A Weekend of Celebrations

I had a great weekend full of celebration. It began Friday night when Tony and I hosted our small group for a kick off potluck dinner. We have a terrific time catching up with our small group friends and planning our upcoming study.  We will be reading and discussing "Thinking. Loving. Doing.: A Call to Glorify God with Heart and Mind," edited by John Piper. We joined this group of Christian friends a few years ago and they are such a blessing. It was a perfect beginning to the weekend!

Saturday was a busy day as well and included celebrating a good friend of mine at her baby shower. She's a generous, caring and loving person and it was so nice to have a chance to celebrate her and rejoice over the soon-to-be family of 3. There was also a bit of birthday celebrating going on, including a breakfast specially made by Tony and a fun dinner out later in the day. It's official, I'm now 35! I was reflecting a bit on birthdays and celebrations and remember Tony and I celebrating my 21st birthday. I know that there were several years after that birthday where we did not celebrate together, but it was a reminder of how fast time flies. I can't believe that Tony and I have known each other for so long. :)

Sunday was day #3 of the celebrating. We hosted Tony's family for a birthday dinner -- celebrating my Father-in-Law's birthday as well as my own. As many of you know, I love making desserts. I asked my Father-in-Law what type of desserts he especially liked. I didn't know this before, but he really likes fruit pies! Unfortunately, I'm not a huge fruit pie fan (don't get me wrong...it's a dessert. I will eat it and enjoy it. Especially with ice cream! But I didn't really want to make one). Instead, I took the fruit pie idea....added a bit of gumption...and decided to try the traditional Tarte Tatin. It's a french apple tart that involves caramelizing the apples in a skillet on the stove, topping it with a puff pastry (that's what I used), pie or tart dough and baking it in the oven. This is one of the recipes in Dorie Greenspan's "Baking from My Home to Yours." This cookbook is chock full of delicious recipes and fantastic tips. My favorite tip for making the Tarte Tatin is that you must "quickly and confidently" flip the skillet onto a serving dish, keeping your tart intact. Not only did I manage to keep it all in once piece, but it was also delicious! For more on Dorie Greenspan, check out her blog (and please please please try one of her recipes. They are amazing!): 
http://doriegreenspan.com

Beyond the celebrating, yesterday afternoon also found me switching our house over to fall. Flannel sheets are now on the bed (Tony could hardly contain his happiness at that change), the fall table cloth is on the dining room table, fall dishtowels are hanging on the stove and the fall scented candles are beginning to replace the summer ones. Maybe this weekend I'll whip up the first batch of chili!  

Cooking Korean

I have a 3-ring binder on my cook book shelf that is full of recipes I've cut out of magazines or found online. It's my "sounds good, I should try this sometime" book. When I do try a recipe out of the book, we then make a decision: is this a keeper, or is this a one-time only recipe. Many have turned out to be one time only, though only a couple have been complete failures. 

Last night I tried Sesame-Soy Meatballs and it's a keeper! Tony said that it has all of the traditional Korean flavors, so I'd like to think that I finally made something Korean. I clearly need to up my repertoire a bit, but I am pleased that my first try went so well. 

Feeling like you need a little Korean flavor in your life? Here's the recipe (and note that Tony said that his kimchi was especially good with the meatballs).

Sesame-Soy Meatballs

from Cooking Light

Ingredients

1/3 cup minced green onions

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

1 tablespoon chile paste (such as sambal oelek)

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 pound ground sirloin

Cooking spray

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.

2. Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Add beef; mix gently to combine. With moist hands, shape beef mixture into 20 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs.

3. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the meatballs to pan; cook 4 minutes, turning to brown meatballs on all sides. Arrange browned meatballs in a single layer on a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining meatballs. Bake meatballs at 400° for 7 minutes or until done.

Serve with brown rice or asian noodles.

The Glorious Sweet Potato

I think sweet potatoes qualify as my favorite vegetable (though grilled zucchini or sweet corn come in at a close second). I don't remember eating them when I was younger but am so glad to have discovered them as an adult! The sweet potato is only distantly related to the regular potato. It's high in beta-carotene and vitamin A and can be eaten as is or made sweet (with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, etc.) or savory (think onions, rosemary, thyme, garlic, sour cream, etc.). They are good baked, roasted, sauteed and added to couscous or pasta, sliced and treated as fries, mashed or grilled. You just can't go wrong!

My personal favorite is the Red Garnet. It's deeper in color and flavor than the traditional yam and is usually found right next to them in the grocery store. Last night we enjoyed a mashed variety. I've dropped the recipe below as it's one we've made a few times. The result is quite tasty! Just be sure to slice the potatoes as directed, otherwise they take a long time to cook up. Enjoy.

Herb Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Caramelized Onion

From Cooks Country; Serves 4 to 6

This recipe can be doubled and prepared in a Dutch oven, but the cooking time will need to be doubled as well. If you prefer, substitute 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme for the thyme sprig (but do not remove in step 2).

Ingredients

5
 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 5 pieces

3 
tablespoons heavy cream

1 1/4 
teaspoons sugar

2 
pounds sweet potatoes (2 large or 3 medium), peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1
 sprig fresh thyme (see note)

1 
small onion, chopped

1 
tablespoon sour cream

Instructions

1. Combine 4 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, 1 teaspoon sugar, thyme, and sweet potatoes in large saucepan. Cook, covered, over low heat until potatoes are fall-apart tender, 35 to 40 minutes.

                       

2. While sweet potatoes are cooking, melt remaining tablespoon butter in small nonstick skillet and add onion, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Cook over low heat until onion is caramelized, about 15 minutes. Set aside until sweet potatoes are done cooking.

                       

3. Once sweet potatoes are done cooking, take pan off heat. Discard thyme sprig, add remaining tablespoon cream, and mash sweet potatoes with potato masher. Stir in onion and sour cream. Serve.