Rub-a-dub… RIBS!

Posted on June 13, 2013 by mdespard001

OK, so I don’t know about your husband, but there’s something about Father’s Day that brings out Mike’s inner cave man. And when I say “inner cave man” I am referring to the innate, undeniable desire for a big ‘ol piece of meat on his plate for dinner.

We eat meat. I like it too. I’m just sayin’ that it seems like guys like it a whole lot more than we do.

Funny enough, although I’m not a big meat eater, when I do eat meat, I really prefer it on the bone. Cooking meat on the bone always yields more flavor; any foodie can tell you that. But I like the bone there too. Can’t really explain it but there you go.

Over the past few months I’ve been checking out some fun Southern Foodie blogs and playing around with different rub situations. There are many ways to make tasty meat rubs that include everything from coffee grounds and dry mustard, to celery salt and paprika. ‘Round here we have agreed that the one I’m posting today is a real winner in the taste department, and I love it because all the ingredients are likely in everyone’s cupboard already (or, if not, they’re not so exotic that they’ll go untouched after you whip up these babies.)

As a Midwestern transplant to the west coast, I will admit to having a very limited rib background. My journey thus far have taught me a few things: First off, the key to yum-ola ribs is definitely slow cooking them on a low heat. Smoking them over hickory and coals would likely be ideal, but I hardly have the time–or, let’s face it, the inclination–for that kind of rib action. My oven does the trick just fine. Secondly, rubs ROCK. I really love the voodoo they do to ribs and other meats too. You can use today’s recipe on chicken, a pork roast, etc…

So as we are not even close to getting into a summer groove yet, allow me to get right to the point and back to a bunch of tasks that, for whatever reason, have yet to be completed in my home.

Michelle’s Caveman Ribs (These are super easy to prepare, but they do need 3 1/2 hours to cook.)

Ingredients: (which, by the way, I do not actually measure. Big shocker, I know.) your basic rack of pork ribs–3 or so pounds, 1/2 cup loosely packed cup of brown sugar, 1 tbsp. chili powder, 1 tbsp. oregano, 1 tbsp. garlic powder, 1-2 tsp. cayenne, few healthy shakes of salt and black pepper.

Directions: grab yerself a cookie sheet. Place a piece of aluminum foil on it. Pat rack of ribs quick-dry with a paper towel. Spread/pat rub on both sides of the ribs and place them on the foil. Sprinkle any last rub on top with the “u” shape up so that all that yummy stuff can rest there and turn into a de-lish glaze when all is said and done. Should look something like this:

Wrap the foil around the ribs and cook all cozied up like that at 250 for 2 hours. Then open foil up and cook like that for another hour and a half. When they’re done they will look something like this:

And they will taste like heaven. At least I hope they have these in heaven…

I recently served my ribs up with some cole slaw, as pictured above (see my recipe under salads) which was pretty much the tastiest dang combination we’ve had in a while. Cave man happy = good Father’s Day.

Play around with your rub. It’s cool and very “in” right now! Try things like onion salt, cumin, celery salt, paprika, chipotle powder… Hope you enjoy!

Beauty and the Beasties… Michelle’s Fruit Crisp!

Posted on June 10, 2013 by mdespard001

(keep reading for a great summer fruit dessert recipe below!)

Beautiful. And funny looking–just like nature intended. Perfectly ripe white nectarines make my mouth and heart smile.

All the stone fruits are in coming into season at my local farmer’s market. White nectarines are my personal fave right now. They taste milder than yellow nectarines, but–and at the risk of sounding like a cheesy poet–I appreciate their more delicate and subtle taste. There. I said it.

Not everyone has the time or inclination to hit a farmer’s market on a weekly basis, but if you enjoy good fruit, I highly recommend hitting one at least once this summer. In Southern California, in the summer, you will not be disappointed with this experience. (If you are please let me know and so that I may rethink my entire existence.)

Prices for stone fruits right now range from 2.00-2.50/lb. which is not much different from the regular market. You can also find the “seconds” bins where the less attractive fruits find a place to rest before being snatched up for, often, 80 cents a pound!

80 cents a pound right now bought me a whole slew of some “beasties,” aka: not so purty apricots. No problemo. Josie and I made our absolute favorite summer dessert, which we have aptly titled cheap fruit crisp.

Cheap Fruit Crisp (as the name implies, this can be made with a variety of stone fruits. This time was apricots.)

Ingredients: 3 cups apricots, diced, 1/4 cup cup flour, 2-3 tbsp. sugar, few healthy shakes cinnamon, 1 cup raw oats, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, few pads of butter

Directions: toss the fruit with flour, cinnamon and sugar. Spread in a baking dish like this:

Sprinkle oats, then brown sugar on top. Add a few pads of butter like this:

Bake at 350 for 30 or so minutes, or until fruit is cooked to your liking. When it’s done it should look divine (like this:)

Tips: We love our cheap-fruit crisp served fresh and warm with a scoop of ice-cream on top. Not only did this whole entire delicious concoction cost me, like, less than 4 bucks to make (no joke)… it’s also much healthier than a pie or cobbler which contains all that yummy–and fattening–crust. Took about 10 minutes to whip it up and clean up too. Great with apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines… buy the cheap ones with bad spots. Why not?

If you’re trying to make use of bland fruit, add a splash of lemon juice to the first step.

Final tip: Near the end of the summer, I like to make one of these and put it way back in my extra freezer. Then, when fall is in full swing and we begin to miss our sweet stone fruits, I toss the crisp in the oven and wah-lah! A summer memory ready to gobble up!

Josie helped me record the recipe… Of course I generally eye-ball everything, but for the purposes of spreadin’ the love, we thought we’d better write it down.

My Friend, Bruschetta

Posted on June 6, 2013 by mdespard001

OK, so I’m just gonna come out and say it: Bruschetta is the best salad in the world. Yup. WORLD.

Don’t get me wrong, I need variety in my diet and absolutely adore other salads (cole slaw, for example) but, honestly, if I had to eat one salad for the rest of my life, (a strange scenario, but just go with it) I would–hands down–choose bruschetta.

I love the simplicity of this dish. 6 little ingredients that come together in the easiest way to create a sensory experience that appeals to the eyes, nose and mouth. I can seriously smell the basil and garlic in that photo above. And the ripeness of the tomatoes coupled with the malty vibrancy of the balsamic vinegar… oh my…

On a hot summer’s night when the thought of turning on the oven or standing over the grill makes me wilt, sometimes I make just this for dinner. With fresh fruit for dessert and (who are we kidding?) a nice glass of wine… well, that’s kind of a complete meal, right? At our house: yes.

Michelle’s Bruschetta (pronounced “Broo-skeh-tah”)

Ingredients (quantities are approximate–I eyeball it every time): 5-6 good sized ripe tomatoes, handful of fresh basil, 1 large clove garlic, 1 rounded tsp. salt, 3 tbsp. decent balsamic vinegar (I like Costco’s Kirkland brand, actually), 3 tbsp. olive oil.

Directions: dice tomatoes, chop basil (stems can go in too as long as they’re not too “stalky,”) press garlic and throw everything together in a bowl. Mix and let sit for a few hours if possible. That’s it, baby!

Serve on sliced pieces of french baguette. If you’re feeling super fancy, you can broil the pieces of bread with a drizzle of olive oil for a couple of minutes each side so they get toasty and won’t get soggy with the bruschetta on top. If you’re not fancy today (and it’s OK, I won’t judge you); slice the bread and there you go.

Tips: Tomatoes need to be ripe and pretty much any kind will do. Basil can be droopy or even at that “just before it goes off” stage and still work just fine. Even if you’re a garlic lover like me, use only one clove per 6 tomatoes as I suggest above. The vinegar and tomato juice will amplify the garlic as it sits.

I make this salad a lot, take it to various summer potluck gatherings and it has never-ever-ever failed to impress. Hope you enjoy it!

Final Countdown

Posted on June 3, 2013 by mdespard001

Wow. If Jen Hatmaker is hangin’ on by a thread, then I’m clinging to a thread’s molecule right now. I. AM. COOKED. I. AM. FRIED. You can put a fork in me, cuz I is dun.

It is Monday afternoon and I’m finally posting my Monday thoughts for the week that I have religiously gotten to every Monday before 9:00 am (OK, 10:00) for the past six months–even when I was on my imagined deathbed back in March. But sometimes, when you are the mother of three kids under the age of nine, there are factors which lie out of your type-A personality control. I am OK with this. Mostly.

Hopefully I can get this done before 9:00 pm. People, this is just where I’m at today.

Three days. Three more days till the end of the school year. In that time I will have the pleasure–and when I look back on this it will be a pleasure–to attend a kindergarten performance and potluck breakfast, a third grade potluck park-picnic/performance and and second grade–say it with me: potluck party. Oh, and I am in charge of the birthday treats for the June babies (Rhea is turning nine this month) at said third grade picnic. Sometimes I think about being bored and how nice that might be. Do you?

I’m making a delicious egg dish for Grayson’s breakfast, which I will post later this week. I haven’t a clue what I’m making for Josie’s party, but I don’t have to worry about that for another 24 hours, so it’s not even crackin’ the top 10 on my to-do list yet. For the third grade birthday celebration I’m going all out. Well, “all out” for how motivated I’m feeling right now at least.

I’m too cheap to buy store-bought-mountain-high-frosting cupcakes for 27 dollars, so I’m making my famous brownies. They are so famous they even have a special name. It’s called: Ghiradelli! 🙂

The box is featured next a pile of notebooks, folders and other random academic support materials that keep coming home, day after day, by the backpack full. There is no counter space left to get a clear shot without them and I can’t find a shovel big enough to sift through it all at the moment. Like I said: this is where I’m at today.

Yes-sir-ee bob these delectable delights have all my favorite ingredients; things that make one proud to feed one’s family: You got your thiamon mononitrate (who doesn’t love that?) and your artificial flavor (my mouth is watering already!) And my personal favorite: “canola or soybean oil.” OR!!?? What the heck?

Yes, well, strugglers shan’t be picky, or something like that. These brownies will be yummy and that is all I care about at the moment. Really. I don’t care about anything else.

I do have a tricky little brownie enhancing secret that I will now share with you: Add a tsp. of vanilla to the mix and then consider tossing in some extra sweet stuff. We made three batches of brownies this afternoon. One with white chocolate chips (pictured above), one with regular chips and one with M&M’s. Practically gourmet by my standards at the moment and certainly snazzy enough to satisfy a pack of hungry and festive third graders tomorrow.

For some reason I have a nagging suspicion that addition to the assorted potluck party endeavors I am facing over the next few days, my family would also like meals at home, some clean clothes to wear, and a moderately clean house.

Some people are so demanding.

Breakfast Introspection

Posted on May 30, 2013 by mdespard001

Before I begin, check out my monthly post on Hometown Pasadena!

Tomorrow my youngest child turns six. Of course he’s all excited about getting older (OK, yes, and getting presents.) For whatever reason, I always get a little teary the day before my children celebrate another year of life. My mind drifts back to what I was doing the day before they were born.

In Grayson’s case, with a scheduled C-section, six years ago today, I knew it was the last day of my pregnancy. With a one-year-old and two-year-old at home with me (I know, right?), being a 38 year-old pregnant woman with a 10 lb. baby in my belly I was mostly focused on gettin’ that kid out. FAST. I seem to recall a tearful checkup with my OB where I pretty much begged him to move up my delivery date by a week as I just didn’t think I would make it to the finish line. He didn’t. I did.

The aching back, insomnia, swollen feet and baby shoved so far up my rib cage I couldn’t bend forward to even wash the dishes by this point… all those memories have dissipated by now. Mostly now I think back and realize that six years ago today I was pregnant for the last time in my life.

I felt then and still do feel so incredibly lucky to have carried three amazing little people in my belly. From the first to the third I marveled at them from the moment I looked into their brand new eyes. I kept them in the hospital room with me and despite exhaustion and the opportunity to rest before returning home, even with my not-so-little guy I held him and gazed at him constantly. Just couldn’t get over the miracle of the whole thing. Still can’t, really.

Tomorrow I’ll be awakened early–I know it–by an eager kindergartener who can’t wait a moment longer to open his gifts. But today I will sip my coffee for just one extra minute and bask in these quiet memories.

Introspection French Toast

Ingredients: for every 3 eggs, 1/4-1/3 cup butter milk, dash of sugar, dash of vanilla, 1/2 dash almond extract, few shakes cinnamon. Bread of any kind. (I don’t really measure–sorry Teri and Lisa. These measurements should work though!)

Directions: Put bread aside. Mix everything else together. Dip bread into mixture and cook on griddle. Serve with butter and real maple syrup whenever possible.

Tip: I often make this recipe with a dozen eggs and an entire loaf of bread. Freezes great, pop it in the toaster and wah-lah! French toast any time you want. Life contemplation is optional.

Double Header

Posted on May 27, 2013 by mdespard001

So we threw a double-header birthday party last Saturday (Rhea’s favorite part of the cake pictured here.) Two of my three kiddos turn a year older within a week of one another, and this year I decided to combine and conquer. It was a total blast–so much fun, in fact, that I didn’t even think to grab my camera much during the festivities. I was completely immersed in the excitement!

Lucky for me my kiddos have made friends with children of parents I love to hang with, so, I’ll admit it, it was kind of like a big party for me too.

I love to throw parties. LOVE IT. I always wanted a big sunny house so that I could cook up a bunch of food and make pitchers of sangria, and then invite over my family, neighbors and friends to eat, drink and be silly with us.

Entertaining can be expensive though–and I am a thrifty girl by nature. I won’t short change my guests’ party experience and I wouldn’t dream of serving cheap, crummy food (heaven’s no!) For me there’s something about the challenge of working from a budget and making due with clever vs. expensive/easy that gets my party juices flowin’. Even if I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d still do stuff from scratch and play the party-budget game each time. Keeps my on my toes and my children don’t need wedding-reception style parties to celebrate life anyway.

Here are my top 7 tips for throwing BIG, fun, manageable and affordable fiestas:

1. Plan ahead with food prep. Making your own food is key to saving money. I shopped for groceries on Wednesday and started prepping food on Thursday. Working on my menu on Thursday and Friday helped break up my efforts and not make the time investment feel so burdensome.

Prepare as much as possible before the party to insure a more relaxed time for the hosts! Even though we served grilled chicken at Rhea’s party, I baked the chicken on Friday. This way Mike could toss it on the grill for 10 minutes to warm it up. Done!

2. Double up or share resources if possible. By throwing two parties in one day I cleaned my house once, prepared a ton of food once, and cleaned up once. My middle child is already pondering ways to stretch the dollar for her October birthday–and even suggested we team up with another October-baby friend so the families could share some of the costs. “Plus we invite the same kids anyway, mama!” I don’t know if these plans will materialize but that’s my girl!

3. Choose food items wisely. For example, I made a triple batch of my cole slaw. Cabbage is inexpensive, and cole slaw actually tastes better after sitting in the fridge for a couple of days (made mine on Thursday!) Grayson (first party) wanted Dodger Dogs and Rhea (fiesta numero dos) wanted chicken and ribs. Cole slaw goes with both!

Make pitchers of lemonade or punch instead of purchasing expensive juice boxes (saves on trash too.)

4. Bake your own cake. No-brainer from a financial standpoint. I like Trader Joe’s Vanilla with real vanilla bean cake mix. It tastes homemade and if you’re not a baking fan (hi!) you can save the headache and still impress your guests.

5. Instruct kids to write thank-you notes before the party. I got this idea from my sister, Deb, and I absolutely love it. “An attitude of gratitude” is a very important concept at our house. Rather than having my kids write out thank you notes for gifts, they now write out a “thank you for helping me celebrate” note that gets handed out to guests upon departure. Not only is there more motivation to write notes before the party, I like the emphasis on thanking friends for their presence, not just their presents.

Grayson’s (dual immersion kindergarten) notes are in Spanish as that’s the only phonetic system he can use at the moment. Each note says “Thank you for coming to my party!”

6. When appropriate, include kids in financial decision making. Like I said, I stick to my party budget. We usually have pinatas for our birthdays, but I suggested to Rhea and Grayson that since we were doubling up our party fun, we could splurge a little and get a bouncer for the day–but doing so would mean no pinata for either one. I want my kids to feel celebrated, yes, but I think it’s important for them to understand that money doesn’t magically appear in my wallet in copious amounts. We can do a lot of things, but we can’t do everything.

7. If you can swing it, I really must advise you to rent a Gy-normous Tweety Bird Bouncer like this honkin’ thing:

Although we normally don’t go the “bouncer route” for our birthdays, by doubling up Mike and I could justify the cost. And then, for an extra 15 bucks we got this larger, super-ridiculous bounce-house. (I mean, seriously, does it get more ridiculous than this?)

My kids, seen here with a neighbor, were literally speechless when they saw this thing inflate. 12 or so kids could easily jump around inside. Between the two parties, neighbors coming over in between and my extended family wrapping things up at the end, there was someone jumping up and down in this thing for eight hours straight. Toh-tally worth it.

Thank you, everyone, who took time to come bounce-eat-drink with us on Saturday. Rhea and Grayson had a ball (and Josie too!) and so did Mike and I. We feel extremely blessed to have our three amazing kids and so many great friends to party with!

Summer Rice Salad

Posted on May 23, 2013 by mdespard001

I’m renaming this 2002 Better Homes and Gardens recipe. It’s original title is “avocado salad.” My girlfriend, Shandy, brought this to our last PTA meeting of the school year and for me it was love at first bite!

I keep a stock of hearty prepared salads in my fridge at all times right now. Seems like my kids are always hungry and with summer right around the corner, they’ll be able to request food on an even more regular basis, so I figured I’d better get my act together or we’ll just start grabbin’ for the box of crackers…! Plus, I love grabbing a quick bite this way. Filling, nutritious, tasty, quick; summer salads rock.

Shandy’s Summer Rice Salad

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked basmati rice

1 large tomato, chopped

3/4 cup chopped sweet onion

3 tbsp snipped fresh cilantro

3 tbsp lemon juice

2-3 tbsp seeded & finely chopped jalapeno pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2-3 avocado, chopped

2 tbsp lime juice

Directions: Combine cooked rice, tomato, onion, cilantro, lemon juice, jalapeno pepper, olive oil, salt, pepper. Toss avocado with lime juice; stir into rice mixture.

Tips: Although the jalapeno makes the dish, in my humble opinion, I left it out for my kiddos and just tossed it in with Mike and mine. Also, as I made a large batch of this salad, I left the avocado on the side to add in when it was time to eat. Kept things fresher I think. Finally, I used jasmine rice–worked fine–and didn’t measure a darn thing. Seriously. I gave a squeeze of this and poured a few glugs ‘a that. I threw in a ton more tomatoes than called for because how can you have too many?

Life

Posted on May 20, 2013 by mdespard001

So our tomatoes are coming in. Or should I say “OUR TOMATOES ARE COMING IN!!!!!!”? This is very exciting news at our house.

I used to have a bigger garden, but have found over the years that I’m not enjoying it as much as I used to. (Plus I foolishly planted a lemon and lime tree in the middle of the space and they now cast such shade that hardly anything will grow. I know. What a bone-head, right? They were so small when we planted them I just didn’t envision this. What do I know? I’m from Minnesota–we don’t have citrus trees there. I do love the fruit at least!)

I still enjoy growing something though, and so do my kids. So this year we opted for a few potted plants of tomatoes, beans (from Grayson’s kindergarten science class) and a handful of fresh herbs.

I love growing our own food not only because I can control it, but also because I want my kids to have at least some connection with the source of our sustenance. I’m not going to ask everyone to join hands, go vegan, and sing “We are the World,” but it’s hard to argue with the importance of understanding from where our food comes.

I saw a documentary once about how, when asked, many inner city children couldn’t identify vegetables like “tomatoes” and “corn” when shown photos of it growing naturally. They had never seen these things before. That’s frightening.

My point is that to eat well, I believe everyone should have some connection to, you know, “the source.” Good ol’ Mother Nature is a friend to the healthy family.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress of our little patio garden spread. Boy oh boy! It’s spring!

And just in case you’re curious, here’s the lemon tree that gloriously prevents my garden from growing. Makes me want an iced tea!

“Out of this World” Sugar Cookies

Posted on May 16, 2013 by mdespard001

Third grade assignment: Make a visual representation of the solar system. Be creative! (be careful what you ask for…)

Rhea decided that she (and by “she” I mean “we”) should make a sugar cookie solar system. Why waste your time with a plain old shoe box diorama situation when you can make a project the class can eat when you’re done?

You may notice that there are two of each planet (in case of interplanetary disaster) but what you can’t see is how much time this child took to mix/choose/remix/rechoose the exact right colors for each dang piece. We may have a detail-oriented baker in the family, ladies and gentlemen… Or an astronomer, I’m not sure which. Either way she doesn’t get it from me!

We made the solar system a week ahead of time and then froze the cookies to keep them fresh. Besides eating the extra planets, we also made little star cookies for each classmate. No doubt, Rhea’s presentation gained rave reviews from the audience! (and even though I’m poking a little fun, I am very proud of my daughter’s creativity and effort to make a top-notch presentation. She did great!)

My Mom’s Sugar Cookies (which, incidentally, are the best sugar cookies in the world)

Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, 1/ cup sugar, 1 egg, 2-2 1/4 cups flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. vanilla (frosting optional–unless you’re making a solar system or something similar, of course.)

Directions: Roll out and cut with cookie-cutters. Place on cookie sheet at bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes (depends on how think your cookies are though–check’m and see. Should be slightly browned on top, but not too much.)

Tip: If I’m pretending to be Sally-organized-baker (hardly ever, but this is still a good tip) I make the dough in advance and refrigerate for an hour or so. The chilled dough is easier to roll out and cut–especially for little bakers.

Some things I learned while assisting: Although Uranus has rings, Saturn is the only planet whose rings are visible from Earth. Saturn has a moon named “Rea” (and no, that’s not where I got the name.) The red-dot storm on Jupiter is several times larger than planet Earth. Sprinkles on planetary rings are a big hit with 8-9 year-olds…

Mothers love Margaritas!

Posted on May 13, 2013 by mdespard001

I made this grapefruit margarita last night (thanks, Alli, for changing my life with these!) in celebration of being one happy mama. Plus, unlike New England where the temp dipped to below freezing yesterday, here in Pasadena it was nearing 100 degrees. While I’ll admit I prefer the heat, for May 12 that was a bit much!

Besides something wonderful from my appreciative husband, I also received some original art:

And a new book of The Silliest Poems in the World for night-time reading:

My favorite poem is the one about the goat with a coat (he crosses over a moat.)

Despite the ridiculous heat, I treated myself to a good morning walk–and while I was away Mike and the kids vacuumed the house! While my undergrad Women’s Studies classmates may raise an eyebrow, this was actually my favorite gift of the day because it equals T-I-M-E.

Grape fruit Margaritas (Alli’s recipe was a bit more specific, but mine works just fine)

Ingredients: shot of Tequila, dash of triple sec, grapefruit juice, splash of blood orange soda, a lime wedge (I went without last night) and ice.

Directions: Pour in glass, stir and enjoy! (repeat as needed…)