Happy Passover

Last year for the first time ever, I made a Kugel for Passover. Click here to see that experience. I enjoyed trying something new, and I decided to make it a tradition.
However, this year I tried it a little different... I found out Kugel is traditionally made with egg noodles and not matzo farfel so I decided to use egg noodles, then I thought, why not use both? So I did!

Introducing:
Aimee's, I Love This Kugel


You will need:
1 10oz package of egg noodles cooked
2 cups of matzo farfel, lightly soaked then set aside
4- 5 large apples peeled and shredded
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup dried cherries
1 cup pineapple tidbits
3 whole eggs
2 egg whites
1/2 cup butter melted
1 cup applesauce unsweetened
1 cup sugar
LOTS of cinnamon
Vanilla
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Here's what you do
Soak the raisins and cherries in hot water for a few minutes to soften them.
Place the shredded apple, pineapple, softened cherries and raisins in a bowl add cooked noodles and softened matzo farful.

In a separate bowl beat together eggs and egg whites. Then add butter, applesauce, lemon juice, vanilla, sugar, and cinnamon.

Add the egg mixture to the noodle mixture, mix well then place in a well greased baking dish. Then lightly sprinkle with a nice mix of cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes, if it browns to fast cover with foil. It's easy and amazing! Let cool and enjoy with others!



This is SO good! No, it's freakin' awesome if I do say so myself!

Happy Passover!!!

St.Patrick's Day

Here is a LUCKY CLOVER for you!



HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

A Christmas Story

Christmas Eve we ordered sushi from Mikado in Middletown.



It was great, I love their sushi. ;)


This year for the first time my son realized the importance of leaving milk and cookies out for Santa.



Santa must have liked the cookies because when Sawyer woke up at 5:00am he found this waiting for him.


Yep the bat mobile, which went perfect with the Batman costume his mom got him! Santa must have been watchin!
FELIZ NAVIDAD!! and MERRY CHRISTMAS to you!

Hello, and Happy Hanukkah!

to honor of the Festival of Lights my son made a menorah!


HAPPY HANUKKAH!

My Son The Super Hero!

I thought I would share my family's Halloween experience.
This year I asked my son what he wanted to be for Halloween and not surprisingly he answered “Spiderman.” I thought to myself – Why did I even ask? I should know that. Suddenly it hit me, we have passed the point, where as a parent I can pick out his Halloween costume.

This realization made me kind of sad. In the past I have really enjoyed picking out his costumes.

His first year
he was a lobster


followed by a monkey


and last year, true to my Parrothead roots, I chose the Shark Costume.


The shark was my favorite.


However this was another milestone in the world of Sawyer Bean,
Picking out his own costume.
Spiderman.


He made a terrific Spiderman, it's almost as if he was born to be Spiderman.


It could just be me, but I swear he got faster with that costume on. It was like, as soon as he put it on he didn't stop running.




I also learned something new this year, just in case someone else might find it useful I'll share.
When you get your child's costume, if you are planning on having them wear "warm clothes" underneath, BE SURE to have them try it on with clothes underneath it the first time! Unless they are planning to wear a coat over their costume, in that case, good luck with that.

I did not do this,
instead we let him try on his costume and run around the house for hours. When it was time to put the costume on for Halloween it took me an hour to convince him that he needed to wear clothes underneath it. He insisted that Spiderman doesn't do it that way, and I insisted that Spiderman's mom said that he does! Eventually after MUCH convincing he put the costume over his clothes and had a very Happy Halloween. Overall we had a really great Halloween, I hope you did too!

OOOwwww SCARY!!!!

Back in Boston, we had the pleasure of walking through some of the oldest graveyards Beantown had to offer. While in one graveyard I noticed this tree looking at me.

Do you see the face in the tree?

BOO!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving,

In CANADA!

So I would like to say,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING CANADA!

Happy Rosh Hashanah, late.

May your New Year be filled with

Sunshine, Happiness and


Only Sweet Things!

Recipe:
Aimee's Happy
Jewish New Year Snack

Apples
Honey
dried fruit and nuts.
Slice apple make a sunshine shape, then decorate with other ingredients.
Fun, Easy and Nutritious.

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Happy Birthday America!

To Celebrate the fourth of July

we went to Harbor Park in Middletown Connecticut,

and watched the fireworks.

They set them off above the Connecticut river.

Isn't that romantic, fireworks over a river?

I LOVE Connecticut.

These were some of my favorites.

They start out small, like stars

Then get bigger like flowers

And as they fall they they remind me of willow trees.

Yes,

These were definitely

my favorites!

After the fireworks we walked to Vecchitto's in Middletown for an Italian Ice.

This was our first time here, as well as our first time trying Italian Ice, and OH MY, have we been missing out!

This stuff is AWESOME! My husband got the watermelon, my son got the root beer and I got the Almond. So naturally we shared and I tried them all. They were ALL delicious!

This is my new favorite place. Thank goodness it is not within walking distance from my house, that would be dangerous! I cannot even begin to tell you how good this stuff is. If you are ever in Middletown CT, and in need of something cold and delicious, you MUST stop here and try it for yourself.
TRUST me you will not regret it!

All You Mothers!!!!!

Today is Mother's Day and

LOOK at what my son made for me!

I know what your thinking, he is an amazing artist.
He also used orange, my favorite color.

Then we went to Westbrook Lobster and had strawberry shortcake.

For all the mothers everywhere
Happy Mother's Day

Happy Cinco de Mayo, late.

I know it is technically Ocho de Mayo, but better late then never!

LOOK! What I saw on Cinco de Mayo!

We Love you Jimmy!

Thanks for all the Inspiration!

Happy Lei Day!

Today is the first day of May, and seven years ago this month I married my best friend. We decided to forgo a traditional wedding and instead had a small ceremony in the Hawaiian Islands. Also, it just so happens that May 1st is Lei Day in Hawaii.

So to celebrate our May anniversary and Lei Day I decided to make something sweet!

I wanted to make something special, something tropical, kind of a vacation on a plate.

So I decided to make Key Lime Pie. On the way home from the market I started thinking Key lime pie is really more Florida than Hawaii.. So I got creative and changed it to this:

Aimee's I LOVE Hawaii
Key Lime, Coconut & Pineapple Pie

1 graham cracker pie crust
In case you are using a store bought pie crust with the intention of removing it from the foil pie pan and placing it into a prettier pie dish, to make it appear as if you went through the trouble of making everything from scratch. In case you do that, be sure you buy the same size crust as the dish you intend to use.
Yes, I got the wrong size.

Next
1 recipe for a key lime pie mix-I used a box (you don't have to admit this, unless your cooking for someone who works with food, but then why aren't they cooking?)
prepare key lime pie mix
Mix in
1cup or desired amounts of Pineapple Tidbits, well drained
and
1 cup or desired amounts of toasted shredded coconut
pour into your pie shell
decorate with more toasted coconut and
whip cream and don't forget the lime!

It's Awesome, Easy and Delicious!

HAPPY LEI DAY EVERYONE!
& Happy Anniversary Baby!

Happy Passover!

While grocery shopping the other day I found a “Celebrate Passover” section and I thought “why not?”

After exploring the section of unfamiliar foods I decided to make Apple Kugel. I have never made a Kugel before so I was kind of excited.

The recipe on the box seemed simple enough,

mix together Matzo farfel, apples, raisins, eggs, and then bake.

But then, I got creative, and changed it to this:

Aimee's Apple, Pineapple, dried fruit & almond Kugel
3 cups Matzo Farfel softened
3 eggs
1 egg white
½ cup sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ cup melted butter
lots of cinnamon
¼ cup slivered almonds
3 apples chopped
1 can of pineapple rings chopped
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup dried apricots chopped

I never really measure anything so feel free to adjust the amounts of fruit & nuts. Beat eggs, sugar, melted butter & salt together add raisins and dried apricots.

Mix all ingredients together, then bake in a 350 degree pre-heated oven for 45 minutes or until slightly golden. Let cool 20 minutes and then ENJOY!

It turned out really good, almost awesome. I was so proud of my Kugel, I called my cousin who is half Jewish to tell her about it. She broke it to me that Kugel is actually made with egg noodles and not Matzo. I was shocked! I explained to her that the recipe was on the box of Matzo Farfel. However she was certain that it is made with egg noodles not Matzo.

So I asked my friend who is Jewish and sure enough she said, “It's true, Kugel is traditionally made with egg noodles, but as long as it turned out good that's what matters.”

True and it did turn out really good. At least I liked it and my husband liked it.

My Son, who is in a new stage of “I don't want to eat anything unless it's fruit or unless it's bed time so I don't have to go to bed.”

Decided to give his to the horse we have on the table.

Oh well more for us. Happy Passover!