Hounds In The Kitchen » Lil

Win Friends With Eton Mess {Recipe}

Rachel — Thu, 17 May 2012 12:46:04 +0000

For the past year, we have been dining with friends every Friday night. Alternating hosting with being guests, we compete not with each other but for the great dining experiences enjoyed together. Highlights have included a low country crawfish boil, the $5 Julia Child dinner, 18-hour braised pork, and the kid favorite, chicken and waffles.

Recently our friends served us Eton Mess. Neither Alex nor I were familiar with this layered dessert of crunchy meringue, sweetened whipped cream and fresh fruit. Upon a single taste we agreed that this dessert is perfection.

Eton Mess is a play of textures with simple, familiar flavors. The dessert is easy to make ahead and plate for individual servings as dinner comes to a close.

As the very name suggest sloppiness, it is perfect for a child to make. For our version, Lil picked the berries, piped the meringue, and dipped the chocolate strawberry garnish. I whipped the cream, but only because Lil was too busy playing. That component, too, is easy for the beginning cook.

Homer Simpson said “You don’t win friends with salad.” I add the positive “You win friends with dessert,” especially if your friend happens to be this adorable two-year-old.

Eton Mess
Serves: 8 (with a few meringues left over)
Time: 20 minutes prep, 2 hours cooking and cooling, 10 minutes plating

meringues:
2 egg whites (reserve yolks for mayonnaise, hollandaise, or another recipe)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

cream:
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 teaspoons powdered or granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

4 cups fresh strawberries, washed and sliced

8 chocolate-dipped strawberries (optional garnish)

for the meringues:
1. Place the egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar in a large clean bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Beat with a rotary mixer or whip until foamy, about two minutes. Increase the speed and continue beating.
3. Add sugar one tablespoon at a time, fully incorporating each addition until the egg white are smooth again.
4. Continue beating until whites are very stiff. Then whip in the vanilla.
5. Transfer meringue to a piping bag or gallon ziploc bag, pressing mixture to release any air bubbles.
6. Using a one-inch round tip or a one-inch cut in the corner of the bag, pipe the meringue onto a cookie tray covered with a silicone mat or parchment in two- to three-inch rounds.
7. Bake meringue in a preheated 275 degrees F oven for 45 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 250 degress F and continue cooking until meringues are lightly brown and hard to the touch. Turn off the stove but leave cookie sheet in the oven with the door closed until cool.

for the whipped cream:
1. Place 1/2 cup whipping cream in a large clean bowl or bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Using a whisk or whip attachment, slowly whisk the cream.
3. After it becomes foamy, increase the speed a little.
4. Slowly add sugar until fully incorporated.
5. Continue to whip just until the cream stiffens into solid peaks. Whipping too long will end up with butter and buttermilk, so watch this closely.
6. Stir in vanilla extract.

assembly:
1. Select clear glass cups or goblets, one for each guest.
2. Fill the bottom with 2-3 crushed meringues.
3. Layer on 1/4 cup of sliced strawberries.
4. Top with a dallop of whipped cream.
5. Layer on more meringues, berries, and cream.
6. Top with a chocolate-dipped strawberry, if desired.
7. Serve immediately.

Here’s the Simpsons reference:

Added to Simple Lives Thursday #96.

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Win Friends With Eton Mess {Recipe} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Super Mom Makes Homemade Mayo {Video Recipe}

Rachel — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:50:11 +0000

One dark and stormy night, tragedy struck the Hound household. Sweet Lil wanted to make tuna salad but there was no mayonnaise in the house. “Help!”, the selective eater cried out, unable to eat plain tuna or the delicious meal her parents cooked.

Super Mom heard her cries and rushed to the rescue!

With forearms of steel and patience for pouring, Super Mom cracked an egg, squeezed a lemon, and began whisking. Streaming oil into her potion, Super Mom transformed the three liquids into a semi-solid sauce: mayonnaise!

A few days later, Super Mom taught Lil how to make homemade mayo herself so she would never be helpless again. Kudos to intern Cami for capturing and editing the moment.

With a little practice, you too can gain the Mayo Master badge of honor and be able to create the delightful emulsion at a moment’s notice! You could employ the use of a blender, but every true super hero knows how to make mayonnaise by hand.

Have you made mayo recently? How did it turn out?

PS. Join Super Mom (that’s me) on Mother’s Day for a class revealing all my secrets for homemade condiments at Franklin Park Conservatory. Space is limited and every participant goes home with a jar of mayo, mustard, or ketchup!

Handmade Mayonnaise
Makes: about one cup
Time: 5-10 minutes

1 fresh egg yolk (use a pasteurized egg if you’re worried about salmonella)
1/2 fresh lemon
1/2 – 1 cup oil (use any lightly flavored oil)
1/2-1 teaspoon salt

1. Pour egg yolk into a clean medium mixing bowl.
2. Juice lemon into bowl and whisk the yolk and juice together.
3. While continuing to whisk, add one teaspoon (or one slight pour) oil and whisk until incorporated. Repeat with several more teaspoons.
4. Slowly begin increasing the amount of oil, whisking continuously. The mixture will begin to change color towards a lighter yellow and develop a stiffer texture.
5. Continue whisking and adding oil until you reach the texture of mayonnaise. Stir in salt.
6. Store in a clean container in the fridge for 2-3 days.

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Super Mom Makes Homemade Mayo {Video Recipe} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Homeschool Report Card Winter/Spring 2012

Rachel — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:39:03 +0000

Lil and I grew as unschoolers this winter and spring. We released ourselves from many routines and activities to allow more time for self-motivated studies. Along the way, we discovered unexpected benefits and challenges to homeschooling.

Even without the structure, Lil continues to develop skills. Following in the format I developed for the Fall 2011 Report Card, here’s the Winter/Spring 2012 report:

Dates: January 2012 – April 2012

Activities:
Reading 16-30 page books fluently
Writing sentences with punctuation and capitalization
Addition and subtraction fluency to 12s
Counting, adding, and subtracting coins
Understanding value of basic fractions
Making and cooking pancakes from scratch
Designing and mapping a garden plan
Identifying Ohio wildflowers, Caribbean fish, and eastern US birds
Mastery of snorkeling
Pet care
Insect life cycle observed in a terrarium
Caring for garden plants including weeding, mulching and harvesting
Coconut opening and palm weaving
Map reading and making
Digital photography, email, and typing
Literature – Easter egg books, Valentine’s Day books, Garfield comics, fairy tale comparisons (snow white, cinderella, three bears), Judy Moody and Stink chapter books

Weekly Classes:
Homeschool Gym
Gram & Tompa School
Movement

Field Trips:
Cleveland Natural History Museum
Great Lakes Science Center
Cincinnati Science Museum
Cincinnati Art Museum
Inniswood Metro Park
Highbanks Metro Park
Indianapolis Art Institute
Stratford Ecological Center
Columbus Zoo
Columbus Children’s Theater Aladdin
Franklin Park Conservatory
COSI (including Race exhibit)
Broadway Series Mary Poppins
Broadway Series Shrek
Ohio History Center
San Salavador Island, Bahamas

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Homeschool Report Card Winter/Spring 2012 is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Sparkling Love

Rachel Tayse — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:23:48 +0000

Love is:

-Saying yes to buying glitter glue and the most shimmering paper in the craft store

-Patiently cutting hearts by hand

-Making a list of people you love who need a Valentine

-Totaling the list to 24 and then remembering more people you love

-Spending three days of craft supplies strewn all over the dining room table

-Hand applying stickers, glitter glue, and everything ‘just so’

-Writing a personal message on each card

-Hand addressing the envelopes

-Selecting a stamp to match the recipient’s personality and placing it perfectly in the corner

-Playing cupid to deliver cards on foot and by car

-Taking time, lots of time, to do Valentine’s the slow, sparkling, handmade way

How are you expressing your love today?

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Sparkling Love is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Handmade Chocolate Truffles {Recipe}

Rachel Tayse — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:12:06 +0000

Chocolate is a classic Valentine’s gift. It’s a special decadent treat that nearly everyone loves.

But there are problems with modern chocolate manufacturing: it often exploits the land and native peoples. Also, many big name companies use artifical flavorings and additives.

Treat your love like a king or queen and seek out fair trade, all-natural chocolate from an honest manufacturer. We like Dagoba, Equal Exchange, and Theo brands.

For an extra special gift, consider hand rolling truffles. This recipe is simple to put together and can be customized to a wide variety of tastes by changing the liquid flavoring and outer coating.

Lil and a friend made these truffles for holiday gifts. Their versions more closely resembled truffle mushrooms than a candy store confection, but they tasted fantastically gourmet. If distractable kindergarteners can make these, you can too.

Ingredients

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin

http://houndsinthekitchen.com/2012/02/07/handmade-truffles/

Added to Hearth and Soul blog hop 2/7.

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Handmade Chocolate Truffles {Recipe} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Travelin' Hounds

Rachel Tayse — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:41:38 +0000

Looking for a recipe today? I shared my mother’s Tuna Noodle Casserole with the Columbus Dispatch for their article about potato chip toppings.

After a long draught of travel, this spring is shaping up to be a flood of trips. Check out our itinerary:

February 2 – Cleveland – Fresh Street Pop-up

February 10-11 – Cincinnati – Winter BeerFest and 5Bs Conference

February 18-19 – Granville – OEFFA Conference

end of February – San Salvador Island – Vacation with Alex’s family

March 9-11 – Indianapolis – Big Ten Basketball Championships with my family

mid March – India – tentative business trip for Alex. Lil and I will stay home but may make a few local trips on our own during part of this time.

early April – Harrisburg PA and surrounds – business trip for Alex with Lil and I coming along

mid June – Big Island, Hawaii - Vacation with my family

late July – France – tentative business trip for Alex. If it happens, Lil, my sister Megan, and I will go along.

It’s entirely possible that in the next six months Lil will end up with two new passport stamps and dozens of hotel stays. She will be thrilled.

I am excited too. Seeing the world always gives me new perspectives on life, lots of photo opportunities, and plenty to share with you all.

The beasts will be well taken care of at home thanks to my sisters and neighbors.

I am sure there will be bumps along the way and in all likelihood some trips will be changed or put off to other dates. Rolling with the punches is part of the life lessons included in travel.

Are you looking forward to any trips?

Many links in this post go to my inspiration boards on Pinterest. The thought that I could use pins to track places I want to visit rekindled my participation in this social network. Feel free to follow me there and share your name so I can follow you.

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Travelin' Hounds is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Unschooling Unexpected Benefits and Challenges {Friday Five}

Rachel Tayse — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:05:56 +0000

We jumped into unschooling without many expectations. Self-education is still an experiment in which we are all learning how to support each other.

As the primary educator, I’ve been surprised to find the following challenges:

Money – I want to do more than we can reasonably afford. I want to travel more, take more classes, and buy more supplies. We carefully select what experiences are the most appealing and invest in those.
Time management – I don’t mean in the ‘we don’t have enough time’ but the ‘what the hell do I do now’ sense of the word management. I am a planner but Lil and Alex are not. They have no trouble filling free time with games, reading, and entertainment but I am often at a loss. We’re working on the right balance to please us all.
Difficult subjects – We are not tracking Lil’s learning per se but I do note where there are gaps and try to incorporate more teachable moments into our life around difficult subjects. For instance, math facts don’t come naturally to Lil. Whether we incorporate addition and subtraction into games, everyday life, or written work, she feels frustrated and wants to give up. I don’t believe that coercing a kid ever results in true learning so we just bear on with sneaking practice in where we can.
News – Goodness I miss listening to NPR news. Now that Lil listens too, I usually have to turn it off. Answering her multitude of questions, ‘who died?’ and ‘what’s rape?’ and ‘why will Texas kill him?’ and ‘the United States army?’, is too hard on us both.
Me time – Of course, lack of time to myself wasn’t unexpected. But until it actually happened, me going for weeks without an hour at home without another person in the house, I didn’t realize how I would feel. I have had to shift patterns in my life because I now almost never have uninterrupted time to write, pay bills, or just think. Strangely the lack of quiet time makes me crave my family more because it just seems too quiet and I am too lost without them.

And of course, there are unexpected benefits:

Stretchy pants wearing – There isn’t much need to dress for class when you teach from morning through the night. I do typically change into public-friendly clothes once a day but I admit to wearing pajama or yoga pants an awful lot of the time.
Educator discounts – Retailers from JoAnn’s to Barnes & Noble to World Market give teachers discounts. This list includes 66 discounts (hat tip Cbus Mom) and I’m sure there are more. Most allow home educators to partake. I appreciate the generousity because homeschooling is an expensive proposition, see number 1 above.
Sleeping in – Lil is the best daughter in the whole world because she loves a late wake up as much as Alex and I do. Seriously, most days we are all asleep past 9 am. We are so NOT morning people that now I wonder if we could ever get her to school before the first bell.
Noticing leaps in understanding – This week something ‘clicked’ and Lil suddenly understood how to read music note rhythm. This isn’t something I taught her because she has resisted my instruction. Suddenly she wanted to learn and BOOM! she was clapping rhythms like a Suzuki champion. I don’t know if I would notice Lil’s progress so distinctly if she were in school.
Support of family – Initially I felt like homeschooling was going to be ‘my’ thing. A truly delightful surprise is that Alex, both sets of parents, and all Lil’s aunts and uncles are taking a role in educating her. They give her learning supplies, experiences, and support in ways that I could not have imagined when we started this year. Thank you, family, for sustaining us both.

Any other unschoolers want to add their benefits and challenges?

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Unschooling Unexpected Benefits and Challenges {Friday Five} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Fizzy Water with SodaStream

Rachel Tayse — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:27:41 +0000

Remember when I had a SodaStream on my holiday wish list? I put it on there because when I have sinus pain and pressure, nothing is more delightful to drink than some sparkling water. But I have always hated the packaging waste of bottles of water.

My friend Faith saw my list and said “Why don’t you just ask Soda Stream for one? They are promoting them with bloggers.” Duh.

I asked and amazingly the company quickly sent out a SodaStream unit and a selection of their SodaMix flavor syrups.

I spent five minutes setting it up and then had my first drink. I giggled. Fizzy water from a machine right in my kitchen!

How It Works

Lil doesn’t care for sparkling water or sodas but she loves to use the SodaStream. Here’s a quick video of how it works:

Flavorings

SodaStream produces an array of flavoring syrups called SodaMix including common soda knock-offs, a line of all natural (i.e. sweetened with cane sugar) selections, and no-cal flavored water. We found the taste of the flavors to be satisfying when we were looking for a shot of sugar.

The carbonation unit can only handle plain water, so to use the SodaMix syrups you have to pour it in after adding the bubbles. Each package comes with a measuring unit to fill the entire 1 liter bottle.

We found that we prefer to measure a bit of syrup into a glass and then pour soda water on top. We just don’t drink enough sweet drinks to go through a whole liter before it de-carbonates.

Other Uses

Honestly, I prefer the un-flavored fizzy water. Sometimes I enjoy a glass with a twist of citrus or splash of lime juice. Sparkling water makes for a great no-calorie drink.

And of course we also use the sparkle to make cocktails. Limoncello over ice topped with soda water is the most refreshing thing in the world. We top whiskey sours with soda water and mix cranberry liqueur with bubbles. Once our store bought tonic water runs out, I will experiment with making my own tonic syrup so that summer gin and tonics will have a lower environmental footprint.

Is It For You?

The basic SodaStream costs around $100. CO2 cartridges cost $30 for a new cartridge or $20 for a refill. As each cartridge lasts for about 60 liters, the cost of bubbles per 12-ounce glass is $0.12.

It’s hard to adjust for the amortization of the initial $100 investment for the machine because I don’t know how long it will last. The unit is simple with few moving parts so I expect it to withstand many refills.

We typically pay about 60 cents for a 12-ounce can or bottle of club soda. Even if the unit only lasts through two refills, the SodaStream will beat the price of store-bought club soda AND eliminate recycling or reusing the cans/bottles. Plus, there’s no denying that pressing the button and buzzing the water full of air bubbles is fun!

Disclosure: SodaStream provided me with a Genesis Soda Maker, Sodamix Variety 12-Pack, and a half dozen bottles of SodaMix syrups. My opinions remain my own.

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Fizzy Water with SodaStream is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Confessions {Friday Five}

Rachel Tayse — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:05:27 +0000

1. I like to make jam but I rarely eat it.

2. Same with pickles. Hence, my pantry is overabundant and I give many jarred gifts.

3. I failed at worm composting last year. I so don’t like squishy creatures that I hated tending the box and turned the wigglers lose in my compost bin in the summer. I am keeping my awesome One20 Farm composter with the hopes that someday I’ll get over my fear or convince Lil to tend worms for me.

4. I don’t like the way I look on tv or in pictures. Thankfully this video segment on local news about moms who blog with Mikaela Hunt included beauties Amy Turn Sharp, Diane Davis Lang, Susie Owens, and Wendy Hondroulis to counter my awkwardness.

5. Alex is a better cook than I. He makes sauces, garnishes dishes and attempts recipes that I simply do not take time for.

6. (Bonus because I had to share the picture!) I take unwarranted pleasure in bathing the little dog. She hates it but Lil and I smirk as we wash her filthy body.

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Confessions {Friday Five} is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!

Homeschool Report Card Fall 2011

Rachel Tayse — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 17:43:15 +0000

One of my favorite tasks when I taught at the Jewish day school was grading and writing report cards. It has to do with my judgmental nature, I think. Of course I delighted in making this report of our first official quarter homeschooling.

Dates: August 2011 – December 2011

Achievements:
Reading fluency
Writing complete sentences
Spelling creatively but understandably
Basic addition fluency
Counting coins
Butterfly life cycle
Plant bulb life cycle
Basic anatomy and dissection principles
Acids and bases exploration
Weight, distance, and volume measurement
Basic American revolutionary war history
Natural and Ohio history
Finger knitting
Hand sewing
Digital photography
Water color painting
Making lardo and many other meals
Literature – Thanksgiving picture books, Winter holiday picture books, Bone series, Saving the Griffin

Classes:
Weekly Creative Movement class
Weekly African studies
Culture of Japan class (6 weeks)
Homeschool gym (6 weeks)

Field Trips:
Ohio Historical Society
Franklin Park Conservatory
Columbus Museum of Art
Columbus Zoo
The Wilds
Urbana, Ohio – Johnny Appleseed Museum, Freshwater Fish Farm, Cedar Bog
Serpent Mound and Murphin Ridge Inn in Southern Ohio
Laura Ingalls Wilder Play
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Nutcracker School Program
Lawrence Orchards
Branstool Peach Orchard
Apple Hill Orchard

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Homeschool Report Card Fall 2011 is a post from Hounds In The Kitchen.
If you like what you read, please consider supporting us with a donation or visit the Hounds in the Kitchen shop for ebooks and favorite tools. Thanks!