Our work began early this Memorial Day. Both dad and grandpa (my dad) were outside by 7:30 working on the swing set, the Cedar Summit Panorama from Costco. 
They braved the 90 degree temps and humidity, and worked tirelessly through lunch. By early afternoon the rest of the barn raising crew came by to help finish things up (and break things in!). 
I have to say this has been one of the cloudiest springs in recent memory. That’s not to say it actually is the cloudiest – it could be in fact that my memory has selective recall. That’s been known to happen on occasion. Nevertheless it’s cloudy again. We made these quick, healthy breakfast treats earlier this week, but they would be the perfect way to brighten up a cloudy morning. The recipe is adapted from one we came across in the Taste of Home Comfort Food, Diet Cookbook. It’s also a great way to use up some of the leftover phyllo from the baklawa. (I bought several packages just-in-case my attempt at the recipe went horribly array.)
We began by cutting three phyllo sheets into sixths. We then separated the squares out and placed them in muffin tins – 3 per tin. 
Tonight the kids and I whipped up the third banana bread recipe for our quest. This particular version is adapted from Martha Stewart’s banana bread and was sent to me by an old high school friend. Thanks Liz! The major differences in this recipe compared to the first two are that it uses only white sugar and replaces the oil with sour cream. Until now, I had never seen a banana bread recipe with sour cream, so I was intrigued.
We started by mashing the bananas – Miss A was on hand to help in what has become her new favorite outfit (a princess nightgown), worn both day and night. 
The Philly Phanatic
This meal was all ChefDad, so he’ll share this one in his own words. 🙂
Today we head to Pennsylvania for Philly Cheesesteaks, and if Ribbie and Roobarb merit a spot on this blog, surely we can find room for a true legend among mascots–the Philly Phanatic. I’ve had a taste for a Philly Cheesesteak for the last couple of weeks, though I confess to limited experience with them. We did order cheesesteaks at the old Veteran’s Stadium back in 2003, though I suspect mom was too busy taking pictures of Kyle Farnsworth to pay much attention to her meal.
The internet’s not much help for cheesesteak recipes–it seems there is no universal formula beyond thinly sliced beef, cheese and bread. Nevertheless I felt confident as I began this undertaking, as mom said to Mr. N, “He’s been to Philadelphia once and he thinks he knows how to make cheesesteaks.” Yes I did. We settled on a set of toppings–onions, green peppers, and mushrooms. Continue reading
Ever since last month when Dawn over at First Look, Then Cook posted her recipe for baklava, it’s been on my mind. I instantly thought of an ice wine we have that would match this dessert perfectly. Not to mention I’ve never worked with phyllo before and it sounded like a challenge I needed to tackle. So when we were looking for Egyptian desserts and came across the recipe for Baklawa, the Egyptian version of the dessert, I knew it was time to get to work.
The main differences between Greek baklava and Egyptian baklawa are that the Greek version uses honey in the syrup and almonds in the pastry. The Egyptian form of the dessert uses sugar and orange blossom in the syrup and omits the almonds. Either way, the dessert sounds intriguing to me and dad, and one that we thought even Mr. N and Miss A would enjoy.
Miss A helped me out early in the process. She was very excited to see the mallet coming out again and was eager to crush the walnuts. Continue reading
This weekend we are wrapping up our Egyptian adventure with another winning recipe. When dad first picked Egypt a few weeks ago, we knew little about the local cuisine. We figured we would come across some traditional Middle Eastern dishes such as falafel or babaganoush – and we did. But we also discovered that Egyptian cuisine has influences from the Mediterranean, Europe, Africa and the Middle East and offers a lot of healthy, flavorful cooking options.
Tonight’s recipe is one of the first that we came across for the region and we instantly knew we had to try it. This recipe for Egyptian Seafood Pasta is very similar to an Italian dish that dad and I used to eat a ton of when we were dating. So going in it already had a lot to live up to.
We began our pasta dish by sauteing a chopped onion with some olive oil. Once the onion was softened we added bacon, garlic and ground cloves – yes cloves! This was new to me. Continue reading
Eat, Play, Love 
