August, 2009

  1. First Day of School

    August 31, 2009 by Tarrant Figlio

    Today was the younger set of children’s first day of school. I have a few pics that their father sent but no details yet. For the first time ever, I won’t see them at all on the first day. I have been trying not to think about that, after all I have them the rest of the first week of school. (YAY!)

    First day of school always brings out the June Cleaver brain in me though. I always wanted that mythical milk and cookies after school but for some reason, my mother never baked on the first day of school. Hmmm wonder why that was…oh perhaps the other million things stay at home moms do on the first day of school?

    In any case, I would like to pretend that had we had a “normal” first day of school (and believe me, this wouldn’t have happened even IF they were to come here right after school, even if some time machine made us the “normal” type of family) I would have made cookies for the first day.

    Chocolate chip cookies because my youngest likes them best. We confusingly (to her) call them Toll House cookies at this house. She started middle school today. My tiny baby that I am sure I could still pop into the sling and wear all day started MIDDLE SCHOOL. Yes, I knew it was coming. But, I am the mother of toddlers and a few teenagers, not mom to a tween, some teens and young adults. How did that happen?

    In any case, in honor of the youngest today, her favorite:

    Nestle Toll House Cookies AKA Chocolate Chip Cookies

    2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1 teaspoon salt
    1 cup butter, softened (actually, I use stick margarine)
    3/4 cup granulated sugar
    3/4 cup packed brown sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    2 large eggs
    1 bag (12-oz. pkg.) Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

    Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla. Then add dry ingredients. Mix until well blended. Drop spoon fulls on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 9-11 minutes at 375. Let cool a tiny bit- a minute or two- before moving to wire rack. Tell children to watch fingers and not put into their mouth before cooling enough so they don’t roast their tongues on molten chocolate chip. Serve with milk.

    Now, if it isn’t the first day of school, you can put the dough in a 9 x 13 pan and bake 20-25 minutes and have the much preferred BAR cookie. Ok, boy child and I (and every other sane parent who doesn’t live in a kitchen to do that 10 minute cookie dance) prefer bar cookies.

    Category Cookies, Recipes, retro food | Tags: | 4 Comments

  2. Crock Pickles

    August 25, 2009 by Tarrant Figlio

    Last week I made pickles. I have done this before. I have even used the recipe I used before. This time they didn’t turn out well. The cucumbers were sliced too thin. The acid too high for the thinness. I was being lazy in using the crock method. I didn’t have jars or nearly the time to pickle properly. Yes, something I should have considered before buying the box of pickling cucumbers but they were a good deal. Or were…until I messed them up. They lay in wait in the fridge while I consider whether there is something to rescue them, but I think not.

    That doesn’t mean that Stocking Up, my not retro but 1990s preserving cookbook is not still my favorite. I just should have followed directions better.

    Does anyone else not follow a recipe exactly and then realize later there was a reason it was done in such a way?

    Category retro food | Tags: | 3 Comments

  3. Specialty and Wild, Crazy Specialty

    August 19, 2009 by Tarrant Figlio

    My children have a dish they all generally agree on. My love likes it. My mother likes it. Spare children at our house for dinner love it. I don’t. I will eat it if starved. Maybe.

    This recipe came into being once upon a time when I did think I loved it. You see there was a deli that we would stop at after high school. Not really a high school sort of deli but it is where we could get a meatball sub…or their specialty. Oh who knows what they called it at that point. It was pasta, Italian red sauce and cheddar cheese. Probably called “Lets sell our leftover cheese rinds and splash of sauce and few extra noodles under a name like Macaroni and Cheese.” I loved it.

    I would think about it now and then but it wasn’t really until I had three kids under 5 or then 6 or so kids under 17 wandering about that it became part of my dinner repertoire. It had no name. It had-Easy, Cheap, kid-friendly, pantry ingredients going for it. This is the dish my big kids request along with Eggs Benedict when they come to visit. This is the dish the youngest will reliably eat every time. This is as they named it…Mommy’s Specialty. Yes, I am embarrassed to admit that my specialty has nothing unprocessed in it. Nothing. Not one thing. I might even find shame in the fact that this was served weekly for a long period of time. But, it is also the dish my kids wanted me to make for them when we visited them in England. It is the dish that makes them smile.

    So, I bet you want to know how to make this awesome meal?

    Boil a box of penne pasta or rigatoni. I do use a whole grain type these days…most of the time. Drain pasta. While pasta is draining pour a bottle of Ragu Traditional (the odd smooth one) in the pasta pot. (Transparency: Ragu was at BlogHer, but I babbled at THEM about my specialty. (The Ragu folk looked at me like I was vaguely insane.) I also have bought probably 35 bottles of Ragu a year for the last decade and don’t think I have gotten any free unless you count a buy one get one deal at the supermarket. ) No other sauce is the right one for specialty in my family’s eyes. 8 or 9 years ago I tried to use different sauces…the rebellion was imminent. Your family MAY be willing to experiment with other brands. Go for it. I won’t again unless I really can’t make the jump from generic to brand name pricing. ) Add shredded cheddar cheese. Yes, I use the pre-shredded…a whole bag. The regular size (2 cup?) bag not the giant bag. Dump drained pasta back in and stir. Turn stove off right away. If you have an electric stove-remove from burner completely unless you really like scrubbing the pot.

    As for wild and crazy-tonight I put some frozen meatballs into bake while pasta cooked and added them to the sauce, right before adding the cheese. Some members of the family weren’t sure about Wild and Crazy Specialty. Others liked it quite a bit.

    Category retro food | Tags: | 4 Comments

  4. 11 Now-Elizabeth’s Moist Normal Chocolate Cake

    August 17, 2009 by Tarrant Figlio

    Elizabeth's Chocolate CakeOne and One make 11 or so the riddle you loved for a time went.  Today you turned 11.

    11 years and a day ago I made Jim Bars for the nursing staff that would be helping bring you into the world. Two weeks late and nary a budge toward labor, though your gymnastics made up for that lack of movement. You see, I knew I was going to have you that day. The doctor had set the date for eviction proceedings. This meant a lot of tubes and medical equipment I wasn’t too happy about (and neither were you for that matter) and I was pretty much tied to the bed or the chair next to the bed while in labor with you. So, of course the tv was on. Unfortunately, the news was all about Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton that day, his taped testimony, his improper relationship, riveting I suppose if you weren’t waiting for your very own special news. Strangely television didn’t cover my labor with you. I did have a laptop then. I had a flame war on one of my boards that I tended at that time for Parent Soup. It seemed a good enough way to spend that waiting time for a while. Eventually though that was left behind as well. It kept me distracted for those last hours before you were born though. Distracted from wondering how your siblings were doing. (Though immediately after you were born, I posted to my boards and emailed everyone I knew-No Twitter then)

    But, then you came along and have distracted me ever since. You were the baby who nursed for a long time. You were the baby who didn’t nap and as I told your sister the other night, I am not 100% sure that you have yet to sleep through the night. You bounce, you cuddle, you smile, you love. You my tiniest child, my baby are growing up and surprise me each and every day. At the end of the month you start middle school. I am quite sure that it was only yesterday I was prising you off to have mommy and me time one morning a week.

    Even now though you are my special fairy child. Sometimes a bird like eater–but not today. Today you had Krispy Kremes for breakfast. You chose Eggs Benedict for dinner.

    For cake though you had an extra special request-made weeks ago-that I make it and I make a “normal” cake. Other moms might have been confused. I wasn’t. You see, my mother made cakes from scratch, when I desired a box cake like the other kids.

    So, you had your “normal chocolate cake”, no icing, just a sprinkling of powdered sugar. You will eat some frosting now but you still dislike frosting. Years of thinking around this problem has created quite the number of innovations for school cupcakes. It has been a long time since I baked a cake for your birthday, not cupcakes, not getting an ice cream cake or a slice at a restaurant. I loved making that cake today. For you, my youngest, my piece of my heart that is wild and free.

    And besides love…here is how I made your “normal cake”

    Elizabeth’s Chocolate Birthday Cake

    1 box chocolate cake mix
    1 large box instant chocolate pudding
    4 eggs
    3/4 cup water
    1 cup sour cream
    1/2 cup oil

    Mix on low until blended. Mix at a higher speed until it turns a lighter color. Then pour into a well greased bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes or until done. Let rest a moment or two then turn onto plate. Dust with powdered sugar.

    Category Cake, retro food | Tags: | 1 Comment

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