Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Happy Mother's Day Chessa!
She's awesome!
She's THE BEST
She takes us on trips
She's fun
She treats me extra special on my birthday
She takes care of me when I'm sick
She cooks me "fantabulous" meals
She lets me live in her house (I liked this one from Brennan)
She helps me with the dishes
She takes me to school
She gives me money for lunch
She gives me hugs and kisses
She is so sweet
She buys nice flowers
She loves and cares for me
She drives me to practice
She's pretty
She has nice legs
She works hard for us at the school
She does a great job with the girls hair (I'm most thankful for this because I had to do Lorien's hair yesterday for soccer and it was a bit of a nightmare... the girls are very lucky that they don't have to rely on me to look nice... I'd fail)...
She makes our house look nice
She takes us fun places
She makes me feel special
Most importantly, she loves us....
We love you Chessa!!!
Mother's Day Cards & Breakfast
Chesse filled Crepes (blintzes) with fresh strawberries, chantilly cream, and strawberry puree
Maddyn wanted to take a picture of the plates being built... Man, I'm I really that bald???
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cold water
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for cooking the crepes
Chesse Filling, (recipe follows)
Combine the milk, water, eggs, flour, salt and sugar in a blender. Blend on medium speed for 15 seconds, until the batter is smooth and lump-free. Scrape down the sides of the blender and pour in 3 tablespoons of melted butter. Blend it again for a second just to incorporate. Refrigerate the batter for 1 hour to let it rest. If the crepes are made immediately, they have a tendency to be rubbery; when you let the batter rest, the crepes have a better texture and a softer bite.
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
6 oz cream cheese
3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
zest of one lemon
1 egg
In a food processor, combine the ricotta cheese, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, lemon zest, and egg and blend until smooth. Chill the filling to firm it up a bit so it doesn't squirt out of the blintzes.
Strawberry Puree
6 ripe strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tabespoon water
In a food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Pass through a fine mesh sieve (to strain out all the seeds) and put in a small squirt bottle.
Friday, May 9, 2008
I think that this is one of the coolest ways to do salmon. It is very easy and very quick. You can have everything done in about 20 minutes. (if you've pre-soaked your boards). The brown sugar creates an awesome glaze and the cedar impregnates the fish with a wonderful smoky flavor. The best place to get cedar planks??? Costco... They run about $8 for 6 of them. I soak them all at one time overnight and then just put the planks in the freezer until I'm ready to use them. My kids love salmon done this way.
Cedar Plank Salmon
One salmon filet
1-2 cups of brown sugar
little olive oil
Sea Salt
1 Cedar plank (soaked in water for at least 4 hours)
Lay out your cedar board that has been soaked in water for at least 4 hours (I prefer overnight), sprinkle sea salt over the board and place your fish, skin side down right on the plank. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with a little sea salt. Cover the top of the fish with brown sugar. It will look like a lot of sugar, but most of it runs off when it caramelizes. Place on a hot grill and let it do it's thing for about 12 minutes. The bottom of the board will probably be on fire (this is ok) and there will be a ton of great smelling smoke (you want this)... Pull the board off the grill and let sit for a couple of minutes (until it stops flaming). Place on a platter you're done....
Grilled Romaine??? I thought the same thing, but brushed with a little olive oil and quickly grilled it's awesome. We drizzle more olive oil and some really good balsamic vinagre on top, shave some parmesan cheese and add a few teaspoons of pine nuts.... (Don't let the romaine sit too long on the grill or it will burn. You just want to lightly char both sides. It goes great with the cedar salmon....