family Archives

My son had his 2012-2013 Cub Scout kick-off meeting this afternoon. It was a family picnic at a local park. We brought a yummy pasta salad courtesy of Ina Garten to share with the group. This is one of my best large group recipes. It is easy to make, is colorful, and tastes delicious. The peas and spinach are kind of disguised, so even children like to eat this; my son actually requested this dish for his birthday dinner. If you want to use this as an entree rather than a side dish, serve with grilled chicken or salmon on top. What are your best recipes to share with a big group? I love anything that can be made ahead and is (fairly) easy to prepare.

Ingredients

2 boxes bow tie pasta (2 lbs)
good olive oil
1 1/2 c. pesto (homemade or purchased)
1 10-oz. package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
3 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/4 c. good mayonnaise
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c. frozen peas, defrosted
1/3 c. pine nuts, toasted
3/4 t. kosher salt
3/4 t. freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes until pasta is al dente. Drain and toss in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil to keep from sticking together. Cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree the pesto, spinach, and lemon juice. Add the mayonnaise and continue to puree.
Add the pesto mixture to the cooled pasta, then add the Parmesan cheese, peas, pine nuts, salt, and pepper. Mix well, season to taste, and serve at room temperature.

What do you do when it is raining, and your husband is home for three days for a stay-cation? You make pizza from scratch with your children and consider going to therapy. If you are brave enough to undertake this little activity, I highly recommend including margaritas. I am including the Pizza and Margarita Recipes here.

As a teacher, I am obligated to tell you all of the good things that happen when you cook with your children.

Math Skills: They are all built into the recipe– adding, dividing, fractions, measuring, time…
Reading Skills: Often recipes have pictures with them, so it is easy for beginning readers to follow along. For older children, recipes introduce kids to technical writing (writing that provides instructions about how to do something). Recipes also include great sequencing words like first, next, then, and after. These are good words to know for paragraph writing.
Science Skills: You get to activate yeast and then watch dough rise.
Following Directions: This one is my favorite. You have to follow directions in the right order, so the recipe will work. You cannot skip from #1 to #5 just because you feel like it.

As a mom, I am obligated to tell you all of the sucky things that happen when you cook with your children.

Grocery Store: You might have to make an extra trip to the grocery store for unusual ingredients like yeast. Or even a second extra trip to the grocery store for not so unusual ingredients like all-purpose flour because your husband decided to make “Dad Pancakes” for breakfast that morning to kick off his stay-cation.
Time: It takes a lot of extra time. If the recipe says you can make the item in 45 minutes, double the time (then add 30 minutes).
Space: If the recipe says to clear a space on the counter, clear 3. If it says you will need one bowl, plan for two.
Mess: It is messy, and you get to clean up. On a happy note, I did not have to mop the floor because the dog licked up all of the flour and dough that fell to the ground.

I have to admit, homemade pizza crust is far superior to a Boboli crust, but you can always have a pizza night using pre-made crust and sauce. It would reduce your mom stress levels and still provide valuable family time. We have also made ice cream from scratch at our house (I usually leave my husband in the kitchen for that– I just can’t watch). I recently started making pasta from scratch, and my children love cranking the pasta machine, although, I usually have a margarita on hand for that too. Do you have any kitchen adventures from your house you can share, and if so, is alcohol required?