Two Tales to Tell

This week has been nuttier than I ever anticipated.

Funny things first. 

My only days off this week (and until Christmas if you want to get technical) were Tuesday and today. My daughter had a snow day Tuesday and she decided to play restaurant and make me lunch.

She presented me with a menu and very quickly informed me that I should not worry about what we *actually* had in the house because she had a plan.

I ordered the nachos supreme and the olives, with the chocolate surprise for dessert.

My daughter is nine and a half. This becomes important to understand what happens next.

She realized we had no tortilla chips for nachos so she used some fancy water crackers, sprinkled them with finely shredded mozzarella cheese and put them in the microwave on high for six minutes.

Meanwhile, she took my fancy chocolate bar and placed a piece of it into a small plastic bowl. She placed the bowl in a saucepan and turned on the burner to create her own version of a double boiler. Except she forgot the water. Once the plastic began to melt, the smell made her panic and she called me into the kitchen.

I turned the nachos off (four minutes in) and explained to her how her theory was off on the double boiler. The saucepan and the plastic bowl went into the trash.

I added salsa to the "nachos" and are them like a good mom. She did manage to melt the chocolate in the microwave, and added a touch of coconut milk to it, to make a delicious hot fudge sauce for ice cream.

She was heartbroken seeing only her failure.

"I just wanted to take what we have and make a great meal like you always do."

I told her she did. Because she did. And she made just as many good choices as bad. I enjoyed giving her freedom and independence in the kitchen. And I think she learned a lot.

And I did enjoy the meal. 

Now, the next challenge. I volunteered to make Christmas dinner for ten. I have no plan. I have no groceries. Must shop.

Ideas:

- dates stuffed with cream cheese

- vegetable mini pot pies

- spinach/dark greens salad with homemade berry vinegrette 

- roasted "popcorn" cauliflower

- cornbread

- Brussel sprouts

- some sort if sweet potato dish with apples? Pecans?

- homemade cranberry relish 

- homemade applesauce 

My stepmom is making a ham.

Her sister is making baked mac and cheese.

Dirt and worm pie

My husband and daughter, when they went to the store Monday night after my accident, bought lots of instant pudding (and no milk!). They picked out chocolate, butterscotch, and Oreo creme. Oh, and vanilla, since I'm a vanilla girl. Except they accidentally bought sugar-free, fat fat free.

My husband LOVES chocolate pudding, especially the kind that comes in a can. He does not share my gourmet tendencies.

My daughter likes to go to a certain franchise restaurant not because she likes the food, but because they have a "dirt and worms" dessert. She finds the food at this chain mediocre and never eats the pudding, but crush some Oreos and add gummy worms and she's thrilled.

So my husband made her a pie with a store-bought Graham cracker crust (which he lamented was nowhere near as tasty as his own), instant chocolate pudding, crushed berry Oreos (the ones I bought for $2 at Target), and gummy worms (from someone's Easter basket).

Microwave cobbler

I got out of my Intro to Political Theory class at 3 today. I left campus at 3:05 and was home before 3:15. I have to leave my house by 4:23 to return to campus to get my husband when he gets off work so that left about an hour. I ate a handful of trail mix, poured a cup of coffee and sat to check my email. Then, I told my daughter if she wanted we could make a cobbler. She was thrilled.

This cobbler can be a real life saver! And it's so adaptable. I snagged the recipe in one of my vegan cooking courses at Northampton Community College. The instructor, Eileen Breslin, had adapted it from a newspaper clipping. She made it vegan, but it certainly doesn't have to be.

One quick side discussion before I reveal the secret to the 30 minute start-to-finish fruit cobbler. If you're looking for a vegan, non-hydrogenated margarine that mimics real butter in flavor and cooking, try Earth Balance. I love it, but lately I have not been able to afford it.

Commercial done. Now, the recipe:

Microwave Blueberry Cobbler

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 cup milk or soy milk

1/2 cup butter or margarine

2.5 cups blueberries

Mix dry ingredients in 8 x 8 microwavable pan. Stir in milk. Melt belter and pour over batter. Drop in fruit. Microwave 12-14 minutes until batter sets and butter dries.

Now my version today was a peach cobbler and I didn't have quite as much fruit. My ingredients were more like:

Angel's peach cobbler

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tsp honey

1/3 cup margarine

1 small can peaches

cinnamon

I drizzled the honey on the batter before the margarine and sprinkled cinnamon on the peaches before cooking.