Matzo Ball Soup and 80+ Days of Dinner

To say that a lot has changed since I posted last would be an understatement. We're going on our fifth week self-isolating at our house and I've been cooking like a maniac (both because everyone is now home for every meal and because it's a great outlet for me). And I've apparently taken up baking. It started out with Cam wanting to bake more cakes and then I hopped aboard the sourdough train when I was able to scoop some starter from Chef Johanna Hellrigl who has generously given out an insane amount of starter to folks quarantined in DC. I'm still working on making an actual loaf of sourdough bread, but I've been crushing the discard recipes!

Most of these Days of Dinner are from before we started staying home, but the last four weeks are Quarantine Meals! So the recipe I'm sharing this time is straight comfort food. It's a lot of directions, but honestly, not at all difficult. So don't get overwhelmed. I usually balk at any recipe that calls for a whole chicken, but there's really not a way to screw this one up. And it's so worth it.

I highly recommend splitting the work over two days. First make the chicken stock. Refrigerate it and then you can skim the schmaltz (chicken fat) the next day to use in making the matzo balls. If you have enough stock pots, make an extra batch of stock because it freezes well and you can save the schmaltz in the refrigerator for the matzo balls when you're ready.

Matzo Ball Soup 

(slightly adapted from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients
Chicken stock
- 1, 4-5 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces
- 1 lb chicken wings, necks, and/or backs
- 2 large yellow onions, unpeeled, quartered
- 6 celery stalks, cut into 1" pieces
- 4 large carrots, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
- 1 large parsnip, peeled, cut into 1" pieces
- 1 large shallot, quartered
- 1 head of garlic, halved crosswise
- 6 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns

Matzo ball mixture
- 3 large eggs, beaten to blend
- 3/4 cup matzo meal
- 1/4 cup schmaltz (chicken fat), melted
- 3 tbsp club soda
- 1 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Assembly
- 2 small carrots, peeled, sliced 1/4" thick on a diagonal
- Kosher salt
- 2 tbsp coarsley chopped fresh dill
- coarsley ground fresh black pepper

Directions
Chicken Stock
1. Bring all ingredients and 12 cups cold water to a boil in a very large (at least 12-qt.) stockpot. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until chicken breasts are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

2. Transfer breasts to a plate (remaining chicken parts are strictly for stock). Let breasts cool slightly, then remove meat and return bones to stock. Shred meat. Let cool, tightly wrap, and chill.

3. Continue to simmer stock until reduced by one-third, about 2 hours. Strain chicken stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a large saucepan (or airtight container, if not using right away); discard solids. You should have about 8 cups.

You can refrigerate stock for up to two days. If you're keeping it for longer, freeze it, including the shredded chicken breast.

Matzo Balls
Mix eggs, matzo meal, schmaltz, club soda, ands alt in a medium bowl (mixture will resemble wet sand; it will firm up as it rests). Cover and chill at least 2 hours. You can refrigerate it for up to a day.

Assembly
1. Bring chicken stock to a boil in a large saucepan. Add carrots; season with salt. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat, add reserved breast meat (if you didn't freeze stock and already add), and cover. Set soup aside.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Scoop out 2-tablespoonful portions matzo ball mixture and, using wet hands, gently roll into balls.

3. Add matzo balls to water and reduce heat so water is at a gentle simmer (too much bouncing around will break them up). Cover pot and cook matzo balls until cooked through and starting to sink, 20-25 minutes.

4. Using a slotted spoon, transfer matzo balls to bowls. Ladle soup over, top with dill, and season with pepper.

*          *          *

Day 1 (W) - brinner -- egg tacos + salad
Day 2 (Th) - Bruschetta Grilled Chicken; farro
Day 3 (F) - Backpocket Bolognese
Day 4 (Sat) - dinner out
Day 5 (Sun) - dinner out

Day 6 (M) - NY strip steak; green beans; salad
Day 7 (T) - Greek Lamb Burgers; cauliflower gnocchi
Day 8 (W) - leftovers
Day 9 (Th) - Matzo Ball Soup
Day 10 (F) - dinner out
Day 11 (Sat) - dinner out
Day 12 (Sun) - Superbowl! ordered in

Day 13 (M) - Garlic Lover's Crockpot Beef Stew
Day 14 (T) - Greek Chicken Kabobs; pesto cauliflower gnocchi; roasted broccoli
Day 15 (W) - Sushi Rice with Miso-Caramel Glazed Salmon (a new family fave)
Day 16 (Th) - leftovers
Day 17 (F) - dinner out
Day 18 (Sat) - dinner out
Day 19 (Sun) - Grilled Steak Tacos with Cilantro Chimichurri Sauce

Day 20 (M) - Spaghetti and Drop Meatballs with Tomato Sauce
Day 21 (T) - Cheesy Stuffed Peppers
Day 22 (W) - Halibut with Spicy Sausage, Tomatoes, and Rosemary
Day 23 (Th) - Balsamic Grilled Chicken
Day 24 (F) - grilled salmon; carrots; brown rice
Day 25 (Sat) - brinner -- eggs and TJ scallion cakes
Day 26 (Sun) - dinner out

Day 27 (M) - dinner out
Day 28 (T) - Backpocket Bolognese
Day 29 (W) - All American Chili
Day 30 (Th) - dinner out
Day 31 (F) - dinner out in Nebraska for my nephew's wedding
Day 32 (Sat) - dinner out in Nebraska for my nephew's wedding
Day 33 (Sun) - dinner out

Day 34 (M) - Easy Steak Fajitas; roasted cauliflower; brown rice
Day 35 (T) - Chicken Enchilada Skillet
Day 36 (W) - Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork
Day 37 (Th) - grilled Sabatino's sausages
Day 38 (F) - Gail Simmons' Greek Style Lamb Meatballs over Orzo from Bring it Home
Day 39 (Sat) - dinner out
Day 40 (Sun) - dinner out

Day 41 (M) - Matzo Ball Soup
Day 42 (T) - Weeknight 20 Minute Spicy Udon Noodles
Day 43 (W) - Sushi Rice with Miso-Caramel Glazed Salmon
Day 44 (Th) - Slow Cooker Meatballs in Tomato Sauce; cauliflower gnocchi
Day 45 (F) - Greek Marinated Flank Steak; sweet potato fries; salad
Day 46 (Sat) - DIY pizzas with store-bought dough
Day 47 (Sun) - California Chicken, Veggie, Avocado, and Brown Rice Bowls

Day 48 (M) - Gail Simmons' Greek Style Lamb Meatballs over Orzo from Bring it Home (I'd made a double batch and frozen one!)
Day 49 (T) - grilled Sabatino's sausages; Crispy Sheet Pan Gnocchi and Veggies
Day 50 (W) - Costco chicken skewers (these were not good); cauliflower gnocchi; salad
Day 51 (Th) - leftovers
Day 52 (F) - out
Day 53 (Sat)* - Flank Steak Tacos
Day 54 (Sun) - leftovers

Day 55 (M) - take out from our fave neighborhood spot Moreland's Tavern -- in addition to running a regular take out during quarantine, you can also pick up beer + cocktails and participate in their new general store boxes. We are trying to order at least once/week from local restaurants to help support them through this difficult time. And we routinely grab a growler or two from Moreland's even if we are ordering food from another spot.
Day 56 (T) - Chicken Pasta; salad
Day 57 (W) - Grilled Flash-Marinated Skirt Steak; grilled vegetables; orzo
Day 58 (Th) - Chipotle Pulled Pork Tacos; TJs Mexican corn; brown rice
Day 59 (F) - Matzo Ball Soup (I told you we've been eating it a lot!)
Day 60 (Sat) - take out from Tiger Fork, including cocktails!
Day 61 (Sun) - All American Chili

Day 62 (M) - take out from Little Coco's, who is also doing groceries and a special Sunday Supper during quarantine.
Day 63 (T) - Extra-Juicy Turkey Burgers (DELISH); roasted broccoli; leftover grains
Day 64 (W) - Spring Break Thanksgiving because why the hell not: I usually make just a turkey breast for Thanksgiving but used this as a low-stakes opportunity to do a full bird. I thought this Dry-Brined Roast Turkey was amazing and I still had one frozen container of Caramelized Onion and Bacon Gravy left from actual Thanksgiving to serve with it. I also made a yummy Easy Green Bean Casserole and Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes (I didn't make them ahead, but you could). And we served up boxed stuffing, canned cranberries, store-bought cornbread, and store-bought apple pie for dessert.
Day 65 (Th) - DIY pizzas with store-bought dough
Day 66 (F) - take out from Gravitas (amazing)
Day 67 (Sat) - Instant Ramen Fried Rice; 12-Minute Chicken and Broccoli
Day 68 (Sun) - Mr. Not-So-SAHM made his famous burgers and taught Kane how to make them too;  salad; tater tots

Day 70 (M) - Pasta with Sausage, Basil and Mustard; Shockingly Easy No-Knead Focaccia
Day 71 (T) - Easy Grilled Chicken; grilled zucchini and squash; brown rice
Day 72 (W) - Cold Roast Salmon with Lemony Yogurt Sauce; green beans; farro
Day 73 (Th) - grilled New York strip steak; roasted cauliflower
Day 74 (F) - grilled sausages; waffle fries; Sauteed Shredded Brussels Sprouts 
Day 75 (Sat) - take out from Blue Jacket, including cocktails. The Neighborhood Restaurant Group is also running a pantry and prepared meals delivery.
Day 76 (Sun) - Trader Joe's Pollo Asada; Mexican corn; rice

Day 77 (M) - Turkey Meatballs; cauliflower gnocchi; roasted vegetables
Day 78 (T) - DIY pizzas with store-bought dough; salad
Day 79 (W) - Passover (not kosher): Matzo Ball Soup; Tangy Braised Short Ribs; Apples with Honey and Crushed Walnuts; Garlicky, Buttered Carrots; store-bought Potatoes Gratin; ice cream sundaes.
Day 80 (Th) - Chicken Shawarma with Yogurt Sauce; couscous; leftover carrots
Day 81 (F) - All American Chili; Buttery Sourdough Sandwich Biscuits
Day 82 (Sat) - take out from Chiko (SO good)
Day 83 (Sun) - take out from All Purpose -- just needed a take out double-header this week!

*self-isolation begins!

Healthy Banana Coconut Cream Pie Smoothie

Yes, you read that right. It's banana coconut cream, but it's healthy. Promise.

Cam and I have been watching a lot of Top Chef together while I cook dinner and she's been begging me to help make a kid-friendly snack that won't send her packing with her knives. We've also all been nursing sore throats, so I thought a cold smoothie might help everyone out. Here's how to make our deeeelish (and sneaky) Healthy Banana Coconut Cream Pie Smoothie:

25 Favorite Holiday Cookies

Do you make holiday cookies in your family? We typically haven't in years past, but I kind of love the idea of trying out one or two new recipes every year and building up a family cookie cookbook. Our kids love to bake and cookies are generally a pretty easy way to get them involved without risking some sort of kitchen disaster. So we're adding the activity to our Winter Bucket List (stay tuned next week for that ....) and have already started perusing the endless options. I'm thinking we'll have to figure out how to throw together a cookie exchange to prevent me from eating all. the. cookies. though. From the classic to the kooky, here are some of our favorites!

p.s. I'm also vaguely toying with the idea of all of us signing up for this. Seems like a fun activity to do over the winter break!

1/ The Best Cutout Sugar Cookies 2/ Color Dipped Gingerbread Cookies 3/ Mom's Russian Tea Cakes
4/ Holiday Crinkles Cookies5/ Stained Glass Sugar Cookies 6/ Vanilla + Chocolate Pizzelles
7/ White Chocolate + Peppermint Christmas Wreath Cookies 8/ Old Fashioned Gingerbread Men
9/ Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies 10/ Chocolate Amaretti Cookies 11/ Everything Sweet Sugar Cookies
12/ Frosted Peppermint Brownie Cookies 13/ Chocolate Swirl Meringue 14/ Gingerbread Animals
15/ Gingerbread Donut Cookies 16/ Sprinkle Cookies 17/ Coconut Snowball Cookies
18/ Christmas Tree Shortbread Cookies 19/ Pot of Gold Truffle 20/ Ginger Spiced Sugar Cookies
21/ Amaretti Cookies 22/ Almond Thumbprint Cookies with Dark Chocolate + Sea Salt
23/ Lemony Slice + Bakes 24/ Ombre Rainbow Cookies 25/ Peppermint Pattie Cookies 

Nutella + Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies

One spring break down! The kids return to school today for a few days, and then Cam has another week off. We had a great low-key week, complete with our first houseguests in the new house -- Nona and D-Rock! With the cold weather, we mostly did indoor activities. A few museums, bowling, movies, etc. And when the temps turned really freezing this past weekend, we decided baking was in order. Both kids continue to love helping in the kitchen and Cam and I made a delicious batch of these Nutella + Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies. There's a lot of blending involved, so Cami particularly loved helping out with this recipe! Also, they are delicious! A great balance of sweet and salty and general comfort-foodness while we continue to wait for actual spring.

Marbled Valentine Candies

Are you running around in a Valentine's Day panic trying to scrape together those class valentines? Stop. Find two ingredients in your home and make yourself some marbled valentine candies. You deserve some love, too. Head over to Honest to Nod for our super easy peasy recipe. You're welcome.

Valentine Strawberry Marshmallows

We're really excited today to be sharing our Valentine Strawberry Marshmallows over at Little Hip Squeaks Blog! I've long loved Little Hip Squeaks' brightly colored and modern printed kids apparel, blankets, and accessories. A few months ago I had the chance to meet LHS' founder Amy Richardson-Golia at a Land of Nod event, who was totally lovely and very funny. So I'm super happy to be over at the LHS blog today sharing our YUMMY and fun marshmallow recipe. Go check 'em out!

Grub It Up: Hot Chocolate Spoons

We are SO excited to be coming out of this week's snowstorm. The first day was fun for about 5 minutes --  until mom told us we'd be spending the day continuing our clothing and toy purge we started on our MLK holiday. Whaaaaat!? At least we had plenty of these yummy hot chocolate spoons leftover from last weekend's brunch to get us through. They were super easy to make and went over big with our buds at the party. All you have to do is add the spoon to warm milk, stir in the chocolate, and drink up!

Here's how we made ours. You'll need:

- silicone ice cube molds
- 1 bag dark chocolate chips
- 1 bag milk chocolate chips
- 1 bag white chocolate chips
- sprinkles
- mini marshmallows
- mini wooden spoons

Melt each chocolate slowly in a saucepan -- you need to stir it constantly so that it doesn't burn. Spoon chocolate in desired pattern into each ice cube mold about 3/4 of the way. Place spoon in and hold it for a few seconds while the chocolate sets around it. Add any sprinkles or mini marshmallows you want. Let the cubes set for about 10-15 minutes on the counter and then move carefully to refrigerator for about 30-45 minutes.

Ours came out of the molds pretty easily and we even wrapped some extras up in plastic lollipop bags for our friends to take home as goodies.

Grub It Up: Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

We don't need a good reason to bake goodies in our house, but when we have one, we jump on it. So, to show a small token of thanks to our teachers during Teacher Appreciation week, we baked these SUPER yummy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies and gave one each to our teachers in a little bag with a sweet sticker mom made. Of course we ate a bunch ourselves as well. These are definitely worth baking and don't bother to ask what's in Crisco Butter -- it doesn't matter. It makes these ridiculously delicious.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Redhead Can Decorate's recipe)

Ingredients: 
- 1 cup butter flavored Crisco
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3 cups uncooked oats
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375. Mix Crisco, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Add flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. Add oats and chocolate chips, mix well. Form 1 inch balls onto cooking sprayed or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Bake about 20 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. 

Gimme Some More: Indoors S'Mores

It's highly unlikely that you'll ever find us camping, but that doesn't stop us from cooking up some camping culinary goodness.  We put all our s'mores goodies on a broiler pan, broiled them for just a few minutes, and topped them with a strawberry slice (mom had to try and squeeze in something healthy) -- sweet goodness.  Check out these creative twists on the old favorites.  And had we been in D.C. last week, we could have made these simply by putting them outside -- no broiler needed.  Here's to cooler weather (sort of)! 

I am a Simple Goat: Chevre Brownies

We're not sure why we used the recent heat wave to stay inside and bake (other than the fact that we've been inside a lot more than normal), but we're not complaining.  During one of Cam's naps, mom and I whipped up some super easy chevre brownies using TJ's boxed brownie mix, which is technically low fat (but not when you use TJ's full fat cream vanilla yogurt in place of the low fat vanilla yogurt it calls for).  Cam and I both love goat cheese and mom stocks up on 3 or 4 kinds of it on her monthly TJ run (sliced goat cheese, goat cheese cream cheese, goat cheese minis, and goat cheese logs).  Cam loves it mixed with avocado and spread on bread.  In fact, if we could find a non-disgusting way to combine goat cheese, avocado and brownies, we'd do it.  These avocado egg-cups are topping our cooking to-do  (you know we're gonna schmear some goat cheese on them, too).

We followed this recipe from Pink Apron, including mixing in a little bit of honey into the chevre (although we didn't add the powdered sugar).  OMG.  These did not last long in our house.

Sugar, Sugar: Peanut Butter Cup S'mores Bars

Our daddy doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, but he is a sucker for a dessert with peanut butter in it.  When we spotted these peanut butter s'mores bars, we knew they'd be a big hit for Father's Day.  Kane and I both helped make these -- Kane crushed up the graham crackers for the crust, I mixed the crust together, and we both helped place the peanut butter cups (without eating any!).  Mom ended up spooning on the marshmallow fluff -- she quickly realized that we'd all be covered in it if we helped with that part.  The whole baking process went incredibly smoothly -- I did dump the entire bottle of vanilla in at one point, but fortunately there was only about a teaspoon in it (which was how much we needed to add).  Plus the sheer sugaryness of the finished treat blocked any overvanillaneyness anyways -- these were outrageously sweet and delish.  If you don't like sweets, these are not for you.  But, we'd bake these up any day!

p.s. they are even better cold out of the fridge....

Let Down and Hangin' Around: Jello Pop FAIL

Sometimes we know ahead of time that one of our projects is likely not going to work out.  Sometimes we remain blissfully clueless 'till the end.  This little culinary project fell into the latter category.  Mom clearly had not thought it through - like at all.  But we got in our minds one day to try and make jello popsicles.  We thought, "how simple!"  Make jello (we used the quick method, which may have contributed to their literal downfall), pour into popsicle molds, and refrigerate.  We had great fun mixing them up, pouring them in, and were even relatively patient in waiting for them.

Then mom went to take them out of their molds.  Little tap, little jiggle.  Nothing.  She ran a knife around the inside of the mold.  And it came out, but it wasn't pretty.  Fortunately, they still tasted delish, so we didn't much mind.  And we've concluded that this fail is probably, in fact most definitely, dad's fault somehow.  Years ago when daddy was a bartender, he lost one of his bartending gigs for subpar jello shots.  Guess it's just in our genes.

Huggin' Up the Big Monkey Man: Chocolate Banana Yogurt Pops

The weather is getting warmer and we've started making popsicles again!  We also happen to be super short on time today because we are getting ready for my big second b-day blowout tomorrow -- a funky sock monkey brunch.  So, we thought it would be appropriate to share a recent batch of chocolate banana yogurt pops we made.

Kane and I are OBSESSED with Trader Joe's cream yogurts -- vanilla and strawberry are our favorites, but of course the yogurt only comes in two combo packs: (1) vanilla and blueberry and (2) strawberry and banana.  We always eat all the vanilla first, then the strawberry, and then the blueberry.  But we both refuse to eat the banana yogurt.  And since we go through about 6, 6-packs of yogurt each week, we are always flush with banana yogurt that no one wants.  So we decided that we'd use it to make our first batch of yogurt popsicles for the season.

We blended up six banana yogurts with three whole bananas.  And then we took turns layering the banana yogurt mixture with chocolate sauce into our popsicle molds.  Mom tried to get us to put little bits of the chocolate sauce in at a time and then swirl it together.  Kane and I tried to squeeze as much chocolate in as we could.  They were delicious - we plan to make them again and add in some peanut butter, too.

omg our kitchen is a mess

The Sweetest Thing: Message in a Cookie

So we didn't technically have any hand in making these cookies, but boy we did our parts to eat them up.  We had the good fortune of hosting our playgroup on Valentine's Day this year and as soon as mom spotted these on Pinterest, she knew she had to make them.  Well, actually her plan was to have us help make them to give as valentines to my class, but she clearly didn't think through the origins of Valentine's Day before asking my teachers at my Jewish preschool what the V-day plan was.  Doh.

Good thing we are ready and willing to party for any and all occasions and we had a fun V-day celebration at home.  The W&S cookie cutters were sold out online as soon as that pin resurfaced, but we scored some at our local store.  Mom followed the recipe from the Pinterest link (not the W&S recipe) that uses powdered sugar and sour cream and made the most delish, cake-like cookies.  Definitely follow the suggestion to refrigerate the dough overnight and stick in the freezer before rolling it out.  Even then it took mom a lot of practice to get the words pressed in well, but not see the lines of the cookie cutter.  Though some of the technical execution was lacking, they were super yummy.  This probably isn't the best baking activity for kiddos, although rolling out that cold dough would be some good motor skills practice.

These cookies had our name on them -- literally.  And some other things too.  It was really hard for mom to stay within the bounds of appropriateness for a kid's V-day party.  Everything sounds funnier when it's printed on a cookie.  No need to wait for Valentine's Day -- bake these babies up!

a little valentine making station, which resulted in few valentines being made, 

but lots and lots of glitter everywhere.

sweet, sweet and more sweet.  chocolate croissants, the sugar cookies and smoothies for kiddos.  although all the kids ended up with fizzy water and strawberry/raspberry mint heart ice cubes.

bee mine.

mom made some rainbow cheerio bracelets for goodies and everyone 

got some of the chocolate playdough we made.