I'm still here...with a list to boot!

Between running, running to preschool, cooking, shopping and just being a mom...I feel like I've been too busy to post. I really don't have much to say but felt I needed to post. We are just knee deep in winter here and I've been in a cooking storm. I've dusted off some old cookbooks and pulled out some new ones. With my New Year's Resolution to continue to eat healthy, whole foods, we have been cooking more and more rather than doing take out or going out. So, ladies and gents, I've made a list of my favorite cookbooks. I know it's not exciting, but if you are a cookbook junkie like me, you'll like this list. Let me know which ones you like that are your faves too and I just may have to add them to my wish list. In no particular order, here are my top 5 favorite cookbooks.

1. The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook: The Essential Recipe Collection for Today's Home Cook

2. Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients

3. Bon Appetit, Y'All: Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern

4. The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh

5. Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast: Simple Suppers.. because we all like to get dinner on the table pronto!

Happy cooking everyone! Don't forget to tell me what your favorite cookbooks are!!

A rainy day baking project...

Harrison has been in VBS all this week and today was supposed to be a family picnic over at Splash Island. Because of all of the rain we've been having, it was cancelled. I quickly decided since it was raining that we would have a baking activity to keep all parties interested while the twins were napping. For some reason, I enjoy baking when it's raining outside. To me, they seem to go hand-in-hand. Harrison LOVES to help me in the kitchen and we always have so much fun together. I decided since I had all the ingredients on hand that I would make pistachio biscotti. We are BIG fans of the pistachio in this house...so I was hoping it would turn out. Well, they did and all 4 of us devoured them during our tea-time. Tea-time, you ask? Are we in Britain? No, but I am trying desperately to teach my boys some table manners and I figured after naps/snack time was the best time to try. We all sit at the table and eat our snack together. Dinnertime can be so chaotic, so this has been fun to try out. Plus, it relaxes me a little before the "wild/crazy" time in our house, which is between 5:00 and 6:00 pm, before daddy gets home. I figure if it's good for the Brits, it's good for us...here are some pictures from our little baking/eating extravaganza.

Life is Good!

My 3 super-active boys are settling into their naps, I'm drinking an iced Madagascar Vanilla Red tea-my new favorite, no caffeine, no artificial flavors, no calories and loaded with antioxidants-and sampling one of Bubba's Beer Biscuits that I made for tonight's supper club, which is an All-American theme. Bubba is Paula Deen's brother, for those of you who didn't know that. Don't judge me for eating them, I did bike 11 miles this morning, as well as yesterday morning. Biking, you ask? Well, I'm taking a week off from running. My right calf has been bothering me for a couple of weeks and after a terrible run on Monday, I've decided I can't risk being injured for my marathon that is 6 months away. I had a little pity party at first because I love running so much, but biking is working other leg muscles that running doesn't work, so I guess it is a pay-off. I still get up early to go and the scenery is amazing. My butt hurts when I am done for sure! I almost burned the same amount of calories running 5 miles as biking 11 miles, but I do miss the running!

Yesterday I took the boys to the library so Harrison and I could check out some books. That boy has never met a book he didn't love. I also love checking out cookbooks-LOVE it! I read cookbooks like regular books, always looking for that perfect recipe. I also picked up Paula Deen's autobiography, which so far has been a pretty fast read. I love reading biographies about cooks or chef's-always wondering how they got into the business. She has really come from nothing-she is an amazing woman! I sat on the porch last night after the boys went to bed and Dan was playing tennis with a friend, and with the coastal breezes in the air and the smell of the marsh, I actually felt like I was on vacation, reading her book while sitting in my rocking chair. So really, right now Life is Good!

This gift is going to make me FAT...

Tonight I'm making dinner for a neighbor (Roasted Vegetable Lasagna-thanks Sweet Pea Chef !) who just had a baby. I'm also making dessert. I got the Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker for my birthday and I LOVE it. I don't know how I went this long without it. I've been making batches upon batches of it, experimenting with a little of this and a little of that. It tastes so creamy and fresh...but it's also addicting.So tonight, I'm making some for the neighbors (and us too!). This time I'm doing the Basic Vanilla Recipe and I'm putting in crushed peanut butter/chocolate Newman-O's . What's a "Newman-O" you ask? It's like an Oreo, but without all the nasty hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. I found them at Whole Foods AND they're cheaper than regular Oreo's AND they have peanut butter in them...need I say more? They are so good...
Like I said, I LOVE my new gift, but hopefully it won't make me FAT! Guess I better keep up with all of this running, now I have something to really run for...

I'm hooked...

on this fig spread from Whole Foods. My cheese guy there introduced it to me and I LOVE it. I love my cheese guy too...not in a L-O-V-E sort of way (no worries, Dan) but I love how knowledgeable he is about cheese. I love all things cheese and my goal is to one day be as knowledgable...so, lately for lunch I've been eating Stacy's whole wheat bagel chips, fig spread and a chunk of havarti (one of my faves) cheese with a green salad drizzled with a small amount of EVOO and basalmic vinegar. I'm telling you....this is so good! I get my whole grains, fruit and veggies(from the figs and green salad) and dairy all in one bite. My cheese guy also knows alot about pairing wines with cheeses, (something else I've been learning more about) and I'm starting to think I'm turning into a regular old foodie. So, when I'm in Whole Foods (which is weekly), he now sees me coming and gives me a mini-lesson on cheeses and wines. I look forward to it every week!

Oh, and I forgot to mention...for dessert I'll have a square of 70% dark chocolate-I love the Green and Black's kind . I look forward to it everyday...I get my kicks whenever I can. For some reason, I don't feel quite so guilty knowing that it's loaded with antioxidants (or that's what I tell myself).

Mommy's Diner

With 3 small children it can be pretty fun and interesting...especially around meal times. So far, the twins are better eaters than their big brother Harrison was at this time. However, pickyness is starting to occur in our household. For instance, Brady is now starting to dislike peas and green beans and Jack doesn't like bananas now. Sometimes it's hard for me to remember who doesn't like what, so I'll put something down for them to eat and they give me a stare as to say "I don't like this, you know that", so then I'll switch their foods and they happily dig in. Now, I don't feed them 3 different meals...but I've tried the "give it to them 20 times" rule and they simply won't eat it....what to do? I feel like a dancer as I bounce around from child to child keeping them happy and their plates full. By the time I sit down to "enjoy" my meal-ha!-it's pretty cold and they are nearly done with theirs. So then the process of getting them cleaned up starts...it's like a countdown for me. 1 down, 2 to go and so on. So this my friends is why I treasure the sacred nap time. Because in a few hours, dinnertime will start and the whole process starts again...welcome to Mommy's Diner...where the service is sweet and the food is excellent, but don't be surprised if the server passes out from fatigue in the middle of the meal!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Whew...it's been a busy week here in the magnolia household. Tonight I'm looking forward to making dinner with my husband after we put the kids to bed. We're having seared halibut with sauteed greenbeans with garlic and shallots, and butternut squash risotto. For dessert I picked up a decadent chocolate and banana rum cake from Whole Foods, just big enough for two people! We're also having a rose' prosecco that looks oh so good-I'm really into rose' sparkling wines these days. I had a glass when we went out to dinner the other night and it was tasty!

Speaking of dinner, it was so nice to go out the other night. I had lobster and shrimp macaroni and it was soooo good. It was pretty rich and I was actually full most of yesterday. It also could have been from the piece of cheesecake we shared for dessert too. (YIKES!) I could hardly eat at our Mardi Gras themed supper club last night. I signed up for dessert and made Emeril's Praline Bread pudding. It was good, but took a LOONNNGGG time to make. Don't recommend making it with 3 kids running around.

Now I'm just getting ready for the boys' birthday party this weekend. We are having carnitas, (thanks Slacker Mama), guacamole, pico de gallo, Paula Deen's slow-cooker macaroni, and these cupcakes. How cute are they?

Book Club

Tonight I'm hosting book club and this month we read the book above. I don't really know what I thought about it. Our last two books were downers, so I was hoping this would be a little more uplifting....not so much! Anyone have any recommendations on a book for next month? Oh, and I'm making this dessert tonight!

Spring Fever!

I admit it...growing up in S.C. I always dreamed of having 4 seasons. Then I moved to Washington D.C. and got to experience it...it's nice, but after moving back to a warmer climate, I'll take warmer weather any day. I just love the way I feel when the thermometer reads in the 70's. It's so much easier to take the kids out and be outside. So, now that we are having these warmer days...I'm loving it! It was almost 60 when I went for my run at 6:30 this morning. AHHHHH! But of course, it is January and I know that it will be getting colder again.

Tonight is supper club-yea! Love eating and gabbing with the ladies. I'm making this salad. I could seriously live.on.goat.cheese!

Cravings, cravings

And no-I am not pregnant! What is is about Giada de Laurentis and her expressions and comments on food that make me so freakin' hungry and crave whatever it is she's eating? I watched Giada's Weekend Getaway this weekend and she was in New York City. Now I'm craving a bagel and lox so badly, it's on my list for the grocery store tomorrow. I honestly can't stop thinking about the combination...ok, off to bed now.

What a beautiful weekend it was. It was 74 degrees out when I went for my run-loving it! It feels like April out there. I am not complaining-after waking up to 18 degrees last week, I'll take it any day.

The girls day out was fun-highly recommend Blossom for those you dining in the Charleston area. I had this amazing Carribbean Chicken and Crab soup with a coconut milk base with an awesome mixed green salad with goat cheese, pistachios and champagne vinegarette for lunch. So scrumptious (move over Giada!). I also bought a pair of ginormous black "Hollywood" sunglasses from White House, Black Market on our shopping excursion for $7 bucks-gotta love that. Of course, Dan made fun of me!

So, night-night all and I'll leave you with this, so you too can dream about it....

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies! and a shout-out

So last night was the cookie exchange...it was fun, but I've been left with A LOT of cookies. Thank goodness Dan took a huge tray of them to work. Everyone had beautiful and of course, yummy cookies. My favorite were my friend B's Buckeye Balls. Chocolate and peanut butter together...need I say more? I ended up doing the Nutella Kisses that my friend Slacker Mama made, as well as the Cranberry, Chocolate and Oat bars from the Kraft Food & Family Magazine. (If you don't get that magazine, it's free and they always have great recipes. Just go on their website and sign up) They were really good-thanks K, for the recipe! Also, huge thanks to my friend J, over at Sweet Peas and Pumpkins for the hot chocolate recipe. I ended up making it in the crockpot and used a package of Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips and they melted just fine. It simmered for a couple of hours before guests arrived which gave it time to get to the ideal consistency and temperature. It was oh so creamy! Can't you just taste it now with that description? Ha! Ha! A couple of the women loved it so much that they are going to make it on Christmas morning for their families. Of course, adding the Bailey's Irish Cream is a good treat for the adults!

Oh, and today I'm grateful for sweet neighbors. I'm so happy that we finally live in a neighborhood where the neighbors actually like to socialize and are friendly. You know in an instant if you needed anything they would be right there for you. What a refreshing feeling!

Lazy Sunday

We had no plans today, just a great lazy Sunday. We did some grocery shopping and later on I made peppermint bark-YUM! I'm hosting a cookie exchange on Wednesday night, so I'll be serving that up. I'm thinking about making these as well. They look pretty good to me. Oh, and I'll be making the hot chocolate recipe from my good friend over here. It sounds heavenly. Today I'm grateful for lazy Sundays. The weather was quite frightful (with the wind), so it was nice to stay in!

Supper Club and Ornament Exchange

Last night I hosted the ladies for supper club at my house. We had so much fun...and even sat down to eat in the dining room. I made a fig and blue cheese stuffed pork tenderloin that was super easy and I thought was good. Everyone else brought appetizers, salad, sides, dessert and wine. I must say we have some very good cooks in the group! I made a super easy "Christmas cocktail" with cranberry juice, pear nectar and sparking wine...so yummy! We also did an ornament exchange which I say went far better than the one I went to last week with the ladies in my neighborhood...this time we didn't do the white elephant switch, so there was no stealing and re-stealing of ornaments. I scored a very cute pink and green glass ball ornament with the palmetto tree and crescent moon...so cute! Today I'm grateful for friends...old and new!

Peppermint Dip

If you're like me this time of year....things get a little busy. I love this peppermint dip, it's an old Southern Living recipe from 2000. It's so simple, yet everyone raves about it. All you do is take a 12 oz tub of Cool-Whip-I use lite or fat free and crush about 50 peppermints and mix together. Voila-it's great with these bad boys dipped in...
Oh, and yeah...today I'm grateful for tried and true and SIMPLE recipes like this that make my life easier. I'm taking this to my MOMS Club moms-night-out ornament exchange next week...so yummy!

I love girl time!

Last night was our first official Supper Club-it was so much fun! I must admit I love girl time and it was definitely much needed...Last night the hostess served a breaded chicken breast with a mushroom and apricot glaze-it was delicious. Everyone else provided appetizers, sides, dessert and beverages. There are 12 of us in the group, so each person hosts once a year. How nice is that? The food and conversation were wonderful, too. This supper club is women only, but I know that Dan would love for us to start up a couples one like we had in VA-I miss it so much!!!

Next month I'm hosting Supper Club and am contemplating a Fig and Blue-Cheese stuffed pork tenderloin...along with Merry Margaritas (from Southern Living Nov 2004) or Peppermint Martinis-I can taste it already!

Love at first sip...

Hot chocolate at home really doesn't get better than this. I drank some of this the other night and was in chocolate heaven. It's definitely on my list of favorite cold weather things...

Can you survive on pumpkin bars?

A couple of days ago I wrote about the pumpkin bars I made. Well, you can find the recipe for them here. They're from the Penzey's Spice Catalog, which is one of my favorite places to get spices. I could seriously live on those things. My husband thinks the Brown Butter Icing is too sweet, but I.love.it!!

The boys had a great time last night trick or treating. Jack fell asleep in the stroller while Dan took Harrison trick or treating and Brady just took in the sights. It was the cutest thing...Dan and I agreed it was the best Halloween yet because we finally live in a COOL neighborhood where the parents get involved too! We only had about 15 or so pieces of candy left, so that was great! The caramel appletini's were yummy too-I definitely recommend them. They would be good for a Thanksgiving or Christmas cocktail.

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat! Last night we decorated our pumpkin. See pictures below. Based on my kids' costumes, can you guess who we pull for? Today we have Harrison's party at his preschool. Should be fun! I have a big pot of chili (thanks sweet pea chef) in the crockpot right now for dinner and tonight we have some neighbors coming over for a cocktail. Several of us on the street are going to have treats for the adults as well as the kids. I'm making this drink-Caramel Appletini's for the adults-should be yummy! I love Halloween so much, especially now that I'm a mommy and can experience it through my children's eyes! It should be fun on our street with so many kids-I just hope I don't run out of candy!

It's finally "chili" time...

As I headed out the door for my morning run at 6:30 am-the temp said 50 degrees...brrrrrr it's cold and I am so excited. It made my run so much better. I LOVE this time of year so much. I do miss the leaves changing in VA, but I just love the coastal breezes this time of year too. And like my friend in Texas says, no leaves to clean up.

Anyhoo, today I'm making a batch of white chili for a neighbor who has 2 small children and recently had back surgery and is flat on her back for 3 weeks. What a perfect day to make it as it feels like fall has finally arrived! Of course, I'm making enough for my family to eat too. White chili is one of my fave fall dishes...so I will share it at the bottom of this post.

Tomorrow I am going to a baby shower for my friend J at this place in Columbia. The whole family is driving over so they can see grandma and grandpa while we are in town. Sunday we are going the Children's Festival, which Harrison has been talking about for days. Everyday he asks if "we are going to the petting zoo to ride the ponies and go down the big slide"? It's so cute! Well, it's another jam packed weekend, but should be a good time, now off to make that chili! Here's the recipe:

White Chicken Chili

INGREDIENTS:
16 oz or so of canned white beans
2 large onions, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c chicken broth
2 cups half and half
1 tsp Tabasco
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin (I usually put in more)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I usually put in more)
1/2 teaspoon pepper (I put in more)
two 4-oz cans whole mild green chilies, drained and chopped
5 boneless, skinless chiken breasts (about 2 pounds)
some extra butter and oil to cook them in
1 1/2 c grated Monterey Jack
1/2 c sour cream

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Heat a large skillet (I like cast-iron) over moderately high heat and put in some butter and oil. Meanwhile coat your chicken with salt and pepper and maybe some chili powder. Throw them in the skillet and resist the urge to turn them over. Leave them for five minutes, or until nicely browned, then flip them. Leave it there until browned and then flip them every few minutes until they are done (which you can tell by poking a knife into the thickest part and seeing if it's white instead of pink).

2. Remove the chicken from the pan. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it with your fingers and set aside.

3. While waiting for chicken to cool, cook the onion in the same pan with 2 Tbs of butter until softened.

4. In a heavy pot, large enough to hold all the ingredients, melt remaining 6 Tbs of butter over moderately low heat and whisk in flour. Cook the roux, whisking constantly, for three minutes. Stir in the oinoin and gradually add the broth and half and half, whisking the whole time. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until thickened. (It will be nicely and obviously thick.) Stir in Tabasco, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Add beans, chilies, chicken and cheese, and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes. Add sour cream. May be served immediately -- though like all chilis this tastes awesome the next day.

5. Serve with the usual chili garnishes--cilantro, cheese, jalapenos, tomatoes, etc.

Things are a changin' around here....

We have a very picky eater in the Magnolia household....he's 3 years old and his name is Harrison. I had heard of Jerry Seinfeld's wife Jessica's new book Deceptively Delicious before she was on Oprah yesterday and thought it was a marvelous idea. Our son is told everyday of his life to eat his vegetables, but he doesn't. He is extremely picky and it is driving me nuts. I LOVE the idea of hiding vegetables in brownies, cakes, chicken nuggets, EGGS, etc and I will definitely be trying this and still offering a side of vegetables. Tonight my son doesn't know it but his mac and cheese will be mixed with a serving of the twins butternut squash...(I don't think he will even notice the difference). I think Harrison's issues are all about the texture of foods...he's pretty picky about the texture of things...always has been. The book is on it's way to the magnolia household and I can't wait for the whole family to try these recipes since they are mostly low fat-I mean who can resist a "doughnut" made out of sweet pototoes? Sign me up-I'm ready to be deceptive! Anything to get a vegetable into my son's mouth!