lara – Page 41 – Feed Your Kids

Pretty embarassed to be posting this…

Just in case you are struck with perverse curiosity about whether or not Angelina Jolie has had her twins yet…. the news will be posted on the website of her French maternity hospital, which can be found here: Hopital Lenval I’ll translate for you, just in case your French is rustier than mine (which is … Continue reading “Pretty embarassed to be posting this…”

Just in case you are struck with perverse curiosity about whether or not Angelina Jolie has had her twins yet….

the news will be posted on the website of her French maternity hospital, which can be found here:
Hopital Lenval

I’ll translate for you, just in case your French is rustier than mine (which is saying a lot!):

Press release concerning Mrs. Angelina Jolie…normal course of monitoring her pregnancy…blah blah blah…admitted into the Lenval Foundation…blah blah blah…Her doctor Michel Sussman alone will have the ability to give any medical information, in the due course of time…blah blah blah….previous Caesarean with first pregnancy…blah blah blah…normal procedure…simple monitoring…to assure the well being of her babies in the weeks to come….blah blah blah…hospital has all facilities to accommodate family visits…blah blah blah
Press rep: blah blah blah

Communiqué de presse concernant Mme Angelina JOLIE
Dans le cadre de la surveillance normale de sa grossesse, comme prévu de longue date, Madame Angelina JOLIE a été admise dans les locaux de la Fondation LENVAL, Maternité SANTA MARIA. Son gynécologue obstétricien, le Docteur Michel SUSSMANN, seul habilité à le faire, donnera toute information médicale, en temps voulu. Il s agit donc d une grossesse gémellaire et son hospitalisation à ce stade de la grossesse, est une procédure normale chez une patiente ayant déjà bénéficié d une césarienne lors de la première grossesse. Elle nécessite une simple surveillance pour s assurer du bien-être de ses bébés dans les semaines à venir. La clinique SANTA MARIA au sein de la fondation LENVAL présente toutes les commodités permettant les visites de sa famille. Madame Angelina JOLIE m a chargé de vous préciser qu elle se porte parfaitement bien. Contact presse : Mme BAUER Nadine le 02.07.08

No new updates are on the hospital website, but there are RAMPANT rumors around the Internets that she has already had the babies, a boy (Knox Leon) and a girl (Vivienne Marcheline). This may be complete speculation, but the fact that Angelina’s recently deceased mother was named Marcheline lends some credence. Apparently, the locals in the rural French area where her hospital is located have made a game out of trying to get their fabricated “Angelina rumors” published, with bragging rights going to those that are successful in getting the most outlandish ones out there….

Patty Melts and Oven-Baked Fries

Absolutely no pretense at healthy or gourmet food here, just good old fashioned junk food. Nothing green at all on the plate. Girl is at a birthday sleepover tonight, so it’s just me and the boys. I thought (correctly) that this would be a crowd-pleaser. Oven-Baked French Fries Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut your … Continue reading “Patty Melts and Oven-Baked Fries”

Oven-Baked French Fries

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut your potatoes into thick planks (fry-shaped, maybe 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch wide). Sprinkle the fries lightly with sugar (about 1 Tbsp. per 6 small-to-medium-sized potatoes) and your choice of seasoning. BBQ seasoning would be good, or Baby Bam, but I used this No-Salt Substitute Seasoning, because I like to have a little control over the amount of salt on my fries; I like to be able to taste them after they’re cooked and add the salt, at that point, so that I can be more sure of the correct amount.

Toss the fries with a generous coating of canola oil. Pour them out onto a very large baking sheet and bake until golden, about 30 minutes, but you’ll need to keep an eye on them. They will stick to the baking sheet, so you won’t be able to turn them during cooking, but, if you have put enough oil on them, they will toast on the bottom side, too, and will “release” from the pan when they are done.

When they’re done, remove the pan from the oven and let them cool for about 1 minute, then use a large spatula to remove them to a large plate lined with paper towels to absorb any excess grease. Salt liberally with salt or Fleur de Sel.

While the fries are baking….

Patty Melt Sandwiches

serves 4

for the patties:
1 lb hamburger meat
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
1 medium-sized garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 to 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh Italian parsley, to taste
1/4 tsp ground mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

butter or margarine

4 slices of your choice of cheese – Swiss would have been great, but we only had ‘Murrican on hand, so we used that.

8 slices bread of your choice – it should be fairly hearty, dense bread and shouldn’t be sliced too thinly – We used a round sourdough loaf.

Blend together all patty ingredients (kinda gross, but really best to do it with your hands). Heat up your grill or a grill pan. I usually spray our grill lightly with Pam and then fire it up on high heat until I’m ready to put the meat on, then I’ll turn it down to low while the meat actually cooks. Cook the patties until done, turning as little as little as possible. When the patties are done, pull them off the heat and assemble the sandwiches.

Top each patty with a slice of cheese and place it in between two slices of bread. Lightly butter the outside of each sandwich. Put the assembled sandwiches back on the grill (or grill pan or griddle or whatever you’re using), over low heat, and cook until the bread is toasted and the cheese has melted, turning only once, if possible.

The fries should be about done by this point, so pull them out, pour the Zinfandel (or maybe one of these?) and ketchup and dig in.

Italian Herb Seasoning Blend

Italian Herb Seasoning 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp dried marjoram 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme 1 1/2 tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried rosemary leaves 1 tsp dried sage Combine all herbs and store in a small, airtight container. Sprinkle in tomato sauces or rice, on pizza dough, on garlic bread, into salad … Continue reading “Italian Herb Seasoning Blend”

Italian Herb Seasoning

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried rosemary leaves
1 tsp dried sage

Combine all herbs and store in a small, airtight container. Sprinkle in tomato sauces or rice, on pizza dough, on garlic bread, into salad dressings or dips, etc.

Fresh Tomato Pie, for SERIOUS fresh tomato lovers only

This is a summer staple at our house. Like gazpacho, we wait all year for beautiful, ripe, juicy local tomatoes so that we can make this recipe. My best friend, E, gave me the recipe for the original version of this dish, but I have adapted it quite a bit, so I’ll just give you … Continue reading “Fresh Tomato Pie, for SERIOUS fresh tomato lovers only”

This is a summer staple at our house. Like gazpacho, we wait all year for beautiful, ripe, juicy local tomatoes so that we can make this recipe. My best friend, E, gave me the recipe for the original version of this dish, but I have adapted it quite a bit, so I’ll just give you my version here. This absolutely must be made with fresh, ripe (but not over-ripe or TOO juicy) tomatoes. This dish is worth a visit to a farm or farmer’s market to get them.

Fresh Tomato Pie
(We have a tendency to call this ‘Mater Pie, since my farmer mother-in-law calls potatoes “taters” and tomatoes “maters”, but that looks really funny to me now that Boy and Girl are learning Latin.)

1/2 package refrigerated pie crust
(one of the two crusts that come in the package)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup fresh basil chiffonade
about 5 fresh, ripe but firm, medium-sized tomatoes, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
(discard stem and bottom ends or chop up and reserve for another use)
about 2 Tbsp olive oil (or an olive oil spray)
kosher salt (about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp?) and freshly ground pepper (about 1/4 tsp?)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Fit piecrust into a 9 inch glass pie plate. Fold edges over top edge of pie plate (make a decorative edge, if desired – there are some ideas on the pie crust package). Prick dough all over (sides and bottom) with a fork. Bake at 400 for 5 minutes.

Remove crust from oven and spray it lightly with the olive oil (or brush on a light coating). Sprinkle about 1 cup of the cheese onto the crust. Arrange a layer of tomato slices on top of the cheese, cutting some rounds into pieces, if necessary, to fill in any “gaps” and form one solid layer. Sprinkle lightly with half of the salt and half of the pepper. Spray (or brush) with another tiny bit of olive oil. Top with 1 Tbsp. of the basil and then another 1/2 cup of cheese. Repeat one more layer of tomatoes, salt, pepper, olive oil, 1 Tbsp of basil and then the remaining cheese. Top with 1 more Tbsp of basil and set the remaining 1 Tbsp aside for later. Place pie on a cookie sheet on a lower rack in the oven. Bake at 400 degrees, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove pie from the oven when the tomatoes are bubbling up and the crust and cheese topping are nicely browned. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving, using paper towels to VERY gently blot up any excess juice that bubbles to the surface while the pie is standing. Before serving, sprinkle with remaining 1 Tbsp of basil.

After removing the first slice, I will usually tilt the pie (put a dishtowel under one end of the dish) so that the excess juices (there will be lots of them) will drip into the empty space, and then I’ll put a folded paper towel there to collect them. The crust will easily get soggy if it’s allowed to sit in the excess tomato juices. The leftovers of this pie will MAYBE keep for one day in the refrigerator, but it is VASTLY better if it’s eaten while it’s still warm. It’s great as a brunch or lunch dish and can even stand up as a light summer entree, if you pair it with a light salad or green vegetable.

My other mother-in-law (it’s a long story…) adds a layer of caramelized onions when she makes this pie. It is definitely a recipe that could be adapted in lots of different ways (corn/cilantro/black bean, fresh oregano/feta, etc.).

Beware – it is NOT necessary to grease the pie pan before placing the dough in it. If you forget this and grease it, anyway, the dough will slide down and this will happen:

All is not lost, however. You can gently lift the gooey dough out of the pie pan and onto a foil-lined baking sheet, sprinkle it lightly with salt, pepper, grated Parmesan, garlic powder and Italian Herb Seasoning and bake it at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes and then slice it into strips for a garlic-cheesy toast stick that is a great with a bowl of soup.

Thank goodness those pie crusts come two in a package!

Wonderful CNN story

This is amazingly beautiful. I am crying like a baby in front of my keyboard: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/11/holocaust.reunion/index.html

This is amazingly beautiful. I am crying like a baby in front of my keyboard:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/11/holocaust.reunion/index.html

Mamma Mia movie

OK, I know that I am just a big ol’ geek, but I am quite literally counting down the days until this movie comes out. I saw the show on Broadway MANY years ago and loved it and have since seen the traveling version. I just LOVE LOVE LOVE it. The movie will have a … Continue reading “Mamma Mia movie”

Stellan Skarsgard
(Robin Williams’ rival/nemesis from “Good Will Hunting”)

Amanda Seyfried
(from HBO’s “Big Love”)

Colin Firth
(“Pride & Prejudice” and “Bridget Jones”)

Pierce Brosnan
(“Bond, James Bond”)

Dominic Cooper
(“Dakin” from “The History Boys” – I saw this show on Broadway, as well, and it was BRILLIANT (co-starred the actors that play Madame Maxime and Uncle Vernon from the Harry Potter movies). I believe that he played Dakin in the movie version (haven’t seen it), as well, but he was phenomenal on Broadway – absolutely stole the show.

There aren’t enough words to give proper accolades to either Christine Baranski (if you haven’t seen “Cruel Intentions“: RUN, do not walk, do not pass “Go”, do not collect $200 – just GO…hilarious movie and GREAT soundtrack…) or Meryl Streep; just suffice to say that I’m hooked…if they’re in it, I’ll go see it. The only time that philosophy has ever failed me was with “Evening” a couple of years ago.

This movie looks like it will be visually stunning, with lots of scenic views of Greek islands. In addition to loving the storyline and the music, Greece is my dream “someday” destination. We are saving our pennies and hoping to be able to afford a vacation there next summer. On a slightly-related topic, if you ever get a chance to see the IMAX movie “Greece: Secrets of the Past“, it is absolutely worth your time. We saw it in Chicago (at the Field Museum, or the Shedd Aquarium, I can’t remember – maybe the Museum of Science and Industry?) a while back (we were there to see the Tut exhibit) and it was GORGEOUS. Beautiful music in it, as well and it was narrated by Nia Vardalos, writer/star of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. I loved the caryatides that “came to life” at the end.

Anyway…I will be at the theatre on the first day (July 18th) that “Mamma Mia” opens, I guarantee it. Hubby liked the show, too, and is even a little excited, himself (or, at least he’s willing to go with me). If you haven’t seen the trailer, you can go check it out here:
Mamma Mia movie site

Taco Ring review

I forgot to say how we liked the taco ring…I guess I have “Summer brain”. Anyway, we all liked it quite a bit. It certainly isn’t gourmet, but it was easy and it was a hit. Boy and Girl were actually arguing last night over which of them would get to eat the leftovers for lunch. As it turned out, Boy and I were at a pool party with some of his buddies from school and we ate yummy grilled hot dogs in one of the most hospitable backyards I’ve ever seen (it was Boy Wonderland: ping pong table, a lovely pool with bar seating both inside and outside the water, grill, tables, batting cage, putting green and gorgeous screened-in porch), so Hubby and Girl got to fight over the leftovers. I didn’t ask, but I’m pretty sure that Girl won. 😉

Not sure what I’ll do for dinner tonight – time to hit the cookbooks. I have some boneless, skinless chicken breasts thawing… Chicken a la King is always a big hit, but I don’t have any celery or carrots in the house right now and I don’t want to make another grocery run. I’m sure I’ll come up with something…

Taco Ring, Rice & Beans and Salad with Cilantro Ranch Dressing

Girl saw this recipe recently in one of my really old cookbooks and asked me to make it. I, of course, adapted it quite a bit:
– I used 1 pound of ground beef, instead of 1/2
– I used Monterey Jack, instead of cheddar (because that’s what I had on hand – I used a little more than 1 cup, since I had more meat)
– I used my own taco seasoning mix, instead of the pre-packaged stuff
– I added a little bit of sauteed garlic and onion to the meat/cheese mixture, too.
– I didn’t do the whole tomato/olive/lettuce/bell pepper cup thing in the middle of the ring, but just served a salad and rice and beans on the side

Taco Ring, ready to go in the oven

Taco Ring, just out of the oven

For the rice and beans, I sauteed a little bit of garlic (3 to 4 cloves) and onion (1/2 an onion?) in some oil until it was soft. I added a bit of this to the meat/cheese mixture for the taco ring, mixed some into a can of fat-free refried beans and stirred some into the rice as it was cooking. To the beans, I also added a tiny bit of cheese, a heavy sprinkle of cumin, a tiny bit of chili powder and a good sprinkle of oregano. For the rice, I used long-grain brown rice, with chicken stock (with 1 to 2 Tbsp of tomato paste mixed in) as the cooking liquid. When it was about halfway cooked, I added some frozen peas and chopped fresh carrots (add a little extra cooking liquid at that point, too). I also added a bit of cumin and some turmeric (for color).

For the salad, you can just use whatever greens and veggies you’d like (we used romaine with purple onions, radishes and grape tomatoes), but the salad dressing recipe follows below.

NB: Cilantro gets very “gamey” and pungently-flavored in the summer. Although cilantro is delicious with lots of summer produce (corn, tomatoes, etc.), it is actually a winter herb and starts to go to seed (coriander is the seed of the same plant) in the summer. When you buy it in the summer, you may notice that it looks a little different and has small clusters of thin, feathery leaves at the ends, rather than the large, parsley-like leaves that you’re used to (see bottom right quadrant of the photo below). The flavor changes at this point, as well. When using summer cilantro, you may need to use less, since the flavor is so strong. If you’re making this dressing in the winter, you can use a heavier hand when adding the cilantro.

Cilantro Ranch Salad Dressing

1/2 cup sour cream (low-fat version OK)
1 cup mayonnaise (low-fat version OK)
1 tsp dried dill weed (or a little less, if you’re using freshly chopped dill)
1 tsp onion powder
about 1/4 cup buttermilk (low-fat version OK)
finely chopped fresh cilantro to taste
(depending upon the flavor, use anywhere from 1 Tbsp. to about 1/4 cup)
1 garlic clove
about 1 tsp. kosher salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste (1/8 tsp?)
2 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh chives (optional, but delicious)

Run the garlic through a garlic press or chop it finely on a cutting board. Sprinkle the salt over the garlic clove and press the garlic/salt mixture with the flat side of a knife to crush the garlic (the salt will act as an abrasive and will help crush it up). Scoop/scrape up the garlic/salt mixture and place it in a medium-sized mixing bowl.

Whisk in the mayonnaise and sour cream until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the buttermilk, a little bit at a time, until you reach the desired dressing consistency (you may not use the entire 1/4 cup, or you may need a little more).

Optional: Use an immersion blender to remove any lumps at this point (do NOT use it once you’ve added the herbs).

Stir in the dill, onion powder, black pepper and cilantro and chives.

Makes about 2 cups.

Adaptation: to make regular ranch dressing, substitute finely chopped fresh Italian parsley, to taste, in place of the cilantro.

Home Maintenance, Part 2 (Part 3 forthcoming)

Well, we did some deck spray painting on Sunday, but because we’ve never used one of those rental power sprayers before, we didn’t realize how quickly they go through paint. We (OK, Hubby) got the job about 2/3 of the way finished and then we ran out of paint. The paint store is closed on … Continue reading “Home Maintenance, Part 2 (Part 3 forthcoming)”

Well, we did some deck spray painting on Sunday, but because we’ve never used one of those rental power sprayers before, we didn’t realize how quickly they go through paint. We (OK, Hubby) got the job about 2/3 of the way finished and then we ran out of paint. The paint store is closed on Sunday and the sprayer is $80 a day, so we returned it and will rent it again (probably not until this weekend) and finish up soon.

My excellent masking paper/taping job:

Hubby, spraying with a little trepidation:

Hubby fuel (iced latte):

On a (sort of) related note…
We left behind some very dear friends (E & A, and their 3 kids, D, Z and A) when we moved back to Texas from Virginia. Over the years that we were in Virginia, we shared many, many cups of coffee with these hospitable folks. We even stayed with them on our last few days in town, after the movers had left with all of our possessions (but we were still tying up loose ends of the home sale). As a going-away present, we bought them the “fancy” espresso maker that they had been lusting after for years. While staying with them for those last few days in July of 2004, we decided that the machine was amazing and that we HAD to have one of our own. We ordered one immediately and had it delivered to our new house in Austin. It was waiting for us on the doorstep when we arrived and we had it set up and operational before we even had a working telephone. Hubby and I are both die-hard coffee addicts and since Hubby works from home, our daily coffee consumption (the machine has a “cup counter”) can be a bit staggering. We recently noticed that our machine has made over 9,000 cups (we also use offer made-to-order coffees when we have parties, so not ALL of these cups are ours). Hubby is going to try to take a video when it rolls over to 10,000.

APD videos

A million years ago (at least it seems like it), in another life, Hubby was an Austin Police officer. He recently uploaded a couple of his old police-related videos to YouTube (thanks to my Little Bro for helping us get all of our old videotapes converted to digital!). Here they are, if you’d like to … Continue reading “APD videos”