Two Articles: One Thoughtfully Philosophical, One Hilarious

I thought this article was really interesting.  It dealt with the impossibility and undesirability of keeping the government "religion free:"

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/are-there-secular-reasons/

This was just a really hilarious article about ice dancing, which I have actually been watching this time:

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/21/sports/la-sp-olympics-erskine21-2010feb21

Root Veggie Roast

I was impressed with a roasted root vegetable dish at my new favorite restaurant (Farmacia, found during the last snow day and mentioned in a previous post), and I decided to guess how to replicate it--except I added a few more veggies.  Owen assures me that I did manage it quite well.  What I did is very easy and anyone who wants to can try it.

Roasted Root Veggies

white or red potatoes

turnips

red beets

carrots

sweet potatoes

Slice any or all of the above vegetables (I used all of them) into thin (1/4") slices.  You can then cut the larger circles into halves or quarters.  Put veggies into a casserole dish or a roasting pan.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add a few drizzles of olive oil and stir veggies to evenly coat with oil.  Put on a lid or cover with foil.  Bake at 375° for about an hour.  Stir after every 20 min. or so to check.  Turnips were the last to get soft for me. Works great as a side with a roast or as a main dish with some lighter mains in addition.

Happy seasonal eating!

Apple Tuna Salad

An easy way to use up apples, for those of you with a seasonal stockpile like I now have again. 

Apple Tuna Salad

2 or 3 chopped up apples, small pieces
2 cans tuna
3 stalks celery, chopped
mayonnaise, to taste

I then put it on toast and melted cheese ontop in the oven.  It was really good.  And easy!

Back into the Local Foods

Today we drove to Plymouth Meeting to a farm called Maple Acres Farm (http://www.mapleacresfarmmarket.com/) to try once again to eat local seasonal foods.  They had apples, lots of them, and we bought about a bushel of mixed fuji and rome apples for $20 (which is at least good for Philadelphia).  Then we bought a 1/2 bushel of sweet potatoes for $10.  We also bought some turnips, redbeets, cauliflower, and broccoli.  Now I just have to figure out how to cook all that in appealing ways (turnips may be the challenge).  I would have bought some rutabagas and made myself cook those, too, but they were almost $3 a piece.  I doubt I could possibly cook them well enough to justify that price.  Anyway, now that the nausea has mostly passed, I feel some responsibility to live up to my environmental eating goals.  I'll let you know how we fare with all of these root veggies.  Hopefully I will also be able to report that I made and heat-sealed a whole bunch more applesauce.  :)

Hope you found me!

Hope the address change didn't throw anyone off to much--I've been meaning to change it for a while!  (Well, ever since multiple people told me they never check my blog because they can't remember the address!)

It's a Whale of a Taggie!

Well, I'm finished with my latest taggie, and I think it came out really cute!  :)  I stayed up late to finish it and I'm pretty grumpy today as a result . . . but, hey, all in the name of art, right?  I've been making taggies as baby gifts ever since they became Jessie's obsession, but lately I've tried (occasionally, usually because someone has a girl and I have boy colors--necessitating something to make it look less like a boy's blanket) to personalize it a little with a design.  Anyway, this might be my favorite so far.

Cooking the Perfect Steak

So, I know, this is not typically the place one would go to find helpful advice on preparing slabs of meat.  Generally slabs of meat at my house (grass-fed, preferably) are cut into small bits and stretched into many, non-meat heavy meals.  While looking for a "romantic Valentine dinner" last night, I happened upon advice for cooking the perfect steak.  And while I don't know if a big slab of beef is particularly romantic, per se, it sure results in an appreciative gleam in my hubby's eye (I guess the rarity of the experience is just so exciting for my would-be-extremely-carnivorous husband whose wife protects his arteries and heart with ample vegetables not exactly because it is his wish).  Anyway, a big slab of beef I decided it would be, and I decided to share the website where I found the very helpful instructions on perfect steak prep:

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/How-to-Cook-Steak/Detail.aspx

For those who don't feel like actually reading the directions, I will summarize Julie Filips's advice as follows:

1. Preheat a cast-iron skillet (or oven-proof one) to 500 degrees in the oven.
2. Use hot pads to remove and put on burner, turn to high.
3. Put steak on dry skillet.
4. Fry both sides a few minutes.
5. Put back in oven a 3-5 minutes until desired doneness. 
6. Put under foil, and pour 1/2 c red wine in the skillet.  Reduce to 1/3 c while boiling.  Turn off heat and add 2 T butter.  Pour over meat.

I will say that the 3-5 minutes they give as a range puts it in a rarer category.  I did more like 12-15 for a medium-well steak (I know, I know, but I'm pregnant, and eating blood feels risky).  I served it with buttered pasta and sauted broccoli (the broccoli was good, I used a little olive oil and a little water and plently of salt so it was sort of steam/sauted).  The steak was good, though next time I'll do it medium. 

Next time will probably be quite a ways off.  I'm still not doing the big slab of meat thing regularly.
Happy Valentine's Day, Owen!

Snow Daze

So Owen and I finally got a weekend to ourselves . . . and we weren't about to let a silly blizzard stop us!  I picked Micah up early from school and drove the kids to Lancaster on Friday.  I came back and made it to the house by 2:30.

[Here I must add that only Grandma's quick thinking substitution of a turquoise skiing neck-warmer from the '80s kept me from having to drive right back to Lancaster with Jesse's blankie, "night night."  Here is a picture of him holding it in much warmer weather.  He generally does not sleep without it.  The only other time (other than last weekend) was last summer when we left it at home with the diapers in a bag in the middle of the floor when we left for the beach.  And then it was like that scene from Best in Show when the dog's owners freak out because they can't find "busy bee" and the dog is about to go on.  They think the dog is freaking out, but actually the dog appears unaffected while the owners go ballistic.  Once again, Jesse gracefully adapted because he didn't realize his mom would actually have brought it to him if he hadn't.]

Anyway, to get back to my account of our childless snow days . . .

It snowed 28.5 inches at Philadelphia airport (apparently the only place in Philly that measured it, since it was quoted each time measurements were listed).  And that meant that part of the snow day must be spent shoveling.  The shoveling was light and fluffy, however, and so not a big problem, especially if you were the one on sidewalk versus car-freeing duty.

After we shoveled and ate the seasonally appropriate tomato soup and grilled cheese I whipped up (against all of my intentions--the main point of the weekend for me was to get out of cooking anything), we set out for center city to join the ten other people braving the post-storm sidewalks. 

We got a rather filling, powder-based chai at a coffee shop that was open (Starbuck's was closed! How's that for unbelievable?); bought Owen an acceptable hat at an overpriced boutique (the hat is modelled in the first picture up at the top), because, hey, it was open, and you have to reward the people sitting there and getting 2 or 3 customers an hour; and then we went to Farmacia, my new favorite restaurant as of Saturday, which served local seasonal organic cuisine (this time of year: root vegetables, swiss chard, arugula, and the best smoked cheese from a local Amish purveyor--their word choice, not mine--I have ever tasted in my life).  Yum. 

We then tried walking to Barnes and Nobles on Broad Street (or Borders, to me they are too identical to bother telling apart), but after an 8 block walk in crappy boots, I was slightly annoyed to discover they were closed.  That night we fell asleep again around 10 and slept until almost 9 the next morning.  I definitely haven't slept that long since I was a young child (except for the night before, since we did go downtown for dinner Friday and walk all over the place that evening, too, but it doesn't make as good of a story because the snow didn't start until we left the restaurant).  

The weekend was lovely. 

Now we are snowed in again, but the blizzard is still raging and nasty.  And the kids are here, so that's a rather different experience.  A huge branch just fell off of our neighbor's tree with a loud crash right behind our kitchen window, pretty exciting.  Plus, lightening and thunder during a snowstorm is wild.  Stay warm! 

Davis Family Update . . .

OK, we're doing much better.  I just noticed my last post was a little dramatic.  I was getting a little discouraged because our colds were not improving and my throat hurt really bad so that it was really hard to sleep.  Anyway, my cold is mostly gone now, just a little cough left.  And Owen finally got an antibiotic for the sinus infection he developed.  So once Jesse gets rid of this cold (it's now hit all four of us, and poor Jesse was already fighting an old ear infection, so this was sad timing), we'll finally be rid of it.  This one.  Snow day reports to follow!  

Val is not better--for the record

I believe I led my readers to believe that I was starting to get better from my cold.  That must have been the night my throat pain started.  My throat pain from whatever in the world this is is as bad (or almost as bad, who can compare) as when I had mono in high school.  (That throat pain is the gold standard against which I measure all throat pain.)  Anyway, I feel the need to broadcast this unrealistic pain.  It is not strep, I got tested on Friday.  I wonder at what point self-pity will eclipse actual pain.  They're neck on neck at this point.

Spaghetti Sauce

A major challenge with this pregnancy is that I really can't eat or cook with garlic and onion at all.  The gorge rises in my throat even as I think about it as I type.  Anyway, even though my nausea is a lot better now (relatively speaking), I still cannot go near either one.  I came up with a pretty good spaghetti sauce which has opened up the world of spaghetti, lasagne, pizza, and ziti.  I doubt many of you will have cause to use it (I hope not, because having to avoid garlic and onion really limits your cooking), but you never know . . .

Garlic and Onion-free Spaghetti Sauce

Saute red pepper and mushrooms in olive oil (both should be chopped very small).  You can also add zucchini if you want to, just make sure it's chopped very fine.  (I normally start with the garlic and onion before this step if you want to use the really great recipe.)
Add several cans of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce* (according to taste, and according to how much you're trying to make and how big of a veggie pile you started with--I do a couple of each).
Add a bay leaf and basil and oregano, etc.
You can add a little red wine.
Simmer on low heat. 
Simple but tasty.  VERY helpful for those who have to avoid the aforementioned tasty ingredients.

*I actually use frozen or heat sealed versions from my fall stock-piling, but I'm working from the assumption that most aren't buying into all that labor-intensive winter prep.

Davis Family Update

According to recent figuring, the Davis family, as a clan, has been sick for a total of a month.  This means that for a solid month either someone was sick, someone was recovering from being sick, or someone was on the verge of getting sick (even if we didn't realize it).  Here's some highlights from the last month: 

• Micah (after a false attempt a week earlier involving him throwing up right in front of the restaurant we were leaving) got a wicked stomach flu and threw up eight times over night. 
• Owen joined him partway through the night. 
• Jesse joined several days later.  That night Owen ended up at the ER with dehydration. 
• The next day Val caught a bad cold from sleep deprivation which lasted almost a week. 
• A few days later Micah got a horrible cold, which involved mild fever, the nebulizer, and a pink eye (it was viral pink eye and involved stress and a missed school day but never turned into anything serious enough for medication). 
• A few days later, Jesse started and got the same symptoms plus an ear infection.  [Right after that, the boy we babysit for caught it and developed bronchitis, an ear infection, and mild pink eye, poor child caught in the house of contagion.] 
• Before Jesse fully recovered from the ear infection, I, Val, was up with a terribly sore throat and unable to sleep.  This developed into a kind of laryngitis. 
• Owen joined a day later. 
• Val and Owen had three awful days and are finally recovering. 
• Micah has caught it. 

I am happy to report that the family was vaccinated against all flus this year.  Don't know how we'd survive a round of that next.

Last Night For Dinner

Last night for dinner we had a garlic and onion-free version of an old favorite.  Vegetarian Paella (well, except I threw in a few pieces of leftover frozen turkey meat):

I adapted the recipe (and it's slightly different each time) from one I found on the Whole Foods web site.  The fun part of real seafood paella is the shellfish you get to open while eating.  So I leave chunky vegetable "surprises" in the rice for this one, too.  In the summer you can put half ears of corn in the cob in there.  My winter version was as follows:

[onion]
[garlic]
[pepper]
If I could stand how they taste and smell right now (I've had to avoid them all of my pregnancies) I'd have first sauted these first two ingredients in olive oil.  And if I wasn't later adding chunks of roasted red pepper I'd have added that, too.  Since I wasn't doing any of these, I started by sauteing uncooked rice with some strands of saffron.  If you don't have saffron, you can substitute by using a little turmeric.  Saute rice for a few minutes on low heat.  Add a can of tomatoes (diced or whole) with juice (or frozen diced tomatoes if you stocked your freezer with seasonal veggies in the fall) and some broth (chicken or vegetarian).  Broth should just cover the rice.  I didn't measure either, just be sure to add more water or broth later if rice seems to be drying out while cooking.  At this point you have a lot of freedom in what to add.  Last night I added soy beans (the last time I used lima beans), green olives, roasted red peppers, shredded zucchini/summer squash (I had that frozen from fall in one cup measurements--I stuck in one cup), and some frozen hunks of leftover Christmas turkey meat (you could easily leave that out, unless you're married to a "every dish must have some meat" guy like I am).  Then I left it on the stove on low heat until the rice was softened but not soggy.  I stirred in frozen peas and orange slices as my last step and let it sit until they warmed.  When I put the paella on our plates (or you can serve all of it on a large shallow bowl and be more authentic) I added some slices of sweet potato (I had baked those in my crockpot during the day) and some slices of avocado.  It serves beautifully.  We had sauted broccoli rabe on the side, which was a great compliment.

A Cool Twist on "O Taste and See that the Lord is good"

O Taste and See

Denise Levertov, 1964

The world is
not with us enough
O taste and see
the subway Bible poster said,
meaning The Lord, meaning
if anything all that lives
to the imagination’s tongue,
grief, mercy, language,
tangerine, weather, to
breathe them, bite,
savor, chew, swallow, transform
into our flesh our
deaths, crossing the street, plum, quince,
living in the orchard and being
hungry, and plucking
the fruit.

January Harvest!

Believe it or not, we just pulled these out of the ground today.  Our fall carrots that I was too sick to care about a few months ago when I should have picked them.  They were still pretty good, though I doubt the recent hard frost of several days did them any good.  Anyway, I'm so proud to be harvesting anything this time of year.  :)

Ham and Green Beans: The Easiest Meal Ever

So today I tried my nausea-friendly, lazy dinner idea.  Nausea-friendly and lazy for several reasons:

1. I didn't need to fry or cook anything in a smelly sort of way
2. Once I put the ingredients in the crockpot I was mostly done
3. I could plug the crockpot in in the basement
4. For whatever reason, ham (normally a meat I never cook) goes down easy this pregnancy (which is really ironic because ham is pink, what a gross color for a meat)
5. The meal is an all-in-one meal (no sides needed)

Anyway, I felt that I had to post about my success because it tastes amazing with the nice hammy salty broth and crisp green beans (I add them at the end) and soft potatoes that absorbed the broth.  It's a recipe from my Pennsylvania Dutch roots.

Ham and Green Beans

Put a rinsed off ham hock (which is actually hard to find outside of Lancaster County but can be substituted with a pork/ham cut that basically looks like a little meat and skin wrapped around a hunk of ham bone) and about 6 medium/large potatoes into the crockpot.  Fill with water to an inch or two above the meat and potatoes.  Add some salt (you can add more later to taste but it doesn't hurt to put a little in while its steeping all day).  Set crock pot on low and let sit for about 8 hours or so (more wouldn't hurt it)--or you could cook it on high for about 4-6 hours.  About 20 to 30 minutes before you're ready to serve add fresh or frozen cut-up green beans (depending on how crisp you like them).  Meanwhile you can pick the ham meat off the bone to add back to the pot and discard the fat, skin, and bone.  Check if you need to add more salt.

Serve in a bowl with some of the broth.  Yum, I couldn't believe how good it was (not much tastes that good with nausea).  More easy low-nausea dishes to come!

Post Holiday: Surviving Stomach Flu

HELLO!

So my long blogging silence began in part because we were gone for most of the holiday visiting family and having a great time down South.  It continued because our first week back to normal has been defined by all manner of foulness in the form of the stomach flu.  I did 8 loads of laundry this week just because of vomit (we changed sheets so many times the night Micah came down with it that I lost count).  Owen got it (mid-Micah-spewing) and they basically took turns.  They were so violently ill (Micah for number of times throwing up in a row and Owen for duration) that I became convinced that it must be food poisoning (a comforting theory only in that that would mean Jesse and I wouldn't get it). 

But last night IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM, the doctor there said that the stomach flu can't last this long.  Yes, we had to take Owen to the emergency room last night after he passed out due to dehydration, hitting the floor so hard our neighbors heard it.  OK, we do live in a double, so they were right on the other side of the wall, but still, it was loud.  (And he broke his glasses, for which I am saddened, I love them.)  Thankfully, our neighbors were then willing to babysit and help Owen down the stairs to the car.  After two bags of saline (and three long hours) in the emergency room, he was looking better. 

By tonight, the three sickies are all reasonably hydrated, with Jesse and Micah acting like themselves and Owen acting like someone who hasn't really eaten in four days.  I sincerely hope that the flu is done with our family and will not spread to our loved ones and all of the families of Micah's classmates.  I'd give our house a wide berth for at least another few days, if you live near us!

Power Bars

My sister-in-law made gluten-free power bars for me when I came to visit last summer.  And they were really, really good.  And I was really too lazy to make them for myself until I got desperate (not too much seems tempting these days with the pregnancy nausea situation, and protein is a great nausea fighter).  So I made these today and wanted to post the recipe website, along with my easier, cheaper version.

So the real recipe is at http://www.elanaspantry.com/power-bars/

Elana's recipe calls for stevia and agave nectar, though, expensive healthier sugar substitutes.  So I went with a drizzle of honey.  And it called for weird salt, and I went with regular.  And it called for 70% cocoa chocolate and I went with chocolate chips.  Anyway, it was pretty easy, you just need to have almond butter to make it (I got some at Trader Joe's a while ago, actually, and just never used it), and if you don't have coconut oil you could just put canola or something in it.

Bon Apetit!

The Fiesty Shepherds

Micah is a shepherd in his school's play.  So we had to come up with a costume for him.  And then, of course, we had to come up with a costume for the apprentice shepherd.  If they don't look like shepherds, don't tell me . . .

Bird's Nest Cookies

The kids and I just finished making our yearly "Bird's Nest Cookies."  I didn't actually realize they'd be a yearly tradition until Micah started asking in the summer if we'd be making them at Christmas again.  Bird's Nest Cookies are not "cookies," in the strictest sense of the word, they are a Val creation of uncooked blended nuts, peanut butter, smashed dates, coconut, cocoa, craisins, and raisins.  But, hey, the kids love them.  We made an assembly line after I got the nuts and dates all squished together (with a tiny bit of water to moisten things).  I put the little nests on one plate, Jesse picked them up and dipped them in coconut and/or cocoa and gave them to Micah, who put the raisin/craisin eggs on top and put them on our pretty red plate.