Wednesday, July 14, 2010

another yummy recipe

We have been on a white chocolate kick lately, and what is better with white chocolate, than macadamia nuts? Enter the best white chocolate macadamia nut cookie recipe EVER.


White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
from All Recipes






  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
  3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Trust me on this one, you won't be disappointed!

image from http://www.visionsofsugarplum.com/2008/04/white-chocolate-macadamia-nut-cookies.html

Thursday, July 1, 2010

a few more...

Our internet was out for a week and a half. I kind of hated it. And I kind of loved it all at the same time. Now I'm having a serious relationship crisis with Facebook. We may be on the fritz.

Anyway, here are a few more pictures. The first is to show Grammie how much hair Ava has! (yes, I know the piggies are kind of ghetto...it's just for a picture!)


The second is to document how many teeth Ava has at 11 months. Can you see the little molar? That popped out without us knowing. Weird.




And two more cute videos. I couldn't resist. Some days, this is what we do...a lot.




And finally...I KNEW there was a budding musician in there! Look at that pure delight!

discovering watermelon, cute smiles and some talking


While I was away, Erik introduced Ava to watermelon...and so it begins! 
(and p.s., she is eating spaghetti again! hooray!)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

New recipes!

Erik and I have tried out some amazing recipes lately. When Jess came into town a while back, I was really craving the Cheesecake Factory Lettuce Wraps. Thank you internet...here is the recipe! It's such a good copy. I've only included the 2 dipping sauces we like...there are two others included on the website.


Cheesecake Factory Thai Lettuce Wraps
from Meemo's Kitchen


Butterhead lettuce leaves
Red cabbage, cut in strips
Thai Satay Chicken (recipe follows)
Juliened carrots
fresh bean sprouts
Thai coconut curry noodles (recipe follows)
Peanut dipping sauce (recipe follows)
Tamarind cashew dipping sauce (recipe follows)

Thai Satay Chicken
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons water
4 green onions with tops, cut into 1-inch pieces

Cut chicken crosswise into 3/4-inch-wide strips; place in shallow glass dish. Combine soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes in small bowl. Add water to remaining mixture. Pour over chicken; toss to coat well. 
Cover; marinate in refrigerator at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, stirring mixture occasionally. Cook chicken by grill or stove until no longer pink.


Thai Coconut Curry Noodles 12 ounces fresh egg noodles, flat
1 tablespoon minced garlic cloves
1 tablespoon red curry paste
1 cup low-fat coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 pinch turmeric powder
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice or lemon juice

Separate noodles in hot water, as per instructions on the packet. Drain & keep warm. In a medium saucepan, heat the coconut mild on low heat and slowly stir in the curry paste. When it begins to simmer, add in the remaining ingredients. Heat and stir approximately 2 minutes to heat through. Stir in the noodles and serve.



Tamarind-Cashew Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic, quartered
2 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 cup honey
4 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoo tamarind pulp* (I omitted to save money and I thought the outcome was fine!)
Pinch ground saffron (omitted as well)
1/4 cup olive oil

Combine first 7 ingredients in food processor. Blend with short bursts until the mixture is well blended, and the cashews and garlic have been chopped into pieces about half the size of a grain of rice. Combine the honey, vinegars, tamarind, and saffron in a small bowl. Heat the mixture for about 1 minute in microwave then stir until tamarind pulp dissolves completely. Pour mixture into blender or food processor and mix with cashew mixture (about 20 seconds).
Pour sauce into bowl, add the oil and stir by hand. Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Peanut Sauce
1/4 Cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tablespoons water
4 Teaspoons sugar
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 Teaspoon rice vinegar
1 Teaspoon lime juice
1/2 Teaspoon chili oil

Combine peanut butter, water, sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, and chili oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Heat just until mixture begins to bubble, then cover the pan and remove it from the heat.

ASSEMBLY
1. Remove the stem at the bottom of the head of lettuce and separate the leaves into "lettuce cup. Wash and dry leaves. 
2. Arrange lettuce on a large serving plate.
3. Arrange fillings: carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts, curry noodles, chicken.
4. Assemble lettuce wraps by spooning fillings into a lettuce cup, adding special sauce over the top, folding as you would a taco.
5. Serve with dipping sauces.


*Tamarind pulp, which is sour tasting, is available at Asian markets. To use it, soak the pulp in hot water to cover, remove the seeds with your fingers and discard them, then use the pulp.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Catching up

I have a lot of pictures and video in the queue waiting to be posted...sorry for the delay faithful followers! (aka Katie :)). Here is one of her newest tricks. She always watches me when I put on my make-up. This particular day I was putting on chapstick. She was staring at me per usual, so I offered to put some on her. I figured she would try to eat it (as she is EXTREMELY oral and puts everything in her mouth) but to my surprise, this was her reaction: 


(don't mind my funny "no no" sounding voice...for some reason that's what I was doing as I was putting the chapstick on myself...I have no explanation :))


I'm amazed at how still she holds while doing this, as she is SOOO active these days. Never sitting still, not even for nursing (which is super....interesting).
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A couple of weeks ago, I gave Ava a corn cob after I had cut the corn off. She had a blast getting the little kernels. Seriously was having a blast!



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and...my baby has curls!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Daddy Daughter Weekend

Britney was off galavanting in Chicago this weekend with the women folk from my family, so Ava and I got to spend some quality daddy daughter time together. What better way to bond than to go hiking?





We totally bonded!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Memorial Day Weekend

I love that my birthday always falls close to Memorial Day...makes me feel like my birthday is extra special! Erik and I made plans and our weekend filled up quickly. On Saturday, Erik wanted to do a little training for his Mt Rainer trip that is coming up the first week of July. Other times he has climbed, he has spent a lot of time on mountains and trying to get altitude all while wearing a very heavy pack (40+ lbs) to try and get his body in shape. Unfortunately, Massachusetts doesn't boast any true mountains, so we had to get a little creative. We went to a nearby reserve and took the most hilly trail to try and get some elevation change. I was dying. Erik, on the other hand, with Ava and a pack stuffed with full water bottles to give added weight, was practically running laps around me. I would have been embarrassed, but I'm am so used to this by now!



Then on Monday I really wanted to take Ava swimming. I knew it probably wouldn't last long and she wouldn't love it, but oh well. We headed to a nearby splash pad instead. As soon as we got there the water turned off for a bit and the wee one was having a blast playing in the puddles and watching the kids. When the water came back on however, she was so done. Oh well, maybe in a couple months :)