A Chillin' Labor Day Snack

Our pal, Carly, wrote:

This is a great summer recipe. Our friends gave us this recipe (thanks Madison, Makenzie & Michelle!)

Ingredients:

shredded carrots
sauteed zucchini
cucumber (optional)
sliced in half cherry tomatoes
corkscrew pasta (remember to cook the pasta)
goddess sauce (from Trader Joe's)
parmesan cheese

Mix everything together, chill in the fridge, and enjoy!

Pdiddy Brownies

This chocolatey recipe was emailed by Payton.
Indulge with a tall glass of milk! :)

2 sticks butter - softened
2 cups sug
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 tea. vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix Butter and sugar
Add eggs
Mix well
Add cocoa, flour, vanilla, pecans, chocolate chips.
Beat but, not too long
Bake 30 min. @ 350

Chefs at Play

Liv & Belle chillin' in the kitchen....

Kids' Restaurant Week

These photos were taken on June 21 during Kids' Restaurant Week. It took place at The Green City Market in Chicago. Tons of people showed up to dine in style! Belle & Liv made an incredible pesto and pasta that everyone enjoyed. They also made new pals and signed autographs.

You'll see some of the kids wearing aprons. Those decked out in an apron received a surprise gift!

Click Photos to Enlarge

Chloe's 4 Piece Egg Salad Sandwich

Chloe's sandwich is eggggg-cellent!
Thanks Chloe!
-Team Spatulatta

Ingridients:  
Egg (hard boiled)
Mayo (or mustard) 
Lettuce 
Tomato 
Sub Bread 
Pickle (optional) 
Salt and Pepper 
 
Take a knife and cut your egg into 4 parts. If wanted, use another egg too. 

Place 4 (or 8) slices of egg on one half of sub bread. 
Cover with mayo.

Take 4 pieces of lettuce and pat them into the mayo. Put a dollop of mayo on the
lettuce. 

Cut tomato into 4 parts. Place tomato onto mayo level 2. Sprikle salt and pepper
over tomato. 

Last, take pickle and cut into 4 pieces, and put on top of tomato. Spread mayo onto
pickles. Put sub bread on the sandwhich. Then, put sandwich in microwave for 24
seconds. 

Yum!

Spatulatta Adds:
To hard boil egg(s), place egg(s) in a pot and cover with cold water by a 1/2-inch or so.
Bring to a gentle boil. 

Now turn off the heat, cover, and let sit for 7 minutes. 

Have a bowl of ice water ready and when eggs are done cooking place them
in the ice bath for about 3 minutes - long enough to stop the cooking.

Jiaozi Recipe - Stuffed Chive Shrimp Dumplings

Our pal Yun from China sent her delicious recipe for jiaozi.
Feast your eyes on this Chinese dish (click images to enlarge).

Thank you, Yun. We can't wait to make jiaozi in the kitchen!
Team Spatulatta

P.S. Below you'll see Yun's original email, as well as Spatulatta's
interpretation - measurement conversions, etc. Plus we added
info on dumpling preparation. ;)

----------------
Original Email:

My  dear friends:
Today I want to tell you something about Chinese food.
You know that in China we always eat jiaozi during Spring festival.
Ok,let me show you how to make jiaozi: Chive shrimp dumplings stuffed

Zhuliao: Shrimp 150 grams, 150 grams of lean pork, fresh leeks 150 grams
Accessory: ginger adequate, appropriate condiments approach: lean pork cut 0.4
centimeters around the small, plus mirin, soy sauce adequate system of submerged
more than 20 minutes, Shrimp from shrimp lines and cut the meat with a small
amount of soy sauce Dingjia, mirin submerged system 20 minutes (meat Laochou,
shrimp-sheng pumping oh). Leek Qiemo will add ginger, salt, monosodium glutamate,
Wu Xiangfen a small, peanut oil modest, a small amount of sesame oil, submerged
good meat and shrimp stir evenly. . He! As simple as just filling the dumplings,
by the incomparably delicious dumplings taste ah
I wish that you can enjoy making jiaozi.

Yours,
Yun

---------------
Spatulatta's Interpretation:

My dear friends:  

Today I want to tell you something about Chinese food.  You know
that in China we always eat jiaozi during Spring festival.

Ok, let me show you how to make jiaozi (stuffed chive shrimp dumplings)

PREP TIME: 40 min.  

INGREDIENTS FOR 30-40 DUMPLINGS  

WRAPPERS: 
Fresh or Frozen dumpling wrappers from your local Asian grocery store.
*Be sure to buy dumpling wrappers, not wonton wrappers.

FILLING: 
5 oz. shrimp 
5 oz. lean ground pork
5 oz. fresh leeks (thinly sliced) 
1 inch ginger, scraped or chopped
3 tbsp mirin 
3 tbsp soy sauce 
1/2 tsp salt   

DIRECTIONS: 
Peel shrimp, clear veins if necessary and chop into tiny pieces. 
Combine all ingredients and marinate for 20 min.

After 20 min, add 3 tbsp peanut oil and 1/2 tsp sesame oil in frying pan and cook ingredients until done.  
Drain access liquid from pan.

STUFFING DUMPLINGS: 
First: Fill dumpling wrapper with 1 tsp of stuffing.
Secondly: Taking your index finger brush a small amount of warm water on far edge of wrapper opposite you.
Lastly: Fold wrapper over your fingers and seal to finish.   

STEAMING DUMPLINGS:
Steam Dumplings in a steamer until they're translucent.
You will see the stuffing showing through the wrapper!  

Hey! As simple as just filling the dumplings, by the incomparably delicious dumplings taste - ahhhhhh!
I wish that you can enjoy making jiaozi.                                            
 
Yours,
Yun

Food Allergy Friendly: Pizza Cookie!

Sent from Gina @ AllergyMoms.com

Here's a cute idea for a party or picnic for those with peanut allergy or multiple food allergies. The version that I make is free of gluten, dairy, egg, peanuts and tree nuts. Please check all ingredients for safety and your own comfort level.

To make the "Crust"

To make the cookie, prepare one package of Miss Robens or Cherry Brook Kitchens Sugar Cookie Mix. Form mix into a ball and press into a large circle on your cookie sheet. Leave at least an inch all around as the cookie will expand as it cooks. Increase baking time by about 10 minutes or until cookie is thoroughly baked.

For the "sauce"

Melt one package of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips and spread over the pizza leaving the "crust" visible. Allow to set. An alternative is to use 3/4 cup of organic strawberry preserves.

Add "Green Peppers"

Sprinkle about a dozen green Mike & Ikes or Divvies green jelly beans.

For the "cheese"

Prepare one package of Cherrybrook kitchen vanilla icing and mix with a half package of dairy free white chocolate chips, melted. When the mixture is thin enough to swirl around but stay intact, drizzle it around on top of the dark chocolate (or strawberry preserves) to look like melted cheese.

Top with "Pepperoni"

Top with a safe round gummy candy, or red gumballs cut in half. Try Farley Hot Cinnamon dollars, Double Bubble large gumballs or Divvies Gumballs.

Fun Extras:

Buy a large pizza box from the grocery store or local pizza parlor. This is a great way to transport the cookie. How fun it is to walk into a party or celebration and have a safe treat that all of the kids fuss over!

Buy "Guest Checks" from your local Wal-Mart or office supply store. You can include a birthday message or use them as place cards for a kid's party.

Sprinkle "parmesan cheese" on top with grated safe white chocolate.

Buy a hot pepper shaker at the Dollar Store and fill it with safe chocolate or red sprinkles for the kids to shake on their slices. They get a real kick out of this!

Cut and serve like pizza slices on white paper plates and Enjoy!

Email from Yun in China

Our new pal, Yun, from China writes:

This is a good site and I am a chinese girl. The site not only teaches me
how to cook, but also practice my English.  And I think you can try to cook some
Chinese food, it is also very interesting!

Spatulatta replies:

Yun, thank you for emailing us!  We're glad Spatulatta is helping you in the 
kitchen and with your English.

We're eager to learn more about Chinese cooking!  What are your favorite foods?
If you have any recipes to share, please email them to info@spatulatta.com

We love featuring recipes from all around the world :)

Keep Cookin!
Team Spatulatta