Thanksgiving Queen

My Grandmama Frances was the Thanksgiving Queen.  Everyone around our small town knew that Frances went all out for the big day.  She planned for weeks and cooked for days to prepare the perfect meal for the ones she loved the most, along with all the other people she invited in to share in her feast.  And what a feast it was!  She had a tendency to go, um, overboard, literally--there was so much food that I can vividly remember having an ironing board set up in the kitchen to hold a few extra casseroles one year!  There was food everywhere you turned and you could never eat enough to satisfy her!  Leftovers?  No problem!  You could eat for a week and still not deplete the supply of casseroles, turkey, ham, vegetables and gravy.  

Those memories are why I love Thanksgiving so very much.  It truly is my favorite holiday.  In 2002, my Grandfather Snooks (Frances' husband) passed away, and I knew that Thanksgiving would be particularly difficult that year.  I decided to take on the responsibility of hosting Thanksgiving for our family--we had a new house, hardly used wedding china and all the time in the world to plan, shop, cook and host a lovely Thanksgiving meal.  I (in my usual fashion) stressed over each and every detail to make it a perfect holiday for our family.  And it was.  Simply perfect.  The menu was delicious, the company fantastic and the prep and clean-up a breeze.  From that point on, I declared Thanksgiving "my holiday" to host. Although my menu was not nearly as extensive as Frances', I selected some family favorites, along with some new items to display on the table, and everyone agreed that I could take responsibility for the cooking for this gastronomic affair.

Since 2002, I have hosted Thanksgiving five times.  In the years that I did not host, we either traveled East to be with my other grandma, or I had a brand new baby, so my mom took over the plan (last year she cooked an entirely dairy-free meal for me!).  This year, as the holiday approached, we began to discuss who would cook the meal. I would like to say that every day is like a Norman Rockwell Painting around here and the children behave beautifully while I prepare meals.  But, alas, this is reality.  I was worried that taking on the entire meal, while the hubby worked a 10 hour shift, would be a little stressful.  Just a little.  So instead of doing the whole thing, my mom and I agreed to split the responsibilities this year.  She would handle the main dishes and I could do a few side items and dessert. 

 Although I was relieved to not have the stress of cooking while dodging Legos and Wooden pizza toppings strewn across the floor, I was also sad to give up some of the tradition of cooking the meal.  As a way to break from the old tradition, I decided to choose new desserts to grace the table.  As an homage to Frances, I chose a pear cake (featuring the pears from our own trees growing in what used to be Frances' yard) and a pecan pie (a staple in this old house when Frances lived here).  However, I knew my boys (Dad, brother and the hubby) would want a little something chocolate, so I thumbed through my old cookbook of clipped recipes and found the perfect answer--Bourbon Pecan Pie with Chocolate Chips.

Bourbon Pecan Pie with Chocolate Chips

(or Black-bottom Bourbon Pecan Pie)

*I wish I could give credit for this recipe where it is due, but I honestly have no idea where it originated.  I have it copied on an old slip of paper and pasted into my cookbook.  So, thank you, whoever you are--you are genius!)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a whole cup, but I like chocolate!)

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/3 cup sugar

3 T firmly packed brown sugar

1 T all purpose flour

3/4 cup corn syrup (I used light)

1/4 cup butter, melted (I used Earth Balance)

3 T Bourbon (or more, if you like!  This doesn't count what you drink while you make it! )

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups pecans

1 pie crust (I used Whole Wheat because it is what I had.  Whatever you do, get deep dish!)

Sprinkle Chocolate chips into the bottom of the pie crust to cover.

Beat eggs and next seven ingredients at medium speed until blended.

Be sure to acknowledge your extra cute helpers along the way!

Pour batter into crust, over the chocolate chips until it is half filled and then cover with the pecan halves.  Drizzle with remaining filling being careful not to overflow, like I did!

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until set!

I had an extra pie crust that I had to use to repair cracks in the first one.  I used the extra crust to make pie-toppers!  (This was a first for me!)  The Reporter is not a fan of pie, but does love the crust, so I thought she might enjoy eating the "leaves"!

Serve with whipped cream (or whipped coconut milk, if you are me!) and a hot cup of coffee! 

Enjoy

To my Thanksgiving Queen, 

Thank you for teaching me to love this holiday of thankfulness and plenty.  I stood in your kitchen today and let the memories of Thanksgivings past wash over me.  

We are truly blessed and for that I am thankful.

What's Cooking?

As I have mentioned before, I love food!  I love to cook, eat, and read about food.  So you can imagine my frustration when my oven decided to stop working a few weeks ago.  Here in the heat of the summer, I must admit, I do not use my oven often. We live in a very old house with poor insulation and a kitchen that feels like it is centered on the Equator for most of the summer.  However, when the oven went, my whole kitchen seemed to close down.  It didn't matter that I still had the stove top to use or even the microwave.  I just quit cooking.  I could sense the frustration from the hubby and honestly I missed creating in the kitchen, so I decided to do something about this.

I bought a toaster oven.  Yep.  No need to fix the oven at this point in the summer, so I opted for a smaller, cooler appliance that could serve our needs until it cools enough to worry about the oven for Fall cooking.  And you know what?  I got my kitchen groove back.  That's right.

Now we're cooking!  And just in time, too!  It is the time of year to "Clean out the Garden".  You know the feeling. . . you have cooked squash and zucchini every imaginable way--grilled, fried, sauteed, on pizza, in casserole. . . and if you see another squash any time soon, you might go crazy.  So imagine your surprise when you are cleaning in the garden and lift up those giant squash leaves to find this:

Bottom: average size zucchini
Top: GIGANTIC zucchini

I guess this guy was hiding before we went on vacation and once we returned, he was gargantuan!  Not only was he hiding, but there was obviously a game of hide and seek going on in the squash patch, as I found 2 others this big, if not larger later in the week!  Now typically, I would share this bounty with our chickens, but a few years ago I found a fantastic recipe for both zucchini cookies and zucchini brownies that The Reporter begs for.  Yes, you heard me. A six year old that begs for zucchini!

So I took this guy and his friends inside and ran them through the food processor, measured out 3 cups at a time and bagged them up for future use!

Four of the 12 bags of zucchini now nestled in my deep-freezer

I saved out enough to whip up a batch of zucchini brownies with a twist--I decided to try out my cupcake making skills and poured the batter into muffin tins, adjusted the time accordingly and whipped up some dairy-free icing. As you can see, all those sleepless nights nursing and watching "Cupcake Wars" is paying off--I've never iced a cupcake so well!

I still had just enough zucchini left to whip up some yummy spiced zucchini muffins adapted from this recipe over at Real Simple.  (I used whole wheat pastry flour and added in 1/4 c flax seed and 1/4 c wheat germ) 

Do you think they were a hit?

The Little Guy can't get enough of these!!

So, if you are about "squashed-out" try one of these tasty recipes now or freeze some shredded squash and enjoy them later! 

Zucchini Brownies

This recipe is adapted from the book "Simply in Season--a World Community Cookbook" Compiled by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert. If you enjoy fresh, local foods, it is well-worth the small investment. The book is divided by seasons and the recipes feature foods that are available in each season.

 I hardly ever follow a recipe as it is written, so I have changed it to reflect how I make these.

Combine in a large bowl:
1 3/4 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour 1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup flax seed  and 1/4 cup wheat germ
Stir in:
2-3 cups shredded zucchini

In a separate bowl, combine and beat with a fork:
1 egg

  (if you want to make these vegan, you can use 1/2 c applesauce!)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut milk yogurt (You can use regular yogurt, but I wanted them to be dairy-free!)
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla

Stir wet mixture (sugar, egg, etc) into zucchini/flour mixture.

Spread evenly in a 9x13 inch pan or divide evenly into a muffin tin to make cupcakes

Sprinkle the following on top of batter:
1/2 to 1 cup semisweet or mint chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) 

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (35-40 minutes) 

For cupcakes/muffins: Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Chocolate Icing:

1/2 c butter or vegan butter substitute

8 Tbsp cocoa

~3 c confectioner's sugar

1/3 c milk, almond milk, or coconut milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt butter and stir in cocoa.  Add sugar and milk while mixing at low speed, alternating wet and dry ingredients until desired consistency is formed.  Stir in vanilla extract. Pipe onto cupcakes using a pastry bag. (Adapted from Hershey's cocoa box)

And while we are on the subject of food, stay tuned for some yummy lunch ideas that we enjoy around here during the school year!

Now, I need ideas for all these peppers. . . 

Coming Clean

So, Worldwide Breastfeeding Week has come and gone, and in true fashion, I fell behind in my posting. I had two or three additional posts planned, but as I mentioned before, why highlight breastfeeding once a year?  Why not talk about it year-round?  So perhaps those posts and stories will appear at a later date, but for now, I will wrap up what I started last week. 

Now where was I?

Oh yes.  I was saying that the hubby and I felt certain that if we were blessed with another baby, he or she would surely accept a bottle, right?  Well. . .  The Little Guy proved right away that he would be a champion nurser, knowing  just what to do.  Again, I was blessed with enough milk to feed a small village, so I began freezing milk for my return to work.  A few weeks after The Little Guy was born we decided to introduce both a bottle and a pacifier. (The Reporter was a lover of the pacifier.  She never left home without it.  It was our saving grace when I was away since she wouldn’t accept a bottle.  As a Speech and Language Pathologist, I was mortified to admit that she still used a pacifier after her second birthday, but she eventually gave it up/lost it and moved on.)  Breastfeeding was well established at that point and I had no fear of confusion, only fear of preference.  Once again we tried multiple bottles and multiple scenarios to encourage The Little Guy to accept the bottle, but had zero luck.  He was just as determined and feisty as his sister in that department.  Once again, I had no choice but to return to work.  Again I was blessed with a boss (a different one this time, and she in fact did not have the experience of feeding a little one) who welcomed my son to work twice a day to feed.  I nursed in the school parking lot, my office, the guidance counselor’s office and even the assistant principal’s office.  I worked each and every meeting and student around my strict schedule to feed and can honestly say that I didn’t miss a single appointment all year to feed The Little Guy.  I was able to support my argument for feeding on campus by pointing out that the time required to set-up, pump, store milk and clean pump parts would take longer than actually nursing on-site.  Fortunately, I was able to cite my previous experience with The Reporter to support our needs, as well.  I never advertised the fact that I had twice daily dates with The Little Guy, but little by little people began to notice my daily trek to the back parking lot.  I was often faced with questions about my little visitor and I openly talked to my co-workers about my decision to breastfeed and the roadblocks we had faced.  (If you read my dairy-free post, you know that bottle refusal and oversupply were not our only issues this time—we had a dairy and soy sensitivity to attend to, also.)  Yet again, I persevered, we addressed needs as they came up and we took each day as it came with the big picture in mind.

What is the big picture, though?  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends at least one year of breast milk while the World Health Organization pushes for two.  However, many moms don’t make it to either of those milestones for a variety of reasons.  Returning to work, a dwindling supply, a fussy baby, an unsupportive spouse. . . so many factors can impact a nursing relationship.  Sometimes, though it seems rare, a mother does in fact make it to a child’s first birthday with a strong nursing relationship intact.  What then?

 Now that The Little Guy has celebrated his first birthday, the questions have begun.

“How long are you going to do THAT?”  

“Isn’t it weird to nurse a baby with TEETH?” 

“Don’t you want to have your body back?”

And then you get the comments. . .

“Once they can ask for IT, it is time to stop.”

“You should wean soon, so he won’t be so dependent on you.”

In my typical “people-pleasing” fashion, I smile and nod and don’t say much, but deep down inside I want to tell these well-meaning “advisors” how I really feel.  I want to tell them that I will nurse my child as long as it is mutually agreeable, whether that is 6 months or 16 months, or longer.  I want to tell them, “No it isn’t weird to nurse a baby with teeth, nor does it hurt since babies don’t use their teeth to nurse”.  My body is just fine, thank you—I can run half-marathons and complete triathlons while nursing, as long as I hydrate properly.  I want to ask what they consider “asking for IT” means, since the last time I checked a screaming, hungry newborn baby was indeed “asking for IT”. I want to point out that nursing does not make a child “dependent”, weak, or immature —Just ask basketball great Michael Jordan.  He nursed until he was three.  On my snarkiest days I want to respond with, “Hello?  Give up these nursing boobs, the extra 500 calories burned per day, and the absence of a monthly headache for up to a year?  Are you crazy?”  But I don’t.  I just smile and nod.  Why?  Because I feel judged when I admit to still nursing my children past their first birthday.  It isn’t “normal” or status quo.  So I go about my business in secret, being very elusive in my answers to friends and family.  However, it’s time to come clean. 

Yes.  I nurse my babies past their first birthday.  I sure do.  I don’t feel that there is some “magic” age that babies stop needing breast milk.  How is day 366 of a baby’s life that different than day 365 as far as nutritional needs go? 

So, I’m not putting a date on the calendar and worrying over when to “stop”.  Instead I am drinking in every minute with my little one curled in my arms, watching long lashes fall on chunky cheeks, and thanking God for this opportunity because I realize I have been so very blessed.

Friday Finds! Chill Out!!

10 months ago, I changed a diaper that would change my life forever.  You see, that was the first time that I noticed evidence of a milk intolerance in The Little Guy.  He was nine weeks old and things were clicking along just fine.  Breastfeeding was good, he was growing well and he seemed like a happy go lucky little man.  However, on that fateful night, I stopped in my tracks and had to start all over again.  After freaking out over what I found, I called the nurse helpline and started researching milk protein intolerance.  The easiest fix? Totally eliminate dairy from the mother's diet.

Whoa.  Wait a minute.  I was the Cheese Queen--Cheddar, Munster, Swiss, Blue--we were tight.  I used BUTTER--the real thing, not imitation.  I had never met an ice cream that I didn't fall in love with.  Greek Yogurt was my partner on a long afternoon at work.  Dairy Queen?  Yes.  But it had to change, and right away.  You see, I would rather make that sacrifice and continue breastfeeding than to keep eating dairy and switch to formula.  So I did.  It was a sacrifice.  A big one in my book.  Think about all of the things you consume each day that contain dairy.  Now think of all the other things you ate and you can bet that about half of those had dairy hidden in them, too.  Baked goods, steamed veggies with butter, CHOCOLATE. . . you got it.  I was convinced that I would be miserable.

Over time I have learned to live without dairy, rather happily, I might add.  I have found many acceptable and tasty substitutes that I enjoy each day--almond milk, coconut creamer, coconut milk ice cream. . . .I have even found Chocolate that is dairy-free!  I feel better, eat better, and look better (it is the best weight loss plan EVER) and I really don't miss it. . . much.

Now that The Little Guy is older, I am able to add back a bit of dairy at a time, if I wish.  I do add a little feta to my quinoa at lunch and sneak a bite of cake now and then.  But for the most part, I am happy to live like "a vegan that eats meat" as the hubby says.

So that leads me to my Friday Finds this week.  I was a big ice cream lover, but have found many yummy substitutes--my current favorite being sorbet.  So here you have it 5 Friday Finds--Dairy-free treats for all!!

Watermelon Sorbet from a sweet pea chef
I made this last week and it is heavenly!

Meyer Lemon Sorbet

Blueberry Sorbet
Wonder if I have enough berries left for this?

Pina Colada Pops!
Hello weekend!

Chocolate Sorbet. . . . Hello, Lover
I'm going to make this RIGHT NOW!  I have all the ingredients in the house!

Happy Weekend!