The Big 37, My First As a New Father

I had the opportunity to celebrate my birthday this year while my mother-in-law was in town helping Holly and I out with Oscar in his first few weeks. My birthday is the 3rd, and my mother-in-law's birthday is the 4th. It was nice having her in Seattle and being able to celebrate together. We've never had the opportunity before to do that.



Our birthday sign that we enjoy getting out for each other's birthdays.



I of course decided to make my own birthday cake. I wanted homemade devil's food with lemon curd, cream cheese frosting. Cupcakes were easier this year with all the company in town, and all the baby garb spread out all over our living room.



Holly, as always, ensures I get a nice spread of gifts each year. She spoils me rotten.



Cupcake close-ups



Color coordinated sprinkles.



A homemade birthday card from my niece Olivia. She knows I like Cookie Monster, and she did a fantastic job drawing this by hand for me to enjoy. I feel honored that my nieces love me so much on Holly's side of the family.



Close up of said Cookie Monster birthday card.



Opening up my loot. I wanted a food dehydrator. This way I can dehydrate my own fruits and vegetables at home and ensure that I control everything in the process. So many of the dried fruits at the stores still have cane sugar in them, even if organic. It's hard to fine just 100% dried fruit with nothing else added.



A candid shot Holly took of me enjoying my evening with family around. It's always good to celebrate with those that I love. This year was extra special cause I had Oscar around for my first birthday as a new father. Looking forward to many more celebrations together with our little family.

Chocolate Shortbread Shamrocks

I grew up with distinct family food traditions at holidays. No exception even for St. Patrick's Day. Growing up my Mom had a cookie cutter collection all over the kitchen. Nails everywhere with cookie cutters hanging just about everywhere. There were cookie cutters for just about every holiday and every important family celebration like birthdays, graduation, back to school etc. One of my favorites growing up was this shamrock cookie cutter. Last summer when we were down in Utah visiting family, my Dad decided to divvy up Mom's cookie cutters and cook books so we could take them home and enjoy them in our own homes. While she's not longer with us, it's nice to reflect on the fun family memories and food traditions.

I decided to do my own twist on the Craven family favorite, sugar cookies. Instead I made a short bread chocolate cookie dough base. Then I decided to make a pistachio-lime glaze for the top.



Prepping.



Rolling.



And cutting out dough in the shape of shamrocks.



Mom's shamrock cookie cutter from when I was a little kid.



Spacing out the cookies on my silpat baking sheet.



Cutting dough.



Getting ready for baking.



Some luck of the Irish Shamrock's on our dining table.



Our holiday table.



Roasted pistachios for the lime glaze.



Zesting & squeezing fresh lime juice.



Adding powered sugar to fresh lime zest, juice and some melted butter.



Finishing up the glaze.



Holly & I frosting the cooled cookies.



A few treats for us to enjoy on this 2012 St. Patrick's Day. Holly and I look forward to keeping many fun family food traditions alive and sharing them with Oscar as he grows up.

Chocolate Shortbread Shamrocks

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl and sift them together. Add sifted dry ingredients to creamed mixture, blending well. Chill dough about 1 hour until firm enough to roll out.

Once dough is firm, portion out on a floured work surface. With a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with shamrock shaped cookie cutter. Place on a prepared baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 6-7 minutes. Cool and glaze. Makes about 15-18 cookies.

Pistachio-Lime Glaze

1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
Zest of one lime
Juice of one lime
Pistachios, roasted & finely chopped

In a small saucepan or skillet melt butter over low heat. Remove from heat and blend in powered sugar, zest & juice. If glaze is too thick add more juice to get to desired consistency. Frost cooked & cooled shamrocks and sprinkle roasted pistachios on top.

Sunday Comfort BBQ Meatloaf

I was in the mood to make good home comfort food yesterday. Meat loaf sounded like it was just the trick, while Holly & I took turns feeding Oscar and fitting in much needed Sunday afternoon naps...LOL.



Dan's BBQ Meatloaf

1 & 1/2 pounds organic ground sirloin
1 pound organic Italian sausage
1 C rolled oats
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 eggs *(see note below)
1/2 C Worcestershire sauce
1 C BBQ sauce, preferable home made
3 T dried basil
3 T dried oregano
1 T dried thyme
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Directions

In a large frying pan saute onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic until caramelized. Add Worcestershire sauce to pan to loosen up the browned bits. Add salt, pepper, dried herbs and BBQ sauce. Allow mixture to cool completely.

In a large bowl mix sirloin, Italian sausage, eggs and rolled oats together. Add cooled vegetable-spice mixture. Thoroughly combine and place in a 9X13 baking dish. I use a large size baking dish, cause I like my meatloaf not very thick, so it gets a crispy crust on it. Spread the BBQ sauce over the top and bake for 350 degrees for one hour, or until done.

* Note: While this recipe of mine is gluten free, it is not dairy free as I felt the need to use eggs to bind this all together. I'm sure you you could make this dairy free as well and find a suitable binder in lieu of eggs.

Our Little Miracle

I'm definitely eating a lot of words since I became a Father. All those aspects I worried about. The hesitations. The insecurities. The fear of the unknowns. All are seeming to dissipate as I transition into "daddy-ville" and bond with Oscar. I love his mannerism's. I can see a lot of myself in him. Not just some of the physical traits, but also the personalty traits as well. I love that he furrows his eyebrows and always looks "concerned." That has long been a trait of mine. I love how he smiles slightly out of one side of his mouth, a token Dan Craven smirk. And when he does smile, he sort of squints with one eye shut. I see myself in my boy in so many ways.

Words can't express how grateful I feel that Holly and I get to be parents. I still have a hard time fathoming that he is in our lives. It's so new still, but almost like he's always been with us.

And I continue to marvel at women in general. Those that choose to have children and are willing to put their bodies through so much to bring life into this world. I told myself I didn't want to watch all that labor & delivery with Holly. But jumped right in and assisted the doctor's and nurses. I was so proud of Holly for what she did for Oscar. I'm all teary typing this again, but I continue to marvel and the miracle of childbirth and am honestly amazed that every woman does not die in childbirth and that any children come out of the birth canal alive. Regardless of my dramatic choice in words, our own family miracle has happened. Holly and I have created life, and are being entrusted with a spirit to raise. And we get the opportunity to teach & train Oscar to stand on his own two feet in life. And love this little son of ours to pieces.

So yes, I continue to eat my words about not wanting to be a parent. Not wanting to have kids. I love this boy to pieces, and look forward to the day where Oscar can have a sibling of his own to grow up with.

I love you Holly. You are already, and will always be a compassionate, gentle, loving, nurturing and amazing Mother to our children.

Pickled Fig Preserves

Again, canning for me is relaxation at home. I enjoy creating new unique twists on traditional favorites. One of my favorite quick & easy appetizers is some crackers or rustic bread, slathered in some goat or blue cheese, with a generous helping of my picked fig preserves. I adapted this from two recipes and came up with something that I really enjoy flavor wise.



Dan's Pickled Fig Jam

2 lemons
4 pounds ripe fresh figs, stemmed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 9 cups)
4 cups sugar
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Directions

Using vegetable peeler, remove peel from lemons (yellow part only) in long strips. Cut peel into matchstick-size strips (about 3 tablespoons).

Combine lemon peel, figs, sugar, red wine, vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt in heavy large deep saucepan; let stand at room temperature 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Bring fig mixture to boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium; continue to boil until jam thickens and is reduced to 6 cups, stirring frequently and occasionally mashing mixture with potato masher to crush large fig pieces, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat.

Ladle mixture into 6 hot clean 1/2-pint glass canning jars, leaving 1/4-inch space at top of jars. Remove any air bubbles. Wipe jar threads and rims with clean damp cloth. Cover with hot lids; apply screw bands. Process jars in pot of boiling water 10 minutes. Cool jars completely. Store in cool dark place up to 1 year.



The finished product. All ready for storage in our pantry at home.

Oscar Hinckley Craven

Our February 5th due date came and went, and Oscar, the fetus formerly known as "OHC" decided to make his debut on Friday February 10th...! Holly's water broke about 2:30am, and we made our way to Swedish-First Hill to deliver. Active labor kicked in, and he was born at 11:23am. Weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces, and measuring 21.5 inches long. Holly and I couldn't be happier for our new son joining our family.



Me & Oscar. I love this boy to pieces.



All swaddled in a hip blanket. Not a crappy hospital blanket...LOL...!



Holly and Oscar.



First day home post hospital discharge in the blanket that Shelly made for us, using material that my Mom had purchased before she died. It's nice for Oscar to have a blanket from his Grandma Craven.



He loves having his hands up.



First tub time...



Relaxing on the Cookie Monster blanket that Gretchen made for him. He'll definitely learn to LOVE Cookie Monster.



Learning to take a "bink" so he doesn't cry so much...



Oscar, Holly & Grandma "Nana" Finlayson. Three generations. Oscar is the first grandson on Holly's side of the family. He joins 7 granddaughters.



A cute frog hat that our friend Betsy got for him. Perfect for walks in the brisk, cold sunny air. We feel so very fortunate and excited, blessed and exhausted all the same time. We are transitioning into parenthood just fine with minimal freak outs.

Our New Little Oscar

Still can't believe Holly & I, have a healthy, handsome, strong baby boy. So grateful & privileged we get the opportunity to parent. Looking forward to the adventure that lies ahead. Not to mention all the fun photos & memories. I'll post photos when I get caught up on sleep. He arrived February 10, 2012 at 11:23am. Weighing 7lb7oz, and was 21.5 inches. I was able to help nurses & doctors with the entire delivery. Priceless memories. Especially what Holly was willing to put her body through. I love our new little family immensely!

My vegan, gluten free, dairy free power bar experiment.

In my continued effort to only consume the healthiest of food, I reviewed a few recipes this weekend on the granola and power bar front. I wanted something that tasted good, had enough season or spice to it, as well as having the right mixture of dried fruit and nuts in it. Additionally, I wanted to make this vegan. As well, as gluten & dairy free. This is what I came up with for healthy snacks for Holly and I to enjoy during the busy work week at our offices. Great source of protein and fiber. Pretty low natural sugar content from the honey. No refined sugar in this at all. And the batch split 18 ways is 128 calories per par, or if split 15 ways is 142 calories per bar.



Cinnamon-Cranberry Granola Power Bars

1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
½ cup packed unsweetened dried cranberries
½ cup chopped toasted pecans or almonds
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ tsp sea salt
6 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons best quality honey

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line an 8X11 inch baking pan with foil, allowing foil to extend over sides. Lightly coat foil with olive oil. Mix oats, cranberries, nuts, cinnamon & salt in a bowl. Combine olive oil & honey in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the mixture is smooth and begins to boil. Pour oil-honey mixture over oat mixture and stir until well coated. Transfer to prepared pan.

Using a spatula, press mixture evenly into pan, pushing down to slightly pack. Bake mixture until top is golden brown, about 23-25 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely for 1 hour. Using foil as aid, lift out of the pan. Place on work surface (cutting board), and using large sharp knife, cut into 15-18 bars.





Once portioned out, wrap in waxed paper and place in plastic bag. For best/freshest quality, consume within one week.

More Ways To Use Our Nutella Stash

As we continue to use up the vat of Nutella I gave Holly for Christmas, friends keep sending us recipes for items incorporating Nutella in some fashion. Noelle sent us this link to a blog that I have never come across. Not only did I get a good recipe to play with and adapt a little, I also got a new foodie related blog to follow.




Nutella Oatmeal with Fruit
Adapted from Simply Scratch

Ingredients:

1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Old Fashioned Oats
2 tablespoons Nutella
1 teaspoon Dark Brown Sugar
A pinch of Kosher Sea Salt
Sliced Banana
Fresh Blueberries
Sliced Almonds

Preparation:

Heat the milk in a small sauce pan until boiling. Reduce heat to medium-high and stir in oats. Keep stirring, removing from the heat if necessary to stop it from over boiling. Cook until the oats have absorbed most of the milk. Remove from the heat and stir in the brown sugar and Nutella. Pour into a separate bowl and top with sliced bananas, blueberries and nuts.

Pressure Canning Cannellini Beans

More projects with the pressure canner for our pantry. I love how easy it is to soak good quality organic beans, jar them up, and pressure can. I can control the spices and herbs. And get a best quality organic product for cents a jar.












This will come in handy for my homemade white bean spreads, soups, hummus concoctions and lots of other quick healthy prep meals.

Inheritance Cycle

I just finished reading the last book in the what I lovingly call the "dragon books". I got this for my birthday and it was my goal to finish this 840 page book before our little boy made his debut. I was introduced to the series by my brother, it's a young adult book which is a genre I enjoy reading, typically because they are easy to read and are clean. This book, while clean, is quite gory. I feel like this final book in the series is so much more graphic than the other three.

I can't say I'd recommend this series to others. The first book was very difficult to get into for me, but the second book had an overview of what had happened in the first book which I found very helpful and the story seemed to be more interesting in books 2 and 3. Book 4 though took so long to come out that I was a bit lost again even with the overview of the previous books at the beginning.

That said, it felt good to finish and put to rest the characters whose stories were so unresolved in the 3rd book. I'm also glad I read it so I know what age it would be appropriate for our son to read...which might be never, we'll see :)

Home Canned Meyer Lemon Curd

I like my practical side. Especially the practical things I ask for for Christmas and Birthdays. Plus I'm sort of a food snob, and really have a distinct palette and enjoy my recipe alterations and adjustments that I create at home. Plus, what's not to like about from scratch home food? Life's little luxury, not to mention economical.

I really like lemon curd. As a base for frosting, or as the layer in a quick lemon meringue pie or lemon bars. Fresh citrusy curd goes just about fantastic on anything. Including a slice of grilled baguette whit some ricotta, a smear of curd & some fresh chopped mint.



Zesting the meyer lemons and allowing the sugar to be scented with all the citrus oil.






Separating a plethora of organic eggs.



Lots of freshly squeezed meyer lemon juice






Incorporating the beaten yolks, scented sugar and fresh juice.









Double boiler going, as I whisk in the butter.






Cooking until thick and smooth.



Straining & prepping the curd for pressure canning.



The finished product. I broke out my first jar this past weekend and used the curd for a cream cheese-butter cream frosting for sugar cookies. Perfect lemony combination of soft & chewy sugar cookies, with the tang and richness of a citrus infused butter cream.