Stay Tuned

Hello friends...I haven't posted in quite a while because I failed to follow very good advice from a work colleague: Eat oysters, don't walk on them. Of course, she offered this advice about 24 hours too late.

In other words, I sliced the hell out of my feet while pulling my oldest son out of the marsh, and have just been hobbling around pitifully ever since.

Also, I am pondering starting a new blog that goes beyond food. I keep trying to get my friend Leigh to actually do it, as she is 400 times more creative, energetic, and purposeful than I am. I guarantee you if she did it it would be one of those blogs that immediately generates all kind of buzz and attention, and you would all waste way too much work time reading it and hitting that refresh button. Then I could just be a contributor a couple times each week. Isn't this a genius idea? (Yes. Yes it is.)

Bottom line is, it's about time to shut this one down. My attention to it has been sporadic, and I just don't have that much more to say about food - I've covered all our favorites! But as soon as I get Leigh on board, or as soon as she forces me kicking and screaming to do my own, I'll be back here with directions on how to find me.

Best! Savannah

Ramblin' Man

Friends, I am on the road again for work (I am beginning to fatigue, but with any luck, this is my last trip for the rest of the summer, with the exception of the occassional day trip here and there). Check back in a week!

Sometimes, You Just Need a Quickie

I posted a chicken sausage meatball recipe a few weeks ago (a few months ago?), and I've now made it so many times I have really perfected it. I've changed some things, and it's even easier and more delicious now.

Two tips - get good chicken sausage that has been well ground. I got a great chicken sausage from Fresh Market this past week that had fabulous flavor, but was only coarsely ground, so it was less meatball, more meatchunk. Not exactly what I was going for.

Here it is, new and improved:
1 pound chicken sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten

Combine all ingredients with your fingers until well blended. Shape into meatballs (I generally get about 16 meatballs). Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, drop into pasta sauce and simmer for another 15 minutes. So easy and so good!!!

No Ma'am

OMG. I am so full as I type this that it's almost painful to even think about food, much less write about it. (Or maybe it's painful because I'm lying on the couch with a laptop sitting on my overly stuffed stomach. Who knows.)

We just returned from dinner at our friends the T.'s. They, like us, are in the thick of the Survival Years with little boys. Let me tell you, dear readers, there's nothing like eating dinner with another family in the same stage as us. No one blinks when a boy gets teary over - horrors! - a speck of onion in a hamburger (my child), or crawls under the table and licks the floor (happily, their child).
***
I was hoping to have a fabulous new side dish to blog tonight. We ate lunch at Panera Bread the other day and I had a salad with "roasted edamame" in it. Hello, delicious. It was so good I thought, I can do this at home! And blog about it! And people will say, you know that Savannah girl, she really knows her stuff.

Well. You see where this is going, right? I don't know what the folks at Panera are doing with their edamame. But I can tell you what they are not doing. They are not tossing it with olive oil, a little salt and pepper, and roasting it at 425 for 25 minutes. And I suggest you not do it either.

Summer Lovin'

We are in full-force summer here, and I LOVE it. I can get a bit cranky in the winter time and whine about living in a place that has nothing to do when it's 45 degrees outside, but this is the time of year when I remember why I love Savannah so much. Saturday we took the boat downtown to have brunch at one of our favorite the riverfront restaurants, Huey's. (Is there any better combination in this world than a Bloody Mary and Crab Cake Eggs Benedict? No there is not.) Sunday we took the boat to the beach for a few hours of picnic and play. And tonight it was warm enough to go swimming at 6pm and eat dinner at the pool. Heaven.
***
Alas, with all of these fabulous summer activities comes the summer vegetables. Yes, zucchini and squash, I'm looking at you. In fact, I've been looking at you all week, wondering what happened to the delightful spring lettuces, spinach, and strawberries. Did you really have to crowd those out so early? Feeling a bit pushy, no?
***
One of my very favorite meals to make for my oh-so-busy-little-family is baked pasta. It's ridiculously easy - just take your favorite frozen stuffed pasta (ravioli, tortellini), toss it in a baking dish with some pasta sauce, and bake covered at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. Take out of the oven, uncover, sprinkle with provolone or mozzarella, and bake uncovered for another 10-15 minutes until the cheese is nicely melted. This is a great dish to put on 'delay start' for your oven, and walk in to have it waiting for you.

(Yes, there is a point to all of this, I promise.)

Soooo, with all that squash and zucchini sitting around, I was struck with inspiration. I made a fresh pasta sauce to use with baked pasta the next time we have it, and it couldn't be easier. Dice your squash (I had 4 yellow summer squash) and zucchini (I had 3 of these). Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a large dutch oven, saute some onion. Add the squash and zucchini, and cook over medium heat until tender. Add 28 ounce can of good diced tomatoes, a 6 ounce can of tomato paste, some diced garlic (I did 2 cloves), some Italian seasoning and a little salt and pepper. Simmer, stirring often, until the squash and zucchini are cooked all the way through, or until it occurs to you that you have better things to do. Turn off the heat, and using an immersion blender, blend until it's about the consistency of a store-bought can of pasta sauce. Taste for seasoning, adjust salt and pepper if you need to.

Delicious!! I froze mine in several batches of about 4 cups each to use the next time I make a baked pasta. Sorry no picture - I've been bad about snapping them lately. Happy eating.

Make-Believe

Well. I hope you all had delightful Cinco de Mayo celebrations. DH is working tonight, so I had planned to do something really simple, cheese quesadillas with sliced tomatoes. We got home later than usual tonight due to errand running, and for some insane reason I went on one of my you-boys-will-help-your-mother-and-be-cheerful-about-it kicks, so I made the kids bring in all the groceries while I took out the trash and recycling, checked the mail, dealt with the dog, and switched out the laundry.


I returned to the kitchen not more than 7 minutes later to find the groceries strewn all over the kitchen floor, and the boys in the midst of it all, having ripped open a new bag of raisin bread and a container of cream cheese. The oldest had apparently just finished making his little brother a sandwich, because I walked in as he was licking the knife and plunging it back into the cream cheese to make his own.


You know, all those stupid parenting books that talk about the importance of children helping never really seem to address the actual effect of children helping.


So, in the end, the boys ate cream cheese sandwiches for dinner while pretending the knife was a sword, I ate a fried egg sandwich while pretending my decaf ice tea was a margarita, and everyone was happy. DH is going to be so jealous over missing all the fun.

Shrooms

I have a confession to make. I just threw away all of my kids' Easter candy. Jelly beans, chocolate eggs, lollipops, even - gasp! - the last chocolate bunny. I was getting sort of sick of seeing it on the counter, and they haven't asked for any in a week now. Naturally, that means they will wake up wanting some and there will be a Meltdown Heard Around The World when they reaffirm what a Mean Mommy I really am. Brace yourselves.
***
I was all excited about making dinner tonight and blogging it, but (confession #2) it just didn't turn out that great. We were in Charleston last weekend for a wedding, and popped into our favorite butcher shop to pick up some of their amazing freshly made ravioli. I snagged the last of the mushroom ravioli and we had it tonight with a pea and prosciutto sauce. Meh. The combination was not that great. The mushrooms in the ravioli are so hearty and meaty that they really could have used a much more substantial sauce, and the prosciutto I picked up was not great quality - too much salt, too little flavor. All in all a bit of a disappointment. Well, now we know. (Did the fact that it wasn't that great stop me from eating every single last bite on my plate? No. Of course not.)
***
Happy Cinco de Mayo tomorrow! Share your recipes and meals!!

Eggs-tra

I opened the fridge this afternoon to take stock and start thinking about dinner tonight. Whereupon I discovered we had 4 dozen eggs in there, tucked away in the back. This confused me for a bit. I love eggs, and I can be a bit impulsive at the grocery store, but even I don't usually buy that many. Then I remembered - we spent Easter Sunday running around like maniacs trying to save front teeth instead of dying eggs in the backyard. Good times.

The upside was that the discovery inspired an incredibly easy but yummy dinner - ham biscuits, deviled eggs, and salad. Which, incidentally, goes perfectly with a G&T. Who knew.

Slow Down

With the possible exception of December, this month seems to be the busiest time of the year. The weather is delightfully hot, which means we are trying to cram in as much boating and swimming as we possibly can. The school year is coming to a close, so they are trying to cram in as many special events as possible (pajama day! beach day! talent show! field day!). Spring activities have not quite drawn to a close, so we are still running to various practices, lessons, and games. On top of all that, it's my busy travel season for work, and I am facing 3 trips this month.

I am determined, in the midst of all this, to slow down. I am not going to blink and discover it is already June; I am going to enjoy and savor these last few days of spring.

And the best way I know how to do that is to drink.

Or more specifically, sip.

My husband makes THE best Gin & tonics. And I promise you, there is nothing like holding a ice cold glass on a hot evening to make it seem like a lazy summer day...even if it is not.

Here's his recipe:
1 crystal double old fashioned (Yes, pull put your wedding crystal. Trust me, these taste so much better in one.)
1-2 ounces good Gin (Tanqueray or Blue Sapphire are my favorites) (Adjust the amount depending on how much you need to get done that evening...one ounce and I can still sort the mail, straighten up, respond to an email, and fold laundry. Two ounces and I might fall asleep while reading to the boys.)
1 lime
Good tonic water (diet, if you like, which I do - my hands down favorite is White Rock)

Fill the double old fashioned with ice. Pour in the Gin. Cut lime into fourths. Squeeze one fourth over the ice, drop into the glass. Squeeze a 2nd fourth of the lime into the glass as well (this second shot of fresh lime juice is the real secret, I think. Plus, I'm pretty sure this counts as one of your fruit servings for the day). Fill glass with tonic water. Close your eyes, imagine the summer beach breezes, and sip.

And Here's Another One

My little guy finally ate real food yesterday evening after more than 48 hours of not eating, to everyone's relief. (Particularly his. He kept walking around saying, "My tummy is so happy!" Except with all the trauma to his mouth, it came out "My nummy ish show happy!")

What did he eat, you might ask? Cheese rice.

Yes, cheese rice. I cannot tell you how many people I have said this to in response to their concerned questions, and they stare at me blankly. What is cheese rice? they ask.

Um.

It's rice.

With cheese on it.

A common delicacy in this Savannah household, and yet a mysterious and foreign dish to so many. So here's the recipe.

1) Cook some rice. I like good old-fashioned Uncle Ben's long grain white rice. I also slightly overcook it when serving it to my kids so it has a little bit softer texture.
2) Add shredded cheddar cheese.
3) Stir.
4) Eat.

Starch and cheese. Really, you can't go wrong.

Yes. An Actual Recipe.

Atlanta Mom, perhaps noticing that not a single blog post this month has actually contained a recipe, sent me this over the weekend to post. Y'all enjoy.
***
Once the weather is warm, our recipe options dwindle to very few. We are always looking for more light, cool dishes as opposed to the hearty heavy ones that we enjoy during the colder months. This is a new one I've discovered (Editor's note: from Ina Garten! Yay Ina!), and I've made it twice in 2 weeks already. For 2 adults or a family of 4 where the 2 younger members won't eat much, halve the recipe--not only it is plenty, but there will be a small-tupperware's worth of leftovers for lunch the next day.

Couscous with Teasted Pine Nuts
Serves 6 to 8

4 T. unsalted butter
2 cups chopped yellow onions
3 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 t. kosher salt (I always use less when cooking from Ina's recipes)
1/2 t. black pepper
2 cups couscous
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Melt butter in large saucepan. Add the chopped onions and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until tender but not browned. Add the chicken stock, salt, and pepper and bring to a full boil (I usu. have the stock hot in a separate small saucepan). Stir in the couscous, turn off the heat, cover, and allow to steam for 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork, stir in the pine nuts and parsley, and serve hot.

**She has a make-ahead note that says to cook onions and add the stock, salt, and pepper, then set aside. Before dinner, heat to boiling, add the couscous, and wait 10 minutes for a delicious side dish with no stress.**

The Whole Tooth

If I needed confirmation that none of you are really paying attention to what I am saying, I got it with the complete lack of ridiculing e-mails, pointing out the utter idiocy of a statement I made 2 blog posts ago: "Readers, I will return when the chaos departs. Hopefully in a day or two. Stay tuned." Um, hello? I have two little boys. The chaos never departs. It just fluctuates.

DH and I finally, finally recovered from our colds and had planned a delicious Easter dinner. (And by that I mean I had planned a delicious Easter dinner. DH plans dinner about as often as I fly to the moon.)

But alas, our little one had other plans. He took a spill at the pool, and I learned the following lessons. (1) Mouths bleed. A lot. (2) Teeth are surprisingly fragile. (3) Doctors, dentists, and orthodontists on-call over Easter weekend are all happy to just see you in their house if you call them 15 minutes before they're about to eat their own Easter dinner, and it turns out you live in the same neighborhood. A whole new twist on house calls.

But as usual, I digress. My entire point, I think, is this: perhaps I am not cut out to be a food blogger. Our dinners tonight were entirely built upon what our neighbors and friends brought us: pizza for DH and our oldest, yogurt smoothies and chicken broth for the little one, and Matzo ball soup for me (OMG is there any better comfort food in the world? No.) All the blogging advice I've read says "blog every day" to build readership, but Lordy knows. It just ain't happening around here.

Time to get ready for the tooth fairy.

Standoff

My refrigerator and I are in midst of a cold war at the moment (ha! pun totally intended!). It is full of fabulous items from our farm box delivery, like fresh carrots, peas, mushrooms, baby lettuces, cabbage, oranges, and little vidalia onions. I, on the other hand, am still full of snot. Which makes all vegetables, and most fruit, completely unappetizing. I don't know why it is that whenever I feel the slightest bit sick, vegetables lose all of their appeal. When I was pregnant with our youngest, just seeing a salad would make me vomit. Does this ever happen to Alice Waters???

So, we are continuing to eat things like pizza-that-gets-delivered-rather-than-grilled, and I feel guilty watching that cabbage slowly shrivel a bit more every day.

With any luck, we'll be back to our healthy ways next week. Have a great weekend.

Three for Three

We are, once again, mired in our family's Trifecta of Chaos: head colds for everyone, plus work travel for me, plus a weekend of working for DH. Why these things always hit at once is beyond my snot-stuffed brain to comprehend, but they have. Thus, for dinner this week we have had: cereal (Monday), scrambled eggs (Tuesday), and take out from our neighborhood clubhouse tonight. The only thing remarkable in all of this was when I looked up from my soggy chicken quesadilla tonight, I realized my children were naked. Totally naked. Odd, right? When I asked them why, they said it was naked-dinner-night.

Well, okay. In my exhausted, sudafed-plus-Clariten-plus-Aleve existence, I'm sure that makes sense on some level.

Readers, I will return when the chaos departs. Hopefully in a day or two. Stay tuned.

Whine, Whine, Wine

I can always tell when I go back and read my own posts which ones were written after a glass of wine. Yes, there is a spell check function on blogspot. No, I apparently cannot find it after a toddy.

In with the New

I posted a few weeks ago about our despised chandelier, which is now sitting forlornly on the side of the street, waiting to be picked up tomorrow. Our new one has been delivered and I am so thrilled with it - much simpler and classier. Any day now we'll have to start Dressing For Dinner.

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez...

...and I'll be rolling right along with them, I ate so much this past weekend. Ugh! Can we please call a halt to the skinny jeans trend and skip straight to the I-ate-my-way-through-vacation-jeans trend?
***
It appears that it is nearly impossible to have a bad meal in New Orleans. I say *nearly* only because, hypothetically speaking, if one is so intent on getting to Saks Fifth Avenue that one passess all the cute bistros on a five mile road and doesn't discover one is starving until one is actually in Saks, one might be forced to eat at "Cafe Sbarro." Hypothetically speaking, of course.
***
I forgot my camera. I could just absolutely kick myself for this, because the architecure and details of New Orleans are truly a feast for the eyes.
***
Here are some food lessons learned in New Orleans:
1) Everything is better with butter and garlic.
2) A perfect meal just might be lamb meatballs served with an eggplant and tomato sauce, topped with fresh provolone and arugula.
3) Or it might be the world's most perfectly prepared scallops.
4) Or red wine and crawfish risotto.
5) Or crawfish crepes (OMG. So frickin' good).
6) Or just about anything there.
7) Except Sbarro.

Beignet, Done Dat

First, some background. Attorney Mom and I are having a reunion in New Orleans. Long time readers may remember that Attorney Mom was my partner in crime in Savannah for ages. Then she had the gall to up and leave me, returning home to Kansas City to raise her children closer to family. Gah. This has been a tragic event in my life. BUT, now we are in New Orleans pretty much eating our way through the French Quarter and beyond.
***
The first order of business, naturellement, has been to discover the city's best beignets. We take this endeavor very seriously. After three well considered taste testings in approximately 13 hours, we have a winner. Cafe Beignet, on Royal (just in case you're in the neighborhood) is the clear winner. Cafe du Monde, surly waiter and all (note to future diners - asking for coffee to be decaf AND served with milk is one request too many), gets all the fanfare, but the beignets were average. However, here's the interesting discovery: after Attorney Mom's apparently too high maintenance request for milk, I was scared to ask for sugar for my coffee. Turns out powdered sugar shaken off a beignet does just fine.

April Food Day

Some very clever bloggers, far more clever than I, have designated April 1st as "April Food Day," a day to help fight hunger in our communities. If you have not made a contribution to your local food bank in a while, either of food, money, or time, today would be a good day to do it.
***
My iPad automatically corrects "blogger" into "booger." I find this funnier than I should. Having little boys is clearly rubbing off on me.

Pesto Presto

It's Wednesday night as I type this (I think it is, anyway. Being in Atlanta for two days totally threw off my internal day tracking, and I spent the better part of a conference call yesterday insisting to a colleague it was Monday. Which, in fact, it was not.).

Wait, where was I going with this?

Oh yes. It is Wednesday night. Which means we are all starting to look forward to Friday night pizza. I posted a few weeks ago a reminder that spinach, so gorgeous right now, makes a great substitute for basil in your favorite pesto recipe. And let me tell you, it absolutely, positively rocks on pizza. Dare I say even better than a basil pesto? A basil pesto is wonderfully sweet, while a spinach one has just a bit of edge to it. It is perfect, just perfect on your pizza dough. Top it with fresh mozzarella and then either some prosciutto or some shredded rotisserie chicken. If you want to go meatless, try some sauteed mushrooms. Heaven.

Just in case you don't have your favorite pesto recipe handy, here's how I do it:

1) Fill your food processor with spinach leaves.

2) Add 2 cloves of garlic that you've sort of loosely chopped (the food processor will do the real chopping, you just want to be able to scatter them sort of evenly).

3) Pulse until finely chopped.

4) Open, add a cup of grated Parmesan cheese and generous pinch of freshly ground pepper. Some folks add a pinch of salt, but I think the cheese makes it salty enough.

5) With the food processor going, add about 1/4 cup of good olive oil - the kind that is so yummy you like to dip your bread in it. This is not the place to use the regular stuff that you cook with every day, get something really fabulous. Check the consistency and add a bit more olive oil as needed.

6) You are ready to spread it on your pizza crust - enjoy!