Costa Rican coffee under a palapa — every morning for a week on our honey. Pure bliss.
Hummus from Abu Gosh — the best in the world!! (photo taken during an afternoon in Abu Gosh with my girl, Eva).
Some days, it truly is the simple things in life that warm my heart and bring me back when I think I’m on the brink of tearing my hair out. School is winding down, which is WONDERFUL, but that just means the stress level is increasing as everyone is running around trying to make sure students are prepared for their finals while also coordinating the dismal task of informing students and parents of the potential of failing courses, and of course every other detail you can think of. It’s that time of year when everyone else wants their ‘important’ to be your ‘important’. So when the stress starts getting to me, I think about the little things that make me so darn happy. There are so many things that fit into this category. Admittedly, a lot of them are focused on the baby and her cute Dad but dang it a lot of the things on that list are edible too. There’s coffee; the coffee we drank under palapas in Costa Rica. There’s the lasagna, dripping in bechamel, served at the Little House in Baka in Jerusalem (so much of my favorites are from Jerusalem. Don’t get me started on the hummus. That’s a blog post in and of itself). Then there’s ordering room service and eating in be while watching cable. I can’t explain why but ordering some kind of delicious pasta and eating it while watching whatever is showing on Bravo makes me so dang happy. High on that list of simple pleasures, right under room service and right before a glass of anything Bell’s Brewery has to serve is hors dourves. Good Lord in heaven, I love finger foods. Did you ever seen that early 90s Cher and Winona Ryder movie, Mermaids (if not, please watch it. I watched this movie over and over and over again as a kid)? Cher plays Winona’s unorthodox mom who can’t cook anything other than finger foods. Winona’s character abhors that in her mother. I would have been right on board with that. Seriously, if you can mix it up and put it in phyllo dough or a mini quiche, I’m in.
Ground Turkey Goodness
In the spirit of making a meal out of finger foods, and trying to use up some leftovers, I made a very simple but
truthfully, very delicious meal a couple of nights ago that I wanted to share. I think the recipe below would make Cher’s character proud, ifIdosaysomyself.
What’s on your ‘simple pleasures’ list?
The Assembly Line
Before Cooking
The Final Delicious Product
Perfect Pockets: Ground Turkey and Tofutti Cream ‘Cheese’ Wontons
What!?
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 pound – ground turkey
3 green onions, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
Pepper
1/2 cup of non-dairy cream ‘cheese’ (herbed works best)
1 package of wonton wrappers
How’s That Now?
Heat olive oil in large frying pan over medium high heat. Add the green onions and garlic and sauté for 2 – 3 minutes or until fragrant. Add the ground turkey to the pan and continue cooking until turkey is just about fully cooked. Season the turkey mixture the soy sauce and pepper and let cook for a minute or two more.
Next, add the turkey mixture to a large mixing bowl and let cool for 5 minutes. Once cooled, add the cream cheese mixture to the bowl and stir to combine. I like my mixture to be on the creamier side, so feel free to add more if you like. The best thing about this recipe is that it’s all up to your interpretation.
Preheat your over to 375 degrees.
Now, fill your wontons! Very lightly dust your counter top with a bit of flour. Place 12 wrappers on the floured counter top, and add a small dollop of filling just off-center of each dumpling. Run a wet finger around the rim of each wrapper, gently fold one side over onto the other so that it forms a triangle, and try to avoid trapping air bubbles in the dumplings if you can. Repeat until you run out of wrappers or filling. Place the wontons on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Brush a little bit of oil into each wonton before baking. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes or until edges turn golden brown.
