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After returning from our cowboy adventure on the beautiful River to River Trail of Southern Illinois, it was time to buckle down and get ready for a "Wild, Wild West" birthday party. Highlights included hot dogs cooked over the fire pit, a half dozen neighborhood kids in cowboy hats running around, plenty of bluegrass music, and Emmett's constant state of cowboy joy. A few decorations, a few ideas pulled off the Internet, and voila! it was a party indeed:

Cowboy clothing for visiting buckaroos

"Happy Trails Mix" for the goodie bags

A last minute pennant made with horseshoe ribbon, cardstock, and a free Western font

Lemon cream cheese cupcakes in a cast iron skillet

Make a wish!

Okay, let's be honest. The real highlight was the cake, a ridiculously delicious and sinfully sweet s'mores ice cream cake that I am certain cowboys ate ALL THE TIME. And if they didn't, they should have.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I made the cake in a 9x13 pan for the birthday and, a few days later, made it again as a pie. I liked the pie version quite a bit better, so that is the recipe I will share with you today. It takes some time to assemble, but most of the time is hands-off, so just be certain to plan ahead.

I froze the last few slices of pie and just rediscovered them in the freezer last night. Sean and I were both amazed that it froze so well - we thought the marshmallows would turn hard as a rock, but they didn't...which, when you think about it, is kind of odd, but let's try not to think about it.

Enjoy!


S'mores Ice Cream Pie
Serves 8 (or 4 really hungry cowboys)

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1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 tbsp. melted butter
1 12.8 oz jar Hershey's hot fudge topping
Vanilla ice cream
1/2 of a 10 oz. bag mini marshmallows
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

In a large bowl, combine melted butter and 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs. Mix until moist. Press into an 8 or 9 inch pie pan, evening the crust out with the back of a spoon. Place in the freezer to set for about fifteen minutes.

Once set, remove crust from freezer. Pour most of the contents of the jar of hot fudge sauce into the pie crust. Put back into the freezer and freeze for 2 hours.

About 15 minutes before the crust is ready, take the ice cream out of the freezer to allow it to soften. Once soft, press and spread the ice cream on top of the fudge sauce. Use a wet metal spoon to smooth the ice cream. The amount of ice cream you need will depend on the size of your pie pan - fill it up! Put the whole thing back in the freezer and allow to set for at least 2 hours, or even overnight.

Before serving, dump half the bag of marshmallows onto a rimmed cookie sheet. Place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until toasty brown - watch closely! Remove pie from freezer and sprinkle with 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs. Carefully transfer the toasted marshmallows to the top of the pie with a wide spatula. Sprinkle with remaining graham cracker crumbs and chocolate chips. Serve!

My husband Sean is not a fan of recipes; he is far too casual a cook to follow someone else's instructions. His favorite day to make dinner is the day when I look at the crossed-out list of meal options on the fridge and swear there is nothing to eat. He then opens the fridge, roots around, and comes up with something delicious and surprising.

While not a recipe guy, he is very much a technique guy. Most recently, he caught a video on chow.com about how to make the perfect chocolate chip cookie and decided he had to give it a try.

I concur. They were the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had -- chewy and chocolatey and sweet and moist. They tasted best -- of course -- right out of the oven, but we had no trouble eating the rest after the boys went to bed. Don't judge; I know you do it too.



The recipe came from The Bon Appetit Cookbook, but Sean swears it is not the recipe but the techniques that made them so crazy good. Here are his specific tips:

• The eggs and the butter should be room temperature. You can speed the eggs along by putting them in a cup of warm water for about ten minutes.
• Use the whisk attachment on your stand mixer to beat the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Beat it really well. Switch the whisk for the paddle attachment before adding the flour.
• Mix the flour in as minimally as possible - just until incorporated.
• The better the chocolate, the better the cookie. A no-brainer, but worth mentioning before you head to the store. Sean recommends using an equal amount of flour and chocolate chips. This makes really, really chocolatey cookies.
• Sean made our cookies extra big and thus adjusted the time accordingly. As a general rule, remove the cookies from the oven before they look completely done. You'll be glad you did.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from The Bon Appetit Cookbook
Makes about 30

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Nonstick vegetable oil spray
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with spray.

Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Set aside.

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, beat butter until light and fluffy.  Add sugar and brown sugar; beat until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; beat until creamy and well blended.

Switch whisk attachment for paddle attachment. Gradually add flour mixture, beating just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Working in batches, drop dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, spacing three inches apart. Bake cookies until pale brown, about 15 minutes.  Cool 15 minutes on sheet. Transfer to racks to cool completely.

t-shirt applique directions here

In lieu of a birthday party, Finn chose a family getaway for his fifth birthday celebration. We decided on Indianapolis and made plans to hit the Indianapolis Children's Museum and Caribbean Cove Water Park, with the added bonus of an amazing parent-selected dinner at Trader's Point Creamery...more on that later.

But what to do about a cake? I couldn't very well not make my kid a birthday cake, but without a party in the works, it kind of fell to the wayside. Throw in the timing (we left for Indy early on Saturday, which was his actual birthday) and it didn't really make sense to knock myself out. The solution? Cupcakes for breakfast.

To be perfectly honest, it was actually a muffin recipe. But once you add cream cheese frosting to a dense, sweet muffin, there isn't really that much of a difference.These were sooooo good, and super easy; we'll definitely be making them again this fall.

Happy birthday, Finn. You truly light up my life.


Pumpkin "Cupcakes" with Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from here and here

Makes 12

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1 1/2 cups white flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers or grease the cups.
2. Place the first six ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. 
5. Pour into prepared muffin tin, 3/4 full.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Cool, frost and serve!

Frosting
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine all ingredients and beat until fluffy, 1-2 minutes.

While I'm generally a great big wimp when it comes to cooking without a recipe, I'm pretty good about substitutions. Many a baked good in my kitchen has included a tablespoon of mayonnaise instead of an egg, and I'm pretty good about concocting combinations of milk and yogurt to resemble various thicknesses of cream. I think it comes from the Mongolia years, when I really didn't have any choice but to substitute and when I ate pretty darn well despite the limited ingredients.

I picked up some rhubarb at the grocery store today, along with a whole bunch of strawberries. At the time I was thinking, naturally, of making a pie. However, as we have plans to picnic this evening, I thought perhaps it would be wise to make something more portable, so I started searching for a recipe for strawberry rhubarb bars. I loved this one that I found on the EatingWell website. The first ingredient on the list is 1 cup of chopped nuts or oats. I knew that I had just used up all of my oatmeal and nuts on the last batch of granola...but I thought perhaps I can use a cup of the granola instead. It proved an excellent substitution. Because the granola is sweetened (and includes sweetened coconut), I cut back on the sugar a bit. I also halved the recipe because, really, a 9 x 12 pan of sweets in the middle of the week is just not a good idea. If you want to make more, I'd recommend following the proportions in the original recipe as I was a bit footloose with my math in dividing the ingredients.

Enjoy!



Strawberry Rhubarb Bars
Adapted from Eating Well

Makes 9 bars

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For the crust:
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granola (preferably without dried fruit)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the filling:
2 c. diced strawberries
1 c. diced rhubarb (from one large stalk)
2 Tbsp. orange juice
4 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. To prepare crust: Combine 1/2 cup granola, whole wheat flour, white flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add butter; pulse until well incorporated. 
2. Whisk egg, oil, and vanilla in a small bowl. With the motor running, add the mixture to the food processor. Process, then pulse, scraping down the sides, if necessary, until the mixture begins to clump, 30 to 45 seconds (it will look crumbly).  Measure out 1/4 cup of the mixture and combine in a bowl with the remaining 2 Tbsp. of granola. Set aside for the topping.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously coat an 8x8 square baking pan with cooking spray.
4. To prepare fruit filling: Combine 1 1/2 c. strawberries, 3/4 c. rhubarb, orange juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is very thick, 4 to 5 minutes.  Stir in the remaining fruit and the vanilla. Set aside.
5. Transfer the crumb mixture to the prepared baking pan. Spread evenly and press firmly into the bottom to form a crust. Spread the fruit filling over the crust. Sprinkle the reserved topping over the filling.
6. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake until the crust and topping are light brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into bars, at least 1 1/2 hours.

It's Illinois Marathon weekend here in the bustling microurban community of Champaign-Urbana. Last year, our family was deeply involved: Sean ran the full marathon, I ran the 5K, and Finn participated in the Youth Run. Although Finn was the only one of us to participate in a race this year, we still kept busy watching races and cheering on friends and neighbors. It was a super fun weekend, with 20,000 runners participating in six different races and lots of opportunities to get involved.

The Youth Run is a 1K race that starts in the southeast corner of our football stadium, skirts three sides of the perimeter, then ends on the 50 yard line. Last year, at age 3 1/2, Finn sort of half-heartedly loped along, picking up sticks on the way while I encouraged him to keep going. This year, he sprinted and I raced to keep up with him. I was crazy proud of his enthusiasm and energy.



It seemed only right to have a bonus dessert night this weekend after all his hard work, and Sean came up with the brilliant idea of making bread pudding. I had defrosted a loaf of my Easter bread the day before and we still had quite a bit left; the other ingredients were all things we had around the house, so with a quick recipe search and about ten minutes preparation, I threw together this incredibly delicious evening treat for our little runner (and his family).

The sauce has brandy in it, and since my kids were plenty tired without having any alcohol, I scooped a couple spoonfuls into their bowls before adding the liquor. Also, the original recipe calls for Italian bread, allowed to get stale overnight. I think any bread that was somewhat dense would work just fine. I used the anise bread which wasn't stale and frankly it was off the charts good. My proportions halve those in the original recipe as we didn't need 8 to 10 servings, but you could easily double it for a crowd and prepare it in a 9x13 pan.



Bread Pudding
Adapted from Paula Deen
Yield 4-6 servings

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• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large beaten eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups cubed Italian bread, allow to stale overnight in a bowl
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. butter, softened
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans 

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 egg, beaten (do your best)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp. brandy (whiskey would also work)

I can hardly call this a recipe; it's more the fortuitous result of having my kid remind me that it's dessert night (Friday) and looking in the fridge to see what I can come up with. I had a pint of strawberries and a batch of plain yogurt, among other things. Add in some brown sugar and you've got all you need for Strawberries on a Stick. Ready? Here goes.

Wash and hull a strawberry.

Stick a toothpick in the end.

Dip it in plain yogurt (sour cream also works).

Roll it in brown sugar.

Yum.



NOTE: Although the photo only shows one strawberry, you should by no means limit yourself to one. These are super yummy!

I am proud to say that since posting the recipe for slow cooker yogurt, I have consistently made a batch a week, and we've all enjoyed having that bowl of thick, creamy yogurt on  hand. As the weather turns warmer, we've also been experimenting with yogurt pops. Super easy, super delicious, and much healthier than a popsicle...so I thought I'd share a few tips with you today.

 
A homemade yogurt pop is essentially a frozen smoothie on a stick, so you basically make a batch of fairly liquidy smoothie then freeze it in a popsicle mold. I have found that it is necessary to make the smoothie a bit sweeter than you do for a smoothie that you drink - it seems to lose some of its oomph in the freezer. Go ahead and experiment to find what works best for your family. These are the general proportions that we use - it is of course very flexible:

1 cup plain yogurt
1 ripe banana
1 cup berries (fresh or frozen)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup milk

Blend - pour - freeze!

BONUS: When you make popsicles out of smoothies, you have the option of offering them at breakfast time, which makes you a VERY popular parent. It was a Mom of the Year moment, for sure.

In my last post, I shared a little bit about how my family celebrates Mongolian New Year, or Tsagaan Sar. I didn't include too much information about the food, or the fact that my amazing husband pinched over fifty meat dumplings (buuz) in the days leading up to the event, or the fact that my kids devoured the dumplings like they were Mongolian children. I also didn't include this slow cooker rice pudding recipe.

Disclaimer: Rice pudding is not typically served at Tsagaan Sar. There is, however, a kind of rice porridge (called "sootei bodah," or "rice with milk") that is sometimes served. I first incorporated this kicked-up recipe into our Tsagaan Sar festivities last year, and I vow to never again celebrate the holiday without it...it is that crazy good. So rich, so creamy, so easy...and so worth sharing with all of you.

This is a great recipe for a dinner party, because you can make it in advance, dish it into the serving bowls, then chill it and have it ready to go at dessert time. It's also absolutely delicious warm out of the slow cooker, which is similarly easy for last minute serving. Although it is a slow cooker recipe, it's actually quite fast, with about three hours total cooking time.

Sadly, I failed to take a photo of the pudding before we ate every last drop. Instead I'll share this pretty shot of our Tsagaan Sar table.


Vanilla Rice Pudding

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2/3 cup Arborio rice (the kind you use for risotto), rinsed and drained
1 13 oz. can evaporated milk
6 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp cinnamon
whipped cream or fresh fruit (optional), for serving

1 - Coat the slow cooker insert with cooking spray. Combine the rice and evaporated milk in the cooker.

2 - In a large heavy saucepan over medium high heat, combine the whole milk, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Heat until bubbles appear around the edges to dissolve the sugar.

3 - Pour the hot milk into the cooker and stir with a whisk. Cover and cook on low until the milk is absorbed and the custard is set, about 2 1/2 hours.While cooking, the milk will be gently bubbling.

4 - In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, and cinnamon. Add about 1/4 cup of the hot pudding to the egg mixture and beat well to prevent curdling. Slowly pour the mixture into the pudding in the cooker, stirring constantly until well combined. Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes more.

5 - Serve warm or spoon into small dishes, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate to eat cold. Top with whipped cream and fresh fruit, as desired.

For the very first time in the history of our marriage, Sean and I decided to spend Christmas Day in our own home. In previous years, we've always spent Christmas Day with either my family in Chicago or his family in Montana. After running around like ragged last Christmas Day with two kids in tow, we decided that 2011 was the year to focus on our immediate family unit and put off the traveling until the 26th. It was a wonderful decision. The morning was blissfully slow (and full of yummy French toast), the kids were in pajamas until 3 pm, and I got to plan and prepare a five course Christmas dinner, which made me so happy! We even had a cheese course.

The entire meal was delicious, but the pinnacle of the evening was dessert.  When we invited a few friends to join us, I decided that I wanted a really impressive capstone to the evening. I came across a recipe on allrecipes.com for Buche de Noel. It's essentially a flourless chocolate cake baked in a jelly roll pan then rolled around chocolate flavored whipped cream and decorated to look like a log. It was exactly what I was going for: creamy, chocolatey, and visually impressive. I didn't make too many changes to the recipe as written, so I'll just include the link here. Make sure you read the reviews as there are some good tips. You probably won't have much need for this recipe until next December, but definitely file it away in your Christmas memory - it was delicious! I decorated the log with little mushrooms made out of bell-shaped Reese's peanut butter cups stuck onto miniature marshmallows and decorated with little white icing spots. It was very Smurfy and very festive and as pretty to look at as it was tasty to eat.



Happy belated holidays, all!