Category Archives: Appetizers

Adventures with FODMAPs – Polyols and Sweet Potato “Fries”

We’ve finally made it through the initial eight weeks of the FODMAP diet so we can begin trying to reintroduce different categories of FODMAPs into Little Man’s and our diets. Whew! It’s been a bit of a haul, and honestly it’s likely been closer to 10 weeks because we completely botched the first week or two. After that point we got into the swing of things and started seeing really great improvements in Little Man’s health. Now we get to start trying out foods, one category at a time, checking for reactions to each one, slowly going through multiple foods from each category before moving on. Let the games begin…

For more specifics on the FODMAP diet and reintroducing foods, please see Sue Shepard’s Complete FODMAP Diet book. This details the tests they ran to create the diet, the types of issues that following the diet can help, a detailed discussion of FODMAPS, foods to avoid and how to reintroduce foods for these “challenges” to see what reacts badly with an individual and what can be safely eaten. I do not attempt to be an expert on this diet, but simply am doing my best to follow the guidelines to help my family’s health.

Shepard recommends starting the reintroductions with the Polyol FODMAP category, moving slowly through up the scale of contentious other categories, and finally ending with the one that no one can actually digest well… Galactoids (aka beans… but more on those in a few weeks). Polyols are “sugar alcohols” and occur naturally in some foods, but are also used in processed foods as sweeteners. For us, the high FODMAP polyols that we used as “challenges” to reintroduce to Little Man are apples, blackberries, pears, and mushrooms, as well as the moderate polyol FODMAPs of sweet potatoes and avocados. Even though this was the least contentious of the categories to start with, it is one that I’ve been looking to forward the most because of its prevalence as a sweetener in juices, cookies, granola bars, fruit snacks, jams, and any other myriad of snack treat or food aimed towards kids. Try finding jams, juices or fruit snacks for kids that don’t contain either high fructose corn syrup (another high FODMAP, but one that we try to eliminate anyway) or some form of apple. Ugh…

Starting the reintroduction process has been nerve wracking. Little Man’s tummy was looking good and it’s difficult to put that at risk, but I’m also excited to start this process so that we can (hopefully) finally know what his triggers are. My hope is that it will be easier to only have to avoid a few triggers (please be only a few!) than the world at large.

For the reintroduction process, it’s important to not completely gorge on the food you are testing, but also to make sure that you eat a good portion. If you try too small of an amount, you may not get an accurate response. So you should try a regular-sized portion (Shepard has suggestions), see if there is a reaction, and then try again. If you have a regular sized proportion of a high FODMAP food and have a reaction, Shepard suggests that after your symptoms subside try the food again at a smaller amount. It might just be that you can only tolerate a small bit. Once you know what foods and what amounts of the foods you can (or cannot) handle, you can start to better understanding your triggers. Shepard also suggests trying these trigger foods again at a later date. Sometimes our systems change, and especially since Little Man is so young he may out grow (or may not) the unfortunate reactions he’s experiencing today.

It took us almost two weeks, but we just completed testing the Polyol FODMAP food group. Luckily for us, Little Man did great with all of the polyols we tried. He did so good, in fact, that for the first time in months I let him have one of the good fruit snack treats (sweetened with apple juice) we call fruit straws. He was ecstatic, and so far I haven’t seen any bad reactions. To celebrate this “challenge” Little Man and I ate our fruit snacks while going on an adventure walk in our neighbors’ Enchanted Forest. Aside from the fruit straws, we were also treated to our first view of a native orchid species to these woods called Fairy Slippers. The orchids are tiny, so it took us a bit of time to finally locate the amidst the larger Trilium and gorgeous yellow violets. Little Man, who is obsessed with all things Kung Fu Panda, was determined that we were having a hard time finding the Fairy Slipper orchids because a group of Croc bandits must have come through and taken them all. Luckily we chased off the Croc bandits and found the orchids. Whew!

Aside from apple, one of the polyol foods that I have been looking forward to “testing” are sweet potatoes. We are still struggling with getting Little Man to eat vegetables (and fruit in any form that is not completely pulverized or turned into jam), but one that he will eat without any question is a sweet potato. In our household we call these “french fries” even though they aren’t fried, aren’t made from regular potatoes (though you can use them if you want), nor are they in french fry shape (though you can easily cut them that way too). Ah well. The good news is that since Little Man has cleared this challenge, we can start enjoying sweet potatoes again at dinner time. Little Man’s favorite way to eat sweet potato “french fries” is in the form of Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Fries. For the reintroduction celebration of sweet potatoes, I served them as Smokey Sweet Potato Bites. I’ve included both recipes here, though the pictures are only for the Smokey Sweet Potato bites since the method is the same. When we put these on the dinner table Little Man’s eyes lit up and he literally fell on them with both hands. Dave and I were concerned that he was going to eat too many of them and therefore have a bad reaction, but all was well with the world and Little Man was super excited to have one of his favorite foods back. Whew!

If you think that you don’t like sweet potatoes, maybe give them one more chance and try these out. The cost and labor output is low, and you might be surprised by actually liking them. I, myself, only like sweet potatoes in certain dishes. I’m not a huge fan of baked sweet potatoes served like regular baked potatoes, nor do I like sweet potato fries especially if they are treated like a dessert and covered in cinnamon sugar. Apologies to all of those sweet potato lovers who like those two dishes, but they simply aren’t my thing. My classic Oven Roasted Sweet Potato “Fries” and Smokey Sweet Potato Bites, however, are totally different. The sweetness of the sweet potato is balanced with the smokey spices, and the edges of each bite are crisped in the oven. What’s not to like? Here’s how they are made.

Oven Roasted Sweet Potato “Fries”
In our household, these are the classic form of “French fry” that appear on our dinner table regularly. They aren’t fried, nor are they made out of potatoes, nor are they in French fry shape (though you can easily cut them that way). What they are is delicious, and Little Man’s favorite vegetable. If you don’t think you like sweet potatoes, give these a shot. You might just change your mind.

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400°. Prepare a baking sheet by drizzling a little olive oil over it, then spreading the oil around with your fingers to evenly cover the pan. Set it aside.
Peel the sweet potatoes, and then cut them in half the long way. Then cut those halves in half the long way again. Line up your sweet potato quarters and slice them into ¼ inch “bites.” Try to keep the pieces close to the same thickness, otherwise the really skinny ones will burn before the thicker ones crisp. Once all of your sweet potatoes are chopped, place them in a large bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and toss with a large spoon until the sweet potato bites are evenly coated.
Pour the seasoned sweet potatoes out onto the prepared baking sheet. Be sure that your sweet potatoes are all in one layer, spreading them out if needed.
Bake for 30 minutes, checking the “fries” towards the end of the cooking time to ensure that they aren’t “over caramelizing.” If they are getting too dark at the corners of your baking sheet, simply flip them around with a spatula moving the darker pieces into the center and the less done pieces to the corners.
Once the fries are crispy and browned, remove the pan from the oven and move the bites with a spatula into your serving bowl. Taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of my Oven Roasted Sweet Potato “Fries” recipe, and keep on reading for another variation (this time with pictures!).

Smokey Sweet Potato Bites
These are a smoky, spiced version of the classic Oven Roasted Sweet Potato Fries that Little Man loves. That basic recipe can be a blank canvas to season with whatever spices and herbs you are feeling inspired by. I love the smokey paprika with these fries, and they pair fantastically with roasted chicken or pork, or with any hearty vegetarian main. Like with the classic version, if you don’t think you like sweet potatoes, give these a shot.

Ingredients:
2 medium sweet potatoes
¼ cup olive oil, plus extra
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. smoked paprika
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400°. Prepare a baking sheet by drizzling a little olive oil over it, then spreading the oil around with your fingers to evenly cover the pan. Set it aside.
Peel the sweet potatoes, and then cut them in half the long way. Then cut those halves in half the long way again. Line up your sweet potato quarters and slice them into ¼ inch “bites.” Try to keep the pieces close to the same thickness, otherwise the really skinny ones will burn before the thicker ones crisp. Once all of your sweet potatoes are chopped, place them in a large bowl.
I included this picture to let you know the approximate size that I tend to buy of sweet potatoes. I generally avoid the ones that are closer to small comet size.

The look after being peeled…

Halving them lengthwise…

Then halve them lengthwise again, and slice into little arcs. These are perfect bite size (or for little fists…) bites.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and toss with a large spoon until the sweet potato bites are evenly coated with the oil and spices.
Adding the spices to the bowl. I love smoked paprika. Look at that color!

Evenly tossed raw sweet potato bites with spices and olive oil.
Pour the seasoned sweet potatoes out onto the prepared baking sheet. Be sure that your sweet potatoes are all in one layer, spreading them out if needed.
Pouring the bites onto a prepared baking sheet.

Smooth out the pile so that each bite can get nice and crispy in the oven.
Bake for 30 minutes, checking the sweet potato bites towards the end of the cooking time to ensure that they aren’t “over caramelizing.” If they are getting too dark at the corners of your baking sheet, simply flip them around with a spatula moving the more done pieces into the center and the less done pieces to the corners.
These are about halfway done. Flip them here so that both sides get golden brown, and if any on the edges are browning too quickly you can move them to the center.

Here they are almost perfect. You can taste them now to adjust for seasoning.
Once the sweet potato bites are crispy and browned, remove the pan from the oven and move the bites with a spatula into your serving bowl. Taste for seasoning, adjusting if necessary. Enjoy!
Smokey Sweet Potato Bites!

Click here for a printable version of my Oven Roasted Sweet Potato “Fries” recipe or my Smokey Sweet Potato Bites recipe.

The Reckless Abandon of Sunshine on Easter

A Space-Themed Birthday Party: The Food Edition

A Space-Themed Birthday Party: The Decoration Edition

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Space, the final frontier…

I hadn’t realized how fulfilling it would be to write that line, and I have to admit that am rather pleased with myself for doing so. 🙂 However, this is not our final birthday frontier, but just the beginning. Little Man is already talking about the party themes he wants to have next time, although to him “next time” means tomorrow. Not gonna happen. In the meantime, let me share with you some of the fun space-themed party decorations and foods that we did for Little Man’s fourth (how can he possibly be four years old already!?!?!) birthday party.

When we were giving Little Man options of what his birthday party theme could be, we had no idea that “space” would be such a difficult one to fill. I figured that with all the cartoons, etc. there must be some options out there for plates and table cloths, right? Not so much… Luckily our local dollar store had a good selection that if not directly related to space (like a really cool bag of marbles that look sort of like planets) could be spun that way (like the little finger lasers). Combine that with Pintrest, and we were off and running.
Here are some of my favorite things that we did. I’ll post the food tomorrow.

Decorations and Activities
Since there weren’t any nice space-themed decorations in the local stores (and I searched them all), I made most of the decorations with supplies from the local dollar store. My main focus was on the cake/food table backdrop, but I also wanted to have a fun play area for the kids, as well as decorations that extended across the room to make it all look more festive. My favorite things that we did are the Galaxy Backdrop, the Hanging Planets, a Poppin’ Pluto Dance Floor, a Rocket Ship and Glittery Stars.

Galaxy Backdrop

For the Galaxy Backdrop, I followed the directions from the excellent Elephant of Surprise website for Galaxy Pillowcases that could be used for floor/ground pillows. I “upgraded” the project by using a twin-sized flat sheet so that I could use it as the backdrop on the wall above the cake/food table. Aimee’s directions on the website are great, so other than the size difference between my twin flat sheet and her pillow cases the process was virtually the same. Just be sure to use the real deal, cheap bleach. I first tried this with my environmentally safe bleach and couldn’t figure out why the fabric didn’t bleach. Ah well… When using the “real” bleach, you should see the fabric change color almost immediately. I ended up doing the spray bleach step twice since I didn’t quite get the results I wanted the first time. Then after the galaxy sheet was washed and dried, the next two steps were to add a little white fabric paint and then some glow in the dark fabric paint. Taa daa!

Here’s what you’ll need: a black twin-sized flat sheet, bleach, a spray bottle, white fabric paint, and glow-in-the-dark fabric paint. Elephant of a Surprise website link.

The swirled and scrunched sheet ready to be sprayed with bleach.

The bleach should immediately start to change the color of your fabric. Here mine started to turn red almost instantly. I let it do its magic for 10 minutes and then into the wash. I repeated this step twice to get the swirly galaxy that I wanted.

Here is the galaxy after the bleaching, washing and drying.

Then I randomly sprayed and sprinkled the galaxy with white and glow-in-the-dark fabric paint.

Hanging Planets
This project was so much fun, and the effect of the Hanging Planets suspended in front of the Galaxy backdrop is pretty spectacular, so the DIY craftiness really paid off here. Another bonus is that we are also in the process of “upgrading” Little Man’s room to change the decor he’s had since being a baby to actual little boy decor (Sob!). After seeing his party decorations, Little Man asked if the Hanging Planets and Galaxy Backdrop could hang in his room, so now a Space-Themed bedroom is in the works and the major decor is something that resulted from his party. That makes me doubly happy since the effort wasn’t only for his birthday, but now the decorations will be enjoyed for quite some time. A further bonus is that all of the supplies should be available from your local dollar store, and if you do crafts with your kids you might have some of the equipment already.

Here’s what you will need: 9 styrofoam balls of varying sizes, bamboo skewers, 4-5 (depending in the size) florist foam blocks, an array of acrylic paints (I used combinations of red, blue, yellow, white and black), multicolored glitter, a wide foam brush, a smaller bristle paint brush, a plastic paint palette for mixing colors, push pins and golden crocheting yard.

Step 1: Cut the bamboo skewers in half, insert one end into the foam ball and then the other into a foam block. This will let you hold the “planet” by the skewer while you paint it, then you can put it back into the foam block to let it dry while you move on to another planet. I was able to fit two planets each on the smaller blocks, and three on the larger one. Just be sure that the balls don’t touch each other or it will smear the paint. I then pinned planet names to the blocks so I could remember which ball was to be painted like which planet. As you will notice, I also included Pluto. While technically a Dwarf Planet, this party is more about fun than planetary fact checking. And, I thought that my mom would like Pluto included here too. 🙂

Prepping your planets for painting and other awesomeness.

Step 2: Paint a base layer of whatever the predominant color for that planet (for ideas see my color examples below). To do this, simply remove the planet by its skewer from the foam block and use the wide foam brush to apply a good layer of paint to the planet. The planet might spin a bit, and when that happened I just stuck the skewer in a bit tighter. The goal here is to cover the sphere, not to be painstakingly precise with your color. Once a planet is fully coated with the first layer of paint, return the skewer to the foam block and move on to another. Make sure to let the paint dry completely before moving on to your second coat. With 9 planets this shouldn’t be a problem, as by the time you get the base coat on all nine the first one should be dry again. In terms of color choices, please remember that my field is not astronomy, and I painted these planets to more or less represent their “astronomical” look. Google images helped with pictures of the planets, but I followed whimsy more than scientific fact in their creation. See below for the colors I chose for each planet.

The base layers for Uranus, Jupiter and Neptune.

The base layers for Mars and Mercury.

Step 3: Go back over each planet with a second coat of paint, adding whatever details can be individual to the specific planet. Depending on the details you want to paint, use either the wide foam brush or the narrow paint brush or both. I played fast and loose with planetary features here, so remember that the goal is fun not accuracy. Jupiter got its storm, but I didn’t go into the detail to give Saturn 3-D rings. Instead Saturn got rings painted around its equator. Earth, as usual is the most problematic with the continents, but again this isn’t about a geography lesson. Get the continents more or less on there, give Earth white on both poles and move on.

Uranus, Jupiter and Neptune.

What is key to this step is that the instant you finish with the secondary painting, have your glitter sprinkles ready and apply them immediately. My planets were drying quickly, so if I hesitated for even a breath the glitter wouldn’t stick well. For each planet I had my glitter jar opened to the correct color and a layer of newspaper laid out to catch the extra sparkles. The moment I set my paint brush down, I grabbed the glitter and sprinkled away. See my description of Mercury for an idea of what to do with the mixed glitter at the end. Once one planet is complete, return its skewer to the foam block and move on to another. Let the planets dry completely before moving on. I let mine rest overnight.

The finished planets.

Here are the color schemes I used for the planets:
Venus: Base coat of bluish green. Secondary coat of bright green bands. Green and gold glitter.
Earth: Base coat of bright, turquoise blue. Secondary coat of green continents, with white at both poles. Green glitter more or less on the continents and silver more or less on the poles.
Mars: Base coat of red. Secondary coat of red with just a drop of black in random swirls. Red and gold glitter.
Jupiter: Base coat of white with just a drop of yellow and brown. Purplish swirled band around the equator with a large swirly “eye” for the storm, as well as two yellow bands just off from the poles. Purple and gold glitter.
Saturn: Base coat of muted yellow with a couple drops of purple. Secondary bands of red and purple around the equator. Purple glitter.
Uranus: Base coat of bright blue. Secondary white and darker blue bands just offset from the northern pole and one near the equator. Blue glitter.
Neptune: Base coat of bright blue. Secondary coat of midnight blue (blue with just enough black so that you can still see a predominate blue color), applied not too evenly. Blue glitter.
Pluto: Base coat of bright blue. Secondary swirls of dark blue and yellow. Yellow and blue glitter.
Mercury: Base coat of dark gray. Secondary coat of black applied not too evenly. Sprinkled all over with the combined dregs of sprinkles from the other planets.

Mars and Mercury were two of my favorites.

Step 4: Once the planets are completely dry they can be suspended. I cut varying lengths of golden crocheting yard and secured each end to a push pin. I then put one end of the pin into a planet (close to where I removed the skewer) and the other end we pushed into the ceiling. See more below.

Planets Backdrop
Before you set up your backdrop, decide where you want the focal point of the room to be. Position your cake/food table in that spot, then hang the Galaxy Backdrop above the table. Decide on the order you want your planets hung in. The plan was to put them in actual astronomical order, but as you can see in the picture I switched Mars and Earth. Ah well… More artistic license I suppose. I’ll get that fixed before hanging them in Little Man’s room. The correct order should be from left to right: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Hang Jupiter first since that gives you your midpoint. We then hung Mercury and Pluto on either end of the backdrop, and spaced the remaining planets between them. We then hung a “Happy Birthday” banner across the top and wrapped a cool strand of changing color star lights around the whole thing. Taa daa!

Poppin’ Pluto Dance Floor
This was almost one of my best ideas ever… almost… I was inspired by the picture posted on Design Dazzle where for an outdoor party they simply unrolled some bubble wrap and let the kids run around on it. For Little Man’s party, I knew we wanted to do some dancing and I thought that using the bubble wrap to make the dance floor would be perfect. And it was… almost… What I didn’t take into account was my sensitive child’s sensitive ears. The other kids LOVED the popping bubble wrap, but Little Man was happier once the bubble wrap went away and he could groove to his heart’s content.
Here’s what you’ll need: 1-2 large rolls of large bubble wrap (not the tiny bubbles), clear packaging tape, glow-in-the-dark bracelets, rainbow light disco ball (optional but super cool)

Step 1: Decide where your dance floor (outside or indoor) will be. Unroll your bubble wrap, cut it into long strips and then tape them together to make a square or rectangular “dance floor.” We used 2 rolls for our area. Then roll up your dance floor and stash it until ready to use. Bubble wrap is near irresistible and unless you have armed guards protecting it, if it is laid down when the kiddos arrive, they will pounce.

Step 2: When you are ready to dance, activate and coil the glow-in-the-dark bracelets and place them on the floor where the dance floor will be. The darker your room, the brighter the bracelets (aka planets) will be. Unroll the dance floor over the planets, start your rainbow disco ball and unleash some tunes. Little Man’s party dance music of choice is still Imagination Movers: Rock-o-matic. It was awesome!

The DJ station.

Cardboard Rocket Ship
There are a surprising number of cardboard rocket ship designs out there. We wanted something that would be a great backdrop for pictures, but also that the kids could play in. As long as it survived the party, I was happy. It is just cardboard after all, and you should be able to get empty boxes for free from any selection of local stores. Recycling can be fun!

Here’s what you’ll need: multiple large cardboard boxes, wide masking tape, a box cutter, spray paint, and acrylic paint.

For this craft I don’t have specific construction steps since this will vary wildly based on the shape and size of rocket you want to make. I used a large cube-shaped box for the body, opening out the flaps and taping it all together to make a long rectangle. If your “rocket” feels a bit unsecure in places, take some of your remaining boxes, cut strips from them and tape or hot glue these reinforcing strips on the inside of your rocket. Once the body is complete, spray paint it silver. After the silver paint is dried, shape fins for your rocket, hot glue them on and hand paint them dark blue with acrylic paint.

We made our rocket in two pieces so that it wouldn’t break whenever it fell over. With another large box, shape a cone (or pyramid) top for your rocket. Once the cone is shaped and secured with interior structural strips, spray paint it red.

After everything is dry, I cut a round window in the front and a door in the back. Make sure your door is big enough for the kiddos to fit in, but don’t take it all the way down to the floor. Leave a little bit that the kids need to step over in order to keep the base of your rocket strong.
Glittery Stars
Even though these popsicle stick stars (or snowflakes) are a pretty ubiquitous craft, I included them here since it was something that Little Man could have an active hand in creating. I wanted him to be able to feel a bit of ownership in this DIY adventure, and to be able to see his art work hanging in the party space.

Here’s what you’ll need: : Large craft popsicle sticks, hot glue gun, craft glue, sticky jewels, silver glitter, silver and blue glass gems, sparkly yarn to hang them with.

Step 1: Adults, using a hot glue gun, glue two sticks into a plus sign. Do this with the remaining sticks that you want to use. Little Man and I made 8 stars, so we completed 16 of the plus signs. Then glue two of the plus signs together to create the star (or snowflake) shape.

Step 2: Kiddos and adults, you can now bedazzle the stars to your hearts content. I put a little glue on a disposable plate for Little Man and gave him a paint brush. He could then paint the glue onto the bare star, and then place the glass gems. Be careful to not use too many glass gems on a single star, since they can become quite heavy. We used 4-5 glass gems per star, with the remaining space filled with sticker jewels and squiggles of glue encrusted with silver glitter. Let your stars dry completely.
Step 3: Adults, once your stars are completely dry, cut lengths of your sparkly yard for hanging them. Tie the ends of the yard together in a small knot, then hot glue the yard to the back of top arm of your star. I used the knot in case some of our stars were heavy enough to pull the yarn through the glue, but if your stars are light you might not need to do this. We then hung them across the ceiling with push pins.

The whole effect… except for lots of screaming… more or less.

I hope that you enjoy these ideas for a Space Themed kids birthday party. Please feel free to share any other ideas that you come up with or that you’ve seen elsewhere. I “pinned” a ton of ideas to my Pintrest page under Kids Birthday Ideas, and only had the time (and gumption) to pull off a few of them. Have fun!

The party in full swing.

The Tyranny of Cucumbers

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“Did you ever think in your life that you would have made so many pickles?”

Dave recently asked me this at 1am in the morning as we were wrapping up a marathon pickling session. I gave one of those chuckles that comes from pure exhaustion and set the timer for the processing of the last four jars of cured pickles. The answer to Dave’s question was a resounding “no” not in a million years would I have ever thought that I’d have made any pickles, forget about the 40 some odd liters… yes liters… of pickles I’d made over the last few weeks.

When the lady farmer landlord asked if I’d be interested in making pickles, I’d jumped at the chance. Almost literally. Then I realized how many cucumbers one healthy plant can produce, forget about the fact that the cucumber bed at the farm has 7-8 hills of cucumbers, each hill housing 2-3 vines. Oh my…

If you’ve ever seen cucumbers grow, you would know that they are ninja vegetables. Their camouflage is so perfect they put invisibility cloaks to shame. The lady farmer landlord and myself and Dave and Little Man would comb over a vine, plucking any cucumbers we would find. Little Man’s contribution is a bit quesitonable here. It mainly consists of him dropping an action figure into the plant accompanied by much “argh, I’m faaaaaalllllliiiing…” and then demands that his figure be saved. We would pick it all, from the tiny pinky finge- sized cukes to the fat field cucumbers that are too big to be whole pickes, but would make good relish or pickle slices. I state that all 3-4 of us were combing through each fine, picking everything, and 15 minutes later we’d see the vine from a different angle and find 3 more cukes hiding there. Then the next morning when I’d be watering the garden I’d see more smirking at me from under the leaves.

We’ve now put a kaybash on picking cucumbers for pickling. Anything else can be done with them, eat them raw with a little vinegar, make a delicious cold soup or dip (for a cold cucumber yogurt soup, check out my Turkish Cucumber and Yogurt Soup (aka Cacik) recipe), slice them with fresh tomatoes and drizzle them with a little olive oil and balsalmic vinegar for a sliced salad, and the list goes on. You can make jewelry with them for all I care, just don’t ask me to make more pickles… please… 🙂

Grape leaves for keeping pickles crisp.

Kosher-Style Dill Pickles

One of the biggest hurdles to deal with in making pickles is how to keep something submerged in water crisp. One way is to use a fresh grape leaf in each jar. Grape leaves contain alum, which helps to keep the pickles crisp. Also, the blossom end of the cucumbers contains and enzyme that softens pickles. So trim off a little of both ends of the cucumbers to make sure that those enzymes are removed. Now get pickling!

Ingredients
8 lbs. small pickling cucumbers (such as Kirby)
1 cup pickling or kosher salt
3 tbsp. pickling spice
9 cups water
7 ¾ cups white vinegar
7 small, fresh grape leaves
7 bay leaves
7 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
7 dill sprigs and heads, halved

Directions

Wash and scrub the cucumbers under running water. Trim 1/8^th of an inch off of both ends of every cucumber, and then poke them all over with a fork.
A big pile of cucumbers waiting to be pickles.

Poking holes to aid in curing the cucumbers.
In a large, non-reactive bowl create four layers of cucumbers each one topped with ¼ cup of the kosher salt. Once the layers are completed, fill the bowl with cold water to submerge the cucumbers by ¼ inch. Use a plate to weigh down the cucumbers, and let them sit for 12 to 24 hours.
A first layer of cucumbers.

A layer of kosher salt.

The final of four layers of cucumbers and salt.

The cured cucumbers after soaking in the salted water for 24 hours.
Prepare your canner (or large stock pot), jars and lids.
Drain, rinse and drain the cucumbers again.
Wrap the pickling spice in a double thickness of cheese cloth and tie it securely. In a large pot combine the packet of pickling spice, water and vinegar. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue at a hard boil for one minute. Discard the packet of pickling spice, and keep the brine hot.
Working with one jar at a time place one grape leaf, one bay leaf, one half of a garlic clove, and one half of a dill head at the bottom of the jar. Pack the jar tightly with cucumbers. Place one half of a garlic clove and one half of a dill head on top of the cucumbers. Pour in the hot pickling liquid leaving ½ inch head space. Remove air bubbles and add more pickling liquid if necessary. Wipe the rim and place a hot lid disk on the jar. Skrew down the band to fingertip-tight.
Place jars in the canner and return to a boil. Process for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the canner lid and let the jars sit in the hot water for another 5 minutes. Carefully remove the jars from the hot water and place them without tipping on a towel-lined counter top. Let the jars stand for 24 hours, then check the lids to be sure they are all sealed. Any jar that is not sealed can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. Jars with good seals can be cleaned and stored. If any pickles protrude above the brine in their jars, simply turn the jars over weekly in storage to keep the different ends from drying out. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of the Kosher Style Dill Pickles recipe.

Date Night

A Tale of Two Parties: Utica Tomato Pie

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Where to begin with Utica Pie…

My best friend in graduate school would speak about this thing called Tomato Pie in reverent tones and I was so excited to try it when she brought me to her house for my first Easter in New York. Then I saw this under-dressed, plain, fluffy crust with just a little sauce and cheese, and was completely underwhelmed. Jen’s face, on the other hand, lit up and she edged a bit closer to the plate. I took a piece, not wanting to seem rude, and took a bite of what I only expected to be relatively tasteless cheese pizza… and was immediately hooked. The crust had great texture, crispy on the bottom and fluffy but flavorful throughout. It only needed a little of the intense sauce and cheese to round out the flavor profile, any more and it would have been cloying. In future trips to what I would claim as my New York home, one of the things I always looked forward to was to be sent home with extra Tomato Pie… and Roma Bacon, but that’s a different story.

I have to say that as I am posting these recipes I am faced with a trepidation that I didn’t feel when making them for our party guests. None of the guests at our party have every been to upstate New York, so I could have served up just about anything and stated that it was from upstate and no one would have been the wiser. Now, however, I know that some of my readers are from upstate and they know what these things are supposed to look like and taste like. I, however, am making these from memories and partial recipes that I’m piecing together as I go. The final dishes that result from these recipes are delicious, but it is possible that some of my tweaks in the kitchen may have pulled them away from the real deal dishes. For my family in New York, I hope you can look past any inaccuracies and just taste the love, since they were made with memories of all the love I experienced when in your homes. Miss you!

Utica Pie
Adapted in part from Cook’s Illustrated Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza
Ingredients: Makes 2 pies
For the Crust:
3 ¼ cups flour
½ cup cornmeal
1 ½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
1 pkg (2 ¼ tsp.) instant yeast
1 ¼ cups water (room temperature)
7 tbsp. butter, divided
4+ tbsp. olive oil, divided

For the Sauce and Toppings:
3 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ cups freshly grated parmesan

The wet and dry ingredients for the crust.

Directions:
For the Crust:

Melt 3 tbsp. of the butter and set it aside. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a stand mixer with a dough hook. Add the water and melted butter, and mix on low speed until ingredients are combined. Then switch to medium speed (speed 2 on most models) and knead until smooth and glossy, about 4-6 minutes. Alternatively you can mix and knead the dough by hand.
Shape the dough into a ball and roll it in a little olive oil in a large bowl so it’s coated with oil all around. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and a towel and set it aside to rise for 45-60 minutes.
Soften the remaining 4 tbsp. butter and set aside. Turn the risen dough out onto a floured surface and shape it into a 12 x 15 inch rectangle. Using an offset spatula spread the softened butter over the dough’s surface leaving a ½ inch border free around the edges.
Rolling the dough out into a large rectangle.

Coating the top of the dough with a thin layer of softened butter will result in crispy, buttery layers of dough in the final pie.
Starting at a short end roll the dough up into a cylinder. Place the cylinder seam side down and roll it out into a 4 x 18 inch rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half crosswise. Set one half aside and work with one at a time.
The dough cylinder.

The long, thin cylinder, encapsulating lovely layers of butter.

Divide the cylinder in half crosswise.
Fold the rectangle into thirds. Then pinch the edges of the dough together forming a ball. Repeat with the second piece of dough. Place the balls back into the oiled bowl, covering them with plastic wrap and placing the bowl in the refrigerator to rise for 40-50 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Folding the two halves into thirds.

The folded dough is then rolled and pinched into a ball.

One dough ball ready to become a Utica Pie.
Coat two 9-inch pie pans with 2 tbsp. olive oil each. One at a time transfer each dough ball to your work surface and roll it out into a 13 inch circle. Move each dough circle to its respective pie tin by rolling it loosely around the rolling pin and then draping it into the pie tin. Using your fingers press the dough into the corners of the tin, forming it up the sides. At this point you can continue on making the Utica pies, or you can cover the dough thoroughly with two layers of plastic wrap and freeze them for up to four weeks.

For the Sauce:

Heat a saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and garlic, sauteing until soft but not brown, about 3 minutes.
Mmmmm…. Oil and garlic… Who needs more? I was making a larger batch of the sauce here, so my proportions will be much larger than your’s. I also have a lot of this in my freezer right now.
Add the tomatoes and dried herbs. Simmer until the sauce thickens, about 15-20 minutes. Be careful, this might bubble like hot lava, and if it gets on your skin it will feel like it too! Yes, this is from personal experience…
A flavorful sauce the cooks like hot lava. Be ware of splashes!
Taste and adjust for seasoning. Set aside to use with the crust, or refrigerate/freeze for use in the future.

Note: This sauce recipe makes more sauce than you will need for the two pies. The extra sauce can be frozen for use over the next couple of months. Try freezing it in ice cube trays so that you can defrost only the amount you need and keep the rest in the freezer.

For the pies:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
If using frozen dough, remove the plastic wrap and bake the crusts for 15 minutes until almost cooked through, but not yet browned. Then follow the directions as for room temperature dough.
From frozen, this crust was baked for about 15 minutes until almost cooked through, but not browned.
From frozen/pre-baked and room temperature dough: Spread ½ cup of sauce over the dough, then sprinkle half of the cheese over top. Repeat with the second pie.
You should still be able to see the crust peeking through the sauce.

A delicious coating of parmesan cheese… I’m lucky that Little Man was sleeping or he would have stolen the cheese from my bowl.
Bake until the crust is golden brown and the cheese melted, about 15 minutes.
One hot, bubbly pie.

And another…
Remove the pies from their tins and cut into squares. Enjoy!

Pile them high on a serving platter, and then be sure to elbow your way to the front before they disappear.

Click here for a printable version of Utica Pie.

I hope this recipe can make converts out of you too! 🙂

A Tale of Two Parties: Our Island Party and the Food

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Now that we set the stage with the amazing party in New West… no pressure, right? Oy… Now I have to begin with confessing that some how, and I’m not exactly sure what happened, but we ended up with next to no pictures from Dave’s graduation party at our house. I know… I don’t know what happened… I did, luckily, take pictures of the food (mostly) while I was preparing the dishes so at least that’s something. But seriously… no pictures? Ugh…

Here’s our happy graduate!

On the brighter side, let’s talk about food. Here’s the menu for Dave’s graduation party.

Dave’s Graduation Party Menu
Spiedies: Italian marinated pork or chicken that is skewered and grilled. Served on a bun with sauteed onions, mustard and mayonnaise.
White T-Shirt Shrimp: A Cajun spiced shrimp boil with beer and butter. Served with bread to dip.
Utica Pie: A deep dish tomato and parmesan “pie” with a Chicago-style crust.
Red, White and Blue Coleslaw: An homage to one of our favorite restaurants in Ithaca, NY, this is red cabbage, white cabbage and blue cheese slaw.
Half Moon Cookies: Made famous through Seinfeld, these Black and White cookies are claimed to have originated in Utica, NY, as Half Moons.

A fantastic blend of neighbors, family and friends. What an amazing blessing!

It’ll take me a few posts to get all of the recipes posted, but today we are going to start with the Spiedies and White T-Shirt Shrimp, the two recipes that I don’t have images for. This just means that you’ll have to try the recipes and send me pictures from your creations. 🙂 I’d love to see them!

Spiedies are a classic Binghamton, NY, dish. This is the perfect festival food from Binghamton, honored yearly by the Spiedie Fest. In fact, at my bachlorette party my fantastic ladies made a version to serve along with other bites of New York. I hope I did them all justice with this recipe. While the pork spiedie is the classic, we also offered a chicken version. They were both delicious, especially with a heap of sauteed onions.

Spiedies
Ingredients:
5 lbs. of pork loin or chicken, cubed
2 cups plus ¼ cup olive oil
½ cup cider vinegar
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried thyme
1 tbsp. dried basil
1 tbsp. dried rosemary
1 tbsp. garlic powder
4 large onions, peeled and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper

Directions:

Combine the meat with 2 cups of olive oil, the vinegar, and all the dried spices in a large, nonreactive bowl or resealable plastic bag. If using a plastic bag be sure to place it in a casserole dish or other walled dish or bowl in case of any leaks. Place the meat and marinade in the refrigerator and chill for several hours or overnight. In a pinch, 30 minutes will get you some flavor, but longer is better.
Meanwhile heat ¼ cup of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and add the onions. Be prepared to cry a little… or a lot. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté the onions until they start to brown on the edges, then turn down the heat to medium and slowly cook them until they are soft and golden. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Put the onions into a serving bowl and set aside. If making the spiedies in advance you can refrigerate the onions for up to 2 days and then reheat them in the microwave before setting them out with the other condiments and buns.
When you are ready to grill the meat, prepare the skewers. Skewer the meat, leaving some space between the cubes to ensure even cooking. If using bamboo skewers be sure to soak them according to package directions in advance. Grill the skewers over high heat to get a char on your kebabs. Depending on the size of your cubes this can happen quickly, so watch them like a hawk. Test individual skewers to ensure for doneness.
Remove the meat from the skewers and place it in a serving bowl. Serve the grilled meat with torpedo buns, the delicious, golden onions, as well as mustard and mayonnaise. Enjoy!

Please click here for a printable version of the Spiedies recipe.

Our front yard was festooned with balloons… and then we spent the entire time on our fantastic new back deck. Ah well…

I cannot believe that I don’t have a single picture of the White T-Shirt Shrimp served at the party. Ugh! So you’ll just have to use your great imaginations to picture a vat of spicy sauce comprised predominately of butter and beer with succulent shrimp, served in bowls with crusty bread to soak up that delicious sauce. My mouth is already watering… The name for this dish comes from when Dave first tried it at a wonderful cabin (aka “camp”) up on Otter Lake. He was wearing a brand new, white t-shirt he’d received for his birthday. He took one bite of a shrimp, and watched the tail flip down in slow motion splattering his front with bright red, spicy butter sauce. Dave now recommends a bib when eating these shrimp, but I’d wear a trash bag if I had to just to get a bowl of that sauce with a hunk of bread. At the party we served the White T-Shirt Shrimp on a warming tray with a platter of warmed baguettes next to it to keep them both hot throughout the party.

White T-Shirt Shrimp
Ingredients:
4 bottles of beer
¾ cup Worcestershire sauce
½ cup Cajun spice
4 lemons, juiced
1 lb. butter
5 lbs. shrimp, shell on, uncooked

Directions:

Heat all of the ingredients except for the shrimp in a large pot. Bring the liquid to a simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the shrimp and cook for 7-8 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and cooked through.
Serve with bowls and lots of crusty bread to soak up the amazing boil. Enjoy!

Please click here for a printable version of the White T-Shirt Shrimp recipe.

Stay tuned for more recipes… with pictures… from the party! 😉

More Thoughts on Hummus

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Like I mentioned in my last post, hummus is one of those versatile recipes that can be used a dozen different ways. When I made the batch for the Request for Hummus post, I wanted to use the hummus for more than just a meze (a Turkish or Greek… why does it make me nervous to type both of those names back to back… dip or snack food), but as a part of a larger meal. What came to mind was a sandwich that I’d fiddled with before, but hadn’t yet perfected. What it needed was a silky layer of hummus to really pull all the flavors together, and voila, the Mediterranean Tuna and Hummus Sandwich was created. You’re really going to like this one.

The sandwich has three main components, the flat bread, the hummus and a Mediterranean-style Tuna Salad. The flat bread could be bought from your local store, or substituted out for a nice crusty roll, OR you could use some of the fantastic Whole Wheat Pizza Dough that I wrote about for stocking your pantry. As I’ll describe below (or click here for a “how to” recipe for Using Frozen Pizza Dough), you simply roll out the dough, season it with whatever dried herb mixture you prefer, and bake it until crispy. It’s delicious! The hummus, while you could buy it from the store, is so easy to make at home that once you get this recipe (Marie’s Hummus) down you’ll never look at the pasty stuff from the grocery store in the same way again. The last part, the Mediterranean-style Tuna Salad, is included here. If you’re not a big fan of the traditional mayonnaise-based tuna salad, this one is for you.

While I actually am a fan of a good, rich, mayonnaise-based tuna salad sandwich (in fact I think that’s what we’re having for dinner tonight) there are times when I want something a bit different, and that’s when I use this Mediterranean-style Tuna Salad recipe. It has a nice, briney bite from kalamata olives, a little feta cheese gives it a creamy-richness, and there’s plenty of crunch from vegetables like onion and celery. In fact, you’ll be surprised by how much salad one little can of tuna can create since it is well supported by a crunchy cast of characters. The salad is a cinch to toss together, the flavors get better if they have a chance to hang out for a bit, and it’s great to serve over lettuce for a large salad, or you can serve it with crackers for a snack or appetizer, OR even better you can serve it as a part of a great, layered open face sandwich like the one shown here.

Mediterranean-Style Tuna Salad

Ingredients:
3 eggs, hard boiled and separated
1 can tuna in water, drained
2 sticks of celery, finely diced
¼ cup feta, crumbled
¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and diced
1 cup English or hot house cucumber, diced
½ small onion, diced
¼ cup olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. herbs de Provence, or other dry herb blend
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Separate the egg whites from the yolk, and discard two yolks. That is where most of the fat and cholesterol reside. Use them if you want, the salad will be even more delicious. I discard them here to lighten the salad. Finely dice the remaining yolk and whites. Add them to a large bowl.
Add the tuna, celery, feta, olives, cucumber and onions to the bowl and toss to combine.
The salad ingredients.

Tossed to combine
Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, herbs, salt and pepper in a small bowl to combine.
Toss the salad with the dressing and enjoy!

Click here for a printable Mediterranean Tuna Salad recipe.

Mediterranean-Style Tuna and Hummus Sandwich

Ingredients:

One portion Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
1 cup Marie’s Hummus
1 batch Mediterranean Tuna Salad
1 tsp. Herbs de Provence blend
1 cup salad greens or arugula
Olive oil to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350º.
Roll out the dough into a wide oval, about ¼ inch thick. With a fork (or docking tool) poke holes all over the surface of the dough. This will keep it from bubbling up and distorting. Brush the dough lightly with about 1 tsp. of olive oil. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and the Herbs de Provence over the dough. Either slide the dough directly onto a pizza stone in your hot oven, or place it on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and then into the hot oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until just browned in spots. Remove the crust to your work area.
The prepared dough for flat bread.

Note that the shape of the dough changed significantly. 🙂 This is what makes it “rustic”… When things don’t go as planned just call them “rustic” and they’ll still taste as good.
Spread the hummus in a thin layer over most of your crust, leaving a 1 inch border around the edges.
Leave a thin border around the edges for a good place to hold onto your open faced sandwich.
Mound the Mediterranean Tuna Salad on top of the hummus, leaving a narrow border around the edges so that the hummus is visible.
Each added “layer” should leave a little of the previous layer visible so you can see a bit of everything.
Mound your salad greens or arugula on top of the tuna salad and drizzle it lightly with olive oil.
I used hearts of romaine here for the last layer, but my favorite is arugula. Water cress would be great too!
Cut into “slices” and serve. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable Mediterranean Style Tuna and Hummus Sandwich recipe.

If you want to find an easy “recipe” for using your frozen from scratch pizza dough, click here: Using Frozen Pizza Dough.

One delicious open face sandwich. You can make smaller sized ones for individual portions if you want to be fancy, or make one large one like this and cut it into quarters or long slices to serve family style.

A Request for Hummus

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One of the best parts of this blog has been reading and replying to comments from readers; and most recently receiving requests for recipes from friends. Cooking is a way that I connect with people. It’s something that I can do as a gift, or as a way to build a friendship, or to show love to friends and family. Often when I am cooking for someone, I am also thinking about that person while I’m chopping the onions and garlic, stirring the veg in the pan, or tasting for final seasoning. It makes cooking more than just putting ingredients together for a meal, but it gives me time to also think about the person or people that I’m cooking for. Its’ an act of love, not just of eating. So when friends request recipes from me I take it as the highest compliment.

It is therefore a great joy that in a couple of upcoming posts I will be sharing a couple of recipes requested from friends who are distant in geography but close in my thoughts. The first recipe I’ll be sharing is for hummus. Hummus is one of those foods that is super simple to make, irks me to buy premade, and is incredibly personal in how you prepare it. The two greatest influences for me in my hummus was the first time I was taught to make it in Beirut, as well as from my experiences in Turkey. In Beirut, the friend who taught me to make it created an amazingly herbaceous version, speckled throughout with finely chopped parsley. In Turkey I was most influenced by our amazing excavation chef, Necmi, who guarded his culinary secrets dearly, but whose hummus was incredibly silky and redolent with garlic and tahini.

Then there was Iowa… Not a statement that normally follows a genealogy of hummus. But it was in Iowa that I was able to expand my initial anthropology of food course into a series of courses, spanning food production and politics; to the cultural expressions of food and identity. It didn’t make sense to me to teach a course on food and not get to taste or prepare food to share in class. So for those classes, especially, I tried to make sure that I brought food to share with my students, and in a couple of cases (some more successful than others) to make food with the class on campus.

One of the most successful cases of this was with my Food Politics class when we spent one class meeting in the college kitchens making ricotta cheese and pizza dough for our own white pizzas. This isn’t just a “fluff” exercise, but it takes the intellectual side of talking about a subject and makes it real by actually touching, preparing, sharing and eating food together.

For this particular class it happened that I had a couple of students who were lactose intolerant and I didn’t want to leave them out. So I started thinking of the bare pizza dough, fired in the oven, what would go well with it? Hummus… Make the pizza dough into a spiced flat bread, serve it with the freshly prepared hummus and you’ve got a rock star food to share. So that’s what we did; made pizza bianca with the homemade dough and ricotta, as well as a meze of hummus and flat bread. I was greatly impacted by many of the students from that class, and it’s been great to keep in touch with them as they graduated (or will soon!) from college and we’ve moved up north. This recipe was requested by one of those students, but she and her friend were inseparable and therefore I can’t bring myself to dedicate this hummus to one without the “other” (anthro humor there… sorry…). Chelsea and Becca, this is for you ladies.

As you will see with this recipe, basic hummus is a great blank canvas for a myriad of flavors. I’ve added smoked paprika for a little Spanish flare, spinach for some extra greenery in a form that my son will eat (sometimes), or roasted red bell pepper for a different savory taste. The sky (and your imagination) are the limit here, so feel free to whip up a batch and personalize it to your tastes.

I like to serve hummus in a shallow bowl, with a depression at the top to hold a little golden olive oil, and a sprinkling of paprika over top.

Hummus

Ingredients:

2 garlic clove (or more to taste)
2 (15 oz) cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3-4 Tbsp. tahini (sesame seed) paste
3-4 tsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. salt
Approximately ½ cup olive oil

Directions:

Drop the garlic one clove at a time into a running food processor through the feed tube. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Dropping garlic into the feed tube.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl so you don’t lose any of that garlicky goodness.
Add the rest of the ingredients except for the olive oil and pulse until the ingredients are mixed but still a bit rough.
A rough mix of ingredients.
Then turn the processor on and through the tube slowly pour in the olive oil in a thin, steady stream until you get the desired creamy consistency.
A smooth, creamy hummus.
Taste and adjust for seasoning. Blend the hummus again. Taste. Blend. Enjoy!

Click here for a printable version of Marie’s Hummus recipe.

A perfect dish for sliced flatbread, fresh veges, or even as a “sauce” for sandwiches.

The Sheep Are Out…

I'm a mom, an anthropologist, and a food lover finding her way on a small farm on Vancouver Island

Category Archives: Appetizers

Adventures with FODMAPs – Polyols and Sweet Potato “Fries”

The Reckless Abandon of Sunshine on Easter

A Space-Themed Birthday Party: The Food Edition

A Space-Themed Birthday Party: The Decoration Edition

The Tyranny of Cucumbers

Date Night

A Tale of Two Parties: Utica Tomato Pie

A Tale of Two Parties: Our Island Party and the Food

More Thoughts on Hummus

A Request for Hummus

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