I’m Sure I Was Going to Tell You Something
I just pulled up Add New under Posts. I did it with a purpose because I was focused. See how I said was? That’s because I already lost my train of thought.
It’s because I’m tired. We worked hard last night, got a lot of work stuff done – logos and website updates and marketing campaigns on their feet and Jud trained me on some stuff. I was going to do some laundry after that, but then I didn’t because Nightline was on and I wanted to steal nachos off of Jud’s plate while we watched. They promised Nate Berkus would tell us how to renovate our kitchen without spending a lot of money. Instead they told us that we should buy Nate Berkus stuff from Target and not keep a lot of stuff around unless it ‘tells our story.’ I was disappointed. Nightline also told me about how insane people are trying to get Flaming Hot Cheetos banned from schools. It would be fine if we were talking about school lunches or school vending machines, but these peeps want to tell people that their children can’t bring them in their lunches and consume them in the cafeteria. The world is a strange, horrible place sometimes. If we spent half the energy into delivering ANY food to kids who are hungry on this orb that we spend fretting about what we’re giving to the children who are eating too much (sodium, carbs, sugar, meat or whatever the next fad shall be) we’d have half as many hungry kids on the earth.
I have a crazy hungry kid in my house today. He’s eating everything. He had two breakfasts. He ate two morning snacks. Then there was lunch. Three o-clock snack was two Rise & Shine Smoothies (do you know about these? They are the best (BEST!) in the smoothie world. Here’s what you do. Take equal parts vanilla yogurt and orange juice (I only drink Simply orange because it is so stinking yum. You can squeeze your own organic oranges. Go ahead. We’ll wait….), one frozen banana (or not frozen, whatevs. I pop them in the freezer after peeling them when they get a bit too ripe), and some berries (whatever you have – straw, blue, rasp, black). Blend.), toast and applesauce.
The baby’s crying now. Whatever I wanted to say will have to wait. Go make that smoothie now. You can thank me later, if you remember.
Read MoreThank You Thursday – Market Pantry
This one is dedicated to the helpful people at Market Pantry. Let’s say you always wanted to eat a delicious wrap. Maybe you ate one at Panera (do they have them there? Or maybe at Chipotle (because technically a burrito is one…right?) or some such place. I don’t know, because I don’t order wraps when I am out.
If you order a wrap somewhere, is it because you are trying to save calories? Maybe you just want to appear to care about carbs? Maybe you really really love tortillas. I don’t know. Gluten? That sounds the best I think. You want to avoid gluten so you order a nice gluten free wrap sandwich.
As you enjoy your wrap, I bet sometimes, if the wrap is really good, you wonder if you could make it at home. Let’s see, you’d say to yourself, I’ll need avocado and chicken and tomatoes and some lettuce of various kinds and of course, a tortilla. I’m just gonna wager that you don’t ever wonder to yourself HOW to make the wrap.
BUT!!!
Just in case you are a complete idiot, Market Pantry included steps for you:
Oh, now wait.
Place, fold, roll?
Fold, Place, Roll?
What one earth?!
I’ve rolled and then placed and now I’m folding and oh, this is too much!!
I give up!!!
Bah, I’ll just get some bread.
Read MoreWorld’s Best Chicken Gravy – According to Kim
I’m not all that into foods covered in sauces. I know a lot of people think that the sauce makes the meal and that saucing the plate is the last and most important step in chefdom. I’m just not one of them.
For fifteen years of my life, I couldn’t smell. Since I couldn’t smell, I couldn’t taste either, but I didn’t KNOW I couldn’t taste. I thought I was tasting things. I was really just eating them based on texture. Know what sauces do to the texture of things? They ruin it. Sauces make things that should be crunchy, soggy and things that should be soft, mushy. Soups hide chunks of stuff that you won’t be able to recognize, even after you bite into it, because the texture of the item has been ruined by sitting in the broth/sauce of the soup. If I couldn’t feel the food, I had nothing to go on. If you eat based on texture for fifteen years of your life, you’ll be a little picky about stuff like sauces. You won’t be able to help it (and you’ll be crazy sympathetic to your kids when they freak out about having extra plates and bowls for salsas and sour creams. You’ll be the cool parent on this one item, at least). I’ve never really gotten over it.
Texture still matters, nearly above taste, which is why I’m not a gravy fan. Until now. Maybe.
We received some left over food from a wedding this past weekend – namely, potatoes and salad. The salad was served on the side and there was no gravy involved there. The rest of the salad was used tonight for Taco Salad – Paula’s recipe. She makes killer potato salad (according to everyone but me, because I do not eat potatoes covered in a sauce like dressing) and her taco salad will blow your mind with simplicity and deliciousness (Cut up some iceberg lettuce/shake out a bag of lettuce, cut up some tomatoes, brown 1 pound ground beef/turkey and add taco seasoning, grab some shredded cheddar cheese, mix everything with 1 cup Miracle Whip Dressing. Just before serving crush up plain Doritos [the ones in the yellow bag] and toss ’em in! Easy and tasty).
GRAVY RECIPE REQUIREMENTS
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tblsp olive oil
2 Tblsp butter
1/2 cup finely diced onions
1/4 cup flour
1/3 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
2 tsp garlic powder
salt
pepper
Preheat oven to 350.
The potatoes were going to need a little help since they were already mashed and going to be reheated. Nobody wants to eat potatoes if they are dry. Reheating them was for sure going to suck the moisture out. Gravy would be a necessity.
I had chicken breasts and decided to bake them. Have you baked chicken? I’m sure you have. Don’t they look so sad and white and not tasty? That’s why you have to sear them in a pan first. I’m not sure why I only realized this last year, but sometimes I can be a little slow on the uptake. Sear those puppies in a nicely hot pan (I use olive oil and salt and pepper them generously). Once they’ve got good, brown color on both sides, remove to a baking dish and finish in a 350 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes.
In your pan, add 2 Tblsp butter and 1/2 cup finely diced sweet onion. Saute until translucent (they’ll turn kind of brown from the butter and oil – just make sure they aren’t still white). Add 1/4 cup flour. Cook 3 mintues until brownish. Deglaze and go crazy with 1/3 cup white wine. Cook 3 minutes. Add 2 cups chicken stock. Reduce to desired consistency. Add 2 tsp garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Plate chicken and potatoes and pour gravy all over both.
If you try it out, let me know if you’ve had better. I’ll want that recipe.
Read MoreKey Lime Pie
“If I had it to do over again, I would have made a different kind of pie” so begins Nora Ephron’s final chapter in Heartburn, her 1983 book that is just a bit based on her own life and (a failed) marriage. It’s a terrifically written book. Rachel, the main character and narrator, admits that she tells stories to lessen the pain that those stories bring and (obviously) I could completely relate (not about a marriage failing, just about how telling stories is like a balm to my aching heart).
I’m originally from a family of story tellers. My father and his father before him and probably all through history back to one of Noah’s sons is this long line of story tellers, sharing too much and forgetting that some people think those stories are about one-upping someone else, when it is only an attempt to relate well. Still, there are times when the story should stay in my own head. The urge to share it is overwhelmingly powerful and they sometimes just seem to tumble out of my mouth without me even trying. When I attempt to stop them from coming I can feel frantic and horribly stifled like I’m underwater and have got to make it to the air. I suppose that is why I’m here. This is like breathing. Hopefully you enjoy the stories as much as we enjoyed the pie last night.
Ingredients
Crust (mine)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Filling (Nora’s)
6 large egg yolks
1 cup lime juice (Nora’s note: even bottled lime juice will do. Kim’s note: bottled lime juice!! YES!!)
2 cans (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk (I used just one. Two seemed like crazy pants.)
1 tablespoon finely grated Key lime zest (my zester is non-existent. I did my best.)
Topping
Cool Whip (stop judging me. My stand mixer is funky and I haven’t taken it in to be repaired.)
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine the cracker crumbs and butter in a medium bowl, and mix until moist. Evenly press mixture into a 9-inch pie plate, and bake until lightly browned, about 9 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled.
Beat the egg yolks until thick (Kim’s note: if raw eggs skeeve you out, you could Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is foamy and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, about 6 minutes. Remove bowl from heat, and whisk in condensed milk and zest until well combined). Add juice, condensed milk and the grated lime rind. Pour into cooled crust. Freeze until firm, 3 hours.
Remove pie from freezer 5 minutes before serving. Combine cream and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on medium speed until soft peaks form, 2 to 3
minutes. Spread evenly over pie, and serve immediately. (Kim’s Note: If not serving a big party, keep topping separately and add to individual pieces as you serve.)
Hi! I’m a washed out pie about to be frozen! I look yellow. EGGS!
You Know It
You know that it has been a good Independence Day when…
…the grill was properly utilized.
…the dishwasher has to be run twice in a row to clean all of the supper dishes.
…your neighbor hoses down his roof.
…an out of town friend from the east coast shows up in town in plenty of time to join in.
…your baby sports a red and white striped shirt with a butterfly on it.
…your little girl was ‘too busy’ to nap.
…your husband finally agreed that the best way to deal with Legos is to organize them by color.
…your little boy spends a lot of time running away from things that were lit in the street.
…your mother bathes your baby while you compile lists on the internet and deal with the dishes.
…you make lists about how good the day has been when it’s only 6:36 and nowhere near dark outside yet.
Here’s to everyone having all of their digits by the end of the night and to all of our homes not catching on fire!
UPDATE: add the following items to your list:
– your (still-just-barely) 4 month old baby talks herself to sleep.
– your husband sees you and comments that you ‘look summery’.
– your feet log 4 miles and your treadmill had a fan in it.
– unexpected friends from in town call mid way through your night and join you to end the evening.
– you watch your husband retrieve a parachute dude from your neighbors roof.
– your kids are so sweaty you force them to drink gallons of water and they barely pee.
– your so tired at 10:21 pm that you think about not even bothering with the necessary face washing.
– you have to add to your list of awesome things before you ignore your pores because your day was just that good.
Read MoreSuppertime Plans
It’s 4:59, in the pm. I am not in the kitchen. That’s where I usually spend the last hour to hour and a half before Jud pulls in the driveway. Instead I am here – sitting in front of the computer screen pretending that I am going to find something useful on smittenkitchen or allrecipes.
I’m sure I won’t though, because I haven’t defrosted a protein for our meal tonight. That means the most important part of the dish would be missing – still cocooned in frost, all wrapped up in our side by side.
There is lunch meat (shut up, hippies, I love roast beef) and there are some hot dogs (again, hippies. at least they are Hebrew National). I think I could make something good with eggs, but I’m guessing the Jud won’t care for it. He’s not so much into the breakfast at suppertime thing.
This is a funk. Less funky, more funk.
It’s summertime and I’d rather be reading.
Read More