I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…I have met some truly amazing people thanks to blogging. Amazing. People. One of those people is food blogger and cookbook author Kathy Strahs. We met many moons ago at a conference and our friendship grew from there. For a short time we even lived in the same neighborhood, which was the BEST THING EVER. Sadly she’s not down the street any more, but I make up for that by pestering her with text messages.

One of the things I love about Kathy so much is her brain. She is a smart cookie, that Kathy. She also happens to be good at making cookies. She’s the whole cookie package (that’s like the highest compliment I can give someone). Anyway, yeah, Kathy’s brain. It does smart and cool and high quality stuff.

So, why am I rambling on and on about Kathy? Because I have some of that awesome Kathy stuff to share with you!

Today Kathy launched a Kickstarter for her next cookbook The 8×8 Cookbook: Square Meals for Weeknight Family Dinners, Desserts and More along with her new publishing company Burnt Cheese Press.

Here’s the deal. You will love this book. You need to buy it. Visit Kathy’s Kickstarter page to see the different pledge levels and secure your first-edition copy today! The pledge rewards are great, including a “How to Make Mac ‘n Cheese” graphic t-shirt designed by Kathy’s adorable daughter Hayley. There is a book trailer on the Kickstarter page as well as more details about the project. Please check it out and spread the word!

To celebrate today’s launch, I am participating in a blog potluck with Kathy and other food friends! I had the chance to make one of her 8×8 recipes – Honey-Glazed Chicken with Root Vegetables. Prep time was less than 25 minutes and dinner was delicious. I even doubled the recipe and used TWO 8×8 pans, because I knew we’d love it so much. I was right, we did!

A potluck wouldn’t be a potluck with just ONE dish! Be sure to check out all the other recipes from The 8×8 Cookbook that are being featured today to celebrate Kathy’s Kickstarter launch!

• Baked Blueberry Oatmeal (Breezy Brunch) ~ Julie from Peanut Butter and Julie
• Blueberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Cream Biscuits (Sweet Treats) ~ Gerry from Foodness Gracious
• Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars (Sweet Treats) ~ Jenny from Picky Palate
• Chocolate Craving Cake (Sweet Treats) ~ Amanda from I Am Baker
• Greek-Style Sausage and Peppers (Weeknights Won) ~ Liren from Kitchen Confidante
• Hot Ham and Cheese Sliders (Weeknights Won) ~ Amy from Very Culinary
• Layered Spinach, Artichoke and Crab Dip (On the Side) ~ Kathy from Panini Happy (and author of The 8×8 Cookbook)
• Pastitsio (The Sunday Dinner Table) ~ Rachel from Rachel Cooks

Without further ado, Honey-Glazed Chicken with Root Vegetables!

Honey-Glazed Chicken with Root Vegetables

 

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Prep time

25 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

By Kathy Strahs, from The 8x8 Cookbook: Square Meals for Weeknight Family Dinners and More--In One Perfect 8x8 Inch Dish (Burnt Cheese Press, 2015), reprinted with permission. As excerpted from the book: "The shiny glazed chicken drumsticks get all the attention in this dish, but the roasted root vegetables relaxing beneath them really deserve some notice. Carrots, turnips, and potatoes are flavorful in their own right, and here, with honey-balsamic glaze traveling down from the chicken, they become truly next level! They go into the oven partially cooked to make sure they’re done right in synch with the chicken."

Author: Kathy Strahs

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 cup roughly chopped carrots (about 2 medium)
• 1 cup roughly chopped turnips (1 to 2 small)
• 1 cup roughly chopped skin-on red potatoes (about ½ pound)
• ½ small red onion, cut into wedges
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon ground thyme
• ¾ teaspoon coarse salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1½ pounds chicken drumsticks

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 400º F.
2. Place the carrots, turnips and potatoes in a microwave-safe bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave on high for 4 minutes (alternatively, you can blanch the vegetables in a large pot of boiling water for 3 minutes). Drain any excess water and transfer the vegetables to an 8x8-inch glass or ceramic baking dish or metal baking pan. Add the onion wedges to the dish or pan.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the honey and balsamic vinegar. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, combine the thyme, salt and pepper. Measure out ¾ teaspoon of the seasoning mixture and sprinkle it all over the vegetables. Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables and toss to combine.
5. Season the chicken with the remaining seasoning mixture–be sure to slide some of the seasonings under the skin as well as on the outside. Arrange the chicken on top of the vegetables. Roast for 20 minutes. Brush the chicken with half of the honey-balsamic mixture and bake for another 15 minutes. Brush the chicken with the remaining honey-balsamic mixture and continue baking until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165ºF and the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes more (tent the chicken with foil if the glaze starts to burn).

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Thank you to Le Creuset for providing the beautiful 8×8 dish!

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I like to make fun birthday cakes for my kids. Before you start feeling guilty for not making fun birthday cakes for your kids, don’t, because I promise there are plenty of other things you do as a parent that I’m failing at. If, however, you are like me and making fun birthday cakes is your thing, I do like to share my cakes with you so you can steal my ideas!

Owen had a pirate themed birthday party this year and he decided he wanted an anchor cake. Nate and I tried to talk him into a pirate flag cake. That would have been SO EASY…just a 9×13 cake with black frosting, topped with a fondant skull and crossbones rolled out and cut into the right shape…if only. But alas, he wouldn’t go for it. Anchors away!

At first I thought an anchor cake would be easy peasy. Shaping the cake was in fact simple, However, frosting the cake was WICKED HARD. So many nooks and crannies around the edge! My frosting skills were no match and this was my worst-frosted cake ever, but it still looked cute enough and 4-year-olds surprisingly don’t notice these things.

Here’s how to make an anchor cake!

• Bake a 9″ x 13″ cake.
• Draw your anchor shape onto the cake oriented vertically by scoring the top of the cake with a sharp knife, then cut the cake into the shape. Make it a nice tall anchor. It’s okay to have the top circle cut off and the side “arrow” thingies cut off because you can…
• …use the large cake scraps to shape pieces to round off the top of the anchor and add to the arrow-shaped sides.
• For the chain, I mixed black food coloring into white fondant to make grey. I rolled out skinny snake shapes and linked them together. The final touch was to lightly brush the chain with metallic edible silver dust from Wilton. That was Anna’s idea and it made the chain look AWESOME. I rolled out a thin white disc for the hole in the top of the anchor where the chain is attached.

Click here for my comprehensive “Amateur’s Guide to Making Super Cute Cakes,” which includes a recipe for chocolate cake and buttercream frosting as well as LOTS of tips for shaping and decorating cakes. And, because I’ve never shared it before, below is the recipe for vanilla cake we use, which was what Owen requested. This recipe comes from my favorite cake book, Cakes for Kids by Matthew Mead. The book is out of print but there are copies on Amazon.

The best part of Owen’s cake had absolutely nothing to do with the cake. The wind blew out his candles while we were singing. Nate quickly relit them all, then the wind blew 3 of the 4 candles out again. Nate went to relight them AGAIN. Instead Owen just rolled with the punches and blew out the one candle. It was super cute, although I suspect that he knew 1 candle was easier to blow out than 4. Crafty guy.

Vanilla Cake

 

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Prep time

40 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour 10 mins

 

This is a great basic vanilla cake recipe from Matthew Mead's "Cakes for Kids" book. I've re-written the directions in my own words.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for pans
• 2½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup butter at room temperature
• 1¾ cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temp
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1¼ cups milk
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh orange or lemon zest (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. This recipe works for 24 cupcakes, 2 8-inch or 9-inch cakes, or 1 9x13 cake. If using cupcake liners, place liners in muffin tin and set aside. If using cake pan(s), lightly grease the bottom of the cake pan, line it with parchment paper, then grease the parchment paper and the sides of the pan. Lightly flour the pan. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the 2½ cups flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Using a stand mixer, beat butter on medium-high speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl.
5. Leaving the mixer on medium speed, add ¼ cup sugar. Beat for 3 minutes. Keep adding sugar ¼ cup at a time, mixing for 3 minutes between each addition until you've added all the sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then beat on medium speed for 2 more minutes.
6. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating at medium speed for 30 seconds between each addition. Beat in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
7. With the mixer on low speed, add ⅓ of the flour mixture, then half of the milk, then ⅓ of the flour mixture, then the rest of the milk, then the rest of the flour mixture, mixing until just combined for each addition. If using zest, add it now.
8. Scrape down the sides of the bowl then give the batter one more mix at high speed for 20 seconds.
9. Spread the batter in the pan, filling cake pans or cupcakes ⅔ full with batter.
10. For 8- or 9-inch cakes, bake for 30-35 minutes. For 9x13 cake, bake for 35-40 minutes. For cupcakes bake for 10-12 minutes. Toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean when done.
11. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Using a knife, cut around the edges of the cake, then invert the pan over the wire rack, lift pan to remove cake and peel off parchment paper. Let cake cool completely on the rack. For cupcakes, let cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing.

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First things first, I’m going to New Orleans this week. If you have knowledge of food that must be eaten there, please tell me in the comments! It’s a girls’ weekend with my mom, sister and sister-in-law and we have three days to eat all of the good food in New Orleans. Help us make that happen!

My menu is filled to the brim with easy meals this week, both for the days when I’m getting ready to leave and for the days when Nate will be home alone with the kids. So basically what I’m saying is this week’s menu is NOT so fancy. But at least it’s still tasty!

MONDAY:
– BLTs
– Fresh fruit and chips

TUESDAY:
– Chicken Fingers and Salad

WEDNESDAY:
– Easiest Ever Chicken Pot Pie

THURSDAY:
– Hot dogs
– Baked beans and fresh fruit

FRIDAY:
– Eat out

SATURDAY:
– English Muffin Pizzas (the kids LOVE making these with Nate when I’m out of town, it’s so cute!)

SUNDAY:
– Turkey Boursin Baguettes
– Fresh fruit and chips

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

Happy Friday! It’s kind of a fun day…it’s my birthday! Which means Nate will be getting me the Viking cake from Extraordinary Desserts. Life is good.

I have SO MUCH TO SHARE TODAY. It’s my birthday so I can do what I want, right? Here we go!

Click on the image above to zoom in.

First, right now the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit is meeting to adopt a new set of sustainable development goals that aim to end extreme poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and combat climate change, all by 2030. It’s a tall order but an achievable goal if we get to work.

So what can we do to support the Global Goals? From now until October 1, everyone from every faith and every walk of life can participate in Prayer for Everyone. The goal is to get people talking about the goals, sharing them with their faith communities and friends. The only way to achieve the global goals is if we all actually know what they are, so let’s get talking, sharing, praying, meditating, all of it! 🙂

When I visited Malawi with ONE, who is helping to support the Prayer for Everyone cause, one of my biggest takeaways is that we need to find a path for development that is not only sustainable but different from the old path. When we visited the Liwonde National Park and saw hundreds upon hundreds of hippos living in pristine waters, my heart ached thinking how quickly development would destroy those waters. While humans can be destructive, they can also be equally as creative and innovative, and I really do believe we can find a way to develop all nations in a way that doesn’t destroy what makes those nations beautiful and unique. Needless to say I am excited about what is happening at the UN this week! Please visit the Prayer for Everyone website and the UN Global Goals website to learn more! Bono also wrote an article for Medium this week talking about the Global Goals that is excellent. Happy Reading!

To finish off today’s Show and Tell, here are a few fun things I want to share!

• I put together a roundup of savory pumpkin recipes this week for Parade’s Community Table, and it is a mighty fine looking list. Definitely check it out!
• My friends Christine Koh and Asha Dornfest, authors of Minimalist Parenting, have started a podcast called Edit Your Life. Asha and Christine are the queens of simplicity and the podcast is great! (And they just might mention a certain food blogger in Episodes 4 and 6!)
• Jenny Lawson’s second book Furiously Happy came out this week! Jenny is The Bloggess and she is hysterical and wonderful and has a way with four letter words that is quite impressive. Anyway, I loooooved her first book and can’t wait to spend the weekend reading book 2!

That’s it! Bet you thought I’d never stop talking, eh? Show and Tell is for the whole class, please share your own stuff, too! 

It’s birthday week around here! Owen and I share the same birthday in September and this coming weekend we will be doing all of the celebrating! Owen has asked for a pirate-themed party and a birthday cake shaped like an anchor. This might be the easiest birthday cake requested of me yet…phew!

MONDAY:
– Honey-Glazed Chicken with Root Vegetables (recipe to come!)

TUESDAY:
– Rachel Sandwiches
– Fresh fruit

WEDNESDAY:
– Butternut Squash Gnocchi (recipe to come on Babble!)

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Eat out for my birthday celebration!

SATURDAY:
– Eat out for Owen’s birthday celebration, after a Pirate Party in the afternoon 🙂

SUNDAY:
– Omelettes
– Fresh fruit

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

Your turn! Please oh pretty please share your menu in the comments! Consider it a birthday present for me! 😉 You guys are the best! Have a great week!

Happy Friday, everyone! I am spending today primping for tonight’s Heifer fundraiser in Beverly Hills. And frantically cleaning up the house for the babysitter. And primping some more. I could never live in Hollywood, it’s too much work to clean myself up for fancy parties! I made the mistake of looking at Google images of past years’ events, which just made me more nervous about all the primping. And everyone needs to send lots of happy-high-heel-vibes my way so I don’t fall off my shoes tonight. This is super important stuff I’m stressing about here.

I have one quick food link to share this week! Anna and I made Quiche in a Mug. This was a super kid-friendly recipe, where Anna pretty much made it all by herself! It was really fun and very tasty! Click here: Kid-Made Recipe: Microwave Quiche in a Mug

As usual, please share whatever you like in the comments! New finds, recipe links, your own blog posts, whatever! And have a fantastic weekend!

Today’s recipe has been a long time coming. It’s been in my head forEVER and today I finally took it out of my head and made it reality. And boy-oh-boy am I glad I did. I never say “boy-oh-boy,” so that should tell you how good this recipe is.

For quite some time I’ve been thinking that Indian food would be good filler for a burrito. After all, flour tortillas are a really excellent blank canvas for all kinds of flavors. Including Indian flavors.

I used my homemade tandoori chicken as the base for the burrito, then just piled on all kinds of other wonderful ingredients. The result was delectable. In fact, I had an Indian burrito for lunch today and then couldn’t wait to have it again for dinner.

If I wanted to start a food truck (which I don’t), this burrito is what I would serve. Since I’m never going to start a food truck, I’ll just spill all my secrets.

In case you are wondering, our kids ate their burritos, although they each had a different variation, from Owen with just tandoori chicken and rice to Anna who used about half of the ingredients to Cate who went for the whole enchilada, or burrito, actually!

I think it’s time to get right down to the recipe. Enjoy!

Note: There is a delicious recipe for Masala Sauce below, but I have since created a much simpler version called Masala Salsa. Click here for the Masala Salsa recipe if you are interested!

Indian Burritos

 

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If Mexican food is good in a burrito, why wouldn't Indian food be good, too? The answer: it is!

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• Large flour tortillas
• Tandoori chicken (click here for recipe)
• Grilled onions
• Grilled bell peppers
• Jasmine or basmati rice, cooked in salted water
• Canned chickpeas
• Masala sauce (see recipe below)
• Raita sauce (see recipe below)
• Lentils (you can look for a recipe for "dal" online, or just buy the boxed, cooked lentils at Trader Joe's!)
• Chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

1. Make sure your tandoori chicken, onions, peppers, rice, chickpeas and masala sauce are all warm/hot.
2. Warm the tortilla on both side on the stove in a large, dry frying pan.
3. Pile on all of the ingredients above and wrap the tortilla up burrito style!

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Masala Sauce

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

This chunky tomato-based masala sauce is a perfect topper for Indian burritos!

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped onion
• 1 clove fresh garlic, pressed through a garlic press
• 1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, most of the fluid drained off
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon coriander
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon cardamom

Instructions

1. In a small sauce pan heat the oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent.
2. Add garlic, stir and cook about 1 minute.
3. Add tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients. Bring sauce to a simmer over medium to medium-high heat, then reduce heat to medium low, maintaining a simmer, and cook for about 10 minutes.
4. Blend about ⅔ of the mixture in a blender, then add back into the pan and stir. Serve warm.

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Raita Sauce (Indian Yogurt Sauce)

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

Basic recipe for raita, an Indian yogurt-based sauce with cucumber.

Author: Jane Maynard

Ingredients

• 1 cup plain yogurt (for a great non-dairy option, use cashew yogurt)
• ½ cup shredded cucumber (peel and core the cucumber before shredding)
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• ¼ teaspoon lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon coriander
• ⅛ teaspoon cumin
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 2 shakes cardamom

Instructions

1. Mix everything together! Serve cold.

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Happy New Week, Everyone!

I have a few carry-over items from last week’s meal plan because it was CRAZY HOT this past week and I ended up cooking only a few nights. One of the nights I actually cooked I was wearing my swimming suit. I think officially makes me a Californian, right? Here’s hoping we have 10-20 LESS degrees on the thermometer this week!

MONDAY:
–Caprese Salad with Crusty Bread

TUESDAY:
– Coconut Curry Chicken with Rice (sauce from Costco)
– Veggie

WEDNESDAY:
– BLTs
– Fresh Fruit

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Nate and I will be attending Beyond Hunger: A Place at the Table with Heifer International in Beverly Hills! I am SO excited, and not just because I get to wear a sparkly dress and see tons of celebrities. The speakers are going to be phenomenal and we’re having a Malawi trip reunion!
– I’ll either leave pizza money for the babysitter or try to pull something together for their dinner before I head to LA (taking bets on what will actually happen!)

SATURDAY:
– Eat out

SUNDAY:
– Pasta in Cream Sauce with broccoli and chicken added

Click here for the free printable of this week’s menu plus the shopping list!

That’s it for my menu this week…now we want to see yours! Please share your weekly meal plan in the comments! And have a great week!

Hello, friends! It’s Friday, which means Show and Tell time!

This week I have two pumpkiny posts to share with you, one sweet and the other savory!

• Pumpkin Pesto Flatbread: You GUYS. So good. Also, if you can’t find pumpkin, butternut squash works, too!
• One-Skillet Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Bars: These pumpkin bars are awesome because you only need one dish to make them – a skillet! Plus dark chocolate and pecans are involved. Oh, and butterscotch sauce. Need I say more?

Seriously, that’s all I have to share today because there’s almost TOO much goodness going on there!

You know the drill, Show and Tell is for the whole class! Please share whatever you like in the comments! Links to funny stuff, recipes, your own blog posts, something you accomplished this week, whatever!

This summer while visiting my family in New Jersey, we took a day trip to Warwick, NY. I love that cute little town and try to discover something new each time we go. This summer we happened upon the Warwick Valley Olive Oil Co., which opened up earlier this year.

This beautiful shop is a balsamic vinegar and olive oil tap room. I had never visited a tap room prior to our visit to Warwick and quickly fell in love. I love high-quality olive oils, a love that flourished while living in the Bay Area near McEvoy Ranch.

Balsamic vinegar is another ingredient that I was fairly clueless about until I had the chance to try a really high-quality vinegar. Several years ago I went to the Fancy Food Show with my dear friend Vanessa Druckman. In the “Italy” section of the expo there were several balsamic vinegar companies. One of the vendors had us taste his most expensive vinegar (p.s. you can really spend a lot of money on vinegar, in case you were looking for a way to spend a lot of money). I can’t even explain how amazingly delicious that spoonful of balsamic vinegar was. Otherworldly, my friends.

As you can imagine, a balsamic vinegar and olive oil tap room was right up my alley! I was drinking oil and vinegars left and right! The balsamic vinegar flavors were especially fun, from cherry to peach to chocolate! I ended up buying the grapefruit vinegar as well as a bottle of Italian olive oil that was pressed in May 2015.

The kids did surprisingly well in the store with us, and my girls really enjoyed trying the balsamic vinegars. That said, it was a good thing Grandma was there to read stories while my sister-in-law Cora and I reveled in the oil and vinegar. For some reason the kids didn’t think that the tap room was quite as fun as I did. Strange.

The bottom line is this…if you have a chance to visit a tap room, do it! It is really a unique and fun experience. No, really, it IS fun. I swear!