Secret Ingredients {A Recipe Post}

A few years ago, a BBQ place opened up downtown, boasting delicious brisket and pulled pork, sweet potato fries and, of course, deadly macaroni and cheese. It was a few months before I was able to test it out, but my friends and family raved especially about this mac and cheese. When I finally did make it down there, I ordered some. It came, deliciously melty and fabulous, and I concentrated on what, exactly, made it so good. The secret ingredient?

Garlic.

Yep, that's really all I could taste. Golden cheesy goodness with a decent hit of garlic to bring that warm gooey feeling home. True comfort food.

 I kept it in mind the next time I made my go-to cheese sauce and dubiously gave it a shot. Oh my. So. Good. I mixed some up over the weekend and you'll have to forgive the lack of photos because it was really gone that fast. I pulled it out of the oven, went to grab my camera and returned to the kitchen seconds later.  My husband was standing over my masterpiece, carelessly burning himself while eating it right from the pan.  The only photo I have is one before I put it in the oven.

My southern man recommends sprinkling it with a tiny bit of apple cider vinegar and some kosher salt before digging in, but I think it's good just the way I make it, thank you very much.

Here's where the disclaimers come in: This is not, I repeat, NOT, healthy. It is not gluten free or dairy free. It is full of butter and full fat milk or half and half as well as a ton of cheese. I'm not saying you need a doctor's note to eat it, but it sure wouldn't hurt to get your affairs in order first. Proceed with caution.


Macaroni and Cheese

1/4 C butter

1/4 C flour

2 1/2 C Whole Milk or Half and Half

12 Oz Sharp Cheddar, shredded (I like Extra Sharp)

1/2 Cup Parmesan, grated, plus extra for sprinkling

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder

1 lb Macaroni Noodles, prepared.

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk to combine, then quickly add milk/half and half. Stir continuously over medium heat until sauce thickens, adding seasoning as you stir. I use almost a teaspoon of garlic, but that may be excessive to someone else. Taste as you go and make sure it's just right for you! Once the sauce starts bubbling, remove it from heat and stir in the cheddar and parmesan.

Pour over noodles in a medium-sized casserole dish. Stir to combine and sprinkle a generous amount of the parmesan on top. Bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes.

Want to make it even more delish/horrendous? Try crumbling some bacon over the top, or mix in pimentos before baking (another favorite down at the BBQ). Anything goes. Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.

Peanut Butter Cookies and Sunshine

So it's -15 degrees here today (and no, that's not with windchill). The sun is shining and the sky's brilliant blue and I'm doing my very best to convince my kids that no, it's not warm out there. At all. I had some aspirations today about eating healthy, really giving it a go, maybe even giving up sugar. So naturally by noon, I was saying things like "hey, who wants to help me make some cookies?" It's really no big deal. Rosie won't be one til April so I can still pretend that little extra around my waistline is pregnancy weight (it is most definitely not).

Despite (or perhaps because of?) my sad little backslide, I'm in an excellent mood. Today is gorgeous. There are sweet kids, like that ten year old up there, who just crack me up and make me fall in love over and over. There are warm peanut butter cookies because our "school" doesn't have to be peanut-free and it totally counts as kindergarten. It's Friday, which is always the best day of the week, and tomorrow is March.

Wait, tomorrow is March?

If you want to make some awesome Peanut Butter Cookies, here's the recipe we used!

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen (so normally I'd double. Or quadruple. But I'm trying to be good...)

1/2 C granulated sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1/2 C peanut butter
1/2 C butter
1 large egg

Mix the above together well. Then add

11/4 C all purpose flour
3/4 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt

Stir together. Shape dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. I rolled mine  in sugar and pressed with a fork. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.  One cookie has "only" 115 calories in it, so naturally I ate 5.

Enjoy!


If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.

Real Life

So Advent isn't working out the way I thought it would.  Does it ever?  I planned on having all of my shopping done and gifts shipped to faraway family by the first of the month.  I still have well over half of it left to do and just 10 days til Christmas.  I told a friend, "This year, we have bowed out of a lot of our normal activities.  This year it will be simpler.  This year I will finish early and enjoy Advent!" Last weekend I planned to tackle stocking stuffers...and stayed in with sick kids instead.  This weekend, then, I thought.  Still sick, and a good half foot of snow dumped on us for good measure.

We are about half decorated for Christmas.  Half decorations, half crazy clutter everywhere.  I'm trying not to notice and see the other things instead.  The Advent wreath that we've not lit every night, but we've definitely done more frequently than in past years.  The A-B-C letters on my fridge spelling out "I LOVE CHRISTMAS!" in all caps, my kid's joy spelled out in rainbow colors.

This afternoon, while the snow just kept on coming, my baby on my back and my toddler by my side, I made chicken pot pie for dinner.  Out of the window I watched my brother pull his daughter and mine around on a sled out back.  He came in to grab my camera (and I threatened him with bodily harm should he break it) and snap a few pictures of our little girls out enjoying the snow.  Peter found my stash of canning rings and slipped them on his arms like bracelets and clanked around the kitchen.  The baby screeched happy in the carrier and pulled my hair.  Some of the kids - still not feeling so hot -watched a movie while Dad cleared the walks and I made a mental freeze-frame of this moment in time.  Our imperfect Christmas.  A small house, a half dozen sick kids, a Mom who may not get it all done by Christmas Eve and who has not wrapped a single present (for lack of tape!  TAPE!).  One man clearing the walks while another drags babies around in sleds.  This is what life looks like.  The laundry machine thrums along down in the basement and I fold warm towels on the dining room table, shoving that Advent wreath to the side.

Real life and real Christmas go hand-in-hand.  Dinah sets up the Nativity and Peter gently places a matchbox car just there, witnessing it all.


If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.

In the August Garden

Oh, Gardening.  I honestly don't know a darn thing about it.  Thank goodness that plants want to grow, as a friend of mine put it.  I really just put things in the ground and hope something happens.  That's about the extent of my gardening prowess.

This year has been a good one.  From what I can see, we haven't had garden pests.  No bad bugs, no pesky groundhogs.  In fact, the most exasperating part has been my toddler picking tomatoes slightly before they are ready.  But really, this garden is for them, anyway.

We were out in it this morning, the boys and I, and while Rosemary fell asleep in her swing, we watered. Jonah was telling me how the peppers in our garden look just like the ones in the grocery store.  I asked him where the peppers in the grocery store came from, anyway?  "A plant, Mom.  Just like this one."  Gardening with kids is one of the ways I am constantly reminded that learning is a year 'round pursuit, and gives me a bit of reassurance.  Our kids are blessed with biology lessons all around.  From Mama having a new baby and watching that baby grow as babies do, to planting seeds and watching the flowers bloom and the bees pollinate and, before long, the fruit of the plant right there on their plates.  A truly organic education, and one they won't soon forget.

Perhaps my favorite part of the whole deal is spending time with my kids outside.  Talking to them about nature and growth and seasons and life.

August has never been my favorite month of the year, but this year it is certainly close.  Our weather has been summer perfection - low 80s during the day, nice and cool in the evening.  Still warm enough to jump in a pool, but cool enough for me to cook and bake without making the house unbearable.  Which is good, because tomatoes and homemade pesto just taste better on homemade bread.  With the older two out of town last week, and the oldest again this week, home feels easier, too.  Quieter, in a way - reminding me of what life was like when there were just littles here.  A golden little time, here at the end of the summer, to enjoy my littles and our little home and garden.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.

Picnic By The Side Of The Road

We don't really do vacations at this point in our family life.  Due to small amounts of time off and faraway family, what time we are able to take is usually spent heading down to the Shenandoah Valley to see them.  In the early years of our marriage, when time off was more plentiful and the current demands of 6 kids nonexistent, we traveled there several times a year.  Right now, it is usually twice a year - and it still doesn't feel like enough.  While it's not really a proper vacation, it can still be expensive.  In the past 10 years, the price of tolls has more than doubled.  Gas is much more expensive, and the vehicles we use to cart this crew from here to there are hardly fuel efficient.

Still, raising our children with a strong sense of belonging to both sides of the family has been something that is vitally important to us, so we find ways to make it work.  One of the best ways for us to save money is in the food department.  Our car trip is roughly 10 hours, give or take - with nursing and bathroom breaks, stopping for gas and just to give kids a moment of fresh air.  Therefore, we usually end up eating at least two meals on the road.  Eating fast food might seem like a decent option, but a few trips down the turnpikes showed us that the prices there are radically different than what we expected.  It could easily cost us the price of a tank of gas to feed our crew - and is nutritionally lackluster fare at best.

So, for awhile now, I've been thinking up some good options for take along food.  Bringing back the picnic by the side of the road idea. Not only does it save our family money, but well fed and properly nourished children aren't as irritable and grumpy as those who haven't eaten anything but donut holes and french fries for 10 hours.  With just a little bit of planning, taking a meal or two along can make all the difference - both financially and nutritionally. Here are some ideas that I've tried.

Breakfast:

 Prep some hardboiled eggs the day before.  While these are messy to eat in the car, they are quick and easy to munch down on a short bathroom stop - and the protein they provide will keep kids from crashing later in the day.

Muffins - these can be as healthy or as tasty as you want.  I make a double batch and stick it in the fridge the day before we leave so they aren't too crumbly.

Fruit - grapes can be frozen and help keep your cooler cool.  I divide them into individual bags so everyone gets their own.

Lunch - 

Sandwiches are an obvious option.  We prep these the day before, but just put the meat/cheese on the bread.  Lettuce and Tomato go in separate bags, and we bring along condiments to put on right before we eat to keep them from getting soggy.

Trail mix - dried fruit and nuts are easy to eat, delicious and perfect for a mid ride pick me up.

Dinner - 

Chicken legs are cheap and easy to bake.  I just drizzle mine with olive oil, sprinkle on salt and pepper and throw them in the oven.  Then keep them in the fridge over night and bring them along in a cooler.  They require no utensils, kids love them and again, protein!  An alternate option is to just buy a few rotisserie chickens and pull them apart.  A bit messier - something I would only recommend if you are stopping to eat.

Vegetables - My kids love raw vegetables, so I chop these up and put them in bags in the cooler.  Easy to eat.

Soft Pretzels - these are sooo delicious!  Kids love them, and they are easy to make and take along.

If it seems like a heck of a lot of work - it is.  These little life-hacks make it easier, but yes.  It is work to pack 8 people in clothes and food and somehow transport the whole shebang south 10 hours.  But when we see the relationships our children have with my husband's family, we know it is all well worth it.


If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.

Jam and Tomatoes

With blueberry picking behind us, I put up some jam on Monday.  12 jars, not really enough for us but better than nothing.  We had blueberry pancakes on Saturday morning, and I've a few cups left to freeze, but really, after giving my sister some for her helpfulness, there really weren't that many left.  12 jars would be a good start, were it not for my habit of dropping off jars of jam to anyone I chance to think would like some, and also my kids' affinity for the stuff.  Oh well.  Maybe next week, when the bigs are out of town, we'll go picking again.  But then again - picking, without my big kids?  I'm not sure we'd get much.

The tomatoes are ripening now, and we're getting a slow trickle of them.  This year, I didn't plant much, after last year's garden being destroyed by critters.  Now, of course, I'm kicking myself - I haven't seen a groundhog since May, and everything I did bother to plant seems to be doing remarkably well.  It might be our best garden year so far, and I only bothered to plant 3 boxes.  We have a garden box full of potatoes and sweet potatoes that will be fun to dig up in the fall, and the peppers seem to be doing really well - we should be getting loads shortly.  A friend gave me a yellow pear tomato plant that is terrifying in size and scope - each time I go out there, it seems to have grown by leaps and bounds.  Still, our back yard is a shady place at best - and we'll never get as much as others are able to.

These colder temperatures have been nice.  While the kids bemoan the lack of proper pool days, I am loving the break from heat and humidity.  I've been feeling much more myself, centered in my place in our home - usually the kitchen, fixing things for my family.  Although there are certainly times that I get bored of the whole "what's for dinner?" question, I really consider it to be an honor to spend time thinking (and cooking) up food for my family to grow up on.  I think it goes back to my childhood, and the security of seeing my own Mom, every night at around 5 pm, in her normal place in the warm kitchen.  A daily sight that gave me so much comfort as I grew up - Mom, getting dinner on.  Now, being that person for my family - it means so much to me.  In this small life of ours, there will be many things my kids go without, but the security of a person who loves them, seeing to the meeting of their most basic needs, will not be one of them.  Food is more than physical nourishment.  Here, our meals are the centerpiece to our lives as a family, our shared faith and a medium through which to express love.  And it is just so, so very lovely to be right at the center of it.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.

{Weekending}

Snow play, fish fry with family, housekeeping, and knitting away.  A perfect winter weekend.  Just exactly what we needed.

{Head over here for a fun little interview with yours truly!}

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to future posts.  Thank you.

A Must-Have

 

 

 

I don't remember where it came from, the little tin tucked away on a top shelf that contains the past 10 years in recipes.  I know I didn't buy it, it simply appeared.  My first memory of tucking a scrawled recipe into the tin ocurred in my old apartment - the two bedroom.  In that bright kitchen with the sunshine streaming in, I copied the first few years worth of my  recipes onto 3x5's that had previously resided on scraps of paper tucked between the pages of my well loved Betty Crocker cookbook.  In chocolate smeared disorganization, all my "Must Have's" are all still there.

The best chocolate cake in the world - gleaned from the wisdom of my cousin Mariah.

Mom's chili - and meatloaf, and cheese sauce, and many more besides.

A truly excellent banana bread.


Perfect pancakes

The basic Artisan bread recipes.

The "Jentzen brownies" my sisters and I baked in highschool to lure cute boys over for a visit.

Basic brunch recipes, subject to endless customization.


Many are committed to memory, although I may pull them out to double check an amount (was that 2 cups of flour or 2 1/2?).  Some are rarely used, but always a hit.

Last weekend, as my older brother was visiting, we had a family brunch.  I was given the task of coming up with a coffee cake - one I was glad to take on as baking is my very favorite type of cooking!

I looked around a bit as some fancier recipes, but kept returning to this one from  that dog-eared copy of  Betty Crocker's cookbook of mine.  It's basic, customizable, and absolutely delicious.

So maybe jot this one down on a 3x5 and stick it in your own little recipe tin of must-haves.  I did.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

3 C all purpose or wheat flour

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 1/2 t baking soda

3/4 t salt

1 1/2 C sugar

3/4 C butter

1 1/2 t vanilla

3 large eggs

1 1/2 C sour cream

Brown Sugar Filling

1/2 C brown sugar

1 1/2 t cinnamon

1/2 C chopped nuts (optional, I left them out)

1.  Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease pan.  I use a 9x13, but an bundt pan would be nice too!

2. Make brown sugar filling, set aside.  Mix flour, baking powder, soda and salt; set aside.

3. Beat sugar, butter, vanilla and eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes.  Mix about 1/4th of the flour mixture and sour cream at a time alternately into sugar mixture on low speed until blended.

4.  For 9x13 pan, spread half the batter into the 9x13, then sprinkle with half the brown sugar filling.  Spread the remaining half over that and sprinkle the top with the remaining filling.  For a bundt pan, spread one third the batter, then one third the filling and repeat twice.

5.  Bake bundt about 1 hour, 9x13 for about 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from pan and allow to cool 20 minutes.

There is a glaze that accompanies this recipe to drizzle over top.  I've never made it, but perhaps you might want to?  Here it is:

Vanilla Glaze


1/2 C powdered sugar

1/4 t vanilla

2 to 3 tsp milk

Mix all ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle.


Enjoy!

A Little Bit of Chocolate

Last weekend my cousin threw a baby shower and asked me to bring along a dessert to help out.  I was glad that she mentioned that something chocolate might be good, because chocolate I can do...rather well.

I've been making brownies since I was a young teen - first for my family, and then for friends and cute boys.  My sister and I probably baked at least one batch a week, not to mention for Mom's annual Christmas Eve party.  My mom kept our cupboards stocked with supplies and everyone seemed to appreciate the a fresh pan of brownies pulled from the oven.

Because of my long history of baking and adoring brownies, I have the recipe, um, memorized.  Yes.  So when I remembered very last minute that I needed to make a batch, I mixed some up in no time (at midnight, no less.).  You can, too.  Just follow along!

"Jentzen Brownies"  (only called that because we made them so very often growing up!)

4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate squares
2/3 C plus 2 TBS butter
2 C sugar
4 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 1/4 C flour

In a microwave safe mixing bowl, melt butter and chocolate squares (you may have to mix then wave, mix then wave). Add sugar and then beat in eggs.  Add vanilla.  Mix in baking powder, salt and flour.  Pour batter into 9x13 inch pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Allow to cool completely.

Icing:
1/4 C butter
2 C powdered sugar
2T Milk
1 t vanilla extract (or try peppermint for Christmas!)

Ice brownies.  Allow to harden slightly (put it in the fridge to speed this up)

Glaze:
2 TB Butter
1.5 squares baking chocolate

Pour glaze over iced brownies and use a spatula to carefully cover completely.  Place in fridge to cool/harden topping completely.

Cut up and serve!