Book of the Month- February (Steph)

I've finished another book for another month.  (Two for two, that's not bad for me!)

This month I decided to read The Luxe by Anna Godbersen.  It's a young adult book that takes place in Manhattan on the late 1800's.  It's around the same time period as all the Masterpiece classics I love to watch, so that was what initially drew me to the book.  The book has all of the things we love about these period stories: romance, secrets, jealousy, and most importantly, keeping up appearances and propriety.  It was a little predictable (likely due to the age-group it was written for), but the end didn't disappoint.  It's easy  to read and easy to get into.  Overall I liked it.  There are a couple more books in the series, so I'll probably be reading those over the next couple of months.

Happy reading!

TASTING PARTY VIDEOS (Mel)

This is me and Tim assembling one of our dishes.
Recipe is pretty simple:
 3 good size chicken breasts; cooked and shredded
1/2 a jar roasted bell peppers diced
1/4 lb meunster cheese diced
creamy ceasar salad dressing
Romaine lettuce
loaf of crusty bread of your choice (we used used Sourdough)
Basil Pesto (following recipe)
1/4 cup basil
garlic salt
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
We mixed the peppers and cheese in with our chicken and toasted our slices of bread, not too thick, not too thin; spread some creamy ceasar dressing on the bread top with lettuce, chicken mixture and  a stripe of basil pesto. Result : New Family Favorite:)
Tim is kinda funny when he cooks. He gets really excited and can't leave anything alone. So as you can imagine, things tend to take a while when he's cooking.:)

We both really enjoy cooking and we really enjoy eating so naturally, we love it when we have these Sundays.

Letter writing (Mom)

Facebook is really great for keeping in touch with people and sometimes with people you don't really know.  I don't get to keep in touch with my siblings, because they don't take the time to get on very often.  We are all busy and have to choose what we are going to do with our time.  I know what the kids in the ward are doing, but as far as my own family, it is all  a mystery.
Today I saw a movie about letter writing and wondered where the art of writing letters has gone to.  The movie was titles "84 Charrington Cross  Road" and starred Anne Bancroft, Anthony Perkins, and Judy Dench. Bancroft established a 20 year relationship when she writes a letter inquiring about used books.  The characters become friends and eventually learn about each others lives without the help of anything but pen, paper and the postal service.  I sure wish that we could keep the art of letter writing alive.  I've never been really good at it but would like to try.
I know this has nothing to do with books or cooking, but I have truly been affected by the movie.  I certianly will remember it for a long time.

A Tasting Party (Mom)

So as we approach our third Sunday of the month of February, I was thinking about what I would like to do .   I have wanted to do a tasting party since I saw the Food Nanny do one on her show.  You know, she goes to people's homes and gets them to eat nutritious foods together as a family.  This show in particular was about some really picky eaters, including the Dad.  So she made them try some foods they thought they didn't like.  Of course there are rules.  She said  (1)they had to try everything, if they didn't like it they didn't have to finish it, (2) they couldn't make a fuss if they didn't like it.  The dad got out of trying tomatoes ( which he didn't like) and one of the kids literally gagged on pasta.  It was a good episode.  Sooooo.... I would like to have a tasting party this next Third Sunday Dinner.  Here are the rules:
(1.) Each family will bring 2 things that they have never tried before.  You can bring the recipe to share too if you would like.
(2.) Everyone will have to try each offering. At least a taste.
(3.) No one can make a fuss about things they THINK they don't like.
There will be paper plates so we can try each item alone without the interference of other foods.  When all of the items have gone around, you can eat what you liked best.
I'm sure we will tweek the rules once we get going.  I'm looking forward to it!  Third Sunday dinner, February 20, 2011.  YEAH!!!!!!!!

German Pancakes. Tell Me They're Not Delicious. (Mel)

Riley LOVES breakfast time.

Most mornings I don't eat breakfast. I know, shame on me, what with the "it's the most important meal of the day" garbage. But on the mornings I DO eat breakfast, it's definitely not healthy. Let's just say if I have a pound of bacon in the freezer that's cooked and eaten. If I don't have bacon, then I turn to my yummy simple stand by of German Pancakes. MMMMMMMM.... They definitely have a special place in my heart as my favorite breakfast food. Yes, it even beats out bacon or any other breakfast meat. Mostly because it has some of my favorite things in it. Butter and salt. Okay I have to say these pictures aren't very good until Riley is in them but we'll just deal with it, mm'kay? So anyone who knows me knows that my tongue doesn't do flavor like this. As a matter of fact, this "tongue map" is actually scientifically WRONG, but that's beyond the point. 

If it was correct, my flavor receptors would actually look more like thisI adore salt. Let's just leave it at that. Let's move onto the reason we're all here.