Day Twenty-nine: Cooking All Day

Today my dad came over to cook.  Anyone who knows my dad knows that he doesn't do anything simply.  Everything is detailed, oriented, and thorough.  He can take a recipe that would take my mom 30 minutes to make, and spend the entire afternoon steadily working away.  I knew it was going to be a long day... and I was right.

He came over about 2:30 while Jack was napping.  We started by making some french bread.  Dad loves making bread, and thinks that kneading dough soothes the soul. 

First, we had to mix up the dough.  We started with water, sugar, salt, and yeast.

After that we carefully measured in the flour.  Since there were two of us we were less likely to lose count of the number of cups as we added them, which we both often do when cooking alone.

Then came the kneading.  Ahhh....

And more kneading...

After the dough was nice and springy and we had both had had our turn, we set it in the oven to rise.

We had to wait an hour and a half for the dough to rise.  We planned to whip up some remoulade sauce and prep the shrimp for our po' boys, then have a nice rest.

Whipping up the sauce only took a few seconds, thanks to the food processor.  Preparing all the ingredients to go into the food processor was another story, and we were hard at work when Jack woke up and joined us.

By the time we finished the shrimp and the remoulade, the bread had finished its first rise.  I got to take out some frustration and punch down the dough.

Then we rolled it into loaves and placed it in the buttered loaf pans.

These suckers had to rise again, so we let them sit in the oven once more.  We definitely planned to rest now, just as soon as we finished prepping the recipe for the shrimp. 

The knives got a major workout today.  Chop, chop, chop, all the day long!  Before we ever got around to resting, the bread was ready to bake.

By now, Mom had arrived.  She kept busy playing with Jack while Mike stepped in to help saute the shrimp.

The bread was finally done!

Sauteing the shrimp proved to be the quickest and easiest part of the whole day.  Just a few minutes, and those puppies were done.

Jack sampled the bread while the men were fixing the shrimp.

Now we just had to get the sandwiches put together. 

We collapsed into our chairs to eat our dinner.  It was wonderful.  The shrimp was done just right, and had just the right amount of kick to it.  The bread of course was perfect! 

Unfortunately, there was still plenty of work to do before we got to relax.

Today was a long day of cooking, but I got to spend it with my dad.  We worked side by side: anticipating each others' next moves, talking and quiet, laughing and sighing, creating something delicious together.  Each day I become more and more like my dad.  Days like this remind me that that's a good thing; and I'm thankful.

Day Twenty-eight: Last Minute Changes

We were excited all day today, because we were having great friends over for a really special dinner.  Mike was walking on air all day, and Jack had the usual bounce to his step.  Our friends who were supposed to come over at 6:00 called at 4:45 to cancel.  Immediately we sank into a deep and dark depression. 

There was talk of ordering a pizza... lots of talk.  It took all my will power to squash the temptation.  As a last minute change, I pulled out an easy, family-friendly recipe from my neighbor, Melissa, and headed to the store for the ingredients.  On the way there I called my sister to invite her for dinner.  Following Knauer family tradition, she didn't answer her phone.

By the time I got back home and was halfway through the recipe, she returned my call.  She couldn't come to dinner, she said, because she had just ordered a pizza.  The nerve!  Mike talked her into cancelling the pizza and coming over right away.  Mike is a salesman.  Sara took the flak from the pizza man and headed over right away.

Tonight's dinner was a Taco Ring.  It was easy and fun.  First, just brown your ground meat and add a little cheese.

Now comes the fun part!  Arrange a can or two of crescent rolls on a cookie sheet, pointy tip out.  Spoon the cheesy meat on top.  Now fold the crescent roll over.  This sounds extremely confusing when you're reading off the recipe.  In fact, I had to google "taco ring" to figure out just what I was making. 

It turned out to be extremely easy.  I felt so confident that I even made a double ring.

Meanwhile, Jack and Connor played and played. 

Mike got to play with his friend, too.

That's our neighbor, Ross.  It's winter, so Mike and Ross haven't been playing as much as they usually do.  Still, Ross is over a lot.  Ross is over so much that Jack can pronounce his name perfectly.  This is a big deal, since he still can't pronounce most of his family members' names.  In fact, when Jack sees a man he doesn't know, he calls him Ross. 

The taco ring baked in the oven for 20 minutes.

When it was ready, we thought it looked pretty good.

We gave Mike the entire inner ring, and the rest of us split up the outside.  Connor gobbled his up in no time, and Sara only had to beg him to take one more bite once.  Usually, he has to take one more bite about 8 times before she declares his dinner finished.  Jack stabbed his bananas and enjoyed trying to stab Connor with his fork.  He did not partake of the taco ring.  Mike, Sara, and I all thought it was pretty good.  We wished it had a little more zing.  I suggested adding shredded lettuce to the meat/cheese mixture.  Mike suggested adding more cheese or pouring queso over the top. Sara was just excited that Connor was eating!

We had a fun family dinner.  There was lots of laughing, a little crying, and one time-out.  The biggest hit of the night was the candle.  We all took turns trying to blow out the candle.  Jack and Connor were happily entertained playing this game for 20 minutes.

By the end of the night we fell into bed exhausted.  We had had a great time playing with Connor and Jack all night.  We had enjoyed our new recipe.  Even though our dinner had turned out totally different from what we had planned, we loved everything about it.

Day Twenty-seven: Burgers

Mike was on duty again tonight.  I think he was pretty tired from his work week, because instead of doing something elaborate he resorted to his old standby: hamburgers.  Mike makes a mean burger.  I never liked homemade burgers until I tried Mikes'.  I don't know what his secret is, but whatever he does, it works.  He could open a burger joint if he wanted.

Of course, one portion of meat at dinner would not be sufficient.  Mike picked up some extras.

First, he grilled the bacon and ham.

Anything funny about that picture?  It looks like a face to me.  There's a furrowed brow, two big eyes, a moustache and an open mouth... right?  This would be Mike's version of the man in the moon.

Once the extra meat was finished, he chopped it up and threw it in the iron skillet with the beans.

After Mike put the burgers on, I worked on finding something for Jack to eat.  I figured we could give toasted ravioli a try, since he seemed to enjoy gnawing on the frozen one he'd pulled from the freezer.  I pressed Mike hard to get an estimate on when dinner would be ready; I needed to plan so Jack's dinner would be ready at the same time.  Mike's reply? It's ready when it's ready.  Helpful!  Finally, he gave me an estimate of 20 minutes. I accordingly planned to put the ravioli in after a few minutes.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a few minutes before Mike hollered to me that dinner was ready. 

This is how it works around here.  I scrambled to get the ravioli in the oven, and out, and slightly cooled before the burgers were completely cold.  We ended with cool burgers and hot ravioli, but we didn't care.  We're used to imperfections around here, and Mike likes to keep me on my toes.

After all that work Jack didn't do much with the ravioli.  He spent a lot of time dipping it into his marinara sauce and licking off the sauce.  He also dropped it on the floor a couple times and once between the booster seat and his thigh.  He demanded that Mike and I watch this! about 20 times while he gave it a good dunk.  After all that excitement, the ravioli was as limp and floppy as a worm.  We couldn't blame Jack for not eating it.

Our dinner was perfect.  It was just the right meal for a Friday night, our last Friday night of Home Cook Challenge! 

Day Twenty-six: Swordfish!

Mike is back in the apron tonight!  I'm so glad it's his turn to cook.  He always puts a lot more effort into meals than I do.  There's always less cleaning at the end, too.  Now that he has been introduced to the food pyramid (not the food rectangle as he used to live by: meat upon meat upon meat), he turns out some pretty balanced meals.

As you can see, he was happy to get back into that apron, too.  I would like to point out that that is in fact my apron, which he gave me as a gift.  I'm more than happy to share.

Somehow Mike was able to leave work, pick up Jack from day care, go to the grocery store, and prepare an amazing dinner all before I got home from my evening Spanish class.  He even made Jack his own little meal ahead of time.

That's marinara sauce... the kid loves to dip!  The sauce is technically for his grilled cheese, but you'll often see him giving his fruits or veggies a good soaking as well.

While Jack ate, Mike prepared our dinner.  He was grilling asparagus, his favorite vegetable, tonight.  What could make a vegetable even better?  How about wrapping some meat around it!

I'd like to make some more jokes about how Mike can't eat a vegetable unless it's wrapped in meat.  I can't, however, because these asparagus bundles were awesome.  There will be no leftovers of these green guys.

Next, Mike marinated two swordfish filets in our favorite grilling sauce: Doc Jack's.  We use this all the time on salmon. 

Apparently, Mike grilled himself a little appetizer while waiting for me to get home.

That bacon was in no way incorporated into the dinner, and was carefully left unmentioned by the chef.  Arg! 

At least the dinner was healthy!

When I sat down to dinner, I had to take a moment to admire the full, colorful plate. 

Of course, I started with the bread.  The asparagus was great with the salty prosciutto, and contrasted nicely with the slightly spicy swordfish.  We both tried our hardest to clean our plates.

Unfortunately, Jack was having none of it.  When I put some swordfish on his plate he reacted as though I'd deposited a dead toad there.  He wouldn't calm down until I moved the fish back to my own plate.  We didn't even try for the asparagus.  While he's not digging lettuce leaves yet, he loves croutons.  We fed him two-tons til his belly was full and he was begging to get "out, out" of his chair.

Mike and I were still enjoying our sit-down dinner, but Jack had other plans.  Tonight he just wasn't going to let us relax.  He demanded that we get up.  We were firm and exacting at first, saying that we had to sit and finish our dinner.  After a few minutes the whining got unbearable and we both acquiesced.  Of course that was the moment when Jack couldn't decide what to play and couldn't get us to understand what he wanted.  This led to more frustration on all parts, lots of NO!s, and even some tears.  

Thank goodness Basket-Head came through for us in the pinch.

Problem solved.  Hillarity ensues.

Day Twenty-five: French Dip Sandwiches

It's another busy Wednesday, but I'm not quite as crazed as I was last week.  Therefore, I was able to set out some dinner for Mike before I left for my afternoon classes. 

Of course we had to rely on leftovers tonight, since I would be gone teaching.  Mike was going to be busy, too, since he was bringing Jack to Spanish class.  We were really excited about this, because I've been feeling pretty jealous watching all these mothers play with their babies in Spanish.  Finally I was going to get to bring Jack to class!  I knew he'd do well since we work on Spanish at home, and since he is exceptionally smart and cute at everything he does.  Slightly biased? Yes!

To our surprise and chagrin, Mike ended up with plenty of time to make dinner.  Jack had to be "excused" from Spanish class after lots of tears and some impressive floor flopping during a tantrum.  It turns out he was only exceptional at being naughty tonight.

By the time I got home I was famished.  A nice, warm french dip sandwich sounded just right on this drippy night.  I warmed the leftover roast in the microwave while the bread warmed in the oven.

A little knife work and it was ready for the sandwich. 

I wasn't sure if the au jus would be any good, since it was the sauce from the crock pot.  It was better than good.  It was warm and juicy and full of flavor.  It made the sandwich heavenly.

That's it, folks.  No side dish, no drink, no dessert.  By the time I was down to my last few bites Jack was hanging on my leg and it was bedtime.  Dinner was over, and dinner had been good.

I'm gladly handing the apron over to Mike for the rest of the week.  He has no idea what he will make tomorrow, so it should be a good surprise for all of us.

Day Twenty-four: A Taste of Texas

Tonight we had a special treat: a visit to Mike's parents' home for some Texas style home cooking.  Mike's parents were raised in West Texas.  Like a true Texan, Mike's Mom, Kay, doesn't let silly little things like butter, oil, or calories get in her way while she cooks.  Tonight she invited us over for one of her favorites: chicken fried steak.

We had to wait for Papa to get home before we could eat.  Jack watched patiently at the window until we finally saw his car.  Hi Papa!

I was ecstatic when I saw that Kay was going to enable my bread addiction.  Texas toast!  Texas toast is a problem for me.  It's just the right mix of soft and crunchy, and every bite just makes me want more.  It requires great will power for me to limit myself to one or two slices of this divine treat.  Please don't ask me to share.  I will go Gollum on you.  I'll snatch and snarl, and you may even hear me hiss my precious!

Kay dished out the chicken fried steak while I made Jack's plate.  Since Kay is a wonderful GaGa who couldn't bear to see Jack go hungry, she made him some mac and cheese.

She is used to picky eaters, after raising three picky boys and caring for six picky grandkids.  She doesn't get offended when someone doesn't care for her cooking.  Ain't that nice?

We had plenty to eat tonight.  Kay and Lowell will be having leftovers tomorrow!  Look at this spread!

Dinner was delicious.  I cleaned my plate and went back for seconds (thirds for the Texas toast... when among family, no need to rein in).

Mike, surprisingly, didn't finish his dinner.  He left a big pile of mashed potatoes and nearly all his chicken fried steak on his plate.  We discovered that chicken fried steak is the only type of meat Mike doesn't like.  This proves that there is an exception to every rule.  True with English grammar; true with Mike's meat affection. 

Of course this didn't bother Kay one bit.  She just laughed as she smiled at him, recalling that his eyes have always been bigger than his stomach.  As a child, she recounted, he would fill his plate.  He piled it with as much food as it could hold, all the while professing his impending doom due to starvation.  By the end of dinner, his plate was still nearly full.   

I have to agree, since I've seen the same thing happen again and again.  I have to remind Mike that this is one reason he's not allowed to do the grocery shopping.  This is also why I have to be on my game when we order at restaurants.  The minute the menu hits his hand I have to start talking him down, gently and slowly, until he has decided not to order those two appetizers and the family-sized entree. 

At least everyone else loved their dinner.  We even got to enjoy some homemade banana pudding for dessert!  I had great hopes for Jack trying and liking this, since he likes bananas and Nilla wafers. 

He preferred to limit his involvement to delivering the desserts. 

We all thought this was exceptionally cute.  I was really excited, though, because I hadn't realized he was old enough or balanced enough to tote full plates across the room and put them on a table.  Mommy's hiring servers for the kitchen, and the position has now been filled.  Jackpot!

We loved our dinner tonight.  It was so nice to get out of the house and eat someone else's home cooked goodness.  Nights with GaGa and Papa are always fun and filling, and we smile all the way home.