Luck O' the Euro As-ish

So...we're not Irish. And CiBaby is definitely not, although it was SUPER cute when she asked me today if she was Irish. "Only on St. Patty's Day, dear."

However, just because we don't have Irish blood running in our veins doesn't me we cannot celebrate! So in honor of the day we made a green snack to share with our friends.

Edamame Hummus

1 large clove of garlic, peeled

1 Tbsp sesame seeds (or tahini if you have it...today I did not...a crime, I know!)

2 tsp finely chopped cilantro

1 tsp lemon grass (I have frozen chopped lemon grass...so handy!)

1 Tbsp tamari or soy sauce

2 Tbsp mirin

1/4 tsp wasabe powder

1/4 tsp tamarind or lime juice

1/2 tsp sesame oil

12 oz bag (or 2 cups) shelled edamame, thawed

1 cup water

Place all ingredients, except 1 cup edamame and 1 cup water, into a food processor. Process until finely chopped, scrapping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Once finely chopped, add remaining edamame and water and blend until nice and smooth, about 3-4 minutes.

Serve with rice chips or veggie sticks.

May luck find you today, whoever you are!

Goggle Girl

There's a new super hero in town...Goggle Girl!!!

Seriously...I'm not sure if it gets any cuter than this.

Pumpkin Chili with Cilantro Lime Cream

With a snowstorm roaring away outside and some pumpkins begging to be used, I wanted something savory, nutritious and delicious to nourish my little family, so I came up with the following using ingredients I had on hand.

Pumpkin Chili with Cilantro Lime Cream

1 cup (1 small) finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin (or 1 can)
2 pints (or 2 small cans) diced tomatoes and their juice
1 1/2 cups (1 small can) hominy, rinsed and drained
1 can beans (white, pinto or garbanzo) rinsed and drained
2 cups water, veg broth or chicken stock
1 cup amber ale
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 cups cubed cooked pumpkin

Cilantro Lime Cream
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp finely chopped cilantro*
a squeeze of fresh lime juice
a pinch kosher salt

Mix together ingredients for the cilantro lime cream and set aside.

Cook onions, peppers and garlic in oil over a med-low flame until soft, but not browned, about 5-7 minutes.

Add pumpkin, hominy, beans, tomatoes, water or stock, ale, cumin, chili powder, oregano, cocoa powder, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down and let simmer 30-40 minutes. Add pumpkin chunks, stir and heat through, 5 minutes.

Serve with cilantro lime cream.
 
*If you don't already have some in your freezer, Trader Joe's has frozen herbs in small cubes...perfect for days like this!

Surrounded by love

This year CiBaby had definiate opinions on what she was going to give her friends for Valentine's Day...which of course involved crafting...and specifically, painting.

With only a wee bit of help from me, I think her project turned out beautifully!

le CiBebe

Off to little French picnic at the best preschool on the planet.

The past two weeks have been focused on Claude Monet and his art. Today they celebrated with a little French picnic...which included baguettes and butter, fresh fruit, yummy cheese, some sparkling cider and they brought chocolates home.

Next week they are baking Madeleines...mmmmm Madeleines. I want to go to preschool!

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From Us, to You...

My Grown-up Christmas Wish

Do you remember when you were a kid and the things you had on your Christmas wish list? I recall a couple - a pair of single-blade ice skates (that G-Mama will tell you were super hard to find as I was only 3 years-old and had small feet!) and dominoes.

But this year, this year is different. Sure it's always nice to get items all dolled up in ribbon and bows, but the reality is...it's (generally) not necessary. So what are you asking for, you say? A prayer or thought.

We received a message from a family in our preschool today. A classmate of our dear CiBaby, a sweet and smiley little guy, has been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He's 4. Four. All of the test results are not back yet to see what the risk level is, but regardless...this is a big deal. So my wish is for you, your friends, their friends and their friends to hold a thought and say a prayer for Will and his family, so maybe it'll be heard and answered...kind of like a petition. A prayer petition.

So if you've gotten me anything, you can return it*...I only want this one thing. I might even write a letter to Santa...it can't hurt.


*Let the economy suffer a little, it's a worthy cause.

A fresh layer

A fresh layer of snow sometimes makes the everyday more beautiful...

And sometimes it's just not necessary, as the beauty is always there...

even under all of those layers.

A local connection

As you know, I'm all about local. But this is different.

Dear friends of ours, Wibby's family, are currently in China to be united with their baby daughter. As I talked with J before they left, I kept feeling all the same feelings that I had when we went to get CiBaby. The neatest part...they are going to the same Province that CiBaby was born, as that is where there little one is from as well (CiBaby from Jingzhou, babyM from Wuxue...opposite sides of Wuhan along the Yangtze River). As I type this post, since they are 12 hours ahead of us, they are either on their way or getting ready to depart for Wuhan, in the Hubei Province. The kicker of the whole thing is that they will have our absolutely fantastic guide, Grant, with them every step of the way. He lead us through the process flawlessly, showed us the sights and talked to us about the Chinese culture. It was a fantastic experience and I only hope the R Family will have the same.

And again to think...a garage sale was the catalyst for a wonderful relationship, and now...a local connection.

Localicious

Thanks to a wonderful little Park & Rec art class for CiBaby this summer, I have 8 whole hours (spread out over 4 days, of course) a.l.o.n.e. Ahhhh heaven. So what did I do on my first day of solitude? I headed on a necessary errand...to restock my spice and seasoning shelves, which of course took me to Penzey's. I could seriously spend a good chunk of time there, but my spice cabinet and pocketbook said "stick to your list!"

With one necessary errand done and about 25 minutes to kill I swung into the Golden Fig store. Seriously, if you love food like I do, love to talk about it with other foodies and have not been there...GO! Okay, so you don't really need to be a foodie, but I'll bet that you'll start to become a very discerning consumer once you've visited this lovely little shop! Local local local...that's what it's all about. I could spend a king's ransom in that shop, but today I settled with 2 fantastic new (to me) items...Golden Fig's The Bees Knees - fresh squeezed lemon juice, water, local honey, local mint and lavender (we used sparkling water as our "mixer") and Extra Dough's Smokey Chipotle pecans (oh.my.god...HEAVEN!!!).

Another item you can find at GF, and our local farmers market, is Sunrise butternut squash fettuccini. While yes, it's light in flavor, you just need to make your toppings light as well. For this reason, and the reason that I have a bunch of produce from our garden and CSA begging to be used, I made up the following...

Summertime Pasta
8 oz Sunrise butternut squash fettuccini
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
2 cobs corn, kernels cut off
1 medium zucchini
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered depending on size of said tomato
1/4 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
sea salt
bacon grease* and/or extra-virgin olive oil

Cook fettuccini as directed, al dente. Once cooked, drain, rinse, and toss with a little extra-virgin olive oil then set aside.

Meanwhile put 1-2 tsp bacon grease or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat and add sage. Saute 2-3 minutes. It will turn crunch. Remove sage from skillet and put into a small, heat resistant bowl. Add corn kernels to the skillet and turn up the heat to medium. Saute 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the corn is cooking, make long ribbons out of the zucchini using a veggie peeler. Toss into the pan with the corn. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and a little olive oil if needed. Cook another 2-3 minutes. Add pasta, toss with veggies and let cook a couple of minutes, basically to just heat the pasta a bit. Turn off the heat, toss in the tomatoes, sage and parmesan cheese; toss to combine. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes...then serve with more parm, if desired.

Seriously, I don't think eating can get any sweeter than local! Totally localicious!

*Yes, I save bacon grease...have I mentioned this before? It's great for flavoring and a little goes a long way.

The smell of a garden

We've had a lot of hot, steamy days with bouts of rain lately, which has made the vegetables plants grow like crazy. So today, while taking a survey of the gardens, I realized it was necessary to tie up the towering tomato plants...again. After I was done, I went inside to wash my hands and the smell came over me...tomato plants.

Funny, isn't it? A particular smell that invokes memories. Memories of summer, the garden, my childhood.

The other day, when it was particularly warm, I had just been working with the tomato plants and decided to join CiBaby in the swimming pool. I jumped in and sat down beside her. She climbed onto my lap and said, "Mama, you smell like tomato plants."

Now my list will include my daughter in the garden with me and her keen sense of observation.

Wickedly good!

Today, T-Daddy and I had a much-needed date, which took us to see Wicked. I can sum up the production in one word...FANTASTIC! The music and singing was awesome, the costumes were great and the story itself is one that really resonates with me...which is basically, don't judge a book by it's cover (sorry, bad pun, but appropriate) or mass review.

Have you ever met someone that other people have warned you about, for reasons you have no idea, but withhold judgement until you meet them? Then once you meet said person you can't put your finger on it, but know that there's something deeper than just what a lot of people see? The facade, will you. Of course, sometimes it isn't really a facade, just a really good paint job...and they truly are certifiable...you know those.

Anyway, if you have the opportunity to see the production, do, but I also highly recommend reading the book (Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Wicked Years)), it's a great read.