Much baking!

Today was a lazy Thursday. The roads were terrible after our little snowfall last night and Ted was 40 minutes late to school. After slipping and sliding my way home, the kiddos and I started cooking. First on the list was Ted's bread. Next we made an obligatory batch of Vive's Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies. Again. Because on Tuesday we had to give most of them away so this time we got the whole batch! Mmm. While the cookies baked, I started roasting my last Blue Ballet squash for my long-ago-planned Hubbard Squash Pie w/ Gingersnap Pie Crust . I'll bake that soon! I pulled out a favorite meal for a warming local dinner tonight, individual pot pies. We loved this so much the first time. Mmm. It hadn't defrosted enough so it'll be Friday's local dinner; we had leftover CSA spaghetti squash, homemade marinara sauce and vegan meatballs. Yum. Even Mae liked it.

A group of fellow beginner skiing kindergarteners are heading up to Eldora this Sunday for a full day of ski school. I'm going to take advantage of the First Timer's deal and do the Adult version myself! Ted and I will meet up for lunch. We talked about it last night and again this morning, and Ted is gung ho to ski again and learn 'more cool ski stuff.' We went by Boulder Ski Deals this afternoon before TKD and picked up a pair of goggles for me and some hand and toe warmers for both of us. Bring it on! I also bought Ted his own helmet (on sale!) because his rental one was too tight for his big melon, but I may return it because now he says he just wants to rent again. Argh. My kids and their huge heads. Looking forward to a big weekend: ATA Tournament on Saturday and skiing on Sunday. Kewl.

Ski Day #1

Today was Ski Day #1 for K/1 at Horizons. I think Ted was most excited about his undershirt and ski socks. Way cute. The kids had a blast on the bus, and Ted's bus buddy, Kai, lost his first tooth! Between the noise, the blood and the bus itself, I chose to ride down with the other moms in a car. Ahhh...

Ted was in the very beginner-est of beginner groups and he was determined from the start to work hard so he can move up to the next group next week. Rather than the magic carpet, they move to the tow rope, and a steeper hill. Turns are also added to the stop/go routine. He did a good job. He learned how to stop and how to go. He was the last kid on the hill too. Everyone else got cold after about an hour. They were supposed to ski for 2 hours before returning to the lodge. Ted and another boy stayed out for another half hour, and then that boy was cold too. 15 minutes later, Ted finally agreed to go in. There were enough parent volunteers to escort the kids back to the lodge, so the instructor was able to stay with the kids. It was pretty cold and a bit windy, so I think the gear I got him over a year ago was good stuff (thank you Erin for the Helly Hansen recommendation!) This was really fun and he's looking forward to next week! Lots more pics on moeltini.

yum

We're back to cold temps again. It was a warm weekend so this is a low blow! Tonight for our local dinner we're having a repeat of Mellow Lentil Sniffle Soup (EDBV) and cornbread with glazed Chipotle Onions from Veganomicon. And because half of this meal is going to a sick friend, we also felt the need to bake some Chocolate Chip Cookies (Vive!), because, it just seemed right! All that's missing is a side of spinach, which I'll pick up at Wild Oats (here is the "not available locally, so go organic" caveat that I can't STAND but have to do for greens. Next year, I vow to blanch and freeze more greens!!!!)
I'm tired. Ted had a hard day at TKD today and I'm frustrated for him. Tomorrow is skiing. Today's class was canceled because of the high winds (they closed the lifts). I hope our class can go tomorrow!

Birthday Weekend of Fun

Good weekend. Friday we had a restful afternoon (complete with ice cream after school) and a quiet Shabbat at home. Saturday Ted and I spent the morning at TKD (I am SO SORE) and I got a delicious nap in. Then Kristen came and Paul and I headed to Tandoori for our favorite dinner. Then we saw Sweeney Todd. Wow! I've seen this, taught almost every song, and this was good. Bloody. Gory. Nothing left to the imagination, that's for sure! But good!!
This morning was Sunday School and a few of us went to breakfast. Mmmm. Then another nap! And then I took Sam to a bday party while Paul took the other two to Evie's bowling party. Except that we didn't realize it was a birthday party. Oops! We'll be getting a prezzie to her soon. I hate when I do that. Wendy made me some cozy socks and some truffles!!! Hee! And Heather gave me some absolutely divine-smelling bath stuff. Between my girlfriends and my coffee cards from family, I am set!

Here is Mae's bento for Monday. Smiling bear and giggling bunny onigiri with shoyu in bunny bottle. Skewer of yellow pepper, 4 tiny cookies, 2 yellow bunny skewers of marinated tofu, flowered kiwi (my first time...they are so neat!) and a heart-shaped silicone cup of beet salad. I had to rearrange a bit to close the lid but I think she'll like this. It has all her favorites. The only thing not in here that she might miss is the edamame, but on Friday she didn't like them, so I think they might have been past their prime. Fun stuff, this.

Hello Kitty

I was planning to do an Elmo bento for Friday's lunch (to use up that red pepper from the Hungry Caterpillar!) but my cute little Hello Kitty onigiri mold came today! (I just love how these little things trickle in from Japan, a day or so apart. And wrapped so beautifully. And everything so TINY and adorable!). So I went with the kitty. She was harder than she looked. There aren't any indentations in the mold so I'm not sure the spacing was really right. But I tried! The red pepper bow was really hard and it actually looks better for real than it does in the pic. Still working on my circles with knives! I later added red pepper strips on either side to hold her in place. The top holds 2 skewers each of kiwi chunks and edamame. 2 Morningstar corn dog halves, shoyu in fishy and a little cup of Chinese shrimp chips and one tiny chocolate filled cookie. I hope it stays together!

Tomorrow should be fun, relatively. Ted and I are cleaning tomorrow so Heather is going to take Sam and Mae home. Mae has it all set in her mind. "Heh-vuh pick you up. Give you pink gum! Mommy be at home." I tell you, nothing phases her.

My birthday is Saturday and I have 3 days of delicious celebrating ahead. Saturday Paul and I are going to a movie and dinner at Tandoori Grill. We used to go there all the time when we lived in Boulder. Sunday the moms are taking me to coffee and a delicious vegan breakfast at the Walnut Cafe during Sunday School. And then Monday a group of moms are taking me to lunch at Hapa Sushi. I hope I can handle all the delicious post-food letdown!

A Local Smorgasbord

Today was another cold one and all the kids were at school. So after Ole and I had our lovely hike I got cooking. Because I knew Paul was going to be out tonight, I decided to just do up a bunch of my favorite sides. I used all local onions, garlic, turnips, squash and apples. First up, the Beet Salad from the ashram. I had to buy beets because mine are GONE!!!! but they were Colorado-grown. Then my new favorite, Apple Glazed Turnips. I tried another ashram recipe for a Butternut Squash spread but I really didn't like it. Too garlicy and too raw (sharp?) for me. That was a bummer. I also drank copious amounts of the delicious CSA Holy Basil Tea. YUM! The boys and I made (not local) brownies for dessert. It was such a yummy meal. All I have left are 4 squash, potatoes and onions. I think I am going to reserve Wednesdays, Fridays and weekends for cooking and begin breaking out our freezer meals on Mon/Tue/Thu. I don't like to touch them ... they are my security blankets. But I think those meals will get us through February and March with at least 3 local meals a week and then... Then! The Farmer's Market and the CSA will start up again!
And a cute pic of Sam at preschool, just because. He is so funny. And so serious about his play. I absolutely LOVE these pics the school sends us. It's so nice to have a little glimpse into his day.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Mae's Hello Kitty bento box arrived on Friday of last week and I couldn't wait to make her first official bento in it. I was inspired by The Very Hungry Caterpillar (after I saw an adorable bento on another site) because Mae IS a caterpillar at preschool, and this is one of her favorite books. They also read this book at school a lot so her little friends will recognize it too. Apparently they all loved the elephants of last week. I'm so proud! On a bed of rice is green and red pepper, goat cheese and nori. In the side are 2 Pokemon skewers of marinated tofu, dried sugar snap peas, 2 mini cookies and a sesame bar (which I later removed after sampling one and realizing these had peanuts! No nuts at the J). I hope she likes it! And I hope I put enough rice in that it won't get too smooshed. We'll see!! Hee!! I'm not sure that this is really enough food for her though, so I'll pack a hefty snack for after school. In the future, I may stick with onigiri, which packs more of a punch. Still, it's cute anyway!

impressed

I am so impressed with Sam's coloring. Different colors, attempting to stay in the lines, working to copy a picture... Way to go, Mr. Four Year Old!

Awww....

Sparring

Ted has recently begun sparring at TaeKwonDo. Required at the Camo level (his next rank), his instructor encourages sparring if a student can actually block. Otherwise, he/she could get hurt. In his last sparring class before the Winter Break, another boy actually kicked Kirril (his opponent today) in the face. That's not allowed, but it happens. Mr. D ordered all his sparring students face shields that day and they finally arrived last week. Ted was so excited to spar again and he really likes Kirril. Kirril is almost 7 and is out of Tiny Tigers and into Karate for Kids (the class for ages 7+). He is a purple belt and a really good student. Ted showed that he doesn't get scared off by rank or size and had a blast! He actually gets kicked pretty hard in the face towards the end (you can hear the thunk and I groan) but the face shield did its job and he was unhurt (and seemingly unfazed!) He has a Tournament coming up in February and he'll still be a Yellow Belt but he's hoping that he'll be at Camo for the next one, so he can spar. Mr. D says at one point, "He's going to make the other kids run away." Bwa ha ha. Ted is in the grey shirt.
The video is very poor quality because it was done on my camera.
Here's a shot of the two of them before class started.

Red Bean Bread

Today at the crazy cool Pacific Ocean Marketplace, I was disappointed that they were out of red bean buns. They are a Chinese staple ... sort of the Asian version of coffee cake. Mmm. Anyway, they did have Misakaya Red Bean Bread, a Japanese version. It's JUST as delicious. Mae and I are having a hard time doing anything but nibbling them.
I was hoping to find a bento box or two, but was unsuccessful. I did score lots of special treats. In particular, a graham-cracker type of cookie that is long and round. Mae LOVED them in China.

After POM, I took a gander at the next door Dollar Store. And I found bento boxes! They weren't labeled as such, but they are PERFECT. There are two boxes that came in this set ($.50 each!). They have a handy clip-lock feature that I hope the others have. Mae's is a sweet little bowl shaped one, but I need to get a band for it to keep it secured. I prepared these bentos for the kids and Paul to nibble on before Shabbat services. I led Tot Shabbat tonight and it went well.

The boys split the top left one; Mae's in on the right. The bottom center is Paul's. Apple slices, clementines, edamame, spring rolls, sushi maki and Inarizushi (for Paul & Mae) and Morningstar Chix Nuggets for the boys. Yum.

Mae's First Bento

I can't wait for her official bento box to arrive; these Laptop Lunch Boxes are too big once you start jamming them with adorable apple stars and animal onigiri. I apologize in advance for the copious pictures, but I am so proud! Mae is very excited about her "nee-jee-wee and shoh-yoo eh-phants!" Hee. (Shoyu is Japanese for soy sauce.) The top left is where a juice box could go. I pack her a sippy cup of water.

1. Cute part. Elephant onigiri with nori ears & eyes, shoyu in fishy squeeze bottle, star-shaped homemade granola bar
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2. Protein. 2 "chix" nuggets, 2 edamame skewers and an apple heart (those mini cookie cutters are addictive! We have teeny tiny hearts and stars everywhere!
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3. Fruit. Kiwi hearts and mandarin orange segments.
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And just because, the Mama leftovers Bento.

Black Belt Attitude

Ted earned a gold star today for his Black Belt Attitude. For the first time in a LONG time, he bellowed out the commands (as opposed to his baby talk voice that he usually uses). Was it because Mr. F is male? Young? Cool? Who knows. All I hope is that he can remember how good it felt to really take control and be a ninja! He was so proud. So was I!

she likes it!!

Today I found the rice cooker in the back of the crawl space. I think it was a wedding present (10 years this year!) I put in a batch of sushi rice I had left over from our last sushi making adventure. I used the elephant molds (and made plain orb-shaped things for me). Mae LOVED them. She gobbled her elephants down and then asked for more of my circle ones. Hooray! Onigiri rocks! Then again, with tamari in a cute fishy squirter, allowing for the toddler-fav of 'dip dip,' perhaps it was a shoe-in. Definitely some onigiri in her lunchbox on Friday!
Here's my first attempt at the mold. The eye and ear are nori. A more creative approach would be a carrot-carved ear and a pea eye, for example. Still, way cute! A Hello Kitty one is on its way ... I can't wait! Now, if I could find a Pokemon mold, I just might convince the boys....

The Growing Challenge

I love challenges. It's like the math worksheets from my childhood. While reading a chapter or studying for a test could never be really PROVED, a carefully completed worksheet was a badge of honor ... at least in my mind. This challenge is about growing more food in the backyard garden (or indoor pots etc). We have had great success with tomatoes here. While they tend to come into season rather late, in late July, they are bountiful and delicious. I've tried others and they have not made it. The first rule of this challenge is to grow one more vegetable or fruit from seed than last year. Now, I used to plant my tomatoes from seed, but then these children began appearing and it got too ... messy. This year I think they can all handle steering clear of the perfect sunny window seat in the front room. I'll start my tomatoes from seed and also add in spinach. We can't ever have enough greens in this family. Apparently you can seed spinach every 10 days through the spring! Wow! I need to learn about the (fancy word here) rotation of crops, rather than just planting a ton and sitting back to wait. I love my library ... I'll be heading over there today or tomorrow. We are to post once a week so the challenge organizer, Melinda, can keep track of us. I bought some heirlooms at the seed store earlier this Fall so I will start with those, but I have an email out to the CSA to see what, if any, seeds they might have. Local is still my #1 goal. Wish me luck!

about the bento

I'm waiting on some cute bento accessories before I take the plunge, but wanted to talk about the size of a bento. I love the Laptop Lunch System and rarely do the kids finish their entire lunch at lunchtime. The bento boxes are SMALL (perhaps because Asians know better about portion size then we do!). Mae has a HUGE appetite so I wondered how I could (artfully!) stuff enough food into such a tiny box for her. I came across this bento at Bento Anarchy, and my fears are clearly unfounded. This is a LOT of food and I doubt she could eat it all. So, the moral of the story is, cute and PACKED IN. Tomorrow I'm cooking the rice so the kiddos should have some onigiri to show for Friday's lunch.

Whah happahned?

Wow, it's been a while. Saturday during TKD, the light was coming in through the blinds funny and I developed a (rare now) really severe migraine. I spent the day huddling under the covers in my darkened bedroom and actually kicked it by evening, allowing me to take Ted to Ninja Night/have dinner with Wendy. Yum, Indian. Sunday I still didn't feel 100% so we lay low and didn't do much. Monday Ole and I hiked and lots of cleaning and laundry finally got done! We had bookclub last night and talked about The History of Love. What a great book. I'm re-reading it to catch all the little details I missed.
Tonight for our local dinner we had the scrumptious Spinach Kabocha Squash Soup, with CSA kabocha, onion and garlic (the spinach wasn't CSA but it was from Colorado.) I LOVE this soup. I also love that it can be done in the crock pot. Just put the previously cooked squash in with the whole garlic cloves and chopped onion, add 4 cups of veggie broth and put on low til ready. A few minutes before serving, squash it all with a potato masher and add 2 cups of spinach. Stir to wilt spinach and serve. So delicious.

bento

Mae has been very enthusiastic about her lunchbox at school. On Monday and Friday, she ate every single bite. I'm dipping back into my bento lunch adventures. In bento style, things are 'cute' while still healty. Mae is a Hello Kitty fan, so I'm going to try something similar to this box for her next week. She also will eat Chinese and Indian cuisine, unlike the boys. Rice is one of her favorites (noodles are number 1, but not as appealing when cold.) Tonight she asked me, "Can I go pee-skoo again, Mama?" Hooray!
This adorable bento is from Bento Corner. Her bentos are so cute!

Shoshoni dinner

Last night, while enjoying VwaV's Carrot Soup, I missed the brown rice that accompanied the carrot soup at the ashram. So tonight, we're finishing up the soup with some brown basmati rice (and the Beet Salad. Mmmm. This is an excellent recipe. Email me if you want it ... not sure I wanted to just post a full recipe from a cookbook, but I'm happy to share with a few friends!) I'm not much of a carb girl ... I do love my bread but rice, couscous, grains in general ... not my thing. But at the ashram they served it with the soup and Beet Salad and it was perfect to stir into the warming soup. With a side of homemade challah, this was a lovely winter meal. Shabbat shalom!

Victory!

This is my beet basket. My carrot basket looks identical. My turnip one is not far behind ... I give it a day or two to catch up. We are having a Beet salad tonight from the ashram's cookbook that I KNOW is excellent and that will be the end of the beets. I will miss them, but will wait for the leafy-topped versions in the spring. Mmmm ... beets.

The success of turnip/beet/carrot consumption has been a relief. I HATE letting food spoil, although we do compost which helps but STILL! What a waste! This year was my first at the whole root cellar business and I learned quite a lot! We should have been having these food discoveries sometime back in November! Now I know. We've been keeping up with the potatoes easily with mashers. Potatoes are so forgiving. No fancy ice-water baths for them. They taste delicious even when they've sprouted. We still have a ways to go on the potato basket (which is about 3 times larger than this basket), but they're doing nicely enough as is.

Tonight's local dinner was planned for yesterday but we just had leftovers instead. I'm looking forward to this meal. I love carrot soup (CSA carrots, onion, garlic, potatoes). The beet salad (CSA beets, red onion, garlic) and mashed turnips (CSA turnips, potatoes, homemade soy milk) should be perfect accompaniments a la Shoshoni.

I had an extra cup of CSA Indian Woman beans left over from a recent meal and remembered Dreena's Roasted Chickpeas were a bit hit. These are just as good, if a bit crispier, which I like. (Have I mentioned recently how much I love that little flower on my camera? I take pictures of all the food I prepare now, just for fun.) I've also been drinking the CSA Holy Basil tea by the mug-ful! It is really delicious. I'm glad, because we have a significant amount left, even after the holiday gift giving. Mmm ... cold weather and tea just go together so well, it almost makes the plunging temps worth it! Almost.

Turnips for lunch!

I'll admit it. I hadn't touched the turnips. I have a recipe I'm going to try that is a type of mashed potatoes with turnips. Not too inspiring. However! One of the blogs I love, Straight From the Farm, had a recipe a few days back for Caramelized Apples and Turnips. Intriguing. Anything with caramelized in it is bound to catch my eye. With 10+ pounds of turnips wilting in the basement, the least I could do was try! They are FANTASTIC. The apples mush into a sort of applesauce at the bottom of the pan. The maple syrup lends a sweetness to the otherwise bitter turnips, yet the dish isn't overly sweet. The turnips stay crisp and yet not crunchy. It is also easy and takes all of 5 minutes. YUM. Since I ate the entire bowl for lunch today, I think we've found a real winner. YUM!

Mae had another good day at preschool today. No crying and apparently even spoke a few words! She was very happy to see Eve and Nathalie and played with them all day (they weren't there on Monday). She hadn't touched her lunch, which sounds more normal to me! After picking up Ted, we took her to the doctor to check out the cough she's had for 3+ weeks now. Turns out she has a (rather severe, been there awhile) double ear infection. Her lungs are clear and her throat isn't overly red, so the cough is a mystery, perhaps the start of a viral thing that led to the ear infection. She's on Amoxycillin (the only antibiotic we know of that she isn't allergic to) and we have a recheck in 2 weeks. Apparently Ted was thrilled to be back in school; his teacher told me he was SO HAPPY all day long. I'm so glad! When I picked Sam up, he was dressed up like a king with a red cape and king's crown on. He is suddenly into dress up (at school) and takes it very seriously. hee.

Tonight we had the leftover (fabulous) Lentil Buttercup Soup, with homemade samosas and Paratha from our local Indian grocery. Mmmm...

Happy Swimming and Yummy Eating

Sam and Mae had their first swim class of the semester and both had a blast. Mae was a bit tentative at the start, but warmed right up and was actually jumping up and down in the water, on the castle, laughing out loud. I had to take a pic of that!

Sam and Jason are in their own class, with a girl who joined them from another class today. They had a good time together. Jason is a really good swimmer, so I think he will be a good example to Sam.

After swimming, I took Ted to The Water Horse with Seth and Jaron. It was VERY intense but beautifully done. It had some deep stuff in it that I hope escaped Ted's radar but it was so good. We both loved it.

For dinner, I wanted to try Veganomicon's Smokey Tempeh and Collards. YUM! Delicious marinade. I've never been a huge tempeh fan (prefer my homemade seitan) but this was quite good. And the smoky, garlicky marinade really worked with the collards. It was also very easy. So, a definite repeat.

During dinner prep, I fixed the kids' lunches. Holy assembly line! Ted requires a lunch AND a snack (he eats every bite and is starving by 3) and both Sam and Mae now need a lunch too. Thank goodness Paul fends for himself! After the kids were in bed, I tripled our well-loved Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins from Vegan Lunch Box. Mae has Snack tomorrow and everyone loves these, so we are set! Phew!

A good day. The kids played nicely together this morning and we finished up our thank you cards (well, I had them started a week ago but wanted the kids to do some writing (or scribbling, in Mae's case) on them to personalize them). Ted took this VERY seriously. So cute. Tomorrow everyone will be at school! I plan to drop Ted at Kindergarten, run with Ole, get a coffee and come home to shower. Wow! How lovely.

Big Girl Update

So, at pick up today, Mae was "hiding" just like the other Caterpillars. SOOO cute! According to her teachers, she didn't speak at all but didn't seem sad, just reserved. She pooped on the potty, so I guess no worries there. hee. She was so proud of herself.
After a quick nap, all 3 kids had the dentist, and Mae had Big Girl Moment #2: going into the dentist's back room by herself! (6 months ago she screamed bloody murder while getting a little exam on my lap.) She did great! No cavities, still has the severe underbite and the worry that 1 of her 4 2-year molars seems stuck (puffy gums but still not through.) Otherwise, she looks good! Cutie. She was pretty excited about her new toothbrush too.
Sam looks fine and Ted has 3 new cavities in between his teeth (read: bad parental flossing ... oy, the guilt). I sure wish we had Dental Insurance!!

Tonight I'm cooking a delicious-looking (CSA beans, buttercup, onions & garlic) Lentil Buttercup soup with some Paratha (naan-esque). It smells heavenly. **Update to say, this soup is fantastic! I swore up and down while peeling and dicing this squash (WAY more labor-intensive than just roasting the darn thing for an hour!) but I wanted to follow the recipe first. I think in the future I'll just roast it after all, but this is an exquisite soup. I used her suggested spices of ginger, coriander, cumin and cardamom. This soup is the clincher: buttercup is officially my favorite squash. It's just so sweet and rich on its own ... mmm! While chopping (and muttering), I managed to end up with 8 extra cups of chopped buttercup, so we can have this delicious gem of a soup 3 more times. YUM!!

First Day of School

Mae was ready to go to preschool today and knew just where her lunchbox and water bottle went in the classroom. I think she's most excited about eating lunch at school! Jake and Nathalie weren't there yet when we arrived, but she didn't cry or ask us to stay, so I think she's going to be just fine. She did look a little shell-shocked, so we'll see how her day was!

Lots of cooking

Today was a good day. Sam and I started our day baking banana muffins (sprinkled with flaxseeds) for breakfast. Then for dinner I really wanted to try Veganomicon's renowned Chickpea Cutlets, using our CSA Indian Woman Beans. I actually FORGOT to add in any spices! Duh! And it is tribute to the recipe that they were fantastic anyway! Amazing. I baked them and topped them with the Mustard Sauce ... equally stellar. Paul really liked that sauce. Mmm. We also had steamed broccoli and EDBV's Potato Squashers (CSA potatoes). Another yum there. It's like mashed potatoes only easier. Mmm. In the oven are Granola Bars by the Dozen. I'm hoping the boys will like those as much as the Z-bars.

Today Ted and I went to Boondocks to check out Laser Tag for his birthday. It was a hit. Invitations will go out soon. I can't believe he's almost six years old!

Tomorrow is Mae's first day of preschool!! She is excited and made sure to remind me to pack her "hewwo kwitty wunch box." My camera is all charged! My baby is going to school! (Hooray! hee hee.)

Veganomicon

Paul made fun of me tonight for settling down in front of the fire with a (cook) book. Doesn't everyone read cookbooks at night? It's funny. When I first got into cooking, about 2 years ago, I was thrilled to find so many delicious recipes on line. Now, with over 10 vegan cookbooks on my counter that I use daily, I have really found my favorite cookbook authors. Isa and Dreena are my favorites, hands down. Isa appeals to me with her Jewish wit and NY City references. Dreena makes me smile with stories of her two young daughters and homey "let your children help in the kitchen" feel. Both create fantastic food!
A small group of us from our Birth Class (I know, a bizarre way to meet people but we've been friend for almost 6 years now!) get together monthly for dinner and chatting. We had a little gift exchange in December and Nathalie graced me with the most amazing cookbook to hit the presses in years. Veganomicon is the end-all be-all of Isa's style. VwaV is my favorite cookbook of hers, but this huge tome has so many other amazing dishes too. I would have put myself on the 50+ waiting list at the library to eventually get my hands on this ultimate cookbook, but it's all mine! The only problem with Isa's recipes is that she uses many non-local ingredients, because she is in NY and has ready access to them. But some of them, many many of them, will grace our table this year. Mmm.

Repeat...

... of one of our favorite local meals. Pumpkin Black Bean Soup with CSA pumpkin, Hopi beans, garlic and onion. Served alongside my challah, which Paul and I managed to eat in its entirety with no help from the kids. Heh. I roasted my sadly slumped CSA pumpkin today and was able to use about 80% of its flesh, so even if a squash looks like it's going the way of the compost, some if not most can still be salvaged. This soup is fabulous; I give the credit to the local beans and pumpkin. Mmmm...

I baked a batch of Dreena's SuperCharge Me! Cookies (EDBV) and they were OK but not amazing. They tasted like an oatmeal raisin cookie with chocolate chips. They are crazy healthy and don't taste weird, so that's good. But my kids wouldn't touch them. *sigh*

Swimming!

Today was another swimming day with Josh and family. As usual, everyone had a blast. Sam actually stayed in the water for an extra hour with Josh, getting tossed and flipped around like mad. He loves the water! A lifeguard asked me about the Infant Aquatics program and commented that he has never seen a child in the IAS wetsuit who didn't act just like Mae was acting today - happy and confident in the water. True!

After nap today, all three kids had haircuts. Mae's is cut very short - it's been since August that she's had anything but a bang trim. I'll get a pic soon - she looks sooo cute!

Tonight we had Roasted Acorn Squash soup (CSA acorn squash, onion & garlic). We were out of soymilk so I subbed in lite coconut milk that we happened to have on hand. YUM! I'll do this every time from now on. We had toasted CSA buttercup squash seeds on top. (I roasted both acorn and buttercup today and toasted the wrong seeds! Oh well... they are both delicious.) What a yummy meal.

The Root Cellar ....

... is wilting.

Something must be done, and SOON, or there will be a lot of wilted, moldy produce in my basement! One easy plan to is get roasting! Squash roasts easily in 30-60 minutes, so I plan to roast away for the next few days. Once the squash are roasted, it can be frozen til I'm ready to prepare something. The turnips and beets must be dealt with on their own asap. Thursday and Friday will involve the Ethiopian stew, sauteed beets and root salad, to be sure. I love the Punk Rock Gravy, so I think a side of mashers will be on the menu with most meals from now on. Mmm. I also thought it might be easy enough to substitute mashers for rice with some of the more stewy soups. I'll post any "cellar meals" accordingly, in case any of you have a similar case of the wilties!

Any chickpeas will be subbed out for my CSA Indian Woman Beans and black beans for my CSA Hopi or Cherokee Trail of Tears/Wax combo.

The Roots
Potatoes: Mashed Potatoes w/ Punk Rock Gravy (CSA Indian Woman beans)
Carrots: Molly Katzen's Carrot Soup
Beets: Root Salad and Sauteed Beets (from the Yoga Kitchen cookbook)
Turnips: Ethiopian Turnip Stew
Onions: (easy to use up ... in every single dish)

The Squash
2 Acorn: Roasted Acorn Squash Soup
4 Kabocha: Kabocha Spinach Soup
4 Buttercup: Lentil Buttercup Soup
1 Pumpkin: Pumpkin Black Beans Soup (CSA black beans)
1 Blue Ballet: Hubbard Squash Pie w/ Gingersnap Pie Crust
3 Spaghetti: store the spaghetti strands for later spaghetti & no-meatballs!

more bowling

I love bowling. Especially the bumpers. I bowled a 123 today, probably my highest ever. Alex joined us, in case you wondered about the extra shoes. And having 4 kids was easy because Alex and Ted were completely happy and cooperative the entire time.

Pot Pie & Persimmons

For our local meal tonight we had individual veggie pot pies. Mmmm. The recipe is here, although I altered it some to use the excess squash we had on hand as well as the half bag of peas, carrots and corn that I found in the back of the freezer. I used TVP for the chicken and Vegan Lunch Box's Spelt Biscuits recipe for the pie and baked them in my new Le Creuset Soup bowls. YUM. The only things I would change would be to add in more oomph (Spike is perhaps more essential than I thought) and use less biscuit dough on top. But it was warm, comforting and yummy and that's what counts. Mmm.

For dessert, I froze 2 overripe persimmons for 2 hours and we enjoyed them as a sort of sorbet. The verdict? Better than the too-sweet Persimmon Pudding, in my opinion, but hard to actually eat. It was much easier to just scrape the flesh from the peel with my teeth rather than hack at it with a spoon. Very good though. I'll do this with the remaining 4 that are ripening on the counter. What a yummy, new fruit. Glad we tried it.