Category Archives: baby

Porkchops and Applesauce…okay just applesauce

February 11, 2018

Did you guys ever watch the Brady Bunch as a kid?  Do you remember the episode where Peter starts imitating Humphrey Bogart and telling everyone they were having ‘Porkchops and applesauce” for dinner?  Click here to see what I am talking about.  LOL.

Have your ever had pork chops and applesauce?  I never have.  Is it a good pairing?  My mom just slow braised pork chops in lemon juice and white wine and oregano until fall apart tender.  But that’s not what this blog post is about!  I can fill 100 blog posts about all the things my Greek-American girlfriends and I never tried as children that all of our regular American friends indulged in.  You have never heard so many sad tales of “I never got to order off the kids menu as a child, I had to have a t-bone steak!”  Can you imagine?  A 5 year old with a t-bone steak in front of her?  Yeah, that was me.  FWP (first world problems).  LOL.

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled program…you guys, how did I not know that applesauce is so good?  How have I been living unaware of this fact for so long?  Okay, truth be told I wanted to make some applesauce for Miss Magdalena since she is starting solid foods now.  But I tasted some and was like “whoa!”  I found out it was so super good and I had to share this simple little sweet treat.

What else can you do with applesauce?

  • a side to pork chops
  • latkes and applesauce
  • use applesauce in your baked goods like muffins and cakes
  • topping for your oatmeal

Now I am all, “I can’t wait for fall to go apple picking!”  Get ready Michigan road trip!  Apple picking and apple cider doughnuts.  Alas, it’s only February!!!  It’s snowing like crazy in Chicago.  We probably got 8 inches on Friday and another 5 inches Saturday night into Sunday morning.  It’s a slow motion snowpocalypse…never ending snow. Heavy, wet, slushy snow.  Actually the slush reminds me of applesauce, but golden and cinnammon-like…ok, never mind.

Applesauce…try it.

I like to top vanilla ice cream with a  few spoonfuls of warmed applesauce and a little caramel sauce and it’s heaven!  So here is my husband and baby approved applesauce.

Cinnamon Applesauce – makes 4 x 8oz jars

Ingredients:

4 lbs of apples (I like gala or braeburn)

1.5 cups of water

2 sticks of cinnamon

Directions:

Peel, core and slice your apples

Place in a big pot and add water and cinnamon sticks.

Bring to boil, then turn down and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Mash or puree or waz it up with a fancy immersion blender,

Eat with a touch of cinnamon or nutmeg or use in your favorite recipe for baking or top your vanilla ice cream, or top your oatmeal, or just enjoy plain.

Enjoy!

-Kallie

1 Reply

My Latest Project…

August 4, 2017

Hi everyone,

You have probably been wondering where on earth I have been the past few months. You must have thought I disappeared completely.  Don’t fret inter-web friends, I am still here.  In fact, I have been working hard on a new recipe this whole time and it goes something like this:

1 part sugar
1 part spice
1 part everything nice

THAT’S WHAT LITTLE GIRLS ARE MADE OF.

So if you haven’t guessed by now, I had a baby girl. On July 9th, Jeff and I welcomed our little Magdalena Vasiliki to the world and we are head over heels in love. Isn’t that something every new parent says?  it’s so cliché but I guess it’s true.  She is so adorably squish-able.  She is so sweet…I could just eat her up, chomp! I may have nibbled on some toes already.  LOL.

Anyway, I basically have been living the past 9 months in shock and awe at my ever changing body and never ending nausea wondering what this little girl would be like.   In addition to sugar and spice and everything nice, I’m pretty sure Miss Magdalena is made of carrots,  cucumbers and raspberries…and a little bit of Swiss cheese.  That’s pretty much all I ate the whole time.

How on earth do those crazy baby apps decide that “this week, your baby is the size of a pineapple” and then the next week it’s “the size of a butternut squash”? Doesn’t that really depend on how big the actual fruit or vegetable is? Or is this an “on average” estimate? I know, I am thinking way too deeply about this baby to vegetable analogy, but come on!  Sometimes it made no sense.

Anyway, I played along with the weekly fruit/veggie game, always wondering what little Magdalena really looked like, or what she would be like.  Well there is no wondering anymore.  She is here right now and I can hardly believe this little girl is all mine.

I was also was very fortunate to have 3 very kind and generous women in my life give me the most amazing baby shower.   My koubares, Eleni, MaryAnn and Vayoula organized a very elegant and intimate baby shower at Sepia’s event space with my closest friends and family.  My favorite flowers, peonies and hydrangeas were the center pieces. The food was excellent.  At a place like Sepia how can anyone go wrong?  And of course the bonbonieres were these super cute little baby elephants with the traditional white Jordan almonds tied to them.  it was perfect.

I do think everyone was annoyed with me though because I wouldn’t tell anyone the sex of the baby.  Even my baby registration was all white and grey colored sheets, blankets and onesies.  Neutral colored car seats and play yards.  Everyone of course tried to guess…and I have to say everyone was wrong.  Something along the lines of “oh you look to pretty to be having a girl.”  Ummm, okay, thanks???  Although, if they were paying attention, they would have noticed I wore a vintage pink colored dress to the shower…hello, I gave clues all along…haha!

I am also glad to report that I did not give up on wearing heels the whole time I was pregnant.  I wore booties and sandals with adjustable laces to accommodate the random Kim K. type of swelling in my feet.  Whoa!  Thankfully, they have shrunk back down to normal.  My shoe collection is saved!

On July 29th, Jeff and I celebrated 5 years of marriage. This year, we were able to celebrate it with our little Magdalena. We walked across the street to our favorite Italian restaurant in Chicago, Monteverde and had late lunch celebrating our anniversary. Our lives will never be the same.  And we are so grateful for it.

I wonder what kind of foods Magdalena will like? Will she like being the “flour girl” and help me bake, like I helped my mom?  Or will she be all about mac and cheese?

Here is a link to my new favorite song: Me and Magdalena by the Monkees. Yes those Monkees!  It was a song written by Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie.  I think it’s the most beautiful song I ever heard.

Jeff and I decided that Magdalena needs a real music education. We will need to inform her musical tastes by listening to ABBA and Cracker and the musical stylings of They Might Be Giants and of course the kiddie version of the Smiths. Did you know They Might Be Giants write children’s songs? There will be no purple dinosaurs, bizarro tele-tubbies or yo-gabba-gabba creatures in this home…sorry Magdalena =)

Anyway, dear blog readers, I hope to be back more often with new posts and recipes for you soon.  Thanks for reading.

Take care,
Kallie

3 Replies