Monthly Archives: May 2010

Ingredients

Slaw:

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup diced red peppers (roasted preferred)
• 1/4 cup diced green peppers
• 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
• 1/4 cup diced carrots
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1 head green cabbage, quartered and sliced into thin strips

BBQ Sauce:

• 1/2 cup mango chunks
• 2 roasted red bell peppers, (roasted at 400 degrees F, seeds and skin removed)
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1/2 tablespoon Caribbean jerk seasoning
• 1/4 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 cup BBQ sauce

Cilantro White Sauce:

• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 bunch chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon blackening spice

Guacamole:

• 2 fresh avocados, halved, pitted and flesh diced
• 2 fresh jalapenos, diced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/4 cup diced red onion diced
• 1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 bunch chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Tacos:

• 1 to 1 1/2 pounds mahi mahi, skinned and cleaned
• Blackening seasoning
• Olive oil
• 1 dozen (6-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 cup shredded cheese of choice
• 1 cup diced tomatoes

Directions

For the Slaw:

In mixing bowl mix all ingredients together except the cabbage. Once evenly mixed add the cabbage and turn with your hands or spoons until the cabbage is evenly coated. Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to serve. Should be made 24 hours in advance.

BBQ Sauce:

Mix all of the ingredients in food processor and puree. Pour into a bowl or jar and refrigerate.

Cilantro White Sauce:

Mix all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl until thoroughly combined. Cover and store in the refrigerator.

Guacamole:

Mix all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl. HINT: Use a potato masher first to crush the avocados then use spoon to combine the mixture. Cover and refrigerate.

Tacos:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Coat the mahi mahi with blackening seasoning. Add some olive oil to a saute pan and add the mahi mahi. Cook until flaky, about 3 to 5 minutes. Shred the fish with a fork or a spoon. When the fish is no longer pink in the center, add 1/2 cup BBQ sauce and mix together. Heat the tortillas in the oven for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

To serve:

Spoon the guacamole down the center of each tortilla then add a layer of shredded cheese and diced tomatoes. Add the slaw and the mahi mahi. Top with the white cilantro sauce. Arrange on a serving platter, get a napkin and dig in.

Oh daddy dear you know you’re still number one . . .

But every once in a while mamma gets a turn.

Wyatt took Calvin camping for a stake father-and-sons activity. All week long Calvin was so excited. To console Olivia, who couldn’t fathom why she wouldn’t be able to go, I promised her a fun Girl-Night-Out.

I’ve taken Baby Sunshine on GNO’s before – with my sister – where we go to adult restaurants and do adult things (like paint our toenails and scrapbook). But I told O that we would do FUN things instead.

I promised her all sorts of fun and wild things.

But the moment Wyatt and Cal walked out the door, Olivia sat down on the bench and cried.

I tried to console her: Now it’s time for girls night out.

Scrunched face, wailing increases.

“Olivia,” I ask: “did you miss me when I went to Nauvoo?” {Because I came back right?}

But she only shook her head no.

So I laughed, and invited her to go get ready for Girls Night.

It didn’t take too long for her to cheer up.

Olivia decided she wanted to wear both her flower headband AND her christmas bow. I had my reservations, but then I remembered I wanted to be more like Dickon’s mother, and I decided to let it go.

We went to the McDonalds with the BIG playground, and Olivia got her VERY FIRST Happy Meal. Normally when we go to McD’s we get just an ice cream cone . . . maybe a chicken. I asked her how she even knew what a happy meal was. She said she saw it on “the commercial.” Thank you American Marketing Machine!

Afterward we went to the Yogurt Stop – you get to put in your own ice cream and add your own toppings. Olivia chose: strawberry ice cream, red Swedish fish, rainbow gummy bears, rainbow nerds, and rainbow sprinkles.

Hey Christensen family – who does this remind you of?! Hint: Ethan. That is so his crooked smile.

After ice cream we went home to cuddle up to the Good Night Show, and paint our toenails: alternating pink and red for Oliva, just red for me

PS – if these pictures look grainy to you, that’s cuz they are. They were all taken indoors at night without a flash. I can only do so much!

We ate peanut butter sandwiches with home-made strawberry freezer jam on the faded plastic picnic table – a hand-me-down from the neighbors.

The sun shone so hot on our backs. Even boredom of a backyard played in a billion times couldn’t convince us to go inside.

Olivia swang – up, down, up, down; the blue sky like a never ended dome above her with soft white clouds that couldn’t make up their minds which shape they wanted to be.

Calvin climbed the ladder. Then he climbed down. He played with the garden stakes – swords he said. He shared with Olivia, even when she whined and wanted both. He played on the slide, he inspected the rocks. There was a great deal of interest in them. I lay in the grass, playing with my camera, trying to imagine how to capture perfection . . . in focus.

I did it! I created the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe in the Entire Universe – and that’s a big space.

Want confirmation? Just ask this guy.

Now, here’s the thing that is so exciting to me:

It’s my first very own recipe. My very first very own recipe.

That’s right. I took the little I know about baking, put it into the mixer, and out of the oven came these beauties.

What makes them better than other cookies in the universe:

1) They’re chewy. Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies – can you really argue with that?

2) They’re chocolatey, but not too chocolatey.

3) Now here’s the secret – I don’t add the salt until the very end – even after the chocolate chips. This gives the cookies these little sparkles of saline – total surprise. You get that salty sweetness that is neither overwhelming or underplayed. Try it, try it, you will see! You will like them, Sam-I-Am.

Andrea’s Mo’Yum Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pre-heat oven to 375°

3/4 C sugar
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C butter
1/2 C shortening
1 egg
2 1/4 C flour
1 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 bag (2 C) chocolate chips

In a large bowl mix sugars, butter, shortening, egg & vanilla. Add flour & baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips. Add salt at the very end. Roll onto ungreased cookie sheet, flatten each cookie slightly with the palm of your hand. Bake 8-10 minutes @ 375°

The funniest story from my quick jaunt to Nauvoo came a few days after I returned. I was talking to Alexa, and received the report:

Alexa asked: Is your daddy taking care of you while you are gone.

Olivia, somberly: Yes. But we have to be nice to daddy.

Alexa: You do? Why do you have to be nice to your daddy?

Olivia: Because he’s not a mommy. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Mmmm. . . last summer Carrie and I tried a recipe that was in my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. It was good, but too long and complicated to ever make again.

Then I saw this recipe being made on “America’s Test Kitchen” -or something like that. Looked it up, tried it (actually, conned Carrie into making it) – easy peasy, we even made it again later that week! You should try it too! It’s delish.

Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

8 ounces semisweet chocolate
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
7 eggs, divided use
6 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup flour
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt chocolate and butter; cool 10 minutes.

In separate bowl, mix 4 eggs with sugar. Whisk. Add flour and whisk. Add remaining 3 eggs. Add egg mixture to chocolate mixture. Pour in individual baking cups or ramekins.

Bake until just done, about 15-20 minutes (interior will be melting, not set).

Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Makes 8 servings. Approximate nutritional values per serving: 460 calories (64.7 percent calories from fat), 8 g protein, 35 g carbohydrate, 27 g sugar, 2 g dietary fiber, 35 g fat, 250 mg cholesterol, 60 mg sodium.

We had a ward activity, a 5K fun run.

Of course, I wasn’t going to run (I’m at that stage of life where running actually feels awkward – a sure sign that I’m old and out of shape.)

But biking and walking were an option.

Alea was in town visiting for the weekend, she came on our fun run with us.

All week long I told Olivia we would go on a big bike ride on Saturday morning. She was so excited. She LOVES to ride her bike.

Saturday morning woke up grey and cold and rainy. “Are you sure you want to go?”

“We don’t have to go.”

“It will probably be cold. We can just go to the church for breakfast.”

But Olivia would not be disuaded. (Perhaps if I wasn’t so easily discouraged, running wouldn’t be awkward!)

And so we lined up at the start line. Olivia waved in frantic excitement to her friend, Jaxon. The walk/bike/run began. We were off (dead last – but going none the less).

The gang walking to the church for breakfast afterwards. Jeff, Wynn, Weston, Everett, Carrie, Alea, Wyatt, Alexa, Calvin and Olivia

We walked up and down streets in the neighborhood.

It was cold.

It was rainy.

But Olivia persevered . . .

until block three, at which point she informed me she was “done.”

Wyatt and Jaxon with their participation medals.

We rode home and waited for our fingers to unfreeze.

We heartily accepted our participation medals back at the church, and greedily at the breakfast of athletes.