Journey Home.

We are ending our last day of vacation in Key West by waking up at the wee hours of 3:00 am... only to fly to Kansas City and drive another 3 hours home. I shouldn't complain after the most awesome week in the southern most beautiful spot is the USA!  I would recommend Key West to anyone thinking about going there. Seriously.

We enjoyed fine dining on the Island with more than enough seafood. We noshed on Hog Fish, Shrimp, Grouper, Lobster, Mussels, Calamari and more. Including a Caesar Salad to be shared by all at every meal.

The kids enjoyed the many activities we prepared, including the 6 hour boat cruise where we jet skied, snorkeled, banana boated, kayaked, parasailed and more. We also loved the 3 hour snorkeling tour where we swam with the fish at a coral reef. Katy loved it as I. I really became one with my fish peeps, nearly missing the boat to leave! The sunset at Key West is amazing too. Can't describe it, really.

Our country for the upcoming week is... you guessed it... America! Really, how could we resist. It's who we are. Speaking from Ft. Lauderdale, I can't exactly say what the menu will be but I have a feeling it will include Burgers and Ribs for sure and BLTs and Corn on the Cob too.

We arrive home on Sunday only to turn around and head to the Olympic Swim Trials finals. Can't wait!

Happy is.

Vacation.

We are less than 24 hours away from embarking on a family adventure to Key West! Excitement is boiling in our household. It's been three years since the five of us took a vacation all on our own. Don't get me wrong, we went to Alaska with family and to Minnesota with family and had a wonderful time, but this one is just us. I can't wait. In order to make Andy's trip a little better, we gave him noise cancellation headphones for Father's Day in order to hang out with four girls for a week.

It was decided that we would be designating a "no electronics" day while on vacation...all phones in a bowl for 24 hours. I'm not sure who will lose in this game...Hannah or Andy. We laughed saying at least Andy's phone makes us money...Hannah's phone just costs us money.

It was a little painful getting the girls out the door this morning for swimming. I accidentally went back to sleep when the alarm went off so they were running late. Elie decided to argue that she was too tired and went back to bed. Hannah was not cool with that. I walked by Elie's room one last time and said, "Elie, if you're too tired tomorrow to go on vacation, no worries, we will just leave you home"... no response... a few minutes later she was down stairs ready to go:) We will definately enjoy the 5:15am break this coming week.

Our culinary adventure will go on next week. Our destination, 90 miles from Cuba.

Happy is.

Year in Review.

This week we're going to celebrate the last 6 months we've journeyed from country to country, learning new culture and discovering new flavors. I can hardly believe the year is nearly half over. Don't you remember when you were younger and the "older" people said to cherish every moment of your youth and the raising of kids because you will blink and it will be over? I'm starting to get it.

Anyway, this meal adventure has been a test of perseverance. My prediction was 10 weeks, tops. And now I can sit and say we have traveled for 25 weeks (24 not counting this year in review week). Crazy. We are going to pause and take a week off next week and are fired up to continue on our culinary journey once we're back from vacation.  I won't act like this journey has been easy. Really, I'm not Martha Stewart nor am I June Cleaver. I'm just a mom of three very active girls plus a chick who has a career in advertising. And a competitive streak with myself to push the limits. This time it's with cooking. I should really change this blog to pushing the workout and healthy eating... hmmm...an idea for 2013.

So, to highlight 2012 so far, here are the countries we've traveled this year:
Japan
Italy
Mexico
China
Hungary
France
America
Brazil
Greece
Russia
Ireland
Elie week
Australia
Jack week
Indonesia
Turkey
Sicily
Mexico
Canada
Switzerland
Jamaica
Thailand
Spain
Fiji

Last night we had our normal meal, Skillet Lasagna, Elie's Choice. It's already gone today after they devoured it at 5:30 for their early dinner. It could also be that I forgot to turn the crock pot on this morning and my meal for tonight sat for 3 1/2 hours, cold. Add nine hours of cooking on top of that and you get "Late dining"...our latest normal. We dined in Italy again, my choice. I've been craving the Italian beef since I made it in January! It was good, not quite the way I remembered it to be. I think I used a different cut of meat. Bottom roast vs. Chuck Roast. Definately making a mental note for next time (as if I will remember)... still delicious. It also could be the season. It's 95 degrees out, not 19 degrees. Probably should consider that.

As you can see by the list, the family really likes Italian Food, followed up with Mexican and Asian. I'm sure we'll be back to a place near those countries during the 2nd half of 2012.

The race is 1/2 over... Happy is.

Fijian Food.

I swear, we really did eat in Fiji. Two meals and one meal that never quite came to life due to the time crunch. Whirlwind is a great word to describe how the week went down. We're at a point where we don't even know what country we're in. Not because we've lot interest, just lost time. Vacation begins in 5 days and our busy is going to come to a halt. We can't wait.

The outdoor swim meet was a success. We had 350 athletes participating over three days. 7 sessions, 7 meals served for 50 people, 266 volunteer slots total...Weather was a challenge, then again it's Iowa for you. We had one night of cancellation, otherwise we survived the heat, the rain and the many swims. What a great sport!

Because of the busy hectic weekend, Father's Day was delayed. There was no time in the 15 hour day at the meet that we could even begin to wish a Happy Father's Day to Andy and to Herb and to my brother, Greg and to visit the cemetery to visit my dad, Joel and Andy's dad, Glenn. So, we have designated Thursday as our Father's Day! We can't wait to honor the men in our lives that are so wonderful to us.

Before the meet weekend, I was able to squeeze out both a Fijian Chicken and a Fijian Fish meal. Both meals were fairly bland. It's time to spice up the flavors a little more and forget whether the kids complain or not. I would like to go back to Fiji. They have a great tradition of eating on the floor which would have been lots of fun had we had the time.


Fiji Islands Chicken
Ingredients
1 chicken, cut up or 4 boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup white wine or 1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, to garnish
Directions
1. Marinade Sauce: Blend together all the ingredients, except chicken.
2. Prepare the chicken pieces (may be whole pieces or bite-size if you have boned chicken) and
marinate for at least one hour. Larger pieces will require more time.
3. Butter and flour a baking dish and place the chicken flat in the dish.
4. Cover the chicken with the marinade sauce.
5. Do not cover the baking dish. Bake in a slow oven at 350° until golden brown.
6. Turn the pieces when the top has browned. This should take about 45 minutes total.


Fish Suruwa
Ingredients
1 kg fish, firm white flesh
1 onion, diced
2 chilies, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin
400 ml coconut milk
3 tablespoons oil salt pepper
Directions
1. Heat oil in a shallow pan add the onions and chillies and saute about 5 mins until the onions a soft.
2. Add the tomatoes to the pan along with the cumin and tumeric.
3. Add the fish fillets and lightly fry on each side.
4. Add the coconut milk, season with salt and pepper and gently bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes
5. Do not cover the pan with a lid or the coconut milk will curdle.
6. Serve with rice.

248.

I'm dancing as fast as I can right now so bare with me as my posts become less than timely. Seriously, I can't be any busier right now. Why do I volunteer? Please. Sometimes I wonder why I go through the torture while the same characters coast, and they seem ok with it. Is it Catholic guilt? Or the idea that you really should be a part of a team of not-for-profit members of a club that keep the program running? I think parents today sometimes forget that the money they pay for a program pays for a facility and a coach. Not the running of an event. Funny. Done ranting. Vacation in 10 days.

 Well, we celebrated June Birthday's on Sunday for Andy (6/1), Katy (6/9) and TJ (6/11).  What a wonderful end to the weekend. The weather was perfect for hanging out on our deck and patio. Everyone relaxed and chillin'. We noshed on delicious salads, courtesy of my sissy's and the World's Best Burgers from the Barefoot Contessa. Then it was time for pie. I know, weird. You're supposed to eat cake, right? Since we had cake for Katy's Surfin' Birthday Slumber Party, I decided we didn't need MORE cake sitting on the counter.  Uncle B brought his famous Peanut Butter Pie and I whipped up a Butterfinger Pie. All good, though my pie was a fail. Not for flavor but for the fluff. It appears I don't know how to cook with Cream Cheese. I knew I couldn't mix the whipped cream in a mixer or it would curdle (been there, done that) so I had mixed. Well apparently I didn't get rid of the chunks so as you enjoyed a bite of my pie, you ended with a cream cheese chunk. Everyone kept asking what was in the pie? After a quick 101 from the pie master (uncle B), I will be making it again. And entering it in the Rib Fest Pie contest!

So the significancy of the 248? Not until it was time to blow out the candles, did I realize the 248. I was short on candles, but realized Katy's 8 and the random #4 from Birthday's past would serve up Andy (48) and Katy (8) as long as I placed their pies next to each other. And then we realized that if I put 2 candles in TJ's pie and had him next to Andy, that would take care of his age too (24). BOOM.

The salad I made for the evening was a Buffalo Chicken Salad. Wow is all I can say.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Ingredients
8 ounces uncooked pasta (such as mezze penne)
1/2 cup Frank’s hot sauce
1/2 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
2 cups precooked chicken, chopped
1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions to al dente. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water. 

2. Meanwhile, whisk together hot sauce, oil, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, and celery salt in a small bowl until well combined.

3. Place pasta in large mixing bowl. Stir in chicken, blue cheese, carrots, and celery. Slowly mix in dressing.

4. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I increased the ingredients by 1/2 of this recipe to serve my crowd and to insure we had leftovers. They were gone by Tuesday. Perfect for the warm weather we're experiencing in Fiji! Happy is.

My Baby Katy.

Happy Birthday sweet sunshine. You are eight years old today! Where has the time gone? We made a deal, remember? No more growing up. I can remember the day you were born, the day you changed our lives forever. You are the crazy calm that grounds us. You gifted us with a balance that I wasn't aware we needed until you came along. Your smile warms the hearts of everyone. And your imagination and curiosity for life is without a doubt amusing.

Oh so grown up for turning eight. Following in the footsteps of Hannah and Elie makes it hard to stay young. But somehow, you have this unique sensibility to be both young and old. Your teacher even remarked that you don't act like you have two older sisters. Being a kid is something you do well! Your heart is so kind and thoughtful, always thinking about others feelings. Sensitive. And crazy too.

Drama is a proper word choice for describing you. Not in a bad way, though you do have your moments. Like hiding from us. We lost you for a short moment when you were three. No worries, we found you. Curled up underneath a fabric dining room chair asleep at Mimi's house. Drama = your love for dancing, singing, in your own little world. You have such great confidence to perform.

You've been raised by three mother's and a dad! Hannah really thought you were her baby when you were born. I had to gently remind her that you were my baby. You can see how magnetizing you are. You and Hannah are a lot alike. That's where some of your drama comes from:) ... Elie is your strict mom. She is very good at ordering you around and you take it all in stride. She can be rough with you at times but you two share such a unique bond of both friendship and mentoring. You have the best of both worlds. So much attention from your mother's. Such a lucky girl, my little yo-yo.

Yo-yo. I'm really not sure how this nickname became yours. It was just a natural flow of words when you were a baby. And so it stuck. You will forever be my baby girl. Even if you've lost your baby teeth. Even if you are taller than me someday. My baby. My baby Katy.

Every day is a new day in the world of you, Kathleen Braden and we are so blessed that your tiny little feet have made a permanent imprint in our hearts.

I love you to the moon and back.
mom

Bullfighting in Spain.

Well well, it's Wednesday and I've been on the go since waking my sleeping bulls at 5:10 am for swim practice. It took 4 attempts in each bedroom to finally drag them out of bed ... day 3 of the long course swim season. Welcome to summer in the Gillaspey household. Most kids have been waking up well past 9am on the first week of summer break. That doesn't exist in our house. You're probably questioning...who's the bull here?

I won the first fight. They escaped to practice and I was productive on the computer for a few hours. Then I made my little bulls homemade Cinnamon Bread so as they walked in the door at 8:30, they enjoyed the wonderful smell of warm bread baking in the oven. So much for being a fighter. I helped Hannah organize her lunch for day 3 of lifeguarding and then was off to work to fight my next battles.

The normal fare in the advertising world... a wrong promo code on a few Direct Mail pieces kept me busy in quickly fixing a near disaster. All is good. I won that battle too! Then the phone call... it appears that I left the house without drawing a bath for Katy who wanted to scrub her foot wound from a few days ago. And Hannah wouldn't help her.  Well, ya can't teach an old bull new tricks... Hannah helped her get the bath done. I must confess, the call yesterday was a whine at 9:30 wondering if she could have Pasta Salad. The day before that at 9:30... "I'm Bored". When does school start again??

Ok, so we ARE in Spain. I'm an expert at Bullfighting it seems. I found a recipe for a Stuffed Pork Loin. And as any meal lately, I've tripped on every one. I was going to serve this on Monday but it was going to take too much time. So I opted for a Spanish rice bake. After browning the ground beef, I reached for a red pepper, only to find that the peppers were gone. Andy used them up in our pepper veggies on Sunday. So frazzled on a Monday, I threw in the towel and some Taco seasoning mix and a taco dinner was served. The towel was thrown in again last night and we opted for Red Rossa Pizza after Katy's softball game. Though dear Andy prepped the stuffed pork so it was ready to go for tonight's meal.

So back to tonight... I worked late and rushed home to put the stuffed pork loin in the oven. I was going to multi-task and run to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Well, I was distracted with couch measurements in the basement and too much label reading in the store and was late getting home. Thankfully Andy saved the pork and it was served. I feel like this week has been so hard to battle... ever have one of those weeks? It could be because I'm battling some Allergy cold infested sickness, only after watching the movie, "Contagion" on Sunday.

I'll keep the rest of this blog short, the pork was good. Too much bread for our taste. It overshadowed the olives which I would have liked to taste more of. I also had no idea what a side flap attached to the pork meant but apparently I purchased the wrong thing, according to my chef Andy.

Spanish-Style Stuffed Pork Loin
4 Tbl. olive oil
1 finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (We would cut this in half)
4 dried fig, chopped
8 green olives, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 Tbl. lemon juice
1 Tbl fresh parsley, chopped
1 egg yolk
2 1/4 lbs. pork loin (boneless pork loin preferably with the side flap attached)
Salt
Pepper
Paprika

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2) Saute onion and garlic in olive oil (reserve 1 Tbl. OO for later) until soft.
3) Remove onion and garlic from heat-- stir in bread crumbs, figs, olives, almonds, lemon juice, parsley and egg yolk (this makes the stuffing).
4) Season the pork loin with salt, pepper and paprika. Unroll belly flap from pork to open the loin up (or pound it down if you bought the wrong cut). Spread half the stuffing over the flat piece, roll it up, tie the joint at intervals with string.
5) Pour remaining oil into small roasting pan, add the pork loin. Roast for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
6) Take remaining stuffing mix and form into balls. Add to the pan 15-20 minutes before end of cooking time.
7) Let the pork loin rest for 10 min after removing from the oven. Take string off before slicing.

So apparently, the bullfighting won't end. I've been fighting technology to upload a picture of the delicious stuffed pork loin with no luck. It seems that I have been thorned or stabbed by the bull and it's a sign that I must say good night.

Peace.

My Fair Lady.

Whenever I hear the word "Spain", the little quirky quip from My Fair Lady pops into my head... "the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain"... no culinary meaning, just my brain linking Spain. So you may have noticed that there has been a lull in my posts lately. More of a dead stop. Would you believe we got stuck in the dining pods in Thailand and it took days to get us safely down out of the palm tree?

It's half true about being stuck, stuck in the middle of life at the Gillaspey's. After the whirlwind Memorial Day weekend, I jumped into full steam ahead... short week coupled with the last week of school...prepping for a garage sale...shopping for Andy's Birthday...getting Katy's Birthday invites out the door...softball game...soccer practice...garage sale...Andy's Birthday...soccer game and the normal chores of life, ht left me stuck just trying to get through it all. We DID eat in Thailand a few nights, just not as many as I had hoped. We will be back to this country at the end of the summer once my basil has had time to flourish. I had high hopes to have our famous Thai Basil Beef but ran out of time.

So the Flank steak was used in a different manner, prepared Spanish style on the grill last night. It was a great night to grill-out and we even dined outside on the deck. Summer. Gotta love it. We served the steak with Corn on the Cob (American-style) and a side of Spanish prepared roasted veggies. I'll publish the veggie recipe tomorrow. Must go to bed.

Spanish Flank Steak
1 1/4 lbs. flank steak
1/2 cup red wine vinaigrette
2 Tbl. paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1/2 lime

Directions
1) Place steak in large ziploc bag, add vinaigrette. Seal bag, turn to coat and refrigerate for at least 6 hours
2) Coat grill rack with non-stick spray and preheat to medium high.
3) Remove steak from marinade and discard marinade.
4) In a small bowl, combine paprika, coriander, salt and pepper.
5) Rub spice mixture on both sides of steak; coat well.
6) Grill steak 4-5 minutes per side or until thermometer reads 145 degrees for medium rare.
7) Transfer steak to a cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes.
8) Thinly slice steak across the grain, drizzle with lime juice and serve.