Oofta

A good friend of mine went to law school in Minneapolis, and I went to visit her several times while she was there. I was living in upstate NY at the time so the snow and cold weren't toooo shocking to me. As two young women who grew up in Arizona, we were experiencing real snow and winter for the first time in our 20s, and we were always on the phone with each other comparing the weather. We came to the conclusion that Minnesota is colder, but upstate NY is snowier.

Anyways, on my visits I always enjoyed seeing that strong Scandinavian heritage peeking through in the modern day. Garrison Keillor is only exaggerating a little bit when he tells those Lake Wobegon stories. So much of the country feels the same. When you get off an airplane in so many cities, it's hard to tell where you have landed. In Minneapolis, it was fun to hear about a "hot dish" a "parking ramp" and I especially loved the word, "oofta." I'm not a Minnesotan, but I believe it roughly translates to "uggh."

This is all background for one morning last week. The baby woke me up at 5:00 AM and just wouldn't go back to sleep. I decided we might as well head down stairs and get our morning started. With each step, the temperature dropped colder and colder. I was so cold when I got into the kitchen, I exclaimed, "Oofta, we need to do something to warm up this house." (Which was funny because I hadn't thought about my Minneapolis visits for a great while - I guess the cold took me back.) It was in the 40s outside, and not much warmer inside because we had left the kitchen window open (in our defense - it had been hot only the day before). I decided to turn on the oven. With my foggy brain I just thought of turning on the oven to use as a heat source, but then quickly decided that would be a waste of gas, so decided to throw in a couple sweet potatoes. After we warmed up a bit, I decided to put the baby in her high chair and roll it into the kitchen. I dug around in the fridge to realize that we were low on our breakfast staples - we had one egg, no yogurt, no milk, no bacon. Things weren't looking too good. Luckily I found some leftovers to start feeding baby girl, and I started cooking. I still wasn't warm all the way through, so I started by making some soup. I had broth and leftover chicken added some zucchini, onions and carrots.  While it was cooking, I prepped vegetables for lunch and dinner, and felt I had gotten a lot done by the time our toddler and my husband got up to start their day.

The results were an unconventional breakfast, but great for warming you up whatever the time of day.... or season. Sometimes simple is the best.

Chicken, zucchini and carrot soup with freshly baked sweet potato and butter and hot tea.

Chicken, Zucchini and Carrot Soup

1 T butter

1 onion, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

2 medium zucchini, chopped

1 Quart Chicken Broth

2 C chicken, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 t thyme

Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the onion and carrots and cook until the onions begin to soften. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the zucchini is tender. Enjoy.

Hitting Our Stride

Ahh, yesterday we finally all were functioning a bit better. The kids and grown-ups seemed less cranky. We felt like we got stuff done. The husband was able to work for the first time here. Was the sixth day in the summer rental a magical turning point? Was it the two nights of going to bed at 7:00 PM (for the kids - the grown ups have been staying up too late)? Was it the second round of rearranging the toys and main living area? Or, was it the delicious mushroom bacon scramble that got us all of to a great start? I'm going with all of the above.

The baby even had scrambled eggs for the second day in a row without reaction. This is a very exciting development because she had two instances of throwing up after egg yolk when she was younger, and I was very concerned that she was going to be allergic to eggs. Victories all around!

This simple, flavorful dish is company worthy. We usually have it for breakfast, but add a side of vegetables or a salad and it's a great meal anytime of day. I even like to have some leftover vegetables with breakfast - it makes me feel like I'm getting a head start on my veggie intake for the day.

Mushroom Bacon Scramble with a side of broccoli.

Mushroom Bacon Scramble (serves 2)
2 strips of bacon
4-6 mushrooms, sliced
4 eggs, beaten

Cook the strips of bacon over medium heat until just crispy. Remove to a cutting board. Add the sliced mushroom into the bacon grease and cook until tender and brown. Chop bacon. Pour off any excess remaining bacon fat. Add the eggs and cooked bacon into the pan and stir. Continue to stir and cook until no longer runny, but still moist. Serve right away.

Mama's Oatmeal

Mama's Oatmeal is full of lots of delicious goodies and a great way to start the day.

For my second pregnancy, we chose to go to a birth center for my prenatal care and the birth. It was a great team of two midwives, an OB-GYN and birth assistants. I loved the leisurely appointments that really focused on taking care of the whole person and the whole family. If you live in the Phoenix area, I highly recommend checking out Blossom Birth Center. 

In the binder of articles and resources from Blossom, there was a great recipe for Mama's oatmeal. It became a family favorite, and I made it at least a few times each week while I was pregnant. Over time we tweaked and perfected until we landed on our current recipe. We hadn't had it for a while, and decided to make it yesterday morning as part of our cleaning out the pantry, fridge and freezer effort. What a delicious and nostalgic treat. When I started making this, our toddler wasn't eating nuts yet, and she would ask for "hini, hini, hini" for tahini. Amazing that she's now able to clearly discuss "all the delicious goodies" in her oatmeal, and to list the ingredients one-by-one including "tahini'.

*start the recipe the night before*

Mama's Oatmeal - City Share Style (2-3 servings)

1 C Steel Cut Oats

Water

1 T Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

2 C Whole Milk

Pinch of Pink Salt

Dash of Vanilla

Small handful of dried fruit (raisins, cherries, cranberries or prunes)- optional

1 T Black Strap Molasses

2 T Butter

Pecans

Tahini

Soak the oats in water with the apple cider vinegar over night. In the morning, pour the oats into a fine mesh strainer. Rinse with water. Return the oats to the pot, add the milk. Bring to a simmer and add the salt, vanilla, dried fruit, black strap molasses and butter. Continue to cook until the oats are tender - about 15 minutes. Dish up into bowls. Add a small handful of pecans and 1 teaspoon of tahini to each bowl. Top with extra whole milk until it reaches the desired consistency.

Weekend Breakfasts

I have fond memories of weekend breakfasts growing up. During the week we would generally eat some cold cereal with milk, but on weekends we would go all out. Without the pressure of having to get out the door to catch the school bus, we would spend time making all sorts of breakfast treats. My brother and I were in charge of the cooking, and if we were lucky Mom and Dad were in charge of clean-up. We made waffles, crepes, pancakes or French toast most weekends. We would top these with maple syrup or yogurt and fruit, and often have a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice on the side.

Fast forward to married life, and I still love weekend breakfasts. My husband doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, so now we tend to have egg based dishes such as frittatas or omelettes with a side of potatoes or bacon. Recently I have been craving French toast, but my husband will not eat it, so last weekend we decided to each make our own breakfasts.

I chose French toast served with blueberries and whipped cream and a glass of orange juice with seltzer. The blueberries were picked by my mother-in-law last summer and have been waiting in the freezer for a winter day to shine. I let them defrost and simply mashed them a bit with a fork. It was a delicious treat.

My husband chose scrambled eggs with ketchup, fried mashed potatoes, andouille sausage, and bread and butter.

As I write this, I'm realizing just how many of my pregnancy cravings are linked to foods with fond childhood memories. I wonder if that is a general phenomenon?

What are your family favorite breakfast traditions?

Juicing and Grilling

Each morning during our visit to Phoenix, my father has been making us fresh squeezed orange juice. What a delicious treat! My parents have an orange tree, so it's very local. When I was growing up we had two orange trees and two grapefruit trees, and one of our "jobs" was to help pick the fruit and squeeze them. We drank a lot of juice and also froze it in ice cube trays for later.


Yesterday morning we had a friend over for bagels with cream cheese, salmon, white fish, lettuce, onion and tomato. This is one of those easy meals that's more about the shopping and a little presentation than actual cooking. The guys headed over to an excellent NY style deli, Scott's Generations, to pick-up the fixings. My husband did a beautiful job plating everything up.


After a busy day out and about visiting friends and sight seeing, we had my grandmother and uncle over for a BBQ. It was a hot job, but the results were great. Grilled asparagus, summer squash, zucchini and sirloin with baked potatoes, it's a classic family combination. It was our last dinner in Phoenix on this trip, and a fitting way to be sent off.

A Day of Eating

We always seem to eat a lot when we are visiting family and friends. There are restaurants we want to try, old favorites to revisit, and lots of people to eat with. Yesterday we started out with some homemade egg and chorizo burritos. The chorizo came from a Phoenix institution called Schreiner's Fine Sausage. They have traditional German sausages in addition to sausage inspired by Portugal, Spain, England and Mexico. Everything is homemade and delicious. We sauteed the chorizo until it was cooked through and added scrambled eggs. Cooked it until the eggs were dry and wrapped up the mixture in a tortilla. It's a breakfast treat that's quick and easy to prepare.

For dinner we headed over to a new restaurant, Hula's Modern Tiki, to meet friends. They had a wide selection of offerings that included lots of fish, burgers and Polynesian inspired plates. I had their fish tacos with a tiki twist and my husband had Duke's Luau Pork Plate. Both of our meals had their coleslaw (mine was in the tacos and his as a side), and it was great. It started with a typical coleslaw recipe, but added ginger. I plan on recreating it at home.


After spending an evening visiting with friends, we stopped for ice cream at Mary Coyle's on the way home. This is another Phoenix institution, and I have great memories of going there after choir concerts and dance performances while I was growing up. All the girls would pile in one booth and our parents would be in a booth a few spots away. We loved getting to feel grown-up with a booth of our own and the old-fashioned ice cream parlor feel. Today I love the delicious ice cream and the good memories associated with the place. The ice cream is all made on site, and is rich, creamy and not too sweet (the menu brags that it has 16% butterfat content). My husband and I each got our favorite flavors, peanut butter crunch and peppermint chip. Lots of places only make peppermint chip at Christmas time, but Mary Coyle's serves it year round, and it is the perfect way to finish a hot Phoenix summer day.

Matt's Big Breakfast

Can you tell where we are? We arrived in Phoenix, AZ late Thursday night. Yesterday, we woke up bright and early (because we are still on east coast time), and headed over to my favorite breakfast place, Matt's Big Breakfast. I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but the place is tiny! They have tables to seat about 20 and then counters that seat 10 more. They serve simple food with high quality ingredients, and they do it really well. I wanted to make sure we got there Friday morning because on the weekend there is usually 1.5 hour wait to get in. We got there at 8:00 on Friday and waited 20 minutes - not too bad.


My husband got the breakfast sandwich with thick-cut peppery bacon, grilled onions and scrambled eggs on a lightly toasted challah roll. I had a taste and it was delicious. We split a side order of hash browns because they are a must! They are cooked in butter and have the perfect crunchy crust with a nice soft inside.


I usually order the special when we to to Matt's because it generally includes eggs with some type of green chilies and chorizo. This is just the type of breakfast an Arizona girl living in NYC craves. But yesterday's special was less alluring to me, a Denver omelet made from eggs, ham and green pepper. So I finally took advantage of the opportunity to try their famous waffles. They make the batter in small batches all morning because they actually use beaten egg whites to create light, fluffy waffles. My father and I both had them, and they didn't disappoint. They were served with real butter and maples syrup and the delicious thick-cut bacon.

The next time you are in Phoenix it is worth a trip downtown to get breakfast at Matt's.

Frittata

I forgot to mention the contents of this week's share in yesterdays post. (It's hard to recognize everything in the photo.) We have a nice selection to work with including: salad turnips, radishes, salad mix, braising mix (mustard greens, Asian greens, kale, and frizee)broccoli raab, garlic scapes, bok choy, wild food selections (mint, lambsquarters and purslane). I'm especially excited about the wild foods.


I think a frittata is one of the best ways to use up leftover vegetables. This morning's breakfast used up some left over sauteed greens with garlic and potatoes. Here is my basic recipe for a frittata:

Basic Frittata
1-2 eggs per person, beaten
1 cup of cooked vegetables per person
1 clove of garlic per person (or onion)
Some cheese to sprinkle over the top
olive oil or butter

Use a cast iron skillet, or another pan that can go under the broiler. Pre-heat the broiler. Place pan on the burner to warm, and add olive oil. Add the vegetables to the pan and warm through. Add the eggs. Cook until the eggs are firming up around the edges (about 5 minutes). Place under the broiler until golden (only 1 or 2 minutes). Slice into wedges and remove from the pan. It's important to remove it from the pan because it holds the heat and will continue to cook.

Within the formula there is lots of flexibility. Red peppers, broccoli, garlic and feta. Spinach, cauliflower, onions and emmantalier. Whatever you have in your fridge will work.


I chose to eat it with toast. Delicious!