Gingerbread

Just a quick post here.

We decorated Gingerbread houses with/for the kids.  This went slightly better than the pumpkin carving where Monica and I did 90% of the work.  Here they did about 40%, but mostly they ate the candy. 

Trying to back post, so we'll see if it works.

We had a halloween party for the kids before they went trick-or-treating.

Mummy Hotdogs, Halloween chips

Cheese Broomsticks, banana ghosts, kiwi frankensteins

Pumpkin and ghost pizza

 

Those kooky kids.  Kaitlyn was a Black ballarina bat.  Connor was Spiderman.  You can't see Buzz very well, and of course, the Cat in the Hat with Thing 1 and Thing 2 and the fish not in the photo.

So, we are back from vacation (no, it hasn't been from February until now) and I am ramping up the cooking.

Summer means more grilling, and more cool food, but since the air conditioner is in, I am still oven cooking when needed.

Great dessert last night.  Chocolate Eclair Cake.

You can kind of see the layers on the next shot. 

1 packet of instant vanilla pudding.  Make as directed for pie filling.  Fold in 1/2 of an 8 oz container of cool whip. 

Put a layer of graham crackers on the bottem of the pan.  Top with 1/2 the pudding mixture.  Add another layer of graham crackers and the rest of the pudding mixture.  Top with a final layer of graham crackers.  Heat up 1 can of chocolate frosting until pourable, and spread all over the top.  You have to chill this for at least 6 hours so the crackers soften.

Here is a better view of the layers in the pan.

Jason loved this.  Connor, my chocolate lover, liked the vanilla pudding inside.  Kaitlyn, my vanilla lover and self professed "chocolate-no like" er (Yes, I can't stand when my 6 year old talks baby-talk), liked the "brown" top.   Go figure.  At least there was something for everyone.  And Daddy ate what the kids had left. :)



Meatball Mania

A few weeks ago, I wanted to stock up the freezer a bit so I made a big batch of meatball.  The nice thing is now that Kaitlyn is 6, she not only WANTS to help, but she is ABLE to help.

We did a basic recipe of groung beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, oregano, basil, salt and pepper and parmesan cheese.

We used a cookie scoop to portion them out so they would be the same size.

Kaitlyn then rolled them all and placed them on a cookie sheet.

We made about 50 regular meatballs and 30 minis.  I baked them off in the oven, and most are stored in the freezer.  We did have spaghetti and meatballs that week for dinner, and they were yummy.



Valentine's Day

With two little kids, and the holiday on a weeknight, we were not about to brave a romantic dinner out.  We had our fun stand-by meal - "Brinner".  This is breakfast for dinner, generally a surefire hit with the kids.

I had to step it up a bit to match the theme, so we had bacon and pancakes - all heart shaped.

The bacon before it is cooked.

and after.

 Making the pancakes - looked better than they tasted.  Didn't have the right pancake mix (I am an Aunt Jemima girl, and Bisquick has never cut it for me.)  I also had to borrow eggs from my neighbor.  That was fine as she had previously borrowed a cut of sugar from me, some cocoa too.  Ha Ha.

The completed meal......................................................and Kaitlyn's plate.  I call that a success.

Arthritis Holiday Gala

Last nigth we went to the Holiday Gala for the Arthritis Foundation.  Kaitlyn was again introduced as the 2012 OC Walk Honoree.  Of course, this meant I did not have to make dinner...Yay!

We had a really nice meal, salmon for me which is great because Jason doesn't like it, so the only time I get to eat it is when we go out.  Kaitlyn had Mac n Cheese (not from a box) and she gobbled it down. 

They gave her a snowman caramel apple, and she nicely asked for one for her brother who was at home.  Awwwwww.

Yikes!

Okay, it has been way to long since I have posted.  Just one more example of how fast time flies after Halloween.
So had lots of meals in November, but none were really memorable.  I did host Thanksgiving at my house for 22-24 people.  I made the turkey, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce.  The turkey seemed to be a bit hit.  My secret this year - mayo.  Yep, that's right...mayonnaise.  So, I saw a Cooking Channel special, and the Voltaggio brothers made this roasted turkey with a herb aioli (fancy word for mayo).  I thought I could do this, and as I was cooking one turkey a day ahead, it would help it retain moisture when being reheated. 

Kaitlyn helped me when the time came to make our home-made aioli.  I had not done this since culinary school when we had to do it by hand.  They make it look so easy with the food processor.  It is not.  I went too fast and it broke.  I started over and again went too fast - broken mayo - nothing worse.

So, option two is open a jar, and season up the stuff from the story.  Much easier.  May not taste as great, but frankly, it melts so in my opinion...take the easy route and use the stuff in the jar (full fat).  There is enough other stuff you have to spend time on.

So, I have not planned my menus yet for December, and it shows.  Lots of scrambling for what to make each night.  I will try to do that in the next day or two.  Tonight will be some sort of chicken, as that is what I have thawed.  Rice to make Kaitlyn happy.   :)