Spring in February: Shrimp & Pea Risotto

Posted on February 7, 2012 by gourmetmommy

Hey, East Coasters. Been enjoying the mild winter? You’re welcome. february

Oh, did I just take credit for the 50 degree sunny days in February? You tell me:

1. In November we bought snow boots for the entire family. Including N, who will totally outgrow them before next year.

2. We moved our entire house around so that we could make a playroom for N. This was so that in the bitter winter months, he’ll have a place to play since we won’t be able to go outside.

3. We made some new friends, and have made a plan to meet for a ploughman’s platter extravaganza on the first snow day. But we have agreed not to speak of it again until that snow day.

I’m pretty sure there’s a dude name Murphy out there laughing at us.

Ok, so it’s spring. I can dig it. How about some Shrimp & Pea Risotto? Continue reading →

Super Easy Super Bowl

Posted on February 4, 2012 by gourmetmommy

Sniff. Sob. Waaaa.

No, that’s not K, darling child that she is almost sleeping through the night. That’s me, mourning the end of yet another football season. This was a rough one for me. My fantasy team stunk–I lost my first two draft picks in the first week with season-ending injuries. My college team, for which I had such high hopes (Go NOLES!), didn’t show up this season. And my pro team, Go Steelers, did just well enough to get into the playoffs but injured themselves so badly in the process they didn’t have a prayer of making it to the big dance.

So. Here we are. End of the season on Sunday. Pats, Giants, couldn’t care less except I will care less when there’s no football at all. So, to mourn the end of another football season, I will celebrate all of the close match ups, overtime victories and losses, wide left field goal attempts, with a fabulous Super Bowl-worthy spread. But my goodness, I’m not going to put any effort into it.

While I wouldn’t serve the wings to little ones, the chili and guacamole are appropriate for kids over a year or so.

Baked Buffalo Wings

I love Buffalo wings, but they are seriously so bad for you. Deep fried, tossed in hot sauce and butter…I don’t even want to think about how many points they are. And if you make them the traditional way at home, it’s a messy and dangerous endeavor–especially with kids around.

So I use a MUCH easier, and probably a little bit healthier, method: I bake them. Continue reading →

Winter “BLT” Night: Grilled Gruyere with Salami Relish and Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

Posted on January 27, 2012 by gourmetmommy

First, a tale. Then, winter BLT that is actually salami and gruyere.

Our friend Steve owns a restaurant. It’s a really cool restaurant with great food, great beer, and a hip vibe. We like to go there because it kind of makes us feel young and hip. Going out to eat at 6pm with 2 kids is so not young or hip, but please don’t burst our bubble.

Steve moved to our neighborhood in the summertime to open his place. Opening a restaurant is hard. And surreal. The stories he would tell ranged from construction snafu’s to wine tastings to city red tape navigation. I think Steve was working 100 hours or more a week to get the place up and running.

That same summer, I found myself going to the farmers market on Sunday mornings and buying way too many heirloom tomatoes and fresh baked bread. And I made bacon for breakfast, but since I bake it I we always had leftovers. Leftover bacon? Weird, but yes somehow we managed not to consume it all.

So, BLT Monday was born. Steve needed a break from whatever he was dealing with that week. And we needed an outlet for our leftover bacon, fresh beautiful tomatoes, grilled day-old bread rubbed with garlic…

I wish it were summer. I miss tomatoes.

But it’s not. Our friend Steve came over on a recent Monday on his night off from his cool place. It’s the first time in ages we’d seen him outside of his restaurant. So I wanted to make the winter version of Monday BLT’s.

We’re back to the salami and gruyere. Almost. Continue reading →

My date with…me: popcorn and chardonnay

Posted on January 21, 2012 by gourmetmommy

I don’t get a lot of me time. Two kids, full-time job, family, friends pretty much keeps me in the company of people and things I love constantly. But here’s the thing: I love being alone sometimes too.

Alone means I can blog. Or read. Or clean. Or organize. Organize the toys. Find all of those pieces to Candyland that I keep stepping on. I found a little person in the laundry. Oh laundry. Socks. I need to pair socks. So many socks living single in one drawer, pining for their mate.

Stop. I’m spiraling.

Alone you get to do those things you can’t do with other people. Like pop popcorn. Dan hates popcorn. It’s weird…apparently it has something to do with someone burning microwave popcorn a decade ago, but I hardly ever make popcorn while he’s around because he hates the smell so much.

And movies. How many chick flicks have come out in the past year? 1,000? How many have I seen? Exactly 0. It’s time to get cracking. Where to start? Twilight? Meh. You can’t really watch that ironically by yourself, and I’m not sure I’m ready to admit that I would totally watch it not ironically. Because I would. Maybe something starring Anne Hathaway. She seems to be the queen of romcom these days. Nah. I’m going for Twilight. Ironically. Or maybe not.

I get some alone time tonight. After the kids go to bed. Since alone time just means there aren’t any kids or dogs or adults on the couch with me. It’s enough.

Tonight, while Dan is taking a well-deserved night off with his friends, I am going to sit here with all of my socks living in sin, pop some popcorn, drink some chardonnay, watch ironic movies unironically and have a great date with me.

Buttery Popcorn

1/2 cup popcorn kernels
4 teaspoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon iodized salt

Pop popcorn. I have this weird 60′s looking contraption I put in my microwave to pop the corn easily and without any added fat. Then toss the corn with butter and salt. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Night: Turkey Meatballs Florentine

Posted on January 18, 2012 by gourmetmommy

Wednesday night is spaghetti night in our house. Well, not actually IN our house…our favorite pub down the street has a spaghetti special on Wednesday nights and after a day of brain drain we typically blow off whatever healthy dinner we had planned and head on down to the pub. N doesn’t mind.

But, it’s the new year and all, so I’m trying to be healthy…can we get to February already so we can start talking about chocolate and martinis?

Right, still January. Healthy. So here’s an alternative to a huge portion of pub-style spaghetti and meatballs: Turkey Meatballs Florentine. Continue reading →

Giveaway Time! $25 Williams Sonoma Gift Card

Posted on January 16, 2012 by gourmetmommy

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I’m so excited to offer my first giveaway! So fun! I have a $25 Williams Sonoma gift card so you can grab those items you didn’t get over the holidays. Here are a few of my favorite under-$25 items from Williams Sonoma.

5 chances to win! Make sure to leave a comment about each of ways you entered to be counted. Winner will be selected by random.org. U.S. residents only. Giveaway starts on Monday, January 16 and ends at 9pm EST on Saturday, January 21.

To enter:

1. Leave a comment telling me what you’d get with the gift card

2. Follow @gourmetmommy on twitter

3. Tweet the following: I’ve just entered to #win a $25 @WilliamsSonoma gift card from @gourmetmommy. http://wp.me/pzAFl-gb #giveaway

4. Subscribe to Gourmet Mommy updates by email or RSS (link in sidebar)

5. Like Gourmet Mommy on Facebook

Please remember to leave a comment for each of the ways you enter. Otherwise only one entry will be counted. If you already like me on facebook or follow me on twitter, that counts! Just let me know by leaving a separate comment.

I’m linking this giveaway up to: Contest Girl and The Blog Giveaway Directory

Official Rules:

To enter leave a comment.

U.S. residents only.

One winner with a valid entry will be selected at random, using random.org. I will email the winner and they will have up to 3 days to claim their prize or another winner will be selected.

Gourmet Mommy B&B

Posted on January 15, 2012 by gourmetmommy

Oh happy day, our friends came to play. Which means something so different than what it meant in pre-kids days. Even with the 4 kids running around underfoot though, we can still manage to have good food, good wine and good conversation:

“How’s your book coming along? Nicholas PUT THAT DOWN.”

“Jo Jo stop moving the furniture. Great, almost done”

“I can’t wait to read–WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH”

Ok, well at least we can have good food and good wine.

Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon and boiled potatoes. A cheap cut of meat simmered in wine and bacon all day. Yeah, it didn’t suck. It could also all be made ahead so I wasn’t spending too much time in the kitchen, unless I was trying to escape the chaos.

I also made breakfast ahead so when the kids woke us up at 5:30am after a big night of visiting, we didn’t need to worry about cooking. Just turn on the oven and pop in the Southern Breakfast Strata. An hour later it’s done.

So, the menu for an effortless weekend of entertaining with 4 kids?

Dinner
Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon
Buttered Parsley Potatoes
Apple Fennel and Celery Salad (a la Gourmande in the Kitchen)
Wine: Coates du Rhone

Breakfast
Southern Breakfast Strata

Gourmet Mommy

Recipes and cooking tips for foodie families.