homemade pizza - is anything better?

two stones. Hot. Caramelized onions and peppers. Fresh basil. Lots
o' cheese. Delish San Marzano sauce. YummyomnomYummynomnomSCHLURP!

(I did find an escapee this week, under the oven, in the warming
drawer - this was an ooey gooey delicious pie!)

5 pictures for you

Hey kids, be ready! The Mayor of FlavorTown is coming for dinner
tonight! Pan roasted chix thighs with thyme, garlic, salt, pepper,
[remove from pan and put on sheet in oven], use rendered chix fat to
sautee baby bella mushrooms in pearl cous cous, steamed half brussels
sprouts, finished with crispy shallot and almond slices, pan sauce of
all the flavor in a chicken stock, lemon juice reduction. Yummy
yummy, I want more, we finished all the thighs and the kids wanted
more, SCHLURP!

Proud mama moment

for all the parents - grandparents - and friends with children people
who "like" this page. I wanted to share a story from a friend who
just dropped off my 5 yo. They were eating lunch, sandwiches together
with some crudites. My 5 year old son said to my friend, "what is the
white stuff" (on the plate)? It was Ranch Dip. What a proud Mom
moment. The second proud moment happened at the end of lunch, when my
son said, "can I have more veggies, please?" He.is.YYS (really- he
was the one who said it!)

He is sitting on the steps, waiting for his bus, eating broccoli and
carrots! :) Love that kid!

any given night - 4 dishes, yys!

Last night was funny. I was working some more of the tomato sauce (I
use it as a base - so I generally caramelize onions & garlic, then add
tomatoes that have been blanched and chopped (in a blender), then add
herbs and freeze - great for pasta or pizza or lasagne or whatever.)
And then there was the pan-roasted and finished in the oven chicken.
With salt, pepper, and thyme, out of this world falafel, and mac n
cheese. It was a "clean the fridge" kind of night at la casa Sanchez!

And of course, it was ... YYS!

just for you, MLK

The color of the tomatoes is brown. The flesh is still red, and they
are the juiciest and sweetest tomatoes I've EVER bought in January.
Timing is good, too, since the sauce I made and froze with a bushel of
plum tomatoes is long gone. Wait. Want to hear the best part? These 4
packs of delicious, not expected delicious little bites in January --
3 packs for a buck! Really? REALLY? Wow. I am so making red, err,
brown sauce tomorrow. Here, between a 1/2 and full bushel of
tomatoes, perfectly ripe and delish, for less than $20! That's a heck
of a lot of pasta and sauce for $20!

(I also scored 10 apples for $1.98 - I think the produce truck comes
in on Mondays, so they needed to make room for the pretty fruits - and
about 30 oranges for the same. It was crazy! About 2 pounds of fresh
ginger for .99)

pan roasted chicken, sauteed brussels sprouts with crispy shallot and almond, angry smashed potatoes

The pan reduction was yummy. I liked the brightness from the thyme
that almost had a citrus quality, both in the pan sauce and in the
sauce for the sprouts. I halved and steamed them first to lock in the
color. Smashed potatoes (Gene named them because the kids were pretty
punchy and tearing around underfoot and the word "I want ... Mommy ...
" was pretty much everywhere, I was just trying to get dinner on the
table!

I love shallots. And Thyme. And Chicken thighs. And, I'm Irish. Of
course I love potatoes. (these had some celery leaf and garlic cloves
cooked with them for some extra yummyyummyshlurpiness.)

Bacon bacon bacon! (fresh off the grill, set up as smoker!)

Here's what fresh, home-cured bacon looks like. These two started out
as pork bellies from the market. They were dry cured in the fridge for
about 10 days, then smoked today for about 4 hours. I can't wait to
taste some of this batch of bacon, bacon, BAAAACON!

What possessed us, you may ask, to start making our own bacon? Well,
partially curiosity. Partially our quest to use non-processed foods.
Partially, looking at sausages one day and realizing that all of them
contained MSG as an ingredient. Go. Look at your local market. I don't
care where you live, or what brands are there. Look at sausage and you
will find it.

We have fennel, we have garlic, sundried tomatoes, cheese, salt,
pepper -- all the stuff sausages are made with, so we thought, "why
not?" and you know what? It was a.maz.ing -- so we thougt - why not do
the same with bacon. And there you have it.

YY --no, really - S!

My husband is the best husband EVER! xox Thanks babe.

gorgeous strawberries, then in season, stuffed with seasoned mascarpone cheese and almonds

Is there anything better than Vollmer Farms fresh berries? These were
fresh when we made these gorgeous little berry bites. YYS!

2 pictures for you

lime/ginger/black sesame seed oil/garlic marinated ahi tuna,
jicama/carrot/tart cherry slaw, wild rice blend cooked in 1/2 stock,
1/2 water with garlic. YY ... Schlurp!

creamed purple potatoes, purple potato chips, pan seared branzino, rainbow chard salad in cara cara and agave nectar.

yum! pretty! I liked using the ground black sesame and salt on the
chips, the chips were made in a pan with sesame oil.

scallops and shrooms, YYS!

Succulent scallops, simple preparation (lemon, garlic, olive oil and
butter), sauteed mushrooms, ginger, shallot, lemon, thyme. YYS!

I love this story: McDonalds, Dru, Ernie, and the neighbors.

Ever wonder what's in McNuggets?  http://www.naturalnews.com/032820_Chicken_McNuggets_ingredients.html

There's a reason my kids have never had them - not by my buying them, anyway. True story - when my oldest was 6, he and his little brother, 2, went on a playdate to the movies with neighbors. My 2 neighbor friends were shocked and delighted when they brought all the kids (7 total) to McD afterward and my son said, "but there's nothing here I want to eat. What about the salad, I suppose that's not so bad." so he ordered a salad for he and his brother. The other kids ate mcnuggets and fries and sodas. Operation don't go there successful.

Evelyn has still not eaten anything from McDonald's. It never became part of our habit.  It never will.

So proud my husband is a part of this!

http://blogs.usda.gov/2011/12/12/midwest-schools-find-benefits-in-serving-local-foods/

Something occurred to me today: YYS on CrockPots

Today I have 2 stocks on the stove - one chicken from last night's Lemon/Lime/anise chicken (it smells awesome!) and now beef.  I went to an ethnic market (Mexican) to get beef bones for the stock.  So many groceries no longer have a butcher on site.  this place does, and they also have limes 10/$1 right now. It's a crime really.  So I asked the guy in the back if they had any trimmings (no, they throw them away) and he looked at me like I had lost my mind.  "I only put out what my customers buy." Well, the chicken and the egg might suggest differently.  Like, perhaps your customers would by beef fat for the birds (suet), or beef trimmings for stock, or whatever.  So he brought me out to the case and showed me what I had.  Then he asked me what I was doing with them - I told him - roasting them in a hot oven with a little salt and pepper then turning them into a stock, which will be used for tonight's dinner, and the balance frozen, for use later on (and to meet the other stocks in the freezer: lobster, chicken, and vegee at the moment).  I made sure I got 2 marrow bones, one for each son, so they don't argue over it!

He looked at me, astonished, and I told him, this is what we do.  He then remembered me at the same market buying up the pork bellies (to make bacon).  I asked him if he cooks at home, he doesn't, he works a lot, is divorced, and has a 6 yo and a 1yo he is caring for. He uses the crock pot a lot.  His eyes about popped out of his head, and you could see him beginning to salivate when I suggested to him that the next time he uses his crock pot at home, he caramelize the onions, and brown the meat - and add some fond and flavor - before putting them in the crock pot.  See, crock pots don't actually add any flavor.  They don't do what meat wants done to it - or vegetables, for that matter.

So I came home with my beef bits, salted, peppered, rested, roasted, then plopped them in a hot pot with some bay, rosemary already blossomed, then seared off the bones - added a sweet onion 1/8th cut, 4 carrots, a head of celery, and about a teaspoon of black peppercorns.  My nose is conflicted.  I feel like a dog with its nose out the window.  It smells really good in my kitchen right now.  

Next time you cook using a crock pot, try this -- sautee or roast whatever protein you are planning to use -- snatch up all those brown bits from the pan.  Incorporate them into the liquid you are using to cook.  Then comment here.  I'd love to hear how it works out for you.  I bet you'll never put raw meat in your crock pot again!  

Crockpot does not add any flavor. Your success depends on you putting the flavor into the pot!

Pea Soup, YYS!

Split Pea Soup with ham (and ham stock of course!) with shaved
parmesan and dumplings. Is there anything better on a cold winter
evening?

YYS!

Banana Bread! Yummy Yum ... [gone]

This is it, the banana bread you've no doubt read about in other
posts. There are other pictures of it I'm sure - on the family blog,
in my picture books, on YYS. It is SO good. Moist. Dependable.
Delicious. Foodies love it. Old ladies love it. Children love it.
I've decided it's not my imagination or ego. It's just.good. Alone,
with butter, wine, coffee, you name it. Off I go to make 18 more
loaves. My husband is not allowed to come into the pre-Christmas
meeting without it. And if there are too few, there will be
consequences. I love him too much to see him harmed. ;)

cranberry sorbet. YYS!

More of a granita, really. I used lime juice and zest, a few frozen
organic raspberries, and for the liquid after the berries and sugar
cooked, I used some of the kids juice - pomegranate / cranberry. For
alcohol (you need to use it so that the mixture doesn't fully freeze)
I used triple sec.

Yummy Yummy SCHLURP!

This will make a nice palette cleanser between cookie and appetizer
courses tomorrow!

breakfast casserole. YYS!

hash browned potatoes, caramelized onions, ham, peppers, scrambled
eggs and cheese, in a little personal baking dish. YYS!

YYS seared and oven roasted turkey breast

As pretty as this is, not my favorite -- we used a pre-brined turkey
breast. For my taste, too salty. The rosemary and thyme seasoned the
bird perfectly and the pan sauce was divine, but next time we'll brine
ourselves. YYS!