A Mother's Balancing Act

Monday Morning Coffee

As I sit this morning, making my "to-do" list before dashing off to work, I am ever so thankful that I roasted a turkey breast yesterday, in order to make my gravy in advance of "The Big Feast". And oh my goodness, it is delicious, if I do say so myself...and I do!

Entertaining 21 is not something that I do often. It didn't occur to me until last weekend that my cleaning crew (once again) did not "ping me" to ask when they could reschedule me since my regular day falls on "The Big Day". Last year, when I realized this, I opted out, figuring we were heading out of town to my brother's house. I thought, "Hey, we'll save the hundred bucks, do some cleaning ourselves (ahem...), and no one will be the wiser." Well, this time, I've got a cast of thousands coming to my house. It needs to be cleaned. I was sick a good part of last week (yuck!), and College Girl comes home tomorrow night to boot!

It looks like we'll be pulling together as a family to do an "all-out-effort" to get the house in order. I worked on everything but the floors in the kitchen last night, so it's in pretty good shape at the moment. I reminded Big Strong Man (that's BSM for any of you newcomers...) that I'd need his assistance, and we'll just make it work. That's right...Tim Gunn style. Yeah, I know. It sounds lame, but when you're used to having help, it takes a village to really get the whole house clean at the same time!

Truth be told, I'm just so excited to get my College Girl home tomorrow night, I'll do anything to get the Big Feast on the table on Thursday. Family, friends, feast, faith. It'll all be there. Life is good.

Cheers,

Balanced Babe (Molly Wendland)

Needle In a Haystack...

Just found this post that I never published. I liked it when I wrote it, so I decided to go ahead and send it out into cyberspace - about a year after the fact...

About 6 months ago, my 15 year old offered to "organize" my collection of recipes. If you'd seen them then, you'd know why I was thrilled beyond belief and willing to pay nearly any price for this precious service. We settled on the approximate amount of $100. This is what I've gotten so far...um, yeah...

 

Ain't life with teens grand?

So, recently, when I wanted to prepare my fabulous Pineapple Ketchup to go with the Pork Tenderloin that we were grilling for our family's Sunday dinner for nine, it was with sheer amazement that I retrieved the recipe from the pit on our guest room bed in under a minute. Serve this with grilled pork, beef or chicken. Yum! It's also good alongside marinated red onions. (Marinate for a couple of hours in a ziplock bag: one thinly sliced and quartered red onion, the juice of one lime, 1 T. red wine vinegar, 1 t. sugar, coarsely ground pepper to taste.) This meal pairs nicely with with a glass of pinot grigio, or if you prefer red, you are best to stick with a lighter one, perhaps a pinot noir or petir syrah. I even like a smooth Crianza with this. Enjoy!

Chunky Pineapple Ketchup

• 1 T. vegetable oil
• 1 yellow onion, very thinly sliced
• 1 pineapple, chunked
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 rice wine vinegar or vinegar
• 1 t. rose water (optional)
• 1 pinch ground cloves (important!)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 T. corn starch, mixed with 2 T. water

1. Saute onions 5-7 minutes.
2. Add pineapple. Cook about 3 minutes more.
3. Add remaining ingredients, except corn starch mixture. Cook add'l 5 min or so until mixture begins to thicken.
4. Add corn starch mixture, and boil until mixture thickens substantially.
5. Serve with your favorite grill meat!

Osborne Seven, Red Wine of Spain - Octavin Home Wine Bar

I am enjoying yet another in the Octavin Home Wine Bar series. This one is from Bodegas Osborne, one of the oldest wine producers of Spain, dating back to the 1700's. For this wine, the winemaker Jose Maria Nieto selected seven red wine varietals to create an everyday drinking red, perfect for pairing with pizza, hearty pastas, tapas, soups, and burgers.

This is the perfect wine for a large gathering. It's a step up from what you find in the party section at the liquor store (magnum size), where you might normally see Frontera, Delicato, Yellow Tail, and the like. Plus, it's in the environmentally friendly packaging of the Octavin and will last up to about 5 weeks right on your counter (if you can stretch it out that long!). (For more about the "features" of the Octavin Wine Bar series, refer to this previous post.)

I am taking the rest of mine to an event this week, so it's likely that I won't get to enjoy it much longer, but it really was pretty good while it lasted -- which wasn't long!

Vinter's Tasting Notes:

"The grapes are picked at the coolest part of the day just before dawn, and then harvested and fermented separately to allow each variety's individual character to develop.  We chose to minimize oak treatments to maximize fruit flavors, using micro-oxygenation instead to soften tannins.  We focused our efforts on finding just the right blend of varieties until we came across the perfect mix of berry fruit flavors, soft tannins and nice acidity to make an energetic, approachable and distinctively Spanish wine."

My Tasting Notes:

I mentioned above that this wine would be good with pizza. I enjoyed it with homemade pizza on a recent desperation dinner night. I used a pesto base, roma tomatoes, Italian cheese "blend", extra Parmesan, artichoke hearts, and fresh ribbons of basil. Yum-oh! This blend isn't too oakey, so the lighter pizza goes just great with it. There are hints of cherry, apricot and chocolate on the palate and a very light finish. This wine is nice for drinking on the patio with friends or while reading the paper in the evening -- or the afternoon...ahem.

Appellation:  Spain
Inaugural Release: 10,500 cases
Blend:  25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 18% Syrah, 8% Petit Verdot, 8% Tempranillo, 8% Grenache and 8% Graciano
Alcohol:  13.6%
Retail: $21.99 for 3L Octavin

Disclaimer: I received an Octavin free of charge from Underdog Wine Merchants for sampling. All opinions expressed are my own, and this post was neither reviewed nor approved by Underdog Wine Merchants prior to publishing.

Expanding the Menu

According to Big Strong Man, I have a bad habit. He refers to it as "Expanding the Menu".

It goes something like this. We plan a party. I make up a detailed menu of all of the items that I am planning to serve, and then, at the very last minute…the 11^th hour, if you will…I Expand the Menu.

I panic and worry that we won't have enough food after all (we always have enough food for a cast of Marines…), and I start whipping up an extra batch of guacamole…or artichoke dip…or gooey butter cake. You get the idea.

Well, weekend before last, I did something similar…kinda.

We were preparing to leave for Chicago to take our daughter to college – in 30 minutes.

And at that very moment, I decided to make her some of my famous Pesto Pasta…'cuz' that's her favorite. And I hadn't made any in a while. So, I decided I needed to do it – right then. (Hey, when you have veritable basil bushes like I do, you tend to want to take advantage of them, ya' know?)

Um, yeah…you might say that I'm a little verklempt about sending this child off to school.

So, I put the pot of water on the stove to boil…throw in the kosher salt and some olive oil and put a lid on, so it will boil faster.

Then, I run back to our room to finish getting ready.

I throw two bags of whole wheat spaghetti in with 20 minutes to go before our ETD (Estimated Time of Departure).

Those of you who have traveled with me before know that I tend to run a bit late…ahem.

Big Strong Man sees the steaming pot of water, and steam proceeds to start pouring out of his ears. He is definitely pleased…He quietly reminds me that we are leaving in now…17 minutes.

"I know," I chirp.

A few minutes later, when he sees me preparing to mix up my creamy pesto, I think his head might just spin right off of his neck. "We're leaving in three minutes."

"I know," I stammer. "I'm just trying to do something nice for our daughter. It's her favorite food on the planet." This to justify my completely inane activity at the last minute… ;-)

So, our daughter comes out to the kitchen, pours herself a "go mug" of coffee and sits down at the table. "What smells soooo good?"

"Pesto pasta," I reply, smiling complacently.

"YUMMMM! Oh, that sounds soooo good! Could I have some right now? Please???"

"For breakfast?? At 9 AM?"

"Yes??" she pleads.

"Sure. I don't care," I smile, absolutely thrilled with the early result of my domestic toils. I dish her out a big scoop of the creamy, green, garlicky pasta into a cereal bowl.

"That's plenty!"

She sits down at the breakfast table and starts twisting the strands of noodles around her fork. "Mmm, it's perfect."

"Doesn't need anything?"

"Nope! Why did you make this today?"

"For you and your roommate."

A look of surprise, then, perhaps embarrassment – but finally, pleasure crosses her face.

"We'll put it in a big gallon baggie, and it can go right into your dorm mini fridge. A little touch of home that you can warm up in the micro your first week of school."

Smiles all around.

9:08 AM…ready to walk out the door.

Not bad. Not bad at all…

Balance Babe (Molly Wendland)

Concannon Conservancy - New Releases

I mentioned in my last post that I will occasionally be blogging about new wines that I have tried. Recently, I took a couple of bottles of Concannon (Livermore Vally, CA) to my sister's for a gathering with family. I figure this is a great way to get a good concensus of opinions on a new offering pretty quickly. Most of my family members generally prefer reds over whites, but we are all pretty much wine-o's. That is to say, if red is poured, we drink it, and vice versa. In this case, I had some of each with me, so we were all covered anyway!

Concannon's new Conservancy Petite Syrah (2007) was a big hit. Jammy with hints of oak and light on the tannin. My  
sister, the Chardonnay afficionado, said "no bitter aftertaste". This was high praise, coming from the white wine lover in the crowd! We all agreed that this varietal delivered a very smooth, velvety finish. It was great with the mixed London Broil we had that evening, but it would also fare well with pork or veal, a hearty pasta dish, pizza, eggplant dishes - you get the idea. I would even serve it with barbecued chicken. I think it would pair nicely with a nice cheese board, as well.

As for the Concannon Conservancy Chardonnay (2008), it pleased our palates, too. I would recommend it with chicken, of course, also pizza, pasta dishes, salad (not too sweet),a cheese board again, and any appetizer fare. The Chard was of a lighter variety. Not too oakey, certainly drier than your Sauvignon Blanc but not as complex (or some would say not as harsh...) as many other Chardonnays. We found it to be an excellent choice for warm weather with hints of citrus and honey. It had a creamy quality to it, not often found in a Chardonnay. Crisp and certainly perfect for summer climes but also well suited for pasta with a creamy sauce. Mmm...thinking I might need to run out for a few more bottles of these. At $15 apiece, they are no brainers!

Happy Summer!

Balanced Babe (Molly Wendland)

Easter Sunday, A Little Chardonnay & A Whole Lotta' Ham...

So this year, my sister and her family traveled to Iowa to celebrate the Easter holiday with her husband's side of the family. This left our little family to our own devices for the big day. So, we went to Mass Sunday morning and planned our Easter feast for mid-afternoon. At the last minute, I had learned that my niece had not gone home for the holiday, so she came over to celebrate with us.

Here's where it gets a little silly. The only ham I was able to find was over 10 pounds. I cooked it up, knowing full well that my niece is a vegetarian, so she would not be eating any. There are only four in our family. In an effort to keep the day less hectic (for me, mind you...haha), I assigned each member of my family a task:

Big Strong Man: Grilled Asparagus (and setting the table)

Girl 1: Spinach Salad

Girl 2: Caramel Monkey Bread

Me (Balanced Babe!): Ham, Yummy Homemade glaze, Guacamole/chips for gnoshing on before meal, Sweet Potato Casserole, Fresh Fruit & Whipped Creme for Dessert (cuz frankly, I just didn't have it in me to make a real one, and we had Easter candy, for Pete's sake!)

So, everything comes out of the oven, etc., we've been having a nice time visiting. We sit down to eat, and I notice that not only did my niece forego the 10 plus pound ham, but so did Girl 1! Swell! Three people eating the main course!

Girl 1: Yeah, I don't really like ham so much..."

Result: I have ham coming out of my ears!

It's like the old Monte Python Spam skit...only with regular old ham:

"Ham, ham, ham, ham! Ham, ham, ham, ham!" (in song...)

Ham and eggs.

Ham on rye.

Ham salad.

Ham and beans.

Ham and hash brown casserole.

I dream of ham.

Ah, well. We washed our lovely Easter dinner down with a glass of Monthaven Chardonnay. I'm going to tell you all about this in my next post, but I'll peak your interest with this little tidbit:

The wine comes in an octagonal shaped box! Yes, a box!

Very environmentally correct, I must say. And keeps for up to 6 weeks in the fridge.

OK, that's all for now. My fingers are cramping, and it's time for another slice of ham...

Balanced Babe (Molly Wendland)

Cooking Disasters!

I am fortunate to work with a great group of ladies. We all get along really well, and that makes work less like work, which is awesome. I realize that makes my situation relatively rare, especially where women are concerned, since we all know "we" can sometimes tend to be one catty group of tigresses.

One of the gals who I work with happens to be challenged in the ways of cooking. And when I say challenged, I mean seriously challenged. Like when she went to do some baking a while back and got stumped, she called another friend from work and had the following converstation:

KC: So, I'm doing some baking, and the recipe has me stumped.

DO: (who was on a girls' weekend with other friends...) OK, what's your problem? And by the way, you do realize that I'm with a carful of other women...

KC: (showing no signs of apparent embarrassment...) Yeah, well, so this recipe says to separate the egg, and then it says to take the white and do something with it...So, I know the yolk is the yellow part, but what's the white?

At this point, I should point out that DO has put KC on speaker phone. And yes, they are BFF's. :-)

KC can now hear hooting and howling from the background.

DO: Are you kidding me?

KC: No, I mean, there's the yolk, and then there's that clear looking stuff, so I'm assuming that has to be the white, but it's not white, so why would they call it that?

DO: OMG, you are so literal. What am I going to do with you?

KC: Well, seriously, I don't bake! How am I ever going to learn if there's stuff like this? Why would they call that the white? Is that what it is?

DO: Yes, KC. That's the white.

KC: Oh. OK.

And on she went but not without some more complaining about how that wasn't fair, etc. :-)

So, recently, KC was at a family gathering where a favorite aunt served up a chicken casserole that everyone was raving about. KC decided to ask for the recipe and try her hand at Aunt Virginia's dish at home. She shared the rest of the story while we were all at lunch a couple of weeks ago and had the whole table in stitches. I asked her to "guest blog" it. I give you my dear (and good-natured) friend KC's account of her kitchen encounter (names changed to protect the cooking challenged...)!

At a family reunion this past summer my Aunt made a chicken recipe she called Velveeta Chicken. It tasted good and I am always in the market for new chicken recipes as my husband loves chicken. So one day I am making up the grocery list and I look at the receipe my Aunt had written out for me and it says to put in 3/4 can milk. At the grocery store my husband comes up an aisle and asks me about the canned milk (we split up when we grocery shop; it speeds up the time and our kids like "racing" against Daddy to see who can get more items).

Anyway, back to the milk. He says there are 2 kinds of canned milk, evaporated and condensed sweetened, which one do you want. I don't know, I say. The recipe calls for canned milk. It doesn't say which kind. I tell him I think it is probably the condensed one. I prepare the Velveeta chicken that night for dinner. We sit down to eat and I take a bite. Hmmm this doesn't quite taste like my Aunt's. I take another bite. I say to my husband, I think we chose the wrong can of milk.

My husband gets up and gets the salsa out of the fridge (Salsa is the answer to every food mishap!). I continue to take some bites until I just can't anymore. I tell him that is it...I can't eat it. I look at my children who have chosen to eat their corn first and my oldest, who is 5, asks me, Mommy, do I have to take 2 bites of it? (I make them take 2 bites of all new foods.) I look at him and say no, honey, and pick up his plate and scrape off the food and then I do the same for my other son.

I then tell my husband to throw the rest out.

I then make a mental note that when my mother needs a good laugh I will have to share this story with her!!!

KC, thanks for sharing this great story with us!! Later, KC found out that the recipe called for not "canned milk" at all but 3/4 can of milk. You were supposed to fill the empty cream of chicken soup can with milk. Go figure! Her aunt had dictated the recipe over the phone. Lost in translation!

What cooking mishaps have you had in your kitchen???

Balanced Babe

Mama Mary's Pizza Recipe Contest(s)!

Since I just posted about Mama Mary's Pizza Crusts, I thought I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't do quick follow-up post to let you in on another little secret.

You could be a winner! 

That is, if you create an original recipe, send it in, and they pick you! The prizes are great! Who doesn't like to travel? Who doesn't love a free vacation?

This could be a fun project to do with kids - let them create their own recipes. This contest is somewhat unusual in that there is no age limit, and you can also enter more than once.

Have fun with this. Get creative! Dessert pizzas. Veggie pizzas. Seafood pizzas. The sky's the limit, people. Have at it! And I want to hear about it when you win!

And if you're not into making up your own stuff, there's always the recipes they've included on their site to entice you to at least try something new and different...come on, step out of your comfort zone!

Cooking with Fresh Herbs

At first glance, you might wonder what a chick who blogs about balance and boasts of being a White Trash Mom is doing writing a post about cooking with fresh herbs. Here's the thing.

Whether you grow your own (cheapest option...) or buy them at the store, fresh herbs go a long way to making something incredibly simple seem a lot more gourmet and taste even better! Here's an example.

Garlic Bread. You know the kind of garlic bread you get from the store that already has the stuff smeared on it, and you just throw it in the oven to warm it up?

Problem:

• OK, for one, it's just all right, if you're really honest.
• Second, it's incredibly unhealthy. And by that, I don't just mean it's loaded with fat. Most garlic bread is going to be on the fatty side. The kind already slathered up from the store, though, is loaded with saturated fat (often coconut oil, which is terrible for you) and those evil Trans Fats. It's a veritable heart attack in a bag!

Solution:

• Even if you still take a shortcut and buy the loaf of French or Italian bread at the store, cut it in half (lengthwise) and spread it with olive oil or even your own butter. I guarantee you that you won't use as much as they did at the store.
• Sprinkle it with garlic salt.
• Now for the fun part. Chop up your favorite fresh herb. I'm partial to basil or rosemary myself, but you can also use fresh thyme leaves, cilantro, parsley or chives.

The fresh herbs make all the difference, and you have turned an unhealthy, mediocre (at best) side into a simple but delicious treat! Sprinkling with a little freshly grated parmesan cheese is optional.

Other easy ways to use your fresh herbs are in salads, atop your favorite soup out of the can, as a topping on homemade (or even frozen) pizza, in scrambled eggs or omelets, and in wraps. The options are endless. Fresh herbs make easy dishes pop!

Balanced Babe

Pizza in a Flash!

Have you tried these fabulous pizza crusts? I've tried a slew of different store-bought crusts over the years, and these are the best ever, in my ever-so-humble opinion! Now, all of you fussy moms who prefer to proof the yeast, wait for the dough to rise, and perhaps even mill your own flour (as if...) might not like them as much as my family and I do, but then again, if you do that, you probably wouldn’t have time to be reading this post, either!

The product is from Mama Mary’s, and it comes in both regular-sized round crusts (package of two for about $2.85) and individual crusts (package of 3 for roughly the same cost). I have used these on both a pizza "stone" in my oven, as well as on a regular metal pizza pan. You can also bake the pizzas direcly on your oven rack. All options work great. Look for the crusts in the refrigerated dough section of your grocery store. These come mostly baked and already formed.

Oh! And they also have regular crust or thin crust. My family prefers the thin crust, though when you load it up super heavy (like my nephew did to the one pictured with this post), it tends to get a bit "bogged down"…ah, to be 10 again! I usually top them with spaghetti sauce from the jar and/or prepared pesto for the base. Easy breezy.

I especially love doing the individual size for several reasons:

• It provides portion control (though I tend to eat just half of the individual size with a side salad)
• Everyone gets to choose the toppings that he or she really wants
• They're super "user friendly" for kids to make up themselves

Whether you're a working mom or a SAHM mom, these crusts will save you time and time again. Plus, if your kids are older, this is a great option for Yo-Yo Night! As my friend Carrie says (complete with her southern drawl, of course...), "Yo Ahwn Yo Own!" That's the night where everyone is "on their own" to fix dinner. Abbreviated, this becomes Yo-Yo Night!

I love it!

Balanced Babe