Someone’s In the Kitchen with Daddy

(3 gallons worth)

Never go shopping on an empty stomach – good advice for groceries or for paint. read more.

Ever since our daughter has been able to talk, when she’s asked what kind of ice cream she wants, it has always been the same, “vanilla!”. Put chocolate sauce on top and she’s in Heaven.

Still, it didn’t take us long to realize that she never ate very much. So we stopped asking and resorted to sharing a little of our own with her – my wife’s mint chocolate chip and, occasionally, my mocha chip. It wasn’t her good ol’ vanilla, but she was happy. And, again, she never ate a ton.

We took our Sweetie out for ice cream today. My wife changed gears and got a thick chocolate frappe. Considering Sweetie’s love for chocolate smoothies, we thought she would be thrilled with the choice.

Our daughter did admit that the frappe was “yummy”, but she was much more interested in what I brought to the (picnic) table. She climbed up to my side of the bench and sat next to me to more easily share my mocha chip waffle cone. Sure, a few licks – no problem! (The “Daddy’s Little Girl” shirt helped a little)
However, in a matter of minutes she had inched closer, and in no time I found myself looking at the back of her head. The little mooch was between me and my ice cream! Yes the plan was to share, but never has she had so much.

“Do you like Daddy’s ice cream, Sweetie?”

“Yeah. It’s yummy yummy yummy!”

Three “yummy”’s to Mommy’s one. Houston, we have a convert.

Next time, I’m getting a large.

I got home from work late. Real late. Just enough time to boil some elbows (nothin’ like a quick and easy bowl of buttered pasta and “spinny cheese”) before I had to put my little girl to bed. – spinny cheese – a fresh piece of pecorino romano in the spiral cheese grater, as opposed to the shakey cheese in the green can.

I cooked up the whole box, and what didn’t get scarfed down, went into a baking dish, with some cannellini, meatless-balls from TJ’s, some parmigianno reggiano and a jar full of that lackluster sauce I may be trying in vain to make palatable. (Oh, and you can go ahead and use real meatballs, if you swing that way.)

I didn’t add anything in the way of herbs and spices, though I expect we’ll have to when it comes time to serve. I want to see what it takes to “fix” this sauce and perhaps have a better idea of what to do next time… if there is a next time.

I’ve noticed a tendency to blog about foods while they’re cooking, and/or before I’ve tried them, without always coming back with a thumbs up (or down). So, to keep up with that bad habit, let me close by saying this: I think this pasta bake dish will make up for the very soupy consistancy of the sauce, but I think it will take a pile of cheese and garlic bread to make this meal worth eating… time will tell. And, perhaps, so will I.

The kitchen, and the rest of the house, managed to get back down to a reasonable tempurature this weekend. We opened the windows, gave the AC a break (and traded in my shorts for pants).

This morning for breakfast I attempted a frittata. Well intentioned, but I overcooked it, and it was tolerable at best. So, while things were still relatively cool, and more importantly, not humid, I dragged out more of my bounty from last week’s excursion to Whole Foods. Granola was on the menu, and I wasn’t going to mess that up.

Sweetie joined me in the kitchen to “help.” She counted off the cups of oats – and then asked of every ingredient – “Should I try that?”

She liked the almonds, dates and wheat germ as-is. Apparently, though, the rolled oats “needs salt,” and the shredded coconut “needs celery.”

An hour and a half later, I had plenty of granola (22 cup’s worth) – should last a little while (If I can keep someone out of it). It seemed to cool/dry up nicely and didn’t get soft or worse, like it surely would have had I attempted this on a more humid day.

I’ve tried several versions of granola over the years. The first recipe I tried, probably the healthiest, has always been my favorite. Apple juice concentrate replaced any sugar, honey, maple syrup and most of the oil in other versions I’ve found/tried.

Unfortunately, in the past year I misplaced that recipe. I thought I got it from one of my Mom’s cookbooks, but, still, I couldn’t find it. Yet a search of the internet, plus remembering key amounts of certain ingredients, found one that was close. So I took that one and adapted it to more closely resemble my older recipe. Viola, a new favorite was born…. thanks to the addition of brown sugar. (just like I knew it would.)

In large bowl combine:

• 7 cups of Rolled oats
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1 cup almonds

In small bowl combine:

• 1/2 cup veg oil
• 1 cup applejuice concentrate, thawed
• 1/4 cup brown sugar (opt)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Mix wet with dry,
2. spread out on baking sheets,
3. bake in 325 degree oven for 90 min.
4. Stir every 30 minutes, adjust temp if browning too quickly.
5. Sprinkle 1 cup dates, chopped, on granola for last 20 min. of cooking.
6. Cool, store in airtight container

I generally make a double batch, (I’d make more, but it already maxes out my biggest bowl) and substitute almonds for the sesame seeds if I’m out. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup boiling water (and 1/4 cup brown sugar) if you don’t have any apple juice concentrate. Oh, and the celery, that’s optional, but not recommended.