at home with ann

In this steamy weather, I'm craving cold, refreshing drinks.  Smoothies are a mainstay of our lunch menu, and these cucumber coolers were super hydrating.  We've been getting a lot of cucumbers from our CSA, and while I like salads and pickles as much as the next girl, it's good to change it up.  Plus, a certain 3yo I know claims not to like cucumbers.  His younger brother, on the other hand, will eat anything he can get his hands on- food or not.  I'm happy to say both of them happily drank these. The blueberries were also fresh from Tangerini's Farm.  I dragged the kids out to pick in the 90 degree heat one afternoon last week.  The aisle we walked down was next to an anti-bird machine which periodically screeched to deter birds from eating the berries.  A relaxing sound.  Colin's basket was perpetually empty, and I had to supply James with a steady stream of berries, but we came home with a few pints and have been enjoying them all wee...

As we do every year, we celebrated my Mom's birthday by all going to my parent's house and helping clean up their yard and put in their garden.  Similar to last year, everyone worked very hard, especially Jon and John, and I hung out with Colin and avoided all yard work.  My day consisted of running after Colin while he used a bat to hit a ball around the yard, drew on the driveway with chalk, tried to eat chalk, moved chalk to various areas where chalk doesn't go, chased the cat, and ran through the dirt.    The birthday girl requested Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake for dessert, and I happily obliged.  This might be my favorite cheesecake of all time, which is saying something. I know the whole water bath thing seems like just one more step, but I've found it really does work to prevent cracks, so it's worth it.    Strawberries and Cream Cheesecake original recipe from Martha Stewart Ingredients 1 pound strawberries, hulled 3 Tablespoons...

I am a firm believer in the philosophy that food eaten while standing in your kitchen does not count towards your daily allowance.  This especially applies to anything eaten straight out of the refrigerator.  This can be problematic when you find yourself doing nearly all your eating standing up the kitchen, or when you are supposed to be sharing with your husband and brother-in-law.  I swear I only taste-tested one of these muffins fresh from the oven, but my batch only made 11, so now it looks like I ate two.  But I didn't!  Not yet, at least.  I should have just said the batch only made six.  A few notes, as this recipe is somewhat a work in progress.  I think one egg would be sufficient, the banana works as a binder.  I like chunks of fruit in my muffins, but it doesn't work well for mini muffins.  You end up with no fruit or only fruit.  To make mini muffins, I would try pureeing the strawberries and bananas together before...

This is yet another Pinterest find.  I spend far too many hours on Pinterest while wearing Colin asleep in his sling. I should be reading.  Or bettering my mind.  Or doing something other than looking at recipes that make me hungry all the time.  While I've gotten pretty good at cooking and eating with him in the Baby K'tan, it's not always ideal, and I don't want to be smashing pots and pans and waking him up.  That's why the food I eat during the day is mostly whatever can be eaten quickly, usually while standing up in the kitchen, and without utensils.  That's where these cookies come in.  They are nutritious, made with whole grains, fruit and some spices.  More like a breakfast bar than a cookie, except without preservatives and added sugar.  They are perfect for snacks, and I'll also keep the recipe for Colin's breakfasts and lunchboxes once he gets teeth.    Strawberry Banana Breakfast Cookies makes 14 cookies recipe in...

This is the time of year when cherries are on sale at the market.  By "on sale," I mean that you can manage to buy a bag for less than $10.  If they weren't so good, I couldn't bring myself to pay so much for them.  The only problem I've found is that if you don't eat the cherries within 2-3 days, they start to go bad.  And throwing away $8 worth of cherries is not good.  I noticed ours were on the verge yesterday, so I spent a good chunk of the afternoon pitting and slicing them to freeze.  My hands and countertops are stained with cherry juice, but I now have a nice big bag of cherries in the freezer for whenever the mood strikes me. I sometimes joke that I could write a cookbook called "what's about to go bad."  I hate wasting food, so whenever some produce is nearing the end of it's life, I come up with some use for it right away.  Smoothies are great for any fruit that's still ok, but you wouldn't necessarily want to eat on it...

On Friday night I got an email from Jon suggesting that we take some sort of muffin or breakfast treat with us to the beach this past weekend.  I did a quick internet search based on what I had around and decided on strawberry coffee cake.  Coffee cake, like muffins or quick breads, takes very little time to put together and bake, so it is great for a last minute project.  Then I spent the rest of Friday night in a cold induced misery which involved me spending most of the night awake in the guest room reading and finally falling asleep around 5AM.  As a result, no beach weekend for us, and we ended up with the responsibility of eating the coffee cake.  I'm happy to report I'm on the mend and there's no baked good that stands a chance with us, so it all worked out. Strawberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping recipe from All Recipes Ingredients: 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1/2 cup milk 2 Tab...

Last week our elderly neighbor passed away.  It wasn't unexpected, but still sad.  He had a dry sense of humor, appreciated sarcasm, and I will miss seeing him puttering around the yard and mowing his lawn every other day.  Gifts of food are almost always appropriate.  Something good happens, bring food.  Something bad or sad happens, bring food.  My neighbor's wife has a house full of people to feed with all their family here to support her, so I wanted to bring something over to help a little bit.  Muffins seemed like a logical choice, everyone likes muffins.  Plus I went a little overboard with the buy one get one free on blueberries this week.  I used the same Martha Stewart recipe as I did a few months ago, but used half blueberries and half strawberries for the fruit. I'll let you use the directions from the boss, herself.  I will add that whenever I make this recipe, I end up with enough extra batter to make one ...

In just a few short weeks we'll be in Florida.  I can't wait, I am in major need of some serious sun.  There are a few foods I associate with Florida.  Oranges, of course, although I had an unfortunate experience in the orange grove when I was a baby involving fire ants in my diaper.  Fried catfish and hush puppies.  And finally, strawberries.  There is a strawberry festival nearby every year that consists of huge amounts of strawberry shortcake and a Miss Strawberry competition, but sadly we'll be missing it this time.   The other day at the market Florida strawberries were on sale, so in the spirit of our upcoming vacation, I impulsively scooped some up.  I know grocery store strawberries can be pretty disappointing, so I was pleasantly surprised that these were great! Strawberry Muffins adapted from Martha Stewart's Blueberry Muffin Recipe Ingredients: 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 ...

I won't post all my smoothie recipes, but just in case you were feeling hesitant about drinking green goo, this combination is delicious! Strawberry Banana Green Smoothie 1 banana 1/4 cup vanilla yogurt a few frozen (or fresh) strawberries - I used 6 a handful of baby spinach 3/4-1 cup milk a few ice cubes Put all ingredients except ice in the blender.  Blend for a few minutes.  Add ice cubes and blend until they are crushed and the mixture looks smooth and frothy. The sweetness of the banana, strawberry and vanilla yogurt counteracts any spinach flavor- really!