Smith Family Weblog

Ava and I made turkey cupcakes for her Thanksgiving party at preschool today.

We had planned to use this recipe from Martha Stewart, but I thought it probably it crossed the line on the teacher’s “no candy or other choking hazards” rule. So, instead we made sugar cookies, rolling the dough out so it was thin and light. Fortunately, I had come across an exclamation point cookie cutter while looking for the number two cutter in advance of Liv’s birthday.  A ribbon of chocolate bark held the three tail feathers together.

While I worked on that, Ava rolled marshmallows in toasted coconut. (She had a little more help that she would have liked.)

Each head got two chocolate jimmies for eyes, a candy corn beak and a heart-shaped waddle.

We made chocolate cupcakes, and Ava topped them with chocolate frosting and more toasted coconut.

Then, we adhered pretzel sticks to the back of the tails with chocolate bark, and inserted them into the cupcakes. We used pretzel sticks to secure the heads as well.

When I told Bryan that I needed to run to the store to buy supplies for little chocolate pilgrim hats, he took away my apron and spatula. Next year…

One highlight of the process—Olivia added “gobble, gobble” to her collection of animal noises, although we hear “I need cake,” far more frequently!

I made these baking powder biscuits from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook this weekend. They were simple, easy and pretty darn good, though I think they would have benefited from another minute or two in the oven.

The only problem is that I used all of my baking powder. Any guesses as to how many recipes I will start and not be able to finish before I remember to add it to my grocery list? Probably quite a few.

Doug recently sent me a link to a gorgeous slide show of America’s best cupcakes on Forbes Traveler. One in particular caught my eye–a S’mores cupcake.

I checked out a number of recipe sources, including a few Martha Stewart recipes that seemed quite complicated. Since I was making these as part of our party last week, I decided to simplify by using the recipe for one-bowl chocolate cupcakes. Once I had the cupcake batter parceled out, I sprinkled each cup with ground graham crackers.

After baking the cupcakes, I topped them with an ethereal marshmallow frosting and toasted the tops with a pastry torch.

This may be my new favorite cupcake!

We hosted a cocktail party for about 20 of my coworkers this weekend. I built the menu around figs, goat cheese and port, and on a whim, I decided to try Julia Child’s recipe for Chicken Liver Pate with Figs. I wish I had remembered to garnish the top of the pate, though I’m not sure it would have saved it from looking so very dated.

I admit I wasn’t a huge fan, and I had to beg Bryan to even try it. So, I was surprised to see that nearly half it was gone by the end of the night.

Dagny enjoyed the rest!

Bryan and I made these creepy cupcakes for Ava’s preschool class. Ava approved of all but the black licorice legs—she said, “Mom, these taste like trash.” Olivia, on the other hand, said, “More.”

We’ve had a busy few days which culminated with a Halloween party at Bryan’s company yesterday afternoon and a party for 25 of my coworkers at our house last night. We were up into the wee hours of the morning Thursday night and last night, but the kids let us sleep in until 8:30 this morning—a Halloween miracle.

Today, we’re heading downtown for trick-or-treating, then hosting friends back at our house for dinner. More photo—including Tinkerbell and a bumble bee—coming soon!

Last week, I planned to make this slow cooker recipe for Coq Au Vin. My friend Chuck made it just as it was intended, with an actual, live rooster. Well, strike the “live” part, but he used a rooster from his own farm—Roger, to be exact—not the pre-disassembled chicken I picked up at the Hy-Vee meat counter.

The bad news is that I forget to start it both Thursday morning AND Friday morning. The good news is that I was left with the ingredients for Coq Au Vin and an entire day to make it the traditional way come Saturday.

I set out intending to use Martha Stewart’s recipe, mostly because it’s gorgeous.

But, I compared it to Julia Child’s recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, and in that recipe, I get to start booze on fire. Needless to say I ditched Martha and dug out the Aim ‘n Flame.

First, though, I had to saute the onions, garlic and mushrooms in the pan drippings from a few strips of bacon.

Then, remove the vegetables and add a bit more butter…Hellllooooo, Julia.

And toss in the chicken and bacon.

In goes the cognac, up go the flames.

Once the fire’s out, add a bottle of red wine and simmer for a long, long time.

The result is pink—and incredibly tender—chicken.

The recipe asks that you mix butter and flour into a paste, and add it to the wine mixture.

I think you are just supposed to trust that it will incorporate, but it certainly doesn’t look promising at the outset.

If you put down the camera and focus on whisking, it all works out in the end.

At this point, everything can go back into the sauce. Julia invites you to “film” the top by dropping small pieces of butter, should you decide not to dive right in. The recipe holds “indefinitely” in this state.

It wasn’t necessary at our house…we made short work of the finished dish, which we served with quinoa—at Martha’s suggestion.

I made Martha Stewart’s Chicken Pot Pie recipe for friends last week. It’s one of my absolute favorite fall dishes, mostly because it’s rich, time-intensive and includes crust, all good things this time of year.

The night before I served it, I made the filling. The process starts by boiling chicken with onions, peppercorns and bay leaves. The recipe calls for thyme in both the base and the crust, but our grocery store didn’t have any in stock. I used rosemary instead.

In another pot, I sauteed potatoes and pearl onions in butter before adding mushrooms, leeks and carrots. The first time I made this recipe, I spent about 2 hour peeling little pearl onions. I later found them pre-peeled in freezer section—completely worth the $3 price tag.

Toss in chopped parsley and lemon zest…

And stir in flour, stock and milk to make it thick and creamy.

I refrigerated this overnight, then mixed up the amazing (and relatively easy) crust the day I served it. I forgot to snap a photo of the finished product, so here’s Martha’s gorgeous shot. Just trust that mine looked almost like this.

We were “boo’ed” again this week–we reciprocated with homemade chocolate chip cookies for two of our neighbors.

I have been intending to try a recipe my friend Chuck sent my way, but for the second time now, I’ve only thought of it as I was more than halfway through the one on the back of the bag of chocolate chips.

Next time!