Birthday Cake

Tyler has helped me with baking projects lots of times over the years, but today she made her first cake all by herself.  Auntie Kim had prepared the frosting in advance, but the cake and assembly was all Tyler.  The recipe was the America's Test Kitchen (ATK) German Chocolate Cake.  In typical ATK fashion, this recipe has lots of ingredients and steps in the directions.  As you can see from the videos and photos, the cake turned out perfectly and Phil was honored to be the recipient of Ty's first baking masterpiece!

Surprise Breakfast

We were enjoying a nice morning out on the patio when Ty excused herself and went into the house.  She came out about 15 minutes later, breakfast in hand.  She whipped up the most delicious breakfast sandwich, complete with perfectly cooked eggs and fried (reduced fat) salami, on a nicely toasted kaiser roll, served with a side of sautéed fresh pear.  Incredibly good.  

And to top it off, after we finished eating, she cleared the plates, took them in the house, and completely cleaned the kitchen - even the stove.  She's always had a serious interest in cooking, but has now taken it to the next level; creating and executing, and cleaning up after herself, completely on her own.  I'm one proud mom!

Kale snack

We went to the grocery this morning and Ty insisted we get some kale to make for lunch.  While I was working on a project on my computer, she went into the kitchen and whipped up a little "kale snack" for herself.  I tried it - it's yummy!  Can't wait until she makes it for us for lunch!

Lunch

We were all sitting outside today when Tyler announced she was going in to make lunch.  The first course was a pickled beet salad:

The beet salad was delicious!

After finished the beet salad Tyler headed back into the kitchen, first to do the dishes from the first course and then to prepare the entree course.

The entree course was a combination of fruits and half hamburger bun with 5 original, homemade dipping sauces.  All five sauces were very, very interesting.  Here are the descriptions starting with the sauce in the dish at the top of the plate and making the way clockwise around the plate:

1.  This sauce had a base of lemonade and lots of unknown spices.

2.  This base of this white, creamy sauce was Greek yogurt and sour cream and also had a combination of spices.

3.  The third sauce was aged balsamic and, you guessed it, unknown spices.

4.  The fourth sauce was made with Greek yogurt but this time, with an Asian spin, with the addition of sesame oil and soy sauce.

5.  And finally, the fifth sauce was made from melted cheddar cheese, cayenne pepper and some other tasty flavors.  

What a fun, impromptu lunch!

Egg Muffins

Ty woke up hungry today, eager to whip up something creative and delicious for breakfast. She decided eggs cooked in a muffin tin would be both fancy and delicious. 

She started the dish by wilting some fresh spinach, then "sweat" an onion (seasoning both with salt and pepper to add an extra layer of flavor), and added them to some whisked eggs. After adding salt and pepper and a generous dose of Chilula, she ladeled the mixture into the prepared muffin tin and added a quarter slice of aged cheddar to each cup. She finished each one with a little fresh black pepper and swirl of Chilula. After 12 minutes at 350° and another minute under the broiler the muffins puffed up into tender, flavorful sweet little soufflés. 

While we dined al fresco on our creative little eggy delights, Ty pointed out this was a perfect, healthy dish, "packed with protein from the eggs and cheese and vitamins from the veggies". Right you are, Chef Tyler!

Thanksgiving Practice Apprtizer

Ty made a snack today for the Bears game which we think will be a perfect Thanksgiving appetizer:) Ingredients are red pear, green and red apples, raisins, large white raisins and peanut butter. Festive AND healthy! Sure to be "gobbled" up by a hungry crowd!

Birthday Breakfast Cupcakes

This morning Tyler created breakfast cupcakes for Phil's 40th birthday that were delicious.  She first caramelized onion and broccoli. Then she put a "crust" of the caramelized onion in the muffin cups, filled the cups with scrambled egg, placed a cooked broccoli floret in the center of each one ("so when you cut into the cupcake it was a broccoli filling"), and topped them with sliced cheddar cheese. They puffed up like little soufflés! Cute. We served them with festive birthday candles (which unfortunately melted into the hot cupcakes {hopefully candle wax isn't extremely toxic}). Very creative birthday breakfast!!

Thanksgiving Prep

Just found this from Thanksgiving...

Fruit Parfaits

Last nigh Tyler made a "chopped salad" of honey crisp apples and clementines. She layered it in with Greek yogurt and honey in "fancy" glasses. It was good, but she said she'd leave out the clementines next time. I thought that would be a good idea too.

Linguini with Carrots and Andouille

This week Tyler created a pasta dish with garden-fresh carrots (here's the picture of her harvesting them), andouille sausage, peas, tomatoes, chicken stock, and topped with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  She was hard pressed to choose ingredients, as the fridge and pantry were a little bare. It certainly was an original, creative creation.

Celery, Onion, Brown Sugar...Concoction

If you have trouble seeing the video from email or iPad, just go to www.tckculinaryjourney.blogspot.com to watch. This goes for all videos (I understand that automatic post emails do not show the videos. Sorry for the technical difficulties, if you're having them.)

We All Have Our Thing

Last night while getting ready for bed Tyler asked me, "Mom, do you ever just feel like sweating onions just for no reason? You know, just sautéing them to cook them, not to brown them?" I said, "Do you mean do I enjoy sweating onions when I'm starting to make soup or something?" She replied, "No, do you ever feel like cooking onions, just cause it's fun, not to use them for anything? I do."

She and I made butternut squash soup for dinner and she managed the onions, measured and added the other ingredients and did the stirring throughout the cooking. Apparently she realized (or was reminded in the process) she really enjoys cooking onions. I guess I'll know what's going on if I wake up to the smell of onions cooking one of these mornings.

Their Herb Salad

Tyler and her BFF, Lexi, love to make "herb salad" in the back yard. They've spent hours this summer picking, chopping and slicing herbs from the herb garden and tend to add whatever else they find. Today they used sage, lavender, chives, garlic chives, and basil added cherry tomatoes, cucumber and lemon zest. They will usually eat a spoonful or two, usually claiming it's delicious. Cooking is new to Lexi but she's enjoyed coming over to do it and is getting to be good at it too. Here's the finished product. You can see on their faces the herbs are a little strong:)

We had fun today making colored cupcake sandwiches to take to Auntie Kelly's tomorrow. Took us a while to make, but the pretty, tasty finished product was worth it.

Pickled Carrot and Cucumber

Blast from the Past

Here are some pics of Ty's pre-culinary blog creations:
Making Cupcakes (July, 2010)

"Making Phil's Birthday Cake (August, 2010)

Caprese Salad (September 2010)

Preparing Guacamole (February, 2012)

Peeling Asparagus to Grill (March, 2012)

Making an Herb Salad (February 2012)

Toasty Eggs

This morning we enjoyed Tyler's soon to be famous Toasty Eggs creation; Great Harvest lo-carb cinnamon bread, cubed and toasted in olive oil and butter. Then eggs were cooked to over medium, and were broken up into the toasty bread cubes. Really yummy!

In the Beginning...

Tyler and I have been cooking and baking together for as long as I can remember. She's got a fantastic palate, a creative mind, and a general love for cooking. I started teaching her knife skills a few years ago, and she now has better skills than many adults. One of the top items on her Christmas list last year was a chef's knife, and Grandma and Puck obliged with a beauty from Williams-Sonoma. The knife is absolutely fantastic-just the right size for her hand and very, very sharp (I use it all the time and love it myself.) I think everyone thought I was crazy when I handed her sharp knives to use at the age of 3, but we've had very few (all things considered) injuries, and fortunately she's not lost any fingers in the process.

About a year ago, we made Tuesday night Tyler's night to cook dinner. She has made some amazing dinners, has had endless fun, and has learned a ton in the process. The TV shows, Chopped, Food Network Challenge and Cupcake Wars have been tremendously influential in her cooking, so most of the time when we cook together we're pretending we're on TV and/or in a timed challenge. She loves to peruse the grocery store isles for ingredients, all the while looking for inspiration for that special dish. I frequently spend more money on her dinners than I'd like and purchase things I'd rather not purchase, but I've decided that's all part of letting her be as creative and independent as possible. The funniest is her brainstorming in the store, saying things like, "I'm thinking pasta, maybe with seafood, maybe using some Mexican flavors, lots of cinnamon and cayenne."

More recently we've gotten away from the Tyler Tuesday routine because having a set day made it seem like a chore instead of fun. Instead she's started cooking most nights throughout the week, basically just because she has fun doing it. In recent weeks, she (with a little help from me) has made some absolutely fantastic pasta dishes and this morning made a very tasty egg over diced, sautéed bread chunk, dish. Phil and I find ourselves looking at each other in utter surprise when her unconventional combinations of ingredients come together and really work. She's certainly taught me to broaden my culinary horizons!

With all that said, I've decided to start another blog so we can document Tyler's creations so we don't forget any more steps of her culinary journey (in hindsight I should have started this three years ago - I won't beat myself up over it.) I will peruse older pictures to see if I can find some of her past creations and will post them soon.

I love this kid more than anything else in life and can't get over how fortunate I am to have a front row seat to experience her many journeys.  I am one lucky mom!