Sweet Potato Puree

In her short introduction to solid foods, this is Rebecca's favorite and quite simple to make - I just bake a sweet potato at 400 for 45-55 minutes, remove the skin, mash it, and add milk.

Baby Applesauce

I'm approaching a new era of cooking here by making our own baby food. So far this has been very simple since my 6-month old baby is only eating breastmilk, rice cereal, and sweet potatoes. So today I made applesauce to add to her diet.

I peeled, cored and chopped up 4 Red Delicious apples, put them in a large pot on low with 1/4 cup water and let them simmer with the lid on for 45 minutes. I then mashed them to a very soft mixture and froze most of it in an ice cube tray.

I tried introducing her to bananas, but this is the face she made:

Carrot Soup

Lots of cooking with carrots this month!

Ever since a friend of mine mentioned carrot soup a week or so ago, I've been wanting to make it -- the recipe I found is surprisingly easy too - only calling for a few simple ingredients: olive oil, carrots, a yellow onion, minced garlic, vegetable stock and a lemon. This I can do!

My friend also mentioned how much she loves her immersion blender. A fan of gadgets, I decided that I, too, need this blender. Perhaps I will start making soups every night!

Peanut Butter Brownies

Ever since my friend, Chava, made this enchanting recipe, I've been wanting to try it. Chava does interesting things with peanut butter - here is another of my favorites, a recipe she taught me to make when I saw her in Atlanta last year. Speaking of peanut butter, I've been realizing that I need more protein lately, so I've been munching on these awful-tasting protein bars the last couple days. So perhaps a peanut butter recipe or two will serve me well. Also, since my not-so-sweet-tooth husband has been asking for cookies or brownies lately, I thought it's about time I make this recipe. I might get to the peanut stew later this month... Plus, the 5 degree weather makes me want to bake and warm up our freezing home.

On that note, my baby and I have been indoors for the last three days - I'm getting cabin fever, so I hope it warms up soon. We've been singing, reading, playing with toys, eating cereal, napping, rinse and repeat. I have to get out tomorrow to drop off student papers, so at least we'll be heading out once. I just really feel for her all wrapped up in her enormous snowsuit:

Seriously mom?

Potato-Bean Casserole

Start with the simplest of ingredients: a potato (boiled) and an onion (sauted).

Rebecca watched with interest as I chopped and stirred...

Yum!

We have called this simple dish "2 J Casserole" for quite some time in my family -- mainly because Jake and I, Jamie, (2 Js) created this vegan dish back in 1999. Jake was living in D.C. for a semester; I came up to visit him for Thanksgiving weekend and we created this by experimentation. And it stuck.

Ingredients:

-- 3-4 potatoes
-- half a can of tomato sauce
-- 1 can of garbanzo beans (I use the low-sodium variety)
-- 3 small tomatoes
-- a yellow onion
-- a few T of olive oil
-- Morningstar tofu crumbles (you might use Quorn crumbles if you tire of Morningstar, as I sometimes do)
-- a dash of spices (This time I used rosemary, marjoram, and basil)

It's a hearty winter dish -- first you dice and saute your onion in olive oil while you boil your potatoes (I cut mine up in chunks first). Then you add the beans and sliced tomatoes to the onion mixture, then the sauce and tofu, and then finally the drained boiled potatoes and your spices. You might also have added a few sliced carrots when you added your tomatoes and beans - we used to do that but I'm all out of carrots. Also, this is the kind of dish that tastes even better the second day - all the juices and spices have been keeping each other company for a bit and it's even more savory.

Enjoy! And check out all the nutrients in the humble potato:)

One last thing - as I attempt to cook these days in between feeding and playing with Rebecca and trying to get her to nap (combined with some working from home), I'm realizing that some of my old favorite recipes like mushroom empanadas and flatbreads were pretty time consuming. Now I'm looking for recipes that are vegetarian and fairly fast. So I'll be going through my cook books and this blog archive to find some dishes that fit for our family at this point -- let me know if you have some good ones and I'll try them!

Carrot souffle

fluffy, yummy carrot souffle

My little one watching me cook, chewing an empty bowl, wondering when we're going to give her first bite of solid food (in a few days).

I am blogging as my baby takes her fourth and final catnap of the day.

For the first time today, my daughter watched me cook a bit while sitting in her high chair playing with a bowl. It stuck to her chin at one point and she burst into tears!

So here it goes. I am stunned that I haven't blogged about this recipe before. A family staple for years, the carrot souffle is sweet, easy, and pretty. You can lighten it up with Splenda or another sugar substitute; you can use applesauce instead of eggs to make it a vegan recipe, and you can add cornflakes on top for crunch or nuts on top for protein.

Here is the simple recipe:

3/4 cup sugar

1 lb of carrots peeled and microwaved for 4 to 5 minutes

4 ounces veg oil

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 tablespoons flour

Pinch of cinnamon

Directions: Chop up your soft carrots and add them to a Cuisinart (or grate them by hand). Afterwards, put the shredded carrots in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients. Stir. Pour into 1.5 quart dish sprayed with pam or oil.

Put in the oven set at 350 for 45 minutes.

Voila.

I enjoy the shock of orange amid an otherwise neutral-colored table or buffet. It's also a dish you could make for a brunch, with a dinner, or as an after-dinner dessert. So versatile! The little black dress of my recipes.

Happy Hanukkah!

Dear friends, I tried my hand at making latkes for the second time tonight -- this was the first time. My mom reminded me of how my grandma used to make them -- real fast, she said - 1, 2, 3 and they were ready to eat.

Well, I tried. I can't say they remind me of my grandmother's cooking, but maybe nothing really comes close to that...

But they're greasy and vegan and yummy, so cheers to that, and have a Happy Hanukkah.

Thanksgiving 2010

Shakespeare's Pizza in Columbia, Mo.

We are so grateful for our family, walks in the woods, food on the table, and storytelling.

Among many other things.

Here are a few photos from the past few days:

Pumpkin Bread

In two days my family and I are driving to the Lake of the Ozarks to have Thanksgiving meal at the Lodge of Four Seasons. We rent cabins and do very little for a couple of days. Jake and I started this tradition last year. This year I hope to get in a jog or a hike (despite the cold weather) and I'm taking a book too. I also baked some pumpkin bread for us to munch on during the car ride - our baby's first longish car ride -- wish us luck!

Here's the recipe:

3 and 1/3 cup flour
2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs (Note: You could make this a vegan recipe if you used 2 cups of applesauce and no eggs)
1 and 1/4 c applesauce
1 1/2 c canned pumpkin
2/3 c water

First I blended the dry ingredients, then added the wet ingredients and then put the mixture in two lightly oiled loaf pans and popped them in our at 350 for 1 hour and 15 minutes (we have a slow oven). It's delicious.

Black Bean Soup

I forgot to take a photo of my last meal, but bean soup isn't that pretty to look at anyway.

For those of you who might not know, the Women's Bean Project gives women employment opportunities in a safe environment -- a store in the U. City loop called Plowsharing Crafts sells their tasty packages of beans and spices to make bean soup.

In addition to the packet of beans and spices, you only need vegetable stock, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 large diced onion, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 large chopped green pepper, a 6 oz. can of tomato paste, 3 T wine vinegar, and 1 bay leaf to make the soup.

First you wash and drain beans and then either soak them overnight or microwave them covered with water in a partially covered container for 15 minutes on high. Then you drain and rinse them and put them in a pot with the vegetable stock. Bring it to a boil and then let it simmer covered for two hours. Then you will add a mixture of sauted veggies: the onion, garlic, green pepper and spices. Also add the tomato paste and vinegar at this time -- it's delicious and lasts for several meals:)

Vegetarian Chili

Mmm...

With a little bit of time on my side this morning as Jake attempted to put a very darling though fussy baby down for an early morning nap, I cooked! Since the weather is now getting colder and I only had 20 minutes, I made a batch of chili:

First I threw in about 1/4 of a cup of diced red pepper, 1/4 c diced green pepper, and 1/4 c diced yellow onion in a pot with a bit of olive oil. Then I added two chopped carrots, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of kidney beans, a can of black beans, half a can of corn, 1/2 cup of Morningstar crumbles, and a dash or three of chili powder and some shredded cheddar cheese (this would be a vegan dish without the cheese). A friend of mine adds a T of brown sugar to her chili -- but it's also just as tasty without...

Yum, healthy and easy to make. It will likely last two night as well - I should really do this more often. While Jake likes to put his chili on a baked potato, I eat mine in a bowl - perhaps with a cracker or two.

Apple Cake Victory Dance

My daughter napped again for the second day in a row, and I am a new woman.

Oh, it's not like she never naps. She naps often, about 20-30 minutes at a time. In my arms. And then as soon as I go to put her down her eyes snap open and she either smiles or cries. It's quite devastating. And we're back to the drawing board, me trying to coax out another nap another 45 minutes or hour later.

And then yesterday happened. I had low expectations of you, Monday. I put our little swaddled Rebecca on my shoulder, played with my iPod, rocked in our glider and let her cry a bit and then doze on my damp from drool, cramped-from-holding-it-still-and-upright shoulder for 35 minutes. Then I turned off the iPod. Stood up. Tiptoed ever so quietly to put her down, and of course, as always, her hazel-blue eyes popped open. I nearly ducked, as to not make eye contact. But then, to my complete shock, her eyes closed, her face a vision of peace and repose.

Oh, the joy of having the next two hours (Two! hours!) to myself. I answered emails to colleagues and friends. Called people back. Did a bit of work. Contemplated my dissertation. Sat on the couch and closed my eyes. It was beautiful.

And again, today. She went down from 11:45-2. I may have never known such happiness. I'm sort of kidding. After answering some obligatory emails and prepping for class, I asked myself, what would I like to do? Jake was home for a spell and he asked if I wanted to go for a run. No, not really. It's not that a breastfeeding woman can't run; of course she can. However, a couple times I had an enormous struggle getting Becca to nurse after my workouts. I felt like we were wrestling; she was so fussy. Isn't fussy such a very polite word for "screaming her head off"? I called a local breastfeeding support group and learned a bit about lactic acid buildup changing the flavor of breast milk. Who knew? So I'd rather not ever go through that again. Now I try to run right after she nurses on Saturday and Sunday mornings; otherwise it's nearly impossible.

So with some time on my side, I made a cake. Chopped, stirred, and tasted a luscious, fall-esque apple cake. Again (I made it a few weeks ago).

We have plenty of apples after we went to Eckert's apple orchard in Belleville for apple-picking a week ago on an unseasonably warm fall day. Jake and Rebecca strolled through the orchard together. She screamed most of the time due to the heat and most likely being overtired (see above), but I suppose it didn't matter. I remember last fall when just Jake and I drove out to Illinois to pick apples three days after I took a pregnancy test. We felt so giddy and kept hugging. Jake had eaten his first apple (really), and I made a cake afterward too.

Cheers to fall, and to making traditions. It's finally starting to feel less like summer.

Apple Cake

baked potato - yum

beautiful apple cake

After Jake came home today, he went in the nursery to put down the baby (which often takes more than an hour) and then I couldn't decide what to do with myself: Should I go for a jog? Give myself a manicure? Run an errand? Work on my dissertation? No, no, no. So I baked a potato for lunch and made Smitten Kitchen's lovely apple cake.

My dad had brought us some Fuji apples -- a ton of them, so I wanted to use some up in a recipe. Apple cake always reminds me of my grandma, a wonderful baker, the kind of woman who didn't need recipes in the kitchen. I miss her.

Not Cooking...

I am sitting at a coffee shop not far from home while our wonderful nanny is with my baby. I've spent about 90 minutes on work, so now I thought I'd stop by this site before heading home.

How I miss blogging! And cooking! Yet...I don't have it in me at the end of the day. Perhaps in another month, when Becca can sit in a Bumbo in the kitchen and watch me chop vegetables or saute something.

It's beautiful in St. Louis today. Because I'm currently teaching an undergraduate course on women and happiness, I've been thinking more about my own happiness lately. I've found that the things that made me happy when I was a kid (art, pie, friends) still make me happy, in addition to the wonder/awe I feel around Rebecca every single day.

And here is the food that I haven't cooked that makes me happy lately:

-Neopolitan ice cream
- Decaf coffee
-Nectarines (how I would like to DO THIS with fruit)
- Steamed broccoli (we've had this the past two nights - sprinkled with salt and pepper...so easy)
-My mother's amazing chili (I'll get a recipe)

That's all folks. Just wanted to say hi.

Honey cake

Well, our baby is 11 weeks today and she is a real joy to hang out with during her (many) waking hours. She coos and smiles and "talks" to us, kicks her little legs, gets mad during "tummy time," and likes to accompany us on long walks through the neighborhood. Her eyes are wide as I babble on and on to her about the squirrels, motorcycles, construction workers, birds and flowers we walk by. I so love the many faces she makes, her wide grins, and the time we spend together. Even the shortest bouts of time we spend apart are difficult, I must admit.

In other news, the school year has started and I am teaching once again, and continuing wor on a third dissertation chapter. Work takes extraordinary effort these days, but I am also glad to have it.

The weather is beautiful here -- this kind of weather always transports me back to my college days (so long ago!). I so remember the lovely summer-to-fall transition at Mizzou, the changing leaves on East campus, and the long walks and runs I used to take.

These days I take much shorter walks and runs -- but at least I am back in motion. I'm jogging a few miles a week again, and it's wonderful. I am not as fast or strong as I once was, but it's always this way after not having run for a while. I've been running since I was 16, and I feel like, well, like myself when I jog.

Yesterday Jake played with the baby (and sang her old cowboy songs) while I jogged, took a bath, made a honey cake, and read a magazine (Vogue).

Here is the honeycake recipe, a repeat but a worthy repeat. Happy New Year to all my Jewish friends and family!

Life with Baby (I'm not Cookin' These Days)

Meet Rebecca.

She is a joy to know. I've spent the last six weeks getting to know her, and she is a sweet, angelic, smiley, fiery, engaged little person. She has my mouth, Jake's hair, and a personality all her own. We love her so much.

Needless to say, I'm not cooking much these days. Let's see...I made egg salad once. I toast bagels. I pour milk. And that's really about it.

Perhaps in the fall I will come back to the kitchen and play with ingredients again. Perhaps this blog with morph into my musings about babydom. We'll see...

It worked!

We welcomed our daughter, Rebecca, into the world on June 20th at 2:44 a.m. She is absolutely the most amazing thing that's ever happened to us.

Eggplant Parmigiana

Eggplant sauted in olive oil.

A marinara sauce with LOTS of herbs.
Layer upon layer: sauce/eggplant/cheese, repeat!

Baked Eggplant Parmigiana.

I had very little planned today, mostly because I thought today would be a perfectly lovely day to have a baby. But no baby yet. So instead I thought I'd make something lavish that is rumored to induce labor.

So after my morning 2 mile walk, I ran over to the grocery store and LOADED up a basket with tons of goodies: eggplant, bread crumbs, cheeses, spices, tomatoes, and pineapple and nectarines for dessert. As I lugged the basket to the counter, I sighed heavily. The teenager checking me out raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking pretty worried. She grabbed a cart for me to roll out to the car in our 95 degree heat, and I'm glad she did.

I spent the last two hours in the kitchen, chopping, sauteing, and stirring -- which I haven't done in a while, and it's been lovely. Will the famous eggplant parmigiana send me into labor in my 40th week here? Hard to predict. But we will enjoy it nevertheless:) Happy Friday!

Rice and Vegetable Medley

I like to eat dinner early on Sundays, so we usually do. As my due date approaches, I haven't felt like cooking quite as often so we've been dining on Thai takeout again, our old staple. But tonight I whipped up an easy rice mix and added the following:

2 diced tomatoes
1 diced red pepper
2 chopped carrots
1/2 diced yellow onion
2 T garlic
2 leaves of basil (torn) (I heard this herb could help bring on labor - cheers to that tip...)
1/2 t oregano
1 potato (sliced and boiled)
a handful of dried cranberries
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan and Gruyere cheese (skip the cheese to make this a completely vegan dish)
pepper to taste

I sauted the garlic and onion in extra virgin olive oil, added the red pepper, carrot, cranberries, boiled potato and spices, and then added that entire mixture to the rice and tomatoes. I added the cheese and pepper at the end. Then we ate;) Early. Sunday-style.

Voila: The concoction was festive with its reds, oranges, and flecks of green.

Blueberry Muffins

While it rained and thundered outside today, I baked these muffins. The recipe made 16 muffins (not 12). I'm planning to freeze them so that we can slowly eat them for breakfast this summer. I love the lemony topping - yum;)

Strawberry Festival

We went to the Strawberry Festival in Kimmswick, MO today - a short little day trip. Part of me hoped that walking around outside would bring on labor (but no).

Jake and I kept laughing that the town had an inferiority complex about this festival being the second biggest festival in town, second to the apple butter festival in October. It's one of the first things mentioned on the festival website. And sure enough, we get there and the first person we talk to tells us, "This isn't Kimmswick's biggest festival, you know." Yeah, we know.

Here are a few more pics from the day:

garden kitsch

My strawberry salad at Mary's Sweet Shoppe.

barbershop quartet sings "Barbara Ann"

Of course, my favorite reporter dropped his ice cream;)

Amazing Peanut Butter Cookies

So yes, Smitten Kitchen's recipe for peanut butter cookies is possibly the best cookie recipe ever. The cookie is cake-like, the peanut and chocolate butter chips melty, and the fairy-like sugary dusting...perfecta.

Voila:

Angel Hair Pasta

Sautéd onion and garlic/pot of tomato sauce on the stove.

The raw materials: shredded Parmesan and garlic from a can (usually I buy the bulbs).

Pasta!

Happy June! Woo hoo, so glad it's finally June, and I hope you had a lovely and long Memorial Day weekend. I spent mine trying to stay cool indoors most of the time, watching movies, and reading about the sad life of Sylvia Plath. I really must find more upbeat reading material. We also went here and made a picnic out of falafel, pita and hummus.

So Jake and I made this easy pasta dish (yes, again) last night. I bought some angel hair pasta at Whole Foods yesterday and then added a fairly light sauce made from one can of Whole Foods organic tomato sauce, 1/4 sautéd yellow onion and 2 T minced garlic, and shredded Parmesan cheese. I liked that the sauce was low in sugar and sodium, which is rare for tomato sauce.

Today I'm meeting my dad at the boathouse for dinner, where I'll likely eat their veggie burger - it's delicious. I've also recently been scouring Smitten Kitchen's famous blog for dessert recipes, so perhaps I'll make something totally decadent soon.

In other news, I'm tightening up a couple articles and editing chapter 2 of my dissertation, cleaning, buying last-minute items for the baby, and waiting! (and waiting. and waiting. and waiting). It feels like it will happen in the next two weeks, though I'm no psychic. So ex*cit*ing!

Breakfast Smoothie

Blend the following:

1 peach
1/2 banana
1 low fat Stonyfield plain yogurt
1/2 c soymilk
2 T wheat germ
ice cubes

YUM!

Freezing a Large Batch of Chili

I know, I know, do I make anything other than chili? Not much. But I really think it's the perfect food with a good slice of bread. So today I decided to make a pretty big batch and freeze it so that Jake and I and perhaps my mom can eat it in the first week or so after the baby is here. Jake keeps asking, "Are we really people who cook and freeze things?" Yes, my dear, we really are. Whatever that means. To me, it means we are planners.

So after googling the heck out of this, the Internet's verdict is to cook the chili, put it in small containers and let them cool to room temperature, and then freeze for "ages," which seems prettty open to interpretation, no?

(Vegan) Chili:

2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T garlic (I heart garlic)
3/4 of a yellow onion, diced
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 large carrots, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes with onions (chili style)
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
Half-pound of Morningstar tofu (acts like ground beef)
as much oregano and chili powder as you desire

Saute your garlic and onion in olive oil for about 5-7 minutes on medium heat, then add your peppers. Rock out to Rilo Kiley or whatever you like, then add the carrots, then tomatoes, then beans and tofu. Taste test your chili as you add your spices -- just like Anne Burrell says (orders).

Potato, Bean and Cheese Torta

uncooked:

cooked!

School is now out for summer, and Jake and I are finishing birth classes, adjusting our birth plan, baby proofing our home and finally...waiting. The due date is one month from today! My mother thinks I will deliver early; I get no sort of hunch about this... At this point, I certainly feel like I've seen many movies about birth, attended enough classes, and read quite a bit -- but who is ever really ready/prepared for such a major event? Well, we are certainly trying to be.

Otherwise I've been trying to transform a chapter into an article, see friends a bit more, and take regular walks even though my current pace is a 30 minute mile, my all time low. Jake has been sweet about walking at my snail-like pace, and I hope to go to the Botanical Garden next weekend with him. He has never been there except to attend a wedding (and he calls himself a St. Louisan!)

Tomorrow we see our brunch group, and I'm craving protein right now, so I made this yummy torta again. I made this dish a few months ago, but I tweaked it since then so it would be tastier (no more olives/a bit more cheese & tomatoes). Here is the recipe:

Torta:
1 cup diced cooked potatoes
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 T olive oil
3/4 cup diced tomato
1 can low sodium black beans

8 eggs

1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
2/3 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1/3 cup shredded aged cheddar cheese

First boil your potatoes and then add then to a frying pan with a little olive oil, your red pepper, and garlic. Saute this mixture for about 5-8 minutes, then take off the burner. Add your tomato and beans and stir. In a bowl mix the eggs spices, and cheese. Grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and put the potato-bean layer on first, then put the egg mixture on top. Bake for 30 minutes at 400. Delicious.

If I had an onion, I would have added it, too. To my lovely vegan friends, you might also substitute vegan cheese and use tofu instead of eggs to make this a vegan dish.