I [Heart] My Life

The Triple Layer Peppermint Bark Tradition

The other morning, while we were breakfast-ing and getting ready for school, out of nowhere Nia burst into tears. Between sobs she said she was worried that Santa would discover that she was a horribly naughty child and not bring her any presents.

Misreading her fears (which were very literal, but, alas, I'm always trying to read between the lines -- doh!), I held her close and told her that there was nothing she could ever do that would make me not love her.

This wasn't cutting it. What about Santa and his list of good and bad children?

This struck me momentarily dumb, and then I got mad.

First of all, Joe and I never told Nia about Santa. She picked up on him from the environment -- cultural and advertising-based -- and as she asked about him over the years, I explained that he is (spoiler alert!) something that some children and grown ups like to pretend at Christmas time, as part of the Christmas Magic. I'm no grinch. I love magic and sparkle and wonder, but I'm not keen on fooling kids either only to have them be brokenhearted and feel duped later. So I've always asked her what she would like to do in our family: to Santa or not to Santa?

So it was her idea to believe in Santa. (He fills the stockings. And in our house, he simply walks in the front door. The guys around town dressed as Santa? Simply helping out.)

Something else we never told Nia: that children are either Good or Bad. Again, this was something she picked up on (possibly by all the random people who ask kids if they've been good this year --! Come to think of it, this is a lot like strangers who used to ask me if my baby was good -- was she a good sleeper? Was she a good eater?).

So the morning that I held my daughter in my arms, I wiped her tears and assured her that Santa was not going to find out she was a bad kid -- because there is no such thing. I also explained what I believe is the true meaning of Christmas: that we (and Santa) give gifts to our loved ones not because they've earned them, but because it makes us happy to give them. Because some people need things more than we do. Because it is better to be generous and caring than to be classically "good" (read: obedient, quiet, compliant).

Of course, Nia asked how Santa would know our house rules (that she gets presents on Christmas morning no matter what), and I quickly said because I told him (let's not forget who's in charge here, Big Man!). I called him up and let him know that on no uncertain terms would he be putting my kid on the Naughty list -- and that questioning authority, figuring out her likes and dislikes, not being perfect at everything she tries, occasionally getting mad, does not in any way make her Bad.

On the contrary, she's doing everything right to grow up to be a person of character and integrity. That's what I call Good.

~~~

We recently had the opportunity to be generous to some strangers -- after one was generous to us. I posted this on Facebook the morning after:

~~~

And what about the peppermint bark? Oh yeah. The whole reason I sat down to write a post this morning. (Sheesh!) Well, this is our third year making and giving away Christmas candy. I posted the recipe link here.

It is pretty amazing. You kind of have to set aside a whole afternoon to do it, and if you try to multi-task too much, it can go bad, but if you just devote yourself to the project, it turns out beautiful and yummy and makes a great gift for teachers, friends, and neighbors, not to mention the folks that do stuff for us all the time, like the woman who delivers the mail, or the man who dry cleans our work suits. 

Smashing peppermints...

Cleaning out the bowl of white chocolate...

Ready to give...

 

 

 

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Weekending: A Practice Birthday Cake (French-Style Yogurt Cake With Lemon)

I mentioned on Facebook on Friday that I needed to try out a recipe this weekend. Nia has requested lemon cake for her birthday next month and lemon cake is not in my repertoire.

That is, till now.

This cake, adapted from Molly Wizenburg's always-a-sure-bet A Homemade Life, was moist and delicious, not to mention gorgeous, but also humble. Not over the top sweet, or over the top fussy. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon -- or a low-key birthday weekend with family in Tahoe.

The kind of cake that you can whip up when you need to make an ordinary day just a little bit sweeter.

French-Style Yogurt Cake with Lemon, adapted from Molly Wizenburg; serves 8

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/2 cup well-stirred plain whole-milk yogurt (not low fat or nonfat)

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1/2 cup liquified coconut oil

For the Syrup: 1/4 c. powdered sugar, sifted; 1/4 cup lemon juice

For the Icing: 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted; 3 TBSP lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with butter. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper, and grease it too.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the lemon zest. Whisk.

In a large bowl, combine the yogurt, sugar, and eggs, stirring to mix well. Add the flour mixture and stir to just combine. Add the oil and stir well. At first, it will look like a horrible, oily mess, but keep going and it will come together into a smooth, pale yellow batter. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake.

Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 min. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan, and invert the cake onto a wide, flat plate or pan. Remove and discard the parchment paper. invert the cake back onto the rack so that it sits upright. Set the rack over a rimmed baking sheet.

In a small bowl, prepare the syrup. Whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Spoon the syrup slowly atop the warm cake. Some of it will drip down the sides onto the baking sheet. No worries. Cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine the icing ingredients. Whisk well to dissolve the sugar completely. Spoon the icing over the cooled cake. (You may find you don't use all the icing.)

Serve immediately -- the icing will be soft and a bit juicy. Or wait till the icing has firmed up, about an hour. Which every way you like.

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Weekending: Coconut-Infused Dutch Baby

We love us some Dutch Baby 'round here. It is a fast, tasty hot breakfast that all three of us enjoy. Recently I experimented with cutting out some of the butter and adding in some whole wheat flour. I wasn't sure how it would take since it is a recipe without many ingredients to begin with. But the result was delicious (by trading some of the butter for coconut oil, it added a healthful component plus another dimension and subtle complexity to the recipe -- win!) and the texture was nearly identical to its full all-purpose flour cousin.

If you've never made a Dutch Baby before, I highly recommend it. It's so easy. Following is my recipe.

Coconut-Infused Dutch Baby (adapted from Foodie Crush, yields 8 slices, 131 calories/slice)

Step 1: In an oven-proof, deep pan put 2 TBSP butter and 2 TBSP coconut oil. (If you don't have coconut oil, or just aren't a fan, you can double the butter, or experiment with another type of oil, like canola.)

Step 2: Put the dish in the cold oven, with the rack in the top third of the oven.

Step 3: Switch the oven on to 425 degrees.

Step 4: Meanwhile, in a large bowl, crack 3 eggs and add 3/4 cup milk. With an immersion blender, combine the eggs and milk well. (Alternatively, you can do this in a blender.)

Step 5: To the egg and milk mixture, add 1/4 cup corn starch, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (alternatively, you can simply use 3/4 cup all-purpose flour -- the corn starch is for a little crisp-ness at the end).

Step 6: Blend the mixture well. (I think this is the trick to the whole recipe.)

Step 7: Once your oven reaches 425 degrees, take the hot pan out and add the egg mixture to the melted oil & butter. Return it to the hot oven.

Step 8: Bake for 20 minutes.

Step 9: Enjoy! Nia and Joe like theirs with maple syrup. I like mine with a drizzle of agave syrup. You could also dust it with powdered sugar.

If you want to make a bigger Dutch Baby, the Foodie Crush bloggess as a simple chart for increasing the proportions here.

Happy Weekend!

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Recipe: Almond & Cream Cheese Holiday Scones

A Trip to the Zoo and a Minty Winter Ice Cream Recipe

This week I was SICK. Not sure if it was the flu or what, but it kicked my butt for a few days straight there. Fever, headache, sore throat, muscle aches, nausea. Ugh.

So at the beginning of the week, I was remembering fondly the weekend trip my kiddo and I took up the coast to the zoo. It was a day filled with moments to savor...

As a mom, it isn't easy being sick. I mean, it isn't easy for anyone. But I find it harder as a mom because my child still wants/needs me. She hates to see me in bed during the day. She hates that I'm not reading to her at bedtime.

Being sick brought back a lot of memories of being sick from chemo, too. That was unexpected and a little startling for me. It made me realize how deeply those months really affected me on a level that will always be with me. Vulnerable, stripped to the bone...

So yesterday afternoon when I discovered I had turned the corner on this illness and that I had energy and good spirits, Nia and I undertook a little cooking experiment that she'd been asking for for a couple of weeks: to make mint chip ice cream.

A rainy afternoon in the middle of winter seemed just right for this kid-pleaser. Especially since the mint is growing so happily right now in the rain. And who says ice cream is for the summer only anyway?

It turned out really good! I only had a spoonful, but from all the happy sighs around me, I knew this was a keeper!

Homemade Mint Chip Ice Cream

All ingredients are best organic, and the milk products are best pastured.

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1 c. sugar

3 c. heavy cream

1 TBSP vanilla extract

2 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

Approx. 50 fresh mint leaves, chopped finely

1 bar of dark chocolate (I used 60% Ghiradelli), finally chopped (I used an electric chopper)

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer or immersion blender to combine the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved, 1-2 mnutes. Stir in the cream, vanilla, peppermint extract, chopped mint, and chopped chocolate.

Turn on your ice cream maker (the bowl should be pre-frozen), and pour the mixture into the bowl. Mix for 20-25 minutes.

Transfer to an airtight container & freeze for at least 2 hours. (After two hours it will still resemble soft-serve; freeze overnight for more frozen ice cream).

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Recipe: Almond & Cream Cheese Holiday Scones

Be Here Now... No, Really: Right Here, Right Now.

Recipe: Almond & Cream Cheese Holiday Scones

One shouldn't eat lemon curd out of the jar. At least not in public.

Thus, sometimes a great recipe comes about simply by the necessity for a (polite) delivery method for a condiment. I'm convinced cooked oatmeal was invented long ago simply to give people a method for the consumption of brown sugar. In this case, Nia and I created some scones to aid in the consumption of the lemon curd I got in my stocking. 

The challenge:

• These were 8-o'clock-at-night, sudden-inspiration scones so I had to make them solely from pantry/fridge items I already had. And since it was Christmas night, I had some interesting odds and ends in my fridge: Egg nog, sour cream, cream cheese, sliced almonds... 
• They had to compliment lemon.

The result was delicious! We enjoyed them with the lemon curd as well as with dollops of whip cream.

Be advised they are not very sweet on their own. Nor are they very healthy -- but maybe that goes without saying. You can begin your New Year diet next week. Right now there is lemon curd and egg nog to be consumed.

Almond Cream Cheese Scones (yield 16 small scones)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees with the rack in the top third of the oven. 

In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups unbleached flour, 2 tsp. baking power, 2 TBSP sugar, and 1/2 tsp. salt.  Cut 4 TBSP of cold butter into pea-size pieces.  Add to flour mixture and work with your hands. Stir in 1/2 cup sliced almonds. 

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup half n' half, 1 large egg, 1 tsp. almond extract, and 1 oz. sour cream. Beat well to combine.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix. Add to the mix, 2 oz soft cream cheese, cut into small pieces. Mix together well, but expect there might be dry flour in the bottom of the bowl. 

Turn the dough onto a clean surface and kneed the dough about a dozen times. Shape the dough into a large ball and cut it in half. Reshape each half into balls again.

I cook scones on a seasoned pizza stone. You don't have to. This just works well for me. Depending on what you use, you may want to cook the scones on parchment paper to avoid sticking. Place your dough balls on your cooking sheet. Press the balls till they are 1" thick, still round. Next, cut each circle of dough into 8 triangles. Ok to leave the triangles touching one another. 

Brush the tops of the circles with egg nog (half n' half would work fine, too, but I liked the subtle nutmeg flavor of the egg nog).

Bake for 17 minutes, until the tops are golden. The middles will still be slightly doughy until they cool. Cool on racks.

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Presto! Chocolate Cake (an "Every Day" Cake)

Presto! Chocolate Cake (an "Every Day" Cake)

We recently celebrated several birthdays around here, and so I had the opportunity to make what has become our go-to chocolate cake. It's fast, easy, and always a crowd-pleaser. One reason is that it stays so moist. Another reason people like it so much is that the 'frosting' is unexpectedly delicious. You mix together semi-sweet chocolate chips with berry jam and a little milk/cream/soy milk, and you get this complex, velvety wonderful-ness....

This is the cookbook intro to the recipe (it contains many elements that make me swoon):

"This is a moist, quick, easy chocolate cake for every day and a great dessert to make with kids. It has a rich, gooey, super-simple, semi-sweet chocolate and fruit glaze that is ready in 5 minutes. We especially like to eat this cake warm from the oven with a cold glass of milk." ~ Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

An every day chocolate cake that is fast & easy to make with kids? Yes, please!

I just offered to share the recipe with a friend and, after looking through all the recipes I've posted on this blog, I couldn't believe I'd never shared this one. So, today is your lucky day!

I just wish I had a picture of the cake -- you'll have to make due with a picture of us enjoying the cake during a doll party (note: Nia asked for sprinkles on her piece):

Presto! Chocolate Cake adapted from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

Serves 8, Prep time 20 min, Baking time 30 min; 368 cals per serving

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 or 9-square or round cake pan (I use a 9" square, glass casserole dish).

In a large bowl, sift together 1 cup unbleached white flour, 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp salt.

In a separate bowl, cream together 1/2 cup butter at room temperature and 1 cup sugar, with an electric mixer. Add 2 large eggs to the butter one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, combine 3/4 cup water with 1 tsp pure vanilla extract.

Add the flavored water by thirds to the creamed mixture, alternating with the flour mixture and beating after each addition.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes.

About 5 minutes before the cake is done, combine 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli) with 1/3 cup fruit jam (cherry, raspberry, apricot, blackberry, orange marmalade...), and 2 TBSP milk/cream/soy milk/water in a small pan and warm on low heat, stirring constantly until melted.

When the cake is done, glaze the top right in the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

 

Day-After-Thanksgiving-Morning Nostalgia in a Bowl, or Simply "Pecan Orange Granola"

I know we're just getting into fall, but can you picture the morning after Thanksgiving?

The house is quiet, you're the first person up. You inhale the faint sent of roasted turkey, and sage dressing from last night... The house is cold. You put the kettle on and look around the kitchen. There are dishes everywhere. The leftovers of the pecan pie are there on the counter too. While you wait for the water to boil, you pick at the pie, breaking a pecan half free, and nibble at it. There's leftover cranberry sauce with orange zest, too. You debate having leftovers for breakfast...

Well, this granola is just like that: toasty pecan, orange-scented, and coconut goodness. The perfect fall/winter granola.

Pecan Orange Granola adapted from Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Everyday

Makes about 8 cups; 477 cal. per cup.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees, with the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven. Set out two rimmed baking sheets.

In  a large mixing bowl, combine 4 cups rolled oats, 1 1/2 cups pecan halves, 1 cup unsweetened shredded large-flake coconut, 1/2 tsp fine-grain sea salt, and grated zest of 2 oranges.

In a small sauce pan over low heat, heat 1/3 cup butter and 1/2 cup maple syrup. Whisk until thoroughly combined, then pour the mixture over the oat mixture and stir until everything is well-coated, at least 30 seconds.

Divide the mixture between the two baking sheets and spread into a thin layer.

Bake for 40 - 50 minutes, divided. First, bake for 20-25 min, then quickly add 2/3 cup dried currents to the two baking sheets (2/3 cup total, divided between the two). Stir, then put the baking sheets back in the oven, putting the one that was higher on the bottom, and the bottom pan up high.

Bake for another 20-25 min.

Remove from the oven. Let cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!

 

Easy Summer Weekend Cooking: Stewed Seasonal Fruit (and Oatmeal Muffins)

A couple days ago, I mentioned on Facebook that I never fully appreciated before how truly comforting plain ole oatmeal could be. It's true: it's been a wonderful soother on my stomach the last 10 days or so since my FEC treatment. 

Plain oatmeal is great, but in the last week, Joe's started regularly making stewed cherries and apricots to go with my oatmeal, which is so delicious that I want to share the recipe here.

Seasonal Stewed Fruit from The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen (Rebecca Katz)

4 large apricots, pitted & quartered

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pinch of salt

10 cherries, stemmed & pitted

1 tsp agave nectar

Combine the apricots, lemon juice, and salt in a small sauce pan over low heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fruit begins to soften, about 10 min. Stir in the cherries, cover and cook, stirring often, until all the fruit has softened, about 5 min. Remove from the heat and stir in the agave nectar. Serve hot, at room temperature, or chilled.

~~~~

Cooking oatmeal frequently means there is often left-over oatmeal. I recently came across the perfect way to re-use this oatmeal: muffins!

Left-Over Oatmeal Muffins, adapted from Soulemama.com

1 cup cooked oatmeal

1 egg

1 TBSP melted butter

1/2 cup milk

4 TBSP sweetener (honey/agave/brown sugar/maple syrup -- I use brown sugar)

1 TBSP baking powder

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup extras (strawberries, chocolate chips, apple, etc.)

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a 12-muffin pan with muffin papers, or grease. Combine the wet ingredients and add the cooked oatmeal. In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients along with the extras to the dry ingredients. Stir well.

Bake for 20 minutes.

 

Parenting With Cancer: Introducing the Vegetable Course

I do my best, but I'm not necessarily any more a nutritional wiz when it comes to feeding my kid than anyone else.

Sometimes that means that all she wants to eat for dinner is bread and roasted chicken skin (she actually frequently says lately with a greasy grin, "I'm a chicken skin girl!").

I feel like I'm constantly urging protein and veggies on her. Sometimes successfully, sometimes not so much. Luckily she loves beans and eggs (hard boiled or sunny-side up, please, but don't even try to give her an omelet or a fritata!).

In the past, nori has saved us in the vegetable department: If she's not eating many other vegetables in a given day, at least she's eating sea vegetables!And occasionally we successfully combine eggs (protein!) and nori (veggies!) into this tasty breakfast/snack/lunch/dinner.

But even lately, she's not the nori monster she once was.

So I had a light bulb moment when I was reading Pam Druckerman's Bringing Up Bebe.

Druckerman was discussing the differences between how American children eat and how French children eat. Mainly, that French children eat vegetables and not just pizza, chicken "fingers" and grilled cheese sandwiches. She talked about a given in France (even in preschools!), which is serving food in courses: a vegetable course, followed by main course (that can also include vegetables), and finishing with a cheese course.

A vegetable course! (Que the light bulb over my head.)

I'll tell you why it's brilliant: 1) If you make sure your kid comes to the table hungry, they'll eat the first thing you set before them, 2) if vegetables are all that are available, they'll eat them.

It takes a little bit of planning to space out your dinner into course, but I've seen it payoff so well if the pasta, chicken, potatoes, corn, etc. stays in the kitchen until the first course vegetables are eaten. And they are eaten!

This can work in restaurants, too. Recently Nia and I went to the Crepe Place for dinner. We ordered a steamed artichoke to share and I asked the waitress to wait to bring our main dishes until we'd finished the artichoke. Nia was really hungry, so she dove into the artichoke. As soon as her pasta appeared, though, she was over the artichoke, even though she'd been so into it moments before. Which made me really glad I'd asked for the delay in bringing it. I've also gotten in the habit of asking for the bread to be brought half way through the main course, instead of before or at the beginning.

When Nia and I are eating alone at home for lunch or dinner, it works out well to prepare her vegetable course first and then while she's eating it at our kitchen bar, we can chat while I finish cooking/preparing the main course. A lot of times, she comes into the kitchen wanting a snack 30 min before dinner, claiming she's starving, so the vegetable course has been a great way to be able to say "yes, you can have a snack -- here's your vegetable course!" (Yes, in a super nerdy way we literally call it a "vegetable course." Sometimes she asks if she can have corn for her vegetable and since I've explained that corn is actually a grain, she asks for a "grain course." Tricky girl.)

When introducing this method in your house, I'd recommend starting with the veggies you already know your kid likes. Then branch out from there to introduce other veggies. And remember, just because they didn't like it last week, they might like it now.

In our house, I expect Nia to at least try everything. While she may announce that she still doesn't like beets, she gets excited when she discovers she does like red bell peppers -- it makes her feel like she's growing up. So instead of saying, "I don't like xxx," I'm trying to get her to say something my wise kindergarten teacher taught me 30 years ago: "No thanks, I have not yet learned to like xxx."

Some simple, kid-friendly vegetable course ideas:

~ Steamed artichoke with mayo, butter, or garlicy olive oil for dipping

~ Cooked peas with olive oil and salt

~ Steamed broccoli with cheddar cheese

~ Roasted sweet potato plain or with butter

~ Glazed carrots (combine cut carrots with water, honey, butter and salt in a large skillet; cover and simmer until carrots are tender; uncover and cook until liquid is a syrupy glaze.)

~ Raw or steamed sugar snap peas (it's fun to eat them out of the pod)

~ BBQed green beans

~ Brussels sprouts cooked with a little bacon grease

~ Kale chips

~ Nia's roasted carrots

~ Simple veggie stir-fry (frozen veggie mix stir-fried with 1 tsp of peanut or canola oil; toss with 1 tbsp oyster or hoisin sauce or Soy Vay and 1 tbsp rice vinegar)

~ Coleslaw

One more idea: The wonderful children's cookbook Pretend Soup as several recipes for vegetables that are meant to be mostly cooked (and eaten!) by children. Fun!

 

 

 

A Little French Strawberry Cake (Yogurt Cake Recipe)

I mentioned yesterday that for our Escape from Cancerland this week Nia & I baked a cake. I also said she largely made it on her own, which is true. The idea came from Pam Druckerman's Bringing Up Bebe; it is a French recipe for a yogurt cake that apparently most kids in France grow up baking. The clever part is that it takes two 6oz containers of plain yogurt, which the kids then use to measure many of the other ingredients. Since Nia can't read (yet), I took it one step further and transcribed the recipe into picture form so that she could decipher it herself (and she did sound out "sugar" and "flour," which was a first!).

Gateau au Yaourt (Yogurt Cake) adapted from Bringing Up Bebe

2 six-ounce containers of plain whole-milk yogurt (use the empty containers to measure the other ingredients)

2 eggs

1 or 2 containers of sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Just under 1 container vegetable oil

4 containers of flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 to 2 containers of extra flavoring (chocolate chips, berries, etc.)

Creme fraiche or whip cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Use vegetable oil to grease a 9-inch round cake pan or loaf pan.

Gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and oil. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients; mix gently until just combined (don't over mix). Add your extra flavoring.

Bake for 35 minutes, then 5 minutes more if the cake doesn't pass the knife test. It should be almost crispy on the outside, but springy on the inside. The cake is delicious served with tea and a dollop of creme fraiche or whip cream.

Note: While the recipe calls for 4 containers of flour, the cake feels a bit heavier to me than the author intended; I believe it should be quite spongy. Next time I'm going to try 2 containers. ~AS