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By Emily, June 19, 2010 8:46 pm

Tomorrow is Father’s Day (so sorry if I’m the first one to tell you!).  For the first time in memory (though I’m sure it’s happened…), I won’t actually be spending the day with my father.  Fear not, a trip to Maine is in the near future, but it still seems strange.   Granted, my father and I haven’t always seen eye to eye regarding food, but he’s still the best dad in the world.  Happy Father’s Day, dad! See you soon!

Did you forget about Father’s Day? Make amends by getting your dad a great foodie gift!   Slashfood has a number of gift ideas for food loving dads, including Star Wars pancake molds (Williams-Sonoma also makes cookie cutters) and a portable grill.   Epicurious put together their own gift list, which includes knives and the Hot Sauce of the Month Club.   If your dad likes a good drink, check out Serious Eats’ Liquor Gift Guide for Father’s Day.

Cooking for your dad this Father’s Day? The wonderful folks at Tasty Kitchen put together a beautiful collection of breakfast, snack, main course and dessert recipes that would surely please your papa.  Epicurious has a Father’s Day Guide featuring cookout and grilling ideas, grilling cookbooks and beautiful burgers.

Slashfood did 2 interesting posts about fathers recently.  One on Father-Son Distilling Teams, the other is interviews with some chefs who are also dads.

Finally, what’s a holiday without some Cake Wrecks?

Are you cooking anything special for your father tomorrow?

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By Emily, April 13, 2010 7:51 pm

I figure a follow-up post is only fair, since my rant last week detailing my sister’s eating habits and how different they are from mine.

She ended up changing her schedule and only coming for one night, which really relieved my stress in the meal planning department. Sometimes I stress about things that really aren’t that crucial.

So, what did we eat?*

Saturday afternoon: I usually do my food shopping on Saturday and Sunday, so options in the house were pretty slim.  We opted to get subs from a local establishment, which meant everyone could eat what they wanted (Me: A grilled veggie sub. Her: roast beef sub with veggies.  Brian: Sausage and veggies, if you’re interested)

Saturday night: A revisit of my veggie lasagna, with the addition of ground turkey.  I also made a quick bread from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, which I really should post about.  Apparently it was fine, because my sister ate it without complaint.  After going to see one of her high school friends in a play, we returned and snacked on an experiment I was trying: frozen chocolate mousse.  It was pretty darn good.

Saturday morning: She snacked on toast and butter when she got up (3 hours after me…we’re also really different in our sleep habits.  I think I had a bagel and cream cheese).  We headed to Cricket Creek Farm which is still one of my favorite places to visit the calves.  I offered to stop by the store to get my sister some lunch, but she opted for another piece of lasagna (I’m telling you–you have to try it!)

So, my little sister didn’t starve while she was here.  She just needs to visit longer next time so I can make more food for her.  And because she’s awesome.

*If you’re new to Relishments, be advised that I don’t usually post lists of what I’ve eaten.  It just seemed to make sense in this case.

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By Emily, April 7, 2010 7:19 pm

My little sister and I, in the early 90s.  She’s silly, I’m serious.  Some things never change.

The other day, I was talking to my sister on Facebook chat and she reminded me, for the umpteenth time, that I am old and boring.

She is young and not boring (exciting?).  In her last semester in college, my sister thrives on going on adventures, getting lost, staying up late and having impromptu dance parties.  She’s pretty sure I have the most boring life possible.  For starters, I’m almost always in bed by 9:00.  My favorite hobby is cooking.  If I go out, it’s to the supermarket.  Boring, perhaps.  But I’m definitely not bored.  I could use a few more hours in my day to accomplish all the things on my list and I’m super happy with my life right now.  It’s just not for everyone.

If it seems like this post is sister-bashing, it was her idea: “Next weeks blog entry: finding something healthy my gross little sister will eat.” (Her words, I swear!)  And, for the past several days, I have been trying to do just that because she’s visiting us this weekend (YAY!).  All our lives, we’ve taken on pretty defined eater roles: I’m the one who’ll try anything; when she was young, my sister subsisted solely on bread, bacon, plain spaghetti or hamburgers (We only went to restaurants that had those as menu options).

Now, more than ever our diets seem so different.  What do you feed someone who loves Slim Jims?  Who thinks whole wheat pasta is gross (its the only kind we have!) I hope she doesn’t starve while she’s here.

Anyone have any brilliant ideas for cooking for people who don’t eat the way you do?

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By Emily, November 11, 2009 7:54 pm

So…theoretically, this is a blog about eating well, cooking things instead of buying them, avoiding preservatives and packaged foods and the like.  I appreciate all of those ideas and adhere to them whenever possible.

However, anyone who knows me knows that, in addition to good nutrition, I’m a stickler for making my sister happy.  Birthday presents, visits, random gifts.  If I can do it and my sister wants it, chances are she’s gonna get it from me.  Perhaps I spoil her.  But she’s my baby sister…my only baby sister.

So when I asked “the baby” what she wanted for her 22nd birthday, she requested her “favorite” cake.  Who am I to say no?  I made cupcakes instead of the recipe-suggested Bundt cake, because everyone knows cupcakes are more fun (and easier for my sister to eat and share at college).  However, Brian also needed something to bring to an event, so I made a cake for that too.  This was the beautiful result:

Tell me that doesn’t look good.

So, why is this cake my sister’s favorite?  Because it tastes amazing.  Several college students say so.  And even though it breaks a lot of my “rules” about what I should be eating, its nice to have the occasional treat (and I only had a couple cupcakes)  Why is it now my go-to chocolate cake recipe?  Because it’s amazingly easy to make, despite using packaged cake and pudding mix, plus 4 eggs and alcohol.

Need I say more?

Triple Chocolate Cake

1 package devil’s food cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding
1 cup sour cream
½ cup brewed coffee
½ cup dark rum
½ cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips

Beat all ingredients except chocolate chips together 2 minutes.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour into greased and floured 12 cup Bundt pan.  (I told you it was easy!!!!)

Bake at 350° for 55-60 mins for bundt cake.
18-22 minutes for cupcakes.

Cool 10 mins. Remove from pan, cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!

Comments (2)

By Emily, September 14, 2009 9:28 am

My mother-in-law is a really good cook.  I’m not just saying that because I know she’s reading this, it’s true.  She’s also extremely willing to pass along recipes, which is great for my Rachael Ray filled recipe binder.  Plus, it always works in my favor to cook something from Brian’s days at home once in a while, especially since we know it’s been well tested.  One of the recipes she’s given me that I’ve made several times is a soup of tortellini, tomato and spinach.

Fortunately, to make this  soup, you don’t really have to be a good cook.  You also don’t have to have a lot of time, or a lot of ingredients.  It’s that easy.  Who could ask for more?

Tortellini, Tomato and Spinach Soup

adapted from my mother-in-law, serves about 4.

You’ll need:
2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
3.5 cups vegetable broth
8 oz fresh or frozen cheese tortellini
10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes, undrained and cut up
grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add 2 cloves crushed (or poorly chopped, in my case) garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add vegetable broth and tortellini.

Heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

3. Add spinach and tomatoes.

Simmer for 5 more minutes.

4. Serve topped with grated Parmesan cheese.

Could it be any easier than that?
One of the best things about this recipe is that all the ingredients can be kept on hand to use for those times when you don’t know what to make for dinner.
Enjoy!

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By Emily, July 8, 2009 12:29 pm

How could I say no to “Buy 1, Get 1 Free” blueberries at the supermarket last week when I knew I had the perfect recipe for them?  My mom has the most delicious blueberry muffin recipe, and after waiting a couple days for her to email me the recipe (my recipe binder is with my in-laws in Connecticut with the rest of the stuff we couldn’t fit in our cars!), my Man also understands why we needed to buy blueberries last week.  Plus, it gave me the chance to use my new KitchenAid mixer!

Mom’s Blueberry Muffins

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½  teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup milk
2 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon sugar mixed with ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease & flour 12 muffin cups and grease tops of the tins between the cups.(Or, do what I do: Use baking cups instead.  It’s much, much easier)
2. Mix together flour, powder, and salt.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, beat butter a few minutes until fluffy. Beat in sugar until well blended. Beat in the eggs thoroughly; add the vanilla.
4. Stir in the flour mixture about half at a time, alternating with milk, half at a time. Stir in 2 cups of blueberries.
5. Spoon batter into prepared cups, filling them to the top. Sprinkle with the nutmeg sugar.
6. Bake 25-30 minutes until golden. Let muffins cool about 30 minutes in pan before removing. (Or not…I’m pretty sure I didn’t…)
   
7. Enjoy!

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By Emily, June 7, 2009 7:55 pm

Once upon a time, there was a great song by the (now disbanded) band, Five Iron Frenzy:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVJhP7Qmn8k]

Feeling that it was inappropriate to sing this song without ever having eaten rhubarb pie, my sister convinced me to make a rhubarb pie yesterday.  I have never made a pie. I have never had rhubarb.  But my sister has this strange way of making all her ideas sound like good ones, so we did some research.  We settled on this Fresh Rhubarb Pie recipe and this “Best Ever Pie Crust” recipe, both from allrecipes.com.

We made the crust, which needed to be refrigerated for 4 hours or overnight, last night at 11pm.  Way past by bed time, but the recipe was incredibly simple.  The 2 balls of dough were done and in the fridge by 11:30.

This afternoon we began making the pie.

The setup: Pie plate, my sister chopping rhubarb, 2 balls of dough, my mother’s pastry mat (I told my Man today that I need this one), and my laptop which provided us with the recipe.

I was very proud of the job I did rolling out this pie crust:

Then we filled the crust with the chopped rhubarb and sugar/flour mixture

The pie baked for 55 minutes total and this was the final result:

Beautiful, eh?

My sister and I were thrilled (but not shocked) to discover that rhubarb pie tastes as good as it looks.  I’m sure the cup and a third of sugar that’s in the recipe helps, but that’s beside the point.  Rhubarb pie is delicious, and you should make one while rhubarb is still in season.

And, when you’re done baking, put on some Five Iron Frenzy music and have a dance party in your kitchen like my sister and I did.

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By Emily, May 31, 2009 8:15 pm

Something amazing has occurred in my house.  My father ate something with chickpeas in it–and liked it!  We’re definitely making progress.

Last week, Matt of NoMeatAthlete posted a recipe for Spinach and Artichoke Salad with Couscous Cakes which he found on Fine Cooking.  I’m pretty over salads at the moment, but the couscous cakes looked pretty good.  Plus they’re wicked simple: they only require  8 ingredients and  I had all of them except the lemon already in the house! I made them last night as a side dish to accompany the cube steaks my mom had planned for supper.  The cakes, which are made mostly of couscous, parsley, chickpeas, lemon zest and garlic, were incredibly easy to create.  I had about the same experience Matt did–they fell apart a little and didn’t brown as well as I’d hoped.  But they taste really good.

The ultimate success came at dinner however.  I served up the cakes and, when dad inquired about the ingredients slyly forgot to mention the chickpeas.  Dad, my strongest critic and hater of all things in the bean family, was quick to praise the couscous cakes.  Mom also though they were tasty.  I was so thrilled to expose the secret chickpeas to Dad.  He didn’t have much to say in response to my gloating and victory: he just smiled and finished eating his cake.

I will say that the side dish did get one negative review in my house: my sister (who I forgot doesn’t like couscous to begin with) thought the couscous cakes were bland and tasteless.  No one else in my house particularly understood that review, but I guess they’re not for everyone.

I, for one, would make them again in an instant.  And I plan to continue spreading my love of beans and other healthy foods to my parents.

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By Emily, May 27, 2009 9:30 pm

Posting’s been thin lately, but I have a good excuse (I think).  My sister and I were on vacation in Quebec City.

If you’ve never been (and we hadn’t), I highly suggest you go.  We had a wonderful time shopping, going to the Musée National des Beaux Arts du Québec, walking through The National Battlefields Park, and, of course, eating.

I’m sure Quebec isn’t the end all, be all of fine cusine, but I took my mini-vacation seriously and ate whatever I wanted, not necesarily in terms of quanity-we stuck to 3 meals a day, and relatively cheap ones because we’re like that- but I ordered whatever I felt like off the menu, vegetarian or not.  We were only there for 3 days and it was vacation after all.  Everything we ate was delicious (who doesn’t love crepes?), and despite our lack of ability to speak French, the waitstaff in all the restaurants we tried were accomodating and helpful.

We finished up our wonderful trip to Canada by stopping at the Empire Grill in Skowhegan, Maine on our way home.  For those unfamiliar with the novel Empire Falls by Richard Russo, the Empire Grill is the restaurant owned by the main character.  The Empire Grill in Skowhegan was used as the site for the filming of the HBO miniseries based on the book which starred Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Newman, after which time the restaurant kept the Empire Grill name.  Empire Falls is one of my absolute favorite books of all time, so stopping at the Grill was a “must do”.  The restaurant far exceeded my expectations.  The portions were huge (I think they served my sister an entire fish with her fish and chips), the prices reasonable and the food delicious.  Even if you don’t care about Empire Falls (though you really, really should!), the Empire Grill is the perfect place to eat if you ever find yourself in Skowhegan.

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By Emily, April 29, 2009 7:58 pm

On Monday, Giada at Home featured a recipe for “Pasta Ponza” that I was dying to try.  It sounded delicious, vegetarian, and simple.  Perfect for dinner.  I printed the recipe and went to the store.

Adventure #1:  I don’t know if it’s just my supermarket, or if this is the case everywhere (if you have insight, please let me know!) but apparently whole wheat pasta doesn’t come in 16 oz packages.  The recipe calls for a pound of pasta, so I bought 2 13.25 oz packages and gave it my best guess.  But really, why would they do that?  This is what you get for trying to eat better.

After that, it was smooth sailing.  Like I said, the recipe is really simple:

Halve the cherry tomatoes, mix with oil, capers, salt and pepper, cover with breadcrumbs and tomatoes and cook for about 1/2 an hour.  Remove the tomatoes from the oven, mix with pasta and cheese and serve.  Easy as pie (or pasta), right?  Obviously, the recipe has more details, but that’s about it.

Which brings us to the Caper Caper.

My family and I are eating and I notice pretty quick that the capers don’t taste right.  They’re not as soft as capers usually are…and they’re spicy.  I know they’re not spoiled, because I just opened the jar…but they do taste a lot like pepper.  Mom also thinks this is strange.  Dad, however, thinks this is wonderful.  Way better than capers.

Sure enough…

In my defense, when my mother and I purchased them, they were right next to the capers.  And they look like capers. And they’re in liquid, like capers.

But they are not capers.

Nevertheless, dinner was pretty good, and Dad spent most of it applauding my “mistake” and suggesting that I always make it that way.  Maybe I will (but I do like capers…)