Last night, Tobin really, really wanted to “make a treat with sugar and stirring.”  It was exactly bedtime, so it wasn’t going to happen, but I promised him we could today.  I honestly didn’t feel like it after last week’s baking adventures (did you know that when you make a cake for a school cake walk, your children require that you make a cake for them, too?).  But I believe in keeping promises unless the promised-to conveniently forgets to ask again.  He didn’t forget.

We whipped this together out of stuff we had at home.  Orange/almond/chocolate is my current flavor combination true love, and since I’m the tallest one at home right now, I chose the specifics.  Tobin approved because it contains both sugar and stirring.

Orange/almond/chocolate mini cheesecakes

1/2 package chocolate Bunny Grahams
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) salted butter, melted
1 package (8 oz) neufchatel cheese or cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp almond extract
juice of 1 clementine

Preheat oven to 350F.

Crunch up the choco- bunnies in a food processor until they’re rendered coarse crumbs.  Add the melted butter and pulse to combine.  Press into the bottoms of the depressions in a 24 mini muffin tin.  I used this mini-tart smasher I have, and it was very convenient, but you could use your fingers, too.

Clean out the food processor, and add the cheese, egg, and sugar.  Combine until smooth.  Add whipping cream, almond extract, and clementine juice and blend a bit more.

Fill muffin cups almost to the top.  Bake for 15 minutes or until just barely set.  Cool completely before eating.

Tobin pulled out drawers in the kitchen and used them to climb up on the counter.  When I saw him…

A:  You are a stinker!

T:  I’m really nice, though.

Two from today.

Tobin was looking for his John Deere hammer.  He wanted me to help him find it, so he was describing it to me so I’d know what to look for.

T:  It’s green…and hammery…

—-

Tobin was doing some coloring, and I was half-watching while I uploaded some photos.

T:  I’m getting all ready.

A:  Okay, sweetie.

T:  I’m getting all ready.

A:  …

T:  I’m getting all ready.

At which time I looked at him, and he had colored his hands all over with red marker.  Not ready, but reddy.

I invented dinner tonight.  I bought some chicken parts at the grocery store yesterday, mostly because I wanted to make Tobin’s favorite roasted broccoli and I thought the chicken would go well with it.  I didn’t think much about what I would do with it until today.  Here’s what I did.  Denny said I should blog it because it was good, and it increases the likelihood of having it again.

If my father had blogged in my growing-up years, we might have had more repeats.  Dad made a lot of inventions, and sometimes it was a little sad, because they were often very good and we never had them again.  Not exactly, anyway.

I had a whole bunch of clementines to use up, so that’s where I got the orange juice for this recipe.  You could substitute beverage-type orange juice.

Orange-Garlic Chicken

Marinade:

Juice of 6 clementines (about 3/4 cup) + enough water to make about 2 cups
1 clementine, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 handful of cilantro, coarsely chopped (could also use parsley if you’re a cilantro-hater, but I’m a cilantro lover and I really liked what it brought to the dish)

3-4 pounds chicken parts, bone in and skin on

Glaze:
Juice of 3 clementines (or a generous 1/3 cup)
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
a pinch of salt
pepper
1 tablespoon butter

Combine marinade ingredients in a gallon-sized ziplock bag.  Squish them around to dissolve the salt.  This would probably be easier if you use warm/hot water, but I didn’t.  Add chicken and squish it around so marinade is touching all of it.  Put the sealed bag in a big bowl in the refrigerator and leave for 6-8 hours (even overnight would probably be fine).  Flip the bag occasionally to make sure all the chicken has had equal access to marinade.

Preheat oven to 400F.

When you’re ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the marinade and dry it thoroughly.  Put in a rimmed baking sheet (I used a 9×13 and it was a little crowded, so I might use a bigger pan next time).  Roast for about 30 minutes.  While the chicken is cooking, make the glaze:  melt the butter in a small saucepan and saute the garlic until it softens up.  Add the juice, salt, and pepper, and boil until reduced to about 1/4 cup.

At 30 minutes, baste the chicken with the glaze.  Return to the oven and continue to cook until the light meat is 165F and the dark meat is 170F (about 45 minutes total cook time, in my case).  I basted it one more time after it came to temperature and broiled it for a minute or two to crisp up the skin.

This would also be good on the grill.