Crab Melts

1 loaf sweet french bread
1/2 cup pesto (roughly–I’ve never measured it)
4 Roma tomatoes thinly sliced
1 lb. lump crab meat
15 slices of Havarti

Pre-heat broiler. Slice french bread into approximately 15 slices. Spread a thin layer of pesto and top with a slice of tomato. Next, mound a small amount of crab and top with cheese. Place under broiler for approximately 4 minutes or until cheese is melted, bubbly and turning brown.

Favorite Whitter Cheddar

This week we are having Mac and Cheese. This recipe is actually a blend of two—Martha Stewart’s and Ina Garten’s. I love Martha’s for the bread crumb topping, but not the elbow macaroni or the gruyere. I love Ina’s for the penne and all the different cheeses, but not the tomatoes. I’m not a tomato hater—in fact I love them—just not in my mac and cheese. So, I made it my own. I will serve this with a big salad and all will be happy.

Delicious Gooeyness

My Mac And Cheese
Serves 12

6 slices brioche pulsed in food processor
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for dish
5 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 1/2 cups (about 18 ounces) grated sharp white cheddar
2 cups grated Havarti
1 1/4 cups Parmesan
2 pound Penne

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 3-quart casserole dish; set aside. Place bread pieces in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons butter. Pour butter into the bowl with breadcrumbs, and toss. Set the breadcrumbs aside. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, heat milk. Melt remaining 6 tablespoons butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

2. Slowly pour hot milk into flour-butter mixture while whisking. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.

3. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cayenne pepper, 3 cups cheddar, and 1 1/2 cups Havarti and 1 cup of the Parmesan. Set cheese sauce aside.

4. Fill a large saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Add penne; cook 2 to 3 fewer minutes than manufacturer’s directions, until outside of pasta is cooked and inside is underdone. Drain penne and rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir penne into the reserved cheese sauce.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 cups cheddar and 1/2 cup Havarti and 1/4 cup Parmesan; scatter breadcrumbs over the top. Bake until browned on top, about 30 minutes. Transfer dish to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes; serve.

I got to thinking which books have meant the most to me. Which stories made me stop and think? Made me laugh or cry? I created a list of my top books. Most of these are still on my bookshelf and some have moved on to other shelves. I wanted to limit the list to five but my brain said no—how can you choose?

I didn’t start out loving to read—in fact I hated it. It was a giant pain in my backside. I read only what was required. It wasn’t until my seventh grade English teacher assigned Durango Street by Frank Bonham, that the world of reading was different for me. I read ahead of the class—I re-read chapters. I can say, I may have even skipped other homework in lieu of reading. It wasn’t just the book, but that seventh grade teacher who held amazing discussions about the previous nights required reading. This was learning? Miss Bell, I thank you.

I digress—back to cleaning my bookshelf. Here are my top choices for books that made me stop. And, yes I know I’m kinda all over the place with these choices. My only defense—that’s just me. I’d love to hear what books have stuck with you year after year.

1. Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
2. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
3. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
4. Tara Road by Maeve Binchy
5. Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg
6. Shutterbabe by Deborah Copaken Kogan
7. Dry by Augusten Burroughs
8. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
9. Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris

Gingered Carrot Soup

* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 4 carrots (about 3/4 pound), grated coarse
* 1/2 teaspoon sugar
* 1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh gingerroot
* 3/4 cup chicken broth, or to taste
* 2 cups boiling water
* 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste

In a 2-quart microwave-safe dish melt the butter in the microwave at high power (100%) for 15 seconds, stir in the carrots, the sugar, the gingerroot, the broth, and the water, and microwave the mixture at high power for 20 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. In a blender purée the mixture with the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste and divide the soup between 2 bowls.

***I doubled this recipe to feed my lot.***

Szechwan Chicken Stir-Fry

5 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2 inch dice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons garlic olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, minced
one bunch of green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Dredge chicken in the cornstarch. Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add chicken and stir-fry until opaque, about 5 minutes. Add soy mixture and stir-fry 30 more seconds. Add green onions and serve with rice.

This feeds 4—I always double it hoping for left overs. It hasn’t happened yet!

Again, sorry for the lack of photos—I’m having a hard time with this new habit—getting all the pieces put together. There’s always next Sunday!

I’ve never really been a resolution making kinda girl—but this year I’m feeling a little different. So, here it goes! I only have 2 but they are really important to me. They say to create a new habit you must do it for roughly 6 weeks to have it feel more natural.
I’m going to really try to stick with it intensely the first month and a half and hopefully it will get easier with time. The first resolution is a mandatory family dinner night.

I admired the Soprano Family for having those Sunday night dinners. Carmela and Tony meant business when it came to family—and so do I. When you live with adults (4) and teenagers(2), everyone is always going in different directions. Between work, school, hanging out with friends and other activities there is at least one open seat at my dinner table every night. The only excuse I’ll except will be work. If you live here guess what—dinner is at 6 sharp. Since this resolution will affect more than just myself—I’ve let my kids know their friends are welcome to dinner as well—the more the merrier. So to keep myself in check I will be posting my menu and photos of my family having dinner TOGETHER!

My second resolution is to work smarter. I know that sounds sooooo vague, but sometimes I feel I’m doing things the hard way. So, I will try to work smarter not harder—organization is the key here—that way I will have time to make slightly more elaborate Sunday night dinners. Everybody wins!

Tomorrow night will be the first Sunday night dinner. To kick it off I’m choosing from Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Cookbook. I love Tyler’s recipes—and he’s not too hard on the eyes either.

Sunday Night Dinner # 1

Roasted Cauliflower Soup serves 6
1 quart of milk
Kosher salt
1 head of cauliflower, cored and broken into florets
1/2 onion, sliced
8 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/2 (1 cube of butter) unsalted butter
1 bay leaf
extra virgin olive oil
fresh ground black pepper

Brioche-Cauliflower Crumbs

4 slices brioche, toasted
1/4 pine nuts
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Pour the milk in a large saucepan, add a little salt and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Set aside about a half a cup of the florets for garnish. Put the rest of the cauliflower in the pan with the milk. Add onion, 4 sprigs of thyme, butter and the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until cauliflower is tender. Discard the thyme and the bay leaf. Puree the soup in a blender ( I used an immersion blender—seemed easier than all that transferring). Put soup back in pan and season with a splash of olive oil, salt and a little pepper. Tyler says white pepper is “very cool” here but black works just fine. I used black pepper.

For the brioche croutons I took a few liberties—I used a food processor to chop the brioche adding the leaves from the remaining thyme sprigs and pine nuts. Slice the remaining cauliflower and to the crumb mixture. Drizzle with the melted butter, spread onto a cookie sheet and toast in the oven for 5 minutes or so until they are golden and slightly crunchy. Remove from oven and ad the chopped parsley.

Put soup into serving bowls and top with the brioche crumbs. Yum!

Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken serves 6
(Added chicken because some of my family HAS to have some type of meat)

We eat a lot of Caesar Salad. So this is how I make this for my family.

2 heads of Romaine Lettuce
1 grilled chicken breast, cut into 1/2″ dice
garlic olive oil
4 slices of french bread, cut into 1/4″ dice
good quality Caesar dressing

Tear, rip or chop the lettuce into bite size pieces. Add chicken. Put about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a warm skillet, add french bread and toast until golden and crunchy—about 5 minutes. Toss all the ingredients, adding dressing carefully—nobody likes a soggy salad.

There are 5 or 6 home tours that run between October and December.  And,  I try to get to as many as I can—but I never miss these two!

1940 Brick Ranch-style home

First up is the Rose Garden Tour this coming weekend. I’m so looking forward to seeing all the homes, but there are a couple I’m dying to see!

The Summit League’s Holiday Home Tour is the pièce de résistance of the home decor for the holidays.  I haven’t gotten any preview material yet, but I know this tour won’t disappoint.  Here’s a link to one of last years Rose Garden homes and The Summit League from 2008.

My husband, Chris, and I are finally ready to bite the bullet on our so-called master bathroom. Ever since he took the sledgehammer to our tiny shower eight years ago because the pan leaked through to our laundry room, we have been using the kids’ bathroom down the hall. Our shower became storage for our Costco supply of bath tissue.

In those eight years, our 1970s-era irridescent green tile on the floor and walls has come back into retro-fashion. But it’s too late to salvage. The sledgehammer took to the bathroom floorboards as well when we replaced the plumbing with copper piping some years ago.
What remains is a funky patchwork of neglect and afterthoughts. Like an unhappy housewife, our master bathroom has “let herself go.” One of the cane doors on the cabinet beneath the sink has a hole in it. The towel rack fell off the wall long ago leaving big holes where the screws once were. And even though the entire space is barely eight feet by four feet, I still manage to have three separate piles of Vanity Fair and Elle Decor magazines: on a book shelf along the wall, a rolling cart between the sink and toilet and on a vintage rack on the floor. A once-special Navajo rug I bought from a shaman’s wife seems contrary and disrespected underfoot. And as much as I like a newly-purchased, vintage mirror with an Asian motif, the whimsy I was going for falls as flat as a bad joke. And please forgive me, my fellow Lookiloos, the metal blinds. (I can’t believe I even committed that to print!)
Our bathroom needs a makeover and we need help!
Our house is 1938 unadorned art deco-style. It is angular and asymetrical, with windows meeting in the corners. The only special touches are the glass block on either side of the front door, which has a chevron pattern matching the garage doors. When it comes to the bathroom, we want simple, clean lines. Nothing tumbled. Nothing too trendy. I like the idea of gray and white (I’m thinking Deco cruise ship) with pops of accent color. Chris likes a warmer palette, perhaps yellow tile.
We need storage and two “stations” in this tiny, one-sink bathroom: one for my husband shaving at the sink, another for me drying my hair right behind him (cheek to cheek so to speak.)
We’re open to ideas. Please share!

I wanted a quilt or blanket to take to the beach. I had a great one that somehow went missing. My professional mom guess?—a teenager went to the beach with some friends and somehow that blanket was left behind or left at someone else’s home. And, I’m sure that mom, like me has asked “Who does this belong to? It’s not ours.” And, I’m sure the usual response was ” Huh? What? Ya, I don’t know.”

This is my color inspiration for my denim quilt. I love the pink and coral with denim. It seemed to be the perfect combination.

I cut the jeans into 6 inch squares. I used left-over fabric that I recently used to re-cover an ottoman to go in between the denim squares. Stitched the whole thing together. I added a small layer of cotton batting and a fun tie-dye fabric for the backside. I’m not a seamstress or a quilter—so I know that how I put this sucker together was very unconventional. I didn’t use a pattern and when something didn’t line up it stayed that way. I love the results. The reason—I look at all those squares and know that they came from one of my kids at some point in their lives. I did save one pair I just couldn’t bring myself to cut up. All four of my boys wore that single pair of jeans when they were toddlers. Let me tell you, those Baby Gap jeans that I purchased back in 1989 for my oldest son, have held up. And, to last through 4 boys now that is some feat!

Linking up with Romantic Home.

I have always adored this park, even though it was in disrepair for awhile.
My mother-in-law, Joan grew up in this neighborhood.I love the story she told me about how she remembers the day the fountain was installed. One of my favorite photos when I first decided to jump ship and become a photographer was taken at the fountain. This park has held so many memories for our family.

Every June about 7 high schools hold their graduation ceremonies at the park. I know the parking is a nightmare and quite often I’m picking up trash left over from my lawn–but to be honest with you–I wouldn’t trade it for one minute. We have parked our cars on the street to save parking for families we know who have a student graduating. The requests come in via my older kids–so and so’s “little sister is graduating on Tuesday—Mom who has the driveway”? This year our driveway was reserved on three different days and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love hearing the pomp and circumstance playing, the names being called and the cheers! I am anticipating the twins graduating in 3 years form this very spot! So here I am on bended knee—yes really on bended knee asking you to please vote for The San Jose Municipal Rose Garden. I promise to hold my driveway any time you need it! I’m attaching a slideshow of some of my personal favorite photos I’ve taken of the Rose Garden and you need to check out the links to movies my kids have made at the park as well. What would I do without this wonderful space.

So, I am here with a shameless plug. Yes, I know what your thinking “how could she? This is blog-land darn-it full of honor, trust and no shameless plugs”. But it’s not like that–really!

Here’s the complete slideshow: