Hi Haley,

I felt The Guilt last night. That weight of responsibility to a sister, particularly to one who is younger than you, is a hefty thing. Particularly when you slip up.

Like I did when I told Crach Friday was ours and downtown would be our oyster.

The next day I made a series of small mistakes: I invited two of my friends. I made plans for lunch at a particular restaurant at a particular time. I accepted a shift for Friday morning.

In none of these did I consult Crach. Rather, I dumped the plans on her last night on a car ride home and then got snippy when she wasn't thrilled. Relationships can be so tricky. An action rarely leads to the conclusion you hoped for. Around Christmas these intimacies seemed to be even more riddled with puddles and pot holes. Our expectations are so high. Time is so short. Life is so busy.

Now I want to say that bread is the boon:constant, comforting, simple. Although, that isn't real true. In a way, bread is just bread. But I like it. And yesterday I was happy to make it and it felt simple, comforting, and constant.


This is Maple Oat Bread is really good. It's sweet, but brown, whole-wheaty, and soft.


Maple Oat Bread (Adapted from Beth Hensberg's Honey Whole Wheat Bread)
1 cup warm water
pinch sugar
2 packages yeast (4 and 1/2 tsp)
1 cup buttermilk
3 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cups oats
3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
1 Tbsp salt

Combine water, sugar, yeast and wait ten minutes for the yeast to foam.

Warm the buttermilk to take off the chill. Melt the butter and combine the two, along with the maple syrup.

In a large bowl combine the whole wheat flour, oats, and salt. Add the buttermilk mixture and the yeast mixture. Mix smooth. Add the remaining flour half a cup at a time, mixing smooth after each addition. Knead 7-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough will be a bit sticky, just be patient and add Tbsps of flour to your counter top as you knead.

Form the dough into a ball, place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and let rest for one to one and a half hours, until doubled.

On a floured counter top, divide the dough in two, shape and place in greased bread pans, and let rise another 45min, or until doubled.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40-50 min.

Savory Shortbread

I know you've all been waiting with baited breath, wondering, whose going to win this year's Reems Eats Christmas draw? While this is exciting, I want to draw (pun-ha ha) your attention to a new Christmas treat that you too could be serving to adoring guests, or toting to froofy cocktail parties. (If you go to froofy cocktail parties. I have (bragging) actually been invited to one. I'm twenty-seven; I think it's high time I attend an event titled, 'cocktail party.')

While I have a sweet tooth (all Reems' do) at Christmas I actually (shocking) become overloaded with chocolate, almond, cinnamon, and sugar. That's not to say I stop eating, no, no, no, but it is nice to bring in an alternative (in addition to the ever popular spinach dip). This recipe for lemon and thyme shortbread comes from the cookbook, Savoury Baking and its wonderful. It tastes a lot like a cracker, but with a little more weight. The lemon is subtle, the thyme interesting, and the sprinkle of coarse salt gives the cookies a nice finish.

Oh, and the winner is...drum roll...Cautiousmum, congratulations.

The recipe can be found here, on the NPR site.

Christmas Cookies and Giveaways

Rach -

How was the puff pastry course? I'm looking forward to my own private tutorial over the holidays.

Yesterday was our first foray into Christmas baking this year. Of course, despite my attempt to keep the halloween cookie cutters in the cupboard, Finn felt that bats and pumpkins would be a nice addition to the more traditional stars and angels. We made the dough, cut out the shapes, all with the intention of icing in the afternoon. A day later the cookies are still un-iced; after sampling half the dough I just wasn't sure that Finn's little body could handle the sugar consumption. Maybe tomorrow. I'm not going to provide a recipe, there are enough sugar cookie recipes online and in your dusty cookbooks.

Now for the giveaway. Leave a comment telling us your favourite Christmas treat and we'll announce the winner next week Wed (the 15th). The randomly drawn name will be shipped a specialty Reems stollen.

Here are a few other seasonal recipes I trolled from our archives:

Biscotti

Not-So-Traditional Christmas Cookie

Monster Cookies

And some Dutch selections:

Speculaas

Boeterkoek

Blueberry Buckle

Rach-

The Reems Eats 2010 Conference was epic. Your post had me chuckling all over again. I was daydreaming today about our lovely little noodle shop, where after an hour at our counter perch, our pores breathing in the pork-tenderloin-infused-steam from vats and vats of broth, we both experienced the horror of standing shiny-faced in front of the singularly most unflattering mirror in all of Vancouver. Definitely not a first date kind of place. But wow- a great bowl of noodles.

Carmen, or Auntie Carmen is she known in these parts, has arrived. I warned her upon her arrival that if she wanted any respite at all, she needed to tone down the fun. Fun auntie = busy auntie. Well, she has not heeded my warning, she has already taught Finn a few classic Guy dance moves, and along with other unsuspecting visitors to the Campbell house, has run multiple 'races' around our main floor. Finn is just doing his part in trying to keep her youthful figure.

I had to post something delicious. Our freezer is full of blueberries, and I've been on a bit of a coffee cake binge lately; there is something about cold days and a cozy home makes anything streusel high on my list right now. Once again I've been turning to King Arthur, this time for their Blueberry Buckle The only change I made was using brown sugar instead of white in the topping. Blueberry buckle - if not because it's delicious, make it because of the name. I really have to get into the history of food names, I'm sure I'm not the only one with this curiosity. I'm adding Buckle to the list, somewhere after Bundt, Grunt, and Muffin (I know, muffin sounds normal but say it a few times).

I must log off, the fake fireplace is on, and Carmen needs a reading companion.

Readers, stay tuned for our first annual giveaway later this week.

Vancouver 2010 and Butternut Squash Soup

Hi Haley,

Top Memories from the Vancouver 2010 ReemsEats Conference (Readers: Haley and I met in Vancouver to attend a Stollen and Panettone Baking Class on Granville Island)

1. Cold weather, snow fall, and the sunlight hitting the mountains, which provided a backdrop to Granville Island
2. Receiving a complementary facial at the noodle bar due to massive amounts of steam generated by boiling pots of noodles, pork, and broth.
3. Using an electric scale
4. Buying an electric scale
5. Laughing a bit too enthusiastically at the German Baking Instructor's 'stolen' jokes
6. "More butter is better"
7. Min panettone over two-for-one Starbucks
8. St. Sinclare
9. Scott removing her pants at Numbu (or whatever it's called)
10. Haley always laughing

Things I learned at the 2010 ReemsEats Conference

1. Never let Haley out of your sight or she might shame the entire ReemsEats corporation by lining her baking sheet with nearly ten pieces of parchment paper.
2. More butter is better (Don't worry, Joan, I haven't taken this adage to heart)
3. Using a kitchen scale is more accurate and faster than volume measurement.
4. Add baking powder to sweet yeasted dough for a shorter dough.
5. Take the time to go to Vancouver to hangout with Haley. The rewards are infinite.

Now, I know I was to post a Stollen recipe as a companion to this post BUT I have a better idea. Remember, on the way to the ferry, when we stopped on Granville, slipped into Williams and Sonoma and sampled apple cider and that amazing butternut squash soup?

Yes?

I made the soup. The recipe is online and you don't need to buy W.and S.'s bottled pureed squash, at the exorbitant price of thirty dollars a pop. Here is the recipe (the link is not showing up--but click on 'recipe'). It is hands down the best B.S. soup I have made. Be sure to use stock, not water.

(I'm very excited about our siblings Christmas dinner--look up Zambri's and tell me what you think. Too pricey?)

love, R.

Kitchen Mischief

Rach-

Sorry, another post of your adorable niece and nephew - though it is kitchen related. I just wanted to send you some pics to let you know that Coby has stepped it up in the little monkey department. And Finn? He's becoming more helpful by the day. Now, if we could just work on his laundry folding skills..

Note to readers: Rachel's computer is down. I'm posting this tidbit of information to try and spur her and Caleb to their local Future Shop to meet their new laptop. Hurry please, there is way too much responsibility being the lone blogger..

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Rach-

Here it is- Reems Nostalgia Post #1. I know that I've romanticized the Reems banana chocolate chip muffin several times in the past, but humour me one more time. This muffin was a staple in the Reems snack cupboard, right up there with the chocolate chip square. My friend Suzanne still remembers the Reems bananana chocolate chip muffin - she recently reminisced about the pangs of jealousy she felt at the sight of me biting into a still warm, fresh-from-the-oven muffin each morning at school. Now, while I can definitely corroborate that I did eat a daily muffin, Suzanne's memory of a warm muffin, is proof that I am not the only one that has romanticized Reems muffin memories.

No, in the mid-90s, for a warm muffin you had to be at the Reems house around 10am on a Saturday morning. The coffee would be made, the muffins ready for sampling (though only one per child/adult, the rest would be cooling for recess consumption that week). Joan would have already buzzed the intercom multiple times to my room that morning, to ensure that I had cleaned the bathroom, and that I was cleaning my room. I would have assured her, multiple times, that yes I was working on it, and then would have returned to my novel. The only thing that would have torn me from my clothes-strewn lair would have been the smell of muffins and the promise of snack time.

This is one of the original Reems recipes I had copied down - the original recipe called for 1/2 cup butter, but I don't think that Joan, even in her pre-low fat days would have done the full 1/2 cup. I compromised and used 1/3. Now, in true Reems-fashion you should double the recipe and individually saran wrap most of them to freeze them for future lunches.

Banana Chocolate Muffins

Cream together:
1/3 cup soft butter (can sub canola oil)
1/2 cup sugar

Beat in:
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed banana (2 large, 3 regular)

Add dry ingredients:
2 cups flour (can do part whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (can half this)
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix together. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 min. Makes 12 muffins. Double for the Reems quantity of choice, 24.

Rach- I know that you'll empathize with my struggle with Mondays - it's hard to go from weekend fun to hitting the grind. And there's never anything fun foodwise associated with Mondays - after work on Mondays, dinner preparation is a chore. I think it's time to change this; next Monday I am going to try to get something exciting happening in my kitchen.

To top my Monday off, with Mike at parent-teacher interviews and the couch my biggest plan- Finn napped at daycare today, resulting in a not-so-smooth-bedtime.

This was Coming out #6 or 7:

Finn: Mommy?
Me: Finn, why aren't you sleeping?
Finn: I just want to talk to you.
Me: Oh?
Finn: ACTUALLY, I forgot to have candy before I went to bed.
Me: Oh?
Finn: AND I wanted to ask you if you like to eat lollipops before you go to bed.
Me: Bed. Now.

All is quiet and Monday and I are now reconciling. I've settled for the next best thing to lollipops: leftover chocolate ganache, directly from the bowl.

Ghostly Cupcakes

Hi Haley,

I think you could play pranks on Mike with those bloody fingers from your last post. Try leaving one beside his razor or curling another over the edge of his comforter. Hmmm. Reminds me of when Crach and I short sheeted your bed. Or when we thought it would be hilarious to fill Mom and Dad's bed with Rice Crispies. We were wrong.

On Friday I had the opportunity to cook dinner for over one hundred people down at Street Cafe, a ministry operated by the Mustard Seed Church. The dinner is for those down on their luck or living on the street. The food is served restaurant style: lights are dimmed, candles are lit, and live music is featured. Guests are offered the choice of two entrees. On Friday, we prepared hash brown casserole and teriyaki chicken. When seven o'clock rolled around, Tina and I swapped our cook's aprons for waitress's aprons and attended the tables. We had more than a little fun storming into the kitchen hollering, "I need a chick and two hash." Restaurant lingo is truly addicting.

I brought a few desserts to serve with dinner. These chocolate ghost cupcakes were made in the spirit of Halloween. The recipe is from Nick Malgieri's book, Perfect Light Desserts. The cupcakes are my very favourite chocolate cupcakes and are extremely good topped with a mocha whipped-cream (1 cup whipping cream plus 1 tsp instant coffee, 2 tsp cocoa, 1/4 cup sugar combined and then beaten). In the future I will try topping them with a chocolate sour-cream frosting or a white-chocolate butter cream.

Chocolate Ghost Cupcakes

For the cupcakes

2 cups sugar

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate coarsely chopped

1 cup boiling water or very hot coffee

2 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream (low fat is fine) or thick, Greek-style yogurt

Preheat your oven to 350 with a rack positioned in the center.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners.

Measure and mix the sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda in one bowl.

Put the chocolate in a large bowl and pour the hot water or coffee over it. Let the chocolate stand for 2 to four minutes to let it melt, then whisk it into the liquid. Beating well after each addition, add the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sour cream one at a time. Be sure to whisk smooth after each ingredient.

Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, mixing until the batter is just smooth.

Pour the batter into your lined muffin tin and bake for 20 to 25 min until the muffins are just done. An inserted tester should come out clean.

Let the cupcakes cool in the tins for 5 to 8 minutes then remove them to cool completely on a wire rack.

For the boiled icing

2 large egg whites

a pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

2 tsp vanilla

Fill half a saucepan with water and bring it to boil. Reduce the water to a simmer.

Combine the ingredients in a bowl and whisk smooth.

Place the bowl over the water and whisk gently until the egg whites are hot (140 degrees_ and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat. Beat with an electric beater until the icing is cooled, has increased in volume, and will hold soft peaks.

Use the icing immediately.

Store the cupcakes in the fridge. They can remain out for a few hours, any longer and the icing will harden (which some people prefer).

Bloody Fingers

Rach-

I'm in! Thanks for the wander down memory lane. I spent some time daydreaming about piggies in the blanket and various childhood treats. Here are some of my Reems food memories to add to the list:

Fluff - likely a Reems-only dessert, I certainly have never encountered the combo of yogurt and jello anywhere else.

Oh Henry bars - an oatmeal base and a chocolate peanut butter frosting. Yum.

Vinegar cookies - A white cookie, kind of like a sugar cookie. Granted, not the best name, but they did taste good.

Ooblis - Made by Grandma, mypersonal favourite - these were a popular birthday treat when I was in primary school. They were a Maria cookie kind of base with a mocha cream filling and dipped in chocolate.

Besasup - I have no clue how to spell this and am too lazy to google. This is another Grandma special, a Dutch raspberry sauce served over vanilla pudding.

I will be adding to this list. I can't wait to dive in. Now onto bloody fingers-

A few weeks back I spotted a recipe for Witches' Fingers in a Canadian Living cookbook. I ear-tagged them for haloween and Finn and I made them yesterday. Now, while they turned out nicely, or should I say bloody, it came to me as we were taking our first batch out of the oven , that maybe as a mother of a 3-year-old, I should have stuck to happy pumpkin faces. Oh well, Finn hasn't made the jam-blood connection yet, but maybe next year we'll work on those pumpkins.

Witches' Fingers - Adapted from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book

(Canadian Living adheres the almonds to the fingers with decorators red icing after the cookies come out of the oven).

Beat together:
1 cup butter
1 cup icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla

In separate bowl mix:
2 3/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Stir dry ingredients into butter mixture. Cover and chill for 30 minutes.

Shape spoonfuls of dough into finger-like shapes, use a knife to make 3 scores for the knuckle. Place a dab of jam on one end and then press an almond fingernail on top of the jam. Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Remember Jello?

Hi Halzey,

Remember Jello-jigglers? Is this a custom mothers still practice? There was a birthday-party game involving these precious cutouts of slime and a blindfold. Shudder.

Piggy's in a blanket? (Think hot dog wiener meets pastry) Macaroni Goulash? (I'm not even sure how to spell that--along with many other words, you're likely thinking) Rice de Bri? (Dutch for rice pudding).

I suppose our family, like most, had it's quirky traditions and favourites. Like hamburger Friday--VERY exciting--and Sunday-night ice-cream, which had to be scooped into a glass dessert bowl NOT a correlle cereal bowl. (Mom's method of portion-size control).

Then there are those treats and dishes that were beloved and are now missed, like Joan's chocolate-chip squares; Grandma's no-bake cheese cake with a graham-cracker crust, topped with cherry-pie filling; cornflake chicken; or coffee cake with the full-streusel topping (slowly over the years the volume of streusel sitting atop the cake depleted until only a thin dusting of cinnamon remained. Chalk it up to the nineties health-kick).

J and I took a walk on Dallas last week. (For non-Victorians: the road that runs parallel to the Pacific with a view of the snow-capped Olympic mountains. Yes, I'm bragging). It was then she suggested that our tastes might be linked to emotion and governed by our memories of past experiences. She recalled Sunday doughnut stops with her family and admitted she still adores Tim Hortons. I recalled C's infatuation with the doughnut and his love of Seattle's Top Pot.

I have my own fond memories of doughnuts: after the yearly Christmas concert Mom would have a box waiting downstairs in the cool laundry room. Carmen and I would run down to get it, first peeking beneath the lid at the snug rows of shiny doughnuts.

This wander down memory lane is leading toward a proposition: that we revisit our childhood foods by compiling a list of favourites foods and a list of strange foods we enjoyed in our past. We will then recreate the dishes either by following the original recipe, if it still exists, or re-interpreting the original for an up-to-date take.

Send me some of your fav.'s

Lovingly,
R.

Seattle Eats

Hey Rach -

Seattle was great. The food was great. The Picasso exhibit was great. The concert was great. The football game? Well, the people watching was great. I know that you'll empathize with me, it's not that I dislike the actual football, it's just that there is so much standing around in between the moments of excitement. And it was wet and cold. Basically an NFL ticket is wasted on me - though there is something great and crazy about those nutty football fans - the spray-painted hair, the grandpas in full-face paint, the tail-gating - it's definitely a culture of its own. Poor Mike, he does try hard to nurture an appreciation of the game in his football-indifferent wife. I was a good sport though, and didn't even roll my eyes (well, outwardly) when he almost swooned at the excitement of owning a football helmet with various snack compartments (Please note to any Chilliwack football fans: There will be a Superbowl party at the Campbells' this year to warrant the purchase of said helmet, consider this your invitation).

OK, enough about football: the food. We didn't make it to your pizza joint yet, that's for our next visit. Mike has had the Swinery on his to-eat list for some time now, so we hit up West Seattle for an adventure in pork. I've included a photo of the man behind the barbecue, so that you won't miss the irony I was feeling in having a Hasidic-Jew lookalike prepare our pork products. Mike also took home a goodie bag of salamis and bacon-infused chocolates. The Danger fries were amazing, cooked in beef fat and topped with a bacon-infused bechamel sauce. They were voted top 5-heart-attack on a plate Seattle meals.

Other standouts included:

The Grand Central Bakery for breakfast - their cookbook is one of my frequent library favourites.

Lots and lots of coffee. Good coffee. Oh those Seattle-ans and their coffee.

I have to go. I'm recovering from the weekend and have to be at work tomorrow. It's time to attack a stack of library books (I have another novel by Muriel Barbury, author of Elegance of the Hedgehog - I haven't started it yet but the title, Gourmet Rhapsody, is promising ).

Here's a spoiler for my next post: It's spooky!

Matching Macaroni

Haley, Haley, Haley!

I feel as if it's been so long since we've talked. With you back at work and me shuttling between every high school in town, our communication has fallen to a bare minimum. (Note to readers: while we Reems girls are billed as 'hard workers' we find day jobs exhausting. By the end of the work week, no, make that mid work-week, we are reduced to lifeless, cranky slobs by the early evening hours. We CANNOT delay bedtime past ten o'clock. Really, we prefer nine, but our spouses protest. Plus, there's something shameful about tucking in at nine each night.) Yesterday I had the day off. Lovely. I rose at seven, as per usual, and awaited the ringing of the phone, and the mechanical voice of the dispatcher to send me out into the world of unknown schools, classrooms, and children--who look at me with such open distrust, 'who are you and what have you done with our teacher?'

The phone never rang. I made white-chocolate brownies. Balance was restored. I'm not going to give you the recipe. I'm saving it for a Christmas post.

Last week you made macaroni with winter squash, which was weird. Not the macaroni, that, I'm sure, was wonderful. But the fact that you made macaroni with winter squash and I had made the same thing the night before. Creepy. As strange as you and I arriving at events in matching outfits, planning cooking classes, and eating too many blondies, all simultaneously, without prior discussion. Clearly we are shorn from the same cloth.

Mine's from Martha.

3 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash

1 cup stock (I used water)

1 1/2 cups milk

pinch of nutmeg (I omitted)

A few splashes of hot sauce (my addition)

2 tsp grainy mustard (my addition)

pinch of cayenne pepper

3/4 tsp coarse salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 pound macaroni noodles

1 cup grated cheddar

4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese (I omitted)

4 Tbsp fine bread crumbs

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup ricotta (I substituted yogurt)

Preheat oven to 350. Combine the liquids and squash in a pot, bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until the squash is tender. This will take about 20 min. Remove the pot from the heat and blend the squash into the liquid using an immersion blender. Add the seasonings of your choice (cayenne, mustard, etc).

Meanwhile, cook the noodles. Add the noodles to the squash mixture.

Add the cheeses and yogurt to the pot. Mix well. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish that has been lightly oiled.

Mix the oil with the breadcrumbs and spread evenly over the macaroni.

Bake, covered, at 350, for 20 min. Uncover and bake 30 to 40 min more until browned and crisp on top.

Eggplant Parmesan

Rach-

Your nephew had his first dentist appointment today. I had an attack of the giggles, the likes that haven' t hit since high-school. Finn was the model patient: he beamed a big grin at the appropriate times during the up and down chair demonstration; he opened his mouth wide, not even waiting to be asked (evidently over-coached by mommy and the Bernstein Bears); he made fishy lips around Mr. Vacuum during the cleaning. His only difficulty- and the reason for my giggle attack- tongue placement. That little tongue had a life of its own. However, since Finn won't be dating until he's 22, his tongue control will have some time to develop.

Oh yes, this is a food blog. Well, teeth do play an important roll in masticating one's food. Tonight's meal, Eggplant Parmesan was delicious, though the chewing was minimal, as it was a melt-in-my-mouth kind of meal. I had purchased a bag of eggplants at Costco with the plan of making one of my favourites - moussaka; however, making moussaka in one go has just felt to daunting the past few weeks.

Now, if you're looking at this recipe thinking that it looks way too fiddly, you're right, it is a bit fiddly, but it really didn't take too long to make, and the results were delicious. I mostly followed this recipe, but also crossed it with a few other recipes. I sliced the eggplant a bit thicker, I'd say 1.5 cm thick if you're looking for a number, and baked the dredged slices for 15 min per side instead of 5.

Oh, and yes, I am that mother that takes photos of everything. But this is definitely going in the baby book-
OK, I hope you find an internet connection soon. I'm needing some new recipe ideas.

Squash and Mac Attack

Sach-

Watching my kiddies frantically tearing at still-warm smoked salmon, fresh from our neighbour's smoker, was a tender moment for a food-loving mama. Maybe not as significant as a first step, or the first day of kindergarten might be, but still, a moment.

I stepped into the fray (selfishly) to save some for later; I was rewarded by smoked salmon gussying up a boring mac and cheese meal. I correct myself, a macaroni, squash and cheese meal. I have once again resorted to sneaky tactics. The addition of pureed squash was undetectable to the most discerning, Kraft-dinner tarnished, palate. The verdict from my noodle loving clan: wonderful.

(I don't need to tell you whose macaroni was not graced by smoked salmon).

I was deliberating whether or not to give you a recipe. Once again, I'll give you a method that you can play with.

Make a white sauce. Add a good shake of garlic powder (optional), grated cheese and a cup to two cups pureed squash. Toss with cooked noodles and top with more cheese. Bake for 20 minutes (optional). This is a quick and easy meal that can be made earlier in the day and baked before eating.

I usually make mac and cheese to appease the masses at my house; however despite the creamy texture, butter and cheesy-ness, I find it bland. The garlic powder has always helped somewhat, but the addition of smoked salmon was culinary genius; it put this meal into the gastronomic archives (as moderated by my taste buds).

Serve with a salad and you're done. Oh, and your children will love you; particularly your 16-year-old Korean daughter.

Rice-stuffed Acorn Squash

Rach-

Well, we made it though back-to-work week. There were some low points: mostly involving stumbling out of bed and WAKING BABIES at 7am (sleeping babies were not made to be woken), but there were some high points: mostly involving adult conversation and a lunch hour ALONE. Meals at our house this week were also surprisingly well-organized. Planning has never been a strength of mine, so here's hoping that I can continue to keep on top of things. I know from experience, that it's when I have no plan that we start eating omelets and grilled cheese for dinner.

I have to 'fess up - acorn stuffed squash was not a work-day meal. While not difficult, the roasting does take a bit of time. The beauty of this dish is that the squash was so tender that I could spoon large chunks from my 'squash bowl' directly into Coby's greedy little paws.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Slice 2 squash lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and place flesh-side down on an oiled cookie sheet. Roast for 45 min to an hour (until soft).

Prepare the filling: You can be creative here.

I sauteed:

• 2 cloves garlic

• 1 finely chopped onion

• 1 cup finely chopped mushrooms

To this I added:

• 1 cup cooked rice, (cooked in chicken broth - I just put in a T of Epicure chicken broth, it has no msg or sodium, veggie broth would be a good vegetarian option)

• 1/3 cup dried cranberries

• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (chopped pecans would be a good alternative)

• 1/4 cup water (or more if the mixture looks dry)

Season the filling:

• salt and pepper (My chicken stock is sodium-free so I have to use an extra bit of salt, be careful if yours isn't)

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder (I know, I already added garlic cloves, Joan has passed on to me this irrational love of garlic powder)

• 1/3 tsp sage (or poultry seasoning)

I removed the filling from the heat and added some crumbled goat cheese.

I then filled the squash halves and baked the lot for about 20 min, again at 350.

And if you have a picky eater you could just fill his with rice and goats cheese. So boring, but who can understand the ways of the picky? Not I, I just enable.

This is linked to: Vegetarian Fridays

Rach-

Just wanted to pass on a great memoir with some hilarious food-related content: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen. She lists the top 5 Shame-Based Foods for Mennonite Youth Lunches, this took me back to my jealousy over my friend's Mr. Noodles, oreo cookies, and juice box lunches (the water fountain was the Reems' school beverage). While not Mennonite, but with not so distant Dutch immigrant roots, I now fondly appreciate the homemade goodies, and cheese and mustard sandwiches of my youth.

My favourite food moment in the book was her mother chugging the leftover 'tuna juice' from the can!

Monkey Cake for Monkey Baby

Hey Rach -

Well, the pictures don't need a lot of explanation- here is confirmation that Coby has inherited the Reems sweet-tooth.

The princess is one. My how a year has flown by. It doesn't get any better than a big slobbery-monkey kiss from that little girl.

To make your own monkey cake go here (thanks for the idea Carolyn!).

Apples, Walnuts, Currants: Bread

Hi Smoochy,

(If you are not familiar with Haley's various nicknames, they include the likes of Mooch, Moocho Babe, Achoomy Baab, Smoochy, Haley Bailey, and, not to be forgotten, Baby Baluga.)

Here I am, substituting in a computers class, trying to fill the hours until three o'clock. Basically I circulate through the room and ask the kids (teenagers) how their projects are progressing, they grunt, I lean in, look at their screens and murmur words of encouragement and approval, really having little to no idea what the numbers and lines indicate. Excel: one of the reasons I never took computer class.

It's warm. The computers are buzzing. One boy continues to giggle in a hicuppy sort of way.

So I thought I'd send you a little happiness in the form of an apple-walnut bread recipe.

This recipe is based on the one I made at your house exactly one-year ago, when I was similarly sporadically employed. (As a substitute teacher I find myself with a lot of spare time in September. In October the permanent staff start dropping like flies and I invariably get some work and some colds. Handling sick people's pens and pencils is a quick way to a chest infection).

The impetus for this recipe came from one of Beth Henspberger's books; I switched up the ingredients and the technique. Mine is quite a different beast, but a delicious beast.

Apple Walnut Bread

1 Tbsp yeast

2 Tbsp oil

1/4 cup milk (110 degrees - warm)

3/4 cups water (110 degrees)

1 cup oats
1 and 1/4 cups bran
1 Tbsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp all spice

3 cups peeled, coarsely chopped apple

1/2 cup currants

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

3 plus 1/4 cups flour

Combine the oil, milk, water, yeast, and one cup all-purpose flour in a bowl. Mix well and then let it stand for one hour. It will be very bubbly and active after an hours rest.

Add all the remaining ingredients except for the flour. Mix. Add the flour 1/2 a cup at a time, stirring after each addition. Give the dough a good final stir. It should be sticky but it should come together in a big wet ball. Like this:

Now, cover it with a tea towel and let it rise until about double, one hour to one and a half hours.

After the dough has risen prepare your counter by either coating it with oil or flour. The dough will not stick to either surface. Use a spatula to pour the dough onto the counter. Prepare two round casserole dishes or pots, or two loaf pans by coating the vessels in oil.

Use a knife or bench scraper to divide the dough in two. Wet your hands (which prevents the dough from sticking to you) and shape the dough into two rounds or into two loafs. Put the dough into your pans of choice and let it rise for another hour.

Before the dough has finished rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the loaves for about 45minutes, or until nicely browned and hollow sounding when tapped.

A Million and one Zucchini

Hi Haley,
Your salmon post inspired/made me really hungry, and I'm picking up some wild salmon this afternoon. I think it's going to be wild.

We might need to put our childhood-nostalgia-recipes project on hold for a few weeks as there are so many seasonal recipes to take advantage of right now. I'm having trouble squeezing in the time for those buttery kidhood favourites.

So this post is for you, as I imagine you've got a small army of zucchini (tricky to spelling, somehow) in the garden, but it's also for our cousin Sonya, who always grows a million and one zucchini, and always asks for new and original recipes, which we fail to supply. Whatever we suggest, Sonya's already tried it. So really, Sonya, if you've already made zucchini pancakes--not breakfast pancakes, but a sort of dinner fritter--then maybe you can just humour me, sooth my ego a little with a, 'looks good, rach, never thought of that!'

I've made these a couple times now, and they've been enjoyed by all who forked full. The recipe is pretty much a cinch, grated zuch, a couple scoops of flour and a couple eggs. The trick to success, is patience in the cooking process. These babies take time, so let them fry for a good eight minutes (ish) on each side, otherwise they will break up in your pan and you will needlessly curse my name aloud.

You can count on one pound of zucchini per 2 adults, and if you're math is as iffy as mine, I'll save you the brainpower: the following recipe feeds 4.

Zucchini Pancakes
2 pounds zucchini, weighed then grated--if you're two lazy to weigh, about 6 medium zuchs
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
salt (at least 1 tsp)
pepper

Mix the ingredients in a bowl. Heat up 1-2 Tbsps olive oil on medium heat in a large pan--I use a big skillet. Spoon the mixture into pancakes in the pan, cooking about 4 at a time, and cook for about 8 minutes on each side, depending on your heat, the thickness of your pan, etc. But you want the pancakes to be cooked through or they will be slimy and will fall apart on you. So be very patient.

Top the pancake with one or more of the following (or invent your own topping):

• corn and tomatoes
• diced tomatoes with fresh basil, balsamic vinegar, a little olive oil, and coarse salt
• sour cream
• yogurt cheese
• pesto mixed with yogurt

You get the idea.

No-Flip Barbecued Salmon

Rach (or Auntie Sach as you're known in these parts)-

First of all, we've often discussed our blog weakness - not our fabulous recipes and prowess in the kitchen, not our witty writing, nor our inflated egos - no, it is our photography skills, or lack thereof. However, we are getting better (if you disagree please go to our earliest posts). Your pics have reached the point where I've been secretly submitting some of your photos to the Foodgawking site. After a few were rejected I gave up; then I recently found out about Tastespotting and hoped that they would be friendlier to us amateurs. They were, and I am happy to report that you are no longer just a self-published food photographer you have made it to the fleeting world of food photography fame.

In Chilliwack, all anybody talks about is this year's record breaking Sockeye salmon run. I am feeling slightly nervous for the future of these mighty fish, for it seems that the entire Fraser Valley population is at the river with a fishing rod, or on the reserves getting a great deal. I was feeling that though a bit behind on the salmon mayhem, I needed to join in the excitement. So while Finn attended a 3-year old birthday party I made my inquiries. I felt that I had the right crowd - these were local Chilliwack-ians, the kind of people who would be able to direct me to my rock-bottom-priced, back-of-the-truck, fresh-off-the-river sockeye. The next thing I knew I was being given my party goody-bag, 3 nice packages of already filleted salmon from one of the next door neighbour's four stocked freezers.

You'll appreciate the thrill of free fish, and the added excitement of already filleted fish. While you and I, with the aid of Irma Rombauer's Joy of Cooking, have recently tackled a salmon filleting project, I was quite happy to turn this task over to Chilliwack's fishing elite.

I've made salmon a few times this summer, I was given some good advice from Julie, Mike's aunt, who uses a no-flip barbecuing method. I have always wanted to love salmon, but was never quite there. Julie's salmon changed this for me. I've tried this method a few times this summer with good success. I've deviated from her brown sugar marinade and used maple syrup, soy sauce and rosemary. The picture is a travesty, as it was taken earlier this summer with a poor old frozen Safeway special. The fish that graced our table last week was of a whole other caliber.

No-Flip Barbecued Salmon

You need at least 1 Salmon Fillet

Combine marinade (optional, you could just use lemon, salt, and pepper):
1 T chopped rosemary
1 T soy sauce
1 T (or so) maple syrup
pinch of pepper

Pour over salmon in dish. Cover and refrigerate for as much time as you have.

Put salmon on preheated (medium heat) barbecue grill, skin-side down. Cook with the lid down for 15 minutes.

Voila.

Stay tuned for another Krentenbroot update. We are in the midst of devouring our second loaf.

Rach - I'm loving our new look but am concerned that I'm the gingerbread man.

Haley- How fast are you?

Well, I've run away from a little old woman, and a little old man, -and though you're the runner in the family, given that scary rolling pin- you can't catch me because I'm the gingerbread man!

Getting Sauced

Rach-

That got your attention didn't it? Apple sauced, that is. It's September, and we're deep into apples. I suspect that apple peeling is going to be annual photo shot. Just another way of sneaking kiddie photos into a food blog.

Here's last year's apple peeling pic. What a difference a year makes- from snoozing to sneaking apple peels -the little princess is turning one in a week today. And Finn is hard core into apple preparation (get it? core?). He asks me several times a day if he can peel apples, now if I could just channel that enthusiasm into laundry folding or toy pick-up..

The exciting (for me) difference between the two pictures is that I got smart and realized that the base of the peeler would suction onto my patio table. For indoor peeling I actually need to crank with one hand and hold the thing down with the other. We were seriously considering getting rid of the outdoor table and picking up a smaller table for the deck, but due to its secondary apple peeling function, the table has managed to stave off a purge.

I'm actually posting on cake, not sauce. Do you remember that mom had an almond apple cake recipe floating around the counter last year? I lost my old apple cake recipe and turned to the almond apple cake. Since I didn't have any ground or whole almonds I had to completely modify the recipe. In fact, I think that the only thing I kept the same was the topping. Which is good because I can't remember the original recipe source. It tasted great and in an effort to save this recipe for future repeats, I am blogging it.

For non-Reems-readers: Joan, our tiny little mom (she's small, I can almost fit her in my pocket), has a stack of various recipes newspaper clippings, torn magazine pages, and photocopied cookbook pages from work colleagues, all in a stack, usually on the counter by my parent's phone. I have a similar muddle of recipes in a basket at my house. I would hazard that 95 % of these recipes are never actually tried. However, it is great fun to browse through them - I often copy these recipes down and continue to not try them at my house.

Apple Cake

5 largish apples, peeled and sliced

Cake:

Mix together wet ingredients:
1/4 cup butter, melted
2/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract (optional, could use vanilla)

Then add dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt


Mix the whole lot together with 2/3 cup butter milk (Or do as I do and use regular milk with just shy of 1 T lemon juice).

Layer half of the apples in a greased 9 inch springform. Spread over half the batter (will be a thin layer). Next layer the rest of the apples and top with final batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min

Then top with topping and bake for a final 10 min

Topping:

Combine:
2 T melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup toasted chopped pecans or slivered almonds

Rach-
You've inspired me to make a batch of tomato sauce this September. I'm going to be needing some short cuts this winter; my baby is turning one next week, so it's back to work. it's only half time, which in theory should give me the other half of the week to make meals and organize our lives - but you know me- you're my sister, and beyond that, you've helped me organize my pantry. That might be an interesting psychology study: What does one's cupboards reveal about one's life? Well, at least mine would rule out any Obsessive Compulsive tendencies (well, besides the need to buy oatmeal..).

OK, I'm rambling. I just wanted to exclaim over your beautiful cans, and to marvel at the labels - which I'm assuming are Caleb's contribution to the Speller pantry.

Summer's End Tomato Sauce

Hi Haley,

I was sorting through my pantry cupboard and thinking of you, and of last year when you and I tackled the job of reorganizing your kitchen…I’m getting sentimental, particularly when I think of those raisins strewn throughout your pantry. Pantry cleaning is very boring without you. My pantry doesn’t have nearly as many hilarious surprises (ten bags of half-finshed oats). Although, I did find a small bag of peanut butter chips. I don’t even like peanut butter chips, but I made the mistake of undoing the twist tie and suddenly they disappeared. You know what it’s like embarking upon a distasteful task; food is such a comfort.

Anyhow, the point of this post is to pass on to you my end-of-summer tomato sauce. I know we are supposed to be posting nostalgic recipes from childhood but this recipe just couldn't wait.

Your garden is likely overrun with tomatoes, whereas Caleb and I celebrated the growing of three single tomato plants this summer. We actually were really happy because in our absence these last two months, they didn’t receive a lick of water, except for what was sent from above, yet they managed to survive and bear fruit, but not enough for a pot of sauce. So I went down to SunWing farm and picked up a giant flat.

I like to can the sauce but you can also just toss it in your freezer. I jar it because I don’t have a large freezer, and I also like to have it right on hand, no defrosting necessary, so when I’m home from work and out of ideas for dinner, I can just toss it in a pot with some veggies.

The recipe calls for 5 pounds of tomatoes. I wouldn’t attempt doubling that unless you have a very large pot. Also, don’t use an aluminum pot or a cast-iron pot or your sauce will taste funny as tomatoes don’t do well in these materials.

And I think that’s all.

Except for the Sauce.

Basil Tomato Sauce

5 pounds tomatoes
3 Tbsp olive oil
one handful fresh basil

Wash and quarter the tomatoes

Heat the oil in a large pot and add the tomatoes and basil.

Let simmer until the tomatoes are soft, about 30 min.

Pass the tomatoes through a food mill. (You can buy a food mill at any kitchen store or at a thrift shop. They have a handle that turns and pushes the food through a seive. This way, you end up with a suace and the tomato skin and seeds are left behind. You cannot use a blender in place of the food mill.)

Return the sauce to the pot, turn the heat up and reduce the sauce to the consistency of a thick juice. Voila, you are done.

If you would like to can the sauce, place clean jars in a canning pot as you make the sauce. You must boil them for 15 minutes to steralize the glass. Keep the jars hot before filling them with the sauce. Return the jars to the canner and process in boiling water for 30 minutes.

Oma's Krentenbrood Take 1

Well Rach -

In our first childhood nostalgia challenge, I'm not ready to post my final recipe for Oma's Krentenbrood (Dutch for raisin bread). The first loaf was heading in the right direction, but it's not there yet. I have a few adjustments to try in order to replicate a true Oma loaf. I carefully followed her recipe (as dictated to me post-swim over coffee last year in the Commonwealth Pool cafe), but have to do some tinkering.

For those who haven't had the pleasure of a slice of Oma Krentenbrood, I'll give you a quick run down. Oma is past her baking days, but in her prime she was the queen of several recipes that she sporadically produced from her kitchen (Oma would rather read a book or go for a swim then spend an extended amount of time in the kitchen). She was infamous for showing up with her signature dense rectangular loaf, packed full of raisins and Christmas peel. This was not a light, airy bread, but you couldn't beat anything like a toasted slice of Oma's raisin bread slathered in butter (or of course, in our childhood home that would be margarine). Looking back, I feel that Oma was somewhat smug about her grandchildren's love for this bread, and knew that part of the appeal was the scarcity of supplied goods.

My issues were along the lines of texture and shape- I feel that an unusual pan shape is key to reaching the childhood long rectangular slices (no rising dome top to this bread)- maybe you should go have a rummage through her cupboards one more time to find the necessary loaf pan - definitely bigger than your average loaf pan, but I feel like it was smaller than a 9 inch square pan. I also think that I need my dough needs to be a bit wetter. I'm going to increase the liquid next time.

That said, we are down to our last two slices, the kids and I are fully indulging in our chock full of dried fruit, white flour deliciousness.

More Cheese

Haley,
Love the camping nachos! I see great potential for our California surf/camp trip next summer, particularly as Southern Cal is the land of avocados--at farm market stands specializing in avocados,you can expect to find five or six varieties. Who knew such wonders lie south of the border? Arnold is not the the only state phenomena. (He once tried to pick up Caleb's mom, as a matter of fact. That's a little piece of Speller-family trivia for you).


Anyhow, I thought I'd better follow up on my cheese story. Otherwise, you'd think I failed miserably. When in fact, I experienced roaring success, and a small ovation from my dinner guests that evening. I ended up mixing the cheese with a little pesto and serving it as an appy. I sent my friends home with the recipe and their committed to experimenting with more cheese related products.

Okay, so I decided to make yogurt cheese because it's the easiest cheese to make. One doesn't actually have to do anything...Except buy a piece of cheese cloth, which is sold at ANY self-respecting grocery store. So, Haley, no trying to substitute a random piece of fabric you have floating around the house because you can't be bothered with going down to the store and ferreting out a proper piece of cheese cloth. Go. Buy it. No excuses.

Once you have your cheese cloth, you double it over a couple times and the place it in a colander. Then you scoop a lump of yogurt into the cheese cloth. Set the colander into a bowl. It's nice if you can get the colander to sort of hang on the edges of the bowl because the moisture from the yogurt is going to drip through the cheese cloth and the colander into the bowl, leaving you with extra thick yogurt the consistency of cream cheese. This will take six hours or more, so just pop the whole mess in your fridge and go tend to the young ones.

love,
R.

P.S. I can't wait to start our nostalgia cooking series. Readers--Haley and I will be featuring recipe favourites from our youth. Stay tuned.

Camping Nachos

Well Rach,

While you were bread and cheesing your way across Europe, we were snuggled up in our Trillium. Yes, we've kicked up our camping a bit. No more tenting for the Campbell family, no we're a yuppy RV family now.. well, about as posh as a 1970s bowler with walled-carpeting (no, not wall-to-wall, carpet ON the walls). But isn't she a beauty?

Lately I've noticed that it seems to be trendy to make lists of awesomeness. And since I'm nothing if not trendy, I'm going to provide you with my list for today:

Uninterrupted Sleep: Wistfully Awesome
Uninterrupted Meals: Elusively Awesome
Washroom Privacy: Wouldn't that be nice Awesome
Personal Space: What's not to love about 2 small bodies permanently attached to your lap, hip, neck, leg kind of Awesome
Finn smearing his whole body with Old Spice deodorant: Hilariously Awesome
Finn referring to said deodorant as 'pit stick': Inappropriately Awesome
Nap time: Blissfully Awesome
Baby slobber kisses: Heart-meltingly Awesome
Roughing it with the Trillium: Retro-y and Cozily Awesome
Camping Nachos: Awesome

While planning a camping trip with the Vermettes this past August, we hadn't yet realized the brilliance of having a personal chef and handy man a short tent trailer away. After a few nights of camping- eating gourmet meals and sleeping in the luxury that is the Trillium- staying in a hotel, or even living in our own house, now feels a bit like we're slumming it.

If you don't have your own personal Jeff, then here are his directions for making your own camping nachos:

Before you go

-buy inexpensive non-stick cookie sheet

-modify sheet with drill by drilling 1/4 inch holes at 1 inch spacings

-use Dremel to remove burrs/sharp or rough edges left by drill

-NOTE: can also buy perforated non-stick cookie sheet - in the bbq section of local big box store. saw some at canadian tire. but of course it's way more fun to make your own

Camping Nachos

-preheat BBQ on highest setting for 10 minutes

-(can also be cooked over fire, so in that case - prepare coal base in fire pit (if no fire bans))

-spread out layer of nacho chips of choice on cookie sheet

-layer nacho ingredients of choice (we had - cooked italian sausage meat, tomatoes, olives, jalapeños(?), and of course, lots of cheese)

-repeat for 2 or 3 layers

-lower BBQ to medium, and cook nachos with lid on, about 10 minutes, till hot, and cheese is melted. Bottom chips will be slightly toasted, and any cheese that falls on the pan will be crispy bits (yum!)

-if cooking over fire, try to cover with something (foil?)

-serve with salsa, gauc, and sour cream

Gauc

-avocadoes

-fresh lime juice

-tomatoes - diced really small

-ground cumin

-S&P

As far as we can remember, that was it.

Of course any ingredients people like on nachos can be used, but this is what we had on hand camping. If we were more prepared, we may have brought along: banana peppers, red or green peppers, onions... (these are mostly items Jeff would add).

Other meat ideas: Cajun flavoured chicken breast, diced up small; ground beef cooked with taco seasoning...

Well Rach, there you have it. Camping nachos. Awesome.

Brote met Kaas

Dearest sister,

Our culinary experience in Europe can be summed up quite simply by three Dutch words: 'brote met kaas.' Translation: bread with cheese. In Germany, it came on pumpkin-seed buns slathered in butter then blanketed in thick wedges of soft cheese, followed by tomatoes and leafy lettuce. We found these sandwiches in train stations, bus stations, subway stations, neighbourhood bakeries, mall food-courts, and coffee shops.

In Holland, the quality of bread slipped marginally; the vegetables disappeared, and cheese was served with or without a generous portion of ham. Here, the gouda reigned supreme. A breakfast spread was not complete without a plate of sliced gouda, both plain and spiced, snuggled up against a selection of sliced meats. (Naturally, in Holland we were also treated to the likes of liverwurst, cheese pate, frites with mayo, olibollen, panekoek, croquettes, and raw herring.).

We crossed the border into France and were promptly handed a baguette lined with cheese and our choice of veggies. We each ate one, yes, a whole baguette, in a graffitied bunker in the rain, before resuming our bike journey to Paris. We quickly learned the meaning of the word 'fromagerie.' The prices were just as wonderful as the cheeses. In the south of France we ate fresh cheve, just delivered by the farmer to the bin. We tried stinky cheese, and grey cheese, but not bright orange cheese, which Caleb balked at. In Ireland there was cheddar and squash bread and scones, and those giant, weighty loaves they call soda bread.

Yesterday I popped into the grocery store for a few necessities. I stopped at the cheese fridge and nearly cried. Little scraps and squares marked eight dollars, or blocks of Kraft, dyed bright orange, for a more reasonable price.

Tomorrow I will make a pot of spreadable cheese. If I am successful, I will post images and a recipe. If my experiment goes awry, you will hear nothing more on the topic.

Your loving sister,
Rachel

Celebratory Trifle

Rach - Welcome home! I am posting something delicious in order to celebrate your return and our newest nephew. Welcome to the newest little Reems (or not so little weighing in, 2 weeks before his due date, at over 9 pounds!) - Parker Brent Reems!

Mike and I have noticed a trifle trend in Chilliwack- trifles of various kinds seem to be the dessert of choice in this town. So who am I to stand in the way of local dessert preferences? If I'm trying to please my fellow Chilliwack-ians I guess I'll have to throw some deliciousness into a bowl, let it get nice and mushy together, and call it dessert.

Chocolate cake? Layered with chocolate pudding, whipping cream and raspberry sauce? Chocolate shavings? Well.. I guess.. if that's what everyone wants..

Oatmeal (Insert Fruit of Choice) Muffins

R-

Blogging has been sparse as of late. It feels like a chore to hunker down with my laptop when the sun is shining and there are adventures to be had. Being married to a teacher (in addition to being sister to a teacher, sister-in-law to 2 teachers, and daughter to a teacher) has kept my world revolving around the school calendar. The laundry pile has grown, carpets have gone un-vacuumed, and my tupperware drawer has been systematically giving birth (but never to a matching set- oh I have countless lids, and unlimited containers, but never the twain shall match). But alas, our holidays could not go on forever, and when Mike left for school on Monday I saw the dusty piano with all the guilt that only a Dutch descendant can truly empathize with.

We grew up in a muffin household. Joan ensured a continual flow of banana chocolate chip muffins through the Reems household, these saw us through everything from highschool basketball practices, to early morning life guarding shifts. Lately I have been on the hunt for the perfect muffin balance - a muffin healthy enough that you can grab one for breakfast, or feed to your child and not feel that nagging bad-mother-white-flour twinge (yes I have guilt issues, that have only increased exponentially by the arrival of children into my life!). I'm still on that quest - here is the King Arthur Flour oatmeal muffin recipe that I have been using lately- I would definitely put the oatmeal version in the breakfast muffin category, though a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top, or the addition of a bit of streusel certainly makes it a nice mid-morning coffee accompaniment.

Haley-variations and findings
I have been making the oatmeal version with the addition of rhubarb or blueberries this summer. I like to add a teaspoon or so of cinnamon and sometimes chopped pecans to the batter. I have made them with both oil and melted butter and haven't noticed a huge difference between the two. I use 1/3 cup brown sugar instead of 1/2 white. Finally, the oatmeal version tastes great fresh, but I put all the leftovers in the freezer as they tend to dry out after a day or so.

OK Rach, you are about to board a plane and wing your way back to Canada. Yippee! I'm planning a trip to the island to see you soon!