Tag Archives: kids

Jacob’s Cookbook

27 Apr

A brownie recipe from Jacob's new cookbook

I know I’ve mentioned it in the past, but I meet some amazing people in my job at the newspaper, and I mean really amazing. So often I come home after a story, completely stunned by what I’ve just learned about the person I’ve just interviewed. Two weekends ago I had an interview that completely blew me away both as a parent and as someone who loves food and cooking.

Two weekends ago I met Jacob.

Jacob is 14. He’s an eighth grade student and he’s about to publish a cookbook as part of a project he has to do for school. The proceeds from his cookbook will benefit the local community food bank.

That in itself is amazing, but that’s not what blew me away, actually.

Here’s what did: when I interviewed Jacob I asked him where he got all of his recipes from for his cookbook.

His answer: he made them up.

Jacob has not only created a cookbook at age 14, which will benefit a worthy cause, but he created all of the recipes himself from scratch, including how much of each ingredient for each recipe. He created the cookbook page layouts, made all of the recipes, took all the photos of all the foods, and typed them all up himself.

I just about fell out of my chair.

I said to Jacob, “That. is. amazing.”

Jacob with his cookbook before it goes to print.

Jacob said he knew that, but I don’t think he REALLY knew that. I mean I don’t think I could just MAKE UP a recipe (never mind a cookbook full of them) and figure out all the stuff that has to go in it, all by myself and I am FORTY YEARS OLD-I’ve been cooking for several of his lifetimes and I couldn’t do that!!

I sat and interviewed Jacob for about 45 minutes or so, and my article about him can be seen here.

More importantly though, I have one of Jacob’s dessert recipes right HERE on my blog!  That’s right, he was kind enough to share one of his recipes with me and one with the newspaper. I am so glad that the one I have is a dessert recipe, since apparently Jacob and I both have a sweet tooth.

Here it is, Jacob’s recipe which he created himself for Orange Zest Brownies.

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“As most people know, opposites attract. Well it is the same for flavors in food. A citrus flavor will go great with a sweet and creamy flavor. That is why orange chocolate brownies are perfect! Enjoy!” -Jacob Gebhart,  Amazing Appetizers and Decadent Desserts

Easy ingredients!

INGREDIENTS

BROWNIES

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1/3 cup shortening (I used 1/3 cup butter instead.)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 TBSP orange zest
FROSTING

3 oz. cream cheese

1-2 TBSP milk

2 and 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 TBSP orange zest

The orange zest gives it a great flavor.

DIRECTIONS

BROWNIES

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8×8 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Heat chocolate and shortening in a 2 quart sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly until melted.

Remove from heat, add sugar, eggs, vanilla, mix well. Then add remaining ingredients and stir until combined.

Spread batter in prepared pan evenly.

Bake for 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Make sure to cool completely before cutting and frosting.

FROSTING

With an electric mixer, on medium speed, combine cream cheese and 1 TBSP of milk.

Add sugar, a little at a time, beat after each addition. (I added the last TBSP of milk halfway through as it got thick.)

Then add the orange zest and combine.

Cut cooled brownies into 9 pieces. Spread each square with orange cream frosting.

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I found the recipe very easy to follow and quick and easy to make, just how I like my recipes to be! If you’re a taster when you bake, I highly recommend tasting the batter after the sugar is added but before the eggs. SO GOOD. I also tasted the cream cheese frosting before and after the zest was added, to see just how much the zest changed the flavor, and I was amazed at what a little bit of zest can do both to the texture (it was immediately creamier) and to the taste (it did now have that hint of orange flavor in it.)

For the orange zest, I used the zest from two medium oranges and split it between the batter and the frosting. It did work out to be just about one whole tablespoon in each, I’d say.

I opted to serve my frosting “on the side” as optional because with all the different likes and don’t likes at my house,  I didn’t want anyone not to want the brownies because they had “stuff” on them.

I also took half the batch to a friend’s house one afternoon and we enjoyed them with our coffee.

Great job Jacob, thanks for sharing your recipe with me! It truly was a decadent dessert!

Anyone who is interested in purchasing Jacob’s cookbook, Amazing Appetizers and Decadent Desserts, when it’s published, please send an email to Jacob at jayg@cox.net.

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Ragu Alla Bolognese

25 Apr

A couple of years back, a new extra-special meal was introduced at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

When my kids sleep over at their Grandma and Grandpa’s house they always return with tales of all the yummy things they got to eat while they were there, and although we eat pretty well over here too, they always seem to have that extra special something at their house that makes my mouth water. It makes me want to sleep over too. Maybe next time instead of dropping off, I’ll just hang out and see if anyone notices the extra mouth to feed.

A couple of years back, they started returning with tales of a new dish they’d had and loved: Pasta Bolognese. Elizabeth especially loved it and whenever anyone asked her what her favorite meal was, she’d say “Spaghetti Bolognese.” She’d constantly request the meal at home, but the only problem was, I didn’t have “the” recipe for it and I knew it was a pretty involved recipe. The last thing I wanted was to go through all the work with the wrong recipe only to have her say, “It’s good but it’s not as good….”

Until recently we didn't even have the coveted recipe for the Pasta Bolognese, much to Elizabeth's dismay.

Recently she had to submit her favorite recipe for a troop cookbook for Girl Scouts. Her first choice: Spaghetti Bolognese. I still didn’t have it. Her second choice: Spaghetti with Lobster Sauce, also a recipe I didn’t have. Her final answer: Grandma Rose’s Famous Tuna and Spaghetti. BINGO! Finally, a recipe I had! After hearing my tale of recipe woe, my mom gave me the recipe for the Bolognese Sauce they make.

One recent rainy Sunday we decided to try it out. Don’s Kitchen opened up and he went to town cooking up the recipe. The recipe itself is one my mom got from a family friend. It turned out wonderfully! We used just one part of how much it made so we froze three batches: two for our family and one for company.

Thankfully, when we asked Elizabeth for the verdict on how it came out, she said, “It’s perfect.”

Whew…

Price Rite had everything we needed to make an affordable Pasta Bolgonese meal for our last April Vacation dinner.

Ragu alla Bolognese
INGREDIENTS

1 and 1/2 stalks celery

2 carrots

1/2 of a large onion

1 and 1/2lb lean ground hamburger (or you can use a mix of beef, pork and veal. We used just hamburger our first time.)

3/4 stick butter

2 cans kitchen ready tomatoes (28 oz.)

2 cans beef broth, 2 cans water

6 TBS. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

optional: 1/2 cup red wine

The longest part of this recipe is just the simmering. The rest cooks up fast and easy.

DIRECTIONS

Dice celery, carrots and onion very fine. (Don used the food processor.)

Brown lean meat in butter and oil. Add vegetables to meat.

Put tomatoes through the blender. Add to mixture.

Add beef broth and water, salt and pepper.

Allow sauce to come to a boil and then simmer on low heat for two hours uncovered or more.

You can skim oil off the top when done.

Option: you can add heavy cream or half and half at the end if desired, for more of a pink vodka sauce.

Makes 5 meals for two with two pounds of meat.

Does that not make your mouth water?? You know what? It was even better the second day!

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Movie Review: “Chimpanzee”

24 Apr

This movie got two thumbs up from all of us!

Last week we got the chance to see the new Disney movie, “Chimpanzee,” on the very first day it came out. I was excited because I personally haven’t seen the last few Disney movies that come out around Earth Day each year. The commercials I’d seen for the movie looked wonderful and we couldn’t wait to surprise the kids with this particular Staycation activity.

We were not disappointed. The movie was rated G, which took a huge weight off of my shoulders. Whenever we see a movie, even if it’s PG, I spend the entire time worrying about what might pop up in terms of language or violence, especially having a child on the younger end of the age range. A rated G movie takes those fears right off my radar. It’s not often you can find a G movie that’s good for the older kids too, keeping their attention throughout. This one definitely did that.

The cinematography in this movie was amazing. The scenery was stunning and the camera crew did an amazing job capturing it all. I loved the out takes at the end because you really see what the camera crew went through to get some of the shots you were awed by throughout the movie.

Tim Allen was the narrator and he did a fabulous job with it. He had the difficult task of narrating a true story where the characters themselves do not speak–nature at it’s best–and he pulled it off without a hitch. He guided the viewer through all the emotions. There were funny parts, sad parts, scary parts (but not so scary) and parts where you were on the edge of your seat.

I wasn’t sure how my kids would like the movie. It was non-fiction which they generally prefer to read, but as far as movies go it wasn’t typical of some of the movie plots out there right now that I know they’ve also been dying to see.  However, everyone loved it! They’d been wanting to see it, and they really enjoyed it. We all did, and I’m so glad we splurged on this activity for our Staycation.

If you get the chance to see the “Chimpanzee” movie, I highly recommend it!

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Five Days, One Hundred Dollars

23 Apr

Staycation on the cheap. Can it be done?

There used to be a show on TLC (I think) that was called Trading Spaces. I loved that show. Two families would renovate their homes and they’d have just two days and $1000 to do it.

Well this week was April Vacation here and we were having a Staycation, not traveling anywhere, but we didn’t have much extra money in our budget for the week’s activities either. (Technically we were home for nine days if you count the weekend before and after the vacation week but as far as days we wouldn’t normally be home already, it was five days.)

We had approximately $100. Five people, five days, $100. Twenty bucks a day divided by five people, $4 per person per day.

That’s a Staycation on the Cheap for sure.

So did we do it? Of course we did. Not a whole lot of choice in that regard, since there’s no overspending when you don’t use credit cards. If the money’s not in the account, you don’t do it.

Chinese take out: Big Splurge.

First off, we had some work we needed to do around the house which took up a couple of days at the start of the week. To reward ourselves for a job well done, and since we were too tired to cook, we decided to splurge on take out. 

Chinese take-out:  $30.

Who doesn't love lemonade on a hot day?

My kids were dying to have a Lemonade Stand at our house. They spent part of the weekend making their posters and getting their business plan in place. They worked out what hours they’d be selling, how much they’d be charging and got everything ready to go. The weather was gorgeous on their chosen day and they were outside all day long. They worked together and even stayed open an extra hour because business was so good.

Lemonade Stand: Free

The first of many dinners at the beach took place this week.

The start of the week was very hot, like summertime hot, so we opted to cook dinner at home and pack it up to eat down by the beach. We’d take a walk along the ocean and watch the sun go down. We can do that here, we’re very lucky. We even saw a wedding that night in the gazebo by the ocean.

Dinner and walk along the beach: Free

Mystery Ride to a new-to-us zoo!

Although it was vacation week, I still had to work on and off periodically throughout the week whether it was covering stories for the two papers or typing them, so we worked that into our schedule and later in the week we tried out a new zoo that was in the direction of a story I was covering. It was the Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Tickets to the Buttonwoods Zoo for a family of five : $21.

Redbox is the greatest invention. You can rent movies for just over $1 per night. There were some movies we wanted to see so over the week’s time we rented three movies.

Family Movie Night times three, complete with popcorn: $3.75.

Even though we like Family Movie Night, there’s also nothing like seeing a “real” movie in a “real” theater, something we never, ever do since five people at a first run movie is expensive. Again, we decided to splurge. 

Matinee movie for five with five Entertainment Book Coupons: $38.

Last day on training wheels!

There were other things we did throughout the week like bike rides, scooter rides, eating dinner on the deck for the first time this season, watching the sunset from our own back yard, night hikes with flashlights (my favorite) and things like that, all free, all outdoors, all time spent together. Of course we ate our way through the week too, having “weekend” breakfasts every day, like waffles and crepes, muffins and pancakes, french toast. That in itself is a vacation in my book! And really, all of those things you just can’t put a price tag on.

Priceless.

Sometimes you don't even need to leave home to enjoy the simple magic of life.

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A second recipe for Sue’s snack

20 Apr

No matter which recipe you use, this is a delicious treat!

Yesterday I mentioned that I had two different recipes to go along with the snack that Sue makes. This second recipe is one that my friend Pam sent me a while back on a snow day. Here it is as I posted it that February day on Facebook:

Chocolate Crack

1 box graham crackers

2 sticks salted butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups semisweet chips (1 twelve ounce package)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line 10×15 cookie sheet with foil, spray with PAM.

Line the pan with graham crackers, using single pieces to fill in the gaps.

Line completely with crackers, breaking to fill in gaps.

Combine butter and brown sugar in saucepan.

Bring to boil over medium heat, boil for exactly five minutes.

Pour over graham crackers as evenly as possible and bake ten minutes.

The chocolate chips will melt upon contact with the hot butter and brown sugar mixture.

Sprinkle chips over the top and spread once they melt.

Refrigerate to chill.

Once solid, break into random sized pieces.

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By popular demand: A recipe for another of Sue’s treats

19 Apr

These little bits seem like one small bite, but you can never eat just one!

Last week we had PTO and Book Club. Sure enough, my good friend Sue brought snack for us all. It was one of my faves, a chocolate/caramel/matzo snack that she makes for passover. I was so lucky, she sent some home with me (and no, she hadn’t seen the 4/13  blog post about her snacks yet!)

This photo is from the ones she sent home with me. When we took the photo the camera was accidentally on the wrong setting, so the color is slightly off. However, once we ate the snack there was no retaking the photo!

Since I wrote about Sue and all her yummy desserts, I’ve had several requests for the matzo snack. Sue actually recommended making it ahead and freezing it if you’d like to. She said it stays well.

I actually have two different recipes for it so I’m going to post one today and one tomorrow. One calls for Saltines, one calls for Graham Crackers. One uses salted butter and one uses unsalted. Although they differ slightly, the snack is basically the same overall. You can pick one and sub in the matzo crackers for the Saltines or the Graham Crackers. I have made both.

Here’s the first version for you. This one I posted on Facebook in March 2010 after seeing it in an issue of Country Living Magazine a few years back. Here’s the post:

“Mama’s Sweet and Saltines”

Not my mama this time. I got this recipe out of Country Living magazine and it’s Trisha Yearwood’s mama I guess.

I’d actually had this before, but just found the recipe for it the other day. The only thing I didn’t have on hand was the unsalted butter, which Don promptly bought after seeing the recipe.

40 Saltine Crackers (can use graham crackers for a sweeter taste.
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/2 cups.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Line a large-rimmed cookie sheet with foil and the forty crackers. Be sure the pan you choose will fit in your freezer and be sure you have space in your freezer for the pan!!!

In a medium saucepan melt butter and brown sugar together and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and pour over crackers covering them evenly.

Put cookie sheet in oven and watch closely. Bake for about 5 minutes (mine took three) until just bubbly.

Remove from oven and pour chocolate chips over crackers.

When chips begin to melt, spread them over crackers with a knife.

Transfer pan to freezer for 15 to 20 minutes or until completely cold. The chocolate covered crackers will forma solid sheet. Break into pieces and store in airtight container.

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In honor of National Library Week

16 Apr
open book with glasses

Reading has always been a favorite past time of mine.

Did you know that this week is National Library Week?

Well, if you didn’t know before, now you do!

I love my public libraries, I always have. It saddens me as each year our city’s library budgets are cut more and more, closing them oftentimes for more hours than they are open.

My kids love to read. We have big book shelves in almost every room in the house. They love to listen to audio books. They even, sometimes “play” library.

On rainy days my kids have been known to set up a "library" in their rooms. This photo shows the "children's section" of their "library," complete with a check out desk.

As a kid, I spent a lot of time at my local library. My mom took us to “story hour” and we always participated in the summer reading programs at the library, contests which encouraged us to read as much as we could over the summer, writing a brief summary of each book we’d read. I can still picture those reading forms in my head.

My parents are readers, Grandma Rose at 90 still reads a book a day. I come from a long line of people who love books.

We still have actual “books on tape” as our car is old enough to still have a tape player. We’ve listened to story books where they’ve been able to read along, as well as chapter books on long rides, even on short rides.

When my oldest daughter was about three, I left my job to be home full time. The very first thing I did now that I had my freedom, was sign her up for story hour at our local library.

I brought her that first day and I still have a photo somewhere of her on her last day, standing with all of the kids she had met from years and years of story hour through her kindergarten year.

As the years went by, all of my children participated in story hour. They all participate in the summer reading challenges. We love all of our librarians SO MUCH.

To me, our library is a magical place full of happy memories. I often drive by my local library and it makes me sad sometimes, as I think of all those story hour years we won’t get back. I met some of my closest friends through story hour. We went from going downstairs with the kids when they were littler, to sitting at the tiny kid tables upstairs, waiting for them to come up as they got older.

In honor of National Library Week this week, make a visit to your library. If you have spring break this week, check out their schedule and see if they have any special activities planned.If you’re not in the middle of a book, consider starting one.

This week I’ll be updating my “What I’m Reading Right Now” section on my blog. I’ve been reading a ton but haven’t taken the time to put the books I’ve read up on the blog.

Make a visit to your local library this week!

I think National Library Week is the perfect week to do so, don’t you?

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A book for your kids: “Is Your Hair Made of Donuts?”

12 Apr

Joy Feldman wears a wig when she reads to students that really does look like it's made of donuts!

There are so many reasons I love my job at the newspaper, but one of my favorite things is all of the amazing people I get to meet, all of the things I get to learn about through my interviews.

Today’s children’s book is one that I found out about through my work at the paper. Local author Joy Feldman spoke at one of the schools in our city and I covered her visit. What an amazing woman! You can read my full article about her here.

Feldman’s book, “Is Your Hair Made of Donuts” is her second book, but her first book geared towards children. Her goal is to encourage children and families to eat healthier foods, and to remember that you truly are what you eat.

The story revolves around the two main characters, Maddie and Matt and their quest for healthy eating. It even includes some of Matt and Maddie’s favorite recipes in the back of the book. The book also comes with a free downloadable teachers’ guide to coordinates with the book.

You can order Feldman’s books on her website and you can take a look at all she has to offer, including her adult book, “Joyful Cooking: In Pursuit of Good Health,” which Feldman says is more than a cookbook, it’s a resource for pursuing a healthy lifestyle.

I’m thrilled to have my own copy of “Is Your Hair Made of Donuts” for my family, thanks to Joy, and the title does make me think quite a bit about my own eating habits.

I believe my hair might just be made of chocolate chips!

Your kids will love reading about Matt and Maddie and learning about how your eating habits really do make a difference! Teachers will love the guide that goes along with the book.

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After School Snack: Strawberry Banana Yogurt Smoothies

11 Apr

Great for sore throats, warm weather, a healthy snack!

We had an unusually warm, hot actually, March this year. The weather broke all kinds of records and we loved the taste of summer that came during spring. It meant a couple of things for us though: First it meant that springtime allergies kicked in early, so everyone started with sore throats and runny noses in March instead of April. Second, it meant that the daily “can we get ice cream” and “can we get frozen lemonade” questions started early as well.

When I pick my kids up at school we drive by one of our city’s popular ice cream drive ups as well as past our favorite frozen lemonade stand. On occasion, on super hot summer days we’ll stop there after school as a treat, but I wasn’t really ready to start that in March. Not yet. It’s an expensive treat, one we don’t do too often.

One particularly hot afternoon, as an answer to their pleas, I decided to make smoothies, something I often do as an after school snack, but not usually in March. On this particular afternoon though, I had fresh strawberries in my fridge, (frozen works well too) and I had bananas in my freezer, which I often use for banana bread, but they work well for smoothies too. I had some vanilla yogurt in my fridge, so I felt I could easily pull off some smoothies for an after school snack.

A blender doesn't have to be expensive to make a delicious treat!

My “recipe” isn’t exact, but into my blender I threw: a bunch of strawberries, two frozen bananas, milk, about a cup of vanilla yogurt, and some ice to make it have a frozen feel, like a milkshake, but healthier.

I added a dollop of whipped cream and a straw and I had a restaurant-quality summer beverage for my kids for after school. Not bad! Everyone was happy and I was glad there was even enough for me to have some!

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Shrimp and Asparagus Pasta

10 Apr

I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I really love the “Daily Recipes” that I get in my email inbox from Allrecipes.com. I’m constantly making a note to try one out “some day” and last week I had a chance to try a new one. I had everything on hand with the exception of one ingredient: mushrooms, which I had actually had on hand but it turned out they weren’t good anymore so we threw them out. The recipe was fine without them but I’d add them in if I had them next time.

Everyone loved this recipe and I’d definitely make it again. I made some notes and adjustments below.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound fresh asparagus (I used a bag of frozen from Aldi’s.)
  • 1 (16 ounce) package egg noodles (I used a pound of wheat spaghetti.)
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (This was a lot. I’d do less next time and add a bit more lemon juice instead.)
  • 1 cup butter (I think you could cut some of this out as well. Maybe down to  1 1/2 sticks instead of two.)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 pound medium shrimp – peeled and deveined (I used a bag of frozen from Aldi’s.)
  • 1 pound fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

  1. In a small saucepan, boil or steam asparagus in enough water to cover until tender; chop and set aside.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to full boil, place the pasta in the pot and return to a rolling boil; cook until al dente. Drain well.
  3. In a large saucepan, saute garlic in the olive oil over medium-low heat until the garlic is golden brown.
  4. Place butter and lemon juice in the saucepan. Heat until the butter has melted. Place the shrimp in the saucepan and cook until the shrimp turns pink. Place the mushrooms and asparagus into the saucepan, cook until mushrooms are tender.
  5. Toss the shrimp and vegetable mixture with the egg noodles and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

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