Dining Out Decisions

Okay, foodies, it is time for you to vote. . .

Dining Out is Saturday, April 4th at 7:00 pm, but a restaurant is still in limbo. If there is a specific basketball game on, we may switch locales, but as of now, we are still on.

Please choose one of the following for dinner:

1. Carrburritos--parking is a little iffy (especially if one of those basketball games is on, but the food more than makes up for it).

2. Nantucket--not always too crowded, also great outdoor seating. And the cake. . . Wow (It is a Stephanie Plum dream).

3. The Melting Pot--a little pricey, but if we just get cheese and dessert, it could be perfect.

Please leave your vote in the comments section! Or, if you have a better suggestion, add it!

Oatmeal Crispies

My best friend made these cookies for me and JLO when we were visiting her family in New York this past summer, and they have been a favorite ever since. They are ridiculously easy to make, the dough stores well in the freezer, and they even pass as a food storage dessert because almost all the ingredients (except eggs and butter) are long-term or short-term food storage items. You'll be using that can of oats you don't know what to do with!

Don't be Dull

Last week I acquired a physical attribute that I didn't necessarily want to obtain... a nice slice on my index finger! Ouch! I'll show you what I was trying to create in a later post... but before I do let's go over some basic Knife Safety!!

1. Use the right kind of knife for the job. Don't know what knife to use? Check this link out.... it should help.

2. Regardless of what you see Iron Chefs do, it's good practice to cut away from you. (Even when you're sharpening said knife)

3. Sharper is safer. It takes less energy to cut with a sharp knife and it is less likely to stick. The natural instinct when a knife sticks is to apply more force... but that's when slips occur and you get cut. Trust me. I know.

4. Use a cutting board. The old veggie bag, the counter, sink, and/or stove top are not good cutting surfaces.

5. Keep it clean. Make sure to wash and store your knives properly. Knives are like small children... don't leave them unattended.

6. Don't try to catch a falling knife. Unless you're this kid... cause he has some mad skills. 

FHE Fun with the Sisters Ru

It is no secret that B and I have our own little FHE. Being that we are sisters, family home evening is quite easy for us, and every so often some of our transient family here joins us (we're a drop-in household, so often we'll have a few friends join our family). This past week, FHE was especially enjoyable. I had extra cream puffs left over from the Family History Dessert Night last Sunday, and all I needed was something to fill it for dinner/FHE.

Rather than have dinner ready when B got home, we made dinner together. One of our family friends makes a killer chicken salad that she brings over whenever we go home (to IL), and we set about trying to recreate it. Looking through various recipes, only one seemed easy and kind of close. Okay, we didn't quite get to Sandy's level, but it was pretty good nonetheless (Julianne also makes a mean chicken salad). I even ended up making more cream puffs so we could take it for lunches this past week. I knew we had done all right when B said, "Oh yeah" after her initial taste.

Quick and easy chicken salad:

• 2 c. shredded chicken (you can easily bake 1-2 chicken breasts and shred it or just buy canned chicken)
• 1 c. chopped celery (I'm not a huge celery fan, but I chopped it pretty fine; and it was perfect!)
• 1 c. halved grapes
• 1/4 c. toasted almonds (I didn't toast them due to the fact that I was cooking more cream puffs, and it still tasted fantastic)
• 1/2-3/4 c. mayo (depending on how dry you like it)
• salt & pepper to taste
  
  Mix everything except the mayo, salt, and pepper, then add those last three ingredients.

I dare you to eat it

We've been counseled for a very, very long time to "prepare for adversity in life by having a basic supply of food and water and some money in savings" (Church pamphlet, All is Safely Gathered In). But as members of a YSA ward, most of us being in rather temporary housing situations, it has sometimes felt like a stretch to have a week's supply of food, let alone a year's supply. But the leadership of the church has also encouraged us "to store as much as circumstances allow."

I found a great website this week that has, for the first time in my life, helped me realize not only that my circumstances really do allow me to store a year's supply of food (it really doesn't take up that much space), but also that I can use that food to eat on a daily basis. The website is http://www.idareyoutoeatit.com/. Once there, go to the "strategies" section to understand how easy it really is to have a year's supply and eat it too. I have a copy of the author's book, so if anyone wants to learn more or see more of her recipes, just let me know.

I tried two of the recipes this week, and loved them. I even fed tacos covertly laced with wheat to the elders, and they had no idea until I spilled the beans. Here's the recipe for Hippie Tacos, as found on http://www.idareyoutoeatit.com/. They were delish.

HIPPIE TACOS

Fresh Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
15 10″ tortillas

toppings: baby spinach leaves, grated cheese, diced tomato, avocado, cilantro, and Ranch dressing

Storage Ingredients

2 c. cooked whole wheat berries
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. chili powder

* 1 packet of taco seasoning may be used as a substitution for individual spices

Brown ground beef and drain fat. Stir in the cooked wheat berries and spices. Spoon meat mixture onto warm tortillas and top with fresh baby spinach, grated cheese, diced tomato, avocado, cilantro, and Ranch dressing.

Good luck food storaging!

Easy Dessert: Fruit Pizza

To celebrate the warm weather we have been having lately I decided dessert should include FRUIT!

This is an easy recipe and one you can be creative with too!

Fruit Pizza

1 small pkg sugar cookie dough
8oz cream cheese
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
fruit of any variety (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, bananas, kiwi, etc)

1. Roll out cookie dough into a thin shape (circle, square, triangle, you decide) on a cookie sheet. Bake as directed on package.
2. Cool completely.
3. Mix cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, egg and vanilla.
4. Spread on cookie. Place in oven at 350 for 4 - 7 mins until mixture melts.
5. Now pile on the fruit...be creative! (I opted for a circular design yet only got a picture of half as it was being consumed)
6. Refrigerate for about 15 mins, to allow everything to stay in place.
7. Serve in slices like a pizza and ENJOY!

Cafe Rio!

Many of us here in D3 have spent some time living in the Beehive State. A love of many a Desereter is Cafe Rio (now with 17 locations within Utah and a few in Arizona and Nevada). My sister so loves Cafe Rio that she recreates several of their fresh and flavorful fares each year for her birthday. With a dear friend celebrating her birthday recently...I offered to try my hand at these famous recipes. After some Internet researching, personal tweaking, and several phone calls to my wonderful sister, here's what I came up with:

Cafe Rio Chicken:

8 oz Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (it really does have to be this brand and flavor)

chili powder

cumin

3 cloves garlic - minced

5 lbs chicken breasts

Put a layer of chicken in bottom of crock pot. Sprinkle with chili powder and cumin. (More spices = hotter). Repeat with each layer of chicken. Add garlic and dressing over top. Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours, shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.

Cafe Rio Pork:

5 lb pork roast

1 bottle taco sauce (8 oz) (I used mild)

1 clove garlic - minced

1 T cumin

1 tsp dried mustard

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 C brown sugar

20 oz Coke (not diet)

7 oz can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

Cook pork in Crockpot on low for 6 hours (cover roast 1/2 with water. When you add the other ingredients, take out some of the water, leaving only about 1/2" in the bottom.) Add other ingredients to pork and cook for another 4 hours. (Shred an hour or two before you serve)

Lime Rice:

In a saucepan, saute:

1 T butter

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic - minced

Add to a large pot, and bring to a boil the following:

3 cups water

4 tsp chicken bullion

1/4 bunch cilantro - chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 sm can diced green chilies

1/2 T lime juice

1/4 tsp pepper

1.5 C uncooked rice

Cook, covered, for 30 minutes or until rice is done.

Black Beans:

1 can black beans - drained and rinsed

1/3 C tomato juice

2 cloves garlic - minced

1 tsp cumin

2 T olive oil

2 T cilantro - chopped

In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans and tomato juice. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Cafe Rio Tomatillo Dressing:

1 buttermilk ranch dressing packet (make per recipe)

2 tomatillos

1/2 bunch cilantro

1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lime

1 jalapeno

Use a food processor to blend all the ingredients well. Refrigerate.

(Sorry I didn't get a pic before it got devoured!)

Other ingredients:

Tortillas

Red and green leaf lettuce, shredded

Grated cheese - cheddar (I also like Parmesan)

Sour cream

Cilantro - chopped

Pico de Gallo

Limes - quartered

Crunchy corn strips

Round foil cake pans - to serve

Serve in the following order: (This is how I do it anyway... in a round foil cake pan)

Tortilla

Cheese

Shredded chicken or pork

Black beans

Lime Rice

Lettuce

Cilantro

Crunchy corn strips

Sour cream

Dressing

Pico de Gallo

Grated Parmesan cheese

Squeeze lime over all of it

Pastel de Tres Leches:

1.5 C all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 unsalted butter

1 cup white sugar

5 eggs

1.5 tsp vanilla

1 C whole milk

1/2 of a 14 oz can Sweetened condensed milk

1/2 of a 12 oz can Evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan.

Sift flour and baking powder together and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.

Add the eggs and vanilla. Beat well.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing well until blended.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes. (As you can see, the above recipe is for a simple yellow cake...I'm sure a box cake would work just as well)

When cake has finished baking, pierce it with a fork all over and let it cool.

Combine the whole milk, evaporated milk, and condensed milk and pour over the top of the cooled cake. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Because of the milk in the cake, it is very important that you keep the cake refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve chilled. Serve with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. You can make your own whipped cream by beating 1 cup sugar and 1.5 cups heavy whipping cream.

You may no longer live (or never lived) in Utah, but now you can enjoy this Utah classic anytime. Make sure you invite lots of friends cause these recipes serve a lot of hungry folks!!

Food, Family, and Fish Haven

Over the course of fall 1998- summer 2002 (I didn't have a car freshman year), I spent nearly a weekend a month in Bear Lake, ID. My grandparents lived in an old pioneer house built in 1865 just two miles past the Idaho Border (thank you, Google Earth for the picture).

A family history house in more ways than one, I think it will always be more special to me for the relationships it allowed me to have with my grandparents. We had spent summers there during my childhood, but these memories were mine and no one else's. For that one weekend a month, they got an extra daughter, and I learned to see them as real people and not just doting grandparents.

Many times my memories of those weekends are of food. Grandma was very particular about when meals were served. You could get your own breakfast (though heaven help you if it wasn't before 8:30), but lunch was at noon and dinner at five--and that is when I got them on the table--not a minute later.

I was a passable cook growing up and had some training thanks to Mom and 4-H, but Mom cooked in our house; and the rest of us were sous chefs. My brother Nathan had a gift for just tossing ingredients together, but I had to train and practice. And I did it in my grandparents kitchen, last updated sometime in the 70s, with the hand crank can opener (I still covet) on the wall and the cast iron stove brought across the plains from St. Louis back in the day (It was more a warming area for foods that came out of the electric oven across the kitchen) while Grandma told stories of her years growing up, being a young newlywed, or how many boyfriends my mother had. She always sent me home to Provo with enough food for weeks.

Sundays were the usual: church and then a roast of some kind, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans with mushroom soup (or cauliflower with cheese), home-canned fruit, stuffing, and some kind of bread (rolls, bread rings, you name it), and what you didn't eat was sent home. But Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa were my guinea pigs. Grandma's staples were meat and potatoes or something she didn't have to work on too much (frozen dinners), but I would prepare tacos, homemade pizza, enchiladas, spaghetti, etc.--stuff that seems really basic to me (now that I have become more sophisticated in my food tastes), but were often new and different for them. After dinner, we would often watch an old timey musical for Grandma (often Deanna Durbin--a star from the 1930s and 1940s, the Julia Roberts of her day) and then a fun action flick with Grandpa after Grandma went to bed.

I cooked my first Thanksgiving for them. I grieved for friends and family with them--cooking the pain away. I picked fruits and vegetables (and Grandfather made fun of my jumpy nature--he said I had a guilty conscience). We watched General Conference while I made pie or bread or fudge. We canned; we cooked; we laughed; we loved. You name it, it happened in that kitchen or the living room or the picnic tables under the boxelder trees, and food and family history tied it all together.

One of my favorite memories of my Grandfather happened on their 60th wedding anniversary. I had been perfecting my fettuccine alfredo recipe at the time, and I decided to pair it with steak (Daddy did those on the grill usually, so I had never actually cooked one on my own). The look of bliss on my Grandfather's face as he bit into that steak--his first in 10 years--will stay with me forever (especially since it was probably overcooked and not my best--I do much better now), and Grandma could not stop talking about that moment of pure pleasure.

Another favorite memory of my Grandfather happened at my Grandmother's funeral. I flew in early to help Mom and her sisters with whatever they needed. Mom, who for years had been pretty territorial in the kitchen, had come to trust me in there, and turned the food over to me while she and her sisters hammered out the details you must during that kind of time. I threw together some kind of chicken pasta the night I flew in--but Grandpa wouldn't eat. Though years had passed since I had been the long-lost, Larsen daughter, coming up every month, I was once again his surrogate child, sitting in Grandma's chair as we talked. Well, I talked--he was never a big talker--after I set a plate of pasta on his lap. Half an hour later, the plate was clean, and I filled it up again and sat down to talk some more.

When it was time for me to leave, I remember holding his hand, tears close to the surface, and looking into his eyes as hours and days rushed back--me and Grandma and Grandpa in our own little world, with dinner at noon and five; music, stories, gospel, laughter, and food tying us together always.

How to pick produce...

Picking produce can be difficult. If you don't have training (or a book) on the subject, it can be a close-your-eyes-and-point kind of activity. Why on earth did Mom pick one cantalope over the other? How do you know when fresh herbs are about to be not-so-fresh? Various cookbooks will note information about purchasing and storing produce (The Joy of Cooking has a great guide), but sometimes it is just picking what looks and smells the best.

Hopefully the following links will help.

• An A to Z guide to produce
• Video guides to picking good produce
• A little guide to storage of produce
• A summer fruit buying guide