French Cut Lamb Chops and Roasted Potatoes

It's finally cool around these parts. The low is getting into the 50s this week and last night we even had to use the heater for the first time this year. Poor little Baz woke up in the middle of the night because he was cold so we had to turn it on. I am actually really enjoying it and it helps make it seem more like Christmas. I am really excited this year. My whole side of the family is coming to Florida this year. It's the first time we've all spent the holidays together in a long time. I can't wait.

We'll be eating a lot of pork this week since our Cuban tradition is to make a whole leg of pork that we eat for Christmas dinner and then in Cuban sandwiches for the rest of the week. My dad is really the best at making them, knowing just the right amount of pork, ham, cheese, pickles and condiments to include before he grills them into the delicious pressed sandwiches I've been eating as long as I can remember.

So, until then, no pork. Instead I got a great deal on some french cut lamb chops this week. Turns out two of the three packages I bought were mislabeled so I paid a price that was for ground chuck instead of the beautiful lamb chops I got. Not bad.

I am marinating them right now in some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white wine (cuz it was open - I would have used red if I had it) pressed garlic, salt, pepper and some fresh rosemary. I'll cook them in my cast iron grill when it gets nice and hot so that the outside of the chops browns nicely.

I'm going to serve them with some steamed broccoli and roasted red potatoes. I am already cooking the potatoes because they need to cook for about an hour. I just cut them up in quarters and poured some olive oil over them. Then I sprinkled some salt and freshly ground pepper over them as well as some more pressed garlic and some of the rosemary that I bought for the lamb chops. Could be too much rosemary, but I didn't really use much for the potatoes.

I'll let you know how it all works out, but I am definitely excited.

UPDATE: Turned out terrifically. I cooked the lamb chops for about 4 minutes on each side. A couple of the thicker ones could have used another minute per side, but for the most part they were pink and delicious! And the rosemary on both the potatoes and chops turned out just fine.

Buy Buy Baby Comes to Miami

I was excited to get a flier in the mail announcing that Buy Buy Baby opened a store in Miami! This is a great baby supply store that I knew from New York. It has everything -- from high end to trinkets.

As I struggle to figure out what new car seat I'll have to get for Baz, it is a comfort to know that Buy Buy Baby is there so I can check them out. No offense to Babies R Us, but they just....I don't know....suck!

It's a little inconveniently located for Miami Beach folks. I suppose I should have planned a little better than attempting the Dolphin and Palmetto Expressways after 3pm, but I needed to get out of the house and I figured I'd check it out. Unfornately, it took me well over an hour to get home. Baz was none to pleased, despite the awesome tub toys we came home with.

Still, I think it is worth the trip -- just maybe next time, not at rush hour. So, check it out.

Buy Buy Baby
Miami, FL
8241 West Flagler St
Suite 100
Miami, FL 33144
Phone: (305) 266-5324

Chicken Marsala

I was looking to make some sort of chicken dish yesterday and came up with Chicken Marsala. It was actually very easy to make and I think it might become one of our new staples. And it looked pretty impressive when I served it over mashed potatoes with a side of steamed broccoli.

This is how you make it:

Chicken Marsala
4 pieces of chicken cutlet
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 or 3 cups sliced mushrooms (can be any kind, really)
2 shallots, diced
3/4 cups Marsala wine
1 cup chicken broth

Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Combine the flour with the salt and pepper. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture to fully coat the pieces.

In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to it. Place the chicken pieces in the oil and brown on both sides (about 3 minutes per side.) Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Put another tablespoon of butter and olive oil in the skillet. Add the mushrooms and shallots and cook until they are brown. Try not to mix them too much so that brown bits start to stick to the bottom of the pan (without burning, of course.)

Once the mushrooms are brown, add the Marsala wine. Use the spoon to scrape all of the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine by about half. Then add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add the browned chicken to the sauce. Cook until the chicken is cooked through (about 5 or 6 more minutes.) Serve immediately.

Buon appetito!

Cajun Red Snapper

Today I went to West Palm Beach to meet up with my mother for some Christmas shopping and so that she could spend some time with Baz. It was a really lovely afternoon and it was great to see her. We even got his picture taken with Santa. But, then on my way home, I thought about how I needed to make dinner and I really just didn't feel much like making anything. How pathetic is that? All I did was do some shopping with my mom and that makes me not want to make dinner.

But, I pulled it together. I had to stop at Costco yet again to pick up some more formula for Baz -- oh, and this is after it started pouring rain and I got rear ended by some horrible Miami driver. Baz was really shaken up about it, but no damage to baby or the car. Anyway, once I finally arrived in Hades -- I mean, rush hour Costco -- I took at a look at what fish they had. I usually just go for the salmon, but today I saw that they had some reasonable portions of red snapper. Perfect!

So, I just sprinkled some cajun spices on the fish and sauteed the pieces in some butter and olive oil for about 4 minutes on each side. Then I heated up some of the left over potatoes gratin from the other night and microwaved/steamed some green beans, and it wasn't a half bad dinner.

I'll try and find out what exactly my cajun spice is made off. It's from a recipe my dad gave me years ago. We made a huge jar-full a while back and break it out every once in a while. It's fabulous.

Oh and thanks to Mima (that's my mom's nickname as grandma) for the awesome new truck she gave Baz. He loves it.

Lime Vinaigrette

Last night, I was craving Penne alla Vodka so I kept it simple and served that along with a green salad. That's just a salad with all green and some white ingredients -- romaine lettuce, onion, avocado, cucumber, and hearts of palm. I made a lime vinaigrette because I used up all the balsamic vinegar on my meal the night before. It was actually delicious though. I think I'll make it more often.

This is how I made it:

Lime Vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice from a half of a lime
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon dry basil
salt and pepper to taste

Put all of the ingredients in a small plastic container with a lid. Shake vigorously until all of the ingredients emulsify.

Pork Chops Milanese and Potatoes Au Gratin

Damien was supposed to be away last night reporting a story, but he ended up coming home instead of spending the night. So, I sort of had to scramble for dinner because I had planned on having left over Shrimp Creole.

So Baz and I took a walk to Publix to see if we could get inspired. There really wasn't much jumping out at me, but I remembered seeing a recipe for Potatoes Gratin in the Balthazar Cookbook and that sounded really good. What could be the main dish? Not wanting to spend a fortune, I decided on pork chops.

Then I was strolling past the produce section and I saw a bag of key limes sitting there. I thought, "Wow, maybe I should try and make key lime pie!"

This is very ambitious considering how tired I was feeling. But, I feel like I haven't really been cooking anything too interesting lately. With work, it's hard to make it a priority. So, I pushed through and it actually worked out well. Now, the potatoes take a bit of time so keep that in mind and start those early. Here's what I did:

Potatoes Gratin (inspired by the Balthazar Cookbook with some major changes)
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
4 cloves or garlic - crushed with a knife
10 - 12 sage leaves, whole (Balthazar uses thyme)
4 stems parsley, whole (Balthazar uses rosemary)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3 -4 medium Idaho potatoes
salt and white pepper
1 tablespoon butter

In a medium saucepan, heat the cream milk, garlic, sage, parsley, salt and pepper over medium heat. When it begins to simmer, lower the heat and continue simmering for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, peel and slice the potatoes into 1/8 thick slices. Use the butter to coat the bottom of a shallow cooking dish or ovenproof skillet.

After 30 minutes, strain the cream, removing the herbs and garlic. Layer the bottom of the buttered cooking dish with the most abnormally sized pieces of potato (so the top layer that you will see will look more uniform.) Overlap the potatoes by nearly half. Sprinkle so salt and pepper on the potato layer. Then pour 1/2 cup of the garlic infused cream over the potatoes. Arrange a second layer of potatoes and repeat the process. Continue repeating until all the potatoes have been used.

I also sprinkled a bit of cheddar cheese on the top layer, which Balthazar does not do. I liked it, but I think that just the cream would be delicious as well. I just like cheese.

Cover the dish or skillet with aluminum foil and place in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to cook for 15 minutes until the top is golden. Cool for a few minutes before serving.

Worth the time and effort.

Then I made the pork chops:

Pork Chops Milanese (also inspired by the Balthazar Cookbook with some major changes)
4 - 1/4 inch slices or red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt
pepper
1 cup, romaine lettuce, finely chopped
1 medium vine ripe tomato, finely diced
2 pork chops
salt and pepper
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 cup bread crumbs (Balthazar suggested panko, but I used Italian because it is what I had)
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
Balsamic vinaigrette
2 lemon wedges

Brush the onion slices with a little bit of olive oil. Use the broiler or a grill (if you are lucky enough to have one) to char the onion slices a bit. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Create a little chopped salad using the romaine and tomatoes. When the onion has cooled enough, dice and add as well. Set the salad aside.

Pat dry the pork chops and use a mallet (or in my case, a potato masher) to pound the chops down until they are about a 1/2 inch thick, making sure not to miss the section nearest to the bone. Sprinkle both sides with a little bit of salt and pepper.

Prepare three bowls in an assembly line -- one with the flour, one with the egg whisked with the milk, and the other with the bread crumbs. Dredge the pork chops in the flour first, then coat in the egg mixture and then coat with bread crumbs.

Heat up a large skillet over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of butter and melt until just starts to brown. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and heat. Place both pork chops in the butter/oil and cook on each side for 4 minutes. The bread crumbs should be nice and golden brown.

Remove from the pan and arrange on the plate.

Add balsamic vinaigrette to the salad and mix well. Put a dollop of salad on top of each pork chop. Serve with a wedge of lemon.

Then there's dessert. It is best to make key lime pie much earlier in the day so it has plenty of time to cool. But, since I thought of it too late in the game, we settled for a slightly still warm pie after dinner.

Key Lime Pie (adapted from the Miami Spice cookbook)

Graham Cracker Crust
1 1/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs (I used half a box of graham crackers in my food processor)
1/2 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 350.

Get your crumbs to a fine consistency in a food processor. Melt the butter and add to the crumbs. Mix well until it is like a paste. Press the mixture into a pie pan. Put in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove from the pie pan from the oven, but leave the oven on.

Filling
1/2 cup key lime juice
2 teaspoons key lime zest
1 - 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks

The toughest part is juicing the small little key limes and grating the zest so leave yourself plenty of time to do this. (It took me about 15 or 20 minutes.) You don't want to skimp.

Combine the condensed milk and the egg yolks in a bowl. Use an electric hand mixer at high speed to mix until light and fluffy. Slowly add in the key lime juice. Then add in the zest.

Pour the mixture into the prepared graham cracker crust. Then put the pie in the oven and cook for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Then place the pie in the refrigerator and cool for as long as you can resist.

So there you have it. We really enjoyed it, I hope you all do too.

Let The Holiday Season Begin

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we have officially started the holiday season. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday -- with it being the kick off and all -- and it's a good thing too since I was able to enjoy two turkey dinners.

Our first was with my parents here at my Miami Beach apartment. My mother brought all of the side dishes and I was charged with making the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. It was a little stressful since I don't really make a whole turkey very often, never mind stuffing that is not from a box or cranberries that are not in a can. But, I did it -- and it turned out quite well. Luckily I have a whole bunch frozen so Damien and I will be celebrating Thanksgiving several more times before the end of the year.

Then we went up to Woo-stah, Massachusetts to see Damien's family. It was actually really special since all of the Cave's were in one house -- a rare occasion. So for three days we all hung out and enjoyed a second Thanksgiving dinner.

Then I went to Boston to see my brother, Raul and his family, Meera and Elan. Elan was scheduled to have his second surgery on his cleft lip and palate so it was great that we got to see him before the big day. Now the surgery has passed and they are all doing well. Elan is a little trooper and so are his parents. It can't be easy to watch their little guy go through something like this, but they are holding up well and setting a brave example for Elan.

So now we're home and I have never been so tired! Okay, that's not really true, but I am really tired. All of that traveling took a lot out of me. But, I did cook tonight so I wanted to make sure I shared that. I made shrimp creole and I have one major adjustment to make to the recipe I posted last time I made it. So check it out.

You need Parsley. I used half of a bunch that I bought fresh at Publix - completely stemmed. But, I suppose you could use dried parsley. Maybe a tablespoon or so. When I tasted my batch tonight it confirmed that it was exactly what the original was missing.

So, Parsley. Make sure you add it. And Happy Holidays!

Oh, and I'm sorry I've been so bad about keeping up the blog. I am done with my 36 Hours in South Beach video and no more traveling for a few weeks, so I should be much better.

2,000,000 Cribs Recall

Sorry, I was wrong about the number of cribs involved in the last recall. It's actually over a two million cribs, all with drop-sides. I now have the right link...

Another massive recall, this time with Stork Craft cribs.
I've included one picture, but there are several models included so be sure to check out the information on this.

The cribs were sold in the usual places - Walmart, Amazon.com, Babies r Us, Costco, J.C Penney, Kmart.

You can find information here.

Baby Back Ribs with Mac and Cheese and Brussels Sprouts

Yesterday I decided that I had better go buy my turkey if I still plan on hosting Thanksgiving dinner here at my apartment. I didn't want to get stuck with a 20 pounder just because I didn't think ahead.

And I was also really busy editing so I didn't have a good plan for dinner. So, I decided to go get my turkey at Costco. That way I could also pick up a rack of baby back ribs that they have all prepared and ready to go. We've had them before and they are delicious.

Costco did not disappoint. I was able to get my 8 pound organic turkey and for $19 I picked up 2.5 pounds of ribs - a full rack. For sides, I decided we needed some mac and cheese so I made one of those Annie's Homegrown Organic mac and cheese boxes I had in my cabinet. I also decided to make those brussels sprouts that have been sitting in my refrigerator. Last week, my friend Kita wrote a blog post about her reintroduction to brussel sprouts after being served some at a dinner party. As a former brussel sprouts hater, she was converted and posted brussels sprouts cooking tips on her site.

This is how I like to make them.

Brussels Sprouts
1/2 pound (maybe? enough for 2 people) brussels sprouts
1 or 2 strips of bacon (I like a maple flavored kind for this)
salt and pepper

Clean and trim you brussels sprouts. Place them in a container with a lid - I use BPA free Rubbermaid ones - add a little bit of water, cover and cook in the microwave for 2 minutes.

In the meantime, cut the bacon strips into small pieces. Put in a frying pan and cook until the fat has emulsified and the bacon begins to brown.

Add the steamed brussels sprouts to the frying pan with the bacon. Cook until the brussels sprouts start to brown. Add salt and pepper to taste.

So super easy and really delicious. And good for you, too! Well, except for the cooking in bacon fat part.

Precious

This past Sunday Damien and I did our little movie swap. Damien went to the movies first, then I met him at the food court of the Aventura mall to hand off Baz so that I could go see the same film.

We decided on seeing Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire, an intense, sad story of an obese teenage girl from Harlem who deals with lots of abuse and little opportunity to escape it. It is filled with really terrific performances. But, most of all, it is refreshing to see a story about someone other than middle class white boys coming of age. I certainly wouldn't go see this if you were in the mood for some sort of "pick me up", but I do think that it was a well done movie that offers a unique, if not incredibly uncomfortable, perspective of characters and situations we'd rather believe don't exist.

The only thing that really bothered me was the number of small children in the audience. Don't get me wrong, this was a powerful movie with an important, positive message. But, not for 6 or 7 year olds. This is a movie about a young girl who has been repeatedly raped by her father (she has two children with him.) In the film, the mother is physically and emotionally abusive, calling her all sort of horrible names and at one point tries to drop a television on her. I guess it's one thing if you are going to have some pretty hardcore discussions after seeing the movie, but I don't really think that was on the agenda after our Sunday matinee. And honestly, is it even in any way appropriate to have a discussion about incest with a 6 or 7 year old?

So, I do recommend going to see this movie. But, the kids should probably sit this one out.

Enchiladas Once Again

Since I messed up last night. Tonight, I just went with something I know tastes great and that Damien loves - Mollie's MacDonald's Chicken Enchiladas. And they did not disappoint.

Thanks again for the wonderful recipe, Kita.

Tomorrow night, we have company. Damien's colleague from the Times is coming so I need to come up with something good. And something that doesn't take too much time since I am still slaving away on my freakin' video.

Any ideas? I'm thinking Shrimp Creole -- looks fancy and I can make it ahead of time (and add the shrimp right before serving.)

Quinoa and Apples with Curry

Oh my goodness, I totally screwed up last night.

See, I have never made quinoa before. But I've ordered it at restaurants and loved it. So, when I saw a bag of it at Publix a couple of weeks ago, I bought it. But, it's taken me a while to actually try it. It's actually pretty easy to make -- just like rice. You boil 2 cups of water, then add the quinoa and cook for about 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy.

I was in the mood for Balthazar's Mustard-encrusted Salmon and thought it would make a great side dish. I looked up a few recipes online and discovered this one from Martha Stewart . But, her recipe looked like it was a cold dish. I wanted it to be hot, so I cooked the apples and shallots in a little bit of butter before I added them to the quinoa.

But, I totally messed up. I don't know what I was thinking -- probably something along the lines of "I hope Baz doesn't choke on his toast while I am turned the other way cooking and man, I should be editing right now" -- but when I went to put my spices back in the cabinet this morning, I discovered what went wrong. I used coriander instead of curry. No wonder my quinoa tasted so different than what I expected. No wonder it sorta sucked.

I figured I'd give you the recipe anyway. Like I said, Martha makes this as a cold salad dish. I think it would be good hot too.

Quinoa and Apples with Curry (adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 cup quinoa
1 tablespoon butter
1 small apple, diced
1 small shallot, diced
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon curry powder (not coriander)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons dried currants
a few fresh mint leaves, coursely chopped

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Put the almonds in a single layer on a small cookie sheet and toast in the over for about 8 minutes.

Boil two cups of water. Add the quinoa and return to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

While the quinoa cooks, melt the butter in a small saute pan. Add the shallots and apples and saute until just soft. Set aside.

Make the dressing by combining the honey, curry powder, salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon juice in a small bowl. Stir until it emulsifies.

When the curry is done, add the apples and shallots and mix well. Drizzle the dressing into the quinoa and mix well. Then add the currants and mint and mix well.

I hope it's good. I wouldn't know.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I was craving chicken noodle soup yesterday so I decided to make use of some of the delicious chicken stock I had in the freezer to make some. It's a little time consuming but fairly easy to do. I started with a recipe from Emeril Lagasse and made adjustments from there.

Then today, I pureed a bit of it to give to Baz. I'm Cuban. We puree a lot. I actually turned out really well and Baz seemed to enjoy it even though he much prefers foods he can pick up and feed himself these days.

Anyway, here is my recipe. For the chicken stock I used this recipe from a couple of weeks back.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (Inspired by Emeril Lagasse's recipe)
3 pound whole chicken
4 cups chicken stock
8 cups water
2 stalks of celery, chopped into large chunks
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
2 onions, chopped into large chunks
4 sprigs of thyme
6 sprigs of parsley
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
10 button mushrooms, cut into six pieces
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 onions, diced
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper
1/4 pound egg noodles

Put the chicken in a large pot and cover with chicken stock and water. Add the large chunks of vegetables and the thyme, parsley and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 1 hour.

Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside to cool enough so you can handle it. Pour the liquid through a very fine strainer or a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Set the broth aside.

Remove all of the skin and bones from the chicken. Shred the meat into small pieces.

In a large pot heat up the olive oil. Add the butter and melt. Add the mushrooms and saute until brown. Add the diced carrots, celery and onions and saute until soft and brown bits begin to stick to the bottom of the pot. Add the wine and use the liquid to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Cook for a couple of minutes to let the alcohol evaporate. Add the shredded chicken. Add the reserved broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste which could require quite a bit.

Bring the soup to a boil. Add the egg noodles and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until the noodles reach their to desired tenderness.

Voila! It's pretty good stuff and just what the doctor ordered if you are feeling a little under the weather. And it was good left over, too. And pureed like what I did for Baz.

Norman Rockwell and Au Pied de Cochon

Last Thursday, Damien and I had a rare night out together -- sans baby -- to attend the opening of the Norman Rockwell exhibit at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art. Let me start by saying how impressed I was with the museum. Aside from the wonderful Norman Rockwell exhibit, they also have a more modern stuff upstairs featuring some Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst and other contemporary artists. The space is really nice with lots of different types of rooms. If you are in the area, I definitely recommend checking the place out. It's very easy to see everything and the quality of the work was top-notch.

The Norman Rockwell exhibit is running through February 7th, 2010. All of the paintings are drawn from the Norman Rockwell exhibit in Massachusetts and what I liked most about it is seeing the evolution of his work. It was inspiring to see how much he honed his craft through the years and how he really started to layer is work with different themes and meanings.

It was a great date night!

Friday was another doozy of working my butt off, so Damien made dinner that night and he did a spectacular job. He made delicious pork chops that he served with some Zatarain's red beans and rice and some broccoli. Nice job!

Then on Saturday we spent a big part of the day shooting additional footage for my video. At the end of the day we found ourselves in South Beach so we stopped in at Au Pied De Cochon, a newly opened French restaurant to see what it was like since we've heard good things. It's open 24 hours a day apparently, and at 6pm, when we were there, it was pretty empty. So we decided to brave a visit with our sleeply little Baz in tow. They had a high chair for him and beautiful raw bar set up near our table so Baz behaved wonderfully -- minus a couple of loud screeches at certain points.

Wish I could say I was as happy with the food. I mean, maybe I was expecting too much, but when I saw that the steak frites would cost at least $41 (for the New York Strip) I decided to just get a hamburger. I know, I know. Ordering a hamburger at a French restaurant. But, I don't know when I order a burger to Balthazar in New York, it's delicious. They serve it on a great bun and it's expertly prepared. I guess I was thinking it would be the same here. Besides it was $25. It had to be pretty good.

I ordered the burger medium but when it came it was very rare -- and not that snobby, but "we're a fancy french restaurant and this is what we call medium" rare. It was really, really rare. So, I had no choice but to asked that they take it back. Well, in the kitchen they simply scrapped off the condiments I had put on it and charred the outside to get it to the usual medium pink inside. Not for nothing, but for $25 bucks, you'd think they would have asked if I wanted a new burger entirely so that the outside didn't taste like a burned mess. But, no, I just ate the freakin' thing. And it was on a plain old sesame seed bun like I could find at Publix. No fancy brioche bun like I had imagined.

Damien ordered the veal cheeks and they were tasty and fine. And the French onion soup au grain I had as an appetizer and the salad Damien ordered were fine too. But, the burger really got to me.

The next day, Damien and I left Baz with his grandparents for a couple of hours so I could shoot some of the last few shots for this video. And to make up for our overly expensive hamburger annoyance the night before, we stopped at Joe's Stone Crab take-away store and had ourselves some stone crabs and a lobster roll. Now we were talking.

Mom's Shrimp Creole

REVISED RECIPE!

Okay, you really have to try today's recipe. It is so good.

It's a good thing it worked out, too. Today was strange and unproductive, well, except I also made that fresh mozzarella cheese which turned out pretty well. A little hard, but still tasty served with some vine ripe tomatoes and a little bit of olive oil.

Anyway, about my unproductive day -- I just hate paying the babysitter when I don't feel like I got enough done. But with the weather being pretty crappy, I couldn't shoot much so I tried to digitize and get started on the editing. The beginning of this process always feels like this. Very slow and painful. I mean, I knew going into it that it was going to be slow. Just not this slow.

So, I tried to redeem myself by making a great dinner which began with a quick trip to the supermarket to pick up some of the ingredients I would need. I don't normally stock pimientos and I was out of tomato sauce.

This recipe is so super easy but you need a food processor (or, I guess a blender would work too -- and it would probably help to have a child who does NOT burst into tears every time he hears the roar of the processor motor. Poor little Baz is terrified every single time.)

Here's how you do it:

Shrimp Creole
1 green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 6.5 ounce jar of pimientos
1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
REVISION: 1/4 cup fresh parsley, stemmed
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound shrimp

Place the green pepper, onion, garlic, pimientos, tomato sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, salt and pepper and parsley in a food processor. (If you have a small one like me, you may have to do two rounds. Poor Baz.) Blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into a saucepan, stir in the olive oil and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, clean and devein the shrimp removing the shells and tails. When the sauce has 5 minutes left of cooking time, add the shrimp and continue cooking.

Serve over white rice. And you may want to throw in a side of sweet plantains. Yummy!

I hope you like as much as I do. It is actually really great left over so throw a few extra shrimp in there for tomorrow.

Homemade Cheese!

This is a very busy week where I will be scrambling to figure out what to make for dinner. I have been working on this new video and, man is it requiring a ton of freakin' legwork! Since Damien's been pretty busy too, poor Baz has either been toted around for a few shots or surrendered to his awesome babysitter for the afternoon. I am beginning to feel like he is forgetting the fun we have together. And so far for dinner, I have picked up a fried chicken dinner including macaroni and cheese from Publix one night and one of my Mom's frozen lasagna dinners the other.

But, today I am taking it a bit slower so I will hopefully be making my mom's recipe for Shrimp Creole. This is my favorite dish that I used to request for every birthday. In fact, this year I asked Damien to make it for me. So he wrote to my mom and got her recipe. I will write more about this when I actually make it.

I also decided to use my slower day to try this amazing gift that my brother and sister-in-law sent me for my birthday. It's a cheesemaking kit (that Baz is modeling above.) So, after getting a gallon of organic whole milk from Whole Foods, dissolving some citric acid and rennet tablets in some water, I found myself stirring and stretching my way to some fresh homemade mozzarella.

This was just the first try but I think it looks pretty good. What I would like to do is try to find some really fresh milk -- like from a local dairy -- because I think that is key to making the most flavorful, creamy cheese. For now though, my attempt can be called a success. And tonight, before our shrimp creole, I will be serving a caprese salad!

Maclaren Recall

Just wanted to get this news out there to help protect those little fingers.

Maclaren is recalling all of their umbrella strollers -- about 1 million of them -- because their hinges pose a danger to kids. Apparently 12 children have had the tips of their fingers amputated by these hinges. They are going to supply everyone who owns one of these strollers with hinge covers that should solve the problem. But it's probably best to keep your little ones away when folding or unfolding the stroller.

You can contact Maclaren through their web site at: www.maclaren.us/recall

Of course, when I went to look at it, the site was down. Probably has something to do with the fact that a million people have these strollers.

Potato Leek Soup

The other day I made chicken stock and one of the reasons was because I have been craving potato leek soup and chicken stock is a main ingredient. So, now that I have a freezer and fridge filled with it, I am ready to go.

I used an Emeril Lagasse recipe and it turned out pretty well. I guess I was hoping for a slightly creamier version so next time I might add more heavy cream to the mix. But, this recipe does include bacon and we all know that, really, anything that contains bacon is guaranteed to be delicious.

And it's pretty easy to make, if you have the chicken stock handy. You can always buy the canned kind. So, without further ado:

Potato Leek Soup (inspired by the Food Network, Emeril Lagasse recipe)
1 large leek
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs of thyme
1 teaspoon of peppercorns (I used a multi-colored version)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 strips of bacon, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup of white wine
5 cups of chicken stock
3 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper (white if you have it)
3/4 cups of heavy cream (or creme fraiche)

Cut of the green part of the leek and use two of the larger leaves to make a bouquet garni. Simply fold the bay leaves, thyme and peppercorn into the leaves and tie it closed with cooking twine or cheesecloth (which I luckily had on hand thanks to the cheese-making kit my brother and sister-in-law sent me for my birthday a few months ago.) Set aside.

Split the white part of the leek down the middle and rinse well since leeks are notorious for holding sand and dirt in between their leaves. Then slice both pieces thinly.

In a large pot, melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until the bacon is soft and it's "rendered most of it's fat" as Emeril says. This takes about 5 minutes. Then add the leeks and cook until soft and wilted which also takes about 5 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Now add the chicken stock, the potatoes, the salt and pepper and the bouquet garni you created. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for about 30 minutes.

Remove the bouquet garni and, in batches, use a food processor to puree the soup. Return the puree to the pot and stir in the heavy cream. Yummy.

This is best served immediately but is still very good left over if stored overnight in the refrigerator.

I served this as an appetizer last night followed by my chicken cordon bleu which I made a little bit more traditionally last night with ham and swiss cheese. Things are starting to pick up again for work, so I wanted to have at least one fancy-ish meal before we get back to it. We topped things off with a couple of pieces of Halloween candy.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture again : (

Red Light with the Ladies

Last night a couple of my girlfriends and I met for dinner at an organic diner/restaurant called Red Light. The three of us all had our first babies within months of each other so every once in a while we like to get together without the babies -- there are plenty of time when they come with us too -- and talk about how things are going.

The Red Light is a pretty cool spot on Biscayne Boulevard. It's nestled between a dingy motel and a strip club right on the Miami River. The place is pretty small but it's got a great retro diner feel and hipster wait staff. I liked it. The food was...okay. Two of us had the warm spinach salad which I really liked (it has bacon in it), while the third ordered a vegetarian plate that they specially put together for her. We also shared an artichoke appetizer and a fish dip that was pretty tasty. Unfortunately they brought a butternut squash soup way too late so we didn't even eat it.

But the best part of the night was definitely catching up with my new Miami mom friends. I may not have known them for long, but we've been through a lot together in this limited time. God, this whole motherhood thing has just been insane. It's not only introduced us to a new part of ourselves, but it's changed who we are as career women, as wives, as friends. So every once in a while it feels really nice to get together and hash some things out.

Chicken Stock

Today, I decided to try and make chicken stock since a few recipes I have been looking at recently required this ingredient. I have used canned or boxed stock in the past, but I would imagine that freshly made chicken stock is probably so much better -- and better for you.

Since today was a slower day for me -- or at least I thought it would be -- I undertook the challenge. I bought an organic whole chicken from the Publix Greenwise section and bought some celery and leeks to add to the carrots and onions I already had.

I looked at several different recipes and decided to just wing it based on what I read. This is sort of an all day undertaking so take that into consideration before you start. Here is what I did:

Chicken Stock
1 whole chicken
2 carrots
2 onions
2 stalks of celery
1 leek, the green stems included
4 sprigs thyme
4 sprigs parsley
1 teaspoon peppercorn (I used a multi-colored mix)

Put the chicken in a large (and I mean really large) pot. Cover the chicken with water (about a gallon) and bring to a boil. Remove the foam that accumulates on top.

Chop up the vegetables into big chunks (the pieces should be about an inch). Add the vegetables and the herbs to the pot and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat to medium low and let the mixture simmer for 4 or 5 hours.

Strain the liquid through a sieve to remove all of the other ingredients. Chill the stock in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, remove the fat that has accumulated on the top. Refrigerate or freeze.

I am chilling my stock now and will let you know how it goes tomorrow. I also saved the very, falling apart, moist chicken and hope to use the meat somehow. We'll see though. It wasn't looking very appetizing after soaking for 4 hours.

God, I really hope it works out. That was a lot of food to use up. But, how could it not work out? It's just that I was so distracted trying to get this done with my newly mobile and very enthusiastic adventurer, Balthazar. Well, first it was his sleeping that really tripped me up. I mean, I put that kid in the car and he is out for an hour at least. So, first I sat in the parking lot at Costco and then again at Publix letting the little guy catch some z's. It was such a waste of time. But, I have to let him rest because when he's awake he is a MANIAC. He's standing up against the table, the refrigerator, the oven. He pulling down pots and pans, screaming when I won't let him leave the refrigerator door open or when I insist that the knife is off limits. Ugh, I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

But, the stock finally got simmering and then I made some Penne alla Vodka for dinner.

I also booked myself another video today. So it looks like this "hiatus" was a short one. I guess that's good.

Full report of the stock tomorrow. Oh and if anyone has made a good chicken stock before and sees that I have made some terrible errors, please let me know. I would really appreciate it.

Yankees Suck Meatloaf

I'm gonna have to write this quickly. My power supply doesn't seem to be working properly. Then I remembered that I found Baz sucking on the end of it today. I hope it is not another casualty of Baz the drooling electronics fanatic. We've already lost a Blackberry and a couple of remote controls.

But, I am back at it today. After taking Baz to his 9 month doctor's appointment, and waiting out an hour nap in the parking lot of the Surfside Publix, I went food shopping and then came home and cooked a nice meal.

I was in the mood for meatloaf. So, I sort of made up my own recipe and added a glaze that I liked from a Food Network recipe. It turned out pretty well.

Here's what I did:

Yankees Suck Meatloaf
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed or diced
1 small onion
1 small carrots
1/2 green pepper
1 small Roma tomato
4 small mushrooms
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon bread crumbs
1 slice of bread
1 pound ground beef (I used organic ground beef after the New York Times article)
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Finely dice the carrot, onion, tomato and mushrooms. Put the olive oil in a large saute pan and heat over high heat. Add the garlic and saute until it starts to brown. Add the rest of the vegetables and saute until soft and the onion is translucent. Set aside to cool a little bit.

Combine the dry ingredients and put in a large bowl. Add the ground beef and break up the slice of bread and use your hands to mix it with the meat and spices. Add the sauteed vegetables and egg. Mix all ingredients together with your hands.

Form the mixture into a loaf either using a loaf pan or your hands. Put the loaf in the middle of a baking sheet and put it in the oven.

After ten minutes, add this glaze which I got from Alton Brown on the Food Network site:

Combine 1/2 cup of ketcup, 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a dash of hot sauce. Mix well.

Cover the meatloaf with this glaze and continue cooking until a meat thermometer reads that it is 165 degrees in several places. This takes about 1 hour of cooking.

I served it with mashed potatoes and some steamed broccoli. It was really good.

Oh and I call it Yankees Suck Meatloaf because the Yankees suck.

Supper Sum-Up

I was unusually busy this week finishing up this video for The New York Times that is running on the homepage today (check it out!). So, I didn't really do a lot of cooking. In fact, I can barely remember what I ate. Luckily, I have an awesome husband, who despite having to finish the article that the video accompanied and another piece about the world's largest rubber band ball being moved out of Lauderhill, FL, kept me fed and hydrated.

So, I thought I'd do just a quick run down of what we did for dinner this week in hopes that maybe it will inspire some ideas and distract people from the fact I have been such a blog slacker.

Saturday: One of my mom's frozen Chicken Parmesan meals with a side of penne.
Friday: Filet Mignon with wasabi mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus. (I put a rub on the filet mignon of olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and cumin and cooked in a cast iron skillet to medium rare -- with no fire alarms set off this time)
Thursday: Shrimp Scampi (that I made, thank you very much)
Wednesday: Damien made this excellent Cashew-encrusted chicken dish from the Miami Spice cookbook we recently picked up at the Bookstore in the Grove. I'll post the recipe soon.
Tuesday: Cafe Prima Pasta for the early bird 50% off special. I had the mushroom ravioli special and Damien had the Seafood pasta.
Monday: Rotisserie chicken dinner from Publix with macaroni and cheese and steamed broccoli on the side.
Sunday: Our usual Sunday night pizza order from Pizzafiore.

This week I should be back to cooking so I'm hoping to come up with some new recipes. Any suggestions?

Oh and Happy Halloween!

The Carnivore’s Dilemma

An interesting New York Times "food for thought" column here. I have several friends who push their vegetarian/vegan views and this op-ed piece offers another perspective.

I'm more of an "everything in moderation" kind of girl so I'm not really likely to give up meat anytime soon. But when I can find it, I have been trying to buy only organic or farm raised products. Apparently, it's even better for the environment that eating tofu since so much soy comes from the handful of Brazilian international agribusinesses that are big culprits in the deforestation of Brazil.

I found this paragraph pretty interesting too:

And it should also be noted that farmers bear only a portion of the blame for greenhouse gas emissions in the food system. Only about one-fifth of the food system’s energy use is farm-related, according to University of Wisconsin research. And the Soil Association in Britain estimates that only half of food’s total greenhouse impact has any connection to farms. The rest comes from processing, transportation, storage, retailing and food preparation. The seemingly innocent potato chip, for instance, turns out to be a dreadfully climate-hostile food. Foods that are minimally processed, in season and locally grown, like those available at farmers’ markets and backyard gardens, are generally the most climate-friendly.

No! Not potato chips!

So, take a read and if anyone has any suggestions for where to buy organic meat, let me know. I already get Verde Farms organic ground meat at Costco.

Locally Grown

So sorry that I seem to have been on hiatus for the past week and a half. I had a video to do for the New York Times so it's been insane around here. But, hopefully it will all pay off this weekend. The story is scheduled to run on Sunday. Take a look at nytimes.com and check out the video player.

I have a few recipes I would like to share from last week -- Damien is actually the one who did most of the cooking -- but I will get to that in the next post. First, for all of you who read about my experience with the Coconut Grove Farmers Market, I wanted to point out this interesting Miami Herald article about how Publix is going to start identifying local produce with a Redland-Raised label. It also explains a few reasons there is not as much locally grown produce as you might expect from South Florida.

Again, apologies for my lack of posts. Video is finished so I'll start cooking again.

Baked Brie with Apricots in French Bread

We are up in Vero Beach this week visiting with my parents. I savor these weekends because not only do they get to see Baz for a few days, but we get to take much needed breaks to just relax with the peace of mind that someone we trust is watching after our little rascal. It's a treat. For instance, today Damien and I both got facials. Tomorrow we'll go out to dinner and see a movie. And as an added bonus when we go back to Miami Beach we'll be taking home 13 frozen meals that my mother has prepared for us. Her prepared meals were a godsend after Baz was first born. When I couldn't even tell what day it was, never mind if it was time for dinner, I could just pull out some lasagna or the best chicken parm I've ever had from the freezer. About an hour later, a home cooked meal. And she's a great cook.

So it comes as no surprise that my mom made a wonderful appetizer tonight that I'd like to share. It's very easy to do and has a real "wow" factor to it if you are looking for something to impress guests.

It's Baked Brie topped with Apricot Preserves in a french bread crust. I have to give props to our family friends, the Goodwins, who introduced my parents to this recipe while they were visiting them last week in the Adirondacks.

Baked Brie with Apricots in French Bread
1 full wheel of brie
1 jar of apricot preserves
1 container of Pillsbury Crusty French Loaf

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a baking sheet with a non-stick spray like Pam. Place the whole brie in the center. Stretch the french bread dough around the outer edge of the cheese leaving the top exposed. Pinch the two ends together so that it is securely joined in a circle. Pour the apricot preserves into the center, completely covering the top of the brie, but not the dough.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes (or according to the french bread instructions). Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 to 15 minutes.

Then you can just slice the bread and spread a little cheese and apricots on it as it oozes out from the center. Man, I wish I had remembered to take a picture.

Thanks, Mom and Mrs. Goodwin!

Babies Make You Better at Work

I was just catching up on the Motherlode blog on the New York Times web site and saw this post that I found pretty inspiring.

It's about how having a baby can actually make you better at work. Watching the little guy trying to walk -- how he gets up, falls and then gets right back up again with the same happy enthusiasm as the first 100 times until one day he finally takes that first successful step -- is a good lesson in how we should approach our work.

Pork Loin for a Whole Family

With Damien's family here visiting, I had to come up with something for a bigger group. When I couldn't find the McCormick pulled pork packet, or a boneless pork shoulder for that matter, I decided on a pork loin that I found at Costco last time I was there. It was a huge 4 pound pork loin that was already in a onion and garlic marinade. It was so super simple. I just put in a roasting pan and cooked it for about an hour. I covered it which may have helped keep it moist. I used a meat thermometer to make sure it was fully cooked and then I sliced it and put the slices back into the roaster so that I could coat the individual slices with the juices that had pooled in the bottom of the pan.

I served it with some Yukon Gold mashed potatoes and steamed (well, microwaved really) broccoli. It was actually really tasty and good. Comfort food. We paired it with a nice bottle of La Crema Chardonnay, one of our favorites, and had a lovely dinner with Damien's siblings.

This is how I made the mashed potatoes and they turned out really well:

Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
(for 6 people)
7 or 8 medium or large Yukon Gold potatoes
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1/2 stick of butter
1/2 cup of milk (more or less to taste)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup Asiago cheese, shredded

Cut the potatoes into chunks and place in a pot of water so that all the potatoes are covered. I don't peel the potatoes, but if you prefer you can peel them. Cook until soft (about 20 minutes). Pour the potatoes into a strainer to get rid of the water.

Put the olive oil in the emptied pot. Add the garlic and saute until lightly browned. Add the butter and pour the hot potatoes back into the pot. Add milk and coat the potatoes with the butter and milk. Use a masher to mash the potatoes in the pot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the cheese and mix.

I use Yukon Gold because they really are the tastiest for mashed or roasted potatoes. Check them out.

We top off our simple meal with some ice cream for dessert and everybody seemed happy. It was a great visit and I can't wait for them all to come back again.

Flu Vaccines

Last week was a busy one with Damien's two brothers visiting. It became a full house on Friday when Ryan's wife, Samantha arrived. Then Dani, their little sister, joined us on Saturday for a great beach day -- and their timing was perfect since a bit of a cold snap came through last night and we were in the low 70s today. For us Floridians, that's cold!

It was a reminder that flu season will soon be in full force and, of course, the crazy H1N1 flu is all over the news. Since people seem to be talking so much about it -- in fact, I just watched a good segment on 60 Minutes -- I have gathered a bunch of articles I've read about it. Most of the links below are from the New York Times, a source that I wholeheartedly trust. Hopefully this will help inform and also ease some of the anxiety people have about the flus and vaccines. And please remember that pregnant women and children are particularly vulnerable. Take care of yourselves.

I found this Q&A to be particularly useful.

This one is one of the more recent articles that talks a bit about anti-vaccinators.

The New Yorker had this Michael Specter "The Talk of the Town" piece in their Oct. 12th, 2009 issue.

And if you want to dig even more into vaccinations and immunizations, one place to start is the New York Times Topics Page on the subject -- their H1N1 page is pretty good too -- that has a good list of links, including the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia that I found particularly informative.

Frontier and Pull Pork Sandwiches

Hilton Head 1996

I had an absolutely fabulous weekend traveling to Denver, Colorado to visit with four of my best college friends. My friend Kita perfectly summarized why it was so great on her blog here.

There are seven of us girls who were and continue to be especially close and we do our best to see each other as often as we can. Whenever we do get together, even when it's been years, it feels like just yesterday we were hanging out in our Ignacio Hall dorm room. It's just so easy to be with them and I feel more myself with these women than with just about any other people in the world. They've seen me at my best and at my worst -- and I them : ) -- and I grew into the adult that I am with their unconditional friendship and support. Of course, I have my family, but they have to love me. These girls have stuck by me even when they weren't legally obligated to - and believe me, sometimes I made it hard. And they are the compass that leads me back to the idealistic, independent, simple college student I was when life gets complicated.

Of course, these days life is a lot more complicated. I was sad and nervous to leave my little guy behind. But I think the time with his dad and his two uncles (who happened to come for a visit) was a very good thing. The pictures that were emailed to me (one is to the left) put me at ease, although I was a little hurt he looked so freaking happy that he didn't seem to miss me at all. But I do think that Damien has a better understanding of how challenging it can be to be the only one responsible for the baby. So that's good.

I wanted to recommend the fantastic airline that took me away to Denver with on-time flights and Direct TV entertainment to distract me from what I was leaving behind. Frontier Airlines is a Denver based company that was similar to JetBlue or Southwest. Casual, inexpensive, no-frills, but well done.

I'd also like to share what we had for dinner in case anyone is looking for ideas to feed a larger group. One night Kita made a delicious pasta sauce that included ground beef (that I think was organic beef she got a Whole Foods and she hadn't even read the NY Times article.) She served it over spaghetti. And the other night, as an homage to a few debauched nights we spent at a BBQ joint in our old neighborhood called Brother Jimmy's, our host Jen pulled out a slow cooker (yay! - another recipe) and made pulled pork. It was so tasty that I also had it for lunch before I left for the airport.

This is how she did it:

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
3 lb. boneless pork shoulder
1 packet McCormick Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Seasoning
1/2 cup ketcup
1/2 brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar

I think she just mixed everything but the pork in a bowl and then pour it over the pork shoulder that was placed in the slow cooker. Then she set the slow cooker to low for 8 hours. When it was done, she shredded the meat and returned it to the slow cooker until we were ready to eat. Cole slaw is almost a necessary side dish for this meal. I mean, you can't really have pulled pork without cole slaw!

I couldn't find the McCormick packet at the Publix near my house. I have one other to check. And Jen ordered the pork shoulder from her fancy butcher which I think I'll have to do too.

Anyway, this was fantastic and it's one of those dishes that is almost better leftover. When I ate some for lunch the next day, it made having to leave a little less bitter.

Denver bound and The End of an Era

I usually don’t write on this blog on weekends because I’m try to be out and about and not cooking much on Saturdays. And this weekend is no exception, except that it’s more exciting than just eating out at local spots because I am traveling to Denver for a little reunion with my nearest and dearest college friends. So I am sitting here at Denver International Airport waiting for my friend Karima’s flight to arrive from New York before we get picked up by my other friend, Kita – of Enchilada and Tortilla Soup fame – and they have free wi-fi so why not write in.

I am very excited to see the ladies, but it also means leaving my baby behind for the first time in his short life. While I have enjoyed the hassle-free experience at the airport sans baby gear and unpredictable child, I’m definitely pining for the little guy. Damien emailed me a video of his morning – thanks for showing me that he hardly knows I’m gone by the way, Damien (you can see a small video below) – and I am sure he is in very capable hands, but I miss him. So I have gotten myself a large latte and need to distract myself a bit so that I am not thinking about him this whole wait.

It’s also a major milestone for me because it officially marks the end of my first breastfeeding experience. Breastfeeding was something I really struggled with at the beginning. I mean, really, really struggled. And I feel a lot of pride about the fact that I made it 8 months. It was a rough start and I thought about quitting a million times. But, I somehow managed to exclusively breast feed him through his first few months despite incredible pain and bleeding nipples, the nadir of which took place in a very warm, badly lit J. Crew dressing room, store clerks jiggling the door handle, when I pulled him away from me to see that there was blood mixed with the milk he had running down his chin – my blood. Sorry if that’s too much information, but it was even more traumatic for me.

But then, around 3 months, it very suddenly got better. Everyone had told me it would. It was so hard to believe. I mean, it was terrible. How could it possibly get better? Then, I don’t know if hormonally things started to even out or what, but just like magic, at 3 months Baz seemed to get his latch right and my poor tender boobs stopped aching. It was a miracle! In fact, I actually started to enjoy it. It was nice to have some quiet time, and there is nothing like your baby needing to eat to make you stop what you are doing and take a break to cuddle with him for a few minutes as he gets what he needs.

Toward the end I had gotten it down to once a day – in the mornings when he first woke up. It was a really nice ritual. He’d start to talk to the monkeys hanging from his mobile when he woke up. Damien would go pick him and change him and then bring him to the bedroom where we’d hang out, I’d feed him and we’d get ready to face the day.

I suppose we can still hang out in bed and Damien or I can give him a bottle, but that will require a trip upstairs and mixing of formula – just enough effort and technology to disrupt our peaceful, natural morning.

Cosmopolitans and Turkey Sausage Penne Alla Vodka

Last night I looked in my freezer and all I had left was three one pound packages of Verde Farms Organic ground beef, a huge Costco pork loin and a package of turkey sausage. I guess the turkey sausage was the only thing that looked reasonable to me so I had to figure out something to do with it.

I was craving a little vodka sauce, but we'd run out of vodka after the last batch...okay, and there were maybe a couple of dirty martinis involved one evening during a sunset on the beach. I hadn't been out of the house all day because I am still working on my video, and so I decided that maybe going to the liquor store was just the outing I needed! I put Baz in the stroller and off we went.

It was worth it. I plopped the sausages into a frying pan and browned them in a couple drops of oil olive. I took them out of the pan and sliced them before returning to the pan so that they would cook faster. At this point Damien came home, noticed the fresh bottle of vodka and asked me if I knew how to make Cosmopolitans. I didn't, but I sure wouldn't mind finding out!

This is what we discovered:

Cosmopolitans alla Damien (makes 2 servings)
3 ounces vodka
1 ounce Cointreau or Triple Sec (we used Cointreau)
2 ounce cranberry juice
1 lime

Pour all liquid ingredients in a martini shaker with ice and shake. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 of the lime into each of two chilled martini glasses. Pour contents of the shaker over the lime juice. Garnish with a wedge of lime.

You can adjust the ingredients to your taste. Apparently, there really isn't a right or wrong way to do it.

Now armed with my pre-dinner cocktail, I continued making my vodka sauce. I put the pasta in to boil and removed the sausages from the frying pan, cleaned it out and continued to make the vodka sauce like I did in my post a here.

This recipe is becoming a real favorite around here, and the sausage added a new twist. It was really tasty.

Today, I am getting ready to go on my first trip sans baby. While I am very excited for the reunion with some of my dearest friends in Denver, CO, I am also very nervous about leaving Baz behind. I know he's in good hands -- in fact, Damien has his two brothers coming in this weekend so he'll have reinforcements (even though I was sort of looking forward to him experiencing a full two days alone with the baby.) But I've never been away from him for more than a few hours. And to make matters more difficult, he has started saying "Mama" this week. Way to break my heart, baby.

My First Slow Cooker Experience - Chicken and Mushrooms

A year or so ago, Damien told his mom that we'd like a slow cooker for Christmas. I am not sure what possessed him to say this. I have never used a crock pot in my life, and while Damien does do some of the cooking around here, I just couldn't imagine him thinking of a recipe to throw in the thing before he went off to report on something.

Well, a couple of years later, it has never seen the outside of a closet -- and it takes up a lot of room in that closet cuz it ain't a tiny piece of equipment. That is until today. I have absolutely no idea how to use a slow cooker, but it seems pretty easy -- I mean, just throw a few ingredients in there and set to cook. Right?

I guess the idea of ending up with a nice meal in 4 to 6 hours with minimal effort sounds good to me right now. I have been having some trouble budgeting my time since I have an actual paying job to do this week. The tough part of being a freelancer and a mom is that when I have real work to do for someone other than my family, my job of taking care of Baz and keeping the Oliva Cave house in order doesn't just get put on hold. Baz still needs to be dressed, fed and entertained, laundry still needs to get done if I want something to wear, and, of course, dinner needs to be made. And since it is just freelance, it's not like I get into a rhythm. Things are too erratic for that.

Now, Damien is really great -- much better than average -- so this is not to say that my husband is good for nothing or that men just don't get it. He gets it, but he has a demanding, full time job every day.

It's just that even with his help, being a mom is a full time job, more so than I ever imagined. In fact, I'd actually like to apologize right now to my mom and my mom friends who have known this for a long time. I was insensitive. So, when I add to my schedule -- even when it's not as demanding as a breaking news video for The New York Times -- that means I have a second full-time job. People will say, why don't you just get a babysitter and I do. I do get someone to help me out for a few hours here and there, but that can only cover so much time and, quite frankly, finding people and getting them organized takes a bunch of time, too, not to mention that since I work from home the distractions are endless even when someone is watching him. And it's limited. Before baby, I'd just work all day and night until the job was done. Now I have to be ready to work during the time I have help, and if you work in something creative you know that sometimes your creative juices aren't quite as disciplined as your schedule.

I really am not complaining so much as I am trying to figure this out. I mean, hell, I'm super lucky -- my husband is great, I can afford to get some help and at least I actually have some work, work that I can do at home no less. It's just is it possible to have a successful part-time freelance career and take care of babies? If any of you have any tips for how you organize your work/baby life, I'd love to hear them.

In the meantime, I'm still cooking with that slow cooker. I put some cut up chicken breast in there with about 10 sliced up mushrooms, 1 small diced onion, 2 chopped up carrots,2 chopped up cloves of garlic, some fresh thyme, a bay leaf, 1/2 cup of wine, 1/2 cup cream and 1 cup of chicken broth. I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe this crock pot will become a big help as I go forward. Oh, and thanks for the gift, Mrs. Cave.

Chicken and Shrimp Enchiladas

Tonight, I decided to go back to my friend, Kita's, enchilada recommendation.  Her sister sent her this recipe and I have adapted a few things to my taste and what I had available.

For tonight's version, I replaced the beef I originally used with both chicken and shrimp (since I realized a little late in the game that I was running low on shrimp, I just sauteed a chicken breast that I had seasoned with salt and pepper.)  I didn't use them together but instead made two different kinds of enchiladas.  I also used two kinds of red salsa instead of green salsa because the Publix I went to only had some lame El Paso Salsa Verde available.  I used the mango and peach salsa I bought a Costco a while ago as well as Publix brand of medium salsa which was actually quite nice.

The mango/peach salsa was pretty tasty with the shrimp enchiladas in particular.  The only thing I didn't like was that it didn't taste particularly Mexican.  But, whatever, it was a little gourmet and Damien seemed to like it, too.

I also mixed up the veggies a bit.  I did use the squash and corn like the recipe calls for, but I also threw in a poblano pepper and a half of a jalapeno to make things a little spicier.

All in all, it was pretty good.  My apologies to Kita and her sister, Mollie for screwing with an already terrific recipe.  You're original is still the best. 

Verde Farms Organic Beef

A little dismayed by the New York Times piece about how we're all going to die from eating ground beef (okay, so maybe it wasn't that bad), I decided to send an email to the producer of the organic ground beef I've been purchasing from Costco -- Verde Farms.

I was happy to get a reply within an hour.  Dana Ehrlich, the founder of Verde Farms sent me this email in response to my questions about the way they handle their ground beef production:

Hi Diana,
Thanks for your message and patronage.  I assume you are referring to the NY Times articles which has received a lot of attention. 

We take a number of steps beyond that which the large, conventional grinders and USDA requires such as:
.    Food safety audits by independent companies of our slaughtering and processing facilities
.    HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) plans to identify high risk areas
.    No bench trim used from the grinding facility
.    Slow line speeds at the slaughterhouse in Australia and US which reduces risk of fecal contamination
.    Majority of beef is free-range which minimizes fecal contamination on the hide and moving to 100% free-range, grass-fed cattle
.    No organ meats, no old dairy cows, no reconstitution, no fine textured meat or rendering, etc.only meat from healthy animals
.    Require Certificate of Analysis for negative E Coli 0157:H7 for all incoming raw material
.    First production of the day after nightly sanitation
.    Test and hold of finished product for E Coli 0157:H7, generic E Coli, aerobic plate counts, and coliforms

A good customer is an educated customer.let me know if you have any additional questions that I would be happy to answer. 

Thanks, Dana

I still have a few questions for Mr. Ehrlich.  For instance, does requiring a certificate of analysis for negative E Coli for all incoming raw material mean that they test the incoming beef themselves?  But, I suppose their handling seems better than most places.

In the meantime, I'll stick to whole cuts of beef and other types of meat.  And I suggest everyone be very careful with their handling of food in their kitchens.