Chez Nous

Le Weekend—20 May 2013

Life is going at breakneck speed these days ... so much to do, so much to absorb, and so much blessing. Aly is graduating from high school in three weeks, Ben with his AA, moving on with school and baseball dreams, and we are doing everything we can to soak it all up!

We spent the better part of our weekend at the ball field watching Ben and the Tacoma Titans defeat Lower Columbia in nail-biting games and extra innings to move on to the NWAACC Tournament. It's the first time in ten years that a Titans team has made it and the first time in 28 that LC hasn't! The excitement is palpable. These guys have worked hard and it shows!

Here's to a new week of excitement and blessings!

French Fridays with Dorie: Food Revolution 2013

“Food Revolution Day is a chance for people all over the world to come together and stand up for good food and essential cooking skills. It’s a chance for people to come together in homes, schools, workplaces and communities to cook and share their kitchen skills, food knowledge and resources. Food Revolution Day is a global day of action to raise awareness about the importance of good food and better food education for everyone.

The theme for this year’s Food Revolution Day is “Cook it. Share it.” – something all of us here at French Fridays with Dorie are passionate about already!”

When I first heard about Food Revolution 2013, I had grand plans to host an in-home cooking class, a community dinner, and publish a cookbook. Grand plans, I tell ya! Turns out that I'm sticking with a family dinner and a blog post and calling it good!

I practice the principles of Food Revolution every day. My modus operandi is to use fresh ingredients, buy organic when possible, largely limit (if not eliminate) processed foods, and make as much in-house and from scratch as possible. This was modeled for me by my mom as I was growing up and I've continued it. Convenience foods are just that ... "convenient". While I am all about convenience, why would I opt for a package of something subpar, full of preservatives and additives, when I can easily make a superior alternative in my own kitchen? One look at the ingredient list is usually enough to motivate me to make it myself! Fruit and vegetables are convenient, too, and they are a better choice than something in a package. I believe that many diseases and conditions could be completely avoided by our choice of better foods. Seems I'm not alone in this thought.

In the French Fridays group, we were given free choice this week to make any of Dorie's recipes we wanted rather than all making the same one as we usually do. Our market had wild-caught, peeled and deveined shrimp on sale so I bought some, but I didn't have the ingredients that Dorie's two or three recipes for shrimp called for. Ingenuity and the need for a quick dinner took over and we enjoyed Lemon-Basil Shrimp + Pasta. I'm sure Dorie would've enjoyed it, too!

Tasty food doesn't require ages in the kitchen. This meal only took the time that it takes to cook pasta because the shrimp cooks so quickly and there was very little prep work: mince the garlic, juice the lemon, julienne the basil ... that's it! Surely that is something anyone can do any night of the week rather than drive through a fast food restaurant. One of my favorite cookbooks is Fast Food My Way by Jacques Pépin. He takes delicious ingredients and has food on the table in minutes. Wini Moranville does the same thing in her cookbook, The Bonne Femme, that I reviewed last summer. I'm sure there are plenty more cookbooks that focus on quick, delicious, and healthful meals ... Please leave titles in the comments!

Even if you are not formally participating in the Food Revolution 2013, I challenge you to find something you can do to change the way you and your family eats ... you won't regret it.

Here's the recipe for the shrimp: Download LemonBasilShrimpwithPasta

Happy Eating and Bon Appétit!

Something Other than Food

Food Revolution Day is tomorrow and although I had planned to talk about it throughout this week, life claimed priority over my plans. I'll talk about it tomorrow, but for today, I wanted to catch you up on another writing gig I have.

I mentioned at one point that I was writing for Scrap Art Studio, but I never linked back to my articles from my own blog. So here is the list of the articles I've written for them so far:

Title Stickers

Digital Silhouettes

Digital Stencil Letters

Telling Your Story: Journaling Unraveled

Maximizing Your Phone Camera

Scrap On!

Enjoy!

Ramps Omelette ... with bacon, mushrooms, and goat cheese

Do you know ramps are? They are also known as wild leeks, wild onions, and wild garlic ... I guess it's all the same thing! I remember smelling them in the spring in the South when people started mowing their lawns again, but I never heard of them being eaten until I came to the Pacific Northwest. Because the whites of them are smaller than leeks, you don't have to cut that part in half and rinse out any dirt, but the leaves are "leafy" and "loose" and I found that there was plenty of dirt to rinse.

You can use them just like you would onions, garlic, or leeks ... in soups, with potatoes, grilled, pickled ...

Ramps are commonly paired with eggs so when Emily came over to use my computer for a class project, I whipped up an omelette for our lunch.

I cut bacon into small pieces to brown. I added the white parts of the ramps, and the mushrooms and let it all cook to  golden yumminess. 

At this point, I should've taken the bacon, mushrooms, and ramps out of the pan, added the eggs, then returned the first ingredients to the pan, but I poured the beaten eggs over everything instead.

Top it off with goat cheese and the greens of the ramps, cover it, keep the heat low, and let it cook till it is set.

If you read my blog regularly or even only recently, you'll know that I'm not a great fan of eggs. I only eat them because they are good for me, but I found that ramps and goat cheese are enough to make me forget I'm eating eggs!

That's a win-win! Bon Appétit!

Download Ramps Omelette

Le Weekend—13 May 2013

When Mother's Day celebrations begin at Ooba's, you know the whole weekend will probably be great. Love Oobas!

It was followed by an afternoon at "Taste of White", hosted by Columbia Winery. The tastings were great, the weather was beautiful, and the music entertaining.

It was supposed to rain most of Sunday, but we lucked out with tons of sunshine. And I lucked out with all of our kids home!

They pitched in and made the traditional "blackened salmon" (no pepper involved). {Hee Hee.}

Story: We like to grill on wood planks and while we were taking photos, more and more smoke was bothering us ... AND billowing out of the grill. Ben walks over, opens the grill and the planks had caught fire! He says, "Um ... can someone bring some water?" I was too busy watching everyone trying to put the fire out and forgot to take a photo until they were engulfed by the smoke after they doused it with water.

Never a dull moment.

The meal was wonderful and the salmon was no worse for the extra smoke. The entire day was filled with laughter, conversation, and just being together. I love the sounds of "family".

And these double tulips that Emily brought me from the market are amazing ... they look like peonies, don't they?

I hope your weekend was wonderful and that all moms were celebrated adequately. I certainly was ... with hugs, French macarons and a beautiful new glassybaby to accompany those tulips!

Here's to a new week full of adventures and surprises ... because there are no two days alike.

Happy Mother's Day

My heart, mind, and body are all over the place these days. Seriously ... it is not easy stuff to realize that your last child is 18 and you have to redefine your every-day routine.

My kids are 18, 20, and 23 ... and yet, my brain has a hard time moving past the time that they were are 1, 3, and 6. How is it that I am now a parent to adult children? Surely there has been some mistake. My oldest married last October, my middle one is half-way through college, and my youngest is graduating high school. I was just doing all of those things yesterday. I feel like a peer, but it is rather evident that I am not.

My kids aren't the demanding ones any more, to be clear. No longer do they need me to cut their apples into slices and remove the skins so they don't choke. No longer do I need to remind them to check traffic before they cross the street ... but they'll gratefully still indulge our joining hands (although theirs is usually the one on top now). No longer do I have to ask them if they brushed their teeth before bedtime. No longer do I need to tell them when to go to bed!  No longer do I pick up their toys and books and put them in the baskets in the family room. No longer do I pack their lunches and arrange their backpacks by the front door. No longer do I do their laundry (although a couple of them would welcome my doing it!) No longer do I run to Subway in between double-headers to get a sandwich for a starved baseball player ... he packs his own homemade ones now. :/) They do all these things for themselves.

No ... it's not my kids that demand of me anymore. It's me. I love being "Mom". I love providing for my kids. I love being needed. I love doing for those I love. It's hard for me to accept after so many years of providing for my children's every need (starting with nutrition and unconditional love) that they don't need me for much any more. They are all independent, can feed themselves, clothe themselves, buy their own things, make decisions as to where to attend college, what type of person to date, who to marry, when to buy a house, ...

We are still parents to be sure, but we function more as banks of knowledge and wisdom. We try to keep our interest rate reasonable. :)

Here's an example: (It's Saturday evening/early Sunday as I write this.) Ben is home for Mother's Day since the baseball team so graciously played Friday/Saturday this weekend rather than Saturday/Sunday. Before he went to bed tonight, he said, (with a rather expectant sparkle in his eye) "Are you making breakfast in the morning, Mom?"  Ken interjected rather quickly, with the same expectant sparkle in his eye, "French toast, please?!" My immediate response to those sparkles was "Of course, I'll make breakfast! But wait!!! ... It's Mother's Day!! I'm supposed to get breakfast in bed!" Ken quickly backtracked and said, "I'll make breakfast. Don't worry!" To which Ben replied with longing in his eyes, "Mom, PLEASE make breakfast!"

So I'm on for Mother's Day breakfast and Ken & Co. will make dinner.

Just have coffee ready and keep it flowing!

Happy Mother's Day!

French Fridays with Dorie—Coupétade

Brioche is such a beautiful bread. Just cutting slices of it is a pleasure ... so tender and delicate.

Dorie says that there are as many versions of coupétade as there are households in France, but I don't remember ever eating it when I lived there as a child. In fact, I'm sure "pain perdu" was common, but I never heard of that either. Don't you love the literal translation of "pain perdu" ... "lost bread" describing French toast because the bread gets lost in the egg mixture. When Mom made French toast in France, she used stale French bread instead of loaf bread. I loved the crunchy crust grilled as French toast.

A coupétade is a bread pudding made with French toast ...

... topped with dried fruit and raisins ...

It is covered with a custard mixture, put into a water bath and baked for about an hour and a half.

I wish mine had not browned as much on top. It was a bit too hard because of the sugar in the custard, but the bread on the bottom that was more immersed in the custard was delicious.

Would I make this again? Possibly, but I would make more of the egg mixture to dip the brioche in for the toast, and I would make more custard so that more of the bread was submerged. However, I do love the crockpot bread pudding I make and I can't say I like this coupétade more. It is certainly worth trying, though, and delicious enough to keep in your arsenal.

(If you're new around here or are wondering what French Fridays with Dorie is ... It's an effort to use one of Dorie's recipes from her cookbook Around My French Table each week. The recipes are decided on by popular vote on the website French Fridays with Dorie. Purchase your book HERE and play along! According to the rules of the group, I'm not allowed to post the actual recipe ... mes regrets.)

 

Creamy Chicken + Spinach Casserole

After my grandmother passed away last year, I was fortunate enough to collect her cookbooks and recipe boxes. I found some treasures, but I also found many recipes from magazines and newspapers that called for canned soup ... many were chicken casseroles! A typical chicken casserole is not appealing to me ... the ones with canned soup, that is, and Ritz crackers on top. 

Our grandmothers probably thought canned soup was the "cat's meow"—almost better than "sliced bread"—as far as making cooking more convenient, but with all the extra ingredients, sodium, and preservatives in them, we are really better served to eliminate them from our repertoire.

This particular recipe is not "diet-friendly", but if you eat according to "lifestyle" rather than "diet", then you can allow this type of dish occasionally. Another great thing about this type of recipe is that you can make alterations to make it less caloric.

AND it is basically a one-pan dish. That always garners a point in the winning column.

Heat a skillet and wilt the spinach. Transfer it to a colander, squeeze it dry when it cools and chop it.

Saute onion then add the chicken. Deglaze the pan with white wine, add flour (or other thickener), then gradually add the half-and-half and season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper. (You could use a chicken stock rather than half-and-half to reduce calories or make it dairy free.)

Mix in the spinach and put it all in a baking dish. Top with torn bread cubes and bake till the bread is golden and the casserole is bubbling. Even those who think they don't like spinach will like this!

Bon Appétit!

Download Creamy Chicken and Spinach Casserole
Check out another yummy Chicken Casserole HERE.

Bread-stuffed Zucchini

Zucchini is versatile vegetable. It's wonderful sauteed, grilled, in bread, on salads ... and stuffed.

Many stuffed zucchini recipes call for a meat and rice stuffing, but I've found that by the time the meat is properly cooked, the zucchini is mushy. Not appetizing.

Enter the hard-working baguette. 

Cut it into cubes and toss it with a little olive oil, diced tomato, and season it with oregano and basil, a bit parmesan cheese and some salt and pepper. Pile it into the hollowed out zucchini and top it with a little more grated parmesan cheese.

Bake it till the zucchini is just tender and the bread and cheese are browned and crispy. Perfect with a green salad or grilled/roasted meats.

Bon Appétit!

Download Bread-StuffedZucchini

Roasted Shrimp-Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Poblano peppers are one of my favorite peppers and probably the reason I love chile rellenos so much. However, I hardly ever order them because they are usually batter-dipped, then deep-fried and I try to be conscious of my caloric intake. I'm fairly positive this recipe doesn't fall on the low-calorie side, but it is probably better than something deep-fried.

Start by roasting the peppers till they start getting black marks. This could be done over the open flame of your gas stove, on a grill pan, or on the grill outdoors. I took this photo at this angle because mine are a little more than "black-marked". ;) But I like them that way and you should make yours the way you want, too.

You could also grill red peppers and tomatoes for the sauce, but I used a jar of roasted peppers and a can of fire-roasted tomatoes. I love baking these in individual dishes, but feel free to use a larger baking dish to accommodate all six of them.

When the peppers are cool enough to handle, cut them open on one side and scoop out the seeds, leaving the stem.

Sauté onions, garlic, and jalapeño peppers, then add the shrimp and cook till barely done. Mix in the cheeses, then fill the peppers.

Lay the peppers on the roasted pepper tomato sauce and bake for about 40 minutes.

Garnish with queso fresco, fresh cilantro and a sliver of red onion. That beats a chile relleno any day in my book!

 Bon Appétit!

Download Roasted Shrimp-Stuffed-Poblanos