What's for Dinner? Crock Pot Roast

Fall is upon us , sports teams are gearing up dance class is about to start , the short days and busy evenings make this crock pot roast such a keeper.
5lb pot roast
1pkg Lipton dry onion soup mix
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
3 good shakes Worcestershire sauce
crock pot on med (6 hrs) high (4hrs)
you will be ready to go
cook up some egg noodles,cover with the delicious gravy
slice a tomatoes or 2 for the side and this meal will please the hungry crew any night.

Ben's Going to China :)

Thanks to a wonderful Friend and donor, my son Ben has obtained a plane ticket to China, because of this generous gift he now has wings to fly. During this summer-long quest to raise money for the Seattle based group Global Roots, my son Ben has spent 7 weeks sending letters, pounding the pavement, making phone calls, and speaking from the heart. To date he has raised over $7000.00 towards missions for Global Roots, and now he attempts to fund his trip, so that he may physically touch those whom he has only read about, seen photos of, the children he will hug and the smiles he will receive.

He will not attend college this year but will be in a foreign country learning lessons he can not learn in a classroom. As a Mom it is hard to see this child give up safety and comfort to take this on, but it also fills me with pride to know that a community has taken a chance on this kid. They have written checks, donated miles and they believe in Ben. I know now the rest will fall into place and Ben will raise the money he needs. Ben will be the one that takes each of us there, we will be in his heart, we will be with him , we can be faithful in the knowledge we have done a good thing.

Ben leaves on September 16th and he will be blogging for us all so we can join him on this journey so please check out his blog http://www.benbroadbent.blogspot.com/ and see what he sees and continue to be a part of Moving Mountains.

Sweet Treats: Chocolate Ganache Tart

I've been making a bunch of desserts with Ina Garten's Shortbread crust because basically anything you care to pile on top of a cookie crust tastes pretty damn good.

Also? No rolling required. Just push the dough into the pan, chill, bake and fill.

For today's treat, I made a very quick chocolate ganache with a little extra cream for softness and then decorated the top with sweetened whipped cream.

You'll find the recipe for Ina Garten's Shortbread Crust here.

Chocolate Ganache

Typical ganache has equal parts chocolate and heavy cream, with a little sugar to smooth the bitter edge of the dark chocolate. This ratio makes a thick filling perfect for cakes. By adding more cream the texture softens, perfect for filling a tart crust, or just little bowls.

11.5 ounce bag dark chocolate chips.
I like the Ghiradelli 60% cocoa but Nestle's semisweet chocolate chips wouldn't be bad either.
20 ounces heavy cream
1/3- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
Splash brandy, optional

Large bowl of ice water in which to chill bottom of sauce pan.

Heat the cream in a heavy-bottomed sauce pan until wisps of steam come off the top, but do not boil.
Add the chips, turn off the heat and whisk continuously until the chocolate is smoothly incorporated.
Don't worry if the mixture looks grainy at first, it will smooth out beautifully.

When the mixture is velvety smooth, remove from the stove and nestle pan into the ice water making sure that there is no chance the water can enter the pot.

Add the butter and the brandy and whisk until well combined.
SIFT 1/4 cup powdered sugar into the ganache and taste.
Add more sugar USING THE SIFTER to suit your palate.

Hate to sift? Annoyed by my shouting? Go ahead, don't sift. You'll be the one picking nasty clumps of sugar out of your buttery smooth ganache, not me.

Let cool, whisking occasionally, until ganache is at cool room temperature, approximately 25 minutes.

Remove the pan from the water and whisk vigorously until the ganache is fluffy and lighter in color.

Fill precooked tart shell, or spoon into small bowls. Or one big large bowl.

Chill until serving time.

To finish the tart:

Whisk together 1/2 cup heavy cream and 3-4 tablespoons confectioner's sugar until soft peaks form. Add a splash of brandy and continue whisking until firm peaks form.

Garnish the tart. I made a reverse shell border with a pastry bag and a #16 star tip, but small spoonfuls would be lovely too.

In the interest of full disclosure, I first dipped a bunch of strawberries into melted white chocolate and then drizzled them with dark chocolate and plopped these on top of the tart, but it was too much...the strawberries were too big and awkward looking.

Not that anyone would have complained.



My helpers were happy to dispose of all those strawberries.

First Day of School ...3 Days in a Row !!!

The first day of school is 3 days long at our house, one of the crazy advantages of having 8 children and a foreign exchange student, the most wonderful time of the year has an extension :) This one is so happy to be heading out, showered and smiling, life is good when you're Ellie.

This guy is happy, just not quite awake

However, before heading off to bed much time was spent picking the right outfit
and of course the right Cologne, can you tell he has 5 older brothers?



Day 1 was bittersweet as my youngest went to third grade.
I looked around the playground it saddened me to realize my days at a sweet little elementary school are coming to an end.

I have stood on the same playground for 19 consecutive years with at least 1 or more attending.

All the teachers are young now and I am not, but on the flip side this will be my last year in the third grade.

I have memorized my times tables nine times (including the first time back in the 60's).
I have done almost all the 3rd grade science experiments,
and I have tasted every ethnic dish at the international feast.
So enjoy it we will, and when I hit the 4th grade for the 9th time next year,
maybe,
just maybe, I will finally learn how to do the damn Everyday Math.

As you can see on day two of The First Day of School,
some faces are happy and those teenagers... not so much !!

But the good news is as of the the second day of school
no one has quit, most seem happy, and I have 177 days left.
Yipee!!!!!

177days of paperwork

3rd grade

6th grade

8th,10th&11th grades

snacks

lunches

soccer practice

school plays

school conferences

missing homework assignments

poster board runs

nagging, nagging and more nagging
why is the the best time of the year again?

I think I forgot !

Potato Salad with Salmon & Dill

Budget conscious Suzanne and I are always looking for ways to use inexpensive canned salmon.
I think this recipe is a winner: easy, very tasty and of course much less expensive than fresh salmon, the kind I am only dreaming of these days.


I have adapted this recipe bravely using canned Salmon at $3.59 , instead of using fresh at $5.99 per pound--quite a savings, and always a good thing.

Once again all the those little fish haters ate the darn fish without so much as a whimper :


So here goes...

Potato Salad with Salmon and Dill

3 pounds red-skinned potatoes
1 can salmon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 medium sized onion, thinly sliced
1 cup light mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, plus some nice looking sprigs to use as a garnish
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

dash of red pepper flakes (optional)


Boil potatoes until tender 15-20 minutes for small potatoes, 40-50 minutes for large.
Drain and cool slightly.

Slice potatoes into 1/2-inch slices and place in a large bow. Open the canned salmon and drain well. Crumble the salmon on top of the potatoes along with the onion and dill..

In small bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients and gently stir into potatoes.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
garnish with additional dill and enjoy :)

Frugal Feasts: Exclusively in The Concord Monitor

You can read today's column here, or over at The Concord Monitor. And if you do hop over to their site, they might get the idea that the column is popular, and then maybe they'll give us a raise, and then, well, who knows?

Please note: due to an editing error, a majorly delicious ingredient was removed from Robin's BBQ Bacon Burgers: French's onion rings. Suzanne apologizes for the error.

The corrected recipe is included here.



Photo by Ken Williams for The Concord Monitor



Today is the first day of school for the Concord Public Schools and it feels like Mother's Day. Forget the first Sunday in May--that just means breakfast in bed (and a two hour kitchen clean up). On the first day of school we get peace and quiet.

Finally!

It has been so muggy and it stays light until so late, bedtime for the little darlings has stretched out to a point past reason. Don't these kids know we want to drink in peace? Sure the unstructured summer has its pleasures (no down coats at the dinner table!) and we love the beach, but when you have more children than any two of your friends combined, summer can feel like you've inherited a combination youth hostel/diner/shuttle bus service. One that doesn't turn a profit.

Most summer mornings we just get the kitchen cleaned up from the littles' breakfast when the teens stumble downstairs, starving and pawing through cabinets like the two of us at an estate sale on Auburn Street. By the time their breakfast is cleaned up, it's time to think about lunch. When dinner time rolls around, we've been back and forth to the pool and Beaver Meadow a half dozen times, and have run another dozen musty beach towels through the wash, it's hard to summon the strength to order pizza. Now that everyone is back in school, and out of our hair from 7:30 until 3:15, we might even find the energy to make a whole meal. With meat and potatoes and everything!

But Back to School doesn't just bring us the feeling of jubilation. We are also filled with nostalgia. Not because we want to relive our school years (shiver), but because we hung up the backpacks on the last day of school back in June, unexplored and stuffed to the brim. We were too eager to be done with the daily ritual of removing half eaten sandwiches and school notices to do more than put them aside. And boy do we regret that decision now. It takes a brave woman to stick her hand in a backpack that has been simmering on a hook for two and a half months. And we might be tempted to declare backpack bankruptcy and just toss the them, but we are afraid we'll miss some hidden treasure. Like the time Robin found all the artwork that her daughter had displayed in the citywide art show. Not that anyone thought to mention it at the time. Short stories and math tests and notes from the teacher all come tumbling out, and we are treated to a condensed version of the prior school year.

Of course you have to be prepared for the bad that comes with the good. We are not sure which is worse: finding the lost library books that we had to pay for in June so that we could retrieve the final report cards, or the lunchbox that seems to be breathing on its own. Yes, we are frugal, and no, we are not afraid to get our hands dirty, but we know when to cut our losses: better to chuck the seething lunchbox now before it becomes sentient and attacks.

As we approach another September, with our youngest kids in first (Suzanne) and third (Robin) grades, we'd like to share with our dear readers a few rules for keeping your last good nerve intact for the next 180 days.

Don't buy into the whole Back to School Shopping extravaganza. Just because the retailers would like to sell you stuff doesn't mean you have to buy it. It's too darn hot right now for the kids to wear anything but the shorts and tee's they've been rotting in all summer. The $40 cords that they insist they need RIGHT NOW are a bad investment. By the time the weather cools off enough to wear them, those corduroy pants will either be too short or completely out of style. And since kids cannot help but rip the tags off everything the second it comes out of the bag, you'll be stuck with them.

Keep to the generic for all school supplies. There is nothing wrong with nice yellow pencils and pink erasers and plain colored notebooks and binders. For the same reason that the cords will wind up balled up in the bottom of the closet, the fickle winds of kid popularity will shift and no one will want to be caught dead with a High School Musical III backpack. You'll be back at Target searching for one endorsed by some other wildly inappropriate 'tween role models.


Make a copy of all the paperwork that you send into school. Most home printers also have a copy function these days, and it is worth it to spend the few seconds to use it. Why you ask? Because the children will never hand the paperwork in. They will lose it, or throw it away, and just when you feel like your hand might finally recover from the school paperwork hand cramps, you'll get the frantic phone call: "MOM, I can't go on the field trip because YOU never filled out the paperwork".
Ream of Copy paper? $3.49
Black Toner Cartridge? $14.00
The sense of smug satisfaction that comes from hitting the send key on the fax machine? Priceless.

The occasional nice note in the lunchbox is also a good idea. Nothing too mushy, but a smiley face on a sticky note will take some of the sting out of having to sit next to the kid with the mom who writes a 3 page I Love You Honey letter every single day like it's her job. And while we are thinking of it, it couldn't hurt to make copies of these notes too. They do come in handy during moody adolescence when your teen tries to insinuate that no one ever cared, not for one single second. The eye rolls that the copies elicit are less grating on the nerves than the dramatic sighs.

Maybe we've been watching too much Top Chef, but this week we came up with a challenge: Can the Fru-gals make delicious turkey burgers? Turkey burgers that don't have the texture of compressed cat litter? Turkey burgers so delicious that no one at the table even thinks about a lost opportunity to eat a giant juicy beef burger?

Yes we can.

Suzanne uses Greek seasonings and feta to make a flavorful burger. And Robin? Her turkey burger is draped in bacon. We're not saying which is better, but on Top Chef, the dishes with the bacon always seem to win.

Suzanne's Greek Turkey Burgers with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
10 servings @ $1.23 each
3 slices whole wheat bread
½ cup whole milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1medium onion, roughly chopped
1red bell pepper, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped (optional)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 packages ground turkey, each approximately 20 ounces
8 ounces feta cheese, in small crumbles

10 small pita pockets

Place the bread in a small bowl and cover with the milk. Set aside to soak.
Sauté the onion and the pepper in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent and limp. Add the garlic and continue to sauté for another minute or so, being careful not to burn the garlic.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Remove the bread from the milk and squeeze until mostly dry. Place bread in a large bowl. Add the sautéed vegetables, egg, oregano, basil (if using) and the salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
Add the ground turkey and the feta cheese and mix together well with clean hands.
Shape the turkey mixture into 10 patties.
Heat a gas grill to medium and cook the burgers for approximately 5 minutes a side. Turkey burgers should be cooked through. When they are done they will be very firm, even in the center. If you have a meat thermometer, it should register a minimum of 140 degrees when placed inside the burger.

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

10 servings @ $.11 each
8 ounces plain yogurt
1 medium cucumber, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons minced onion
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
3 dashes Tabasco sauce, or to taste, optional

Stir together all ingredients in a small bowl. Chill until serving time.
Serve the burgers in the Pita pockets with the cucumber yogurt sauce.

Robin's BBQ Bacon Turkey Burgers

10 servings

1 pound bacon, thick sliced
2 packages ground turkey, each approximately 20 ounces
¾ cup barbecue sauce, plus more for serving
1 1/2 cups French's fried onion rings
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chopped green onion
1 pound cheddar cheese, shredded
10 English muffins, split in half
¼ cup softened butter

In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until crispy.
Chop half, and reserve the rest for garnishing the burgers.
In a large bowl combine the chopped bacon with the turkey, onion rings, barbecue and Worcestershire sauces, onion and cheddar. Shape into 10 patties.
Heat a gas grill to medium and cook the burgers for approximately 5 minutes a side. Turkey burgers should be cooked through. When they are done they will be very firm, even in the center. If you have a meat thermometer, it should register a minimum of 140 degrees when placed inside the burger.

Meanwhile, prepare the muffins:
Spread a small amount of butter on each muffin half. Place on a cookie sheet.
Broil for approximately 2 minutes, keeping a close watch so that they do not burn.

To serve: place a burger on each muffin bottom. Top with some of the reserved bacon, about a teaspoon of barbecue sauce and the broiled muffin top.

Frugal Feasts: Crisper Drawer Orzo with Lemon and Dill

On Monday we had our column photo shoot with Ken Williams, who in addition to being a great photographer, is as helpful and soothing as Tim Gunn. If Tim Gunn lived in New Hampshire with his wife and five kids.

Anyway, we realized that we needed something to add to the plate with the turkey burgers. We raided Suzanne's fridge and came up with a simple and scrumptious pasta salad that was pretty and surprisingly refreshing...



It's really not a recipe, it's more of just a suggested list of ingredients:

Mix together:
Pasta
Fresh vegetables
Vinaigrette

Et voila!

Here's what we used:

1 pound orzo (rice shaped pasta) cooked according to package directions, drained and rinsed with cool water.

Toss together with:

2 cups chopped fresh vegetables.

We used:

2 carrots
1 red bell pepper
1/2 hothouse cucumber
1 can small black olives, cut in half

Anything from the crisper drawer would work here: radishes, lightly cooked asparagus, green beans, Swiss chard stems, baby spinach, the list is endless

Whisk together a quick vinaigrette:

1/4 cup olive oil
juice and zest of one lemon (or 3 tablespoons wine or cider vinegar)
handful of minced fresh dill (or any other herb)
2 tablespoons minced onion
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
fresh ground pepper to taste.

Drizzle the dressing over the pasta and veggies, toss and chill until serving time.

What's for dinner? Watermelon Salad

Watermelon Salad




It is too HOT to turn on my beautiful new/old stove--with four working burners and an oven light!

The humidity is over the top and fruit flies have taken over the city of Concord.

I did my part to help kill off the fruit fly population. I used the watermelon that was sitting on my counter, added a few wonderful items and enjoyed a light, scrumptious dinner that left us all with a smile,

Watermelon Salad

1 whole watermelon

1 bunch watercress, snipped into small pieces

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup snipped fresh mint

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Cut watermelon into 1-2 inch chunks. Cover and chill.

Just before serving combine the watercress, onion, mint, olive oil and salt in a small bowl.

Place the watermelon on a chilled platter. Add the crumbled feta cheese and then sprinkle watercress mixture over all.

This cool and refreshing dinner is just what's needed during the dogs days of August.

One Down, Four to Go

Everyone has been asking me how hard it was to bring Gordon to college.

My answer is: Not that hard really.

He was ready.

We were ready.

So last Sunday we packed the car...




And said goodbye to Peter and The Littles...



(Pierce was inside, looting what was left in Gordon's room)....




And got ready to drive the mere 296 miles to Potsdam New York.





Seems like a nice enough place. At least until the snow starts round about September 1.





The people sure were friendly. Here is another freshman helping schlep all the stuff into the room....





OK this was the hard part. The dorm room. Not so different from the one that I occupied my freshman year at Gettysburg. Same cinderblock walls. Same industrial strength bed and desk.

What is different is it's 30 years later (nearly to the day). How could time pass so quickly? I still feel like the same girl on the inside. The wrapper's just a little wrinkled.




It didn't take long to get him settled. I got ready to say goodbye.

What I didn't count on was my jealousy.
I'd like to be 18.
And 118 pounds.
Living in a freshman dorm.
Eating 3 meals a day in a cafeteria where I don't have to shop for, cook or clean up ANYTHING.

Filling my brain with exciting new knowledge.

And beer.

I just wanted to tell him: enjoy every moment. These four years will be gone in a flash. Hopefully he will make friends and memories to last a lifetime. Maybe he'll even find a spouse.




I can't wait to see this view again through my windshield

and not my rear view mirror.

Sweet Treats: Raspberry Tart with Lemon Curd

God bless Ina Garten.

Ten years ago she released The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, and totally changed the way I approach cooking.

Long a devotee of Sheila Lukins and the Silver Palate Cookbooks, I was used to every recipe having 47 ingredients, at least 4 of which were not available in my local grocery store.

Ina's recipes have no more than 5 or 6 ingredients and with the possible exception of her Lemon Cappellini with Caviar, most dishes can be made pretty frugally too.

The biggest change I made after getting this cookbook was to change my tart crust from a Pate Brisee, buttery and flaky and a true french classic, but a pain to roll and fit into a tart crust.

My gal Ina uses a shortbread cookie crust.

And I do too: who doesn't like cookies? This crust goes together in 5 seconds in the food processor, and is mashed like play-dough into a tart pan.

And the crisp cookie layer adds great crunch to the finished tart.

You could make up a bunch of these and freeze them, and then have tarts all the live long day, if you were that kind of person. Which I'm not.

Raspberry Tart with Lemon Curd

For the Shortbread Crust:

1 and 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Blend together the butter and the sugar in a food processor or a mixer if that's what you've got. Add the vanilla and blitz again. Add the flour and the salt and whirl until dough starts to come together in a ball.

Gather dough together and press into a 9 or 10 inch tart pan with a false bottom.
Press the dough into an even layer across the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

Chill or freeze until firm.

Bake for 20 minutes. Using a small flat bottomed glass, press the bottom of the tart flat, leaving the sides alone.

Or if you are so inclined, line the raw tart with buttered parchment weighed down by dry beans and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and the beans and...

Return to the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes until crust is light brown all over.

Remove and cool fully.

For the Lemon Curd:

1 stick butter
juice and zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs

In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt the butter over low heat with the sugar and the lemon juice and zest. Stir occasionally and do not let the butter brown.

Whisk the three eggs together in a small bowl until well combined.

Add to the lemon/butter mixture and continue whisking over LOW heat until the curd thickens. This will take a few minutes. Avoid the temptation to increase the heat because that will mean you will have SCRAMBLED EGGS in your curd. Ewwwwww.

When the whisk leaves pretty deep tracks through the curd and it is the consistency of pudding, remove from the heat and immediately scrape the curd into a fine mesh strainer set over a medium sized bowl. This step is not necessary but does take care of the stray seed/flecks of egg problem.

Chill.

To assemble the tart:

2 pints raspberries

Spoon the curd into the bottom of the tart shell and smooth with a small offset spatula or the back of a large spoon.

Working from the center, place the raspberries, point up, into the lemon curd,filling the entire tart shell.

Refrigerate until serving.

Best the day it is made, but no one is going to refuse any left-overs. It's just that the raspberries break down and get juicy pretty quickly.

Leave It to The Professionals

It's no secret that Robin and I are huge fans of Project Runway.

Yeah, we know, we know,
"reality television" is shorthand for "mental illness on parade"
but Project Runway really is different.

Every week the contestants on this show have to:

Think up a design
Choose fabric
Make an outfit from start to finish
An outfit that can actually be worn down the runway, btw
And then face a brutal gauntlet of judges.
And if they suck hard enough, they get sent home.

All of which I think is gotta be more challenging, and requiring more actual talent than sitting around naked on a rock like that tax cheat Richard Hatch from the first Survivor.

Or just finally giving up eating everything in sight like those tubbies on Biggest Loser.

And speaking of that show:
when are we going to get a "Where (on the scale) Are They Now" follow up show?

Or have to sit and be yelled at by Donald Trump.
OK, that would be hard to do (without smacking him).

But seriously, how many people could figure out a way to make a whole outfit in a day? And not say, run out of time and send the model down the runway in her panties?

Not only do we have the opportunity to witness the creative process, which for me at least is endlessly fascinating-- especially when a gorgeous sketch turns into a steaming hot mess of a finished outfit-- but the people involved with the show are endlessly amusing.

I'd pay money to just sit around and watch The gorgeous Heidi Klum, the hilarious (and orange) Michael Kors and wicked smart and bitchy Nina Garcia shoot the sherbet about anything.

The fact that they argue over fashion? Sheer heaven!

And Tim Gunn? Oh where to start? I hear his darling voice in my dreams.

My point, and I do have one,
is that as much as we will blog about Project Runway,
and as much as Robbie and I would like to think we have a clue about the show,

you should really spend time following the the experts.



Tom and Lorenzo's blog is perfection. Funny, smart, spot on, and quite frankly, the highlight of my dreary, New Hampshire housewifey day. And the commenters are pretty damn good too.

Do yourself a favor: Click through here and check it out.

They are so fabulous it is hard to imagine that they deigned to have a photo taken with me, their biggest stalker. I mean fan.



I got to meet them on a freezing day back in February in New York and
despite the fact that I am not wearing

a wedding dress,

or a baby birthing outfit,

that day in Bryant Park is a strong contender for Best Day Ever.

CSA Recipe Idea: Pasta with Fresh Corn and Basil

Every week when I go pick up our family share from the Local Harvest CSA,
I feel like a kid on Christmas morning.

Here is a snap of one recent week's haul:




Last week we were thrilled to pick up eight tiny ears of sweet corn.

Being from New Jersey, I am a giant corn snob, but even I have to admit that rarely have I had such good corn. Each tiny kernel was bursting with sweetness and all eight ears were gone in a New Jersey minute.

Which is kind of like a New York minute, only with bigger hair and a worse accent.

The next night I went over to Dimond Hill and bought 14 ears. Which was insane. We only had 4 people at the dinner table that night, and even the pigs here could not finish that much corn.

Which wound up being the perfect base for a quick and simple pasta dinner:




Ricotta is my new favorite binder for pasta dishes. It is rich, relatively low fat and really blends everything together.

Sauce that is done and waiting for the pasta to finish? My idea of summer cooking perfection.

Pasta with Fresh Corn and Basil

To serve 6-8

Ingredients:

1 pound short whole wheat pasta

3 tablespoons butter (or olive oil if you insist)
1 bunch of green onions, rinsed and roughly chopped
6 ears left over corn on the cob. Remove the kernels by standing each ear on it's stem end and gently running a sharp knife down the sides. The kernels should slide off in big slabs. Be sure not to so deep that you remove any of the cob with the kernels.

1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
handful fresh basil, minced

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. You can use olive oil here, but the butter really compliments the flavor of the corn, and corn season is so short, live a little people and add the demon butter!

Add the onions and saute for two minutes just to soften the onions, but not brown them. Add the corn and continue to saute just to get the chill off the corn. Add the salt and the pepper, turn off the heat and set aside.

When the pasta is done, scoop out about a half cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain the pasta and place in a large shallow bowl. Add the ricotta and toss to combine. Add a splash of the reserved pasta water and toss again.

Top with the sauteed corn and onion mixture and toss again. Add another splash of the cooking water if the mixture is too thick for your liking. Garnish with the minced basil and serve.

Project Runway Season 6

The fact that Project Runway will be starting this week is how I am getting through the long, hot, sticky days of August. I will soon be meeting the new designers of the long awaited season 6; these men and women will become a big part of my life over the next couple of months. On Thursday nights for the fall, I will close my laptop, turn off the cell, ignore the "Mom where is my homework? I need money for a field trip! Can you sign this form?"

I will be living my life in another dimension-- the one I was supposed to be in if I had not gotten in the wrong line at the life station :0)

You know I headed for the shortest line, not realizing the sign said Hell Of a Ride.....not ... Hello Super Fab Rich and Famous New York Girl.

OMG so now here I am Mom of 8, blogger, wife,and many other things that do no involve glamor, lights, fab fashion. What The Heck !!!!!

Thank you Lifetime for making sure after my long hot day, trying raise many productive citizens, save the ranch, put dinner on the table, that I may head down a wonderful path once a week of exciting challenges, fashion, and fun.

I count the days, although I have substituted with America's Got Talent, the fashion on that show is not cutting edge if you know what I mean. So starting August 20th I will unavailable in the evenings. I will be glued to the set, living my life one day a week on the Project Runway

Premieres Thursday, August 20 at 10pm et/pt on Lifetime

Maybe I will see you there!

What's for Dinner Mom? Pasta with Fresh Veggies

Oh how I love the month of August. Not only are the children going back to school :) but the farmer's market and the local grocery store is over flowing with good, fresh, healthy things to eat.

A meal can be simple,
(which is of course the way I like it) fresh, and inexpensive.

With good, fresh produce it is matter of thin slices and little butter.
Add a hot pan and you are ready to go!

The produce for this dish was actually given to me by a nice gardener friend--another benefit in August--people always plant too many squash plants, and for us (with a tiny city lot) that is a blessing.

Ingredients:

2 pounds pasta

3 or 4 large summer squash or zucchini
4 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 juice of one lemon
dash of salt and ground black pepper to taste
3 tablespoons chopped green onion
3tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Put large pot of water on to boil; add all the pasta and cook as directed on box. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, slice squash very thinly and set aside.
Melt butter on medium heat in large fry pan
Add minced garlic and saute a bit so garlic can cook a bit, but watch it carefully so it doesn't burn.
Add the squash to the pan and saute for about 8-10 minutes until it is tender.
Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Place the cooked, drained pasta in a large shallow bowl.
Top with the squash mixture.
Garnish with the green onions and the cheese.

Enjoy !!!

Sweet Treat: Felice's Peach and Ginger Pie with Pecan Crust

Not only is Felice the executive editor of The Concord Monitor, but she makes a killer pie too.

Last summer we had the pleasure of having a peach and ginger pie that was scrumptious.

After a lot of begging she agreed to share the recipe with us, and with both our loyal readers.

Have at it while the peaches are ripe!


PEACH GINGER PIE WITH PECAN CRUST

PIE CRUST

Adapted from a recipe from a book called Pies and Other Dessert Favorites from the Little Pie Co. of the Big Apple. The adaptation is basically the addition of nuts. Without the nuts, this crust is great for apple pie too.

2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup pecans finely chopped (I put them in a plastic bag and ran the rolling pin over them.)
8 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch pieces ½ cup vegetable shortening, chilled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large egg, beaten
¼ cup very cold water (refrigerated or chilled with ice cubes that are removed before measuring)

1. In a large bowl, stir together with a wire whisk the flour, sugar, salt and pecans. Add the butter and shortening. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, work the fat into the flour until the mixture forms pieces the size of peas. (It's all right if there are a few larger or smaller pieces.) 2. Combine the beaten egg and cold water. While stirring lightly with a fork, add the egg and water to the flour/fat mixture in a fast, steady stream. Continue stirring, occasionally cleaning off the dough that collects in the tines of the fork, until the flour is almost completely mixed in, but the dough does not form a ball.
3. Empty the dough onto a flat work surface. Work in the remaining flour by using the heel of your hand to press and push the dough just until it holds together.
4. Shape the dough into a 6-inch disk. There should be many small pieces of butter and shortening visible. Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

This makes enough for a 9-inch double-crust pie.

FILLING
Adapted from a recipe that used to appear on the back of a box of tapioca but seems to have disappeared. The adaptation is basically the ginger.

1 cup sugar plus extra for sprinkling on the crust
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon instant tapioca ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 10 large peaches - try to get the kind that are yellow inside. The white ones taste fine but look sort of anemic in a pie.
3 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
Egg glaze made by beating together well 1 large egg and 3 tablespoons cold water

1. In a small bowl, stir together with a wire whisk the sugar, tapioca and cinnamon 2. Peel, halve and pit the peaches. Cut each half into 4 slices. Measure them into a large bowl. You should have roughly 5½ cups of slices. Add the lemon juice and sugar mixture to the slices. Add ginger. Combine gently and let stand for 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
4. Line the pie plate with the bottom crust (half of the crust in the
fridge) and pour the filling into it.
5. Cover the top with the rest of the crust and crimp the edges. Cut 4-5 vents into the top crust.
6. Brush the top crust with the egg glaze and sprinkle with sugar.
7. Bake the pie for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue to bake for 40 minutes or until the pastry is browned and the juices are bubbling.
8. Let the pie cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

Chicken Cesar Salad with Garden Fresh Greens

Here's a nature/nurture question for you this morning:

Does Autumn have a garden plot because of or despite

her name?

Yesterday morning I drove out to The Land to take some photos of Autumn's community garden plot, a tiny bit of farm utopia right off Clinton Street.

My goal was to snap some photos in the gorgeous gray light of a day headed towards rain.

I got my photos, and as an incredible bonus, several heads of baby romaine lettuce--Autumn offered and I am no fool. Well OK, but not when it comes to taking fresh produce.



The Romaine insisted that I turn it into a Cesar Salad.

It seemed a crime against nature to plop a giant hulking slab of supermarket chicken on top of these tender greens, and since I was only feeding myself and one of the ever starving teens for dinner, decided that I could afford to splurge on local poultry.

And a splurge it was: 3 small boneless chicken breast halves was $8.00 at the Concord Co-op.

It was only at 5:30 that I realized that we didn't have any anchovies.

So the salad, while delicious and fresh and organic, wasn't perfect. But for a Thursday night, with a glass of chardonnay, pretty damn close.



Chicken Cesar Salad with Quasi-authentic Dressing

To serve 3

3 small chicken breast halves
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Pam or other non-stick cooking spray

3 small heads baby romaine lettuce, washed, dried and torn into bite-sized pieces

1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
juice and zest of 1/2 lemon
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/3 cup olive oil
several grindings fresh pepper

1/4 cup grated Parmesan, or to taste

ANCHOVIES, if you've got em!

For the Chicken:

pound the breast halves with a meat mallet or soup ladle until uniformly 1/2 inch thick. Season with salt and pepper and place on a grill pan heated over medium heat and sprayed with Pam.

Cook chicken undisturbed for 4 minutes, until top is starting to turn opaque. Use tongs to flip and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until chicken feels firm to the touch. Do not overcook, especially if you just spent 8 bucks on three small breasts.

Remove to a plate and set aside.

For the Dressing:

Place minced garlic in a large bowl. If you are using anchovies, mash 2 or 3 fillets with the garlic until they come together in a fairly smooth paste. Add salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, lemon juice and zest and mayo and blend well with a fork or small whisk. Slowly add the olive oil until the dressing is smooth and creamy.

Add the lettuce and toss gently to coat the leaves with the dressing. Divide the greens between three plates. Sprinkle with the Parmesan. Cut the chicken breasts into thin diagonal strips and place one on each plate of greens. Drizzle with any accumulated juices from the chicken plate.

Lay some additional anchovies onto the greens (2-3 per plate. Serve with additional pepper and Parmesan.

Croutons wouldn't hurt.

Making Our Dreams Come True !!!

It is like the sand castle post: your photos are amazing like all you do, they keep getting better, you are an artist, you're always moving ahead making things better and I keep plugging forward with my systems, schedules, goals, spelling and grammatical errors..... Together our stories work....We are a good fit Laverne :)

The blog really is about who we are, the differences and similarities and just like the sand castles we are both good, just different....

the world around us is exactly the same, different but good.
The thing is together we have found a way to become better at being us... I am pleased to walk this walk with you,
Making our dreams come true

So cheers to us for always remaining who we are, accepting and encouraging each other.
Although.....I know you are the smarter one,

I am okay with being the sappy one :)

Frugal Feasts: New Column Today, Exclusively in The Concord Monitor

You can read today's column here, or over at The Concord Monitor Website. Ken Williams' photos are so much better than ours, it's worth the click!

Vacation Bake

Anticipation is the best part of a family vacation. We've gotten through more than a few dreary, laundry filled afternoons lost in our daydreams. In our fantasy worlds the skies are always sunny, the children never fight and the cottages we rent are well stocked with sharp knives, big pots and enough forks for every single member of the family to get their own at dinner.

The reality tends to come up just the tiniest bit short. If money were no object, we'd like to be whisked away to some exotic location where we could shed our regular routine and be waited on hand and foot. How lovely it would be to bring our families to an all-inclusive resort where the toughest chore would be trying to decide which blender drink to order at the swim-up bar. In the cool evenings we'd gather with our many children around the dinner buffet and not once have to remind anyone to use the tongs. Ahhhh. Back here in reality, the venue might change but the chores are the same. On our vacations laundry still has to be done, and meals must be planned and cooked. In our price range, that usually means working in a tiny kitchen with one good pot, a half melted spatula and a refrigerator that can't quite get a good chill on the chardonnay.

So how do we make it special? It's the little rituals that make a family vacation memorable. Ice cream every night of course, and sure, get the sprinkles. Trips to the go-cart track. Tchotkes and gaudy screen printed t-shirts and huge boxes of salt water taffy from the souvenir shop. Face painting too if the booth is open. But what about the kids you ask? Oh don't worry; we let them do stuff too.

Part of the fun of having a large family is watching the various parallel vacations going on at the same time. We like to park ourselves under our umbrellas, enjoy the sound of the ocean and maybe finish an entire crossword puzzle while the little kids are engrossed in castle building and creature collecting. Then, about a half a mile down the beach, the teenagers are having their own vacation. They have positioned their towels as far from the family as possible while still being within shouting distance of the chips. Heaven forbid anyone think that they are at the beach with their parents.

As long as the sun is shining, all is well in vacationland. And if it rains, well that's why God gave us board games to play, and gave teenagers eyes to roll.

This week's frugal feast is a pasta recipe that makes good use of local produce, and can be made in even the most basic of cottage kitchens. All you really need is a pot big enough for boiling the rotini. We've got a great trick that will really stretch a half pound of shrimp: slice each one in half lengthwise. They still look like whole shrimp, just a little on the thin side. Just like us in our vacation daydreams. For more information on this recipe and our vacation fantasies, check out our blog: www.frugalfeastsblog.com

Baked Summer Pasta with Shrimp and Zucchini

6 servings $1.76 each
8 ounces rotini or other short pasta, cooked according to package directions
8 ounces bacon
1 bunch scallions, chopped
8 ounces fresh or frozen corn
1 pound small zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
8 ounces frozen shrimp, thawed, peeled and sliced lengthwise in half
1 24 ounce jar medium salsa
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Fry the bacon in a large oven proof skillet until crisp. Crumble bacon and set aside.
Remove all but 2 tablespoons from the pan. Add the scallions and sauté over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until limp and glossy. Add raw shrimp and sauté for an additional minute, just until shrimp starts to turn pink.
Add the cooked rotini, corn, zucchini and salsa and stir to combine.
Top with the shredded cheddar and the crumbled bacon and place in preheated 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes and bake until bubbly around the edges and cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Serve with additional salsa on the side.