A Family's Journey through Sacred Table V1
Have you seen the movie, Julie and Julia, with Meryl Streep and Amy Adams? It's one of my favorites! It’s a movie based on the true story where a girl named Julie makes ALL of the recipes from Julia Child’s cookbook in a year, and then blogs about it. What I love so much is not only that Julia Childs was a relatively unknown chef in the beginning of her career, made famous “later in life” (based on silly society standards), but also that Julie started as a relatively unknown blogger, where only her mom was reading her initial blogs. I can relate ☺️
Now, I’m not going to pretend I’m as cool as Julia Childs. Nor am I going to think that THIS one post will suddenly generate millions of readers (although, that would be cool!) BUT I was thrilled and honored to find out my friend, Tina, set a goal for 2023 to make all 70 recipes in my cookbook…and she SUCCEEDED! To me, this is just as exciting as any movie, famous chef, or blogger because it’s the real life of a close friend who accomplished something that drew her family closer, and helped them create their own Sacred Table.
Mission accomplished.
I could write all about Tina’s journey myself. Or, I could tell you about how excited I was every time I received a picture from her of her latest meal from my book. But, wouldn’t it be MORE fun to hear from Tina, herself? I think so. I asked her to share more about her journey, and if she’d be okay if I featured her on my blog, to which she said YES!
Read on to hear all about Tina and her family’s journey through Sacred Table, Food Worth Gather For V1, in 2023!
Hi Nikki!
Thank you, again, for writing your amazing cookbook! It was so much fun to create so many great recipes and oftentimes, step outside of my norm and make dishes I never knew existed or in ways I have never tried before (like creating a double boiler to melt butter!)
Family favorites
Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins | pg. 37
Winter Red Pear Salad | pg. 103
Carrot Cake Protein Bars | pg. 133
Brookies | pg. 155
Cherry Chocolate Blondies | pg. 165
Salted Dark Chocolate Bites (we call it chocolate fudge) | pg. 167
Hot Cocoa Cookies | pg. 201
Each family member’s overall favorite
Dave – Homestead Cheddar Crackers | pg. 149
Tina – Kabobs | pg. 63 (This was my June birthday meal. SO GOOD!)
Madelyn – Corn Cobs with Avocado Crème | pg. 109
Grace – Tofu pies (vegetarian version of meat pies) | pg. 181
Aiden – Chicken Finger Wraps | pg. 71
Most made dish and one that's become tried and true
Church Award Chili | pg. 94
I have made this Chili so many times this past year, not only for our family, but for get-togethers and fundraisers at Amazing Grace Equine Sanctuary. Recently, AGES created a cookbook compiled with recipes from our volunteers. My "Vegan Chili" was requested for the cookbook, which is a vegetarian version from your cookbook. So, I submitted that recipe and gave credit where credit is due. Under my name it reads "Modified from the Sacred Table cookbook by Nikki Schneider". :)
A surprisingly loved dish
Broccolini | pg. 107
I got the teenage eye roll on this one: "Another one of mom's healthy dishes". Then, after tasting, all of them said, "This is actually pretty good!" I didn't even bother distributing plate portions. They each had a fork and ate the whole thing right off the baking sheet!
A recipe that I wish I wouldn't have waited so long to make!
Carrot Cake Protein Bars | pg. 133
I kept putting this one off because at first glance, it looked like too much effort and created too many dishes (The typical, "I don't have time for this!"). WRONG! It wasn't as much work as it appears! I WILL be making this again and again, but doubling the recipe each time. Grace, Aiden, and I ate almost the entire pan fresh out of the oven. I had to put it on top of the fridge (out of sight, out of mind) so Dave and Madelyn could try it when they got home from school. This pan of goodness did not make it through the night. Gone before dark! :)
It's a perfect, healthy, high-protein snack for our active, on-the-go family!
Tips/Tricks/Methods I've never done before
Brining meat
Melting butter in a double broiler
Adding another protein (lox, canned or packaged tuna, or salmon) to our avocado egg sandwiches that we make on a regular basis (Isla's loaded avocado toast | pg. 143)
New way to make chicken noodle soup (more flavorful!!!)
Berry Reduction for french toast or pancakes (a yummy alternative to syrup!)
Using protein powder in baked goods!
"New to us" ingredients
Capers (loved by some, not so much by others)
Vanilla paste (Robust flavor!)
Jarred peppers (Who knew?! So much easier than chopping them myself!)
Lox
Grape leaves (Looked ahead of time on Festival Foods website as to which aisle these were in. I had no idea! Aisle 3)
Fine baking sugar
Herbs de Provence (Lavender? Yes please!!! I have used this bottle of herbs so many times since I bought it!). The tenderloin was tender, juicy, and devine!
Dishes I Improvised
Cashew butter was more difficult to find and when I did find it, the price was astronomical. So, I bought a bag of raw cashews, soaked
them for 6 hours, roasted them in the oven, blended them in our Ninja, and voilà! Homemade cashew butter to make Cashew Butter Fudge | pg .173
I have 2 vegetarians in the family.
Chili- before I add the meat, I scoop out a generous amount for the vegetarians. Depending on what vegetables I have in the house, I like to add more veggies to theirs, particularly frozen squash cubes or a little frozen spinach.
Meat pies- I roasted seasoned tofu in the air fryer and had 2 separate bowls- meat pie filling and tofu pie filling. I got help from one of my vegetarians for this dish. It was a fun one to make together!
Kabobs- This was fun for them to make skewers loaded with hardy veggies! Zucchini, peppers, thickly sliced onions, mushrooms. The sauce for this recipe is amazing!!!
What I loved most about this challenge
All of us got involved!
We loved tasting and trying new dishes together.
Oftentimes my kids would help me make the dishes (Aiden loved making the chicken fingers with me and has requested I keep chicken tenders in the freezer so he can make this recipe on his own. As I type this, he has chicken unthawing in our refrigerator right now!)
We were ALL introduced to new ingredients, new dishes, and new tips for cooking/baking.
And I LOVE a good, fun, purposeful, family-involved challenge! It got us cooking and baking together, inquisitive together (you can eat grape leaves?), and best of all, sitting around our own sacred table together.
This 2023 resolution gets 5 STARS from me! So much fun!
Thank you for making our year more flavorful!
Love, hugs, and blessings to you as you continue creating yummy dishes for your own Sacred Table.
Tina
