Henry's First Talk

This last month, Henry gave his first talk in Primary. In case you aren't familiar with what this is, every Sunday a child prepares and presents a talk to the other children at church. It usually has something to do with the monthly theme and is usually between 30 seconds to 3 minutes depending on the age of the child. This month the theme was "Families Can Be Together Forever."
 I pretty much wrote Henry's talk but as he is three, that is acceptable. He did so well though. He came right up to the microphone, held up each picture and repeated the sentence clearly. It was so cute.
And for posterity's sake, here it is. Except these pictures were taken afterwards as he is NOT wearing church clothes:

"I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday."

"Temple marriage is being sealed for eternity."

"This is a gift from Heavenly Father and Jesus."

"I went to the temple with my family. I love my family and we will be together forever."

eaten: Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce and Chicken Parmesan Paillards

I cannot even describe how fresh and light and delicious this dish was. I could go on and on. It might be one of my favorite things I have come across all year. And it is so simple. This whole meal was a testament to the beauty of simple, fresh ingredients.

So I am mixing two different recipes. We had the fresh pasta recipe paired with the Parmesan chicken from another recipe. I really liked the lighter preparation of the chicken. Pounding it flat, yields a faster cooking time and less time in the oil. In the original recipe, they only coated one side of the chicken and that could be a great option too but I put cheese on both sides.

For the pasta I ended up making it as stated but I couldn't find the fettuccine so I used fresh cheese ravioli instead. Half a package, 20 oz. I froze the other half to be used for another meal because I will be making this again. And again. And again.

Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce
Recipe and Picture from Cooking Light

• 1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated fresh fettuccine, we used half a 20 oz fresh ravioli package
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved, about 1 pint
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved (about 1/2 cup)

Preparation

1. 1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; place pasta in a large bowl.
2. 2. While pasta cooks, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes and salt; cover and cook 4 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in basil and pepper. Add tomato mixture to pasta; toss well to combine. Top with cheese.

Barbara Seelig Brown, Cooking Light
SEPTEMBER 2010

Chicken Parmesan Paillards  
Recipe and Picture from Cooking Light

• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves $
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided

Preparation

1. Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Combine cheese and flour in a shallow dish. Dredge both sides of each chicken breast half in cheese mixture.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 chicken breast halves; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 teaspoon oil and chicken breast halves. Remove from pan; serve immediately.

Lia Huber, Cooking Light
MARCH 2007

Henry Colors Up a Storm

 Henry has been really into coloring lately. He'll color every inch of pages in his coloring books. He is getting a lot better at focusing his color on specific areas. He doesn't stay within the lines but he does completely fill between the lines.

 Its also fun to see how he is progressing at free drawing. He seems to have more of a plan and he builds on his pictures now more than just scribbling whatever. He'll start with the center and then build outward like this one ^^^

 He said this one was a mushroom.

I love this one. You can tell his composition has greatly improved over the past few months. Its so interesting to see glimpses of how his mind works.

eaten: sirloin skewers with grilled veggie coucous and fiery red pepper sauce

I love couscous.

I just do. But I always forget about it.

Its delicious and I love the texture. And add this pepper sauce and it is divine.

I have been a total nerd lately and have been checking out stacks of cook books from the library and reading them straight through like novels. One of my favorite finds recently was The New Way to Cook Light. And the great thing is that all of the recipes are also online with lots of helpful reviews and adjustments. I pinned a bunch of them on my Menu Making board.

And while I am not on a diet at all, I do enjoy cooking healthy foods with lots of fresh flavor and ingredients. This complete meal looked so tasty and was perfect for summer grilling. The steaks were sadly a little overcooked for me-Darn! but I loved the couscous and veggies and the sauce is amazing. This would also be wonderful with naan bread. Next time since the grill will already be on, I am going to whip up a batch of freshly grilled naan to soak up the extra pepper sauce.

I did make some adjustments to the couscous prep and we just cooked steaks instead of doing skewers. I typed up the recipe as I prepared it, click through for original version.  

Sirloin Skewers with Grilled Vegetable Couscous and Fiery Pepper Sauce

Recipe and pic from Cooking Light

 Pepper sauce:

•   3 red bell peppers, or just use jarred roasted peppers to save a step
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt--Steve thinks it needed more salt, adjust accordingly
• 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds--I left this out
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper--I used black pepper

Couscous:

•   3/4 cup water
• 1 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
•   1 cup uncooked couscous
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 2 tbsp butter, divided 
• 8 ounces eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
• 8 ounces squash, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices $
• 8 ounces zucchini, cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices $
• We also used half a box of mushrooms that I had in the fridge
• 4 green onions, trimmed
• Cooking spray 

Skewers:

• 1 1/2 pounds top sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.
2.  To prepare pepper sauce, cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place bell pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil for 12 minutes or until blackened. You can also just grill them up whole until black or save this step all together and use jarred ones. Place in a paper bag, and fold to close tightly. Let stand for 20 minutes. Peel. Place peppers and the next 8 ingredients (through red pepper) in a blender, and process until smooth.
3. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
4. To prepare couscous: melt 1 TBSP butter in a pan, add couscous and cook until toasted light brown, remove from pan to medium bowl. Melt remaining butter in pan and saute onion until translucent, add to couscous. Meanwhile bring water and broth to a boil. Pour boiling liquid over couscous; cover tightly with saran wrap. Let stand 10-12 minutes, fluff with fork.
5. Arrange eggplant and veggies on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes on each side or until vegetables are tender and well marked. Remove from heat; coarsely chop vegetables. Combine 1/2 cup pepper sauce, couscous, and chopped vegetables in a large bowl; toss gently. Keep warm.
6. To prepare skewers, thread beef onto 12 (7-inch) skewers. Lightly coat beef with cooking spray, and sprinkle with black pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Place skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 8 minutes or until desired degree of doneness, turning once. Serve with couscous mixture and remaining sauce.

Robin Bashinsky, Cooking Light
JULY 2011

Lately,

Here are some things that have been happening lately...

• Steve taught me how to play Texas Hold 'Em and we have been playing a couple of times a week. We have poker chips and everything. Its fun even though I always lose. Poker night, anyone?
• Henry's favorite song is "Deck the Halls." As in the Christmas carol. And he only likes to sing it at the top of his lungs. "Deck the halls with bows of holly, fa la la la la la la la la..."
• I enjoyed my 100 workouts massage on Saturday. Totally worth it. And I am plugging away at the next 100 already. 
• Have you heard about the Humans of New York project? I love it. People fascinate me. 
• I just finished reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. Its a bit crass and has profanity in it but man, oh man is it good. I devoured it and was constantly on the edge of seat. Who is guilty? Who is sane? Who can I trust? Its a great read.
• While perusing around, I read this blog post about how to be photogenic. Its an interesting read with lots of great tips plus pictures to show the difference lip color makes, etc. It ends with a great mantra to get in front of the camera. I like this quote from Theresa Porter, “ Life doesn’t wait until you “get thin” enough to capture it. Life is happening . . . it is happening right now and the only moment we are guaranteed is the one we are living.” 
• A family in our ward goes to South Carolina every summer to get the best peaches. I bought a 25 lb. box and canned it into 5 quarts of peach pie filling, 6 quarts of peaches and made one stunning cobbler. I forgot how much I love canning. It was my first solo experience and everything sealed. Lets hope they aren't mush in the jars.  
• I have received a few questions about the kitchen gadgets I have purchased. Here is a great blog post on how to take care of your cast iron skillet.  I have found it really easy to clean. Even after the cake sat in it for a few days, I just filled it with water and brought it to a boil on the stove, the cake cleaned right out. I also liberally season it with oil after each use. The knife sharpener I got isn't that great, in fact I don't think it will last very long. This is the one and if I had seen the reviews beforehand I wouldn't have gotten it. Next time I think I will go with a whetstone. My knives were 6 years dull so this did improve them significantly (like from crushing tomatoes while slicing to just slicing) but I can already tell they will need to be resharpened again soon.
• We've been back at the beach and splash pad this week. As a Pacific Northwest girl, I am ashamed at how the recent rain has gotten me down. I guess I just acclimatize too easily.

eaten: gooey chocolate skillet cake

Another perk of having a cast iron skillet is that I got to make this delicious chocolate cake. What a great excuse, right?

After the first success with the skillet, I ventured online to find more recipes. I searched "skillet" on Pinterest and guess what? There is a band named Skillet. They are apparently very popular with their small fan base as to incite enough enthusiasm to motivate people to tattoo their lyrics on their flesh. I saw a few pictures of this. Scary. But I also saw a number of yummy looking desserts and entrees to keep my skillet busy for months.

First up, the Gooey Chocolate Cake. We were having friends over for dinner. It was last minute and I had exactly 4 TB of cocoa powder. Coincidence? I think not. This cake is moist, rich and divine with a small dollop of vanilla ice cream.

gooey chocolate skillet cake

Recipe and Picture from Hummingbirdhigh
Ingredients

Special Equipment:

• a 10-inch cast iron skillet, I used my 12 inch skillet and just reduced the baking time by a couple of minutes.

For the Chocolate Cake:

(enough for a 10-inch cake)

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• a dash of salt
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the Chocolate Frosting:

(enough for a 10-inch cake)

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut in 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Recipe 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 (F).
   


2. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and a dash of salt together. Set aside.
   


3. In your 10-inch cast iron skillet, bring 4 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, and 1/2 cup water to a boil:
   
   
   Remove from heat.


4. Whisk in the dry ingredients (from the first step) into the butter/oil/cocoa powder mixture. At first the mixture will be clumpy, but with enough whisking the ingredients will incorporate together to create a smooth, thick batter:
5. Using a rubber spatula, mix in the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla
   Don't rush this process. You're basically forcing more liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn't want to make room for the liquid. There should be no streaks of fat or liquid before you move on to the next step:
   I found the most effective way of mixing was to actually fold the ingredients together. That way, I didn't get batter running out the sides of the skillet from violent mixing.
6. Once the batter is ready, bake the skillet in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Let rest on a cooling rack.
   
7. As the cake starts to cool, make the frosting. In a medium saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter.
   
8. Once the butter has melted, add 2 tablespoons cocoa powder and 4 tablespoons milk, using a rubber spatula to combine the ingredients.
   
9. Remove from heat and add 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir to combine, making sure that all the powdered sugar lumps have been disintegrated by the chopped pecans.
   
10. Once the frosting is ready, pour over the warm cake and spread with a spatula. The frosting will initially appear too liquidy, but will harden as the cake cools.

eaten: skillet roasted lemon chicken with potatoes

One of the best things about all this new cooking is acquiring new kitchen gear. I have been slowly starting to fill in the gaps in my kitchen arsenal. Three new cutting boards, a knife sharpener, a spoon rest. Simple things that I have been slowly buying. My favorite new purchase by far is a cast iron skillet. For awhile now I have wanted/needed a pan I can use on the stove and then pop in the oven.

Anyway, my first recipe with the skillet turned out really great. It was super easy and flavorful. I had jotted it down in my mead recipe notebook years ago so I don't know where it is from. I also only used half the chicken since there were just three of us. Since I put less chicken, I actually overcooked it a bit. So watch your times if you are using less chicken or potatoes. Everything tasted good though and the lemon slices added a nice tartness.

Pictures are bad. They are from my phone.

skillet roasted lemon chicken with potatoes

1 large lemon, sliced
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 tsp rosemary
6 chicken breasts
1 pint cherry tomatoes
8-10 small red potatoes, quartered

1. Preheat oven to 450*
2. Arrange lemon slices in a single layer on bottom of cast iron skillet or roasting pan.
3. Combine oil and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chicken, tomatoes, and potatoes. Toss to coat evenly. Arrange chicken on top of lemon slices in a single layer. Top with vegetables.

4. Bake for 45-55 minutes.