7/30

30 things: #7.

What is your dream job and why?

Oh boy.  I'm going to try and not think too hard about this one.  I still have no idea what color my parachute is. 

Ok, so there are two schools of thought with this question.  I could dig deep into my psyche about what truly makes me happy, and fulfilled and where my heart belongs.  On that note, I would either be a mom to three little half-pints with one on the way, OR I would be building schools in countries where girls are under educated and considered second class citizens.  After all, you  "educate a woman, you educate a nation."  

Second school of thought is the popcorn version.  It's fun, makes you happy, but doesn't really give you the oomph of satisfaction as the above criteria.  That particular dream job would be a local foodie.  Others would pay me to eat at all kinds of new and delicious and interesting foods.  I would tour the valley sampling the best sushi, Thai, BBQ and taco stands each city has to offer.  I wouldn't call myself a food critic, because I really, really like food.  I'm not that critical.  My favorite would be the authentic, mom and pop places.  Places where Grandma Juanita's flan recipe was handed down 3 generations, then to my plate.  I would of course do some brilliant write up in a hipster magazine where everyone who read about my food exploits would add my latest conquer to their own food bucket list.  

Yeah, I could see myself very happy doing something like that.  

I don't really need to go into much detail about the "why" behind this question, do I?  

-In case you're curious, from top left, going clockwise:

1)Primanti Brothers sandwich at a Pirates game in Pittsburgh.  Oh brother, this was a eat with both hands, need a napkin for your elbows type sandwich.  There were fries IN the sandwich!

2) Flo's Clam Shack, Newport R.I.  Oh Flo's.  I love you.  I miss you.  I dream about your clam strips and stuffies.  What you can't see is that the Atlantic ocean and row of turn of the century mansions are just a few clicks to the right.  Best view for eating fried clam strips ever.

3) Sushi feast on my 29th birthday.  Some hole in the wall joint in Middletown, CT.  It was good.   

4) Uh, Flo's again.  Different year. 

Who's ready to hire me?  

I Don't Get It Either

The other night I went to dinner with some friends. (Do you love how easily that sentence came?  Like I do it every week?)

Talking with one friend, of course my kids came up.  She said she hadn't seen them in a while and guessed they were looking pretty big.  (They are.)

I told her to check out my blog.  I maybe have put a few (ahem) pictures over the last year or so where she could see them grow.

Her: "I just don't get blogs."

Me: "Well ya see Lori, what you do is you click on "comment," then you can leave a comment about what you thought of the post."

Her: "No, I get it.  I just don't get blogs."

Me: "Oh."


I felt silly.  She probably really felt silly talking to such a silly person.  All kinds of silliness in that 3 minute conversation.

I suppose my own blog adds to the whole "not getting blogs" attitude.  What is this blog even about?  Me? My kids?  Do readers of this web log even know I have a husband?  (I do.  He's hot.)

It's why I like blogging.  I have a space to be random and nonsensical and even sometimes find significance to everyday things I do.  Like making soup and baking tofu bread.  I've had two so many   requests for the butternut squash soup I made the other day.  So bookmark this post people!  It's bound to become a favorite.

The tofu bread post is something you can look forward to.  So check back, set an alarm, mark you calendars.  What's more exciting than tofu bread?

Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks

1 small or medium yellow onion, diced

2 Tbl olive oil (or butter, I use olive oil for almost everything)

2-4 cloves of garlic, diced

4 C chicken broth

salt and pepper 

nutmeg

In a large stock pot, heat oil.  Add diced onion and garlic.  Saute until onions are translucent.  

Add chicken broth and squash chunks and bring to a boil. 

Boil until squash is soft.  (I just do a squish test with a spoon.  When it squishes easily, it's done.)

With a food processor, blender or any other appliance that will puree your mixture, puree your mixture.  

Obviously the squishier the squash, the easier it will puree. 

Return to the pot, add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.  

So good!

The bigger your squash, the creamier it will be.  Keep extra broth aside in case you want it to be soupier.   I like mine pretty thick.

Enjoy your bowl of fall.   

Shhh! Don't tell...oh, wait. Nevermind.

My sister loaned me one of her cookbooks. It's the Jessica Seinfeld one about sneaking in fruits and vegetables into your kids favorite foods. It is a great idea and I got a little gun-ho about trying out the concept. Especially since some of my little tigers are developing, let's call them, "opinions" at meal time.

I had a giant 5lb bag of carrots freshly purchased yesterday just waiting to be pureed and hidden in their favorite lunch, a cheese and black bean quesadilla. So I peeled, cut, and steamed a bunch of carrots. I decided to only puree half of them.

As I was pureeing, I remembered something. Uh, my kids like carrots. We eat them, like, all the time. (Hence the 5lb bag in the fridge.) I didn't need to disguise them in anything! So I chopped up the remainder of the un-pureed, orange root and gave it to them with lunch. They happily gobbled everything up.

I still have a Tupperware full of orange mush. Hmm. Maybe we'll have orange eggs for breakfast tomorrow.

Food Glorious Food

Please sir... more?

I think I know what a mama bird feels like when feeding her little birdies. Except for the whole regurgitation thing of course. Little mouths open. Little squawks in between bites. Little wings - er, arms flapping in excitement. Because of this new thing we call "real people food," once a day, I now have a new nickname for my little brood.

My little chickens. (I know baby chickens don't eat from nests like I described in above paragraph. But once you have a nickname rolling, it's hard to stop it.)

This little chicken had a hard time getting comfortable for the first time in his new chair.

This little chicken LOVED her first experience snacking on mush.

This little chicken is happy to have anything in his mouth. (Except broccoli around week two of trying real people food. He DID NOT like that one.)

Come back for more food action later this week! To make up for my lack of posting in weeks prior, I have VIDEO footage of the little fledglings on their first time with the yum mushy stuff! Later. Maybe even by Friday! Aren't you on the edge of your seat?

Hold the Mustard

Have you had mustard greens? Wow. If you like wasabi (and whom may I ask doesn't?!) then add mustard greens to your shopping list. I did thanks to a riveting episode of Chopped. (By the way, what did I do before my DVR?) (By the way, I think I use parenthesis way too much.) They are leafy and spicy and sauteed with a little olive oil, diced onions and garlic, they are simply delicious. On a scale of one to ten, I would give it a "whoa nelly."

It was one of those things that I wouldn't have done if my husband would have been home. Green leaves in a fry pan isn't exactly his idea of a meal. But since he was gone, the menu went slightly strange, bordering on weird and I loved it. (Darling, never leave us again! We are all so glad you are home.)

Since I'm on the subject of food. I have had 3 hamburgers in the past week. If you know my eating habits on an intimate level, you would think that is an exorbitant amount of ground beef. I can't explain it. I am loving burgers right now. I even had a plan to make a spicy, homemade burger with mustard greens instead of lettuce for a condiment! It was a plan mind you. Never actually happened. And, and! I ate a double burger today. A Double Burger! I know it's silly, but it is the first double burger I've ever had. It was from Rumbi Grill. There was pineapple on it. There was teriyaki sauce on it. It was divine. I ate the entire thing.

The scary part of the recent hamburger splurge is roughly a year ago, when I was brand new with child (children), I craved burgers. Oooooooooooo. (These ooo's are to be read like a ghost is haunting you.) Oooooooooooooo!

OOOOoooooOOOooooooOOOO!

Did I scare you? I kind of scared myself a little. Don't worry. It's just about the burgers. No bun and or buns cooking in my oven.

Hmmm. I'm making myself hungry. Maybe there is some spicy lettuce left over in the fridge.

Gettin' Crazy on a Monday Night

Yesterday, I added craisins to the Spanish rice I made. Ooooooh. Dangerous!

Soy Milk

Some of my favorite uses:

Pancakes
Smoothies
Oatmeal

But soy milk does not work so well as a straight milk substitute. Don't even think of trying to make a banana cream pie with it. You will look forward to having a delicious banana cream pie only to go to the fridge hours later and it is still as liquefied as ever. Oops!

(Sorry again Van O's! I owe you guys a pie!)

Dear Cheese

I miss you. We've been broken up for almost three weeks now. Do you think about me like I think about you? When you're scanning a restaurant menu or day dreaming of pizza, do I cross your mind at all? I miss your spicy pepper jack side and your mild cheddar side. You were so versatile to me. Of course I found soy cheese, and we get along just fine. I've been lucky to be able to tastily adapt to soy cheese's differences compared to yours. However the uppity attitude is getting to me. The whole "I can only be found in a health food store" game could get old fast. Luckily I've made some other friends there so I don't make a special trip just for soy cheese. I think we'll see each other again real cheese. The holidays are coming up. Everyone cheats during the holidays.

At The Moment

I am currently baking. I'm preparing my humble donation to a baby blessing tomorrow. So, what to do between the 9 minute intervals of batches? Why, blog of course! Why not. I actually have some real thoughts on making chocolate chip cookies. I am also wondering how boring my blog really is. Who posts about chocolate chip cookies? I advise anyone who is actually reading this to stop. Seriously, I'm sure you can find something more interesting that what is in my head about cookies. But if you're still reading, it's your wasted 2-4 minutes (depending on how fast you read and level of comprehension). Read on.

I never realized how therapeutic making cookies is for me! I can feel tiny endorphins and pleasure sensors and whatever else happens in your brain that tells you like what you are doing. I love gathering all the ingredients. It's simple, I know, but I love how 4 eggs by themselves are just eggs, but mix a little sugar and butter with them, and you've got the best part of the cookie! I love watching it all come together in my bowl. When I first mix the gooey mix with the flour, I always think, "Oh boy, this is never going to work, way too much flour!" Then, little by little, stir by stir, wammo mamo, cookie dough. I love making the uniform rows of cookie balls on the baking sheet. I always turn the oven light on. I like to check up them, sometimes see their slow formation from ball to cookie. But, my absolute favorite is getting out the cooling racks. As I'm typing this, I'm realizing this might be coming off a little odd. Oh well, still typing. Anyway, I love getting out the cooling racks and carefully placing the hot cookie on the rack. It's final step before it is savored.

So now you have my thoughts on making cookies. Wasn't that exciting? But really though, I have to post the recipe along with my random, silly thoughts on making them. This recipe is extremely popular in the DeGering family and is made often!

A few notes on the recipe - you have to follow the directions exactly to make sure they are superb. Don't use margarine when it says butter and don't think those Albertson's brand chocolate chip cookies can substitute for using real Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips. Oh, and this recipe make a ton of cookies. Be prepared.

In my family we call them "Fat Stan's Cookies." Uh, you'll have to ask me in person if you want to know why we call them that. Without further ado...

Fat Stan's Cookies

Cream together:

2 C brown sugar
2C granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 lb of butter (yes, one pound)

Add:

2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda

Add:
6 1/2 cups of flour (yes, six and a half)
2 packs Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chips

Bake @ 375 for 9-10 minutes. Do not over bake! They might not look like they are done, but they are.

Yumma yumma.

Chris informed me tonight that these cookies have officially replaced a treat recipe of his mom's! (First of all, don't tell his mom. And second, is it bad that I think this is some kind of tiny victory in a marriage? What's wrong with me?)
And I just realized I missed the extra 1/2 cup of flour. I only used 6 cups. They are a little cracky. Oh well, still edible.

More Fall Favorites

Acorn Squash

1. Pre-heat oven to 425.

2. Halve squash. ( I recommend a Cutco butcher knife.)

3. Scoop seeds.  (I recommend a spoon here.)

4. Add a pat of butter to each half.

5. Add a little brown sugar to each half.

6. Salt and pepper both.

7. Bake on cookie sheet for 50-60 minutes.

Mmmmm.  If you want to get real crazy, drizzle maple syrup or honey on top of sugar before you bake it.  It's like a cookie that has vitamins and good stuff for you!  And also tastes like squash.