Saturday night dinner

I have got to say how NICE it is reconnecting with old friends, and finding out that you still REALLY like them!

Not only did we have a great time last night, but old and new friends got along extremely well, which is definitely a bonus.

These are people whose parenting style I have ALWAYS admired. Their kids are 16 and 17 and were little when we became friends. I loved how well mannered their kids were, how their kids ate everything, weren't shy and how relaxed this couple was with their kids. They never treated them like children, but like intelligent people. Yes, there were fights and arguments, but you could see that these kids were happy to be around their parents.

In fact, the monkeys still use the baby blankets my friend made for them :)

Their older daughter is graduating this year and is going to Vassar. Their younger daughter is a social butterfly and very independent. I just hope my monkeys turn out as well as theirs have.

I decided to buy lobsters again, since they are still relatively cheap. The recipe I used here is still the only way to go, as far as I am concerned. To go with the lobster, I made these potatoes here (I used a mix of Yukon gold and purple Peruvian). Since my friends friend was coming with her, and she doesn't eat lobster, I also made chicken (which was so tasty and looked beautiful). I also was not sure if my other friend who didn't eat meat, ate lobster so I also made a pasta dish I have been thinking about for a long time.

Roast Chickens with Black Pepper—Maple Glaze
ACTIVE TIME 20 MIN
TOTAL TIME 2 HRS 30 MIN

6 SERVINGS

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
Coarsely ground pepper
2 medium onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
Two 3 1/2-pound organic chickens (I used one 5.5 lb chicken)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the maple syrup and 2 teaspoons of coarsely ground pepper. Remove the glaze from the heat.

2. On a large heavy-duty rimmed baking sheet, toss the sliced onions with the olive oil. Season the onions with salt and pepper and spread in an even layer. Season the chickens inside and out with salt, then arrange them on top of the onions. Loosely tie the chicken legs together with kitchen string.

3. Roast the chickens for 45 minutes. Brush the chickens all over with half of the maple glaze and continue roasting them for 1 hour longer. Increase the oven temperature to 425°. Generously brush the chickens with the remaining glaze and roast for 15 minutes longer, or until the cavity juices run clear and the chickens are richly browned.

4. Transfer the chickens to a platter and let rest for 10 minutes before carving. Pour the onions and pan juices into a large glass measuring cup and skim the fat from the surface. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the chickens. (I never do the pan juices because I am too lazy, but I do serve the caramelized onions on the side, YUM!!)

--Maria Helm Sinskey

This recipe originally appeared in April 2004, Food & Wine Magazine.


Penne a la Betsy
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/09/cooking_with_my_punk-ass_little_sister_penne_a_la_betsy/


1 pound of extra large shrimp. It should already be peeled and deveined.
butter
olive oil
1 small onion (diced)
2 cloves minced garlic
8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup wine
parsley
Basil
salt
pepper
3/4 lb. penne pasta

Rinse shrimp under cool water. Heat about a tablespoon of butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the raw shrimp and cook for a couple of minutes. Remove and let cool.

Cook penne. While penne is cooking. Heat 2 tablespoons butter in skillet. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add garlic and onion and begin cooking stirring occasionally.

Take the cooked shrimp and pull off their tails and cut into bite sized pieces. Set aside.

Add wine to garlic mixture. Then add tomato sauce and stir well. Now add heavy cream.

Add shrimp, 1 tablespoon parsley and 1 tablespoon basil to mixture. Stir well. Add cooked noodles, mix and Enjoy!!!

Since I was already making lobster I omitted the shrimp this time. Next time I will add it. Also, I didn't have tomato sauce so I used 4 tiny diced tomatoes and some Italian seasonings. Next time I will use tomato sauce. I did add the fresh herbs at the end. Also, I used fat free half and half. It's hard for me to use full fat products.

So, even though I TOTALLY butchered this recipe (and I feel horrible because I LOVE Ree, the Pioneer Woman) I LOVED it the way I made it, and think I will love it differently when I make it the right way.

Here are some picture of my monkeys, the older monkeys friend and our "old" and great friends.

Best mom or worst mom...it's fine line

My friend and I decided to take our daughters to the Santa Monica Pier. I felt like Lee the Super Mom :)

I was pretty hesitant to go - 3 kids between the ages of 4 and 7?? On a crowded pier with 2 adults?? MADNESS!! My friend talked me in to it with LA logic - it was so "cold" that it wouldn't be as crowded as normal.

For everyone outside of the Los Angeles area, let me explain what cold means to us here - the high was 64 degrees. And she was right - very few people were there.

We were able to ride all the rides we wanted with no wait. There were a couple of rides that the kids didn't even get off of until they were tired of the ride! One ride, the Frog One, the kids were on it for like 20 minutes straight. It took that long to get more than 8 kids who wanted to ride it at one time!

We also let them do the jumpee ride - the one where they hook you up to harnesses and you can jump really high! By that time it was getting really cold (about 60 degrees) and we were starving. But the kids begged, and we gave in. First we made them tell us who the best moms in the world were (which they did). Mom can not live on joyous and happy child alone - we need kudos too!

That whole "Best Mom" thing lasted for all of 10 minutes. Once we got in the car it was all over - "how many exits", "I'm HUNGRY" (of course that's our fault, not the fault of the munchkins who wouldn't leave for the past 1.5 hours), "my tummy ache hurts", "why can't we eat crackers on the way to sushi" (we had given them chewy chocolate and peanut butter bars, and thought crackers on top of it would ruin their appetites).

We so were not the "best moms" anymore - do you hear the hurt in my voice coming through the blogosphere???

The kids had a great day, I LOVED to watch them have a good time, they didn't fight amongst themselves (hardly) or with the Big Monkeys friend, AND (my favorite part) they were BOTH asleep by 8pm!!

Kids Birthday Parties

Kids love birthday parties! And so do I actually. Somehow, in two hours, the kids are able to pack in about 4 hours worth of fun.

This one was at a Bowling Alley. The monkeys' had a really good time and the little monkey bowled better than most everyone else. Including the big monkey! And oh was the big monkey upset. How dare the little one do better than the big one????? It didn't help that the big ones' friends were all amazed by how well the little one was doing and were happy for her, and proud of her.

So, what does the big monkey say???? "THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!."

Hearing those words are like nails screeching on a blackboard to me. Not fair? There are children starving in Ethiopia...my parents couldn't even afford to buy me a cabbage patch doll...I can't go in to Neiman Marcus and buy whatever I want...those are the things that are REALLY unfair!!

Green eyed monster, anyone? It's amazing how sisters can love each other and want to kick each others ass at the same time ;)

After a while all was forgiven - the perfect meal was served. Pizza, french fries (according to my friend, these were french fries on crack, because they really were that good!), vegetable platter and cupcakes and dots (the ice cream). What more can children ask for???

The perfect birthday party.

I'm a dork

I had an hour to kill after work, before I met a good friend for sushi (I haven't eaten "real" sushi/sashimi in what feels like months). We have a children's Birthday Party to go to, for the big monkey's friend tomorrow and I still needed to buy a gift. So, off to Barnes and Nobles I went.

According to another friend, I have almost a Birthday party a week. She's exaggerating, but sometimes it does feel that way.

I have decided that 6-8 year old girls have random taste in clothes (I never know if the cute Hannah Montana shirt is going to be well received or not), have way too many toys and don't want educational things (except my freak monkeys, who love to receive workbooks as gifts). So, I've settled on Chapter books and other books. Most kids this age are just discovering the joy of books and the worlds that the stories open up! I ended up getting her Paula Deen's My First Cookbook and a kit with Apron, wooden spoon and utensils. Her family likes to cook - hopefully she'll like it.

While there, I HAD to look around for myself - books are my biggest weakness. I could easily spend $100/month at Barnes and Noble!

I was SOOOO excited - two books I was waiting for came out this month!
Heather Graham - Deadly Gift, book 3 of The Flynn Brothers Trilogy
Nora Roberts - The Pagan Stone, book 3 of The Sign of Seven Trilogy

I walked out of the book store absolutely giddy with anticipation! I love getting back to the characters I have grown fond of. I can't wait to get a couple of hours to my self so that I can read!

Yes, I'm a dork, but a happy dork :)

And the sushi was, hands down, the best I have had in a very long time!

Feeling like I'm back in middle school

Normally, I can walk up to anyone and start talking about anything. I'm friendly with all the moms at the monkeys' dance class, with all the moms in school, with pretty much most people I meet. And I am the friend who will come up to anyone and start chatting.

At my Zumba class, there are two girls, who are also Russian. I would love to strike up a conversation with them and maybe become friends. I've chatted with some of the other women there, and they are very nice. For some reason, I am shy in front of these two. I think, from experience with my own kind, that these girls may be opinionated and may look down on me. So, why do I want to be-friend them? No clue. I feel like I'm in middle school all over again.

Tonight, I did come up to them and tell them how they could stream Zumba music (they had asked the teacher about it a couple of weeks ago in class) and they were nice enough but that was the end of the conversation.

I should take a page from the big monkeys book. According to her, she just comes up to people and says "Do you want to be my friend"? If they say yes, she plays with them. If not, she moves on.

I'm sure she gets hurt if they say no, but that doesn't stop her! I guess it's a matter of do as I teach, not as I do :)

Gratuitous photo of the big monkey:

Happy Thanksgiving

I am extremely thankful:

For this country...
Where I am free to "Pursue happiness" no matter what my religious, political or moral beliefs are.
Where people voluntarily get in a Best Buy line at 2pm to be the first when the doors open at 5am the next morning - instead of standing in a bread line for hours to get food to live.
For the immigrants who came before me, who paved the way for my family to escape religious and political persecution.

For my children...
For reminding me that there is a fine line between sanity and absolutely frickin' nuts!
Who don't take me as seriously as I take myself.
Who remind me that it's OK to be sad and mad - by teaching them I reinforce these lessons in myself.
Who I love more than anything else in this world - and who infuriate me at the same time!

For the 16 lb. turkey...
Who gave his life so I may stuff at least 4 of the lbs. in to my face in one sitting, and then pick at at least 1 more lb. throughout the rest of the day.
Who is responsible for me laying on my back, with my belly looking at least 5 months pregnant.

For my friends...
Who I know will always be there, via telephone, text, email, facebook or blogger, for me day or night!

HAVE A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today is not one of those days

Today - I am not very lucid ;)

I have a lot of thoughts in my head, but none are REALLY landing in a cohesive pattern. So, with that said I will walk you through my day (not that anyone is interested, but I'm not really sure what else to write about). This day is pretty typical except for the fact that Wednesdays are one of the 2 days of the week when the monkeys don't have activities that I am taking them to or picking them up from.

7am-8am - Wake-up and take a shower. As soon as I get out of the shower, the big monkey comes in and starts talking to me. We review the concepts of "greater than" and less than" - this involves me making the "greater than" and "less than" signs with my arms and threatening to eat her because she is bigger than the little monkey. Pretty good for just wearing a towel . Subsequently, I get to referee a battle between her and the baby sitter about her "crazy hair day" hair style! Too late to make lunch for the big monkey, so $1 it is (for school lunch).
8am-9am - Drive big monkey to school going west, head back east to drop off the little monkey, listen to pre-school teacher complain that little monkey isn't memorizing her words for the winter concert (um, thanks for bitching about this every day but we have over a month left until the damn concert). Drive back west to work, getting in at almost 9am.
9am-7pm - Work, be nice to people calling on the phone, repeating the same answer I've given AT LEAST 100 times already, all with a smile in my voice. Get taken out to lunch by a vendor (yay! free lunch at a yummy place! with leftovers in the office kitchen for tomorrow! can't wait). Work some more, be nice to more people on the phone, off-load some work on to my amazing staff, work some more and go home! At home, review "greater than" and less than", "1 more and 1 less", "10 more and 10 less", realize that my ranting and yelling has worked and the big monkey understands (at least for today), eat some dinner and play with the kids for a few minutes.
7pm-8pm - Go to my FAVORITE new obsession - ZUMBA. This is like a dance class on CRACK! I can tell that I'm getting an amazing workout. It's also renewing my love of dance. I haven't taken dance class in so long that I didn't know if I would just suck the big one! Well - I'm on my 3rd week (2 times a week) and am actually doing quite well (in my own mind). I keep up quite well and am even starting to anticipate some of the steps.
8pm-8:30pm - Come home and read the big monkey the end of The English Roses by Madonna. Great book and the big monkey falls asleep.
8:30pm-now - Procrastinate cleaning and paying bills by zoning in bed, watching my TIVO'd shows and reading other peoples blogs for inspirations.

Wow! Wasn't that just scintillating???? If you're still awake after hearing about my THRILLING day, drop me a line and tell me what you do on a typical day!

What do you think?

Why does the big monkey think that I should come up with her spelling sentences? And decide whether her writing is neat. It's constantly "what do you think"? I guess I should be lucky that she's asking my opinion at all. It's just that suddenly -I'm in 1st grade. I don't remember my parents ever helping me come up with sentences - heck their English was pretty darn poor only 2 years after coming to America.

So how did I survive??

Either kids were more resourceful back then or the kids today are just plain dumber (I'm only partially kidding). We've made it so easy for them to get help on the answers that they don't need to think too hard about anything. We are making "survival of the fittest" a crap shoot for their generation.

It's not just me either - there are plenty of articles that talk about parents enabling kids to the point of writing notes to their work excusing "Billy" from work due to illness or just being tired!! As I have stated before, my parents are immigrants. We are used to hard work! My parents stood in lines for hours for bread and then trudged home in the snow! No excuses for them!

Maybe that's why I am struggling to draw a fine line with helping my children with whatever I can (each generation has to do better than the previous) and teaching them how to be independent.

In regard to my goal of health and money savings, I've realized that I need to plan for bringing lunches - otherwise I'm more tempted to go out and spend money. I've been taking whatever is available. Some examples:

* Two garden burger patties (taken from home) covered with salsa and queso cheese dip (found in the work kitchen).
* Lean Cuisine Ravioli (that I brought to work about 1 year ago)
* Leftover Waffles

It dawned on me - if make a crock pot meal once a week I will be able to have at least 3 no-brainer, healthy lunches. Apparently I'm a slow learner ;)

Last night I decided to make a meal I have been eyeing for a while.

Crock pot Thai Chicken
Bettycrocker.com



8 chicken thighs (I use 3 lbs chicken legs)
3/4 cup salsa (I should have used 1.5 cups or whole jar)
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
1/4 cup chopped peanuts (didn’t added – I had walnuts, pine nuts and macadamia nuts, but no peanuts)
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro (I forgot to add)

Place chicken in crock pot. Mix other ingredients except peanuts and cilantro. Pour over chicken. Cook for 8 hours on low. (4 HOURS ON LOW FOR BONELESS BREASTS)

Save the peanuts for garnish, along with the cilantro.

Posted by Claire 797 from the Cooking Light Bulletin Board


WARNING - don't do what I did!!! Don't layer each ingredient separately in to the crock pot. If you do layer each ingredient in to the crock pot, mix around before cooking, if you don't mix before cooking, mix about 1 hour before taking out of crock pot.

If not - the top pieces will have chunks of creamy peanut butter on them - BLECH!!! Then, you will have to re-heat in a frying pan (see above) to mix up all the ingredients sufficiently.

So - I think that this could be really good if it wasn't for user error - and a little bit of tweaking on my part.