Mother of the Year

Image via WikipediaAs a matter of fact, YES.
I am breaking into my son's Valentine's Day candy generously gifted to him weeks ago by his tiny preschool friends, all while he sleeps peacefully (and without clue) just down the hall. It's all in an effort to keep my resolution this year of eating 1) more kale (speaking of, try these and season it like crazy and have a party in your mouth) and 2) more chocolate. Because who wants to be on their death bed one day, regretting their under-consumption of chocolate? There are dozens of other things I'll be too busy regretting, so I refuse to let a lack of chocolate be one of them. So obviously in this instance, the ends totally justify the means. My son needs a strong, determined Mama who sticks to her resolutions, right?

Anyway, as I was picking through the precious heap of Valentine's, I noticed that his friends gifted mostly name-brand chocolate this year. Nice touch, kids. This has not gone unnoticed in this house. Buddy, you are such a great judge of character. Clearly, friends like yours who gift name-brand chocolate are friends you should hang on to forever. Because when it comes to chocolate, one should really go big or go home. Who has time to mess around with Hershey's when there are dozens of Dove chocolate hearts screaming your name?

And this has been another motherly pearl of wisdom I pass down to you, my darling son.

Destination: Mini Break

In less than 12 hours, Dan & I will be well on our way to a somewhat impromptu weekend away, sans children. That's right, we're hitting the road and headed for the darling winery-ville town of Paso Robles. Or, as I like to call it, "Romantic Mini-Break Extravaganza, 2011". This is a weekend that will be all about us, with no purpose other than to reconnect, enjoy using uninterrupted, complete sentences, and to have absolutely zero clean up responsibilities. The last time this happened was well before we even had children, so needless to say it's long overdue. The main focus, FOR ONCE!, will be each other. And wine tasting. And eating really great food that I have neither slaved over nor have to clean up after. 


When you get this sort of weekend trip once every 6 years or so, it's difficult to know how to plan accordingly. I mean, there are so many directions we could take! Do we just sit in the hotel all day, basking in our alone time, and order trays and trays of room service? Do we plan for the optimum amount of fun by allotting every minute we're away to something fabulous?  Do we just go with the flow? A combination of all the above? I have a feeling that the various Paso Robles wineries will be a fabulous starting point, and from there, we'll just fly by the seat of our pants. You know, sort of like the way we did things when it was just us two.


I'm sure there will be moments of temporary gloom when I'll think about the kids back at home with my (wonderful!) parents, and wonder what they're up to. This weekend, there will be no children calling out in the middle of the night, or awake and hungry at 6:30 AM. On a Saturday.


OH, THE SLEEPING IN THAT WILL BE DONE. This much I know.

Fabulous Fries & Perfect Plum Crisp

    Image by bro0ke via Flickr

Who loves french fries and fruit crisps in the Summer? Or...any season of the year?
If you could see me, you'd see me raising both of my arms wildly in the air. Because in my little world, I can't really think of anything better than a juicy bbq'd burger, homemade oven fries, a gorgeous green salad, and a plum oatmeal crisp for dessert.

In fact, that's what just went down in this house. Not too shabby for a Wednesday, eh? (BTW, in case you were curious, Canadians really do end most sentences with "eh?". I'm no expert on the Canadian culture, but I have been there four times- count it- 1,2,3,4- and with each visit I heard at least 5 people use the cute little "eh?" at the end of their sentence. All I'm saying is, why haven't we considered stealing that, and how did they become the nicest people on the planet?). Also, you should probably know that my burger was smothered in spicy roasted green chiles, in honor of our recent trip to Albuquerque, the mecca for all things green chile!

Anyway, I was flipping through my July issue of Food & Wine magazine (which I adore but never have time to read), and I came upon this fantastic recipe for homemade oven fries, which then quickly inspired my whole bbq burger meal into being. And since I haven't posted any recipes in practically FOREVA (who's been wondering: what's up with that? I thought there was supposed to be some passionate food talk on this here blog!) and since I could never deny you anything this delicious, let me go ahead and share them both with you. Mama loves you.


Fabulous Oven Fries w/ Herbs & Pecorino
(adapted from Grace Parisi, via Food & Wine Magazine, July 2010)


2 large baking potatoes, cut into 4-by-1/2 in. sticks
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. each of minced sage & rosemary OR if you don't have these dried herbs on hand (like me) then you can get in the French spirit and substitute 1 tsp. of Herbes de Provence
1/4 c. freshly grated pecorino romano or parmesan cheese
Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, toss the potato sticks with the olive oil until evenly coated. Spread the potato sticks in a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer and bake in upper third of the oven, turning once or twice with a spatula, until they are gold and crispy, about 30 minutes.
2. Sprinkle the minced garlic and herbs over the fries and toss well. Amazing smells are about to come wafting from your oven! Roast for about 5 minutes longer, or until the herbs are fragrant and the garlic is lightly browned. Transfer the fries to a large bowl and toss with the grated cheese. Season with salt & pepper and serve. Serves 4. (or in our case, serves two really hungry adults & 1 child).

Plum Oatmeal Crisp
(adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)


1/2 c. plus 1 T. all-purpose flour
1 c. plus 2 T. packed brown sugar
2/3 c. old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1/4 c. toasted pecans, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash or two of pumpkin pie spice (optional, but recommended!)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2-1/2 lbs. ripe plums, cut into 1-inch pieces (so, obviously, you can substitute or combine any of your favorite pitted fruits; for example, I did a plum/peach combo and it was heavenly. Apricots would be equally delicious!)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Topping: In a medium bowl, stir together 1/2 c. flour, 1 c. brown sugar, oats, toasted pecans and salt. Pour melted butter over mixture and stir to combine & moisten the other ingredients. This is when things start to get very tasty.
2. In a shallow 2-qt. baking dish, toss plums with remaining 2 T. of brown sugar, 1 T. flour, and couple dashes of pumpkin pie spice, if using. Sprinkle with oat/pecan/butter yumminess crumble topping. Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet (perhaps overly-cautious, but an effort to prevent overflow burn, because no one wants that). Bake until topping is golden brown, 40-45 minutes. Let cool 20 minutes before serving, but I'll bet you can't wait that long to taste it because the smell wafting through your kitchen will put you in a love-sick trance. Serves 6. Enjoy!

A Bit of Advice

Image by TW Collins via Flickr

When the week is unrelenting and exhausting, I think it's vital to find ways to cut corners and keep on truckin'. It's Wednesday, and my family is in a deep state of survival mode. We're doing our best to get to Friday all in one piece, and I can hear my mother's soothing voice playing over and over again, "just let the little things GO!"  So, the laundry pile is 20 feet high, but my kids are safe and their tummies are full and there's been no blood shed.

I say, when life hands you buttermilk, make pancakes. And so tonight I looked in my fridge for dinner inspiration and decided upon a feast of fluffy multi-grain & flax-seed buttermilk pancakes and a swiss chard, mushroom & feta cheese scramble. Not too shabby for corner cutting, eh? I'm so grateful to have kids who think breakfast for dinner is a sign of a celebration rather than a sign of a frazzled and at-her-wits-end Mama.

A Brief Moment On The Soapbox

Dan & I finally watched the recently released DVD, Food, Inc. For those of you who haven't seen it or heard of it, it's a riveting documentary where the filmmaker's hope is to "lift the veil" on our nation's food history and present day circumstances and expose the governmental and corporate control that is held on our food sources and supply. (Incidentally, it's also been nominated for the 2010 Indie Film Spirit Awards.) It's unflattering, it's scary, it's infuriating and so incredibly important for us to see.

In short, we were completely fascinated- and utterly shocked by what we learned in this film. At times it was painful to even watch. I'm not usually one to get on a bandwagon and yell my 2 cents from the rooftop, but it is not an exaggeration to say that this film has truly changed me and the way that I feel about what we eat and how it's produced. It has forced both Dan & I to take a long hard look at what we're eating, and most importantly, what we're feeding our children. It has also fostered a new hope in consumers, empowering those who care enough to turn the tables, to realize we have a voice and we can make the changes that need to happen. By no means am I trying to subtly suggest taking radical or drastic measures- as far as I know, we are not making any abrupt conversions to vegetarianism. (Because Lord knows how I love me some pork.....). But I do encourage, even beg of you to watch this film and do what you feel is best for you and your loved ones. I am so grateful we did.

If you want to take baby steps towards getting involved, here are 10 simple things you can do to change our food system. Or you can visit Take Part to learn even more.

If that hasn't lured you in yet, then here's the movie's trailer for your viewing information: