Category Archives: Eating

Chomp it up.

How Rockford and Robert Downey Jr. turned my frown upside-down

05/06/2013 Nichole 3 Comments

Rockford was busy busy busy all last week. I do logically understand that it’s hard to be present-in-a-meaningful-way when you leave for work at 6:45am and don’t get home until 10pm. But I was feeling unappreciated and lonesome and insert-some-more-first-world-problems-here by Thursday night and so on Friday when the cat ate my pizza and the kids wouldn’t go to sleep and Rockford was out at a concert, the stress boiled over and turned into bitterness and I woke up in a major funk on Saturday morning.

I was still a sad and crabby crab until we left Target on Saturday afternoon and Rockford turned right instead of left and dropped me off in front of the movie theater.

“You need a break,” he said. “Go watch ‘Iron Man.’ Have some popcorn. We’ll pick you up when it’s over.”

So that’s what I did. It turns out that Robert Downey Jr. was just what I needed. (Well, that and an understanding husband. That helped, too.)

Monday: Quesadillas: Yesterday we had Shredded Beef Tacos because it was Cinco de Mayo and I am predictable. Today some of us will be using the leftover beef to make quesadillas, while others will just be using cheese.
Tuesday: Butternut squash ravioli: Last week I gave the kids a little alfredo sauce on the side as a dip, and they devoured it. So we’re having it again this week!
Wednesday: Fish sticks & mac ‘n’ cheese: It’s Poppy’s week to pick the kids’ choice meal. I was pleased that she asked for something to go along with the mac & cheese.
Thursday: Orange chicken: I saw this on Pinterest a few days ago and thought it sounded intriguing.
Friday: Birthday fiesta: Friday is my father-in-law’s birthday! I’m not sure what my mother-in-law will be making, but I’m positive it’ll be good.

baking

For some reason I keep singing “macaron” to the tune of Bush’s hit tune “Glycerine”

05/02/2013 Nichole

In October 2009, the Daring Bakers made French macarons and I made some red beans & rice. I’m not sure what the Daring Bakers were up to today, but the kids and I were making French macarons using Martha Stewart’s Parisian macaron recipe.

I was a little nervous about retroactively taking on this Daring Bakers Challenge because I was under the impression that macarons are a very tricky species. Our finished product isn’t showroom-gorgeous, but I was pleasantly surprised to find they were pretty simple to make. They tasted great, too, despite what I overheard the kids saying after they pilfered a few fresh from the oven:

“Um, these taste kind of weird.”

“Yeah, they don’t taste like anything. They’re not very good.”

“But Mama said she was going to make a chocolate filling for them. Maybe then they’ll be better.”

I filled them with a chocolate ganache, and we are all in agreement that it did indeed make them better. Chocolate ganache’ll do that.

menu plan Monday

Musings on carrot cake and McConaughey’s teeth

04/29/2013 Nichole 7 Comments

We had a completely delightful weekend.

The kids spent Saturday night with Rockford’s parents so Rockford and I could go to dinner and a concert. We tried a new place for dinner, and I had the best carrot cake. The Best. They took a little disk of carrot cake, topped it with a large poof of cream cheese mousse and served it with walnut brittle. It was amazing. The plate also had a small scoop of root beer ice cream and a dusting of carrot and pineapple powder on it. The root beer ice cream was good but didn’t really match with the cake, and the powder was entirely unnecessary. The carrot cake & mousse were incredible, though, so I’m happy to overlook the superfluous additions. I’ve already found a couple of cream cheese mousse recipes to try, and I’m trying to decide what the best way to make carrot cake disks might be.

On Sunday afternoon before the kids came home, we caught a matinee of “Mud.” I liked the movie — Rockford described it as “Southern Gothic in the style of ‘Slingblade’ ” — but Matthew McConaughey’s teeth bothered me the whole time. The actor has super-straight, perfect teeth, but the character has a crooked front tooth. How do they do that? Sometimes the magic of cinema is distracting.

Monday: Breakfast for dinner: Pete wants pancakes again, but I might go with eggs & veggie sausages just to be safe.
Tuesday: Butternut squash ravioli: Poppy loves butternut squash ravioli. It’s one of the few things Pete doesn’t love. I may make some bacon to sprinkle on top of the ravioli just to lure him in.
Wednesday: Grilled cheese sandwiches: They’ll be standard-issue American cheese sandwiches.
Thursday: Cheesy curried chicken: Is this the third week this has been on the menu? I think it is.
Friday: Pizza