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Spane and Mom - the best Mothers' Day present ever!
Spane and Mom - the best Mothers' Day present ever!
Spane was upset on Friday when he told me that he had forgotten my Mother’s Day present at school. He started crying and I hugged him and said that he, himself, was the best present I had ever gotten. I mean that.
Last year, with the help of our roommate and friend, Maria, Spane made a whole table scape and breakfast parfait. This year, since he’s now eight, he wanted to do everything himself. We have a knitted throw blanket that he used as a table-cloth, and he cleaned the kitchen all by himself! I was so proud!
I was asleep this morning when our lovely Maine Coon, Rolo, came up to me and touched my face with her paw. I opened one eye, and saw she was getting ready to do it again, only this time there were claws. I said to her, “Did Spane tell you to wake me up?” I swear the cat nodded her head! I got out of bed, and Spane was excited to show me the neat and clean kitchen.
Spane went to the trouble this morning of making me his very own Rosy Smoothie, all by himself. It was delicious!
I hope everyone has a Happy Mothers’ Day – even if you’re not a mother!
Posted in Drinkables, Kids, Mothers' Day, Snacks | 
Tags: blackberry, plain yogurt, raspberry, rose preserve | 
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Recipes in this Post
Shimp and Crawfish Nestled in Avocado - Asparagus Flanks Each Side
Shimp and Crawfish Nestled in Avocado - Asparagus Flanks Each Side
I am so happy that the warmer weather is here, and salads are the way to go. Composed salads made by stuffing a fruit or vegetable are a favorite in our house. I found crayfish at the store, and bought some shrimp to go with it. Since we usually eat seafood on Fridays, using the shrimp and crayfish to stuff an avocado seemed like a perfect idea. Spane and I also love asparagus, which looks lovely on a plate. It is also the year that Haas avocados are plentiful.
Avocados produce fruit prolifically every two years, that’s why they are expensive one year, and really cheap the next. Did you know that all commercial, fruit-bearing Hass avocado trees have been grown from grafted seedlings propagated from a single tree? The tree was grown from a seed bought by Rudolph Hass in 1926 from A. R. Rideout of Whittier, California. The mother tree stood for many years in front of a residence in La Habra Heights. The tree died when it was 76 years old and was cut down on 11 September 2002 after a ten-year fight with root rot. Two plaques by the private residence at 426 West Road mark the spot where it grew. Because of the avocado, just about any food with California in the name has avocados. I love ‘em.
Posted in Friday Food, Indulgences, Make Ahead, Pescatarian, Salads, Sauces, Spring, Summer |
Tags: Angostura bitters, asparagus, Avocado, Avocado oil, Blue Cheese, crayfish. shrimp, lemon juice, olive oil |
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Simulated Solar Eclipse in Stellarium
I haven’t really decided what to make, but I am definitely going to make a day of it. I think that Star Party Sandwiches are a good candidate, and maybe Stellar Salad to go with them. Maybe I can make something with Sun Dried tomatoes, and find a recipe for Moon pies.
The picture you see is a screen shot I took when I was using Stellarium, a Windows-based planetarium program. It’s a lot of fun and Spane really enjoys using it. Stellarium is available at Stellarium.org.
I am really excited about this, and I’ll be adding to this post in the days to come. Stay tuned!
Flag of Mexico
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Flag of Mexico
So, a few weeks ago I was at the market and there was a package of Uncle Ben’s Taco rice in the Manager’s Special section. I thought, hey, why not? It might be good. I prepared it according to package directions on Tuesday. When Spane tasted it, he made a face. I tasted it, and I made a face, too. I even put Tapatio on it, and sour cream, and it still tasted like dirty, old socks. Mind you, I’ve never tasted dirty, old socks, but I imagine they probably taste like that rice – horrible. Moral of the story, don’t by Uncle Ben’s flavored rice.
After that debacle, I was determined to make good Mexican rice, but my stove, Bertha, is on the fritz. I had to find another way to make it.
I also had a pork loin roast, and I wanted to marinate it, but, it too, could not be roasted in Bertha. I had to find another way for that as well.
Posted in Cinco De Mayo, Condiments, Evening, Holidays, Mexican, Rotisserie, Sides, Spring, Summer, The Weber! |
Tags: Avocado, Chicken Base, Cilantro, corn totilla, dehydrated onions, garlic, lemon juice, onion powder, oregano, Pork loin, tomato, tomato paste, white rice |
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Teacher's Garden Cake
Teacher's Garden Cake
The PTA at John Muir Elementary School puts on a staff luncheon every year. Parents are asked to bring in their best dish. Our teachers and staff are very lucky, as a lot of our parents are very good cooks. This year, in fact, the recipes are going to be collected and the PTA is publishing a cookbook. The luncheon was going to take place in the newly planted Teachers’ Garden. I decided to make a cake and decorate it as a garden.
The cake looked lovely tilted up on the dessert station. In fact, it looked so lovely, and so real, that no one ate it. Some guests thought it was too pretty to cut, a few thought it was art, and a few didn’t think it was really edible. I wound up taking it home and will share it with family and friends.
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Spane wearing a "hat" given by Chef Farion
Spane wearing a "hat" given by Chef Farion
I was so looking forward to putting my corned beef on the Weber, but I got rained out. It didn’t turn out a bad dinner, though. I used the baby Nesco, and that brisket turned out just fine.
Snake Pie
For the past few St. Patrick’s Days, it has been a lovely, warm and sunny day, perfect for firing up the Weber and putting a corned beef brisket on it. No such luck today, but, no problem, there’s still the baby Nesco.
: Barbecue Corned Beef
Ingredients
- 1 corned beef brisket
- 1 whole onion
- Barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Remove the corned beef from its package. Save the spice package for something else.
- Wash the brisket well in cold water.
- Fill a large stock pot with water. Cut the onion in half.
- Put the brisket and onion in the water.
- Heat on medium heat and cook for two hours or until the brisket is tender.
- Remove the brisket from the water and pat dry. Let the brisket cool in the refrigerator.
- Start your barbecue up and prepare it for indirect cooking.
- If your sauce is not too sweet, you may put the sauce on before putting the meat on the barbecue.
- Put the meat on the grill using indirect heat. Roast on slow heat for two hours, basting occasionally, and checking that the coals are still hot.
- If your sauce is sweet, wait until the last fifteen minutes before putting it on.
Variations
If you do not have a barbecue, or are rained out, you can put the meat in a slow oven or in a small Nesco.
Preparation time: 2 hour(s)
Cooking time: 2 hour(s)
Diet tags: High protein
Number of servings (yield): 8
Culinary tradition: USA (Southern)
My rating
Copyright © The Good Plate.
Recipe by Adrienne Boswell.
Microformatting by hRecipe.
: Snake and Shamrock Pie
Ingredients
- 1 double pie crust
- Mince Meat Pie filling
- 1 egg
- Water
- Green sugar crystals
- Shamrock cookie cutter
- 4 black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Put the first pie crust in the pie pan.
- Fill the pie with the filling.
- Cut shamrocks out of the second crust and place on the top of the pie.
- Roll the remaining dough into a very long, thin rope.
- Mix the egg with some water to make an egg wash.
- Use a pastry brush or paint brush and brush the crust of the pie with the egg wash.
- Take the rope and place it on top of the crust, securing it as you go, leaving a small bit without any of the rope.
- Form one end of the rope into the head of the snake. Use a toothpick to make eye sockets and place two sesame seeds into each eye socket.
- Form the other end into the tail.
- Use a fork to make the diamond shape on the snake’s skin.
- Using the pastry brush, brush the entire snake and all the shamrocks with the egg wash.
- Sprinkle the green sugar all over the shamrocks and snake.
- Cut some foil the circumference of the pie, and put it over the snake part only.
- Preheat the oven to 400.
- Put the pie in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the shamrocks have started to just brown.
- Remove the foil from the snake and bake for another 5 minutes or until the snake has also browned.
- Remove from the oven. Serve warm with hard sauce.
Variations
If you do not like Mince Meat, you could use another fruit filling that would do well with a lattice pie.
Preparation time: 30 minute(s)
Cooking time: 15 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 8
Culinary tradition: Irish
My rating
Copyright © The Good Plate.
Recipe by Adrienne Boswell.
Microformatting by hRecipe.
Posted in Desserts, Evening, Holidays, Spring, St. Patrick's Day, The Nesco, The Weber! |
Tags: barbecue sauce, colored sugar, corned beef, mincemeat, pie dough |
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