Tag: recipes

Crayons and Kumara

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I have to first call your attention to the right hand-side of your screen. Mr. N has unveiled his “Eat, Play, Love” logo. After working up several concepts, this is his final masterpiece. He even had Dad, Miss A and me color a piece of the final logo so that we could all share in the design. I think it made our little budding designer’s day when I showed him how we could give it a permanent home on our blog. I think it gives the page a finishing touch. 😉

One of the many things that we’re learning from this whole experience is that there are thousands (maybe millions) of recipes in cookbooks and magazines, on the internet and in the blogosphere. In an effort to expand our weeknight repertoire we’ve decided to start trying some of these recipes. The new recipes may come from other blogs, internet sites, friends, family or the stack of magazine clippings that’s been piling up in my desk. As for tonight, we tried another kumara recipe from New Zealand – Kumara and Fish Cakes. Continue reading →

And the winner is…(drum roll)

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New Zealand! Thank you to everyone that participated in the poll. It was fun and we’re definitely excited about New Zealand (which won by a landslide). As we began our recipe search we learned several things about this country down under. One of the most fun facts – especially to the kids – is that New Zealanders refer to themselves as Kiwis. Mr. N and Miss A both thought this was great and are excited to include kiwis in one of our recipes. We also learned that New Zealand is best known for its lamb dishes even though chicken is the most consumed meat. And finally, much to dad’s dismay they grow and eat a lot of kumara (sweet potatoes). As for today’s meal we selected the Sausage Roll – a popular snack made in a variety of ways – and Curried Kumara with Roasted Cashews. Continue reading →

Meet Me in St. Louis…

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…Louis, meet me at the fair, don’t tell me the lights are shining any place but there. Right now I’m thankful that this is a blog and you can’t hear me singing. You should be thankful too. Let’s just say I’m no Judy Garland. So as you guessed, tonight’s state cuisine is from Missouri – St. Louis, Missouri to be exact. The “Gateway to the West” and the home of St. Louis Toasted Ravioli. Now I don’t know about you, but the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of St. Louis is ribs, not ravioli. But according to Midwest Living magazine and my good friend and St. Louis resident, toasted ravioli is indeed the specialty of the city. The recipe we chose for tonight is adapted from Midwest Living, which got the recipe from Charlie Gitto’s restaurant in St. Louis. Incidentally, this is the same restaurant that Mr. N and I met my friend for dinner last week. We didn’t order the toasted ravioli, but the pasta dishes we did order were delicious!  Continue reading →

Overcoming Some Fears

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This weekend has been a whirlwind! We left town Thursday night for St. Louis. Dad had a conference to attend on Friday and Mr. N, Miss A and I were tagging along to enjoy a little change of scenery and visit the City Museum. The weekend wasn’t without its challenges – Miss A caught a cold, the conference hotel left a little to be desired and the wi-fi didn’t work (gasp!).  That said, we did squeak out some good times – dinner with an old friend, a visit to Union Station, lots of pillow fights, giggles and a few winery stops.

But my favorite part of the weekend, by far, was the three hours Mr. N and I spent at the City Museum. With Miss A under the weather, she and Dad stayed back at the hotel. Fortunately at 2-1/2 years old hotels are still a major novelty – elevators, fluffy bedding, escalators – it’s a virtual kids museum in its own right. As for Mr. N and I, we kept busy climbing through tunnels, shooting out slides, caving, crawling in cages suspended high above the ground, and descending 10-story slides! As a sufferer of a fear of heights and a claustrophobic, this was both a death-defying and positively exhilarating experience for me. It was a thrill to overcome some mild fears and truly explore with the wonder of a child again. Needless to say Mr. N had the time of his life, and often tried stuff first to make sure it was safe for me! So, if you ever visit St. Louis – it’s a definite must-see for children and adults alike.

So that brings us to this evening. Continue reading →

Aloha! Our Epic Cooking Journey to Hawaii

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Last week Mr. N took us to Indiana for our  mid-week stateside adventure. This week it was Miss A’s turn and she went for a more exotic destination – Hawaii! She’s been quite fascinated with the state after learning that mom, dad and Mr. N were there before she was born and that we’re trying to plan for a trip there again next year (fingers crossed!). The first choices for our dinner were obvious – a Tropical Fruit Salad and the nonalcoholic version of the Lava Flow. Mr. N and I indulged quite frequently in this delicious little drink on our last trip to the Big Island, and he was very excited to try them at home. As for our main course, after a little digging through internet recipes we decided to try the Manapua. Coincidentally the manapua recipe was brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the Chinese – so it’s a good fit for our international theme this week too.  Continue reading →

Good Fortune and Chopsticks

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Now that everyone has had a chance to select a location, it’s Mr. N’s turn again and this time he’s taking us to China. Both he and Miss A enjoy Chinese food – especially with Nana and Papa who often take them out for Chinese. So for Mr. N’s first recipe selection we’re going with Kung Pao Chicken served over jasmine rice. This promised to be a quick and tasty meal – just what we needed before heading out to a St. Baldrick’s fundraiser (excellent cause by the way).

Miss A was responsible for measuring and pouring tonight. She began with the sesame oil for the stir fry. Mr. N in the meantime got to try out the potato peeler on some fresh ginger. He seemed a bit nervous at first, but quickly got the hang of it. Dad took care of cutting the chicken and I tended to cooking the initial ingredients at the stove.  Continue reading →