Festivities

I haven't owned a water globe in my adult life. I was so pleased to receive this beautiful one from our friend, Peggy, who joined us for breakfast recently.

We've been invited to share Christmas dinner this year with The Cousins, so we've had a low-key preparation period. In the meantime, we've enjoyed some opportunities to extend hospitality.

Our friend, Jon, visited from Pittsburgh for a few days last week. While he was here, we invited a few friends to join us for breakfast on Saturday morning.

Breakfast is arguably our favorite meal, so it was a pleasure to plan and prepare for a great time of morning fellowship.

Sue and I were excited for our daughters to finally meet. Allie is a sweet, outgoing young lady who loves the Word of God, and the girls had lots to share during the visit.

I'm pretty sure this is the best candle I've ever owned. The scent is Amber & Bergamot, and it's addictive, therapeutic, soothing... I highly recommend it. (Thanks, Sue!)

Yesterday, Morgan and I helped Gabriela prepare for her First Annual (maybe) Cookie & Ornament Exchange, with some of her friends.

Caelyn was away at her nanny job, and the boys helped around the house as we prepared.

For Gabriela's ornaments, we used Vanessa's tutorial.

These were fun and easy to make, but a little hard on the fingertips (with the hot glue).

I helped with stitching the circles and did a bit of hot gluing, but Gabriela did most of the work on these. I think she did well for her first project of this sort.

The girls, (l to r), Emily, AnaLisa, Gabriela, Sarah, & Chloe, had a delightful time playing games, exchanging goodies, and, of course, giggling.

AnaLisa's cookies were so adorable! Sadly, I didn't get to sample one.

Chloe spent the night at our house the night before the party, and made chocolate chip cookies with Morgan. Gabriela opted for kiss cookies, which Morgan volunteered to make for her. (Happiness is having a really amazing older sister!)

Sarah & Emily brought these yummy pretzel-Rolo sandwiches. My mom makes these with a pecan on top, and we make them with an M&M on top. Either way, these go quickly!

For the record - and I feel that my word should suffice - homemade peppermint patties (brought by Sarah & Emily) are far superior to the name-brand option.

On a superficial note, I'm still trying to be patient as I await the return of my camera from the repair shop. I'm no photographer, but I look forward to sharing better-quality photos in the hopefully-not-too-distant future.

How are you preparing for Christmas?

What's On Your Thanksgiving Menu?

A loaf of bread awaiting its execution transformation

I have a basic blueprint that I follow each year when planning menus for major holidays, but I like to change a detail or two, just to keep it interesting.

This year, The Cousins will join us for Thanksgiving dinner, and one of them offered to bring the turkey!

Selah.

Even with two ovens, it's a tremendous relief that I won't have to strategically time the use of them in order to accommodate something so large as a turkey and still make everything else in time for dinner.

I've been back in fitness mode recently, and I'm trying so hard not to load up on lots of heavy fare.

Even my pared-down menu still threatens the waistline, but not as much as in years past.

Trust me.

My dad bought this cute little garlic roaster for me a few years ago. Roasted garlic is a key player in my cauliflower pureé, which will be served in lieu of mashed potatoes, much to Morgan's chagrin. (I've promised to make it up to her on Christmas.)

What this photo lacks in aesthetic value, it makes up in culinary flair. This ordinary scene will morph into Craig's AMAZING collard greens (Daddy's recipe), sweet potato casserole, & cauliflower pureé.

The next generation of apple pie baker has graduated. Morgan normally makes the crust while I make the filling, but today she made the entire thing from start to finish. (It's probably more accurate to say that I've graduated. I wasn't a control freak about it, and she was free to create.)

What's fueling my operation today?
Ethiopia Harar Longberry

These bread cubes will become my stuffing (Mom's recipe), which will fill rolled flank steak (also Mom's recipe).

The remainder of today's prep includes making the topping for the sweet potato casserole, blanching brussels sprouts for roasting tomorrow, making cranberry salad, and mixing "pretty" herb butter to display on a cold plate.

The Line-Up:

Cauliflower Pureé

Roasted Brussels Sprouts


Collard Greens

Cranberry Salad

Sweet Potato Casserole

Stuffed Flank Steak

Whole-Wheat Rolls with Herb Butter


Apple Pie

(And from The Cousins:)

Turkey

Salad

Green Beans

Pumpkin Cheesecake

*  *  *  *  *

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Granola Bars

I finally fell asleep last night after brainstorming some breakfast ideas, and I want to share one with you here.

Although we're still wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts in late October here in the Houston area, there are pumpkins seemingly everywhere.

If you don't roast fresh pumpkin, you should. It's far superior to the stuff in the can, and there's little labor required. Simply cut it in half, scoop out the inside (being sure to save the seeds for roasting separately), and place each half face-down on lightly-oiled baking sheets. Roast at 350°F until the rind begins to sink in the middle. Let it cool, scrape away the rind, and store the pumpkin in freezer bags for later use.

Anyway, as I was lying in bed unable to sleep (my to-do lists tend to rob me of slumber), I suddenly thought of a granola bar recipe that I wanted to convert.

The friend who gave me the recipe uses either honey or orange marmalade in hers, but I've always substituted with apricot preserves.

This morning, I decided to try using pumpkin pureé.

I can't say enough how thankful I am for baking stones. They truly are a kitchen wonder!

To be honest, my bars don't always maintain their shape. It may be a tell-tale sign that I haven't added enough moisture to the mix. This morning was no different. Most of the bars fell apart when I removed them from the pan. When this is the case, I simply dump them all into my big granola jar to be served later with yoghurt! 

See? 

Everybody wins.

I managed to set this relatively-intact bar aside for a quick phone photo before dumping it into the jar with the rest.

Pumpkin Granola "Bars"

4 C oats

(pulse in food processor to resemble quick oats)

3/4 C melted butter

1/2 C sucanat

(or honey granules, aka "Savannah Gold")

1/2 C pumpkin pureé 

(mixed with 1 T agave nectar, if you prefer it sweeter)

1 C chopped pecans

1/2 C flax seeds

1/2 C dried cranberries

(Feel free to use other nuts/seeds of your choice.)

Bake at 400°F for 15-18 minutes.

Cool and cut into bars... or dump into your granola jar!

(If you're a coffee drinker, check out our friend's site. This is what completed my yummy breakfast this morning.)

ETA: I posted a revised version of this recipe here with some tweaking of the details for better results, thanks to my sweet friend, Lauren. :-)

Perfection

In our house, we like to find creative ways to add sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, and pumpkin to recipes.

Caelyn and Morgan have a little competition going to see who can yield the best results with sweet potatoes.

So far, I'd say they're 1-1.

Morgan makes some rockin' sweet potato muffins, and Caelyn has absolutely perfected

Sweet

Potato
Chocolate

Chip

Cookies

.

"Doesn't it just sing?"

We normally use Sally Fallon's recipe, but Caelyn wasn't pleased with the texture.

She found this one recently, and you'll hear no complaint from me.

In fact, they're

Absolutely

Perfect, 

with a cake-like texture.

Of course, as her gene pool would dictate, she somewhat changed the recipe to suit our family's preferences; but I don't know exactly how.

Sorry.

Anyway,

Craig believes that anything other than traditional chocolate chip cookies is a horrible misuse of chocolate chips. 

I benefit from that opinion in that the chocolate chips that were removed from part of the batter to leave plain cookies for him, were then added to the rest of the batter, leaving some of the later cookies

loaded with 

chocolaty 

ooze!

Mmmmmm!!

Go ahead.

Try it.

I dare you to eat just four.

Looking For A Good Snack?

I love granola. 

Muesli is what it's called overseas, so I get tickled when I see it labeled that way in restaurants and groceries here in the States.

I feel so cultured. ;-)

Throughout my 19+ years as a homemaker, I've been through several "favorite" granola recipes. The first one I used came from Karey Swan's Hearth & Home.

Later, I came across a couple of Southern Living recipes, a Martha Stewart recipe, and one from a celebrity chef (although I don't recall which one).

These were all good.

In fact, Southern Living recipes are among my favorites in many categories.

I felt perfectly content with my arsenal of muesli options until that fateful day when I visited my amazing friend, Lauren, in Indiana.

One taste of her delectable, perfectly-textured granola, accompanied by her refreshing homemade yoghurt, and I was hooked!

Being the sweet Titus 2-type homemaking pal that she is, Lauren was delighted to share the recipe with me.

Being my father's daughter, I had to personalize it.

Following the basic framework of David Lebovitz's recipe, I made these changes:

*Instead of the full measurement of almonds, I use half almonds and half pecans.

*I detest sunflower seeds, and I'm not so crazy about sesame seeds, either, so I substitute with

flax seeds & millet 

*Instead of brown sugar, I use Honey Granules.

*While making the sauce, I like to grate orange zest into the pan with the other ingredients.

*The recipe calls for rice syrup, which I'll use if I have it on hand. If not, I use honey in its place.

Where the recipe calls for honey, I use this same measurement of agave nectar, instead.

*My final substitution is coconut oil in the place of vegetable oil. 

~We really love this stuff. 

I even use it to remove eye make-up, and it helped to repair the damage done to my hair while living in southern Africa.

But there are those who can better expound upon the multiple uses of coconut oil (try here, for a start).~

*Oh! I almost forgot. When I made this a few days ago, I didn't realize that we were out of millet, so I used pepitas, aka pumpkin seeds, instead.

It's fun to add shredded coconut and/or dried blueberries and/or dried cranberries and/or dried apricots...

Use your imagination.

My favorite way to eat this is with homemade yoghurt and chopped fresh fruit.

Bliss, I tell you.

ETA:

Obviously, the original recipe is necessary to follow, as I merely listed the changes I make.

This recipe can easily be doubled. 

I do so because I live with boys whose last name should have been

Hoover.

Family. Friends. Food. Fellowship.

It's been fourteen years since we've seen our friends, the Lynches. Many, many changes have taken place between our two families since Craig and Brad first met (at a Bible study?) in California back in 1992 or '93. (My memory is awful.)

One thing that hasn't changed is Craig's occasional tendency to lose track of planning, leaving me to find out that we will be having overnight guests in less than 24 hours, and I haven't gone grocery shopping or organized sheets and towels yet. 

:-)

But, hey! I am "Chava"!
(That's Craig's Hebrew nickname for me. The "Ch" sounds like you're gearing up to hawk a loogie.)

And I have a "staff"!

So, when I got a message from Brad's wife, Lisa, squaring up details on their upcoming visit, I got right to work.

Lisa was a bit nervous about revealing to me her gluten (& dairy) intolerance, for fear that it would stress me out.

I was a bit nervous about revealing to Lisa that I don't usually serve beverages, other than water and coffee.

In the end, neither of us had any reason to worry! 

I've at least heard of gluten-free dietary guidelines, and I love to try new things; and she and her family don't drink other beverages, either!

Caelyn and I got busy on meal-planning immediately and headed to the grocery store while the rest of our "staff" put the house in order.

Here's what we came up with for dinner:

Grilled chicken

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Vegetable Kabobs in Balsamic Marinade

Vegetable/Pineapple/Shrimp Kabobs in Teriyaki Marinade

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeños Stuffed w/Ricotta & Smoked Gruyere Cheese

Tortilla Chips with Salsa, Mango Salsa, & Guacamole

Sauteéd Green Beans

Corn on the Cob

Caelyn worked on the kabobs.

Craig came in to say that he finds my cooking "sexy".

Gabriela has moved right into a position among our kitchen "staff". She does very well.

How do people function without lists? I'd be lost without them.

For dessert, Gabriela made this recipe from Karina's Kitchen, with a slight modification.

This recipe originally came from The Pioneer Woman, but I feel that I can teach her a thing or two. ;-) Actually, I just wasn't entirely pleased with cream cheese as a filling. We like a different texture and richer flavor. So, I used ricotta and smoked Gruyere cheese, instead, with a little salt and pepper.
Obviously, this wasn't any help to Lisa's dairy intolerance; but it did wonders to prove to my husband that I will also go out of my way to please him.

It was such a joy to see Craig and Brad interact again after such a long time. They've always been like brothers, and Brad has been a tremendous encouragement to Craig. We had a marvelous time discussing the Word together. (Isn't Brad cute with Gabriela's little fabric-covered Bible in his hands?)

Lisa is delightful! We covered many topics, from homeschooling to genetically-modified food to theology. 

Gabriela and Kaitlin had a blast together! There was so much cuteness concentrated in this little area!

Our girls thoroughly enjoyed visiting with Holly. She's such a joyful young lady.

After a gluten-free brunch the next morning, the Lynches had to head back home. We're so grateful that they made the trip to see us.

"Iron sharpens iron,
   and one man sharpens another."
Proverbs 27:17

Food, Glorious Food!

I've been trying to broaden my family's food horizons lately. I've decided to utilize some of my dustier cookbooks, along with a food blog or two. 

These parmesan/spinach Napoleons on filo came from an old Williams-Sonoma cookbook that I've had for a while. 

I found it on the bargain table at Barnes & Noble a few years ago, but it's anything but a bargain now on amazon.

The flavor was good, but they seem a bit labor-intensive for how quickly we devoured them. 

These served as our lunch yesterday. 

Kudos to Caelyn and Morgan.

In keeping with my vegetarian exploration, I chose Polenta Lasagna with Gorgonzola Bechamel Sauce for dinner, from the same cookbook.

Again, the girls brought this together while I busied myself with other things.

If you don't own any Le Creuset cookware, stop what you're doing, go out, and buy some.

If you think it's too expensive, here are some ways you can afford to buy yourself a piece of Le Creuset:

1. Take a month off from going out for coffee. 

(OK. Maybe two months.)

2. Ride your bike instead of burning gas.

3. Don't rent movies for a while.

4. Cancel your magazine subscriptions.

5. Eat beans and rice more often.

6. Have a yard sale.

7. Start your own ironing service for the corporate execs in your neighborhood. 

(Hey! I should try that...)

8. Stand at an intersection with a dog & a cardboard sign.

Your grandchildren will thank you. 

'Cause these will still be around for them to use.

*   *   *   *

While the girls worked on the polenta dish, I moved on to something that would keep the men happy.

After all, where food is concerned, I tend to straddle the fence.

Mmm... Doesn't that fatty bacon grease look finger-licking good?

Meanwhile, the girls were making progress...

Now why haven't I ever thought to shred the vegetables for lasagna?

Certain members of the family were skeptical about this meal, but I saw many hands reaching for seconds.

Morgan made a sauce for the bacon-wrapped asparagus. The recipe came from Martha Stewart Living, originally, but Mo made it slightly more healthful:

1/2 C yoghurt

(ours is homemade)

2 tsp Sriracha sauce 

(We used a similar sauce purchased at our favorite Lebanese market.)

2 T plus 1 tsp fresh lime juice

1 T plus 1 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

And for dessert...

Our friend, Jon, had spent the day with us, as he often does. When I took a plate of these Chocolate Power Bar Balls downstairs for Craig and him to sample, they weren't sure what to expect.

If you 1.) love chocolate, 2.) don't like/have time to bake, and/or 3.) want a less guilty dessert option, then this is the dessert for you. It literally only takes a few minutes to whip up a batch of these in the food processor.

NOTE: I used pecans, instead of walnuts.

CAUTION: My hands were very sticky after rolling these into balls.

BONUS: I got to lick ALL of my fingers, plus the palms of my hands afterward.

By the way, there wasn't one left when we were finished.