Be Mine, Valentine

Happy Valentine’s Day! In honor of St. Valentine, I felt I needed to include a little history to the holiday where cupid flies wild and people are up to their ears in roses and chocolate since so many like to blame holidays such as this to be invented by greeting card companies.

St. Valentine’s Day is a Christian holiday commemorating Saint Valentine, known as the patron of lovers. In Rome, St. Valentine would marry soldiers, whom were not allowed to marry at the time by order of the Emperor. To commemorate this wonderful saint, it has become a date to celebrate lovers and the love we have in our lives. St. Valentine’s Day became first associated with romantic love in the middle ages when courtly love was common with romantic poetry. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote poetry about Valentines in the 14^th century. In 18^th Century England, it became and occasion in which lovers would express their love to one another with presents of flowers, confections and greeting cards. People in Europe would give Saint Valentine’s Keys to lovers so they can unlock the giver’s heart. While many associated Valentine’s Day with romantic love, history suggests we should celebrate love in general and those we love. Like Jane Austen said, “there are as many forms of love as there are moments in time.”

While it has been heavily debated, many historians have tied St. Valentine’s day to the ancient Roman festival Lupercalia, which is devoted to love and fertility. Lupercalia is observed February 13-15 and is an archaic rite connected with fertility and local to Rome. The name Lupercalia translates to “she wolf” and is in honor of Lupa, who suckled Romulus and Remus who founded Rome. It also is associated with spring. Today in Italy, Valentine’s day has become a day to announce an engagement, spend time with a loved one over a romantic meal, giving flowers and chocolates. A popular Valentine’s Day gift in Italy is Baci Perugina (small chocolate-covered hazelnuts).

My husband and I try to do it very low key: going out to dinner, a champagne toast, and chocolate covered strawberries. We have come to an understanding that we aren’t big candy people and cards and flowers get thrown away. Every whipstitch my husband gets sentimental and I get white tulips, and every whipstitch I feel the need to get him whit chocolate strawberry truffles from Sees :). Since my husband is working this year, we are staying in with the kids and having pizza and watching the new Cinderella movie since we haven’t seen it since it was in theaters.

I was extremely excited this year because Candace was home for the day, so I could make our traditional Valentine’s breakfast: red velvet pancakes shaped in hearts. This year since David worked, I got up early and served my pancakes with chocolate-covered strawberries and everyone had to have their sausage links! Here is my recipe:

Red Velvet Heart Pancakes

• 1 cup all-purpose flour (you may substitute with almond flour if you wish)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 tsp. vinegar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 Tbsp. red food coloring.
• butter or coconut oil for griddle

1. Turn on griddle (to 350) or stove to medium. While griddle or pan is heating, sift dry ingredients into medium bowl. Put buttermilk into liquid measuring cup. Add egg, vinegar, egg, vanilla and food coloring. Mix well to combine. Pour liquid mix into dry ingredient mixture to combine. Mixture should be slightly lumpy.
2. Grease griddle with butter or coconut oil. Pour 1/4 cup of mixture onto griddle, pouring half into one circle and rest into another circle next to it, using cup/spoon to spread mixture into a heart shape, OR use a heart-shaped pancake mold. Cook about 3 minutes until pancake starts to bubble and flip over. Cook another 3 minutes until done. Repeat process for each pancake.

Hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day from our family to yours!

 

Going South for Fat Tuesday

For many denominations in Christianity, today is a big day. The day before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, and Mardi Gras. While Mardi Gras is something associated in America with beads on Bourbon Street, there are actually celebrations all over the world as Mardi Gras is the end of the season known as Carnival, the period between the Epiphany (end of Christmas) and Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent). This period is known as celebration and a time to engage in those indulgences that are given up in lent. It derives from the Latin word carne meaning “meat” and translates to “fare well meat” since early Christians gave up meat entirely during Lent as some traditional Catholics do today. The largest celebration for Carnival is actually in Rio de Janiero in Brazil with people flocking from all over world to take part in the festivities. Other countries around Europe also have towns that have their own festivals and other forms of celebration.

In America, we have the festivities in New Orleans. As an American and devout Episcopalian I feel the need to give a nod for the eve before Ash Wednesday by paying homage to the city that keeps Mardi Gras alive with a Cajun dinner and a wonderful sweet indulgence before bed. Ladies and Gentlemen I’m talking about Jambalaya and Bananas Foster!

I love Jambalaya! I like quite a bit of different foods, but when it comes to doing a small celebration, I love the fact that Jambalaya is a one pot dish that can be fairly easy to make depending on the recipe. Shrimp, chicken, and Andouille sausage really make this dish complete, and it perfectly spicy. Then to finish the evening with the richness of bananas foster makes the night complete. While I must admit these may not be the most authentic recipes, they are how my family enjoys it and hopefully you will too.

Jambalaya

• 1 package of Andouille Sausage (or smoked sausage if you can’t find it or don’t want it too spicy), sliced into thin coins
• 1 lb medium or large shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails removed
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped*
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
•  2 cloves of minced garlic
• 2 cups of uncooked rice
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 14-oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon of Cajun seasoning

*I tend to leave out celery because I’m not a huge fan of it, but by all means include it if you like

1. pour olive oil into a large dutch oven or stock pot. Cast iron works best. Heat on medium. Put in the onion, pepper, and celery. Season with salt and pepper (about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.) Cook for 5-10 minutes until translucent.
2. Toss in chicken and Cook for another 5 minutes until brown. Then add in sausage and garlic.  Cook 2-3 minutes
3. Add rice, chicken stock, tomatoes and Cajun seasoning. Cover with lid and let cook for 15-20 minutes on low. Add shrimp and let it cook until rice is tender and water is no longer evaporates.

Hope you all enjoy!

Year of the Monkey

Sun Nien Fay Lok! Gung Hey Fat Choy! That is Cantonese for “Happy New Year! Wishing you joy and prosperity!”. It is the year of the monkey and things will be quite busy for the next 14 days. Chinese New Year is a 15 day celebration. Each day has it’s own significance. It is the most important holiday in Chinese culture, and it is one I take most to heart. There is a lot of preparation for the New Year as well. It is customary to clean one’s home to remove all the dust, pay off debts, get your haircut and buy new clothes. I use this as a time to do a post-Christmas clean up before actual spring cleaning.

I apologize for basically not posting since November, but the household has been rampant with illness with the weather constantly fluctuating in temperature. It has been very unusual for western Pennsylvania to have so little snow.

Traditions my family still carry out during the new year are few and far between. When I was younger, my grandfather would take me to the parade in Chinatown, not realizing my fear of firecrackers. After that, we would watch the parade on television. As an adult with nowhere local to see a parade, even on television, I really miss it. Growing up, we always got Lai see (red envelopes decorated in gold designs with money in it) from our grandparents and other relatives. It is common to give to children and younger unmarried adults. The biggest tradition that I carry on today with my husbands family is the traditional new year feast. It is like Thanksgiving and Christmas together in terms of food. Unlike in California, where we bought half the dishes and make half the dishes, I make all of them. The Chinese believe odd numbers are lucky and the new year is about abundance, so I serve 9 different dishes. That is right, I said 9. Here is what I will be making this weekend for my family dinner:

• wonton soup — a huge family favorite and much appreciated knowing I fold all those dumplings myself
• potstickers — these I buy in the store in the freezer section and make. While I love making them, the wontons are enough work with other dishes to make. This is my short cut.
• Black Bean spare ribs — my grandmother’s recipe and a favorite throughout the year. pork MUST be on your table for the new year.
• Sesame Chicken –not an authentic dish, but it’s a favorite of my husband’s family
• Honey Walnut Shrimp — fried shrimp tossed in a sweet honey dressing that goes fast.
• Chinese Style Green Beans
• chow mein — long pan fried noodles with vegetables
• fried rice — rice tossed with veggies and char siu (bbq pork Chinese style)
• dessert course: Jin Doi and fresh fruit

My recipe for Black Bean Spare Ribs was posted last year.

While I plan to post other recipes down the line, here is mine for my fried rice. It is a perfect way to eat leftover rice and other meat and vegetables can be added to make this a one pot dish.

New Year Fried Rice

• 3 slices of bacon, diced (this is a substitute to char siu or barbecued Chinese pork, which is not always readily available)
• 1/4 cup chopped green onion
• 1/4 cup frozen green peas or peas and carrots
• 1 egg, beaten
• 4 cups cooked rice, cold
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce

1. scramble egg in wok and set aside.
2. cook bacon in wok until crisp.
3. Add peas and green onion. cook for 1 minute.
4. Stir in rice and heat gently, separating grains. Toss back in egg.
5. Add soy sauce and heat thoroughly.

Enjoy!

 

Olivia the Pig party.

I honestly was not sure if I was ever going to throw this party, as every year my daughter chose a different theme for every birthday. We were set on another princess party until Gymboree debuted their Olivia the Pig line. My daughter is a huge fan of the books and I really wanted to emphasize that. While I originally wanted to take inspiration from the show (with spaghetti and meatballs and pink lemonade—you would know if you had to watch the show with your daughter), because we decided to celebrate with just the family and our daughter likes to go bowling, we returned to my husband’s hometown for a bowling party.

The first thing about having a party at a venue that you are responsible for: keep it simple. You are already paying for the venue, so food shouldn’t be complicated. I got everything red, because Olivia likes red. We opted on pizza because it was easier than the original spaghetti, and Olivia did go to Venice after all. I bought a couple bags of chips and put together a red fruit salad (which was the first thing gone, the kids LOVED it) with red grapes, raspberries and strawberries (I would add watermelon if it was in the warmer months). I kept beverages simple with red kool-aid squeezers and soda pop for adults (cherry 7up, cherry soda, and root beer).

Because I can’t help myself I did decorate a little. The last time I had a birthday party at the bowling alley, balloons did work out well, so I nixed them, so I added inspiration with setting out some of my daughter’s Olivia books, and using read bead necklaces by the cupcakes, because Olivia LOVES to dress up, flanked with a photo from the birthday photo shoot by the cake as always. I chose plastic piggy banks filled with Hershey kisses and M&Ms for the children as favors.

Knowing not everyone was bowling, I encouraged guests to read the Olivia book with a sweet note introducing the piglet. I got the idea online from another party, but felt the note very suiting of my daughter.

Needing to reduce clean up and mess, cupcakes were the choice for the party. I chose red velvet cupcakes with a “boiled milk frosting”, the original pairing with red velvet before cream cheese frosting (because I hate it), and Cherry Cola cupcakes with cherry buttercream. They were a hit.

My daughter had a blast at her bowling party, and it goes to show you don’t have to go all out when you have a party at a venue. There are ways to bring inspiration to the theme in a simple way. I hope you enjoyed the Olivia party, as I enjoyed planning it.