Chipotle Chili Chicken Skewers with Honey-Lime Cream

I will state upfront that this recipe is deeee-licious!  I've made it twice now and both times it got rave reviews.  Actually both times I forgot to even get a photo of the pyramid of skewers right off the barbecue, probably because they were quickly off into people's hands (and mouths).  Several people have asked me for the recipe already so here it is.  It's from Weber's Way to Grill, by Jamie Purviance, which was given to me by my friend when he moved to Montreal - thanks for the great book Kevin!

In Weber's the recipe is called "Jerk Chicken Skewers with Honey-Lime Cream" and uses a chile pepper in the paste.  I'm kind of a wuss when it comes to heat in food so instead I substituted that with Irresistibles' Chipotle Chili Pepper.  Anyway here is the ingredients list for the paste used to marinate the chicken.  

Note:  The book specifies the below quantities for 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 to 8 ounces each) but I found that it was waaaay too little so I almost doubled the quantities to get good coverage of the meat.

Paste:

1            habanero or Scotch bonnet chile pepper (I replaced with Chipotle Chili Pepper powder)

1 cup      lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems

1/2 cup   extra-virgin olive oil

4            scallions, white and light green parts, roughly chopped

6            medium garlic cloves

2 tbsp     finely chopped fresh ginger  (I uses ground ginger my second time)

2 tbsp    granulated sugar

1 tbsp    fresh lime juice

1 tbsp    ground allspice 

2 tsp      kosher salt

1 tsp      freshly ground black pepper

Put all of the paste ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth:

Trim the chicken fat and cut the chicken into strips (or chunks) 1/2 to 3/4 inches thick. Then place the chicken into a resealable plastic bag along with the paste.  Cover the chicken well with paste and marinate in the fridge for 2-3 hours.  After that step is complete just thread the chicken onto skewers that have been previously soaked in water.  Once you're ready to barbecue, grill the skewers over direct high heat with the lid closed for 6-8 minutes, turning once or twice.

Remembered to take a photo only when there were two skewers left!

To complement the wonderfully flavourful chicken skewers is a tasty honey-lime cream, equally simple to make:

Sauce:

1/2 cup     sour cream

1/2 tsp      finely grated lime zest

1 tbsp       fresh lime juice

1 tbsp       extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp         honey

1/4 tsp      kosher salt

1/8 tsp      freshly ground black pepper

In a small bowl whisk together the sauce ingredients.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  Let the sauce stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.

Ingredients for dipping sauce

Guardian Swim Goes Retro!

Adam went swimming yesterday in his very first bathing suit! I know I know, he started Guardian Swim "lessons" three weeks ago with cousin Gracie but we only had him in a swim diaper each of those times.  Yes, yes, a friend has already pointed out that most other babies do have a bathing suit over their swim diaper (guilt trip) but I just hadn't seen the need for the half-hour classes.

Anyway after laughing about it with my friend I decided maybe it would be fun to sew one for him....like a retro 40's one-piece type (you know, the kind that looks like an Olympic wrestler's uniform).  

I searched several fabric stores for polyester/lycra that would be suitable for Adam's new swimsuit and was quite surprised and disappointed with the slim selection.  I thought it would be straightforward to find a black-and-white or blue-and-white striped bolt but instead found myself debating which of the choices before me could possibly be considered not girly. 

I guess it hadn't dawned on me that swimsuits for guys are commonly swim trunks and not spandex, unless of course they are speedos.  So naturally most of the fabrics out there appropriate for swimsuits are geared towards women and girls...but seriously, not all of us want be adorned with flowers, unicorns, and butterflies.  After looking at multiple stores I ultimately settled on a blue poly that still has roses and hearts on it but was the only one I could picture a little boy in.  It was between that, a bubble-gum pink floral melange, or tiger stripes.  Geeze.  I also picked up some cobalt blue poly trim for accents.

Sewing the swimsuit was easier than I had anticipated. My few experiences sewing with stretchy fabrics in the past haven't been wildly successful. This time though the poly held it's shape pretty well for the seams but did get a bit stretched out when I added the blue trim accents.  I think the extra layers of fabric in the trim made it harder to feed the fabric evenly under the sewing foot.  You can see what I mean in the photos where the side seams are nice and flat (not bubbly) but the arm holes and neckline look overstretched.

Racer-back style

As I've mentioned before I don't have a serger but luckily poly doesn't fray.  Still, I wanted to avoid raw edges for a more finished look so I did French seams along the shoulders, sides, and crotch (that is, sewing wrong sides together first, trimming the seam allowance, and then turning over to sew right sides together).  Of course, as is often the case, I didn't think of this detail until after cutting out the swimsuit which meant the overall size shrunk by half an inch or so.  I was about 2/3 of the way through the swimsuit when Adam woke up from his nap so I pulled it on him and discovered it was on the small side making him look like a sausage!   Uh oh, time to start again.  Luckily it's a fairly small and quick project so this wasn't a big deal.

Blue trim accent

The only raw edges I left exposed are on the under-side for the trim.  You can see this in the above photo if you look closely (edges by the rose are folded over and stitched down but edges on the backside by the faded star are raw).  I thought it would just be too bulky to stitch down a double-fold trim which might make for even wonkier neck- and armholes :)

Well I finished up the swimsuit Friday evening while Mike was watching Adam and we tried it on him right before bed. I thought he looked adorable in it...my little Olympic wrestler.  All set for Saturday morning swimming!

5 min before class 

I bet all the other parents were jealous of Adam's new swimsuit!  Okay, maybe not. In fact they were probably all confused because the legs of his swimsuit rode up in the water making it look like a girls' bathing suit instead.  Might as well have just bought the purple unicorns :D

Peekaboo Partridge Hat

Today I finished up a summer hat for Adam using the Peekaboo Partridge and Happy Scrolls fabric I ordered waaay back in my third trimester.  I had planned to use those fabrics for his chenille blanket but in the end thought the design was a bit too busy for so large a piece.  They work perfectly for something small like a hat though!

The idea for a summer hat came to me when we were at the cottage in Manitoulin and I put on a hat that a friend had handed down to us. It fit Adam pretty well around the head but the straps were too short to encircle his chubby cheeks.  Simple fix, right? Just extend the straps...but wait!  Why not make a whole new hat for him?  Ok yes, I was just looking for an excuse to make him something new.  I haven't found the time yet to make him proper articles of clothing like onesies, shirts, or shorts yet. Instead I've been in a sewing marathon for accessories like bibs and drool pads for the teething monster. But hats are pretty simple and heck, why not?

So one night while watching an episode of House of Cards after Adam went to bed, I threw together my own hat pattern based on the sunhat our friend gave us.  I made it a teensy bit larger but otherwise it was more or less the same.  Ta-dah - three parts!

Altogether there were 12 pieces to assemble (not including straps):

• Top circle - 2x side A + 2x side B
• Side wall - 2x side A + 2x side B
• Brim - 4x side A + 2x heavy interface/brim stiffener

Obviously you can vary the side A / side B combinations to your liking.  I chose to use the same fabric on both sides of the brim but you could choose to use different fabrics so that the hat is reversible. I was tempted to make this one reversible, only I wanted to add straps and didn't know how to make that work on both sides!

The brim was the trickiest part. I didn't have heavy-weight interfacing on me so I sandwiched a piece of the thicker herringbone from his newsboy cap between the Happy Scrolls fabric.  Then I sewed somewhat equidistant lines around the brim to make it look more "professional".

My mistake was connecting the two herringbone brim halves together by putting right sides together (what you would normally do) because that made for an extra thick seam.  The sewing foot had a really difficult time getting over that section of the brim and ended up squishing the outer fabric into a weird wrinkle.  You can see it in the above photo (yuck).  Also it was a challenge lining up the brim seam with the side wall seam of the hat because of all that extra fabric so they are offset.  Oh well.  I ended up positioning the straps so that these seams end up on the sides of his head rather than front and back.

Honestly though, the only thing this little guy cares about is gnawing on every possible surface.

These Life-Saver looking things are so delicious

Checking the fit before adding the straps

To finish, I cut out two long strips of fabric to turn into straps. Pretty straightforward.  I added velcro to the tips and slid the other ends between the inner lining and brim.

And yes, that's a custom-made bib too.  Maybe I'll write about the bib marathon some other time but basically I've had to sew a bunch of bibs myself to ensure they are thick and absorbent enough to keep his drool rash at bay.  Yaaay teething!

Thai One On

Here's another recipe from the Looneyspoons cookbook that I tried out last week from the "Ladle Gaga" section.  I know I know, the puns are kinda corny but that's part of the charm of this book!

The great thing about this Thai-inspired soup is that it has tonnes of flavour and is simple to make.  A wonderful savoury soup with some sweetness and spice - mmmm :)

Here is the list of ingredients that went into this delicious soup:

1 tbsp            butter or olive oil
1 cup             each chopped onions and chopped red bell pepper
3/4 cup          chopped celery
2 tsp              minced garlic
4 cups            peeled, cubed sweet potatoes
1 tbsp            grated gingerroot
3/4 tsp          each ground cumin, ground coriander and curry powder

1/4 tsp          ground cinnamon

2 cups           reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

1 can (14 oz / 398 mL) light coconut milk

1/2 tsp          salt

1/4 tsp          freshly ground black pepper

3 tbsp           each minced fresh cilantro and minced fresh basil leaves

2 tbsp           light peanut butter

1 tbsp           brown sugar

1 tbsp           freshly squeezed lime juice

1 lb (454 g)   cooked medium shrimp, tails removed (thaw first if using frozen)

sweet potatoes, gingerroot, cumin, curry powder, and cinnamon

I'm a big fan of sweet potatoes - great for pureed soups and pureed solids for babies. I'd opt for sweet potato fries over regular fries any day.

peanut butter, brown sugar, lime juice

Unsweetened peanut butter works just as well as regular peanut butter.  I could definitely taste the nuttiness in the soup - definitely a common part of Thai cuisine.

And shrimp...what more can I say?  Shrimp is like the Chicken McNugget of the sea.  I know many people who "hate seafood" but will still eat shrimp.  Of course, I also know a few who insist that they won't eat shrimp either but that's crazy talk.  

Anyway, enough about the ingredients, here are the steps for you eager readers who are already squeezing limes and yanking basil from your gardens.  Guess what, there are only three of them!

1.  Heat butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, red pepper, celery and garlic.  Cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 4 minutes.

2.  Stir in sweet potatoes, gingerroot, cumin, coriander, curry powder and cinnamon.  Cook and stir for 30 more seconds.  Add broth, coconut milk, salt and pepper.  Bring soup to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, just until sweet potatoes are tender.

3.  Carefully transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth.  Return pureed soup to pot and remaining soup.  Stir in cilangro, basil, peanut butter, brown sugar and lime juice.  Mix well.  Add shrimp and heat for about 2 more minutes, just until shrimp is hot.

Holy ArtsCow!

Yay my custom board book arrived in the mail yesterday and Holy ArtsCow, the printing quality is exceptional!  

While I was pregnant with Adam my mother-in-law showed me some poems that she had written for Mike when he was a baby.  She had always meant to create a book with them but had never gotten around to it.  The poems were terrific and a seed was planted in my mind to eventually create that book for both her and Adam.  Well I finally sat down and spent two afternoons putting together the illustrations and pages to create this wonderful book of Poems from Nana to Daddy to Adam.

Now I want to state upfront that I did not draw the pictures in this book as I did in the Christmas book for Anna.  I thought about it.  But I still don't have a tablet and when I drew those pictures with just a mouse (or even my index finger on my laptop touch pad) it took a very long time.  

The challenge with finding clipart online is that most of them have poor resolution or a huge annoying watermark across them or are inconsistent in drawing style (i.e. one is cartoonish, one is a sketch, one is a line drawing, etc).  Fortunately I'm pretty handy with Gimp and Photoshop so I could increase the pixel resolution, eliminate watermarks pretty easily, add background and details, and even alter the images to better suit the poem.  For example it didn't take long to transform that little girl with blond hair and pigtails, freckles, and long eyelashes into a little boy pilot!

However finding consistent drawing styles online was just something I had to invest time doing.  Eventually I was able to find all the pictures I wanted and then it was a matter of finding a good printing house.  I half convinced myself of turning it into a cloth book like the one for Caleb but then talked myself out of it again.  There are several websites I came across for making custom board books.  One of the most popular ones I kept reading about is pint size productions, but when I asked for a quote, not only were they pricey but their standard number of pages wasn't enough for what I needed.  

I also considered buying chunky blank board books and then printing the pages on full-page labels and creating the book that way.  Again, just didn't really do it for me.  

Finally I decided to go with a deluxe 6"x6" photo book from ArtsCow and I couldn't be happier.  The biggest challenge with actual board books was finding ones that could accommodate the number of pages for  these poems.  With ArtsCow I was actually creating a photo book with lay-flat pages (4x the thickness of regular pages) as a way to mimic a board book.  There were still some conditions to the number of pages (e.g. multiples of 4) due to how the book is constructed but it happened to work out just right for me.  I also took advantage of a free shipping promo so the total was $23.  That's not bad considering some regular board books are $8.99 + tax. There's also a 4"x 4" option which is cheaper.

Anyway for anyone considering making a custom board book, I would suggest giving ArtsCow a try if other board book companies can't meet your needs. However if anyone does find a good printing site I would love to hear about it!  

Half A Year Gone By Already...

Yesterday Adam turned six months old.  Now wait a minute, where's the rush??

I'm definitely one of those annoying parents who thinks their child is the cutest one out there but at least I try to tone it down around other people.  Every month I think "Ok, now he's the cutest he'll ever possibly be" but he keeps proving me wrong.  Adam is at an adorably fun stage right now and I just want to hang onto every wonderful moments for as long as possible.  It feels like in a blink of an eye he went from this -

1 week old

- to this!

It's embarrassing how many photos I take of Adam but when my maternity leave is over and I can't spend my whole days with him, at least I'll get to sit down to a warm cup of tea and look over these snapshots of his first year of life:  how he practically doubled in weight at month two; how he lost most of hair in month three; how he simultaneously punched, kicked, and laughed for a photo at month six.  I won't regret having this huge collection of photos at all - nope, not one bit.