Inspired!

Have any of you seen the Bakerella website?  She is amazing, and she has some of the most brilliant creations I've ever seen.

My favorites are her character-themed Cake Pops.  Take a moment to browse through some of the stuff she's done.  (But open it in another tab so you can come back and finish reading my post!)

As the title of this post suggests, I have been inspired to make some little cake pops of my own.  Me?  Really?  Yes.  Me.  I don't bake.  I'm so, so, SO not creative when it comes to drawing and designing things.  I just wasn't blessed in that area.  That's okay with me, because I have other strong points.  (Shhhh!  Let me have my illusions!)

I'm not one of those people who is good at doing something simple and being happy with it.  Just ask my husband, who cringes every time I have to take some sort of food item somewhere.  (Since having kids, I have gotten MUCH better about making a simple choice when it comes to a meal, but before I had two little monsters to chase, I would choose something difficult and impressive.  Or that would be impressive, if it worked.)  Sometimes my creations were brilliant, and sometimes they were duds.

And sometimes, it didn't quite seem like they would work up until the very last minute when, after hours of me cursing and throwing things and stomping around and weeping and anything else you can (or maybe can't) imagine me doing, they would turn out just fine, and I'd feel like a total doof for the way I'd been acting for the last hour or so while Craig hid in the family room playing his video game.

Oh, no, not me.

So, of course I can't just do plain old Cake Pops, not after seeing Bakerella's remarkable creations.  And I had a brilliant idea:  Goggy* Cake Pops for the Imp's birthday, which is about 3 weeks away.  No, wait.  Ooh.  Two weeks.  Eek.

* "Gog" = "Frog" in Imp-speak.

For once, though, I gave myself some realistic expectations (because, dang, those critters look hard)!  There were two main parts to it:  First, I would do a "test run" ahead of time so I could figure out little details, such as how long I should expect it to take (to avoid the last-minute scramble/working into the wee hours of the night before the party), what tools I'm going to need (to avoid the last-minute rush to the craft store), and what the best coating and decorating techniques would be (to avoid the last-minute frustration, anger, and tears when my ideas didn't work, after all).  Second, I plan on doing a variety of designs, and not make all of them little goggies, which will cut down on the more intricate parts.  There will be Gogs, balloons, and just plain balls (which I can decorate - or not - as I wish and have time to do).

I started my test run on Monday night, and let me say that I am so glad I decided to practice.  With two toddlers running around, it makes everything take so much longer!  Monday night, I got the cake balls made, the six test goggies shaped, and everything stuck in the fridge to cool.  I had to make my own icing because we didn't have any, and that was a little bit of a pain, but I vastly prefer homemade icing to store-bought anyway, so that didn't upset me much.  The cake was already made because we baked too much for the Birdie's birthday back in December and froze some of it.  I knew that could make it maybe not taste as good, but - hey! we are practicing! who cares?

Last night, I went to Michael's and got all of the crafting items I didn't have.  When I got home, Craig had to leave right away, so I ordered a pizza (because that's what the Birdie wanted, and who am I to deny her, haha) and got started dipping some of the critters.  I liked the initial results.  So did the Birdie, who wanted to eat the results.  Immediately.  Naturally.  (I did deny her that one, because if I let her eat them, then I'd have nothing left to practice decorating.)

Once the kids were in bed (and the Imp was rocked, and rocked, and rocked...thirty minutes, sigh) I decorated a few of the pops and dipped some more of them.  Here are the preliminary results (please excuse the camera phone photo, it was all I had on hand and my hips and feet and back and belly hurt too much I was too lazy to walk downstairs and get the real camera).

As you can see, I probably have about six or seven left to dip, and then we'll decorate them.  The Birdie has already claimed a seat at the table to help decorate.  :)

Once I'm done, I'll post about them, with real pictures and the lessons I learned for the next time I do them.  I'll also be asking what you like best, because I have two techniques I used for the goggies, and I need to decide which looks (and works) best.

I will say that they're not working out to be quite as hard as I expected, probably because I'm allowing myself extra time to do them and giving myself permission to make mistakes (which I wouldn't have, of course, if this weren't a practice batch).  They're far from perfect, which is fine.

Really.  Fine.  Fiiiiiiiine.  (Excuse me for a moment while I beat down my inner perfectionist.)

Okay, that's better.

Has anyone else tried these before?  If so, what did you do?  Characters or balls?  What colors?  How did they turn out?  I'd love to hear and see pictures, if you have them!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

I seem to be all about recipes these days.  I think it's because that is how I have spent many of my recent Saturdays - puttering around the kitchen.  I guess it's because I like to eat.

So today, I made spinach & artichoke dip.  I made it because we are having company this evening, and I wanted something to stuff into crescent rolls for little finger food things.  After I made it, I tried it out on chips first, and Craig said it tasted like something you'd get in a restaurant.  Woo hoo!  He's not that easy to please.  So I figured I'd share it.

It wasn't too hard, although it took a while, between all the, "I need to sit on the potty" trips and "I want some juice!" and "DINK!  DINK!"  and "Ohs?  Ohs?"  Etc.  But it was pretty easy, and probably wouldn't have taken all that long if I hadn't had so many interruptions.  But we all know how that is!

The only problem is, I'm not sure how much cheese I used, and particularly how much of each kind.  I basically just pulled out all the white cheeses I had in the fridge and used a combination of them.  I had grated parmesan, provolone slices, and shredded "pizza blend" cheese.  I used 3 or 4 provolone slices and chopped them up really small with a knife, so they almost looked shredded.  It would definitely be easier with just plain shredded cheese, though!  But here's what I used and what I did:

Spinach Artichoke Dip

What I used:

- 1 12 oz. pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained (I squeezed it with my hands to get all the excess liquid out.  It was kinda gross, but I thought it probably needed to be pretty liquid-free.)

- 1 can artichoke bottoms (could use hearts, but bottoms have more "meat" and less leaf on them)

- 1 slice of bacon

- about 1/3 onion, minced

- 1 to 3 cloves garlic, minced (this depends on how much you like garlic.  I used 3, and I love how it turned out, but that is probably a lot for most people.  If you are not a garlic lover, I'd suggest just one.)

- about 2-3 cups (sorry!) shredded or grated (or chopped into tiny pieces) white italian cheeses (like parmesan, mozzarella, provolone-is that italian?-etc.  Best with a blend, I think.)

- 1 egg

- large spoonful sour cream (I used a serving spoon, maybe 2-3 T?)

What I did:

1.  Thaw spinach in microwave, stirring every 25 seconds or so until fully thawed.  Drain by squeezing out excess liquid.

2.  Open, drain and rinse artichoke bottoms, then dice into small cubes.

3.  Cook bacon in small skillet on low-med heat.  Remove and set aside.  Add onion to bacon grease and cook on low heat until transparent, about 2-3 minutes.  Mince garlic into skillet and cook another minute or so.  Remove to a small bowl and set aside to cool.

4.  Add egg to onion and beat.  Blend with cheese in a medium bowl.  Make sure it is well mixed.  Add egg & cheese mixture to spinach and artichoke mixture and mix well.  (I mixed with my hands to make sure it was well-blended and the spinach was broken up.)

5.  Optional:  Crumble bacon and add to mixture.  Microwave bacon for 20-30 seconds if it is too soft to crumble.

6.  Add sour cream and blend well.

7.  Transfer to greased casserole dish and bake at 375 until melted through or bubbly on top.  (So far, I have only cooked it in very small one-serving dishes, and it took ten minutes.)

Serve with tortilla chips and salsa.

Alternately, you could use the mixture to stuff the crescent rolls you can buy, unbaked, at the grocery.  Put a spoonful of mixture into dough before rolling it up, then cook per instructions on the package.  I tried this, and it was good. :)  I was afraid it would leak out the ends because I put quite a bit in, but either the cheese or the egg held it together, and it stayed in place.

Enjoy!  And let me know if you try this, what you think, and if you make any modifications, because I am always looking for ideas!

Oatmeal Results with Photos

This is more about the photos than the results, but it's worth mentioning that while I think everyone thought it was a decent attempt, no one really liked it all that much.  My husband's opinion was that it tasted okay, but it had a weird texture thing for him.  "You know when something has marshmallows in it and it doesn't quite seem right?  It's like that."

Actually, no.  I think marshmallows are pretty much always a good thing.  Unless you tried to put them in, say, mashed potatoes.  Then, not so much.  But since I've never had marshmallows in mashed potatoes, nor do I think I would try it if ever given the chance, no, I really don't think I can relate to that.  But I get your point.  Sort of.

I think the problem was all the stuff.  All the fruit, all the nuts (which my daughter didn't like)...so I'm trying it again tonight, just oatmeal and water/milk.  And I cut the recipe in half.

However, despite the mediocre results, everyone did eat some.  Everyone.  (Except the cats.  But I tend to think that goes without saying.)

My Birdie, who has always been an oatmeal lover, was pretty enthusiastic about it.

As I mentioned in my previous post, however, the Baby Guy has repeatedly refused to touch the stuff.  In fact, he cried for a good two or three minutes after I gave him the oatmeal.  I finally force-fed him a bite, after which he cried some more.  As I was getting my camera to document his refusal, however, something changed.  By the time I got back, this was happening:

And even he seemed pretty pleased by it.

Unfortunately, the success was short-lived.  The Birdie only ate about half of hers (she will usually clear a bowl easily) and the Baby Guy wouldn't eat the second helping I gave him (even though he only had about three real bites in his first bowl - because, remember, I didn't think he would eat it - and he asked for more.  At least I think he did.  Sometimes it's hard to tell.)

Breakfast quickly turned into...

Bitty Birdie playing with Play-doh...

...and the Baby Guy eating Cheerios.  (Seriously, what would we do without Cheerios?)

Side note:  a 19-month-old is probably not old enough to play with Play-doh.  Especially if he is sitting in his high chair.  The result?  Blue teeth.  Or whatever color Play-doh you happen to be using.

So, that is how the oatmeal turned out.  I'm not giving up, though.  I still think it's too convenient to not try it a few more times.  We'll see how it turns out tomorrow morning.

Slow-Cooker Oatmeal

Despite it's unrelatedness to this post (yes, spellcheck, I know that isn't a word), I have to start out by expressing some shock and awe that I am up this early on a Saturday.  Of my own choice.  (Okay, you are probably now looking at the time this posted and thinking, Um, that is not early.  I was, however, up at 7:30.  Somehow, it is now 8:45, and I am really not sure how that happened.  Plus, it will be even later by the time this is posted, because I'm sure a child will wake up before I finish this and it'll get postponed*.  But, trust me, I was up early for me.)

And I guess it wasn't entirely by my own choice.  My baby guy woke up at 7:30 and I comforted him, then realized I had a headache.  (He went back to sleep.)  My headache medicine has caffeine in it, which means I either keep the headache or put caffeine into my system.  Neither is conducive to another hour or so of snoozing, so after a brief failed attempt (that must have been longer than I thought), I got up.  And decided to post to my blog.

* I am dying to make a joke about posting and my post being postponed, but the only way I can think to do that is by emphasizing the word post in "postponed" using italics, and that's not all that funny.  But you need to know that my use of the word "postponed" was, in fact, pun intended.

Anyway.  On with the show.

I am probably the world's biggest fan of doing things the easy way.

Well, except for having babies 18 months apart, maybe not that part.  But it will be easier when they get older, right?  Right?  RIGHT???  (Please tell me yes.  Even if it's not true.  Okay?)

Anyway, like I said, it's all about doing things the easy way.  So when I read somewhere/a friend of mine suggested to me the idea of slow-cooking oatmeal overnight in the crock pot, I thought it sounded brilliant!  I love oatmeal, and up until now, my favorite way of fixing it has been to put some in a bowl with milk* and cook it for a few minutes in the microwave.  Which works just fine.  But fixing it before bed and letting it stew all night?  Even better!

* Not a fan of oatmeal fixed with water.  Ew, blech.

So, I've been wanting to try this for months.  Months.  And I never did.  The reason why:  unless I wanted to fix 5 quarts of oatmeal for my daughter and I to eat for breakfast (and maybe my husband, but you never know), I didn't have a crock pot small enough.  And I just hadn't gotten around to buying one.

But yesterday, that changed.  I decided that this was going to be the night when I tried it, no matter what.  Of course, "no matter what" changed to "well, if I have the chance" when I came home and started helping take care of two rambunctious toddlers.  But fortunately, my husband wanted to escape after they went to bed, and that escape included a trip to Target because we were out of pull-ups for the Birdie.  I asked him to get me a 2-qt crock pot while he was there.

He found a 1.5-qt one and a 3-qt one, and after some thought, I decided the 1.5-qt one made the most sense and he bought me that.  When I read the directions glanced briefly at the little piece of paper included with the pot after I'd started my oatmeal, I noticed that it suggests the crock be at least half-full "for best results."  So the 1.5-qt one was the better choice of the two (although a 2-qt would have been perfect) because my recipe would have only just half-filled the crock, and in retrospect, I am going to have to scale it back a little.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

When Craig got back, he immediately got on the computer, so I had him look up some recipes for me so I would know how much liquid to put in for a given amount of oatmeal.  The recipes he found directed 4 cups water + 1/2 cup half 'n' half for 1 cup of steel-cut oats and 3 cups of water for 1 cup of rolled oats.

Water.  So I'm sure you can guess the first change I made.

I had steel-cut oats, but in looking at my little crock pot, I suspected that there would not be quite enough room for the oats, the liquid, and the other stuff * I needed to put in it.  So I used half a cup of steel-cut oats and half a cup of quick oats (the 1-minute kind).  Those two things are probably mortal enemies, but I hoped they would work together just this once, enough to make a decent breakfast for me and my family.

(Aside:  I just heard the baby guy's crib music start up.  Not a good sign.  But at least he can do it on his own now and didn't cry for me to come do it for him.)

Along with the oatmeal blend, I used 4 cups of liquid.  2.5 of those cups were skim milk, the other 1.5 was water.

* Because there always has to be other stuff.

And what was that other stuff?  In typical "me" fashion, I got a bit carried away with myself here.  I tend to think, "if this sounds good, and if that sounds good, won't they both be good in it?  And why don't I add this other stuff, too?"  So here is what happened.  I thought nuts and fruit would be good.  Dried fruit, that could hydrate and puff up all nice while it cooks.  And I was right about that.  But next time, I may add a little bit less.

I added roughly 1/4-1/2 cup of raisins, as well as about the same amount of dried cranberries out of a cranberry-almond-cashew mix I had.  I love the way nuts cook up when they get a bit soft in dishes like this, so I chopped up about 1/4 cup of cashews and 1/4 cup of almonds from the same blend and added those.

Then I stirred it all up a little (btw, that didn't make any difference.  All the oats settled back on the bottom, the liquid went to the top, and the fruit floated.  But I felt better, having stirred it.), put the lid on, and turned the cooker on low.  All of this took somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes.  (Would have been less if I hadn't separated out the cranberries, almonds and cashews before I chopped the nuts.)

Then I went to bed.

The Verdict:

After I got up with the baby guy at 7:30, I checked the oatmeal.  It had been cooking for about 8-8.5 hours, which is pretty much perfect.  Well, my first thought, upon looking at it, was "Oh no."  The inch or so of space that had remained at the top of the cooker when I put it all together was gone, and when I nudged the cooker, the mixture was a bit...wobbly.  This led me to believe that it had not cooked very well, and was still pretty runny.  And it had grown.

But when I opened it up and stirred it, I discovered three things.  First, the consistency actually was pretty good once it was mixed up some.  I dislike dry oatmeal, so the fact that it was not very dry was nice.  (And it wasn't runny once I mixed it up.)  Second, some of it had stuck to the sides and bottom.  I had already scraped some of it into the mixture when I realized that may have been a bad idea.  Oops.  So I had to hope that I hadn't mixed in any burned flavors.  And third, unless my husband eats a lot of it, there is too much for just the Birdie and me.  (So far, the baby guy has refused to touch oatmeal whenever I've put it in front of him.  He takes one look and clamps his lips as tight as a little clam.  Don't worry, though, I'll keep trying.  I'm just as stubborn as he is.)

After my failed attempt to go back to sleep, I came up and fixed myself a bowl, adding some brown sugar and a little milk on top.  And?  Overall, I like it, although I'll make some changes next time.

The changes:

 Definitely reduce the fruit and nuts.  They're very good, but there's just way too much.  Maybe a heaping 1/4 cup of each, total (instead of a heaping 1/2 of each).

 Lose the cashews.  The almonds were a really nice consistency - softened, but still pretty firm.  The cashews were just mushy.  And gross.  Ew.

 Use a bit less milk and a bit more water, respectively.  I think the reason it stuck may have been the milk.  Although if I try that and it still sticks, then I will assume that it's just supposed to stick and I'll go back to more milk.

 Reduce the oatmeal by a quarter.  Use 3/4 c. oatmeal and 3 c. liquid.  (I will reserve final judgment on this one until after I see how much actually gets eaten, but I just can't imagine it all will go.)

Otherwise, I am quite pleased by how this turned out.  It's easy to whip up the night before, and it gives you a hearty, filling, and, most importantly (right?) healthy breakfast to feed yourself and your kids in the morning.  I'll be doing this again, and trying variations.

Because, really, what fun is there in leaving "well enough" alone?

Redemption in the Kitchen

After my spectacular cookie failure last week, I knew I had to try again. I wasn't going to let a bunch of baking ingredients get the best of me. My cousin (I think...I'm pretty sure it was my cousin, although there wasn't a link in her comment) suggested I was the victim of bad baking soda, which made a lot of sense to me, given the deflated appearance of my pathetic attempt at cookies. So I ran out to the store, replenished our stock of eggs, and got some brand-new baking soda.

Armed with fresh ingredients, I tried again. This was a fairly important attempt, because the next day was a potluck picnic at work, and I didn't think anyone would eat burned cookies. Maybe it's just me. Of course, in typical "me" fashion (something that drives my husband nuts), I doubled the recipe this time. You know, that recipe that flopped the last time I tried to make it. Yeah, that one.

I got the ingredients ready and started mixing things together, and everything was going smoothly. I plopped in the butter, got ready to mix and realized - I'd only used enough butter for one batch. And that was the last stick. PANIC!

I started scrounging through the fridge to find another half-cup of something, anything, resembling butter. I found some Smart Balance spread. Perfect! Opened the tub...and realized there wasn't enough to make a full half-cup. I scooped it into the measuring cup anyway, smooshed it down, and went back to the fridge. Surely there was more Smart Balance in there. Surely. I could have sworn there was another tub of it. But...no.

And then I saw it. That tiny tub of honey butter that I'd bought on a whim when we were in Florida on vacation because I thought it would be good on...something. Who knows. I'd never used it. But...it was...butter-like...? Right? Never mind the fact that that trip to Florida was in January 2008. It was all I had.

Fingers crossed, I topped off my measuring half-cup of Smart Balance with some of the gooey honey butter, and hoped no one would end up sick (assuming the cookies came out edible). Mixed it all up, scooped the dough onto cookie sheets, and slid them into the oven. Then I switched on the oven light, sat down, and waited. I was not going to be surprised by smoke pouring out of the oven again! Nose almost pressed to the glass (but not quite, because that glass gets hot!) I watched as the cookies puffed up and baked, and didn't deflate. Success! Hooray!

They tasted pretty good, although they weren't spectacular, but I didn't bring any of the three dozen cookies I took to our picnic home, either.

But I realized something that evening when I baked the successful cookies. Cookies are pretty darn easy to make from scratch. I had no clue. So over the weekend I decided to try some variations. Because that's just the way I work. I can't stand to leave a recipe alone. So when I found a recipe for chocolate-chocolate chip cookies, the possibilities seemed endless.

First, I followed the recipe, but instead of chocolate chips, I added Andes Mints baking chips. Yum. Those turned out tasting like Thin Mints. Second, I did the same thing, except I added peanut butter-chocolate swirl chips. Those were tasty, too, but I thought the chips tasted a little weird. I'll probably try something different next time. Third, instead of adding cocoa powder, I added malted milk powder and made malted chocolate chip cookies. Again, very good, but I'll add more chocolate chips next time.

But those mint cookies. Wow. They were good. I've already made another batch of them. They're way too easy to eat!

I found the recipe in a Hershey's chocolate Christmas cookbook. It makes very moist, cakey cookies that are so good.

Hershey's Chocolate Cookies

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 to 1-1/2 cups baking chips of your choice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, cocoa powder and baking soda together in a small bowl and set aside. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter and vanilla to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix until combined. Add egg and beat well. Turn down speed and mix in flour mixture until combined. Stir in chips. Grease a cookie sheet and, using two spoons, drop small mounds of dough about an inch and a half apart (these cookies won't spread much while baking). Bake on 350 for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake.

I made 55 smallish cookies with this recipe, so there were approximately 73 calories per cookie.

Enjoy!

Fishlets

I've spent most of the evening pretending like the minutes between 6:30 and 6:50 p.m. didn't happen.

I got home from work to an empty house. Ahhhhh. A few minutes of solitude before the Evening Insanity. But a quick phone call to my mother-in-law told me that my solitude wasn't going to be as peaceful as I had first thought. The kids hadn't eaten yet. Horror of horrors.

Let me point out that in our house, this truly is an event to make me groan. It's not that I don't like to cook - I love to eat, and I therefore enjoy creating things to eat. But feeding the kids is entirely different. Especially if I want to give them something that doesn't come out of a can, a bag, or a shrink-wrapped package. Something that they'll actually eat, that is.

As I stared first into the refrigerator, then into the freezer, then back into the fridge, then back into the freezer, my despair mounted. Then, suddenly, an idea began to take shape.

Fish sticks. Except, of course, we didn't have any. But we did have frozen fish fillets, some stuff called, "Andy's Seasoned Seafood Breading," and Canola Oil. So I thought, what the hey? Why don't I make some fish sticks?

I got out the fish, and set it to thawing (by running hot water over it continually for about ten minutes, during which time I think I about half-cooked it and I know I wasted a lot of water). I put some of the seasoning in a bowl and waited for the fish to thaw. I observed that one side of the fish was kind of orangish. Hmm, pretty. Getting bored, I put some frozen corn and frozen peas in the microwave to cook. Then I waited some more. Finally I checked the fish, and it was nice and squishy.

I pulled out the first fillet and started to cut it up. And then I realized - that pretty orangish side? Skin. Oh yeah. Nassss-teeeeee. And before I could make something fry-able for my children, I had to get it off.

Thus began the aforementioned twenty minutes I've been trying to forget. Peeling the skin off of raw, cold, slightly rubbery raw fish. Oh, don't get me wrong. I'll eat raw fish any day of the week. I love me some sushi. But Oh.My.Gosh, don't make me touch it. Ewwwww.

And not only was it necessary to touch it, but to get the skin off, I had to peel it. Squeeze it. Squish it. Mush it all around. After a few short minutes, there was nasty raw fish juice running down my arm. Augh. Augh. Aaaauuuuugggghhhh!

And there were three more fillets to go.

Please just kill me.

This brings me to another aside, by the way. When a package of fish says "Boneless" on the front, what do you expect? You expect it to be, well, free of bones. Am I right? So as I was mushing up those icky pieces of raw fish, you can imagine my surprise when I felt little sharp objects. Surely not bones. Not in my boneless fillets. The boneless fillets that I planned on feeding to my fifteen-month-old baby. Surely not.

Surely, yes. Yes, indeed. I find it amazing that the Kroger company has survived without a lawsuit over that one.

With all of the mutilation being caused by the mushing and, now, extra cutting to get the bones out, I realized fish sticks would be fairly difficult. I decided on fish nuggets, instead. Fishlets. This was perfect, really, because allowed me to make little bite-size pieces that would be just the right size for my son.

So I got them all cut up and fried an itty bitty piece to see if I had the oil right. Amazingly, it tasted pretty good, so I cooked up the rest (not that I wouldn't have cooked the rest, at that point, if it hadn't been). I was fairly shocked, because truthfully, frying and I don't tend to get along. I'm really not very good at it. I usually end up with 3/4 of my food burned onto the bottom of the pan, and the 1/4 that's left isn't edible. (So why did I think frying fish would be a good idea?) But somehow, it worked. Maybe it was because it was small pieces.

With my little fishlets done, I was ready for the real test: would the toddlers actually eat them? Particularly my son, who doesn't eat well, anyway. (Who am I kidding? Neither of my kids eats well unless it comes from McDonald's.)

The verdict: Yes. Fishlets apparently are agreeable to the one- and two-and-a-half-year-old palate. (Peas, on the other hand, are not. All my son did was smush them. Squish. Squish. Squish.) We will be making this again.

But I'll make sure that the fillets are boneless and skinless, next time.

Fishlets

12 oz boneless, skinless white fish (a little more than 12 oz if there are bones & skin)

Cornmeal type seafood breading

Enough oil to cover the bottom of a frying pan about 1/2 cm

Cut fish into small pieces. Pour about 1/4 cup breading into a bowl. Coat about 10 pieces at a time, then, when oil is hot, put those 10 pieces in one at a time. Cook a minute or two, turning halfway through, until the fishlets are golden brown. Transfer to a paper-towel-covered plate to cool and drain.

Makes 3-4 servings (if two of the people being served are toddlers).