mamasewingcircus.com

With the kids asleep early and my husband at a work function, I’ve been combing the Internets for interesting recipes. Slashfood pointed me to Epicurious’ Top 10 Money Saving Ingredients which is peppered with wonderful recipes. So, here’s what we’ll be eating this week in case you want to follow along:

Sunday – the school potluck – I’ll be trying out the Epicurious recipe for Warm Pasta Salad with Roasted Corn and Poblanos pictured below.

Monday – Roasted Portobello Mushrooms stuffed with Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
6 small red skinned potatoes – boiled in salt water until soft
1/2 c grated parmesan
1 tbs butter
4 cloves garlic
4 portobello mushroom caps, rinsed
4 tbs olive oil (1 per cap)
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp dijon mustard
sprig of rosemary
..Boil potatoes and garlic in water until soft (15min). Drain water. Add cheese and butter and whip until smooth.
..Whisk oil, vinegar, soy sauce, mustard and rosemary together. Fill the cavity of your mushrooms with sauce. Roast in a preheated oven at 400 until cooked. (~10min) (I use a silpat so I don’t need to oil the pan side of the mushroom, but you might need to)
Top with potato mixture. Consume.
inspired by Epicurious’ version Portobello Mushrooms Stuffed with Parmesean Whipped Potatoes

Tuesday – Tuna Salad Sandwiches
We use a recipe inspired by my mom which includes the usual Tuna and mayo, but also toasted nuts, sprigs of parsley or basil, and the fruit du jour. I’m fond of almonds with dried cherries or cranberries. I’ve mixed walnuts and apricots. And of course there is apple, the old standby, as well.

Wednesday – Calzones with broccoli, spinach, mozzarella, ricotta and roasted garlic.
I use a basic wheat pizza dough recipe in my bread machine. You can do this and have it set to start 1 hour before you intend to start the Calzones. I typically just start it as soon as I walk in the door. Packaged dough is a travesty, but can be used in a pinch. As for the ingredients, the recipe is flexible. I suggest you don’t leave out the garlic unless you have an allergy. Although ours are often filled with standard veggie fare, I can envision a cheddar, black bean, cilantro and roasted corn version would be phenomenal. Really, just be creative or resourceful.
-Dough-
1 c wheat flour
1 c unbleached all purpose flour
1 packet yeast
1 tsp sugar
3/4 c warm water
1 tbs olive oil
-Filling-
1 egg
1 container ricotta (I’ve used fat free to great success. Fresh, full fat is to die for!)
1 container fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly. Or get the teeny balls.
Parmesan, to taste
salt, to taste
1 head garlic, nuked in the microwave for 1 minute or slow roasted in the hot oven for 1 hour- up to you.
other veggies (broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes …)
..Preheat your oven to 450. Pinch off enough balls for each calzone. I make 2 large and 2 kid sized. Roll or toss each ball into a flattened approximation of a circle, resting each circle in it’s final position on your baking tray. Mix cheeses together; salt to taste. Mix egg into cheese mixture. Apply filling – cheese mixture, garlic and veggies to one half of each dough circle, but leaving no less than 1cm lip of dough. Dampen the lip of the filled dough-side with water, wrap the unfilled dough half over the filling to form a half moon calzone shape. Press the lip of the resulting half moon to seal the dough. Bake for roughly 25 minutes or until the calzone is golden brown.

Thursday – Burritos – packing food.
I aim to have the kids in bed by 7:30PM so we can all be up by 3AM for our long drive south. We’ll be filling ours with avocados, habaneros, cilantro, cheese, black beans, and sauteed shrimp. (Habaneros are nature’s alarm clock.)

Bon appetit.

It is just the kids, tonight. No daddy around. So Will and I decided we’d make rainbows for dinner. As we were discussing what foods we wanted to eat for each color, Will and I got into a heated debate about where crab fits into the rainbow – is it pink? Is it orange (per Will)? The conversation ended with Will, indignant, exclaiming, “Mom! You don’t even *know* what a rainbow looks like! I know, but you don’t!” Well, hmph!

We were able to resume the conversation at the grocery store where we selected red apples, rasberries, orange cheese, carrots, banana, avocado, celery, edamame, blueberries and black berries. There wasn’t enough celery for my plate, but who am I to argue with kids bullying for it?

At 4, he’s mastered the tone; promise me that at 16 the argument is just as comical.

I’m coveting the spiral wine cellar featured on SlashFood this week. I wonder if I can get my husband to drop one in below our dining room. And while he is at it, a hideaway for those nights the kids are crabby. Perhaps more efficient is for me to just stowaway in the cellar, drinking wine. … I’m not *that* kind of parent, but you know, you’ve been there.

Here’s an interesting post by a direct marketing copywriter on getting people to say “Yes.” The tips are relevant to general life, but also remind me why I’m happy I’m not a professional copywriter.

My cousin and his girlfriend attended the inaugural Youth Ball in DC – and the handsome couple were interviewed for the NYTimes video coverage. Check them out in the video on the bottom left side of the article (around 0:20 and 2:45 marks).

Did you hear California sigh in relief?

A little late to jump on the owl bandwagon, here’s my attempt on my unwilling model.

And a Willism:
When asked if he likes sharks – “I like sharks with a roof on top and an aquarium underneath.”

Article 2 (for BHO) from Andrew Sloat on Vimeo.

There are many wonderful things about our nanny, the least of which is that her husband is a chef, and she sometimes leaves me yummy Indian or Nepalese goodness. Recently, she left me a chutney which interestingly is made from the same ingredients we use to make pico de gallo, only her proportions are completely different.

Spicy Cilantro Chutney
1 head of cilantro
1 lemon sized tomato
2 thai chiles
dash salt
Toss all the ingredients in a cuisinart and mince until you’ve got a green pulpy fire sauce. Eat this on black beans, in the cavity of a fresh avocado, on tortillas or naan, or just on a clean spoon.

Doug spread his on shrimp enchiladas. Mine went in the cavity of my accompanying avocado.

“… the more it goes – Tiddly-pom
the more it goes – Tiddly-pom
on snowing.”
– Winnie the Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner

I’ve been reading two chapters a night of Winnie the Pooh to Will and Sylvie. Our collection is tattered from 34 years of use so I flinch when the kids reach to turn the page or slow my reading so that they can see the few pictures. It has been years since I last read anything by A. A. Milne, and the last was probably Now We Are Six or When We Were Very Young, so I’d forgotten until now how amusing his prose is. Definitely books for the shortlist. Will and I are enjoying how Pooh turns out the unlikely hero, how Eyeore is a lot like a kid we know, and still lost to Will, but enjoyable to me is the fact that although everyone (Owl, Rabbit, Christopher Robin) all feign the ability to read and write, they all very clearly can not.