for those who need to wear swimsuits in public

Every month a few friends and I get together for Dinner Club. It used to be "Book Club" before everyone got too lackadaisical to actually read the book. And before that it was merely just "Wine Club" (but it never officially had that name or a scheduled date...it was just more like what happened whenever we all got together...and still does, minus me, the one with the baby bump). It was my fabulous sister's idea, of course, to make it more official and call it an actual dinner club. The point is to get together once a month at each other's cozy homes and show off our culinary skills trying out new dishes and creating grand tablescapes.

Each month the hostess picks the menu. A few days before the dinner she sends out recipes for the appetizer, salad, side and dessert to each dinner guest for them to make and bring to the dinner. Each recipe compliments the main dish that she is making. That way we are forced to try new and exciting dishes...and no one can blame you if the untried dish turns out to be a lemon.

This month's hostess with the mostest was my sister and her theme was "recipes for those who need to wear swimsuits in public." Every dish she picked for each of us to make was healthy and would be sure to turn us into bikini-clad babes in no time flat. OK, not really, but just really tasty, minus the calories. Most of her recipes came from the cookbook The Family Chef by Jewels and Jill Elmore. The dinner turned out to be a smashing success (with one debacle, but I won't mention names). By far the most raved about dish was the Chicken Lettuce Cups. You have to try them and serve them at your next dinner club!

Chicken Lettuce Cups
(serves 8-10)

the filling:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 teaspoons sesame oil
24 shitake mushrooms, finely chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and very finely chopped
4 scallions, very finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 pounds ground white meat chicken (or combination of white & dark)
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 small cans of water chestnuts, drained and finely diced

the sauce:
1 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
4 tablespoons orange juice
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon chili flakes
4 tablespoons oyster sauce

the lettuce cups:
2 heads of iceberg lettuce, washed and leaves peeled for lettuce cups

1. For the sauce, mix all ingredients together with a whisk or shake together in a jar. Set aside.
2. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add peanut and sesame oils. Saute mushrooms, carrots, scallions, ginger and garlic for 4-5 minutes until mushrooms are cooked and vegetables are soft.
3. Add chicken and cook. Stir constantly, breaking up meat.
4. When chicken is almost cooked, add the sauce, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and continue cooking 5-6 minutes.
5. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the lettuce cups.
6. Remove pan from heat, stir in water chestnuts, spoon mixture into lettuce cups and serve.

Enjoy! Happy swimsuit season!

Sun Tea

This morning Nikki sent us an e-mail about an adorable Mason Jar Drink Dispenser from Pottery Barn.  Okay, yes, it's $69, which these days seems like an obscene amount of money for what is essentially a 3-months-a-year glorified pitcher.  But I heart it so.

I mean, how could you not love it?

It started me thinking about something my mother would make every summer when I was a little girl:  Sun Tea.  My mom would put a few bags of Lipton in a plastic pitcher, fill it up with tap water, and put the pitcher out on the back deck in the morning before she left for work.  In the afternoon, we would come home and the pitcher would be warm and filled with dark tea, having steeped in the sun all day.  We'd put it in the refrigerator and enjoy it all week long, and week after week.

These days I might substitute Ginger Peach tea and would probably use filtered water, and maybe even (if I can swing it) put it in a $69 pitcher from PB.  But more likely I'll be pulling out one of my big, perfectly acceptable glass pitchers, covering it with plastic wrap, and calling it good. 

Now if only we Seattleites could get some sun, the Sun Tea revolution could begin!

xo,
Jen

of dads. Amazing dads

i am a big fan of fathers' day. it is a super holiday. i love the greeting card challenge it poses - the challenge of trying to find the perfect balance of funny (this year i went with a classic: homer simpson) and heartfelt (i got this one covered by tracing my 9 month old son's handprint on the inside). i also love this holiday because i consider myself to be exceptionally lucky in the DAD department. what better reason to celebrate?

here we are, me and dad sharing some of my favorite moments of all time - hammin it up on the dance floor at my wedding reception. we laughed the entire song away.

i will admit there was a time (during my bratty teenage years - "bratty" is an intentional and extreme understatement of what I really was...) when I didn't think he was very cool - but my oh my how that has changed. i don't think it would be possible for me to love and adore this man any more that i do. he is my "go to guy" when I need a garlic bread fix, a fit of laughter (the kind of laughter where you start to think you may actually have drool coming from both corners of your mouth and you might, just might have completed toned abs the next day...), or a non-judgmental partner to "people watch" with (the walmart parking lot is particularly fun for this sport).

he is funny. he is talented. he is handsome. he is generous. he is kind. he is the first man i ever loved. he is perfect and i am so thankful to call him my dad.

NOT ONLY do i have an amazing dad - turns out i am married to one too! ryan and i became parents almost 10 months ago. i am not exaggerating when i say that in the first week of our son's life - i only changed three diapers. ryan was so excited to do every single last thing associated with baby... he just took the reigns and ran with them. so. cute. he continues to be as excited about oliver as he was that first week.

i have kept a journal for oliver since the week i found out i was pregnant. occasionally ryan will sneak it from my bedside table and enter a few words of his own. I discovered the below entry one night after he had already fallen asleep. I laid awake for a long time - a huge smile on my face and feeling like the luckiest girl on earth. here is a snippet:

dear oliver,

you are super awesome. you crawled forward for the first time today. it was so cool. you were just sitting there chewing on a little squirl (yes, he meant squirrel) thing and mommy took it away and you came to get it. you crawled like three feet! you are getting to be such a big boy. i was holding you and feeding you your bottle before bed the other night and you fell asleep. your head was hanging over my left arm and your legs were hanging over my right leg. i realized how big you are getting! its weird to think that you won't be a little infant for much longer. i love you so much oliver. that big smile of yours and that cute little laugh is the best part of my day. i love how you just light up when you see me. i love being your dad.

love,

daddy

i will sign out with a few of my favorite images of ryan's journey through fatherhood so far.

happy fathers' day to all the greats out there and to all of the lucky ones who call them dad. ;)

Howdy Cjane, Can You Hear Me?

I'm back on commenting, much (I'm sure) to the dismay of my fellow Belles, Nikki and Maria.

But I couldn't help myself!  I couldn't!  And so I didn't.

I invited Cjane over for a look-see.  And maybe, just maybe, she will.

Swanky couches!  Teeny-tiny, smooshed cupcakes!  And lest we forget, babies!  Who could resist us?

Now if only we could (1) figure out our dumbo header and (2) post one of Nik's gorgeous pictures, already.

xo,
Jen

Those Cupcakes.

My daughter celebrated her second birthday on Sunday, and as a treat she and I took Monday off of work/daycare and stayed home to play with her many wonderful new toys.  We also, in a fit of ambition, baked cupcakes to take to her daycare for a little mini-party with her other "Big Tods" friends.

While Nora took a nap, I lovingly piped batter into teeny-tiny muffin cups.  I worked while she slept, the aroma of mini chocolate cupcakes wafting in the air.  When she woke up, I frosted the cupcakes, placed them carefully into baking pans, and let her sprinkle her little heart out with different colored sugars.  They were adorable!  We placed covers onto the pans, picked out some fun birthday napkins, and let the cupcakes sit on the counter until it was their time to shine.

This morning, I stacked the baking pans on top of each other and slid them into a grocery bag.  We loaded Nora into the car and put the cupcakes in the back on the floor.  We talked the whole way into work/daycare about the fun party to come this afternoon.  Hooray for cupcakes!

Mike parked the car in front of daycare and I started unsnapping, unbuckling, and unharnessing Nora from her uber-complicated car seat.  I looked out the back of the car and saw him holding the cupcake bag.  By its handles.  A high-pitched scream "WHATAREYOUDOINGTHOSEARETHECUPCAKES!" and heads everywhere turned.  Nora chanted, "What are you doing?  What are you doing?  What are you doing?" from the back seat. 

The 40 mini cupcakes smooshed together, tumbled one upon the other, at the end of each pan.  Argh.  Thank goodness two-year-olds don't care what cupcakes look like, right?

Well, having just come from the daycare party, I can state unequivocally that they still tasted delish.  And while I'm not a big Semi-Homemade Sandra Lee kind of person, I admit that this recipe tickled my fancy.  They were boxed cupcakes but gussied up just enough so that you felt like you made an effort.

Perfect Cake Mix CupcakesAdapted from Hello, Cupcake!

1 box (18.25 oz) cake mix (vanilla, devil?s food, or yellow)
1 cup buttermilk (in place of water called for on the box)
Vegetable oil (the amount on the box)
4 eggs (in place of the number called for on the box)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin cups with paper liners.

Follow the box instructions, putting all the ingredients in a large bowl and using the buttermilk in place of the water specified on the box, using the amount of vegetable oil that is called for, and adding the eggs. Beat with an electric mixer until moistened, about 30 seconds. Increase the speed to high and beat until thick, 2 minutes longer.  Spoon 1/2 of the batter into a gallon Ziploc bag and cut 1/4 inch off of one corner.  Pipe batter into paper liners two-thirds full.  Repeat with the remaining batter.

Bake 12 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.  Remove cupcakes from pan and place onto a cooling rack; frost when completely cool.