Anybody still listening? (new blog address)

Since it hasn't been a full year since my last post, I'm going to just pretend that I was taking a break.  =)  Roll with me on this one, will ya?

I am excited to start a guest blogging spot over on the wildly successful A Mom With a Lesson Plan Blog.  Please join me over there for my "Camp Mom" Series.  And then over here for more random fun.  

Speaking of here, I'm moving my blog to wordpress, so make note of the new address & come follow me over there! http://taraskitchensink.wordpress.com/ 

This Kid and Foodiephile: Worlds collide

The other day I posted on facebook about my kid requesting a party where I could make his friends Vanilla Steamers & scones. The part I left out is that he actually requested a "Beyblades" party serving these items. I left it out because I didn't want to explain beyblades, and I still don't (feel free to go to this link). I hate beyblades. The end.

But it brings up something very important about this kid. He is well rounded to say the least. He loves him all the "boy" stuff that Daddy enjoys- football, heck sports in general, a scary obsession with the SDSU Aztecs, running & throwing & wrestling.....etc, etc.

But he also appreciates the finer things in life that Mommy enjoys. Namely food related stuff like tea, scones, pretty food, farm fresh produce, dark chocolate & crostinis of goat cheese & honey.

This morning I told B that I would take him to breakfast. It's his favorite meal of the day & some of the fun has been taken out of it with his new early morning routine. I was thinking something simple. He was not. He told me that he would like to TAKE ME, to Extraordinary Desserts. Which he referred to as the "tea pot & scone place across the street".

I'm combining this "This Kid" post with a new category I'm calling "Foodiephile". It's about food. duh. So here it goes.

Extraordinary Desserts is this fancy slash amazing restaurant here in San Diego. And we live LITERALLY across the street. Nuts right? We don't eat there all that much, it's pretty pricey & always packed in the evenings. But we eat there enough for B to know what it is & that he really likes it. They have other menu items that are amazing, like gourmet grilled cheeses, salads & other stuff. But clearly the desserts are the stars. We usually do them to go.

But B & I also enjoy their weekday Morning Rush Hour special. For $7 you can pick a breakfast pastry (scones/muffins/coffee cakes) and a coffee (single cap/single latte/reg coffee). And they let us substitute tea for B.

They also have a European Breakfast on Sundays, which is served buffet style. Though not buffet like at all. There's not a chafing dish in sight. They simply lay out pretty displays of food on the bar (which I didn't snap a picture of- shoot!). I've always wanted to go, but I don't think the husband would be a fan, so I was excited when B suggested it since John wasn't around today.

It's not the typical American breakfast. No eggs, or bacon, or sausage or pancakes. And it starts at 11AM! And it was delicious. We took our time. Enjoyed our food & chatted. It was a great time.

First we started with a pot of tea for B. Berry Monsoon. It is the prettiest bright pink color. He loves that he gets his own little pot. And he gets about 3 cups worth. And for mommy, a individual french press of coffee. They also make great espresso drinks, but I took B's lead on having my own pot to enjoy throughout the meal.

Brayden loves the suger. It's like rock candy & I let him spoon it into his tea himself (with in reason of course).

Brayden decided against the Euro spread & ordered his usual. The Strawberry Raspberry Scone. Here he is displaying his awesome table manners & sucking on his fingers. We're working on it.

My first course. House made granola (has bits of dried fruit & pumpkin seeds), with vanilla bean yogurt (with actual vanilla bean specks! love it) & fresh strawberries. YUM.

Second course. Fresh Breads & smoked salmon with various yumminess to play around with. Obviously there are the typical accompaniments, like tomato, onion, cream cheese, cucumbers, & capers. But also, cranberry mayonaise, roasted yellow tomatoes, caramelized onions & pesto.

I love playing around & finding the perfect bite.

Final Course. (Of course you can go back as much as you want, but I was trying to be good.)

A wonderful spread of cheeses, jams, chutneys & desserts. And more fresh & yummy breads.

It was all wonderful & I am looking forward to going again. And my boy might be rubbing off on me. Between eating, snapping pictures & chatting, I was sneaking glances at my fantasy football scores. We're complex over here, yo.

What We're Eating: Breakfast Cupcakes

My brother in law makes this yummy-licious Breakfast Cake (bt-dub, how lucky is my sister?). It's essentially a savory breakfast casserole. And it's amazeballs. Both straight out of the oven & reheated. Which got me thinking. Maybe I could make it in a more portion ready size & freeze it. DUH! Cupcakes!

Breakfast Cupcakes

• 3/4 to 1 lb Breakfast Sausage
• 1 cup Baking Mix (or TJ's Baking Mix)
• 3/4 cup of Milk
• 2 eggs
• 8 oz of sour cream
• Grated Cheddar Cheese (about 1/2 a pkg)

First, a note about the sausage. I used the chicken breakfast sausage from Trader Joe's. It's about 1/2 the fat of regular Jimmy Dean, and it tastes exactly the same. You could also use the reduced fat Jimmy Dean if you wanted. But regular is great as well.

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan by spraying with cooking spray or a light coating of oil.

First, brown the sausage & drain extra oil. Set aside. In a bowl mix the baking mix with milk & 1 egg. Set aside. In a separate bowl combine sour cream & an egg.

To assemble, start with batter. The recipe will make EXACTLY 12 cupcakes, so start small. Pour less than you think is needed in each cup (less than halfway). You can go back & fill further with any leftover batter. Layer with sausage, then sour cream, and finally cheese, using the same method.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the sour cream mixture is set up (not wet looking or "jiggly"). Leave in the pan for another 10 minutes and then remove to cool fully. Once they are cooled completely you can freeze them. I wrapped them in a paper towel & microwave for about a minute.

As a side note, you could just make the original recipe by following all the same ingredient amounts & prep instructions. Just layer in the same order in a glass casserole & bake at 375 for about an hour.

Sorry. No process shots with this one. It's super easy.

What We're Eating: Lemony Blueberry Pancakes

First off, let me say, it's good to be back. August was such an insane month for us. A camping trip, throwing my nephew's 1st birthday (post coming soon!), a trip to Nana's, a trip to Detroit for a wedding, and lots of prep for school & last minute summer fun. I feel like I've been in survival mode for the last month. And when I look around the house I realize I haven't survived well. While things are getting back on track, I still have camping junk that is yet to be unpacked, a car full of party decorations & donation items to be dropped off. But we're getting there!

Anyway. School has started & our mornings come EARLY!!! I'm up between 5:30 & 6:00 am, and we're out the door around 7:00am. It's important to me that B starts the day with a good meal, but I'm not interested in cooking a big meal before my coffee sets in.

This week I'm trying to make a breakfast each day, after B is at school, that can be frozen/refrigerated & reheated in the mornings.

For cooking I find inspiration everywhere. Magazines, TV, blogs, and of course Pinterest. This is a modification of two. One from PW, and one I found on Pinterest.

I modified PW's recipe so that I could use baking mix (I use TJs mix, but Bisquick would work too) and frozen blueberries. I would use fresh berries if I could find them in organic, but the frozen work great. Then I made them small to save me from having to cut up pancakes for B in the morning. I'm totes lazy before my coffee. (Ok all the time.) The small ones seem to freeze better also, and it's easier to control portion them out with less waste.

The "recipe" is more a few simple steps to liven up a mix. So, here it is.

Lemony Blueberry Pancakes

• Dry Baking Mix (Trader Joe's or Bisquik or your favorite)
• All ingredients called for in your mix
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• frozen blueberries (fresh if you have them)

My recipe is for the smallest amount that your mix gives you instructions for (10-12 pancakes for the TJs brand). You're going to follow the instructions almost exactly. The only change is that before you measure your liquid, squeeze one lemon into the measuring cup. Add the the vanilla & zest the whole lemon into the measure. Then fill up the measure the rest of the way with the liquid that is called for in your instructions. For example, my recipe calls for 1 cup of water. Once I squeeze the lemon & add the vanilla & lemon zest, I have almost a 1/4 cup. I fill the cup up the rest of the way with water. Then I add my egg (which is called for in my mix).

I used a pastry tip to get the small size, but you could easily just put your batter in a ziploc & cut the corner for a make shift pastry bag. I find that it's easier to get a small round cake this way.

I cook them on a griddle (large pan is fine), on med-high heat. Once they are cooking I sprinkle a few berries on the uncooked side.

Flip once the sides are set up.

Let them cool & then put them in an airtight container or ziploc bag & place in the freezer. I reheat them in a paper towel for about a minute. Enjoy!

This Kid: Not Yet...PLEEEEAAASSSSEE!!!!

Yesterday I gave B a kiss when leaving him at school. He looked around & wiped it off, giving me a very embarrassed "Mommy!"

UGGGGGHHHH!!! I was not ready for this day to come so soon! My little boy that begs for kisses, laps them up with smiles & giggles when I wake him with millions each morning. I guess we're in the in between period, where private kisses are welcome, but public ones are not.

I asked him about the incident after school and he said it was embarrassing. I decided to leave it for the moment, as he is strong willed & prone to digging in. Not sure where he get that from. Must be his dad.

Ever thoughtful & concerned about the feelings of others, he brought it up again this morning. He told me kisses at home are great, at school....notsomuch. But he threw me a bone & said that I can give him hugs at school. Ever the compromiser.

Alas, today he ran into the classroom with out so much as a glance over his shoulder....or a damn hug!!!

This kid.

Summer Tomatoes: A Love Story

Possibly one of my favorite things about summertime is tomatoes. Over the last few years I have tried to stick to local & organic for most of our produce. This also means mostly seasonal eating. Now, I'm not perfect. I do by a few here & there through the colder months, but they always disappoint. And every time I realize the benefit of waiting. The reward is SOOOOOOOOO worth it.

I buy them mostly at the farmers market and sometimes at Trader Joe's. But for some reason nothing comes close to the ones picked yourself, straight from the vine. Unfortunately we live in an apartment, without even the benefit of a balcony to try our hands at urban gardening.

Thank God for my Dad & The Compound. That's my affectionate term forthe large property that was my grandparents & is now where my Dad & his lovely wife reside. They have the most amazing garden & HUGE amounts of tomato plants.

When I was there this week I took the liberty of shopping. Unfortunately I was too enamored by the peppers, chilis, herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, etc, to think about taking pictures.

The first thing I did when I got these babies home was make a tomato sandwich. My ultimate taste of summer.

Here's what I did.

Lightly toasted wheat bread. Thin layer of mayo. Thick slices of tomato (thing of beauty!). Kosher sea salt. Fresh ground pepper.

Cheese (gouda & swiss because that's what I had). Arugula drizzled with olive oil & a little more s&p.

DELICIOUSNESS!!!!

So here's the deal. You can leave the cheese off, change the bread, toast or not toast, lettuce instead of arugula, whatever you want.

There is only one rule that I must insist on. You HAVE to use the tomatoes room temp. I know, I know. They go bad too quick out of the fridge. Since I have so many from The Compound I have mine in the fridge too. But you need to take one out in the morning to get it to room temp before using it. The taste doesn't even compare. The cold dulls the flavor. Promise me you'll do this? thanks. you rock.

I got a bunch of other stuff too. I'm hoping to make Pico with some of these beauties & the jalapenos I picked up. And some Refrigerator Pickles with the mutant cukes (stay tuned).

This Kid: Cleaning vs. Locking

We have a busy week with family in town & babysitting some friends, so I might not post a whole lot, but thought I'd stop by real quick to share a funny happening around here.

B had a friend over on Sat night & they destroyed his room. On Sunday he & Daddy went to the Padres game with family & then invited them over after. I told B that he should probably pick up his room a bit so his cousins didn't think he was a piggy.

A few minutes later he came out & said that he just locked his door so they wouldn't see it. um. yeah. So here we were with kids about to come over, with all kid related fun stuff locked behind a door we don't have a key for. A genius this one is. geesh!

The poor maintenance guy on call had to come over & open the door for us. We laughed that we are his favorite apartment. I swear these guys are here all the time. I got one to admit one day that they are here more than any other unit. He kindly said that we "really live" in our unit. Unlike our neighbors, who what? Pretend live in their units?

This kid.