If you had a cooking show...

So not all things about motherhood have come naturally to me. I love reading to little Serafina or making her stuffed animals dance. We take walks, and are now even going to Mommy and Me Yoga. We look at artwork and pictures of family and places we travel. However, shockingly, the one thing I don't know how to do is talk to her. The baby books say narrate what you are doing, but after the upteenth time of changing her clothes, I don't know how to make that exciting. I have spoken to many moms about it, and they all agree that it is hard to start narrating what you are doing. I realized it was a problem when Serafina jumped in surprise when I asked her a question. I hadn't spoken to her all day.

Monday night while preparing dinner, I realized that I could live my dream of having a cooking show while on maternity leave. Little Serafina sat in her vibrating chair listening to me narrate how to use a garlic press. It felt comfortable and she was happy. Maybe through these conversations she can learn to appreciate good ingredients, fine techniques, and family recipes. I started to feel hopeful about a future chef in the family. However, I decided to hold the phone on my planning her future, as she appeared more interested in the cups hanging from the spice rack above her head... I guess I need to practice wowing the audience.

Chicken, yes chicken

So there are going to be a series of posts that upset the true pescetarians among us. As we all know, while pregnant, I jumped off the cliff into carnivore-mania. Luckily, I have regained most of my footing, and stopped eating red meat and pork. However, there is one lingering meat, the chipper chicken, which I am still consuming. I figure I will return to my pescetarian ways, however in the meantime I am experimenting with recipes. I am oddly excited to cook with different foods, and there are so many recipes I want to try. Right now, between little Serafina's odd sleep schedule and constant feedings, it is hard to get me excited about cooking at all. So, a fresh material helps energize my cooking brain.

Tonight, I cooked a Cheddar Chicken recipe from this months Real Simple. The recipe is from a section on family recipes, however, this family stole it from the recipe from a blender box. Sometimes the best recipes are from the oddest places, ask my mother about where she gets one of our Thanksgiving favorites. Since I am not sure about copyright issues, and if that is covered with magazines, I will just summarize the ingredients. The recipe involves sharp cheddar cheese, garlic, ritz crackers, and butter. Yes, four amazing ingredients all crushed into yummy goodness, then roll the chicken in it. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, and you have yourself heaven.

We enjoyed it with buttered green beans, fresh bread from Best Buns, unpasteurized cheese from Normandy (hurrah for not being pregnant), and a bottle of wine from the Curious Grape.

It wasn't planned but...

I marked my first mother's day by turning 31 while holding my first born. Over the past three decades, my birthday fell on Mother's day weekend more often than cyclically possible. I remember my mother putting aside the day, so that her middle child could feel a little less middling. We marked my birthday with slumber parties and fruit tarts, since I didn't like cake. In the wee hours of the morning, after prank calls and movies, my friends and I would plot a glorious breakfast in bed for my mother. Eggs, bacon and pancakes, with a single flower cut from her garden. I am pretty sure this actually only happened once, as the late night meant we were sprawled out on the basement couches heavily drooling when she got up. It was the mental gesture that counted at that age, I guess.

We spent my birthday/Mother's Day this year around a table at the Majestic Cafe in Old Town. Eating Nana's Sunday Dinner, a weekly family style special, celebrating the Nana in our family-- my mother. I highly recommend taking five of your closest family members or friends to celebrate the Nana's in your life. The food was perfect, and the conversation was excellent. We laughed at pictures, marveled at the grandchildren, and told stories. We discussed the quirky parts of our family, what makes us, well, us. We revisted the hilarity of the dangerous seventies carseats and metal toys. We discussed childhood fashion and fights. We even learned that my brother had a paper bag themed birthday party, with the pictorial evidence showing 13 children with paper bags on their head. Very Creepy. I laughed so hard that I cried.*

Now, as a mother myself, I am in greater awe of little Serafina's Nana than ever before-- well, putting aside her lack of party theme creativity. How did she go to school, teach, cook, discipline, advise, laugh, parent and manage to keep it together? As people say, motherhood isn't easy, but my mother never limited herself to trite advice. She was Super Mom, now Super Nana, and never really needed acknowledgment, just love. When I look at my daughter, who I love and want to support, I understand why my mom never seemed annoyed in sharing Mother's day. On Sunday, all I wanted was to have a quiet day with my daughter; this marks the first birthday in which a quiet time was the goal. The day did not compete with my birthday, but enhanced it. I now understand a birthday around Mother's Day as a tribute to what the day honors.

*And just a note, I may love the lady intensely, but my little Serafina is not going to have a paper bag head party at Nanas.

And I am back...

Over the past month and a half, very little cooking occurred in our household. We were happily distracted by the new addition in our family, who I shall call little Serafina on the blog. I am not totally comfortable with sharing her picture or personal information (for example, I am keeping her first name private, Serafina is her middle name) on this public forum, but I will say that little Serafina is healthy and happy. We couldn't be happier.

With our new addition, we enjoyed the generosity of family and friends through sampling their own cuisines. My sister made her chicken parmasean, which was DELICIOUS. Seriously, she says that she only bakes, but she makes a mean chicken parm. My brother came over with a beet salad, fresh pesto pasta, and sizzled up some chicken sausage. His wife and my friend made us granola bars, and you know how I feel about those! That same friend keeps dropping off treats at random, it is like we have our own baked goods CSA! My longtime best-friend filled our freezer with chicken curry, pasta bean soup, and a superb macaroni and cheese. My In-laws made the most perfect carrot and ginger soup, fresh bread, more mac and cheese, and more fresh bread. My mom made on-demand Italian food, and my dad proudly filled our fridge with groceries for when we came home from the hospital. I am pretty sure my father thinks I subsist on cheese, broccoli and bread, and actually, come to think of it, he is probably right. I can't explain their endless generosity and how thankful we are for their treats; we probably would have starved the past six weeks.

However, my cooking suffered. Maternity leave does not work for cooking. For example, last week, in attempt to start cooking again and re-live the St. Patrick's day that I never enjoyed, I tried to make fish and chips with mushy peas. We bought some Harp, put on the Dubliners and fried up some cod. Exhausted from new parent sleeplessness, I was so proud of my ambition; I even took pictures.

However, sadly, I won't post the recipe. They were the worst fish and chips and mushy peas. EVER. I am not exaggerating; I really mean it.

As always, A. ate the entire meal and promised it wasn't that bad. He is too kind. I didn't cook anything wonderful for the next week because the meal traumatized me. For the first time in my life, I have all the time in the world to cook, but too intimidated to do it. I blame little Serafina's unpredictable feeding schedule, but really it is the task not the conditions that prevents me from cooking. But as these days wane, I realize how busy I normally am, and how I still managed to cook good and new meals. So, with the four more months of maternity leave ahead of me, I vow to cook more and better. This blog will hold me accountable, right? I think I am going to try recipes from various books and magazines, and review them. Tell you if they work or don't work, or how I changed them. I doubt I will have the time or patience to make new ones, but I would like to figure out where the good Pescetarian recipes are hiding...

One month left.....

and I haven't decided what I am going to do about my diet after the baby comes. People keep asking if I am going to return to being a pescetarian or if the baby is going to be one. A friend at work said I should continue eating meat, so that my cooking would stay interesting. A vegan friend at work hopes I go back on the straight path. Saturday night we saw the Kenyon crew , and they were loud proponents of me eating meat, but one of the guys quickly added the caveat, Oh! if it doesn't get you sick.

Although I didn't eat meat in my teens, I did briefly eat meat in my twenties. I stopped again because my body never adjusted to my gallbladder surgery. I would get phantom gallbladder attacks, accompanied by feeling sick after most meals. No matter what I did, I continued to get sick eating a variety of foods. Six years ago, I went pescetarian, and I felt much better. In fact, it was miraculous how quickly my body turned around. I did not get sick once in six years. However, once I became pregnant, the only thing that would end my morning sickness was turkey sausage or grilled chicken, and thus the downward spiral began. The sweetheart that she is, it appears that sharing food with the baby aids my general digestion, because I haven't had a gallbladder fake-attack since.

I still believe that eating meat is cruel, and unnecessary. You can make wonderful meals and be fulfilled without it. At times, I struggle with the identity of someone who doesn't eat meat, and the political connotations on both sides of the spectrum. To vegetarians and vegans, my fish eating is horrific; my culinary efforts don't count. I hate the preachiness associated with the vegetarian movement; I believe in making your own consumption decisions. On the other hand, I have a problematic relationship with meat. The industry is a drain on the environment, the conditions for workers and animals are horrific, and I can't reconcile the fact that a life is killed for my consumption.

I also don't believe in absolutes, and living in moderation is essential to happiness, especially in the culinary world. So, we shall see if I will continue to be a strict pescetarian, and if that doesn't happen, do I need to change the name of the blog?

Homemade Granola Bars, but not in my home....

A good friend of mine took up baking a ridiculous amount of yummy goods the past few months, which coincided with my pregnancy--perfect. She occasionally drops off cookies, cinnamon buns, and other treats. She most recently dropped off granola bars. They were so yummy, that,
1. I did not share.
2. I rationed the 4 bars over the matter of weeks in case of an emergency, which turned out to be fortuitous due to the snowpocolypse.

The recipe comes from a website called the Joyful Abode, where the pictures alone are fantastic. I am planning on trying it out in a month or two when I need simple cooking tasks to make me feel accomplished for the day. Oh, and she made hers with almonds instead of peanuts since she has little ones at home.

Here is a link for those who love to bake, Homemade Granola Bar Recipe

Happy Valentines Day

We made some egg toast this morning, but modified for Valentines day. Often, tv chefs use this as a way to make eggs interesting for children, which makes me laugh, because I didn't know children were afraid of eggs (clearly, we are in trouble if this is the case....). I told A. I would have loved this as a kid, just ask my mom about us demanding Mickey Mouse shaped sandwiches. A. looked up, laughed, and said he wasn't so sure that I should be speaking in past tense. True, very true.

Easy Heart Shaped Eggs:
Spray the pan with Pam, Lay a piece of bread in the pan, and let it toast on the stove. Next, flip it once it browned. Cut a hole with a cookie cutter, like our heart shaped one, and feel free to butter and jam the interior heart. Next, crack an egg into the heart shaped hole, and let it cook inside. Once the egg is fried, flip for good measure. Serve with fruit.

SNOW-brunch

When dealing with a pregnant lady, it is important to understand the necessity of a full brunch. We started this pregnancy with weekly visits to the Arlington legend Bob and Edith's-- the only place that would satiate my morning sickness, and where we had our first dates eight years ago. Although I miss getting teased by the waiters for my appetite, as well as reading through baby name books in a booth with A, we now do brunch every weekend at home. The standards have not changed. I don't cook brunch, I have to give A. full credit here. Although it takes a team of people to drag him out of bed, he is the chef, and I am just the line cook in the morning. Today, a Wednesday, we got to have a special brunch because of the third blizzard this winter.


Being snowed in this week, we have handled it beautifully. We did not have a single lazy day. Avoiding cabin fever forced us to do projects around the house that have been put off since we moved in four years ago. We painted a china cabinet, rehung pictures, reupholstered a chair, tore down the laundry room storage cabinets, and re-organized every closet, drawer, and cabinet. The nursery is ready, hospital bag packed, and my grading is well on its way. However, once I finish grading, we might be in trouble...

So the electricity might go out....

Because I sometimes cook as if we were a house of 10, I prepared for the snowstorm as any sane person in a commune would, I made a giant batch of Barley stew. Edible cold, this stuff is packed with all the nutrients you would need if a snowpocolypse comes your way. Plus, it is made of regular pantry ingredients. When cooking this, keep in mind that I make enough to eat, have for lunch, and still store the leftovers in the freezer.

Ingredients

• 2 tb of olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cups of barley
• 3 box containers of veggie broth, low sodium
• 2 cans of garbanzo beans
• 1 package of frozen spinach
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (the larger size)
• 1-2 tb of herbs de provence
• 2 bay leaves

1. Saute the onions in olive oil in your stockpot, until they are translucent.
2. Add the rest of your ingredients
3. Let simmer on low for at least one hour, and stir occasionally.
4. Serve with Romano on top, if you like.

I know. Very complicated. If you want this to be less stew-like and more meal-like, let the mixture continue to simmer until the barley absorbs all the liquid. That is what I did this time, and it will be easy to defrost later. I portion this off into small containers for work because it is a fast, but filling, meal, and teachers don't get lunchtime.

For your Mardi Gras....

I don't know why I feel the need to cook the appropriate meal on a matching holiday, but I do. As you previously read, Bastille day must have mussels and Mardi Gras must have a fried catfish sandwich. Because I was speaking at a conference, we finally went to New Orleans last year and tested out po'boys left and right. The other day, we made my version of a po'boy sandwich with tilapia, and it was even better than my pre-trip stabs at it. The first step is changing from catfish to tilapia, accompanied by allowing myself to be generous with seasoning. Tilapia is a sustainable fish, and like catfish it is very low in mercury. It stays together better than catfish, so it made it ideal for a better sandwich. We often use it for tacos as well.

To save time, I am not going to write this out in a long traditional recipe format, but just explain the basic breading method. Using two plates, dredge the fish through egg-whites, and then next, a breadcrumb mixture. I prefer to add cajun spices into the mixture to give it some flavor, be generous with the spice. Probably the only positive thing a nutty college roommate showed me that added to my cooking life, Tony Chachere's creole spice is a great thing to add to bread crumbs or even french fries. Next, put oil in your pan, probably 2-3 tb of canola, which is not a traditional frying oil, but is healthier. I never measure, but just try and cover the bottom of the pan so the fish won't stick. Place several pieces of tilapia to cover the pan. It will only take a few minutes to cook the fish, and flip once. Do not move around your fishies a bunch of times, or continuously flip. This may make us feel like a better chef, but you are actually ruining the fish.

Serve on a bun with Romaine lettuce and Roma Tomatoes sliced, as these are the best tomatoes at the grocery store in the winter. Now, this particular time, we realized we were out of mayonaise, so I couldn't make the dressing. So, instead, we put a little ranch dressing on top. Although A. thinks I shouldn't tell you about our substitution, it really wasn't that bad...