Earlier this year, the kids agreed to cook at least one dinner per week for the family. They have chosen a number of bold recipes, including their first lasagna this week! It was delicious.
Kid Dinner Night
Tag Archives: food
Festive Sweater Cookie Party
The Olson-Hammers outdid themselves once again with a magnificent holiday party featuring sweater-shaped cookies and a massive array of decorating materials. My sweater was intended to be creative, but I ended up accidentally crushing it in my hand just before the photo.
(Griffin’s photo is missing at the moment. We’ll remedy as soon as we track it down! )
Thanksgiving 2023
Pam and Jeff joined us for the feast. We grilled the turkey on the green egg. It came out well, but I may have been over-enthusiastic with the apple wood chips—the smoke flavor was intense.
Besides the turkey, the menu included mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, and Dick’s Buried Treasure. (The latter is a delicious Stocco tradition consisting of yams, canned pineapple, and dollops of cranberry sauce.) Dessert was Sarah’s pumpkin pie and Andrew’s cheesecake.
While we were prepping the meal, the kids asked what everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving food was and what we were thankful for this year. Then they created custom place cards for each of us.💖
Grilling notes for next time:
- 300-325° on the grill is perfect
- Use fresh lump charcoal (the smaller chunks at the bottom of the bag interfere with airflow)
- Cooking time is faster than in an oven at the same temperature. The Green Egg estimates seemed spot-on. (We started our 17 lb. bird at 11:15 and it was done just after 2:30.)
- Skip the smoking chips next time. I think the basic grill flavor will be enough.
- The drippings were very dark and smoky too, which made the gravy a bit too powerful. Might be better without the wood chips. Clean the grate beforehand so none of the old char falls into the drip pan.
More Pizza!
Sarah and the kids surprised me with an early father’s day present this year: a wood-fired pizza oven! We’ve loved the green egg grill for pizza, but it takes a while to get up to temperature and it takes longer to cook a pie. This sleek thing heats rapidly and cooks a pizza in 60 seconds flat. It’s amazing.
Sushi Production
One of Griffin’s birthday presents was a sushi-making kit. The crowd was unanimous: we must make sushi immediately. Andrew went out to pick up some fresh salmon and tuna while the rest of the family made the rice and prepped the vegetables. The results were delicious!
Thanksgiving at the Cabin
We pared down our feast a bit this year to make it work without plumbing at the cabin. Instead of a full turkey, we roasted a partial bird. We made the stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, and pies in advance. At the cabin we added mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts.
Cookies
Believe it or not, when Sarah and I went to the fair on Labor Day, it was the first time that we ever bought Sweet Martha’s cookies. They are a legend at the fair and we’ve always seen people walking around with their pails or cones of cookies, but we’ve always been drawn to other foods. We couldn’t justify the pail, so we got a towering cone (the smallest size you can buy). They were good, but very sweet. We only managed to get through about half of them.
Blustery Day
It was a lovely Sunday with a mix of productive and leisure activities. Griffin had a good friend over. I spent time exploring Menards and figuring out how to setup our wired and wireless network. Sarah and the kids went on a walk. We met some friendly neighbors. Lots of small things were checked off our to do lists (e.g., new cord for garage light, locate water valve for fridge, replace flickering lights, program garage door remotes, etc.).
Purge
Clearing the fridge feels so good.
Of course, that’s nothing compared to the probiotic packets we found at the back of our highest cabinet. Expired in 2006. Our best guess is that Sarah bought them at the little health food shop on Lakeshore in Oakland before she moved in with me. They somehow survived three subsequent moves.
But not this one. 😎
Nearly Identical
Maggie, just now:
“Pannakukken is just like a pancake except it’s way bigger and not flat. <pause> And, it tastes totally different.”
(See our pannakukken recipe.)