Category Archives: The Block

A Very Late Summary of a Very Long Week

Sorry folks, had plans for an extended Labor Day barbecue post on things to grill. But then I gave notice at work and things got a little busy. Let me explain. No, there is too much, let me sum up (name that movie).

But now, I have 10 days off between gigs. Just wait until the before and after cleaning pictures. I’m looking at you Utility Room!!

Meanwhile,

Got a nail polish organizer for my sister. Was thinking about enrolling it in a Crossfit class, but it turns out it’s a looker.

My SIL and BIL stopped by on their way back from South Bend to say happy birthday to Drummer Boy. Speaking of Drummer Boy’s birthday, uh oh, now we have actual drums.

To the Block – so sorry!

For SIL and BIL visit, we did what used to be called an “early supper” as they had a 6:00 flight. Did the Chicken Kabobs with Tzatziki from prior post. Also the Israeli Salad from Smitten Kitchen that has made many an appearance here.

This Strawberry Peach Rose Sangria, however, from What’s Gaby Cooking was a big hit. Diminished the amount of basil leaves by about half, but otherwise didn’t change a thing.

To celebrate Labor Day, I made this Apple Pie in a Glass dessert, which will also be the subject of another post on easy desserts from Trader Joe’s ingredients,

But for those who can’t wait

WHAT YOU NEED
5 Granny Smith apples, pealed and cubed into dice
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP white sugar
1/4 cup apple juice
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 jar Trader Joe’s Salted Caramel Sauce
1 container vanilla ice cream
2 cups Trader Joe’s Crunchy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, crumbled

WHAT YOU DO
Mix first 5 ingredients into a pot. Set over medium heat, covered for about 25 minutes until apples are just tender. Cool apples. Layer apples, crumbled cookies, vanilla ice cream and Salted Caramel Sauce in a glass.

Made the easy Bolognese Sauce from Bon Appetit.

This is a good recipe if you have a little left over red wine (yes, I’ve heard that happens to some people!) I don’t use veal in this recipe just beef, because in my weird list of rules is the “no eating baby animals” rule. I know, doesn’t make sense. But it keeps the “no eating animals you can have as a pet” rule company.

When you live on The Block, this goes up over-night to celebrate Fake Sister’s Aunt’s 60th Birthday 50’s style:

And this cake gets made by Jen at Pastries So Tasty to celebrate the birthday girl’s first car

And no self-respecting 50’s style party put up overnight in the driveway would find itself without properly attired wait staff!

So now I’m off to clean every inch of this house while I have time off. I’ve already donated seven bags of clothes and shoes, 2 bags of toys and 3 bags of books – and it’s only Thursday.

A Nod to Phineas and Ferb

In the last week before school started, the boys lamented that we hardly did anything this summer. I think all the blog posts that precede this one might disagree.

Nonetheless, for this last week, we jammed in some swimming, tennis, multiple birthday/pool parties, Pizza Night, trying out new instruments –

Visiting with cousins

And, on the very last day, when surely no more fun could be had in the last throes of summer – Wizard World Comic Con!!!!

Meet the Nerdfoiles:

Ok. Geekfest over. What did we make for this last hurrah?

Drizzled olive oil, salt and pepper over halved cherry and grape tomatoes (from Mbork garden) and sprinkled with rosemary (from yours truly’s garden) and slow roasted them in a 275 degree oven. Toasted slices of baguette, topped with provolone in a 350 oven and then topped with the tomatoes.

And this salad, THIS SALAD.

This salad could be anything it wants to be if it just puts its mind to it. Add Asian flank steak, chicken, shrimp or whatever protein you desire and it’s dinner. Otherwise it is quite a side to grilled chicken. It can be served room temp or cold so it would be good for a late summer block party.

Asian Noodle Salad
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman and Foodie with Family. Serves 6 with some leftovers for lunch.

WHAT YOU NEED
For the Dressing
1 whole Lime, Juiced
8 TBSP olive oil
8 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
3 TBSP toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 TBSP chopped or minced fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 Jalapeño pepper, chopped
1 large handful fresh parsley, chopped

For the Salad
1/2 package linguine, cooked al dente (seriously, don’t overcook) rinsed and cooled – -if doing ahead toss with a dash of sesame oil and refrigerate. Both PW and FwF called for a full pound of pasta, but I thought it was a bit much for our crew.
2/3 bag of coleslaw mix (or you can chop up 1/2 a head each of Napa and purple cabbage)
1 clamshell or 10 oz bag baby spinach
1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper thinly sliced
4 green onions, white and light green parts, sliced
1 hothouse cucumber, thinly sliced
1 bunch parsley, roughly chopped
6 TBSP toasted sesame seeds

WHAT YOU DO
Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar and shake, shake, shake until it’s all combined.

Toss all salad ingredients except sesame seeds in a bowl and toss with dressing until fully dressed (you may not need all the dressing). Top with sesame seeds. You could also add some peanuts or cashews if desired.

And for dessert:

Rainbow Krispie Treats

WHAT YOU NEED
6 cups Fruity Pebbles
6 cups Rice Krispies
1/2 cup butter, plus more for pan
20 oz. mini marshmallows

WHAT YOU DO
Butter a 9×13 pan and butter a piece of parchment paper cut so there is overhang on the sides of the pan. Melt butter over medium low heat in a large saucepan. Once butter is melted, add marshmallows and stir until fully melted. Add in cereal and stir until combined. Plop it all in dish and using a butter covered spatula or the the actual wrappers from the butter, press into the pan until all flat. Once cool, lift sides of parchment to remove and cut into uniform squares. Use a protractor if you have to, they’ll be ruined if not uniform. No, not really.

All in all, a really fun week to end the summer. In between all these activities, we MAY have watched some American Ninja Warrior and played a few video games. Someone was very tired out by all that.

Happy Back-to-School week everyone. See you on the playground.

This Weekend Was Meant for Firepits

And Ant-Man. But what weekend wasn’t meant for Ant-Man, really? Made s’mores (yes, I know, again). Hey, at least it gets them outside. You know, because otherwise they would all just be inside talking up a storm or playing a game, with a group of friends…

or, each playing on their own individual technological device while standing or sitting in each other’s general proximity. This is hanging in the 20-teens.

But we didn’t just have dessert all weekend. Coulda. Didn’t. First we had a dinner of Sticky Garlic Chicken from Pinch of Yum. Wow, was this good and fast as the recipe advertised.

Pinch of Yum is also responsible for teaching me how to host this site and has great classes through Food Blogger Pro. If you have any interest in such things, I suggest checking it out.

Then, Sunday breakfast!

There were pancakes.

Those were for the kids. For the grownups, I made Gashouse Eggs. Yes, that’s an…unusual..name. But years ago the supermodel B. Smith had a cooking show. This was back before the United States began assigning a cooking show to every 17th person born. It was a great show, she seemed like a really nice person. Well, she had dancer/actor Gregory Hines on, and he was telling the story of being little when his parents were showbiz people and how he’d be backstage with his Mom with the likes of Milton Berle. And that Milton Berle’s favorite meal to cook after a show was what he called Gashouse Eggs.

Now you would think there would be an explanation, on either B. Smith’s show or here within this blog, as to the origins of the name. But nope, that’s where the story ends. But luckily, it’s also where the recipe begins.

Gashouse Eggs

WHAT YOU NEED
4 TBSP butter
3 TBSP Worcestershire sause
4 eggs
4 pieces Texas toast
Salt and pepper

WHAT YOU DO
Cut a small hole in middle of each slice of toast. Melt butter and Worcestershire sauce in a skillet or griddle and stir to combine. Dredge toast through the butter mixture until both sides are covered. Crack one egg into each of the pieces of toast. Let cook until toast/egg are done on the bottom side and then flip to cook the other side.

Salt to taste and eat to full.

Bought Guitar Boy a new bike (he was looking a little Shriner in a tiny car-ish on the old one). Played some tetherball and tennis. Then we enjoyed a pre-dinner cocktail.

Fill a glass half full with a dry Rose, add a little bit of La Croix Cran-Raspberry sparkling water and drop in two raspberries. Re-Fresh-Ing.

Lingering around on Pinch of Yum’s site around dinner time, I made this Skinny Garlic Fried Rice.

This was seriously good and easy. If you have leftover rice, this would be a great dish, so versatile you could add anything. I cooked some shrimp with it and used various rainbow carrots from our garden in addition to cabbage (red and green). The only thing I changed was I added about 1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce at the end and stirred it for about another 2 minutes.

Ended with Cherry Pie Crumble Bars from Shutterbean.

I think I added too much filling, hence the artsy close up of the Crumble Bars, and no picture of, you know, an actual BAR. Still, scooped into a bowl and topped with ice cream, there were no complaints.

And then we went back across the street, for some more, s’mores. Because, why not?

Hey, at least they were outside *watching an iPhone – Scott Sterling!!!!!!!!*

Have a great week everyone.

A Perfect Summer Sunday

Finally, a perfect summer day. Hot but not too hot. No rain, no hail, no 50 degrees (hello, it’s July). Just a great day to play outside. And The Block did just that.

But what to eat on this fine day? I subscribe to the Hatchery Box which sends a monthly box of various ingredients and sauces made by American businesses. Here was July’s selection:

So tonight I used the 4 Rivers Smokehouse All Purpose Rub on grilled chicken – delish, but spicy.

And made Cucumber Dill Potato Salad with the cucumber vinegar from Olivelle.

Cucumber Dill Potato Salad

WHAT YOU NEED
3 lbs. small potatoes (either red or Yukon gold), scrubbed, cut in half or quarters depending on size
2 TBSP cucumber vinegar
1/2 cup mayonaisse
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup thinly sliced, diced red onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1/4 heaping cup of fresh chopped dill
1 tsp kosher salt
ground black pepper

WHAT YOU DO
Place potatoes in a pot and cover with water 1 inch above potatoes. Bring potatoes to a boil and boil 9-12 minutes until potatoes can be pierce with a fork. Drain and rinse potatoes.

Whisk the remaining ingredients in bowl in which you intend to serve the salad. Add potatoes and toss gently with rubber spatula to distribute the dressing. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.

Back outside. You know what is even better that neighbors that became dear friends who have a huge side yard that they let us use? Neighbors that became dear friends who have a huge side yard that they let us use when they put up a big, jumpy water slide.

And you know what is better than that? Neighbors that became dear friends who have a huge side yard that they let us use when they put up a big, jumpy water slide and serve Bourbon Slush Punch from Smitten Kitchen.

Here are some of my other favorite things this week:

Pixi Endless Silky Glide on Eye Pen

I was in Target and as I was on my knees, sobbing and cursing almighty Odin that Neutrogena had discontinued my bronzer/powder (I’m fun to shop with!), a beauty consultant suggested the Pixi by Petra line as a similar type product. She also offered me a free sample of their eye pencil which she said would not come off until I took it off. Challenge accepted.

Pixi Pencil 1, me 0. Seriously, put it on at 7:00 a.m. on an 85 degree/90% humidity day. Power-shopped the Nordstrom anniversary sale, cleaned the kitchen, put together appetizers, went to my step-nephew’s going away to the Navy party, dealt with my mother’s definition of air-conditioning vs my definition of air-conditioning, sat outside in the rain, binge-watched Bloodline until 11 p.m (do it, DO IT!) and consarnit if I didn’t need to get out the make-up remover. Target beauty consultant, I salute you.

You need to watch this video by Studio C right now. And you need to do so on either a TV or at least a computer (i.e., not your phone). This has become required viewing at our house. If you walk in, even if only for 5 minutes after dropping your college car off on return from South Bend before you catch the train to the city,

you will be shown this video by one of the boys. It is made by BYU students and is pretty hilarious. Who knew BYU had such a high production budget? Scott Sterling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great week everyone. I’m off to NY for meetings for a couple of days, so nothing cookin’ on the horizon. So you’re on your own. Unless you want pasta with jarred marinara, in which case, I will ask Kevin to guest post.

Weather – Please Make up Your Mind I’ve Got Things to Do

And pick up your toys and dirty socks from the family room! Oh, no, wait, that’s the boys, not the weather.

Do you have tomatoes that are not up to par on the summer tomato bliss meter? No problem, just slow roast them. Yep, that’s right, I went right from pictures of dirty socks to food. No time for segues.

And add them to my new favorite Summer Pasta Salad just as Smitten Kitchen predicted it would be. She never steers me wrong. Do not fear the oregano amount. She’s right, she’s always right. I used white wine vinegar for a lighter taste and ricotta sallata as I sometimes find feta overwhelming.

Also did Garlic Roasted Potatoes from Ina Garten. With two luminaries of cookbooks like that, it can’t go wrong. And since we were straddling between spring and summer over the weekend, we grilled steaks but then sautéed some asparagus.

Asparagus with Pancetta

WHAT YOU NEED
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb asparagus, sliced on diagonal in 1 inch pieces
1/4 lb pancetta sliced thick and then diced

WHAT YOU DO
Heat olive oil in pan. Add pancetta and stir until crisp. Remove pancetta to a paper towel lined plate. Add asparagus to the oil in pan. Stir about 4 minutes. Add 1 Tablespoon of water, stir and cover loosely and steam for about 3-5 minutes or until asparagus is bright green and tender.

Remove from pan with slotted spoon and sprinkle crispy pancetta over the asparagus.

What’s up for dessert. How about giant Pretzel M&M Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod via What’s Gaby Cooking? I really flattened them and thought that was better than when they puffed up. But to each their own.

Now it is June so hopefully we’ll see some solid summer grilling weather. I made some teacher gifts of candle holders with 150 sharpened pencils and tucked in Gerber daisies in their own test tube vials.

Fake Sister had her very last day at grade school.

So after today, she and Drummer Boy will no longer be in school together. Hang on, this computer keeps getting dust in my eyes. *misty*

Happy Last Day of School everyone!

Welcome to Middle Christmas

So here we are midway through the festivities, with Neighborhood Pizza Night and McNamara Christmas behind us. Let’s review, shall we?

Neighborhood Pizza Night was a fine time with many food gifts made. I made this Sriracha Salt, Middendorfs made all sorts of chocolate bark, Madly Pop’n sent Chicago Mix popcorn and the Coluntuano’s gave everyone their famous hand made tomato sauce so we have something to look forward to. I had planned to serve this Cake Batter Chocolate Bark from How Sweet It Is, but by the time I got home from work on Friday, this is all that was left:

Looking at you, Guitar Boy!

Fortunately, our neighbors from Pastries So Tasty make cake pops!

For the record, Baker Boy made lots and lots of cake pops, but by the time I could clear the children out to get a picture, this is what was left!

And they also did this with a Christmas wine topper. Cute!

Every year since we’ve moved here, which is also the year we acquired a digital SLR camera in an attempt to capture ANY picture of baby Drummer Boy smiling, we have created The Block book of pictures through the year. It forces us to actually create a yearly photo book and it makes a nice gift for the neighbors. Here is the 2014 edition on top of all the others:

Speaking of gifts, in honor of this here blog, the Borkowskis gave us these awesome lucky rhino bookends. And a gift card to TJ Maxx. Borkowskis are enablers.

In other gift news, when you make a joke saying the boys’ band should be called Turkey’s Furcula and you have a friend like John with immense creativity (see Fake Sister’s costume in Halloween posts), a touch of OCD and a love of music, you get this from the Rehors:

That’s right, Furcula concert t-shirts. For the whole family. Here’s the back:

Turkey’s Furcula, with the special guest, The Cranberries. Oh wait, such a gift would’t be complete without an magazine cover (bonus Furcula poster inside!):

In the end, all 34 people had a lovely time, and Kevin ordered…

…just the right amount of pizza.

Next day was McNamara Christmas. At the last minute (since Thursday I was flying from LaGuardia to Chicago, so it was anyone’s guess whether I’d be home by Saturday) I made this Smoked Salmon Dip from thekitchn. It was yummy and it tastes great with Trader Joe’s Everything Bagel Chips.

The boys went with ugly Christmas sweater theme for Mac Christmas:

And here is the whole crew:

it was basically your standard McNamara Christmas, with Irish dancing demonstrations, the cousins grab bag, and the children gathered around:

one kid playing Minecraft on an iPhone, while the rest of the family gathered around the traditional…

Danimals tree. Yep, your basic Christmas celebration.

I hope you’ve all made a dent in your shopping and will have time to relax and enjoy the rest of the month I just finished making the 5th batch of Chex Mix to create teacher gifts today, will move on to cookies next weekend.

Happy Middle Christmas everyone.

Welcome to October

Well, it’s official. I have more Halloween storage bins than Christmas storage bins (and I have a loooooot of Christmas storage bins). So it only took 2 days to get all the Halloween stuff up with help from my 10 and 8 year-old Halloween gravestone-placement consultants. I wanted to share some of my favorite décor items.

These are my new platters. I love, love, love them. I would marry them, but I don’t think they could get all the Halloween bins down from the attic with the efficiency that Kevin can. They are from Cost Plus World Market online:

Hello gorgeous! From TJ Maxx/HomeGoods:

Candles from Martha Stewart for Grandinroad a few years ago. Ghostie and pumpkin from TJ Maxx/HomeGoods:

Nosferatu painting in the bathroom – from Ebay, can’t read the artist’s name very well anymore, looks like it says Renee Backer:

Pillows for the kitchen table bench from TJ Maxx/HomeGoods (are you sensing a theme here?):

My favorite Halloween picture of Guitar Boy and Fake Sister (they were 4 & 5). Frame from TJ Maxx/HomeGoods:

My favorite Halloween picture of Drummer Boy. Frame from Kohls:

Here’s what the outside of the house looks like during the day:

And at night:

Soooo, it’s pretty clear that I have a TJ Maxx/HomeGoods “problem” that needs to be confronted.

Moving on.

What food is being made to celebrate this magical season you may ask? Well, it depends. Are we talking about the 9^th Avenue Halloween Block Party? Allison’s Costume-Mandatory 6^th Birthday Party? The High School/College/Old Friends We Never See Halloween Pizza Night Open House? Or are we talking about actual Halloween (on a Friday – woot!)? It is a crowded Field Notes party planner, that’s for sure.

Food on deck:

Crack Dip with Tomatoes from Whiteonricecouple.com

(see picture from prior post)

White Pizza Dip from Howsweeteats (my newest blog obsession)

Apple Cider Sangria from Howsweeteats (see above)

Brown Sugar Oatmeal Cookies from The Pioneer Woman (who is now designing her own line of cookware – jealous!)

Candied Pumpkin Seeds from Healthygreenkitchen

Cheddar Chive Cheese Pumpkin from Jamhands

Creamy Tomato Soup from Howsweeteats (really, I need to stop bothering this woman).

And in case you were wondering, Guitar Boy will be going to various parties as a crypt keeper/angel of death (need to get multiple uses out of our scythe!) and trick or treating as Star Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy. Drummer Boy will be a faceless specter at the parties and the 10^th Doctor Who for Halloween. Because out here, one costume is simply not enough.

Where could these kids get their sense of Halloween excess from? I wonder.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Happy Birthday America

Happy 4th of July everyone! I wanted to share my new favorite salt & pepper shakers which were a gift from my sister Mary (via Cracker Barrel).

It’s an honor to have you at my table, Messrs. Presidents.

Those that remain on 9th Avenue for the 4th are headed over in a bit, so I tried my hand at Smitten Kitchen’s patriotic galette.

So, not quite as nice as Smitten Kitchen’s. A pastry shaper I am not. Good thing i just learned that Jen from Pastries So Tasty is bringing a cherry pie!

So from all of us to all of you, enjoy your 4th with fireworks, friends or family. Or just relax in your favorite chair – Skunk style.

Lucky Rhino

For the recipes and pictures I promised to send, but never do.