Friday, December 31, 2010

Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon

I was first introduced to boeuf bourguignon in my high school home ec class when I found a recipe for a short-cut version of Julia Child's famous dish.  It's the version I've always made since I didn't have that Le Creuset piece that has, in my mind, seemed a necessary component to making Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon.  It seemed only fitting, then, that I christen my new 7-qt. pot by making Julia's orignal.

I started the process yseterday. I browned the meat for just over an hour, coaxing those little hunks of beef to turn from pink to gray to light brown to a deep, rich, caramel color on all sides.  I tossed with flour and seasonings.  I added real pork belly.  I slow cooked it all in a low temp oven.  I skimmed fat.  I added nicely-browned mushrooms and pearl onions.  The smells floating around in my kitchen were so amazing, they almost made me dizzy.  I waited for it to cool properly before placing it in my fridge overnight.

I don't know when I've looked forward to a New Year's Eve meal quite as much as I looked forward to this one.  I woke up this morning to the residual scent of yesterday's efforts.  Honestly, I thought for a moment about heating it up and serving it for breakfast.  I did manage to show restraint and serve the meal at a respectable 7:30pm with boiled baby potatoes, buttered peas and French bread.

I felt like I'd died and gone to foodie heaven.  It was incredible.  All I can say is this:
Best.Beef.Gravy.Ever.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The Missing Piece

Being a Pampered Chef consultant, I own almost every kitchen tool known to man. That is, except for the very special, very expensive, Le Creuset 7.25-qt. Dutch oven.  It's the gold standard.  It's been missing from my kitchen.  I want one.  Now I have one!
This afternoon, Baird took me out to Oak Brook for a little post-Christmas shopping.  We came home with this not-so-small piece of kitchen equipment.  It's a little heavy.  It weighs more than my children did when they were born.  It came with a fabulous, equally large green reusable shopping bag.  In honor of my new Dutch oven, I'm making Boeuf Bourguignon tomorrow.  Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon.  I plan on serving it New Year's Eve.  Stay turned!

Monday, December 27, 2010

Post-Christmas Play

We woke up this morning to what can only be described as a work of awe-inspiring art.  With ten inches of new snow over Christmas Eve, then rising temperatures that reached above freezing yesterday but plummeted during the night, everything within sight that was beautiful when we went to sleep, was now jaw-dropping gorgeous, with layers of frost mixed in with the new-fallen snow that was still stubbornly clinging to to the surfaces upon which it landed on Christmas Eve.  It reminded me of the descriptions of winter in C.S. Lewis's Narnia book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like it.
The cousins enjoyed a morning of playing in the snow and sledding behind the tractor before we headed the Wrede's in Cedar Falls.
Kris and her kids met us at the Wrede's (Brad had to work all day), and our three families collaborated on a six-course Asian feast.  Getting together with the Hunters and Wredes is an annual post-Christmas event; however, this was the first year we decided to cook our own meal instead of going out.  We spent the afternoon chopping, slicing and dicing, and eating ourselves silly.  What fun!  The only problem?  I was so busy cooking and supervising, I neglected to record our event for posterity (or at least my blog), with the exception of the potstickers:
Such fun!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Day started rather early this year, as Drew was up at 2:15 in the morning checking his stocking.  Erin followed at 5:00; Kelsey finally rolled out of bed around 8:30.  We opened presents, enjoyed a Christmas Day ham with Mom and Dad, and spent a quiet day enjoying the ten-plus inches of new snow that started falling late on the 23rd.


We couldn't have asked for bigger smiles!  This Christmas seemed extra-calm and extra-fun, and I'm so thankful for the gifts in my life:  mostly my faith and my family.

Have I mentioned recently how much I love Christmas?!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Happy Christmas Eve

My favorite non-religious Christmas song is called Happy Christmas Eve, made popular years ago by The Oak Ridge Boys:

The snow is falling

 Look out the window with me

Come and hold me tenderly
 
 And watch the wind blow

 and the people passin' by

The snow is in the street

the kids are fast asleep

 we're all alone now

happy Christmas eve

I'll turn the lights down and set the tree aglow

You wrap the presents and trim the bow


and say you'll love me for another year

the stockings have been hung; the carols have been sung

We're all alone now

happy Christmas eve

Thursday, December 23, 2010

To Grandmother's House We Go


When Kelsey was a baby my mom remarked, "I don't care if you never come back for Thanksgiving, if it means you'll come back every Christmas."  So, we've made the commitment to travel to Iowa for Christmas almost every year since.

In the early years, it was an ordeal.  I remember the year Drew was born, I was concered about making the trip with a six-week-old infant.  I shouldn't have worried about him.  Drew slept most of the way, but Kelsey, then not-quite-six, cried almost the whole entire way.  "Stupid roads!" She raged.  "Why can't you take us to Gramma's faster?!"  The weather was wintery and the roads were icy, and Baird was doing his best to keep it between the lines.

Having three kids in five-and-a-half years, it seemed like we had at least one small child who needed car diversions forever.  Over the years I came up with lots of ideas to keep the kids occupied.  We'd play the Animal Alphabet Adventure Game - listing as many animals as we could think of that start with each letter of the alphabet.  We'd play the store game, "I went to the store and bought an apple," the first person says.  "I went to the store and bought an apple and a banana," the second person continues, and so on, all the way thru to Z.  Remembering 26 things that were purchased at the "store" was always something of a badge of honor.  And of course there was the license plate game.

But far and away the most popular game we've played is the alphabet game.  As I've swapped war stories of car travels with my friends, I've come to realize that every family who does road trips has a version of this game.  Our basic rules are:

Find each letter of the alphabet, in order, no skipping

License plates don't count, but lettering on vehicles does

Limit one letter per sign

The "one letter per sign" rule has been hotly debated in recent years with the advent of digital billboards that dissolve into new signs.  If the sign changes, are the letters on the new screen (but same billboard) fair game?  Depends on your point of view, but we try to establish a guideline before we start playing.

About ten miles east of Tipton, when the journey just seems like it well never, ever end, it's a good time to break out the alphabet game.

In Chicagoland speak, Tipton might possibly be considered far-suburban Iowa City, but I wouldn't ever describe Tipton that way to its residents.  At any rate, the road signs become a bit more frequent, making the game a little easier to play.  Restaurants like A&W, Subway, and Culvers help get us off to a good start.  Then as we head into Iowa City, there's a bit of a mad rush to see how far we can get, the goal being to take advantage of the Q as we pass by Dubuque Street.  There's a second chance for that coveted letter at the edge of town now that Quinton's Sandwich Shop has opened up, but if we miss that one, we're stuck until we get into Cedar Rapids and pass the Quaker plant (where they make Cap'n Crunch cereal).  It then becomes a frantic scramble to finish up R thru Y (the Five Seasons Center helps!) before we get to the Czech Museum a few miles down the road.  Sometimes it just doesn't come together, but we can always hold out for North Liberty to provide the Y, which allows us to include The Travel Plaza to finish up, but they don't always advertise on the billboard near Exit 13.  Our last-ditch effort to finish up the game?  Lazy Acres near Exit 41!

Phew!  That scramble from Tipton thru Cedar Rapids (or as far as Exit 41) is a fantastic way to kill 30-45 minutes of the trip.  Once we're at Exit 41, the billboards are fewer and farther between, the landscape is more rural, and it's less than an hour to Grandma and Grandpa's, and the waiting seems just a bit easier.  For a few moments at least.  Until someone says, "I went to the store and I bought an apple."

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The Walnut Room 2010

Today was our annual trip down to The Walnut Room for breakfast and Santa.  I can hardly believe we've been doing this for 15 years!  We waited too long, tho - they ran out of mugs.  Can I just say:  this was never a problem before Macy's bought out Marshall Field's.  Ok, enough snarking.  It really was a wonderful day.


While we were eating breakfast, we asked the kids about their favorite Walnut Room memories.  They all mentioned how much they enjoy seeing the chocolate city.

Writing letters to Santa is a newer tradition, but still a favorite.

The line to see Santa was over an hour long, and the kids found ways to entertain themselves.  Honestly, it's so much easier to wait thru that line these days when we're not carting a double stroller and impatient pre-schoolers.

We spring for the professional portrait every year, but I also enjoy capturing the more candid moments of the kids chatting with Santa.  I'm also thrilled my almost-16-year-old is still willing to play along.
M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S ! ! !

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Christmas with Missy

Back in the early 1990s, we started a tradition with Missy and her family:  We get together sometime the weekend before Christmas and go to Brookfield Zoo to see the lights, and then return to our house for pizza, hot chocolate, and presents.  Tonight we switched things up a bit and we ate first, then opened presents, then went to the zoo, then came back home for dessert.  As we sat around waiting for the pizza, we reminisced about this tradition:

*There was the year Steve fell out of the wagon and hit his head on the pavement.

*There was the year we lost Drew.  We all thought he was with someone else.  While we were frantically searching for him, Drew was being given a behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo, tooling around in a golf cart with the security team, looking for us.

*There was the year the wind chills hit -20 and we decided it was just too cold to do the zoo.  We wound up at FitzGerald's and caught a Dooley Brothers Christmas concert instead.

No matter what time of year it is, there's one thing I can always count on when Steve and Drew get together: the wrestling match that ends with Steve turning Drew updside down!

The cousins range in age from 10 to 22 now, but they still have loads of fun when they're all together, especially for our Christmas celebration.

We're at the zoo a lot, but there's no time that's as magical as the zoo at night when it's all lit up for Christmas, and the special characters come out to play.  This year the Coca-Cola bear made an appearance:
Have I mentioned lately how much I love this time of year?

Friday, December 17, 2010

XC Party

Tonight Erin had the cross country girls over for a Christmas party sleepover.  She asked that I serve my homemade chicken noodle soup for supper.  I started it early today since I had my own Christmas party to go to this evening.  Here's a pic of the broth simmering on the stovetop:

After supper the girls made t-shirts, played games, listened to music, and hung out.

While they were fake sleeping for this picture, they were sound asleep by 1:30 - not bad!
Since I took the late shift, Baird's promised to get up and make them all pancakes in the morning.  This is a great group of girls, and we're always thrilled when they want to hang at our place!

Ray Bob's Christmas Party

My friend Ray Bob hosts an annual Christmas party that I always look forward to attending.  We pretty much do the same thing every year:  Ray Bob cooks for everyone; we all bring a dessert to share and a small gift for an exchange.

I love this party for two reasons:  the first is that there are certain people where this is the only time I get to see them, and it's great to catch up.

The second reason is the gift exchange.  There is an elaborate numbering system based on playing cards that determines when you get to pick (or steal) a gift.  The gifts are as eccentric as the people who bring them.  One person, who works for a box company, wrapped up a gift card in eight boxes.  There was a pack of plastic noses.  There were half a dozen old cassette tapes of Christmas music.  One gift had a Christmas card attached that had a drawing of a snowman with a picture of the president's face attached - it was the Obamaminable Snowman.
When it was my turn, I stole a gift card to Best Buy, but I didn't get to keep it for long.  I wound up with a five-pound bag of Dunkin' Donuts coffee - not bad.

As much as I enjoy this annual party, I made it an early night so I could get home and take over chaperoning the cross country sleepover at our house.

Thanks, Ray Bob, for another great party!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Three for Christmas Tea

This afternoon I celebrated the end of the poppyseed cake baking by having tea with S&P.  S is always a fabulous hostess, and her Christmas tea pot and festive home were just perfect for an afternoon getaway.  Plus P made her fantastic scones, the recipe for which has been handed down to her by her Scottish grandmother...and there was real lemon curd to spread on them.  I contributed poppyseed cake and proscuitto-wrapped asparagus.  S served us a black tea from Kenya that was just perfect.

Thanks, S&P, for helping me recharge my batteries!  The afternoon was just perfect!

Irving's Winter Concert

Every year, the production that is the Irving Winter Concert never ceases to amaze me.  The music teachers are wildly talented musicians and composers, and yet they choose to teach elementary school children.  All three of my kids have truly been blessed to sit under the influence of Ms. H and Ms. T

This year, Drew was chosen to be a part of an African drum ensemble that accompanied the first song the fourth graders performed.

As great as the concert was, it was very clear that the Irving School Rap stole the show!  All the kids really got into the beat, and they rocked the house not just with the song, but with pride in their school.