Lavender Lemon Thumbprint Cookies and a Return to Normalcy...ish

 I'm back...ish!

You know...in those years when I was blogging constantly, I used to come across other people's zombie blogs out there on the internet and wonder how they could just abandon something they had poured themselves into.

Then, you know...life happened.  And suddenly I understood.

First school, then the pandemic, then school again.  It's been an interesting few years to say the least.

That being said, this blog...it represents so many moments in my life.  It has continued to serve as my own personal recipe book over the years, regardless of what time or desire I have had to add to it.

It means a lot to me.  It has also been quite a while since I've felt the drive to contribute to it again.

BLAT Pizza and Healthier Crusts

There's something about a good flatbread or light pizza that's just so satisfying.
Flavorful and delicious without being heavy and greasy.

One of the things I love about the CAULIPOWER crusts (remember from the last post about Vietnamese Spring Roll Pizza?) is that they're the perfect, crispy base for toppings while staying light and not weighing me down.  Plus they're SUPER easy to pull out of the freezer and throw together a meal with- no prefacing of crust required!

I'm all about the easy meals at the moment.

I've got to say guys, this is my 5th semester of college and I'm just not digging this one as much as the others.  Maybe it's because I've been fighting a low-key cold and exhaustion for what seems like weeks now.  Maybe it's because I have other stuff on my mind.   Maybe it's just because I seem to have scheduled a semester that consists (almost) entirely of classes that- while in subjects that interest me- are kind of like the bottom level of that area of interest.

Spring Roll Pizza and New Uses for Cauliflower

I'm not sure when cauliflower became the duct tape of the culinary world, but these days it seems to be the cure-all, quick-fix du jour.

Want mashed potatoes?

Mash some cauliflower.

{Blech, btw}

Want rice?

Rice some cauliflower.

{Gotta say...tried it once and it just wasn't doing it for me}

Want a steak?

Grill some cauliflower.

{Tried it.  Good, but no substitute.}

Want pizza crust?

Use some cauliflower!

Ok, that last one...I've been mildly successful with.

I mean, not like "ohmygosh, I can't believe it's not bread!" successful, but tasty successful.

Totally passable on a low-carb diet successful.

{In fact, totally check out this recipe if you're low-carbing it, it's great!}

Lets just say, as a whole, I've not been super-impressed by the ways in which cauliflower has moved up in the world.

Grilled Pesto Marinated Chicken and The Joy of Swimming Alone

This year I discovered the joy of going to the pool by myself.

For the past 13 years I have rarely set foot in a swimming pool without constantly being on alert in order to make sure kids don't drown.

This week has been different.

It started the day after my kids returned to school- I'd spent several hours out in the heat working in the yard and I was hot and sore.

The pool sounded pretty fabulous, so I suited up and headed for the water.

Oh my word.

Relaxing in the water, eyes closed, carefree.

Lounging in a chair, soaking up the sun on my (very well coated with sunscreen) skin.

Sitting in a lounge chair!

Can you believe it‽

Those have always seemed like the realm of the child-free.

Yet I have enjoyed them every single day this week.

It's been pretty fabulous.

Greek Salads and Light Summer Sides

Have I ever told you about the time I walked into the dining room and found my daughter sitting at the table digging into a block of feta cheese like it was an apple?

Because that happened once- and she will never live it down.  :-)

That child, my far-less-than-before-but-nevertheless-picky eater, loves feta.

And I love it when either one of my kids expands their culinary comfort zone, so I'm all for it.

Which means that I often find myself making recipes that call for feta- and ensuring that there's a little left over in the fridge for her.

You know...maybe less than an apple-sized brick but enough to make her happy.

We've reached a point where she will eat tomatoes, peppers, and onions as long as they're cooked into something but we're still working on tolerating them in their natural state.  I decided to push her limits a little with My Big Fat Greek Salad.  Not only does it have her favorite cheese but two kinds of olives- and that child would eat an entire jar of olives if given the opportunity!

Incredible Sauces and Former Vegetarians

My freshman year of high school I announced to my mother that I was becoming a vegetarian.

This announcement triggered a years-long attempt on her part to care for my nutritional needs by sneaking tofu into food, pointing at the word "seitan" in a recipe for the clerk at the health food store to avoid mispronouncing the word, and making sure that beans and rice were always paired to create a complete protein (to be honest I don't even know what that means...should I have learned this in Biology?).

Tofu was in enchiladas.  Tofu was in lasagna.  Tofu was everywhere.

Despite the fact that I'm still not much of a meat-eater, I haven't been a vegetarian for 18 or-so years now- and I haven't bought tofu since I moved out on my own.  This isn't the kind of recipe I'd normally gravitate towards!

Thai Beef Curry and Unforgettable Meals

Cooking for my family can be a challenge.

My daughter and husband?

Meat and potatoes all the way.

My son?

Oh wow.  He's pretty much the pickiest eater on the face of the planet and there are almost no meals I can make for the rest of the family that he will eat along with us.

Then there's me.

I was a vegetarian for six or-so years.  I eat meat now...in very, very small quantities.

I like weird foods.  Or last least a variety of ethnic foods and more "new American" fare.

If it's different and full of flavor I'm drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

Easy Breakfasts, Delicious Ham, and Egg-Hating Children

Both of my kids liked eggs when they were little.  I still remember my daughter's little fingers plucking chunks of scrambled egg from her high chair tray and at one point in time her love of deviled eggs rivaled my own- even my picky son would eat them snuck into a grilled cheese sandwich as a toddler.

I have no idea what went wrong, but they've both been turning their noses up at eggs for years now.

Me?

I'll take them scrambled, fried, hard-boiled, frittata-d, omelette-fied, poached, and pretty much any other way they can be prepared short of over-easy or sunny side up.

I had the chance to work with Smithfield again (I love working with Smithfield!  Such a fabulous brand and quality product.  Remember those Spicy Smoked Back Ribs with Maple Glaze I made with them a few years ago?  That sauce is still my go-to BBQ sauce recipe!) for Allrecipes last month and this time the recipes focused on their yummy ham and were more breakfast-oriented.

Incredible Baked Chicken and Long-Awaited Returns

What a weird year.

What a weird life.

If you'd asked me at any point growing up where I envisioned myself at this point in my life there's a strong chance they involved a law degree from Harvard, 2 kids, the northeast, a luxury vehicle, a swimming pool in the backyard, and a picket fence around my perfectly manicured yard.

I had big, yuppie, dreams, guys.

Life tends to take a far more circuitous and unexpected route than we plan as kids, doesn't it?

I'm not going to lie: my life is fabulous.

Just not fabulous in the way I envisioned it as a child.

My family is fabulous, my needs are covered, I've had incredible experiences thanks to my love of cooking, and I get to spend my days learning incredible things at a school whose campus legitimately takes my breath away some days.

Long Breaks, Busy Days, and Quick Indian Meals

I've been at this whole blog thing for almost seven years now.

Seven years!

So much has changed in my life since then.

Seven years ago I was pretty new at being a stay-at-home mom.

I had a baby.

I certainly didn't imagine that present-day Nora would be back in school and taking math classes and working her tail off to keep everything in balance.

Yet, here we are, seven years later, living a life that looks very different than it did when I started this blog.

Chocolate-Dipped Cookies and Fabulous Reviews

Ladies and gentlemen, there is an absolutely ludicrous amount of sugar in my home at the moment.

So many cookies.  So much snack mix.  So many tubs of frosting in the fridge.

A few weeks ago, before my house had been inundated by sugary holiday madness, I created a recipe for Allrecipes.  I ate some, I froze some, I sent some to my parents, I called it a day.

I just happened to notice that Allrecipes published my recipe and clicked on over to see it.

Ummm...guys, it has 9 reviews from the last two days alone and every single one of them is glowing.

Talk about an ego boost!

Well world, I'm glad you're enjoying them!

Cranberry-Turkey Pinwheels and Too Many Leftovers

The day after Thanksgiving my husband left to go visit family for a few days.

Do you know what that means?

He left me with boatloads of Thanksgiving leftovers.

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where the menu simply must stay fairly set.

I mean sure, you can add or subtract a dish here or there.

But we have to have turkey (rather, my daughter requires turkey).

We have to have cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, corn, Mac and cheese, deviled eggs, sausage balls, pumpkin pie, and other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Oh, also my son- who generally just doesn't eat most of what we eat- got very excited about "Thanksgiving pizza!" this year.

Read: I made a bunch of food, placed tiny bites of it on a plate for him, and then served him a single-serving Digiorno.

He was incredibly pleased with his meal.

Sausage Balls and the Perfect Recipe

I was 22 when I ate my first sausage ball.

That's right- I spent over two decades of my life completely oblivious to these fantastic little balls of goodness that have been ever-present at every southern get-together I have attended in the intervening years.

That's 22 years of my life I'll just never recover.

Ugh.  That's a hard fact to swallow.

The first time I lived anywhere outside of California I was stationed in Mississippi- which was an eye-opening experience for sure.

I'll lead with the fact that Mississippi is lush and green and beautiful.

I'll close with the fact that Mississippi has the biggest bugs I've ever encountered and more means of preparing catfish than I'd ever considered.

(FYI- I despise catfish.)

So anyway, first I spent four years in Mississippi, then I moved to Tennessee.

There simply isn't a gathering or holiday that doesn't include the ubiquitous sausage ball.

In Which the Grinch Makes Delicious Caramel Apple Butter

I've been a bit of a grouch this week- just ask my family.

I'm just tired.

It feels like I'm being pulled in a million directions lately.

School (Which I love- just not the math part).

My family (my everything- but that's a job unto itself).

The house (which needs to be cleaned).

The car (that has been at the  dealership for a month now).

The bills.  The errands.  The laundry.  The yard.

The being a good everything to everyone.

Dulce de Leche Bars and the Holiday Season

Is it just my family that's really excited about the holiday season this year?

Normally I roll my eyes when I see the Thanksgiving and Christmas things hitting the shelves the day after Halloween but I can honestly say that this year I didn't have that reaction.

I don't know what it is, but there's something about this year that has everyone under our roof ready.

While we've held off getting out the tree and lights, it's something we're all looking forward to with a great deal of anticipation.  My daughter and I have been listening to Christmas music every morning on the way to school for at least a week now and we've already made it through several Christmas movies.

Not White Christmas, though- that one must be saved for right after we finish decorating the tree and enjoyed with gingersnaps.

It's kind of our thing.  

Flavorful Stew and Changed Minds

I used to hate sweet potatoes.

No, hate isn't quite the right word.

I despised them.  Loathed them.

No candied yams at Thanksgiving, no sweet potato fries- none of that for me, thank you.

I was resolute in my stance that they were one of the world's most disgusting vegetables.

Then I found myself the mother of a picky eater.

My son is incredibly limited in the foods that he will eat, and, while I will spare you the details, trying to convince him to branch out was a traumatizing experience for all involved.

Yay for sensory issues!

Anyway, it became evident early on that if I was going to get that child to eat anything with any redeeming nutritional value at all I was going to have to sneak it into him- a task that is far easier said than done.

Meat, Cheese, and Impressive Appetizers

Things I should be doing right now:

Writing a research paper.  Studying for my Spanish midterm.  Reviewing for my math class.  Reading next week's economics materials.  Cleaning my kitchen.  Doing laundry.  Vacuuming.

Things I am currently doing:

Sitting on the couch in my pajamas actively avoiding any of those things.

I know that means I have more work waiting for me tomorrow...but in this exact moment I'm ok with that.  I may feel differently in the morning!

I needed a break this weekend, and I took one.

Actually, I cooked.

Cuban Sandwiches, Finger Foods, and Much Needed Breaks

Once upon a time, long before I went back to school and found myself with zero free time, I made Cuban sandwiches.

If you look at pretty much anything I wrote here before returning to school, you'll notice that I generally went all out.  I did it all from scratch- I tend to be a bit of an overachiever.

I made Cuban bread for goodness' sakes.

The pork?  I marinated that in a citrus marinade and it was fabulous, just fabulous.

Do you know what I don't have time for these days?

Any of that.

Just...no.

I have a freezer full of convenience foods and am now well versed in which brand and variety of frozen lasagna my family prefers.

Part of me hates that.

The other part?

Well...she's pretty darn proud of me, to be honest.

My family is fed and happy- that's what matters.

Rocky Road Ice Cream and Weird Kids

A month or so ago, as I was deep in the throes of my ice cream obsession, my 12 year old asked (more like begged...) me to make Rocky Road Ice Cream instead of something more fun, like Honey Lavender or Cherry Pie à la Mode.  So of course I made it, right?

But then I served her a bowl of that ice cream she had begged for.

She wrinkled her nose.

"Are these...NUTS?!?" she gasped.

Ummm...yes.  That's kind of what makes that Rocky Road ice cream you've been enjoying for years rocky.

She followed with, "...is this MARSHMALLOW?!?"

Yes, my child.  Also, you love marshmallows.  Also marshmallows are always in Rocky Road ice cream.

Kids...they're a weird, finicky breed.

I was confused by the reaction, to be honest.

She asked me to pick out the nuts and the marshmallows, for her.

I- of course- refused.

*sigh*

Peach Jam and Unusual Uses for Amaretto

It wasn't long ago that I was talking about my huge collection of mason jars and how much I missed canning.

I kind of did something about that.

It started with that Raspberry Peach Jam, followed soon after with a huge batch of Cherry Jam as soon as the price of cherries completed its summer price plummet.

Then we started traveling.  My husband volunteered me to bring a lot of the food on our trips (talk about some crazy packed coolers...) and I decided that the best way to transport things like Barbecue Sauce (for the massive amounts of meat my husband smoked, vacuum sealed, and froze to bring with us) and salsa (you know...for eating...) was to can it and save the cooler space.

I also made this.

Spiked Peach Jam with Ginger.