E is for Edamame Pesto

As a nut free household, we're always looking for new twists on recipes that use nuts. The Edamame adds a great texture and nutrition to this pesto. With a food processor this is quick and easy and delicious on pasta or sandwiches. Plus, my waistline needed a break from all the baked goods.

Edamame Cilantro Pesto

1/2 c. cilantro
1/2 c. flat leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
1/2 c. edamame
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. olive oil

Throw it in the food processor and press the button. We added a little extra oil to get the consistency we wanted. You could just as easily make this with basil as cilantro.

We all sampled a little on a pita chip. Lydia thought it was a little strong like that. But she ate it up on pasta.

D is for Daddy Does Delicious Dessert

For the letter D we featured a guest chef...none other than Lydia's very own Daddy! Who else for the letter D? And we realize that we took a few liberties defining this as a letter D dish since his specialty is cheesecake. However, we're all about teaching creativity and it is a delicious dessert after all. They had fun cooking together. And eating together.


While we were waiting for Daddy's Delicious Dessert to cook we gathered up a few D items. Daddy, Dog, and Dolly, all lying Down at Lydia's request.

Daddy's Delicious Dessert (aka cheesecake)

For this project we cut the recipe in half and used a premade pie crust. I'm including the original recipe here.

The crust

1 package crushed graham crackers

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 c. sugar

Filling

1 lb cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

1 c. sugar

1 t. vanilla

Glaze

1 pint sour cream

2 T sugar

2 oz. Bailey's Irish Cream

Combine ingredients for crust and press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Beat together filling ingredients until smooth. Pour over crust. Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes; let cool for 10 minutes. While cooling mix glaze. Pour over filling and back at 425 F for 5-7 minutes. Cool and refrigerate.

C is for CAT scan

So our cooking project was derailed for a week. I wanted to think we would keep going around things, but chaos and stress reigned at our house. Lydia has a lump on her neck that needed to be evaluated. We now have the results and fortunately it's a cyst. We still need to have it taken out (yet another week we'll be derailed I'm sure.) But it's a relief to know.

We did manage to finally get our C photo. So not only is C for CAT scan it's also for a Cook with a Cupboard Cutting Carrots. Cell phones, cinnamon, and cars? Am I missing anything there? Cutie?

C is for Cookie, Chocolate Chip Cookie that is!

Although there were many options to make for the letter C we decided C really is for cookie and chocolate chip cookies at that. They disappeared in a flash so they must have been alright. Lydia preferred to pick the chocolate chips out of hers.

Note the wandering hand into the sugar jar.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe; it's from Cook's Illustrated. They stay chewy just they way I like them.

2 1/8 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

12 T. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. sugar

1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk

1 t. vanilla

1-2 c. chocolate chips

Heat oven to 325 F. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. In another bowl, blend butter sugars, egg,and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips to taste. Put dough in scant 1/4 c. balls onto 2 cookie sheets. Cook both sheets simaltaneously, reversing cookie sheets' positions halfway through baking. Bake 15 to 18 minutes, until cookies are light golden brown, the edges are crispy, but the centers are still soft and puffy.

Enjoy with milk!

Halloween

Lydia was able to be two things for Halloween this year. She was a busy buzzy bee to playgroup and for a visit to her Auntie Terri on Friday. On Saturday, she was a wild thing tiger. To the park. To the book store. Handing out candy. And now she asks to put her costumes on almost everyday. I figure if it was cute on Halloween, it is cute after Halloween.

B is for Bowmans eating Blueberry Banana Bread with Butter

B items were much more plentiful than A items...what was difficult was getting Lydia to gather them all in one spot. Instead, oh we found a Ball, lets stop and throw it. Or what about this Book, maybe we should read. And Baby needs a few loves. Nevertheless, here's a picture of Lydia with a few of her favorite B things. Book, ball, baby, blanket, bowl....and note that she's making herself a Belt.

For B we made Blueberry Banana Bread. We used the recipe below, but you can just add 1 cup of blueberries to your favorite banana bread recipe.

We also made our own Butter. We just followed the directions from the web site "Butter Through the Ages" http://www.webexhibits.org/butter/doityourself.html. We put it in a jar and shook it and rolled it and played with it. Auntie Terri came over to help the first time, but it was so good we ate it all and had to make more to go with the banana bread. The directions say to try not to use UHT cream or cream with stabilizers such as carrageenan, but the first time our cream had both and it came out fine. I'm sure it would taste better if we had fresh cream, but we'll just have to try again. Here's a picture of Lydia with the jar, you can see the butter forming inside. Next is a picture of Lydia with her Auntie Terri making sure the butter tasted alright.

Blueberry Banana Bread

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
2 eggs
1/3 cup yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk to combine.
Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until mixture is well blended (about 1 minute). Add mashed banana, eggs, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Gently fold in blueberries and lemon rind. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool the bread until you can't stand it anymore. Then cut it, smear it with fresh butter, and eat.

A is for Apple Pie

A is for apples, applesauce, alligator, Auntie A, apron, and apple juice.


These were all the items we could find around the house that started with the letter A.
So I was feeling the need to do something a little educational with my daughter, perhaps something to motivate me to post on this blog, and I went to see Julie & Julia. All these combined to inspire me to cook through the alphabet with Lydia. My goal is to do approximately 2 letters a week, but I know sometimes that won't happen. I think we may need suggestions on some of the more difficult letters, but I know you all will help me. When it's all done I want to collate it into a photo book with the recipes. Wish me luck!


So here we are getting to work:

German Apple Pie

Crust (We used a store bought crust. I like the kind that roll out. And I'm ambitious cooking with a toddler but not THAT ambitious.)

1 1/2 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 c. shortening

1 t. vanilla extract

2-3 T. ice water

In a bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in shortening until it forms course crumbs. Sprinkle with vanilla and water stirring until pastry holds together. Shape into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to 1/8 in. transver to a 9 in pie plate and make it look like a pie crust.

Filling:

1 c. sugar (we used 2/3 c. since our apples were sweet)

1/4 c. flour

2 t. cinnamon

6 c. sliced and peeled baking apples

1 c. heavy cream

We combined all the ingredients except for the cream in a bowl. Then put in the pie crust. Pour cream over top. Bake at 450 F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 F; bake for 50-60 minutes or until apples are tender. Eat.

Lydia's Lexicon

Lydia has never been a babbler and she has always been slower on her verbal skills than she is on all her physical and dexterity abilities. So I thought I had time to write down her early words. But suddenly a whole new world of language is opening up to her and she is attempting all kinds of words and occasionally sentences.

Her early words were:
Bye
Dada
Mama -Me, obviously, but this also means please
Maaa - Max, our cat
Bob - the squirrel. This one is especially good as she struggles to add consonants
at the end of the words. But she loves to watch for the Bobs with Max.
Caw - for coffee a very important part of Lydia's routine, if the carafe weren't so heavy
she could just about make it by herself
Paw - potty
Good
Do
No
Mi' - milk
Mo' - more

Her first word combination was "my daddy." Somebody here was thrilled.

Nowdays coffee and potty are 2 syllables albeit missing the middle consonants. She is adding more words almost daily such as belly (still missing middle consonants), eye, nose, nah' (for nostril, which is followed by hysterical laughing as this is obviously a funny word). She's even attempting words like buckle and exercise.

The Reluctant Blogger

Whenever I'm playing with Lydia and watching all the new things she's learning how to do I think I should write that down. Or blog about it so you all know what amazing new toddler skills she has. I know the chances of me keeping a journal of all this stuff are even slimmer than me blogging. And I know that it's going to pass by in the blink of an eye. But when I finally get a few spare minutes to sit down blogging is the last thing on my mind. So many other things claim my attention. But I have a little time right now so I'll try and catch you all up one more time on the amazing Princess Lydia and her family.

A Day at the Zoo

Lydia loved the zoo. All the animals to look at and petting the goats...she had a marvelous time.

Shopping for Antiques

Lydia is so agreeable and sometimes I just drag her all over. This week she, Auntie Terri, and I went "antiquing" up in Bristol. And we hit a couple in Portsmouth on our way home for good measure. Lydia charmed one of the women at a shop in Portsmouth. Here she is testing out an antique baby buggy....sure enough it still works.