How Funny Can You Be Eating Spinach?

My Husband Flew The Coop

Oops.  A little typo.  My husband is building the coop.  Thank goodness.  I'm glad he's still around. 

Jeff is getting lots of help.

  His best helper, Tristan, has all the right tools.

 

I can't wait for it to be finished so the little henny pennies can move in.  Grace has named them already: Ruth and Naomi.  If we get 4, the other two will be Mary and Elizabeth.  If we get 5, I get to pick the name and I pick Omeletta.  (grin)  But I think we'll start with 2.

The coop will be the Sunny Side Up Hut.  The nesting boxes will be, of course, The Egg Plant.  And the run will be The Chicken Strip.  Only 4 cells of my brain remain.  It's tough being the sole, self-appointed building-namer of our household. 

A Secret About Popsicles

If you mix blueberry juice and pureed spinach,

and freeze it in a popsicle mold,

no one is the wiser!

When Your CSA Box Gives You Lemons...

...make a Lemon Tart!! 

I couldn't even wait to take a picture before diving into it.  Isn't it so nice and glossy and creamy?!

I used the recipe for Lemon Tart from The New Best Recipe Cookbook (a cookbook from America's Test Kitchen).  The recipe called for making lemon curd (from the juice and zest of about 5 of our CSA lemons, hallelujah!) on the stovetop, straining out the zest, and making sure to use all non-reactive bowls and utensils.  It was so worth it. 

The crust was perfect--tender but not chewy, with bite, but not crunchy. What was it? I don't know. It was perfect. (The crust did brown too much on the edges, but I should have been watching it closer and covered it).

The tart was creamy, rich, and bursting with lemon flavor, not cloying sweetness.

It was the best lemon anything I have ever had. 

Lemon Tart from The New Best Recipe cookbook:

1 recipe Sweet Pastry Dough for Prebaked Tart Shell, fully baked and still warm (see below)

7 large egg yolks, plus 2 large eggs

1 C plus 2 T sugar

2/3 C juice and 1/4 C finely grated zest from 4-5 medium lemons

pinch salt

4 T unsalted butter, cut into 4  pieces

3 T heavy cream

Oven 375.  In a medium non-reactive bowl whisk yolks and whole eggs til combined.  Add sugar & whisk.  Add lemon juice and zest and whisk.  Transfer to a non reactive saucepan and add butter pieces.  Cook over med-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until curd thickens to a thin sauce-like consistency and registers 170 on a candy thermometer (~5 min).  Immediately pour the curd through a fine mesh stainless steel strainer over a clean non-reactive bowl.  Stir in heavy cream.  Pour curd into warm tart shell immediately.  Bake til filling is shiny & opaque and center 3 inches jiggle slightly when shaken, 10-15 min.  Cool on wire rack about 1 hr. Remove outer ring and tart pan bottom and place on a serving plate.  Serve within several hours.

Sweet Pastry Dough for Prebaked Tart Shell

1 large egg yolk

1 T heavy cream

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 C flour

2/3 C confectioner's sugar

1/4 tsp salt

8 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Whisk yolk, cream, vanilla in small bowl.  Place flour, c. sugar, and salt in a food processor and process briefy to combine.  Add butter and process til mixture resembles coarse meal--about 15 1 second pulses.  With the processor running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together, about 12 seconds.  Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6 inch disk.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.

Remove the dough from the fridge.  Unwrap and roll out between 2 lightly floured sheets of parchment or plastic wrap to a 13 inch round.  Trasfer dough to a 9 inch tart pan using a rolling pin to unroll it over the pan.  Ease the dough into the pan corners and press the dough against the fluted edges.  Roll the rolling pin over the top of the tart pan to remove the excess dough.  Set the dough lined trt pan on a large plate and freeze 30 min. 

Meanwhile, heat oven to 375.  Set the dough lined tart pan on a baking sheet and press foil into the tart shell and over the edge and fill with pie weights.  Bake 30 min.  Remove foil and weights and bake 5-8 min longer.   

Pumpkin Cake Pops

I embarked upon a journey…of the cake pop kind.

It was a journey fraught with mishaps and words that are somewhat naughty.

But first birthdays are so special.

So I took one for the team.

I was under the mistaken impression that holding my breath and pressing my lips together would cause the cake ball to stay on the lollipop stick and persuade the candy coating to sheet off in perfect smoothness.

I was wrong. So wrong. I don’t think, in my life, I’ve ever had so much trial and error in one day.

But right about the time I was beginning to curse Bakerella, this started to happen:

Then this developed:

Then this occurred:

Then this transpired:

Then this took place:

And I became a happy cake pop maker indeed, arriving safely to my cake pop destination.

I’m embarking on a different journey tomorrow. Of the stupid-computer-you’re-lucky-I-don’t-sledgehammer-you kind. It’s actually a journey to Best Buy. I tell you, that Geek Squad sees me coming and they say “the usual Mrs. Bee?” and I say “yes please, boys” while handing over my infected computer and my Visa. So, if I’m not commenting on your blogs, please know that I miss you terribly and I’m not being neglectful. I’m just computerless for a while.

The Cakes

Pumpkin cakes for the little pumpkins. I have a pan. It makes a pumpkin top and a pumpkin bottom. I glue top and bottom together with frosting. Then I go do a crossword puzzle. But here is my plan. I let everyone think I hand-sculpted the cakes, toiling for many hours, throwing out unsuitable prototypes, never resting until I had acheived cake art. Then I bat my eyelashes and say "these old things?" and dismiss the compliments with a wave of my hand, all the while wondering just what 3 Down was if 14 Across really started with a B. Dah!! Did I just say that out loud?? My secret plan is ruined!

Dinner in a Pinch

It's 5:45 pm.

I haven't given a single thought to putting dinner on the table.

Here's dinner in a pinch and it's gonna work out nicely.

Pasta is the go-to dinner. So let's start with spaghetti. Boil it up in some salted water.

And don't break the pasta!

Lidia wouldn't approve.

I'm sure you're all having a hard time following so far.

Then, of course, we need some sauce. I'm going to boost this up a bit. Our base will just be a simple marinara.

I had some mushrooms leftover from last night's calzone.

I chopped them up and threw them in.

I added a can of Italian-style stewed tomatoes,

coarsely chopped, just for some texture and a little extra flavor.

Uh oh, here's another one of those blasted purees. A broccoli one at that. Stop wrinkling your nose. I forgot to pull it out of the freezer, so here it is thawing in some hot water.

Add that in.Now I throw a few meatballs into the sauce and

simmer it for however long it takes me to fix the rest of this pinchy meal.

Remember the dutch oven bread? Now's a great time to use it. Slice up a few pieces.

Butter them.

Sprinkle on some garlic powder. If I had more time,

I'd have cooked up a little chopped garlic in butter

and spread that on the bread.

But the tribe is getting restless, and frankly,

I'm a little scared of impending anarchy.

So garlic powder it is.

Then I sprinkle on some grated parmesan and romano.

They call this cheese "lively" blend. I love that. It's lively.

I'm going to say that from now on when I want to describe something.

I put the bread on a cookie sheet, then throw it under the broiler for a bit.

Oh look how lively that bread looks! SIGH. Stop it.

Something's missing.

A little color on the plate.

These Green Giant vegetable packs are dinner's best kept secret.

They come in all kinds of varieties and, surprisingly,

they don't have a lot of extra muck added.

Just a touch of butter and salt and they are magically tasty! You can microwave them in the steamer bag that is included. Perfect. Four minutes to dinner.

Plate it all up and here's dinner.

So simple. And it's a dinner that I'm not ashamed of. Awww...look at our quiet, romantic dinner.

Oh who am I kidding? Let's keep it real. This is what dinner really looks like,

complete with an equestrian guest. (I wouldn't have it any other way). Isn't it lively?

First Guest Blogger: Strawberry Shortcake

It's a proud day here at Kitchen with Kids.

I've got my first guest blogger!

She's truly savvy when it comes to desserts

and she's come to school you on a summertime favorite:

Strawberry Shortcake

You all know her.

You all love her.

Bug.

My first guest blogger, Bug!

Normally a sidekick, today head chef!

I'll be helping narrate, but really, this is all hers...

She'd like to start with making the whipped cream,

which in her words (and mine, and many of yours), is the best part.

Pour a cup of heavy whipping cream into a mixing bowl.

It is recommended that you chill the bowl and whisk, but

we never have the patience for that and it never seems to matter.

Add a tablespoon (or more if you're us and like everything too sweet) of sugar.

Bug is using granulated, but superfine or powdered works well too.

If you'd like additional flavor, and a teaspoon or two of vanilla. "This is gonna be so good!" If using a stand mixer, lock the arm into the down position...

...and begin whipping!

In a few minutes, the volume will begin to double. Keep mixing until

soft peaks begin to form. If the cream splashes at first, start on low

speed and then progress to higher speeds as it thickens.

Overwhipping leads to butter, and we didn't make biscuits,

so keep an eye out for soft peaks.

A nice little recap from my guest blogger:

Now Bug would like to talk about the

strawberries involved in this lovely dessert.

For our purposes on this particular evening,

we baked a nice yellow sponge cake.

Any cake you like will do.

Pound cake, yellow cake,

angel food cake, or even it's

namesake, shortcake!

Next, Bug will take you through the assembly of the strawberry shortcake.

In a nutshell, let's eat! And that's a wrap! Thanks, Bug!

And since no filming is complete without an outtake,

I leave you with this.