Since November, it seems like Parker is just a little bit sweeter, more cuddly - and last week, all last week, he was giving me kisses and randomly saying, "i love you."  And then something happened and he's kindeve a little whiny "Mine" and "NO!" monster.  It doesn't help that Stewart is around to encourage or aggrivate the situation. 

Parker is still having a hard time going to bed at night.  He is soo stubborn.  If we had the patience, he would get up all night long.  He gets up and we go put him back to bed and he gets up and we go pit him back to bed and he gets up - infinity.  Our biggest fear as parents, as a married couple (!) is that he will go the way of Stewart and want to sleep in bed with us all the time.  Stewart only stopped getting in bed with us when Parker arrived.  We aren't having anymore children - Parker could sleep in bed with us forever!  So we don't let him in bed with us - unless it's after 6am.  If he gets up in the middle of the night we go put him back in his crib - which only has to be done once.  It is somehow much easier to get him to go back to sleep than it is to get him to go to sleep in the first place.   

I've stopped fighting with him at nap time - and I will close the blinds and the curtains and turn on some soft relaxing music and let him take his nap in our bed.  Somehow it works.  He doesn't fight it as much - maybe it's because he likes our bed or because he can see me sitting at my desk doing homework.  I can't tell you how much i love his bright red cheeks when he wakes up from his nap.  It's like I rubbed some rouge into his little cheeks - they are so red.  It is such a contrast to his fair skin.   

So this was a really tough weekend for all of us.  Bill and I both had homework.  I spent some time reading with Stewart.  I made a really awesome roast (will post the recipe soon) and I made the white bean and winter vegetable soup.  It was really good.  Not bad for my first time with leeks, escarole, and kale.  Parker and Stewart seemed exceptionally rambunctious.  Boys.  Apparently, while in the basement with dad, they were having a "battle royale" and it involved throwing balls at each other and hitting each other with sticks/swords.  I think dad had to break it up.  But they are both growing and i guess this is all part of having 2 boys.

I hope the terrible twos don't last long.  I don't remember Stewart going through an exceptionally bad or long period of terribleness - but then that probably means that Parker will have the terribles until he's 10.  

Today is a perfect day for soup and this family loves soup.  I was a little hesitant to make use this recipe because I have never cooked with kale, escarole (which is also known as endive and chicory), and leeks.  But I gave it a try anyway.  It looks really pretty - it is a very colorful soup. 

Makes about 4 quarts, serving 10 to 12.   Published January 1, 2001.  

If possible, use fresh dried beans in this soup. For a more authentic soup, place a small slice of lightly toasted Italian bread in the bottom of each bowl and ladle the soup over. To make this a vegetarian soup, omit the pancetta and add a 4-ounce piece of Parmesan rind to the pot along with the halved onion and unpeeled garlic in step 1.

6	ounces pancetta , one 1-inch-thick slice, cut into 1-inch cubes
1	pound dried cannellini beans , rinsed and picked over
1	large onion , unpeeled and halved pole to pole
4	medium cloves garlic , unpeeled
1	bay leaf
1	teaspoon table salt
1/4	cup extra-virgin olive oil plus extra for serving
2	small carrots , medium diced
2	ribs celery , medium diced
2	small leeks , white and light green parts, washed thoroughly, and sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
1	small onion , diced medium
3	medium cloves garlic , minced
4	ounces kale , stemmed, leaves cut into 1/2-inch strips (about 3 cups)
4	ounces escarole , stemmed, leaves cut into 1/2-inch strips (about 3 cups)
2	small boiling potatoes , medium diced
	1 can (14 1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes , drained
1	sprig fresh rosemary

Instructions

1. 1. In large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven, cook pancetta over medium heat until just golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add 12 cups water, beans, halved onion, unpeeled garlic, bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon salt; bring to boil over medium-high heat. Cover pot partially; reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until beans are almost tender, 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Remove beans from heat, cover, and let stand until beans are tender, about 30 minutes. Drain beans, reserving cooking liquid; discard pancetta, onion, garlic, and bay leaf. Spread beans in even layer on baking sheet and cool.

2. 2. While beans are cooling, heat oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering; add carrots, celery, leeks, and diced onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add enough water to reserved bean cooking liquid to equal 9 cups, add to pot with kale and escarole. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 30 minutes. Add potatoes and tomatoes; cover and cook until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add cooled beans; increase heat to medium-high and bring to simmer. Submerge rosemary sprig in liquid; cover and let stand off heat 15 to 20 minutes. Discard rosemary, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into individual bowls, drizzle each bowl with extra-virgin olive oil, and serve.

America’s Test Kitchen is a 2,500-square-foot kitchen located just outside of Boston. It is the home of Cook’s Country and Cook’s Illustrated magazines and is the workday destination for more than three dozen test cooks, editors, and cookware specialists. Our mission is to test recipes until we understand how and why they work and arrive at the best version. We also test kitchen equipment and supermarket ingredients in search of brands that offer the best value and performance. You can watch us work by tuning in to America’s Test Kitchen (www.americastestkitchen.com) on public television.

Yesterday I made pork potstickers and Thai Green Chicken Curry.  Stewart LOVES potstickers and Bill is always requesting green chicken curry.  I usually just get frozen potstickers and use the thair green curry paste from the grocery store.  But as part of my resolution to try a new recipe a week, I made these from scratch. 

Both of the recipes are from "The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook."  You may have noticed that I make a lot of things from the ATK cookbooks.  Everything I have ever made from an ATK cookbook has always been great.  Not only do they have great recipes - but they also give product reviews (which brand of canned tomatoes is the best) and they also offer tips (how to cut lemon grass.)  Before each recipe there is a short write up explaining how they came to this recipe - the things they tried and why they didn't taste well etc.  It's a lot like Alton Brown's show, "Good Eats."

These two recipes are from the Lets Do Takeout section of the cookbook.  This section had a lot of really great Chinese, Thai, and Indian recipes.

Perfect Potstickers with Scallion Dipping Sauce  from "The Comple America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook" page 300-301

Scallion Dipping Sauce

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweetened sake) or sweet sherry
• 2 tablespoons of water
• 1 teaspoon of chili oil (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 scallion, minced

Potstickers

• 12 ounces napa cabbage (1/2 medium head) cored and minced
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt
• 12 ounces, ground pork
• 4 scallions, minced
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• 4 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced or grated fresh ginger
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 1 teaspoon)
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• 24 round gyoza wrappers
• 4 teaspoons of peanut or vebetable oil

1. For the Sauce:  Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.  (The sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 24 hours.)
2. For the Filling:  Toss the cabble and salt together in a colander set over a bowl and let sit until the cabbage begins to wilt, about 20 minutes.  Press the cabbage gently with a rubber spatula to squeeze out excess moisture, then transfer to a medium bowl.  Stir the pork, scallions, egg whites, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and pepper into the cabbage until combined.  Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is cold, at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours.
3. Working for 4 wrappers at a time (keep the remaining wrappers covered with plastic wrap), fill, seal, and shape the dumplings using a generous 1 tablespoon of the chilled filling per dumpling.  Transfer the dumplings to a baking sheet.  (The filled dumplings can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours in a single layer on a baking sheet wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or frozen for up to 1 month.  Once frozen, the dumplings can be transferred to a zipper-lock bag to sace space in the freezer; do not thaw before cooking.)
4. Brush 2 teaspoons of  peanut oil over the bottom of a 12-inch nonstick skillet and arrange half of the dumplings in the skillet, with a flat side facing down (overlapping just slightly, if necessary).  Place the skillet over medium-high heat and cook the dumplings, without moving, until golden brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes.
5. Reduce the heat to low, add 1/2 cup of water, and cover immediately.  Cook until most of the water is absorbed and the wrappers are slightly translucent, about 10 minutes.  Uncover, increase the heat to medium-high and cook, without stirring until the dumpling bottoms are well browned and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.  Slide the dumplings from the skillet onto a paper towel-lined plate, browned side down, and let drain briefly.
6. Transfer the dumplings to a platter and serve with the sauce.  Let the skillet cool until just warm, then wipe out the skillet with a wad of paper towel and reapt with the reamining peanut oil and dumplings.

** Ok - this recipe is pretty simple.  Just a few things I'd like to mention.  I've never worked with napa cabbage before so I had no idea how to "core and mince" it.  It's a big funny looking thing that looks more like bok choy than cabbage.  This video helped me a lot - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDMuvTqEhXI.

The recipe also calls for 24 gyoza wrappers - which I did not find at my grocery store.  So I got the refrigerated won ton wrappers.  If you use these wrappers, put 1 1/2 teaspoons of filling in the middle and then fold over - so it looks like a triangle.  You will need to brush water on the wedges before you squeeze them together.  This recipe made 48 dumplings using won ton wrappers.

Green Curry Paste from "The Comple America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook" page323

• 1/3 cup of water
• 12 fresh Thai, serrano, or jalapeno chiles, seeds and ribs removed, chile chopped coarse
• 8 medium garlic cloved, peeled
• 3 medium shallots, peeled and quartered
• 2 stalks of lemon grass, bottom 5 inches only, trimmed and sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons grated zest from 2 limes
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro stems
• 1 tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon table salt

Process all the ingredients in a food processor to a fine paste, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the workbowl as needed.

Thai Green Curry with Chicken, Broccoli, and Mushrooms from "The Comple America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook" page 322-323

• 2 (14 ounce)cans unsweetened coconut milk - NOT SHAKEN
• 1/2 cup Green Curry Paste (recipe above) or 2 tablespoons store-bought green curry paste
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and sliced thin
• table salt
• 8 ounces Broccoli (1/2 small bunch), florets cut into 1-inch pieces
• 4 ounces white mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered
• 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch strips
• 1 Thai chile, stemmed, seeded, and quartered lengthwise (optional)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon juice from 1 lime

1. Carefully spoon off about 1 cup of the top layer of cream from one can of the coconut milk.  Whisk the coconut cream and curry paste together in a large Dutch oven, bring to a simmer over high heat, and cook until almost all of the liquid evaporates, 5 to 7 minutes.  Reduce the heat to medium-high and continue to cook, whisking constantly, until the cream separated into a puddle of colored oil and coconut solids, 3 to 8 minutes.  Continue cooking until the curry paste is very aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Whisk in the remaining coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar, bring to a simmer, and cook until the flavors meld and the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.  Season the chicken with salt, stir into the sauce, and cook until evenly coated, about 1 minute.  Stir in the broccoli and mushrooms and cook until the vegetables are almost tender, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the bell pepper and chile (if using) and cook until the bell pepper is crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.  Off the heat, stir in the basil, mint, and lime juice.

** First let me say - it took me 2 hours to make the green chicken curry.  as you can see there are a lot of ingredients to chop, slice, and prep.  I think that is what took the most time.  The Green Curry Paste recipe makes enough for at least 3 dishes.  The recipe says it makes about 1/2 a cup - I ended up with at least 1 1/2 cups.

Also - the easiest way to slice chicken super thin - like they do at Thai restaurants - is to put the chicken in the freezer for an hour or so.

The first step was a bit confusing when I read it - so let me just say this: DO NOT SHAKE THE CAN OF COCONUT MILK.  Open it up and slowly pour off the white cream - at the bottom is the clearish liquid.  Stop pouring when you get to that.  In the standard size can of coconut milk, there will be about 1 cup of coconut cream on top.

This is a good recipe.  It's authentic.  I like it because i have the option to put in whatever vegetables I want and I don't have to put in bamboo shoots or water chestnuts, which i can't stand but Bill loves.  

It was good.  The green chicken curry was just as good as the curry we got from our favorite thai place in Herndon.  

I love thinking about my various responses to, "What do you want to be when you grow up!?"  I don't remember saying it, but my kindergarten teacher recorded my response to that question as, "I'd love to work in a gas station.  That looks like so much fun!"  Through the second grade, I wanted to be the first woman President, until I realized I couldn't because I wasn't born in the United States.  From the 7th grade on, I've wanted  career in medicine.  I read Dr. Ben Carson's biography and I wanted to go to Johns Hopkins and be a doctor.  I eventually narrowed it down to a career in epidemiology.  I wanted to work for the CDC and wear one of those snazzy yellow biohazard suits.  I think that career choice is courtesy of, "The Hot Zone" about the Ebola epidemic. And then my mathmatically challenged self took Chemistry in college.  I studied for that class - EVERY DAY.  Every Friday we had a test - which means that I couldn't go out with my friends Thursday nights.  I was always sitting in my room trying to figure out why I couldn't balance the stupid chemical equation formula thing.  Chemistry was the needle in my medical dream bubble.  After that I took general classes the next year and then I took an 8 year (?) hiatus from college all together. 

Growing up, I never said or even thought that I wanted to be an administrative or executive assistant.  Sure, I want to help people - but I want to help people on a different level.  I want to feel like I am making a difference, not doing something that someone else thinks is beneath them or is just too lazy to do themselves.  So while I am not aspiring to be a doctor or an epidemiologist or anything that requires 10+ years of college, I would like to get into medicine, something in the public health arena.  I can still get a job with the CDC or with the Red Cross.

I just want to do something that is fulfilling.  At the end of the week, when I am totally exhuasted I want to know that all of my energy was spent helping deserving individuals/families.  Hmmm . . . but as I say that, I am sitting here totally exhausted and I know that all of my energy was spent helping my own family.  Parker and I have settled into a nice little routine and he and i very much enjoy our time that we get to spend together.  The extra time that I have with Stewart is showing in his studies.  We have more time to do his homework and to concentrate on spelling.

I guess there are pros and cons to everything.  I'd like to think that I am enough woman that I can help my family and be the mother and wife that they need as well as being able to help other people.  If I sit down and really think about myself and my personality - I have always wanted to help.  I would step up in my grandmother's kitchen and ask her if she needed help.  I would take ice water out to my dad while he was mowing the lawn.  I'd open my mouth and over commit myself at work because I didn't want to be seen as someone that wasn't a team player.  I think I am ALMOST at that point in my life where I know myself well enough, where I know my own abilities and strengths, and where I understand the professional environment enough that I think I can sit down and actually say, "this is what I want to be now - because I am all grown up!"

I almost think it is unrealistic to force kids into college straight out of high school.  How can you pick a degree, a profession when you don't even know yourself?  I think about all of the people that I know that have gotten their degrees in one area and are now persuing a career/furthering their education in a completely different area.  I think kids just need a little life experience before they make the time and finacial commitment to an college degree.  Oh I know, you have to have the little paper to get a decent with a decent salary.  And I can't tell you how difficult it is trying to finish school now - but I'm almost glad I waited.  Because now it means more and I think I have a goal in sight. 

Bill and I are going to take the GRE in May.  Exciting huh.  I am going to take it because I'd like to get into a graduate program for the fall.  I'm looking at getting a masters degree in Public Health Administration.  I hate the idea of having to take a 4 hour standardized test.  I am not the best tester.  I took the ACT 4 times and the best I ever got was a 28.

So we decided to take it together - which is good and bad.  The good is that he and I can study for it together using the same study guides.  The bad is that I know us.  This is going to turn into a competition.  It would be great if we could get the same score!  but I'm sure I will score lower than him.  My only hope is that I will do just a little bit better on the math section.  

This should be interesting.

So far my second attempt is going beautifully.  The cake is rising so much that I am worried that it is going to come over the top of the pan.  The recipe tells you to use 3 cake pans, to make it a 3-layered cake - but I only have 2 9" round cake pans.  I understand why the recipe tells you to split the batter between 3 cake pans.  

BUT - that is a good problem.  It means the cake has a chance at being light and fluffy - like it is supposed to be.  It was hard for me to chuck my old cake in the trash, but if I can replace it with something RED (not magenta), light and fluffy I will be a happy little faux Magnolia baker.

The recipe for the Vanilla Buttercream icing is much closer to frostings that I have made in the past.  

Vanilla Buttercream from More from Magnolia, 2004

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6-8 cups confectioners' sugar (I only needed 6)
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl.  Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla.  On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3-5 minutes.  Graduall add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency.  You may not need to add all of the sugar.  If desired, add a few drops of food coloing and mix thoroughly.  (Use and store the icing at room temperatre, because icing will set if chilled.)  Icing can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Makes enough for one 2-layer 9-inch cake, or 2 dozen cupcakes.  if you are icing a 3-layer cake, use the following recipe proportions:

• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 8-10 cups of confections' sugar
• 3/4 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
  

 

Being the perfectionist that I am, it really bothers me that my cake was so crappy.  After thinking about it all night, all morning, in spinning class, and then consulting the recipe again - this is what I did wrong:

1. i used baking powder and not baking soda!  i think this may have been my biggest mistake.
2. i had my buttermilk and milk mixed up.  I used 1/3 cup of milk before I realized my mistake.
3. I used 3.5 cups of cake flour, it called for 3 1/3.
4. I only had 1 ounce of red food coloring - the recipe called for 3.

I am baking a new cake today and I have faith that it will be as light and fluffy and delicious as it should be.  hopefully it will be delicious enough to warrant a picture!