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The kids have been engrossed as of late with the Netflix series, “Blown Away”, a fairly interesting show about glassmaking. As a result, they are wanting to go to The Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, NY. The Corning Glass Company has a history that dates back to the late 1800’s. While the history grabs me, the kids are all about seeing glass blowing in real life. As such, we are off today to make that happen for them. Field -tripping is rough though; most certainly not like what Ms. Frizzle and her 5th Grade class portrayed it as. Between the screaming kids and crappy traffic it can get pretty hectic, add in a little hunger it can get downright brutal. I’ve done a bit of research and gathered that it can be somewhat difficult to find a good meal in Corning. If I’ve learned anything in my 20 years of parenting boys it’s that, boy scout or not, you need to be prepared…with food. With that in mind, I’m preparing box lunches for everyone, which will be gone before we even arrive. Here’s what’s on the menu: a California Club-inspired sandwich with the works and spicy guacamole. We’re also, per the normal teenage boy diet, bringing the ubiquitous bag of road trip Cheetos, but that’s not as important as the sandwich.

Sounds good, huh? Here’s what you’ll need.

• Sourdough Bread
• Ham
• Turkey
• Provolone Cheese
• Spicy Guacamole
• Oregano
• Broccoli Sprouts
• Olive Oil
• Mayo
• Bacon (2 slices; cooked.)
• Spring Onions

Grab two slices of bread and top one slice with 2 turkey slices and one ham slice. Add some mayo to the second slice, then hit it up with black pepper.

Then you add on the provolone, sprouts, spring onions, drizzle on a bit of olive oil over it and then a dash of oregano tops it off.

On the mayo-ed slice of bread, add a generous dollop of spicy guacamole and then smoosh them together to create bread and fillings perfection.

Now grab your cooler, toss in some fresh fruit, chopped veggies, these fantastic sandwiches, and any other road trip food that strikes your fancy. Top with some extra cold ice and then you’re off! If your family is anything like mine, they will demolish everything in the cooler about 1 hr and 23 minutes into the trip; then you will be frantically searching for the nearest pizza shop as you’re exiting the museum. I am planning ahead this time and Aniello’s pizzeria gets high marks on NY style pizza, so I’ve already plugged them into my phone. I am also looking forward to Poppleton Bakery because I’ve read that they have great cookies, and am always down for cookies. I am hoping to do some shopping in the Gaffer District, check out the Heritage Village, and see some of the architecture. However, I have learned not to overload my schedule when field tripping with the kiddos, so we will see how it goes…

Don’t forget to check back Thursbay- I mean ‘day’ for the promised Maryland crab cake post, that melds perfectly with last week’s Mish-Mash Potato Salad; that’s a plateful you’ve got to sea!

Sometimes on a summer day nothing hits the spot like potato salad. With so many different styles to choose from, what’s not to like? There are many types of potato salad, from Southern to Amish to Canadian, with just enough variance to tell them apart. Since we happen to like different points of each, we combined them into our favorite which we call Mish-Mash Potato Salad. Since this blog is about cooking with kids, we’ll start with where they come in. I boiled the potatoes the night before because I like them to have that fluffy, starchy feel that seems to only work with cold potatoes. I had them gather all the ingredients and place them on the island, and tried to instill a clean-as-you-go mindset as we worked.

We had the small fry start because his patience runs out quickly. He didn’t really want any part of this at first, but since his favorite past time is eating, he was easily bribed with the finished product. We asked him to add the mayo. He seemed to have a bit of a struggle with this.

It got a little messy.

We cleaned up quickly though and moved on.

The older boys worked on chopping, dicing, and measuring the rest of the ingredients. A couple were not too thrilled to be working with mayonnaise but they sucked it up and did it anyway. (They’re weird like that.) After a bit of confusion, some checking and rechecking, they brought it all together into a pretty fantastic dish, if I do say so myself. It was a really nice change for them to do the cooking for once; all I had to do was eat! They did a fantastic job and worked together really well.

By the end, we all learned something new. They boys learned a new recipe for potato salad…and I learned to never trust Jules with kitchen knives.

They had a great time cooking together, a fair bit of male teenage humor, and a pretty significant mess to cleanup. All in all I call that a success.

If you would like to try our recipe for Mish-Mash Potato Salad here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 1/1 lbs. of boiled potatoes. (We like Russets.)
• 3 Green Onions, chopped
• 1 1/2 tbsp. Celery Seed
• 1/2 c. Banana Peppers, chopped
• 1/2 c. Garlic Pickles, 2 to 3 spears.
• 4 Hard Boiled Eggs.
• 1/2 c. of Mayo.
• 1/2 c. of Sour Cream.
• 1/4 c. of Dijon Mustard.
• Salt, Pepper, Paprika and Parsley for Taste.

Place the potatoes in a mixing bowl alongside the mayo and sour cream, mixing it thoroughly and then adding Dijon mustard. Stir thoroughly. Chop green onions, toss in. Add diced garlic pickles, chop banana peppers thinly, toss in celery seed, stir. Chop 3 eggs coarsely, toss in. Add spices to taste, slice remaining egg, set around top, sprinkle with more paprika. Enjoy!

Our favorite way to eat this potato salad is heaped gorgeously on top of crab cakes topped with hot sauce. Yum! Next Thursday we’ll be trying our hand at those crab cakes so be sure to check it out.

For our first official recipe we decided to start small with breakfast tacos, or in our case brunch. (or maybe that would be 2nd breakfast) We can because we usually just slurp a smoothie and call it breakfast. It’s a really simple recipe, although it appears to require an excessive number of ingredients which I sometimes find aggravating. When possible, I try to follow the kiss rule in the kitchen. (No, not kiss the cook…I meant keep it simple silly.) I solved this dilemma by sending one kid to scavenge for the cooked foods and one collecting all the toppings.

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy tacos far more than I should. It’s almost a perfect food. Healthy veggies, a crunchy shell and savory, spicy meat. (Or your vegan substitute if you’re so inclined.) Have you ever wondered: “Can I eat tacos for breakfast?” Let me rephrase that. “Can I eat tacos for breakfast that won’t get me weird looks when I unveil it on the subway?

I have two answers to that:

1. Yes.

2. Why would you take them on the subway?

Okay, enough chat. Let’s get to what you’ll need.

• Olive Oil
• Rice (Optional. We did, but you don’t have to.)
• Garlic Clove
• One small onion (sliced)
• 3 Mini Peppers (sliced into slivers)
• 4 eggs (scrambled)
• 1 small potato (thinly sliced)
• Whole wheat flour tortillas
• Salt
• Pepper

For the toppings, you’ll need:

• Sour Cream
• Avocado
• Cilantro
• Spinach
• Tomatos
• Cholula, Chipotle Sauce (To taste.)

Instructions:

Drizzle olive oil onto heated skillet. Chop onions and garlic and toss in, slice peppers, then add those as well. Slice potato very thin toss onto skillet with peppers and onions. Cook until onions caramelize a bit and potatoes soften through. Scramble eggs and pour in, moving around to keep from sticking occasionally. Once the hodge-podge of eggs and veggies fully cooks through, pull them away from the skillet on to a heat-safe bowl and prepare for building your tacos.

Laying the tortilla out flat, place a thin layer of rice, if you made it, onto the tortilla and build from there, starting with the egg-veggie combo, followed by a hint of cilantro and the rest of the topper veggies.. Add a teaspoon of sour cream over the top of your spinach, avocado and tomatoes, then top that sour cream with the Cholula or Chipotle sauce. This goes over well with sweetened iced tea, if you feel like going through the work of it.

That’s about it. Hopefully if you do attempt to take this one on the subway, you won’t be heckled by the piercing judgement of your fellow train-goers as badly with this more morning appropriate fiesta in a shell.

We love food. We aren’t ‘foodies’ per se, we just like to eat. And cook. And eat again. Now that I have four sons who have (mostly) become young men, it’s time for them to get in on the kitchen fun. Join us as we embark on a mission to teach some young men how to create meals on a budget, impress a date perhaps, entertain a bit, or generally learn to fend for themselves in the kitchen.