There are days...

...when my heart knows no words.

"Love is the greatest gift one can give."

Balsamic and Molasses Glaze Pork and Corn Risotto

Tuesday was the perfect day to cook.  A hefty layer of ice covered DFW and the Whites were safely tucked away in the White House.  The menu for the week had already been planned and it so happened that Tuesday was pork and risotto night.  Perhaps evidence of predestination?  Randy, being the fabulous man he is, gave me the opportunity to cook and relax in the kitchen while he played with KTG (Katherine the Great, thanks for the nickname Tim).  Viola!  A few hours later this delicious meal was served.  If you're in the mood for a dish of this sort, I suggest either one (the risotto more than the pork).  Check out the recipes by using the links to the right.  Here are my notes on these two items.

Slow Roasted Pork Loin with Balsamic and Molasses Glaze

1.  used two pork tenderloins instead of two 5-bone pork loin roast.  This cut the roasting time down significantly.  Roasting the pork at 300 degrees made it extremely tender and moist.

2.  increased the red pepper and garlic because I like those flavors

3.  decreased the amount of molasses to 1/2 cup

4.  wish I would have saved more than 1/4 cup of glaze

5.  loving the leftovers, can't wait to put the sliced pork on sandwich with thick slices of mozzarella cheese

Corn Risotto

1.  I followed the directions for the risotto precisely except for the cheese and fresh corn. I used Parmesan instead of Romano cheese and one bag of frozen organic corn instead of fresh corn on the cob.

2.  Cooked the bacon, but I don't think it needs it.

2.  The fried sage leaf with anchovy is delicious!  I used anchovy paste instead of anchovy, but my mistake was frying the sage in the bacon grease.  Cook it in canola oil!  The bacon flavor took away from the sage and anchovy. 

Morning

Mornings and I have never really gotten along.  My childhood is filled with memories of loud music, bright lights, and cold water (among other things).  I don't blame my parents for the tactics used against me to pull me from my nice warm bed.  I simply refused to get up.  People would tell me (with a laugh) that one day I would appreciate mornings and would no longer sleep in.  Well, college came and besides the occasional 8 am class, my bed was still one of my favorite friends.  I thought I had proved all adults wrong. There was nothing like waking up at 10:30 or 11 am and then eating lunch!  

My enjoyable relationship with Morning began while I studied in Rome.  I had a morning course that made me rise early (before most Romans and tourist), hop on a bus and wander through Roman streets to arrive at the location of the lecture topic.  The class would then continue to walk from site to site listening to Professor Varner discuss the historical, architectural and artistic value of each viewed item.  Now I had a reason to get up with the sun.  I wanted to down a quick cappuccino and chocolate croissant on my way to class.  I also could not wait to absorb the history of capitol of the world with minimal distraction.  There was something about a quiet Rome...a Rome where the working Roman pedestrian was not out yet and the tourist was still snug in his bed.  It was at this time when Roman birds were singing and espresso machines steaming.

A handful of years after my first Roman experience (seven actually, yikes!), mornings have a different value to me.  I now have a little baby bird who chirps (sometimes fiercely) when she's finished laying in her nest. Her songs get me out of bed and Auggie and I come to her rescue.  After she eats we are all pretty content.  The Katherine bird plays with her choice of toy and Auggie squirrel hunts out of the dining room window.  I make a cappuccino, slowly drink it and sometimes am reminded of Rome. 

So it is true.  I no longer sleep in and I do appreciate mornings.  However, my gift of sleep has not left me.  Given the chance to snooze till lunch time...I know victory would be mine.

http://www.johncabot.edu/

http://wikitravel.org/en/Trastevere

http://classics.emory.edu/indivFacPages/varner/varner.html



Auggie on Squirrel Patrol



One of my morning cappuccinos

The Roman Forum in the early morning (note, there is no one in the forum!)

A pretty window

Santa Maria in Trastevere (would walk past this church multiple times a day)

Inside Santa Maria in Trastevere

An early morning stroll in the Borghese Gardens

Flowers in Trastevere

A morning tour of the Vatican Gardens

Katherine and Lars

Katherine in her Bumpo, oh so cute!

A Heaping Spoonful of Sugar

Sugar. I typically don't use it when I'm in the kitchen.  A spoonful is more than enough to sweeten my daily cappuccino.  However, this past December I went through sugar extremely fast.  Lemon sables, cranberry pumpkin bread, wassel, chocolate cinnamon marshmallows and rum chocolate balls only begin to describe the reason why two bags of sugar were bought and used.  Baking (and using so much sugar) made me begin to think about this substance and how it applies to my life.  First, one of Katherine's many nicknames is Sugar (Butterfly, and LaLa are just a few others). Second, I like to give lots of sugar (kisses) to this roley-poley newborn, to Randy and to Auggie.  Last, my life is sweet.  It's been a lovely year with a new home, new baby, new job, new experiences and much more.  What a blessing 2010 was to my little growing family.  Now, every morning when I make my cappuccino and add the spoonful of sugar, I will think of my life, thank God and smile. 

http://www.food52.com/recipes/2167_chocolate_swirl_cinnamon_marshmallows

http://www.food52.com/recipes/8644_fudgy_bourbon_balls

And now...a slideshow of Christmas.  Enjoy!

A delicious yet fuzzy picture of Boeuf Bourguignon, the main dish of the first Christmas celebrated at the White House.

Katherine Sugar LaLa Butterfly enjoying her Christmas stocking stuffers.

The appetizers to the second Christmas at the White House.

Auggie Clause...on his best behavior...

lemon sables

cranberry pumpkin bread

Randy working on the beef tenderloin before it was baked in a salt crust.

salt crusted beef tenderloin

garlic and thyme infused mashed potatoes, cheese corn casserole, garlic and ginger cream cabbage

beef tenderloin leftovers

Dinner Party for Eight

About seven years ago I was asked one of the most cliche questions and I didn't have an answer.  "If you were to have a dinner party, and you can select three people from any era, who would you invite and why?"  My response?  Lame..so lame that I won't even repeat it.  Why, why, why did I not have an answer for this question?  Not having an answer has bothered me because I felt as if for some reason or another not having an answer meant I had not established my instrests or who I was as a person.  For seven years I have thought about this imaginary dinner party, invited and uninvited many a person.  It has only been recently that I have confidently set a table for eight.  Will this list change?  Of course.  I like to think of this list as ever changing, just like me.

Caesar Augustus

first (and favorite) emperor of Rome

Amanda Hesser
New York Times food editor, author of great cookbooks, founder of http://www.food52.com/

Marie Antoinette
Queen of France, wife of Louis XVI, lost her head, had great fashion taste, gets a bad rap

Michelangelo
Sculptor, artist, architect, genius of the Renaissance

Mario Batali
chef, love his food, also had brain surgery

St. Paul
 messenger of Christ, Roman, changed the world

Alexander the Great
 ancient warrior who changed the world
Tina Fey
makes me laugh, favorite funny person

Pilgrims

Over the past two months the White House has been filled with pilgrims stopping by to enjoy and give their love to our Katherine. How wonderful it's been to see our little one be loved and praised by those dearest to us. There are no words available to express the love Randy and I have witnessed, only images. So thank you dear, sweet family and friends for coming by and loving on our girl.

We are looking forward to the years to come.

Food Therapy

It's amazing how therapeutic cooking can be.  Since the birth of Katherine I've been wanting to get back into the kitchen and create.  This, of course, has been difficult.  Any spare moment is typically resting or picking up the house.  Sunday was different.  Randy took charge of Katherine and I went to the grocery store and cooked.  What a refreshing feeling.  The windows were open and it was just me in my kitchen.  Mushrooms, a variety please.  Cream, yes!  Shallots, a little extra perhaps.  Add 4 cups of chicken stock and fresh herbs....bliss.  Creamy mushroom soup that has been aiding me all week.  Mushroom soup wasn't the only smell wafting through our house.  There were smells of roasting meat, onions, carrots and thyme.  Pot roast.  So on this fallish day food took hold of me and my house.  We relaxed.  It was the perfect ending to a beautiful weekend where family and friends enjoyed our home.

http://www.food52.com/recipes/923_creamy_mushroom_soup

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pot-roast-recipe2/index.html    

Laurie and Mike visiting for OU/TX weekend.



Mindy and Lindsay stopping by after the game.



Pantry Clean Out

Recently life has been a little more hectic.  Juggling a new baby and a new job schedule has left me in my pjs till 2 pm without having brushed my teeth and eaten anything substantial.  The last thing I find time to do is to go to the grocery store and cook a meal, which are two of my favorite things to do.  Well today is pretty consistent with any other day.  I'm still in my pjs and the teeth are not brushed.  However, Katherine  being infatuated with her swing has given me time to cook.  Of course it's nothing extravagant because A) i have a short window of time to cook and eat  B) my pantry is kinda empty.  I do have eggs and a craving for something tex-mex so here comes a pantry clean out. I am pretty pleased with my Clean Out Scramble.  I don't have a picture of it due to a lost camera battery so a picture of Katherine will have to do.  Enjoy! 

Clean Out Scramble

Two tablespoons of unsalted butter

half an onion diced

can of green chilies

small can of corn (drained- use half if you would like, it kinda turns out with a big corn bite)

handful of cherry tomatoes quartered

three eggs (or more, depends on how eggy you want it)

2% or whole milk (enough to mix with the eggs)

salt to taste

cumin to taste

cayenne to taste

1.  Saute the onions on medium heat until clear (salt).

2.  Then add the green chillies (salt!).  Cook for about three minutes.

3.  Add the corn and tomatoes.

4.  Season liberally with salt, cumin and cayenne

5.  In a separate bowl add the eggs and whisk in salt and milk (if I had some cheese I would have added it, shredded, into this mixture).

6.  Pour in egg mixture.

7.  Cook until scrambled.

8. Serve with tortilla chips and a cappuccino! 

(now race to eat it if you have a sleeping newborn)

Sleeping Beauty



Perfection

Katherine Livia White

August 19th, 2010

8:15 am

7lbs 11oz

21 inches

"O Lord, you are my God, I will exalt you and praise your name,

for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things,

things planned long ago."

Isaiah 25:1

Katherine Livia, our little miracle, has been home at the White House for almost four weeks now. She is a blessing, a joy and the perfect addtion to our family. Everyday we watch her grow accustom to her new world and I am amazed. By God's grace we have a beautiful healthy daughter. Praise to the Father for his faithfulness, plan and marvelous works.

Morning Inspiration

I woke up this morning bright and early with the strangest thought..."today could be the day." Well, the more I woke up and moved around, I realized today probably won't be the day. BUT if it is the day I better start cleaning.

Alas! My morning turned into cleaning, organizing and laundry. While these are not my favorite activities I did sit down to enjoy a cup of peach green tea and make my dinner plans for the week. I put on my rose colored glasses and surfed. With only three weeks left before lady Katherine arrives I do get tired very easily and cooking sometimes gets put on the back burner (hence the rose colored glasses). However, I have a burst of energy this morning and why not attempt a handful of new recipes this week? I'll let you know how they go...if today isn't the day.

What the White's plan on eating this week

1. farro salad with roasted mushrooms and parmesan (www.food52.com)

broiled salmon with citrus glaze (www.foodnetwork.com)

2. parmesan-roasted green beans (www.foodnetwork.com)

porcini rubbed butterflied roasted chicken (www.food52.com)

dessert: strawberry refrigerator cake (www.food52.com)