Jennifer Balink

Wildness and mayhem. (dinner plan, week of july 29)

wild summer 2013

After eight weeks of family eating free-for-all and suspension of nightly bedtimes, we are heading back to the world of routines, schedules and reminders.  As the time between school years draws to a close, these are the lists I’ll be tucking into a folder full of mementos that one day might populate a scrapbook (or not).

10 eternal hallmarks of our family summers

  1. “Have you finished your summer reading yet?”
  2. Four dozen half-full sunscreen bottles, all over the house
  3. Ratty, overgrown hair
  4. Foregoing the shower because we went swimming
  5. Cicadas
  6. Afternoon thunderstorms
  7. Tomatoes
  8. Watermelon
  9. Figs
  10. Zig-zag spiders in the gardenia bush

10 kid foods my children finally outgrew this summer

  1. Kraft Singles

10 things I’ve missed about family dinners

  1. “I want to sit by Mom.”
  2. “I want to sit by Dad.”
  3. “I am not sitting by Mom.”
  4. “I am not sitting by Dad.”
  5. “Ewwww.”
  6. “Hey, this is actually kinda good.”
  7. “Is there dessert?”
  8. “Out of the kitchen, dogs.  You too, Yoda.”
  9. “I’ll snuff these two candles and you snuff the other two.”
  10. “Amen.”

Happy week.

jennyslark dinner plan week of july 29 2013

Food

Week of July 29| 2013
 tomato harvest MondayBlack beans & rice (serve with tortillas)

(season beans with cumin and cayenne; cook with crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, bay leaves and sautéed onion)

Tomato | cucumber | feta cheese salad

(slice fresh tomatoes or cut cherry tomatoes in half; slice cucumber thinly; toss with red wine vinaigrette and crumbled feta cheese)

baby eggplant

 TuesdayChicken satay with spicy peanut sauce (Tyler Florence)

Moroccan couscous (make with chicken stock, finely chopped yellow onion and currants)

Romaine salad with buttermilk dressing
 funky chicken WednesdayGnocchi with fresh basil pesto & lemons

(Make gnocchi or buy frozen; for basil pesto combine fresh basil leaves, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese in food processor; toss with gnocchi; garnish with lemon slices.)

Peach crisp with vanilla ice cream

(cut about a pound of fresh peaches into chunks; toss with some flour (about 1 Tbsp.) and sugar (2-3 Tbsp.) in a square Pyrex; cut together 3-4 Tbsp. butter, about ½ cup flour, about ½ cup sugar, a pinch of salt.  Sprinkle crisp mix over peaches.  Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes. Serve with ice cream & mint.)

okra

 ThursdaySausage platter with pickled assortment (okra, cucumber, grapes, carrots)

(we’ll use Aidell’s chicken & apple and pineapple & bacon sausages; I’m going to try refrigerator pickling some okra, cucumber slices, red grapes & carrots)

Grilled bread

 lemon cucumbers

  SaturdayGrilled salmon

Green beans

Marinated lemon cucumbers (thinly slice and let them wilt in white wine vinegar, some fresh herbs, a bit of salt and sugar, some fresh pepper and a bit of olive oil)

Watermelon

copyright 2013 | jennifer balink