Backyard Beach: Italian Deli Pasta Salad

Before Thatkid was born, Thatboy and I had a Fourth of July tradition to spend the entire day at the beach.  We'd pack food, get their early for a good spot, stay for fireworks, and then I'd fall asleep in the car as we sat in packed parking lots waiting to get on crowded freeways to get home.

It just didn't seem sustainable with a small child, so once Thatbaby was born, we started a new tradition of spending the Fourth of July in the backyard with a blow up pool, lots of margaritas, and going to the neighbors to watch fireworks from their front yard.

Last year we went away for the Fourth of July.  Beach, no traffic, and it was so nice we thought we would make that our new annual tradition. But obviously this year that wasn't going to happen.  So we went back to old traditions and turned our backyard into a beach.

The nice thing about your backyard being a beach, is that unlike the real beach, you don't have to be in the water with the kids.

And there's still plenty of lying and soaking up the sun.

We made watermelon coolers with watermelon, lime, cucumber, and ice.  And then drank them all day.  Because fruity drinks feel like a vacation all on their own.

We also turned our water table into a sand table with kinetic sand and lots of sand toys to build castles or sand creatures.

Just like any other beach day, we packed a picnic lunch that would be easy to eat - chicken wraps, watermelon, and pasta salad.

And in the afternoon we broke out the chips and guac.

We spent the whole afternoon reading (grown ups) or playing in the pool (kids) until it was dinner.

Hot dogs, potato salad, grilled corn, and more watermelon.

After we made a "beach bonfire" and made smores, which is a pretty good way to end the the day.

The sleeper hit of the day was the pasta salad I made to have with lunch.  And Thatboy and I had it again the next day for lunch.  And probably would have had it the day after, except we ate had already eaten it all.

I think the secret is the giardiniera, which I would never have thought to put in pasta salad, but there was just something about that salty, briney flavor that had both of us going back for more.  And then Thatboy asked that I bookmark this recipe so I could make it over and over and over again.  So it sounds like we came out of this with a new tradition after all.

Italian Deli Pasta Salad (From Food Network)

 1lb penne, cooked

1/3 cup mayo

3 Tbsp olive oil

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

16-oz jar giardiniera, drained and chopped

1 cup diced provolone

1 cup diced salami

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/4 cup chopped basil

1. Mix the mayo, olive oil, and red wine vinegar in a large bowl.
2. Add the pasta and toss.
3. Add the giardiniera, provolone, salami, parley, and basil.  Toss.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Passover Prep: Egyptian Haroset

This past Sunday was supposed to be Mitzvah Day at synagogue.  We gather together and do volunteer projects and community service.  Thatkid and I signed up to bake and package cookies for Holocaust survivors.  So my brilliant plan was to make the cookies with Thatkid and then blog about how amazing they were, sharing the recipe with you.


But with the Covid-19 Pandemic closing schools, businesses, and religious services, we also cancelled Mitzvah Day.  So instead of sharing cookie recipes, I'm going to use these next few weeks to share Passover/Easter recipes.  Especially since we won't be traveling for either this year!

We'll start with the Passover seder, which is especially timely as I just figured out I may be in charge of making my own - for the first time in years!!!!  I really need to get on that menu prep and start buying things as the supermarkets make them available.

One thing I know I'll have is haroset.  Haroset, one of the most traditional Passover foods beside matzoh is a dish made by combining fruit and nuts.  The color and texture is supposed to resemble the mortar used by the Israelites in construction during their time of enslavement in Egypt.   This is one of the big differences between the Sephardic (Mediterranean/Middle Eastern/African) Jews and Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews.  I grew up in the Ashkenazi tradition with haroset that never resembled mortar.  Instead, the Ashkenazi haroset is made of grated apples, nuts, red wine, cinnamon, and honey.  It is sweet and light and exceptionally fresh tasting.  It also does not keep all that well.

This Sephardic haroset will definitely last until Passover next month!  Made with dates, raisins, and sugar, it is easy to see the resemblance to mortar.  It is also exceedingly sweet!  I'm excited to try it with horseradish - a necessary combination at a seder.  So sticky and sweet, I also think it would make an excellent filling for a cinnamon roll.  Or a Passover version of a cinnamon roll.

Egyptian Haroset (From Joan Nathan's Jewish Holiday Cookbook)

1 lb raisins

8oz pitted dates

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1. Place the raisins and dates in a bowl with enough water to cover.  Let stand for 1 hour
2. Add the sugar and whirl the mixture in a blender.
3. Transfer to a heavy saucepan and let simmer over low heat until the fruits are cooked and the liquid is absorbed.
4. Remove from the heat and place in a jar.  When cool, sprinkle with chopped nuts.

How to Survive Zoomars with Kids: Sauteed Corn

We've been going to Zoomars since the Thatkid was a little thing.  If I recall correctly we first went during his train obsession phase, because it is so easy to take the train up and walk over.   It's a small enough place to let the kids run amok and have them still be enclosed, but there's also enough to do to keep them occupied for hours.  Due to it's location in south Orange County, it also makes a great halfway meeting point between San Diego and other parts of Orange County which means the kids get to go with their friends!

1. The Cost

The fun thing about Zoomars is that admission covers the playground and touching the animals, but there's so much more there and your kid is going to want to do it all.  The train costs extra, food for the animals costs extra, gem mining costs extra...and it all adds up.  So be prepared to pay more than you think.  But there's good news friends, there are usually coupons on Groupon which often include packages of several activities.

2. Bring Water (and snacks)

I don't know what it is about this place, but my kids always get so very thirsty while we're there.  They also let you bring in your own snacks and if you're going to be there a while, it's nice to be able to take a little snack break.  Just keep them away from the goats!

3. The Animals

The main draw of Zoomars has got to be the animals.  There's a huge area just filled with guinea pigs and my kids can stay there FOREVER.  They love it so much.  There's also a pen of very aggressive goats (aggressive in the food seeking kind of way, not the pin you up against the wall and tell you to get lost kind of way).  And while you can't get in to the pens with them, there's also llama, alpaca, a cow, pigs, and an ostrich!

4. The Train

Sure it's hokey and small, but my kids still want to ride it.  Every time. 

5. The Western Town and Stick Ponies

I actually thought my kids might have outgrown this area, but was pleasantly surprised when they each grabbed a stick pony and took off, pretending to be looking for the cat outlaw.  There's a cutout of an old west town that they just love playing on, so save some time for this.  This is also a great time for the grownups to take a little rest break and just sit and watch since there aren't a lot of places for them to go.

6. The Playground

If your children like the more traditional play structure that doesn't require playing make-believe, there's one of those too!  Complete with slide and climbing,  With everything else there is to do, this was the part my kids are currently the least interested in, but for younger kids, this is the perfect size play structure.

7. Seasonal Activities

I had some friends go during the Halloween season and there were pumpkins and other fun things for the kids to do.  We went shortly after and there was still a maze of hay bales for the kids to run through.  The nice thing about this place is that it really is geared toward younger children, so even with the maze, Thatbaby didn't get nervous about going through without us since he could see over the top of the bales.

8.  The Corn 

We never really did sensory bins in my house, but holy moly do my kids love playing in corn kernels.  If Zoomars only had guinea pigs and the corn bin, we still could have been there for an entire day.  It seems like such a simple thing, but it is apparently highly entertaining for them.  And the fun doesn't end there, because when you play in the corn, you come home with corn everywhere!  Thatbaby was emptying corn from his pockets hours later when we got home.  It's the gift that keeps giving.  

I'm sure it doesn't hurt that my kids love corn in any way, shape or form.  Thatbaby often asks for frozen corn kernels to snack on.  When we went to Pennsylvania, we had dinner with family friends and they had the boys shucking corn - we had to really keep an eye to make sure they didn't just eat them right then and there.  We eat a ton of corn in the summer and fall when it's so sweet you really can just eat them raw!

This is one of our favorite corn recipes.  While my kids are happy with unbuttered corn, this version is super buttered which makes them taste just like popcorn, my favorite food!  This is especially good if you're looking for a last minute side for your Thanksgiving meal because it comes together so quickly.

Sauteed Corn

4 ears of corn

4 Tbsp butter

1. Heat the butter over medium heat.
2. When the butter is melted and bubbly, husk the corn and remove the silk.  Cut the corn from the cob, scraping to get the milk and sugar into the pan with the kernels.
3. Saute corn for about 4 minutes, shaking to keep the corn from sticking to the pan.
4. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Crave Wednesday: Sweet Potato Shoestring Fries

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  Which is the perfect time to recap Halloween, right? Well whether it is or not, here we are.

I wanted to do a special breakfast, but weekday mornings are hard since I get the boys ready for school.  So I incorporated them in breakfast making.  I used Trader Joe's pumpkin rolls and popped them in the oven while the boys and I whipped up some cream cheese frosting.  A little food coloring and we were on our way!

This is the first year that Thatkid was allowed to wear a costume to school, and he took full advantage.

His school had a Halloween parade and it was the cutest thing ever.  I seriously get such joy out of Halloween.  Seeing all the kids dressed up fills my heart with joy.

After school we got ready for trick or treating.

This year we decided to join forces with the kids' best friends and all go out together.

Thatbaby started out with his little friends.  He got so into it.

Eventually his being so into it meant he didn't wait to wait for his slowpoke friends (someone inherited his dad's long legs and quick stride) and he joined the bigger boys in their candy quest.

After we'd hit a fair amount of houses we retired back to home base where the kids sat around and indulged in their spoils.

It was a pretty successful night.

Believe it or not, the boys have barely made a dent in these buckets.  Thatkid donated a pound of it to send to the troops, and neither of them gets more than a piece at a time, usually on a weekend afternoon.  So we'll have leftover candy for the foreseeable future.

And speaking of leftovers, are y'all ready for Thanksgiving leftovers?  For me, this is way better than candy.  In fact, I love Thanksgiving leftovers so much, I made my own!  Last year TMIL spent Thanksgiving with us, and our usual weekend with my mom turned into just spending the day and heading home after dinner.  So no leftover turkey the next day. No leftover stuffing. This year we're doing the same thing.  But this year I'm prepared. Last week I made a turkey, stuffing, the works!  And I have leftovers! Last night we even had burrito bowls made with leftover turkey.  In preparation for our feast I had bought pounds and pounds of sweet potatoes...that I ended up not using.  It seemed overkill to add to the mashed potatoes I had already made for the four of us.  So I also ended up wit "leftover" sweet potato.

Luckily sweet potatoes are easy to use.  A side that goes side just about everything.  A meal in itself with panfried with some sausage or stuffed with ground turkey.  When cut super thin and baked they turn into the perfect crisp accompaniment to sandwiches and burgers.  A great fall alternative to your regular potato fries!

Sweet Potato Shoestring Fries (from Cooking Light)

3 Tbsp orange juice

2 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground red pepper

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8 inch thick strips

1. Preheat oven to 400. Combine orange juice, oil, ginger, salt, and red pepper in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool.
2. Combine juice mixture and potatoes in a large bowl, tossing well to coat.  Remove potatoes and discard juice.  
3. Arrange potatoes on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and bake for 30 minutes.

Crave Wednesday: Parmesan Crusted Zucchini Fries

There was only one thing left to do to prepare for Halloween, and we had purposely saved it until last -pumpkin carving!

One year we made the mistake of doing this too early and it resulted in moldy, decomposing jack o'lanterns by the time Halloween rolled around.  Which might be the look you're going for, but it's not for us.  So we save it for the weekend before.

Trash bags taped to the floor, Nightmare Before Christmas on television, we were ready to go.

Thatkid has never been a fan of the scooping out of the pumpkins, but my Oppo-baby couldn't wait to get in there and clean his out.

Both kids got a little carving help from us, but they were the creative directors and project managers.  Thatkid wanted a Frankenstein monster.

Thatbaby wanted a "pumpkin patch" face with a grumpy mouth.  And he added his own special touch by coloring it after.

Thatboy and I waited until the kids went to bed to carve ours.

But there's more! We had such a good time at the pumpkin carving contest last year that we did it again this year. 

Once again we let the kids control the design and Thatkid wanted something related to Dia de los Muertos.  He decided on a skeleton horse.

This year we convinced our friends to join us, and they also put the kid in charge of design.  Their finished spider!

Last year there were very few entries and we made it into the top 6.  This year? There were a lot more pumpkins.

Our little horse, all lit up.

I was pretty surprised when we made it into the top 3.  And when they announced the winners, I was sure we came in third, but nope.  We won first prize!

It was a great start to our Halloween-ing.  And it made me so happy.  I love pumpkins so much.  Even now that Halloween is over, we've got pumpkins on our stoops.  And I have a mini pumpkin farm as our table centerpiece.  But it's really not just pumpkins,  I have a thing for squash.  I may not use all varieties for decorating, but I'm always happy to consume them.  This week's meal plan alone includes pumpkin french toast, butternut squash salad, and parmesean crusted zucchini fries.  It's one of those foods that's filling, tasty, and feels healthy.  Even when you coat it in cheese and bake it until it's crisp!

Parmesan Crusted Zucchini Fries (from Cooking Light)

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup panko

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp basil

1/8 tsp cayenne

1 egg, slightly beaten

3 small zucchini

1/2 cup tomato basil sauce

1. Preheat oven to 450. Combine Cheese, panko, garlic powder, basil, and cayenne in a shallow bowl.
2. Place egg in a separate shallow bowl.
3. Trim ends from zucchini and cut in half crosswise.  Quarter each zucchini in half lengthwise to make 24 zucchini sticks.
4. Dip zucchini in egg, dredge in panko mixture, pressing to coat.
5. Place zucchini on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat tops of zucchini with cooking spray.  Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Serve with pasta sauce.

Crave Wednesday: Grilled Corn on the Cob with Roasted Jalapeno Butter

One of the great things about fall is that there are fall festivals just about every weekend.  And they're all so different.

The first one we went to was at Thatkid's school.  Basically we hardly saw home all night as he ran off with his friends.  Which is a little nerve-wracking when you're talking about a 6 year old and hundreds of children.

There were lots of games and crafts for the kids to do and the adults kind of hung out together as our children wreaked havoc.

The following weekend was the town street festival. Lots of vendors and spin-the-wheel type things for the kids.  The bonus of this one was we got to see a bunch of new restaurants that have opened on our main drag.  And we've tried all of them since that time!

Last weekend was our last fall festival that I know of.  A friend posted about it on Facebook and it seemed like something that would be a lot of fun, so we decided to bring our kids.  It was great - all the things that you love about fairs offered for free!

There was face painting with one of the most talented face painters I have ever encountered.

A caricature artist.  Thatbaby was all in from the start.  Thatkid didn't initially want to do it, but then came up with the idea of doing it with his friend.

They also had great photo spots set up for all your social media needs.

One of the initial draws was the train ride, which turned out to be a pretty big train!

The kids snacked on apple juice and cookies and then posed for a couple silly pictures, which were taken by a photographer who emailed them to us.

The only thing that would have made these festivals better is if we had gotten fall weather to go with them.  It was almost 100 degrees during the daytime festivals.

Upshot is there is a perfect food to bridge the gap between summer weather and fall activities - corn!  Corn is one of those foods that transitions seamlessly from summer salads to fall mazes.  It straddles the seasons.  Grilled corn is sweet, topped with jalapeno butter makes it less so.  Just like this weird mix of seasons, the mix of sweet and spicy straddles two taste sensations.

Grilled Corn with Roasted Jalapeno Butter (from Cooking Light)

1 jalapeno pepper

7 tsp unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp grated lime rind

2 tsp honey

1/4 tsp salt

6 ears shucked corn

1. preheat grill to medium high heat. Place jalapeno on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Cover and grill 10 minutes until blackened and charred, turning occasionally. Place in small paper bag and fold to close tightly. Let stand 5 minutes.  Peel and discard skins, cut jalapeno in half lengthwise. Discard stem, seeds, and membranes. Finely chop jalapenos.
2.  Combine jalapenos, butter, lime rinds, honey, and salt in a small bowl. Stir well.
3.  Place corn on grill rack.  Cover and grill 10 minutes or until lightly charred, turning occasionally.
4. Place corn on serving plate and brush with jalapeno butter.