Ham Dinner, 20 Minutes and It's Go Time!

Yesterday was one of those scheduling nightmare days when everyone was home for about 90 minutes between practices, classes and a band concert. Oh, and everyone was hungry.

So instead of just pouring the kids a bowl of cereal and myself a stiff one I dug deep and made a quick dinner.

Boar's Head Sweet Slice ham with brown sugar and pineapple rings, noodles with a bit of butter and Parmesan, avocado w/salt & pepper, sliced watermelon & honeydew.

To cut the heating time I slice the ham into individual slices, sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons light brown sugar, add a pineapple slice to each piece of ham and the juice from fruit (omg, it's from a can!). Bake at 400 for 20 minutes while you boil the noodle, slice the avocado & melon and pour the drinks.

I had everyone at the table in 25 minutes. It only took another 4 until elbows hit the table (ARGH!!!) and a few minutes more for the first "I don't think that's table talk!" to be uttered.

Sweet Potato: Comfort Food

French fries are supposed to be a guilty pleasure not an everyday occurrence. I keep telling myself this as I shovel the white, starchy, crispy, salty, drenched in spicy ketchup waist busters in my pie-hole.

Then I remembered I LOVE sweet potato fries. But the oil is again, in the guilty pleasure department so onto the baking sheet we go.

This is a picture of the beginning of my awesome side dish for lunch, baked sweet potato rounds.

Two medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced and mixed with olive oil and kosher salt. I baked them for 8 minutes at 400, flipped them, baked for another 6 minutes. Serve with a dollop of low-fat sour cream, fabulous!

Lo Mein for a Friend

My friend had surgery and "the gals" all got together and cooked dinner for her and her family. Food is love and nothing says "I love you and damn you look good after surgery!" more than a dinner in disposable containers. No cooking and no clean-up, it's all good. When it was my turn I went for an Asain twist:

Marinated/Grilled pork chops (marinade recipe below)

Vegetable Lo Mein

Sweet Sesame Slaw

Crudite

Strawberries & Peaches

I'll be honest, this meal is easy, we ate this ourselves that night.

The Ultimate Pork Chop Marinade:

1 cup orange juice

1/3 cup soy sauce (I like Tamari)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup minced scallion (I have used sweet onion with no incident)

2 teaspoons rosemary

Mix & pour over 5-6 thich cut chops.

Marinate overnight or at least 2 hours.

Cook's Note:

The marinade makes a

super gravy too. Bring the leftovers

to a roiling boil for three minutes.

Strain out the oinions & herbs.

Reduce on medium heat

for another 6-8 minutes.

Finish it off with a pat

of salted butter right before serving.

Every Day Soup

Butternut Squash Soup is one of the all time best soups ever created, period.

I've made it, been served it and ordered it in a restaurant four times in the past four weeks, the flavor is so great, never gets old.

That said, it tastes even better after a day of being outdoors. This is my recipe for a GREAT Butternut Squash soup, enjoy! make a lot and freeze it in small containers for later!

*Brush a medium to large sized peeled, halved butternut squash (Buy it like this at the market, don't try to be a hero and risk slicing off a thumb) with olive oil/s&p and roast in a 400 degree oven for about a half hour: we're looking for fork tender.

*Meanwhile saute a medium sweet onion chopped in about 2 tablespoons of butter until it's translucent.

*When the squash is done, add it to the onion in the pot with a half teaspoon each of cinnamon, curry powder and ginger.

*Quickly melt in a half brick of cream cheese and start poring in 5 cups of chicken stock.

*Bring to a boil and use an immersion blender or run the whole thing through the food processor.

*Serve with crusty bread so you can sop up every last bit (see picture above!)

This takes about an hour and serves six polite people or four starving pirates.

It's Not Called "Home-Ec" Anymore!

Did you know that is schools across the country Home Economics is now called "Family and Consumer Science"?

There, you've learned something new today, check it off your list.

My oldest son is a student at our local middle school (formerly known as Junior High) enrolled in the F.C.S class. He told me the other day he failed applesauce.

Me: No you didn't, nobody fails applesauce, that's like failing "poring milk".

Embarrassed Son: Well, we didn't actually fail, we just didn't get applesauce out of it.

Me: How can you not get apple sauce out of cooked apples? What could have possibly happened, and aren't there three of you in the group?

Embarrassed Son: I guess you are supposed to cook them...there was this food mill thing (voice trails off)

Clearly I am dropping the ball as a mom. My kid can heat up pizza bagels but not follow a simple recipe, oh my I feel like a slacker.

The next cooking project in the curriculum was omelets I wasn't hopeful when I heard this at 10PM the night before the next cooking class.

The next day I got a picture text from my (Emiril Lagasse-like) boy with a PERFECT omelet on a funky cafeteria plate! Bravo!!! I found out later his technique was requested by another group in the class and a second perfect omelet was born.

To prove he's ready for the Sunday breakfast buffet circuit he made one for me at home too. Mine had diced & sauteed Boar's Head pancetta with tomato and a sprinkle of Boar's Head Sharp Cheddar Cheese. That is a PERFECT omelet, french style.

Three Step Appetizers

My mother used to say "Party, party, party, that's all you ever do!"

I actually wish it were the case....none the less I did go to a party recently, a tea party. Lest you assume there were white gloves and watercress involved may I clarify it was a Mar-Ti-Nea party. (So clever that Alyssa!)

I was asked to bring "tea-sandwiches".

That request brought up visions of cucumbers and white bread without crusts. Mmmmmm

The hostess requested I bring something a little more hearty, and I am a big fan of crust so I went with open faced ham sandwiches.

A fresh baguette, sliced at an angle, slices (very) lightly toasted in the oven.

A spoonful of cole slaw on each with a half of a thin slice of Boar's Head Maple honey ham.

The second "sandwich" was a slice of toasted baguette with a schmear of creamy President's Brie and a half slice of the ham.

The platter traveled well, kept at room temperature for the duration of the party and there were only five or six left at the end of the night, out of 44.

The platter took about twenty minutes to prepare, that we all can do.

Prosciutto & Figs, Aphrodisiac

The perfect blend of sweet and salty: ripened figs, quartered with a small chunk of blue cheese smushed in the soft middle. Then wrapped up in a piece of Boar's Head Prosciutto sliced so thin you could read the newspaper through it.

This is one appetiser you want to walk around the party yourself so you can eat as much as you like without looking like a buffet haunt.

I actually had to borrow this picture because I ate mine right off the preparation board and only got a couple onto the plate.