menu of the week

It's the still the weekend for us (Matt has today off) but I wanted to get this post up first thing. Last week was an unusual one in our house because each night I made a new recipe. That's right, every single night was basically an experiment in prep & presentation, and all in all I think it went pretty well. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I created the menu because it could have gone horribly wrong but luckily that wasn't the case.

hearty kale & potato soup - Another recipe from The Cleaner Plate Club and another success. It came together quickly and the kale was tender rather than bitter. I thought Ezra might turn his nose up at this meal but he dug in with his own spoon and ate quite a lot.

steak au poivre with long leek pie - If you read my post from the day after Valentine's Day then you know my special date night dinner didn't go as planned. For one, I didn't realize the steak was folded inside the package and only realized it when I took it out of the pan. Fail. After making the sauce, I practically started over with the steak so the ends were on the tough side, but the majority turned out just fine. Phew. The long leek pie is another story altogether. I thought four sheets of puff pastry sounded like a lot but I generally follow recipes pretty closely the first time around so I went with it. While the edges crisped nicely, the underside was doughy and quite the disappointment. If I made it again I would only use one or two sheets of puff pastry, but the leek and goat cheese topping was delicious.

spaghetti with herbs, chilies, and eggs - This one was super quick and easy, but I did leave out the chilies because I'm lame like that. I was surprised at how much I loved the runny egg yolks with the pasta, which was whole wheat, by the way.

salmon and brussels sprouts with ginger-scallion sauce - A new favorite of mine. I wrote about my usual way to prepare salmon here, but this was a refreshing change and the ginger scallion sauce so good that I completely smothered my salmon and brussels sprouts in it.

swiss chard and cheddar quiche - Thanks to a pre-made pie crust I picked up at Whole Foods, this meal was a cinch to prepare; however, the oven time just about killed Matt who was apparently wasting away. I told him to eat an apple and be quiet. Forty-five minutes later we ate the hot quiche with a salad of red and green leaf lettuce with sliced pink lady apples and a mustard vinaigrette. Very satisfying, although Matt was a bit ravenous so I imagine he would have been satisfied with almost anything.

To satisfy our sweet teeth (tooths?), I made peanut butter and fleur de sel brownies. They disappeared in just three days. What are you cooking this week?

cookie stars

To kick off the week before Christmas, I'm sharing what I thought was a fantastic idea (if I may say so) for easy and festive cookies. Have any parties to go to this week? Were you pegged to bring a dessert on Christmas Day? These cookies have your name written all over them. They're also delicious, as cookies should be. The process is simple. Whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough (I used this classic recipe) and instead of making drop cookies, spread the dough into a baking pan. Bake as directed. Mine only took about twenty-two minutes in a 375° oven. 

While the giant cookie rectangle is baking, rummage through your kitchen drawers to find your favorite cookie cutters. I selected four stars of different sizes. When the "cookies" come out of the oven, you can do one of two things. Either allow the cookie to cool and cut out your shapes later, or get right to work.

We had plans to go out as soon as my oven timer dinged, so I was forced to let the cookie cool before cutting. I think it would have been easier to cut the star shapes if it hadn't cooled for a couple of hours. Ten to fifteen minutes would have probably been enough. Then I wouldn't have needed to use my entire body weight to press the cookie cutters into the cookie bar and a dishtowel to protect my hands from the sharp edges that were digging into my flesh. Learn from my mistakes, please. 

Anyway, cut out whatever shapes you like from the cookie bar and then enjoy! This is now my official method of making chocolate chip cookies. I know bar cookies aren't new, but I've never really made them before and they're so much easier than drop cookies. One pan makes for much less clean up, and you're not waiting for batch after batch to come out of the oven. So chocolate chip cookie bars it is, and if I'm feeling fancy I'll dig out the cookie cutters. Maybe next time I'll make some wild animals!

Bonus: there are a lot of cookie scraps left over, and you don't even have to share those with your guests.

a monster bash

Now that the dust has settled, I'm so excited to finally share Ezra's birthday party. My friend Keri snapped lots of photos for us and I'm so thankful that I didn't have to worry about capturing all the little details.

The theme and decorations were all based on Ezra's Ugly Doll and the colors of Ezra's room. 

Upon entering the room (we used our church's fellowship hall), guests were greeted by Ezra's stuffed animal collection. 

I hung one photo from each of his month shoots on the wall... after looking at them all lined up I couldn't believe how much he changed from month to month!

This photo book was created on Shutterfly to use as a guest book.

Of course we had to have pom poms. Three hung over each table as a vague pom chandelier.

My mother-in-law, my mom, and I baked up lots of sweet treats for all our guests. We served coffee, tea, water, and Yacht Club soda.

{rice krispie treats} 

(made with fluff, the secret ingredient, instead of marshmallows!)

{vanilla cupcakes}

{fruit salad}

{double chocolate brownie bites}

{chocolate cake pops}

There was a 'sugar cookie decoration station' for the kids (inspired by this party), although I think a fair amount of adults got in on the frosting and sprinkle action. 

Ezra was much more impressed with his little cake when it was topped with a flaming candle than when he was allowed to dig in...

Rather than eat it himself, Ezra decided to share some with his Uncle Brendan and cousin Jacob.

I'll admit it was a little dry. He must have been parched.

Each place was set with an orange monster, er, a clementine with a googly eye - (idea from here)...

...the eyeballs seemed to migrate to human foreheads very quickly. 

I got the idea for the 'adopt a monster' favor from party perfect, and then a few months later found these great patterns for mini monsters. My mom and my aunt along with my cousin's daughters (ages 9 and 4!) worked overtime to help me get these finished in time.

Many thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate Ezra's first year!

P.S. Check out the awesome gift that Keri made for Ezra!

bon appetit

This looks like a great entertaining resource.  Anyone have it?

from Chronicle Books