Slugs on the Refrigerator

Soup for Sol

To say I loved my Grandfather Goldin would be an understatement.  For as long as I can remember, I doted on him and he on me. I was his favourite. In the 4th grade, I "invented" a bird feeder with him in mind that won a contest.  I chose my university so I could live close to him.  One of the main reasons the children have double-barrelled names is so that Ellis could have Grandpa's name within his.

When I knew him, he was a kind man, with a love of music, gardening, birds and sweets. He used to sing me "K-K-K-Katie" and tease me about my childhood obsession with the film Annie. He could play the piano and I can not hear Scott Joplin's The Entertainer without thinking of him.   

Grandpa loved to eat.  Unlike the stereotype of people of his generation, he was adventerous.  We would meet for lunch at a variety of resturants - Asian Fusion, Mexican, Steak Houses.  He was up for trying things and we would sit and talk for hours, enjoying each other's company over a meal in ways that I only hope my children will share one day with their grandparents.

However, his favourite restuarants were the Jewish diners peppered around Chicago.

Grandpa Sol was Jewish.  He married my Irish Catholic grandmother in the 1930s and had 5 children, all of whom were brought up Catholic.  He never spoke much about his faith and other than my last name, there were few things that showed my links to that side of the family. But some things passed on.  When I grew up in Iowa, we were some of the first people to know what bagels were.  And Halva. And Matzo's, eaten with a shmear of margarine and a dash of salt.

But when Grandpa and I met up, it was Matzo Ball soup we would eat. On paper, a big ball of mushy bread hardly sounds appetising, but they became some of my favourite foods.  He would tell me stories and I would do my best to make a dent in the dumpling the size of my head.

I hadn't thought about Mazto Ball Soup in a long time. I'd never told Ellis the story of his name or every really mentioned my beloved Grandpa Goldin.  But when I stumbled across a bag of Matzo meal in the local grocery store, I knew I had to make them.

And I did.  I listened to The Entertainer and cooked.  And we ate it. And talked about the man I loved so much. Ellis asked the questions 4 year olds ask, "Did Grandpa Sol like Lego?" (Probably) "Did he eat chocolate?" (Most definitely) "Could he come over?" (Unfortunately not)

And I thought, that is what food is, at its best. Its not only good and nourishing, but its tradition and memories and connection.

And, like everyone who ever has lost a loved one, I wondered what he would think about my life now. Would he be proud? Would he hate my nose ring?   What would he think of my house? My work? Would he laugh at Ellis' jokes?  Be taken in by the demon with pigtails? Or think Theo is the sweetest baby ever like everyone else does?

And importantly, what would he think of my Matzo Ball Soup?

 

 

Basic Mazto Ball Recipe (Makes 15ish Matzo Balls)

6 eggs

1.5 cups Mazto meal

dash of salt and pepper

1/3 cup of chicken broth

1/3 cup of melted butter or margerine

 

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and let sit in the refrigerator for about 15minutes.  It will be very wet initially, but firm up with resting.  Wet your hands and form into smallish balls, roughly 1.5 inches across.  Drop into broth or soup. I use them like dumplings in a chicken vegetable soup, but they are very often served with just broth.

Christmas Traditions and Minestrone? Soup

Even though Kevin and I have been married for 10 years, in many ways I still feel like we are figuring out what 'our' Christmas traditions are.  Maybe its that the kids are still so young, so we've not had much time to renegotiate what family means to our little family unit, or maybe its that we have spent every other year in America since we were married...I don't know.

 

We go back and forth on traditions...one family opens presents on Christmas Eve, the other on Christmas day.  The big man in the red suit is "Santa" to some of us and "Father Christmas" to others.  Some people eat the vile blob of eewy-gooeyness that is Christmas Pudding, while others go for delicious perfection in a pie plate that is pumpkin pie.

One thing we can agree on, this soup is eaten every year on Christmas Eve.  It is absolutely not Christmas without it. 

Now, in my family we call this Minestrone. In looking online *gasp* I don't think it actually IS minestrone.  I think this is just what we call it, in the same way my mother pronounces Fajitas as "fruh-heet-ahs"and Georgia calls dogs "kitty"...not really right, but everyone understands what is meant.

And so, I give you Minestrone? Soup.  Amounts are totally made up, because I just make it to whatever size I need to, based on the number of people I'm cooking for. The quantities below feed 6-8.  If you are going to make it smaller, then reduce the meat and veg accordingly, but I'd still be heavy on the olives, I'd just let Georgia eat more of them before they went in the soup.  

500g or 2lbs of stewing/casserole beef

1 onion

2 smallish courgettes

1-2 carrots

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 can of pitted green olives (no pimentos)

1 can of black olives

1 can of kidney beans

a lot of beef stock (at least 1 litre)

garlic

a handful of short pasta

 

Chop the onions and cook until translucent. Chop and add the carrots. Brown the beef and then add the stock, tomatoes and some garlic, let this cook for a couple of hours on low on the stove until the meat is very very soft.

Drain the kidney beans and add them to the soup.  For the olives, you can just dump them in, brine and all or you can drain them.  I like the soup with the briney saltiness, but then the stock I use doesn't have added salt in it.

Chop up the courgettes and add them and the pasta about 15 minutes before you serve. 

Serve with bread and a sprinkling of cheese...and Pumpkin Pie (but NEVER Christmas pudding)

What You Make Of It

The last few days have been so very challenging.  It seems everything we look at breaks, dies or just goes wrong. My patience has all but disappeared as we leap from one catastrophe to the next.

 

I've mentioned before that I love to wallow.  Oh yes, give me the hint of excuse and I will whine and moan and sulk with the best of them.  My particular talents - throwing things in a rage and sobbing on the floor.

And so yesterday, as the destruction reached comedy levels, I wanted to shut the children in the lounge in front of a DVD and mope.  Fighting against that primal urge, I grouped us un the kitchen where we spent the afternoon listening to Michael Buble's Christmas album at full blast, making salt dough ornaments and peppermint crisp.

 

And yes, it was 800g of the cheapest chocolate I could find at Lidl. No I didn't have any peppermint extract. And so what if the candy canes were from the Pound Store and obviously very close to their use by date. And no, the salt dough did not set at all. But actually, the ingredients matter very little on days like yesterday.

 

Because, in the end, its what you make of them.

 

 

How To Make Friends and Influence People (with a dip)

 

Tis the season for entertaining. Our party schedule has officially reached Frantic Holiday mode with 2 dinners with friends, one birthday party and getting our loft insulated this weekend alone. 

And as every one knows that calories don't count when eating with friends, it was a perfect excuse to whip up my secret weapon.  

I once brought this dip to the worst party I've ever been to, full of the most socially inept hippies I've ever met (I include myself in that category). Stilted conversations and lack of eye contact made it the longest 2 hours of my life...and then my dip was brought out.  People were falling over each other to talk about it, to delight in its creaminess, to comment on its surprising taste and from there conversations began...its that good (or there really was that little to talk about).

 

Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Ingredients:

1pk(300g) Cream Cheese

1/2cup Sour Cream

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1 small jar of artichoke hearts

1 cup wilted spinach

1t powdered garlic

salt to taste

 

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, garlic and Parmesan until smooth. Chop the spinach and artichoke hearts into small pieces and mix through.  Spoon mix into ovenproof dish and bake for 15 minutes or until bubbling and golden. 

Serve warm with crusty bread, crackers, or crisps (chips).  Watch the conversation flow and you will become every one's best friend.

A List and A Recipe

Some things you may or may not like to know:

-Ellis has started at a new nursery, in the mornings.  He loves it and so far we have fallen into a nice rhythm with it. The bonus is that the school actually has kids from our neighbourhood in it, so we may get to know some people.

- I have decided that while schooling goes against my 'rage against the machine' nature, I am going to view it as a cross-cultural experience to embed my family in the culture here. It feels too imperialistic to live in a country and deign that its schooling system isn't good enough for my children. I want them to be rooted in the community we live in and it seems to me that school is the best way to do it. (If you are an expat that homeschools, do tell how you get over this issue, because I am stumped.)

- On  a school-related issue, I received an email a couple of days ago expressing concern over my poor use of punctuation and grammar.  I am sorry Mr N, I was too busy being failed by the system in 8th grade when we were learning about grammar ;)

- In other news, I have got my cooking mojo back. I just decided that it would be easier to just have us all give up gluten and have been slowly finding our way into a gluten free lifestyle, except for sandwich bread.  So far the biggest hits are this GF pizza dough and GF scones with sundried tomatoes and pesto (recipe below).

- As of this week, I have also given up sugar.  I realised that I was getting into a terrible cycle of sugar in everything - starting with my morning cup of coffee and ending with an enormous crash at about 3pm. Today is the first day since monday I don't feel sick or have a headache.  I do, however, reserve the right to each chocolate Guiness cake on special occasions ;)

- I have reopened the hat shop. I have just lion, owl and viking hats in there at the minute, but I have a few more designs in the pipeline, if I can get them made.

- Have I already bored you all with how much I love this new song by Laura Marling?  What about this one by Florence?

- OK, better go.  The sun is shining and I am going to drag my grumpy children out into it, wether they want to or not.

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GF and DF Sundried Tomato and Pesto 'Scones'

2 cups GF mix plain flour (I use Dove's Farms)

5T. dairy free 'butter'

1t Bicarb of soda (baking soda)

2t baking powder

1/2 cup finely chopped sundried tomatoes (the ones in oil work best)

4 T. Pesto (I use dairy free pesto)

1/4 cup 'milk'

 

So, I know its not the 'right' way to make scones, but what I do is throw all of the ingredients except the milk into the food processor and give it a quick whizz.  Then I add the milk in splashes until the dough just comes together. I pat it out into a large circle about 3/4in thick on a baking tray and cut it into triangles.  Bake at 180C for aprox 12 minutes or until cooked. 

Like many GF baked items, these are quite crumbly, so do not (as I just did) hand one to your 18 month old and let her wander around your just hoovered lounge.  

GF and DF Banana Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting

Ever since Kev went Gluten Free, I have struggled to get my head around cooking for him.  We have always been very strict about having one meal for the family that every one eats. However with the poor quality and high cost of GF substitutes ,I have found myself making a meal for Kev and a meal for the rest of us...or sometimes he just has to fend for himself.

Baking is an excellent example. We do not live in a place where there are many alternative flours available. Almost every single item we have made with GF has been substandard...dry and gritty and marginally unpalatibe. And so I baked with normal flour and Kevin just couldn't eat the cupcakes, the cakes, and the breads I baked. But then every time, he would ask "Can I eat this?" and I would reply "No" and he would look at me with those Harrison blue eyes.

I am a sucker for Harrison blue eyes.

And so yesterday, I thought I would try again. Ellis loves to bake and skipping preschool meant we had plenty of time to whip up a cake. And it was AWESOME...so seriously light and moist and essentially indistinguishable from normal cake. So, before I lose the recipe I made up, here it is for posterity and rainy days.

Gluten and Dairy Free Banana Cake

1.5 cups plain GF flour (I used Dove's Farm)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1t Bicarb of soda (baking soda)

2t Baking powder

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

4 bananas

1. Preheat oven to 150F and grease a cake pan (I used a 9" springform)

2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside

3. In separate bowl, mash bananas and eggs

4. Add banana and egg mix and the oil into the flour. Mix thoroughly

5. Pour into cake tin. Bake at 150F for 45min - 1 hour, until knife in centre comes out clean

 

Brown Sugar Frosting 

1 cup milk of choice (I used soy)

5T GF flour

1 cup of margarine

1T vanilla

1.5 cups of brown sugar

 

(A shout out to Ali whose advice made this frosting work for the first time EVER for me!  Thank you!!!)

 

1. Heat milk in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir constantly until it thickens. Leave to cool. (I let mine cool on the counter to room temp and then put it in the fridge for 30 minutes)

2. Mix the butter and sugar and vanilla for 5ish minutes until the brown sugar completely breaks up and loses all of its grainy-ness. I refrigerated this as well for aprox 30 minutes.

3. When both mixes are very cool, mix them together. Don't mix too long or else the frosting goes all weird, but make sure the lumps from the flour mix are all mixed through.

4. Spread and enjoy.

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Val had asked about the link things to sections of the blog...I broke them.  I will put them back one day when I remember how I got them there in the first place.

 

 

Eye of the Beholder

Yesterday, when asked what he wanted to do today, replied "Make a red and blue bumblebee cake". Whilst not one to say no to cake, we had no ingredients in the house and a trip to the grocery store was an impossibility between naps and lunches and friends.

But all day long I heard about this cake we were gong to make.  It went from red and blue to black to yellow from cupcakes to HUGE cake to birthday cake.  No amount of coersion could change his mind.

"What about we make a special cake for Daddy's birthday (in December)"

"Umm, no thanks."

"Why don't we make it for Nana and Grandpa when they get here at the weekend?"

"Uh, no"

"Do you want to watch a film instead?"

"No.  That's OK."

Sensing the inevitability, daddy was sent out after work to collect the necessary ingredients.  Fortunately, the small boy fell asleep before any late night baking occured.

Thinking we'd escaped, Kev and I spent much of the morning giving each other knowing and relieved looks. It took an entire hour of being awake before Ellis remembered he needed cake.  And so, a cake was made...and decorated to the specific specification of one three year old.  Blue and black with sprinkles.  

Beautiful...or not.

 

Unintended Consequences

Six weeks ago, I gave up dairy to see if it helped with Georgia's fussiness.

At first, I honestly didn't know what to eat. My meal plan was largely built around cheese...halloumi salad, broccoli cheese muffins, mexican, tortellini. not to mention coffee.  With Milk.  A lot of milk.  Those first few days were really hard.  I was hungry all the time.  I was afraid to eat out, for fear of not being able to reliably find anything I COULD eat.  I bought and tried every kind of alternative milk product on the market.  As soy is often linked to dairy allergies, that was out.  And black coffee is not for me.

A few weeks on, I was getting in the swing of it.  I had found that coconut milk makes a tasty coffee and my meal plan has a definite Mediterranean feel to it. At the same time, we realised that part of Georgia's grumpiness was that she wasn't getting enough sleep and couldn't be awake for more than an hour and twenty minutes at a time.  

The transformation was astounding.  Georgia went from a fussy wee thing to an extremely happy chilled out little girl.  Wanting to see if it was the sleep or the dairy that was improving her mood, I added a generous handful of cheese to my dinner one evening.

The next morning, unsurprisingly, Georgia woke up a rather unsettled little girl. Dairy was definitely out for her. Rather more surprisingly was that I also woke up with terrible stomach cramps. I felt sluggish and awful all day.   I realised it wasn't the first time I felt like this.  In fact, MOST mornings, prior to giving up dairy, I woke up with stomach pains. I just thought it was 'one of those things'. It seems that dairy is out for me too.

When embarking on this 'experiment', that is all it was.  A few weeks, months, maybe a year until I could happily eat dairy again. However, it seems that my future is now dairy free.  

It amazes me that something I have eaten every day of my life can be so bad for me.  And of course, its in everything, so not only am I not eating dairy, but things like cakes, chocolate and the like almost all have milk in them. And many of the non-dairy alternatives are filled with chemical alternatives that I do not particularly want to eat. So my consumption of those things is essentially non existent.  In fact, I only have a few teaspoons of sugar a day now (in said cup of coffee).  Most of all, I feel great!  Fewer mood swings, more energy.  

Unintended consequences, but we are all better for it.

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The photo above is of one of the s'mores we made at the weekend with homemade graham crackers.  Yes, it has milk in it.  Yes, I ate one.  Yes, we all paid for it. But they WERE good.  

Strawberries A Go-Go

It seems that my blog readership extends far beyond the world of the internet...my strawberries appear to have read Tuesday's post about their lack of compliance and decided to  hold up their end of the gardening bargain.

And so the berries are here. While I have visions of jam and homemade crumpets, the boys just sit in the garden and eat what they can.  I'll get my time...

(I promise not to mention strawberries again for awhile)

 

Unashamed Love of Asparagus

What is it about spring vegetables?  You see, my very favourite veggies in the world all live their short lives in the springtime: purple sprouting broccoli, broad beans and asparagus.

growing up, we had an enormous asparagus patch.  My father has always been equally besotted with these sharp green spears and he would send us out to collect them by the bucketful.  It was always a sad day when we couldn't find any more edible spears amongst the asparagus forest.  Being a meat and two veg kinda guy, he liked them steamed with butter.

As I cook my own meals, I have to say that there are really only two ways to eat asparagus: grilled with a bit of oil, salt and pepper or paired in some way with eggs.

It must be the smooth creaminess of eggs that sets off the sharp fresh taste of the asparagus. Add some bacon, goats cheese and whole hazelnuts and you have culinary heaven (a fact that Tantie set me on to).

Now, I suppose I should give a recipe here, but truth be told, I usually just wing things like this...sometimes its more of a frittata with potatoes, sometimes I go the whole hog and actually use shortcrust pastry.The number of eggs usually depends on the size of the pan.

But here goes:

Asparagus, Goat's Cheese and Bacon Pie (ala Tantie):

1 bunch of asparagus - about 7 spears (We don't grow our own because for the last 4 years we've been saying that we're gonna move soon...and we're not putting one in this year because, we're gonna move soon)

4 large eggs

3/4cup (1800ml) milk

1 cup (100g) of hazelnuts

1/2 cup (100g) soft goats cheese

3 rashers of bacon (I like smoked)

dash of nutmeg

salt and pepper

shortcrust pastry (I get mine from the butcher as its better than anything I can make)

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:: Line a large pie tin with the pastry or if you want to make a frittata, oil and line the bottom with 2-3 layers of thinly sliced potatoes

:: In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and milk together. Add the nutmeg, salt and pepper and whole hazelnuts.

:: Finely chop the bacon.

:: Roughly chop the asparagus into good sized chuncks (3cm/1in pieces)

:: Add the bacon and asparagus to the egg mix

:: Break up the goat cheese and  fold it gently into the egg mix

:: Pour into pan and bake for 45min in 360F/180C preheated oven. Top should be lightly brown and the eggs firm.

TIP: I usually underestimate the number of eggs to use, because in these kind of dishes its always easy to whisk up another egg and a bit of milk and pour it into the pie if its looking a bit dry.