A Little More "Mermaids", A Little Less "Leave It to Beaver"

I fear that I may be giving you all the wrong impression. Yes, I can cook. Yes, I like to cook fresh, healthy meals. Yes, I made all of the recipes I've posted on this blog. 

But the reality is, the ballerinas won't eat most of them. The other reality is, when BSD is home he is the one who cooks. He's really good too. Better than me. Unfortunately, he's not home for dinner often enough.

So if this is the image of me you have imprinted in your mind...

You need to replace it. Because dinner around here looks more like this...

than this...

Sad, but true.

Just keepin' it real.

Pennette with Swiss Chard Ragu

Tonight was the big night. It was the first night I actually harvested something more than an herb from the garden. I've been waiting to try this recipe from Mario Batali's new cookbook Molto Gusto that calls for one pound of Swiss chard.

I wasn't sure how much Swiss chard made up one pound, but the square of chard was exploding so I figured I must be close.

In case you're wondering also, it takes about 20 large Swiss chard leaves to make one pound. More like 25 if some leaves are just medium sized.  (The picture below is only about 1/2 lb.)

The recipe was super easy to make. Didn't require anything unusual except for maybe the pennette (baby penne), but you can use regular penne if you can't find it. (I could only find pennette at Trader Joe's.) And despite my initial worries as I was halfway through cooking it, it had great flavor.

Great flavor + cancer-busting Swiss chard = a winner in my book! 

The only thing I would do differently is reduce the amount of butter. It called for 4 TBL of butter. That's half a stick! It was definitely rich and creamy, but I think it would have been just as good with only half that amount.

Pennette with Swiss Chard Ragu

(adapted from a Mario Batali recipe)

Serves six

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 small white onion, halved, peeled, and sliced 1/4-inch thick

3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

1 pound Swiss chard, rinsed, drained, and trimmed and sliced 1/4-inch thick

Sea Salt

4 tablespoons butter, cut into four pieces (I am going to reduce this to 2 TBL next time.)

Coarsely ground black pepper

1 pound pennette (small penne) pasta or other small pasta

¾ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus extra for serving

Combine 1/4 cup oil, onion, garlic and chard in a large pot, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion and chard begin to soften, about five minutes. 

 

Season well with sea salt. 

Add 1/4 cup water, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the chard is tender, about 20 minutes. Add the butter, stirring until melted, then season with pepper and remove from the heat. 

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Drop in the pasta, and cook until just al dente (done, but still firm). Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta and 1/4 cup of the reserved cooking water to the chard, and stir and toss over medium heat until the pasta is well coated. If necessary, add a splash or two more of the reserved cooking water to loosen the sauce. Stir in the cheese.

Transfer to a serving bowl. Serve with additional grated cheese on the side.

 Buon Appetito!

Off to watch the American Idol finale now. Can't wait!

The Eel Deal

I'm back with a little more motherly advice. OK, so you've had your spring/summer baby and your birthday parties are in the bag. Good going. You're on the road to easy street. 

Fast forward to 4th grade. The year of the animal research project. 

When your baby comes home shouting, "I chose an eel!" Don't roll your eyes and mutter, "what the heck were you thinking?!" be discouraged. An eel may be the most boring animal in the kingdom, but boring animal= not much info= easy research. You'll be done in no time. And then she can spend the rest of the week getting creative with her project. 

Instead of just drawing a picture of the eel in its habitat, she can get out the new basket of paints you scored at last weekend's rummage sale for $1...

and get busy painting....

and crafting and hot gluing in her artist studio until she's made a model like this. Extra bonus points if she's a ballerina because she'll have plenty of those lovely hair nets lying around to add authenticity.

And then, instead of making a ho-hum word search or crossword puzzle to teach her classmates about her animal, she can create a REAL game and call it, what else...

Eel or No Eel?

May Family Photos: Musical Chairs

I failed to get a family portrait in April. I was REALLY bummed to miss last month, but BSD was gone unexpectedly for the last few days of April when I planned to take the picture. 

Lesson to be learned? Take the picture EARLY in the month. 

Lesson I learned? Wait until the last minute.

 

Then force everyone to cooperate. 

Bribe them if you have to.

 During the last minutes of daylight.

On the last day that you'll all be together.

For the rest of the month. 

Then deal with the fact that you look like a behemoth in that shirt. 

That you thought looked cute. 

Until you sat down.

Bye Bye Birdie

If you remember, I mentioned that our past gardens had been plagued by birds and squirrels. So far, I haven't seen evidence that we're having the same problem this year, but I am trying to be proactive just in case. 

My friend told me that her grandmother tied aluminum pie plates to the tops of her stakes to scare away the birds. I googled this idea, and found that it can be effective. I also read that other gardeners have been stringing up old CD's in an effort to keep birds away. It seems the birds don't like the noise, the movement, nor the shine given off by the pie plates or the CD's.

Thinking about these three factors, and because a large part of the enjoyment of gardening for me is simply spending time admiring how pretty the garden is, I came up with an idea that meets ALL of these criteria. 

Noise? Yes, a beautiful tinkling sound.

Movement? Yep.

Shine? Uh huh.

Pretty? Yeah, baby!

Living in a town full of junk souvenir shops can have its perks. It's super easy to get your hands on these capiz shell wind chimes on the cheap. So far it seems to be working. I haven't seen any birds hanging out in the garden. We'll see what happens when the itty bitty green tomatoes start ripening. *fingers crossed*

Finding Nemo and a Little of Myself Along the Way

One of my favorite weekend indulgences is to go yard sale-ing. When we lived in San Diego, my friend and I used to go all the time. Since moving to Virginia, um over EIGHT years ago, I stopped cold turkey. Not sure why. Maybe it just didn't seem the same without my partner-in-yard-sale-ing-crime. Maybe it's because I had two kids. Maybe it's because I never met an old chair I couldn't live without, and BSD would have shot me if I brought home one more stray wing back.

Lately, the whole family has been bitten by the yard sale bug. And I couldn't be more excited. Those old dormant feelings are stirring. As long as the sale is in our little neighborhood everyone is ready to roll bright and early. If it requires actually driving the car, BSD is not interested. Better that way, I guess. Then he can't give me stink eye as I'm off in the corner petting an old dresser, wondering how I can stuff it into the back of the car.

Since it's hard to sneak tables into the house without BSD noticing, I've been trying to curb my furniture fetish. Instead, I've been hunting for little oddities for the garden or accessories for the house. Some weekends have been epic while others have been complete duds. The thrill of the hunt is definitely an addiction. Kind of like my weekly visits to HomeGoods, only much easier on the wallet.  

So far, my absolute favorite yard sale find has been this old, craggy fish ashtray that I snagged for $1. At least, I think he's an ashtray. Whatever he is, he makes my heart sing. I think he could be a long-lost cousin of my new whale butter dish. 

I planned to hang him up somewhere in the yard, but he needs to be part of a grouping that hasn't presented itself to me yet. Maybe after a few more yard sales, he'll have some friends to hang with. For now, he's found a home at the end of the gravel path that leads to our back yard. Every time I stroll down the path and spot him, I can't help but grin.

What about you? Do you like to yard sale? Any favorite finds that make you giddy?

Smoked Sausage and Corn Frittata

* I have no idea WHY this post is showing up in all caps. It doesn't show up that way as I type or preview it. Aaaarrrggghh!

The other night we did not feel much like cooking. Instead of copping out completely, we turned to the Cooking Light 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Cookbook. For a few days, I've been telling BSD we need to make something with cilantro because it's growing like wildfire in the garden. 

We lucked out and found a recipe that called for 3 tablespoons of cilantro. Not enough to  make a dent in the plant, but enough to trim down the tops that could easily go to seed if we're not careful.

My expectations were low. I just wanted something we could throw together quickly and not gag on. Surprisingly, it was really tasty! It would make a great brunch dish served with fresh fruit and toast, but it also works as a light dinner in a pinch. 

Our only obstacle was finding a non-stick skillet. It seems our only non-stick cookware is a wok. BSD was about to use the wok when I grabbed the cast-iron skillet and shoved it at him. He was not happy, and I knew my butt was on the line if the eggs stuck like glue to the pan. I held my breath as the frittata cooked and let out a big sigh of relief when it slid right out of its cast-iron cocoon onto our waiting plate. Phew!

The best part was the thrill of using an ingredient that we had grown in our own garden. It was our first "harvest" of the season. Yes, I know it's only an herb, but, hey, it's a start.

Smoked Sausage and Corn Frittata

Ingredients

• cooking spray (we just used a little butter)
• 4  ounces smoked turkey sausage, quartered lengthwise and diced
• 1 1/2  cups frozen shoepeg white corn, thawed
• 1/4  teaspoon ground red pepper (optional)
• 1  large egg
• 4  large egg whites
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3  tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro, divided

Preparation

1. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage; sauté 4 minutes or until browned. Stir in corn and, if desired, red pepper; reduce heat to medium-low.
2. Combine egg and egg whites in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Drizzle evenly over sausage mixture. Cover and cook 8 minutes or until almost set. Remove pan from heat; sprinkle evenly with cheese and 1 1/2 tablespoons cilantro. Cover and let stand 2 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 1/2 tablespoons cilantro. Cut into 4 wedges.