In the Kitchen with Kate

GR and I have been testing a few new recipes lately and I thought I'd share our results.

My friend Katrina over at Baking and Boys, posted a recipe a couple weeks ago for Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Ricotta that I suggested to GR we try. Saturday was our first open night and so he purchased the needed supplies and set to work making them. We cooked ours on the grill, and everyone cleaned their plates. I used the leftover chicken for Sunday nights dinner. Rotini noodles, cream of chicken soup thinned with milk and leftover chicken diced up - also very yummy.



I've been looking through past issues of Food & Family (the free Kraft magazine) for new recipes to try. They had basic instructions for an "old fashioned" poke cake ... make a cake, while warm, poke it with a fork, pour a hot, concentrated solution of jello over the warm cake, chill in fridge for 3 hours, frost with cool whip and serve. They had a little chart with suggestions of flavor combinations. They had a spice cake paired with orange jello and since I had all the ingredients in the pantry I gave it a try ... the jury is still out on this one. GR described it as a lot of intense flavors, and Sunday night that was true. It mellowed as it sat in the fridge over night. The kids loved it, even Rebecca who typically avoids intense tastes.



Our All-American dinner was oh so yummy, although I don't think anyone got the correlation. And we did make it over to Ben & Jerry's for our "I Voted" ice cream cones! I made my own patties this time ...


~2lbs of hamburger meat
1 envelope onion soup mix
1/3 cup dry onion
1/2 cup bread crumbs
a little water (1/4 cup)
salt and pepper

Mix all together and gently form into patties and cook until desired doneness.

After my request for a Dutch Apple Pie recipe, April called and gave me her families recipe. They don't exactly measure anything over there ... it's just done to taste and feel. But I think even with that handicap, after an eatable first try, I've produced a really good version of her family's recipe. Don't you love the dish I baked it in? A birthday gift from my sister ... LOVE it!


I used a made-from-scratch, pie crust (Heather's recipe that's posted on Mormonchic with her peach pie is excellent), 'cause I now have a food processor and am too cheap to purchase pie crust from the store if I can make it work here at home. Then 6 or so sliced apples (it was hugely mounded when I put in it the oven), mixed with 1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg, 1 tablespoon of butter, and 2 tablespoons of tapioca (the instant variety - I tried the non instant and that didn't turn out so well). The crumb toping ... 1 stick of butter, 3/4 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of sugar. I have learned that I prefer crumb toppings made with brown sugar instead of white, but they both taste quite yummy. Baked at 400 for 50 minutes.

I really should have put a cookie sheet or foil under my pan, cause it made a royal mess in my oven. Now I have to figure out how to clean my oven.
. . . .
Alexander was in a massively destructive mood yesterday. I spent his entire waking day, cleaning up after him ... so today we're taking advantage of a sunny crisp day and going to the park and hopefully meeting up with some of our playgroup friends. Then I hope to try this recipe ... I think it will make a great addition to this years brunch menu!

All present and accounted for!

I didn't think I grew up in a hugely political household. In my poli-sci class in college, I felt I was at a huge disadvantage because I really couldn't tell you if I was a republican or democrat or if my parents were republican or democrat. Nor could I really tell you more than 1 or 2 things about what made each platform different.

Now that I'm a parent, I have realized that my parents taught me more than I thought about politics, namely the importance of being an educated citizen, weighing all the issues and making the most informed choice you can when voting. In turn, GR and I trying to teach our children a little at a time about our system of government and being a responsible citizen even at their tender ages.

As a kindergartner, Rebecca knew who the candidates were and I let her fill out and cast a ballot when the kids and I went to vote. Four years later, the kids are much more politically minded, having watched much of the presidential and vice presidential debates, and talking about the candidates in school and around the dinner table. We've tried to keep our over all views of who're in favor of to ourselves so the children could form their own opinions.

Last night as we were eating dinner and GR asked the children who they were going to vote for. We've asked the question many times ... or maybe it's more that they've answered it many times ... "Mom, who are you going to vote for?" "I'm still thinking it out." "Well, I'm voting for Obama!"

This time I decided to write down their answers for posterity sake, I guess.

Sam: Obama.
Why: "Because, Will told me that if I vote for McCain he will come and ruin our house."

Emily: Obama.
Why: "When I listen to his speeches, I thought they were better."

Rebecca: Obama.
Why: "Since I've seen all the debates, I like his ideas better. He's going to give health plans to everyone, but McCain's just going to give everyone a $5,000 credit."

Tonight we're going to watch the election coverage (on Comedy Central - GR refuses to watch it on any other station) while eating an All American meal ... hamburgers, corn on the cob, and homemade apple pie and chocolate chip cookies. And if I can pull it off, we'll take a small break and head to Ben & Jerry's for free cones (5pm-8pm - Thanks for the reminder Elspeth!).