Foodmomiac

Gift Ideas for Kids Who Love Cooking

A friend of mine sent me a tweet the other day asking for non-gimmicky gift ideas for kids who love to cook. I was a kid who loved to cook, and both Dylan and Max follow in my foot steps, so I had a lot of fun coming up with some fun ideas and figured I'd share them here too.

A Personalized Chef's Hat and Apron
In the picture above, Dylan is wearing the set that my mom got her a couple of years ago for Hanukkah. She loves it! Her name is embroidered under the apron pocket.
(Edited to add: The above hat/apron is actually from MICHAEL'S mom. Dylan has a pink set from MY mom.) 

A Subscription to a Food Magazine
I taught myself to cook watching cooking shows (Frugal Gourmet was my FAVORITE) and reading food magazines. For kids who are ages 9 and above, a food magazine is a great idea. If they are anything like me, they'll instantly start cutting out all of the recipes that they want to make someday.

A Blank Recipe Book
I still have the recipe book that I got as a kid. It has recipes that I cut out and glued and handwritten recipes that I got from my mom.

Cooking Classes
We have a lot of options for kids cooking classes here in Chicago because it's a big city, but I think these types of programs are really starting to spread, so do some research. Maybe you can even find a local food blogger or private chef who will do private lessons in your home.

Thanksgiving: The Day Before, 2011

This year things will be pretty mellow in the household for Thanksgiving. We had originally planned to go to NY to celebrate with my dad, but my brother is living with us now (as I've mentioned), and he has to work both tonight and Friday, so we wanted to stay here with him.

Anyway, it will be just the five of us as well as our old au pair Vivi and two of her friends (Vivi is now living with another family in Chicago, but they are traveling). Despite a total guest list of eight, I am cooking enough for 20. I'm not sure if this is denial or psychosis, but I just love making Thanksgiving dinner, and scaling back is no fun at all. I am legendary for being a total beast about letting people cook with me. The only one who is typically allowed in my kitchen is my sister-in-law Megen, but since she'll be home in Kentucky, I have made the decision to let Dylan help me. She is now officially 10 years old, and that seems like a good age to start learning Thanksgiving meal prep, no?

On tap for pre-prep today is:

• make chopped liver
• cut bread up so it gets dried out for stuffing
• make stock for gravy (we bbq our turkey, so we don't get good drippings)
• make both cranberry sauces (cranberry horseradish relish and simple cranberry sauce)
• make and cool brine, brine turkey

The turkey arrived yesterday from Gilt Taste. It is an Amish heritage turkey and it looks BEAUTIFUL.

Happy Halloween 2011!

and then she ate his brains:

FoodKIDiac: Guest post by Dylan - Baked Acorn Squash

My favorite dish lately has been baked Acorn Squash it is SO delicious! It is fun and easy to make! I was able to make it all by myself, actually. Today we had it with chicken and a nice little salad! It is such a great comfort food and it adds a little sweetness to your dinner! I guarantee that you will LOVE this dish! Acorn squash is probably the best fall dish you can ask for! Today my Dad built a fire in the fireplace so it was really nice and cozy in our house.

I could eat acorn squash forever! You HAVE to try this dish!

Here is the link to the recipe I used:

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/classic_baked_acorn_squash/

 

 

The Monday Night Dinner that Garnered a Standing Ovation (Lamb Meatballs and Mujadara)

The title of this post is no exaggeration. Shortly after declaring it, "the best meal you have cooked in five years," Michael told the kids they should give me a round of applause. And then Dylan stood up on the bench in the kitchen to turn that round of applause into a full out standing o. This is NOT the norm in my household, but damn, it was definitely satisfying.

Dinner was an old favorite that I hadn't made for years (mujadarah) along with a new dish that I tried for the very first time (lamb meatballs). The lamb recipe has a gajillion steps, so I am just going to link to it rather than adapt it and repost here. Click here for amazing lamb meatballs.

I will, however, share with you the recipe for Mujadara. This recipe comes from David Rosengarten, a chef who was a very big deal on the Food Network back in 1996 when I worked there. (He also wore a ridiculous amount of makeup when recording his shows, so when he'd swing by the cubicles to talk to the "little folk," we always ended up laughing over his oompa loompa face as soon as he left.) 

Mujadara

1 cup green or brown lentils
1 quart cold water
3 large white onions, sliced into thin half moons
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup basmati or jasmine rice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice

Bring the lentils to a boil in the cold water and then turn the heat down to simmer. Let them cook for about 25 minutes or until they are just about tender. Reserve 1.5 cups of cooking liquid (you likely won't be able to reserve this much, but you can just make up the difference with fresh water), and drain the lentils.

While the lentils are cooking, cook the onions in olive oil until they get nice and soft (the original recipe calls for five minutes, but this took me at least 10). Pull out 1.5 cups of the onions and set them aside. Cook the rest of the onions until they are caramelized and verging on crispy (again, they say five minutes, but it was more like 10 or 15). Drain these on a paper towel and set them aside.

In that same saucepan, add the cooked lentils, the reserved liquid, the softened onions (not the caramelized ones), the rice, salt and allspice. Cook this over low heat, covered, until the rice is tender, which should happen in about 20 minutes. Serve topped with caramelized onions. Sit back while your family applauds your efforts.

Weekly Menu, Week of October 2, 2011

I actually meal planned this week - whoo!

Here's what's on tap:

Sunday (last night): pot roast, cheesy mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts and french green beans

Monday: Mujadara, lamb meatballs, greek salad

Tuesday: Staff Chicken, salsa verde, brown rice

Wednesday: Baked fideo, fresh veggie TBD (CSA delivery is Wednesday)

I'll need to figure out the rest once we get our delivery of veggies. What are you guys cooking this week?

 

Outrageously Good Dinner (with very little effort): Osso Bucco

Yesterday, we took a little family trip to our new grocery store, Mariano's Fresh Market. I am a little bit embarrassed by how excited I was to have this new store open up in our neighborhood, but there you go. I was VERY EXCITED! It's a supermarket, so you can get all of your household supplies, but they also have a terrific bakery, deli counter (they sell Creminelli salami - my former client and maker of the best salami ever), and they feature a nice amount of local produce, with the farm called out clearly on the signage. 

Anyway, I'm also a fan of the meat counter. They have some really great looking stuff, including the insane hunk of meat pictured above. Michael grabbed this while I waited for my number to be called at the deli counter. It is called a volcano veal shank (linked here is a great primer on veal shank cuts) and he asked me to make Osso Bucco. Normally, as you'll see if you click that link, you make Osso Bucco with small slices of the shank, but I figured the recipe would work just as well with the mongo one he bought. I was right - SO good.

The recipe came from Epicurious, and was adapted from Tony Bourdain (link here to naughty picture of Mr. Bourdain for those who appreciate that sort of thing). Osso Bucco is a great meal if you are entertaining, because it can all be made ahead, it tastes amazing, and it is really impressive. We served it with some little roasted potatoes, but I would actually recommend serving it over polenta - I think that would be a much better receptacle for the yummy sauce you'll have.

Osso Bucco

One enormous veal shank or cut up, osso bucco style shanks (one per person if you do the small guys)
flour
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
2 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups dry red wine (we used a pinot noir)
2 cups veal demiglace or chicken stock (i used one cup of each - I found the veal demiglace at the supermarket in the freezer department)
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, smushed up a bit (i used a quart jar of homemade canned tomatoes from my father-in-law)
1 bay leaf

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Lightly dust the shank(s) with flour and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large dutch oven (I used my trusty Le Creuset), and brown the shank(s) on all sides over medium/high heat. This should take about 10 minutes total. Remove the browned shank and place on a plate. Add the butter. As soon as it melts, add the carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Saute for about 8-10 minutes until the onion softens up. Add the red wine, stirring up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Then, add the stock, tomatoes, and bay leaf and place the shank(s) back in the pot. Bring up to a boil, then cover, and place into the oven for 2.5 hours. 

Remove from the oven when done and take the shank out, placing it on a platter to rest (cover it with foil). Place the pot with all of the sauce in it on the stove over low/medium heat and let it reduce for about 15 minutes. If there is a ton of fat, you can skim some off at this time.

Serve the meat with sauce spooned over top. Enjoy!

Together Again, But With Better Hair

About three weeks ago, my brother moved up to Chicago. He's staying with us for a short while (in the room recently vacated by our au pair) as he gets settled into his job and finds a place to stay. I have to say, it's been kind of nice having him around!

We haven't lived together since 1991. Twenty years later, I'm a lot more frazzled, and he is a lot taller than me, but it's fun. The kids are THRILLED to have Uncle around all of the time. The weirdest part is that I keep mixing up Max and David. I have called Max "David" about 46 times, which the kids find hysterical.

Some pictures of me and David from long, long ago. (Yes, my hair. I KNOW.)

Questioning My Status as City Mouse

When we moved from Ohio to Chicago five years ago, I was ecstatic. I took pictures of the urban rooftop view from my deck. I gleefully counted the number of Starbucks within walking distance of our house (four). I was convinced that we had found the right place for our family. I loved that our house was compact (our house in Toledo was a 5,000 square foot Victorian with a ridiculous number of dusty nooks and crannies), and I told myself that having a park right around the corner was a fine, fine substitute for a big backyard.

Five years later, I'm not so sure. Two weeks ago was fall program sign-up with the Chicago Park District. It is so damn competitive that Max got locked out of ice hockey because I clicked 10 seconds too late. TEN SECONDS. Our schools have the shortest school day in the country (5 hours and 45 minutes), and the teachers' union just voted to keep it that way (this is a whole other post, but will need to wait until my anger dies down). My kids wax rhapsodic about the magical suburbs where kids can hang out on the block with friends and yards are big enough to play catch without landing the ball in a neighbor's yard.

I'm just tired of city life being so hard. Trust me, I know how lucky we are to have the life that we do. Truly, I do. But, I am having a hard time reconciling some of the things that are difficult for no reason. Like shoehorning our cars into our "two car garage." Or the simple task of signing my kids up for sports.

Max's Sixth Birthday Party (or how a backyard party gave me post-traumatic stress disorder)

Yesterday was Max's 6th birthday party. I would share photos, but I did not take any, as I was in defcon 5 defense mode the entire time. I do not know how a simple party went so wrong, but it went so, so wrong, and I felt like such an utter failure.

The theme of the party was "water party," and I really thought I had everything thought out. I used this party plan from the AMAZING ladies at One Charming Party (NONE of the disasters were their fault - I can't recommend their party plans highly enough) but, in hindsight, I think I was smoking crack when I was planning things.

First of all, if you look at the party plan, you will see that the children are in a large yard. My yard is approximately 10x10. You will also see that the children are not all boys. I had almost all boys. The kids in the party plan? Cute little preschoolers. My party? Testosterone-ravaged 1st graders who were hellbent on destruction.

I decided to combat the small yard problem by extending the party under my deck. In theory, this is a brilliant idea, because it almost doubles the available space. What I did NOT realize was that there was a dead, rotting squirrel in our pile of fireplace logs, putting out the stench to end all stenches. By the time we realized that the strange (and by strange I mean putrid) smell was coming from the logs, we had a full yard of people and were stuck. We spotted the dead squirrel's tail almost immediately, and had a brief conversation about the viability of extricating it without causing a commotion, but quickly realized that it would be impossible. And, so, we dealt with the smell and prayed that the tail would not be noticed by one of the manic six-year-olds (it wasn't, and that was one of the only things that went well).

I don't know that I have the fortitude to go over everything that went wrong yesterday (time outs, head locks, punching, kicking, screaming, crying), but it was just mortifying. There are many things that I am good at in this world. The cake, for example, was both attractive and delicious. However, I think I can now safely say that I am a really, really horrendous organizer of children's parties, and will certainly be outsourcing that task in the future.