Thanksgiving Weekend

Most of the weekend seemed to be stressful and rushed, but there were a few occasions that the smiles came out . . .

Hanging out by the dessert table at the Groen Thanksgiving.





Douwe's hat working well for a sun shade.




Finding our Christmas tree.




An afternoon at the roller rink.

Afternoon at the Arboretum

We had a very light lunch after church, then hopped in the car, told the toddlers to lean their head back and take a nap, and got to Morton Arboretum around 2 pm. Gabe and I scouted out the children's garden while the little ones slept, and then we went back to the car and returned to the garden exploring in this general order: Backyard gardens, adventure forest, step-stone pond, climbing rocks, tree-line rope ladders, root and ramp slides, evergreen maze, toddler shrub maze, gift shop. It was only less than two hours we played here, but it felt like four. It was nippy out, but everyone had lots of fun. We didn't even get outside of the children's garden which is a tiny fraction of this amazing Arboretum. The fall leaves were mostly fallen, but a lot of neat seed pods and things on shrubs throughout our walk.

Pantry Gifts

I went to Community Day at Carson's yesterday for no better reason than to use up the $5 coupon book I purchased for a fundraiser. I did not have a list and so wandered around pretty aimlessly, not too surprised that nothing looked that great. Whenever I am in stores in the last few years, they seem overcrowded with inventory. The aisles are always too small and cluttered to move a cart or stroller through and I feel a bit anxious that all this stuff is supposed to be wanted by people.

Jeff and I have been trying to move more towards giving edible and experiential gifts for special occasions and Christmas. Play tickets, wine, a Bulls game, these aren't easily wrapped, but they seem more worthwhile than another eyeshadow-palette or action figure or pair of slippers.


This photo shows the entire pantry and most of the prep counter space of our kitchen. It is not a lot of space, but we have put out a lot of great from-scratch meals over the last 7 years, mainly because we have an efficiently stocked pantry of common ingredients: It holds about every shelf-stable (or long-frig-life) item on most recipe lists that we have used. Of course we have to get the fresh meat, dairy and produce for each week's menu, but having all the vinegars, spices, and other flavorings usually helps us see that an ingredient list of 15 items is doable since we already have about 12 of the items on hand.

If you are not interested in buying more clothing and toys and grooming gadgets for family members who already have more than they can stuff in their walk-in closets . .here's a couple of pantry gift basket ideas that will encourage your loved-ones to enjoy their kitchen work triangle a little more often and with less up-front expense. Here are some of the ingredients that show up regularly in a lot of cooking and baking recipes we have enjoyed over the years. Do you still have your original mustard seeds from your bridal shower spice rack? Maybe it is time to put a few pantry items on your own wish list! This is my pantry would have if it were fully stocked:

Possible themed collections:
Oil Shelf: Extra-virgin olive oil. Canola oil. Corn oil. Sesame seed oil. Peanut oil. Cooking oil spray.

Vinegar Shelf: Vinegar. Apple-cider vinegar. Balsamic Vinegar. White Wine Vinegar. Red Wine Vinegar. Sweet Rice Wine (Mirin). Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar.

Flavorings Shelf: Soy sauce. Worchestershire sauce. Tobasco sauce. Fish Sauce. Table Salt. Peppercorns/grinder. Kosher Salt. Ketchup. Mustard. Dijon mustard. Whole grain mustard. Mayonnaise. Horseradish. BBQ sauce. Chili garlic paste. Vegetable broth. Chicken stock. Beef base or boullion.

Sweeteners Shelf: Sugar. Honey. Molasses. Bittersweet Chocolate bars for melting. Light brown sugar. Dark Brown Sugar. Mexican chocolate. Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder. Pure maple syrup. Confectioners Sugar.

Spirits shelf: Vanilla Extract. Almond Extract. Peppermint Extract. Brandy. Bourbon. Sherry.

Nuts/seeds/dried fruits Shelf: Sweetened coconut flakes, Pine Nuts, Pecan Halves, Chopped Walnuts, Slivered Almonds, Shelled Pistachios, Peanuts, Peanut Butter, Tahini, Dried Cranberries, Dried Cherries, Golden Raisins, Raisins.

Grains and Beans shelf: Dry lentils, dry peas, dry white beans, canned black beans, canned chick peas (garbanzos), white rice, brown rice, wild rice, corn meal, oats, bulgur, quinoa, wheat bran, various dried pastas, instant polenta, bread crumbs,

Preserved produce shelf (depending on season):cans or jars of: pineapple chunks, tomato paste, tomato sauce, chopped tomatos, capers, black olives, sun-dried oil packed tomatoes, tuna, corn, fruit jelly or marmalade, coconut milk

Baker's shelf: All-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, semi-sweet chips, butterscotch chips, sweetened condensed milk, graham cracker crumbs, corn starch, yeast packets.

Winter Cellar/Root basket: Yellow onion, red onion, white onion, garlic, shallots, potatoes, yams, acorn squash, butternut squash, ginger root (I keep my counter basket stocked with a few of each and throw out anything that starts shriveling up after a few weeks)

Spice/Herb Shelf: ok this alone could add up to a lot of money! In our area there is usually a Mexican food aisle that will carry large portions of these for cheaper than the McCormick bottles that seem to be like $2 a tablespoon.

The coolest gift would be to get a coffee bean grinder, a hand grater, and these whole spices so that they could be ground or grates when needed: whole nutmeg, cumin seeds, whole cloves, coriander seeds, cardamom pods, whole peppercorns.

Or here's the favorites from the Groen spice rack, and it is worth keeping up a supply of everything here, because your spice rack gives you the access to make about anything from any region's cuisine! allspice, dried basil, bay leaves, caraway seeds, ground cardamom, cayenne powder (hot!), chili powder, chinese 5-spice powder, ground cinnamon, cinnamon sticks, ground cloves, ground coriander, curry powder, ground ginger, ground mustard, mustard seeds, ground nutmeg, dried oregano, sweet paprika, hot paprika, ground white pepper, crushed red pepper, dried rosemary, poppy seeds, saffron!, sesame seeds, star anise, dried thyme, dried tarragon, turmeric, whole vanilla beans, wasabi powder.

Reader's Theatre

Gabe got to be the Gingerbread Man part for his class presentation of Gingerbread Boy Goes Uptown, Reader's Theatre style.

Back to Bellaboo's

This indoor play park is only a few minutes from where Gabe and Karma have family visits, so we will be getting here often this winter!

And for a treat . . .

This is the photo Gabe took to document all the chocolate candy chunks that were included in the batch of ice-cream that he and Jeff made on Sunday. We others who did not make the ice-cream were challenged to guess the 9? different types of candy included. They called this flavor: The Halloween Special

Grains and Beans, Raw Veggies

Here are a 3 good recipes for some food groups that are not as easy to incorporate into our menus: raw vegetables, beans, grains, nuts. The adults get to eat well in our house, the kids wish I'd just stick to Macaroni and Cheese mixed up with wieners.

Mexican Slaw (copied from De Cero Taqueria menu)
Shredded Red Cabbage
Grated Jicama
Lime Juice
Chopped Jalapeno
Honey

I don't have any measurements just throw some together and taste it.

Chickpea and Rice Salad w/ Moroccan Spiced-Dressing(from Pamela Morgan's Flavors our first and favorite household cookbook.) Her directions are very particular, long and helpful so I am abbreviating a bit.

Cook up 1/2 cup of wild rice (she adds a little soy sauce and molasses to the cooking water)
Cook up 1/2 cup of brown rice

DRESSING: Toast the dressing spices till fragrant for a few minutes in small heavy skillet over low heat:1 tsp each: (ground) turmeric, coriander, curry powder and nutmeg

Then toss the spices with 1/4 c. olive oil, 1/4 rice wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp honey, 2Tbsp sugar.

In a large bowl combine the dressing with the drained hot rices, and add 1 15-oz can rinsed and drained chick-peas, 1/2 cup golden raisins, and 1/3 cup sliced unblanched almonds, toasted.

Serve at room temperature. The salad can be made a day ahead of eating but then wait to add the almonds right before serving.

I made this last week for a ham dinner and ate about half of it in the morning right after I made it, it is so good!

Lentil Soup from the New Moosewood Cookbook
(I changed the fresh tomato part to canned b/c it is no longer summer.) This soup is very flavorful, I didn't think it would be that great but it is.
3 c. dry lentils
7 c. water
2 tsp salt
6-8 medium garlic cloves, crushed
2 c. chopped onion
2 stalks celery chopped
2 med carrots sliced or diced
optional, 1/2 to 1 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp oregano
lots of ground black peper
(a can of chopped tomatoes)
red wine vinegar to drizzle on top

1; Place lentils, water and salt in a kettle. Bring to a boil, lower heat to slowest possible simmer and cook partially covered for 20-30 min.

2 Add vegetables (except tomatoes), herbs and black pepper. Partially cover and let simmer another 20-30 min, stirring occasionally

3 Add tomatoes and cook for 5 min more

4 Serve hot with a drizzle of vinegar on top of each steaming bowlful