July 8th: Chocolate Chip Crisps AND Thai Noodle Salad

[SEE BELOW FOR UPDATED VERSION]


Olivia and I planned to make these cookies today, but we ended up having help, as Jayna and Grace joined us for the baking. This went surprisingly well; each girl took turns adding ingredients and stirring or mixing. Plus, they were happy to snack on chocolate chips while waiting their turns. Yummy crispy cookies, from Best Summer Weekends Cookbook:


Chocolate Chip Crisps


1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups crisp rice cereal 
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or, as we did, a mix of chocolate chips and peanut butter chips, yum!)


Preheat oven to 350 F.


Beat butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl on medium speed of an electric mixer until light and creamy.


In a second large bowl, combine flour, oats, soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture, stirring until blended.


Gently mix in cereal and chips. Drop by spoonfuls onto baking sheets. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until lightly browned. Underbake for chewy cookies; bake longer for crisp ones. Cool on wire rack.


Makes about 5 dozen cookies. (We made 61!)

Then - Supper. It's taken me almost two weeks to find the time to type out this recipe, but I couldn't let it go; this was the best meal I've made since Cinco de Mayo. Vietnamese and Thai food are some of my favourites, and this salad is much like lunches I used to buy when I was working, only better, because I made it myself. It's full of strong flavours: lime, cilantro and fish sauce. Greg and Olivia probably didn't love it quite as much as me, but I thought it was fantastic. I ate the leftovers for breakfast the next day. I topped our salad with cooked chicken; you could also top it with shrimp or tofu or spring rolls. Yum yum. Awesome summer meal: from Best Summer Weekends Cookbook: Thai Noodle Salad:


Thai Dressing


1-2 fresh hot peppers, seeded and chopped, OR 1-2 tsp (5-10 mL) red chili paste
3 tbsp (45 mL) fresh lime juice
2 tbsp (30 mL) fish sauce
2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
1 tbsp (15 mL) sesame oil
2 tbsp (30 mL) crunchy peanut butter
1 tsp (5 mL) sugar
2 tbsp (30 mL) fresh cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped


Combine all ingredients for dressing and refrigerate until needed.




Thai Noodle Salad


6 oz (170 g) rice vermicelli or rice stick noodles
1/4 lb (125 g) snow peas (about 2 cups/500 mL)
1/2 red pepper, seeded and cut in slivers
2 cups (500 mL) lettuce, shredded
2 green onions, cut in diagonal slivers
1/4 cup (60 mL) peanuts, chopped
1 lime, thinly sliced 


Cook the noodles or vermicelli in a large quantity of boiling salted water until tender, about 3-4 minutes for the noodles and a scant minute for the vermicelli. Drain well, toss with a little dressing, and refrigerate until needed.


Blanch the snow peas for about a minute in lightly salted boiling water. Drain and immediately put into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain again and slice on the diagonal.


Just before serving, toss noodles with snow peas, red pepper, and remaining dressing. Arrange salad on a bed of shredded lettuce and garnish with green onions, chopped peanuts, and lime slices.


Serves 4. 

July 4th: Rideau Hall picnic drinks

I'm on maternity leave. I love being on maternity leave in a big, big way. I am absolved from all responsibility in the working world. No one judges me for not working. I take a cute baby with me everywhere I go and everyone assumes she's a boy. I get to spend more time with Olivia than I have since I was last on maternity leave 4 years ago. What's not to love?

O and I made a list of activities to do this summer to keep us busy, entertained, and out of the house. Picnics are to happen on a regular basis. We did our first picnic a few weeks ago at the Ottawa Farmers' Market with Janice and Lucas. Amazing cheese pizza by The Flatbread Pizza Company. Wonderful baked potato by The Hot Potato Company. Drinks by I don't know, but I bought 4! It was a hot day. And of course, ice cream by Ottawa's favourite, Pascale.

This week we did picnic number two at Rideau Hall, the Governor General's residence. Beautiful grounds, large play structure, clean public washrooms, and everything for free! I kept the food pretty simple: crackers, cheese, meat by Bearbrook Game Meats Inc., devilled eggs and apple walnut cake for dessert.

And drinks, lots of drinks, all from The Yummy Life. I have seen this blog linked several times recently on Facebook and decided to try out three drink recipes: banana-strawberry oatmeal smoothie, raspberry-lime water, and cold coffee. All were good.

I can't vouch too much for the smoothie, as I can't eat raw bananas. O said she didn't really like it. I might try out another flavour combo.

I added a bit of sugar to the water, which was tasty and refreshing.

I guzzled the coffee, made with milk and sugar added. I pay big bucks to get similar drinks at Starbucks, Second Cup and Tim Hortons. I plan to try more recipes from this site!

Hot baby cooling off in the shade.

Cutest kid in the world.

July something: berry popsicles and apple walnut cake

I have lost track of when things were made. I used to know by the date the picture was taken, but things like popsicles and cake can be made and eaten over a period of time. At some point in the last week or so, I have made berry popsicles and apple walnut cake. Both were good. As time is of the essence in my life these days, enough chatter, here are the recipes:


Berry popsicles (from Best Summer Weekends Cookbook)


1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 strips lemon zest (approximately 1/2" x 3")
2 cups fresh berries (I used strawberries, raspberries and blueberries)
1 cup apple juice


Combine sugar, water and lemon zest in a small saucepan and bring to a boil for 1 minute, or until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool. Remove zest.


Rinse berries. Sort through them to remove any stems or leaves, and hull strawberries (if using). Place the berries in a small saucepan, crush gently and bring to a boil over medium heat. If you're making the syrup with blueberries or blackberries alone, add 1/4 cup water to the pot; no water is necessary if you're using strawberries, raspberries, or a mixture of red and blue berries. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 5-7 minutes.


Push the cooked berries through a fine mesh sieve (to puree them, leaving the seed and skins behind), then add the cooled sugar syrup. Or puree the berries in a blender or food processor with the sugar syrup, then strain through a fine mesh sieve.


Combine 2 cups of the berry syrup with 1 cup of apple juice. Pour mixture into moulds and freeze overnight.


Makes 6 - 9 pops.


These are super sweet. I might cut back on the sugar next time.


[for Patricia:

Mold is the American spelling for all senses of the word meaning, among other things, (1) a frame for shaping something, (2) to shape in a mold, and (3) any of various fungi that commonly grow on organic matter and are often associated with decay. Mould is the British spelling. American English has no mould, and British English has no mold.

Australian and Canadian English favor the British spelling, though mold is fairly common in Canadian publications.


from Grammarist]

Sadie would rather suck on her hand.
Wise choice, oh young one.

Apple Walnut Cake (from Lost Recipes)

Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 apples, peeled and grated

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 cup raisins

Glaze

1/2 cup buttermilk

8 tbsps unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325F. Grease 13 by 9-inch baking dish.


Whisk flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in large bowl. In sparate bowl whisk sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla together until sugar is mostly dissolved. Stir sugar mixture into flour mixture until just combined. Gently fold in apples, walnuts, and raisins.


Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth top, and gently tap pan on counter to settle batter. Bake until golden brown and toothpick inserted in centre comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Let cake cook in pan for 10 minutes.


Meanwhile, bring buttermilk, butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt to simmer in medium saucepan, and cook, stirring often, until butter is melted and sugar is completely dissolved, 1 to 2 minutes. While cake is still warm, poke holes all over top with wooden skewer. Slowly pour glaze over cake in even layer. Let cake sit until cooled completely and glaze has been absorbed, about 2 hours. Serve.

Serves 15-18.


Is it just me? This cake is also super sweet and I will be cutting back on the sugar next time.