m&ms!

Tonight is boys night, so the guys are over.  One of Keith's friends brought his 5-year old daughter, Gracie, with him until his wife was able to pick her up.  By the time I got home, they had already had dinner (there was a leftover pork chop for me - yeah!) and they were watching Megamind.  When it was over, I thought it would be nice to do something fun with her and I have had this bag of m&ms sitting around for a few days, so made some cookies and had Gracie help decorate them.  They're pretty good!  I used an m&m cookie recipe I found online.  I made a couple of changes:

• I was low on brown sugar, so used 1/2 c. brown sugar and about 3/4 c. white sugar
• Since I wasn't mixing in the m&ms, I mixed in some mini chocolate chips and let Gracie put the m&ms on top

She did a great job!

At the end, I just made the last of it into two big cookies - and she wanted to take them home, but they weren't baked yet... so I told her I'd send at least one of them home with her dad.  Maybe I'll send both.  Maybe I'll keep one for me. :)

What are some fun things you like to make with kids?

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food & memories

Tonight was relaxing - movies and take-out Indian food. It was grand. We watched The Fighter, which I thought was great, although there were a lot of f-bombs. And for a movie about a boxer, the movie didn't have a ton of actual fighting, but a good amount. We also watched The Tourist, an impulse rental.  Note to self: do not impulse rent.  Reviews and plots are important.  The best part of the movie is that Johnny Depp is in it, but unfortunately I thought that's about all it had going for it. 

The Indian food was great and I got my favorite dish, chicken makhani, Keith got the beef josh, and we got some naan (flat bread) to split.

The sauce on the left (greenish) is the beef josh; the one on the right (orangish) is the chicken makhani.

Sometimes food will trigger memories - at least it does for me. I was telling Keith that the first time I had Indian food, I was in Atlanta for a work trip and my cousin/godmother Becky took me out to an Indian place for dinner.  That first experience was fun - I even remember having Indian beer - but mostly remember that it was SOOOO spicy hot. It was really good, but so very hot. Since then, I've had it a bunch of times and from a bunch of places.  I just ask for a more moderate level of spicy.

That led me to think further about this and I realized (and I'm not sure she knows this) but she is the reason I've had a couple of other food firsts.

When I was there for her daughter (my goddaughter), Sierra's baptism, Becky and Corey took me and Mary (Corey's sister and Sierra's other godmother) out to a sushi restaurant for dinner.  That was also a fun and interesting first time experience for me.  I remember someone (I think it was Becky) telling me that sushi is one of those things you don't want every day, but once you've had it, you'll someday down the road find yourself craving it.  She was right, because it was a while before I went out for sushi, again, but then the craving hit and now I love it.  It's still not something I want to eat every day, but every couple/few months I find myself wanting it now. Here's a pic of some sushi rolls I had last fall in Baltimore.

at Ra Sushi in Baltimore

Another time I was there for work, we went to a tapas restaurant.  Be careful when you tell someone you went to a tapas place for dinner, because it often comes across sounding like you went to a topless place for dinner.  There's a pretty big difference.  Anyway, we went there with Sierra (she was so little back then!!) and for some reason I remember that was the first time I had bacon-wrapped dates that were stuffed with some kind of cheese (feta, gorgonzola, or goat, maybe??) and they were delicious, even though I am typically not a fan of foods wrapped in bacon. The only other one I can think of that I like is the 'lil smokies with bacon.

But I digress... the point isn't really the food. It's the memories that they can trigger.  I had a lot of great times with Becky over some really great (and sometimes new) food and hope to have many more.  And I can credit her with broadening my horizons to try new things in my life - so, thanks Becky! 

What foods trigger memories for you?

Has someone in your life helped broaden your horizons (food or otherwise)?

blue

As I was starting to put this post together, I realized that I had to use this song -- if you haven't listened, yet, please do.  I'll hold.

....

Done?  OK, good deal - and don't judge because that song is awesome.  Now, let's get started.  I didn't really used to like blueberries that much - not plain or in other stuff.  But I have found that as I've grown up and the older I get my tastes are changing with a lot of things.  I had a conversation recently with someone about this because we were talking about something that was sooo good in college and I told him that I'm pretty sure it would probably taste gross now, so I'm just not going to eat it again because I don't want to ruin a good memory.  Salmon, too.  Hated it until about 5 years ago.  Has that happened to you? 

The good news is that I love blueberries now - plain and in stuff - and they make me think of spring and summer.  The time of year when you start eating more fruit, veggies, salads, and other healthy stuff that is good when it's warm outside.  Since they've been on sale on and off recently, we've tried a few different things with them.

Blueberry Buckle
Kind of like a blueberry coffee cake, and this was Keith's idea.  He found this recipe and made it as it's posted - no alterations - and it was great!  The thing you need to know if you try this recipe is that when it says to "pour" the batter into the pan, it's not going to pour because it's too thick - so you kind of just empty the bowl of mixture into the pan and pat it down evening.  And that's OK - we weren't sure if the consistency was right, but it turned out great!  Looks like this:

Blueberry Banana Muffins
This was a nice change from regular blueberry muffins - I used a recipe for blueberry banana bread and made it muffin tins.  I followed the recipe pretty closely, with the only change being using almond extract instead of vanilla.  When it came to the baking part, it was about 13-15 minutes to do them in muffin format (at the listed heat).  And instead of the topping in the recipe notes, I used something I found in the reviews and modified slightly...

Topping
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 Tbsp. butter (melted)

Mix.  I used half of this on some of the muffins and then added 1/4 c. chopped pecans to the mixture so I could have some with a nutty top.  I ran out, though, so in the end had some plain, with streusel topping, and some with streusel pecan topping. These were a hit with my colleagues!  I accidentally left some uncovered at home, though, and they got hard.  I put them in a plastic baggie with a piece of bread and they softened back up, though. :)

Blueberry Breakfast Sauce
I saved this one for last because I think it was my favorite - and the most simple - using this recipe I found online.  My friend Kim was kind enough to let me come to her house last weekend and have brunch with her family; since I don't have a waffle maker, I was happy she did so we could make them.  I brought the blueberries to try this sauce, but honestly wasn't sure how it was going to work because the recipe seemed too easy. But it was awesome!  And don't be fooled by it being called a breakfast sauce, because I would bet money that it would be delicious as an ice cream or cheesecake topping, too.

1/2 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. corn starch
1/3 c. water
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

In a 2-qt. saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; gradually stir in water. Add blueberries; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

That's it.  Seems too easy, doesn't it?  I didn't think that the blueberries would soften up enough in just a minute, but it was true - and then we turned down the heat until our waffles were ready.  This is how it works:

Before

After

My plate

Up Close - mmmm.....

I will warn you though, that if you have kids to be careful... because I accidentally stained Kim's kids. Especially James. :)

That's gonna leave a mark. Sorry Kim...
I hope you still let me come again :)

What about you?  Have you ever

• found that your tastes have changed over time? with what?
• tried an awesome blueberry recipe you want to share?
• stained your kid?  or, like me, your friend's kid?

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