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a portrait of my son, once a week, every week in 2016

Jimmy: Wanna help Daddy.

Jimmy loves being involved in the things we do and especially in the kitchen. It started with the dishes and while that continues, Jimmy is interested in helping make food and taste all the ingredients. Yes. Even corn flour. Here, Jimmy is helping Daddy grind up some pork, prunes, and bread for pork pie.

Cheap thrills: Eton mess...

Eton mess or mashed up pavlova with extra cream, take your pick. It's tasty and simple, but it does need to be made in advance - at least 3 hours (!!) before you expect to eat it. 

Coming straight out of River Cottage Every Day, although altered somewhat because of Jimmy and taste testing, the Eton mess has been staring at me every time I flip through the fruit section, tempting me with visions of cream and raspberries and summer garden parties or high tea. So, with raspberries dropping to $1 a punnet (and strawberries $3/punnet), I figured it was time to act before berry season ended.

What you need to serve 6, and roughly what I ended up making:

• 2 egg whites worth of meringue, dolloped onto clean baking trays lined with baking paper and cooked at a low temperature (say, 120 C or a little less) for about 2 hours (although mine only needed an hour and a half.
• 1.5 punnets of raspberries and about 1 punnet of strawberries, washed, with the strawberries trimmed and halved - but you'll need a swift hand if you have the sort of kitchen helper I had. Combine the fruit in a bowl, add a tablespoon (or two) of sugar, mix by hand so that you can mash the fruit a little as you go. Place in the fridge for about 2 hours or until needed.
• Cream. The heavy, made for whipping kind, lightly whipped with nothing added. I used the suggested 350 ml, but it was a bit much because I forgot to allow for Jimmy's fruit consumption and all the meringues we just had to taste...

Other fruit combinations to try are:

• kiwifruit and strawberry
• peaches and nectarines (raw or baked so that they are a little caramelised)
• mango (possibly with banana, or peach).

About an hour before serving, break up the meringues and mix with the cream. Mix in the fruit, so that it is covered with the cream but stop before the cream is completely drenched in fruit juices. Cover and set aside (in the fridge if it is summer) until ready to serve. Eat that night.

Definitely toddler approved: simple enough for them to help in the prep; easy and tasty enough for them to gobble down. That said, Jimmy was more interested in the raspberries and strawberries than the cream or his prune (which was an afterthought), and he was more interested in finishing and having a bath than the meringue.

Michael and I may have had two helpings... which seemed a good idea, because the fruit and meringue are really light, but the cream makes it a little heavier and I was feeling very full. Oh I will be making this again, especially as it is really similar to pavlova in taste but so much quicker (and forgiving) in the preparation. Eton mess for the win.

Road trip: Part 5 - Brule River to Goose Island

Cutie pie Jimmy-bubba, on the move!

I must have put the previous Road trip post up late at night, because it doesn't end in Thunder Bay - it takes us all the way to Brule River... Oh well! 

Day 11: Brule River to Goose Island

That night was coooooooooold... The sleeping bags Michael and I had were not enough, even zipped together for shared body warmth we were cold. And Jimmy? He was in his sleeping bag, in our sleeping bag. He was fine. Previously we'd take him out of his sleeping bag if I brought him into our big sleeping bag, but that it was sooooo coooooold. When got up, I was really surprised that there was no frost on the ground. 

I touched on how lovely the camping grounds are at Brule River Motel and Campgrounds, but what I neglected to talk about was our camping site. Now, there are a few tent specific sites, with the majority being for RV's, with power and water hookups, but, as I had mentioned, it had been so wet there that we were allowed to pick any site. We went with a site that was all grass, even though it was a little more exposed than other sites. The site we would have loved to use, but didn't, was a tent site: down by the river, but high enough not to be flooded after one nights rain (although a flash flood would have been problematic...). Oh it would have been lovely! That is, if the ground wasn't boggy, the road down to the site steep and rocky and wet, and if there had been a tap for water. Our spot was pretty good, and our neighbours were friendly, and inspite of the cold we had a reasonable sleep, but packed up quickly after a cold breakfast (no tea or coffee).

Helping Granny with breakfast.

If we weren't so cold, and weren't in a hurry to get to our next spot, I think we would have had a lovely time exploring the area and Brule River State Park. That part of the world is quite different to Manhattan, KS, because it has the feeling that nothing ever drys there. Ever. The lovely fungi, as seen in the previous road trip post, is a result of that kind of climate. We also found a frog near the bathrooms, so it must be warm in the summer. And we were still close to Lake  Superior... Too bad about the mosquitos... Yes, Michael and Pop bought insect repellant when they bought the fire wood...

I love this photo.

Before we hit the road, Jimmy had some time to stretch his little legs and did so looking very cute. I'm afraid you'll just have to deal with blurry photos, because he moves so fast, but we did manage to catch him and get him into some dry clothes before setting off.

We, understandably, had a hankering for a hot drink. Anywhere would do! So, somewhere between our first and second hours on the road we took a turnoff and ended up in Cameron, Wisconsin. We basically stopped at the first place we came across because there were lots of cars parked outside it. Good sign, right?

Cameron House, Cameron, WI.

Coffee anyone? Well, we walked in and there were a few pool tables, a pokie machine (or two) I think, lots of things on the walls and a bar. And a door leading to a bigger, darker, more peopled room. So we went in... and discovered a room covered in kitsch fishing and hunting paraphernalia and a bunch of locals. We asked for coffee, Granny had tea, and we were after some biscuits... but when the waitress asked us if we wanted gravy with them, we knew we were speaking a different language! And then we remembered that we were after "cookies", so we had cookies and doughnuts with our coffees and tea. The coffee was drippilator and with creamer, oh but it was good... It all hit the spot and made for a nice break.

Cool, right?

Wisconsin is pretty. As we travelled south birch and spruce gave way to rolling plains and corn fields, with treed hills preventing us from seeing endless fields.

The rolling landscape is home to Amish communities and corn growers, with at least one road sign alerting us that we might encounter Amish buggies. We waited... Michael saw the top of a sylow and thought it was an observatory until we rounded the hill. He fell asleep. So did Jimmy. And then we saw it! An Amish man with his horse and buggy and I couldn't get my camera ready fast enough because all too quickly we had passed him. Oh well. Here's a picture of a sylow instead.

We stopped for lunch in Galesville, WI, and attracted some attention from the staff at the IGA because we were not from the area, and a long way from home. It was all good attention, especially as Jimmy is really cute. We even acquired directions to a good park for a picnic. Win!

Detail of the gazebo roof.

It was everything we could have asked for: tables under a gazebo, taps, toilets, green space, and playground equipment! Jimmy loved the slide and swing. And we enjoyed the location before heading off and on towards Goose Island.

Weeee! (Photo: Michael)

Road trip: Part 4 - Lake of the Woods to Thunder Bay

Day 8: Lake of the Woods to Thunder Bay

We set alarms and were up before dawn so that we could see Uncle C. again before he left for Winnipeg and to thank him for having us. Once he was gone, we continued drinking our coffee and watched the sun rise over the Lake...

Photo: Michael

It was magical.

And then we packed up, locked up, and drove off. Not only did we have a 6 hour drive ahead of us but there was at least one more Geocache to find. 

But it wasn't found. Meanwhile, I managed to take a few pretty photos of mist and wild flowers, grasses, spruce, and birch. Jimmy and Pop got their groove on to the Wiggles, while staying nice and warm in the car.

As we drove towards Thunder Bay the landscape became rockier, with fewer lakes but more trees and grasses and wild flowers and road works. The race to finish everything before the ground froze was on. We were fortunate enough not to have to wait very long at any given point.

The day was uneventful otherwise, although we did feel pressed for time and by 4 pm, with 1.5 hours driving to go, we had to make a call: see Kakabeka Falls and have a really cranky Jimmy or just head to our accommodation. We skipped Kakabeka Falls. We were all close to being 'over' being in the car.

And we did manage to make it to KOA Thunder Bay without Jimmy getting too upset. Oh we were glad to be out of that car! We bought firewood and started looking forward to a hot dinner and cups of tea... only we were a few days too late for the dry wood... that all went over the Labor Day weekend, when they were very busy. Oh well... At least the swimming pool was open...

But we were all after refreshments first, but they were second to setting up our cabin. Except in Jimmy's case. He'd waited long enough.

Possibly one of my favourite photos, thanks Michael for taking it!

Jimmy, Michael, and I went for a swim. It was really refreshing, and not in a "the water was cold" way. Even Jimmy enjoyed the swim before he found the difference in water and air temperatures too much. Nothing a warm shower couldn't fix.

Our kettle.

Cheap thrills: Oti (or making the place smell like Christmas)

Once I started to get excited about celebrating Jimmy's birthday, I wanted to do it properly. And part of doing it properly is having oti, an Indian ginger and chilli drink that my Dad makes for Christmas and other family celebrations. Oti is served cold but it packs a punch, but what really makes it special is what it does to my parents house on the evening it is brewed...

Ginger, cinnamon, lemon, cloves, and caramel notes fill the house, which already smells wonderfully of fresh pine and baking gingerbread... This is what Christmas smells like.

I think it was the warm night and fireflies that we saw on the 4th of July that made me think of oti.

My family's recipe comes from a cookbook* that was written in the 60s or 70s, by a group of women associated with the Vellore Christian Medical College**, Tamil Nadu, India. Some of the recipes are Anglicized, while others are more traditional, and with a few (basic) Indian spices, most of them can be prepared in any kitchen, anywhere in the world. And as the College had staff (and family) from places as far flung as the UK and Australia, I thought*** the intention of the authors of the book was just that - it would allow people to recreate the tastes of Vellore (and South India) in their kitchens.

My parents came into possession of a copy of this book because my Grandad taught at the Medical College as a professor of medicine from the mid 1950s to sometime in the 1970s, and he and my Granny brought up their 4 children, including my Mum, in Vellore. The children were sent to boarding school in Melbourne, Australia, once they were close to starting high school, but they came away from Vellore with a fondness for the people, the culture, and the food, and they have passed this deep appreciation onto their spouses and children.

I suspect that the book and subsequent editions are no longer in print, and if they are, you'd have to be at the College to know where to go to buy a copy. I also suspect that most families in India have their own recipes for oti. The following is my family's variation on the one that was published all those years ago in Vellore, although I think my Dad adds 4 cardamom pods to the dry frying pan. Play around with the amounts of chilli, ginger, and caramelisation of the sugar, until you get something that suits your tastes.

Oti

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 cloves
• 2.5 full length cinnamon sticks
• 3-6 red chillies, dry or fresh
• 2.5 litres water
• 3 cups sugar
• 9 cm fresh ginger, sliced or grated
• 1 lemon, finely sliced

Dry fry the cloves, cinnamon sticks, and chillies (I used 3 fresh chillies, which provided a nice level of heat while still being enjoyable), until their scent fills the kitchen. 

In a large pot**** caramelise the 1/2 cup of sugar with a few drops of water. The depth of colour here will determine how dark the oti is, but be careful not to go too dark because the last thing you want is to burn the sugar. Even slightly burnt sugar will affect the final taste of the oti. 

Once the sugar is caramelised and close to the colour you want it, carefully add the water, followed by the rest of the sugar, ginger, and dry fried ingredients. Boil the mix, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the sliced lemon. Leave overnight to cool, covered. Strain, bottle, refrigerate, and enjoy in small glasses! 

This recipe makes about 2 litres of oti, which should last about 2 weeks in the fridge. Unless you drink it all in the first week... just like we did. Before I managed to take a photo of the finished drink. Looks like I'll just have to make some more...

My Dad's oti, in progress, Dec 2012

*The book in the photo is a copy of the original because my parents copy was falling to pieces and we, the children, were moving out of home and needed our own copies.
**Mum, don't go to the website, it'll make you homesick for Vellore (I recognise some of the buildings from photos you've shown me, and that old video of Grandad).

***My Dad has informed me, see the comments, that the book came from a dinner in Melbourne, hosted by the Friends of Vellore Association, for former members of staff at the Medical College, but see the comments for more details.

****If your pot is dark, like mine, do this step in something that allows you to see the colour of the sugar as it caramelises, and then carefully but quickly add it to the 2.5 litres of water before it goes beyond the colour you want.

The Swimmy Jimmy First Birthday Pool Party!

 

Well, it was organised and grandparents told to call in for the cake. Friends of ours would actually be there - this wasn't just going to be a virtual party where Michael, Jimmy, and I would eat all the cake. 

And we all had such a good time that no one thought to take a single photo. We were far too busy enjoying the pool, managing not to get sunburnt, Skyping and FaceTiming grandparents, and eating cake. That's right, one of the most photographed babies around was not photographed blowing out his first birthday candle. Crazy, right.

The cake: homemade sponge with cream, blueberries, and raspberries.

Did I mention we had lots of fun? And that we enjoyed sharing our Jimmy-bubba's first birthday with other first time parents and Jimmy's grandparents? Do I need to tell you that the pool was the perfect temperature and that the weather was perfect for a pool party? How about the fact that Jimmy seemed to have a really good time and really likes the presents he was given? But no photos of the actual event?

Ah well... Michael and I feel a little bit guilty about not taking a single photo for this momentous occasion, we do. Only time will tell if Jimmy forgives us for being more focused on his enjoyment, and the involvement of his grandparents, in the occasion. In the meantime, he's enjoying the wonders of a helium balloon and his very first (big red) car. 

All photos taken by Michael.

Cheap thrills: don't get much cheaper than this...

One of Michael's coworkers went fishing, and promised Michael some fish. Michael brought home 4 fish. Fish!

Actually it was a surprise for me, but as they were frozen I had some time to think about what to do with them...

The first two fish were eaten the next evening, cooked with ingredients we already had in the house. There was an hour or so pouring over my much loved, and well used, copy of River Cottage Every Day, in the search for inspiration and I wasn't disappointed. Decisions weren't made until that afternoon when the lure of fluffy-but-crunchy potatoes became too much...

But I was in a hurry, so this is the method I used:

Fluffy potatoes

• 2 potatoes, cut and peeled (or peeled and cut, or just wash and cut)
• 3 tablespoons oxtail fat (or oil)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• water

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C, put 3 tablespoons of fat (or oil) into an ovenproof pan (I used our new skillet and the reserved fat from the oxtail stew) and set aside. Boil the potatoes in salty water for 10 minutes, drain and allow to steam in their pot. While the potatoes steam, put the pan and fat in the oven. When the fat is melted, and starting to smoke, remove the pan, put the lid back on the potatoes and toss them (lightly!), then quickly put them into the pan and coat them in the fat. Quickly return the pan (and potatoes) to the oven and bake for at least 30 minutes.

While the potatoes were backing I made up some mustard aioli, although I initially wanted to use chilli, mustard seemed safer (Jimmy has a habit of rubbing food in his eyes... especially at dinner)...

Mustard aioli

• 1 large clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon mustard (any sort will do, I used a German style)
• 1/2 cup whole egg mayonnaise

Peel and chop the garlic, roughly/finely - it's up to you. Put it into a small bowl with the mustard and mayonnaise and mix well. A day or 2 in the fridge allows the garlic to permeate the mix and mellow, a little.

After making the aioli, about 15 minutes after putting the potatoes into the oven, I added the fish. As they were already gutted and scaled, prep  was going to be easy. I gave 2 fish a good rinse, pulled the skillet out of the oven and made room in the middle for them. I quickly coated one side of each fish with the fat in the skillet and turned them over. Then I cracked some pepper over them, stuffed a few bay leaves and a clove of garlic in the cavities, threw a few more bay leaves and garlic cloves around, and added a generous drizzle of olive oil on the fish. The olive oil may not have been necessary... Put it all back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

We had our fish with peas and broccoli, and a little mustard aioli, not that we needed the extra fat...

Cheap thrills: new staples and an old favourite...

Ever on the lookout for meals that can be cooked in one pot or pan and that provide enough food for two adults, a very hungry bubba, with leftovers, I had to try this Spanish Tortilla because we had asparagus in the fridge that needed cooking... I've now made it twice, adding spinach and switching using a large kohl rabi instead of a potato. I'll be making it again.

And using an oven proof cast iron frying pan is great - I follow the recipe up to the point where the egg mixture is added to the pan and then I put the whole thing in the oven for 30 mins (at 180 degrees C (not the 230 degrees C in the recipe)), and walk away. The added bonus is that cast iron retains the flavour of the last thing it was used to cook, so the last one tasted of taco mince. The next one will taste of something else, probably sausages...

Now back to that hungry bubba, whose appetite is worthy of a post all its own... I've stopped having morning and afternoon tea, for the most part, although some days I need two afternoon teas to get through... Jimmy is a growing bubba, and he has an appetite to match and although he is still breastfeeding, he needs more and is not afraid to ask for it. He'll crawl over to his highchair and look for bits of the last meal he dropped, or he'll point at a banana, basically asking for it. This boy eats a lot of bananas... This boy eats a lot of fruit!

But sometimes fruit is not enough, so I've started making these pancakes if I'm after something more than fruit. Jimmy fills up quickly too, mostly because of the egg but also because we eat half of the banana before sitting down to the pancakes. I added raspberries the other day (torn in half and a little mushed) and they worked well, although Jimmy prefered the fresh ones. Oh well.

While we're on the topic of fresh ingredients, who likes masala chai? Don't know what I'm talking about? How about chai tea? Chai latte? Are you with me now? Well, chai means tea, latte means milk, masala means a mix of spices, so masala chai means spiced tea, but it is usually a milky tea and oh so yummy...

I came across this recipe for masala chai a while ago, not sure when, but didn't think about it until I started craving masala chai once we arrived in Manhattan, KS. We had only recently been taken to the Asian Market, and had only bought cinnamon quills (or sticks, as they're called here), but it was enough to prompt Michael to point out that we could now make masala chai. Well, we didn't have any cardamon pods, did we...

We bought a packet of cardamon pods and a packet of cloves the next time we were there. The cloves were for something else, but turns out they go into the masala chai too! And it's a darn good masala chai recipe too. As an added bonus, the bubbling spices fill our flat with a wonderful aroma... If it's winter where you are, I strongly suggest you make yourself some, and if you're really sensitive to caffeine, I think it should still take delicious without the tea - I'll be doing this myself during winter, so that Jimmy can enjoy it too.  

Are you seeing a pattern here? Yes, I spend a bit of time reading A Cup of Jo, like a lot of other people, and while we might seem like a slightly odd match, I really enjoy reading Joanna's blog: she's a bit goofy and not afraid to share that side of herself; she's also a mum (or should I say 'mom'?), and she's pretty generous with how much she shares of her boys and her struggles with motherhood; she also has some of the most amazing contributors, especially the foodies. Plus, I can get my fill of New York without having to deal with the smells or the crowds or the dated outfits in Sex and the City.

First impressions and other things involved with settling in...

Photo credit: Michael.

What does the sign in the photo say? Have a good look. Yes? You've read it, re-read it? No, don't plug it into Google Image. Select "Read more..." and I'll tell you what we thought it said and what it actually says and we'll see if we saw the same thing. Go on...

Cheap thrills: Oxtail stew

This rich, delicious, definitely not low fat, dish was worth all the time it took to cook, the hours smelling the spices, the rich meat and bone marrow, and... oh let's just say it was yummy and hearty and very, very satisfying. Here's the link to original recipe, because it's not mine.

One lazy Sunday afternoon, a week after this, after waking up from a nap (I like naps, had you noticed?), I started cooking about 0.66 kg of oxtail with probably 0.3 kg beef mince as per the recipe, with a few chances... As I had half amount of meat, I used half of everything else, but without the wine, using vegetarian stock cubes and a few carrots, powdered cinnamon, and fennel seeds instead of star anise. It took a long time to cook, so we didn't have it for dinner that night. But the house smelt great.

Instead, after straining the stock, mashing the onion through the sieve and retaining the carrot, and removing the meat from the bones, the stock, onion, carrots, and meat was combined and stored overnight in the fridge. The sight that greeted me the next morning was lovely: the fat had risen to the top of the container, creating a lovely thick layer over everything else, just like I remember my Mum getting, when she did similar things. Oh the fat was easy to remove! (And save...) Oh and the marrowbone jelly that was under it... wibble-wobble...

But all that jelly had to be reduced... but I didn't do it all at once, oh no. Just about 1/4 of what I'd made when into the first real tasting, another 1/4 went into the freezer for much later, 1/4 went with Michael for lunch the next day (no extra attention), and the final 1/4 went into the fridge for later in the week. It took a while for that jelly to reduce. I can't remember how long for that first night, but the second time it seemed to take forever...

Once the sauce was reduced I sifted a generous teaspoon of cocoa over the stew, instead of the chocolate, and mixed well. When it looked right, and my stomach couldn't handle it any longer, I served it with... I honestly can't remember. I'm sure peas were involved. Perhaps some other greens too... But it was sprinkled with parsley and devoured by all three of us.

Oh it was good... So good in fact, that later that week when I used what was in the fridge, I also used the 1/4 of stew that was in the freezer... Admittedly, as I was a little unwell, my eyes may have been bigger than our stomachs... And I may not have let it reduce long enough, but I did remember to take photos of the stew as it was served, this time with mashed potato, with onion, fennel root, and broccoli stems. We still ate it. All of it. And yes, Jimmy approved.

Jimmy's serve...

... mostly made it into his belly.

Cheap thrills...

In a bid to save money and to stave off boredom, Michael suggested that each weekend we cook something we haven't cooked before from one of the cook books I brought with us. Genius! We both like cooking and all three of us enjoy eating, and with two adults around for the whole weekend it's easier to take the time to cook something unfamiliar. As an added bonus we might even get some leftovers for lunches or the freezer for emergencies...

So we started last Saturday night, looking at recipes in River Cottage Everyday Cook Book. With our selection made and shopping list written, we made an evening run to our local supermarket. Yes. You read that correctly. And it's open 24/7, probably with a few exceptions, but still. Saturday night food shopping, with a baby! I digress...

It was a good thing we went when we did because we wouldn't have been able to walk to the shops until Sunday afternoon because it rained, and rained, and rained. There was thunder and lightning too and a National Weather Service warning for flash flooding in the area. So, it was good weather for soup...

A thrifty fish soup! Follow the link - it's worth it!

Now, I had to change it a little... We don't live near a proper fish monger, so instead of whole fish, I used about 1.5 kg catfish fillets, with one fillet going into the stock along with two chicken drumstick bones. Dry thyme was used instead of fresh thyme (about 3 pinches). There was also no wine in the stock. I also retained the carrot from the stock and put it in the soup, along with the well cooked fillet of fish. The leeks were kinda huge, so I needed to add water to cover everything. Instead of cleaned squid I used 200 g of frozen mixed seafood. And because I'm a mum, I added a bit of chilli and garlic to store bought whole egg mayonnaise.

The apartment smelled delicious, making stock was fun and a little therapeutic, having lunch simmering away during the rain was a little romantic, and Jimmy's enthusiasm for it was just wonderful. Ok, so I drained his so that he could eat it with his hands, that way it was a baby friendly meal too! And the store bought mayo? With the chilli and garlic, it made the meal, although home-made mayo might be better.

I'm looking forward to eating the last of the thrifty fish soup that's in the freezer and when I remember to take photos, I'll share the results of my variation on oxtail stew (also from River Cottage Everyday Cookbook). In the meantime, here's our resident food critics' response to the thrifty fish soup:

(The bowl of drained soup was eaten by the handful and there was hardly any mess.)