Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Kale Chips

What kid could resist kale chips, right?

My kids are actually big veggie fans, but I think this recipe would be perfect for a picky vegetable eater too. The kale turns out very crispy, and the ingredients are simple and healthy. My kids stole the first batch before dinner and I had to make more.

1. Wash, de-stem, and dry the kale. You want to make sure you get all of the moisture off the leaves; otherwise you will steam the kale instead of crisping it. Tear it into 1 ½ to 2 inch pieces. 

2. Spread the kale on baking sheets, and drizzle it with a little olive oil. As you cook it, the kale will shrink a lot, so I fill 2 large baking sheets. Toss to coat the leaves well. 

3. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

4. Bake at 275 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until crisp.

That's it!

Camping with Hobo Packets

Day one of summer vacation, and things are looking a-okay. The early end of school lined up perfectly with our camping trip. We headed to the Treehouse camp  right after the kids got off the bus. It almost, almost gave me that end of school feeling—that feeling I never get anymore, where everything is done. An ending. And nothing to do all summer but play.

It always amazes me to notice how much more robust the kids are after a year goes by. The trip to the campground seemed easy. The kids had just a bit more walk-around time than last year. No one complained when dinner was late, and what a dinner it was—Hobo Packets. This just might be my new summer favorite, despite the quirky name.

Here is my co-chef. She made most of dinner without me.

HOBO PACKETS

2 lbs. potatoes, diced
1 red pepper, diced,
1 lb. mushrooms, cut in half
1 lb. roll sausage
Cooking spray or oil.
Salt and pepper

Fold a 3-foot piece of aluminum foil in half to make a 1 1/2 foot double-thick piece. Repeat 5 times. Spray with oil.

In the center of each piece of foil, place 1/5 of potatoes, peppers, and mushrooms. (Yes, we are a family of 5. Adjust as needed.) Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide sausage into 5 equal portions and break apart on top. 

 Fold aluminum foil on sides and top to form packets. Grill on low heat for approximately 20 minutes or until potatoes are cooked.

 

Open packets and enjoy. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the extra juice.

There are tons of variations on these. Tilapia and asparagus? Why not.

Crock Dill Pickles

I've always loved dill. Every year, my dad used to make a big crock of dill pickles and they were my favorite after-school snack. I ate them by the bowlful. My parents joked that someday I would walk down the aisle carrying a bouquet of dill, and one day (true story) I did.

Dad's recipe seemed to evolve over the years. One year I remember they were incredibly hot. One year I remember he decided the allspice had to come out of the pickle seasoning. But the core of the recipe remained the same.

When I decided to make my own pickles, I looked up a few recipes and gave it a go. After about three failures, I put my tail between my legs and asked Dad for his recipe. I still think it's fair game to tinker with the spices since he always did. So here is his recipe, with my current spice variation. I added garlic and decreased the pickling spice. I think I have it down now.

Thanks, Dad.

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For the brine:

2/3 cup non-iodized salt

1 1/2 cups cider vinegar

5 quarts water

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For the crock:

12 lbs. pickling cucumbers

A bunch of dill (Wegman's always has large bunches at just the right time)

1/2 bottle pickling spice

25 cloves of garlic

__________________________

1. Wash the cucumbers and cut off 1/4" from the blossom end.

2. In a large crock, layer cucumbers, dill, garlic and pickling spice.

3. In a large pot, mix the vinegar, water and salt to make the brine. Stir until the salt is dissolved.

4. Pour the brine over the cucumbers to cover them completely. If they are not completely covered, mix a little extra brine as needed.

5. Place a plate on top of the cucumbers, and a jar filled with water on top of the plate to keep the cucumbers completely submerged. Cover the entire crock and jar with a dish towel.

6. Keep the pickles in the crock for no more than 1 week. Taste-test to decide when they are ready. As they pickle, a white, bubbly scum will form on the top. Ewww.

7. Drain and rinse the pickles. Prepare a fresh brine of the same strength and can them, in quart jars, for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath. I add some fresh dill to the jars as well. Save a few quarts in the refrigerator un-canned. Those are always the best.

 

 

Recipe Writing: Lasagna

Note: I'm taking a bit of time off and handing the reigns over to my very capable daughter, a.k.a anonymous, this week. She's sharing (for the first time ever) one of her favorite recipes — lasagna. I hope "recipe writing" becomes a regular feature because, for one thing, the kid can cook. And for another, I could use a little help. Recently, she made a double batch of lasagna and put one in the freezer for me to cook later. Now that's helpful.

~Joyce

by anonymous

Okay, so I admit it. I’m not usually writing in Kid Baltimore. This anonymous writer that you have surely seen in photographs is writing for Kid Baltimore. I’m going to be posting every so often on Recipe Writing to just share some recipes that I like and enjoy making, but that’s beside the point for the moment. Anyway: lasagna.

The ingredients needed for this recipe are, as usual in lasagna,

• ricotta cheese
• parmesan cheese
• traditional lasagna noodles
• tomato sauce
• virtually anything but the kitchen sink; sausage, spinach, socks, whatever
• oregano
• mozarella cheese

Comb your grocery lists thoroughly for anything you’ve forgotten. And now, for the recipe.

Oil a pan that is twelve inches in length, nine inches in width, and 2.5 inches in height. You should already have your meat (if you use it) cooked and ready to go. Frozen vegetables do not have to be completely thawed. I don’t know how to tend the socks. Use twelve ounces of tomato sauce (you should use thirty-six ounces in all) to cover the bottom of the pan. Press as many noodles as you can in a row on top of it. They don’t have to be boiled. (I could fit three.) Next, spread ricotta cheese over the noodles. Sprinkle two medium sized eleven-year-old handfuls (usually half a bag) of mozzarella over the ricotta cheese. Use some of the filling (anything but the kitchen sink) over the ricotta cheese, and top with Parmesan. The amount of the filling and Parmesan cheese vary, depending on the chef. Repeat the directions from “Use twelve ounces of tomato sauce…” to “The amount of filling and Parmesan cheese…” two more times, or until the pan is filled up to nearly the brim. Make sure there’s a bunch of mozzarella on top for that melted cheese to cover the dish when you take it out of the oven. An hour before you would like to serve it, the oven should be preheated to 375 degrees. While you wait for it to heat, cover the lasagna with aluminum foil. Then, place it in the oven for forty-five minutes to one hour. Serve while hot.

So, if you liked the first Recipe Writing, stick around! There’s another one coming soon.

[Mom note: watch the liquid on this one. Since the pasta is not pre-cooked, you may need to add 1/4-1/2 cup of water. Seal tightly with aluminum foil until the last 10-15 minutes of cooking.]

Good Things From My Inbox

 

My inbox has been filling up lately with lots of good ideas of things to do/buy/make and I wanted to share just a few with you.

123 Baltimore: A Cool Counting Book by Puck is a counting board book for the toddler set. It takes little ones on a cool trip through Charm City. And while your little ones may not yet fully understand the significance of pink flamingos or blue crabs, or all things Baltimore, Hon, it's never too soon to start.

I really appreciate the simple san-serif type and clean design.

 

 

 

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Here's a great offer from the American Visionary Art Museum for free admission to the museum if you donate clean jars. This offer is good through September 2011. You can email to arrange for your free passes. If you haven't taken your kids to AVAM, it is positively one of my favorite art places to go, and worth every penny. But free is even better. Here is a letter from their Education Assistant, Beka:

I am writing to ask if you could possibly assist us in collecting jars for our Educational programs. In exchange for your readers donating 10 jars, we can give them 2 passes to the museum. We are looking for jars to use in a workshop we currently offer for students coming to the museum on field trips called "Wire Whimsies" ( I have attached a photo !) Any jars with a lid work for this project, including jam jars, baby food jars, salsa jars etc.

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Baltimore International College has some wonderful sounding Food Enthusiast Classes. These are non-credit (in other words, no pressure) continuing education cooking and baking classes that are taught by experienced chefs at the Culinary Arts Center in Little Italy.

You can get gift certificates too, which might make a pretty nice Christmas present, hint, hint.

In the meantime, they sent this delicious looking gingerbread house recipe. I'm slightly terrified that it calls for 13 cups of flour. Am I building a city? I'm tempted to cut it in half, but I might just go for it because I really don't think there is such a thing as too much gingerbread.

Gingerbread House or Cookies

Ingredients:
6 cups Sugar
4 cups Butter (soft)
3/4 cup Molasses
4 Eggs
1/2 cup Milk
13 cups Flour
3 tbsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Cinnamon
2 tbsp Ginger
2 tsp Allspice
2 tsp Cloves


Procedure:
1. Beat the sugar, butter, and molasses together.
2. Add the eggs and beat until incorporated.
3. Add the milk and continue beating.
4. Mix the dry ingredients together (flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and cloves). Add to the creamed mixture and mix well.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.

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And finally, Faces iMake, an app developed in conjunction with Hancoch Piven. I've been familiar with Hanoch's illustration work for many years, and I think this app is a fantastic adaptation of his playful style.

The app comes with a collection of collage objects that include musical instruments, food, hardware, letters and tools. You can combine them to make just about any face you can imagine. There is a lite version available for free, but for the full collection of 2000+ objects, I would recommend the premium version.

Homemade Yogurt

Growing up, my parents frequently made yogurt from scratch...cultured in handmade porcelain cups... and served with homemade preserves.

Not going to happen for my kids. For one thing, my family can go through a full quart of yogurt in one breakfast. As for the lovely porcelain cups. Nope. Mason jars with screw on lids for my crew. Homemade preserves? Maybe someday.

But why make yogurt from scratch? Oh, so many reasons.

1. It's cheaper. I gallon of milk makes 1 gallon of yogurt (actually a little more).
2. You can control the sugar. I'm pro adding a nice helping of honey (but never for babies), but not so convinced that my kids need more high fructose corn syrup.
3. It's a really entertaining science project. Who knew bacteria could do so many good things?
4. It's alive. All those live yogurt cultures are, well, alive.
5. It tastes amazing. Maybe that one should be first on the list.

The thing I like about this recipe is that you probably have all the equipment you need:

mason jars with lids
instant read thermometer
large heavy bottomed pot
insulated cooler

And the ingredients are simple:

1 gallon whole milk
1 cup plain yogurt as starter

You can make yogurt with lower fat milk, but this is a nice place to splurge. If you do use lower fat milk, you will need to a some powdered milk to act as a thickener. As for sweeteners, I keep it plain and let the kids add it later, along with nuts, or granola, or fresh fruit. For babies, try it plain. They might like it just fine that way. Mine did.

Here is the recipe:

1. Wash jars and lids in dishwasher to sterilize.
2. Pour 1 gallon of milk in heavy-bottomed pot. Heat on low until temperature reaches 190 degrees. Check temperature frequently and stir gently. You want to make sure the milk does not scorch on the bottom.
   
   
   
   
3. Remove pot from heat and place it in a cold water bath in the sink. Monitor temperature until it goes down to 120 degrees.
   
   
   
   
4. Add the plain yogurt. The bacteria from the yogurt needs to be spread throughout the milk, so stir until blended.
5. Pour mixture into jars. Screw on lids. Place jars in cooler.
   
   
   
   
6. Heat 1 gallon of water to 120 degrees and pour the water into the cooler around the jars.
7. Close the cooler lid and leave undisturbed for 4-6 hours 6-8 hours. The temperature in the cooler needs to remain warm the entire time.
8. After 4 hours 6 hours, check the firmness of the yogurt. A little sloshy is okay, but I prefer mine to be fairly thick. It will continue to thicken as it cools. Place it in the refrigerator when you are satisfied with the thickness.
9. The next morning you can have a taste test. As the yogurt ages, the taste becomes more tangy and the texture more firm. Yogurt will keep up to 1 month. Remember to save a cup of yogurt as a starter for the next batch!
   
   
   
   For more yogurt info, check out one of my favorite blogs, Frugal Girl. She make yogurt weekly and has more detailed instuctions.