Piano lessons and pies and sausage gravy and technique and doing what you love versus not

My parents started me in piano lessons when I was five. I am learning now that that age was ridiculously young to start piano lessons. Here I thought that starting Leif at age nine was ridiculously late and that he would spend his life lamenting - "well I could have been a piano prodigy, but you never listened to me". He has been asking for lessons since he was four or five. And yes, it took me four to five years to buy a piano and find a teacher.

Anyways, when my mom interviewed my piano teacher she told my mom "I do this as an avocation, not a vocation." Or I might have reversed this... whatever - basically she told my mom that she does this to make money, not because she particularly enjoys it.

Lately, as Leif has started lessons with Mr. Hopkins, I wonder about Mrs. Connoly. She was a funny French woman. She only drank "fresh" juice - if "fresh" is defined as coming from the can in the frozen aisle. Her husband sat in his recliner daily smoking a pipe.

Anyways, I thought about this phrase - doing something for money and not for the love of it - recently. I think a lot of people do this in many forms. For many, they work their current jobs because they have to, not because they love it. I am lucky, I am in a spot right now where I really love what I am doing. I haven't always had that and I don't have any expectations that I will always have it in the future.

So if you know me or my blog, you know I got my degrees in chemistry. I admit it - shhh - I don't love chemistry. But it enables me to do what I love to do in my job. I know this seems like a weird dichotomy to some. But molecular equations don't drive me. Applications of science in general, that drives me.

Many chemists also love to cook. It makes complete sense. If you enjoy building stuff from the elements, then you might also enjoy building your food from scratch. I do. Lots.

I love to cook. I love hearty, winter foods. Short ribs, gravies, roasts, ducks, chickens... I actually like cooking more than I like chemistry and I sometimes think I could have made a career being a chef. Except that I don't smoke. And I can't seem to stay up after 9pm. And I am not tattooed.

I also have my list of things I love to eat... pie, pot pie, breads, scones, muffins... pastry based items of all types. But here is my downfall (aside from the fattening aspect)... I love eating them but I turn into an evil beast when making them. I have a keen understanding that it is all about technique. And I get the technique and well understand that there are no substitutes for cold butter, cream, and getting  your hands dirty. And that the rub method (cited by CIA - that's the CULINARY Institute of America, not the other org) is the only way to go and that a food processor turns good butter and flour to a warm meal. Blah blah blah.

I can do it. I can make an amazing pie because I understand the technique and I can execute it. And I love to eat pies, but a real treat is one produced from people who understand the technique as well, that it isn't always all about the filling, because I am a snob like that. (But I never turn down pie as a general rule.) It wasn't until I embraced the technique and quit looking for work arounds to getting my hands dirty that my baking world changed. So I can do it. But man I don't love doing it.

I like doing it ok most of the time because I love the results. But I could NOT make my life as a pastry chef.

Every year (or so) AB and I do pot pies. They are freaking amazing. And I know why they are amazing. They take a few days. Rubbed pastry. Cooked carcasses. A perfect roux. And veggies cooked just right. Results are amazing. And every year we do a bigger and bigger batch. Except last year. Because I was pregnant and unwilling to do what I really really don't like. Make double pie crust after double pie crust after double pie crust. This year I was a little more pliable and looked forward to the deliciousness. But last Saturday night I went into a spiral. Four pot pies down and filling for at least another four (I was thinking about them as gifts or for donation to the church to give to families after a life event). And I raged. A little.

Result is that now I have four pies in the freezer and four bags of filling in the freezer.

So anyways. That's my lesson. Vocation vs. avocation. One you love, one you do because you have to. I make pastry because I have to eat it. It is a must. But I don't love doing it.

As an aside and what got me thinking about this, this morning, particularly in concert with Leif's piano lessons (which he did his second last night) - was my need for biscuits and gravy. WTF? I don't eat biscuits and gravy. I have never made freaking biscuits and gravy. Ok - I made biscuits in Home Ec. But not something I make at home regularly. But I embraced the challenge this morning.

Biscuits in a classic method - a-freaking-mazing. And no, I have never actually made sausage gravy. But I know the technique quite well and have sausage that has never seen a store. Came straight from the butcher.

Finished and my husband fell at my feet. I rock. But don't ask me to do it again for at least a few months.

My new project

Because I have NOTHING better to occupy my time. (Said VERY sarcastically.)

I don't have many expectations of extensive posting. Just something I want to work at. I would like to say that everytime I sit down to post here that I would post there as well.

Check it out:

Four Generations in the Kitchen

The introduction post is here - explaining why I am doing this crazy posting of recipes that I may or may not ever make!

Progress

Nearly two days marked off of my two weeks "off". Not that I am counting, or anything. No, I am not anxious to go running back to my office. Yet.

That said, my company has unveiled a lot of remote working technologies recently that enables me to use my kitchen table as my office easily. I can remote directly to my computer and get stuff done. Which has been vital in my taking two weeks "off". I have a large deliverable going out on Monday and no intention of setting foot in the office.

Anyways, my evenings have been quiet. AB and Leif are performing nightly in our church's Living Nativity. They volunteered to be shepherds and AB was suddenly - the night before the media performace - promoted to Innkeeper. They seem to be enjoying it despite the long hours every single night until the 23rd.

Skadi and Aunt Tara and I have spent our evenings watching movies and hanging together. Skadi, I believe, has really enjoyed this one on one time.

Saturday I decided to start out my days off on a good note by getting up and mixing up divinity.

Then we went to the last swimming lesson of this session - since it had snowed two inches that morning, the kids were the only ones at their respective lessons and lucked out with private lessons.

We went and saw Dancer and Prancer at Beaver Bark. Leif asked - as he does everytime we go there - if they have a Venus Flytrap plant. (Still no.) Then we headed to Leif's last basketball game. It is always nice when these YMCA team sports come to an end. We are ignoring the existence of Indoor Soccer next month. Shhh.

We got back and unfortunately the divinity was still the texture and consistency of marshmallow cream. (Not terribly surprising. I bat about 50% with candy.)

We mixed up sugar cookies. My great grandmother's recipe that is tempermental at best - but I have mastered it. And my kids will also master it. Skadi was a bit disappointed to hear that the dough needed a full 12 hours - no shorter - in the fridge and it would be tomorrow before we could roll it out. Leif was just disappointed there was no chocolate in it.

Sunday I decided to tackle the kitchen desk (worst ever design idea in the world... I would far rather have extra counter/work space than a desk in the kitchen. I organized that space and cleaned out the cupboards above.

It's the cupboards above I am struggling with. I don't know what to put there. I do realize it is of huge benefit to actually have empty cupboards in my kitchen. But I have plenty of things that NEED spaces. It is just a decision to decide what to put there. The cabinets are not terribly easily accessible. (They currently hold the phone book - who really uses that anymore? As well as light bulbs and vitamins, essentially.)

What would you put in cupboards above a desk in a kitchen?

Oh and the last thing I did today before leaving the kitchen a mess and landing on the couch with Skadi for our evening movie?

Butter Toffee.

I am fine with the 50% batting average with candy, as long as the butter toffee turns out. And oh wow, it did. Wow.

Butter toffee, English toffee, Almond Roca, whatever you call it.

Delicious.

I did half a batch with sliced almonds and the other half with sea salt.

Sea salt butter toffee. This is where my hips grow a few inches.

My favorite kitchen items

You know in cooking magazines how they interview famous people or celebrity chefs and ask them what their five favorite kitchen items are? I love that. I love reading what they pick and making snap judgments on whether they are (in the case of the famous people at least) serious cooks or not. "Ha! They picked a strainer? How boring!"

You will note that no one has asked me this question before. Nope, I am not famous. I have written a few journal articles and long reports. A dissertation about 9 years ago. But nothing that you would have picked up and enjoyed for light reading.

Given this, I may as well preempt the question and go ahead and tell you what my favorite kitchen items are. I am sticking with small items, not appliances, because yes, my Professional Kitchen Aid mixer is near the top of the list. But I don't know anyone whose Kitchen Aid isn't at the top!

#5 - Bamboo utensils. I have had all types. Wooden, plastic, rubberized, silicone, but nothing beats bamboo. Wooden splinters. After awhile so done silicone. Plastic gets hot and melts. Yes, bamboo will burn, but plastic also scrapes. When reaching my utensils I nearly always go to the bamboo ones.

#4 - Stainless Steel Nesting Bowls. Ok, mine aren't All Clad, but they are thick and heavy duty. Not wimpy stainless steel bowls! Love them. #3 - ok, no amateur / home cook / chef isn't going to throw a good knife into the mix. Mine is the Henckels Twin 8" Chef knife.

#2 - Long before I had kids I thought griddles were silly. Who needs a big old pan when you have a good skillet? This was also before I had a nice gas stove too. Now I have a nice gas stove and two kids who gobble up pancakes (with chocolate chips in them) and the All Clad griddle is my Sunday morning time saver.

#1 - My baby. The one that prompted this post as I lovingly scrubbed her this evening making sure to remove all the sticky residue... my Flame colored 7 quart Le Creuset Dutch Oven. I don't know what it is about Le Creuset - must be the colors - same thing happens in the Target dollar aisles - but the colors beckon me. I want another - in Cassis.

Invariably AB comes in and asks me what I am blogging about. I told him. So now here are his 5 favorite kitchen items. (His are in no particular order, because he listed them off for me and took off. So they are appearing in the order I uploaded them.)

Immersion Blender - We don't have this one, but we have a nice one with all the attachments. Great for quick BBQ sauce or puree'ing just about anything in the kitchen.

A good cutting board with a trench for the juices. Carve away and the juices collect for sauces and not all over the counter!

A mortar and pestle. Yes, we have like three of these. And big heavy ones too. And you know what? AB uses them all. I am quite positive that he has spice mixes in at least two right now. He also added in a spice grinder ( aka coffee grinder) - but that is just about the same thing and he only gets five choices.

A mandolin. My mom bought AB his mandolin - this brand actually - with the agreement that he would not cut himself. Guess what he did the first night? He was watching for his fingers and forgot about the heel of his hand. We all learned a lesson that evening and the mandolin has taken no more victims. Of course, I avoid the thing like the plague because it scares me.

As I said above, every cook has their favorite knife. For AB it is the 10" carver with fork. Great knife.

What are your favorite kitchen items?

What's cookin'?

I have had an unofficial goal/resolution this year that started somewhat by accident. Or at least I wasn’t entirely conscious of saying “I am striving to feed my family better foods this year”.

In the last 6 months or so – particularly since the end of the growing season here locally and coinciding with the funk I found myself in last fall, dinner options were repetitive and processed. I felt like it was all I could do to get something on the table. This wasn’t like me at all. I am not sure where that person emerged from that purchased dinners in a box. But I tell myself now that sometimes you just have to do what you have to in order to keep things moving and keep cannibalism from taking hold.

There are loads of reasons to try and eat better, it’s better for us health wise and it’s better for the Earth in general. Thankfully my kids tend to be string beans and are very active – I don’t see childhood obesity being a problem with my kids. But I think a lot of my new desire to feed my family better foods has to do with cancer. Cancer runs on my side of the family and my mom’s cancer figures prominently in my mind. Cancer has also stricken other people we know. I fear that by feeding my kids heavily processed foods, that I may encourage unhealthy eating that may (or may not) contribute to problems and diseases later on in their lives.

Lucky for me, my kids like (for the most part) good foods and they make this easy on me. They are also relatively independent when we get home from work/school on the weeknights, allowing me to get dinner on the table fairly timely (most nights). My son is obsessed with fresh fruit and Skadi lights up when she *gets* to have broccoli for dinner! I have a real need within me to encourage these good habits now before they are replaced with less healthy alternatives.

We don’t have a vegetable garden in our new house and I expect this summer we will be doing a lot of work in the back yard – so it won’t happen this year. I pulled out a book recommended to me by Rockergirrl last year and have been flipping through the pages with the kids trying to decide what will be in a few containers in our back yard this year. Someday I will get a raised vegetable bed, but for now, we will do containers. And one thing I am looking forward to in the coming months is venturing back to the Farmer’s Market. Last summer we went at least every other week if not more often and amazingly enough, ate nearly everything we purchased each week.

My approach that is working so far this year is to find a few recipes on the web each week that look good, require minimal prep time and that the kids will like. Then we hit the grocery store during lunch for the needed ingredients. Hitting the grocery store during lunch does a few things for me:
- the kids aren’t there to beg for fruit snacks, Cheetos, etc.,
- I know I have to move quickly through the store and can’t dawdle, so I stick pretty hardcore to the list,
- and I get fresh foods every week, I am not relying on boxed foods that have no real expiration date,
- and very few of the recipes I am looking for use processed foods, so I am not buying them.
- My grocery bill… it has been cut nearly in half.

I expect this to continue to be a slow process to really get us to where I want to be. It has been a year and a half since we have had pop in the house regularly. This was a big one for AB and me. Leif never could stand the stuff and we hoped to keep him deluded with the notion that carbonated beverages are icky. (Skadi has no such delusions and loves the fizzy stuff.)

We still have frozen pizza or something else quick and easy on Wednesday night (pick up night). And there are days where I feel like I haven’t quite gotten my act together and a Zatarains jambalaya mix sounds awfully tasty. And those days I can’t get to the grocery store without the kids I sort of suck at saying no when Skadi holds up a fruit snacks box declaring “Look! Tink-oh-bell mommy!” Canned fruits and veggies are a rarity, but not completely absent. And I am not quite sure how to get rid of chicken nuggets – though the kids were very partial to the chicken schnitzel I made the other day. These are the thinkgs we will continue to work on the coming months.

But the main point is that we are trying and I believe we are on the right path.

I shared a list of recent recipes the other day here.

Here are some more:

Cajun Chicken Pasta : Oh my goodness this rocked. This rocked big time. Really delicious and the kids ate it while picking out the bell peppers - but oh well. I kept the cajun seasoning to a dull roar thinking about the kids. But then added more later for AB and I.

Bacon and Mushroom Pasta : Another one that everyone - including the kids - loved. So they didn't eat the mushrooms, that's ok, more for me.

Beef Stroganov : I love beef straoganov. I really, really do. AB has been converted and he now loves it too. What's not to love? A dark roux with sour cream. Umm yumm. The kids, not terribly fond of this, but they get noodles with butter and beef that I pulled out before dumping delicious roux over it.

Ham and Bean Soup : This one is probably the closest to my recipe. It's easy. Cook a ham bone down and save the stock - or use hamhocks and chicken broth. Either way is fine. Soak Great Northern beans overnight in water. Strain. Saute an onion sliced thinly until browned. Add the ham broth or chicken broth and the ham or ham hocks. Cook until beans are soft. I had a working lunch the other day and brought this to eat. My team despised me. Oh and nope, the kids don't eat this so much. They will however eat the ham I pick out for them.

Crockpot Chicken Makhani or Crockpot Indian Butter Chicken : This was alright. The kids and AB liked it. I wasn't blown over because to me, it didn't taste a whole lot like chicken makhani. It had a bit of that flavor, but not blown over.

And because I thought today that I had awfully wonderful children, I decided to make them cookies. I could do the standby chocolate chip cookies that we all love... but I was craving oatmeal cookies. I found these that would probably be acceptable to my chocolate fiends. Chocolate Brownie Oatmeal Cookies. They taste like a baked "no-bake cookie".

But I did find my kitchen!

Along with my new 2010 awakening – that I still cannot explain very well – has come my return to the kitchen.

It was necessary because I was getting terribly sick of hamburgers, tacos, pizza and spaghetti. Ok, so really I wasn’t getting sick of spaghetti… we make our own sauce every fall and it is mmm mmm mmm deliciouso! (Yes, I have been getting a little too much Dora though.) So maybe we could eat spaghetti every night and no one in the house would really balk, but truth be told I am starting to run low on the coveted frozen sauce and so we needed some other options.

In the summers I hardly ever cook. AB barbecues all the time. And while he has prided himself in the past at barbecuing all through the winter, this one has been a little more challenging. Everything is sopping freaking wet. Rain all the time. And it is really hard to barbecue with everything being wet.

AB has finally realized the virtues of my Ikea grill pan that he balked at me buying a few years ago. Truth be told I use it at least once a week and this winter so far, it has been more like 2-3 times a week. Apparently though it’s ok to use now that we have a gas stove because fire is involved. On the electric stove at the other house AB just called it cheating.

Gas stove – fire – grill pan ok.

My days at work lately have calmed to a dull roar enabling me to check a few recipe sites most days for a quick overview of anything delicious. And if it fits the right criteria for a weeknight dinner (under 45 minutes start to finish and reasonably kid friendly) then I print it up and run to the grocery store over lunch if need be. We are not only eating better this year so far, the kids are getting exposed to some different foods AND it is helpful on the budget since we aren’t saying, “let’s just order out” or “pick something up on the way home”.

So far this year we have had great success with:

Panko-Coated Chicken Schnitzel Make sure you put the chicken in a bag or cover it someway before pounding it to prevent flying raw chicken bits. (Weeknight meal)

Braised Chile-Spiced Short Ribs with Black Beans Delicious and holy cow rich. Weekend meal.

Roast Duck Breasts with Pomegranate-Chile Sauce So I just made the sauce, I had a whole duck to cook, so I did the duck using the recipe below.

Crisp Roast Duck The duck was amazing, even the kids liked it.

Lettuce Wraps with Ground Turkey filling Weeknight meal that IS going on the rotation.

Pork Chops – from AB’s newest BBQ cookbook. I swore I would never eat pork chops and he took this as a challenge and I have relented. I will only ever eat his pork chops.

Ham – I grew up a huge ham fan, but now give it an “eh”. Then a year or so ago we had ham at a friend’s house and I was renewed. It was delicious. And more over, the kids loved it. So I revisited ham in January as well. Now what to do with leftovers? I am thinking ham and bean soup... very soon.

And last but not least (that I recall right now) is Fusilli with Spicy Chicken Sausage, Tomato and Ricotta Cheese I actually didn’t care for this because the Aidell’s chicken sausauge I bought was too sweet, in my opinion. However, Hans really enjoyed it. If I made it again I would use a traditional sausage.

I ran to the grocery store today to fill in a few missing ingrediants for this week's dinner items:
Turkey Lettuce Wraps from above
Pioneer Woman's Italian Drip Beef
Pioneer Woman's Cajun Pasta
Jambalaya (from the Zatarains mix... hey I have to have it easy one night this week!)

Lefse making

I would love to say that as someone who is part Swedish, that lefse making is in the blood, or runs in the family, or share a story about standing in my grandmother's kitchen watching her practice her well honed lefse making skills.

But that wouldn't be me. If my mom and I have anything to say about it, we will bring it back to our family. A tradition that should have been adopted, and a recipe that should have been handed down. I guess maybe you have to know my grandmother, but she is anything but a lefse making Swede. Her specialty was spaghetti sauce made with canned mushrooms, tomato soup, hamburger and Velveeta.

Sure, turn your nose up. But if you grew up eating it you wouldn't. It is freakishly good. (Just don't ask my husband about it - he claims it is an acquired taste.)

Back to the lefse. See VargasGirl's Swedish grandmother DID make lefse. But few of her relatives learned the recipe. So when she was telling me that she didn't get time to eat lefse recently while visiting Fargo (umm, I wonder why, I still can't figure out how they fit in everything they did in less than two days!), I offered to one up that and "let's make it ourselves".

See my in laws are lefse making Norwegians. The first time I had lefse was in Alaska and when we visit, lefse is a Christmas tradition... and I am learning. Recently my mother in law brought lefse making supplies down to us. So needless to say in my suggesting to VargasGirl that we take this on - I had ALL the supplies readily available.

We had two ricers, four lefse sticks, a lefse mat and a lefse griddle. And a day with no kids.

Check her out!

Cute top huh? I had lied to her and said it was going to be in the 70's ALL weekend.

It rained.

Check out my new rolling pin my mom bought me. It rocks.

We are masters. Look how thin and perfect it is.

And the sugar and butter is sitting there for no reason at all... we would never cook and eat and cook and eat... honest... there are some in the freezer!

AB and the chickens

We both have our "things" that we refuse to cook. I have overcome a few of my fears in the kitchen... namely rice (amazing what moving to sea level has done for my rice cooking abilities) and pie crusts (I am now the queen pie crust maker). What I don't do is cook steak and I don't buy fish. Those fall in AB's realm.

Before dinner on Sunday AB declared once and for all that he is never cooking a whole chicken ever again. Ever. And I assured him that he would never have to cook a whole chicken again! Because I won't let him!

Roasting a chicken really is an art - cooking the entire chicken through without burning the skin, drying out the breast or undercooking the thigh. AB's fear lies in the last part - uncooked chicken seriously freaks my poor husband out.

Ok, he has a point. I certainly don't want to ingest the stuff.

I think I understand my husband's neuroses here. He cooks fabulous meat. Really he does. Roasts, tri-tip, filet mignon, every type of fish imaginable, pork loin and tenderloin and oh... ribs... the ribs...

Given this there should really be one meat out there that confounds him. You can't master everything can you?

In AB's case it is the roasted whole chicken.

(Insert chicken joke of choice.)

My new favorite...

cookbook.



When I graduated with my Ph.D., I got a few gifts. Not many. It isn't like when you graduate from high school or college and are lavished with gifts. With grad school it is more like people figure you are going to go out and make lots of money and work a great job and you are an adult... what do you need with "Oh the Places You Will Go"? (And you probably have four copies at least anyways.)


I received a few gifts though, despite the fact that I didn't send out announcements, nor did I march. Which according to my grandmother means I never graduated. (The whole defending your dissertation thing apparently didn't count.)


Ok, so on my list of regrets I will add that I never marched in my graduation ceremony for grad school. I was too excited to get up here and start my ultraimportant job and they "needed" me.

(Had I known how much they "needed" me, I would have stayed put and marched... Hindsite.)


One of my mom's good friends bought me the CIA's Textbook, The Professional Chef. CIA being the Culinary Institute of America, not the Central Intelligence Agency.


I knew it was a fantastic and unique gift when I received it, but it sat on my bookshelf relatively unused. Ok, I admit it, everything being measured in lbs and ounces put me off. Yes, I am a scientist, I can convert. But who wants to analyze a recipe at that level of detail before cooking?


Plus back then? I was way into The French Laundry's cookbook and mastering what I could in there. Thomas Keller was my hero.


My CIA textbook though has gotten more use in the last few days then it has in the previous 6 years. And I am leaving it out on my counter so I can do more with it. I am loving really learning the basics, the science and art of food at a much higher leven than I ever really intended in so far just three recipes.


The cookbook is NOT for everyone. Like I said the whole "1 lb of sugar" thing is just weird. But in addition to that, the recipes assume a lot. Like that you will know what the right amount of butter is - many recipes say "butter as needed" - many things are not measured. Times for cooking are not exact. Don't know what tomato concasse is before you start? Better find out! (Fancy name for peeled and seeded and diced tomatoes... of course...)


Sunday I made one of the quiche recipes. Fantastic. (And I will get the recipe out to those who asked for it.) Tonight I did pears poached in port. The recipe suggested serving them with caramel. Of course that would be a homemade caramel... but I do reside in the reality suberb of working mom-ville - thank you Hershey's jar of caramel sauce. It actually sounded somewhat nasty to me - caramel and port? Chocolate and port maybe. Caramel?


No joke. Yum.


Top Chef here I come!

Thanksgiving prep day

I reveled in today. *I* woke up with smiles (the rest of my house didn't).

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year. This goes back to when I was a kid. The first memory I have of Thanksgiving is probably from when I was about 6. I looked forward to wearing my long skirt and baking with my mom. She always made fresh bread and pies on Thanksgiving.

Dinner was always at my grandmother's house with games afterwards. We had to cross the North Platte river to get there and I envisioned myself a pioneer girl crossing the river while I sang "over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house we go". There wasn't any through the woods though. In fact it was more like, down the street, over the river and down the street again. She lived about a mile away as the crow flew. By the time I finished my song, we were there.

I loved the smell of baking bread and my mom always gave me little bits of dough to shape and bake in my own little pans.

That year I was so excited to be baking with my mom that when the neighborhood boys came and inquired as to if I wanted to go sledding, I turned them down. I remember my mom saying I could go if I wanted to, she could get things done without me, my only hope was that she didn't MAKE me go sledding. I loved sledding, and the neighborhood boys were nice enough. But cooking on Thanksgiving happened only once a year. And at least in Central Wyoming, snow happened all the time.

My first year in grad school we didn't go back to Colorado. Instead we had a few people up to our place in Reno. I think that was the year my sister flew in, JB (AB's best friend) came over the hill from San Fran as did Brian and maybe Josh too. I am even thinking JB's sister came out too. Our turkey was late. (The plastic popper thing never popped.) I discovered AB really didn't like mayo, it wasn't just his imagination. I tried to convince him it was yogurt in the spinach dip - he replied, "well I guess I don't like yogurt either" - it was a year or so before I could convince him to try yogurt again. We had mashed potatoes, lumpy gravy and not much else.

My first Thanksgiving was a real learning experience.

My second Thanksgiving though was different since I had a little cooking experience under me with a real professionally trained chef. My stepbrother cooked the rehearsal dinner for 50 people as his gift to my other stepbrother on the eve of his wedding day. I was thrilled to act as his sous chef. I am not sure I have ever learned so much on one topic in 48 hours. I still apply all that knowledge I learned that summer in any large dinner I cook.

I bought my last minute groceries this morning and picked up some different cheeses. In preparation for the games on Friday I bought a couple six packs of beer which resulted in a marriage proposal from the guy bagging my groceries. (Apparently his ex-wife never brought beer home and the fact that I did just made me the ultimate potential wife to him.) Ok, it made me smile. (He said nothing of the wines I happened to score... so much for him.)

Today I made the turkey broth/drippings for the gravy - all that needs to be done tomorrow is the roux base and mix it together. The cinnamon rolls are done and doing the final rise in the fridge. The components of the dressing done and ready to be combined and baked. The pumpkin pie is baked.

Tomorrow I will do my mushroom soup, make mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts and act as bartender while AB smokes the turkey and makes his yam and apple gallete with pomegranite reduction.

---------------------------

I picked Leif up from daycare and his mood was vastly improved. I am wondering if it has to do with the fact I let him haul HIS blankey in. I fear this is going to be a routine now. My little Linus dragged his blanket in and out of preschool today with a smile on his face. I had a blankey too.

Leif has AB's speech patterns down to a science. This morning he was watching Skadi play and he said to me, "did you see what your daughter just did". It was all I could do not to just completely bust up laughing at him.

Oh and speaking of my daughter. Three forward crawl steps today. She has yet to reproduce it, but I fear my days are numbered!

Iron Chef Sauce still reigns

I needed to cook this weekend. I needed AB to watch Leif and Skadi while I prepared something new and fantastic and original. All summer it seems as though my role in the kitchen has been either quick prep and serve for weeknight dinners or sous chef to Iron Chef BBQ. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy working with Iron Chef BBQ (aka AB) - particularly the end result. But this style of cooking has left me feeling left out of the action. I needed to create.

I chose halibut for my main course and since Leif had already eaten (chicken noodle soup and oatmeal... yeah, a pairing made in heaven), I decided to do a salad and rice. The rice did beckon Leif back to the table for a few bites until I commented on the nastiness level of the boxed rice. Then Leif decided it was not acceptable anymore either. Duh NM.

My title remains... Iron Chef Sauce. I made seared halibut with a honey chili plum Viognier sauce. I was faltering... I had the plum and Viognier thing going but it was lacking depth and far too tart. I pulled it out in the end though with the addition of honey and chili garlic sauce.

I won... (I am not sure who against, but I needed a win) though AB did bring me down off of cloud nine by mentioning how great the sauce was, how great the halibut was, but the pairing just wasn't working so great for him. The sauce would have been far better paired with chicken or pork. I tried to deny it to myself... but he was right. The sauce was a little too sticky for fish.

Survived another weekend

Once again I found myself somewhat happy to sit quietly at my desk this morning. And for good measure, I even shut my door to ensure silence. It was just something I needed to do.

I dragged myself out of bed this morning after being shocked it was 7am and all three of us; Leif, Skadi and I, were all still snoozing. And when I say dragged... I am not joking. I could have easily slept substantially longer. But fear of actually getting to work at a halfway decent time got me moving.

After the shower, Leif showed up in the kitchen requesting dinosaur egg oatmeal and we had breakfast together.

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Saturday was a very hectic day. Leif had swimming class and then we rushed around for a few last minute things for our BBQ. Thankfully Leif and Skadi both took naps when we got home. AB and I put together dinner. I made three nectarine pies (freezing two), pasta salad and AB's favorite, chipotle baked beans. I had looked for another option, but AB balked when I expressed a desire to ditch the baked beans.

AB slaved the afternoon over the BBQ/smoker slow smoking four tri-tip roasts with a mix of cherry wood and Sangiovese vines.

We hosted four other couples and two friend's of Leifs. The kids had a great time running around. The addition of the third child really altered the normal dynamic between Leif and C. They really are a lot like siblings in many ways. They are usually thrilled to get together, but often times end up bickering over the tiniest, insignificant thing. This time it was a 3" rocket ship with Jimmy Neutron on it. And it is my guess, that neither child has the foggiest who Jimmy Neutron is. But the dynamic shifted when a third friend from school showed up. Suddenly Leif worried less about C playing with his toys and the kids actually settled in and played.

Our friends brought dishes to share and some really spectacular wines. I think we ended up with four or five open and my favorite was the Yakima Cellars Sangiovese. Sangiovese isn't a varietal I automatically gravitate to. I really need to explore it a little more. Of course this was a tough sell between that Sangiovese and the Bella Dry Creek Zinfandel... because I am just a zin-girl. But seriously honorable mentions go to the Reininger Helix Rose, the Cougar Crest Syrah and the L'Ecole '98 Cab. All were well matched with dinner and just fabulous wines.

We had a great evening sitting on the patio chatting with friends. After everyone left I realized how tipsy I had gotten in my quest to taste and double taste the wines to assure myself which were my favorites.

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We were lazy Sunday morning, picked up the house, and then when Leif wasn't showing signs of napping at all, we let him up. (Requesting oatmeal at 1:30 pm because he is hungry...) At 3pm I went to get directions for the birthday party Leif was attending and found out that it was actually only about 3 minutes from our house. Nice...

Upon arriving, I was a little less optimistic about the party. It was stated on the invitation to be a pool party... but I guess I should have inquired a little further instead of assuming it was a little pool party. Nope, inground pool party. This just required so much more attention and focus than I had in me. I was happy to have a reason to phone AB and insist that he come over asap to help - and bring a towel and extra clothes for Leif.

He return phone called a few minutes later asking me to come and pick them up. Leading me to question what part of "Leif is in an inground swimming pool that goes to six or more feet" he didn't understand. Oh and this is also the point at which I was THRILLED that my son has finally figured out the poop training thing. Paddling over to me in the inner tube and telling me he had to poop made me ultra proud... and relieved. Ok, more relieved.

AB showed up with a newly wakened Bean in an outfit to make a mother bawl. Got to get those binder clips. Let's see... mauve pants (too small) a pink WSU Cougars undershirt, and her pink going home from the hospital sweater (read way too small). AB told me they were all pink. Umm, not really. And "all pink" is not necessarily a good thing. Anyways...

So pool party for the three year old children? Not really a great idea. Great way to make the parents of your attendees sweat. Though the chocolate raspberry gourmet birthday cake went a long way to repair my nerves.