Jamie’s Recipes

I hope the new year has been good to you thus far, I can’t believe we are already 1 1/2 months into 2010. Did you make any diet related resolutions this year? Are you still sticking to your resolutions? If so, good for you. You may want to bookmark this recipe for when you a) break your resolutions or b) if you need something to eat on your “free” day. Please don’t run away –this soup isn’t diet food but it is an absolutely delicious creamy soup that is comforting on a frigid night.

My brother-in-law (who works in a restaurant kitchen) probably loves food as much as I do. He made me this soup for lunch a couple weeks ago. It was wonderful. He boiled the potatoes in chicken stock, and once they were tender he added rest of his ingredients. Brilliant! I can’t believe I never thought about boiling cubed potatoes in chicken stock and using that starchy boiled stock in the soup. This is truly a one pot meal. You can make a lot or a little in a short amount of time. This soup is great for those “it is so cold to do anything” type of days, and this winter we have had plenty of those.

POTATO & HAM CHOWDER

4 c chicken stock
4 medium-large Russet potatoes, peeled & cubed
1 yellow onion, minced (could use leek)
2 cloves garlic, minced
bay leaf
1-2 c ham, cubed (could use bacon)
1 c whipping cream
1 can(fat free) evaporated milk
5 slices of American cheese
salt & pepper
garnish with sliced scallions

In a large pot add potatoes, onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Bring to boil and simmer until potatoes are fork tender. Add ham, cream, milk, and cheese. Stirring until cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper. ENJOY!

Two years ago Penelope was a newborn. She is 24 hours old in that photo. In the last two years she has grown and changed so much. She is a very sweet, loving, funny, opinionated, wonderful toddler. She loves penguins. For Sasha’s birthday we had a fiesta theme, and I thought it would be fun to go with a penguin theme for Penelope. Little did I know that it would be impossible to find penguin party supplies. Who would have thought? I called several large party supply stores in the area, and none of them had any penguin stuff. Happy Feet wasn’t released that long ago, and The Penguins of Madagascar is a popular cartoon so I thought I was going to have to settle for having one of those penguins featured at our party. How wrong I was. So we didn’t have any penguin plates, napkins, or balloons. Instead I made cute little penguin appetizers and a giant penguin cake. Penelope loved them both.

I took the easy way out when it came to Penelope’s cake. I used two cake mixes (devil’s food and funfetti) to make the penguin’s body and wings.

The penguin’s head was baked in a 6 inch round cake pan, and the wings were baked in a 8 inch round cake pan then cut in half. I used the funfetti cake mix to bake a 8 inch round cake for the body, two regular sized cupcakes and 12 mini cupcakes which were used for the feet and beak. I actually used 3 mini cupcake per foot and I turned one mini cupcake upside down to make the beak.

I frosted the cake using  vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream.

When assembling the penguin’s feet, I found it to be easier to secure the cupcakes together using toothpicks, then frost each foot as one unit.

My penguin loving Penelope had a great second birthday. Thank you to all who helped us celebrate.

I just realized that it has been almost a month since I’ve posted a recipe. The month of September has passed by so quickly, and to be honest I haven’t really done a whole lot of actual cooking this month. Don’t worry I’m not losing it. The reason for my absence is that we moved to our very first house. YAY! At the beginning of September my time was occupied by packing boxes, the middle of September we moved to our new home, and the rest of September was filled with unpacking boxes and trying to organize a new home.

We bought a 1962 ranch house, where a lot of the 60s features still remain. For example I have a lovely pink bathroom –you know the kind, with the pink sink, pink toilet, pink tub/shower, and pink tile. I also have some pretty cool lights in my kitchen, and some not so cool asbestos tiles in the basement.

Speaking of the kitchen, I took some photos to give my dear readers a mini tour.

Here is the south wall of the kitchen. You can see the original Nutone exhaust fan. The cabinets are original and have that honey-orange color. The walls are painted a buttery yellow and are that color throughout the living room, dining room and hallways. I thought I always wanted a yellow kitchen but now I can’t wait to change the color. Our oven is a GE space saver. This is my least favorite part of the kitchen. I burned my hand pulling out my 9 x 13 casserole dish, because the oven is so tiny. I have always wanted to host the Thanksgiving day meal, but now I am concerned that I won’t be able to roast a turkey in my pint-sized oven. The stove has 3 small burners and only 1 large burner. This too is a bummer since when I cook I usually use two pans that require the larger burner. I am sure I will adapt. I also have to store my Kitchen-Aid mixer on the counter since it is too tall for any of the cupboard shelves, and too tall to put under the cupboards themselves.

Here is the east wall. The window looks out to our driveway and the street. It is a nice view to have while I am washing dishes. The tear drop shaped light fixture is original to the house. I love it. We found the original hardware for the cupboards in one of the cupboards. I hope to get it cleaned up and back where it belongs.

This is the west wall. On the other side of the wall is our dining room. Alex and I have talked about whether or not we are going to keep this wall. It was suggested that we do a sort of half wall/island with cupboards underneath. I really could use the additional cupboard space. The previous homeowner left us the black and white Formica table with a matching “hutch”.

This is a view of the west and north walls. Trust me the purple has to go! So does the terracotta orange. That same purple is in the master bedroom, along with purple carpet and yellow closet doors. The purple, terracotta, and yellow are repeated throughout the house. Ick! In this photo you really can see the table and matching hutch, and the cool hanging light. The doorway on the right of the photo is our entryway and stairs to the basement.

I hope you have enjoyed a peak into my new kitchen. I can’t wait to start cranking out some delicious family meals. I do have a confession to make, our first family meal was fish sticks. Ack! Hey when your house is full of boxes, your children are hungry, and it is past bedtime you get desperate. Please don’t judge.

We have been back to visit my parents (and their large garden) almost every weekend this summer. The girls have loved helping my dad harvest the produce. I just got a call from Dad last night, and he is about ready to go in to panic mode, it is supposed to be very hot this week, and lots of vegetables will become ripe over the next few days.

Last night (Tuesday night) he picked two gallons of green beans. I helped him pick at least a gallon worth of green beans on Saturday.

This was the size of the cucumbers two weeks ago. This week they were big enough for Mom to make pickles. I think she made three gallons on Sunday, and Dad said they have enough cucumbers ready to go for a few more gallons –next time I go home, I am bringing my empty gallon jar to get my share of pickles, since they are a hot commodity around there.

We have been enjoying potatoes for the last month or so. This is a favorite activity for the grandkids to help out with. Dad planted 50 pounds of seed potatoes. So far he has harvested about 180 pounds of potatoes, by my estimates he still has about 2/3 left to dig up. My grandpa (red shirt) is in the background, he is digging up the last of the beets. Dad used that “free space” in the garden to plant some more green beans and some Sugar peas. The girls helped dig the rows for the beans and peas.

One of my favorite things about visiting my parent’s garden, is that I am able to introduce my children to the freshest vegetables around. As a child I loved eating a green bean that was still warm from the sun, or biting into a tomato like an apple, or pulling up a radish or carrot, shaking the dirt off, and biting right into it while still standing in the garden. Nothing can beat enjoying food the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

If you don’t have space for a garden, check around for a Farmers Market. Buy Fresh, Buy Local, and enjoy a damn good meal!

In Omaha check out:

Village Point Farmers Market: Sat 8-1 through Oct 3
Old Market Farmers Market: Sat 8-12:30 through Oct 10

My mother-in-law just celebrated a monumental birthday on July 5, she turned 60. For her birthday I wanted to make her her favorite cake, it was no surprise that she requested a chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge frosting. I wanted this cake to be out of this world good. I stumbled across Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” chocolate cake, and I knew this would be the “one”.  After all, Hershey has been doing the chocolate thing for at least a hundred years. The cake was so easy to make, bake, and assemble.

Between the chocolaty layers of cake I used a delicious vanilla butter cream, once assembled I covered the cake with Hershey’s “Perfectly Chocolate” chocolate frosting.

The added decorations are made from vanilla butter cream and a chocolate butter cream. This cake was out of this world good. I can’t wait until I have an excuse to make this cake again.

HERSHEY’S “PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE” CHOCOLATE CAKE
from Hershey.com

If you are here for the first time, you can see the first photos here and read about the first update here. Over Mother’s Day weekend I went back to my parent’s house and took photos of everything that was visible in their garden. Mom and Dad have planted lots of different things (I think there will be 26 different things) and not all of it is up yet. I am headed back to their house this weekend, and hope to get some shots of the plants that have appeared this week after all the rain.

Dad is planning on eventually putting in Everbearing strawberry and raspberry plants in the beds where the radishes, broccoli, carrots, and lettuce are. I am very excited to watch this garden grow. They have a lot planted, and I hope it all produces a crop.

Some of the vegetables they have planted that haven’t made an appearance include:
Basil -1 package
Dill -1 package
Cauliflower -1 package
Cucumber -3 hills of pickling cucumbers and 1 hill slicing cucumbers
Buttercup Squash -2 hills
Zucchini -2 hills
Giant Pumpkin (25 pounds or larger) -3 hills
Watermelon -2 hills
Muskmelon -2 hills
Carrots -1 bed
Dad called to say he has planted more stuff. Which brings the total to about 30 different things should be coming from their garden. YUM!
Red Bell Pepper -1 package
Sweet Corn -2 varieties (AS AN IOWA GIRL I LOVE SWEET CORN!)
Kohlrabi -1 package
Brussels Sprouts -1 package (VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS!)

Here are some of the tomato and pepper plants. Mom and Dad planted 20 tomato plants -12 regular slicing tomatoes and 8 Roma. They also planted four jalapeno plants and four green bell pepper plants.

Red Onions – 80 plants

Red Radish -1 bed

Broccoli -1 bed This is the first time they are growing broccoli. Alex loves broccoli, and this was one of his special requests

Leaf Lettuce -1 bed

Rhubarb

I went back to my parent’s house for Mother’s Day weekend, and I asked my dad to give me a tour of the garden. I grabbed my camera and a notebook to jot notes. I’ve got a list of almost everything they have planted (26 different things will be planted), and photos of everything that has broke through the ground. It was so fun hearing my dad talk about his garden; it seems he is really enjoying this hobby –as long as it doesn’t interfere too much with his tee time, I imagine. Mom and Dad have planted a LOT of produce this spring. Dad is reading a gardening book, and he said that there is so much more he could plant if he wanted to, I have no doubts. Keep checking in as the plants begin to bare fruit (or veggies).

The List and Photos- Part One
Potatoes -460 hills or 50 pounds of seed potatoes

Next to the potatoes are Yellow Onions -60 plants

Green Beans -1 package –it is barely poking through the ground

Red Beets -half a package –they have just broken ground too

Click here for some of the first photos from the garden.

You can follow up on the garden with part two here.

Take note fathers and children, Mother’s Day is quickly approaching. Do you want to serve your mother or wife breakfast in bed? Bless your heart! These breakfast cups take little effort to put together, and they can be personalized to your family’s flavor preferences. In the bottom of my cups I have colby-jack cheese and bacon, you could substitute any meat or cheese you would like. I left my egg whole, but you could lightly beat it and stir in some chopped veggies, which would be delicious. Using crescent rolls from the refrigerated section at your local grocery store make this breakfast a cinch. Have fun coming up with your favorite meat, cheese, veggie combos! I think these would also be cute for a bridal shower or baby shower brunch. Yum!

BREAKFAST CUPS
Serves 4

1 package crescent rolls
4 eggs
2 pieces bacon, cooked
cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 4 muffin tins. Unroll crescent rolls, pinch together two triangles and fit to muffin tin. Place a little cheese and half a slice to bacon in bottom of crescent-lined muffin tin. Carefully add egg. Cook for 10-15 minutes. You want the crescent roll to become golden brown and the egg to be set. ENJOY!

I mentioned earlier that my parents were putting in a giant garden this year. I am going to do my best to blog about it, even though I live two hours away.  A couple weeks ago my dad bought a new Rototiller and started the whole gardening process.

As you can see, the land my parent’s purchased is a small section of the corn field behind their house.

Here is my dad, taking a break to pose for the camera. Even though he had a machine to help him till the land, I think it still was pretty hard work. This section of tilled earth was used to plant over 450 potatoes!

My parents have a long list of other vegetables they are planting this spring. I will keep you updated.

Happy Spring!

P.S. If you live in Omaha, the Farmers Market opens May 2!

Primavera is the Italian and Spanish word for Spring. When I think of Spring I think of all things fresh and green. Here in the Midwest, Spring means we can pack up the hats, gloves, and scarves and pull out the flip-flops (then the next week pull out the hats, gloves, and scarves again). In a couple weeks the farmer’s markets will be in full force and full of delicious fruits and veggies –I can’t wait!

I found this recipe in my Parents magazine and knew I had to try it. The article was Dinner Detox, how to healthify your dinners in stages. This dish is considered (by them) to be a really healthy alternative to Mac ‘n’ Cheese. I skipped the “little better” recipe and went straight for the really healthy. My kids like veggies, and they love pasta, so I wasn’t worried that they wouldn’t like it. This is a fun recipe to personalize with your family’s favorite vegetables. I added roasted chicken to our dish to give it a little extra protein, but I think shrimp would be fabulous too.

PASTA PRIMAVERA
(from Parents May 2009 –with my choice of veggies)

1 1/2 c dry multigrain or whole-grain rotini (I used penne rigate)
1 T EVOO (Olive Oil)
1 bundle of asparagus, chopped into 2 inch pieces
1 chopped yellow pepper
1 c grape tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c low-fat evaporated milk
1/2 c low-sodium chicken broth
2 T AP Flour
1/3 c finely shredded Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

*I added 2 packages of Hormel’s Carved Chicken

Cook pasta according to package directions. Two minutes before your pasta is done, toss in asaragus. Drain pasta and return to pot. While pasta is cooking, sautee yellow pepper, garlic and tomatoes in the olive oil. Toss in chicken and heat through. Add veggie mix to pasta. Whisk milk, broth, and flour. Add to pasta, stirring until thick. Mix in cheese, add salt & pepper to taste. ENJOY!!

This is a great way to use up veggies in your crisper drawer. Some yummy selections might include broccoli, zucchini slices, fresh blanched green beans, sliced yellow squash, fresh basil, roasted cauliflower or Brussels sprouts. Be creative!