Since I’m all fired up today, might as well state my unwavering opinion on syrup. If it’s not real-live syrup from a maple tree, it’s not worth eating. There, I said it. And I KNOW there are those of you out there who would disagree. We’ll just chalk it up to insanity.

And, yes, I do spend like 10, okay maybe even 15, extra dollars per bottle of syrup. I am unwilling to cut this item from our budget, bad economy or no.

(The syrup pictured is from our friends, the Blackwells, in New Hampshire.  They tap and make maple syrup.  Pretty cool hobby, eh?)

Today I’m all fired up…first off, time to save handmade! There is legislation going into effect on February 10 which could single-handedly kill the handmade toy industry, among other things.  Click here to read more and see what you can do to help the cause.

On to food matters…I meandered on over to Mom-101 last night, only to find myself especially fired up.  Have you heard the latest and greatest on the already-evil high fructose corn syrup?  Not only is it worse for you than plain old sugar and found in pretty much every food at the grocery store, but some of it has mercury.  Really?  Mercury?  Geesh.  Read more here.

Lastly, I just read a NY Times article about salt. Did you know 80% of the sodium in an average American’s diet comes from packaged and mass-produced restaurant food?  That is HIGH.  Only 11% is from salt you add in the kitchen or at the dinner table.  Go noodle on that. (Homemade noodling only, please – for your health’s sake.)

Want to know why I love my rolling pin?

Two reasons:
- I love the handles with ball bearings.  Yes, I know lots of people like french style rolling pins, but I love my rolling handles.

- The finish of the wood is, well, not so finished.  I had two rolling pins at one point. One with a shiny, polished finish.  One with a rougher, non-shiny finish.  I always used the shiny one because I thought it was nicer and seemed more “non-stick.”  One day I gave old scruffy a chance to show his stuff.  Oh my goodness, night and day difference.  I don’t care if you get a rolling pin with our without handles or what shape it is…you HAVE to have one that is NOT shiny and smooth.  Stuff just doesn’t stick to the rougher finish (floured, of course).  Granted, I have not used silicone or marble rolling pins…but my non-shiny, wood rolling pin works AWESOME.

And that is why I love my rolling pin.

Oh…and how cute is that little rolling pin I found for Cate at Target?  It even has the right finish! I can’t wait to make cookies with her again.

Now that I have successfully gotten an annoying song in your head…on to today’s business.  Fresh coconut ice cream!

Last week we finally had a chance to eat at Burma Superstar in San Francisco. (Quick aside, it’s a GREAT restaurant…fantastic food, great service, loved it.) One of their desserts was a deep fried coconut custard served with the most amazing coconut ice cream. Now that I have an ice cream maker, you know I had to figure the recipe out!

Burma Superstar’s ice cream definitely had fresh coconut in it, so I went out and bought my first coconut.  I purchased a sweet young coconut, where the husk is not fully matured.  I thought it might be easier to cut through. Um, it might be easier (I’m not sure, but that’s my guess)…but it still wasn’t easy.  I recommend using a giant serrated knife and exercising PATIENCE.  It was worth the hard work.  The fresh bits of coconut in the ice cream…YUM.

Oh – and if you have any coconut recipes to share, I have a TON of coconut water and leftover coconut sitting in the fridge.  Savory or sweet, if you have any ideas for how to use it up, let me know!

Fresh Coconut Ice Cream
Adapted from Ben & Jerry’s Sweet Cream Base
- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 C sugar
- 2 C heavy cream
- 1 C coconut milk
- 1 – 2 TBSP fresh coconut, cut up into small pieces

Whisk eggs until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. Whisk in sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 min more. Pour in the cream and coconut milk and whisk to blend.  Follow instructions for your ice cream maker (in my 1-1/2 QT Cuisinart, I ran it for 25 minutes). Add the coconut towards the end. Enjoy! Freezes well.

We made it home safely last night.  This little weekend getaway has made me very grateful for the temperate climate in which we live…wow, it’s a lot of work bundling your kids up everywhere you go!  Living in coastal California sure has spoiled us.  But I DO miss beautiful sights like this…

It’s official, I’m in love with Lake Tahoe.

I’ve added my menu to yesterday’s post.  And if you haven’t posted your menu yet, hop to it!

hello from route 80 north of lake tahoe! it is snowing something fierce and we may not get home before march, maybe april. but I haven’t missed a menu post yet and nothin’s gonna stop me (gotta love iPhone)!! but typing on my phone is NOT fun, so I’ll throw my menu up late tonight. so the pressure’s on! post your menus!

and while we are crossing our fingers the snow lets up, it is beautiful. I mean really, really pretty. and a weekend in tahoe is worth it! (and for you worriers out there, we have chains on the tires and traffic is slow…we’ll be safe!)

*UPDATE: We made it home!  Here’s my menu (sorry there are repeats from last week. I didn’t do as much cooking last week due to our last-minute trip to Tahoe):

MONDAY:
- Easy Apricot Chicken (Jen, thanks for reminding me about this old stand-by of mine…and I’m so glad it was hit for you!)
- Rice
- Veggie

TUESDAY:
- Beef Stroganoff with yogurt and dill (recipe in the February Real Simple magazine I want to try…it’s not online yet…if it’s good, I’ll type it up!)

WEDNESDAY:
- Chicken Masala (simmer sauce from Trader Joe’s, with chickpeas added)
- Brown Rice
- Naan bread from TJ’s freezer section (this will be my first time trying it…can’t wait as I’ve heard it’s great!)

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Quesadillas (as per Cate’s request)

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Homemade Mac & Cheese (I’m going to add cauliflower puree)
- Salad
- Crusty bread

I love rainy days, which means I love today. I think I’ll snuggle up with a blanket on the couch, grab a wanting-to-be-read magazine and eat frozen yogurt (yes, I’m obsessed with this stuff).

Just a quick follow-up on last week’s frittata recipe.  Unless you are feeding no fewer than 100 people…you can half the recipe with good result.  I did just that this week and used two 9.5-inch non-stick skillets (one was actually a crepe pan).  It worked like a charm and the pans were just the right size.  And now I swear to stop bringing up frittatas every chance I get.

PS – 10″ skillets seem like more of a standard pan size…if that’s what you’ve got, that will work!

Just before Christmas I had the pleasure of attending a book signing for the new cookbook Taste This by Gina von Esmarch, a fourth generation San Franciscan. It was a lovely evening. Fantastic food (all recipes from the book) and great company.  I’m excited to share Gina and her book with you!

Taste This is a great cookbook.  Easy to read.  Simple but delicious recipes.  I will definitely be using this book…both for entertaining and everyday eating.

My favorites of the evening were the Red Grapes & Red Onions (with Goat Cheese)…and Gina herself!  She is a delight!  I love meeting fellow moms who are doing cool things.

If you’d like to purchase the book, click here!

If you haven’t tried this Spinach & Prosciutto Lasagna recipe yet, you should.  It’s easy and every single member of my family literally gobbled it up. I used to cook a last-minute “lasagna” where you use frozen ravioli as the layers.  It’s a GREAT idea, which is why I’m sharing it with you…but I do love this new recipe.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…so glad I subscribed to Everyday Food!

Warning: The following paragraph may make anyone living on the east coast very jealous and possibly a bit angry at me. Please don’t hate me!  I don’t control the weather!

The weather has been amazing this past week.  Yesterday we went for a nice long walk, which included a stop at a French pastry shop. Between the weather, the food and the good company, it was an ideal way to pass a few hours.

I have a few carry-over items on my menu from last week…one night we ended up going out to dinner unexpectedly.  Another night we were invited to dinner at our friends’ home…by the way, dessert pizza cooked in a brick, wood-burning pizza oven is HEAVEN.

MONDAY:
- Green Noodles
- Salad
- Crusty bread

TUESDAY:
- Frittata
- Fresh fruit

WEDNESDAY:
- Beef Stroganoff with yogurt and dill (recipe in the February Real Simple magazine I want to try…it’s not online yet…if it’s good, I’ll type it up!)

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Baked French Toast

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Easy Apricot Chicken (Jen, thanks for reminding me about this old stand-by of mine…and I’m so glad it was hit for you!)
- Rice
- Veggie

Hopefully Shelly checks in this week…she was going to be cooking SHARK last week. How adventurous! How did it turn out and taste?

To everyone else…as always, so many great menus last week. I’m so HAPPY I have them to browse through each week. Don’t know what I’d do without all of you…so keep it coming!

The cherries were begging to be photographed yesterday.  I gladly obliged.

Don’t you hate it when you can’t get a new jar open and have to beg someone “stronger” to do it for you?

Beg no more!  All you need is a bottle opener.  Put it under the edge of the lid and lift just until the seal “pops.”  Now your lid will twist right off without a hitch.  And, yes, the lid will still screw back on no problem afterward.

And when your Go-To Lid Opener wonders why you haven’t asked for help in a while, just tell them you’ve been working out.

(PS: Doesn’t my little Cate make a great hand model?  Look out, J.P. Prewitt!)

I made my first frittata, and it came out, and it was tasty, and I’m gonna do it again. In fact, I put omelets on the menu this week…but I forgot about my newfound mad frittata skills, so I’ll be switching that up.  The great thing about frittata is all the servings are done at once, as opposed to cooking individual omelets.  Great if you’re serving a group of people!

I used a recipe from the Williams-Sonoma catalog, actually.  It was great.  I did not use their $135 frittata pan, however.  I have two 12-inch, non-stick skillets, so I just stacked those.  Yes, I had to be careful when flipping, but it totally worked.

Here’s the recipe!

Tre Formaggi Frittata with Sausage
From Williams-Sonoma
- 10 eggs
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 C Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 3 oz. Asiago cheese, cut into 1/2″ dice
- 3 oz. Provolone cheese, cut into 1/2″ dice
JANE NOTE: I just used some shredded colby jack cheese I had in the fridge. So, I guess my frittata was not TRE formaggi, but it tasted good just the same
- 1 tsp. olive oil, plus more for brushing
- 2 Creminelli sausages
JANE NOTE: Yeah, Creminelli sausages are some expensive sausage you can order through WS. I just used regular old breakfast sausage and it was great.
- 1 C thinly sliced green onions, white and green portion (I did not do 1 full cup)
- 1/4 C finely diced roasted red bell pepper
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (or sprinkle some dried thyme)

Lightly whisk eggs; whisk in pepper and cheeses. Set aside. In deep half of frittata pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tsp oil. Add sausages – cook until browned, ~ 5 mins. Transfer to small bowl; discard all but 1 tsp fat in pan.

Reduce heat to medium. Add green onions and bell pepper. Cook 2 minutes. Stire in garlic and thyme – cook 30 sec. Add sausages and egg mixture – cook, using rubber spatula to lift cooked edges and allow uncooked eggs to flow underneath, about 2 minutes. Continue to cook until eggs begin to set, about 4 minutes more.

Set shallow half of frittata pan over medium-low eat; brush lightly with oil. Place shallow pan upside down on top of deep pan. Flip frittata into shallow pan. cook, covered, until eggs are set, about 6 minutes. Shake pan to loosen frittata and slide onto serving plate (we ate it straight out of the pan). Serves 8-10.

Follow-up note, 1/23/09: I have since tried halving this recipe and it worked great.  Just use two 9-10″ skillets instead of 12″.  Works like a charm!

I made Creamy Cauliflower Soup this week (from the January issue of Sunset magazine).  It was great!  Baby Anna couldn’t get enough.  I followed the recipe, except I only used 1 onion (a little less than that, in fact) and black pepper (instead of white).  Sorry, no good picture of the final product.  But it was tasty, yum, delicious. A very nice winter dinner.

Here’s this week’s menu…

MONDAY:
- Chicken tenders from the freezer…tomorrow’s gonna be crazy, with no time for grocery shopping

TUESDAY:
- Orange Chicken
- Rice
- Veggie or salad

WEDNESDAY:
- Omelets

THURSDAY:
- Spinach & Prosciutto Lasagna (click through for a great recipe!)

FRIDAY:
- Eat out

SATURDAY:
- Leftovers

SUNDAY:
- Green Noodles
- Salad
- Crusty bread

Your turn – show me whatcha got! By the way, THANK YOU ALL for the menus and comments last week.  Loved having everyone back from vacation with so many ideas.  Keep it coming!

For those of you who just can’t get enough of me…oh? No one out there fitting that description? Well, you can follow me on Twitter anyway!

Don’t know what Twitter is? I’m not sure I really know myself. But I do know it’s fun! Check it out. And you can click here to see my Twitter feed, or tweets, or whatever it’s called!

For those of you who have made New Year’s resolutions to eat healthier…my apologies!  I can’t believe how many of my recent posts are centered around dessert.  It’s getting a bit ridiculous. So, today some “lite” reading for those of you on a diet!

First off, Mark Bittman has a great article in the New York Time this week, “Fresh Start for a New Year? Let’s Begin in the Kitchen.” It’s great. Go read it.

Santa brought this sweet little book to Cate this year.

The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell is my current favorite children’s book…and it’s perfect for adults as well.  It’s simple, funny, with such a sweet message.  Everyone go buy it now. One for yourself and one for your best friend!

I have another book that I can’t WAIT to share with you…but wait I must as I’ve lent it to a friend and can’t take a picture.  Stay tuned!

Have you had the latest in frozen yogurt?  I must admit, I’m a bit obsessed.  It’s healthier, with live cultures still intact.  The taste is tart, not as sweet, and just plain delicious.  I first had the opportunity to indulge at Fraiche, a yogurt cafe in Palo Alto, CA.  Red Mango, a Korean-based chain currently in 10 states, is right down the road and just as delish.  (There is an ongoing, very heated & emotional debate among my friends over which is better…it may come to blows.)

As I mentioned, I’m obsessed.  For Christmas I got an ice cream maker, which I am LOVING by the way.  Anyway, I think I have it down!  I’ll probably make frozen yogurt so much now that I’ll get sick of it…but I honestly can’t imagine that happening.

Here are my recipes!  I have one more experiment to run, but I feel comfortable sharing this as is.  It’s awesome. (Quick note: I used lowfat yogurt and whole milk in these recipes, unless otherwise indicated.)

If you like FRAICHE:
- 2 C plain yogurt
- 1/4 C sugar
- 1/2 C milk
- Mix ingredients together, follow directions for your ice cream maker (Cuisinart – 25 minutes)

If you like RED MANGO: (um, I must admit, this is my preference)
- 2 C plain yogurt (greek style yielded the best results)
- 1/2 C sugar (a little less than 1/2 cup, actually)
- 1/2 C milk
- between 1/8 – 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- Mix ingredients together, follow directions for your ice cream maker (Cuisinart – 25 minutes)

For both recipes, eat as is or top with your favorite fruit…or mini chocolate chips if you feel so inclined!

(PS – In my quest to recreate Red Mango, I discovered xanthan gum, which works as an emulsifier. It keeps ice crystals from forming, so you get a creamier texture. Xanthan gum is what made the difference between similarities to Fraiche versus Red Mango. You can find it at Whole Foods and other such stores.  It is also used frequently in gluten-free cooking, if you were wondering.)

I’m sure you’re all dying to know how Cate’s strawberry birthday cake came out after my lamentations on Anna’s birthday.  Success!  Granted, I cheated and just did a layer cake.  But I’ve screwed those up before too, so I was quite pleased when this one actually came out.  Yippee!

So, what did I do?  It’s been a few weeks so let’s see if I can remember.

• Used cake strips when baking.
• Froze the cake before icing.
• Iced the sides first…focusing on the gap between the cakes first, then working up and down from there.

• For both the sides and the top I did a thin layer first and didn’t worry about crumbs, then did another layer on top that actually looked nice.
• I don’t have a cool frosting-spreader-spatula-thingy, so I used a regular old butter knife and used the edge of a cereal bowl to scrape off excess and/or gunky frosting as I went along.

I’m a painter, not a sculptor…so doing a layer cake and then writing/drawing on top is more comfortable for me.  However…I will try doing a shaped cake again another year.  Especially after the helpful comments on my last cake post. And, if you want some really great decorating tips, make sure to read Becky’s comment (it’s #13 on my other cake post). She is a Wilton cake decorating instructor and makes cakes for a living…so she had some really fantastic tips.

One more thing…the moms at the party were asking for my recipe. It’s an old family secret that I just can’t share. Yeah right.

• Cake: Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix
• Filling: Jello Vanilla Instant Pudding mix (follow directions on package) with sliced strawberries laid on top of the pudding layer.
• Frosting: 1 C butter, 1 tsp vanilla, 4 1/2 C powdered sugar, 3-4 Tbsp Milk.  Beat butter (at room temp) and vanilla on medium speed for 30 sec. Slowly add half of sugar. Add 2 T of the milk. Beat in remaining sugar and enough milk to desired consistency.

I’m not a huge sports girl…but I have to say, GO UTES! Seriously, how AWESOME that they beat Alabama on Friday!  I know most of the people reading this are women who don’t care…but I was raised a Ute fan and I gotta shout for joy.  (Photo from ESPN.com)

And while we’re at it…Go Chargers!  Way to beat the Colts!  Woo-hoo!  Sorry, Peyton.  I know it’s really sad you don’t get to win another Super Bowl…but now you can focus on what you’re really good at.  You know, funny commercials and hosting SNL.

Menu time! Yes, I pretty much ripped off my menu from last week. Anna’s double ear infections really threw me for a loop.  Yeah, I pretty much didn’t cook one thing on the menu.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to get cooking and eating homemade food!!!

MONDAY:
- Oriental Chicken Salad

TUESDAY:
- Chicken paninis (toppings TBD)

WEDNESDAY:
- Pork chops
- Veggie
- Wild & Long Grain rice

THURSDAY:
- Leftovers

FRIDAY:
- Soup recipe from Sunset magazine…exact recipe yet to be determined – they all look GREAT!

SATURDAY:
- Eat out

SUNDAY:
- Kitchen Sink Quesadillas
- Guacamole & chips

Okay, I really need your menus this week! It’s one of those “I’m not feeling very inspiring, thank goodness other people post menus” weeks!

Oh – one more thing!  Click here and share your New Year’s resolution-making tips! I need help!!!