Encouragement

Arianna and Colin are here for a playdate. Colin is in the family room having a truck and car extravaganza. Arianna and Connor are in the kitchen with me and we're drawing and coloring. Connor leaves the table and comes back and looks at Arianna with a forlorn, sad stare:

C: Arianna, you encourage me.
A: I what? (confused)
C: You E N C O U R A G E me. (still, the sad face)
D: Connor, do you know what "encourage" means?
C: Yes.
D: What does it mean?
C: It means she makes me do something.
D: Kind of. What is she encouraging you to do?
C: She's encouraging me to think about Buddy. (our dead cat)
D: Why is she ecouraging you to think about Buddy?
A: Because she looks just like a cute kitty cat.

Arianna smiles. So do I.

The Cooking

Started at 3pm and just finished cleaning up. I made the carrots and the soup. They're both packed in the back fridge waiting for a dinner this week. I also made Michelle's beans---I ate a few tablespoons of those for dinner. YUMMY. I also made a Wegman's sun dried chicken breast for myself for dinner but only ate a few bites of it---someone small and demanding decided he really liked it so he at a bunch of it. The big project of the night was a giant pan of Butternut Squash Mac N Cheese. Found the recipe on the internet and it looked interesting--and it is. Had a bite or two and it is weirdly good. That's Monday or Tuesday's dinner. Tomorrow I'm making a north african flavored brisket and I'm baking a big Wegman's honey brined turkey breast with fresh sage and parsley stuffed under the skin.

There will be no Dominoes or McDonald's this week! Hurrah!!!

Tis the Season to Cook

This week we ate junk. Just junk. I didn't eat much of it, but the boys did. So, with a quiet weekend and no plans for Saturday night, I'm cooking for the week ahead so that we're not wasting calories and money on stupid food choices this week. That's not to say that I'm only making healthy things. But stuff you cook yourself is always better. Right now the plan is to make a meat in the crockpot, prep a meat for roasting later in the week, make a pasta dinner of some sort, make a bean dish if I can get my dear friend Michelle to give up the recipe I want, make a pot of soup, and make a batch of homemade salad dressing. I'll let you know what I finally decide on.

While prepping for this extravaganza, I dug out some of my old cookbooks. When I saw my 1981 "Modern French Cooking" by Wolfgang Puck I got so happy! Connor is on a major carrot kick (the only healthy thing he ate all week) and we were talking about my spectacular mashed carrots the other night. But they are not mine--they are Mr. Puck's--from this book. The book is splattered with the evidence of many happy cooking occasions. Most of which took place while I still lived at home with my parents. And since my mom has some sort of spiritual objection to appropriate cooking tools, that made it all the more a challenge at the time. Really, there are so many great and special recipes in this book. I've not shared any recipes on this blog but I now feel compelled to do so with my two favorites. The first--those lovely carrots. This is a Thanksgiving regular for me.

Wolfgang Puck's Carrot Puree (Mousseline de Carrotte)

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch slices
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt
Freshly ground white pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons sour cream

1. In a large saute pan, melt the butter. Add the carrots and saute over a low flame for 20-25 minutes until tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Transfer carrots to a food processor and process until smooth. Add the heavy cream and sour cream and continue to process until well combined. (If the mousseline is too stiff, add more sour cream, a teaspoonful at a time).
3. Correct seasoning to taste.

If you don't have a food processor I won't lecture you about all the reasons why you should. You can still make this by finely mashing the carrots in a stand mixer. But really cook the carrots until they are super soft. Heaven.

Now, this one is just inexplicable. It is so easy and so not typical. When you think of this soup, you think of Campbell's paste. This is the antithesis and the lemon does something spectacular to it. Dancing mushrooms on the tongue--imagine them.

Wolfgang Puck's Mushroom Soup (Creme de Champignons)

1 pound firm white mushrooms, cleaned
1 medium lemon
1 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Tablespoons minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 teaspoon water
1 Tablespoon minced parsely

Warning: This soup must not be overcooked.

1. Sprinkle the mushrooms with juice from the lemon. Coarsely chop them.
2. Melth the butter in a heavy saucepan an lightly saute the shallots. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and bay leaf and saute over moderate heat for 10 minutes or until the liquid disappears.
3. Add the salt, pepper, cream and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add the cornstarch to the soup and continue to simmer 10 minutes longer, stirring constantly.
5. Correct seasoning to taste.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y

Heard "The Bay City Rollers" in the car on the way back from Target tonight.....forgive me.

Morning
Hour long hike in Banshee Reeks. What an awesome place! I think I like it more than Great Falls--less crowded--as in almost no one else was there. We totally busted into the Visitor's Center through a side door. We thought it was open, but it wasn't. A kind volunteer working upstairs came down and helped us with a trail map. This slice of wilderness in the middle of random housing developments is just the coolest thing. Nicely mowed trails and great trail markings. We'll be back and we're going to see if there are any volunteer opportunities. The boys spent some time chucking big rocks into Goose Creek and we got to see the beaver's pond before it disappears. The beavers are, apparently, relocating.

Afternoon

Wii has taken over. We did a fair amount of Wii Play and Wii Goosebumps-Welcome to Horrorland which is actually a very cool amalgamation of arcade and carnival games. Connor and I nearly wet our pants watching Bob shake the nunchuck remote to get bats out of his hair in the "Batting Cages". Hysterical. Wii Bowling is still my fave.

Evening

I don't know where this came from. It was in the back fridge. And after an hour of Wii it seemed advisable. Very interesting! Here's the review from "The Wine Lover's Page":

Shingleback McLaren Vale "Black Bubbles" Sparkling Shiraz ($21.99)Inky dark purple, pours up with a frothy pink mousse; bubbles are lasting, with the persistent, pinpoint quality I would expect of a fine, classically made sparkling wine. Good black-fruit aromas blend plums and berries. Mouth-filling and fresh, bubbles add a creamy texture on the palate. Fresh and appropriately tart; although its residual sugar maps to moderate sweetness, carbonation and acid balance present a "dry" flavor impression. As quality sparkling Shiraz should, it shows the flavor profile of a fine McLaren Vale red with bubbles added; and that's fun. US Importer: Precept Brands, Seattle. (May 30, 2007)
FOOD MATCH: Usually drunk as a refreshing aperitif or for casual party sipping, this fine Shiraz will pair with red meat, is recommended with chocolate desserts, and shows surprisingly well with spicy Asian fare. It was remarkably good with the offbeat, aromatic West Chinese cumin lamb featured in yesterday's Wine Advisor FoodLetter.

The bubbles stand up like on a cappuccino. It would be GREAT with Kung Pao!

Indiana Devolves

Waking Connor up yesterday morning for school:

D: Good morning, Bee Boo. Time to wake up. I see your eyes are opening.
C: Hmmmrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! (he stretches)
D: How ya feeling this morning? (i sit on the bed next to him)
C: Good. Mama, I just had a dream.
D: What about?
C: Ummm. Indiana Jones. I WAS Indiana Jones. Me. Connor was Indiana Jones. In a Crystal Skull story.
D: Cool. What did it feel like to be Indiana Jones? Was it scary?
C: No. I was Indiana Jones.
D: So what happened?
C: Ummm. I was Indiana Jones and I was on the Circle of Doom ride and I PEED MY PANTS. Me, as Indiana Jones! (laughs hysterically)
D: Well, that can't have been good! You peed in your Indiana Jones pants?
C: Yeah, well, that's just how this Indy rolls.

Not kidding.

Don't Fall! Colors

Had our first fall/winter Sunday morning hike today. Last winter we did a few and I'm going to try to enforce it a bit more this year. Its just so nice to be together out in the quiet and crisp. Today we went to Great Falls and it was beautiful. We got there early--before the crowds and hiked the River Trail for about an hour and half. Connor, of course, loved the overlooks which he calls the "lookovers" and made us both paranoid along the trail about him running toward a cliff. There was long discussion about how canal locks worked and what goods they moved from Pittsburgh and why. And there were some cool "Please Touch" items in the Vistor Center including a snake skin and antlers.

We spent the rest of the day lying low, napping, watching "Nim's Island", and doing lots of coloring and drawing. Tonite we've been told that we are lucky to live with a "Fish Artist" and we were provided about 20 drawings of various fanged fish (which I started with a random drawing of a fish with pink fins and brown teeth--it took off from there). Enjoy.

Alter Egos

I love Halloween. You all know that. I really really do. But I am so glad that it is over. This week has been just insane--in a good way, but still insane. I need a day in a sense deprivation tank to recover.

Two costumes this year. Wolverine for school and Zombie for Trick or Treating. Enjoy!