It's just not the same...

It's funny how you can go to culinary school and work in restaurants but still not be able to make Swiss Steak the way your grandmother does. I've even made it with her, but no matter what I do it just never comes out the same.

Market Street Grill

One of our favorite restaurants is Market Street Grill in Salt Lake City. We haven't been there in a long time (hence the old picture), but we've found a way to cope. We love the clam chowder there and here is a recipe that I've found tastes exactly like it. Be sure to squeeze some fresh lemon juice over each bowl of soup before serving. That makes it especially delicious.

Ingredients:
1 cup potatoes, diced ½ inch
1 cup celery, diced ½ inch
1 cup onion, diced ½ inch
1 cup green pepper, diced ½ inch
1 cup leeks, diced ½ inch
¾ cup chopped clams (canned or fresh)
¾ tablespoon coarse ground black pepper
1 ½ tablespoon salt
¾ tablespoon whole thyme
6 bay leaves
1 teaspoon Tabasco
2 cups water
¾ cup clam juice (drained from canned clams or purchased separately in can)
¾ cup butter, melted
1 cup flour
2 quarts half-and-half

Directions:Combine melted butter and flour in oven-proof container and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. In large saucepan, combine remaining ingredients except half-and-half. Simmer until potatoes are thoroughly cooked. Stir butter-flour mixture into chowder and stir until thick. Mixture will be slightly less thick than cookie dough. Remove chowder from heat. Stir in half-and-half until blended. Heat to serving temperature, stirring occasionally.Serve immediately.

Pinkberry

"a bed of shaved ice, mixed fruit + pillows of mochi gently kissed with sweetened condensed milk, all hidden beneath a top hat of plain frozen yogurt...."

Yes, we went to Pinkberry's tonight, along with all of the other "groupies". I had to try it. I like seeing what all the fuss is about at the trendy dessert places. And I'll admit I liked this one.

It was funny because the table next to us noticed that Hannah was enjoying the frozen yogurt and was using sign language to tell me that she wanted more. They had never seen a baby do sign language before and they asked if she was deaf. They also asked if she belonged to us because apparently we both look like we're in high school. No to the first question, yes to the second.

It was attacked....

This is what happens when you leave your hat at the park and it gets eaten by the lawnmower.

A Good Night

Hmmmm.....what would go well with Season 2 of Prison Break? Chocolate Waffle Cookies with Chocolate Frosting. Ryan manned the waffle iron while I whipped up the frosting. That was our night.

A Different Kind of Christmas Tree

If I had a bookcase like this....

Our Tree-hugger

I think that Hannah may have some environmentalist tendencies. First of all, whenever she's at the park she gets the urge to go up and hug the trees. It's especially funny when she finds one that is way too big to put her arms around but she's tries to anyway! And second, whenever she finds a piece of trash she picks it up and takes it over to the garbage can. Normally, this is a very good thing and she helps out a lot around the house by throwning away her diapers and wrappers, but at the park it's a whole different story. I've caught her with some pretty dirty things. But how do you tell a toddler that some trash you can throw away and some you can't? Pretty much impossible!

Bogs and Beaches

Cranberries are great for holiday recipes and this is a delicious appetizer that I demonstrated at my latest cooking club class. It's called "Creamy Whipped Brie with Cranberry Salsa." Here is the recipe:

8 to 10 servings

Salsa:

2 cups fresh cranberries

3 medium green onions, finely chopped

1 small red jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

1½ tablespoons lemon juice

1 ½ tablespoons peeled and finely minced fresh gingerroot

Whipped brie:

¾ pound brie cheese, room temperature

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

Crackers

1. To prepare the salsa: Pulse the cranberries in a food processor until very finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Stir in the green onions, jalapeno, sugar, salt, cilantro, lemon juice and ginger. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Stir occasionally.
3. To prepare the whipped brie: Remove the rind from the brie and put the cheese into a food processor with the cream cheese, pepper and lemon zest. Process until very smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate. (This can be made 24 hours in advance.) Bring to room temperature 1 hour before serving. Serve with crackers and the salsa on the side.

And while you're enjoying the thought of this recipe you can look at this picture of Hannah running on the beach...

No More Pie Please

So I decided to get crazy and skip making a pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving. Since it was me who did the planning, me who did the shopping, and me who did the cooking (except for the rolls which my sister made), I decided to make what I wanted to make. I don't like stuffing and I don't like cranberry sauce so those were both crossed off the menu. Pumpkin pie was also off. Well, you may be wondering "What did those Scoville's eat on Thanksgiving?"

Spice cake with pumpkin creme frosting

Sounds fancy, but it's just spice cake from a box frosted with a container of pumpkin yogurt and a container of cool-whip.

We also had some delicious mashed potatoes. I added a fresh yam to the boiling potatoes. The result was beautiful light orange mashed potatoes to add color to the normally beige holiday meal.