Zucchini

I know it is strange to be reading a blog about zucchini in November.  I threw a Halloween party and my friend showed up with this HUGE zucchini.  I am pretty sure she brought it as a joke.  Little did she know......

I grated up the entire thing and packaged it into freezer bags then tried a few zucchini recipies.  It's been zucchini week here as a result.

So the first thing I tried was Martha Stewart's Zucchini cupcake recipe.  I more or less followed the recipe.

Except I omitted the nuts and the frosting... making them borderline "muffins" rather than cupcakes.

There were great!  The boys ate them up as fast as I would let them..

Then I tried zucchini fritters.  I started with a recipe I've wanted to try from Smitten Kitchen.  I follwed the recipe exactly and then went and fried them up in reserved bacon fat.  Yum.  I had them for lunch 3 days in a row. 

And lastly I made a chocolate zucchini cake.  Believe it or not I had never made one before.  My mom made them but I've never had SO much zucchini that I was looking to add it to chocolate cake. 

This one turned out really good. 

Again, I omitted the nuts and had to cook it 10 minutes longer than called for.  I took it to a "mixer" for my sons school and it got smiles and nods from the other parents as they ate it.  That's good I guess right?

So there you have it.  My zucchini week in the middle of November.  And now thanks to my friend my freezer is stocked so I can have "zucchini week" anytime I want!

Beef & Barley Stew

Beef & Barley Stew

Doesn't that sound good?  It is.  Really good. 

Every winter I find a different go-to beef stew.  Then I find I make it once a month or so until spring.  This year I've settled on beef & barley. 

This isn't hard to make but it takes a bit of time.  Here are the basic ingredients (this serves 6):

2 pounds beef (chopped London broil or stew meat)

1 large onion - chopped

2 large carrots - chopped

2 T tomato paste

6 cloves garlic - minced

1 C dry red wine

2 C water, 4 C chicken stock

1 C pearl barley

Fresh chopped parsley, Salt, Pepper, Olive Oil

The first step, in my opinion, is the most important.  You MUST brown the beef.  This step will be messy.  Make sure you put on an apron.

If you bought a London Broil, chop it to about 1" squares.  Costco sells a huge package of stew meat (like 5 lbs or something).  That is what I used here.  The nice thing about Costco's meat is it is already chopped and you can freeze half for next months beef barley stew! Now season the beef heavily.  And then season it some more.  Lots of course salt and pepper!

Get a dutch oven or big heavy bottom stockpot.  Heat over medium high heat.  Throw in some olive oil.  Add HALF the beef.  Don't crowd it.  Now wait.  Seriously wait.  If you try to move a piece and it sticks.... you need to WAIT some more.  After you do this a few times you'll be able to tell by smell when they are ready. 

Now turn the beef & brown on all sides.  This is what you are wanting to see.  Remember you don't need it cooked through... only REALLY browned on all sides.

Remove the meat to a bowl or plate & repeat with the other pound.  Set it all aside.

At this point you should have a little fat rendered in the bottom of the stockpot.  If you don't, throw in some more olive oil.  This is what the bottom of my pot looked like after browning 2 pounds of beef.

Now, reduce the heat to medium and dump in those chopped carrots and onion.  Season w/ salt & pepper.  Cook until golden - 10 minutes or so.

Add garlic & tomato paste.

Cook while stirring until caramelized - 2 minutes.

Add wine.  Reduce by half. 

Return the beef to the pot along w/ all the juices.

Then add the water & stock.  Bring to a full boil.

Then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and wait.  For an hour.  Stir it occasionally.

Add barley.

Cover and cook for another 30 minutes stirring occasionally.  Then uncover and simmer for yet another 30 minutes.... or until it is dinner time.

Throw in the parsley, taste for seasoning.

Serve!

Here is a closer look. Can't you almost smell it?  So good.  Enjoy!

It's a Halloween Party!

So I just threw a little Halloween party for 30 of my closest friends / kids.   Well due to some being out of state, sick, etc.... we ended up with a total of 20.  It was a blast.  

DECORATION:

The kids and I started by decorating the house.  This was fun.  We strung spider web every where.  And notice the little mice?  We cut out a bunch and taped them along.  Cute huh?

 In the spider web we hung fake critters.

 Creepy.

Our candy bowl and "thanks for coming" gifts.

GAMES:

I took a few of my husband's golf balls and turned them into eyeballs!  Eewww right?  Anyway we gave the kiddos some spoons and had them do an eyeball relay.  That was fun! 



 We did the classic pin the nose on the pumkin.  We made this pumpkin out of one of those orange "tableclothes" you find at the dollar store.  Here is the "after".  They did pretty good right?

The biggest hit was the simplist.  Get some toilet paper and a few dads.  Then let the kids turn them into mummies.  Super super super fun.

DRINKS: 

I did the standard stuff.  Soda, juice, etc.  Then for fun I did a Spiked Cider.  Super easy.

 Spiked Cider:

4 cups apple cider.

1/2 C dark rum

1/2 C cinnamon schnapps

* mix, serve over ice.  Garnish with apples tossed in lemon juice. *

FOOD:

I did 2 savory snacks (Popcorn and Macaroni & Cheese) and 2 sweets snacks (Cupcakes and Apple Cake).  I had them at "stations" throughout the house so people would keep mingling and moving. 

The first sweet was CUPCAKES.  I used Martha Stewart's classic Yellow Buttermilk Recipe. Which is awesome.  It holds up really really nice.  For the frosting I used MS's Swiss Meringue Buttercream only without the cream of tartar.  I mixed 1/2 of it with 2 oz melted milk chocolate to make a light brown frosting.  The other half I mixed with random food coloring until the color looked "halloween".

 I let the boys decorate them.  We drew mouths with food gel and put on candy "eyes".

The other "sweet" was an APPLE WALNUT BUNDT CAKE.  Which was amazing.  Here is the recipe I started with.  I didn't change too much.  I omitted the walnuts since 2 of the kids coming have nut allergies.  This is the "cake station". 

1 of the savories was cups of popcorn.  Just plain air popped popcorn.  Turned out to be a big hit with the kids.  I put them into two different places. 



The second savory was home-made Macaroni and Cheese.  Which I failed to take a picture of, sorry.  But I do remember how I made it so here you go:

HOME-MADE MACARONI & CHEESE:

*Cook 1 pound macaroni, drain, rinse, set aside.

*Warm in microwave or in pot on stove 5 cups whole milk.

*Grate 10oz sharp cheddar, 4oz smoked Gruyere, 4oz American (from the deli - this is actually important for it's amazing melting / blending quality)

In large stock pot melt 1 stick unsalted butter until bubbling.

Add 1/2 c flour.

Mix 1-2 minute.

Slowly pour in while whisking all 5 cups milk.  Stir constantly while cooking until thick and bubbly (5 mintues). 

Take off heat. 

Add 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t pepper, 1/4 t smoked paprika.

Add all the grated cheese.  Mix with whisk until smooth.

Add macaroni, stir.

Serve.  Yum.

Happy Halloween!

So that is how I did it this year.  I'd love to hear about any Halloween party tips you have to share!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Tomatillos

Tomatillos are one of those thing I never went out and bought.  Then I joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm where we bought a "share" and every week all year round we get a portion of whatever they harvested that week.  Or in some cases didn't harvest... once in a while natural disaster occurs (hail) or pests get in (deer) and our "share" is smaller.  That is all part of investing and supporting local farms.  We love it.  And they deliver to our door.  Fresh, local, organic food.  It is beyond awesome. 

It has expanded my cooking.  I am forced to cook local, seasonal, year round ... which is healthier but sometimes challenging.  Like the giant heads of cabbage that comes week after week after week in the late fall and all winter.  But most of the time I love getting to cook with the food they bring.  Which brings us to tomatillos.

The last few weeks I've been getting about a pound of tomatillos a delivery.  Now in the past I've made soups, green enchiladas, etc.  My current favorite is salsa.  Very spicy salsa.  And the spicier it is the more likely I get it all to myself.  Yum.  Here is what I did today.

Take about 1 pound tomatillos, husk and rinse them.  Peel 1 small head of garlic (about 12 cloves).  Rinse about 6 or 7 small cherry tomatos.  Place it all on lined jelly roll pan.

If I had a Lemon Tree

Well I did have a lemon tree once. 

A long time ago when we lived in San Diego... but that's a whole different blog. 

It was before kids.... that was a whole different life.

If I had a lemon tree NOW I'd do so much.  Lemon cake.  Lemon pie.  Lemon tea.  Lemon chicken.  Lemon this and Lemon that..... I LOVE lemons.  And don't even get me started on if I had a LIME tree.....

Back to Lemons.  Oh and there is of course.... Lemon Drops..... lots and lots of Lemon Drops.