
4. It does have to be something you and your spouse enjoy.
5. It does have to be something you don't have all the time.
6. You do need to turn the tv and computer off until the meal is over. And no phone call is so important that you need to disrupt date night. You can call them back!
   

For me, because I love to cook and to entertain, it's often a chance to try something new. At the same time, though, because the main point of date night is to eat at the table (really, how many of you eat a the table every night?) and to enjoy some quality time with my hubby, my old standby's are more often in play. And this week, I may be making dessert. Last week, it was cupcakes (from a box!)

I encourage all of you to try a date night. At least once. You don't have to go crazy with a once week date night like I do. Once a month, a quarter, a year, a lifetime.

I'm available for babysitting if you can bring the monkey to me.

Date Night--week of 2/22

So, I'm going out of town this Saturday. Alone. I'm leaving my husband alone for 5 days. There will not be a regularly scheduled date next week. I will be having my dinners with another man. Allen. My 3 year old nephew. He lives in SC. With his parents--my sister and brother-in-law and near his grandparents--my parents.

Because I'm going away, I wanted to make this date night a special one. I have done this menu before, I know. But we do love our steakhouse dinners and this is...well, it's cheaper and it's at home. I think you can figure out how that's better.

What is the menu? Wouldn't you like to know.

Who am I kidding? I'll tell you:

Cocktail: House Manhattans (whiskey half rye, half Makers Mark)

Appetizer: Shrimp Cocktail

Salad: Caesar for the man, garden for me

Main Course: Filet Mignon---pan seared, pepper crust

Side Dishes: Broccoli
Potato-Parsnip Gratin--I am mixing in garlic, 1/2 and 1/2, and a little cheese (variety tbd), topping it with caramelized onion and baking for 1 hour at 325

Dessert: Mini cheesecakes topped with raspberries that I bought at the market

Methinks this will be nice.

Mashed Potatoes and Parsnips

Having used both potatoes and parsnips to make my chicken stock, and being that I usually cook my potatoes for mashing in chicken stock, I decided to fish these out and mash them after I made my stock. I treated them just like I treat my potatoes...a little melted butter, a little sour cream, salt and pepper.

I thought they were yummy; Hubby thought they were just okay. He really loves his tators.

I had a little bit of my beef bourganion left, and this was a very good combo. One that I will intentionally repeat. I love these happy culinary coincidences.

Date Night--week of 2/15

Being riddled with a cold, I decided that a slow-cooking-make-hours-before-date-night-began kind of a dinner was called for.

Additionally, I had just gotten my latest copy of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food in the mail.

It contained this recipe for Beef Bourganion:

Ingredients

• 6 ounces slab bacon, rind removed, cut into 1/4-by-1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 pounds stewing beef, such as lean rump pot roast, cut into 2-inch cubes, patted dry
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced crosswise
• 1 medium onion, sliced crosswise
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 cups red wine, such as Chianti, Beaujolais, or Cotes du Rhone
• 3 cups homemade beef stock or canned low-sodium beef stock, plus 1/2 cup
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 garlic, crushed
• 1/2 dried thyme, plus 1/4 teaspoon
• 1 dried bay leaf, crumbled, plus 1/2 bay leaf
• 4 fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 2 tablespoons
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus 1 tablespoon
• 24 cipollini or pearl onions, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes, and peeled
• 1 pound white mushrooms, trimmed and quartered

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with oven racks set in the middle and lower-third. In a small saucepan, bring 1 1/2 quarts water to a simmer; add bacon and rind, simmering for 10 minutes. Drain; dry bacon and pot. Reserve rind.
2. Heat olive oil in a Dutch-oven over medium heat. Add bacon; cook until lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon; set aside.
3. Increase heat to medium-high; oil should be just below smoking point. Test by placing one piece of beef in pan; it should sizzle immediately. Add beef in small batches and cook until well-browned on all sides. Remove meat, and set aside with bacon.
4. Add carrots and sliced onions; cook until browned. Drain excess; discard.
5. Return beef and bacon to pot; season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle in flour, tossing to coat. Transfer pot, uncovered, to middle of oven; bake for 4 minutes. Toss meat and vegetables; bake for 4 minutes more. Transfer pot to stove. Reduce heat to 325 degrees.
6. Over medium-low heat, stir in wine and enough stock to barely cover meat. Add tomato paste, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, 1 crumbled bay leaf, and bacon rind; bring to a simmer. Cover pot, and transfer to lower-third of oven. Bake, regulating heat so stew simmers, until meat is fork tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
7. Meanwhile, make an herb sachet. In an 8-by-8-inch piece of cheesecloth, combine 4 sprigs parsley, 1/2 bay leaf, 1/4 teaspoon thyme, and tie using kitchen twine. Set aside.
8. In a medium skillet, combine 1 1/2 tablespoons butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. When butter is bubbling, add whole onions; sauté until browned, about 10 minutes.
9. Add 1/2 cup stock to pan; season with salt and pepper, and add herb sachet. Simmer, covered, until onions are tender and liquid has evaporated, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove herb sachet, and discard. Set aside.
10. Wipe out skillet; place over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 1 tablespoon oil; butter will begin to foam. As foaming subsides, add mushrooms; sauté, stirring often, until lightly browned. Remove from heat; set aside.
11. Pour stew into a sieve set over a large saucepan. Rinse out Dutch-oven. Return beef and bacon to pot; add cooked mushrooms and onions.
12. Skim fat from sauce. Over medium-low heat, bring sauce to a simmer, skimming off additional fat, 1 to 2 minutes. Sauce should be thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, bring to a boil and reduce to correct consistency. If too thick, add a few tablespoons of stock. Season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over meat and vegetables.
13. Bring pot to a simmer, covered, over medium heat, basting meat and vegetables with sauce, 2 to 3 minutes. Garnish with parsley; serve immediately.

We thought it was very good. Not as good as the one my mom made when I was a kid though. Having talked to good ol' Mom, though, I now know that she made Julia Child's recipe. I shall seek this out.

Homemade Chicken Stock

Armed with the carcasses of 2 rotisserie chickens, I couldn't resist the urge to make my own stock.

How did I do that? you ask? I raided my pantry and fridge and threw whatever veggies and herbs I could find in it.

This time it included:

potatoes
parsnips (purchased specifically for this purpose)
carrots
celery--including the leaves
onions--with the skin
garlic--a lot; I had 2 partially spent bulbs in reserve
rosemary
thyme
salt and pepper

Simmer for several hours; cool, strain, refrigerate (or freeze).

Stock in box is oh-so-convenient, but when I find myself in possession of chicken bones, this is not so difficult and frequently is good enough to sip when you're laid up with a cold.

Lemon Chicken Soup with Spahetti

My family in SC love this soup. I had never made it until hubby stayed home from work with my cold (yes, I believe a couple should share EVERYTHING!) and, as the dutiful wife that I am, quickly found the recipe and dashed off the market to get the necessary ingredients.

Ingredients

• 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 1 dried bay leaf
• 1 (2-inch) piece Parmesan cheese rind, optional
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 cup (about 2 1/2 ounces) spaghetti, broken into 2-inch pieces, *see Cook's Note
• 2 cups diced cooked rotisserie chicken, preferably breast meat
• 1 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• Kosher salt

Directions

In a large stockpot, bring the chicken broth, lemon juice, bay leaf, and Parmesan rind, if using, to a boil over medium-high heat.

Add the carrots and simmer until tender, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the broken pasta and cook until the pasta is tender, for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken and heat through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and the Parmesan rind and discard. Stir in 1/2 of the cheese and the parsley. Season with salt, to taste. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

*Cook's Note: You can use any short pasta from your pantry as a substitute for spaghetti.

Changes that I made: Because there was no zest in the soup, I simmered the spent lemon rinds along the parmesan rind and the bay leaf.