Weekend Fun at Findlay Market

We spent yesterday afternoon at Findlay Market, one of our very favorite Cincinnati places. It's one of the oldest markets in Ohio. Every weekend, the place comes alive with farmers, food merchants, local growers, crafters, all sorts. Everything about it reminds me of that really fun time in our marriage, before we had kids and we just spent our time galavanting around downtown, doing whatever we wanted. 

I guess that's partly why when Nick suggested we go, I was all "Why would we take the kids there?"

Then hewasall "Because it's awesome."

and iwasall "But Sunday is our only day to just do nothing."

and hewasall "But if we stay home and do nothing you are going to end up doing lots of things." (cleaning and sewing and laundry)

then iwasall "Yeah, you are right. Let's go." 

... Jessica gets dressed and tries to stop being a poopstick. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, I got really excited and was so glad he dragged me there. 

Aren't those bright awnings so much fun? All those shops lining the little walkways are different types of food merchants. You can really find almost anything here. 

Part of the weekend Farmer's Market. The sellers always look like they are having fun in all the busyness.

Lazy Elsie, pooped before the party even starts. 

Moerlein Beers on draft. To me, the OTR ale literally tastes like Over the Rhine and Main Street. (Hendrix is enjoying water from his girly cup. He's secure in his manhood.)

Dojo Gelato is new since I've last been there. We shared sea salt caramel. Wow, was it good.

 There are always local musicians on the weekends, usually nearby all the craft and artisan booths.

Nick decided to try a key lime pie popsicle from this little street vendor. Literally the best popsicle ever- I can say that confidently and objectively.


In the car ride home, I told Nick we should spend lots of Sundays there this summer. He gave me his "why-would-you-ever-doubt-me" look. Then at home, he proceeded to make the best grilled carnitas tacos with homemade salsa ever. I know, where did this guy come from?

mmmmMexican Pizza

 Just like Taco Bell's, only without the questionable meat fillers. For me, the taste of Taco Bell is very nostalgic. We never ever choose to eat there now, but it was at least a bi-weekly visit in college. And when I was a kid, my parents didn't take us to fast food too often. But when we did, we were no McDonald's family. We were a Taco Bell family. So even though as an adult I am reasonably grossed out by the thought of the ingredients and environment there, something about those flavors is still oh so appealing.

I made this pizza for me and Hendrix over the weekend with just a few things I happen to have on hand. I used a store bought crust, the thin and crispy kind. I slathered that with a layer of canned refried beans. Oh how I love refried beans. I always get the kind with green chiles mixed in. Then I grated sharp cheddar on top and drizzled salsa over that. Now, you can of course use whatever salsa you have. But the key to really capturing that run for the border flavor is using a slightly runny green tomatillo variety. It's very reminiscent of their little hot sauce packets. So good. 

I topped with fresh tomatoes, which I like to add just a couple of minutes before the pizza is done baking. (Follow the baking directions for your crust.) You could also add red or green onions, or even a little leftover taco beef if you had it. 

I was in love with this pizza and was sad when the affair was over. Hendrix was not such a big fan. I'm guessing he's missing that crucial TB nostalgia element. 

Also quite tasty: the dip I made from the leftover refried beans. I didn't want to throw out the half-can I had left, so I mixed that with an equal amount of cream cheese and more of that wonderful green salsa. Warmed up on chips with some fresh tomato and avocado on the side, it was the perfect lunch. 

Southern Artisan Chocolate

We got our little package of Olive & Sinclair chocolate bars yesterday, and I could not be more excited.

It's a small Nashville company started by good good friend's husband, who hand makes all the chocolate himself in a little chocolate factory. It looks amazing and tastes even more amazing. We got the salt & pepper, coffee, and Mexican style cinn-chili varieties. Oh. my. gracious.

Go here and watch how it's made and you practically won't be able to resist buying some. I think if you order today, you should even have it by V-day. AND you can go here for deal to get 2 free bars when you spend $15.



I'm not one for Valentine's Day tomfoolery, but I had to share this chocolate wonder with you. It's one of those secret treasures you will be glad someone told you about. You're welcome.

Perfect No-Mayo Egg Salad

I'm not sure exactly where my hatred of Mayonnaise comes from. I didn't get it from my family, because I remember that ominous jar always being in the fridge when I was young. I think my dislike is only about half because of the taste. I feel like if I ate any amount it would coat my throat with loathing and make my voice sound like the Target Lady. The other 79% of my dislike just comes from the way it looks in the jar- all jiggly and unholy.

Despite this, I do love _______ salad sandwiches; chicken, tuna and eggy-egg. Today I had the strong (hormonal?) urge to whip this up, and it is quite delicious. One for the mayo-haters.

4 hard-boiled eggs

2 small celery stalks or one large diced

about a quarter of a large cucumber diced

a couple spoonfuls of dill relish

small handful of sliced almonds (or pine nuts would be good. I really love pine nuts.)

JUST enough Italian dressing to get everything conglomerated

few shakes of parmesan cheese

Slap it on some bread and grind a little fresh pepper on it. That is a good sandwich. 

Hendrix wasn't crazy about it, but he did eat about three bites. That usually means if I give it to him 2 or 3 more times he can be won over. 

In other food news, I am quite excited to try making this hot chorizo dip for game day festivities tomorrow- 

And because my mind works in assorted cultural references and analogies, I can't get the Target Lady out of my head now-

P.S. I don't know if you knew this about me, but I love JT unashamedly. 

Happy weekending!

Felt Food- Fresh and Lazy

I had a bit of a felt food veggie frenzy this afternoon.

Corn with removable husk, a giant eggplant (which Hendrix has never seen and probably won't in this house), tomato, cucumber, some carrots, potatoes, broccoli and summer squash. 

I didn't really use tutorials, I just looked around at some pictures of what people had done and then made it up. You can find a lot of inspiration right here. I decided I wanted to knock out a whole gaggle of veggies quickly, thus I didn't have time to follow directions and definitely didn't have time to hand sew. So that became my main guideline. I did everything in a pretty lazy way- machine sewed without turning and never worried about matching thread. The only one I did have to turn and hand sew was the tomato. 

I used a couple special stitches on my machine for little touches like the rows of corn and eyes on the potatoes.

This play kitchen was H's big Christmas gift and he loves it. We did get a little bit of play food from Ikea, but I always knew I wanted to try making a lot myself. Now I can't wait to make more. I think pizza and dessert need to come next- I mean, who am I kidding with all these veggies? 

Yule-y Smells and Tastes

Made some more of these yummies this past weekend. They always disappear very quickly, but are also very easy to make more of. This week I want to try it with dried apricots. I don't think they'll be quite as good as the juicy clementines, but I'm big fan of apricots too. 

+

= Mmmmmmm

This time I decided to put all the peels to use too. I put them in a pot with a little water, cinnamon, and ginger and simmered them all evening. I also threw in a few craisins. You could use cloves, vanilla and cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, whatever wintery things you have on hand. Half my apartment smelled like winter tastiness and the other half like winter woodsiness from our tree. Also, it's fun to say you are "mulling" things.

Bacon Makes Everything Better

I don't really have weird cravings when I'm pregnant, more like temporary food obsessions. I fixate on eating certain food items over and over for a week or two, then I never want to see them again. Right now it's Chex Mix and sandwiches. I'm thinking I won't eventually be repulsed by sandwiches because they lend themselves to such delicious variety and creativity.

Here's one I made last week and happened to snap a picture of cuz it just looked so durn fine.

From the ground up, hummus, arugula, tomato, apple, bacon and feta. The next day I made one with just hummus, apple, bacon, and muenster cheese. It was good, but not quite as epic as the first one.

Then for dinner that same day I made a grilled cheese with sharp cheddar, apples, and dijon mustard. This is apparently Tyler's ultimate grilled cheese as told to me by a fb friend, but his has bacon. I shouldn't have skipped the bacon, of course.


Some others I want to try:

For next Friday, obviously. Recipe here on Food52. (Which is a pretty cool site by the way, they run a recipe contest each week featuring a different ingredient.)

Fried Green Tomato BL(A)T which I would have to make at my mom's house because I love her fried greens way too much to face the disappointment of attempting my own.

Cranberry-walnut chicken salad, maybe on some of the brown bread rolls from Outback. Yes, I would go to Outback just for that but I guess I'll take a bloom to go if I must. From the beautiful smitten kitchen.

And for dessert, Strawberry Grilled Cheese.  With angel food cake and brie? Um, yes please. Maybe with bacon too :)


sigh...I'm so hungry all the time.

Loving Cincinnati

In honor of my beloved Reds clenching their division win (wooooooohoooooooo!!!!!) last night, I am hereby declaring the rest of this week "I Love Cincinnati Week." I realize most of you don't care one bit about the Reds or baseball, but it's really a pretty big deal around here. They haven't been much good in over 15 years, and now they are going to the playoffs and you can just feel everyone swelling with Queen City pride. I won't pretend I've been waiting that long for a good season, as we've only lived here for four years. But we did start loving going to the Reds games right away, as well as loving the city in general.

The thing is, people like to complain about living in Cincinnati a lot. A couple years ago a megachurch here started distributing bumper stickers that say "I Love Cincinnati." Now there is a knock-off that uses the same look, but says, "Cincinnati's Just OK." I think it's pretty hilarious, and I appreciate the irony. It's not like we live in NYC or anything, not even the NYC of the Midwest. BUT, there are many many good things about this area, and I'm more of a "learn to love your ground" person. I could really be happy living in lots of places, but now I live here, and I like it. So stop your complaining.

So, now that I've rambled about baseball and bumper stickers, today I want to tell you about two new-ish reasons to love the 'Nasti.

A few weeks ago, Nick and I had the chance to go on an afternoon date, so we headed downtown and tried a new restaurant in the Gateway Quarter called Senate. It was amazing.

They serve a lot of fancy Southern style food, but they are becoming known for their gourmet hot dogs. I know that sounds weird, but believe me, they are sooooo good. I'm not a hot dog person at all, but I ordered the Korean dog, which came with braised short ribs and all that other Korean-y stuff on top. Did not disappoint. And the truffle fries are to die for. Nick had goose-fat fries, also sinfully delicious. (Please don't judge my one beer, this was before I knew I was preggers.)


We also walked down to our old neighborhood on Main Street to check out the new record store that the owner of Iris Book Cafe opened right next door. It's really fun for people who like hunting through old things, and it's all from the owner's personal collection, which is amazing.

100 Bonus points for anyone who knows where that awesomely-creepy goat head used to live.

I'm in love with this cover. Maybe I'll be this foxy lady for Halloween.

Yeah, but I didn't have your number. All you wrote on this paper was your band name.

Gangsters of alliteration. 

Hmm, does a Gigolo shake his pants when they are on or off? Is this boarded up building where you do your business, or can one get a hotel room with Tony? Does that other guy have to come? These are the questions I can't answer. 

And Grand Funk wins the grand prize for all-time sexiest album cover. And just in case you didn't realize how sexy it really is, they warn you: "all the girls in the world beware!!!" You know they are serious with 3 exclamation points. 

Tomorrow, some pictures from inspiring shopping spots downtown. 

....GO REDS!

Easy Toddler Dinners

When Hendrix was still very little, I read somewhere that babies can eat pretty much any food adults can. They just need the mushy versions to start off, but once they chew, really anything is game. I like this idea because it would be a great joy to me if he does not turn out to be a picky eater. I know this is not completely in the control of parents, but I can try. (Of course, you have to be careful about allergies. Some people are careful until kids are two, but I just tried to wait until one. HG eats eggs and peanut butter and even fish now.)

So keeping this idea in mind, I often give him the same things we are eating for dinner, or the leftovers the next day, or even the thai foods Nick brings home from the restaurant. But when none of those things are handy, I have a few quick and easy go-to dinners.

Cooking a pack of pre-made stuffed pasta is one of my favorites to make because the two of us can usually split it with a little left-over for his lunch the next day.

I buy the spinach tortellini or ravioli from the refrigerated section and after I boil it up, I toss it in a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano and parmesan cheese. Sometimes I add garlic too. He goes nuts for it. 

Some other easy favorites that make a good dinner with a fruit or veg added:

- an egg scrambled, with salsa added (he likes medium.)

- a microwaved cheese quesadilla (also good with salsa.)

- a baked potato or sweet potato

- simple grilled chicken breast, or chicken prepared this way.

- alphabet pasta with canned tomato sauce added.

I'm always looking for more fast ideas- what are your favorite quick kid dinners?

Kid's Chicken Recipe

I have always tried to make most of HG's food. He is old enough to eat some meats now, but also in that stage where he won't eat anything pureed. He used to love chicken pureed with sweet potatoes and carrots or apples and onions, but now he wants to eat everything with his fingers. So far, he hasn't really liked eating little pieces of grilled chicken, and I haven't wanted to resort to frozen, uh, chicken-shaped products.

But yesterday I discovered the perfect way to prepare chicken so that he loves it. He ran a train on these little chicken fingers.

You need 1-2 boneless chicken breasts, 1-2 eggs (use one for each breast), crushed Ritz crackers, a couple tablespoons of butter, and some grated parmesan cheese. 

Pre-heat oven to 350. Cut each breast into about 8 thin strips. Beat your eggs in a shallow bowl, and in another shallow bowl, put your cracker crumbs and cheese. I used about 1/2 a sleeve of Ritz and a small handful of parm for each chicken breast. Cover strips in eggs, then crumb mixture. Lay them out in your greased pan and drizzle them with a little melted butter. Bake for 10 minutes, then flip and bake another 8-10 minutes. 

Great success! I even had a couple for lunch myself.  :)

I adapted the recipe from this book by Annabel Karmel. (She just used cornflakes instead of crackers, and no cheese.)

I have loved this book. I'm not much of a cook, so it has really helped me a lot in making his food. And it has great recipes for kids of any age, so I know it will come in handy for a long time. I would recommend it for anyone who wants to make baby food, or just healthier stuff for their kids. 

ok, back to cutting out felt...