Good Byes, the Last Hurrah and the Let Down

We said our goodbyes to my sister, brother in law and niece last night. They’re on their way to visit my cousin in L.A. this morning for a few days and then continuing on their way home to Australia. The next planned visit together is Christmas 2012 with a ski trip either before or after. That’s 18 months away.It took me a long time to get use to living apart from my sister and now with the girls it's like I'm starting all over again. Ruby is going to be almost Hannah’s age the next time I see her. It’s really very crazy 3- 5 there’ll be such a huge change, so much missed it seems. Hannah will be almost 7!!!! I can’t even imagine, I know that the time often ends up passing so quickly and before we  know it we’ll be together again marvelling at how much the girls have all changed, this comforts and scares me all at the same time. I’m trying not to dwell too much because we are fortunate for the amount we are able to see them considering how far they live. It is always nice to get back to a regular routine once they’ve left for me and the girls (I think that I may be as affected by routine upset as a child can be). We’re heading out to the cottage today (not Dave, he has to work) for a couple more days of visiting with my aunt and uncle and cousin and then it’ll be back to the same old, same old.

On a culinary note we had Sunday dinner here last night and had a few really yummy things. My parents picked up this salmon stuffed with crab at Costco and we cooked it up (in the oven for 20 minutes, not the 25-30 it recommended – which would have been overdone) and they were very delicious. I also made a Caprice salad, corn on the cob, roasted veggies and fig and onion bruschetta from epicurious which I am going to recommend.

Figs:

1/2 cup dried black Mission figs, stemmed, halved

1 cup boiling water

3/4 cup dry red wine

2 tablespoons sugar

1 small bay leaf

1/8 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Onion:

1 1/2 teaspoons butter

1 ½ teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 medium red onion, halved through core, cut lengthwise into ½-inch-thick strips

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

½ teaspoon sugar

Coarse kosher salt

Ricotta:
1 cup fresh ricotta cheese

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling 1 teaspoon heavy whipping cream Coarse kosher salt

8 1-inch-thick slices ciabatta bread (about 4 ½ x 2 inches)

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

For figs:

Place figs in small bowl. Pour 1 cup boiling water over; let soak 45 minutes. Drain figs; place in small saucepan. Add wine and next 3 ingredients; bring to boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer until figs are tender and liquid is syrupy, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. Add vinegar; cook 1 minute longer. Remove pan from heat; cool.

For onion:

Melt butter with oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté until beginning to soften and brown, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to low; add vinegar and sugar, then sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Stir until vinegar has almost evaporated, about 1 minute. Cool. DO AHEAD: Figs and onion mixture can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

For ricotta:

Whisk ricotta, 1 tablespoon oil, and cream in medium bowl until fluffy. Season with coarse salt and pepper. Preheat broiler. Drizzle ciabatta with some olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Broil bread on both sides until toasted. Transfer to serving plate. Spread 2 tablespoons ricotta mixture on each bread slice. Spoon glazed figs with some of syrup over; top with onion mixture.

Shrimp Skewers, Couscous Salad, French Potato Salad, Garden Beans and Bread

I packed the girls up again and we headed out to the lake this afternoon. Dave’s back at work and I normally wouldn’t have left with all the excitement that we’ve had lately, but my aunt and uncle and cousin are visiting and I didn’t want to miss out on a good live-in visit. That’s really the best way to get a good visit isn’t it? You really find out what kind of space their in and are able to talk about things and nothing, there’s no pressure like say a dinner visit when you’re trying to get in all your visiting at once.

So here we are at the cottage and it feels exactly like fall. There are leaves down everywhere (I think because it’s been so hot and dry and then it was quite windy today) and the breeze is quite cool. I'm annoyed because I somehow forgot my running shoes and it is perfect weather for running (plus, there has been a lot of celebrating and visiting lately and I could do with a few good runs). I have to say the feeling of fall in the air makes me think of new school supplies, classroom desks, shoe scuffs on the polished school floors, warm soups and routine. All this gives me that warm fuzzy feeling all over and I’m good with the reminder that it is coming but I am hoping that the carefree days of summer are not yet gone as we still have some more playing to do.

Recipe

My mom made dinner tonight and it was delicious. She marinated the shrimp in some olive oil, garlic, cumin and some cilantro and then grilled them on the BBQ. I have to apologize, I have been really out of it with the picture taking and will try to get back at it this week. I did forget to take a picture tonight – which is really too bad because it did look so yummy.

The Potato Salad was from epicurious

2 pounds fingerling potatoes or other small waxy potatoes

1/2 cup or so extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup 1/4-inch slices of scallion, green and white parts

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, mashed and coarsely chopped (1 1/2 tsp)

1/3 cup white wine

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard

2 to 3 tablespoons chopped chives

2 tablespoons or more coarsely chopped fresh green or purple basil, fresh tarragon, or parsley

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more if needed

1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper (coarse), plus more if needed

Scrub the potatoes and put them, whole, in a saucepan with water to cover by 1/2 inch. Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook the potatoes gently until they are just tender and can be pierced with a sharp knife. Drain immediately and let cool slightly. (Scrape the skin from the cooked potatoes, if you want, as soon as they can be handled. For a decorative look with fingerlings, scrape off only a band of skin, about 1/2 inch thick, all around the long sides of the potato.)

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a small saute pan. When hot, add the scallions and the onion, toss to coat well, and cook for about a minute over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, toss to mix, and cook for just a few moments, then remove the pan from the heat.

Slice the potatoes while still warm, cutting them crosswise into 1/2-inch sections. Put the pieces in a large mixing bowl, pour the wine and 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil over them, and toss gently to distribute. Add the warm vegetables from the pan, mustard, chives, chopped herbs, salt, and pepper, and gently fold all together, mixing well but not crushing the potatoes. Taste the salad and add more seasonings as you like.

Serve the potatoes warm (no colder than room temperature). Arrange the large radicchio leaves, if you have them, in a close circle on the serving platter, with their curved insides up, to form a rough bowl. Spoon the potato salad inside the leaves, sprinkle chopped egg around the edges, and parsley over the top.

The Whole Bowl

This morning around eleven my aunt says to me, "Wanna start that puzzle (1000 pieces) we could do it before lunch?" Yeah, sure. We both knew that we wouldn't finish it by lunch and we also both knew that if we took it out of the box and started sorting the pieces, my dad would very soon be coaxed out of his chair and away from his book to join us. There is also a puzzle gene on that side of the family (along with the blueberry picking gene). So we sorted and flipped and started to piece together the picture. Soon we were joined by my cousin, Hannah helped as well here and there (all affected by the gene), we even enticed my mom (who has never been a big puzzler), the only one who escaped was my uncle, who is not a puzzler and was trying to finish a never ending book. The day was cool for summer and we all kind of retreated to our books, the girls and I headed off to the park for awhile but the puzzle seemed to bring everyone into the porch and around the table every now and then to join whomever was there searching for pieces and small victories. When my children were finally in bed asleep I was relieved, not because I was tired or they were cranky (although Harper was very tired and out of sorts by the end of the day), but because I could focus my full attention on the puzzle. As I write this and am getting ready to read a couple pages of my book and fall asleep I'm quite certain that I will dream of the little corner with part of a branch and a couple leaves and the piece that I've been searching for since this morning to fit there.

Recipe 

Tonight I made the whole bowls which can be found on this post. I also added corn from a couple of cobs that I had leftover and I didn't have any olives but I did have an olive tapenade which we had instead and it was just as good.

Leftovers

The puzzle is still not finished, the top of it; full of leaves, sky and bark is left. I have to tell you the progress is slow but the feeling of victory when you find a piece is much more satisfying. It's been left on the table in the porch at the cottage to be finished next time. We're not going out this weekend, we need some quiet home, family time but the puzzle is almost enticing me out...but not quite. This morning Hannah wanted to fly a kite, which is ironic because the past two days have been super windy and we never thought of it - today there was no wind out on the back road. It worked out really well though, because the cheap little dollar store kite that we had flies when you run fast enough and so that's what we did. Hannah, Harper and I spent about an hour running up and down the road taking turns making the kite fly and laughing. Hannah probably ran that road two or three times, running up and then back to us. It was so picturesque (yes, I forgot my camera). She was wearing a long skirt with a short dress over top, a floppy hat, and was running ahead down this dirt road surrounded by trees on either side of her with one hand up in the air holding onto the kite, the other holding on to her hat with fits of giggles escaping and floating back to us.

Recipe

By the time we got home from the lake it was 5:30 and so I have to say dinner was not a very exciting event. There were some leftovers from last night and that's what we had with a little cantalope on the side. I am looking forward to some new recipes and planning in the next week.

Fish, Veggie Bulgur with Broccoli

Hannah went to a birthday party today. This is the first non family member birthday party that she's ever been to and she was pretty excited. The party was for a friend of hers from her pre-school class and who will be in her kindergarten class next year. We went last week and got the gift and card, which Hannah wrapped and signed this morning. Hannah put on her fanciest dress (the one she wore for Christmas) and then Harper and I dropped her off at cartown - making her dress choice very appropriate...along with all the other adorable little girls in their party dresses. Cartown is set up in an arena and has roads, and pedestrian crossings and the kids drive in those (scary) motorized little vehicles (supervised though) and learn all about car safety and they stop and play games and sing songs too. It was great, Hannah had a great time and at the end they get a little driver's licence. So Harper and I pick her up at the end and we stop at the grocery store to get some bread and Hannah says to me as we're leaving, "Can I drive home, I have my licence now?" When I explained the difference between my licence and her licence, I think cartown may have lost a little of it's luster!

Recipe

I'm on the verge of new recipes but I still feel very scattered and disorganized, I need to use up what I can in the house first. I just so happened to find some abandoned fish in the freezer...I don't even think I can give you the recipe because it was not yummy. I think it may have been the kind of fish; I made it into packets and topped it with lime, tomatoes, cilantro and a little salsa verde but it actually just tasted like I was trying to hide the taste of the fish instead of enhance it. I think there was too much topping and the fish, which was sole...I think, wasn't...shark enough...meaty enough...whatever, able to handle the toppings. I did make some bulgur to go with it which I especially liked, Dave was so-so on it and the kids seem to like it, and I plan to add a few lentils to the leftovers and have it for lunch.

I used the bulgur recipe from Catherine Newman's burgers here, as a guide for this.

1 white onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1/2 zucchini, chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 cup bulgur

2 cups water

1 Tbsp soy sauce

Saute onion, green pepper and zucchini over medium heat until soft, add the garlic and saute a minute and then add the salt and cumin sauteing until fragrant (30 seconds). Add the bulgur and water, once water in boiling reduce heat to low and cover for 15 - 18 minutes until done, then add in the soy sauce and serve.

Pasta

There's always a little bit of a relief when all the company has gone as well as a let down and a bit of loneliness. I'm always ready to get back to a regular routine and some play time with my girls but it's always a bit of an adjustment to change gears. The girls feel it too, and today Hannah was visibly feeling the shift. She was just fragile all day and it wasn't really until the end of the day that I connected the dots. Life went back to normal for the rest of us Wednesday but because of Hannah's birthday party I think that her let down was a little delayed. It always seems so hard to get back to a normal routine emotionally but always so much better once you've settled in. No matter what, it is always disappointing to not have a very fun, beautiful little girl just down the street to play with.

Recipe

I made this very simple pasta, we didn't have any garlic and it was still very tasty but you could add garlic as well.



Someone couldn't wait for the picture to be taken!

1 cup of almonds, toasted and chopped

8 vine ripe tomatoes chopped

1 large handful of basil, ripped or chopped

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

olive oil

1 354 g package brown rice pasta, prepared according to package directions - it is very easy to over cook this pasta so time carefully

Cook the pasta and then toss all the ingredients together and serve.

Harper and Stanley.

Eggplant Burgers and Greek Salad

Ever since we had guests this summer with a very cute little pup named Stanley the girls have been very interested in their stuffed dogs. Hannah seems to have a love, total fear of relationship with dogs which is beginning to soften whereas Harper is scared of dogs who are as tall as her, others she's quite brave around. They have been tying belts and whatnot around their dogs and dragging them all over the house, taking them for walks, they've been feeding them and Hannah informed me that one even made a mess in the house. They are very cute - but also very aware that we are not getting a real dog...I actually think they're perfectly happy having this low maintenance variety.

Recipe

I got this recipe from An Opera Singer in the Kitchen, and I loved the flavor but I am not going to recommend it for a burger. I think that it would have been really good on it's own or on a bed of sauted spinach. I would also have it on a piece of toasted baguette or ciabatta maybe with a little pesto or tomato sauce. I considered substituting the cheddar for 1/3 cup Parmesan instead and then saw a recipe that is similar but uses nutritional yeast instead of cheese and I have one eggplant left so I think I will experiment with it a little next week.

2 small globe eggplants or 1 large, peeled and diced 1-inch cubes

(about 4 1/2 cups)

2 shallots, chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

1 cup shredded medium cheddar or Daiya vegan cheddar shreds

1 1/2 cups Panko breadcrumbs

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/4 teaspoon Tony's cajun seasoning ( or ¼ tsp salt and ¾ tsp black pepper)

6 Tablespoons olive oil, divided

Over medium heat, add 3 Tablespoons olive oil and sauté eggplant  and shallots until very soft. Add 3/4 of the eggplant mixture to food processor or high-powered blender and blend. Add blended eggplant to a bowl and add the rest of the eggplant from pan to the bowl (or if the pan was big enough do it all in there). Mix in the rest of the ingredients, except oil, and form into 6 patties. Place patties on a cookie sheet and flash cool them in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.

Pull the patties out of the freezer. In a sauté pan, heat 1 1/2 Tablespoons of olive oil and cook three patties until shimmering hot, fry each side of patty till dark brown, about 5 minutes each side. Repeat with the rest of the patties. Next time I would line a pan with parchment and spray and bake them at 400F, spraying and flipping halfway through.

For the Greek salad I just chopped up some tomato, cucumber, feta, red onion and olives and mixed all together with a little salt and pepper.

I know this is kind of here's Johnnyish but, she's
just so cute, hiding in the closet.

Tomato, Basil and Fresh Mozzarella Fritatta with Spinach Salad

Dave had to work yesterday so we had planned that we would head out to the Children's Garden at Assiniboine Park this morning and then swimming this afternoon. Hannah woke up at four this morning with a fever and so we stayed home. It wasn't a total write off while the Tylenol was working well Hannah joined in on a few rounds of hide and seek with Harper and I, while Dave installed two new toilets. I love playing hide and seek with a two year old, they're just so honest. "Are you hiding in the closet Harper?" "No, I over ere in under the table!" The game did get a little more serious when Hannah joined in, I was so use to Harper's slow counting to ten and then maybe to ten again and possibly again, when Hannah counted I barely had time to make it around the corner desperately looking for somewhere to tuck away. Three rounds was all Hannah was able to play and then I could see her moving much slower and we moved to building with little Lego. Hannah's fever continued to rise and she was soon resting on the couch watching some T.V. while I tried desperately (and to no avail) to entertain Harper and keep her from being lured onto the couch to watch as well. I hope tomorrow brings us good health!

Recipe
My parents headed out to the lake today and so we were on our own for Sunday dinner. I saw a picture of a fritatta the other day and it looked so good to me so that's what we had.

8 eggs. beaten
2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes, halved
Fresh mozzarella
2 cloves garlic, pressed
Olive oil
Fresh Basil, chopped

Preheat broiler.

I don't have a good big fry pan and so I used 2 pans. Heat 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in an oven safe pan over medium heat and saute garlic for 30 second. Add the eggs to the pan and let cook until almost set, about 5 minutes. Once eggs are ready add tomatoes and cheese, place under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the top of the eggs are cooked (only a couple of minutes), Sprinkle with fresh basil, slice and serve.

For the salad we had strawberries, mango, toasted sunflower seeds and spinach tossed with a drizzle of balsamic, maple syrup and olive oil.

I hope the sun shines down on you this week, I'm off to cuddle a sick little girl!