Ginger bread house cookies

Things have been so crazy around here for several months. More like the last 2 years actually. I've only just now gotten a free moment to blog about some awesome Christmas cookies we made. I found the instructions here.

They turned out both delicious and entertaining. They were a little time consuming to make, but many hands make light work!

Baked Tofu

I know baked tofu isn't a typical American mealtime staple, but I wanted to give it a try. I made a simple marinade out of soy sauce, ginger, garlic and sesame oil, then baked the slices.

Baby D approves.

An absence from cooking

Here's what my new kitchen looks like. There will be a stove between the 2 skinny windows and a peninsula will divide the kitchen from the dining room. I cannot wait for it to be finished for several reasons. Our temporary housing has a tiny kitchen with an oven whose door gets so hot it burns little hands, so no baking. Hubby is doing all the work on the new house so he is home for 10 minutes after work and then he's gone until midnight. Anything I cook has to able to either withstand reheating or stay warm. There are only so many times you can blog about chili.
The new kitchen will be so nice when it's finished. I can't wait to sit down as a family for a meal and have a conversation with my husband. Baby D isn't talking yet, so our chats are kind of one-sided.

Carrot, pear applesauce

I've been playing around with applesauce combinations lately. I made a raspberry applesauce which Baby D loved, but my blueberry applesauce turned out way too thick. Almost gelatinous.
I wanted to make a vegetable applesauce, but I needed a different way to feed it to little miss I'm-too-big-to-be-spoon-fed. I used one pound of baby carrots, one pear and one cup of applesauce. I steamed the carrots for 20 minutes and the pears for 10, then strained them with some plain applesauce and the leftover steaming liquid. I took it one step further and blended the mixture to a fine puree. Now she happily sips it down with a straw. Now we're both happy! I'm sneaking vegetables into her diet and she's a big girl by drinking out of a cup.
Bliss.

Pepparkakor

Another old fashioned cookie recipe. These are noted as being "Swedish gingersnaps with a "bite"."
These can certainly hold their own in the cookie world. They have a dash of black pepper, which gives them their "bite." It's a unique flavor and a holiday favorite.
Hopefully I'll be able to post the recipe after my little one has gone to bed.

Avgolemono

Yummy. Nothing better to warm you up on a chilly evening when you're on the cusp of a seasonal cold. This egg and lemon soup is a traditional Greek recipe I first tried on a trip to Greece back in 2004. I've been working on replicating it ever since and I think tonight I made my best batch. I added chicken because I had a little leftover from a store bought rotisserie chicken.

Avgolemono with Chicken
Serves one as a main course or 2 as an appetizer:

1/3 Cup Orzo
1/3 Cup chopped cooked chicken (optional)
2Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 cups chicken broth
2 eggs
pinch salt

In a medium pot, set the broth to boiling.
Add orzo and chopped cooked chicken. Cook over medium heat for 9 minutes.
In a medium bowl, thoroughly whisk the eggs.
Slowly add in the lemon juice.
Gradually add a couple of ounces of the heated broth to the egg-lemon mixture to warm it, then slowly add the mixture to the broth.
Stir gently over a low flame.
Salt to taste.
Serve right away

Green eggs and ham

I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
I do not like green eggs and ham.

We're big Dr. Seuss fans around here ever since Baby D changed our reading preferences from "The Wall Street Journal" to "Hop on Pop". I think we now own half the books by Dr. Seuss. I try to grab them at yard sales and library sales whenever I see them. "The Lorax" is an impossible find.
I can recite "My many colored days" in my sleep, but "I had trouble in getting to Solla Sollew" is by far my favorite. If you're ever having a bad day or things just aren't going your way, you should read this book. It will change your perspective for the better. Dr. Seuss is great like that.
But getting back to Green Eggs and Ham. This was something I made up just to use up some leftover ham. It's quick, easy and tastes delicious. The only thing I might change in the future is to add more spinach and chop it finer to give the whole dish more of a green hue.
Green Eggs and Ham:
(serves one)
1/2 Cup chopped leftover ham
1 medium onion
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 eggs beaten
1/4 Cup finely chopped fresh baby spinach

In a skillet heat the oil and butter over medium heat. Finely shop the onion and add to skillet. Sautee until onions are softened. Add ham and stir with onions until ham is heated through. Beat eggs in a bowl and add 1tsp water. Add chopped spinach to eggs. Add egg and spinach mixture to ham and onions and stir until eggs are cooked and spinach is softened.
There's no need to add salt because the ham lends a salty flavor.

I do so like green eggs and ham!
Thank you!
Thank you, Sam-I-am!

Pizza Burgers

Ever try the Pizza Burgers from the Schwan's truck? I used to love these things as a kid. It took a little creativity to figure out how to season the meat, but it's actually quite simple. I don't have exact measures for the ingredients I used because I was basically winging it, but they're close. These turned out really good.

Pizza Burgers:
1lb Lean Ground Beef
4oz Tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
1tsp basil
1/2tsp garlic salt
swiss style processed cheese

Combine the beef, tomato paste, oregano, basil and garlic salt thoroughly. Press into thin rounds. Add a round slice of cheese and another round of beef mixture. Pinch sides closed.
I used a biscuit cutter to cut my slice of cheese and then used the excess as the filling of the next burger. (waste not!) You'll want to keep the beef slices rather thin because you don't want them to take forever to cook. If they take too long the cheese all melts out. The finished burger in the photo was almost too thick.
Cook burgers over medium high heat on a grill pan.
Enjoy!

Home made Play-Doh

I made my first batch of Play-Doh this week. I have to admit, I think I've been playing with it more than Baby D has. It has proven to be an invaluable addition to our kitchen though. I was able to make dinner the other day while she played with the Play-Doh at the kitchen table. This stuff is worth its weight in gold for the twenty minutes of free time it gave me.
I cut this recipe in half. A full batch is pretty big.
No Cook Playdough
3 Cups Flour
3 Tbs Alum
1/2 Cup salt
2 Tbs. cooking oil
2 cups boiling water
Add 10 drops of food coloring to liquid or 2-3 Tbs dry tempra to flour. Adjust color intensity as desired.
Mix ingredients in order given. Knead well. Keeps up to 6 months in plastic zip bag.

Scalloped potatoes wih buttermilk

Everything tastes better with buttermilk. That's a universal constant. Pancakes, biscuits, even scalloped potatoes.
Today I tried something different. I've become a fast fan of precooking the potato slices in a milk/ heavy cream mixture in a skillet on the stove top. I didn't have any heavy cream so I substitited buttermilk instead. At first it was pretty scary. As soon as buttermilk hits the heat it turns into a cottage cheese consistency. I was afraid I had ruined the whole dish. In time and at a slightly lower flame, it smoothed out and started cooking nicely. I layered the potato slices and cream with some cheddar cheese and leftover ham. I baked it at 350F for about an hour. I kept checking it every twenty minutes to see if the potatoes were done. I should have precooked them on the stove longer I suppose. For such a tasty dish, this sure does take forever to bake.