Another great cooking class from Publix

Tonight, George and I attended a hands-on cooking class at the local Publix Aprons Cooking School. This class' theme was "A Bottle, a Blanket and a Basket"  and the menu contained picnic-themed foods. Starting with bruschetta with three cheese and caramelized onion spread, we moved on to a roast beef roll with arugula and pickled shallots, prosciutto-wrapped asparagus with lemon basil pesto, and strawberry cream-filled cupcakes, the menu was delicious. George and I really enjoyed the process of creating these new flavors. Here are some pics from tonight's adventure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had such a nice evening, and we can't wait to do it again.

National Ice Cream Day

Sunday was National Ice Cream Day, and to celebrate, we made a blueberry pie and some vanilla bean ice cream. The ice cream was pretty easy to put together as it only has a handful of ingredients.

Danny helped me by being the official stir-er of the custard.

And Megan helped me with the packaging after we froze the ice cream.

While waiting for the ice cream to freeze, the kids did rainy day projects from Surprise Ride, a web-based organization that puts together projects with all of the materials needed. Our subscription began this month, and the theme for July was pirates. Complete with a copy of Treasure Island, a snack, a paintable treasure chest,

a draw-it-yourself treasure map, and a floating foam pirate ship.

The kids had a blast, and I highly recommend getting a subscription. After project time, we ate dinner and broke out the ice cream. It was delicious! What an awesome end to the weekend!

More inspiration

Last night, after the house was quiet, I was trying to think of something to make for breakfast today to make use of my week-old bananas and/or blueberries before they went completely bad. I had seen Giada at Home last week, and I remembered that she made a Blueberry-Banana bread.

Perfect! I love baking at night, and I like to think the smell of baked goods gives the kids good dreams.

This morning, Megan and I made use of our leftover cajun ingredients and some others to create an Andouille, potato and egg scramble to have with the bread.

Megan was inspired to help by our "Creamer Cooking Camp" and has become an expert sausage slicer.

For the scramble, we used one Andouille link, one cup of cooked hashbrowns (we had some leftover refrigerated hashbrowns from another breakfast), 1/4 cup red onion, 1/4 cup red bell pepper, 2 beaten eggs, and 3 Tbsp. shredded cheddar. First, you place 1 Tbsp. of butter in a non-stick pan, adding onions and peppers when hot. Add the sausage and cook until sausage slices are lightly browned on both sides. Add the hashbrowns and continue to cook until the potatoes are heated through. Add the egg and cheese and stir until the eggs are fully cooked. That's it! Such and easy way to use leftovers, and an easy way to continue the inspiration to create in the kids.

Creamer Cooking Camp

I had signed the kids up for Publix kids cooking camps this week, but unfortunately the class was cancelled due to low enrollment. I had already taken off work to shuttle them around, and I decided to no let it be a total loss. I planned a cooking class for them at home, and we had a great time cooking items from Emeril's New New Orleans Cooking.

Once all of the prepping was completed (George chopped the red and green peppers, Megan chopped the green onion, and Danny chopped the celery), we started on the appetizer, Crawfish Pies. While Danny read off the instructions, everybody took turns stirring and sautéing the filling mix. First George, who showed off his tossing and flipping skills while stirring,

then Danny,

 

and then Megan.

Then, Megan and I rolled out the pie crust and brushed the egg to seal them.

After they were filled and baking, we made the Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese and Warm Andouille Dressing. All I can say is..."Yum." Here are the finished products as we sat down to eat them.

 

 

After the first two courses, we quickly made the main course, Andouille and Crawfish Maque Choux. For this course, we modified Emeril's Tasso Maque Choux recipe to incorporate the sausage and crawfish. This was by far one of the best dishes we've ever eaten.

Our dessert for the evening was Jessica Lagasse's Black and White Brownies.

This is a white chocolate "brownie" with semisweet chocolate pieces melted into the top. In all it was such a successful cooking experience, and the kids were so excited about how much they learned and enjoyed what they created. We will definitely do this again.

Buttermilk Pie

Last night, while I was trying to decide on what to make for dessert, I looked in the fridge and saw that my buttermilk was about to expire. So I decided to make a buttermilk pie.

This pie is Megan's absolute favorite, and she can usually only get it at Tallahassee Smokehouse. But I decided to give it a go, and it turned out fabulous. Here's the recipe, adapted from one I saw on Tasty Kitchen Blog (I borrowed the pic from there), in case you get inspired, too (or in case you have some left over buttermilk you need to use).

Buttermilk Pie

Ingredients

4 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour

1-¾ cup Sugar

½ tsp. Salt

⅓ cups Butter, Melted

3 whole Eggs, Beaten

1 cup Buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I use homemade, reduce to 1 tsp. if using storebought)

1 pie shell, unbaked (I used Marie Callenders frozen pie crusts, thawed)

Preparation Instructions:

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine beaten eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla and stir with a whisk until well-blended. Continuously whisking, pour in beaten eggs and whisk until well combined. then pour the wet mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until smooth.

Pour into the pie shell. Bake for 55-60 minutes at 350ºF until filling is set and top is golden brown. Allow to cool for about 20-25 minutes before slicing. Store covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator.