at home with ann

I'm often saying that I made a new recipe and Colin gobbled it up.  He is a good eater, which is great for his little growing person, and because I love to cook.  He certainly has his favorites (salmon, smoothies, and don't get between him and a muffin), but he is willing to give most anything a try.  That being said, he did not love these, and I cleaned a fair amount of spinach and artichoke off of the floor.  Jon and I, on the other hand, enjoyed them quite a bit.  More for us.   These were delicious as a vegetarian entree, but could also be made with little crimini mushrooms as an appetizer.  Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms 6 portobello mushroom caps, cleaned and stems and gills removed Olive oil 1 garlic clove, chopped 1 can artichoke hearts, chopped 10 oz. frozen spinach, thawed 2 oz. cream cheese 1/4 cup greek yogurt Parmesan cheese, for topping Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a pan, heat olive oil over medium. ...

We received some boneless pork loin chops along with a Christmas gift from Omaha Steaks.  My first attempt at cooking the pork yielded tasteless, dry hockey pucks, so the remaining two pieces stayed in the freezer for several months while I mustered the courage to try again.  Then one day while watching Giada, everyone's favorite perky Italian, she made sandwiches with grilled pork loin chops and they looked delicious.  Even so, I wasn't all that excited about this meal, but it turned out very well.  Jon was the grill master, and I handled the toppings.  Also, can we go ahead and ignore the ice cubes floating in my wine glass?  The wine wasn't chilled, and I'm not so secretly an 80 year old woman.   Grilled Pork Sandwich with Lemon Basil Mayo  original recipe from Giada De Laurentiis 2 boneless pork loin chops Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 teaspoons herbes de Provence 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1/4 cup packe...

At Home With Ann has been on a bit of a hiatus this summer.  We've been taking full advantage of the warm weather, and have been lucky to spend most of our days at the beach, playground, or running around in the yard.  I haven't been making too many new recipes, but here's a peek of a few things that have filled our plates.  This pesto, eggplant, cherry tomato and bacon pizza was amazing.  In the summer, our weekly pizza nights often make way for grilled burgers, but this one was well worth cranking up the oven.  Our CSA farm share has been chock full of tomatoes since the calender turned to August.  We've been having caprese salads nightly, and I've made a tomato sandwich for lunch every day for the past two weeks.   This past weekend some of my extended family gathered at the beach house for the weekend.  It was great to see them, even though my aunt made it clear in no uncertain terms that if I didn't update my blog from pars...

I came down with a cold.  This cold has done a number on my voice, which is seriously impeding my "If You're Happy and You Know It" singing abilities, but not decreasing the requests.  The only plus has been that the middle of the night coughing fits are the closest thing I've gotten to an ab workout in quite some time.  In any case, this is why I made soup when it's 85 degrees outside. Roasted Carrot and Parsnip Soup Makes ~4 cups 3 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks 4-5 medium carrots, peeled and cut into chunks 1 small onion, cut into chunks 1 clove garlic, chopped 6-8 sprigs fresh thyme olive oil 2-3 cups chicken or vegetable broth Salt and Pepper Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a baking sheet, arrange parsnips, carrots and onion in a single layer.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes. Stir, and add garlic and thyme sprigs.  Roast 10 more minutes. Remove the thyme leaves from the stem...

We were on vacation at the beach in Rhode Island last week.  During a heat wave there's no place I'd rather be.  Our days consisted of a nice little rotation of beach, other beach, salt pond and playground, all while enjoying Jon being home from work for the first week since August.  After Colin went to sleep at night (thank you, blackout curtains), we'd relax on the porch and enjoy the view of the water.  Vacations call for special cocktails, at least around our house, and Jon took the lead and whipped up this batch of Pink Lemonade Margaritas.  Pink Lemonade Margarita inspired by Ina Garten   Makes 4 cocktails. 1 cup pink lemonade 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice 1 cup triple sec 1 cup white tequila 2 cups ice kosher salt Run one of the juiced limes around the rims of the glasses and coat with kosher salt.  Set aside. In a blender, combine lemonade, lime juice, triple sec and ice.  You might need to add the ice in batches, depe...

You've heard me go on and on about how much I love our CSA from Tangerini's Farm .  This is our third year participating.  The first year I was pregnant and got bigger and bigger by the week until it got to the point in late October when I couldn't comfortably bend over to pick vegetables in the fields.  Last year Colin was 5-9 months old.  I'd carry him in the ergo or wheel his stroller out to the ends of the rows in the fields and wave every so often.  This year he runs all over the place, pointing out all the fans, of course, and visiting the animals.  When we pull in the driveway he starts saying, baby goat, baby goat, baby goat, mehhhh, mehhhh.  He has mustered the courage to pat them now, as long as they don't look at him. This CSA summer season started up a few weeks ago, and among our first batch of vegetables were kale and garlic scapes.  Jon made kale chips from half the bunch.  I said I wasn't hungry, didn't want any, and pro...

This is a veggie salad, but spiced (trashed?) up with hot sauce and blue cheese.  It fills your buffalo chicken cravings without the potentially weird chicken pieces.  If I'm eating chicken and I get a piece of cartilage or something it ruins the whole experience from me and I pretty much throw the rest at Jon and then complain about being hungry. Coating the cauliflower in batter and baking gives them a slightly crispy exterior, which kind of negates the whole vegetable thing, but at least it's not deep fried. Buffalo Cauliflower from Skinnytaste 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets 1 cup water 1 cup flour 2 tsp. garlic powder 1/2-3/4 cup hot sauce Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Whisk together flour, garlic powder and garlic in a bowl.   Toss in cauliflower florets until coated and spread on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and pour hot sauce over cauliflower. Salad ingred...