Food, Party, Food & a FIVE year old! Oh- and food!

Probably if I spend too much time awake without purpose tonight, I'll cry. Why will I cry? Because Alex will wake up tomorrow a 5 year old. FIVE?!?! What? I am not ready. I am not ready for Alex to be a Kindergartener. I am not ready for training wheel free bikes or "r" sounds that sound like "r". (I AM ready for accident free nights, but that is a whole other post...) And yet, here we are- 5 years old. Alex has gone from this:



To this:



This transformation has me thinking all kinds of sappy things- including, but not limited to, Trace Atkin's "You're Gonna Miss This" and the words of a poem on the wall in my Mom's kitchen (Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'till tomorrow, for babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow. So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep, I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.). In short, I'm an emotional wreck. I'm happy that Alex has made it here, and I'm excited for all the new and exciting things to come in his world. But I'm not quite ready to start viewing him as anything but the Barney obsessed toddler in my memory.

Speaking of all this emotional overload, let's talk food. That IS how it works, right? Emotions=food? If you disagree, you've probably never needed to attend a Weight Watchers meeting. Which, by the way, I should probably attend next week- thanks to the food I'm going to blog about.

First up: Cake Pops!!!
I know everyone in the world (mine, at least) is sick of hearing about cake pops. I fully accept it- I get obsessed. I have been thinking about cake pops to the point of insanity for two weeks now. And it paid off:



I may never have the nerve to even LOOK at a cake pop EVER again- but there they are. Al B.'s beloved, requested cake pops with sprinkles. Party ready. A few things, for those of you crazy enough to consider making these little headaches-on-sticks:

-When dipping cake pops into chocolate, use a small crock pot. Someone told me this might work better, and I swear I owe that woman a lifetime's supply of cake pops (alas, I'm swearing them off, so that isn't possible).

-Use melting chocolate. Even if it is a pain in the butt to find some that fits your needs (in my case, gluten and peanut free)- find it. It is SOOOO much better than chocolate chips with oil.

-Pony up and buy a stryofoam block. There is really no way around this. The End.

Ok. That is the end of the cake pops. I think. For now.


Now I move on to tonight's dinner:



(Gluten free) Penne with Smoked Salmon Vodka Sauce

If you like low fat meals, you should stop here. This is NOT Weight Watchers friendly. And yet, it is SOOOOO good!

1 small white onion, sliced
1/2 lb. smoked salmon (I made my own, but Trader Joe's sells it too!)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
zest from 1 lemon
1 tsp. dried basil (but fresh would taste better probably!)
1 1/2 shots citrus vodka (I used Smirnoff Citrus Twist)

1 package penne noodles- cook as directed

Sautee the onion in a small amount of olive oil on medium high heat. When onions are transparent, add lemon zest, salmon, cream and basil. Stir constantly and keep at medium high heat until sauce begins to boil. Reduce heat to medium/medium low, add vodka, and simmer (stirring frequently) for 5-10 minutes. Add to pasta, and toss in some steamed veggies if desired.

This was one of those I-know-this-will-increase-my-waistline-but-I-don't-care-it-tastes-so-good type dishes. I got the original recipe from a class at Hipcooks (which you really should try, by the way!). The hipcooks recipe was an amazing blend of fresh herbs, hand made pasta and incredible enthusiasm. When I made this dish, I was tired from my battle with cake pops, had no fresh herbs but an abundance of smoked salmon and abslutely zero enthusiasm for making my own pasta. So I made do. Either way was great, though I'll give it to Hipcooks- mine was yummy. Theirs was to die for.

And since I'm all about food tonight, I have to show off a meal that Dusty and I really made together. But his part was better.



Broiled Rockfish and Moroccan Lentils with grilled sweet peppers and asparagus.

If you haven't had a chance to check out Crockpot 365 , you need to. Besides just being a genius with the crock pot- which is a great thing to be, since life gets so busy- the author of this blog is also a gluten free cook. To me, this combination is perfect.

When Dusty called me at work and offered to make dinner if only I'd give him a hint on where to begin, I sent him a link to Crockpot 365's Moroccan Lentils. As it turned out, we only had about half the requested ingredients. We DID have fresh basil and sweet peppers, though, and those went in the pot. So technically, we don't know what the original recipe tastes like. We DO know that what Dusty did was pure lentil genius.

On top of the lentils came rock fish, which was supposed to have been baked in white wine with garlic and peppers. Since I didn't have the patience to wait for baked fish, it quickly became broiled rock fish. This was my fist time cooking such a fish and I was impressed! It will now be added to my list of things to make.

The peppers and asparagus were cooked together at high heat with a very small amount of olive oil. Why were they cooked together? Because I was lazy and didn't want to dirty another pan. There really is no better reason. Whatever the reason, though- it was great. Dusty says it was the best aspargaus he's ever had. To be fair, Dusty could have been saying that because he wanted to make me feel better. In this meal, Dusty was the star. Those lentils were awesome. And the leftovers made a fabulous bean dip for chips, which means one less thing for me to make tomorrow for Alex's 5th birthday party.

Goodnight, world. Goodnight, 4. Five...I'll see you tomorrow.

Today was a day of "Well, now I know".

Today, I tried something new. Lots of new somethings, actually. I gave in to Alex's pleading and tried my hand at cake pops. I borrowed my mother in law's smoker and smoked the salmon my Dad bought me. I made a pot roast. I woke up at 6am. On a Saturday.

Most people would think this is too much "new" in one day. Most people, however, are more or less sane. I don't think I've ever made that claim.

We were up early because Dusty had to get to his test- which he passed with flying colors by the way! (I knew he would- my dream said so.) This left Alex and I in a strange state of mind. By 7:30am, we felt like we should do something. But it was too early to play outside and, frankly, too early to do much of anything. So I cleaned the fish tank while Alex yelled at the Wii about how "UNFAAAAIIIIIRRRRR" that last play was. At this point, the fish was the only member of our household grateful for the early rising.

Finally we got dressed and headed for the farmer's market and the library. We decided to do the library first, because Alex said so. You should have seen the look on Alex's face and mine when we realized that the library wasn't open yet. WE made it to the library BEFORE it opened? On a SATURDAY? Clearly, the stars were not aligned.

To kill some time- because Alex was determined to go to the library before the market, even though the market was in full swing just 1/2 block away- we went in search of cake pop sticks. We went to the fabric store and the craft store. If you've ever been in one of these stores, you probably know the general attitude that seems to be required of craft store employees: screw you. At least in my experience, "Hi! Can I help you?" is out of the question. Probably eye contact is as well. And if you have the nerve to walk up to an employee and politely inquire about the location of whatever you're looking for, you will likely get a look that says "If you have to ask, clearly you aren't crafty enough to know", accompanied by a finger pointing vaguely at the other end of the store. Needless to say, we didn't find the Wilton brand paper pop sticks that I wanted. I settled for some wooden dowels, assumed Dusty would cut them, and hoped for the best.

After a morning that passed by v e r y s l o w l y, we were back at home and ready to tackle projects. Isn't "projects" just the general term for "stuff that will make you wonder what you're thinking"? Here are some very important things I learned today:

-Too much frosting when making cake balls is bad. It makes them mushy. If they are mushy, they don't hold up on the stick, which means they will become "cake balls speared with a wooden dowel". Not cute "cake pops".

-For smoking salmon, you need a meat thermometer. I won't mention why I don't own a functioning meat thermometer anymore. *cough* (Dusty) *cough*

-Wood chips only last for about an hour. I learned this approximately 3 hours into the smoking process.

-Those cute, perfectly rounded cake pops on Bakerella's blog? Yeah...they aren't easy. I started out intending to make cute globe-shaped cakes on paper sticks. What did I end up with? Haystack shaped lumps on wooden dowels. That could sink to the bottom of the dowel at any moment, just to keep you on your toes.

-I also learned that the above lesson bugs the crap out of me, to the point where I may need to reevaluate my life's priorities. Somehow it seems that over the course of one day, "Perfect Cake Pops" has become Priority #1. I understand this isn't logical. I'm working on it.

-Pot roast needs way more spices than I put in it. And even then, it'll probably never taste as good as my Mom's. Probably I should shelf that dish and invite myself over to dinner at her place more often. (For the record, she'll tell you I'm a better cook than she is. She lies.)

-My Dad is way too nice to just come out and say "Your pot roast sucks, Brianna".

-Alex is way too nice to say "the cake pops aren't working, Mommy." He waited all day (because they were so screwed up that they took about 9 HOURS!) with an optimism that could literally insipre a nation to end hunger.

-When it comes down to optimism vs. exhaustion, sometimes you fall asleep. See pictures for proof.

So, the good news is I learned a lot today. I may have made haystack shaped, falling down and generally not Birthday Party Quality cake pops- but I think I know how to fix them next time. And I made a crappy pot roast, but...well, forget that one. I wasn't kidding about just going to Mom's next time. And the salmon may have taken hours and left me only *mostly* sure that it's edible, but now I know to buy a meat thermometer and change the wood chips.

After all, knowing is half the battle.

Yummy dinner tonight!!!

Pappi joined us for dinner tonight. He leaves Monday and will be up at the mountain tomorrow, so tonight was our last dinner with my dad for awhile. We are going to miss him!

Pappi brought tilapia, which is my new favorite fish. I LOVE it. It cooks easily, has a mild flavor that takes on other flavors well, is low mercury, and is super fast. Oh, and did I mention it isn't that expensive? Love it.

I walked past fresh basil at New Seasons today. A woman was stocking them and I just happened to walk by as she threw some on the display, which sent the smell of fresh basil my way and made my mouth water. Suddenly basil was added to my menu. So here it is, the dish I wound up with:

Broiled Tilapia On Citrus Basil Greens

1 onion, chopped and divided
2 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
2 lemons
1 lime
pepper
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar (or white wine- I just didn't have any)
1/2 bunch fresh basil
1 bunch kale
2 baby bok choy
4-5 tilapia filets


(You could easily substitute whatever greens you have- spinach, kale, bok choy...it's all good!)

Turn oven on to broil. Set up broiling pan- on bottom, put 1/4 of the chopped onions and pour some olive oil over it. Spray broiling rack with cooking spray and lay the fish on it. Squeeze 1/2 of a lemon and 1/2 of a lime on the tilapia, sprinkle with pepper and repeat on the other side. Set aside.


Sautee 3/4 of the onion and garlic in 1/2 the olive oil, juice from 1 lemon and the white wine vinegar 5-10 minutes. Add greens mix and basil with remaining olive oil, sautee 5 minutes at medium high heat. After 5 minutes, turn heat to low, cover and let cook 5-10 more minutes.

Put fish in the oven and broil 3-4 minutes on each side.

Make a bed of greens on the plate, top with fish and ENJOY!

Today was a beautiful, sunny day here. I wore sunglasses, rolled down my window (for 2 minutes until I realized it was still REALLY cold!) and enjoyed myself. This dish was the PERFECT way to end a day like today- fresh and light with basil and citrus to remind me of beautiful summer days.

Cranberry & Pine Nut Crusted Salmon

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, mix:

1/4 cup Craisins

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup bread crumbs

1 clove garlic

2 oz. gruyere cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Process until mix is fine and crumbly, dump into shallow bowl.

In another bowl, beat one egg. Add about 2 Tbsp. water.

Take 4 salmon thawed salmon fillets, dip in egg mixture, then in cranberry mixture.

Put filets in a baking pan sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle any remaining cranberry mixture onto the salmon. Bake for 20 minutes & enjoy!

This is the first recipe I ever came up with all by myself, and since Mom likes it I thought it was worth sharing!