Italian for a day

Red sauce, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, tomato gravy... there are plenty of names for the pasta topping of choice for many. At home we having a few other names for it depending on who is eating it or how it's being eaten... dunking sauce, pizza sauce, and most recently "Pregnant Mama's Yum Sauce". For the sake of keeping thing consistent, I'll call in tomato sauce.

Unfortunately, the Topsy Turvy tomato planters we used this year were sucky-sucky, and I didn't produce the crop I was hoping to. Still determined to make sauce for the winter, I was given a large box of Amish country tomatoes from my in laws this past weekend.



On Monday afternoon I started my half a day long project of sauce making. There are many methods to making a delicious sauce, but regardless of how you create it there are a few important rules to live by when creating your masterpiece:

1. Be mindful of your ingredients. Will you use fresh tomatoes or canned? Garlic cloves or powder? Every item you add to your sauce will impact your result. For the record, I like to only use fresh ingredients when they are available, however I have used cans of San Marzano tomatoes and the sauce was still quite good. Different, but good.

2. Cooking time is important to the flavor of your sauce. How long will you cook your sauce? Certainly a "quick" sauce can be made, but many believe the sauce should romantically bubble away for hours for the flavors to meld together and intensify.

3. Proper storage is key to preservation and flavor. Will you can or freeze your sauce? I like to can mine to save space in the freezer, and also so I can give the jars as gifts. It's much more beautiful to give a mason jar with a ribbon and handwritten tag around the mouth than a slimy frozen plastic container, in my opinion.

To start my sauce I first removed the skins and seeds from my tomatoes, which was probably the longest and most hands on part of making my tomato sauce. When doing that, I roasted a couple of heads of garlic in the oven. To do this, cut each of the heads in half so the cloves are all in halves. Place the heads in a sheet of aluminum foil, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and the wrap the heads up nice and tight. Place your garlic in an oven preheated to 350 degrees, and in 30 minutes remove the softest and most delicious smelling garlic you've even seen.

After the tomatoes are prepped and the garlic is roasted, I threw both ingredients along with sauteed white onions into a large stock pot. On medium heat, I let the ingredients come to a boil to let the juices evaporate and thicken up a bit.



After the sauce thickens, I turned the heat to low and added kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, white sugar, and fresh herbs. The sauce was then left untouched for hours to allow the flavors to cook together. After a few hours I took out my trusty immersion blender and gave the sauce a good blend (normally I wouldn't mind a few chunks, but in hopes that the kids will be eating my sauce I had to make it as smooth as possible).

Later, I transferred my sauce into warm sanitized mason jars. The jars were then put into a water bath to lock in the seal and preserve the sauce.



After the jars were processed I transferred them to a clean towel, where they rested untouched overnight.



I checked on the jars yesterday morning and luckily all of the seals took! I kept a small container of leftover sauce in the fridge, and tossed it with some farfalle and parmesan last night for dinner.... mmmmm! The canned sauce has a shelf life of one year, although I'm not sure it will last that long in our house. Perhaps I should at least stash away a jar or two for after the baby is born so I can at least enjoy my sauce with a deep glass of red wine, but for now a crusty piece of bread dipped in the sauce is quite enough to make me content.

Half a dozen...

Is how many there will be in the McKinley family in January!



I'll admit, this blog has been on summer hiatus. Unfortunately, it seems that the term "morning sickness" is all relative (more like 24/7 sickness!), and that I must be one of the freaky pregnant women whose palate is completely turned upside down. It's difficult to zealously discuss food when for the past few months it's been a challenge to even open the fridge without gagging. Thankfully, some of the sickness is starting to subside. That being said, don't expect to see any rubs for steaks or vegetable heavy ideas for the next few month, then again that's not really what this blog is about!

What you can expect to see over the next few months are lots of after school snack and holiday themed posts. Starting in January I'm sure there will be a post (or twenty) on homemade baby food, and fun ideas and traditions for bringing a new baby into a growing family.

Now it's time to play catch up... please prepare for more than a few posts that have been waiting to be written :)

Earth Day: Baby Steps

"Going green"... what a broad concept. To some it means trading in motorized vehicles for bicycles, or installing solar panels in their homes. To others it means cutting back on unnecessary consumption... I remember a former employer claiming they were "going green" by replacing their bottled water with filtered water machines and styrofoam cups -- good idea, wrong follow through.

I've always been the girl carrying around a reusable canvas bag in my purse to avoid the pileup of plastic bags under my kitchen sink. Thankfully many of the major grocery stores are starting to catch on, offering a cash back incentive to using reusable bags. It feels great for finally being rewarded for something I've always tried to do!

At home we really try to do our part in the little ways that we can... paper plates are only used when absolutely necessary, we limit our time in the car and group errands together, we're teaching the kids to turn off lights and water when not in use ... baby steps!

All of the recent recession talk has really got me thinking that maybe the victory gardeners of the older generations were on to something.

If fruit and vegetables grown at home taste better and cost less money than produce bought at the grocery store, why not try to grow my own victory garden?

We live in Central Jersey, where gardens and farmers markets are prevelant. The previous owners of our house had already started with a small garden, a strawberry patch, and grapevines. A great start, but we have more in mind! We're starting our vegetable garden this weekend, planting a few more berry bushes, and have plans for a pumpkin patch and an apple tree trellis.

To kickstart our plans, the kids and I took a trip yesterday to Lowes to pick up a few plants for outside, take a look:


Connor decided to help me move my herbs from the AeroGarden to outdoor pots


"Brittany, let me pose... it's very important that I have a picture on Earth Day!"


One of the flower baskets on our front porch


One of the window baskets that the kids filled -- they even picked the flowers


My herb garden on the back porch


The kids, proud of their work


Look... they're even getting along... maybe I can convince them that Earth Day happens more than once a year

Minnesota Nice - Being Polite Has it's Benefits

Minnesota nice, according to Annette Atkins:

...The cultural characteristics of Minnesota nice include a polite friendliness, an aversion to confrontation, a tendency toward understatement, a disinclination to make a fuss or stand out, emotional restraint, and self-deprecation...

I've often been accused of being too "Minnesotan", in reference to this standard. I'm often the last to make a fuss about something (once, actually eating fettucini that smelled like wet dog for the sake of not adding fuel to a frustrating situation in a restaurant), and I believe there's something to be said for general politeness.

I joke with the kids often about karma when trying to teach them to be nice to others. "You'll be surprised at how nice others will be if you simply smile and ask how their day is...", I say. Once, Ryan fell off our kitchen stool after teasing Connor, to which Connor yelled, "HA! Karma got you, Ryan!" I'm not quite sure they understand the concept yet...

Anyway, a neighbor down the street just dropped off a box of treasures on my doorstep:




It turns out that a produce truck broke down in our town, and our neighbor who owns an autobody shop was given a large gift of vegetables and fruit as a thank you for service. They knew that I like to cook and bake and decided to share their gift me. I can't wait to use everything! I'm making homemade GF tortillas tonight, and the peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes will make a great addition to dinner!

If any other trucks accidentally break down in Marlboro, like maybe one filled with pastries, please stop by!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

I really want to post about my jam making experience.

Hmmm... not sure if I should post about that... it's probably not that interesting...

Maybe someone wants to know about how to make jam, or at least will be entertained by my clutzy adventures in the kitchen.

Nope... too boring... I'm too tired... I should really just think of something better to write about...


Three days later:

DARN IT!!! So-and-so just wrote about making jam and now everyone is excited about making it! I should have gone with my gut...

Then again, who really wants to read about my jam anyway? I'm not a real cook or baker, and ugh... I'm a stepmom... does that diminish my credibility when it comes to "family fun"?



Ohhhh, self-doubt, you plague me. I've had hundreds of these battles with myself over the past few months, which explains why my new posts have been absent. Change "jam" to any other recipe or idea that I've had, and change "so-and-so" to any chef, blogger, or friend, and there is my constant issue. Combine that with months of too much stress, not enough down time, and a lot of "it's ok that you spilt your coffee on my face... here let me help you order another", and you've got one stressed out woman.

My dear husband and I had a chance to slip away to the Caribbean for a week, just returning this past Saturday, for what I like to call our "second honeymoon". It was a life refresher, and a great reminder that no matter how full we choose to make our lives we must always take time for ourselves together and individually.

Upon returning home I realized, among other things, how much I've been missing being creative in the kitchen AND sharing my adventures with others. The weeks leading up to our vacation were filled with mediocre dinners and tired deserts, and I've been craving to dive back in a la Julia. In the past few days I've experimented making pesto courtesy of the overgrown basil in my Aerogarden, a dutch oven chicken (the most moist chicken you'll ever eat -- recipe soon!), and yes, jam.

It feels good to be back in the kitchen... I've missed it.

Thank you, dear husband, for encouraging me to always do what I love... even if you and I are the only ones who take pleasure in my cooking and in this silly little blog :)

I Carry Your Heart... Cookies

I Carry Your Heart - E.E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)


It has long been a tradition in my family to make two-toned Valentine's Day cookies. For this project, my mother used to prep our rolled sugar cookie dough by first mixing the ingredients in her KitchenAid, and then dividing the dough into two separate balls -- one to be dyed red, and one to be dyed pink. After being dyed the dough would then be chilled in the refrigerator for hours until it was ready to be worked with. We would cover our entire countertop with waxed paper and flour (although, when working with children and rolled cookie dough I really like to use a clean vinyl tablecloth over the dining room table to maintain a bit of personal space) and then my mother would roll out portions of the dough for each of us. With two heart shaped cookie cutters, one about twice the size of the other, she would cut first a large heart out of the red dough and then a smaller heart to be removed out of the center of the dough she had just cut. She then had one of us do the same with the pink dough. She then carefully placed the pink smaller heart inside of the large red heart, and did the same with the other. Our "hearts" held each others'.

Yesterday I decided to pass along this tradition to my stepchildren. They were home from school for the first of two snow days (I feel another project coming along today), and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to share with them something that I loved as a child. We spent hours mixing, chilling, and cutting our dough with great success and minimal bickering :) After all of the cookies had cooled Caitlyn and I bundled up and trudged through the one and a half feet of snow and delivered our heart cookies to the neighbors. You can imagine their surprise to see the two of us running through the streets on one of the most miserable days of the year to deliver our Valentines!

The children may not realize it now, but in deciding to share their "hearts" with our neighbors I can slowly see them becoming the type of people who will share their hearts all year round. That's my hope, at least.

PB and G's - PB and J gets a GF makeover

We've all heard of PB and J's, but, "What is a PB and G?" you might ask. Take a look at the new snack idea my stepson Connor and I came up with when looking for an alternative to super sugary jelly and glutenous bread...



What you need:

PB and G Snack
1 lightly salted rice cake
2 tbsp natural creamy peanut butter
1/2 c fresh red or green table grapes

Cal: 225
Total fat: 16g (3g saturated)
Sodium: 25mg
Total Carbs: 28g
Protein: 10g

VS.

PB and Jelly Sandwich
2 slices Wonder Bread Classic White Bread
2 tbsp Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter
2 tbsp Welch's Concord Grape Jelly

Cal: 430
Total fat: 18g
Sodium: 480mg
Total Carbs: 61g
Protein: 11g

NOTE: I am NOT a nutritionist, I'm just a parent who reads labels. I happen to know that oil and sugar should only be used in moderation, and things like nutrient-rich fresh whole fruit and whole grains are important in diets. I do not claim to have all the answers or to do things perfectly... at the end of the day I know what works for my family, but more on that later!

Most importantly, we had a lot more FUN making the PB and G!



Caitlyn, my step daughter, and I were inspired to make our own fun creations. Check out Caitlyn's pretzel and grape "light post":



I made "antennas" in response to being called the "alien stepmom":



Simple swaps can be more nutritious AND fun for you family! The best part is that these snack ideas can easily be made gluten-free... and lets be honest, what GF child is going to turn down food that they can play with for lunch?

My Love for Starbucks is Growing

While attending college and living in Midtown Manhattan I needed to find a job with flexible hours that offered attractive benefits. You know what they say about New York... there's a Starbucks on every corner! In fact, there were four in a two block radius from my Herald Square apartment building. Naturally it seemed like the logical place to work.

I attended an open house with my then-roommate Robbi, both hoping to land a position at one of the many stores in the area. When interviewing I remember being asked what I would bring to the position over the many other hopefuls in the lobby, to which I replied, "I'm passionate about food and I'm passionate about people." The interviewer then looked down at my brown cowboy boots under the table and said, "Well... you're definitely not a New Yorker."

Within a week I began working at a busy Starbucks location just outside a PATH station, generally starting work at 5 am. I struggled in the beginning with the lingo, the recipes, and the angry regular customers... oh, those customers... most of them were coming into the city from Jersey and I was the first person they spoke to after a crowded PATH ride. I put everything I had into that job, learning customers names and drinks... yes, even those crazy combinations. Quad-venti, 2 1/2 pump, soy, no foam, stirred, with whip mocha? Seriously?! (Actually I shouldn't really talk... my drink of choice is a grande, 1 pump, mocha)

I was blessed to have a store manager and coworkers who genuinely cared about each other and about making the job more than just serving coffee. We became friends with our customers and shared conversations about our lives and day to day experiences. When we began to interact with these "friends" of ours they quickly changed from being grumpy New Yorkers to real humans.

It has now been a few years since I've worked for Starbucks, and to be honest I really do miss it at times. From time to time I still like to enjoy a mocha for a bit of nostalgia. Yesterday I stopped to get a cup of coffee and could barely contain my excitement when I saw that Starbucks is now offering prepackaged Lucy's gluten-free cookies! The owner of the brand, Dr. Lucy, is a MD and a mother of a child with Celiac's... what better inspiration to start a business? Lucy, not that you'll ever read this, but if you're ever in NJ you're welcome to stop by for a cup of coffee... and a cookie!

Way to go, Starbucks! Thank you for offering a snack that my husband can enjoy with his coffee! I have a feeling that Bill and I will be spending a bit more time in your cafes now.

-B

Surprise Ingredients: Flourless Chocolate Cake - Part 2

The secret ingredient in my flourless chocolate cake is...

CHICKPEA!!!





I always think of the movie Nell when I hear the word chickpea. Anyone else ? :)

The cake is mostly made of ground chickpea, yet tastes deliciously fudgey with a slight nutty hint. I was ready to just serve the cake to my in-laws without commenting on the secret ingredient, but then Bill reminded me that sometimes beans can reek havoc on stomachs, especially in those who live GF. I cautiously told everyone, and boy were they hesitant! After a few minutes of silence Bill's father asked for another slice and said, "I'll be honest... I really didn't want to like that cake, but I did!"

Who knew you could make a CAKE made almost entirely out of BEANS? Even if you aren't a Celiac there's a huge benefit to replacing hard to digest wheat with other ingredients, such a beans, that have higher protein and fiber contents.

I'm beginning to wonder what other foods can be used for baking that we haven't thought to use yet. Ohhhh... the possibilities!

Surprise Ingredients: Flourless Chocolate Cake

Sometimes when baking gluten-free you have to get creative! It's impossible to perfectly replicate a baked good's normally wheat based texture using flours made from rice, tapioca, potato, etc.

Impossible, but you can come pretty darn close if you think against the grain! (Of wheat, that is!)

Yesterday, looking for new and challenging (in the sense that it go against everything I've ever learned as a baker) recipes, I came across one so unusual and yet enticing that I immediately decided I HAD to make it!

The final product: Decadent Flourless Chocolate Cake

Can you guess the secret main ingredient in the cake? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't ANY type of flour :)

-B

My life, in food

I grew up in Blaine, Minnesota, a suburb outside of the Twin Cities. (Bill frequently reminds me that many people do not actually know what the Twin Cities are... Minneapolis and St. Paul is the correct answer, not New York City and Chicago or L.A., although within 5 minutes of meeting me you could probably figure it out from the "o's" and the "you bet's!") Food has always been an important part of my life, in one form or the other. While my mother was never a fantastic cook (sorry, mom!) she always made an attempt to involve children in the kitchen. Whether it was peeling and slicing apples for one of her famous apple pies, or giving us baby food jars filled with cream and salt to shake and keep our hands busy during movies (to make, you guessed it, butter! This is Minnesota, after all!), I always had a hand in the kitchen.

After I graduated from high school I left "ketchup-is-too-spicy" Minnesota and moved to New York City, where one could order a hot sauce so powerful it had to be carried to the table in an eye dropper. At first it was a rude awakening... I didn't realize it wasn't normal to eat salads without any dressing, or to not put any toppings on baked potatoes... and wait, you mean there's more than three ways to prepare potatoes? My new friends thought I was absolutely nuts for eating the way that I did, but I was staunch in my eating habits. I liked things the way I liked them, and that was that. How Sally Albright of me.

If there is one thing that was more ingrained than my eating habits, it was the "Minnesota-nice" way of life. I was not raised to offend others or to be ungracious, even when offered food that I thought would be absolutely dreadful! As I spent more time in the city and expanded my group of friends, I slowly put myself in an increasing number of situations where I had no choice but to suck it up (literally at times!) and take a bite!

Some things I liked immediately, like asparagus and black beans, and am sad to have lived for so long without having tried them. Other things are still a work in progress... the only fish I've ever had was a tuna steak, which was tasty, however I can't bring myself to order it in a restaurant. My diet began to grow with variety, and my overall health improved. (Not hard to do when you replace meat and potatoes with chicken and beans, and ranch dressing for oil and balsamic vinegar...YUM!)

Over the years I spent in the city I met and married the love of my life, my dear Bill. We shared a love for similar types of food and wine, and began cooking and eating together as a way to bond. Bill is a fantastic cook, particularly with BBQ, and I knew how to make a baked good or two. (I even uncharacteristically told him he would fall in love with me after eating one of my cupcakes)

About six months into our relationship Bill was having terrible stomach pains after eating just about everything. Through knowledge of family medical history and speaking with doctors it was concluded that Bill suffers from Celiac's disease, a digestive condition triggered by gluten. We learned very quickly that everything in our "food-lives" was about to change. Bill could no longer eat wheat, barley, rye, oats, etc. or anything that might contain them as ingredients. We searched high and low for breads, pastas, cereals, etc. that did not taste like cardboard, and on more than one occasion felt like a cruel and unusual joke had been played on us. What an odd twist of fate for someone to go thirty five years without experiencing any pain or difficulty, and within months for their entire life to be altered!

Having been a bit of an experienced baker and knowing how important it was for my dearest to still enjoy food, I began to make anything and everything I could from scratch in hopes it would taste better than a lot of the prepackaged garbage we found and give more variety to his food choices. Since then I have made cakes, pastries, pastas, sauces, etc. completely gluten free for his enjoyment. I always joke with him that I really wasn't serious about food, or more importantly I didn't find joy in it, until I had a reason and a cause for it. While Celiac's may seem like a curse at times, I know it's brought the two of us closer together.

Cooking and baking (and candlestick making...) have changed the way I view food and interactions with friends and family. Knowing that I can do something that I love to bring others joy and happiness is truly satisfying to me. Because of this, I have been challenged by Bill to pursue this whole gluten free and allergy sensitive world of food more seriously. At the start of a new year (and goodness, a new decade!) it's only appropriate to set a goal for the year ahead... in my baking adventures I will chronicle my experience in hopes that it will inspire you to spend more time with your friends and family over food, and who knows, maybe you too will go from being a picky eater to a baking entrepreneur!

-B