Ahhhh

A good book in Winter is satisfying in a way that a good book in Summer just can't compare. So I feel very  lucky that I just finished reading Jo Baker's The Undertow now and not, say, in July. It would still be good then, but this is the perfect book with which to curl up on a couch on a chilly gray day and sink in.

The book follows four generations of a family from WWI to 2005 and I couldn't pick a favorite character, there were so many who won me over, even if, later in the story, they were shown from another character's perspective to be seriously flawed. I think the moment that will stick with me most is the one in which Ruby in WWII London takes what could have been a completely traumatic experience and reshapes it so that "even though it is now over, things had been, for just a little while, how they should be."

It's such a relief to find an author who doesn't want to convince you of the crumminess of the human race. The characters in this novel are all flawed, but rendered so sympathetically and with such kindness that I understood and forgave all of them their weaknesses. There were many places where a different author would have made choices that would have brought more dramatic crises into the plot and I was relieved each time that Baker did not--the worst possible outcome for each segment would have been flashier, but also easier. And though one character does die in a horrific way, it turns out that this is not the worst possible outcome for the rest of the characters: that possibility looms later in the book and still, Baker doesn't succumb to the temptation to throw her characters off the deep end. I think it is harder to make the non-extreme choice and still make it compelling and interesting.

I really hope that this book is successful enough to get the publishers to issue all her previous novels in the US. They have issued The Telling  and plan to issue her next book, called Longbourne (a retelling of Pride and Prejudice from the servant's point of view) later this year. Based on the popularity of the subject matter for the latter book, it will probably sell really well. So I have hopes of someday getting to read The Mermaid's Child, and Offcomer. Though if they drag their feet, I might just have to order copies to be shipped from the UK.

knitting, or not!

The other day my girl critter checked out a book from the library that had a load of knitting patterns for her kind of creatures, namely bugs, squid and other creatures that creep most people out. At first I anticipated many hours of fiddling with tiny needles trying to craft these creatures, and then I took a look at the patterns and realized that it has been so long since I knit that I honestly could look the kid in the eye and tell her I couldn't make heads or tails of the instructions.

So I dodged that bullet. But it did get me thinking, what the heck happened to that sweater I started, oh, about 2 years ago?

I dug around a little bit and at the back of a closet in a knitting bag I found this:

That looks to me like a sweater that is totally done except for one cuff. Maybe 8-10 rows of knitting max and a few buttons to sew on.

Seriously, if I had made just a tiny bit more effort I could have been wearing this thing for the last two years. Pathetic.

I know my knitting decreased dramatically when I stopped attending a whole lot of meetings, meetings in which I knit so that I didn't go crazy. I decided that those meetings, while excellent for my knitting productivity, were not so good for my mental health so I stopped going to them.

But hey, one of those evenings when I'm skipping a meeting (yes, I still write them on my calendar in case I have some burst of happy-Kate-ness that I decide to expend not on my family but on attending a meeting...) I think I should probably finish up that cuff. If I can remember how.

Heat through spices

We've been having painfully cold weather lately and that has made me crave Indian food. I know some people turn to hearty, meaty stews and roasts. I see the benefit of having the oven cranked on if just to open the door occasionally to check on what's inside and enjoy the blast of heat that surrounds your face, but I find that the warming spices in many Indian dishes do a great job of thawing me out.

Tonight I made my lastest favorite Indian dish: chana masala with mushrooms. I also made my stand-by (and possibly the easiest Indian dish ever) spinach simmered in yogurt (into which I also chucked a little cubed tofu aka cheater's paneer), rice and raita. The chana masala is pungent from three types of whole seeds that are toasted in oil at the very beginning of cooking. Unlike ground spices, which flavor a dish more uniformly, the whole spices keep each bite interesting with little kapows of flavor when you bite into a few fennel seeds, then a contrasting intensity when the next bite contains a cluster of mustard seeds. It's my way to stay toasty warm in winter.

Chana Masala with Mushrooms
adapted from this recipe on Herbivoracious

• 1.5 C cooked chickpeas (home cooked will be firmer, which I like, but use canned and rinse them if you're short on time)
• 2 T canola oil
• 2 t black mustard seeds
• 1 t fennel seeds
• 1 t cumin seeds
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced fine
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 1 medium tomato, diced (or use about 1/2 c canned diced tomato)
• 1 C button mushrooms, quartered
• 2 t dried tumeric
• 1/4 t cinnamon
• pinch ground cloves
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper
• 2 T lemon juice (or maybe a little more depending on how juicy/acidic your tomato is)
• 1 t salt
• cilantro (optional)

In a saucepan, heat the vegetable oil and chuck in your whole seeds. Cook until the mustard seeds start to pop (watch out, they can fly high!) Then add the onion, garlic and tomato and cook down until the liquid is gone and maybe the contents are browning a bit.

Add the mushrooms, chickpeas, tumeric, cinnamon, cloves, cayenne, lemon juice, salt and about a cup of water so it is a little soupy.

Simmer for at least 15-20 minutes so the chickpeas soak up a little of the spices and the mushrooms are cooked through. Honestly, you can probably turn the heat off once it is cooked and then re-heat the whole thing hours later and no one will be able to tell the difference.

If you have some cilantro on hand, chop up a little and sprinkle on top for a garnish, though the dish is fine without it.

Waking up

I think (hope) it's time to wake up this blog again. Since I went dormant here*, we have mostly completed a major construction project which doubled the size of our previously wee home. I love the new space, but can't say I loved the process. It took over my life and not in a good way.

But rather than attempting to summarize the ups and downs since I last posted, let's just jump right back in with a lovely event that took place last year and which includes both a good book to recommend and a terrific recipe: the November meeting of my book group. Yep, 12+ years along and we are still meeting pretty regularly! I think there are only three of us who were there at the beginning but in the past year we've welcomed two new wonderful women readers (and cooks) into the fold.

In November we read what turned out to be one of my favorite books of the year, Memory Wall by Anthony Doer. It's too late of a recommendation for you to make any use of for this Christmas (I gave it to two people on my list) but keep it in mind.  It's a book of short stories and while I enjoyed all of them (not a stinker in the batch) there were two that will never leave me: the title story and one titled "Afterworld." Both made me choke up and feel tender towards the human condition with all its flaws and foibles, which, given that I tend more towards bitterness and negativity in the winter months, is quite a feat. The stories are simply that good.

The theme for our book group dinner was food that are supposed to be good for your memory, which made for an easier task than actually trying to craft a meal from foods mentioned in the stories.  We started with a wonderful carrot orange soup with cashew nuts (a real winner: recipe below).

Then we moved on to a plate piled high with maple mustard salmon, roasted brussel sprouts, spinach/beet/walnut/blue cheese salad, a rice dish and quinoa with roasted red grapes.

Just looking at that photo makes me feel a tiny bit resentful toward tonight's dinner which can't hope to measure up.

For dessert I made chocolate pots de creme with raspberry whipped cream. Because why not end a big meal with a whole lot of butterfat and richness?

As always, it was an amazing feast; way better than Thanksgiving in my admittedly-not-so-enthusiastic-about-the-culinary-content-of-that-holiday opinion.

Now back to that soup. I know there are a thousand pureed carrot soups out there, but this one struck me as something different. There's no ginger and no curry powder in it, which I found a refreshing change. Instead the carrots are paired with orange juice which gives it a brightness that makes the carrots taste more carrot-y. In many carrot soups I feel like the carrots just serve as a base: something to be pureed to support the spices. But not here. And the toasted cashew nuts that are sprinkled on at the end give it a bit of buttery richness that is most welcome.

Carrot-Orange Soup with Toasted Cashew Garnish
2 T butter
1 large onion, chopped
4 C chicken broth
1 T honey
1.5 lbs carrots, peeled and chopped
2 T tomato paste
2 T uncooked rice
zest from one orange
1 C fresh orange juice
1/2 C cream or half and half or whole milk
dash of cayenne pepper
1 T brandy
toasted cashew nuts, chopped (1/2-1 C depending on how enthusiastic you are about cashew nuts)

In a saucepan, melt butter. Add onion and saute until soft. Add broth, honey, carrots, tomato paste and rice. Bring to a boil then turn down and simmer 30 minutes until the rice is soft.

Time to puree: add the orange zest and juice, cream, cayenne and brandy then use an immersion blender, if you have one, or transfer to a regular blender and puree in batches until very smooth. Strain if you really want it velvety (I've made it a couple of times and the second time I didn't strain it and thought it was fine).

Return to the pot and heat gently. Season with salt and pepper.

Top each serving with toasted cashew nuts.

______
*While this blog was taking a rest, I did write occasional posts for The Picky Eater Chronicles and kept my annual reading list with comments going (2012 here, and just started 2013). 

Not dead, just sleeping

This blog has gone dormant for the time being. Who knows, maybe it'll wake up some day. Or maybe it'll pretend to be a princess and sleep for 100 years...knowing our household allergy to princesses it probably won't be the latter. But for now it's going to enjoy its snooze.

If you really, really miss me (ha!) I'm still updating the Picky Eater Chronicles (as I make progress which, I tell you, is sloooooow) and my books read list (since I have no memory, I have to use it pretty frequently to check and see if I've already read a book.)

Easing two picky eaters toward some degree of normalcy

I've got a new mission and I am finally determined to pursue it.

I am going to ease my two picky kids toward some degree of normalcy in the food realm.

I've joked for years that their pickiness is my punishment for being overly fixated on food. I've attempted to face this down in bursts but then would fall back to old patterns. I've had massive temper tantrums in the kitchen and at the dining room table when they defeat me with their stubbornness. (I always thought no one was more stubborn than me. Turns out that they not only inherited it from me but have amplified it with their own distinct and strong personalities.)

Why do I think I might have a chance this time when they have defeated me in past attempt? Well, they are getting older (9 and 11). And that means that they are getting (a little) more logical. And recently they have shown small signs of adaptation: they both tried salsa when they were at a Mexican restaurant. They both will eat a little plain lettuce (we started with iceberg, that gateway-lettuce, but now they'll eat romaine and Boston and green leaf, too.) And there are a couple of other individual specific reasons too:

The boy like to travel. Loves it, in fact. I bluntly stated to him that there are places in the world which I won't take him until he starts eating more foods because I don't plan to go to, say, Spain, and have his eating habits be a restriction on our movements. [Not that I have the $ to take him to Spain--he doesn't need to know this. And much as I'd love to, a trip to Thailand or India or China isn't in the works for any of us, so we're talking about mainly different European and Latin American types of dishes.]  I described to him some of the cool places I've been and then told him that while what they regularly eat may be unfamiliar, it is something that a person with a flexible attitude can adapt to. This seemed to get through to him.

The girl likes people. And I told her if you want to spend time with people and not annoy the crap out of them, you need to eat what is available. Friends aren't going to invite you to stay to dinner if you won't try what is on offer. It doesn't mean you have to love it. It doesn't mean you have to eat a lot of it. But it does mean that you can't get distressed when it is something unfamiliar and that you need to broaden your repertoire of "safe" foods so that there is a likelihood that you will encounter at least one of them.


Things I'm willing to do:

1. Keep it mild. I love spicy food and don't plan on giving it up, but I can make spicy sauces on the side or add spice at the end after serving them.
2. Make a good amount of the new stuff side-dishes so they don't have to freak out at everything on their plates. Since I've recently gone low-meat, and they are decidedly pro-meat this isn't too hard. I don't mind making a turkey burger or plain chicken breast for them so long as the big pile of roasted fennel, sweet potatoes and carrots and potatoes that I make for my own main dish is a small-portion side dish to them.
3. Add the unfamiliar to the familiar. Like putting a small amount of salsa and sour cream on their quesidillas and expecting them to tolerate its appearance.

I am going to try and document things that worked both to share with other people who may be in the same predicament as I'm in* and to keep track and use as a crutch for my lousy memory. Since this only appeals to a small subset of those of you who still actually read this blog, I've decided to segregate the posts here:

http://thepickyeaterchronicles.blogspot.com/

If you are faced with a picky eater of your own, I hope you'll join me and make this a group effort to ease the picky eaters of the world toward a place where they don't drive the rest of us bat-shit crazy.

*I realize that when you've met one picky eater you've met...one picky eater and we all have different definitions of picky. I actually heard one parent describe her child as picky when he wouldn't eat kohlrabi. Ha!

a little link love

I'm loving pinterest as a way to store on-line recipes that I want to try. I've been pulling up my recipe board and getting inspired to make some new stuff like this soup, this chickpea curry dish (both of which are fantastic recipes) and this kale quinoa crustless quiche (which is tasty and easy, though not exactly mind blowing). The only problem is I also have to keep a file or bookmark for recipes that I find that don't contain a photo.

Our house addition construction continues (siding and windows in as of this week!) and pinterest is also good for saving images of possible bathroom tiles.

On Monday I received a restock of my favorite tea: Ceylon Fancy Silver Tips from Tea Trekker. It came on the perfect day (kids' first day back at school and all of us stumbling around in the afternoon from the early start). They haven't had this particular Ceylon in stock for about 6 months so I ordered kind of a lot of it...

I'm not the biggest non-fiction reader but have been totally sucked in and consumed by The Beauty and the Sorrow. It's an amazing book with a chilling ending.

And for Christmas we finally succumbed to the wishes of the small people and got an Xbox and I think it is...really pretty fun. I thought I'd hate the thing and then I found myself playing Rayman Origins with my kid for two hours. The Kinect is also pretty cool though it'll be better when we have a bigger living room.

2012

I don't really go in for formal resolutions, but I do like to start the year thinking about what I'd like to accomplish, particularly if it differs from a previous pattern.

1. Get over any lingering fear of the power tools.  When we built the fort in the back yard for the kids I discovered that the compound miter saw is actually pretty easy to use and doesn't give me visions of severed limbs. It has been a while since I dealt with anything more intense than a power sander but with all the finishing of our addition that we'll be doing this coming year, I want to get over my sissy side. Don't make me touch the circular saw or a chain saw, though. I think you have to be bat-shit crazy to touch one of those and come away with all your appendages.

2. Keep the low-meat trend in cooking.  I started eating very little meat around October and what do you know, I feel a lot better. More energy, less sluggish. And it doesn't hurt that I lost about five pounds with almost no effort at all. I didn't eat a lot of meat before October, but I was often a little lazy and ate it even when I didn't really want it because it was there. Lately I've been making regular meaty meals for the other three family members and either piling my plate with sides and salad, adding the meat at the end of a dish and keeping it out of my portion, or doing a tofu version. Much to my surprise, Brian volunteered to join me in low-meat eating (yes, the man who has a "wall of meat" display at work is game to cut down). Of course, he eats out a lot more than I do, so if he's craving meat then he can have it at lunch or when he meets up with guy-friends. And I'm not planning on becoming strict in any sense. I still love lamb, expect that I will want a burger a couple of times a year and know that a little bacon can sometimes make a big impact. But if I am eating meat, it's going to be a conscious decision rather than a lazy default.

2.5. In order to be successful with 2, I'm going to try and cook up at least one pot of dried beans every week. I know this doesn't sound too hard, but it's the planning part that I fail at with dried beans (and I don't own a pressure cooker). I have an unnatural loathing of canned beans (just too mushy...and I hate the smell when the can is first opened) but really love pretty much any bean when cooked from their dried state. Also, I discovered that cooked dried beans can be drained, packed in freezer bags and frozen then used like canned one (but without the mush). But that only works if you remember to make the damn beans in the first place.

3. Finish knitting the frigging sweater I started over a year ago. Preferably before it has become swelteringly hot.

4. Finish the current draft of the book before the kids get out of school for the summer. Feels do-able now, but who knows what writer's blocks will come with deep winter! And once the wonderful builder we hired to get the addition to drywall stage is done, then a good chunk of my time will be spent tileing, laying hardwood floors, painting, etc. etc. So I need to give myself a good push once the kids head back to school on January 9, despite the urge to hibernate.

5. Once that draft is done, share it. That's a really scary proposition and will force me to embrace #6.

6. Be more daring. Ask questions even if you think you'll look stupid rather than save up the thought and research it when you are by yourself (the coward's version of knowledge acquisition). Realize that if, when you share your book, the people you share it with think it is crap, that you can handle it.

7. This may sound contrary to the previous intention, but back off and don't push sometimes. Quiet the voice of nagging that comes way too easily and try to put myself in other people's places. Cultivate kindness toward people who bug me (This doesn't mean I'm going to seek them out, but when in their presence, try to be gracious and tolerant. This may be extra difficult in an election year...)

That's all I can think of for now. Seems like a decent enough mindset with which to start the new year.

Vegetarian Hoppin' John

I don't have a southern bone in my body, but I do like the tradition (and taste) of eating hoppin' john on New Year's Day.  I've always had it with ham or bacon (or both) but I've been cutting back on meat so I thought I'd do a little improvisation. I put in a little smoked paprika to give some depth to the flavor. I also remembered that a restaurant I really like down in Lexington (Alfafa's) tops their vegetarian hoppin' john with sharp white cheddar cheese so I crumbled up a bit I had in the fridge, too.

It turned out really well--I'm thinking that I might make another batch and freeze individual portions because nuking a bowl of it would make for a fast, tasty and healthy lunch.

Vegetarian Hoppin' John

1 C dried black-eyed peas or yellow-eyed beans*
1 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 t dried thyme
1 t smoked paprika
1 C rice
1 small red pepper, diced
2 C vegetable broth
2-3 scallions, chopped
1/2 C sharp white cheddar cheese, shredded or crumbled
hot sauce

Cook your peas or beans. Either soak overnight in water, change the water, bring to a boil and simmer until tender, or do a fast soak (pour over boiling water and wait an hour before proceeding). If you think of it, chuck a couple of extra garlic cloves into the cooking water. Drain off all but about a cup of cooking liquid.

In a medium pot, heat the oil and add the onion. After about a minute, add the garlic, celery, thyme and smoked paprika. Saute for a couple of more minutes to soften. Add the rice and give it a good stir to coat the grains in oil.  Then add the red pepper, peas/beans and cooking liquid, and veg broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then slap on a lid, turn on low and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Give the pot a good stir, then dish it out. Top each portion with some chopped scallions and a sprinkle of sharp cheddar cheese. Let people add their own hot sauce.

* I hear that you can also make this without the pesky soaking/cooking beans step by using frozen black-eyed peas, in which you just chuck them in with a little extra water or broth with the rice. I've never tried it though since I have enough dried beans in the house to last us through an apocalypse in relative beany comfort.

Christmas baking

I think I'm almost done (pant, pant). So far I've churned out:

10 pounds of apricot cherry granola (for teachers)

2 of these amazing boozy fruit cakes (no nasty fluorescence in them--more like really good trail mix, soaked in rum and bound together with a minimal amount of flour/sugar/eggs and some spices. I swapped out dried blueberries for dates and added lots more pecans.)

a batch of espresso chocolate chunk (substituted dark brown sugar for the light and hand-chopped 70% chocolate which makes for nice non-uniform bits and blobs)

a batch of currant ginger shortbread

a batch of almond orange biscotti

and a batch of slightly altered Italian wedding cookies (recipe below) (pecans instead of almonds, some orange zest and orange flower water mixed in).

You would never know from this list that I don't really have much of a sweet tooth...

Italian Wedding Cookies
(sort of)

2/3 C of pecans
1 C unsalted butter
1/4 C powdered sugar (plus 1/2 - 1 C more for rolling and dusting the cookies with after baking)
1 t vanilla extract
3 t orange blossom water
zest of two oranges
2 C all purpose-flour
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mats.

Toast nuts: toss nuts on a baking sheet and bake for about 8 minutes. They should smell good and, you know, nutty. Cool completely.

Take half the cooled nuts and put them in a food processor with 2 T of flour. Pulse until they are finely ground. Add the rest of the nuts and pulse a couple of times to just chop them.

In the bowl of a mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract, orange blossom water and orange zest. Add the rest of the four and salt and beat until combined. Stir in the nuts. Cover and refrigerate dough until firm (about an hour).

Form dough into 1 inch balls and place them 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 12-15 minutes until they are brown around the edges. Remove and cool.

Put about 1/4 C of powdered sugar in a plate then put the cooled cookies on top of the sugar. You can then roll them around or (as I prefer) sift the rest of the sugar over the tops.

Makes about 3 dozen.