The Friday Night Fish Fry

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I’m not exactly sure how it became such a staple of WesternNew York’s regional cuisine, but every Friday night, all over this part of theEmpire State, countless hundreds of restaurants feature what’s simply called a“fish fry.”
It’s a boneless fillet of haddock, usually dipped in sometype of beer batter and served humbly with tartar sauce, fries, baked potato, or as you seehere, mashed potatoes. I enjoyed this fine example at Countryside FamilyRestaurant, a few miles from my mom’s home, and it was awesome.
I really want to do a demo for this recipe, especially sinceI’ve had hundreds of requests for “fish and chips,” which I assume this is a directdescendant of, but to do it properly you really should use a nice bigdeep-fryer. I may get a turkey fryer in anticipation of the holiday season, andcould break it in with this fabulous fish dish. If you have any “fish fry”memories, please feel free to share!

Beef Borscht – You Really Can’t Beat This Beet Soup

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This delicious and vividly colored beef borscht is the firstsoup I can ever remember eating. Every summer, we’d drive to New York City tovisit my father’s side of the family. His father was Ukrainian, and his motherwas Polish, and like the pierogis they’d have ready for us, this beef and beetsoup was always a very welcomed part of the trip.
It was also this soup that started my lifelong love ofadding sour cream to things. The way the tangy, rich cream melted into the hot,beefy broth was a wonder to behold, and unlike any other soup I’d eat the restof the year. Speaking of beefy broth, I only used one measly piece of shank,but you are welcome to add one or two more to make this even more awesome.
Of course, there are a thousand versions of borscht, and asusual I have no idea how authentic this is, which is fine since, well, it’ssoup for God’s sake. Beside what vegetables to add or delete, there is also thequestion of temperature.
Word on the street is that the Ukrainian/Russian versionsare served piping hot, and that the Polish versions are served chilled.However, there does seem to be a general agreement as far as beverage pairingsgo. I’ll let one of my YouTube followers, Afterapplepicking, explain:
“Hot, beefy, red, Russian borscht is only to be served with copious amounts of beer orvodka. Which is quite a distinction from the cold, vegetarian, pink Polishborscht, which is only to be served with copious amounts of beer or vodka.”
Well said! Anyway, I hope you give this blast from my soupypast a try soon, and as always, enjoy!

Ingredients (amounts not critical!)2-3 quarts of beef broth(to make your own: simmer a well-browned beef shank or twoin 3 quarts of water for 4 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone,and completely flavorless)1 bay leaf1 cup chopped carrots1/2 cup chopped celery1 onion, chopped3 cups sliced beets2 cups chopped cabbagesalt and pepper to taste1/4 cup white vinegar, or to tastesour cream and dill or chive to garnish
*This soup doesn't require a lot of thought. Simply simmer everything until tender!

What I’m Having for Dinner: Roast Pork Loin

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My stay with family in Western New York is quickly coming toan end, and I’ll be traveling back to San Francisco on Friday. I do have onemore new video recipe to post before I go, and as a little tease, I’ll say itwill certainly be a controversial one.
In the meantime, I thought I’d repost this brined roast porkloin recipe, since this is what I’m making for dinner tonight. I’m sure I’lltweak it somehow, I always do, but I’ll use the same basic technique seenherein. To read the original post, and get the ingredients, follow this link. Enjoy!

Ham with Red Eye Gravy – Something From Nothing is Something

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In this age of cutting back on fat whenever and wherever wecan (and by “we” I mean “you”), we forget that throughout most of history, thiswas the complete opposite. Fat was a concentrated, powerful fuel that literallykept people going, and this red eye gravy is a little taste of those times.
The challenge in tough times is to make those greasy pandrippings more palatable, more interesting, and more delicious. It’s not likefamilies struggling through the depression had pots of demiglace reducing onthe stove, or bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon sitting around to deglaze theircast iron skillets – heck, they probably didn’t even have a decent Merlot. Sothey used what they had; like a splash of leftover coffee.
Is this a recipe that would have been developed based solelyon how awesome it tastes? Probably not, but that’s not to say it isn’t stillvery tasty. It is. The way the bitter coffee marries with the sweet, smoky fatis far from unpleasant, and infinitely better than simply pouring the pandrippings over your food.
By the way, the name apparently comes from the fact thatwhen the sauce is poured in a bowl and brought to the table, the fat and coffeeseparate, it takes on the appearance of a big, reddish eye. Of course there’sanother legend about how General Andrew Jackson told a hung-over cook to make agravy for his ham that was as red as his bloodshot eyes.
I’m pretty sure whoever made up that story also had very redeyes, but not from whiskey. Anyway, like I said in the video, I did this asmore of a culinary experiment than a “you have to try this” recipe, butregardless, I think it’s an interesting dish, and one I’d be interested inhearing about if you do try. Enjoy!

Ingredients for 2 portions:1/2 cup of chopped fatty ham scraps1 tbsp vegetable oil4 thick slices of ham1 tsp flourabout 2/3 cup black coffeeblack pepper and cayenne to taste

Cream of Cauliflower – Come for the Soup, Stay for the Bacon Gremolata

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We’re heading into the heart of hot soup season, and thiscream of cauliflower will ward off autumn’s chill with the best of them. I’m abig fan of the cauliflower in all forms, but this simple soup may be myfavorite application.

Of course, human nature being what it is, I wasn’t satisfiedwith just the soup, and wanted to garnish with something new and exciting.Unfortunately, I couldn’t think of anything, so I decided to follow that age-oldadvice which says, “when in doubt, bacon.”
I’ve garnished soups like this with bacon before, but nevertried toasting breadcrumbs in the rendered fat. Not surprisingly, it workedvery well, and the additions of lemon zest and parsley elevated things evenmore. The only problem with a recipe like this is the next time I’m served acream of cauliflower, no matter how good it is, I’m going to be a little sadthere’s no bacon gremolata floating on top.
By the way, I realize there are no breadcrumbs in a truegremolata, but I thought it sounded kind of cool, and besides, I’ve never beenthat big on respecting the sanctity of culinary terms. I was going to go with“baconized breadcrumbs,” but that sounded a little too much like moleculargastronomy, which is much worse.
If you’re not into eating animals, some diced shiitakemushrooms and a pinch of smoked paprika would be a great substitute in thegremolata. You’d also need to add some olive oil to replace the rendered baconfat, but you probably knew that.
Now that I think about it, that vegetarian version soundspretty amazing as well. Maybe next time I’ll skip the bacon and…oh, who am Ikidding? Anyway, I hope you give this delicious fall soup a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients for about 8 servings:1 onion, chopped1 rib celery, chopped 1 tbsp olive oil3 cloves garlicsalt to taste1 large russet potato, peeled, quartered2 heads cauliflower, trimmed1 quart chicken broth1 quart water1/2 cup creamcayenne to tasteFor the gremolata:4 strips bacon1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs

School Days

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i'm still trying to live in denial that summer is actually over.  this time around means big changes for our fam as both crazies are now in full time school.  can it really be true???is it just me, or do school supplies excite you too?  is it weird that i was actually looking forward to whippin' out the ol' label maker?  i just might be a tad bit OCD...just a smidge, though: i am simplifying lunch packing this year, so i bought some things to help me:
i plan to use the thermoses for soup and oatmeal.  the ziploc containers are AWESOME!  i bought them at Target.  they come in packs of 2, so i bought 3 packs.  i do not plan to put them through the dishwasher, and i hope they last a long time.  they actually seem really well made, and i love that each individual compartment is totally leak proof.
this is what lunch and snacks looked like for the first day of school:
(Canaan eats alot these days!)
cream cheese sandwich (the Boy's fave), applesauce, sliced raw bell peppers, fruit leather, dehydrated apples, and grapes.
i'll be coming back around soon with the recipe for these homemade fruit leathers, as well as the dehydrated honey cinnamon apples.
the new kicks:
we are typically Converse kind of peeps, but the kiddos aunt (AKA their personal stylist) surprised them with Toms for the new school year.  they both say its like wearing slippers, and i think they look just down right adorable!

i like to see inside people's fridges (weird, i know), so in case you are like me, here's a peek into our's after back to school shopping was complete:
the contents are actually kind of boring :)

i bought these awesome silicon popsicle molds on Amazon, and filled them up with our favorite green smoothie recipe.  
(i broke my "new" Cuisinart blender in the process (new to me), and the thought of it makes me want to cry.  if you are my friend and have been around me in the last week, then you've most likely heard me talk about my new blender.  the fact that its broken just amplifies the fact that my blender situation has always been a huge thorn in my side.  Blendtecs and Vitamixes regularly dance around and taunt me in my dreams!  someday...)
i store the molds upright in the freezer, and throw them in the lunchboxes in the morning.  by lunchtime, it was perfectly defrosted but still cold, giving the Crazies a little punch of vitamins and nutrients, and servings of fruits and veggies smack dab in the middle of the school day.
our first day of school started with Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Pancakes, courtesy of the Hubs...the Ultimate Pancake Maker.  (recipe here.  we just add walnuts to the batter and cook in coconut oil.)

have you ever read the Kissing Hand?  you can read more about it here.  its become our tradition to have hearts on our hands for the first day of school.  Canaan isn't as jazzed about the idea of a big red heart on his hand now that he's in 3rd grade, but he was okay with it as long as i didn't color it all the way in.  good compromise!



Friday is Bella's actual first day of school, but she had to go first thing this morning for some testing in her classroom, so we treated it as her first day.  she led the way to her classroom, and this next picture is blurry because she literally ran to her classroom in excitement.
 big kid:
it helps this momma's heart a whole whole whole lot that her teacher is a dear friend (really more like family than just a friend) and that she is also a sister in Christ.  i can't believe that my Bug gets to spend everyday with her!!  we are beyond blessed:and if you come back soon, i'll give you the recipe for this after school treat that we had this afternoon to celebrate the First Day of School!

what's your favorite back to school tradition??



ps:  i know some of you have mentioned that you are having a hard time reading my blog on the burlap background.  i am currently working on figuring out how to go about revamping this blog.  so just know that i hear you and hope to have some changes coming soon!  (and if any of you have suggestions on how to do that while not spending loads of money, please let me know!  i'm clueless!)

Whole Wheat Donuts with Honey Glaze

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i showed you these donuts yesterday, and said i'd be back with the recipe, so here it is today:Canaan has been beg-ggg-ing me to make him "healthy" donuts, even going as far as trying to use his own money to buy me one of those donut makers at Target.  ( i wouldn't let him :)
so i figured nothing like the First Day of School as an excuse to make him a little surprise after school snack.

i did some research on some different recipes, and was limited because i don't own a donut maker or a donut pan, so i knew i'd have to fry some up.  i adapted a few things from some other recipes and came up with a recipe that was just right for our fam.  i did use Organic Sucanat, which is a less refined form of sugar, but its still sugar, so we don't use it a lot around here.  i only use it when i simply cannot adapt a recipe with honey.  this was one of those recipes, because the honey would've made the dough too wet to roll out.  however, when i do buy a donut pan one of these days, i will try adapting the recipe to eliminate the Sucanat and use honey instead.
i also do not own a donut cutter, so i used a combination of circular objects i had around my kitchen:  my sandwich cutter, and the top of that shaker thingy you use for mixed drinks.  it probably has an official name (a jigger perhaps?) but i don't know what it is.  you basically just need a larger circle for the outside of the donut, and a smaller circle to cut out the hole.
i kept re-rolling the dough until i had used it all up.
then i fried them up, dipped them in the glaze, and let them drip:
 before piling onto a platter for the Boy's arrival:
 Bella was my helper, and couldn't wait to surprise her brother:
 he was very pleased!
this recipe was SO simple.  seriously...i was thinking it would take a lot more time and effort than it did.  it was quick and so easy, and you could go right now and whip up a batch in the next 10-15 minutes.  no joke.  time yourself and let me know how long it takes you!
 super de-lish, and this recipe will totally be hanging around our house for those days that call for a special treat!


been doing research on new blog formats and platforms, and can't wait until i have this revamp done...or even started, for that matter :)  it makes my head spin.  have any of you ever switched from Blogger to WordPress?  any thoughts or suggestions about that, especially for doing it for cheap?

Real...or not Real?

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Have any of you read The Hunger Gamestriology? Oh my...one of my favorite reads. Anyway...you know how later in the story, Peeta has to ask at times, “Real...or not real?”
I think that is what this post is abouttoday, and I think its what i'd want you to consider as you read myblog.(for the record...this is real!  i took this pic the other day out of our back door)
I'll tell what prompted me to startthinking about this today:I love when my readers comment or sendme encouraging emails. I really do. I think encouragment is a giftthat we can give one another, a gift that we all need! Your commentsare often so very timely...almost like words spoken from God himself,deep into my heart, encouraging me in the call I feel like He's givenme. Please keep asking questions. Please keep commenting. In myinsecurity, I need them :) so thank you!But its got me thinking. I wonder ifi'm putting off the wrong message on this blog?
When I first started it, I chose thename “A Small Snippet” for a specific reason. What you see onthis blog is just a very very very small glimpse into a much biggerstory. Truth be told...i don't think I give you a very clear andrealistic picture of what life is really like most of the time aroundhere. You are only getting the small snippets, and since i'm the onewriting the blog, those small snippets are most often things that Ifeel comfortable sharing with the world. Which means you are missingthe bigger picture, because lots of things that go on around here i'd prefer to keep hidden.For example: I don't often take norpost pictures of the many many times a day that my house is incomplete shambles...or when my kids are fighting and screaming and hittingeach other, or i'm crying over something that's frustrated me. Idon't often tell you about the nasty things I say to the Hubs duringarguments......or the many many many times (which I hate, but its true)that I raise my voice at my precious kids.Or the roaches that runthrough our little place on (too often) occasion....like thebrave little stinker that decided he was gonna come nibble on theBug's leftover banana this morning, sending screams all through ourhouse once he was discovered. one of the few negatives about living where we live.  
I don't show you the piles of sand onmy floor this very minute that I don't feel like sweeping...andprobably won't until tomorrow...or the next day....or the next day...and only then because people are coming over.  I don't show you inside my closets, where things topple out thesecond you open the door because they are stuffed so darn full. Idefinitely don't show you pictures of me without makeup on...orwithout some kind of outfit I like. Which is why you don't seepictures of me that often on here...cause most of the time i'm in myPJ's, unshowered, and the sight of my face might cause you to ask meif i'm feeling sick.
I also don't tell you that we considerswimming in the pool to be bathtime, wearing the same PJ's for 3, or4, or more nights in a row still counts as clean, that I definitelydon't wash our bed linens as often as i'm supposed to (not evenclose) and that I often forget to wash the boy's football uniformuntil Saturday morning when its time to get dressed for his game. Idon't tell you how my kids disobey...alot...and sneak off and dothings they are not supposed to do...and then don't feel one bit badabout it when they get caught.I also don't advertise the fact that I forgot to pick up my child from school the other day. Yes...forgot...on only the third day of school. And he had to wait for 40 minutes, wondering where I was, before the idiot that is me figured out that it was early release day. (thankfully, he was totally fine with it, and only began to tear up when he saw me unable to control my sobs for the next 45 minutes)I don't show you the overflowing trashcans, the piles of laundry on my couch that need to be folded, or myslimy, fingerprinted back doors that almost never get wiped. I don'ttell you about our bank account that is every bit short ofimpressive...or full...or even kinda full....or even kinda kinda full:) in fact, sometimes its downright empty!  Or that we haven't picked up that cute kids devotional that webought with the best of intentions in weeks. I haven't yet told youthat one of my all time favorite shows to watch is theBachelor/Bachelorette, that I just might be following 5 or 6 or 7 ofthem on Instagram (you can make your own assumptions about me now) orthat I have yet to miss an episode of the Bachelor Pad. Trash, Iknow. But I love it. (And i'm not recommending it, so don't gothinking that I think you should watch it too!  but if you do, i can talk your ear off about it.)
I don't tell you what a strugglefriendships are for me, and that I live many many days feelingmassively lonely. I don't tell you that I am a grudge-bearer, andabout the bitterness I harbor in my heart towards specific people whohave hurt me. I haven't told you about a story that is going onright now, that is not mine to tell, but that has completely devastedme, and given me a very real picture of how Satan is out to kill,steal and destroy. And its left me feeling hopeless and angry and outof control, begging Jesus to please come back soon. And I don't tellyou that even though we live right on the beach, in the most amazingsituation that we absolutely cannot afford but that God has figured out for us, with the ocean as our back yard, my heart is stillunrestful, and still longs for bigger and better. Ugh. My point is this: you don't really seeme for who I am. And if you are not seeing beyond the small snippetson this blog, then i'm not sure i'm doing what I set out to do. Andi'm not sure i'm doing what Jesus has put on my heart to do. My goalfor this blog is summed up in my tagline “a snapshot into the smallsnippets of life, to expose the Bigger Picture.”
and I have to ask myself...is theBigger Picture being exposed? Or is the focus simply on the neat andtidy small snippets?
the burning desire in me with thisblog is for you to see Jesus, in spite of me. I am afraid that allyou see is me and my family, and even then, not the real us. And I don't wantthat.
I have awakened just recently to thefact that I am an Image Bearer of the King. In other words, simplybeing who He's made me to be means that I'm bearing the image of Godto the world. I love that. I especially love that because itdoesn't mean that I have to be this super spiritual girl to show theworld Jesus. Good thing, cause i'm anything but super spiritual. Iall too often feel dry, spiritually, and distant from God, because i'mway too distracted with the things of this world. I all too oftenfind spending time with Him to be a chore, instead of a joy, and ifthat doesn't make me super un-super spiritual, then I don't know whatelse would. I am good...really good...at going through the motions,while my heart is far from Him.
And yet...He works in spite of me. Which is why I continue to pursue this blog...and the “job” i feel like He's given me to do.
I know that part of writing a blog isto write about things that people want to see.  So i'm not saying i'm gonna stop postingabout the things i've been posting about. There will still berecipes, and sewing projects, and house stuff, and DIY, and Clean Eating, andphotography, and a slew of randomness thrown in. it'll look thesame.  cause that is life for me in many regards:But those things bear the mark of the King, because He is the Ultimate Creator...there is no creativitiy in me that does not come from Him. I do believe that the contents of this blog can relect His very nature, and it doesn't have to be only in a long diatribe about Scripture. He can be reflected in a homemade maxi dress, or in a thai noodle recipe, or in an Elf on a Shelf or in a 5 year old's birthday party. That's what's so amazing about Him. He can shine through in very, everyday, un-extrodinary things...and then He can make them extraordinary because of His very Presence.
but I guess I wonder if you see Him?
I am hoping to ramp up this blog a bit. I'm passionate about it, I get excited about it, and think theremight be a calling on my life through it. I think God is giving me aunique opportunity, one that fits me well. I want to be faithful. But I want to be honest. So just know that when you come here, youare only getting a very small glimpse, a very small picture, and askyourself, “Real or not real?” not because i'm lying to you, ortrying to give you a picture that is untrue, but to remind yourselfthat there is a much bigger story going on beneath the surface, beneath the small snippets, andto ponder how we all are so very similar, so deeply in need of aSavior, and that Jesus might very well be in the midst of it all....in all the small snippets, as well as at the center of the Bigger Picture.