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Day 1 – WHAT??? OMG

Posted in Finley Ray, Frankie, Friends, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , on October 8, 2013| 3 Comments »

After a Sunday afternoon  parade of friends and family stopping by to see the new baby, life settled down a bit and Belle (Chiara’s nanny and household helper) and I made Eggplant Parmesan.  After dinner and baths (see photo) and thankfully bedtime for the girls, I sat myself down to watch all my favorite Sunday night TV shows;  Amazing Race, The Good Wife and The Mentalist.  I had to miss Masters of Sex and Homeland because they don’t have Showtime.  What does this have to do with the title of the blog? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

YES Daddy has a bathing suit on!

YES Daddy has a bathing suit on!

Day 1:  Up at 7am (ungodly hour) and the girls have to be dressed, fed and Finley starts school at 8am, Francesca at 8:15am.  Who’s driving them?  Me? What? I drive a Rav4 and a vintage Metropolitan (tiny) and they want me to drive a Tahoe!? Are you kidding me?  I am terrified of that car (and I use that term loosely since it is like a truck), not to mention I am now in Boynton Beach and uh, you want me to drive where?  Tom said he’ll ride shotgun and direct me and then we can get Starbucks.  A deal and I will learn how to use a GPS.

The rest of the day seems to just sail by, the nanny had the day off and the girls wouldn’t be back till 3pm. More friends dropped by and we heated up lots of leftovers for everyone for lunch.  What could possibly happen?  Well….when I was cleaning up I noticed a small square white ring on the dark wood table in the furnished rental house!   Nobody was around so I tried mayonnaise – didn’t work.  I tried furniture polish – didn’t work.  Google said mix ashes with water and rub gently BUT no one smokes here!  I tried vegetable oil-didn’t work.  I made a paste of salt and water and it darkened a bit. Google said  baking soda and water but I couldn’t find any in the house!  Who doesn’t have a box of baking soda in their house? or their  refrigerator??  The mark is darker but still there so I’m going to try to work on it again today.  Thankfully she doesn’t read my blog so she won’t know I did it and right now Fletcher is taking up all her time and energy, Whew!

I tried to master the Rainbow Loom;  You know the toy that 5 years olds can work – I couldn’t  get it right, perhaps you have to be 5 years old.  My first bracelet had a loop hanging, my second one didn’t quite come together so I gave up for a while anyway. Time to pick up ‘Cesca  and I was on my own – well that is me and Siri.

Dinner was later than usual and the girls were a bit on the wild side.  The many throw pillows from the couches seem to make their own version of a yellow brick road.  Foreshadowing!!  Tia called and Finley wanted to do FaceTime with her and I guess she had to pee too!  AND THEN, she came back into the living room and uttered seven words every parent dreads to hear; “I dropped your phone in the toilet”  OMG, OMG, OMG – the iPhone5!?!?  Horror!  I have to hand it to Chiara, she was calm, she did not scream and she did not faint.  QUICK to the computer, what does Google say to do?  The phone was patted dry and immersed in a bed of rice, sealed in a plastic bag in less than 2 minutes!  Time to make a novena to St. Jude because seriously I think this is one of those impossibles! 

St. Jude Patron Saint of Things Impossible

St. Jude Patron Saint of Lost Causes and Things Despaired Of

Bedtime proved to be challenging; who wants another book read, who doesn’t want their water in a paper cup but rather must have a BIG glass, then the other also has to have a BIG glass, who needs to go downstairs to see Mommy – you’re getting the picture.  15 minutes later, Frankie is out of bed and coming down the stairs BECAUSE I made the mistake of telling her Mommy would come upstairs and then I never told Mommy.

I finally went to bed myself after trying once again to master the rubber band loom.  I did manage to produce what I thought was a pretty cool creation.  Sometime while it was still dark,  I heard Frankie calling out for Mommy.  Ay yi yi, I surely did not went get up, but I did.  I trekked up the stairs only to find Frankie with her father who was trying to convince her that now is really not the time to play.  I could not go back to sleep!  So I’m writing this under the influence of a very large Grande Americano – caffeine is a wonder drug!

 

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Sunday Supper-Super Shows

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , , , on October 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Oh wow, what a great time I had last night.  I was in my glory and in full possession of the remote.  Well if not the remote exactly, I did pick all the shows we were going to watch on Sunday evening.  I had it all planned out and then the football game  screwed up the line-up.  It started out with 60 Minutes  starting late and running over past 8:00.  I wanted to watch The Amazing Race, the only reality show I think worth watching, so since I also wanted to watch The Good Wife, my solution was to DVR both of them as I was watching them BECAUSE Masters of Sex and Homeland  followed at their regular times.  Oh my,  such planning;  Two TV’s on two different floors and only one with DVR capacity.  Such is life in the 2000 millennium.  

My plan did not quite work;  We watched the shortened version of 60 Minutes and The Amazing Race and three quarters of The Good Wife.  I happily went upstairs to watch SHOWTIME, content with the knowledge that afterwards, I could go downstairs and find out what Alicia was going to do as she was caught in the middle of a fiduciary dilemma.  Best laid plans and all that jazz, I just never took into account that the DVR  didn’t know that the football game had run late, it recorded The Good Wife from 9:00 to 10:00 and therefore the ending was never recorded! 😦

There was just enough chill in the air to warrant closing the window and making a hearty soup for dinner.  The soup was  Escarole, Canellini Beans and Sausage and it hit the spot on this fall Sunday evening.  I served it with some great chewy Italian bread.

1 pkg (1 1/2 #) Italian mild pork sausage patties ( I used hot poultry sausage)

3 TBS basting oil divided

8 oz chopped onions

3 cloves garlic chopped

1 pkg (15 oz) escarole

Salt and Pepper

1 carton chicken stock

1 can cannelloni beans, drained

1 cup ditalini pasta

lentils + escarole

ESCAROLE  (Photo credit: joannova, a/k/a foodalogue)

2 TBS lemon juice

Cut each sausage patty into 6 pieces and roll into balls.  Heat 1 TBS basting oil in a large braising pan on MED .  Add sausage balls and cook, turning to brown on all sides 3-4 minutes.  Remove sausage from pan and set aside. Discard pan drippings.

Return pan to heat, add remaining 2TBS of basting oil. Add onions. Cook, stirring occasionally 2-3 minutes until onions are translucent. Add garlic, cook, stirring till softened-1 min.  Add escarole, cook, stirring, 1-2 minutes until wilted.  Season with salt and pepper.  Stir in stock, beans and browned sausages.  Heat to boiling on MED-HI.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.  Add pasta, simmer 10 minutes.  Add parsley and lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper.

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Heirloom Tomatoes – Tasty Treasures

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I LOVE peanut butter and I LOVE tomatoes.  Of course if you are a regular reader of this blog you already know that.  The blog is a testimony to Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, my favorite, my kids favorite and now my adorable granddaughter, Finley’s favorite.

 Tomatoes, especially Jersey Tomatoes are a passion of mine.  I eat them all summer long and as far into fall as I can.  Once there are no locally grown tomatoes, I literally STOP eating fresh tomatoes!  I have vintage tomato salt and pepper shakers, a tomato-shaped tea pot, tomato sugar and creamer, tomato cookbooks, a collection of cans of Italian tomatoes and best of all, a tomato tattoo.  Well now that’s out there to the world.  I was born in New Jersey and I often describe myself (to my husband) as “one hot Jersey tomato” – that’s me.

And as if Big Boy, Beefsteak, Arkansas Traveler,Bella Rosa, Brandymaster Pink, Charger and hundreds more varieties weren’t enough to tantalize your taste buds, add Heirloom Tomatoes!  You’ve seen them with their bulbous, knobby, colorful shapes.  Sometimes they look weird, misshapen and in a palette of colors not necessarily in the red family!  They don’t always look appetizing, however, they are sweet and flavorful.   They come in a variety of sizes and add great interest to your summer salads.  But don’t let their use just end up in a wooden salad bowl – here are two Heirloom tomato recipes you will love to make and serve.

Heirloom Tomato Pesto Pizza

Heirloom Tomato Pesto Pizza

GRILLED HEIRLOOM TOMATO AND PESTO PIZZA

1 lb pizza dough

flour for dusting

4 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup basil pesto

1 lb Heirloom tomatoes thinly-sliced

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Divide dough into 4 balls, dust work surface with flour and roll each ball into a 9″ circle.  Brush both sides of the circles with olive oil,  place on baking sheet. Working with one circle at a time, place on grill rack and with tongs rotate the crust so it cooks evenly, browned on the bottom and air bubbles on top, 3-4 minutes.

Transfer pizza to baking sheet browned side up. Spread 2 TBS of basil pesto on crust and top with sliced tomatoes. Don’t cover entire pizza or it will be soggy.  Season with salt and pepper and dot with the cheese.  Slide pizza back onto the grill, close the cover and rotate pizza so it cooks evenly and cheese begins to melt – about 3 minutes.  Lift back onto baking sheet. Repeat with each pizza.

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Butter

Roasted Heirloom Tomato Butter

ROASTED HEIRLOOM BUTTER WITH THYME

1 very large or 2 medium-sized red Heirloom tomatoes

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1TBS chopped thyme or oregano

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a small baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the tomatoes cut side down onto the paper. Roast until the skins are wrinkled and blistered, and the tomatoes are very soft, 30-35 minutes depending on the size. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Place the tomatoes and any juices in the bowl of a foodprocessor. Process until very smooth and no seeds or large pieces of skin are visible, 2-3 minutes; stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently.

Add the butter, salt, and pepper, and process until blended, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, 2-3 minutes. Then, stir in the thyme and scrape into a small bowl and cover. (Or, make a log of butter by spooning it onto a sheet of waxed paper, folding the paper over the butter and rolling it gently until you have a sausage shape; twist the ends to seal.)

Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 4 days. You can also wrap the log in foil and freeze for up to 3 months; thaw it in the refrigerator.

**Melt this concentrated compound butter over grilled steaks, toss it with flame-kissed vegetables, or freeze some for a burst of summer flavor in the winter months. Use very ripe, very red tomatoes for best color and flavor.

Thanks to Gail for sending me the article on Heirloom tomatoes!

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Saturday Night Supper – Hunter Style Chicken

Posted in Everyday Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 22, 2013| 2 Comments »

I had looked up this recipe and thought what a nice meal this would be and I asked our friend Michael to join us.  He opted for Sunday morning breakfast out instead but I decided to make the dish anyway.  It looked quite simple and I’m not saying it was at all difficult because it wasn’t and you will see for yourself, however, it took more time than I thought and we ate about 9:00 last night.   That’s not a problem for us New Yorkers who are used to eating later than most.  I hope you will make this dish;  Just give yourself the time it takes to cook!

Chicken Hunter-Style a/k/a Chicken Cacciatore

Chicken Hunter-Style
a/k/a Chicken Cacciatore

BRAISED HUNTER-STYLE CHICKEN

3 # split chicken breasts, drums and thighs

Searing flour (it’s like Wondra)

2 TBS vegetable oil

8 oz white mushrooms sliced

2 cloves of garlic minced

1 pkg of mirepoix (7oz) – (mirepoix is diced celery, onion and carrot)

1 1/2 cups of kitchen-cut Roma tomatoes with basil (You could probably use any cut up or diced tomatoes with basil)

2 tsp Herbes de Provence

2 cups dry red wine

1 carton chicken broth (32 oz)

Salt and Pepper

1TBS fresh tarragon chopped ( I used dried)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees:  Halve chicken breasts; dust with pan-searing flour.  Heat  oil in large braising pan on MED. Add chicken, brown on all sides, 8-10 minutes.  Transfer chicken to a clean platter.  Discard all but one TBS of pan drippings.

Add mushrooms; cook 2-3 min.  Add garlic and mirepoix; cook 2-3 min, stirring.  Add tomatoes and herbes; cook 3 min.  Add wine, cook 7-10 minutes till liquid is reduced by a one-third.  Add stock; season with salt and pepper.  Return chicken to pan; heat till simmer.

Cover; place on center rack in oven.  Braise one hour.  Carefully remove lid; cook 20 minutes uncovered, till meat is fork tender and sauce is thickened.

Transfer chicken to clean serving platter.  Stir tarragon into the sauce and pour over chicken.

Recipe from Wegman’s MENU magazine Fall 2013

WHAT I LEARNED!   I followed directions and times carefully, however, the sauce did not thicken.  Perhaps if left in the oven for longer than 20 minutes uncovered, it would have.  We had too much sauce and it was not thick.  I think I would use less chicken broth next time and see what happened.  Once I realized how much sauce I had I made some rice to go with the meal and that was a great idea.  Spooning that delicious sauce over the rice was yummy.  I also sauteed some broccoli florets in garlic and olive oil as a  side dish.

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Cousins In The Kitchen!

Posted in BY THE WAY, Friends, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged , , , , , , , on July 21, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A cooked rasher. Raw bacon rashers are an esse...

Mmmm bacon, bacon, BACON

OH what a good time we had!  Well I had a good time anyway, not so sure about Janet and Marian.  I say this because Marian had actually specified a couple of weeks ago, that we eat out -“No grilling”!  I wasn’t planning on grilling but I also didn’t particularly want to go out to dinner because we would never be able to “hang” out there for a long time.  I haven’t seen my cousins in more than a few months.

We have our rituals (thank goodness for some).  READ Janet and Danny brought all the mixin’ s for Mojitos.  What can I say?  Mojitos are the perfect summer drink, hands down.  If you remember from a previous post my cousin Janet travels with a well-stocked pantry, er I mean trunk.  You just never know what might come out of there!  So out came the simple syrup, the bunch of fresh mint leaves, the white rum, the bag of limes AND their own muddler.  Really!  I’ve said it before and will say it again, Danny is the master mixer of Mojitos.  Tart and slightly sweet, icy cold and laden with limes and mint, this drink just refreshes you with every sip.  We even got I-only-drink-gin-Peter to try one. Clearly he didn’t have as much rum in his as I had in mine (but then again no one else does have as much rum in theirs as I have in mine) because he was slurping that down like iced tea.  And then he made himself a martin-some things never change.

We had drinks and cheese and crackers and salsa and chips and all sat around in the air-conditioned living room – no beach, no front porch for us, no backyard barbecue – it was just too damn hot.  Actually I felt like I was recovering from heat stroke anyway from being on the beach for an hour.

I thought I had planned a fairly simple meal and I DID NOT ask either of my cousins to help me in the kitchen BUT even so, they meandered in and once again we had cousins cooking in the kitchen!  I think it’s great fun, I love having them there with me as we put together a meal.  I started frying bacon, Marian sliced tomatoes, I made a platter of lettuce leaves.  Somehow Marian felt putting the toast in the toaster was not befitting to her talents so instead she sliced the avocado and perfectly I might add.  Janet ended up finishing the bacon, I started getting out plates, platters and bowls.  There was a small problem;

My kitchen table seats four and we were six, the table itself could not hold all the food and the plates.  Janet figured out that if we put napkins and silverware on the plate we garnered a few inches and if we put the corn and salads on the counter and just put the sandwich fixings on the table it might work.  I’m sure this is a genetic characteristic she inherited from her mother, my Aunt Marian who always  managed to seat 24 people at table that sat 18 or some such number.  It has to do with exactly how much space (read width) one needs to be able to cut food using a fork and knife and get it into your mouth without bumping into your neighbor on your right. It worked.

Just in case you were thinking that the only thing we were serving was corn on the cob and BLT‘s, you’re wrong.  We had potatoe salad, two kinds of macaroni salad,  AND we had two kinds of bacon and tomato sandwiches.  You could opt for the traditional on white toast (the only acceptable bread for a BLT) OR you could have a bacon, avocado, tomato and sprouts sandwich on rustic Italian bread.  Yes I was channeling Martha, I admit it.

Dessert was a little of this and a little of that.  We had brandy cake backed by Marian, chocolate-covered strawberries from the ladies tea on Thursday, a few pieces of watermelon, and some cookies.  Sorry I even mentioned making hot tea….

Bob and Marian were considering taking the train home but Danny came to the rescue and offered to drive them back into the City before he and Janet wended their way back to their NJ hometown.  It being Friday night, I hoped they would make decent time – surely they would be going against the traffic.  

I did forget to mention one little thing and that is that although I think I am a cleaner-upper and put-it-away freak, my cousin Marian  has me beat.  If I was slicing something and laid the knife down for a moment to go into the other room and say something, when I came back the knife was washed and she was drying it!!! For Heaven’s Sake Marian!  I asked her to restrain herself till we at least were done with plates, pans and utensils before she was hell-bent on washing them.  I had to let her dry the dishes once the meal was over otherwise……..

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Kale and Artichokes – YES They Go Well Together!

Posted in Everyday Food, tagged , , , , , , , on July 3, 2013| 2 Comments »

So many of the good and tasty recipes I get come from Wegman’s, my favorite grocery store at the shore.  At my store, they have an in-house chef who cooks up  a fabulous dish and hands out samples.  Of course the ingredients for this dish are within an arm’s reach of Gus. This week he was cooking organic kale and artichokes.  Such a simple combination, no heavy lifting, no exotic ingredients.  I bought the package of kale, I already had a big jar of artichoke hearts.  His recipe didn’t use marinated artichoke hearts so I asked him if he thought I could use them and he suggested that I use some of the oil from the jar in place of the olive oil he used.  

I covered the bottom of my braising pan with a little olive and sliced up a big clove of garlic and sauteed  it on medium low heat.  I cut the artichoke hearts in half and in thirds – they were loaded with oil and I tossed them into the pan.  I cooked them on slightly higher heat for about 3 minutes and then added the kale.  I put in a third of the package and after it wilted down, I added more.  After it was all in and wilted down I stirred it around to mix everything together.

I tasted it and it seemed slightly bitter to me. So I turned to the internet for the answer and sure enough it was there.  Unfortunately the way to reduce the bitterness is to blanch the kale first or to rub the leaves with salt, olive oil and lemon juice while still raw.

Guess what?  I added some salt and some lemon juice and it really did reduce the bitterness.  This is a very healthy dishe to serve;  Tonight it is the side dish to my tuna, fennel and cannolini bean salad.

English: Canned marinated artichoke hearts

Marinated Artichoke Hearts

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Cooking and Posting in REAL TIME – PASTA WITH VEGETABLE SAUCE

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, We Called It Macaroni (Pasta recipes), tagged , , , , , , , on June 28, 2013| Leave a Comment »

A whole and halved red bell pepper

A whole and halved red bell pepper (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well this is a first for me.  I am in the process of cooking and posting simultaneously.  This could be interesting or disastrous.  I have to keep jumping up to stir the vegetables in the braising pan.  I spent some time prepping, sort of creating my own                  mise en place.  I thought it would be prudent to chop each of the vegetables ahead of time so I could add them to the pan in order of the time it would take for that vegetable to soften.  

So I started with some olive oil in the pan and tossed in the celery. I chopped two stalks.   Originally I was going to start with the sliced garlic, however, I somehow never quite soften garlic without browning several;  I let them sauté a while and then added the Vidalia onion.  I had cut up about 1/2 of a largish medium onion.  I didn’t chop it or dice it, it was somewhere in between.

The idea here is to  put in those veggies that take longer to soften and also add some of their own liquid.  Next came Red Bell Pepper. I used a whole pepper and sliced and cut it up in about 1″ pieces.  I  tossed in the garlic slices a few moments ago.  Probably the vegetables are supposed to be crisp but I think my husband is not going to like this dish if everything is a little chewy.  I just tested a piece off celery and clearly that should have been on its own in the pot for longer before I started adding other ingredients.  And what does a good cook do?  I put the lid on the braising pan which should quicken some of softening and also add some more liquid because basically what juices and oil in the pan are supposed to be my sauce!   Oh boy, we’ll have to see how this plays out.

ALERT! I should have turned the gas down lower when I put the lid on – it was only a few minutes but the onions turned brown.  

I removed the lid and added zucchini and yellow squash.  I used 3/4 of the yellow and about 2/3 of the zucchini.  I put the lid back on and lowered the gas and I see that I don’t have much liquid in the pan.  I think I’ll be adding pasta water to this thin sauce but I still have the tomatoes to add and they’re juicy – I am loving me those Jersey Tomatoes.  This vegetable sauce is really a work in progress and I am up and down and up and down, stirring everything.  

I just put the pot of water on to boil – I will be cooking linguine which is Peter’s favorite.  The water is boiling but I turned it off because since I have never made this dish before I don’t really know how long it’s going to take and the veggies can sit in the pan while I cook the pasta.  I added the tomatoes and the mushrooms.  I had chopped up two fairly large tomatoes and sliced about 20 white mushrooms.  I also put the lid back on.  The lid is going on and off about as often as I jump up to stir or check the pan.

The linguine is in the pot and I checked the vegetables – the tomatoes are doing their job and juicing things up.  Of course mushrooms are mostly liquid and they’re helping.  Gotta go in kitchen and stir the pasta.

NOTE: When I added the tomatoes (which I had salted right after I cut them up so they would juice more) I added some salt and pepper to the mixture.  I’m going to sprinkle some Romano cheese into it also.

The pasta is almost done, I have scooped up a measuring cup of pasta water and turned off the sauce. It looks juicy and everything looks soft.  I’ve decided to serve it all in the braising pan.  I drained the linguine and put in the pan with the vegetables – It looks good!  I sprinkled some of the cheese all over the top and voila Dinner is served!

WHAT I LEARNED:

By writing a blog and cooking at the same time, I was really distracted and it was only when I opened up the refrigerator to get a beer, I saw the arugula.  Oh dear, that was supposed to be salad tonight-oh wellllllllll.

AND it was absolutely delicious!  I mean really delicious and we ate most of the pound of linguine I cooked.

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A Wholly UNHOLY Easter Sunday – Gen X You Win!

Posted in BY THE WAY, Frankie, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 3, 2013| 5 Comments »

English: A milk chocolate Easter Bunny.

Milk Chocolate Easter Bunny

Well, if you thought my Not So Good Friday story was something, let me tell you how we spent Easter Sunday…  The fact of the matter is that in a way it was more traumatic but of significantly shorter duration and it ended with a funny episode. 

Finley was up before 7am and I think she went downstairs even though I had told her not to do that, the night before.  She came into my room and I gathered her up and put her in bed beside me foolishly thinking  just maybe she would rest a bit and I could catch another 15 minutes or so – NOT.  She began to weave a long tale about how she had seen the Easter bunny and he had told her she was special.  Then she told me that she knew the bunny had put one of the baskets in the office (and he had!).  That had me a bit worried  so I asked her where did he put the other and she said the closet – Whew! The other was hidden in the kitchen.  We got Frankie up and down we went in search of the Easter loot.  Sure enough Finley made a bee line to the office and snatched the pink pail off the shelf.  We got Francesca to look in a couple of rooms but basically she just kept asking Finley for some of the candy, so I guided her into the kitchen and pointed to the pail.  Happy smiles all around.

They each bit the head off their chocolate peanut butter rabbits and Finley ate at least half of her solid chocolate bunny I had brought from NYC – it was a gift from my friend, Alice.  Frankie was still chomping down the Reese’s rabbit. Well I guess breakfast is out of the question now!

We were going to take the girls to the playground in downtown Delray Beach and then to lunch at Crepes By The Sea.  Things didn’t exactly go down that way.  We almost got out the door and into the car but …..If you follow this blog you know that I made a pact with the family that my blog would not be a platform for letting the world in behind closed doors.  So having said that, here’s the upshot of what happened.  We ended up taking Francesca to the ER. YES SHE’S FINE!  It was just a situation where we thought it best to make sure all was ok. AND all is ok.  

However, making my way to Bethesda East on Easter Sunday was somewhat disconcerting, considering how we spent Good Friday!  I carried her in and stood there at the reception area while I watched one of the two nurses laughing and playing on her computer.  The other one looks up and says, “May I help you?”  Let’s see now, I’m holding a small child in my arms wrapped up and  even though it was Easter we didn’t come to trick or treat!!!  “I have an emergency with the baby”, I say.  OH! So I was ushered in and given a wheelchair to sit in because I couldn’t keep holding her.  

Francesca was such a good girl;  The nurse put a bracelet on her wrist which we all admired and told her it was her special bracelet.   She (Frankie) wasn’t keen on having her shoe removed and something wrapped around her toe so they could check her heart rate.  Then Finley announced that the machine in the room was a blood pressure machine and that she once had to have her blood pressure taken and it squeezed her arm so tightly that it hurt.  Thank you Finley for announcing that to Frankie.

The best part (for the kids) was that each little curtained-off room had its own TV screen and we all got to watch Tom & Jerry cartoons.  Things move slowly even in an ER, so I would say we were there close to two hours.  Because Francesca had been such a good girl, we were going for ice cream.  She wanted strawberry which was probably because Finley wanted strawberry.  I had to convince them both that we should have some lunch first and didn’t everybody want to go to Crepes By The Sea?  

After lunch, we headed to Orange Leaf which is one of those places where you can fill a cup with your own choices of frozen yogurt and toppings.  The entire room was filled with double pump stations with flavors ranging from chocolate to banana to coconut and red velvet BUT NO STRAWBERRY. You coulda guessed it, right?

Gen X You WIN!   Everything in Chiara and Tom’s house is highly technological and complicated. Did I ever tell you how the night that Finley Ray was born and all the grandparents (that would be 5 of us) were staying at the condo, NONE of us could get the TV on!!  Well, the night I stepped on the glass,  Peter was out;  He had taken Tom’s new BMW to go visit a friend.  He almost didn’t get there because he couldn’t get the car started. The key didn’t turn it on!  He thought the dashboard looked like a rocket ship and no matter what he did, he could not turn the car on.  I’m not sure if it was Peter or Theresa the cleaning lady, who finally discovered the button that actually turned the car on!  Coming home the gas light went on and Peter stopped to get some gas. BUT how to open the gas cap?  Can you believe he couldn’t find out how to open it and the guys in the gas station couldn’t figure it out either.  He drove to a second station and again the attendants didn’t know how to access the gas tank.  Really now! He just drove home, parked it in the garage and threw up his hands in amazement. Gen X You WIN!

On Sunday, we thought it would be a good idea to put some gas in the Truro for the morning run to the airport.  Peter is not a fan of self-service gas stations to say the least.  In fact, he downright dislikes the whole idea of them but hey here we are in Florida and this Shell gas station has only self-service.  He pulls up to a pump and turns to me and says I have no idea how you open this gas tank.  In our car, a RAV 4, there is a lever on the floor clearly marked with a gas pump symbol.  No such lever here, no symbol on the dashboard or the console.  Mmmm well the car is still running and I suggest we look at the manual.  The fact that two adults who have over a 100 years of driving experience between them can’t open the gas cap is ludicrous.  I looked in the index and there was nothing about where the cap was or how to access it. We looked at the page that identified all the things on the dashboard and there was NOTHING about the gas tank there.   We started going through the manual page by page – still nothing.  Meantime,  we are sitting in the car with it running on Easter Sunday.  I thought just maybe the guy in the building might know because after all it was a fairly common car.  Peter looked at me like I had two heads and said, “You mean the guy who is selling cigarettes and gum?” Ok maybe it was a dumb idea. Five more minutes and fidgeting in the car, I suggest Peter go out and locate the gas tank. Now he looks at me like I have 3 heads and says, “Oh and you think it opens manually?”  One minute later, Peter opens the car door and says, “I have the gas cap, it opened manually”.  I burst out laughing, uncontrollably.  I couldn’t stop and neither could he – it was one of those crazy times when ALL the stress and tension you’ve had about a complicated problem(s) is resolved in the simplest silliest way.  We just laughed and laughed, tears rolling down our faces.  It was then that I thought perhaps the guy selling gum and cigarettes was sitting in his booth saying to himself, “those two guys can sit out there with the car running all day, I’m still not going out there.  Can’t they read the sign that says Self-Service”?  And that brought more gales of laughter.

Gen X you win!!!!

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Roasted Whole Cauliflower – So Darn Good!

Posted in Everyday Food, Tasty Tidbits Tuesday, tagged , , , , , , , , , on March 20, 2013| Leave a Comment »

English: Cauliflower Ελληνικά: Κουνουπίδι

Cauliflower

Tastes good, looks good, and is good for you!  What more could you ask for? Oh and it’s a very economical side dish too!  “If you thought you didn’t like cauliflower, try this! It’s an awesome treat for a festive table.  Beautiful presentation and something out of the ordinary” – I believe the quote is from the woman who submitted the recipe, her name is Ariela.

BAKED WHOLE CAULIFLOWER

1 large head cauliflower

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup margarine, melted

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 pinch dried oregano

Clean cauliflower, and trim off leaves and any brown spots. Place the whole head of cauliflower into a steamer basket, place the basket in a large pot, and add one inch of water.  Cover, and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Cook for about 20 minutes or until tender.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees.  In a medium bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, melted margarine.  Season with garlic powder, salt and red pepper flakes, and oregano, and mix well.  Place the head of cauliflower into a baking dish, and coat with breadcrumb mixture.  Bake for about 10-15 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden brown.

Recipe from all recipes.com

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If It’s Thursday, It Must Be Pea Soup!

Posted in Everyday Food, tagged , , , , , , , on March 15, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Did you know that in Manhattan all the coffee shops serve certain soups on specific days?  I learned this when I moved here and now I know if it’s Thursday, then it must be pea soup day!  So bearing that in mind, I made some Vegetarian Pea Soup this morning. It bears no resemblance to what would come in that thick crockery cup served within a minute of ordering it.  My soup is thick and chunky and it was delicious and the perfect meal on a night like tonight as the temperature dropped into the 20’s.

VEGETARIAN PEA SOUP

3 TBS olive oil

1 medium-size onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

1 rib celery, finely chopped

1 medium-size carrot, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic (I use 2) pressed or finely chopped

1 cup dried split peas

6 cups of vegetable broth

1/2 cup orzo or other small pasta shape

Kosher salt

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium high heat.  Add the onion, celery, garlic and carrot. Cook till onion begins to soften, about 2 minutes.  Add the split peas and broth; bring to boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until peas are tender and the soup is thick and smooth.  

Raise the heat to medium-high. Stir in pasta  Cook until pasta is tender but firm, al dente, 7-10 minutes longer. Season with salt to taste. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

Pea soup 3

Pea soup 3 (Photo credit: Dvortygirl)

Recipe from Pasta Verde cookbook

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