Avocado Citrus Salad

I used the recipe from the current issue of Everyday food for Avocado Citrus Salad as the idea for the below salad, but I changed some things.  I used 2-3 clementines instead of an orange and a grapefruit (Joe doesn't like grapefruit).  I used sliced thin red onion instead of radishes and I added in cucumbers.  Also, I had some balsamic lime vinagrette from Gwyneth Paltrow's book that I used for dressing.  I just love the arugula + avocado + clementine combination.  I'm a very lazy salad preparer.  I love to eat salad and I hate to make it.  This was so good.  I'll make it again tonight probably since I have leftover avocado, washed arugula and dressing ready-made.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Burgundy Mushrooms

I love the Pioneer Woman website/blog/cooking extravaganza.  Now she is on Food Network and so I watched her make Xmas dinner last week and was determined to make Burgundy Mushrooms.  Imagine cooking mushrooms for 9 hours!!!  Look how dark and rich these look???  They were heavenly and my house smelled so good all day.  I think they actually might have been a tad too rich (which takes a lot for me to say).  I halved the recipe and probably should have reduced the time - I did cut out the last 2 hours, but I should have cut more or just made the whole recipe.  We had these with Roast Beef and garlic-parmesean mashed potatoes last night. 


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Winter Veggies

I tried 2 new veggie recipes to try to plow through my leftover CSA December share vegetables.  Both were delicious!
From Everyday Food, this month I think, I started with Roasted Beets with Orange and Thyme. Very simple...I didn't have fresh thyme so I used dried.  Beets are definitely one of my favorite vegetables I've only tried recently.  Looking forward to more beet experimentation.


Glazing Vegetables - This was on the Saveur Magazine's "100 Favorite Things" this month.  It was a loose instruction which included the following steps:

1. Cut veggies uniformly and make a single layer in a saucepan
2. Add a few tablespoons of butter, some salt/pepper and a pinch of sugar.  Almost cover with water.
3. Lay a piece of parchment paper on top and simmer until the water cooks off, shaking pan now and then.  (Realizing right now that I also covered it with a lid...hmmm...wonder if this changed things). 

I combined carrots, parsnips, and turnips and these came out so rich and soft and delicious.  Butter is the elixir of life.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Smugglers Notch

The weekend after NYC we head up to Vermont for a weekend at Smuggler's Notch with some friends who generously offered us a free condo on their Disney Vacation Club.  Not much snow, but we had a fun time regardless.  We spent 1 day skiing and 1 day in Burlington at the ECHO Science Center and around town. 

Look who got on skii's at 2 1/2 years old!!!!!

Too cool for school...

Shelagh enjoying the science center

Joe and Carda enjoying the Body Grossology exhibit at the Science Center (yes, it's a Fart exhibit).  It was very educational.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rory Turns 6

Rory turned 6 yesterday.  The night before he was pretty sad and said he'd rather turn back to 4 then up to 6 so that he doesn't grow up and can stay with me forever (so cute, but I had to restrain my heart melt to convince him that growing up is way cool and that he'll get the opportunity to learn and do so many exciting things.  He finally bounced back when I reminded him that he couldn't chew gum at 4.)

Nonetheless, he had a great day!  He had cupcakes at school with his class.  His teacher gave him this lovely hat and certificate to parade around in and despite the extra attention managed a green card for the day (good behavior).  He chose Mac & Cheese for dinner, more cupcakes for dessert, and presents.  He is counting down to his Lego birthday party scheduled in a few weeks.  He cannot do enough Lego's.  The kid is obsessed with them - Lego kits, Lego clothing, Lego Wii game(s), etc.  I'm going to attempt a Lego cake for his party despite my past failures at cake baking.  How hard can primary colors, rectangles and 1/2  marshmellows be?????? 

Rory with his new Bruins Tim Thomas holding the Stanley Cup picture that Joe picked out for him.  Hopefully to go into his new room (more on that when I take the plunge on buying new bedroom furniture and don't completely fall apart at the idea of getting rid of the baby furniture that all 3 kids have used.  Sigh).



And yet another Lego kit...I think he was miffed that Santa didn't bring him any Star Wars Lego's (even though he did get a Harry Potter kit and Lego Kingdom Prison Tower as well as a Ninjago for Hannukkah).  He does them so fast and then starts thinking of the next one on the horizon.  I anticipate that the Lego themed bday party will bring even more and I'll have to siphon them and let him have them slowly...




The girls were proud to pose with the birthday boy.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Chicago Beef Stew

Back to food...I've been cooking the bare minimum home cooking to get us by through the holidays.  I'm back to meal planning and winter cooking (my favorite).  This beef stew was in the last month issue of InStyle.  Normally I wouldn't put much stock in a recipe from this magazine but it was from Stephanie Izzard, my favorite Top Chef contestant/winner.  I had high hopes but I also had a funny feeling that a beef stew with a set of sweet ingredients (fruit) wouldn't work for me.  It didn't.  It seemed off to me from the printed recipe through the stages of cooking.  Solid effort though. 


Look at all the fruit in here - it's a whole pineapple, an apple, and a pear.  I thought the apple/pear would be in there for their pectin to thicken things up a bit.  It was way too much though...the pineapple flavor overpowered all the other stronger flavors - wine, stock, worcestershire, fish sauce, balsamic, tomatoes, etc.  There was also 2 cups of apple cider.  Perhaps this set of flavors would have worked better with chicken?  I don't know...the proportions seemed off to me.



This is the dish with all ingredients added in prior to the big simmer step.  Seems off, but I was hoping a lot of the liquid would cook off and reduce so that it would look more like the picture in the magazine.  No online link.


This is the dish almost finished after 4 hours of simmering to break down the beef chuck. Does the liquid/non-beef proportion to beef seem way off? Of course the kids didn't like it either. They are thrilled that Wed is Mac & Cheese night to make up for this debacle.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Kids Together

Some pictures from the last month of the kids snuggling together (doesn't happen so often with Shelagh and Rory!!).  MUST GET A NEW CAMERA!!!










- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone