daffodil lane

Kids in the kitchen: Nut Cups

 

If you are visiting from Crafty Crow, Hello! I hope you have a blessed Easter!

Every Easter for the last decade (at least!),  the youngest kid in our family makes Nut Cups for the Easter dinner table. I have no idea where the tradition started, but I remember doing it myself as a kid. It is a sweet little nibble while you are waiting to pass the ham, and adds a fun touch to the table.

 
This year, Keston was in charge, and they turned out beautifully! So simple, and your child will be proud to contributer to the Easter table!

 

 What we used/have used in years past for nut cups:

Pretty paper muffin liners (mini or regular), and any of the following: cashews, walnuts, almonds, chocolate covered peanuts, candied sunflower seeds, Dutch mints (those pretty pastel ones), Jordan almonds, mini peanut butter cups (Trader Joe's), Hershey kisses, dried fruit and cranberries, or any other similar treat. Mix and match, use anything you like. This year our supplies all came from Trader Joe's, but your supermarket bulk bins are a good place too.

 
Happy Easter!

A windy, raw day. Followed by a soggy one.

In our efforts to find things to keep us busy when our nest empties one day, Frank signed us up for sea kayaking lessons. During the class portion we learned about safety and why we'll need to spend a small fortune on strobes, flint, radios, ace bandages, flares, and the like. The rest of the class was supposed to be spent in the water, paddling. Unfortunately, just as we all geared up for that, the instructor announced we'd have to postpone because of some crazy unusual southern wind. For some reason he didn't feel good about rescuing 20 capsized kayakers. Though he definitely had enough safety supplies to do so, it seemed! We'll have to go back next weekend for the water lesson. It was probably a good move on his part, because we saw all the experienced people coming back in and hanging up their kayaks too.

 
 
 
The whole date was not a loss, because our next stop was to a new raw food vegan restaurant downtown. I kid you not, it was Frank's idea. It was SO good! We shared a pesto pizza and a sunflower cheeseburger. If you've never had raw food, it is a diet based of un-processed/un-cooked whole foods.  Our burger was technically not raw because we had the optional spelt bun with it. The "cheese" was made of cashew, the crust of the pizza was walnut. Delicious, right up my alley. Frank said he'd happily go back anytime... between the hours of 2-5 when he can get a happy hour organic beer for $2. Ha. Super friendly staff. We actually thought it would be the perfect job for Mady. She's afraid of ovens.  There was not an oven in sight. :)

 
 

It seemed like the theme of the weekend was "thwarted". Our Sunday hike was also delayed because of pouring rain in the area that we didn't expect. I don't think 'torrential' would be an exagerration. We were terribly under dressed. But in keeping with the theme, we had a lovely lunch. Maybe next weekend will pan out better!

Fresh

We were blessed with a CSA box recently while my sister-friend (not like a sister-wife, more like a friend that has been a friend so long it is easier to explain her as a sister) -are you following?- was out of town. My daughter (daughter) used it to make this delicious dinner of roasted asparagus-fennel-onion pasta with mint and green garlic, served with a beautiful green salad. She's becoming quite the talented cook!

 

Energy

Have you seen this? This company, YouBars, lets you design your own energy bar, personalizes a label, then ships it to you. I love the concept! In my hippie days, this certainly would have come in handy! They also have trail mix and a few other things you can make yourself. (Aside from the fancy package though, who needs someone to make them a trail mix? Don't you just go to the bins area at the Co-op at pick all your things? That is one of my kids' favorite pre-camping traditions.) Overall though, it looks like it would be fun to order the bars, though a bit pricey. I pretend ordered, and picked almonds and dates, figs, cashews, rice protein, flax seed, crispy rice and honey. It even tells you the nutrition values as you go. Try it, it's fun.

Then I got interested in finding a simple formula to do this myself, and found this, which looks like a good start. I think if you adjusted it as needed for taste or allergens, keeping the proportions as it says too, it should work. Added to my to-do list. :) And a good reason to break into my vanilla beans. PS- If you go to Whole Foods in Ballard, you will find no vanilla beans, as I happily bought all 21 of them yesterday. :) 

Updated: Even better, a knock-off Larabar recipe here. My favorite! My to-do list is getting longer...

Mady makes chai

 
Mady loves chai lattes. She receives Starbucks gift cards every once in a while, and that is her drink of choice, followed closely by a Vanilla Bean Frappe. I found a recipe online, and she tried it out, making a few adjustments. Here is the recipe we settled on:

In a saucepan combine 2 cups water, one cinnamon stick, one cardamom pod or about 1/4 tsp. ground cardamom, a small chunk of fresh ginger (crushed a bit to release the flavor), 5 peppercorns, 5 whole cloves, a bit of fresh grated nutmeg, 3 Stevia packets (or 1/4 cup honey or agave).  Heat it all until it boils lightly, then turn down the heat and add 4 black tea bags. Let steep three minutes, then add 2 cups milk (soy is fine.) Strain through a fine sieve. The extra can be saved in the fridge for a couple days.

We buy nearly all of our spices in bulk to ensure that they are fresh, and they also cost a lot less this way. It was $1.25 for all the spices I needed to make three batches of chai.

 
She says it tastes like Love & Joy. "Oh my goodness, it's good. Really good."