It was a summer of change. Adjustment. Transformation. Even the same-ness felt new, in a wonderful, settled way that we haven’t felt in a few years. A summer of so few blog posts, but so much LIFE. This was our second summer on the pond, but our first as a family of six (with Mom and Dad finally nestled into the apartment downstairs).

In June, the water lillies and all the flowers bloomed, and we celebrated birthdays and graduations with gusto.

  

 

 

In July, we played in the sun and picked blueberries.

We made pies, 

 vacationed in Maine,

harvested quahogs with our toes and made stuffies!

   

Also in July, we worried and grieved and recovered through family illness. And then we became five, when Axel left for Australia, to start his first semester of school at Northeastern.

August was the month of Eva: wisdom teeth were extracted, lemonade was sold, all kinds of appointments were made and kept, self-discovery occurred, and she became a Rhody Ram.

Our garden grew, thanks to Mom and Dad, who brought life to every flower bed and spot of soil, making this place finally feel like home. We harvested cucumbers, beans, squash, eggplant, kale, basil, oregano and tomatoes galore.

The pear tree outdid itself and dropped a huge limb and hundreds of pounds of fruit.

The grill got a workout, as did the air conditioner, this year.  A new compost pile was started.  Early morning runs with headlamps have started.

Tomatoes have been canned, and we’ll go apple picking today, to celebrate the harkening of Fall, the Harvest, the Cooking Season, the bite in the air, the good sleeping, the welcome return of denim, fleece and comfort in all things cozy.

When we get home, I’ll make a few Fall favorites to keep the celebration going all week long…

I don’t know about you, but I’m in the mood for Soft Molasses Ginger Cookies, in a major way.

I made a huge pot of veggie and bean-heavy Turkey Chili last night, which is just perfect with Roasted Spaghetti Squash.

 

Here’s the recipe we use for my mother’s famous pie crust (which you’re going to need for apple pies, of course), and here’s your new recipe for Fall, 2018… because who couldn’t use a big, aromatic bite of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake tonight with a cold glass of milk and a crisp, tart apple.

I could call it “Pumpkin Bread” if it would help you enjoy it for breakfast. Whatever you do, savor these days, my friends. We have made it to the best season of all.

You’re not going to believe how simple this is to make and how eye-poppingly great it tastes… and the silky texture: OMG.  All you need is a food processor for this one.  Unless you like to slather it with real whipped cream, in which case you’ll also want an electric mixer of some kind.  I have been known to whip by hand, yes, but only when no motorized option is available!

Ingredients:

• 4 ripe avocados, peeled and pitted
• 8 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted (baker’s chocolate or chips are fine– you can use a double boiler method if you want, but it’s ok to melt this stuff, covered, in the microwave in 30 second increments, stirring until smooth)
• 6 Tbs cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup milk of any variety
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup maple syrup

Just combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it’s as smooth as a chocolate silk dream.  (Add maple syrup to the mixture last, to your desired sweetness level, pulsing until completely incorporated.)

For the whipped cream:

• 1 quart “heavy” or “whipping” cream
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla

Start your mixer on low or medium (so that the cream doesn’t splatter all over creation) and gradually increase the speed as you gradually add sugar and vanilla.  Beat until soft peaks form.

Enjoy an extra spoonful because you just made mousse using only healthy fats, you saved those avocados on your counter from the overly-ripe compost heap, and you just made the best chocolate dessert you’ve ever had!  OMG way to go, YOU!

Figuring out what to name these muffins was challenging, and I fear that instead of rising to the challenge, I just went with the primary ingredient that a reader might be google searching for on a late July day: zucchini.  There are so many other great, appealing ingredients in these muffins, though, so I hope you will give it a full read.  This recipe only uses one cup of refined sugar, and if you cut the recipe in half, that’s half a cup.  Beyond the low sugar content these are full of oats, bananas, yogurt and nuts… and, of course, zucchini.  They are dense and heavy like a bowl of oatmeal, and they will carry you well past lunchtime if you have one for breakfast.  And, top it off, they are delicious.  They really are.  Try me.

The thing about May is that, while it’s the happiest harbinger of bright sunshine, blossoms of every color, size and scent,

 

goslings in the yard, lilies on the pond, gardens beds growing,

  

graduations and all things SUMMER… it’s still 50 degrees and rainy most of the time.  At least in Rhody.  So while you’ve probably turned off your heat and fired up your grill for the season, as we have, it’s the perfect time to heat up that oven and bake some hearty, healthy muffins to carry you through these cold spring mornings! 

You and your goslings (or little baby dinosaurs, as we sometimes call them, likening them to the baby-dinosaurishness of the large but young people in our home) need fuel to power through the next few weeks. 

We’ll be taking final exams, lifting/moving/unpacking/repacking in the transition from college, starting up summer jobs and doubling down on work-outs to get ready for all of the fun we expect to have in the sun this summer.  The thing about muffins (as opposed to the typical yogurt, fruit, granola and/or english muffin with peanut butter & banana, or even protein shakes made to order in the morning) is that they will never fail to leave your gang asking and saying, “You made muffins?  What’s the occasion!?” and “Wow!”  Try it: you’ll love it.  

Here are three of my favorite May Muffins for you.

LEMON CHIA:

The best thing about these muffins is how dense and filling and packed with nutrition they are.  They contain oatmeal, greek yogurt and, of course, chia.  They pack a bright lemon kick and are perfect with a cup of coffee to carry you through a busy day.  I sprinkled some sanding sugar on top of these, but that, of course, is optional.

Ingredients & Instructions:

• 4 cups flour
• 2 cups rolled oats (“old fashioned,” not “instant”)
• 1/2 cup chia seeds
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 Tbs baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup butter (melted and cooled)
• 2 cups greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• zest from the lemons you used to create the juice (zest first, then squeeze!!)

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Spray muffin tins or line with baking cups.

2. Combine flour, oats, chia, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.

    

1. Combine eggs, melted butter, yogurt, lemon juice and zest.

2. Stir the wet into the dry ingredients, spoon into muffin tins.  Bake until they spring back against your finger, and enjoy!

BLUEBERRY OATMEAL:

NO FLOUR, OIL or BUTTER here! All oats, eggs and berries.  Eat up!

Ingredients & Instructions:

• 6 cups old fashioned, roll oats (not “instant”)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray tins or line with baking cups.

2. Mix dry ingredients:  oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt.

3. In a separate bowl, combine milk, eggs, honey and vanilla.

4. Add wet to dry, and stir in blueberries last.

5. Spoon into muffin tins, bake until they spring back against your finger, and enjoy!

MIXED BERRY, ALMOND & OATS:

These little beauties are made with NO OIL OR BUTTER and very little added sugar.

Ingredients & Instructions:

• 4 cups rolled oats (“old fashioned,” not “instant”)
• 1 1/2 cups slivered almonds
• 1 cup flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 4 medium sized, ripe bananas, mashed
• 6 large eggs
• 2/3 cup maple syrup
• 2 cups whole milk
• 3 cups fresh or frozen berries– I like blueberries, raspberries and strawberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray tins or line with baking cups.

2. Mix dry ingredients: oats, flour, almonds, baking powder, in a large bowl.

3. Combine mashed bananas, eggs, maple syrup, milk together.

4. Stir wet ingredients into dry until mixed, and then add berries.

5. Spray tins or line with baking cups, bake until they spring back against your finger, and enjoy!

     Thank heavens for Spring, and I mean that this year more than ever.  This winter has felt interminable, and Spring has been extra slow to arrive.  Even as I type this, I’m hesitant to say that it is actually here, because we’ve only had one or two days of temps above 40 degrees, and it’s already late April.

  Between navigating a challenging new job, wicked winter weather, storms and power outages and holidays, expanding our multigenerational household, kids finishing high school and transferring between colleges, and batting back a few family crises here and there along the way, it’s been a real doozy.  On reflection, maybe the seasons have been trying to give us a chance to catch up before the next big transitions (graduations, the heat of summer, changes in work schedules, all new demands and needs to meet).  So, alright, maybe it’s a blessing that we haven’t also had to muscle through the change of seasons yet…  But now, I think, we are ready.  This Spring (a transitional season in and of itself) is going to be about honoring our collective growth and new directions, putting new flavor twists on old favorites, and, of course, activating our strong planning roots.

To celebrate the right-on-time arrival of the Season of Transition, I offer you a perfect transitional salad…  If you’ve been heavy on pot roast and pasta all winter, like we have, then your body will be grateful to transition to loads of greens, high fiber, brightly flavored salads, legumes, and lean, grilled protein.  This Butter Bean Grilled Salad is just the thing to kick off your Spring and whet your appetite for Summer.  Enjoy!

Don’t let the obvious health benefits of this soup trick you into thinking that it’s boring, bland or yucky. This Apple Parsnip Soup is so fresh and zippy!

   

It’s tangy and clean!

The parsnip acts like a white carrot and pairs so beautifully with the apple and sage.

  This soup is outrageously tasty and downright great for you (if you skimp on the bacon) and I’ll tell you what:  it’s worth eating, even WITHOUT the bacon and crusty bread.  For real.  Try me.

Once you are WON OVER by the awesome flavor of your new favorite soup, come back and read below so that you can sound smart when you tell all of your friends about the amazing health benefits of the humble parsnip!

“Parsnips are a root vegetable native to Eurasia and have been used extensively in that region since ancient times. This vegetable is closely related to carrots and parsley, and for that reason, it is often mistaken for carrots in historical records. Parsnip is a hardy annual or biennial plant with a number of culinary applications. It was even used as a sweetening agent for foods before cane sugar became a major import to Europe. You will often find parsnips as the main vegetable dish in European nations, particularly in the United Kingdom, where “neeps and tatties” (parsnips and potatoes) are one of the most famous dishes in Scotland…

These versatile vegetables contain high levels of potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, and iron, in addition to an impressive range of vitamins, including vitamin B, C, E, and K, as well as high levels of fiber, and protein…

Parsnips contain a high level of potassium, which acts as a vasodilator and reduces blood pressure, as well as stress on the heart. The high levels of folate in parsnips are the perfect complement, as folate reduces homocysteine levels in the blood, which are generally associated with a higher risk of heart diseases. While fruits and vegetables are always a good choice, parsnips too make a huge impact on keeping cardiovascular system healthy…

Parsnips have been praised for their high fiber content, particularly because they are composed of soluble fiber, the variety that is closely associated with reducing cholesterol levels (further boosting heart health) and with a lower chance of developing diabetes. On top of that, dietary fiber is a key component of our digestive process, facilitating healthy movement of food through the digestive tract, a reduction in constipation, and the prevention of other gastrointestinal disorders…

As a low-calorie option with high levels of soluble fiber, parsnips fill you up and prevent the release of ghrelin, which is a “hunger” hormone. This can significantly reduce your likelihood of snacking between meals and help you with your weight loss goals. Also, the optimized digestive processes help you eliminate waste and get the most healthy nutrients from your food…

Parsnips are also packed with antioxidant vitamins and organic compounds that protect the body from foreign invaders, as well as toxic by-products from our own cellular metabolism. Vitamin C and E act as antioxidants in the body and eliminate or neutralize free radicals that can cause chronic diseases like cancer. Vitamin C also stimulates the production of white blood cells to attack foreign microbes in the body, in addition to functioning as a key element in the production of collagen, which is a fundamental building block of our body.”

parsnip info straight from:  https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/vegetable/parsnips.html

 

      It’s wicked cold out there.

I can’t say I’ve seen icebergs floating in the ocean or our saltwater cove frozen over, before now.        This weather puts “Soup Season” into a whole new light. 

It’s any-excuse-to-turn-on-the-oven season. Turning on the oven and/or the stove isn’t just charming and delightful this month; it’s needed to take the chill out of the house, and what comes off/out of it warms our bellies and our hearts, so we look forward to it every day. It’s comfort food season:  we’re all coming down from the excitement, workload and (sometimes manic) joy of the holidays, and we’re feeling a little slower and maybe a little lower than usual.  We need to inhale the vapors of the soups and stews our grandmothers made to encourage our spirits through hard times.  It’s a time for planning and goal-making, inspiration and fresh starts:  we need something spicy and tangy to wake up our senses and our imaginations. It’s pick-up-a-shovel-and-help-your-neighbor season, and if you’re lucky, there will be a bowl of something steaming and savory waiting to thaw you, inside. 

As all of my friends and neighbors here in New England know, the sun starts to fade around 3:30 p.m., and by 4:30 p.m., whatever few degrees we enjoyed during the day have receded into the night, and it’s back to zero or below.  On weeknights, this means sneezing through a hurried, chilly day at the office and racing home as early as possible to beat the deep freeze and get the crew fed and cozied up before it’s too cold and dark to think.  On the weekends, we like to snuggle down and go to bed as early as possible, so dinner gets prepped and eaten a little earlier than usual.  

Extreme cold weather like this makes me crave big flavors: spicy! tangy! zesty! sour! zingy!  and it also makes me lag in energy and inspiration in the food shopping/prep/planning department, so I’ve mustered all of my very best efforts and ideas for how to manage meals for the several bitingly cold weeks ahead and set them down here, before I take my own advice and head to the grocery store.

We may feel like molasses moving through these next few weeks, but the demand on our collective energy level is higher than ever: we are still rising before the sun, exercising and working hard, trying to put away, clean up and recover from the holidays (and many of us, recovering from illness), catch up on many tasks left undone over vacation, and we are all still managing the many circus acts and challenges of daily life.  And it takes extra energy just to walk to the mailbox in this weather, so we need to be well fueled now, more than ever!

January Meal Plan

Breakfast:

Granola with yogurt and berries (I made a three month supply of granola yesterday– another great reason to turn the oven on and the cinnamon aroma, mmmm!)

English muffins with peanut butter and bananas

Steel cut oatmeal with minced apple, nuts, craisins and cinnamon

Scrambled garlic eggs with shredded cheddar cheese and bacon– for apres shoveling!

(Adding to this list: the most delicious Scottish scones that my good friend, Lynsey, just made for us… must add that recipe to my repertoire right away!)

Snacks:

carrot sticks with humus

grapefruit sections

applesauce

popcorn

cheese toast

Lunch & Dinners:

Eggplant Parmesan with roasted broccoli — recipe coming soon!

Short Ribs with mashed potatoes

Pasta with Roasted Eggplant and Garlic Marinara

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Lindquist Soup (especially great for anyone recovering from a cold/flu/sinus infection!)

Italian Wedding (Chicken) Soup

Sesame Noodles with Chinese 5 Spice Chicken — recipe coming soon!

Scrubber Salad (kale, beets, sweet potato, jicama)

[In addition to the things on this list, we’ll be having a big family dinner mid-month to celebrate birthdays and surviving winter, so we’ll add a trip to Federal Hill for Italian meats, cheeses, olives, breads and pastas… I’ll make an onion soup, either french onion or vidalia onion with fresh parsley pesto, a big herb crusted standing rib roast, mashed potatoes, ravioli and salad… and a traditional birthday cake, recipe to follow!)

Treats:

Birthday Cake — recipe coming soon!

Tapioca Pudding

Gingerbread

Shopping List:

apples, carrots, bananas, lemons, grapefruit, blueberries

kale, sweet potatoes, jicama, golden beets, onions

eggplant, broccoli, escarole, mushrooms, scallions, garlic

cheeses, humus

bread, milk, yogurt, coffee

ground beef, whole roaster chicken, short ribs

Stay warm and eat well, my friends!

 

  

 

You guys.  The Calvano “Cookie Day” tradition has been going strong for TWENTY TWO YEARS.  For the first time ever, I’m writing down the story of Cookie Day:  how it started, how it evolved, and what it means to us.

In 1995, I was a freshman at Saint Anselm College.  

It was the first time in my life I had been away from home during the Christmas season… and it was killing me.  From Thanksgiving to Christmas, my childhood home was in full blown elf-mode:  decorating, baking, shopping, wrapping, watching all of the Christmas movies and listening to all of the Christmas music.  Being stuck in a cinderblock walled dorm for the entire month of December, away from those sights, sounds, smells and people I love was making me miserable.  As a consolation, my saintly mom offered to wait until I got home (on the LAST day of finals, which was Friday, December 22nd that year), before the traditional cookies would be baked and decorated.

When I got home, true to her word, we packed up our baking supplies and drove to my sister’s house in Connecticut, where my two sisters and mom and I baked and decorated for two days and nights (straight, I think)!  My dad and brother in law watched football and read the paper and ate whatever slow cooking savory treat we had simmering (actually, I think there was only take-out Chinese food that first year– we have gotten better at this).  It was a weekend filled with tears of laughter, togetherness, reunion, bickering over decorating differences and cookie shape and size, exhausted hands and eyes and worn-thin patience, handfuls of salty snacking, story telling and more laughing.  And Cookie Day was born. 

Every year since then, the four of us Calvano women assemble in the week before Christmas for a two day festival of cookies.  Cookies are baked all day on Saturday in our respective homes.  Maria and I get together on Saturday afternoon for decorating: she makes and bakes the sugar and gingerbread cut-out cookies and mixes up the icing, and I color the icing and decorate the cookies using pastry bags and tips and colored sugars and sprinkles, while she keeps baking the rest of her batches!  It usually takes about 5 hours on Saturday to complete the iced decorating. Meanwhile, Susanne and the nieces are rolling and dipping, and Nonny is mixing and baking up a storm. Then, we all descend upon Maria’s the next morning (Cookie Day is always on a Sunday).  We each bring all of our already-baked cookies that are ready to be wrapped into trays. 

Here is the list of who brings what:

You can see that my mom is responsible for all of the traditional, family-recipe, complicated ones that involve detailed finishes.  She starts baking early in the week, soaking the fruit for the fruitcake and assembling the ingredients for the rest of her cookies. (Next year I will track how many pounds of butter, sugar and flour are consumed by Cookie Day.  I assure you it is astounding.)  Each of these cookie recipes requires its own post, but I need to put these pictures of my mom making fruitcake in here now because she’s just my favorite.

  

Maria’s list changes a little from year to year– sometimes she substitutes a new cookie for the “salted caramel coconut,” which is just a place holder for “your new favorite cookie.”  Susanne’s may look like a short list, but she and my nieces make literally hundreds of peanut butter balls, which are really labor intensive because they must first each be rolled by hand, and then dipped by hand, one at a time.

Also not indicated on this list are the quantity required: each of these cookies are made in double-doublebatches.  That is, no fewer than four batches per cookie…  so, let’s say each single batch yields (on average), four dozen cookies (we try to make them small so that we can fit more cookies onto each tray).  That means we are walking in on Cookie Day carrying 16 varieties of cookies, with approx. 190 cookies in each variety…. that’s over 3,000 cookies, my friends.

        

We spend the entire day arranging cookies onto trays (small, medium and large) and wrapping them up with festive ribbons, kisses and candy canes.  Here are the original Cookie Sisters, making trays, and Nonny and Matthew, at the Wrapping Station!

  

Each of us also brings a list of cookie recipients (which changes from year to year as homes and jobs change), and each of us packs beautifully wrapped, delicious homemade cookies into our cars to give to friends, neighbors, co-workers and families at the end of the day.

And that’s not even the best part.  This day (now, weekend) has become so much bigger than just “time to bake the cookies.”  It’s about togetherness and celebration of shared traditions and the excitement of the holidays.  We are three generations deep, now, with a good deal of the prep work and wrapping done by my nieces, and the “running” (bringing cookies out to cars and delivering) done by my nephews and Axel.  And it wouldn’t be Cookie Day without extra presents and treats that show up (like these striped leggings on my cookie elf-nieces)!

Cookie Day has become a part of the fabric of our holiday season. All of the kids have a great time, we all have a day to catch up and unwind before Christmas, there is always a big, hot, shared meal (in addition to the all day snacking), a fire in the fireplace, movies, video games, sometimes basketball on the driveway, a football game on tv, pets getting love and attention, Christmas carols and hot tea and cocoa, and merriment abounding.  We look forward to it, we enjoy the heck out of it, and we like to think that all who get to share our cookies can feel a little of the magic in every bite.  It is, by far, my favorite day of the year.  Can you see why?

In honor of the 22nd Annual Calvano Cookie Day, I’m going to share my favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe (for which I am responsible to bring to Cookie Day each year) here.  These are my favorite because they stay soft and chewy on the inside for days (I promise).  I have looked high and low for choc chip cookies that are made with real butter that don’t end up crispy, and these are them.  Please enjoy them all year ’round, and may your new year be filled with all kind of Cookies and the Spirit of Cookie Day!

This is a re-post, but an oh-so-important one.  My friends, if you have not tried this cake yet, I daresay, you haven’t lived.  This cake is so important to my enjoyment of the holiday season that I put one into the oven 30 minutes ago (at 8:30 p.m. on a Tuesday night) because my week simply could not tolerate another gingerbread-less day.  Please make this cake.  I want this for all of you.  It’s dense and zesty with the dark magic ofmolasses and cloves, and just sweet enough, and it will change the way you think about gingerbread and the world, for at least the moments while the aroma lingers in your kitchen and your head.

Gingerbread, King of Cakes

See that slab of cinnamon frosting?  It’s important.  Get your super simple recipe for Cinnamon Frosting HERE.  It’s outrageously easy to make with ingredients that are currently in your pantry!  Put the water for your peppermint tea on and get out your mixer.  Heaven, by way of gingerbread, awaits.

Post script: honestly, I just took this cake out of the oven, and I’m eating right now, steaming hot, and without frosting…  And it’s AH MAZING.

As an extra bonus tip, I’m going to teach you how to make these

Sugared Cranberry Jewels

Here’s How:  Make a simple syrup by mixing equal parts sugar and water over low heat until dissolved (I like to do one cup sugar into one cup water).  Dip cranberries in the simple syrup, then roll in sugar (I use a sheet pan and sprinkle and roll them around).

Allow to dry and harden for about an hour, and you’re done!

They are so tasty and pretty– sweet and tart–and the perfect accompaniment to any seasonal cake or pie, or stand alone in little cupcake papers as place cards or mixed with popcorn and nuts for an around-the-fire snacky treat.  ENJOY and Happy Holidays!