Grandpa's Visit

Brian's dad came to visit (Eli) for the weekend. We had lots of fun, especially the smallest host. We went to the circus, park, and toy store.



After a little time warming up, Eli was crazy about Grandpa.





He wouldn't even let him escape to the bathroom in peace.





It was a weekend full of merriment and food.

Birthday... Man

Today is Brian's 26th birthday and his dad, Frank, is even here from Oregon to celebrate. Since he's taking his many calls I thought I could sneak away and write about my sweet birthday boy.
26 years ago his parents were driving as quickly as possible through the canyon to get from Afton Wyoming to Logan Utah where the nearest hospital was to deliver their 1st child. His poor mom's water broke in the car and he was born soon after arriving at the hospital. I bet everyone was wondering what a half Korean, half Mexican baby would look like. Beautiful. He grew up to be much like his dad, hardworking, sentimental, gentle, and food-loving.
Today we celebrated with his favorite foods. His present from me was a make your own mozzarella kit. He was excited for every meal, starting with breakfast: crepes with nutela, strawberries, bananas, and cinnamon apples. Lunch with homemade tortillas, chili, and beans. Dinner was surprisingly French, despite his Asian obsession:to-die-for pork tenderloin with a creamy mushroom sauce. He definitely won't complain about his lunch of leftovers tomorrow. His cake, already mentioned a few days ago, was a total hit, with the boys around the table groaning with enjoyment after each dark chocolaty bite.
Lucky for both of us, his favorite leisure activity revolves around my favorite past time, cooking.
We must be meant for each other. Happy Birthday Bri, I love you.

The Super-Vegetable

Our Beautiful cinderella pumpkin was the onset of my recent enthusiasm for all things squash. This morning at the farmer's market here in town I got even more excited over their beauty and variety. Some were red, green, white, grey, and even white with small veins of pink. These perfect vegetables are easily available, stay good for weeks or months on the counter, and are so healthy and versatile in dishes.
I never really cooked squash until Eli needed baby food and I was obsessed with feeding my prescious little one only the best food I could find. Although butternut is more mainstream, I learned that acorn squash (the little round dark green one with ridges) has much more fiber and is a bit sweeter. Yesterday I made a pureed soup of the two, my best yet:

1 Acorn Squash (halved and seeded)
1 Butternut Squash (halved and seeded)
Oil them a little so they don't dry out or stick to your roasting pan and bake, face-down, at 375 for 1 hour or so, until soft when poked. In the mean time saute:
3 Chopped Carrots
3 Ribs of Celery Chopped
1/2 Onion Chopped in
2 TBSP Oil
Until tender and add
2 Cups of Chicken Broth (I just add water and a bouillon cube) and simmer with any fresh herbs like parsley or thyme and a couple bay leaves.
Once the squash is done, scoop it out of the skin and into a blender with some of the broth and vegetables, leaving out the herbs. You may have to do it in batches and add milk or broth to thin out to desired consistency and salt to taste. I served with ribbons of fresh sage.

Now to other uses. This month in Better Homes and Gardens they had the idea of taking an apple corer to take polka dots out of multi-colored pumpkins and switching them around, so, for example, you have a white pumpkin with orange dots. Martha has plenty of ideas for pumpkins, here are some carving templates.
And don't throw away those seeds in those pumpkin guts, yesterday I learned they have many health benefits. With all their domestic uses, what's there not to be enthusiastic about?

DI Rediscovered

Brian and I used to go to DI (Utah version of Salvation Army) to look for house stuff when we were first married and quite poor. Then Eli came and I wouldn't even shop at Wal-mart because it felt so dirty. We switched to shopping the pristine, empty aisles of Target while Eli was tiny since it was Winter and germy. (If I sound crazy, I've talked to other moms who did the same thing). Eli must be old hat. Now, after a 2 year hiatus, I found the Sandy DI a few weeks ago and we go all the time. Eli loves the toy section and I scope out the glassware for kitchen storage containers. (I'm already preparing for a dream kitchen with a few open shelves instead of upper cabinets like the white kitchen blow.)

If the boy gives me enough time I scour through the books to find quality cookbooks for a dollar or two. Its like an ongoing yard sale that you don't have to drive all over town or wake up early for. My love of yard sales, I'm definitely my mother's daughter. Whenever I feel self-conscious for being a cheapskate rummaging through junk I think about it from a different perspective: I'm just being eco-conscious. Then I can hold my head high.

2 Church Sunday, Chocolate and Vanilla Please

Brian was invited to one of his student's church services Sunday at the Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake where she was to be recognized in front of the congregation for her outstanding achievement in getting 2nd place in forms at Soo Bahk Do Nationals in August. Eli and I went too. Everyone was friendly and smiling, asking our names and shaking hands. We felt so welcome.
The music was joyful and made me want to dance, which I did after looking around to see what the others were doing. I told Brian to bring home a Gladys Knight CD if he runs into one at work.
Everyone was so vocal and fervent in their beliefs, even teenagers. It was a good lesson for me, for whom church usually involves 3 hours without much speech or emotion. These people were so happy just have the chance to wake up and worship on Sunday morning.
The diversity in the membership was another highlight for me. In the middle they had all visitors stand and introduce themselves. There were people visiting for a university public speaking class, some were in Salt Lake because family members were at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, others were faithful transients, and even a newly-elected Congressman was there to say Thank You to the congregation for all the work it had done after Katrina, taking in, feeding, and clothing some of those displaced by the storm.
Brian was honored to be invited and I was happy to attend. I will take many things away. I admired how they supported their youth, were unashamed to praise God, took local action to help others, and were warm to newcomers. I guess we found out where all the nice people in Salt Lake are.

Happy First Day of Fall

From our almost-too-beautiful-to-eat cinderella pumpkin

Pollo Negro

Well, for last night's dinner I was dreaming of recreating the best grilled chicken from my favorite restaurant chain in California. Don't be fooled by the humble surroundings, Pollo Norteno, grills up the best chicken you've ever had. I found a close competitor's marinade recipe online since theirs is obviously Top Secret. Preparation began early. In the morning I started boiling pinto beans and got the meat marinating. In the afternoon made spanish rice, and tortillas. We even had fresh home-made salsa. Everything was ready for my pollo dreams to come true.
I guess I was over-confident in my cooking abilities, or just impatient, and decided to work the gas grill for the first time by myself. Brian would be home soon to finish things off. I knew from FoodTV to grill the chicken on low heat for a long time since it takes a while to cook and you don't want grease-induced flames burning the outside before the inside is cooked. I tried adjusting temperatures and moving the meat to the top rack. Apparently traffic was bad and Brian didn't get home until the chicken was black-the skin that is, but I was still sad since that's my favorite part.
Despite it's color, dinner was a hit. Eli was a maniac about all of it, especially the beans (here he is stealing some from my plate). The boys left to hang out with the Young Men from church and I planned to redeem myself by making tart to use up some of the raspberries (which Brian LOVES) that were on super-sale for $1/pack. I made a ground almond crust since it is easier to press a crumble into the tart pan rather than having to roll out finicky dough and filled it with a sinful concoction of raspberry, heavy cream, melted chocolate, and butter. Too bad everyone I know is trying to eat healthier, but if you have an anniversary, birthday, or change your ways, this is a luscious, simple dessert good enough to make anyone cheat on their diet. It took overnight to set, so it was actually breakfast. Poor me.