Crockpot Tri Tip

My brother, Gabe, knows how to create a good, heartwarming meal. We invited him and his girlfriend over for dinner last week and it seemed fitting to celebrate his birthday as it was only a few days before.

I asked him what he wanted to eat and he unhesitatingly requested tri-tip. And, of course, a little bacon jalapeno mac and cheese and sesame green beans on the side, finished off with a pumpkin pie. (You can't get more comfort food-esque than this, folks!)

I'm no pro on the BBQ but we wouldn't let that stop of us from enjoying a juicy piece of red meat.

Crockpot to the rescue! We had such great success that we may never place one on the grill again. It melted apart.

So easy to do, it is definitely a necessity for your autumn dinner repertoire.

Crockpot Tri Tip

2-3 lb. tri tip sirloin

2 c. beef broth

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

a few dashes of Tabasco

about 2 t. steak seasoning (enough to thoroughly cover the top of the roast)

Fill the crockpot with the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco. Place sirloin into crockpot. Sprinkle steak seasoning liberally over the top. Cook on low for 8 hours (or 4 on high).

Happy Distractions.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it ;)), I'm not able to give the same attention to this blog as I used to. There is a little person who has absolutely captured my attention and heart, and she requires most of my time these days. I hope to get more posts up on here in the near future (I would like to shoot for once a week), but I'm not promising anything....

If you'd like to follow our family adventures, I'm posting over at http://muffindome.com, our family's little piece of the Internets. Would love to have you follow!

And if you have any recipes you'd like to see posted on here in the future, please comment below!! :)

Baking Our 'Muffin'

It may seem that my baking has been slacking over the past few months, but I assure you, it has been anything but.

You see, I have a little 'bun in the oven' who has kept me from my regular routine in the kitchen. :-) A combination of morning sickness, fatigue, heightened smell (for better and for worse), and a lack of culinary creativity has led to far fewer hours in the kitchen, and even less time wanting to think or write about it. I apologize to those who have been anxiously awaiting my recipes and posts.

Our little 'muffin' is due in about 2 weeks. We can't wait to meet her!

I'm hoping sometime after Thanksgiving to get back into a regular baking and writing routine, but it may take as late as until after the beginning of the year. Many life changes as I jump into motherhood so no guarantees....but I'll keep you updated. :)

Mendocino Pumpkin Muffins

If you are not tired of all things pumpkin just yet, there is something more I would like to share with you. :)

My brother requests these muffins every year for his birthday (it's in June, mind you), and I'm always more than happy to oblige. They are adapted from a cookbook that has been on my mother's shelf for as long as I can remember.

The cookbook comes from a little restaurant called Cafe Beaujolais, which is nestled in the bohemian, coastal town of Mendocino, situated directly off Highway One in Northern California.

Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds was filmed on location here. Although, I try not to think of that when I visit, or I become frightened by every bird that flies overhead.... ;)

Mendocino's Blair House is also famous. It featured as the residence of Jessica Fletcher, the fictional sleuth from the hit 80's show, Murder She Wrote.

My family almost moved here shortly after I was born. Oh, how I would have loved to live in one of those quaint houses on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean!

We make frequent trips to the town when we stay in Fort Bragg (just 10 miles north). I love meandering the hiking trails along the bluff or browsing the myriad of galleries and shops. There are coffee shops aplenty, good for stopping in for a warm drink to ward off the chilly ocean breeze that blows through. A favorite stop is the Gallery Bookshop where there is guaranteed a purchase every time.

Pumpkin Muffins



2 c. brown sugar

1 c. canola oil

4 eggs, beaten

1 can (15 oz.) canned pumpkin (or 2 c. fresh)

3 1/2 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

2 t. salt

1 t. nutmeg

1 t. allspice

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. cloves

2/3 c. water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Thoroughly mix together brown sugar, oil, eggs, and pumpkin. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and cloves. Alternating with the water, add dry ingredients to wet in increments. (Batter should be creamy but not runny.)

Grease a muffin tin or fill with paper cups. Fill each cup about 2/3 full.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out dry.

Mouths to Feed

It takes a lot of food to feed 15 people. Especially when 75% of the mouths are male.

Growing up in a household of 11, I am accustomed to making and baking large quantities of food. When friends remark that producing a Thanksgiving supper for a party of 10 is nothing less than overwhelming, I'm not sure how to react. That was dinner every night during childhood. In fact, when I went off to college, I had difficulty with the notion of dinner for one. I often made familiar dishes that fed a large crowd, which meant lots of leftovers for the week ahead or the occasion for a dinner party. (I usually went with the latter.)

It's been a few years since I've been out of the house, so small meals are becoming second nature now. However, I revisited the art of 'meals for a large crowd' when I went on vacation with my family recently. Staying in an antique farm house on the northern end of Fort Bragg, there was ample space in the kitchen to feed our party of 15. We took turns making meals and cleaning the kitchen afterwards.

Breakfast nearly always turned into brunch as it took half the morning to prepare. My sister-in-law (who grew up in a family of 10) and I offered to take on the task one morning. 

The boys sippin' o.j. and waiting for breakfast

I took waffle duty. I used almost an entire bag of Bisquick -- the Costco size(!) -- to make the batter. The waffles warmed in the oven while I spooned and pried waffles in and out of the iron for around 2 hours.

Teresa was on egg duty. She decided to go gourmet and chop up tons of yummy veggies to add to the mix, along with a large bowl of grated cheese. An industrial size saucepan was necessary to cook the 3 dozen eggs (which wasn't enough, in the end). 

 Vegetables carefully chopped and meticulously cut...mine are never this uniform and pretty.

Unpictured (with good reason) are the mimosas we delightfully sipped in our p.j.'s as we cooked. A good drink at hand always makes the time go by swiftly and, nearly, effortlessly. Add a few good tunes on the radio and you can go for hours.

At last.

I had blissfully forgotten how long the process takes to feed that many. I caught a glimpse of the fear that fills the novice, but fell back into step without too much trouble. All were sated before our trek to the beach for the day...which, of course, included a long nap.