A New Year and a Newer Me

Happy New Year!  It is amazing to me how fast the holidays flew by.  Every year I feel like they are creeping up with tons of time to prepare and before I can blink it is December 24th and I am wrapping last minute gifts and baking hundreds of cookies.  This year was a little different-because of the health issues (a nice way of saying the "insert 4 letter word" cancer) I've been dealing with, the normal Christmas baking was a little modified.  I didn't bake my usual 200 plus cookies and marshmallows for gifts.  I wanted to focus more this season on doing things with Murph and the kids that we say we are going to do every year, but somehow run out of time for.  We made a point to take the minis to see the lights around town with friends of ours, hosted a small, but fun Christmas party and took more time to be together.  I helped coordinate Stina's school Christmas party along with a great team of moms. 

New Year's Eve usually comes with a list of resolutions that I will never fulfill.  This year I just made two.  First is to get healthy-to fight cancer and make sure I win and make it so unpleasant for the cancer it will never want to come back!  My second resolution is to enjoy my family-no matter what.  I want to make sure I soak up every possible moment with my minis that I can.  I'm not planning on going anywhere but if this cancer has done anything it has made me realize that every moment with my family is precious.

In the spirit of spending time with my minis, this post is about cooking with my favorite little chef-Stina!  There is no actual cooking in this one, just some cutting and mixing and shaking.  This recipe is from Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman (another blog I LOVE LOVE LOVE).  Stina had been watching an episode of The Pioneer Woman with me way back in what I think may have been January?!?!?  She saw Ree make Ranch dressing and decided she wanted to do it and we've been making this together ever since.  Stina is a big fan of raw carrots and celery and amazingly enough, salad!  This dressing seemed like the perfect way for her to get more involved in creating the foods she eats.  It is super easy and if you use a large canning jar, it is the easiest clean up ever.

I use Ree's recipe, but modified it just a bit.

You will need a large canning jar (or bowl if you don't have the jar), mayonnaise, sour cream, garlic, kosher salt, pepper, flat leaf parsley, dill, buttermilk, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and cider vinegar.

All the yummy things

Pour 1 cup mayonnaise and 1/2 cup sour cream into a large jar.  Chop parsley and dill into tiny bits and add to the jar.  Using a garlic press, smoosh a garlic clove onto your cutting board and mash with 1/4 tsp kosher salt using a fork.  Add this garlicky salty paste to the jar.  Add 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce and 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar.  Grind a little or alot of black pepper, depending on your preference.  And if you are reading this Missy, leave out the black pepper-I will never know :-).  I add about 2 dashes of Tabasco to the jar.  If it was just for me, I'd be adding ALOT more Tabasco, but being that the minis will be eating this, go small first.

 This is the part where you can make this a dressing or a dip/dressing.  It all depends on how much buttermilk you add.  I start out with a little under 1/4 cup of buttermilk if I am using this more as a dip.  If you want a thinner consistency or more of a dressing you can add a bit more to fit your own tastes.

 Put the cap on and shake it shake it shake it!  This is usually Stina's favorite part-this time she hit herself in the head with the jar during a particularly excitable shake!  After a quick recovery, Stina enjoyed her hard work with some carrots and celery at snack time.  She even gave it a thumbs up-quite an achievement considering she would be happy to exist on a diet of mac and cheese, ketchup, apples and chicken nuggets with the occasional yogurt thrown in.

Shake it shake it shake it!

Just don't hit yourself with the jar while shaking!

Stina asked me if we could cook together more from now on and I think my heart fluttered a little.  Nothing makes me happier than seeing my mini find happiness in something I love to do.  And not to worry, Matthew doesn't get left out.  While he is still a bit too small and wild to help out in the kitchen, he has the appetite of Brian Urlacher which makes me one happy Mommy!  I love seeing my future Bulldog linebacker and Chicago Bear enjoy what his sister and I have made.  Its only a matter of time before he gets an apron with his name on it too!

A thumbs up from Stina means success!

She didn't want to wait until after I had taken the picture!

Ranch Dressing Recipe (Ree Drummond's with some change ups)

1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
handful flat leaf parsley, chopped
3 TBSP chopped fresh dill
1 garlic clove smooshed and smashed
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
1 TBSP cider vinegar
3-4 grinds of black pepper
Tabasco, to taste
1/4 cup buttermilk (or more if you prefer)

In a large jar, add mayonnaise, sour cream, parsley and dill.  On your cutting board, mash the garlic clove with the kosher salt to form a paste.  Add to the jar.  Add black pepper.   Add Worcestershire, vinegar and Tabasco.  Slowly pour in buttermilk.  Cover jar and shake vigorously.  Add more buttermilk if you would like a thinner consistency.