Shortbread cookies

While the babies are still sleeping, I made chocolate chip shortbread. It's the traditional recipe plus the addition of chocolate chips. Of course this might be old news to some of you, but I am exploring the flavor possibilities. I've tried ginger, pandan, green tea, chocolate, dried fruits, lemon, almond, lavender and even black pepper. Chocolate chip was tasty, but the chocolate I used might not be to everyone's taste. It was 53.8% Callebaut chocolate. Not at all milky or bittersweet. Close to semi-sweet but has a deeper chocolate taste and a fruity finish. I was skeptical at first out of the oven, but seeing as how I can't stop eating them...it works for this family. The classic is still the best so I will share the recipe. I don't know who originally wrote the recipe down but this one was handed down to me by my in laws.

Scottish Shortbread

1 pound of butter, soften
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of rice flour
4 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract*
pinch of salt *

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Cream together the butter and sugar. Add vanilla extract and mix to combine. Add the salt and gradually add the flours to the butter. The finished dough will resemble crumbs. Pour mixture into a 15 x 10 glass baking pan and press cookie dough into the pan. Poke the dough in several places with a fork and bake for an hour or until the shortbread is a nice golden color. Remove from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting it into squares.
(* the vanilla extract and salt are my recent additions)


Have fun testing out the recipe. If you can't find rice flour, corn starch can be substituted.

Bouncy, bouncy chair

So many parents go on and on about how the bouncy chair is a life saver. Not for us. Kai did not like it and Cassia does not like it! Both of our kids cried when put in the bouncy chairs, but they love the swing!! Thanks Tiff. My niece had purchased the swing for us when Kai was born and we kept it because it was my life saver. Cassia loves sitting in it, now that she can see better she can actually enjoy the lights and moving fishes. The only downer is the size. It takes up a good part of our tiny living room. I wish that it was a little smaller so that I can put it in the kitchen while I cook.
Which made me shop around for something that would do just that. We purchased a walker for her and it came today, but because I was in the kitchen I didn't hear the UPS guy knock on the window. For a while our doorbell was not working so all the delivery people knew to knock on the window to get my attention...I guess I should put a sign up for them to ring the bell. Anyway, I'm rambling. We bought her a Combi walker that is a mint convertible. I know Kai will think it's his. He already got to play with it at the baby expo we went to a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully Cassia will love it just as much as Kai. The website we got it from is so cool, they don't charge for tax or shipping on orders over $50. If you're interested in baby gear check it out at www.chitchatbaby.com.

Kai is already playing with one of his Christmas gifts. We couldn't wait to give it to him. It allows us to be on the computer undisturbed. What is it you wonder? We got him a Leapster with three games. It's a handheld educational video game system. The recommended age is 4 and up, but I knew Kai could figure out how to play some of the games and he has. He uses the drawing and coloring game alot as well as his Finding Nemo game. It teaches him colors and numbers. He still plays with his Little Touches Leap Pad which is also being enjoyed by Cassia. Go Leap Frog. I really like their products because it is a ton of fun for the kids and it teaches them all sorts of things from animal sounds to reading.

We have our tree up with lights. The ornaments still need to go on display. I love the MacMillan family tradition of picking out new ornaments for the tree every year. The kids have theirs, but Jimmy and I still have to find ours.
Our ornaments also do not go on the tree anymore because the kids like to take them off and play with them. Kai has already pulled off the pom-poms to his and Nick's ornaments from last year. So last year I hung up string high on the living room wall and displayed Jimmy's ornaments. They are priceless because he made some of them when he was a kid and I want our kids to have a collection like his and continue this tradition.
Another one that I want to continue is collecting nutcrackers for each year. We have one and hopefully it will survive the season because it is played with by Kai everyday.

The day after turkey.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was yummy. Jimmy brought home little pies (apple and pumpkin) and I tried out Paula Deen's recipe for Pumpkin Pecan pie. It was yummy, a combo of my two favs, but I think I still prefer the classic pecan pie...I am a southern girl after all. I roasted a turkey breast stuffed with cranberry-apple stuffing. Made my praline sweet potatoes, Jimmy's A-B- Alls or abios (no one knows how to spell it, but it's mashed potatoes and rutabaga), and tried a new thing with the green beans. I like the green bean casserole with the canned mushroom soup, but it's too rich and Jimmy doesn't really care for it. So I made up a lighter green bean side. I kept the fried onions as a garnish but made it from scratch. It's basically green beans stir fried with bacon, a little sesame oil and a splash of apple balsamic vinegar...yummy and light.
I burned my first batch of cranberry sauce, I didn't know it was possible but I guess cooking at 5 in the morning is not something I can do. I went back to bed and woke up at my normal time and made the sauce again. It came out great. I portioned some for dinner and added maple syrup to the little sauce I had left for Kai's waffles. If you've never made fresh cranberry sauce, you should give it a try. There are so many ways to flavor it. My classic cranberry sauce is 1 bag of cranberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup of orange juice, zest of 1 orange, and half a vanilla bean. Put everything in a saucepan, turn on the heat, bring to a boil and then simmer on low until all berries pop. Then turn of the heat and let sauce cool before transferring it to serving dish.

Since I didn't make a whole turkey we don't have alot of leftovers to make new dishes with but I can give you a few ideas. Turkey gumbo was something we always made when we had leftover turkey. This year I thought of Turkey and stuffing balls (a take on chicken and dumplings). Chop up the leftover crudite vegetables and a small onion saute until soft, add chicken or turkey stock and shredded turkey, bring to a boil. Ball up leftover stuffing and add to soup....mmm, great for a cold night. If you made mashed sweet potatoes, make sweet potato pancakes the next morning.

Shopping.....nope did not wake up to join the crowd. Not only is my shopping almost done but I realized that the sales are not all that great. Besides, if you watch the sales flyers for your favorite stores you know that they have sales all the time. Sure you might not be able to grab those DVD's for $2.50, but really is that worth waking up at 4 am for? I say no and if I really wanted a movie I wouldn't mind paying the $10 non-holiday sale price.

• Thanksgiving cards for family. Done.
• Test cookie recipes....still testing.

Okay, so now I have to mail the cards. Hopefully that will get done tomorrow. I tested a new cookie recipe from a magazine and decided that it will not be one for giving this year or any other year. It just wasn't our type of cookie. It had cream cheese in it which made me want to try it, but once made it wasn't as good as I thought.

I made the famous MacMillan family shortbread the other day and the whole pan is almost gone. Primarily consumed by yours truly. I forgot how addicted to those cookies I am! This year I added vanilla extract in the mix, which is not in the original recipe, and it tasted like those packaged Walker's shortbread!!!
Hopefully, the family will like my addition to the shortbread. I thought about turning them into turtle bars by adding caramel, pecans,and chocolate but they are just fine the way they are. It would be too sweet with all the other toppings (I made a batch and it's almost all gone).

I wanted to go to Toys R' Us today because they are having a 2 day sale this weekend on toys, but I don't think I'll get to it. It is so hard taking Kai out in public now, he just wants to do what he wants to do. I rather not deal with a toddler tantrum in public. I just don't have the energy right now.

Jimmy came home sick after his cake contest yesterday so I didn't make the beef stew (that is tonight's dinner). Instead, I made him a pot of chicken soup with orzo. He is a little better today, but still feeling under the weather.
We always get sick when the temperature goes up and down like it has been doing lately.

Tomorrow, I plan on making vegetarian moussaka and Sunday is junk food day....I'm thinking mini-sausages in the crock pot with bar b que sauce and mac n' cheese. Then to continue testing recipes.

Menu week of 11-12

Hmm...I seem to have trouble getting my weekly menu posted these days. Yesterday was spent shopping for candy for the gingerbread houses that Jimmy is working on for the hotel. Today, I did a little shopping for Christmas items.
So here it is a plan for the next few meals.

Tuesday: Orange-Apricot glazed chicken with sweet potato and butternut squash (cooked in a crock pot)

Wednesday: Pantry Pasta (pasta tossed with whatever is in my pantry)

Thursday: Beef stew (another meal made in crock pot)

That's all I have for now. Have I mentioned that the crock pot is my new favorite appliance? I've never used one until we moved up here. There are actually seasons up here! It's nice, I like the cold. Anyway, the crock pot- great invention.

Helpful Tips for the Week

1. Separate your silverware by type when loading the dishwasher. This saves some time when you have to put away the clean dishes. This is something I picked up from working in restaurants.
   
2. If you have children and want to control what they drink, have portioned out approved beverages in the refrigerator. Every morning, I fill two sippy cups with milk, one with water, and one with fifty-fifty juice (diluted juice: half juice half water) for Kai. We do not have a lock on the fridge so Kai can help himself and decide what he wants to drink.
   
3. Portion out cereal into bowls and cover it with saran wrap the night before. This is useful if you have school age children. For me, I portion out cereal into snack size bags when I get home with a new box. I use the serving size on the box as my portion guide. Whenever Kai wants cereal he just grabs a bag or when we are on the go I grab a bag and throw it in my diaper bag for him to snack on later. I also portion out his snacks this way.

I hope these are helpful, I will try to give my little tips every week.


Update on Cassia Bella.
My little girl just turned three months!! She's getting so big. I am so lucky that she is not colicky. She only cries when she needs something. She opens her mouth every time she sees us eat. I think she wants real food or maybe ready to have a taste of daddy's treats. I'm starting to use baby signs with her; hoping that when she is coordinated enough she will be able to sign her needs. I used baby signs with Kai and it really helped him communicate and he was less frustrated. She is doing so well.

Holidays are here again.

Oh me, oh my, how quickly time has passed us by.

All this time I've been thinking about Christmas preparations, Thanksgiving has crept up on me. It's less than two weeks away. I know I'll make turkey, stuffing and sweet potatoes. Oh, of course Jimmy's must have blend of mashed potatoes with rutabaga. Now, to decide on the something green and dessert.

Oh, it should be so easy with Jimmy being the pastry chef, but it's not. I love it all. Pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, and again all those flavors in cheesecake form..mmmmm. I want a little of everything!! It's not such a hard decision when you are celebrating with all the extended family, but since our family members are scattered throughout the US it's hard to get together. So I have to shrink everything down for four.

Oh brilliant, just solved my own problem. I'll make mini-pies, that way I can have it all. I could freeze the ones we don't get to. You are probably thinking that I'm crazy, but it is the season of eating so that's my excuse.
If you ask Jimmy, he would say who am I trying to kid, I eat like that all the time. Yes, I love sweets, that's why Jimmy is my perfect match--he doesn't mind.

Then I have to make the Thanksgiving cards with the kids for the family. Every year, I outline Kai's hands to make hand turkeys. Last year was Kai's and Nico's hands, this year will be Kai's and Bella's.

After Thanksgiving is over, I have to start testing cookie recipes and decide on what all is going in our gift baskets. Stress, stress, stress!

Now, I'll turn on the radio and listen to the Christmas songs to help motivate me.

Until the next post, live, laugh, love and eat well.

Menu for the week of 11-05

Ok, so we cooked too much food last week and had leftovers that carried over for the next day. This week starts off with the Spicy Panko chicken that was planned for Monday.

Tuesday: Spicy Panko coated Chicken with rice

Wednesday: Chicken and Andouille sausage Jambalaya over rice(leftover from Tuesday)

Thursday: Italian Sausage with spaghetti squash

Friday: Penne pasta with bacon and veggies

Saturday: Take out from Greek Island

Sunday: Football day (every Sunday is until the big game) Most likely pizza, nachos and hot dogs.

My Spicy Panko Chicken

Ingredients:
For the rice:

1 1/2 cups of rice

3 cups of water

For the chicken:

2 chicken breasts (that would actually be 4 halves)

Salt

black pepper

1/4 cup of mayonnaise

3 tablespoons of hot sauce (we like Winston's hot sauce from Austin,Tx)

1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 gallon size plastic bag with a zip top

The chicken is best marinated over night, but 15-30 minutes will do too.


1. I usually poke the breasts all over with a fork then season with salt and pepper. Place seasoned chicken in the plastic bag.


2. In a small bowl mix the mayonnaise and hot sauce together. Taste to see if it's spicy enough, if not add more hot sauce, then pour into the plastic bag. Squish everything around in the bag to make sure that the chicken is coated in the spicy mayo. Put back in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.


3. Put the rice and water into a 6 cup sauce pan. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Then lower heat to a simmer and cook for twenty minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit for at least 10 before opening the lid.


4. Turn the oven on to 375 degrees. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator. Pour the Panko bread crumbs into a plate and season with more salt and pepper. Take one piece of chicken at a time and coat with the panko bread crumbs by pressing crumbs onto chicken. Make sure the chicken is completely covered with the bread crumbs. Finish coating the rest of the chicken this way.


5. Spray a sheet pan (cookie pan) with cooking spray. Place coated chicken breast on pan and put it in the oven. Cook for 15 minutes then flip the chicken breasts and cook for another 10 minutes. The internal temperature should be 165 degrees, if not cook longer. If you don't have a thermometer, cut one of the breasts in half to see if the chicken juices run clear.

6. Serve with rice, extra hot sauce and your choice of vegetable or a simple salad.



This is a picture of the tandoori chicken, mushroom korma, spinach and chickpea masala and brown basmati rice coconut pilaf from last week. Yes, I made everything.

the cooking toddler

I finally got Kai cooking on camera! Unfortunately for unknown reasons, the camera did not pick up sound so it's a silent video. Click on the media player above to see him in action. Yes, my two year old son is cooking all by himself- he was fully supervised. He insists on being allowed to do what he knows, I think it's alright as long as I know that he won't hurt himself. I do not let him cook unsupervised so please don't worry.

We went to the American Baby Faire today. It's a great expo to attend if you're a first time parent, not so much fun if you already have them. I totally forgot about it, but my dear husband was sweet to remember and take me! It took us two hours to go through the whole thing. We made out with a few samples and a better understanding of the new stroller we want, plus found an item that both kids can share for Christmas.
They could improve it by adding more info and products for people who already have kids and call it a 'Baby and kid faire' or something like that.

We saw the new Dodge mini van up close and I seriously like the rotating back seats! I never ever thought I would consider a mini van for a vehicle, but they've come a long way. I don't think we really need one for a couple more years. Hubby likes the Caddy SUV, but again we'll have to battle it out when the need arises.

More food and fun.

I started this blog as an attempt to keep a journal of sorts. I am terrible at the actual pen to paper, so I'm hoping this will last longer than one month (the longest journal kept). I am also going to do my best to write more about food and fun, so there will be weekly postings of my weekly menu, an original recipe if I'm using one during the week, and a post about my faves of the week or new findings.

This weeks menu starts tonight because we had Chinese take-out for dinner last night. After a trip to the grocery, I really don't feel like cooking since our grocery trips involve going to at least three shops for ingredients!

Thursday: Basic meatloaf with roasted sweet potatoes and roasted butternut squash puree.

Friday: Tandoori chicken, brown basmati rice, garlic nan, mushroom korma, and spinach and chickpeas spiced with garam masala.

Saturday: Mushroom lasagna with meat sauce.

Sunday: Football day- Husband's choice for game food

Monday: Hubby's favorite spicy oven baked crispy panko chicken with rice

What an ambitious menu. It's all fairly simple to make, really. Here's how I made tonight's meatloaf.

I got out my handy Cuisinart mini prep. Washed the following:

1 stalk of celery
1 small bell pepper

Then, peeled and roughly chopped one small onion and placed it in the food processor and pressed chop until it got to my desired size. No tears! Dumped the onions into a mixing bowl, then rough chopped the celery and bell pepper and tossed it into the food processor and chopped until the desired size was reached. Dumped that into the mixing bowl and added a handful of breadcrumbs, 1/2# of ground sirloin and 1/2# of ground chuck and 2 strips of smoky bacon that went through the same chopping process as the veggies, couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce, about a quarter cup of ketchup, and good ol' salt and pepper. Combine everything together with your hands, form into a loaf shape, place in pan and bake at 375 degrees until done. I check it after forty-five minutes with a thermometer. When it reaches 165 degrees it's done.

For the sides:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
wash 2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces, sprinkle on olive oil, salt, pepper and a little garlic powder.
put on a baking pan and place in oven. should take about 30 minutes to cook.

Roasted Butternut Squash Puree
Wash the squash and then cut in half length wise. Scoop out seeds, sprinkle some olive oil on it and put it on a baking pan cut side down. I added fresh sage leaves to these. So before you put the squash on the pan lay fresh sage leaves in the area that the squash will go, then top them with the squash. The two are a good combo and the squash gets scented this way.

Bake it for 30 minutes or until it gets soft. When cooked, scoop squash into a blender, add butter(as much as you like), salt and pepper and a splash of cream or milk, push the puree button on the blender. Voila it's done. pour it into a serving dish.

That's what we're having for dinner. I told y'all earlier that I'm not a professional chef so measurements and cooking times are approximated. If you really need exact times, temperatures, measurements, and a weekly shopping list so you can follow my menu, I can give those to you. Just ask.

Bon apetite!