My Happy Meal Includes a Strawberry Shake

The start of a brand new year, one of the coldest days so far in the northeast and I have a craving...

for a strawberry shake.

I find it is best to just give in to the craving.  After all, how often do I eat this way?  McDonald's is definitely on the rare side of the scale.  How pretty was that shake though?  So thick and sweet topped with whipped cream and a CHERRY!  When did that happen?

I would like to think every bite of food shared with others and creating memories leads to feeling Fed Well, but if the golden arches proclaim it to be "pure joy," well, that sounds pretty fabulous.

I spend my day job in consumer research and product claims are a part of my work.  Is it puffery to claim every bite will be "pure joy?"  

Does it matter?  With the level of brand recognition McDonald's enjoys, do their slogans or tag lines really weigh heavily on their consumer's mind?  I know what the food tastes like, I know it is convenient and I know it will currently satisfy a craving.  Enough said.

I am a little suspicious about them calling out the 100% pure beef claim.  Do they want me to think about the pink slime?

I really used to enjoy a traditional hamburger happy meal sometimes until they changed the fries to apple slices.  If I go to McDonald's, again, I know what I am getting myself into and look forward to the deep fried, salty, and bit of "bad."  Slipping me fruit is agitating.  I create my own version of the old favorite and upgrade the fries and enjoy my strawberry shake.

Was it pure joy?  No, but it was just what I wanted at the time and the memory will sustain me for quite awhile.  The best memories of fast food meals go back to my teen years when a friend worked at the local chain...I escape for a few minutes and am left feeling happily Fed Well.

More than Pie

Pizza.  Growing up pizza meant Friday at school or Mom was sick and Dad had to get dinner.  It was a treat and growing up in New York meant of course that I've only ever known the best pizza in the world.  Thin crust, oozy gooey cheese and a bit of sweet tomato sauce.  

I remember being able to split a pizza with one girlfriend.  Yes, we each ate four whole slices while we talked about boys and fed quarters into the jukebox.

I remember thinking pizza was still a Friday treat as a new wife and mother.  We would go grocery shopping on pay day then out for a pie.  

Something about pizza and talking it over.  Tonight I am a little tired after my first day back at work.  I'd had almost 2 weeks off for the Christmas/New Year holidays and have done my fair share of cooking so I welcome the break of pizza.  Funny enough, my sons told me this past year that they are tired of pizza.

Tired of pizza?  The statement seems outrageous to me.  We only have pizza maybe twice a month at the most and who doesn't crave a perfect pie?

This evening though my older son, husband and I gather around the kitchen table and have a good, hard chat about safety in the workplace.  Our older son is concerned about some of the work conditions at his job, what to do about it if anything and how many of his examples are negligence on behalf of this employer or if they are simply employee responsibility or preference.

  

The classic New York style cheese pizza or pie has survived all of my stages of life from childhood through adulthood and has likely been appropriately served as a casual meal, a birthday celebration and yes, we even had some as a late night snack after our wedding.  

Pie is just the thing when you need to talk it over and feel Fed Well.

Stony Brae for a New Year's Dinner

The husband and I have definitely had a tumultuous year so we are welcoming 2013 with open arms and decide on Stony Brae for dinner.

We've been spending quite a bit of time together during the holiday season and I actually worry for a minute that we will be that couple that doesn't speak during the meal.  Does it happen?  Do two people just ran out of things to say?  Or do they decide to coast?  Coasting leaves people stranded.

We're not going to make it if we coast.

The outside of the restaurant is seasonally decorated.  It's warm and welcoming.

Tasteful decor continues inside with a simple table arrangement.

The real icicles outside the window perfectly accent the corner tree.
 

The holiday menu is Prix Fixe with five courses.  Everything looks and sounds fabulous.

We begin by sharing stories about what we remember from the past 29 New Year's we have celebrated together including our own house party and many we have spent at my husaband's good friend's house.

Our culinary adventure begins with a simple warm "bread biscuit" on a wooden board with chilled butter.  The crust is firm but not crumbly and yields a soft and doughy center.

"Remember when I hollowed out a loaf of Italian bread and threw the little balls of dough at people at our party," my husband laughed.

"Yes, and I remember you doing your best Saturday Night Fever dance moves.  I have the pictures to prove it.  I also remember you being in bed for 2 days after the party."

The crab cakes are lush, sweet and tender as well as a generous portion.

I begin with the bacon and chive tart topped with carmelized red onions.  A savory start that sets the tone for the rest of the meal.

The other diners are a mix of couples like us and groups of four or six.  Laughter.  Stories.  The unspoken hopes for the new year.  A new start.  Another chance.

The salad is dressed and while I prefer to eat mine without dressing, it is light enough to still taste the actual vegetables.

Soup.  The hug of a meal.  An embrace from the inside.  I love soup.  His, the French Onion of course and mine, the Butternut Squash - also no surprise.

Mine is silky and smooth.  The creaminess is offset by the two croutons and in a way, I wish for more of the crispy bread.

"What do you look forward to in 2013," we ask each other.

More physical activities like bicycling, he would like to change careers, I would like to sit still and be disciplined enough to finish writing the book I have started.  We agree we want to be together.  A fine start indeed.

A classic roast chicken with potatoes and asparagus for him.  The poultry is succulent, the potatoes are crisp and the asparagus just tender enough.

I ordered the Brontosaurus, I mean pork shank with orecchiette and I am drooling just to look at it in the deep bottom plate.  The bark is well seasoned and crisp, the flesh is fork tender and sweet.  I am overwhelmed by the sheer size of it but smiling from my satisfied soul by the taste.  I gave it my best effort but had to ask for most of it to be packaged for home.

A pot of tea.  Talk of the future and what our life may look like when our sons are out of the house.  What will we be like as empty nesters?  What do we want it to look like?

If he has dessert it is almost always an apple pie, crisp or crumble.  Tonight is no different.  We know what we like.  We know what we want.  I also know I am full.  I try a spoonful of his but that is as much as I can handle.  Well, that is as much food as I can currently handle and so we ask for my dessert to go.

We laugh our way home, watch a bit of television and have some champagne.  I finally decide to taste the eggnog bread pudding with vanilla ice cream.

We continue to make plans for our tomorrows together and days we will decide to stay together and be Fed Well.

Preparing for 2013 and Home Made Ice Cream

With a mom and a sister, we rotate hosting holiday meals;  I host Thanksgiving, my mom Easter and my sister Christmas.  Other celebrations may be held by the one who simply wants to and this time my Mommy wanted to have a Sunday family dinner with a touch of post Christmas and a splash of pre-New Year.

We begin with a simple plate of cheeses, pepperoni and crackers.  Thing about simple or classic, if the ingredients are delicious that is all that matters.  The Colby and Cheddar were creamy and sharp respectively and a perfect start.

 

My mother asked for a volunteer to carve the turkey and I admit, I secretly (or maybe it's not really a secret at all) love to carve meat.  It is like a personal challenge to have the slices come out just the right thickness and the same.  Here's how it went this past Sunday -

The trick for me is to remove the breast meat from the turkey itself.  So yummy.

Can you tell this is my mom's stuffing and not mine from Thanksgiving?  Is it the classic or vintage Pyrex?  Doesn't matter.  It is delicious, loaded with sausage and a comfort food I count on.

Mashed potatoes.  Real mashed potatoes.  May seem like no big deal to some, but really, it's carbohydrate heaven.

When the meal is consumed, everyone finds some entertainment as I take my first attempt at home made ice cream with my younger nephew.  I bought him an ice cream maker for Christmas and neither of us has ever used one.  Classic Jenga helps keep us amused as the paddle whirs the ingredients together.

After a time the canister with the mixed dairy products, sugar and vanilla is placed in the freezer where it will never set up in time for us to eat it the same night.  We pull it after a time and scoop out the small bits of solids for everyone to have a tasting.  We all agree it tastes like a luxurious melted milkshake.  My sister will take home the canister for an overnight freeze and I did find out my nephew enjoyed the results.

This year my mother gave all of her grandsons red socks for Christmas and explained it was because she saw Sherlock Holmes wearing them in the movie.  My sister asked the boys/men to wear them to Sunday dinner and of course I took some pictures.  I generally try to keep their faces out of the blog but here's a peek...

And so today is a day for new beginnings, fresh starts, a new year...how will you be Fed Well?

Old Friends and Storms

You know that friend you have, the one you've known since elementary school?  Well, my husband's longest time friend, his wife and the two of us all went out to dinner in the middle of a post-holiday snowstorm.  Luckily it was at the restaurant less than 2 miles from our home and we were fine in our 4 wheel drive truck staying well under 30 miles per hour.

We have seen each other during the lowest lows and the highest highs.  After a bit of turmoil and personal storms this year, I thought it would be grounding to reunite with them for a meal.  Unfortunately, my husband's friend recently witnessed the loss of another friend who had suffered and lost his battle with cancer.  Listening through the hard times are one way to show support.

I smile as the friend's wife orders for herself and her husband.  He trusts her implicitly.  They spend their days together at work and she is his number one fan in his recreational pursuits.  

While I do not order for my husband I very well could have predicted his choices.  French onion soup followed by Chicken Marsala.
 

He can certainly provide detailed reviews of area restaurants by their French Onion soup.  It should never be too salty, the cheese should be moderately stringy with a nice size serving of toasted bread at the top.  For him the onions should be a bit on the sweet side and it should always be molten lava hot.

The rest of us begin with salad.  Salads are quite personal I have learned.  One friend only likes lettuce and tomato while our male friend is disappointed by the limited amount of cucumbers and tomatoes.  I prefer my salad naked as I have mentioned in previous posts.  Growing up I remember my favorite tossed salads including the entire produce section; mushrooms, celery, broccoli, etc. and once I discovered salad bars I would try to heap a little bit of all the offerings onto one plate.

The prime rib topped with shrimp scampi served with a baked potato and broccoli for the gentleman.  His lovely wife mirrored his dinner but with the scampi on the side so her dear hubby could have the second portion as well.  I love a couple with a plan and a method.

I did offer assistance though (or butted in, depending on how you look at things) when my husband placed his order.  He asked for pasta with his Chicken Marsala but I have learned from the past that he does not mean he wants it under the chicken in the Marsala sauce, he wants it on the side with marinara.  I ensured this snafu was cleared up.

My plate was one of the specials.  Crispy chicken with creamy garlic risotto topped with roasted red peppers.  The chicken was an enormous portion of breaded and fried breast with melted mozzarella and the risotto was tender without being mush.  I also ate all of my broccoli.

I also must add, this restaurant does indeed serve the best Cosmopolitan and it is served the same way each and every time I order it.

The time passes quickly, our meals are cleared and dessert is ordered.  For our lady friend, a cheesecake while I follow our male friend's lead and have the chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.

An evening with "old" friends - part of the holiday season, part of welcoming in the new year, part of life.

I bring home a to-go order of crispy chicken Cesar salad for our younger son and am happy to see it is indeed crisp and fresh.  All is well.  No, all are Fed Well.

The Classics are Always in Style

Lunch with all four of us home becomes a bit more like a family dinner.  We all eat together and some foods are simply crowd pleasers.

Today, bacon is on the menu.  I decide to bake it.  Yes, bake it.   We were forced into this cooking method 2 years ago on a family beach vacation because the kitchen in our rental house did not provide proper pans to use the stove top.  

Sea Isle City, NJ

It was a great vacation.  The four of us, my mother, his mother and the family dog as well as a few days with my sister and her sons.  The weather wasn't perfect, but we still had good food and fun.

The strips still require turning and once they are removed from the pan I drain the bacon fat into a glass measuring cup (it is later strained and reserved - I may use it to cook venison in) then the strips are placed on paper towels to drain.

The flavor doesn't change, the kitchen still smells like bacon, the crispness is still there, but the clean up is significantly easier.

Fresh lettuce leaves are rinsed, torn and placed on a plate.

 

Tomatoes are a bit of a challenge.  It is the dead of winter but the grocery store does carry hydroponic and other varieties.  The real issue?  I don't have any on hand but am not willing to change from BLT's to BL's so I slice our grape tomatoes in half and hope for the best.

 

White bread toast.  Sort of the black turtleneck equivalent of the dish - always classic.  Each component can be swapped out for a more modern or healthier ingredient of course, but for this family lunch we stick to the basics.  A bit like laying around in our old sweatpants.  I am enjoying my memories of the beach as I look out the window at the newly fallen snow.

 (This view is not right outside the window, but not far from home.)


We are a family and this classic comfort lunch, with little fuss but well prepared individual ingredients, leaves us feeling Fed Well.

Healthy Snack for the New Year

Here's a tough schedule:  3 consecutive days of holiday eating, one day of rest and then, the annual physical.

On the day of rest from holiday eating, I ate holiday left-overs but, I did manage to pull the treadmill into an operating position and trudge through two LOOOOOONNNNNG miles for a walk.

It felt ok.

At the physical, yes, the first stop is the scale.  I always offer to remove my shoes as if they will easily erase all evidence of my non-stop food fest since Thanksgiving.  Wrong.  The nurse actually laughed and said, "We just mark the chart that you weighed in fully dressed and allow for 2 pounds."

Two?  Only two?

Clearly my boots are two pounds on their own and everyone knows how HEAVY jeans are - right?

Fine.

The day after the physical I face off with the treadmill again and log another two miles.  It is a bit easier and I throw in some inclines and faster speeds.  Problem is - I am starving afterward.

Healthy snack in preparation for the new year?  One slice of double protein bread topped with about a teaspoon of peanut butter and 1/2 sliced banana.

I believe I have managed to stay away from sweets for a full 24 hours.  No chocolate.  It seems a bit sad, but I will be back when I can be in control.  It is time to claim a healthier combination of activity and healthier eating in combination to keep me feeling Fed Well.