Birthdays and Hummus

Those two things just go hand in hand, don't they?  Where have I been lately, you may be asking?  Just letting the little things all overwhelm me.  Back to school stressed me unnecessarily, I'm trying to diet, and have been a little down in the dumps.  Coincidence, I think not!  But it does bring me to the hummus.

I'm a brand new Mark Bittman convert.  I took some of my hard-earned FoodBuzz money and purchased his book "Food Matters" and the cookbook that goes along with it.  I guess Mark's story is he was getting older and fatter, bad stuff was happening to his health, and his doctor told him he needed to become a vegan.  Which sort of clashed with his line of work, being a food writer and all.  But he decided to try a plan where he is a "vegan until 6" everyday...eating no animal products, just plants, plants, plants.  Then after 6 eat a normal dinner without gluttonizing, and it worked for him.  

So I thought to myself, if he can do it, maybe I can do it.  I like plants.  So I spent this past Sunday prepping veggies, and making beans and oatmeal and brown rice in mass quantities so I would have easy access to things I can eat and so far so good.  I've taken a few pounds off, and feel like it's something I can live with.  Why am I telling you all this?  Beats the snot out of me; here's Bittman's recipe for hummus.

2 cups drained well-cooked or canned chickpeas, liquid reserved

1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste), optional, with some of its oil

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus oil for drizzling

2 cloves garlic, peeled, or to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon ground cumin or paprika, or to taste, plus a sprinkling for garnish

Juice of 1 lemon, plus more as needed

Put it all together in the food processor and blend it together, adding more liquid from the chickpeas if needed.  

So mine came out a little dry, guess I should have added more liquid.  And it made way more than I needed since I'm the only one who eats it.  Wonder if it freezes well.

And as for birthdays, my little 5th grade flute-playing chickadee turned 11 today.  She's growing up so fast!  

This was the first year she requested a homemade birthday cake, and she wanted the same one I made for her dad back in June, without the raspberry sauce.  So obviously that required extra frosting on top!  

Just as delicious as I remembered.  And there's no chickpeas in it!

Birthday Boy and a Giveaway

Happy Thanksgiving time to all you good people out there.  

Guess who's 12 today and likes to stand next to lobster tanks.

You'd be right if you said Simon.  He decided he wanted to go to Red Lobster for his birthday, so I plucked him out of school early and that's what we did.  Seriously, what's more important...seafood or education?  It's a no-brainer

.

 kiddos with Grandma and Grandpa at Red Lobster

So after we were completely stuffed full of cheesy biscuits and lobster pizza we went to grandma's for cake.  Yum :P

Simon kept giving me this silly little sideways smile, but we were able to overcome it.

In other news, I was contacted to be able to giveaway two copies of a new novel by Rachel Hauck called "Dining With Joy".  

I get a copy to read too, and I can't wait. I've been looking for a good read lately.  Here's a little synopsis from Publisher's Weekly:

Romance novelist Hauck (Love Starts with Elle) whips up a delectable and light tale of finding love amid everything edible, a story that goes down easy. Joy Ballard, a cooking show host who can't cook, inherited her television show from her father. Joy's executive producer sells Dining with Joy to success-hungry Allison Wild of Wild Woman Productions, who brings on hunky chef Luke Davis, owner of a failed Manhattan restaurant. When Joy and Luke mix it up on television, sparks fly and ratings soar. The only thing holding back Joy's career is the truth about her lack of cooking talent and her guilty conscience. Toss in some cooking rivals, old family wounds, and struggles with Christian faith, and readers will find themselves hankering for another serving of low country living from Joy's pantry. 

I'll leave the giveaway open through Monday night November 29th...10pm.

It's open to North America, and winners will be contacted by email, so be sure I have some way to contact you.  To enter just leave a comment on this post and use the code word "stuffing" to let me know you're interested! 

A Halloween Pic and a Winner!

Just a little pic of our Halloween fun time.

 I swear the boy child was having more fun than he was letting on.

Now the winner of the CSN Stores gift code is....

Reeni of Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice!

chosen by the random number thingy

Congrats to Reeni, she's just about one of the nicest bloggers out there and it's because of one of her recipes I ever even tried polenta in the first place! 

Thank you, thank you very much. Elvis has left the...stroller?

 

When Love Comes To Town (and a CSN review)

Well, as you may remember our little doggy friend Cody passed away early last month.  We were all kind of sad and blue.  Just didn't seem right without a dog around.  We had planned to wait until Christmas to get another dog.  I guess Christmas came early.

My husband went down to our local shelter and perused the dogs there.  I didn't go because I'm a wimp.  Seeing all those dogs there makes me too sad.  He decided on this little Terrier mix who seemed kind of laid back and friendly.  So far he seems like a pretty good fit.  He has been named Rintoo, after one of my son's favorite characters on Nick Jr.

I think all of our spirits have been lifted with this new addition to the family.  Nothing like somebody to get all excited and wag their tail at you when you get home from a long day at work. 

So this is where CSN Stores comes into the picture.  I had to chance to review a product from their store, so the timing was just right to get the doggy a new bed.  

First I got this dog bed duvet by Molly Mutt.

They have some really cute ones to pick from!  The idea is that you also purchase a "stuff sack" and just stuff it with things you have around the house to make the bed.  

After careful inspection and research, Rintoo approved.

Because every dog needs two beds,  I also got this giftable set made by Thro. 

 It come with a little squeaky toy and tiny dog blanket, and it's super soft.  I think if Rintoo had to pick just one, this one is his preference.  

Although we love the stuffin's out of this dog, it hasn't been completely without a hitch.  The dog decided a couple of weeks after he got here he has issues with our son.  Here's the scenario...I've probably told you Simon has autism, and he tends to be somewhat aloof, do his own thing.  Not extremely interested in everything going on around him.  Also his movements can be kind of "jerky", I suppose.  Apparently the dog has either picked up on his overall disinterest, or thinks of Simon as the only family member he can be dominant of.  There have been a few episodes where the dog growled at Simon, and it usually seemed food related (Simon was in the kitchen with me while I was cooking and Rintoo growled when he got close to me and the food), or territorial.  (the dog was allowed to sit in one chair when he first arrived, and he got a bit possessive of it.  now he's a floor dog).  So anyway,we are working to try to show the dog that Simon is indeed the boss of him, and hopefully they can be friends.   So if you have any insights into dog psychology, I'm all ears!

Good Bye Little Puppy Friend

I couldn't decide whether or not to blog about this, but we've got no secrets between us. So I'll just go for it. But you'll be stuck looking at these pics because I've gotta work the next couple of days (my work days are 12 hours so there's no cooking on those days).

  We lost our friend Cody today. He was somewhere around 15, maybe almost 16.  

 He adopted my husband back when we lived in Arkansas. My first words to (or about) Cody were "Get that dog off my bed".  Well, up until he couldn't jump so good, he got on my bed whenever he darned well pleased. 

Aside from adopting grown men, some of his adventures have included being friends with a 3-legged dog, killing a possum with said 3-legged dog.  Suffering a fractured pelvis as a result of being hit by a car and almost losing the ability to dance. (but not quite)

Putting up with having not one, but two squawling little weird looking creatures being brought into his home, who later grew big enough to drop cheerios on his head, so he became friends with the weird creatures.

Riding cross country to move to Arizona with his adopted person in a little Ford Ranger, only to have the truck break down when it was just about 4

 hours from it's destination.  

Life was pretty steady and predictable until about 2 years ago when one of the cheerio-droppers opened the side gate and Cody slipped out for a 4 day adventure in the 'burbs of Phoenix.  He was rescued by an animal lover who had a pool, fed him stinky food, and bought him some bling.  (We found him through a site called Fido Finders, and I'm sure when we showed up he thought "Oh crap, I thought I had it made!") 

Over the past 2-3 years, old Cody had slowed down more than just a little. Not too interested in doing any dancing, barking at vacuum cleaners, or killing possums.  Just mostly wanted a (low to the ground) place to sleep, and few yummy morsels to be tossed his way, and love of his family.  He had been in renal failure all summer, and it's hard to tell when the time was right.  But today was definitely that day.  Hopefully old Cody had a happy life and knew that we were glad to be his people.  

 

And Now We Are 10

Both kids in double digits now, what the heck?

Happy Birthday girl with her store bought cake.  I wanted to try to make her some sort of fancy cake, but I just ran out of time and energy.

Funny story...I accidentally bought the kind of candles that relight after you blow them out.  They were sparking all over the place and burning down to the cake and we couldn't get the darned things to quit burning...hehe!  That's what she gets for having an over 40 mom who can't read the fine print.

 Silly kids

Birthday Critters 

 I know haven't posted much food lately, so can I get an amen and a hallelujah for risotto?  

However much this recipe makes up is exactly how much I can eat in one sitting!  It's so easy and so delicious...what's not to love!  

Here's the recipe from RachaelRay.com

 Lemon Risotto 

1 quart chicken stock

2 cups water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 small-medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
1 cup Arborio rice
Zest and juice of 1 large lemon or 2 small Meyer lemons
1/2 cup white wine
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese (a couple of handfuls)
2 tablespoons slivered mint leaves
A handful basil tops, shredded or torn

(I left the previous two ingredients out and used parsley) 

Salt and pepper
 

In a large pot, heat the stock and 2 cups water over medium-low heat.

In a risotto pot or large skillet with rounded bottom, heat the EVOO over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic to the pan and sauté to soften, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the rice and add the zest of lemon. Heat the rice a minute or two, then add the wine and cook to evaporate. Add in the stock a few ladles at a time and stir for a minute with each addition of stock to develop the starch and creamy aspect. Keep adding the stock each time pan starts to become dry at the edges. The total cooking time will be 18 minutes or so.

When the rice is cooked to al dente, stir in the butter, lemon juice, cheese and herbs. Serve immediately.
 

What I've Been Doing

Hey everyone, I'm back!

We can all breathe a sigh of relief now.  Just gonna post a few pictures of a place we stayed at near Show Low, AZ.  We mostly sat around and enjoyed not being roasted, and also enjoyed all the rain.  It was lovely.  And ate a lot of meat.  I feel the need for a salad!

This is the cabin we stayed in. 

 Many moons ago it was a one room schoolhouse.  The doggie's name was Sarah, and she visited us daily to see if we had any scraps that needed taken care of.

Molly also helped with that.

Mara strikes a pose, and Simon sits on dangerous farm equipment.

Lovely scenery.

Paddle boatin'.

Fun in a creek.

Friendly horses who love Honey Nut Cheerios.  (oddly enough the horses across the lane hated them and went to great lengths to spit them out)  Btw...if cheerios are poisonous to horses please don't tell me, I don't think my psyche can take it.

We annoyed the crap out of this snake every day while he was trying to catch some rays.  Didn't mean to, just wanted to look at him.

My boy being a boy.

Blue bug!

So what's cookin' with all of you? 

Stuffed Peppers Wrapped in BACON

                                     

Did I mention there would be bacon?  Just making sure.

My husband requested cream cheese stuffed bacon wrapped chili peppers for his birthday, and I aim to please.  I suppose you could use any type pepper you wanted, but these were really yummy.  I love the parts of the pepper that get all charred and crispy, yum!

We were cooking something else out on the grill, so placed these to one side, cheese side up, until the bacon was done on the bottom.  Then I finished the tops under the broiler.  A smart person would put them on a baking sheet with edges, FYI.  Here's how we put them together:

Split peppers in half and remove the seeds.
Mix 8 oz cream cheese without about 1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice.
Stuff the peppers then wrap with bacon and secure with toothpicks.  Cook as described above.

These were so good...definitely worth repeating!

Now is the part where I force you to look at my vacation pictures.  We spent this past week in Southern California and had a really nifty time.  (yes, I said nifty).  The place we stayed at had oodles of flowers.

The kids would have been more than happy to stay in the pool the whole time.                                                     

We visited the beach at Crystal Cove State Park.  It was so nice there and not crowded at all.  Maybe because there is a ridiculous parking fee, but in this case it was worth it.  

(we are the little dots in the picture)

We got to take a boat tour of the harbor and saw hundreds of dolphins.  One of the high points for me.  Unfortunately the girl has inherited my motion sickness gene and was ready for terra firma.

We attended Medieval Times Dinner Theater and got to eat yummy food and wear cool crowns while we watched people joust. 

 

The pictures are horrid, but this was my favorite meal of the trip!  The fun part is they make you eat with your hands.  Guess they didn't have silverware in those days.

Last but not least was Knott's Berry Farm.    

Mara couldn't get enough spinning and twirling.....

I couldn't get enough funnel cake.....

This is one of the few rides I got on (see aforementioned motion sickness reference).

And of course a hug from Snoopy made it all worthwhile!