Edible Beard Man

A recent Facebook post from my friend Andy showed his daughter stirring scrambled eggs on the stove. It made me think I should start teaching my boys how to do more in the kitchen than use the microwave, but I'm still worried about them burning the house down — or burning themselves!

My youngest, Sam, does love to cook, though. Amy gifted my boys Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes and it's perfect for cooking with kids. Sam has bookmarked quite a few recipes inspired by the characters in Dahl's books.

We took a stab at making Mr. Twit's Beard Food and it was pretty fun — and definitely the kind of thing many boys would enjoy eating. Mr. Twit's most noticeable trait is his very messy beard, which contains leftovers from his meals. Yuck. But who doesn't like playing with their food?

You can change things up anyway you like with this general recipe. Since mashed potatoes form the base, you can let your child craft an edible version or his or her favorite character. I could see my niece Layne forming Elsa's long braid instead of a mashed potato beard, for example.

So, if you're faced with a rainy day or a long afternoon, get into the kitchen with your kiddos and see what they create.

Mangia! Mangia!
Andrea

Edible Beard Man
Inspired by Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes cookbook

3 large potatoes
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
(Note: Feel free to use instant mashed potatoes instead. Follow package directions.)
3-4 cocktail franks
4 mushrooms
1 hard boiled egg
1 black olive or 2 raisins
1 slice bread
Small bag potato sticks or "fries" (I mean the kind from the potato chip aisle, but you could also use cooked french fries.)
Small bag pretzel sticks
Handful of cornflakes
1/2 shredded cheese
Optional: 1/4 cup peas or carrots, 1/4 baked beans, ketchup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Peel potatoes and cut into large chunks. Place in medium pot and cover with water. Boil until potatoes are soft. Drain potatoes and return them to the pot. Add butter and milk and mash until everything is combined. Set aside and let cool for a few minutes.

Cover a baking sheet with foil.

Peel the egg and cut it in half.

Using about 1/3 of the mashed potatoes, form a base for the face on the baking sheet. It should resemble the outline of a football. Then use the rest of the mashed potatoes to form a beard that tapers at the end. You can make your beard rounded or pointy.

Position the egg halves within the opening of the face to form the eyes. You can flip the rounded yolk halves and place them upside down on the egg whites to make building eyes. Add a raisin or piece of black olive for the center of the eye.

Separate a mushroom stem from its cap and place between the egg eyes. Use two mushroom caps to make nostrils at the bottom of the mushroom stem.

Use the two remaining mushroom caps to make the ears.

Slice the crust off the bread and place it above the eggs to make eyebrows.

Slice the franks lengthwise but not all the way through. Place them on the mashed potatoes to form a mouth. Using the remaining bread, make teeth by pinching small pieces of bread together and rolling them into a pointy shape. Put the bread teeth between the sliced franks so they stick out at odd angles.

Next, make the hair. Stick the potato sticks or fries into the mashed potatoes above the eyes and ears.

Then, fill in the beard! Use potato sticks, pretzel sticks, cornflakes and whatever else your child likes to eat to make a messy-looking beard. Squirts of ketchup or dollops of baked beans look great.

Sprinkle the beard with cheese. Warm in oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Then watch as your child devours his or her creation.

Shepherd's Pie II (The Remix)

Several people (including Mo. Hey, Mo!) have told me that Shepherd's Pie II is their favorite recipe here on HDHH. This is the perfect simple, make-ahead meal to get through the insanity that is September. And true confession: I usually don't make my own mashed potatoes. As I mentioned in my original post, I hate making mashed potatoes. So I buy the pre-made ones. No shame here, people. Sometimes I need to make my life easier, ya feel me?

It was high time I took some new, better pics of Shepherd's Pie II, but you know what I discovered? It's dang hard to take a good pic of Shepherd's Pie! So I gave it my best shot. Better than the originals.

Shepherd's Pie II (The Remix)

Adapted from Real Simple
Serves: 8

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup peeled and sliced carrots
Salt and pepper
1.5 pounds ground beef (I used ground sirloin.)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1.5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1.5 cups frozen peas
1 cup corn kernels (optional, but delicious)
5 cups mashed potatoes*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 10" oven-safe skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high. Add onion and carrots. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 6 minutes, until vegetables are beginning to soften. Transfer to a separate bowl.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet. Add the beef and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring often to break up the beef, about 8 minutes, until meat is no longer pink. Drain the grease from the skillet. Stir in tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle in flour and cook, stirring, for one minute to cook off the raw taste of the flour.

Stir in broth, scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate the flavor bits that have accumulated there into the sauce. Add peas, corn, and cooked onions and carrots. Bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat.

Spoon mashed potatoes on top of the meat and vegetable mixture in your skillet. Bake 40-45 minutes, until filling is bubbling and potatoes are lightly browned. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

* If you're a better person than me and decide to mash your own potatoes, Real Simple suggests the following:
3 pounds potatoes (I like to use Yukon Gold when I do mash my own.)
Salt and pepper
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter

Place the potatoes in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and add 1 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat and simmer for 15-18 minutes, until potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife. Drain and return potatoes to the warm pot. Add milk, butter, and salt and pepper to taste. Mash potatoes.