Wordless Wednesday

Okay, so it's Thursday...but I was really distracted by the SOTU last night...

Comfort Food

Today I had two sick kids, so going out to the grocery shop was not in the plan...supper tonight...Crepes and Hash browns.  It was my first go round with hash browns and while they weren't pretty, they tasted great.  Crepes , I am an old hat at...I've been making them since I was a kid...and they were wonderful...we had jam and syrup and sugar on the table for seasoning.  Yum.

         1 cup all-purpose flour

         2 eggs

         1/2 cup milk

         1/2 cup water

         1/4 teaspoon salt

         2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side

Baking + Facebook = ?

These days I try to bake cookies instead of buy them, that way I know what's going in there, it is often cheaper, it is relaxing and makes the house smell good...plus freshly baked cookies just make you feel loved.  Even if you are the one baking and eating them!

For years I used the TollHouse recipe, but lately have been sorta disillusioned with it...so went to Chris' favorite, Fanny Farmer.  Made a batch last week and they were just awesome...armed with my chips and beaters set out to whip them up again...

Brown and white sugar...

Butter and vanilla, then whip it...(whip, whip it real good...)

add your sugars...I have an ancient (but reliable) handmixer, so sometimes this is a challenge

and your eggs...

then slowly your flour, baking soda, salt...

My old reliable...(this was actually a wedding gift...11 years ago),

somewhere around this time go on and check your Facebook page, update your status, see what your friends are up to...

Hmmm add chips...these are milk chocolate because I'm out of my standards, normally I do one third white chocolate, one third milk chocolate( not semi-sweet), one third butterscotch...hmmm, thats the best...but this should be pretty good, too.

Like everyone's friend, Julia Child, I , too, believe in butter.  Butter is practically perfect in everyway and yes, I still grease my pans and cookie sheets with it.  (Okay, okay, my cookie sheet is old, but it works great and has one of those air pocket systems...)

Mmmmm, look at those lovely little balls of dough... in they go!  10-12 minutes at 375 degrees...

Smells so good, Ding,ding,ding... let's take a peek...

WHAT THE HELL?

Blech!

This is like like the third time this month that while doubling the recipe I DIDN'T DOUBLE THE DAMN FLOUR!  Arrrgh.  (Oh yeah, I stopped in the middle of the mixing and got distracted and checked my freakin' FaceBook page and...)  Thats when I forgot to add that extra flour.  Bah.  Gak. Pshaw.

Luckily I added the flour now to the rest and they taste great.  The are still not quite as pretty as sometimes, but pretty darn good.

And the kids and Chris and my mom think the over-sugared ones are tasty, too.  So what did we learn today...

Baking + Facebook=messed up cookies.

So- what are we about?

Who are we...two people in love and 5 awesome kids 9 and under.  So why a food blog, seems like we should be handing out parenting advice, right?  Ha.  Well, in our house, it's all about the food...we like to cook it, we like to grow it...Chris really wants some chickens so we can eat them, oh...I mean the eggs.  Of course. We have always loved food and cooking but somewhere, about 5 or so years ago, we began really thinking about cooking, thinking about food, and what goes into our food.  Realizing that eating was so much more than just yum, but should be mmmm, yum,yum, or even ohmygodthatsgood, mmm, YUM.  That sustenance should not just feed the belly, but the whole body...that canned corn isn't the same as frozen and frozen isn't the same as fresh.  That a meal should refresh the heart and the body.  What do we have to work with? Our oldest who is a mostly vegetarian and mostly only eats white food, two boys who will eat everything, and the twins who are just learning to eat...I love to bake and am still afraid of cooking fish and Chris is a better cook, but not as good at grilled cheese.
Plus, yeah...we love to eat.  We love to garden, we love to see farms and gardens...so we begin to document the days of wine and roses and mac and cheese and peanut butter and ...well we'll have to see where it takes us.
This is our journey to feed our children and to feed our souls.

Sunday Coffee Cake

Most Sundays Chris makes us coffee cake. I love this recipe, it isn't too sweet, it has a nice cake texture, almost a bread. Perfect for mornings and spontanous tea parties, like this one, today...

Here's what Chris has to say about it...


It is from Fanny Farmer (p.600 in our copy: the Bantam Ed., 1983; Revised 12th Ed.).



Quick Coffee Cake ("Simple to make, good to eat")


1 cup sugar
1-3/4 cups white flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp butter (1/2 stick) (I usually use unsalted, but either is OK)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp sugar mixed with 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375F (190C)
Butter an 8-inch square cake pan

Mix sugar, flour & baking powder in a large bowl Work in butter with your hand or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal Add the egg & milk and blend Spoon into the pan Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly over the top Bake for 20 minutes

note: I usually add about 1 tsp vanilla with the egg & milk
note: In our oven it usually takes 25-28 minutes
note: Sometimes I'll include about 1/2 tsp cinnamon with the dry ingredients
note: Sometimes I will put in 1/2 the batter, lightly sprinkle some cinn/sugar, then put on remaining batter & top as usual...makes a nice layered effect

The Art of the Cheerio

Seems fitting in a blog about foods and family, that our first post be about the greatest finger food ever invented for babies. Cheerios.