New Food Blog

I started a food/recipe/organizing blog. Tons of my friends, who are true "foodies" have food blogs. I will never have anything as spectacular as that, nor do I aspire to it. Lots of people ask how I plan out our menu's, and I was going to do a post on it. It would have been the most gigantic post ever - so I decided to just add a separate blog. (Yeah, I pretty much copied Liesa.)

I'm still adding recipes, but will get there eventually.

Check it out at mymonthofmeals.blogspot.com

I'll also link to it on my sidebar.

Taffy

After our handcart days experience, I just had a few other thing I wanted to do for Pioneer Day one of which was make taffy.

I had forgotten to bring the bottle of glycerine with me from NY, so bought more. A bigger bottle than we would ever need. Oh well, there's now a lifetime supply at Mum's if anyone else wants to use it!

The kids were so excited - we're making candy!

Lindsey & I had made some around Easter, and it turned out a little too hard. I was cautious not to do that again. Too cautious. When it cooled & the kids started to stretch it, it was too soft, and just stuck all over their hands. We tossed that batch & I made another one - because dang it - I had planned to pull taffy on Pioneer Day!

So the kids waited while I reassembled the ingredients -

and started cooking.

Then you wait for it to get to the right temperature.

and wait ...

and wait!

Remove from the heat & add butter & vanilla.

You can also add any other flavor you'd like too here too.

Pour it onto a Silpat or cookie sheet, until it's cool enough to touch. Really, now that I think about it there's a lot of "waiting" that goes into making taffy!

Butter everyone's hands, so it doesn't stick & start pulling. Stretching the taffy adds air to it, and makes it softer. You can tell when it's stretched enough because it kind of turns a lighter, shimmery color.

The kids pulling was probably a lot less vigorous than it should have been - they were too busy eating!If you're not that interested in pulling - you can just skip that step altogether!

I didn't get than many pictures, I'll have to see if Sara or Corinne have any more. Everything was sticky & buttery, so I didn't pick up the camera during the most exciting part! Wrap 1" pieces in parchment paper or wax paper.

Seriously - this is all we wrapped, they ate the rest.

Here's the recipe. I've never eaten anything at the Lion House that wasn't completely delicious, and I've used their caramel recipe at Valentine's for years - so I totally trust them & went with their recipe.

LION HOUSE TAFFY

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup white corn syrup

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons glycerine (available at drugstores)

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix sugar, water, corn syrup, salt and glycerine in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until temperature is 258 degrees. Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla, stirring until the butter is melted. Pour candy onto a buttered cookie sheet. Cool until lukewarm and taffy can be handled comfortably. Wash and dry hands thoroughly. Take a small piece of taffy and stretch and fold repeatedly until the taffy turns white. Form taffy into desired shape. Place on a piece of waxed paper. Makes enough taffy for 10-14 people to share. -- Lion House Classics

Jane & Lime Meltaways

Jacob + Emily at play-dates with friends
limes that need to be used in fridge
Young Women coming over for activity that evening
= making lime meltaways with Jane.

I try to make sure I do something one-on-one with each of my kids quarterly. I don't really do it with Jane yet, because I figure she's always with me ... but this day we made cookies together & it was great fun. I think she's big enough now that she needs to be included in the rotation.

It's just so nice to have all your attention focused on only one child - fun for me, and I hope for them too.

We made this Martha Stewart recipe. She added ingredients, mixed the dry one's with the whisk, and got the beaters all to herself. It's my favorite summer cookie, and I thought I'd post it, because they are really yummy.


Lime Meltaways

(makes about 3 dozen)

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• Finely grated zest of 2 limes
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Directions
1. Put butter and 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Add lime zest and juice and vanilla, and mix until fluffy.
2. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add to butter mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined.
3. Divide dough in half. Place each half on an 8-by-12-inch sheet of parchment paper. Roll in parchment to form a log 1 1/4 inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log. Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove parchment from logs; cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool slightly, 8 to 10 minutes. While still warm, toss cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a re-sealable plastic bag. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Valentine Lollipops

Every year, for the past nine years - ever since Rebekah was in Kindergarten - I have made lollipops for the kids to give out for Valentines Day. Last year, that plan was foiled (on the 12th) by a note from school saying that there could be no food in valentines. I still made them for non-school friends, and sent them to cousins & other special friends - but the school thing was a bummer .

This year, I had decided not to make them. I had other things for Emily & Jacob to give out, and I was just going to blow off sending stuff to the cousins. I just wasn't feeling it for lollipops this year.

So Saturday night before Valentines Day I was putting together the stuff for Em & Jake to give to their church friends the next day while Rebekah, Rick & I watched a movie.
I had this conversation with bek.

me; "bek, do you want me to make you some of these cute treat bags to give out to your friends for Valentine's?"
R; "No, I want to give out lollipops."
me; "Oh yeah, I wasn't going to make them this year."
R; "WHAT!"
me; "I just kind of couldn't be bothered."
R; "Could you just make one batch???"
me; "Why don't you write a list of the friends you'd like to give them to, and I'll see how many you need and then decide."

she wrote the list - 36!

I decided if I was going to make 36, I may as well make 66 and send them to cousins too! AND, if I was going to do that, I should make them that night so I could get them in the mail on Monday. So, I stayed up super late making them all. I'm glad I did, and didn't break the tradition. I thought about it as I cooked - of course they meant more to Rebekah than the other kids, it's all she's ever given out for Valentine's Day, and she probably can't remember a February without them. I'm also glad traditions like this still hold meaning for her.

So here are some shots of how I made valentine lollipops for the 10th straight year! (BTW, I don't know how Lindsey gets all those shots when she cooks. I often needed both hands, and didn't have one free for the camera, so there are several steps missing from the photo's!)

Candy Recipe
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup karo syrup
1/2 tsp flavoring
tiny drop coloring

I love these molds. I got them from Martha by Mail. A few are broken, and they are on their last legs - but the lollipops are thick, and the shapes great. I wish they would carry them again, so I could get more. The little stick holding clips that came with them broke long ago, so I now use these bulldog clips. Tricky to get perfect, but they work!

Spray the molds lightly with cooking spray.

I also use these plastic candy molds. Heart shaped, and cute, but not as thick.

Put all ingredients in heavy saucepan, and cook on high. Wash down the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water every so often (to prevent crystalizing.)

Keep at a rolling boil until it reaches hard crack stage. See that tiny dot of color above the red line on the thermometer? It's actually a section that has separated, and is the real temp reading. It's also why I burned the 1st batch!

(Note to self - buy new candy thermometer!)

Have an ice-bath ready to put the pan into as soon as the temp is reached to stop the cooking. It will make a lot of noise as you plunge the pan in - I actually think this part is kind of fun!

Then quickly add color & flavoring. Most recipes say to add 1 tsp, but I use these great natural flavorings, and they are pretty strong. I also like a more subtle flavor. I only add 1/2 tsp. I like the color to be pretty light too - so just use the tiniest drop of color, or dip a toothpick in for a small amount.

Mix in quickly, while in ice bath.

Pour into prepared molds. Don't bother trying to stop the stream of candy as you pour, or it will harden before you've used it all & be stuck in the pan. Just thin it as you go from shape to shape, and it will crack off easily later.

Seriously, I LOVE these molds. They really need to make more!

In the original directions, it says to pour excess into a greased muffin tin to harden before discarding. I say why dirty a muffin tin? I just pour the little remaining candy onto the Silpat - then after it hardens (faster than it would in a muffin tin), I just peel it up & toss it.

After they come out of the molds, I put them on a plate until they are all done. I just put wax paper between the layers.

Then I wrap them in cellophane, and tie with ribbon. I didn't love the red, I usually use white, so it doesn't detract from the cool lollipop colors - but it was last minute, and was all I had.

Yum, Yum!

Sugar Cookies

I LOVE sugar cookies. They are easily my favorite, and I make them for just about every occasion. There are two recipes that I like, the first is one I got from a friend in Utah (Paddy C.) when Rebekah was just a babe. They are slightly crisp, but still totally melt in your mouth when you bite into them. This is my fave, and I've been making them for years.

The second is from a friend I made here in NY (Rebecca R.) They are also excellent, and soft as can be. I'll list the recipes for both at the end of this post.

The kids love to help me make them too - better than play dough, since you can actually eat it! It's messy with their help, but well worth it for the fun together.

I divide the dough, and give the kids their portions. They smash, and add too much flour and make theirs tough - so I make sure it stays separate. Also, they really like to make sure they eat the ones they made. Theirs are usually easily identifiable!

I like to do 3 separate pieces of dough, so there's not more than a second rolling for each piece - that way you don't add too much flour by rolling, and they stay melt-in-your-mouth texture. I have an embarrassingly large collection of cookie cutters, but I think heart shapes have got to be my favorite.Rolling & cutting.

Me too!

Flour & sticky fingers in the hair. My kids never get just their hands messy - they like to make sure it's a whole-body experience! She sure is cute!

I personally think the raw dough is gross, but the kids like it. Maybe they got it from Rick (he likes it) or maybe they're just kids and will eat anything sweet!

The scraps get added to the kids dough.

Jane likes anything tiny, and wanted to use the two small cutters.

Emily made a birds nest. It took a while to cook, but didn't burn, and she frosted & ate it!

I like to bake them on parchment. A Silpat would work well too - mine is just huge, and too big for my cookie sheets. I am picky about baking them, and only do one cookie sheet at a time, in the very middle of the oven.
I usually bake them for 9 or 10 mins (just until the bottom starts to brown.) I turn the sheet front to back 1/2 way through cooking. However, I'm impatient so I usually use 3 sheets at a time. I have one cooling, one in the oven, and one I'm putting raw shapes onto - then I rotate. Clean up is still easy. The parchment prevents any baked on yuck, so I toss them in the dishwasher.

Frosting them is always the most fun. I like to make my cookies ahead of time whenever possible. (Most of the time, I make then when the kids are in bed, and they just help me frost when we are ready.) They freeze super well, and we like to frost them when they are still frozen. That way they are a little more sturdy, and less likely to snap or crumble during the process. Easier for little hands. By the time you've finished frosting, they've pretty much thawed.

Sugar Cookies

2 cups butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
5 cups flour

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs, beat well. Add vanilla, then dry ingredients. Divide into 3 balls, roll 1/4 inch thick. Bake at 375F for 8-10 minutes, until the bottom is just brown. Cool, frost & enjoy!

FROSTING -
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs evaporated milk
1 cup powdered sugar
coloring


Soft Sugar Cookies (from Rebecca R.)
cream:
1 c. butter
2 c. sugar
add:
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
alternate:
1 c. milk
with:
1 t. salt
2 t. soda
4 t. baking powder
7 c. flour

Bake 375 for 5-6 minutes, or just until cooked. Cool, frost.

Buttercream Frosting
1 c. butter
1 t. vanilla
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar

Using whisk attachment, beat for 10 minutes. Add food coloring.

Beef & Bok Choy Hot Pot

In our house, you get to choose what you'd like to eat for dinner on your birthday. Rebekah chose beef & bok choy hot pot, which is one of our favorite winter meals.

This is so easy, I thought I'd post the recipe. Of all things in my cooking arsenal, I am am worst at red meat. I don't like to eat meat much, so have never been that motivated to learn how to do it well. I do lamb well (because I like lamb), but not really anything else. This is easy, because no real skill is required. The long simmering time makes the beef tender. The flavors blend well together, and the touch of cinnamon makes it so fragrant when it's cooking. So yummy on cold winter nights.

This is not the best photo (it tastes better than it looks here) but we ate it all, so I can't take another picture ....

Beef and Bok Choy Hot Pot

2 1/4 cups water
3/4 cup low-salt beef broth
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 pound beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/4 cups chopped green onions
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 cups thinly sliced bok choy
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced carrot
2 cups hot cooked wide rice noodles

Combine first 6 ingredients, stirring with a whisk; set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add beef, browning on all sides. Add broth mixture, green onions, garlic, and ginger; bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until beef is tender. Stir in bok choy and carrot, and cook 5 minutes or until tender.

Serve beef mixture over rice noodles.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups beef mixture and 1/2 cup noodles)

Here are my variations. I use all beef broth instead of mixing broth & water. I don't add oil to the skillet, I just use a little spray of pam. I don't use stew meat, I buy a good lean cut, and cut it into small thin strips, which I think gives it more of an Asian feel.

This recipe lends itself well to make ahead. I usually slice and brown the meat, and store in in the fridge for the day. I chop the carrots, bok choy and onions all in the morning. Then in the afternoon I can just combine everything. I add the carrots for about 5 mins, but usually toss in the bok choy only a minute or 2 before serving, so it stays bright green. I double it for our family of 6, we usually have some leftover for me for lunch the next day.
Not bad re-heated as leftovers either.