Falafel

Last week I made Falafel with a Tatziki sauce and served it up in a warm homemade pita with a spicy no mayo coleslaw. Does that sound delicious? I sure hope so, because it was, but I failed to take any pictures so you'll have to take my word for it!!

Falafel is near and dear to my heart because it reminds me of visiting Egypt- it was my favorite dish (and my security blanket!)

Here are the recipes:

Homemade Pita Bread

(see website for recipe and technique, I baked in the oven versus the stove top!)

Falafel

Makes about 21 balls

1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans
1 small onion, finely chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Panko

Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans. Put in a medium sized bowl and smash with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Form into small balls, about 1 1/2″ in diameter and slightly flatten. Roll in Panko crumbs. Place onto an oiled saute pan.

Pan fry 5 min on each side, until nicely browned 

Serve with mini pita pockets, hummus, tahini sauce, tomatoes, lettuce and/or cucumber.

Tzatziki Dressing

1/2 English cucumber
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 -1/2 cup milk
(depending on how thick/thin you want your dressing)
2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 green onion, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1/4 tsp. black pepper
salt to taste

1. Using your box grater, grate your cucumber into a strainer (with a bowl underneath). Sprinkle some coarse salt over the shreds and allow the water from them to leech for 20 minutes. Squeeze any remaining liquid out of the shreds with your hands and place in a bowl.
2. Add the remaining ingredients in to the bowl and stir to incorporate. Adjust for seasoning with salt and pepper. Refrigerate in a tight jar for up to 1 week.
3. Serve over greens of your choice.

Crunchy Peanut Coleslaw

1 big bowl of slaw, serves at least 8

1 medium head green cabbage, outer leaves removed
1 1/2 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts
1 bunch green onions
1 cup chopped cilantro (about two big handfuls unchopped)
Salt and pepper

Dressing:
1/2 cup light oil, like canola
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar (or more, to taste)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce (or more, to taste)

Shred the cabbage very finely. The fineness of the shredded cabbage is really what makes this salad; you want it in in threads, almost, and with the threads chopped into bite-size lengths. Toss with the peanuts in a large bowl. Chop the scallions, including the green and white parts. Toss the scallions and chopped cilantro with the cabbage, seasoning very lightly with salt and pepper.

Whisk the dressing until emulsified, then taste and adjust to your own preferences of sweetness and saltiness.

Toss with the cabbage. Garnish with a few more peanuts and serve.

Hope you enjoy!

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So Serious

My serious little sleeper...

Claire baby likes to have her pants off during the "hot" Alaska summer.

Looks just like her daddy :)

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Wonton Soup

On occasion (ok fairly often) I get an "out of the blue" food craving. This week it was wonton soup. When I was a kiddo growing up in Newark, Delaware we would regularly get Chinese take-out from this place next to the Acme. (Do they even have Acme's anymore?? Do you know that's a grocery store??). Anyway one of my favorite things to get was wonton soup. However, I remember that there never seemed to be enough wontons in the soup... ever. But, if you made your own soup then you could make your own wonton to broth ratio. Bingo. Epiphany 20 years later.

So, I've never made wontons before. It's sort of like sealing an envelope. An envelope with deliciousness inside: ground pork, shitake mushrooms, cabbage, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, green onions, and ginger. 

My wontons looked challenged before a chicken broth bath, but they tasted great

Now check out this ratio...

This picture is a bit deceiving because the wontons float to the top when they're finished cooking. There is quite a bit of broth under there.

Serve it up with some chopped green onions and you have a meal.

Recipe adapted from Userealbutter. Check out her website for more on the wonton folding technique, etc. 

Wonton Soup

1 pkg wonton skins
1 lb. of dumpling filling
little bowl of water
4 quarts chicken broth
scallions, sliced thin (for garnish)

Plop a teaspoon of filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Using your finger, wet the edges of half of the wonton skin. Fold the wrapper in half on the diagonal and press the edges together. Push any air pockets out when you seal it. Wet one of the bottom corners and fold the wings in front of the wonton so that they cross at the corners. Press the corners together. Heat 2 or 4 quarts of the chicken broth in a pot until boiling (depending on the size of your pot). Add the wontons to the broth and let it return to a boil. Make sure not to crowd the wontons. If it’s a medium saucepan, then cook a dozen or so at a time. If it’s a large pot, cook 2 dozen or more. When the wontons float to the top, they are done. Sprinkle scallions in each bowl and ladle soup and wontons over the scallions. Serve immediately. Makes ~ 40 wontons. To freeze: place wontons on a baking sheet (make sure they aren’t touching) and set in freezer for 20 minutes or until the wonton wrappers are no longer soft. Put the wontons in a ziploc bag and freeze for up to a month. To cook, place frozen wontons in boiling broth (or water) and cook until the filling is done – should take several minutes longer than when you boil fresh wontons.

pork filling
1 lb ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried – rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, minced

1/2 cup water chestnuts, minced
2 tbsp ginger root, minced
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp corn starch

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First Family Hike

Ross's buddy Scott came to visit us in Anchorage, just a couple weeks before his wife Paige is due to have baby #2. Ross and Scott were able to get in some fishing, Moose's Tooth pizza, and we all hiked the backside of Flat Top. Ross is trying to get ready for his upcoming sheep hunt, so he carried the Ergo :)

First Family Hike

The boys.

Anchorage views at the top!

Bromance? :)

We had to hunker down in some bushes to hide from the wind while we fed Claire 

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July 4 in Talkeetna

Our buddy Trevor staked out a pretty sweet campsite for everyone to set up shop for the July 4th festivities. While most people camped on the beach for a couple nights, we opted to stay in a cabin nearby. We were not ready to try and tent camp with a baby and a pup. And when I say cabin, I don't mean the state owned kind, I mean the kind with bathrooms and real beds. Yesss! I should also mention that it was 82 degrees!!

Our boat and Vaughn's boat, with an American Flag of course

The scene we encountered the morning after our night at the cabin

Vodka soaked watermelon and Trevor

Trevor and Vaughn

The big group

'MERICA!

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Red White and Baby

We went to Talkeetna, a small town with great views of Denali, to celebrate the 4th of July with friends. It was Claire's first big outdoor adventure and babies require a lot of stuff! You definitely don't travel light with all the needed baby gear. The weather was 80 degrees that weekend and it was crucial that Ross had bought a screened canopy for us to keep baby girl in the shade. We also learned that Claire does not like being hot; she spent most of the day in only a diaper.

Drinking homebrew on the beach

The baby set-up. Grey one was outside the canopy and not sure why.

More pics to come!

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4 Month Doctor Visit

Claire went to the doctor for her 4 month check-up a couple weeks ago. At these check-ups, the doctor tells you how baby is progressing in weight, head circumference, and length. They listen to heart and lungs, look at throat/nose/ears, etc. They also ask the parents if they have questions, so I have my list ready to go :) Oh, first time parents, right?! Then come the dreaded shots... yes, we believe in vaccinations. Claire handled the shots really well. Huge cry 10 seconds after the prick and then she calmed down with some milk. Like a big girl.

Pre-shot pictures!

After shot picture:

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July Stamp Club

Good news in our house... Roma's biopsy came back NEGATIVE. The lump was a fatty deposit, called a lipoma, which is very common in dogs. Once a dog develops a lipoma it is likely that there will be more to come. Roma has 2 metal plates in her knees, a missing tooth, a missing toe, multiple scars, now add some lumps to that list...

Shifting gears, here are some cards from July's stamp club last weekend.

Technique: Blendable markers allow for gradient changes

Technique: Chalk ink

Technique: ? Goal was to create a "manly" card

Happy July!

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iPhone Sleeping Pictures

Babies sleep a lot. And not always when you want them to the most (ie during the night)...

At church, in the back row.

Fell asleep while eating.

On the way home from school.

Little starfish.

Favorite nap position.

Road Trip smiles.

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