New Years Review

I was planning to post holiday pictures today, but we are having computer issues. Big time praise and thanks to Dave for tackling our technology issues. To say it has been "challenging" would be a huge understatement. In lieu of cute pics of the kids, I thought I would share some of the fun and cool things that we have encountered this holiday season.

1. Xbox Kinect. This was our big ticket gift from Dave's parents. Ostensibly, the purpose was to allow Kara to play fun, age appropriate games. (Dave has already fully explored Xbox's capabilities to play Skyim. Full disclosure, I have played quite a bit of Call of Duty, as well.) We were not sure how Kara would take to the whole gaming thing, but we can say without reservation that it has been a huge success. Kinectimals is absurdly cute; the adventure game is also lots of fun. But the big hit has been Just Dance. We all, even Jamie, took part in the fun. Even Dave took a turn playing to the Pointer Sisters' classic "Jump." Best daddy ever.

2.  Buffalo chicken dip. Josh brought this for New Year's eve and it rocked. Again. So disgustingly delicious.

3.  Homemade Candied Ginger. I used this recipe by David Lebovitz. It was almost an epic fail - I couldn't get the sugar syrup to thicken and made it all boil over on my stove which set off all of the smoke alarms at 9 o'clock at night. Good times. But...the end result was gorgeous and delicious.

4. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I bought this as a Christmas present to myself. Unbelievably comprehensive resource. Totally worth it if you are even vaguely interested in eating less meat.

I hope to be back with pictures next week.
Happy New Year!

The Minimalist's Exit

Last Thursday, Mark Bittman who writes "The Minimalist" column for the New York Times announced that he would be exiting the Dining section of the paper. In his farewell column, Bittman discusses the history of the article and announces that he will now be a regular contributor to the Opinion pages where he will explore the politics of food in our nation and the world at large.

I love Bittman's columns, and his cookbook, How to Cook Everything, is one of the most-used references on my cookbook shelf. (A great gift for any cook at any level.) He is the master of the non-recipe recipe, focusing on basic techniques and ingredients that all cooks can use to produce good food.  I also love the fact that Bittman uses his platform to unabashedly advocate for more sound eating habits (less meat, less processed food, more locally/sustainably produced food). I can't wait to see him in his new role at The Times.



A few Bittman links for your cooking pleasure:
The Minimalist's 25 Favorite Recipes
101 Grilling Recipes
101 Summer Recipes

Dinner for Company - Carnita Beef

On Saturday we had a our good friends John, Jen and their 7 month old son Justin over for dinner. "Uncle" Josh, Kara's favorite dinner guest, joined us too. I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to use one of the fabulous new cookbooks my mother in law gave me for Christmas.

Pam Anderson, not to be confused with the buxom former wife of rocker Tommy Lee, is a foodie, cookbook author, blogger and all around cool lady from what I can gather. Her food blog Three Many Cooks is written by Pam and her two sisters and offers some great recipes. Her cookbooks also get rave reviews. I have How to Cook without a Book and Perfect One-Dish Dinners.

For our weekend dinner, I was looking for something easy and fun that would use up some of the meat that is currently taking up all of my freezer space. "Carnita-Style Beef" from One-Dish Dinners was, in fact, perfect. Basically, you braise chuck roasts in a chile sauce, shred the meat and serve it sort of like fajitas.

Here is the basic recipe for the beef. This makes a TON of food. You could easily cut this recipe in half and it would serve 6-8 hungry adults. If you go that route, you can make the whole thing in a dutch oven. I also think this recipe could be adapted to a slow cooker. I will give that a try next time.

•  Preheat oven to 450.
• In a large bowl, cover 2 beef chuck roasts (4-6 lbs total weight) with olive oil, salt, pepper and cumin.
• In a small bowl combine 2 small cans chopped green chile peppers, 1/4 cup chili powder and 2 tsp cumin. (I might try adding a little molasses or brown sugar to sweeten it up next time.)
• Chop up 8-10 cloves of garlic.
• Heat a large roasting pan on high and cover the bottom with oil. Sear the meat on so it gets nice and crusty. Set aside.
• Add garlic to pan for a minute or so. Then add chile mixture and stir until fragrant - like another minute. Now dump in a quart of chicken stock and stir until bubbling.
• Return meat to pan and cover with several layers of foil so that the steam is staying locked in.
• Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. You want the meat to be shredable. 
• Shred the meat and set aside until ready to serve. This is easy to freeze in bags and would be great for enchiladas, quesadillas, tacos, bi bim bap. Yum!

I fried up a couple of bell peppers and onions cut into long strips to serve with the beef as well. We just put the meat, the veggies, a bowl of rice and beans,  warm tortillas, sour cream, salsa and guacamole on the table and let everyone make their own thing. It was simple and fun.

Jen, who manages to be a doctor, a mommy and an amazing cook, brought the most delicious carrot cake cupcakes. Here is the recipe from Food & Wine Magazine. Seriously, the best cupcakes ever. Jamie de-frosted his and then devoured the actual cake in under a minute. It was a show!

"It's Not Chaotic. It's rich."

My bestest friend Ellie sent me an awesome birthday present, Time for Dinner. This is a fabulous cookbook by the former editors of the now defunct (boohoo!) Cookie magazine. Jenny Rosenstrach, one of the authors, is the writer of Dinner a Love Story, one of my favorite foodie/mommy blogs. Beyond providing a ton of great recipes, Time for Dinner is clearly written by women who have actually cooked dinner recently. That is, they know what it's like to work all day and then try to prepare a meal while your kids are melting down, the dog is barking and you just realized that you have no viable ingredients for dinner anyway. With this in mind, they give you lots of good strategies. For example: how to stretch one Sunday dinner into several weeknight meals; how to stock your kitchen so as to maximize the chances of cooking a respectable dinner on any given night; how to get ahead of the game by preparing a cooking staple (beans, marinara etc.) during the weekend.

In addition to the great cooking tips and techniques, these women are just cool. Like you would want to chat with them at the soccer game or, better yet, meet up for drinks and talk about food, family, friends, all the good stuff. One of my favorite lines from the very witty and wise text comes when the authors are talking about the new "normal" that we have to get used to as parents who want to actually cook and eat with our kids. Their mantra: "Repeat after us: It's not chaotic. It's rich." I love it. I am going to have those sentences engraved above my kitchen sink.

And when I have a moment like I did yesterday when both kids were crying because they were hungry and grumpy, and I had left the newly purchased snacks in the car because when I got back from Target it was pouring rain, and I had to leave both of my children literally lying on the floor of the living room wailing while I fetched the much needed snack, I will think of these wise words. The next time I think I am going to have my own special mommy meltdown, I am going to intone this mantra, take deep breadths and know that the chaos is merely evidence of just how rich our lives can be.