Holy Movies Batman! - A Gotham Night To Remember In The Emerald City

Back before the Dark Knight, before Tim Burton's Batman, there was a Batman phenomenon that involved printed sound effects, cheesy puns and Adam West.  The Batman TV show from the 60's gave us an over the top, kitchy take on Batman that is still part of our pop culture society today...even if you didn't know it.  Between the first and second seasons of the TV show, a movie was released piggybacking on the its success.  And on February 28th you can experience this film like never before, with Adam West and Burt Ward!  The stars of the film will be on hand for a Q & A before the film, so if you having burning questions for the Original Dark Knight and his ward this is your opportunity. http://seattlecinerama.com/coming-soon/

Cheater's Fudge - I Will Create Food!

I am going to preface this post by saying this recipe is in no way healthy, or normal, or healthy, or a replacement for truly homemade fudge, but if you have a hankering for fudge and you have neither the time nor resources to make your own, this will do in a pinch.

As a kid I remember hanging out in the kitchen with my Mom.  We talked and laughed, and I watched her create amazing food, seemingly out of random items in the kitchen.  Over the years I learned the tips and tricks that made the creation of food less mystical and more obtainable.  Among her many culinary talents, my Mom made a mean fudge.  It was the kind of fudge that you would savor for as long as possible and you would crave at the mere thought of it.  It was amazing.  It was also a pain to make.  The construction of her fudge seemed to require a small kitchen laboratory, it utilized candy thermometers and needed careful monitoring and precision....  most of which eludes me.  So I had resigned myself to store bought fudge until I found a recipe for Cheaters Fudge - a two ingredient fudge easy enough for my 4 year old to make. 

You Will Need:

9 x 9 pan
12 oz. bag of Chocolate Chips - you can use any kind that can be evenly melted : White, milk, dark, peanut butter, mint...
16oz. tub of frosting - again any flavor will work (avoid the whipped type)

Lightly spray you pan with cooking spray so the fudge doesn't stick.

 

Melt your chocolate chips until they are nice and smooth.

Mix in the frosting as evenly as possible.

Spread the mixture into the greased pan and toss it into the fridge.

Let it chill for 30 minutes or more, cut and eat.

As weird as this recipe sounds, the fudge is pretty good and you can make several varieties fairly quickly by using different chocolate chips/frosting or adding a touch of flavoring. It definitely doesn't hold a candle to Mom's amazing fudge but then again nothing really does.

Thanks cookiesandcups.com for the recipe.

Dolmas - I Will Create Food!

In our quest to not only broaden our kids minds, but also their palates, we have been searching out foods we love that we can make at home.  One of our favorite Mediterranean finger foods  is Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolma) Nearly every Mediterranean restaurant has them, with each one of them seasoning and filling them with a variety of flavors.(You can even find them canned!)  They are fairly easy to make with a little prep.

You Will Need:
1 Jar of grape leaves - we found our at Fred Meyer... Whole Foods, Safeway and QFC also carry them.
1 cup of dry rice
1/4 cup Fresh Mint
1/2 cup Fresh Parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
1/3 cup Olive Oil
Carrots

Soak the rice for about an hour.  

While the rice is soaking chop your veggies and herbs.  After an hour drain the rice and mix everything except the grape leaves and carrots together.

Separate the grape leaves, setting aside the torn or partial ones, and run them under cold water to rinse the brine off of them. Chop the carrots until you have enough to make a layer in the bottom of the pot you'll be cooking the dolmas in. They act as a barrier so you won't scorch your dolmas.

Use a flat surface to roll your dolmas and lay your first grape leaf flat.

Spoon 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of the rice mixture in the center making a little row about 1/4 inches from the edges.

Fold the edges in and roll the leaf like a little burrito and place it in the cooking pot on top of the carrots. 

Keep rolling and layering until you run out of leaves.  Stuff the ripped and small leaves in the center space to fill it out.

 

Now fill the pot with water until it just covers the dolmas.(We like to add a little extra lemon juice and olive oil to the water)  Put a heat resistant plate inside the pot to stop the dolmas from floating while they cook.(we use a ceramic plate with a bowl full of water to weigh it down) 

Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to medium heat for 45 minute sadding water as needed.  Remove from heat and let cool for another 45 minutes to an hour .  You can discard the carrots if you like, but they taste awesome too!

They are great by themselves or you can dip them in tzatziki sauce or hummus.  They hold up pretty well in a sealed tupperware container, but they probably won't last that long. 

Playing With Fire or Amazing Candle Tricks - Science!

We love a good science experiment and we also love a good magic trick.  When we find something that falls into both categories it quickly becomes one of our favorites. (especially when you can do it with things you already have at home.)   We found out about the combustibility of candle smoke awhile ago but we still do it every few weeks because it's so cool.

Things you'll need:
a candle - paraffin works best
matches or lighter

Light the candle and let it burn for a minute or two.  Blow it out and let the smoke settle so it is streaming up from the wick. Light your match or lighter and touch it to the streaming smoke a few inches from the wick and watch the flame race down the smoke to relight the candle.

Why it works:
Fire needs three things to work: Oxygen, Ignition and Fuel.  There's plenty of Oxygen and your match or lighter is the ignition source, but here's where things get science-y.  When a candle burns, the wick is kind of like a focus point for the flame and the paraffin is the fuel source.  When you blow out the candle the smoke contains quite a bit of the vaporized wax.   Adding the flame back to the smoke allows the fire to trace it's source back to the wick.  If you start to far away the fuel will burn out before it reaches the wick, so it may take a few tries to get it right. 

Stop Motion Animation - Homegrown Movie Studio

Everyone at some point aspires to a creative profession.  Whether it's photography, design or artist, it will cross your mind if only for a fleeting moment.   For our oldest it has been film making for as long as we can remember.  Even at an early age he would spend hours watching the making of features of movies rather than the movie itself.  Knowing this we have encouraged him to try various types of filming.  Our latest foray has been stop motion animation.  By using a digital camera and simple editing software, we were able to shoot and edit his first two short animated films.  At first we thought the process would be difficult, but after our initial setup the most difficult part was keeping our subject in the correct position as we manipulated it.  Through the production we discussed how films are made, why film is projected at 24 or 30 frames per minute (the human eye perceives fluid motion starting at about that rate)  and what was going to happen when we fell short of that frame rate(slightly jerky motion). 

Enjoy!

Easy Homemade Tamales - I Will Create Food!

Occasionally we get the urge for some specific food and it sits there behind all other thoughts.  And try as we might to alleviate these cravings, by eating other foods or trying something closely related, they will remain there until they have been satiated. Recently this was tamales at our house.  While there are several good places in Seattle for fresh tamales, there is something to be said for pulling them hot from the stove top yourself.  And with a bit of preparation, they are actually pretty easy to make.

You will need:
Dried Corn Husks - I found mine at the grocery store with the tortillas and salsa
Masa - Corn flour - The instant variety worked fine for me and I found it in the same place.
Your filling - I used a simple chili pepper and cheese mix (one part finely diced chilies to 3 parts shredded cheese.  Shredded chicken or pork, beans and even diced shrimp all make excellent fillings too.
A sturdy pot to steam it all in.

Start by soaking the corn husks for at least 30 minutes, but an hour is ideal.

I had to weigh them down to keep them under the water.

Once the husks are easily pliable, make your masa. I found an instant variety that makes a nice smooth dough.

Now drain the water from your corn husks and squeeze out any remaining water.  Lay one husk flat and spread masa about 1/4 inch thick almost to the edges using the back of a spoon.

Grab your prepared filling.

Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons depending on the size of the husk.

Wrap the tamale towards the center making a nice folded package.

Stack the finished tamales in your steaming pot.

Steam for 45-50 minutes and you're done!

They're easy and awesome!

Geocaching Part II - Travel Bugs and other Trackables

The Dead Are Rising, (And They Have Never Been More Adorable)

 

I talked about Geocaching, or Modern Treasure Hunting, in a prior post.  The hidden treasure nature of the game it the main draw for my boys, but they have started to explore the other facets.  Trackables are their new favorite.   A trackable is an item or tag that has been etched with a unique tracking number and is registered at one of the geocaching websites.  Once the owner places it in a geocache, any new finders of the trackable log their find online and move it to a new geocache.   Some of these trackables will travel many thousand miles all over the world (one's even been to the International Space Station!)  As for our trackables, our farthest traveled one has traveled 29,000 miles and counting

, but our current favorite is Run Frodo! which is currently traveling through New Zealand.

Kang The Slightly Menacing

Hustle and Bustle Of The Market - A Day Trip To Pike Place Market

Seattle provides us with many great niche markets, neighborhoods, stores, parks, and restaurants; but sometimes a trip to our most well known attractions is well worth the visit.  Pike Place Market is an excellent example of a location hidden in plain sight.  We see and hear about it so much that we sometimes "forget" that it's there.  Recently we've made a goal of getting to know our city better, becoming tourists in our hometown.  The Market has become a favorite starting point for this. The market has all of our favorite fruits and veggies...

And our favorite donuts...

 Some awesome tchotchkes...

Giant candy bars.... (yes that's a pound of York Peppermint Patties!)

A magic shop...

 

And a brass pig!

And what visit would be complete without a trip to the notorious Gum Wall.

With more than a days worth of sights, sounds and smells, The Market has proven time and again to be a great day trip.   http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/

Happy New Year!

- My New Favorite Quote