at home with ann

Perhaps you are ready for a little post-Christmas detox.  If you are like me, you ate about 200 cookies in the past 2 days.  This soup is low in fat and high in vitamins and fiber.  Just the thing to help you recover.   We had three pumpkins for Fall decorations this year, one for each of us.  Two sugar pumpkins and one mini gourd for our mini guy.  In years past, our pumpkins mysteriously ended up with bite marks in them from the various animals we have prowling around at night out here in the country.  I was pleasantly surprised that this year they made it through the season unscathed, and when December rolled around, I declared it time to bring in the pumpkins and roast them up. Since my lunches are usually spent inhaling my food while trying to keep up with my little - eating/hurling hummus around the room - machine, I like to keep it simple.  A big pot of soup I can eat all week is perfect. I made a roasted butternut soup with apples and ...

Last week I bought tangerines.  I don't know why.  I think they were the first citrus I saw at the market and I got all excited because they were so cute and orange.  The problem with tangerines, though, is that they have about a million seeds in them.  I ate one, bit into a seed, and the rest sat on the counter while I ate clementines instead.  Not wanting to waste them, I decided to whip them into a little treat.  A few quick internet searches for ideas and I came up with this super quick, simple orange bread.  Or tangerine bread, as the case may be.  Orange Bread 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature 1 egg 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice 1/2 cup plain yogurt (could use vanilla as well) 2-3 Tablespoons orange zest (tangerines aren't quite as zesty as oranges, so I only had about a tablespoon, more would be better thou...

I started writing this post right after Thanksgiving.  And now we're looking at Christmas.  The shame.  Good thing apple pie is appropriate for all holidays. I've made a lot of apple pies, but this was a bit different.   We went to Friends-giving the weekend before the holiday and regular Thanksgiving, and I brought apple pie to both.  Although pastry crust is easy to make, I didn't want to do it twice, especially since Colin thinks the food processor is an evil demon sent to our house to scare him.  I made one batch of crust and opted for a streusel topping.  It's the best of apple pie and crisp combined.  Even after enduring the torture of the food processor, poor Colin is too young for pie.  I did sneak him a little bite of ice cream, though, and he seemed to forget the offense. Streusel Topped Apple Pie 1/2 batch pate brisee (if you aren't making two pies, you can freeze the other crust) 3/4 cup light brown sugar 2 tsp lemon juic...

Lately, Jon hasn't been getting home from work until late.  This means that my dinners have been less than creative.  Leftovers and egg sandwiches are frequently gracing my coffee table while I watch the Food Network. It is a glamorous life I lead.  One thing I have been cooking, however, is breakfast.  I wake up starving.  Ready to gnaw my arm off starving.  It's best if I don't have to spend a lot of time dilly dallying in the kitchen.  These baked oatmeals have been perfect.  They are healthy, quick, and easy to whip up the night before (or even that same morning if you don't have the same arm-gnawing tendencies as me).   I naively started writing this post after lunch while Colin toddled around.  I had to take several breaks to retrieve random containers he had removed from recycling and strewn around the house.  Then when I suggested he might want to stay nearby, he took all the cords out of the desk a...

My lack of posting is correlated to the speed at which Colin moves.  Gone are the days when he would bounce in his exersaucer while I cooked.  Gone are the days when he would sit on the floor in the kitchen and play with toys.  Now he toddles around, I'm lucky if he stays in the kitchen, which means he is taking everything out of the recycling bins.  More likely, he is practicing his new climbing skills on the stairs, so that when I say "where's Colin?," he peers his little face around the corner and smiles at me.  Too cute, but not conducive to cooking.  We manage just fine, but I admit the new recipes and photographs have gone by the wayside. I turned on the end of the Rachael Ray show a few weeks ago to see her plating up this mac and cheese.  Baked mac and cheese is a weakness of mine, and I love butternut squash, so I thought I would give it a try.  It was good, but next time I think I would skip the carrots and go with squash only.   ...

These cookies are so good, and perfect for the season!  I admit I jump all over the pumpkin bandwagon come fall.  I usually use the canned version from the market, but it's very easy to roast your own sugar pumpkins.  I have high hopes that our pumpkins will last through Halloween so I can cook them, but they usually get chewed up by some animal in the middle of the night.  Life in the country.  Pumpkin Cookie Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Frosting Original recipe modified from Food Network Yield: About 20-25 sandwich cookies Ingredients: Cookies: 1 cup sugar 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 2 Tablespoons maple syrup 2 eggs 1 cup pureed pumpkin (canned or fresh) 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated is best!) pinch ground cloves pinch salt Frosting: 2 (8 oz) packaged cream cheese, softened 1 cup confectioners sugar 1...

Hello, AHWA readers!  Colin here, sharing my perspective on life at 9 months old. I know I'm 9 months old because my mom whispered it to me when we were spending some quality time together at 3:48 AM on October 4th.  She does this every month, I wonder if she's ever going to stop.  At least it's not every Wednesday anymore.  My day usually starts with Daddy coming in to get me out of bed.  IT IS SO EXCITING - I LOVE DADDY!!!  This is usually our only time together during the day so I am very chatty and giggly.  We all head downstairs and eat breakfast.  I have only recently started eating breakfast, but I can gobble down fruit like none other.  I did not care for oatmeal, and made that clear. After Daddy heads to work, I play for a bit and then it's time for my first nap.  When I wake up, I jump up and down in my crib and sing until Mommy retrieves me.  This is when we head out for our first adventure of the day.  Somet...

Life is busy around here.  Now that Colin is on the move, I spend all my time chasing him around and holding his hands while he toddles.  I also try to prevent him from chewing wires, pulling all the paper out of the recycling bin, and licking shoes.  This means that my previous technique of preparing dinner in the afternoon while he played on the kitchen floor or in his exersaucer doesn't work so well anymore.  Leftover nights are my savior, but I still love to cook, and we still love to eat. Fish is great because it takes just a few minutes to cook, so I can easily make it after Colin is asleep and before Jon gets home. I love sandwich night because it also means I get to eat sweet potato fries, and I can't get enough sweet potato fries.  Cornmeal Crusted Tilapia 2 (or 4) tilapia filets 1 egg, beaten 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup cornmeal 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning Salt and Pepper Canola oil, for frying Heat canola oil in a frying pan over medium hea...

My sister and her family came by for a quick visit last weekend on their way to Nantucket.  Amidst the craziness of a 6 1/2 and 2 1/2 year old who had been in the car for over 3 hours, they ate this quiche.  It met with positive reviews all around. This is a basic recipe that can be customized however you like.  I made it last year with spinach and cheddar, but really any combination of vegetables, meat, or cheese works.  Crustless Quiche with Goat Cheese and Tomato 6 eggs, beaten 1 cup milk 3-4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled 1 tomato, sliced 1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chopped 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped Salt and Pepper Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 9 inch ceramic dish or pie plate with cooking spray, or grease with butter. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and milk.  Stir in herbs and season with salt and pepper. Pour into baking dish and crumble goat cheese evenly over the top. Lay slices of tomatoes over the top.  Attempt an a...

You know how when you order take-out Chinese food and you get way more fortune cookies than the number of people in your party?  The highly sophisticated formula for food per person used by takeout Chinese restaurants is a mystery to me.  Since we always order enough for leftovers, it's ok  to get four cookies for two people.  A few weekends ago we ordered from a new-to-us place that turned out to have extremely generous portions.  Our order of two appetizers and three entrees (we like variety) came with seven fortune cookies.  Seven.  We ate the food for three meals, Jon even had some for extra breakfast and we still ended up throwing some away, along with five of those fortune cookies.  The shame of ordering nearly enough food for a football team prompted me to make a little healthy salad for us to detox on Monday. Wheat Berry Salad 1/2 cup dried wheat berries, steamed - I soak mine overnight, and then simmer in fresh water for about an hour...

One Thursday a few weeks ago I went to the market, as I always do.  I carefully selected apples for the next week, inspecting each one to make sure they didn't have any bruises or weird spots.  On Monday morning when Jon was picking an apple to take with his lunch, they were all bad.  And not like, oh this has a little bruise bad, actively bad.  It was like some sort of apple gremlin came and ruined them all overnight.  I made an emergency trip to Whole Foods that day (and wandered around for an hour trying samples and getting things we don't need) to restock, and made apple bread with the reject fruit.  Apple Spice Bread adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon all spice 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 2 large eggs 1/4 cup canola oil 1/4 cup applesauce 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup granulated sugar 2 cups chopped apples...

For a family that loves tacos as much as we do, I can't believe I haven't made something like this before.  A layered casserole like lasagna, but with taco filling instead of marinara and tortillas instead of pasta.  Use whatever taco filling you like.  I chose ground chicken and onions and peppers, but any ground meat would work, as would beans, sweet potatoes, or tempeh. I went a little crazy buying corn tortillas because the package of 24 was on sale for 69 cents.  Needless to say, we had a lot to use up, and they aren't actually all that wonderful with tacos because they break and explode toppings all over your hands. They are perfect in this casserole, though. Taco-sagna Olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 pound ground chicken 14 oz. can tomato sauce 2 Tablespoons ground cumin 1 Tablespoon ground chili powder 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper ~12 corn tortillas 1 1/2 -2 cups shredded cheddar cheese Toppin...

We've had these before , and they were even better this time around.  When I saw the mini eggplants in our CSA pickup a few weeks ago, my first inclination was to make mini eggplant parm, because that is by far the most searched recipe on my site.  I thought it might be ready for an upgrade, but then I got sidetracked, as I so often do these days.  In any case, these crispy eggplant bites are delicious.  We had them as part of a caprese salad, but they would also be excellent as an hors d'oeuvres with a tomato or pesto sauce for dipping. Crispy Eggplant Bites 3 small eggplants, cut into cubes kosher salt 1/2 cup flour 2-3 eggs, whisked 1 cup breadcrumbs 1 teaspoon Italian herbs (oregano, basil, parsley) Cooking spray Put cut eggplant in a colander and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Leave for at least an hour.  This takes out some of the extra moisture, as well as the bitterness.  If your eggplant are more mature, or have spent a few extra days...

I always thought corn chowder was kind of bland, which is why I hadn't made any yet this summer despite the abundance of corn.  But then, while flipping through the Pioneer Woman cookbook, I happened upon her recipe for Corn Chowder with Chilies .  Corn plus bacon, chipotles and chilies?  This was more up my alley.  I made it my own by subbing in the ingredients I had on hand (jalapenos instead of chilies and grilled corn instead of raw), and it was amazingly good.  It packed quite a kick, though, so much so that my brother-in-law, who ate a bowl after getting home late at night, was caught a bit off guard. He did confirm that it was delicious despite the somewhat mouth-burning quality. Between the time when I started writing this post yesterday and now we have picked up 8 more ears of corn from our CSA.  Might be making another batch this week.  Good thing I have a kitchen helper. Spicy Corn Chowder   Ingredients: 2 slices bacon, ...

It's that time of year when we have more tomatoes, corn and zucchini than we know what to do with.  We got 8 ears of corn and several pounds of tomatoes in our CSA pickup last week, so our meals have been all about corn, tomatoes, corn and tomatoes.  On Saturday we made homemade pizza (using this dough ) and topped it with fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella, corn and basil.  I really liked the addition of the corn on pizza, but I would recommend leaving the basil off until after baking because ours got kind of toasted. We were at the beach, so we used cookie trays instead of the pizza stone for baking, and we could totally tell the difference in crust crispiness.  Pizza stones are well worth the investment.  Also, taking crappy pictures with the flash in bad lighting doesn't do it any favors, but I wanted to give you an idea of what it looked like. Sunday night we had burgers, topped with tomatoes, and grilled corn on the cob.  I asked Jon to grill all t...

While this is the best banana bread recipe ever, it's good to try new things.  New things that don't have six tablespoons of butter in them.  Especially since we can polish off a loaf of banana bread over the course of a weekend without much difficulty.  Also, I went on an applesauce buying bender for Colin a few weeks ago, so we have plenty around.  I considered trying to healthify up this recipe a bit more by subbing in wheat or wheat pastry flour for the all-purpose and cutting down the sugar, but then I didn't.  I'll let you know if I do, and if you do tell me how it goes.  If you are a fan of AHWA on Facebook (and I hope you are!), you know that I made this in just a few minutes during naptime last week.  Then I thought about using all my extra time to clean the bathtub but opted to complain about it on Facebook instead.  Lower Fat Banana Bread 2 cups flour 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon...

This is a ridiculously easy dish to make, and works well as an hors d'oeuvres to bring to parties.  I double check the spelling of hors d'oeuvres every time I write it lest you think I'm a moron.  I can also tell you from experience that it is a good addition to appetizers-for-dinner night.  I hope we're not the only people who do that, because it's amazing.  It's the perfect way to justify chowing down on cheese and crackers and the like because it's a meal.  Anyway, I've wandered off topic again. I made my own pesto for this, but you can certainly use store bought as well, making it even easier.  I've also done a variation where I subbed goat cheese for some of the cream cheese. Pesto Bruschetta 1 french baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices (you can toast, or not ) 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature (light cream cheese works well here because it's a little easier to spread) 1/4 cup pesto (start with a couple tablespoons and adju...

This is a nice twist on traditional hummus, and you know I usually can't get enough of the chickpeas.  Replacing the chickpeas with edamame and the traditional olive oil with sesame oil gives this an Asian flavor that pairs especially nicely with rice crackers.  I recommend the wasabi flavor if you like the spice.  The only part of this that I didn't like was peeling the skins off the edamame.  I know it gives the hummus a creamier texture, but it took a good 20 minutes during which time I was singing Disney tunes loudly to Colin in an attempt to keep him entertained and not chewing on the baseboards.  Next time I might just live dangerously and see what happens if I leave them on. Edamame Hummus recipe from Daily Garnish  Ingredients: 1 16 oz. bag frozen edamame 2 garlic scapes, roughly chopped (or one clove of garlic) 1/4 cup water (adjust as necessary) 3 Tablespoons lemon juice 2 Tablespoons tahini 2 Tablespoons sesame oil Salt Directions:...

I should call this the 7 1/2 month update, because that's how far behind I am! We have been having the best summer!  Seeing lots of friends and family and bouncing from one beach to another.  We were lucky enough to spend a few days with my best friend and roommate from high school, Megan, and her two little kids, who are 3 1/2 and 1.  They are adorable, and it was great (if a bit crazy) to hang out with all the kids together.  We've visited with both sets of grandparents, and spent the week in Maine with my parents, my sister and her family.  I spend considerably less time on the beach baking in the sun and more time cleaning sand out of Colin's mouth, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Colin loves the beach.  He likes to be held standing at the edge of the water and stomping his feet, he likes to sit in tide pools and splash, and most of all he likes to eat sand.  The delicious organic peas I lovingly steamed and mashed for him, he does ...

I am sorry I left you for two weeks!  We were on vacation in Maine, and then have been having some major happenings in life with Colin.  All good things, but not conducive to sitting down and writing.  I had to choose between napping while Colin napped and writing, and I apologize, but the sleep won.  I am back, though, and have one of the most popular cookie recipes I bake to share with you. Among the food I brought to Maine last week were these molasses cookies.  Also known as my Dad's Most Favorite Cookies.  The only change I would recommend is to store these in a container as opposed to a large plastic bag. I did the latter, and when I had to acrobatically climb into the backseat to attempt (unsuccessfully) to calm down our crying baby at hour 4 of the traffic jam, I landed on the bag of cookies. They did not fare well.  Still tasted delicious but less round than what you see here.  Molasses Cookies recipe from Joy of Baking 2 cups...