Mississippi Mud Cookies

These cookies were very good and if you have never had Mississippi Mud Cake you'll think they are fantastic.  However, if you have had Mississippi Mud Cake, you'll eat these and think "too bad this isn't cake."  Perhaps the reason is actually because I don't want to sit there and frost individual cookies all day.  Cake vs. Cookies aside, don't frost the cookies too early.  The marshmallow creme gradually slides off the cookie, taking the chocolate frosting with it.

Cookies:

1 C butter

1 2/3 C sugar

2 eggs

1 ¼ tsp vanilla

¾ C unsweetened cocoa

¼ tsp salt

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

2 1/3 C  flour

Beat butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add dry ingredients.  Scoop cookies and flatten slightly.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. 

1 small can Marshmallow Creme

Chocolate Frosting

1/2 C butter, softened

2-2 1/2 C powdered sugar

milk

1/4 C unsweetened cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

Beat butter, cocoa, and powdered sugar together until smooth. Add a splash of milk (I probably used 2-4 Tbsp) and vanilla, blend well. 

Assembly: Cookie, marshmallow creme, frosting.

Helping mama plant the jasmine.  Now the trick is keeping him out of the dirt

Waiting for Dada to come out of the bedroom one morning.  The first thing this little guy says every morning when I get him is, without fail, "Dada?" 

Grilled Chicken with Yummy Tomatoes and Avocado

A little boasting: our tomatoes are doing awesome.  Here is what I picked the other day, along with some green beans, a carrot, and a couple of onions.

Then just the other day I ran into this recipe in the last Cooking Light magazine and knew I had to make it.  I have the most wonderful husband who puts up with my cooking, even when it features things he doesn't like (such as tomatoes, avocados, and corn cut off the cob - he's convinced it should only be eaten if bit directly off the cob).  So I made this dish expecting a kind husband who would put up with an unfortunate meal.  Boy was I surprised when he took seconds of the tomato salad.  Even more surprised when he said this would be a good dish to make when we have people over for dinner, and that he would be happy to have it regularly throughout the summer while we have cherry tomatoes.  Moral of the story: make this recipe.  It's so good, it will convince even your picky eater.

Dressing:
1/4 C buttermilk (or I used 1% milk with a splash of lemon juice)
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 Tbsp fresh parsley (I used 2 tsp dried)
1 Tbsp shallots, minced (I used red onion, but shallots would be yummy)
1 tsp vinegar
1/4 tsp pepper
fresh ground salt, to taste
1 garlic clove, minced

Whisk together dressing ingredients.  Chill until ready to serve.

Chicken:
2 chicken breasts, cut in half
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp onion powder
3/4 tsp cumin
salt, to taste (btwn 1/4-1/2 tsp)
1/4 tsp chile powder

Combine oil and spices.  Rub oil mixture onto chicken breasts.  Send husband outside to the grill.  He will return 8-10 minutes  later with perfectly cooked chicken (turn chicken once).

Tomato Avocado Salad
2 ears corn, shucked
1 red onion, cut into 1/2 inch slices
2-4 tomatoes, diced
1 C cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, diced

Grill corn and onion while grilling chicken (turn the corn regularly, turn the onion once).  Roughly dice onion.  Cut corn from cob.  Combine corn, onion, tomatoes and avocado.  Serve with chicken and dressing.

Amazingly delicious!
Original recipe from Cooking Light June 2013

Ok, the promised update from our trip to Frederick MD to visit Rob and family.  We had a superb time, eating varieties of deliciousness - including crab cakes, strawberry rhubarb pies (I wish we could grow rhubarb here), lentil tacos, and spinach artichoke pizza and sandwiches.

What if I just left it at that - told you what I ate and nothing else.  Sounds like classic Tiffany, right?  Ok, I'll give trip details.  We went to the air and space museum by Dulles airport.  Little boy, the goof ball, ran around screeching at the planes.  It took at least 15 minutes just to get him past the entryway planes so he could get to the main floor of the museum.  Once in the museum, he would run from plane to plane, screeching.  Occasionally he would want to get a better look at one of the planes hanging from the roof.  So, logically, to look up at the ceiling he would have to abruptly stop in the middle of the walkway, lay down on his belly and hands, and then crane his neck around so he could look at the plane above him.  I think he felt off-balance when standing and tipping his head back.  It was pretty funny to see him lay down and twist around, but it did make for near-miss trampling's.  We also went to DC one day to tour monuments and to take Little Boy into the history of transportation exhibit in the American History Smithsonian.  Isaac made sure we visited some of the lesser known sites on the mall, such as the shrubs around and behind the Lincoln Monument.  Also, we thoroughly conquered a small hill hear the Washington monument - Isaac, who is cursed to live in flat Houston, repeatedly climbed this small hill, more of a bump really, and then ran back down it.  Much to his delight and his parents amusement.  We also hit the beach in Annapolis and visited Mt. Vernon with Geoff's cousin and her two kids.  All in all, a fabulous trip.  Thanks to Rob and Anna for having us.

Cousins making trouble together

Isaac is getting ready to go chase some ducks that are just behind me

Mt. Vernon

Pancakes with Yogurt and Blueberry Sauce

 I love breakfast.  It's dessert disguised as a meal - what's not to love?  The pancake recipe is from my mother with two changes from Rob and Anna - using butter instead of oil and the addition of a banana.  Quite yummy.

Pancakes:
1 C buttermilk
1 egg
1 Tbsp melted butter (or oil, but it doesn't have as good of a flavor)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 over-ripe banana, well mushed (optional, but delicious)
1/2 C flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Combine buttermilk, egg, butter, sugar, and banana.  Add dry ingredients, do not over-beat.  Cook pancakes.

Berry Sauce:
1 C berries (I used frozen mixed berries but the original recipe calls for blueberries)
2.5 Tbsp sugar
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla

Combine berries, sugar, lemon juice, and salt.  Bring to a boil in a small saucepan.  Crush berries as they cook.  Boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Spread pancakes with a thin layer of vanilla yogurt.  Top with a little bit of berries.  Feel absolutely no guilt for eating something that tastes like dessert for breakfast.  (Eggs, that's nutrition!  Yogurt, fruit.  You can't go wrong.  At least it's not chocolate cake.)

At the beach in Annapolis, MD

Little Boy has two milestones to report:

1st - He ate rice!  The boy has refused rice for the better part of 8 months and today I decided to put the rice in a bowl with a fork.  Figured he might not eat any but he could at least practice playing with utensils.  And he promptly ate mexican rice.  I even gave him seconds!  Amazing.  Granted, the rice was topped with sour cream and cheese.  Who can refuse such a combination?

2nd - He has officially regressed to baby food.  In preparation for a plane flight to Baltimore (more on that in a future post) I was buying an assortment of food to entertain a busy 18 month old.  While at the store I thought, what the heck, and bought one of those Ella's Kitchen pouches of squash and blueberry baby food.  The little wild boy slurped the squash-berry sauce up like he hadn't eaten veggies in months (which is true, though not because they haven't been offered).  So when we got to Maryland, Geoff went and bought a few more pouches, including peas and spinach, and carrots and beets.  He ate them all.  He never ate peas very well even when he was only eating baby food.  The verdict: veggies are veggies.  And if that means I need to puree them, so be it.  So today with dinner I made him pureed raw apples and steamed carrots.  One small step backwards for little boy, one giant leap forwards for veggies everywhere.

Citrus Mahi Mahi!

Note the green beans.  From our garden!

1-2 lb Mahi Mahi filets (we had about 8 oz and that was plenty for the 3 of us - Isaac, of course, didn't touch his)
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 C fresh orange juice
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp allspice or pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp red pepper

Salsa:
1 avocado, diced
1/2 C red onion, diced
1 orange, diced
1/2-1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced (use half the pepper or all the pepper, to taste)
 2 tsp lime juice
3 Tbsp fresh orange juice
2 Tbsp cilantro, minced
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Combine the oil and 1/4 C orange juice in a large bag.  Add fish and squish around to coat.  Combine spices in a bowl.  Open bag and rub spices onto the fish filet.  Close bag again ad squish around again.  Allow to sit for at least 30 minutes.

When husband gets home, hand him the fish and send him outside to the grill.  Wait 5-10 minutes for husband to return inside with perfectly cooked fish!  (He heats the grill and cooks skin-side on the grill rack until the fish looks lovely and flaky.  He has oiled the grill rack in the past so that the skin doesn't stick to the grill - he doesn't oil the grill every time, though.  I don't know how often he needs to or if sometimes he just feels lazy and throws the fish on regardless.)

Combine all salsa ingredients.  Serve with fish.  DELICIOUS!  I'm sure you could do this with tilapia and even salmon, too.


And now for little boy:

Little boy is OBSESSED with cars.  When we drive anywhere, it is to a continuous stream of "car" "car" "car" coming from the back seat.  He points out every car, parked or moving, that we see.  It used to be a cute little high pitched baby voice saying "car-car".  Now it is a caveman, guttural,  grunt of "car".  Pretty cute.

He also found his new favorite book: Daddy's large classic cars book (a coffee table type book).  He just loves turning the pages and seeing all the cars. 

Asian Style Brown Rice "Salad"

 We enjoyed this salad for dinner.  And by we, I mean, Geoff and I.  Isaac fed his portion to Tina.  Isaac doesn't like rice - problematic since we eat rice at least once a week.

3/4 C brown rice
2 C water

1 C edamame, cooked and shelled
1 C carrots, finely diced
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 C toasted slivered almonds
3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
1/2 C Black beans, cooked (1 can)

Combine rice and water in a saucepan.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.  Turn off heat, let stand covered for 10 minutes.

Add dressing, edamame, carrots, green onions, almonds, cilantro, and black beans to the rice.  Serve at room temperature.

Dressing - Whisk together the following:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp sesame oil, toasted
pinch of red chili flakes

This weekend we took little boy and little dog down to the creek with some friends of ours.  Isaac LOVED it!  The world was literally his sandbox.  We got there and he promptly started filling things with sand - the wagon, the bag of coals, the box of muffins. . . Then he discovered the creek.  He sat there in little boy heaven throwing sand into the creek, onto Dada's pants, and occasionally at Tina.  After running out of new places to put sand, he decided it was time to go into the creek.  He occasionally got his feet in, but it was a bit chilly and so we tried to keep him dry.

Terribly Belated Pi Day Post

I am a blogging slacker.  I had good intentions of blogging right after pi day.  Just as I had good intentions of blogging right after Easter.  Better late than never?

Isaac painting with his slice of blueberry pie.  I'm not sure he's ever been this quiet and content.  I'm going to start giving him slices of pie when I need a break from chasing him around.

Pi day was delicious as usual.  Every year I panic, thinking we won't have enough pies so at the last minute I throw together a third pie, only to have ridiculous amounts of pie left over.   Next year I need to remember to only make two pies.  It would be more than adequate, as so many people bring pies of there own to share. Fortunately, I've learned my lesson from last year and I stubbornly refuse to allow anyone to leave leftover pie that they brought so we didn't have more leftovers than the three of us can eat alone.

This year I made a walnut-brownie pie (um, brownie in a pie?  Yes please!), Creamy White Chocolate Strawberry pie, and in response to my unfounded panic that we wouldn't have enough pie, I threw together the Key Lime pie we have at every occasion that could possibly warrant a pie (the husband's favorite).

Brownie Walnut Pie
1 pie crust, rolled out and in a pie pan, unbaked
1/2 C butter
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, cut up
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 C chopped walnuts
Garnish with hot fudge and or strawberries


Melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring frequently.  Cool 20 minutes (this would be a great time to make your pie crust).

Combine eggs, sugar, flour, and vanilla.  Stir in the chocolate mixture and the nuts.  Pour into pie crust.  Cover edges with foil to prevent over-browning (I forgot this step - oops).  Bake for 50-55 minutes at 350, or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool.

We also celebrated pie day with a delicious quiche.  And, in retrospect, I determined that quiche doesn't photograph well (or, I should say, doesn't photograph well for a photographer, we use that term loosely, who just points a camera at something and presses the button).  But, believe me that the quiche was delicious, regardless how the picture looks.

Quiche:
1 pie crust
4 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 C half-and-half or milk
1/4 C green onion
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
dash ground nutmeg
3/4 C chopped ham
1 1/2 C cheese (cheddar, Monterey Jack, Swiss, etc)
1 Tbsp flour

Line pie plate with pastry crust.  Do not prick.  Cover with foil and bake fr 8 minutes at 450.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 4-5 minutes.

Stir together eggs, half-and-half, green onions, and spices.  Stir in ham.  In a separate bowl, toss together the cheese and flour.  Add to the egg mixture. Pour egg mixture into hot pastry shell.  Cover edge of crust with foil to prevent over-browning.  Bake at 325 for 40-45 minutes or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.


And as a special bonus for actually checking my blog even though I never post anymore, here is a video of the little boy.  Did I mention that he is adorable?

The diaper box in the background is filled with sand. At the rate he throws sand, we'll need it soon enough.