But this year is different. This year I vowed to be the mom who does. And so far, I am doing pretty well at it.

Sure, I might have packed these treat bags up while the kids ate lunch a mere 30 minutes before school today. But I still did it. And I was really happy with the results. Inside are some simple kid toys.

Most of all though, I loved the treat bags themselves. As I’ve mentioned, I adore Halloween … haunted houses, scary movies, the macabre. I love it all. So the creepy house on these cellophane bags? I just couldn’t resist. Total love.

So, tomorrow, Will will dress up as an adorable pirate and Paige as a pretty princess. Me? I’m going as a snazzy wicked witch. I cannot wait …

Do you dress up for Halloween? What will you (and your kids!) be this year?

Some days, I just don’t know what to make for dinner. Don’t you have days like that? You know, where it’s all just too much and urge to order takeout becomes too hard to fend off. And sometimes, you bend under the pressure and just order something.

But, I have found that when I am feeling like that, the best defense is to at least try – take something out, even if you don’t know what you’re making with it. That was the case with this ground beef. I knew I was going to use it for dinner … I just didn’t know what.

As dinnertime approached, I still didn’t have a plan. I leafed through a few cookbooks and then turned to the internet. Actually, I turned to Twitter and instant messaging. And the funny thing? When I asked, almost everyone came back with the same answer: Sloppy Joes.

Well, when something like that slaps you in the face, you just have to go with it. So I did.

How do you combat the “I don’t feel like cooking” feeling?

Sloppy Joes
serves 4

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 lb ground beef
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tbsp barbecue sauce (I like Sweet Baby Rays)

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until they start to soften and the onion begins to get translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the ground beef and cook, stirring constantly while also breaking it into small pieces, until browned all the way through. You want the ground beef and veggies to get all mixed up and together.

Drain the fat off. Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar and barbecue sauce. Stir until it’s all mixed together. Lower heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes.

To serve: Dish this up over a biscuit or roll. It can also be served over rice.

Sometimes, things don’t need to be complicated to be fantastic. A peach, pealed and sliced. An apple dipped in honey. A slice of bread spread with a thin layer of hummus.

Or, in this case, a simple salad. Sungold cherry tomatoes, tiny balls of fresh mozzarella, freshly torn basil, a swig of olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt (I was all out of sea salt). It’s simple as can be and takes just a few moments to pull together … and yet, this is something that the kids and I just devour.

Sometimes, simplicity really is the best thing.

What’s your favorite simple dish?

Ever since hearing my cousin talk about grilling pizza recently, I have been somewhat obsessed with doing it myself. I consulted with her on technique (she grills first, tops and then broils to melt the cheese), I set about to grill a pizza from start to finish. I really want to avoid that added step of transferring to the oven, if possible.

So far, we’ve loved the toppings (pesto, fresh mozzarella, sungold tomatoes, prosciutto) but the bottom of the crust is just getting too done (read: burnt) while the cheese melts. Fortunately, the toppings have made up for the over-done crust.

Anyway, I am still working out the technique. I am thinking a mid-cook flip might solve the problem (obviously topping the pizza right after flipping), but I haven’t tested that yet.

Any hints, tips or tricks to share?

The first time I roasted asparagus, the browned bits at the tips made my heart thump. Surely, it must be ruined, I thought. Heck, I almost didn’t serve it … what a mistake that would have been.

As much as I love to cook, some aspects of cooking frighten me. It’s a classic case of fear of the unknown. This is most acute when it comes to meats with bones. For as long as I’ve been cooking, I have been avoiding bones. Bones worry me. With bones, meats cook differently. Bones add inedible weight …

I have the market cornered on excuses. Seriously.

It’s not something I am proud of either. I actually believe that if we, as a family, are going to eat animals, then we should be willing to do the work necessary – touching the bones, separating the breastplate from the flesh, butchering—to eat it.

So, even though it frightens me, I am slowly beginning to cook with proteins that have been handled less … whole chickens, bone-in chops, unbutchered portions of steaks. In the process, I am finding that I can do it.

Recently, I bought a split chicken breast from Ox Hollow Farm, knowing that it had a bone. The farmer said it was just one little bone that I would need to remove.

Little is a relative term.

When I cut open the package this evening, I found that the one little bone ran the length of the breast. And was L-shaped. In fact, it was more of a breast plate …

For a minute, I thought about abandoning the project, pulling out something else to cook and just worrying about it tomorrow (hello, inner Scarlett O’Hara). But I didn’t. That wonderful, local chicken was going to be dinner for my husband and children and I certainly wasn’t going to let a little thing like a bone (and some skin … ) get in my way.
So, I loosen the bone with my sharpest knife, then I slid it out. My first attempt was messy and I lost more flesh than I should have. But with my second breast, the bone slid free with nearly no lost flesh attached.

As I finished breaking down the two breasts into boneless, skinless beauties, I saw how pristine it was. The tenders (yes, chicken tenders are an actual part of the chicken breast) came off easily, the pink of the flesh was nothing like the golden color of chicken breasts in the grocery store. It was amazing.

Best of all, when I removed the skin, I was the first to actually touch these breasts. Not some machine, no one else. Just me.

And guess what? I will do it again, because I can.

Photo credit: peachyqueen from morguefile.com

I hate slugs. So I Facebooked my frustration and a friend of mine immediately offered a solution: place a bowl of beer under the plants and the slugs will naturally be attracted … and then they won’t be a problem to anything any longer. That sure beats the salt method I was threatening them with. So, I am going to try this ingenious slug removal technique. I’ll report back next Friday on the success of it.

The blueberries are just starting to turn into that deep blue that signifies when they are ready to eat. Hopefully they will hold out until Monday, as the kids and I are away for the weekend. It would be awesome to return to two bushes full of berries. A friend warned me this week that after we pluck all the berries, we should test the soil to ensure that it’s the ideal level of acidity for the berries. Good to know … Sounds like there might be some soil treating in my future.

Elsewhere in the garden, my New Girl tomatoes have quickly flowered and started to develop. The Sun Golds are thriving too. Hopefully they will start to ripen very soon. I am anxious for fresh tomatoes. I want to mix them up with fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and a bit of extra virgin olive oil and sea salt… mmm. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

That’s all for this week – I am in a location with low connectivity so uploading is a little more challenging than usual. Have a fantastic weekend, and be sure to share what’s happening in your garden in the comments!

Last year, while trolling a local farmers market, I discovered some curly green shoots that were unlike anything I had ever seen. Vibrantly green and mostly firm, save a slight grassy portion at the top, I took a few home and cooked with them … and promptly fell in love.

What were they strange, unfamiliar things? Garlic scapes. But since garlic scapes have a sadly short season (they are, afterall, the flowerings shoots that come off of young, immature garlic and are cut off on purpose), I didn’t get a chance to have them again last year.

So, I waited. And waited. And waited. And when the farmers market that I used to go to didn’t open earlier this month (it seems that a lack of popularity has shuttered the hit or miss event), I though I had missed another round of my delicious discovery all together.

But I didn’t.

Last week, when Will and I hit the farmers market in the pouring rain, the first thing I spotted as we snuck in between two booths was … bunches of garlic scapes. Of course, I immediately purchased some, with visions of this recipe already dancing in my head. Last summer, I was playing around and crafted a Garlic Scape Carbonara pasta. It was delectably creamy with lots of garlic taste (but without the bite of matured garlic).

I’ve literally been waiting for a year to share this. It’s divine, delicious and delovely. I suggest you try it too.

Garlic Scape Carbonara
serves 4

This pasta is fantastic as a meal served with a big garden salad and some crusty bread. If desired, add a half-cup of fresh, lightly cooked peas to the mix for a little added nutrition (and sweetness).

1/2 lb campanella pasta, or shape of your choosing
4 slices bacon (about 3 1/4 ounces), chopped
1/4 cup garlic scapes, cut into 1/4 inch coins
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese

Set a pot of water to boiling on the stove and cook the campanella pasta (or desired shape).

While it’s cooking, cook the bacon over medium heat until browned. Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and add the garlic scapes. Cook until soft (2-3 minutes). Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. (Drain both the bacon and the garlic scapes on a paper towel).

Whisk together the eggs, salt and red pepper flakes.

When the pasta is done, quickly remove it from the stove and set a different burner to low heat. Drain the pasta and add it back to the pot, on the burner set to low. Stir in the garlic scapes and bacon. Add the egg mixture and stir feverishly for 3-4 minutes until sauce is thick and creamy. Don’t let it overcook or it will be gloppy. Sprinkle the romano cheese in, a little at a time, and stir to combine. Don’t add it all at once or it won’t mix through out the pasta as well (since it will clump).

Serve immediately.

More garlic scape recipes:

• A Nut-Free Garlic Scape Pesto at Kalyn’s Kitchen
• White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip at New York Times
• Octopus with Fingerlings and Garlic Scapes at Foodista
• Grilled Garlic Scapes at FoodieTots
• Pickled Dilly Garlic Scapes at Becky and the Beanstock

It has taken me years – years -  to get to a point where I consistently make the effort to eat breakfast. The morning meal and I have just never been bosom buds. In the mornings, I am not really that into cooking. I just to burn everything I tried to cook before noontime (fortunately, I have conquered that problem). I’ve never really been a cereal girl. I used to love oatmeal, but an unfortunate incident involving a medication that I refused to take killed my taste for that, so I don’t crave it any longer. Honestly, if it wasn’t for my kids, I would probably have never really bought into the “most important meal of the day” stuff.

Fortunately, I have discovered a few foods that are good in the morning … to me at least. Pancakes, English muffins with delish cheese, tomato jam and an over easy egg can be a great treat. And any style of eggs can be a good thing in the morning too.

But I prefer easy. Before 11 am, easy trumps all else. Fortunately, quiche, as fussy as it sounds, is actually really easy. It’s, at most, 10 minutes hands on (less if the veggies are already cooked) and then completely hands off until it comes out of the oven. This recipe makes a quiche that is fluffy like a souffle, like little eggy clouds of cheese and broccoli when you bite in. It also reheats really well in the oven, keeping the crust crunchy. Paige loved it. Unfortunately, Will just wasn’t a fan.

Maybe it’s a guy thing?

Easy Broccoli Quiche
serves 6

1 frozen pie crust
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups broccoli florets, boiled until tender (psst! save time and use leftover ones from last night’s dinner)
5 large eggs
1 cup skim milk
1 tsp salt
a dash of pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the frozen pie crust on a baking sheet.

Spread the cheese in the bottom of the pie crust and evenly distribute the broccoli on top of the cheese.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper, until completely combined.

Pour the egg mixture into the pie crust, evenly distributing it.

Place the pie crust on the baking sheet into the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes, until cooked through. You can test its doneness by sticking a knife in the center. If it comes out clean, then the quiche is done.

REHEATING: This heats up well in the oven – 350 for 5-10 minutes. Check it frequently.