It was Halloween!

For the first time since fourth grade (when I was one of a pair of dice), this year I made an effort to have a Halloween costume. Like so many other young moms, I ordered my family into coordinating costumes that I had procured largely without their input. And, like so many other young families, we were adorable.

Meet Noah and crew!  Notice the pair of giraffes (baby Nate and stuffed friend), the pair of elephants (baby Reed and stuffed friend), and the dove (Sarah, whose costume well may be repurposed in future years as other kinds of poultry).  Also notice the ark in our trunk--a wooden bowl we floated in a small tub.  What you cannot see here is the candy floating in the ark, for withdrawal by ward members at our ward trunk or treat.  (Which, for the record, we entirely missed.)

Consider too the rain drops on the pavement, caused maybe not so much by God's doing as by the water in the tub (carrying the ark) sloshing around our arkscape as we drove madly from our home to our ward building so as not to miss the trunk or treat.

So much going on here.  Some detail shots.

This was Jed earlier in the morning, on his way to work.  (To distinguish him from Moses, we pinned a small dove on his shoulder.  Turns out, the finer distinctions in fashion between the Mosaic and the Noic eras have not been preserved in common culture.)

Note: Maybe my favorite part of Jed's costume was the small spray bottle of water he brought to spritz people with at random.  He didn't really ever do that (it would have been a bold societal move), but oh Noah, it made me laugh.

 Sarah's "dove" feet, looking so much like Big Bird's talons.

We planted Skittles at the base of the rainbow.

And, maybe my fravrit part of Halloween--Reed's cuteness meeting Reed's excitement.

For a while--and I mean a while--Reed knelt in the very center of the gym, turning circles on his knees and yelling, "Go, go, go!"  I caught him on film at the end of his tour.  Even still, you can tell that, as Jed just said, reviewing these videos, "That is one happy elephant."

Fourth grade had nothing on this.  Best Halloween of my life.

Honey Lemon Meringue Pie

This was seriously delicious.  I made it during dinner prep on a Monday and then served it for dessert after Family Home Evening.  It was easy, my meringue looked beautiful, and it is grain-free and sweetened entirely with honey.  Go forth.

Honey Lemon Meringue Pie

Prepare coconut crust, lemon curd filling, and honey meringue, in that order.  Then assemble.  Then eat.

Coconut Crust
4 tablespoons butter or coconut oil or some combination of the two
2 cups dried, unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons honey
Rind of 1/2 of a lemon


Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or fancy blender and blend until well combined. Press into 1 large or 4 small pie tarts. Bake in the oven for approx 10 minutes.

Lemon Curd Filling
.5 C freshly squeezed lemon juice
.25 C honey
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
.55 C unsalted butter (just more than one stick)

Create a double boiler by filling a medium saucepan with water to the halfway point and placing a metal mixing bowl on top. (Make sure it can't fall in.) Whisk the eggs, lemon juice, and honey well to combine before stirring with a wooden spoon over the simmering water. Once the curd has thickened, continue to stir for a further 5 minutes. At this stage the curd should be thick and velvety. Remove the curd from the heat and quickly whisk the cold butter into the curd until it's completely dissolved. (See note.)

Honey Meringue
5 egg whites
3 tablespoons of honey

Pour 2 inches of water in a saucepan and place a metal bowl on top. (Ensure bowl isn't touching the water.) Whisk the egg whites and honey over medium heat for 5 minutes or until warm to touch. Remove from heat and beat with an electric mixer or whisk until it becomes thick and holds its shape.
 
Assembling Pie
Turn oven up to 350 degrees. Place lemon curd into cooked coconut crust and top with honey meringue. Place in oven for 5-10 minutes or until it is a light golden brown on top. Refrigerate the pie for a couple of hours to thicken the lemon curd, or if you don't mind the curd being runny, it can be served straight away.

Note: You may have extra lemon curd depending on the size of your pie dish. If you have extra curd, you can halve the recipe in future or the curd can be stored in the fridge for 3 days and used to top other desserts, pancakes, etc.

Adapted from http://www.marinyacottagekitchen.com/1/post/2013/05/grain-and-nut-free-lemon-meringue-pie-thermomix.html

No-Sugar Barbecue Sauce

I made this, more or less (no smoke, for instance), tonight for dinner.  It was pretty good.  Not amazing (but again--I was doing a total straight-from-my-pantry variation) but even that was pretty good and totally workable.  And maybe much better than the versions I've been making with ketchup (which were too sweet and too vinegary and too high fructose corn syrupy).

http://www.primallyinspired.com/the-best-homemade-healthy-bbq-sauce/

THE BEST HOMEMADE HEALTHY BBQ SAUCE

Makes 4 cups of sauce

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can of organic tomato sauce

1 12 oz can of organic tomato paste

1 cup of red wine vinegar

1 cup of unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup of pure raw honey

1/3 cup of molassas

2 T butter or ghee

2 T all natural liquid hickory smoke* (this is the best all natural one that contains no yucky ingredients: CedarHouse Ultra-Premium Liquid Smoke: All Natural Hickory Liquid Smoke – 4 oz)

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp chili powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

heaping ¼ tsp cinnamon

heaping ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all the ingredients together in a large pot over medium low heat. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Chocolate chip cookie dough dip made with no sugar and white beans, and you know what?  It was pretty tasty.  Both Jed and our visitor (male) ate their all of their servings tonight (with apples to dip in it).  I would make it again.

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/23/want-to-eat-an-entire-bowl-of-cookie-dough/

Buffalo Chicken Bites

I made these tonight.  They weren't amazing, but they were tasty.  And sometimes, I cannot get enough of the Buffalo Chicken flavor.  This helps.

From http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com/2013/01/skinny-buffalo-chicken-bites.html 
3 cups shredded cooked chicken

1/3 cup favorite hot sauce

3 1/2 oz. fat-free cream cheese, softened

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (you won't use all of it)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 cups Corn Flakes cereal, crushed

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine shredded chicken, hot sauce and cream cheese; mix well.  Stir in cheddar cheese and green onions and set aside.  Using 3 separate bowls, set out the flour, eggs and crushed cereal.  Scoop out chicken mixture and make 1 1/2-inch balls, first rolling in flour, then dipping in egg and last coating with cereal.  Repeat this until you have about 30 balls.

 

Place balls on sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden.  Serve with blue cheese or ranch dressing and enjoy.

Sarah Allen's Pumpkin Bars

These are the best.  I made them for Relief Society two Sundays ago.  They were such a hit.  Make these.  They are delicious.

Bars
2 C flour
2 C sugar (or about 1 3/4 C honey)
2 t baking powder
1 t cloves
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1/2 t salt
1 C oil
2 C pumpkin
4 eggs

Combine.  Mix low until moist.  Grease/flour pan (I use one of those cookie sheets with the inch-high lip) and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Frosting
1 pkg (8 oz) Neufchatel (or cream cheese)
1 t vanilla
2 C powdered sugar (or honey to taste)
1/3 C margarine (or other butter spread)

Spread frosting gently onto cooled bars.

Greasy Cake

Another one from my college recipe cookbook.  I only had this cake once.  A girl in my home ec ("Family Meal Management") class made it, and I remember thinking, "This is UNBELIEVABLE."  At the time, I figured I would never be able to afford the number of extracts needed to make the cake.  But you know what?  Maybe now I can.  Here's to seeing how it tastes to me ten years after.

Cake:
2 cubes butter, softened
1/2 C shortening
3 C sugar
5 eggs, beaten
1/2 t baking powder
3 C flour
1 C milk
1 t vanilla, butter, lemon, rum, and coconut extract

Glaze:
1 C sugar
1/2 C water
1 t vanilla, butter, lemon, rum, and coconut extract

Cream butter, shortening, and sugar till fluffy.  Add beaten eggs.  Combine baking powder and flour.  Add to cream mixture alternately with milk.  Mix in flavorings.  Put in a well-greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake at 350.

Make glaze by adding sugar, water, and flavoring.  Bring to a boil.  Turk cake over on to plate.  Drizzle glaze on top of cake until gone.  Top with whipped cream and fruit of choice.  Serve.

Lemon Muffins

These days, the number one dinner starch I crave is lemon muffins.  Of almost any kind.  I made these once before, and I'm trying them again tonight (but with honey instead of sugar).  They were kind of biscuity, which I liked, and I left out the blueberries and upped the lemon/zest content (it's the lemon I'm after). 

If you have lemon muffin recipe recommendations, please send them along.  I'm in need.

BLUEBERRY MEYER LEMON MUFFINS

• 3 cups flour (mix of white and wheat works as well)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream (or greek yogurt)
• 1 cup yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• zest of 2 Meyer lemons (or regular lemons)
• 1/4 cup juice from Meyer lemons (or more!)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (can omit if necessary)

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a muffin pan or line with muffin cups.  In a large bowl combine the sugar, sour cream, yogurt, egg, oil, and lemon juice.  Add the dry ingredients and gently stir till just combined.  Fold in the zest and the blueberries.  Scoop into a standard muffin pan, about 1/4 cup of batter per muffin cup.  Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.  Devour warm with a little butter or at room temperature.

 http://www.heathersdish.com/1/blueberry-meyer-lemon-muffins/

Lemon Salad Dressing

Making it today for the second time.  The first time it was really garlicky, lemony delicious.  Here's hoping we can repeat.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (can use hazelnut or walnut oil)
2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice*
1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
3/4 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped (I used dried, but reduced the amount)
1 clove garlic, minced (more, if you like, of course)
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
Pinch coarsely-ground black pepper

From http://whatscookingamerica.net/Salad/LemonVinaig.htm

Merry Christmas, Our Dear Mom

Julie Mom Olson,

in gratitude for your talents 
and longsuffering encouragement of our talents,

you are warmly invited to attend 

A Christmas Concert

in your honor.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

 6 - 7:30 pm 

Hilton Head LDS Chapel

Performances will include

• "Mary and the Shepherds" by Sarah L. Brinton
• "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" by Joseph A. Olson
• Storytelling by Jacob J. Olson
• Other Live Performances by Other Olsons and Adopted Olsons
• Much, Much More!

Simple refreshments will be served.

(Merry, merry Christmas, Juliemom.  We love you so, so much.)

The Olson Favorite Books

Dear Bekaroo, 

You said your secret Christmas dream was to have a list of the favorite books of those in our family.  Turns out, this was a difficult task.  For people like us, favorites can be hard to come by.  But we thought hard, culled our lists, set aside our reservations about ignoring most of the readerly world, and (mostly) made the tough calls in order to make your Christmas dream come true.  We love you so much.  And we're so glad to have you in our family of readers.

With so much love,

Your doting familia

OUR FAVORITE BOOKS LIST! (December 2012)
 
Grandpa Olson: Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Dad: Bleak House by Charles Dickens; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Mom: Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

N: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
S: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
C: Socks by Beverly Cleary; The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch; Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

D: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; Purity of Heart by Soren Kierkegaard; The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A: Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver
S: Amazing Pokemon Guide Book by Modern Publishing (Dan: "We tried to encourage him away from this one to something more literary, but alas. . .")
M: My Friend Is Sad by Mo Willems

E: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
A: The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman; Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card; The Anatomy of Peace by The Arbinger Institute
I: The Hobbit by J.R. Tolkien
A: Nerds by Michael Buckley
E: Nate the Great by Marjorie Sharmat

S: For the Time Being by Annie Dillard; The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
J: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card; The Peacegiver by James L. Ferrell

Jos: James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Jac: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin; Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky (Jacob: "Picking is hard!")
P: The Oxford Book of American Poetry (Favorite poet: A.R. Ammons)
R: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery; Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis; Persuasion by Jane Austen; Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

Chewy Ginger Snaps

I'm always on the lookout for a go-to chewy ginger snap recipe.  These are neither as chewy nor as dark as I want mine to be, but they are delicious (if a little sweet).  They were especially good after I'd refrigerated the dough for five days or so.  I baked them for seven minutes at 350 (my oven runs hot), and they were puffy, toasted, and chewy.  Very nice.

2 cups sugar
1/4 cup additional sugar, for rolling cookies
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup molasses
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil.
3. Beat in eggs.
4. Stir in molasses.
5. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
6. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients mixing well.
7. Place additional sugar in a shallow bowl or on a plate. Shape dough into 1 inches balls and roll into sugar.
8. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes.
9. Allow cookies to cool. Store the cookies in a covered container with a slice of bread (to keep the cookies soft and chewy).

Adapted from http://www.food.com/recipe/the-best-ever-chewy-gingersnaps-274188

Frog's Eye Salad

A Utah classic that didn't make it into Mom's repertoire until at least 1994, when my second oldest brother left home.  He says that he did not grow up eating this and that it is not part of his understanding of family classics.  It is part of mine.

Custard
Cook until thick (1 minute):
1 C sugar
2 T flour
1 3/4 C pineapple juice
2 eggs, beaten

Add 1 T lemon juice.

Cook 1 package frog's eye pasta. 

Drain 2 cans pineapple chunks
3 cans mandarin oranges
1 can crushed pineapple
9 oz. non-dairy cream
1 package small marshmallows

Combine ingredients when pasta is cool.  Chill.

Grandma Olson's Baked Beans

My mom made essentially this recipe for our baked beans for years, and I loved them because they were unusually indulgent (my mom didn't do indulgent all that often).  Now I realize it's because they had so much sugar.  It turns out it's a recipe my mom credits my grandmother, her mother-in-law, with.  My Grandma Olson passed away this Fall.  I record this recipe in her honor and in ours.  If my memory serves, it's rockstar.

2 cans pink beans
3/4 C brown sugar
1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1 C ketchup
1/4 C molasses
2 medium onions, fried and drained
2 medium green peppers, fried and drained
1 lb bacon, fried and drained

Combine.  Bake 30 minutes at 325.

Creamy Elephant Pie

This recipe is included mostly out of nostalgia.  Once I stumbled on this pie in some cookbook I had, I made it very often, especially my sophomore year, as I forayed into self-sustenance.  I named it "Elephant Pie" for some reason no longer clear to me, but back then, I thought it was so clever.  I was also 19.

2 eggs
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 t finely shredded lime peel (note: I guarantee I did not use this in college; I did not buy fancy fresh produce like limes until at least grad school, if not later)
1/3 C lime juice

Beat eggs till slightly thickened.  Stir in condensed milk, peel, and juice.  Spoon into baked pastry shell.  Cover and chill about four hours or till firm.

Smiths' French Bread

My cousins' cousins moved to Long Island in the 90s, making them our closest "relatives."  Their mother, my essentially Aunt Janeel, bowled us over with her strength of character, her productivity, and her amazing bread.  My mom adopted it quickly in our household.  I've never made it, but I have the recipe should I decide I ever need French Bread pronto.

3 3/8 C water
3 T sugar
3 T yeast
1 1/2 t salt
3 T oil
9 C flour

Beat in mixer with hook 5 times, rest 10 minutes in between each.  Shape into two loaves.  Grease cookie sheets.  Bake (at some unspecified temperature).

Krista's Bread Sticks

I am--and was particularly in college--terrible with yeast, but a friend from my freshman floor made what I thought were the most delicious breadsticks.  I couldn't persuade her to make them nearly as often as I wanted her to, but I did successfully get the recipe.  Here 'tis, for posterity.  Thank you, Krista.

2/3 C warm water
1 T yeast
1 T sugar

Mix.  Let sit 10 minutes.

1 t salt
approx. 2 C flour

Preheat oven to 375.

Knead dough.  Melt butter in 9 x 13 pan.  Roll out dough, cut into long, inch-wide, strips.  Put butter, garlic salt, and Parmesan cheese on top.  Let rise 20 minutes to 1 1/2 hour.  Bake 20 minutes.

Krugers' Taco Pie

I've never made this, but I've eaten it.  The Krugers were some of our best family friends when I was growing up on Long Island, and they would occasionally serve this at their house for dinner or at potluck events.  It was made of so many things we never had at my house.  It was the stuff my adolescent dreams were made of.

3 split chicken breasts
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 green pepper
1/2 onion
1 can green chile sauce

Layer with grated cheese, taco chips, and Fritos.  Bake at 325 until done.

Yummy Chocolate Lava Cake

A good friend of mine in college brought this over to my house for a dinner party and baked it in the downstairs oven (not the one I typically used, since I lived on the upper floor) during dinner.  It spilled all over, and my friend the baker promised he'd clean it up.  But in the rush of the fun, he didn't, and that charred pool of chocolate stayed in the oven for the rest of the school year--maybe from August through April.  My downstairs roommates often jokingly complained about the hassle of that burnt chocolate pool cramping their baking style--dramatically ruing the day my baker friend came to dinner--but the truth is they didn't need that oven.  They didn't bake.  That wasn't the downstairs style.  Eventually someone cleaned up it, and I forgot all about it until I found this recipe.  Because the truth was, this cake was amazing.

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix in a 9 x 13 pan

2 C flour
1 1/2 C sugar
4 T baking cocoa
4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Then add

1 C milk
4 T vegetable oil
2 T vanilla

Mix.

Sprinkle over top 2 C brown sugar
1/2 C baking cocoa
3 1/2 C hot water

Swirl water up and down.  Bake 40 minutes.  The bottom cake will rise to the top.  Beneath it will be a fudge sauce you can spoon over as you serve it.

Annie's Special K Bars

Annie was one of my three best friends during my college years.  We lived together sophomore year, and she delighted us perpetually with her charming eating habits (e.g., grapes in milk) and charming personality.  I found this recipe for her Special K bars, which I remember being much more decadent than our impoverished student life usually boasted.

To Annie, the first redhead* I ever loved.

Heat only until melted:

1 C white sugar
1 C white Karo Syrup

Add 1 1/2 C chunky peanut butter
6 C Special K cereal

Stir well and pat into greased 9 x 13 pan.

In a pot, melt
1 package chocolate chips
1 package butterscotch chips

Spread the melted chips over the cereal mixture.  Cool.

* Rebecca--you and Annie tied for first.