Rainy rainy April. I'm sooooo ready for spring! The upside of it still being cold (getting warmer, I admit, but high 40s is still cold in my book!) is that I still have time to use up some of the stew beef from our last Paidom order before it's too warm for me to want to stew.
Tonight I'm making beef stew for dinner. Its my own recipe, but by happy coincidence it tastes quite similar to one of my favorite tagines at La Maison du Couscous in Brooklyn. If the weather is still cool enough for stew where you live (or maybe if you have a crock pot, I've never really used one of those and am not familiar with their magical powers) I highly recommend you try it out.
1 lb stewing beef, cut into chunks
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 c water
1/2 c Chinese style rice wine for cooking
2 carrots
3 smallish potatoes
1/3 c green olives, chopped
1 preserved lemon, chopped
peas
Salt the beef and brown in your stewing pot with approx 1 T oil. Mine needs two batches. I put it in the upturned pot lid to wait when it's browned. Add more oil to pot if necessary and add onion. Cook until it's softened a bit, then add ginger and turmeric. Cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Return beef to pot, and add water and rice wine. Bring to simmer and cook, covered, about 60 minutes (longer is fine, too). Chop carrots and add them. Cook another 30 min, chop potatoes and add them. Cook until things are nearly tender then add olives and preserved lemon. When everything is tender and lovely add the peas, still frozen. Stir them in, turn off heat, and cover. In about 3 minutes the peas will be defrosted and not overcooked at all. Serve (cilantro and/or parsley are nice, but plain is good, too!).
Friday, April 4, 2008
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Food laws
OK, so kids and parents often disagree about food, right? At the tender age of 4 (or, um, 18 *cough* just for full disclosure, you know...) subsisting off of Kool-aid powder and Marshmallow Fluff seems like a good idea, but as slightly mature parents we know better, and try to impress our hard won knowledge upon our offspring.
Zion has always been a fairly easy kid as far as food goes. He'll try anything and likes most of it. But lately he's been announcing that he doesn't like X- usually when faced with it at dinner time. I suspect this is a part of his burgeoning independence; he's marking his territory, as it were. Luckily, we have a plan. We've had it from before we even had kids, as a matter of fact, and truth be told, it's actually my parent's plan. But we like it, and imitation and flattery and all.
So the plan is this: each child is allowed a short list (probably about 5 items) of foods that they don't have to eat. The list can be changed any time other than immediately prior to a meal. This way the working-towards-independence child can have a voice in his/her food choices, while we as parents still get to pretend that we can enforce our will. Perfect.
Anyway, last night I made lentil soup. Both kids like lentil soup. Except last night Zion decided that he didn't. We figured he was old enough to understand and appreciate the food list, so we explained the concept and he enthusiastically put lentil soup on his list. He'd have cashew butter and honey for dinner, he decided. It was easy and peaceful and the rest of us sat down with our soup while Zion munched on sandwich. But a funny thing happened. About halfway through his meal Zion's face started looking a little bit sad and he announced that he was tired of cashew butter. I asked if he'd like some lentil soup and he brightened up and said that he would. So I brought him some soup and he ate it. And then he told us that he didn't think he wanted to have a list of foods he didn't have to eat- he'd just eat everything. We told him to rock on.
Coconut Lentil Soup
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced or grated
1.5 tsp garam masala
2 c lentils
4 c chicken or vegetable broth
1-2 c water
1 can coconut milk (NOT cream!)
cilantro
salt
Saute the onion in some oil in your soup pot. When it's browned a bit add the garlic and ginger and garam masala and saute another minute or so (if you think it's starting to burn it's time to stop!). Pour in the broth and water and lentils and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer until the lentils are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I don't usually do pepper, but you might like to). Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve.
Zion has always been a fairly easy kid as far as food goes. He'll try anything and likes most of it. But lately he's been announcing that he doesn't like X- usually when faced with it at dinner time. I suspect this is a part of his burgeoning independence; he's marking his territory, as it were. Luckily, we have a plan. We've had it from before we even had kids, as a matter of fact, and truth be told, it's actually my parent's plan. But we like it, and imitation and flattery and all.
So the plan is this: each child is allowed a short list (probably about 5 items) of foods that they don't have to eat. The list can be changed any time other than immediately prior to a meal. This way the working-towards-independence child can have a voice in his/her food choices, while we as parents still get to pretend that we can enforce our will. Perfect.
Anyway, last night I made lentil soup. Both kids like lentil soup. Except last night Zion decided that he didn't. We figured he was old enough to understand and appreciate the food list, so we explained the concept and he enthusiastically put lentil soup on his list. He'd have cashew butter and honey for dinner, he decided. It was easy and peaceful and the rest of us sat down with our soup while Zion munched on sandwich. But a funny thing happened. About halfway through his meal Zion's face started looking a little bit sad and he announced that he was tired of cashew butter. I asked if he'd like some lentil soup and he brightened up and said that he would. So I brought him some soup and he ate it. And then he told us that he didn't think he wanted to have a list of foods he didn't have to eat- he'd just eat everything. We told him to rock on.
Coconut Lentil Soup
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T fresh ginger, minced or grated
1.5 tsp garam masala
2 c lentils
4 c chicken or vegetable broth
1-2 c water
1 can coconut milk (NOT cream!)
cilantro
salt
Saute the onion in some oil in your soup pot. When it's browned a bit add the garlic and ginger and garam masala and saute another minute or so (if you think it's starting to burn it's time to stop!). Pour in the broth and water and lentils and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add the coconut milk and simmer until the lentils are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste (I don't usually do pepper, but you might like to). Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Connecticut- closer than you think!
Robert and I are both from big states. Very big states. We both grew up knowing that we could drive for hours in any direction and still be in our state. I can't speak for Robert, but I find the smallness of states in the Northeast very difficult to wrap my head around. Take today, for instance. Robert wanted to go see the robot exhibit at the Bruce Museum, which is closing in a few weeks (the exhibit, not the museum!). The Bruce Museum is in Connecticut. We live in New York. How long do you think it took us to drive there? Anyone? Bueller? About 20 minutes. *shakes head*
The exhibit was cool and the kids loved it. There were robot building tables, exhibits with knobs to turn and buttons to push, and lots of old tin type robots, all from the same man's collection.
However, their favorite robot was almost certainly the robot horse. It had a carrot to 'eat', and a brush for its fur. The children made liberal use of both.
Afterwards we went across the street to a park with dinosaurs for riding!
PS- Liel is wearing a jacket made by my friend Megan at Home Spun Goods. This is her second year in the jacket, and I can attest that it is: 1. gorgeous 2. beautifully made and 3. adored by my little girl. Makes me kinda wish she made big person clothes!
The exhibit was cool and the kids loved it. There were robot building tables, exhibits with knobs to turn and buttons to push, and lots of old tin type robots, all from the same man's collection.
However, their favorite robot was almost certainly the robot horse. It had a carrot to 'eat', and a brush for its fur. The children made liberal use of both.
Afterwards we went across the street to a park with dinosaurs for riding!
PS- Liel is wearing a jacket made by my friend Megan at Home Spun Goods. This is her second year in the jacket, and I can attest that it is: 1. gorgeous 2. beautifully made and 3. adored by my little girl. Makes me kinda wish she made big person clothes!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Yarn dying and blue shawl
Here it is! My second completed shawl. This one is done in a fingering weight merino wool- very light and drapey. And, I must say, very beautiful.
Also, here are some pics from my yarn dying experiment. Over dying, really. Dad's yarn had too much of a "pink" look to the lighter parts, so I packed up the kids and headed to Shop Rite for some Kool Aid. I wanted Black Cherry flavor, but they didn't have it so I bought a bunch of Cherry and Grape, hoping to get something close, colorwise. Unsweetened, in case you weren't sure.
So I bopped 3 packets into some water and added my wet yarn. Then I heated it to nearly boiling, put the lid on and turned off the heat. About 15 minutes later the water was clear and the yarn had absorbed all the dye. Sooo cool! And the finished product is color safe, too. Neat-o. Probably best not to think about what parts of you may have absorbed some of that lovely Kool Aid dye...
Here's the finished product, held up next to an un-over-dyed skein. No pink, right?
I'm pretty pleased, and hope it'll work for dad's vision when it's all knit up. I've started the sweater vest he wants and I gotta tell you, this yarn is amazing. It makes the most incredible fabric, so smooth and soft and squishy. Really quality (which is a damn good thing as the skeins took me forever to ball they were so twisted and knotted in on themselves. I thought I was going to go insane, but oh, its worth it!). Heh. Look at me go with the over use of italics!
Also, here are some pics from my yarn dying experiment. Over dying, really. Dad's yarn had too much of a "pink" look to the lighter parts, so I packed up the kids and headed to Shop Rite for some Kool Aid. I wanted Black Cherry flavor, but they didn't have it so I bought a bunch of Cherry and Grape, hoping to get something close, colorwise. Unsweetened, in case you weren't sure.
So I bopped 3 packets into some water and added my wet yarn. Then I heated it to nearly boiling, put the lid on and turned off the heat. About 15 minutes later the water was clear and the yarn had absorbed all the dye. Sooo cool! And the finished product is color safe, too. Neat-o. Probably best not to think about what parts of you may have absorbed some of that lovely Kool Aid dye...
Here's the finished product, held up next to an un-over-dyed skein. No pink, right?
I'm pretty pleased, and hope it'll work for dad's vision when it's all knit up. I've started the sweater vest he wants and I gotta tell you, this yarn is amazing. It makes the most incredible fabric, so smooth and soft and squishy. Really quality (which is a damn good thing as the skeins took me forever to ball they were so twisted and knotted in on themselves. I thought I was going to go insane, but oh, its worth it!). Heh. Look at me go with the over use of italics!
Little Italy
Yesterday we went to New York's real Little Italy, on Arthur Ave in the Bronx. We'd driven through it before, but never stopped. Our visit began with Robert squeezing into a tiny parking spot that we found right away, which was delightful. Then we went to Casa della Mozzarella on 187th, and bought snacks of olives and grilled mushrooms. The olives were slightly garlicky and totally delicious, and the mushrooms were fabulous. We stopped to watch the crabs at a fishmarket (the kids were entranced), and then went to Calabria Pork Store. They had me before I even walked in, because their awning featured two pig wearing expressions of delight. Nothing like happy food! This store makes a variety of sausages and cheeses in house- we bought a fresh sausage with broccoli rabe and a dried sweet sausage. The inside was just hung with cured meat- totally rad.
I wanted to check out a deli I'd heard good things about, so I went there while Robert and the kids stopped to visit with the crabs again (Zion later informed me that the blue crab was his friend, so he had said good-bye to it). The deli didn't do much for me, which was just as well because it was about time for us to meet Mr. Faux and Kaori for dinner. Kaori had suggested Zero Otto Nove, so that's where we went. It's a relative newcomer to Arthur Ave, but has received quite a bit of praise in it's short time- most famously from the Food Maven. To summarize, some folks claim it's the best pizza in New York, and therefore, in the entire United States. Others feel the crust is lacking (it's quite soft and floppy), while others disparage the tomatoes. Still, no one says it's bad pizza.
There were 6 adults and the kids at our table, and we ordered 4 pizzas: Capricciosa (ham, fresh mozzarella, olives, mushrooms, tomatoes), Caprese (fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, arugala, and parmesan), Quattro Fromagi (smoked and fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, provelone), and La Riccardo (butternut squash puree, smoked mozzarella, basil, and pancetta). All of the pizzas were excellent but I'm not a fan of smoked cheese, so those ones didn't do as much for me. The Caprese (which was my top pick) was drool worthy, probably the best pizza I've had (which may not be saying much since I'm normally just a lukewarm pizza consumer). Yum.
Here's me and Mr. Faux and Kaori and Liel. Kaori was a perfectly beautiful pregnant mama, and Mr. Faux has accepted his move to the Bronx with good grace.
I wanted to check out a deli I'd heard good things about, so I went there while Robert and the kids stopped to visit with the crabs again (Zion later informed me that the blue crab was his friend, so he had said good-bye to it). The deli didn't do much for me, which was just as well because it was about time for us to meet Mr. Faux and Kaori for dinner. Kaori had suggested Zero Otto Nove, so that's where we went. It's a relative newcomer to Arthur Ave, but has received quite a bit of praise in it's short time- most famously from the Food Maven. To summarize, some folks claim it's the best pizza in New York, and therefore, in the entire United States. Others feel the crust is lacking (it's quite soft and floppy), while others disparage the tomatoes. Still, no one says it's bad pizza.
There were 6 adults and the kids at our table, and we ordered 4 pizzas: Capricciosa (ham, fresh mozzarella, olives, mushrooms, tomatoes), Caprese (fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, arugala, and parmesan), Quattro Fromagi (smoked and fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, provelone), and La Riccardo (butternut squash puree, smoked mozzarella, basil, and pancetta). All of the pizzas were excellent but I'm not a fan of smoked cheese, so those ones didn't do as much for me. The Caprese (which was my top pick) was drool worthy, probably the best pizza I've had (which may not be saying much since I'm normally just a lukewarm pizza consumer). Yum.
Here's me and Mr. Faux and Kaori and Liel. Kaori was a perfectly beautiful pregnant mama, and Mr. Faux has accepted his move to the Bronx with good grace.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Good mail days
Yesterday was a good mail day for the kids. Skye found some kids books on the NPR give away shelf, and very sweetly mailed them to Zion and Liel, who were delighted to have new stories! Last night while Robert and I were cleaning up dinner they actually went and "read" all by themselves. Super cool, thank you Skye!!
Today was a good mail day for me (and Liel, heh). I ordered some yarn in a co-op about a month ago, and it arrived today! Lovely, squishy stuff. I'd be downright thrilled if it weren't for the fact that the skeins I ordered to make a vest for my dad are much more "semi" than "solid". Sigh! I knew it was a possibility (hand dyed yarn variation and all) but I'd hoped it would go more my way. I sent him pics this morning, so hopefully I won't be in suspense about whether or not it will work for him too much longer!
I also bought some yarn on Ravelry a few days ago, as I mentioned in an earlier post. It arrived today, too! So Liel and I frolicked in the yarn. I think she was a more enthusiastic squisher than I was, amazingly.
Here's what it all looks like on my couch (as I typed this Liel lunged at a bag of yarn and threw herself onto it squealing, "Yarn! Yarnyarn!").
I am a happy, happy girl.
Today was a good mail day for me (and Liel, heh). I ordered some yarn in a co-op about a month ago, and it arrived today! Lovely, squishy stuff. I'd be downright thrilled if it weren't for the fact that the skeins I ordered to make a vest for my dad are much more "semi" than "solid". Sigh! I knew it was a possibility (hand dyed yarn variation and all) but I'd hoped it would go more my way. I sent him pics this morning, so hopefully I won't be in suspense about whether or not it will work for him too much longer!
I also bought some yarn on Ravelry a few days ago, as I mentioned in an earlier post. It arrived today, too! So Liel and I frolicked in the yarn. I think she was a more enthusiastic squisher than I was, amazingly.
Here's what it all looks like on my couch (as I typed this Liel lunged at a bag of yarn and threw herself onto it squealing, "Yarn! Yarnyarn!").
I am a happy, happy girl.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Flowers
Where is the Spring?? I'm getting really ready to have warm weather and flip flops again.
This morning when the kids and I went out to do some errands we saw that a daffodil plant in our front yarn has yellow buds! And some hyacinth (I think that's what it is...damn seasonal flowers, they confuse me!) on the other side of the porch has purple buds! I can't wait til we have plenty of flowers and the trees have leaves again.
Last night I finally finished a shawl that I've been working on, off and on, for 6 months. I kind of hated knitting it for most of the middle bits. I'm not even sure why, as I quite enjoyed the end knitting over the past couple of days. I need to block it, but then I'll post some pictures. The one real hassle was that the yarn (which was given to me by Giselle, who bought it thinking she'd knit regularly and then decided that she wouldn't) had had a run in with some moths and they'd chewed clear through in several places. OK, many places. So it was a huge pain in the butt to wind, and then there are probably 12 different joins in the yarn that I'll have to try to weave in somehow. Still, the yarn was free and beautiful, so I really can't complain! And I'm quite pleased with the finished product.
The only thing I have on the needles right now is...another shawl! This one is in laceweight yarn (think: slightly thicker than thread), and I'm hoping it will be finished and nice enough to wear to Mr. Faux's wedding in a few weeks. I'm not used to working with such thin yarn, however, and I have already damaged my shawl! I held it out yesterday to see how it was coming and gave the bottom a firm tug hoping to line it up with the top. One of the threads in my cast on row broke, leaving stitches dangling and just waiting to unravel all my work. I almost cried, and had to put it down (very carefully) as I didn't have the patience or energy to try to fix it at that point. Today I went back and slipped thread into the loose stitches and tied the ends of the broken yarn to the thread, so nothing else will fall out at least. When the shawl is complete I'll go back and fix it with the matching yarn.
Finally, in totally unrelated news, the kids made some "Get well" drawings for Valentina yesterday. Zion drew 3 variations on the same theme: helicopters. There was "Two helicopters driven by beavers", "Helicopter with toy plane inside" and "Helicopter driven by many beavers" (his friend Gari has had all the kids at preschool building a beaver dam out on the playground if you're wondering about the over representation of beavers in his current art). When handed any kind of marking implement Liel will, 99% of the time, draw what she asserts to be a bat. But yesterday she announced that she was going to draw a mouse for Valentina. A white mouse, in fact (and she didn't let a little thing like a lack of white crayons stop her, either!). I was super impressed, because, you see, Liel draws bats because Fluffy, her lovey/ favorite thing in all the world, is a bat. And Valentina? Her lovey is a stuffed white mouse.
This morning when the kids and I went out to do some errands we saw that a daffodil plant in our front yarn has yellow buds! And some hyacinth (I think that's what it is...damn seasonal flowers, they confuse me!) on the other side of the porch has purple buds! I can't wait til we have plenty of flowers and the trees have leaves again.
Last night I finally finished a shawl that I've been working on, off and on, for 6 months. I kind of hated knitting it for most of the middle bits. I'm not even sure why, as I quite enjoyed the end knitting over the past couple of days. I need to block it, but then I'll post some pictures. The one real hassle was that the yarn (which was given to me by Giselle, who bought it thinking she'd knit regularly and then decided that she wouldn't) had had a run in with some moths and they'd chewed clear through in several places. OK, many places. So it was a huge pain in the butt to wind, and then there are probably 12 different joins in the yarn that I'll have to try to weave in somehow. Still, the yarn was free and beautiful, so I really can't complain! And I'm quite pleased with the finished product.
The only thing I have on the needles right now is...another shawl! This one is in laceweight yarn (think: slightly thicker than thread), and I'm hoping it will be finished and nice enough to wear to Mr. Faux's wedding in a few weeks. I'm not used to working with such thin yarn, however, and I have already damaged my shawl! I held it out yesterday to see how it was coming and gave the bottom a firm tug hoping to line it up with the top. One of the threads in my cast on row broke, leaving stitches dangling and just waiting to unravel all my work. I almost cried, and had to put it down (very carefully) as I didn't have the patience or energy to try to fix it at that point. Today I went back and slipped thread into the loose stitches and tied the ends of the broken yarn to the thread, so nothing else will fall out at least. When the shawl is complete I'll go back and fix it with the matching yarn.
Finally, in totally unrelated news, the kids made some "Get well" drawings for Valentina yesterday. Zion drew 3 variations on the same theme: helicopters. There was "Two helicopters driven by beavers", "Helicopter with toy plane inside" and "Helicopter driven by many beavers" (his friend Gari has had all the kids at preschool building a beaver dam out on the playground if you're wondering about the over representation of beavers in his current art). When handed any kind of marking implement Liel will, 99% of the time, draw what she asserts to be a bat. But yesterday she announced that she was going to draw a mouse for Valentina. A white mouse, in fact (and she didn't let a little thing like a lack of white crayons stop her, either!). I was super impressed, because, you see, Liel draws bats because Fluffy, her lovey/ favorite thing in all the world, is a bat. And Valentina? Her lovey is a stuffed white mouse.
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