Hello Monday

I hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving Weekend.

We had such a nice quiet (well as quiet as it gets with two five year olds).

For Thanksgiving it was just the four of us. We started the day with the Macy's Day Parade.

We went for a 2 mile hike and came home and I made dinner.

The dinner was a little weird. We had no stuffing, mashed potatoes, or string bean casserole.

As I mentioned here before Ballerina LOVES Giada. Several weeks ago she was watching the Giada Thanksgiving episode and decided that we would have a Giada Feast.

I figured since it was the four of us it would be ok to do.

The Menu:

Turkey Breast with Orange Cranberry Sauce

Roasted Root Vegetable Salad

Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese

The dinner was simple and yummy!!!

Tommy said it was the best!!

On Friday we headed down to Bethlehem, PA for an appointment for Speed Racer and then decided to spend the day down in Bethlehem. We walked around the beautiful Moravian town  We also took the kids to a Japanese Hibachi place for lunch. They had a great time watching the chef cook in front of us. The kids were a little freaked out by the fire.

Ballerina was adventurous and had some sushi. I thought she was very brave.

While in Bethlehem we went to a great book store and so many other great little stores.

While there Ballerina came across a stage that was not being used and music playing in the background. Ballerina being as shy as she is (hahaha) decided she would get up and put on a show. Another little girl decided to join her too.

On Saturday we headed to another little town in PA Jim Thorpe. Such a cute little town with trains and many stores.

The weather has been so wonderful here. I can’t believe that it’s November.

We are really trying to get into the holiday mood.

This week we are saying Hello to:

Getting Speed Racer glasses. It turns out he is farsighted and has an astigmatism.

Taking Ballerina to the eye doctor and the possibility of glasses as well. She is both far and near sighted and also has an astigmatism.

Decorating for the holidays.

Getting ready for our new Hanukkah traditions

Little holiday shopping

Planning gifts

Making gifts

Adopting a local senior citizen for the holidays

Dance class

Gymnastics class

Trip down to South Jersey

and of course whatever else comes our way.

Linking Up with Lisa Leonard-Hello Monday.

Lavender and Lemon Cookies

I hope that you are all building your arks. This rain is really getting to me!! I need the sun!!

With all this rain the kids and I were able to do some baking today.

Over a month ago Ballerina and I were watching Giada. We do this every weekend. It's our tradition. We love Giada. So do the boys in this house!!

Giada made lavender and lemon cookies. Well, Ballerina wanted to make them right away. There was one problem I didn't have most of the ingredients in this recipe. I don't keep things like almond flour, arrowroot, or culinary lavender .

While we were in Maine, Camden to be exact I went into a store that specialized in nothing but lavender. Ballerina and I were in heaven. This household LOVES lavender. While at the store I asked the owner if she had culinary lavender, and she said of course. SCORE!!!! I found one of the three ingredients.

Yesterday, while the kids were in school I had the chance to run into a Natural Food store to pick up some arrowroot and almond flour.

(Good thing cashier put label on this bag. Imagine if I got pulled over by the cops with this bag on the car seat) LOL!!!

They had a small bag of almond flour, I'm talking 8oz for $12. I was able to get the arrowroot.

When I returned to my car I looked up on my phone (while parked) exactly what is almond flour. It's just ground up blanched almonds. It  has to be the consistency of corn meal. I thought to myself since I only need 1/2 cup I will make it myself.

Buy blanched slivered almonds.

Place the almonds into the food processor until it looks like this!!

Ta-da I saved myself A LOT of money by doing this!

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse together the flours, arrowroot, sugar, lavender, salt and baking soda.

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup almond flour

2 tablespoons arrowroot

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon dried lavender

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

In a food processor, pulse together the flours, arrowroot, sugar, lavender, salt and baking soda.

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, chilled

1 large lemon, zested

Add the butter and lemon zest. Pulse until the mixture forms a coarse meal. Add the 2 tbsp of honey and 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Pulse until the mixture forms a soft dough.

 Form the dough into 1-inch round balls and press into discs, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick.

Arrange in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light brown around the edges, 9 to 11 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely, about 15 minutes.

The cookies are very different!! But they are good!! You can really taste the lavender and lemon!!

This would be excellent to serve at a tea party!!

I do grow lavender in my garden but not enough for this recipe. Maybe next year!!

I think but I'm not 100% sure this might be a vegan cookie. No we are not vegans, we just like to try different things!! I'm gonna have to find some other recipes with lavender!

Have you tried anything different lately?

Have a great night!!

Love,

Janine

Delicious

The weather has been so wonderful, I kind of feel like I've been on Spring Break. So, when I saw Giada making this tropical drink and dinner I decided I needed to make it for dinner on Sunday.

RECIPE

1 ripe pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch cubes (to yield about 3 cups) I used 1 (20oz can of chunk pineapple)
1 1/4 cups light rum (I omitted this so kiddies could have some)
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 2 to 3 large limes)
2 cups ice
1 (1 liter) bottle ginger ale
Directions
Garnish: 2 limes, cut into wedges
Special equipment: a 60-ounce pitcher
In a blender, combine the pineapple, rum, agave nectar, and lime juice. Blend until the pineapple is almost pureed. Pour the pineapple mixture into a large pitcher. Add the ice and stir. Slowly pour in the ginger ale.
Pour the cocktail into glasses and garnish with lime wedges

I'm always looking for meat that Amelia will eat so I thought that this would be sweet and she would eat it. She loved the chicken and even asked for seconds!! I didn't add the red pepper flakes. I imagine you could use chicken breast. I used drumsticks because kids love drumsticks.

RECIPE

3/4 cup pineapple juice
1/3 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup sweet Marsala wine
1/4 packed cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
3 pounds chicken drumettes
Vegetable oil cooking spray
Kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground arrowroot powder or 1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
In a medium bowl, whisk together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, Marsala wine, brown sugar, sesame oil, garlic, chili powder, and red pepper flakes until the sugar is dissolved. Put the chicken drumettes in a 1-gallon size, resealable plastic bag. Add the pineapple liquid to the chicken and seal removing as much air as possible from the bag. Marinate the chicken for 3 hours in the refrigerator.
Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray it liberally with vegetable cooking spray.
Remove the chicken from the marinade and arrange in a single layer on the prepared pan. Season the chicken with salt, to taste, and bake until the skin is caramelized and very dark in spots, about 30 to 35 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the marinade into a small saucepan. Whisk in the arrowroot or cornstarch, if using, and bring to a boil over medium heat (in order to kill bacteria). Reduce the heat to a low boil and cook until thick, about 5 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.
Using a pastry brush, brush some of the cooked marinade over the chicken or pour it into a small bowl and serve on the side. Arrange the chicken on a platter, sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve.

Giada is one of my favorite chefs and her recipes never let me down. I know that if I want something good I should go right to her recipes!! Thanks Giada, for making me look like a rock star on Sunday.

I hope you all had a great weekend.

XOXOXOXO