Thanksgiving recap: So much food!

So full!

This Thanksgiving it was just the 5 of us (like last year) and we had a 17 pound Turducken that took us over a week to eat, a few side dishes that everyone likes, and 3 pies.  Well, it was only supposed to be one pie but a friend brought us a Hibiscus / Jamaica pie that was delicious.  Pie for breakfast, pie for lunch and a little turducken thrown in . . . you get the idea.

The worst part is that I didn't take any photos of the pies!  Little and Middle like pumpkin pie and they were in charge of the pumpkin cheesecake pie and Big does not.  My husband wanted a pie with ingredients from Hawaii so we settled on a Kona coffee, cocoa & coconut custard in a macadamia nut shell.  Big really likes chocolate but this was too much coffee and not sweet enough for her taste.  I didn't realize it when I was coming up with the recipe that this is really low sugar and might even work for my friends who are keto / low carb.  I thought it was delicious!

Pie #1:  Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie in a Graham Cracker Crust

A graham cracker crust (we bought one)

2 (8oz) blocks of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon, pinch nutmeg, pinch cloves)

1/2 cup frozen whipped topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well in between.  Place 1 cup of this mixture in the bottom of the graham cracker crust and set aside.  To the remaining mixture, add the pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice and mix until well combined.  Carefully spread this on top of the cream cheese mixture.  Bake in preheated oven for 35-45 minutes or until the middle is almost set.  Let it cool at room temperature before refrigerating.  Refrigerate at least 3 hours (or overnight) and before serving, spread with whipped topping.

Pie #2:  Kona Coffee Cocoa Coconut Custard in a Macadamia nut crust

*The amount of custard will fill two pie crusts.  We only made one pie and ate the rest of the custard on it's own with a little whipped cream.

9 full sheet graham crackers

1/4 cup roasted macadamia nuts

1/4 cup toasted coconut

1 T sugar

5 T unsalted butter, melted

2 cans coconut milk (not "light")

1 cup coffee or espresso 

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

2 oz alcohol or liquer (optional - we used 1oz dark rum but you could also use Baileys or flavored bitters or add another flavoring or just skip it)

8 egg yolks

200g dark chocolate, finely chopped

Whipped cream, for serving

Start by making the crust.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Crush the graham crackers and finely chop the macadamia nuts.  Putting them in a food processor or mini chopper would work well (we did it the old fashioned way with a mallet).  Stir in the toasted coconut, melted butter and sugar and stir to combine.  Press the mixture into the bottom of a pie pan and bake for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let it cool.

For the custard, combine coconut milk, coffee, vanilla and salt in a heavy saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  We added the rum here so that the alcohol would burn off but if you want a more "spiked" version, you could add it later when the custard is off the heat.  

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks together.  Remove the coconut mixture from the heat and temper the egg yolks (constantly whisk them while adding 1 T of coconut mixture at a time, until you've incorporated about 1/2 cup without scrambling the yolks).  Once the yolks are tempered, slowly pour them into the coconut mixture, constantly whisking.  Return to medium heat and while stirring, allow the custard to thicken until it coats the back of a spoon.  Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until completely melted.

Pour custard into pie crust and cool to room temperature then refrigerate for at least 4 hours to allow the custard to set.  Serve with whipped cream.

Fake Out Take Out

During Covid-19 days, we have done a lot of cooking and eating at home and tried to approximate versions of restaurant cooking that we miss.  While take-out is readily available in our area, we haven't ordered too much and a few weeks ago, I made this version of Orange Chicken that was delicious, not deep fried, and will continue to satisfy my craving for Orange Chicken.  The girls all enjoyed it and it was a hit all around.

Instant Pot Orange Chicken (serves 4)

Recipe from A Fork's Tale

4 chicken breasts

3/4 c. barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)

2 T soy sauce

3/4 cup orange marmalade

2 tsp cornstarch

Chopped green onions (for garnish)

Optional:  Cooked white rice or cooked ramen noodles (for serving)

Chop the 4 chicken breasts into large chunks.  If the breasts are sliced too thin or the chunks are too small, the end result will be dried out.  Add the chunks with eh barbecue sauce and soy sauce to the Instant Pot.  Cook on manual high for 4 minutes.  When it's done, do a fast release.  Take 1/4 cup of the liquid from the instant pot and put it in a bowl.  Whisk in the 2 tsp cornstarch.  Return it to the instant pot (the whisking should eliminate lumps).  Then, stir the marmalade into the instant pot.  Mix well and then change the setting to "Sauté" and leave it there for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Turn the heat off and let it sit for 5 more minutes.  The sauce will thicken.  Garnish with green onions.  Serve over rice, noodles, or by itself.

Appetizer

 Here's a little glimpse of what we've been up to in the last month or so . . . 

Little has lost 3 teeth - she's holding a photo of Big with the same smile

The little girls got bedroom furniture and organized all their stuff

Big got a new surfboard and has been enjoying long days outside

Little's summer goal was "to climb more trees."

And Middle has been enjoying some freedom on her bicycle and roller blades.

We had a chance to go to a friend's house for dinner (so exciting!) and I brought this new appetizer.  I had seen it on Pinterest but it was the first time I'd actually made it and it turned out really yum!

Blueberry Balsamic Goat Cheese Appetizer (6 servings)

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 tsp honey

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

4 oz goat cheese

2 oz cream cheese

Crusty French bread, crackers (for serving)

Add blueberries, honey, salt, and balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan over medium heat.  Cook for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Cool for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat the goat cheese and cream cheese together.  Spread the cheese mixture over a plate.  Top the cheese mixture with the cooled blueberry mixture.  Serve the dip with crusty French bread or crackers.

The Watermelon Drink

A friend recently asked me for the recipe of "the watermelon drink" and I was surprised it never made it to the blog.  I found it in the depths of my Pinterest and I don't think I ever made it last summer.  It's a good one - perfect for the start of summer!  I usually make a big jug of pitcher of it without alcohol and let the adults add a shot or two to their cups of ice before adding the watermelon mixer.  I prefer gin but vodka, white rum, or tequila will each work well and give a slightly different taste.  Cheers!

Watermelon Mint Cooler (makes about eight 8oz servings)
Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

3 cups coarsely chopped seedless watermelon
1/4 - 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)
1/2 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 cups white grape juice
1-2 tsp finely shredded lime peel
3/4 cup fresh lime juice, chilled
32 ounces club soda, chilled
fresh mint sprigs or lime wedges (optional)

Place the watermelon in a blender and blend until smooth.  If you want, you could put it through a fine sieve and discard the pulp.

In a pitcher or mixing bowl, put the sugar and mint leaves.  Use a large wooden spoon or muddler to crush the mint by pressing it against the side of the pitcher or bowl.  Add the grape juice, lime peel, lime juice and watermelon puree and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Stir in the club soda.  Serve in glasses over ice.  Garnish with mint sprigs or lime wedges.

Quarantine Soup

This is a very flexible, adaptable recipe for using up what produce and protein you have.  You could add more beans or leave them out, add cooked chicken or beef or pork instead of the sausage, start with water instead of chicken broth . . . it ended up delicious and was hearty - just what we needed.

Quarantine Soup (about 4-6 servings)

Start by sautéing an onion and some other vegetables (like a mirepoix) - I used
1/2 - 1 cup chopped onion
1/2  - 1 cup chopped celery
1/2  - 1 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

When it's pretty much sautéed, add a few cloves of garlic (diced) and saute a little more.  Then add your liquid and beans.  I used 4 cups chicken chicken broth and a can of white beans (drained but not rinsed).  Add some seasonings - I eyeballed some Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, paprika, and threw in a bay leaf.

Let it simmer for awhile - I let mine simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour.  Then add your cooked protein.  I added 2 links fully cooked Italian sausage, sliced thin.   Right before I was ready to serve it, I stirred in a few handfuls of kale (spinach would also work well or you can leave out the green stuff) and a tablespoon or two of good quality balsamic vinegar.  Taste and add salt and pepper if it's needed.  Grate some parmesan cheese over the top

Enchilada Verde Soup

Some things my girls have done to amuse themselves while we had to stay at home . . . 

Taking glamour shots of each other on my iPhone

Lots of drawing (check out Art Hub for Kids)

Visiting local farms / produce stands

Jedi light saber battles

Painting random crap (she's getting really good!)

Studying (so glad we got the new desk set up before all this) 

Riding bikes

Swimming

Dyeing hair and holding the guinea pig

Back when it was raining while we were doing "stay at home" I was craving some comfort food.  From, chicken enchiladas are the ultimate comfort food but I had also been wanting to make white chicken chili - this is a combination of both. I had some of these ingredients, an old recipe and wanted to remake it for the Instant Pot.  I'll give the IP directions first using frozen chicken and then the way to make it in a slow cooker or on the stove.  I know that using the cooking liquid might seem a little gross at first but it just made a really flavorful chicken broth and since I was using boneless, skinless trimmed chicken breasts, it wasn't very fatty.

I served it with a sheet pan of nachos from the oven which was delish but tortilla chips to dip into it or crumble on top will also work great!

Enchilada Verde Soup (serves 6)

1 lb frozen chicken breasts
1 can of chicken broth (or about 2 cups)
1 can of diced green chilis
12 oz salsa verde or green enchilada sauce
1/2 cup diced onion
1 T cumin
1/2 T chili powder
1 cup frozen corn
8 oz block cream cheese

Place the frozen chicken breasts in the instant pot with the chicken broth and pressure cook at high pressure for 12 minutes.  Do a 5 minute natural release.  Leave the liquid in the pot and remove the chicken and shred it (if it's not shreddable, you can put the lid back on and pressure cook for 2-3 more minutes and do the natural release again.  Mine was good with this amount of time).

Put the shredded chicken back in the pot in the cooking liquid and add the green chilis, salsa verde, frozen corn, diced onion, cumin, and chili powder.  Pressure cook 3 more minutes and do a natural release.  Open the pot up and  add the cream cheese.  Put it on sauté and stir it until the cream cheese is melted and incorporated.  If it's too thick, you could add a little water or chicken broth.  Taste and add salt / pepper / something spicy (tabasco or cayenne pepper?) if desired.

*With chicken that's not frozen:  Adjust the initial cooking time (probably only 7 or 8 minutes)

*Without an Instant pot:  Cook the chicken in some broth on the stove top or in a slow cooker until it's super tender and will shred.  Then add the rest of the ingredients except the cream cheese and simmer for about 20-30 minutes on the stove top or slow cook for 2-3 hours on low.  On a low simmer, do the rest of the steps (stir in cream cheese / check seasonings).

When Life Gives You Lemons . . .

A second post about our wealth of California citrus this time of year . . . we are pruning some fruit trees and I had Meyer lemons to use up.  I made a new muffin recipe (pictured above) that was honestly, just meh.  So, instead of sharing it here, I looked back to see what better muffin recipes I had forgone to make the Meh Muffins and realized I have a ton of lemon recipe ideas on the blog.  If you have some lemons to use, click the "lemon" label on the side or click the link here to see some great options.

Tonight I'm making Big's favorite meal - the Lemon Olive Chicken.  Even though it's in regular rotation, if I say there's chicken for dinner, she immediately asks "lemon olive chicken"? and when I serve something else, she says "You know what would make this better?  If it was lemon olive chicken."

Taco Tuesday

#32 - Big's first season of basketball just ended

The little girls maximize our time running errands in the afternoon

Homework in Zeus's playpen

My three enormous humans!

When the girls got home one night recently and asked, "What's for dinner?"  When my reply was, "well, it's Tuesday!"  They yelled "Tacos!!"  Tacos are a go-to in this house (although it's not often actually on a Tuesday) and my usual recipe is ground beef and hard shells.  I've been looking for a shredded beef recipe and this one did not disappoint!  The rub & combination of orange juice and beef broth was delicious.  The last photo above is some of the citrus that the girls picked in our yard and our neighbor's yard so I used fresh squeezed juice.  We all have our own topping preferences so the most "work" involved in taco night is getting out all the toppings and putting them away.  I usually make a big taco salad for myself with black beans & I use the salsa as dressing.  

If you don't have an instant pot, this could go in the crockpot for 8 -10 hours.  I would usually sear the beef first if I wasn't going to pressure cook but it's probably not necessary.

Instant Pot Shredded Beef (serves 6)

from 365days of Slow & Pressure Cooking

1.5 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin

1.25 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground pepper

1 T olive oil

2-3 lbs beef chuck roast trimmed of excess fat & cut into 4 equal pieces

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup beef broth

1 yellow onion, quartered

4 garlic cloves, minced

In a small bowl, stir together the spices and olive oil to make a paste.  Rub this mixture over the 4 pieces of beef.  Add the orange juice & broth to the pot. Lay the pieces of beef in the liquid and spread the onion slices on top.  Sprinkle the garlic on top.

Make sure the valve is closed and set the manual / pressure cook button to 50 minutes on high pressure.  I used a full natural release but you can move the valve to venting after 15 minutes if you want.

Remove the beef from the pot and shred.  I also fished out the cooked onions and served them as a taco topping.

Instant Pot Minestrone

My kids like chili and I make it pretty often and thought minestrone would be a good alternative to change it up.  Two out of three enjoy it so that's not bad!    I served it on New Year's Eve and had the spinach and pasta on the side for people to add to their bowl and then had toppings of parmesan cheese, parsley, and red chili flakes.

Recipe notes:  I like to make the pasta separately and just stir it in at the end - I think the results are better - but you could also add it to the pot when you add the zucchini.  If you want thinner soup, add more water and if there is a particular thing your people don't like (zucchini, spinach) you can leave it out.  I buy the prechopped mirepoix from Trader Joes so this comes together really quickly.

If you don't want to make this in the Instant Pot, you could do it all on the stove top.  Simmer the soup instead of the pressure cook part for 10-15 minutes and add the beans and zucchini and return to a simmer until the zucchini is cooked.

Minestrone Soup (makes about 8 cups)
Adapted from LifeMadeSweeter blog

1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp dried thyme
32 ounces diced tomatoes
3 T tomato paste
1 bay leaf
4 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
1 medium zucchini, small dice
1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can cannelloni beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 cups fresh baby spinach chopped (optional)
1-2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
shredded or grated parmesan cheese (for serving)
fresh parsley, finely chopped (for serving)
1-2 cups cooked (al dente) small shell or macaroni pasta

In the instant pot or a stove top pot, sauce the onions, garlic, carrot and celery for about 3 minutes.  Add the seasonings and tomato paste and saute 30 seconds more.  Dump in the diced tomatoes and broth. Turn your instant pot to pressure cook on high for 2 minutes (make sure valve is set to sealing).  When the time is up, do a quick release.  Then, turn the instant pot to saute.  Add the zucchini and beans and cook for another 10 minutes.  Stir in the spinach (if using) and allow it to wilt (1-2 minutes).  Add more water if you want a thinner soup.  Stir in balsamic vinegar, cooked pasta and serve with parsley and parmesan cheese.

Christmas 2019

From back to school to Christmas. . . that about sums up our fall!  We have had such a fun holiday season and really focused on spending time together with the girls and making family memories.  Here are some recent photos before my new Christmas cookie recipe:

Eggnog Snickerdoodle Cookies

(makes 3 dozen)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup eggnog

1/2 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixture, beat the butter for 1-2 minutes.  Add the sugar and brown sugar and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 2-3 more minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the egg and beat until just combined.  Then add the eggnog and vanilla and mix until smooth.  Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Cover dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or up to 5 days).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat.  In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon.  Form tablespoon sized balls of dough, roll in cinnamon sugar, and place on baking sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 8-9 minutes or until edges look done but the tops appear slightly undercooked.  Cookies will firm up as they cool.  Cool on the baking sheet for 5+ minutes before transferring to wire rack.