St. Valentine's Day Recipe for Kids

A love story about a love song 

I won't age myself by telling you the year of when this romance began.  But I must have been quite young, probably not old enough yet to even read myself a story.

I've heard it said that it's less severe to fall when you are young, reason being that you are closer to the ground.  Which begs the question, "why if my tender heart fell all those years ago, does it continue its head-over-heals tumble still to this day?".  What possibly could have set the pitter-patter in such a perpetual state of inclination?  It must have been a love potion.  Love potion no. 9 to be precise.

LOVE POTION NO. 9
by the clovers

 I took my troubles down to Madame Rue
 You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
 She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
 Sellin' little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine

 I told her that I was a flop with chics
 I've been this way since 1956
 She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
 She said "What you need is Love Potion Number Nine"

 She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
 She said "I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink"
 It smelled like turpentine, it looked like Indian ink
 I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink

 I didn't know if it was day or night
 I started kissin' everything in sight
 But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
 He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine

_______________________________________________

Written in the narrative format, the song consists of 3 stanzas plus a refrain, all written with 4 lines of verse (quatrain) and a clear rhyming scheme.  But the true magic of this piece is that all six required components of a story have been woven into this very short and concise work. 

• The Setting - Madame Rue's Pad
• The Characters -  Narrator, Madame Rue and Unsuspecting Cop 
• The Event - A quest to halt the "flop of a run" with the Chics
• The Development - A sink-full of potion is brewed
• The Climax - Amour is prevalent  - in overdose
• The Ending - Narrator's ill placed affections for the Cop prove him to be a flop once and for all

Sung in Doo-Wop style by The Clovers, and later by the Searchers among other notables, the words were annunciated well enough to be clearly deciphered. With my childish intellect, and only a handful of years experience with the english language, this story still made complete sense from begging to end.  With a five year old's limited exposure to love and the interworking of a boy's chic chase, I solidly grasped the humor in the inappropriateness of cop kissing.

Smitten completely, I was, by Love Potion No. 9.   And after having a taste of this style of lyric and tune, I am left unsatisfied by songs that can not paint the whole picture for me, tell me a complete story, or try to hide lacking lyrics or lousy rhyme behind a fog screen of heavy base.  

I decided to slip my kids (6 & 7 years old) a dose of the old No. 9 and see if its potency was as intoxicating as I remember it to be.  

Recipe for 

Love Potion No. 9 

Ingredients: 

Grenadine (1cup), Rose's Lime Cordial (2 tbs.), Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice (1cup), Pineapple Juice (1cup) and Soda Water to temper the sweetness and add a little fizz.  

I wanted to this experience to be more hands-on for the kids than just pouring measured ingredients from bottles and juice jugs.  So we juiced the oranges ourselves - the old fashion way.  It was too thick with pulp for my children's taste, so we triple strained it.  I did find the resulting product to be very sweet (possibly because it lacked the promising fumes of Vodka that tease your nostrils when the glass is a breath away from your lips).  But served over ice, my children obviously couldn't get enough of it.  When diluted a touch with soda water, it was a very refreshing concoction.  

The kitchen was ringing with the sound of doo-wop as The Clovers spun their magical tale  - over and over again - till even my 6 year old son was singing along.  All in all, it was a very successful Valentine's Day recipe and hopefully, for my children, it has forged a lasting love affair with the musical genius of days gone by.

Happy St. Valentine's Day, - and here's to hoping you find yourself under someone's unshakable spell. 

  

STUFFED PASTA SHELLS

STUFFED PASTA SHELLS - a holiday recipe for kids.

Happy holidays from The Chef's Emporium! With the coming of the new year, amends have been made for the past years frailties. Gratitude has been spread to those who brighten and inspire. Resolutions have been written for encouraging development and enrichment. And a hope, a wish for the new year has found home in our hearts. Inspired by our customers, you Chefs who feed, who nourish, who comfort, who pleasure, who sustain through food. We say, let us join forces, let us feed the world!

We invite you to support the efforts of the World Food Program in their quest to alleviate chronic world hunger. We like their focus on children, we love their School Meals program. "The School meals programs involve just what the name implies – providing meals in schools. The idea is simple; the impact is significant. Serving food at school not only helps alleviate hunger among the world’s poorest children, it also helps get them into school, providing them with an important key to a better future – an education."

On our own home front, the focus and attention that Chef Jamie Oliver has brought to School Lunches here across our nation is remarkable, commendable - and long overdue. Chef Jamie is on a mission to protect the health of our youth and stop the obesity epidemic. You can show your support for The Food Revolution by signing the petition and by keeping fresh, home prepared meals in your child's lunch box and on your child's plate.

In keeping with the fresh, home-cooked, nutritious mindset I venture to feed my children spinach. Spinach & Ricotta stuffed Pasta Shells, a simple, yet simply elegant dish my little chefs are creating for a New Years Eve party.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 (8 ounce) package Jumbo Pasta Shells
1 (15 ounce) container Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup finely diced Onion
2 cups Fresh Baby Spinach Leaves
1 minced Garlic Clove
1/2 teaspoon Pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese (divided)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1 jar of your favorite Pasta Sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Our young chef begins the dish by adding her Jumbo Pasta Shells to the basket/strainer of a Pasta Pot. An adult adds the filled pasta basket to a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water. The pasta is cooked according to the package directions. Ours boiled for 15 minutes and was then strained and set aside.


To a medium sized mixing bowl, our chef adds 1 (15 ounce) container of Ricotta Cheese.

As our young chef's knife skills are yet nil, he adds the pre-diced 1/4 cup onion to the bowl.

The 2 cups of fresh baby spinach leaves are cut into a chiffonade (again, by an adult or older child with experienced and tested knife skills) and added by our chef to the mixture.

Working in tandem, our chefs mince one Garlic Clove into the bowl.


Approximately 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper is added.

Our young chefs measure and add 1 cup shredded Mozzarella and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese to their mixing bowl.

As our young chefs always like to sample their creations, the ingredients are now thoroughly combined, and the chefs allowed to taste their efforts. *Before the raw egg is added.

An egg is now incorporated into the mixture.

Our chef stuffs each cooked pasta shell with ~ 1 1/2 tablespoons of the Ricotta mixture. The stuffed shells are placed in a lightly oiled baking dish and covered with aluminum foil. The dish is baked in a 350º F oven for 30 minutes.

The foil is removed and the remaining 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella is sprinkled over the top of the shells. The dish is returned to the oven for ~15 minutes until the top cheese layer is melted and nicely browned. The shells are served atop a warmed bed of Pasta Sauce.

Best wishes to you and your little chefs. We hope your New Year is full of many tempting dishes and many delicious memories. As always, if you have a recipe or cooking project that was a winner with your child, please email it to me at: info@chefsemporium.net, and we hope to see you again soon at The Chef's Emporium.

TURKEY POT PIE

LEFTOVERS in a TURKEY POT PIE - a recipe for kids

I hope a lovely Thanksgiving weekend was had by all. Food, family, feasting - football? - and turkey to boot, I'm sure. There is no particular recipe for this pot pie. Simply open your refrigerator door and do a "calling all leftovers, calling all leftovers" and see what comes forth. Your little chef will have a ball assembling a personalized pot pie based on their Thanksgiving Day favorites.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 Ready Made Pie Crust
Thanksgiving Leftovers, i.e.:
Roasted Turkey
Stuffing
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
Gravy

Our chef begins her dish by assembling an assortment of Thanksgiving Day leftovers into a mini casserole dish. In lieu of a pie shell at the base, our chef places a layer of stuffing at the bottom of the casserole. Our chef then tops the stuffing with a good drizzle of gravy.

Diced turkey thigh meat, roasted sweet potatoes and chopped green beans are added to the dish. The mixture is moistened with additional gravy and a ready made pie crust artfully tops the dish. Our chef uses festive holiday cookie cutters to cut designs from the excess pie crust and decorate her pie. The pie is baked in a 450º F degree oven for approximately 20 minutes.

I do hope this recipe not only gives new life to the remaining leftovers in your fridge, but puts a contented smile on your little chef as well. As always, if you have a recipe or cooking project that was a winner with your child, please email it to me at: info@chefsemporium.net, and we hope to see you again soon at The Chef's Emporium.

Matzo Ball Soup Recipe for Kids

Keeping traditions. Remembering the past. Honoring our heritage. The holiday of Passover marks the exodus of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. So rushed to escape were the Jews, that their bread did not have time to rise. Instead, they ate Matzoh, or unleavened bread. Typically, Jews replace all bread and bread products with Matzoh for the eight days of the Passover holiday.

At the core of Jewish Passover cooking is Matzo Ball Soup - and it is so good.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 Box of Matzo Ball Mix
2 Eggs
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil (-OR- Schmaltz if you are lucky enough to have it)
2 1/2 quarts cold water + 2 Teaspoons salt
1 pot of wholesome Chicken Soup (From scratch - again if you are so lucky)

Our young chef begins by adding 2 eggs to a small bowl.

2 Tablespoons of Vegetable Oil are added to the egg.

Our chef then thoroughly mixes these two ingredients.

1 packet of Matzo Ball Mix is added to the mixture.

Our chef again combines the ingredients, covers the mixture and places it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.

A stock pot is filled with 2 1/2 quarts water, to which 2 Teaspoons of Kosher Salt is added. The pot is put on the stove at high heat and brought to a boil.

With wet hands to prevent sticking, our chef then forms the batter into balls, approximately 1 inch in diameter.

The Matzo Balls are dropped into the boiling water (by an adult, please) tightly covered and allowed to simmer for 20 minutes on reduced heat.

I do highly recommend chicken soup from scratch. It is nothing more than chopped carrot, onion, celery, a kosher chicken, kosher salt and a bay leaf or two thrown in for good measure. Cook on a very low simmer for 3 hours - I like to boil my soup until the chicken is literally falling off the bone.

Chag Sameach. Matzo Ball Soup, a tradition of centuries a true goodness for the soul.