Everyday Creativity in the Kitchen

After any period of indulgence in one activity or another, whether it be food and drink, TV-watching, or spending, I usually feel compelled for a time to reign that activity in with a bit more discipline.  After our vacation I was feeling inspired to spend less in anticipation of more traveling expenses when we came home for the summer.  I started playing the game of what can I create in the kitchen with what's in the freezer and cupboard without going to the store for any extras.

There's a sense in which figuring out what to make for dinner is what happens every night in the kitchen, but a couple of weeks ago I was trying to approach it with more imagination.  It felt like a magical night in my kitchen, but that could have been because James was watching Ratatouille in the corner while I chopped onions, so the atmosphere bar was higher than normal.  That movie always makes me want to cook.

I don't have pretty pictures because I didn't know I was creating a masterpiece, a masterpiece not for it's beauty or refinement, but because my husband ate three bowls, and it brought us both back to a moment in our childhood and the vegetable soup our moms made for us, much like the food critic Anton Ego's experience with Emile's ratatouille.

My starting point was some lean ground beef I'd already cooked, left over from something else.  It's so easy for me to forget about things like that and end up throwing it away, and I was determined to do something with it.  Vegetable soup!  I knew I had some Knorr beef cubes in the pantry that my mom had used when she was visiting and making up her own stew.  I chopped an onion and sauteed it in a little olive oil, added some beef broth and sliced carrots to boil.  I thought I was in trouble when I realized I was out of potatoes but discovered some good frozen peas and sweet corn (or just corn as we call it in the U.S.) in the freezer and added that toward the end.  Salt, pepper, basil, rosemary.  Did I mention KJ ate three bowls?  And it proved a good way for even Ella to eat lots of veggies, too.

Since you're not going to find a buttermilk biscuit anywhere around here I've been practicing my mama's recipe more and more.  I've had varying degrees of success and non-success, but this night it all came together.  Was it using half unsalted and half salted butter because that was all I had?  I don't know.  Maybe I handled the dough just the right amount, but the results were fluffy with just the right amount of saltiness, just the right amount of southern comfort.

Not beautiful, not fancy, but I wanted to record and remember the way we ate in the kitchen gathered around the pot, with the ending strains of Ratatouille playing in the background.

What's your favorite throw-it-all together with what you've got meal?  We've since re-made this one on purpose.

Baking Across the Pond

Living in England gives lots of opportunities for talking about differences between England and the United States.  When you're "separated by a common language" there are always similarities and differences, sometimes very minute ones, to discuss.  A funny minute one we discovered in recent months came when talking to a friend about a splashback she wanted to install in her kitchen.  "You mean a backsplash?" I asked.  We laughed a lot over that one because it seems so characteristic, just gotta be a little bit different, just enough to throw you off a bit.

Cooking offers a chance for new vocabulary and a learning curve, using a "fan oven" instead of electric, heating things up on the "hob" instead of the "stove."  Most of the time it seems we just use the same words differently.  For instance, the southern American use of casserole would probably be called a bake here in North Yorkshire.

Last Easter we had our church over for lunch, and I made a Pound Cake for dessert.  I didn't realize until I did that the Bundt pan and bundt cake were not as common on this side of the ocean.  At my Christmas time meeting with my Book Club, I rediscovered that fact when one of the ladies brought up seeing a bundt cake made on a cooking show and how she really wanted to try one.  I told her I would bring one to our next meeting, and I settled on this Cinnamon Roll Bundt Cake, mostly because I had all of the ingredients on hand.  Instant pudding mix is harder to find on this side of the pond, but I happened to have some in the pantry.  This cake comes highly recommended by my book club.  That buttery, cinnamon sugar filling is amazing.  I didn't get a picture of the finished product, so check out the original post for all the delicious details, and go forth and make bundt cakes!

A Little Bit of Everything

This weekend was just plain fun and chock-full of good things.  I spent a lot of time with my mixer and rolling pin.  

Some of our college students invited us to watch the season premiere of Doctor Who, and I wanted to make something special because sometimes I get really into parties, and it's fun to create.  I think KJ was a little skeptical when I showed him the picture of the cake I wanted to emulate. My cake looks decidedly amateurish compared to the professional, but she had written such a good tutorial on how to put the cake together I thought it was worth a try.  I learned a lot of "cake-decorating things" so it was worth it.  

I did, however, forget to put handles on my TARDIS, so you can't actually get inside and go anywhere.

It's bigger on the inside of course.

You could also say it's smaller on the outside.

The tutorial had me make an entire recipe of marshmallow fondant, but all that it was needed for was the windows, so while KJ and the kids kept tearing off pieces to eat I rolled some out to lay across my second layer of cake.  That was the easiest icing job ever, and KJ likes the marshmallow fondant so much he'd be happy if I never used traditional frosting again. I happened upon the candy glasses and bow ties at Target, and I thought they made a good ode to Doctors 10 and 11.

Our fun night out was sponsored by the Kizziah family who kept our kids, making all kinds of fun memories.  We took some pictures for them to put on a prayer card yesterday evening before church. I don't know if I should share any of the pictures they want to use yet, so I'll settle for an underexposed shot.  I think the properly exposed shots turned out really well.  Maybe this is what their prayer card might look like if they were going to a more dangerous area. 

I've been rocking this kid in this chair like this for almost 5 years.  It's our special spot, so I asked KJ to take a picture last night.  James said, "This can be me and your passport picture."  I think it's the perfect shot for a government document, don't you?

An Unexpected Birthday Party

James has always loved birthday parties and most of all, cake.

And when we threw an impromptu birthday party for Aunt Katie last week and James asked if his birthday was next, I didn't like to tell him that first there would be birthdays for Debbo, Big Daddy, Caleb, Haddon, Ella, Claire, and Aunt Nicole...THEN it would be his turn.  James' most oft-repeated phrase for a while now has been, "That's gonna take FOREVER."  I'm sorry you have to wait, little buddy.

On to Aunt Katie's party...  I made this Cobb Salad, with all kinds of goodness in it and this Brown Butter Blueberry Cobbler, which was so simple and with a little ice cream on top it was scrumptious.

The rest of the night was made up of lots of talking about the future and the sounds of five children running around and generally making a lot of racket.  There was also dancing.

Ella spent the day dressed in the Laura Ingalls Wilder dress my mom made me when I was in elementary school.  It was just one of those summer days when you feel like wearing period clothing.
 

 There was a handmade card from Ella; she really does make the best cards.

 Little Karis loves Uncle KJ.  It's the sweetest thing.  There's another Pugh boy who loves Karis, too.

 It was a fun night.

Happy Birthday, James! + a Mario Cake

My baby is 4 today.  I conducted a little interview with him this morning in between his eating breakfast and counting his birthday money.

I downloaded the template above from Squijoo if anyone else has Photoshop and has a child's birthday coming up.

It should come as no surprise that we're having a Mario party today.  My mom came up yesterday to bake James' cake.  Ella drew some designs for our cake-decorating inspiration.

I was really glad to have an expert there and to learn a few tips.

Did I mention that Ella lost yet ANOTHER top tooth last week?  Look at that smile.

She loves to help in the kitchen.  We decided on a two-layer square cake just for fun, and Debbo made a cream filling.  I'm looking forward to trying it tonight.

 The nerve-wracking part is always putting those big layers together. 

Whew!  We made it.  Ella said it looked like a giant Oreo.  

Then it was time to make it look like the inside of a Mario game.  Most of the inspiration cakes I found online used fondant, which we're not huge fans of the taste of, so we went with my Mom's homemade frosting instead.  She's a champion at smoothing it out.  Debbo is, however, going to experiment with some fondant made from marshmallows, so maybe we'll have that in our decorating arsenal one day.

I bought these edible decorating paper sheets at Wal-mart, which Debbo turned into a castle. Thanks to the store of human knowledge on Google, we were able to make brown food coloring from equal parts red, yellow, and blue (just in case you ever need to know), which Mom applied with a Q-tip.

I found these Mario figures to make the cake.  Literally.

I thought it turned out really cute.  Best of all, James thinks it's "a really cool cake," and he keeps opening  the refrigerator to look at it.  I just need to add some doors to the castle today...

I think Mario and Luigi are going to finish this level with flying colors.  Or fireworks.  Lots of fireworks.

Dinner Party

Sunday afternoon I planned an impromptu dinner party for last night, to celebrate college graduations, new jobs, new jobs in other countries, and I always look forward to trying new recipes.  Last night was dinner party heaven because every new thing I tried was lovely and delicious, so I thought I should share the love.

We'll start with The Pioneer Woman's two contributions:  Homemade Lemonade and Chocolate Strawberry Nutella Cake.

I don't have a juicer, so I squeezed 24 lemons by hand yesterday, then weeded out all the seeds.  It made my trash can and my hands smell like summer, and it was perfect and delicious.  I filled up a big serving vat and gave no other drink options. :)

I think this cake speaks for itself.  Homemade whipped cream, from scratch chocolate cake, strawberries...and don't forget the Nutella.  It was seriously good and pretty to look at, too.  You could just make one layer if you don't want lots of leftovers.

I also followed a tutorial I found on Pinterest for the "perfect baked potato."  I thought it delivered.  I used our sea salt we brought back from Normandy, and the insides were fluffy and perfect as promised.

I also used our French salt on steaks that my lovely husband grilled to perfection.  The only downside of the evening was when a falling steak knife grazed KJ's hand, resulting in a rather bloody end to dinner.  I got out the fancy steak knives we received as wedding gifts, and since they've only been used around 5 times in nine years they're pretty sharp.  I think he'll recover fully, though.

The picture of James above reminded me of our favorite line from last night.  After a trip to the bathroom, James walked out with only his underwear and announced, "My pants are invisible!"  I for one didn't see them again for the duration of the evening.

Our Thanksgiving

When we headed home Wednesday night it was hard to believe it was time for Thanksgiving.  This year really has seemed to pass so quickly.  Ella has proven herself to be an incredible helper over the past week, and she quickly jumped in to help Debbo make a pie crust in preparation for the morrow's feast.

There's no Wii at B.P.'s house (as James constantly reminded us that he couldn't play "Luigi and Mario)," but he tried to find a substitute in my mom's old Pac Man game.

I've been pinning various pumpkin recipes all the fall long, and I was eager to try this Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal.  It did not disappoint. Well, in a full disclaimer it disappointed my brother who said it was like eating air and then made himself a man-sized omelet chocked full of protein and vegetables.  It shouldn't disappoint the more feminine among you, though.

I got a kick out of Ella cutting up the pound of butter for our pound cake.  I think I've had my butter quota for the year now.

Even pretty girls in long aprons play football on Thanksgiving Day.

My mother out-did herself, as always, and our feast was delicious. 

The rest of our day was filled with afternoon naps, "bad-guy" laughs, and nail decorating.

I'm thankful for a good day with my family.