Valentine's edition

Insert excuse-y, self-deprecating comment here about how long it's been since I posted anything here. Okay, moving on.

I've made it clear that I like themed menus, especially at holidays. Valentine's Day, of course, lends itself well to this kind of silliness.

With vegetarians in the house, I don't do the traditional steak and potato type of thing. I go more with color than anything else, so...Red Beans and Rice. Not sexy, necessarily, but fits the theme and makes my family happy. (My daughter is obsessed with rice. It's weird.)

For dessert, though, I like to get a little crazy. I stared at Pinterest for a few days, looking for inspiration, but nothing jumped out at me, except maybe the thought of red velvet cake in general. I went with a trifle (because I am no good at all at decorating cakes or cupcakes, and I'm great at whipping cream).

Keep in mind that this is a WORKING MOM's blog, so this recipe fits well into the semi-homemade category. By the way, calling it a recipe is putting it strongly. Here's what I did.

Delegated the cake-making to a teenager. Two teenagers, actually. They had a great time and took pictures (which I do not have permission to share). Use a mix. (Duncan Hines was the brand I selected, because it was on sale.)

Whipped the cream - 1/2 pint, with 1/8 cup of sugar and a splash of vanilla - in the Kitchenaid mixer. (I insist on doing this part from scratch. I hate Cool Whip.)

Opened a can of cherry pie filling.

Made instant vanilla pudding (if I were on a school break, I would have whipped up some homemade pastry cream, but it's been a LONG week at school already. Pudding it is.).

Tore up that cake. Into bite-sized pieces.

Layer it all in a glass bowl. Cake, pudding, cherry pie filling, whipped cream, then repeat until you're out of everything. Try to end on a whipped cream layer. I sprinkled all that with a little hot cocoa mix powder.

My son called it love in a bowl.

NaBloPoMo, day 2

It's only day two and already I'm not so sure I'm up to this daily blogging. I did fine in November, but life was different then.

My eldest child, my daughter, just had a birthday last month. She was out of town with my parents on her actual birthday, and we've had a busy, busy summer, so we haven't been able to schedule her birthday party until tomorrow.

So here's the deal.

She wanted our neighbor, Ashleigh, to make the birthday cake. Because, in her lovely words, "I want a pretty cake this year, Mom."

Ouch.

My desserts are not known for their beauty, but they do taste good. But apparently my cake decorating efforts at my son's birthday party were so laughable that she won't ever forget.

Not wanting to disappoint my delightful, if painfully honest, spawn, I placed an order, and we're looking forward to enjoying it tomorrow.

But after the sleepover, the kids will be eating the breakfast that I cooked from scratch. And they'll love it. Because pancakes don't need to be pretty.

July 4 Success

With Pictures!

The secret to eggplant is letting it sweat. I've heard and read different methods for doing this, but what works for me is slicing the eggplant, layering it on tea towels, salting it, then pressing it. Ignore for a few hours, then the bitter juices are soaked into the tea towels. It cooks much more nicely (and tastes better) when this step is not omitted.


Gorgeous eggplants from the Memphis Farmer's Market.



Note my classy weighting technique.

Inside this crock-pot's viscous brew is the pork. It was very tasty.



The potatoes with horseradish are so much prettier with rosemary garnish.



Susie made the trifle, with me acting as sous chef.









And the cole slaw, with bleu cheese being blue.


The second to the bottom row of tomatoes were from our garden. And they definitely tasted better than the rest.

Chef Dan approved of the food. A lovely way to spend the Fourth.

Red, White & Blue

Ever since I had kids, and even before, I've enjoyed making special meals for holidays. July 4 lends itself especially well to a festive meal, forcing a little creativity. Fortunately, in-season produce is appropriately colorful, as well as nutritious.

This year, we're celebrating twice, since Memphis's big fireworks display happened June 30 (much to the confusion of my children). We'll host another family on the Fourth. They're new to Memphis, transplanted from New York, and the husband was a professional chef until they moved here, with 20 years' restaurant experience.

I had only intended to make one Red, White & Blue meal, but the kids balked. To them, watching fireworks, no matter what the date, means eating that special meal. And, for little advance planning, it turned out pretty well.

Before we left for the park to watch the largest fireworks display in Mid-South history, we dined on:

Blue corn chips and salsa
Red-skin potato salad
Cole slaw (not quite white, but close enough)
Strawberries, bing cherries, blueberries, and blackberries

And, as we watched the fireworks, we enjoyed these very colorful, and ostensibly healthy(ish) chips.

Tomorrow I need to step up my game a little (remember? one of our dinner guests is a chef!) and because I'm a born Southerner, I feel the need to make barbecue pork. I have a tenderloin thawing right now, which I'll cook tomorrow morning in the crock pot for pulled pork sandwiches. For the vegetarians among us, I'm making grilled eggplant and tomato sandwiches(probably just tomato for the kids). I'll also make red, white, and blue cole slaw.

We'll keep the blue chips and salsa, and we'll get more of the Terra chips. We've also got a watermelon, and more blueberries, blackberries, cherries, and strawberries. I always enjoy making trifles, and a blueberry and strawberry trifle would be perfect with angel food cake (plus, all three colors in one dish!).

So, recipes?


Slow-Cooked Pork Tenderloin for sandwiches

Put a pork tenderloin into the crock-pot. You might need to cut it into two pieces, depending on the size and shape of your crockpot.

Add the following:

• Half a beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon is my favorite)
• Cumin (about a tablespoon, adjust to your taste)
• Chili Powder (same as above)
• Cinnamon (less than above, about a teaspoon)
• A little apple cider or red wine vinegar (1/4 cup)
• A little bit of cocoa powder (1/2 teaspoon)
• A pureed tomato

Cook on low until it falls apart when poked with a fork. Serve on buns or rolls.

Red, White & Blue Cole Slaw

Buy the bagged slaw already cut up, or cut up a white cabbage. Dress with cole slaw dressing (I'm far too lazy to make my own, though I often mix the slaw dressing with ranch, since kids love ranch dressing). Mix as normal. (Note: you can just purchase pre-made cole slaw, too, but I don't like how soggy it can be.)

Place the slaw in a rectangular dish and smooth the top with a spatula to make it flat.

Halve some cherry or grape tomatoes.

Arrange bleu cheese and the tomatoes into a flag design, with the bleu cheese being the blue section of the flag and the tomatoes being the stripes.

Bacon, of course, would be a lovely addition to this dish, but the vegetarians in my house don't allow that.


New Potatoes with Horseradish

Boil a bunch of redskinned new potatoes. Drain and cool to room temperature.
Mix plain yogurt (or sour cream, if you're feeling decadent) with fresh horseradish and a little mayonnaise. Toss the potatoes in it. A little fresh rosemary makes it fancy. This one is good served warm, room temperature, or cold.


Red, White & Blue Trifle

• Make and cool, or purchase an angel food cake. Rip it up into bite-sized chunks.
• In a glass bowl (the fancier the better!), layer 1/3 of the cake chunks. Cover the layer with whipped cream (about 1 1/2 cups). You can make your own whipped cream and flavor it with vanilla or a little liquor (cream sherry, Tia Maria, etc.). If you're trying to be virtuous, you can also use lowfat vanilla yogurt. Or cool-whip. Then a layer of strawberry slices and blueberries. Blackberries and raspberries are also great.
• Repeat each layer.
• Repeat again.
• Chill and serve.