Fair Play: Oven Broiled "Grilled" Cheese

One of our favorite summer activities is going to the fair.  The kids love the games and rides, the whole family loves the exhibits and the food.

Since our county fair is cancelled this year, we held our own fair in the backyard.

We made sure there were games.

And prizes to go with the games

And we even got them some new backyard toys which subbed in for rides.

This saucer swing has turned out to be a great pandemic purchase.  They've used it every day since our backyard fair.

I ordered a kit so we could make our own funnel cakes.  Because what kind of fair doesn't have funnel cakes?

Each of the boys set up their own exhibit for us to visit.  Thatkid chose "Rocks and Minerals" which is their favorite exhibit at the fair.  Thatbaby decided he would do the animal exhibit.  It was a far cry from the cows and goats we usually see.

The little guys usually get corn dogs at the fair, and since that's an easy enough thing to replicate at home, we all had corn dogs for lunch!

While Thatbaby napped, Thatkid got his face painted.  It's MUCH cheaper at the backyard fair than at the actual fair.

When Thatbaby woke up, we broke out our cotton candy machine and whipped up an afternoon snack.

And then I taught myself how to make balloon animals!  Or at least balloon parrots which is what the boys wanted.

We headed back outside for a little hula hoop competition.

And some spin art.

Thatboy and I like to try the new and unusual foods at the fair.  That's a little harder to replicate at home, but I thought we could work it out by doing twists on regular ole food.  So we had a "choose your own adventure" grilled cheese.  I've had some fun grilled cheeses at the fair - like buffalo chicken, or macaroni and pulled pork.  

Thatbaby stayed pretty traditional with just cheese, but he did use 3 different kind of cheeses.  Thatkid went for some adventure and picked several meats, cheeses, and avocado for his grilled cheese.  Thatboy went with truffle butter, harissa,  bacon, and cheese, while I went with tomato basil sauce, caramelized onions, and cheese.

For the past few years, the fair has been having some pretty fun doughnut desserts, like doughnut cotton candy sandwiches.  We went for an easier fair dessert - doughnut ice cream sandwiches!

It wasn't exactly the same as going to the fair, but it was a pretty good replacement for these times.

I'm not going to lie - one of the reasons I picked choose your own adventure grilled cheese was because I could make everyone's dinner at one time that way.    Even with everyone picking their own toppings.   That way everyone could pick what they wanted, I could pop it all in the oven, and then we could all eat at the same time.  Really, a mother's best friend.

Oven Broiled Grilled Cheese

8 slices of bread

4 Tbsp butter, room temperature

Cheese - cheddar, gruyere, muenster, monterey jack, mozzarella, swiss, feta......

Other ideas - salami, bacon, ham, turkey, chicken, pepperoni, mushrooms, zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, sriracha, pesto. tomato sauce, harissa, tahini, alfredo, barbecue sauce, wing sauce, tapenade, pickles, ranch, Italian dressing.....

1. Preheat the broiler.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.  Butter each piece of bread with 1/2 Tbsp of the butter.
2. Place 4 of the bread slices buttered side down in on the baking sheet.  
3. Top each of these bread slices with cheese.
4. Top the cheese with whatever toppings you want.
5. Add another slice of cheese on top of the toppings and then the remaining slices of bread, buttered side up.
6. Broiled the sandwiches about 3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden.  Flip them and broil for another 3 minutes.

Crave Wednesday: Baked Mozzarella Bites

As you may or may not have noticed, my hair has taken on a distinct hue as of late.  As they say in The Wizard of Oz, "Now that's a horse of a different color."

When I started my new job, where I wasn't going to have to appear in court, or even an office most of the time, I realized it gave me some freedom to do something fun with my hair.  Despite the fact I rarely do much with my hair, I'm fairly brave when it comes to hair changes.  I've done long, short, permed, straight, bangs, highlights, and even played with color before the kids were born and I had more time for hair maintenance.   My philosophy is that it will always grow back.

I decided it was time for a fun color, not the typical browns, blondes, and reds of the past.  But knowing that hair color is high maintenance I decided to only do the bottom half of my hair.  So that when I got sick of it, I could just cut it off.

So last month I found myself in the salon looking a little like this.

One of the reasons I've always shied away from fun hair colors is that they don't work on brunettes.  You have to bleach the hell out of your hair first.  Which seemed like more work, and also not a friendly way to treat your hair.  But since the end game is chopping it off anyway...

And after a couple more hours under the dryer, I found myself with a whole new shade of hair.

I have to say.  I love my blue hair.  I've even gone and gotten it touched up once already.  When I glance down and see it, it makes me feel like a super hero. Like Wonder Woman.

And in reality, I am a super hero.  I'm super mom - working, taking care of the home, taking care of my family.  Most of us are super heroes and don't even realize it.   I do remember thinking my mom was some kind of super hero.  When we were kids, she went to school, worked in the hospital, taught at the university, and took care of the family.  That last part was not single-handedly, but all the best super heroes have help in some form.  I admired her, even if I did resent the fact that she wasn't home after school to greet us with cookies like most of my friends' moms.  Because I have less on my plate than she did, and because I'm the one picking the kids up from preschool, I can fill in that void I was missing.  My kids don't get cookies after school, but they do get a snack.  And I try to make it something that has some nutritional value in case they end up not eating dinner - which is also served very near the time they get home.  Cheese is my go-to: cheese sticks, babybels, or even just cutting them chunks of cheddar or gouda.

If dinner is going to take a little longer to get together, then I might even up the ante on that cheese.   These baked mozzarella bites take around 5 minutes to make, and add a fun crunch to their normal after-school snack.  The boys shun the marinara, preferring to just eat the bites as they are.  I like the warm marinara with the melty cheese and crisp panko.  It's just heavy enough to hold you over, and light enough not to fill you up.

 Baked Mozzarella Bites  (From Cooking Light)

1/3 cup panko

3 sticks part-skim mozzarella string cheese

3 Tbsp egg beaters

cooking spray

1/4 cup low-sodium marinara sauce

1. Preheat oven to 425.  Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Add panko to the pan and cook 2 minutes or until toasted, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and place in a shallow dish.
2. Cut mozzarella sticks into 1 inch pieces.  Working with one piece at a time, dip the cheese in the egg beaters and then dredge in panko.
3. Place the cheese on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 3 minutes.
4. Pour marinara into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute.  Serve with mozzarella pieces.

Polenta Casserole

We've hit February.  Which means that the gyms are going to start getting less crowded and with the upcoming chocolate eating holiday, diets are going to be relaxed a little,

Which means it is the perfect time to share a very rich, decadent dish.  I mean, if the groundhog is predicting 6 more weeks of winter, it's not like you're going to have to worry about parading around in a bathing suit any time soon. 

This dish combines polenta, which already has a richness all on its own.  Add some salty ham and creamy cheese and you can understand why I wasn't sharing this dish the first week of January.  And to really round it out, there's some cream on top.  Because if you're not going to use butter, then really, cream is the only choice.

This is one of those dishes that really got thrown together by odds and ends I had in the fridge.  A little bit of this left over, a little bit of that.  Which is why it seems like such an odd conglomeration.  But it's one that works.  There's just the right balance of salty and sweet, creamy and spicy.

Polenta Casserole

1 1/2 cups milk

1 1/2 cups milk

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 cup polenta

4 Tbsp salsa

6 oz ham, thinly sliced

6 oz mozzarella, thinly sliced

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 400.  Combine the milk, water, salt, and pepper in a saucepan and bring to a boil. 
2. Reduce heat and add cornmeal, stirring.  Continue to cook until polenta is desired consistency, 20-30 minutes.
3. Spread half of the polenta in a baking dish.  Top with half the salsa, ham, and mozzarella.
4. Repeat with the remaining polenta, salsa, ham, and mozzarella.
5. Place the Parmesan and cream on top, then bake for 20 minutes.

Beer, beer, beer, and Mendocino

You know what's sad? When you haven't blogged since September.

You know what's sadder? When the last thing you blogged about actually took place in August.

You know what's saddest? When a friend of yours sends you a "Happy Anniversary" email in October, because she doesn't notice that your blog hasn't been updated in a month and talks about events that happened two months ago.


There's been a heck-a-lot happening in Thathouse which has severely limited my internetting capabilities. More on that later. Probably a lot later. Because I have SO much to catch you up on. But I should probably finish up with our Mendocino anniversary trip first!


We started off our last day by visiting Point Cabrillo Light Station. I almost felt like Alice going through the looking glass since we have our very own Cabrillo lighthouse down here in San Diego.

Our Cabrillo has a little museum dealing with whales. Because it's a prime whale watching point. Actually, it's a prime San Diego watching point. You can see everything from up there. But this Cabrillo light house, since it's in Northern California, give you an up close and personal view of Abalone (which might be the national animal of Northern California).


(This is what an abalone looks like when it's still alive, not on your plate)

But like the San Diego counterpart, this Point Cabrillo had some truly spectacular views.



For most of our trip the ocean was covered in a dense fog. But as if Mother Nature knew we'd be leaving soon, she wiped it all away for our final day.






All that walking around and gazing out at the water made us hungry, so we headed up to Fort Bragg because one of the things Mendocino has to offer is an amazing array of beer. Before we headed to Mendocino we bought all the Mendocino beer we could get our hands on. We really enjoyed some of the beers from North Coast Brewery so we made a point of getting there on our trip.



Thatboy saw a chili dog on the menu and was all in. Because, you know, we all need food to go with our beer. Or some of us do. But to be fair, how often do you see chili dogs on a menu?



I went super high class. Well, high class as compared with the chili dog - ham and brie with mango chutney on a croissant. Did you notice the fries on both of our plates? They've covered in garlic. As all fries should be.

But we should get to the part you're all anxious for, the beer!



We ordered a sampler so we could try all their beers. And we took notes. On a napkin, but notes nonetheless.



We already knew we loved the Brother Thelonious (in fact, we just had a bottle tonight), but we found some new favorites. We especially loved Pranqster which found its way into Thatbrother's birthday present last month.

And after all that beer, it was time for more walking and gazing. There was a lot of walking and gazing on this trip. This time we headed to a park that would allow Thatdog - Russian Gulch State Park. And we headed out on a coastal trail that let us take in how amazing the day was without the fog.










I love these guys playing mirror mirror on the picnic benches. Thatdog loved them too. He loves to charge them and let them know that it is NOT okay for them to be anywhere he can see them.


I love my artist in action shots.



And honestly, we we hadn't had enough gazing, so we headed back to our room to gaze some more. I mentioned before we had a spectacular view of the ocean. We decided to take advantage of it since we could actually see it. Besides, how romantic is it to sit with your honey and watch the sunset?





Well, maybe with your honey it would be romantic. I was stuck with this guy:



At least we had pizza!



I let Thatboy pick out our pizza from Piaci Pizza. He ordered one that was divided in fourths, with each fourth having a separate topping. (Mushroom, cheese, roma tomato, and ham) Which he didn't realize when he ordered it, even though the menu spelled it out explicitly.




We both loved the Roma Tomato section best.


The next day we headed out - but not home. Because really, what fun would that be? Thatboy took the scenic route this time, which wound along the coast and made me feel like I was in some Merchant Ivory film. We made a stop in Point Reyes and discovered the mothership:



Cowgirl Creamery! I'm lucky enough to get this at my local cheese store, but not with NEARLY the selection you can get at their home base. And even what I can get isn't nearly as fresh. Thatboy and I had a picnic in the grass with leftover pizza, watermelon, and Red Hawk cheese that had been made that morning.

Okay, that's probably good for now. I'm EXHAUSTED and Thatboy's promised to pull the couch out so we can have sofabed Saturday night. PLUS I've got some sugar cookie dough that is just dying to be put in the oven. So bear with me - I'll post when I can and make the posts as entertaining as possible, but I can't make any promises as to frequency.