Tag: food

New Year’s Eve, tween style

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, books, friends, Holidays, local fun, movies, tweens, writing

Today was a “Girl’s only” day for me and my tween. We had originally planned to go shopping to spend gift cards received for Christmas (both for her and for me) but then changed the plan to include a movie with a friend. (We never did go shopping with the gift cards, come to think of it…)

She and her friend went back and forth for a few days about which movie to see, Yogi Bear or Gulliver’s Travels.  Neither movie received great reviews, from the critics nor from her older brother, so as far as I was concerned, it was a toss-up. In the end, they chose Gulliver. I braced myself and we settled in for the show.

Well, from a parental standpoint, it wasn’t too terrible (except for when Jack Black was showing his “plumber’s crack” in the beginning. Eeew.). There were a few laughs, and the cast was likeable. The tweens gave it “two thumbs up!”  however, and those are the opinions that really matter, right?

After that, we did a quick food shopping (hey, Hannaford’s was right next door; why  make a second trip?), then back to the house. The girls had a few laughs playing Wii sports, Zsu Zsu pets, and listening to CD’s while I put away the groceries, paid the bills that came in today’s mail (ugh), and wrote quick book blog post.

Then we brought her friend home and came back to make supper: linguini, turkey, roasted red peppers in garlic, butter, and olive oil…pea pods added to Mom’s. After supper, we played a quick building game with magnets, thenwe finished the day with a little couch time, watching iCarly. I promised to wake her up if I am awake at midnight, but the odds of that are VERY SLIM. 🙂

Linguini with roased red peppers and turkey
...and pea pods added for Mom

One of the Best Christmases ever

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, Holidays, italian, quest for the best, tweens
Our tree!

I originally thought that this would be one of the worst Christmases ever.  It had three strikes against it before it even started:

  1. I had to work late and wouldn’t get home until 8:20PM Christmas Eve.
  2. My husband had to work early Christmas Day, leaving at 5:10 AM, and would be gone the entire day and night.
  3. My son had to work Christmas Day as well. He was home in the morning, which was nice, but then couldn’t come with us to have dinner with relatives.

We tried to make the best of it. The kids each opened a couple of gifts with Dad on Christmas Eve while I listened in from work over the phone. My husband and I had a little time to exchange our gifts Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning, after Bill went to work, I stayed up and baked some bread and then put our traditional Christmas morning breakfast (cinnamon buns) into the oven. We opened up the gifts, then got ready for our (mostly separate) day.

We stopped to see Grammy and Papa before heading to my brother’s house for Christmas dinner…which may well have been one of the Best Christmas Dinners of all time. We played Wii games between dinner and dessert, rationalizing that we’d have more room for tiramisu (was that wrong?).

Then we brought some dinner to my son and his girlfriend Lauren at work. Unfortunately, we didn’t get there until 6:30PM…oh well. The food was worth the wait! My sister-in-law Andrea is an excellent cook!

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To frost or not to frost?

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, family, friends, tweens
Iz ready to bake!
My daughter and I were looking for something interesting to bake last weekend and came upon a recipe for blondies. Not just any blondies…pumpkin blondies.
Now it’s not often that we bake things that don’t list chocolate as one of the top ingredients, but these looked and sounded so great that we decided to take the leap.
We found the recipe in this month’s issue of Mixing Bowl Magazine.
My husband happened to call during the decision-making phase and I told him that we were baking, and the recipe we had picked. “What’s in them?” he asked. I told him that besides pumpkin, there were white chocolate chips and coconut, and he interrupted me. “White chocolate chips? Sounds gross,” he decided. “Don’t save me any.”
(Note: Never ask my husband his opinion about anything if you don’t really want it). 🙂
Well, we made them anyway, of course, and they were excellent. I thought a little maple frosting would kick these up a notch (I mean really; what isn’t better in life with a little frosting on top? I ask you), but my daughter didn’t agree.
We compromised by frosting half of them with some maple cream cheese whoopie pie filling that I’d made, and left half unadorned.
Well, they turned out great! We’ll definitely make these again. Our compromise on the frosting issue is this: next time, we’ll make a maple glaze and drizzle it over the bars.

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Omelette Factory puts the “OM” in Omelet

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, local fun, restaurants
Blueberry muffin

Well, this picture may look familiar to some of you! My friend Susan and I went to the Omelette Factory on Rt 1 in Ogunquit recently. She had been there before but it was my first time.

The menu does include things other than omelettes, as you can see!
I ordered a spinach and mushroom (fresh veggies  were used) without cheese…and I actually got it that way (why do cooks always want to put cheese on my food, even after I ask them nicely not to??).
The omelette came with a piece of fresh-out-of-the-oven lemon poppy-seed bread and half an english muffin that they baked themselves. We also were offered excellent homemade raspberry jam to spread on it.
The coffee was great and my cup was never more than half empty before it was refilled without my asking.  Seating consists of a small, cozy dining room with extra seating in back of that on an enclosed, sunny porch, which is where we sat.
The Omelette Factory is a great place to go for a great local breakfast…in the summer months, at least. I’m wondering if they are open in the winter, and if so , am hoping that porch is heated…(I’m just sayin’).

Dinner and a movie

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, local fun, movies, restaurants
Morning Glory promotional poster

In reviewing some of my past posts, I’ve noticed a date night trend toward Dinner and a Movie; this night is no different. The movie was “”What’s the Story?’ Morning Glory”, viewed at the Wells Five Star Cinema. It almost couldn’t be bad, with Diane Keaton and Harrison Ford, right? Rachel McAdams was the real draw for me though; she’s been great in all of the movies she’s been in (that I’ve seen) and was in this movie also. The first half of this movie was a little slow, but the lightning fast second half more than made up for it. Also, I was laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes. It made me nostalgic for Broadcast News with Holly Hunter and William Hurt (the latter movie was a little better).

Dinner was at Mekong Thai in Wells. Our choice of restaurant is often based on being short of time and proximity to the theater, and tonight’s choice was no exception. That said, Mekong Thai has probably the best service of any restaurant I’ve ever been to.

When we were younger (in the late 90’s and early 00’s), when we had a little baby (and littler discretionary income) our dinner and a movie date night happened at home. We watched Dinner and a Movie on TBS with Annabelle Gurwitch and Paul Gilmartin. It didn’t even matter whether or not I liked the movie; I enjoyed watching Annabelle so much that was enough. I still have the apron with the Dinner and a Movie logo that my husband gave me one year for Christmas.

It is poignant to me now that the child that was sleeping in the crib in the next room is now babysitting our younger child so that we can have dinner and a movie out in the real world.

Dinner and a Movie  (with different hosts) is still on TBS; My Cousin Vinny is next up on December 17th, with Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei (back when she still was keeping her clothes on for the camera). 🙂 Enjoy!

Garden update: November

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, fitness, gardening, raising chickens, tweens
Pumpkins gone wild!

Remember the (multiple) posts I’ve written about how much chickens love pumpkins? Well my husband did a wild and crazy thing: he bartered with the local Walmart and struck a world-class deal to help rid them of all of their end of season pumpkins. (After all, as soon as Halloween is over they have to make room for those Christmas decorations! 🙂 )

He came home with is 4-Runner stuffed to the gills with pumpkins of every size, shape, color, and some even with painted features (one had a frog!). The chickens are now in pumpkin heaven, and as a side benefit, our yard is very extravagantly decorated for fall. 🙂

Since we were having a warm day in November, I decided that would be relatively painless to check out what was left of the garden. I was thinking I’d harvest the dregs of the carrots and beets and check on the lettuce.

Well, the lettuce is not growing very much yet; maybe we got it into the ground a couple of weeks later than we should have (totally my fault). Hopefully there will be some that is harvestable and edible before the snow comes. The carrots were a big surprise though. Since I wasn’t having much luck pulling them up by the green above-ground fronds, I gave up and started to harvest them like potatoes: I dug into the ground under them and pushed them up through the soil. I couldn’t believe how many of them were lurking under there, just minding their own business. Had I not gone in after them, regardless of the presence of waving fronds, I would have missed at least half of them.

Up for next weekend: carrot soup.

P.S. Chickens also love carrot tops and beet greens.

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Buon Natale

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, italian, local fun, tweens
Izzy at Buon Natale

I took my daughter to Buon Natale, the Italian Christmas bazaar at St. Peter’s Church on Federal St. in Portland. This was something my Italian grandmother always took me to when I was growing  up, and it remains a happy childhood memory for me to this day. I wanted to share this with my daughter.

It was at the same site as the Italian Feast was in the summer. It was held inside the church, which usually would be a good thing, since November in Portland is often a cruel month.

Not today though; it was 64 degrees when we arrived about 12 noon. It easily could have been held outdoors. Inside, we were greeted by a nice lady that said, “Did you park in the Rite Aid parking lot? They’ll tow you if you did!” We assured her that we had not, and thanked her for her concern.

There was a “garage sale” room, with tables set up that had been well picked over by the time we arrived. The doors opened at 8am, so it was well more than half over. We browsed a bit in the craft show section, but then we got down to the real business of visiting any Italian venue: the food.

They had a similar menu to what was offered at the feast in the summer. Ziti with meatballs, meatball subs, Sicilian style pizza, eggplant parmigiana sub, and pasta fagioli were the main entrees. After much discussion (and viewing of what other people were ordering) we settled on the pasta fagioli to split.

For three bucks, we got a bowl big enough to fill us both up for lunch. It was the best pasta fagioli ever. 🙂

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For dessert? What else would these two Italian girls get?  Tiramisu, of course! We split that as well, but afterward, we second guessed that choice. “We should have both got one!” my girl pointed out. Note to self for next time: to each her own tiramisu. 🙂

Five foods for which I am thankful this year

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food
Cranberry Kitchen Pumpkin Whoopie Pie

In this month’s issue, Cooking Light magazine’s editor asks, “What in the food world are you thankful for?” This got me thinking about how I would answer this question.

I had heard in the past that people’s tastes change as they get older, but I had never believed it. In reflecting on this question, however, I realized that my tastes actually have changed in the past couple of years or so.  Is this true for any of you?

So, here’s my top 5 foods for which I am very thankful this year.

  1. Bread. Specifically, the Micucci’s baker Stephen Lanzalotta’s Lunar bread. I have the recipe now and I make it almost every week. It’s a little more labor intensive than the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, but not much.
  2. Whoopie Pies. Prior to this year, I didn’t even like whoopie pies that much. I could take them or leave them. Now, however, I find myself happily walking a mile round trip to buy a whoopie pie from the masters at Two Fat Cats Bakery in Portland. I also have the Making Whoopies cookbook and have baked a couple of the recipes from it. And I just discovered that whoopies freeze like a dream!
  3. Eggs. Farm fresh eggs: blue, brown, speckled, pink…the eggs from my chickens look like the ones Martha Stewart used to keep in a bowl on her TV show kitchen counter (does she still do this??) but they are so much better. Lately I love to make quick omelets from them, but a breakfast sandwich is also great for any meal.
  4. Sausages. I never liked sausages, and now I love them. My new favorite pizza is Italian sausage pizza, but I also love them grilled with peppers and onions, in soup, whatever.
  5. Fish. The only fish that I could bring myself to eat was canned tuna and on occasion, fried clam strips. Then I moved to Maine. A Mainer that doesn’t eat fish? Not wanting to be a human oxymoron, I started off slowly, but now I love many kinds of fish, prepared in ways other than fried. (Okay, fried clams are still my favorite, but I’ll eat the whole clam now, instead of picking off the bellies and making my husband eat those).

Okay, so this is my short list. What’s in your top five “grateful” foods this year?

Emergency food stash

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, friends, shopping

In keeping with one of my goals this year of Food Security (well, full disclosure: it’s my goal every year, but this year it’s an official, written down type of goal), I thought I’d write a little about different food “emergencies” that a person might experience and how I prepare for them. Here are 5 food emergencies that often come up in everyday life:

  1. Work day lunches (and breakfasts, and suppers, too, depending on the hours that you work). Disclaimer: assumes presence of water and microwave at your place of employment. Here’s what to keep in your pantry…er, desk drawer for days that you just don’t have time to pack up a meal (or meals) before you leave for work: single serving 3 oz cans of tuna, peanut butter (of course), granola bars (good luck finding ones without HFCS), packets of oatmeal, cups of instant minute brown rice, cans of nuts.
  2. Last minute playdate for tween, the timing of which will undoubtedly span a meal time (and possibly a winter storm in which you’d prefer not to drive). Keep a box of mac and cheese on hand, but hidden so that no one eats it when you aren’t around. This is a meal option that no tween has ever turned his/her nose up at. I make this statement with full confidence since I’ve had to rely on it on many occasions for both the boy-child and the girl-child over the years and it has never failed to please.
  3. Last minute invitation (or you actually remembered the invitation at the last minute) to a potluck (work, family party, book club). An antipasto platter is the way to go. You can keep everything you need in the pantry so all you have to do is open the jars and dump on the platter (this step can even be done at your destination, so all that prep would involve is bagging up the jars before you leave). If you have any lettuce in the fridge, that would be a bonus, but it’s not necessary. *Note: pay attention to spouse’s anxiety level due to over-stuffed pantry, fridge, freezer…he may not take kindly to a bonk on the head from your stockpile. Also, try to ignore it when he mumbles about ‘hoarding behavior’ under his breath.
  4. And speaking of weather (see #2 above) that you don’t want to drive in…there will probably be plenty of occasions of that in the next couple of months…this is Maine, with winter approaching, after all. Keep a box of the macaroni of your choice (capellini and rotini are my go-to’s) in the pantry, a block of parmesan in the fridge, and a bottle of olive oil on the counter, and you will never starve (garlic, red pepper flakes, and parsley are welcome bonuses to the above dish if you have ’em). . . well, unless the power goes out and you are generator-less.
  5. Chocolate emergency. I keep a few (okay, many, many, many) pieces of dark chocolate around for when I just have to have it. There really is no substitute that works in this case. Buy a bag of dark chocolate Hershey’s Kisses. Split the bag between your hiding place…um, cabinet at home and (the back of ) your desk (drawer) at work. You’re welcome.

That’ s my short list of food ’emergencies’ for today. Do you have any of your own to add to the list?

What Moms want

by Karen, posted in family

The headline this week in The Portland Phoenix is “What Women Want”…which of course echoes the famous Freudian question.

This got me thinking…isn’t the real question, which heretofore has failed to be asked, this: What do Moms want?

Anyone? Anyone?

Well, I’m here with the answer to this never-before-asked question.

Mom’s want (what my friend calls) a “Party for One”. That’s it. That makes us happy. What is a “Party for One” (will I will abbreviate as PFO)? Time alone in our house.   Rules for “PFO”:

  1. Unstructured time. No appointments.
  2. No housework: this means no laundry, no meal preparation (unless it is solely for ourselves and because we really do prefer our own cooking to going out).
  3. No “just picking up a little”  in the kids’ rooms…this is a colossal time sucking vacuum that, once entered, is extremely difficult from which to disengage. Close their doors. Back away.
  4. Do whatever you feel like doing and don’t feel guilty. Watch those Oprah episodes that you’ve been taping for 6 weeks but have had no time to watch. Get out the stack of magazines that you have had no time to read. Grab a book from the pile that you hoped to get to read someday. . . PFO is that day!

Final thought:

“The great question that has never been answered, and which I have not yet been able to answer, despite my thirty years of research into the feminine soul, is ‘What does a woman want?'”
-From Sigmund Freud: Life and Work by Ernest Jones, 1953

…maybe he should have asked a Mom. 🙂