Grilled Cheese Croutons: a better solution for sandwich crusts

"I'm done!" says the daughter, and takes her dishes into the kitchen.

I look at the counter and see a quarter-cup full of milk, and a plate with grilled cheese sandwich crusts. This is not what I would call "done," but I did grow up encouraged to be part of the Clean Plate Club. My children have no interest in membership in that group.

My usual choices are:

1) Toss the scorned crusts (with regret) instead of eating them as my second lunch.

2) Eat the rejected crusts (with regret) so I don't feel guilty about wasting them.

Also up for consideration:

3) Insist that the child eat the crusts before leaving the table. However, neither one of us has the patience or stomach for that.

4) Put the crusts out for the birds. But then I worry that the birds shouldn't eat cheese.

5) Save a week's worth of crusts to make a savory bread pudding. I'd probably be the only one to eat that, so why bother?

Today I see something I have not seen before, despite the uncounted sandwich crusts left on previous plates. I see ... croutons. Grilled cheese croutons! (Someone should market this.) 

(Looking again...does the word crust come from crouton? Croûton, perhaps? I had to look it up, the French for crust is croûte.)

Leftover lunch for lunch, made slightly appetizing

I throw together a salad dressing of (store-bought) hummus, olive oil, and vinegar. Make a lazy salad of baby carrots, grape tomatoes, pepperoni, and greens. Top it with the grilled cheese croutons. Eat. Feel slightly virtuous for having had a salad for lunch and not letting those crusts go to waste.

Grilled Cheese Croutons

2 slices of sesame seed Ezekiel Bread (or your favorite, crusty bread)

2 slices of Kraft American cheese (no comments, please, I already know)

1 tablespoon butter (you can use less, of course, but we like butter)

1 child (This is an important, if unconventional, element of this recipe)

1. Over medium heat, melt butter in skillet.
2. Place on slice of bread in melted butter, rotate to distribute butter over the surface of the bread, then place it (butter side up) on plate. 
3. Place second slice of bread in the remaining butter in the skillet, rotate to coat.
4. Put cheese on bread in skillet.
5. Place first slice of bread (still butter side up) on cheese on bread in skillet.
6. Press sandwich together with spatula or utensil of your choice.
7. After cheese begins to melt, flip the sandwich over. Continue cooking, flipping again if necessary, until golden brown on both sides.
8. Cut into quarters and serve sandwich to child to eat the best part of the sandwich.
9. When child is done, roughly cut remaining crusts into squares. These are your croutons. 
10. Use croutons to top a salad, throw them in the garbage, or feed them to the birds. 

Most-fun-ever chicken noodle soup

It's been cold and snowy, and Kathy has been asking for chicken soup. While she's a big fan of Panera's chicken noodle soup, she hasn't been enthusiastic about my weak and basically flavorless broth. 

Last year when a friend's kitchen was scented with a most heavenly soup, I asked for tips. "Time. Let it simmer until all the goodness is in the broth." The next time I had a chicken carcass, I plopped it in my largest pot with an onion, carrots, celery, and bay leaves and covered it with water. It started in the morning and cooked all day. Hours and hours of simmering led to the best chicken broth I had ever made. Success! 

I hesitated to use this method again because I would need to be home to babysit the stove. I wanted a method with which I could leave the house. Another friend had success with making the stock in a crock pot. Brilliant! 

During our recent big snow storm, we had a roast chicken. After dinner, I set up the slow cooker, turned it on low for fourteen hours, went to bed, and woke up to a most comforting aroma.

Chicken carcass, carrots, onions, sage, peppercorns, bay leaves, water

This same friend with the crockpot idea mentioned making homemade noodles, and what a fun project it was with her daughter. The conversation reminded me that I have a pasta maker in my pantry -- the same one my parents used to make noodles with me when I was little -- that I haven't used for a few years. 

"Taryn, would you like to make pasta with me?" 

Is that a question? 

2 cups of flour, four eggs. Probably more fun to just do this on the counter by hand.

The recipe couldn't be easier with only two ingredients...plus some time and effort.

After an hour, divide up the dough. Clamp the pasta machine to the counter, and get started.

The crank turns a pair of rollers that start out about 1/4 inch away from each other. Process the dough by feeding it through the rollers a series of times. Move the rollers closer to each other each time, and eventually the dough is a paper-thin sheet.

Cutting the noodles

Now crank the sheet of pasta through the cutter of your choice. Kathy likes fettuccine sized for her chicken soup.

Noodles hanging out before going into soup

This noodley gadget is useful, but not necessary. My parents would lay the noodles out on dish cloths on the dining room table. I prefer not to do this because I have three curious, mischievous, thieving cats.

Taryn as noodle walrus

We had fun making noodles!

Kathy-approved chicken noodle soup

Final steps for most-fun-ever chicken noodle soup include:

1. Strain the broth from the solids.
2. Put the broth in the snow to cool down quickly.
3. Skim the fat that has risen to the top.
4. Saute onions and carrots in a big pot, then add broth and bring to a boil.
5. Let soup simmer until veggies are soft.
6. Break noodles into 2 inch pieces, add them to the soup. 
7. Fresh noodles cook fast! After two to four minutes, this soup is ready to serve.
8. Enjoy!

Murder in the Microwave

Or: How I Would Rather Read Than Do Housework

I made a big batch of chili at the beginning of last week, and, as the days went by and leftovers were consumed, the microwave began to look...disturbing. Someone forgot to use a cover when reheating a serving of the tomato based chili, and then the next person figured there was no point, and so on. The splatters accumulated, streaking down the side walls, pooling on the rotating plate, dotting the ceiling. It looked like a horror show. I was alarmed, and I have a high tolerance for living with dirt.

I considered showing a "before" photo to go with this post. But who wants to see someone else's dirty microwave? So here is the "after" pic:

The I Hate to Clean method of cleaning the microwave

I give credit for the pristine state of the microwave to my mother-in-law's method. There is no elbow grease required, which makes cleaning the microwave probably my favorite chore. Total time is about 22 minutes. 20 of those minutes you can read your current book. "Leave me alone, I'm cleaning the microwave," will not be believed, yet it will be true.

• Put two cups of water in a microwave safe dish. Add a slice of lemon. 
• The next step will vary depending on your microwave -- you will want to keep an eye on things the first time around -- turn on the microwave for ten minutes on high. The water will boil and boil and boil. About a cup of water will become steam. 
• After the ten minutes is up, resist the temptation to open the microwave. Let the steam stay in there for another ten minutes.
• Now you can open the microwave. Carefully remove the water vessel (it will still be hot), and the rotating plate, if you have one. Use a rag to clean the sides, ceiling, and floor. Wipe down the plate, wash with soap and water if you like. Replace plate in microwave. 
• Admire your work. Go back to your book. Pretend it was such a chore that you simply cannot do another one today.

The lemon slice is important here. It doesn't have to be a lemon. It could be a lime. It could be a toothpick. Something has to go in with there to to prevent the water from superheating and exploding. Really! DO NOT use this method with plain water. I did accidentally superheat water once, and I count myself very lucky that the explosion happened before I opened the microwave door. Lemon, however, makes the microwave smell nice.

PS You do not have to read a book during those twenty minutes. You could surf the web and watch cute cat videos, like this one, instead. Or meditate. Whatever you choose, relax! You're cleaning the microwave!

Better than a pumpkin pie

We have had the most spectacular autumn. Somehow, all the trees coordinated their peak color to happen in sync. There have been riots of red, outcrops of copper, and my favorite, yellow, glows in the sunlight. Taryn, Kathy, and I took a walk in the late afternoon to soak it all in.

The creek that runs behind the house empties out into a lake. We paused at the wooden footbridge to admire the view. A pair of mallards floated nearby. Kathy said she spotted "duck eggs." That would have been exciting! It turned out, they were just golf balls. 

We were chilly, even though we walked briskly, sometimes one running ahead, the better to call the others Slow Pokes. We walked backwards, forwards, sideways, up hills and down, but the late afternoon sun only dappled the path and couldn't warm us. We won't be going out again without layers.

Dinner was Dorie Greenspan's Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good. As she recommends, I riffed on the recipe. We like Italian sausage, provolone, and mozzarella. It makes a filling dinner, and we discussed if we should fit it onto our Thanksgiving table. I suggested the pumpkin instead of a turkey, but was voted down. Perhaps it will show up again in the days after the big meal. I'd better snag another pie pumpkin from the store before they disappear for the season! 

No eggplant love

Naked eggplant

Isn't an eggplant beautiful? I love that aubergine color -- and the word aubergine -- and the smooth skin. At my house, the diners would prefer to look at one rather than eat one. It is only acceptable in a dish that disguises the eggplant, like a good baba ghanoush. I should have predicted the reactions to tonight's dish, which was inspired by a homework assignment from the cooking science class that I've been taking.

It's pretty, isn't it? I had to make substitutions in the recipe, as I didn't have lemon thyme on hand. I do have plenty of za'atar, so this was a most fragrant eggplant when it came out of the oven.

It got prettier with the addition of garlicky buttermilk sauce and the appealing pop of color from the pomegranate seed garnish. A sprinkling of sumac completed the dish.

Dressed eggplant

The problem arose upon serving. The flesh was grayish green, no matter how I looked at it. My solution was to drown it in more sauce.

The girls couldn't stomach it. "I like the pomegranates," Taryn said, generously. Kathy glared at her plate. I know exactly what she's going to look like as a teenager -- she is an eight year old goth, with black lipstick and a great scowl. The only thing throwing off the picture is her missing top tooth. Zed pronounced the eggplant slimy, then made samosas from Trader Joes so the girls would actually eat something.

Braised in Salsa

At least one food critic thinks that "put an egg on it" is a food trend that is so last year. I will be stuck in the food trend past, then, as I continue to slide a fried egg on top of just about any dish. My favorite is a fried egg on a slice of pizza.

Braised egg image from Eating Well

I also see that I've been using the wrong term for my new favorite egg-prep method. This recipe from Eating Well describes my "poached in salsa" as braised eggs. In any case, this makes the best egg ever.

Back to food trends, is molecular gastronomy over too? I don't get out for fine dining experiences that often, but I'd like to try something like these olives. In fact, I purchased the sodium alginate and calcium lactate gluconate so I can experiment at home.

Make that we can experiment at home. My chemist/cook, Taryn, is helping me out with the online class I am taking from edX. It is called Science & Cooking: From Haute Cuisine to Soft Matter Science. The course is full of math, physics, chemistry, and food. I signed up for it on a whim, but the material has captured me: I want to do my homework!

One of the first assignments was to calibrate my oven, which I now know runs about 35 degrees hot on convection. I always had to set the temperature lower when using the oven's fan. I didn't know by how much, and I burned a lot of cookies. The candy that resulted from doing the calibration test was yummy, too. (See it in the image below? The caramelized splat.)

Sugar melted at "330" degrees F in my oven. The melting point of sugar is 366 degrees F.

Up next, a recipe for eggplant, examining the recipe for Nestle's Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies, and (this makes me happy) "perfect eggs."

Camping trip traditions

Our local homeschool group has been around for long enough now that we have well established traditions. In September, we enjoy a "Not Back to School" picnic for families. We party at the opposite end of the year with a combination field day and picnic. In between, we have Park Days every Friday for kids. (An unofficial, alternate name for these gatherings is Homeschooling Parent Support Group.) In warm enough weather, we meet at a playground. In cooler months, we get creative and go bowling, visit a bounce house, attend nature classes, and go on field trips.

One last tradition is our October camping trip. It started in 2008, when six of our group's families spent a weekend at Cunningham Falls State Park. 

These girls don't remember a time they didn't go camping together.

My younger daughter had just turned 3, and she doesn't remember a thing about that camp out. I do: the first night was rainy, we slept in hats, and little Kathy and I snuggled in my sleeping bag. (I've also got some great pictures to jog my memory.)

An outcrop of rocks in the middle of our group's sites became a playground. The kids clambered up and around them all weekend. It was only when I reserved those same campsites the next year I learned that they feature "a severe drop off of the back of the camping pad" and are "not suitable for children." This perceived liability had become our group's favorite spot!

Kids still play on the rocks in 2013

On Sunday we returned from our sixth camping trip to the same park, the same sites. The group has grown: this year we had twelve families (with fifteen girls, five boys, and two dogs).

This isn't even the entire group of campers

We tried something new this year, and reserved one site where we could gather as a community. That was a successful experiment! During the day, the kids played on the camping pad, and at night, the grownups brought their chairs to enjoy a big fire.

Community campsite at night

The weather cooperated by not raining on us -- a tradition that has held since our second year, and one that I cannot claim any responsibility for. We went on a group hike, ate countless s'mores, played flashlight tag, burned hot dogs, and enjoyed being unplugged for the weekend. I talked two of my friends into going on a sunrise trail run to the falls and back. 

Spectacular colors

New for me this camping season is my Dutch oven. I'm totally in love with it for camp cooking. Instead of burning our hobo packets in the coals of a fire (or worse, undercooking them), we arranged them in the pot and let the radiant heat of charcoal briquettes do the work. I have used it to bake mac'n'3 cheese, "dump cake," biscuits and bacon, and banana boats, successful every time.

Dutch oven plus campfire

I also invested in a happy, apple green percolator. I loved drinking hot coffee in the great outdoors while watching my girls and their friends running around before the sun appeared over the mountain.

My breakfast starts with coffee

We have a lot of camping equipment, and I'm pretty sure there isn't room for much more gear, even though we probably need a second tent. This is true car camping! I'm not sure how getting ready for two nights in the woods takes up this much space. At least we did not forget our sleeping bags this year.

Everything and the camp kitchen sink

What a great time! I love how the kids create play in nature. I love the fresh air. I love the relaxed time with my husband. I love how the leaves fall in a gentle breeze. I love spending time with my friends. I can't wait for next year's adventure!

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Recipe for Mac'n'3 Cheese, transcribed from a GS leader training packet:

Old Fashioned Macaroni and Cheese

(One pot OR Dutch or Box oven)

1 12-15 oz. box pasta

1 stick of butter

8 oz sour cream

2 cups small curd cottage cheese

Onion powder

Salt and pepper

12 oz sharp cheddar cheese

Cook pasta. Melt butter into pasta. Mix with other ingredients and place in greased pan.

Cook over low heat until cheese has melted and mixture is thick and creamy; stirring frequently

OR

 Cook in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.