The Christening of the Crock Pot: Lebanese Lamb Stew with labne & za'atar

Behold my new gadget. The crock pot. This is a 6qt size crock pot & personally I feel like if you happen to be feeding a family of 8 and spend much of your day hyperventilating & cleaning up after your kids unsuccessful attempts to water-paint with milk on the floor you will most likely squeal for joy much like I did upon it's arrival.

One nice thing about it is you can take out the inside crockery & put it directly on the table to serve. It also came with it's handy dandy little feature that I like to call "the probe factor"

Observe the probe. It's a little thermometer thingie to check the temperature of what's cooking. And of course in case you didn't know how to "probe"-- on the lid there's this little clarification.....

Japlish is fun but there's nothing like good ol' straightforward english.

In my eagerness to try it out I made a Lebanese lamb stew on probably one of the hottest days of the year so far. Started it out around 11 in the morning & set the timer & temperature. And yes I did insert the probe.

I was happy with the recipe. The ingrediants were simple & though I was a little suspicious about the amount of cinnamon it called for in the long run it seemed to blend in quite well. It was a full flavored stew, served it with plain rice (1/2 brown) but I have to admit in our as yet, non-airconed dining room it was a rather foolish idea & we ended up sweating it out in a self-inflicted sauna, yet somehow no one could stop themselves & we nearly finished the whole thing.

I also threw together a little batch of labne (Lebanese cheese) I didn't have time to make it overnight but let it set for about 6 hours, hense a rather thinner than normal result.

A few spoonfuls of olive oil & a few spoonfuls of za'atar. Which is a stunning lovely mixture of spices and I'm quite serious when I say I could eat it by the spoonful.

Finished product.
The DH sure seemed to love this stuff though he couldn't ever manage to say it right --- so cute!

All in all, I'm really happy about the crockpot but probably won't be using it often (besides perhaps sphagetti sauce) till autumn.

What we have in common.....

Well....since I have a moment to myself I think I need to share the issue that has been dragging it's sorry self through my mind. I'd like you to take a moment to observe these pictures.......


Baked potatoes, tortas, pot roast, muffins, rolls, quiche, focaccia, pies, cakes, buscuits, casseroles, crusts, turkey, cookies & buns....................

I'm sure you know what they all have in common. (Besides from the obvious fact that most of them are an unattractive shade of brown)

Each of these items have spent time in an oven.

...........And frankly I don't think I can say anymore about it or I may just get too wracked with emotion. Seriously, if you're quiet you will hear me now as I weep over my keyboard like a pathetic cooking niney.

Though I won't deny some tiny part of me likes the challenge of going at it without one. I already foresee a greater desire to be in the garden & focus more on fresh foods, grilling, BBQing, possibly even canning. But for the most part I'm just a sort of in denial. I don't have much energy to go on a baking binge before we leave. I just take little mini-moments throughout the day to stare at my oven whistfully & sigh in an audible & possibly alarming way to the occasional offspring who catch me mooning over it.

But who knows perhaps there will be a massive breakthroughs in electric oven technology in the next month that will enable electric ovens to blast to a healthy 200c in 5 min or less.

Not likely, but if not....who needs cake,there's always sushi, right?

Knife Sharpening

This morning DH was making lunch & I asked him if he noticed that I sharpened the knife & he answered:

“Oh, did you? I thought that I was just extra POWERFUL or something!”

The mind of a man!

If you’re not feeling "extra powerful" when you’re cutting, it’s probably cuz’ your knives need to be sharpened. A dull knife is the bane of a cooks existence. I’ve been to some lovely houses with lovely kitchens with knives that were no better for cooking than they were for bludgeoning with. I always bring my own knife if I know I’m going to be cooking at someone’s house, I've been caught in not so pleasant kitchen experiences all because of a dull knife & no sharpening stone.

Here’s a little test, get off your butt & go to the kitchen, pull out your favorite knife, and a tomato…..ok, no tomato..... so get a piece of paper, hold up the paper & see how easily it cuts. Yeeeeeah…see.......thats bad? There are a few kitchen chores that I just loooove to do & knife sharpening is one of them. It's therapeutic I think! Until pretty recently I always either got it done professionally or when I lived with Mr. McNair, he would do the honors. I was always thought that it was a job that took years of training to do.

Well….I took a little time to research it & learn a few of the basics & it really isn’t that hard. Well, I still like to review it every now & then cuz’ I don’t always get the angles & degrees right. There are a lot of ways & methods but there are a few simple basics that I try to keep in mind.

1. Get a good whetstone (not like my 100Y store one, though it doesn’t do a terrible job)

2. Keep your stone whet (I mean “wet”) when sharpening.

3. Count out the number of strokes you do on each side so you get an even edge.

4. Feel for a burr (the rough little bit of metal hanging off the opposite end you sharpened) before you go on to the next side

5. Keep your knife at 45 degrees & push firmly forward

6. Hold the knife up for the first edge (on the more rough stone) with about enough space for a 10Y coin to fit under. (20 degrees)

7. And your final edge (on the smoother stone) should be at a slightly higher angle with space for 2 10Y coins. (25 to 30 degrees)

8. Apply enough pressure.

Here’s a site that explains it pretty well. I searched youtube for a video of how to hold your blade as there are a few schools of thinking & I had a hard time getting down the strokes evenly on both sides. Whatever works for you.
There is REALLY nothing like chopping away on a good clean blade….I would reeeeeeally suggest you either find a reasonable place or person to do it for you, or learn how yourself.

But if all else fails……Just...........Be extra POWERFUL….grrrrr!!

Won't quit my day job!

Just to remind myself why I'm not posting more about cooking!

For possibly only one hot French lady whose interested here's the new school set up!

I moved the school room downstairs before we started school again, they were always doing school around the DR table anyway. Turned the "school" table for better lighting. Note the neat stacks of school books that have been corrected the night before by "dog tired mom" awaiting "eager" students. Also note, Travis' new "handsome-bandsome-boxer-briefs" that somehow snuck their way onto the table because his old ones were not so "tightey" and not so "whitey".And we moved the terrifyingly heavy school shelf with all the books in the whole house on it, but the good news is the kids do a lot more reading in their spare time instead of pulling out all the toys in the house. The DR table is OFF limits for school as certain evil-doers feel inspired to poke holes, color, paint & otherwise destroy the table cloth.Note that Travis makes no pretense of not relishing writing practice.This is Hunter, he does not go to school yet! But he seems to always find inventive new ways to freak me out. (here he has ran away upstairs and is about to empty the contents of the garbage onto his head while blindly walking towards the stairs)Here is my hopelessly ambidextrous daughter. First the right hand....And then the left

And, that's a wrap!!

Lookie at My Kitchen!!

Ivan & Kari & the princesses came to visit for 2 ½ fun filled days. The kids had a great blasty blast swimming/playing/eating cake that would have stained their clothes forever (if it hadn’t been for miracle spray & wash), we ate yummy meals (with all the trimmings) and the grown ups drank a beer or two and 3 times as much coffee & espresso. And then just when you didn’t think it could get any better I wake up on the morning that they are leaving & my monstrous pile of clean laundry is folded & my kitchen is so clean you could eat out of the sink drain. Kari had cleaned my kitchen/laundry/house (God knows what else) the night before.

Look at that? Does the sheer cleanliness not just blind your eyes? Lookie, even cookie bear looks like he's happy to be squeaky clean & my 6 piggie chefs are neatly placed on the ultra clean window sill instead of huddled together like their in some clandestine evil piggy chef gang. Isn't it just too good to be true? Yes, my friends, I may not ever use this kitchen ever again to keep it in it’s pristine state of excessive hygienic bliss.

So, Kari, thanks a heap. If I ever forget what my kitchen's supposed to look like I'll be sure to scroll down & be motivated to have you over again......(juuuuust kidding) I'll get my cleaning get up on & get to work. And I expect a full & glowing report on your cooking assignments.

PS. Yes, that is indeed an alarming picture of me. I look like I had 3 espressos too many. Actually, sadly, I make that face all the time..........(of course, I do) right before DH leaves the house with all the kids for an afternoon at the park.