2 Under 2...here we come!!!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Berry Tart with Mascarpone Cream
Can use all strawberries or the mixture of any berries. Wonderful use of large quantities of berries.
Sweet Pastry Dough
Pie weights or raw rice for weighting shell
1 cup mascarpone cheese (about 8 ounces)
1/3 cup well-chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 ½ t Vanilla
Zest of ½ lemon
1 1/2 cups small strawberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup blackberries
Preheat oven to 375°F.
On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into an 11-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and fit into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Roll rolling pin over top of shell to trim dough flush with rim and with a fork prick bottom of shell all over. Chill shell 30 minutes, or until firm.
Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake shell in middle of oven 20 minutes and carefully remove foil and weights or rice. Bake shell until golden, about 10 minutes more, and cool completely in pan on a rack. Shell may be made 1 day ahead and kept in pan, loosely covered, at room temperature.
In a bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer beat together mascarpone, cream, and sugar until mixture holds stiff peaks. Do NOT overbeat. Add vanilla and lemon zest, blend for a few strokes. Add mixture into shell, spreading evenly.
Quarter strawberries and in a large bowl combine with remaining berries. Mound berries decoratively on mascarpone cream. Tart may be assembled 2 hours ahead and chilled. Bring tart to room temperature and remove side of pan before serving. It can also be served frozen (as I learned at Heather's)
Serves 6 to 8.
Don’t assemble until before serving. Keep refrigerated.
Sweet Pastry Dough
Pie weights or raw rice for weighting shell
1 cup mascarpone cheese (about 8 ounces)
1/3 cup well-chilled heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 ½ t Vanilla
Zest of ½ lemon
1 1/2 cups small strawberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blueberries
1 cup blackberries
Preheat oven to 375°F.
On a floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into an 11-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and fit into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim. Roll rolling pin over top of shell to trim dough flush with rim and with a fork prick bottom of shell all over. Chill shell 30 minutes, or until firm.
Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake shell in middle of oven 20 minutes and carefully remove foil and weights or rice. Bake shell until golden, about 10 minutes more, and cool completely in pan on a rack. Shell may be made 1 day ahead and kept in pan, loosely covered, at room temperature.
In a bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer beat together mascarpone, cream, and sugar until mixture holds stiff peaks. Do NOT overbeat. Add vanilla and lemon zest, blend for a few strokes. Add mixture into shell, spreading evenly.
Quarter strawberries and in a large bowl combine with remaining berries. Mound berries decoratively on mascarpone cream. Tart may be assembled 2 hours ahead and chilled. Bring tart to room temperature and remove side of pan before serving. It can also be served frozen (as I learned at Heather's)
Serves 6 to 8.
Don’t assemble until before serving. Keep refrigerated.
Berry Festival - with Molly & Michael
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| After she's tasted every berry there... |
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| And with her own chair! |
Aunt Molly!
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| First Thing in the Morning |
We were finally able to visit Molly and Michael in Maryland...and prepare them for parenthood! :)
Friday, July 9, 2010
Chicken Tortilla Soup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced or sliced
1 green pepper, diced or sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 jalapeno, finely diced
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 limes, juiced, plus wedges for garnish
1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 avocado, pitted, sliced
1 cup shredded Mexican typecheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalepenos and cook for another minute. Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken breasts. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked remove from pot. When cool enough to handle shred it and set it aside. Add lime juice and fresh cilantro to the pot. In a serving bowl add a mound of shredded chicken. Ladle soup over chicken and top with a lime wedge, grilled tortilla strips, avocado slices and cheese.
Serve with tortilla chips or break up and toss in.
Serves 4.
1 small onion, diced or sliced
1 green pepper, diced or sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 jalapeno, finely diced
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 (14.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
2 limes, juiced, plus wedges for garnish
1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 avocado, pitted, sliced
1 cup shredded Mexican typecheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a large saucepan heat the vegetable oil. Add the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Once the onions have softened add the garlic and jalepenos and cook for another minute. Pour the chicken broth, tomatoes and beans into the pot and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower heat to simmer and add your chicken breasts. Cook the chicken for 20 to 25 minutes. Once chicken is cooked remove from pot. When cool enough to handle shred it and set it aside. Add lime juice and fresh cilantro to the pot. In a serving bowl add a mound of shredded chicken. Ladle soup over chicken and top with a lime wedge, grilled tortilla strips, avocado slices and cheese.
Serve with tortilla chips or break up and toss in.
Serves 4.
baby yoga
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| The View |
The kids drowned out the nice soothing meditative sounds on the sound system. Ellie was crawling all over the place; when I tried to pull her onto my chest to do a move, she pulled my shirt down to nurse; I tried to do a move where I stand on one leg and lift the other horizontally. Ellie had another idea, she wanted to be lifted off the ground by grabbing onto my ankle and desperately trying to not let go. Oh and this was accompanied by some real tears. Yoga must be killing her mom - clearly that could be the only reasonable excuse.
That was last week.This week, it was awesome!!! I was able to plan better - got there early and fed her both real food and nursed. She was able to nap beforehand, so Elizabeth felt pretty comfortable playing by herself. The only time I had to really focus on her was when she nearly took out a fellow yoga mom (standing on one leg) by sneaking up from behind. I thwarted her attempts to grab her leg and stand up with inches to spare.
Regardless, this week was a tremendous improvement. I got a nice bucket of sweat going (which is my goal) and no big incidents.
Overall, a major success! Here are some shots from the day. :)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Little victories
Last night, David and I were having dinner. I had steamed some very small pieces of zucchini and didn't mash them. We put them in the middle of her tray in hopes she might become interested in using her hands to start feeding herself. Since she places everything in sight on her 'direct-to-the-mouth-conveyer-belt' I thought for sure she'd pick it right up.
Instead, we got some fake crying noise, grunting in the spoon's direction (we had a second course of scorn squash) and a complete disinterest in the zucchini. After about 5 minutes we move on. Oh well, we said. Guess she's not ready yet. I had talked to Heather about Pippa doing just this, so I knew it was within her developmental ability.
Not terribly disappointing, but parents are great at getting excited to try something new only to learn it rarely works on the first try. So I started feeding her the acorn squash. We were all using utensils when all of the sudden we see her slam both hands down on the zucchini and bring them to her open mouth. We look on in amazement! Then she did it again. David puts his hand up to quietly high five and my eyes filled with tears. Yes, tears. And yes, I deserve to be teased for crying because my baby picked up food. So exciting!!!
Little moments that surprise you.
We had halved blueberries for breakfast...on to something new!
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| A Blueberry Morning |
Instead, we got some fake crying noise, grunting in the spoon's direction (we had a second course of scorn squash) and a complete disinterest in the zucchini. After about 5 minutes we move on. Oh well, we said. Guess she's not ready yet. I had talked to Heather about Pippa doing just this, so I knew it was within her developmental ability.
Not terribly disappointing, but parents are great at getting excited to try something new only to learn it rarely works on the first try. So I started feeding her the acorn squash. We were all using utensils when all of the sudden we see her slam both hands down on the zucchini and bring them to her open mouth. We look on in amazement! Then she did it again. David puts his hand up to quietly high five and my eyes filled with tears. Yes, tears. And yes, I deserve to be teased for crying because my baby picked up food. So exciting!!!
Little moments that surprise you.
We had halved blueberries for breakfast...on to something new!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Yogurt
-One half-gallon of milk (8 cups). I would suggest at least 2%. When you use whole, it comes out the consistency of low fat.
-1/2 cup PLAIN Yogurt.
-1/2 cup Dry milk. This one is optional. It just thickens it up more.
Turn crock on LOW & pour in milk (dry milk too if you're using it). Heat on low for 2 hours and 45 minutes. After, turn OFF and unplug. Let cool with lid on for 3 hours. After, remove 1-2 cups of milk & place in a bowl. To the bowl, add 1/2 cup of yogurt & whisk WELL. Return mix to crock & whisk thoroughly. Cover & wrap crock in a big bath towel (to insulate). Let it culture for 8-12 hours. Usually I do 12, it makes it thicker. Scoop into jars/containers (I use Ball canning jars). Refrigerate at least 6-8 hours for best texture.
That's it! I know it takes an entire day, but the amount of actual work you do is about 5 minutes. The rest it does on it's own. I add flavor to it before serving. Usually we use homemade jam but there IS a lot of sugar in jam. You can use fresh fruit, honey, plain 'ol sugar, vanilla extract (tiny bit), or whatever other flavors you like!
I think it would last at least 7-10 days.
-1/2 cup PLAIN Yogurt.
-1/2 cup Dry milk. This one is optional. It just thickens it up more.
Turn crock on LOW & pour in milk (dry milk too if you're using it). Heat on low for 2 hours and 45 minutes. After, turn OFF and unplug. Let cool with lid on for 3 hours. After, remove 1-2 cups of milk & place in a bowl. To the bowl, add 1/2 cup of yogurt & whisk WELL. Return mix to crock & whisk thoroughly. Cover & wrap crock in a big bath towel (to insulate). Let it culture for 8-12 hours. Usually I do 12, it makes it thicker. Scoop into jars/containers (I use Ball canning jars). Refrigerate at least 6-8 hours for best texture.
That's it! I know it takes an entire day, but the amount of actual work you do is about 5 minutes. The rest it does on it's own. I add flavor to it before serving. Usually we use homemade jam but there IS a lot of sugar in jam. You can use fresh fruit, honey, plain 'ol sugar, vanilla extract (tiny bit), or whatever other flavors you like!
I think it would last at least 7-10 days.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Food Update
The girl's getting it down. She's a champion spoon eater. It doesn't really matter what's on the spoon, as long as it's reloaded as soon as she wipes it clean. If you're not fast enough, you'll be treated to a pounding of the right hand on the tray table and some bizarre fake crying noises.
It's most astounding how much Elizabeth can eat. One of my greatest fears in this whole food thing, aside from the obvious choking, is that I will somehow teach her to overeat and pressure her into a lifetime of being overweight. They say breastfed babies develop a sensor in their bellies to let them know when they're full, but it still sits high on my list of neurotic mommy fears.
The strange thing that she does when she's eating is she sticks her left hand, well up to the fingers at least, into her mouth after nearly each spoonful. After overcoming questions of infant bulemia, we've learned from Heather that Pippa does it too. Phew!!! My Mom swears that she's exploring the textures in her mouth, but when my helpful husband pitches it, the hand in mouth makes him a little crazy. (it takes twice as long to feed her when she's 'exploring' each bite!)
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