Pre-Zoe, Memorial Day weekend was an annual trip to Cape May, NJ where we would celebrate my husband’s birthday, hang out with friends and family and gorge ourselves. I’m lucky I married into a family of great cooks and good eaters. There would be sweets for breakfast,  snacks at the beach, sandy sandwiches, afternoons of snacks, cocktails and fried flounder for dinner. I’d diet for weeks and splurge all of my calories over Memorial Day.
With Zoe, the thought of a group of people sharing a condo and eating all over the place is enough to make me break out in hives. Get it, allergy, hives? Oh, the allergy humor–HA!

Anyway, in preparation for this weekend, I borrowed an idea from my new fav site Pinterest. A very crafty woman turned diaper boxes into pretty storage containers. I’ve got diaper boxes galore! Pulled out my modge podge and got to work.

The result is a cute box filled with food that is safe to eat around Zoe. There are potato chips, corn tortilla chips, salsa, sausage, swedish fish, gummy bears and rice Chex cereal. There might be a few more items added after a shopping trip later this week. I’m also going to add wacky cupcakes in honor of Kevin’s birthday. Kevin talked to his family and they have agreed to only eat Zoe-safe food in their living room which is where Zoe will be spending most of her time when we’re in the house. Everyone knows not to actually give the food to Zoe (she could choke on a lot of it), but if she stumbles across crumbs or sticks her hand in the middle of it (hello oral phase), we don’t have to worry.

If you are traveling this weekend and spending it with friends and family, I highly recommend creating your own allergy-safe box and setting up boundaries in the house.  It’s all fun and games until somebody needs an epi-pen. Speaking of which, I’m open to suggestions on how to store epis at the beach w/out them getting too warm or too cold. Have suggestions? Email me at amiablelife@gmail.com or post them in the comments below.

Have a great, safe weekend!

Even though the chocolate chip muffins broke in half too easily, I still put them in the employee lounge with signage about Zoe and Food Allergy Awareness Week. Out of all of the baked goods I’ve left in that room over the past 7 years, these certainly were eaten the slowest.

Best part? I got lots of compliments about how cute Zoe is and a few co-workers stopped by my office to share their own food allergy stories.

Five days later I made wacky cake cupcakes based off of this recipe. Again, I left them in the employee lounge only this time I really redeemed myself. These cupcakes were amazing. I can’t believe they are wheat, dairy, egg and peanut free. Ever since Zoe was diagnosed I’ve had this irrational worry about her birthday cake. I want the really cute first birthday pictures of her tearing apart her cake. What kind of cake would I be able to serve that would be safe for her? I know that given her allergies I have a lot more serious things to worry about, but this was a big deal to me. Now I’m looking forward to making her wacky cake and taking hundreds of photos.

In addition to finding a birthday cake for Zoe, Food Allergy Awareness Week helped me connect with my co-workers, learn new information about dealing with Food Allergies and teach others as well.

To celebrate Food Allergy Awareness Week (May 13-19) I made wheat free, egg free, dairy free, chocolate chip muffins. My goal was to take them into work tomorrow along with signage about food allergies. Once my co-workers tasted these muffins they would swoon with delight and agree to never serve peanuts at parties and to give everyone ice pops instead of cake that allergic kids can’t eat.
I used the Gluten Free Pantry’s Muffin & Scone Mix, replaced the eggs with Ener-G Egg Replacer, sprinkled in a lot of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips and used Silk Vanilla Soy Milk instead of regular milk. Perhaps I over-mixed the batter but the muffins turned out chewy and the tops too easily separated from the bottoms which remained stuck to the cupcake wrappers.Unfortunately, I’m new at baking allergy-free and the muffins didn’t turn out exactly as I hoped. 

If I take these to work tomorrow I’m sure that no one will consider baking allergy-free cakes for their kids’ next birthday party.

This was actually my second attempt at baked goods for tomorrow. The brownies I made last night turned out grainy. At this point I’m probably going to have to buy Enjoy Life cookies for everyone instead.

Amiablelife has a new addition: Zoe! Born August 11, 2011.

Things I’ve learned since she was born:

–every nurse in the hospital has a different opinion about taking care of infants
–if I were a spy, I would trade state secrets for a 4 hour nap
–Happiest Baby on the Block is for real folks. If you don’t already own a copy, get it now!
–I don’t have as much time to write (let alone sleep, eat, shower, etc.)

I plan to eventually get back to posting more frequently on Amiablelife.
And by more frequently, I mean more than once a year.

Anyone out there with kids–what did you learn in the first few months of parenthood?
Add your thoughts in the comments.

I’ve taken a break from food blogging lately. Oh, I’m still eating, but I’m not writing about it. This past month, I’ve had amazing burgers at Frog Burger and Snow White Diner, a fantastic dinner at R2L and 4 delicious pizza pies from Dr. Oetker’s Pizza.

What’s been taking up so much of my time? Comedy. Yes, I know this is surprising because I’m not naturally funny. That’s why I’m taking improv comedy classes. I love it. Absolutely love it. I’m mostly awkward on stage and feel like I over-think my scene work.  But, when everything clicks together, for a brief moment it’s magical.

Just letting you know I’m still alive and as busy as ever. I’ll get back to posting here more frequently soon.

Until then, a brief combination of food & humor:
What do you get when you put three ducks in a box?  A box of quackers.

Have a funny joke of your own? Leave it in the comments.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Have a unique use for pumpkin pie filling? Leave it in the comments or email me at amiablelife@gmail.com

Thanks to everyone who commented, tweeted, facebooked, emailed and called to tell me to keep writing this blog.
Your words of encouragement were much appreciated and made a difference.

This weekend I celebrated my birthday and in Amiable Life tradition, invited myself over to other people’s houses to break bread (read: cake). Even with the blog on hiatus, I couldn’t help it and encouraged other people to feed me. Thanks to everyone over the past week who made sure I had a good meal: Tess/Bary, Molly/Jason, the Hockings, the Whites, the Mariash family, the Swiss Haus, my husband Kevin and the hot dog vendor at the corner of 20th and Market in Philly.

Amiable Life lives on, although in the next few weeks (read: months) there will be some changes. Check back often for a new banner, new tab: amiablelearning and other fun stuff!

Meanwhile, we’re getting ready for Halloween over here. Have a favorite costume or candy? Share about it in the comments. Have a favorite recipe for Halloween? Email me at amiablelife@gmail.com

This post is to announce my loser status in the Project Food Blog. Sadly, I didn’t make it to the third round.

I’m discouraged and a little disheartened. Not sure if Amiable Life will continue in its present form. Turns out it’s difficult to get people to invite me to cook with their grandmother and/or share their stories. I don’t get it. Everyone wants to be a celebrity and/or on reality tv. I give people a chance for internet notoriety and it’s like pulling teeth for people to share family recipes.  Why?

I’m open to suggestions/advice.

Have any thoughts on how I can encourage more people to share their family recipes/stories? Leave me a note in the comments.

Have any thoughts on a different direction for Amiable Life (other than my own recipes and/or restaurant reviews)? Leave me a note in the comments.

Have any encouraging words at all? Comments section, please.

Meanwhile, Amiable Life is taking a short hiatus while I gather my thoughts and enthusiasm. It is at times like these I try to remind myself of a little old ant, thought he could move a rubber tree plant . . .

Hi Readers,

I made it to the second round of competition on Project Food Blog! In the next few days, the judges will whittle the list from 400 to 200 writers and your vote counts! You, yes you, can keep me going to the next round. Please click on the Project Food Blog widget to the right side of this page and vote for me.

Thanks for your support.

PS– Next challenge will be to cook for a luxury dinner party.
Send your  party recipes/stories to amiablelife@gmail.com.

Sipping dirty martinis at a piano bar, Tess Kristensen taught me two Norwegian phrases necessary for entry into her world.  “Har du penger” translated means, “do you have money?” and “tusen takk” is “a thousand thank yous.” With that, our friendship was born. I’m lucky because for the past 5 years Tess was both my friend and my manager. We worked together in the Learning Department of a financial services company in Philadelphia. She is moving on to a new company and Friday was her last day. This post is in her honor because Tess believes in life-long learning, and cooking this lapskaus oppskrift (stew recipe) was certainly an educational experience.

Born in Oslo, Norway, Tess is half British and half Norwegian. Her family moved to Florida when she was 7 years old and still considered a citizen of Norway, she goes back there to visit her father’s family every few years. Tess can talk in great depth about her favorite Norwegian foods and is on a first name basis with the bartenders at Aquavit Restaurant in NYC. A few months ago, Tess and I enjoyed an amazing dinner there and until today, it was my only taste of Norwegian food. Remembering the 4-star meal we shared, it was with some trepidation that I entered Wegmans Supermarket, shopping list in hand. The recipe, sent to Tess by her father and similar to one her Aunt Berit uses, calls for 6 potatoes. I was off to a good start. Potatoes were familiar although I had no idea they were such a big part of Norwegian cooking. Tess said when she was growing up they had potatoes with everything. Her dad made them every night. Usually mashed. Tess also remembers eating bowl after bowl of lapskaus. Her Bestemor (Grandmother) used to make it and now her aunt makes it.  “The last time I ate it was on a cold day when I was visiting Norway,” Tess said. “My parents are slowly restoring my grandparents’ house and it had no electricity – I was helping them and was so happy to eat it when I got back to my Aunt’s house.”

The stew is filled with root vegetables and so I checked off Russets and moved down the aisle. Next on the list was parsley root. Parsley root? That’s funny. Who ever heard of parsley root? I assumed the google translator tool made a mistake so I added fresh parsley to my basket instead. I began searching for the third item, rutabaga. I didn’t know what it looked like. Was it a vegetable or fruit? Some sort of squash perhaps? Turnips? I found it! A big, purpleish, softball covered with a waxy substance. Right next to it was parsley root. Wait a minute! Parsley has roots! Who knew? Wegmans knew. Tess’ father and Aunt Berit knew. Parsley root is off-white and tastes a little sweet and a tiny bit nutty.

Once all the ingredients were purchased, chopped, browned and quietly bubbling, the stew recipe seemed easy in retrospect. But, something seemed a bit wrong. The broth was delicate and clear. The beef and potatoes were tender. Certainly savory, but not “stew-like.” A quick email was sent to Tess, who contacted her father, who forwarded it to Aunt Berit in Norway who suggested, “Saa er det bare aa vente til kjoettet er moert, bedre og bedre jo lengre det koker.” Of course! Let it simmer for a while–the longer it cooks, the better. Great advice (in any language). Now I had a proper stew. My husband ate two bowls. I suggested dropping off a container of it to my in-laws house, but Kevin wanted to keep it for himself; a sure sign of a successful oppskrift (recipe).

Lessons Learned:
–I am now an unofficial ambassador for unique root vegetables. The Wegmans cashier didn’t recognize the parsley root or rutabaga and I was happy to explain them to her and talk about my stew. I’d like to think when her shift ended she headed back to the vegetable section to purchase her own root veggies.
–Am I the only person who didn’t know that beef shoulder is the same thing as chuck roast? The butcher laughed at me when I kept asking him why it was named Chuck instead of Shoulder.
–It is difficult to make stew look sexy when shooting it. Stew isn’t easy to plate. I debated adding a sprig of fresh parsley on top but didn’t want to overdo it. Should I put the whole loaf of bread in the shot or just a few slices? I opted for realism because I intended to eat the still life for lunch.
–Over the past 5 years of working with Tess I have learned that family, friends and good health are more important than any 9-5 job; that the pursuit of excellence is admirable and that if you have a clear vision, you can achieve something great.
– Tess’ philosophy towards food is to eat what you love in moderation and always be open to trying new things. Her general life advice is to laugh, live and love well because life is short. I’m grateful for the time we had. Our working relationship has ended but I know we’ll remain friends. Tusen Takk, Tess. Save me a seat at Aquavit.

Have your own beef stew memories? Share them in the comments.

Have a family recipe/story to share? Email me at amiablelife@gmail.com

This blog posting is part of the Project Food Blog competition . Please vote for me by clicking on the Project Food Blog widget to the right of this page.

Original Recipe:
Ca. 600 g storfekjøtt av bog (høyrygg eller bibringe) Ca. 2 ss smør til steking Ca. 2 dl vann 1 buljongterning 6 poteter 3 gulrøtter 1 stor skive kålrot 2 persillerøtterCa. 4 dl vann/buljong 1 ts salt 1/2 ts grovmalt pepper.Skjær kjøttet i terninger og brun det i små porsjoner. Ha kjøttet i ei gryte og hell over vann/buljong. Vask og rens grønnsakene og potetene, skjær dem i passe biter. Tilsett grønnsaker og poteter og la alt trekke på middels varme til alt er mørt. Rør minst mulig slik at lapskausen ikke blir grøtete, men pass på at den ikke svir seg i bunnen. Smak til med salt og pepper. Lapskausen kan godt lages uten bruning. Rester av kokt kjøtt kan gjerne brukes. Server med grovt brød eller flatbrød og tyttebær.

Roughly translated recipe:
Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs beef shoulder
2 Tbs butter
2 cups of water into which is dissolved 1 bouillon cube
6 potatoes
3 carrots
1 large rutabaga
2 parsley roots
4 cups of water
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground pepper
3 cloves garlic (I added this to the recipe because Kevin likes the taste of garlic)
Serve with a loaf of bread (I used multigrain because the baker drew a blank when I asked for Norwegian bread)

Directions:
Cut meat into cubes and brown it in the butter
Cube all veggies (note, for those of you as unfamiliar with rutabaga as I was: you’ll need to peel it first until you reveal all of the light golden flesh under the waxy skin).
Dissolve the bouillon in the 2 cups of water
Pour over meat in pan
Add all chopped vegetables and cover with 4 cups of water
Cook on medium-low until vegetables are tender (about 45 minutes)
Stir as little as possible but make sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom.
Season with salt and pepper
Serve with bread

Returning to the Philadelphia National Candy, Gift & Gourmet Show for a second year, I found a few of my old favorites in their usual booth locations and was thrilled to discover a few newcomers as well.

The first thing to catch my eye? Colorful, fun lollipops from Kencraft Candy

Fruit seemed to be a bigger theme this year and EPI.llc specializes in cherries.

There is something still magical for me about beautiful designs on chocolates.
This set from American Chocolate Designs was particularly gorgeous.

 Licorice (or Liquorice as the Australians call it) has always been one of those so-so candies for me. However, I really liked this version from Kookaburra Liquorice because it tasted like a combination of red licorice and bullseye candies.

Not everything at the show was edible. Lots of vendors had beautiful wrapping like these ribbons from MNC Stribbons and the cupcake liners from Viking Importing Company.

Thanks to ChristinEats, I already knew I liked the combination of alcohol and sugar. Quintessential Chocolates takes it a step further and injects their confections with liquid liquors and fine wines. These were amazing. 
Good to note: you have to eat it all in one bite.

West End Confection Company capitalized on the cupcake craze by combining them with frosting to become yummy cupcake truffles. I could have eaten these all day.

The guys at the Electrofreeze Ice Cream Machine booth have a great sense of humor. Even served upside down, the ice cream is delicious. I especially liked what I called their ‘red velvet’ ice cream and they referred to as their ‘chocolate and cherry combination.’ It’s not pictured because I ate it before remembering to shoot photos.
Seems to be the one lesson I just can’t learn.

Have a favorite candy from your childhood? Write about it in the comments.

Have a recipe/story that uses candy? Email me at amiablelife@gmail.com