Say Cheese

As I've mentioned before, we're a Food Network-watching family. Thankfully, amidst Sponge Bob, Nerf guns, Lego and Bionicles, I can easily settle my kids down to a 1/2 hour of Food Network. Case in point: the Barefoot Contessa has the same effect on my kids as Teletubbies did when they were really little - Ina is like a virtual qualude. She's so calm, and cheery without being syrupy. With a quiet confidence in the kitchen, (which is - 'hello, I'd kill for that island' - gorgeous in a total East Coast way) just makes you want to prepare and eat whatever she's got going on. She always has a little chuckle/nuzzle for Jeffrey (read: interesting relationship - what does he do, think I'll Google Mr. Contessa!) and she does not make excuses for loving real food. I don't think you'll find a fake food in her repetoire and I love that. Anyhow, I digress ...

We were watching her make a Cheese Danish. Alexander calls them Cheese Pockets and they're a special favorite of his! It looked pretty easy and he said he was paying attention so he could help me make them. We gathered our list of ingredients and set off for the market, a new market, one like no other here in NJ - Wegman's! No kidding, this place is like Whole Foods meets Draegers meets Andronico's meets De Martini's - even the kids thought it was totally awesome! It's a trek for sure, but might be worth it once a week.

Anyhow, this morning we made the Cheese Pockets. Alexander was so cute, 'don't forget the lemon zest, is lemon zest good, did you make the egg wash, don't forget only 1 heapy (not heaping!) tablespoon of the cheesy stuff' - it was really fun to have him involved. I can tell you, they were ridiculously simple, baked up beautifully (like Ina was here!) and they tasted so freakin' great! Of course, they're full of calories and fat, but I'll do anything for my kids! And they beat the pants off of the Tube Biscuit Monkey Bread that I made last weekend!

Hope you give them a try - Enjoy!

xoxo,
P