Lionden Landing

Sunday -  Enchilda Bake Monday - leftovers Tuesday -Orange Chicken rice and green beans Wednesday - Tofu Curry, rice broccoli Thursday - Split Pea Soup with Thyme Dumplings Shabbat -Challah, Mandu, Miso Soup, Sweet Salmon, Terkayi Tofu, rice and green beans tiramisu, pumpkin bread

Sunday - Salad, Pasta, Marinara Sauce, Garlic Bread Monday -Fish Ala Jenn Tuesday - Pizza and Salad Wednesday -Enchilada Bake and chips Thursday - Orange Chicken Rice and broccoli Shabbat - Challah, Gefilte Fish Loaf, Tomato Spinach Soup, Herb Roasted Chicken, Green Beans, Butternut Squash, butterfly cupcakes , Carrot Cake Baked Oatmeal and cholent(recipe below)  Julie's Cholent  1 lb meat  3 potatoes  1/3 bag of barley  1/3 - 1/2 cup ketchup 1/8 cup hot sauce  1/4 - 1/3 cup honey 1/4-1/3 cup beef soup powder  1/8 cup garlic powder sprinkle season salt  Cover with water 1-2 in. Slow cook.

  This bottle was full at the start of the day.  And no I am not a giant lush. I am making my own extracts.        This is the first batch.  We are trying vanilla, orange and lemon.  If they are sucessful, we will do more vanilla and mint.  Right now they are curing.  We have to wait until after Pesach to test them.

With Abba is out of town Monday and Tuesday and all the baking of the past couple of weeks, I have decreed this week a "stay out of the kitchen" time Monday -  Mac and Cheese and peas all from the freezer Tuesday - BFD - Eggs and Pancakes Wednesday - Fish ala Jenn, Rice and Broccoli Thursday - Chana Dal and Naan Shabbat - Challah, Gefilte Fish Loaf, Matza Ball Soup, Apricot Chicken,mashed potatoes, sauteed green beans, chocolate caramel tart , banana blueberry bread

 Even Purim morning I was still putting the finishing touches on my part of the costumes for Froggy's Purim shpeil.  I made "Chip" and "Cogsworth". Our shul always picks a theme for the year.  This year it is the 60s in honor of the 50th anniversary of the founding in 1964.  I went as Jane Goodall and Abba went as the Disney version of Pooh first pictured in 1962. That really was just an excuse because he always goes as Pooh Bear.  Froggy wanted to be Queen Esther regardless of the theme. Luckily Gramma keeps supplying Froggy with new dressup clothes so there is always queen clothes available. We made a ton of Mishlach Manot baskets.  The list of recipients is mostly done although I expect it will continue to grow right up until Purim.  The final total was 23.  We included 3 different foods  (although it ended up being only the requisite 2 brachot) Spiced almonds, clementines and 3 different kinds of Hamentaschen, funny ones, chocol...

Sunday - Orange chicken rice and broccoli Monday - Pasta, salad and garlic bread Tuesday -  Chana dal, naan sub and broccoli Wednesday -  Pizza and Salad Thursday - Leftovers Shabbat – Asian Theme -Challah,mandu,Miso Soup,Salmon,Rice, cabbage salad with peanut dressing, Broccoli,Birthday cake Purim Seudah - Challah, hummus, crudite, Shredded brussel Sprout salad , lentil salad , Meat burekas, potato burekas and of course all the various hamentashen.

So I finally got to try my new toy this week while making this recipe   I made beet "pasta" with golden and regular beets.  Once I figured out how to load the machine properly, it was super easy and fun.  The interesting shape enticed Froggy to try it and made it more fun for everyone.  The lemon "cream" sauce was delicious.  Although as I suspected it made way way more than anyone could ever use.  I considered cutting the recipe in half and I absolutely should have.  I will next time.  In the first pass, I left out the lemon juice by mistake and the sauce tasted so flat.  The lemon juice gives it a brightness and richness of flavor that brings the whole dish together. And here is the finished product.  Amazing presentation factor.  Unlike many times I have made a totally unfamiliar recipe, this one did not take significantly longer than the estimated time.  And other than the sauce there were no leftovers. 

Abba and Froggy discovered a new fun activity to do together, ice skating. She did eventually get brave enough to try a trip around the rink without holding onto Abba

Sunday - Dinner out with Friends Monday - Split Pea Soup with Thyme Dumpling Tuesday - Pasta, Homemade Sauce, Salad and Garlic Bread Wednesday - Leftovers Thursday - Beet “Pasta” with Lemon-Creme Sauce and Broiled Salmon Shabbos Dinner Challah hummus and guacomole  Gefilte Fish Loaf Matza Ball Soup Shredded Brussel Sprout Salad Apricot Glazed Chicken Garlic Mashed Potatoes Sauted Green Beans Peanut Butter Chocolate Dessert Lunch Challah Same Salads and dips Enchilada Bake Banana Bread

Today while we are bracing for another six inches of snow, it is fun to look back and remember last weekend when our Girl Scout troop went on an amazing hike Our leader found this great nature center which is only 5 minutes from our shul where we meet.  They have amazing trails with lots of child-friendly signs and touchables.  The staff is very supportive of scouting and willing to run programs on Sundays for our troop.  We found several old old trees which had been felled by storms.   And we scoped out this spot for our Bridging Ceremony  After the hike, we stopped in to the Visitor Center where one of the staff bought out a friend to meet the girls.     He was shy but once the girls simmered down he was brave enough to enjoy a snack of bu They have a dinosaur playground that we explored after the Visitor Center.  This helps me remember that Spring is coming.  Look at all that sunshine and the girls with no coat...