A Mother’s Day to remember

Monday, May 19, 2014

If you read my Mother’s Day post, you’ll know that plans for this weekend centered around the home. No McDonald’s this year. Just lots and lots…and lots of cooking and baking. If you don’t like to eat butter, sugar, bacon, or stinging nettles, avert your eyes. I’m sure that most of you would say that you don’t like to eat stinging nettles, but if I can convince you to read on, I’ll try to make it worth your while.

On Saturday morning, before we headed up to the lake, the kids put in a pancake request. “Actually, I already made a big pancake with cherries” I was thrilled to announce. “It’s called clafoutis. It’s French.”

Lauren stared at it and then said “um, mom, you made pie”.

Which nobody wanted to eat. Kids. So I made regular pancakes. Lauren had the brilliant idea to make a DIY pancake bar where each kid could top their pancakes with fruit, chocolate and sprinkles. Not the healthiest breakfast, but not an everyday treat either. And I’d already made dessert for breakfast so it was probably my fault for setting the high water mark for a morning sugar binge.

We got up to the lake around lunchtime, and no surprise, the kids were hungry again. I figured that I’d serve something a little healthier this time around…

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Ramping it up in the kitchen

Sunday, May 18, 2014

It’s that time of year when all rational behavior falls by the wayside. Ramps are here. Home cooks and chefs alike elbow each other out of the way in order to return from the market with a few bunches of these highly prized vegetables, triumphant.

They’re delicious.

Black truffle delicious? Pork belly delicious?

I don’t know if I’d go that far. But they’re pretty fantastic, owing in part to the fact that they’re only around for a brief window in the Spring. Then they’re gone, hidden from view until they can serve as next year’s bright indication that that Spring is back, and that Winter has been banished for 9 more glorious months.

Some of you may be scratching your heads at this point, either never having heard of a ramp, and/or reflecting on your extreme distaste for pork belly. Let’s focus on the first issue, which is the topic of this post. Pork belly will be saved for another occasion when I muster up the confidence to cook it at home.

If I’m to use my Instagram account as a laboratory of sorts, there seems to be a lot of confusion about ramps.

Are they overpublicized and overpriced?

Or are they unsung heroes, with iffy recognition at best? The kind of fame often reserved for cultish authors, who slip by unrecognized by the masses but are adored by a passionate few.

Here are a few of the comments that led to my confusion after I posted a few dishes that contained ramps.

First, there is a large and vocal group of ramp lovers….

“RAMPS, my fave!”
“Ramps!!!!” (inclusive of a bright green leaf emoji)

Second, there seems to be a strange sleeper cell of ramp haters….

“I’m suffering from ramps overload”
“#savetheramps”

Lastly, there are those, with whom many reading this post will identify, who have never laid eyes on a ramp:

“Wait, what’s a ramp?”
“Are those ramps?”
“How have I never heard of these?”

Because educating the ramp unaware population is far more critical than appeasing the (likely) minority of (ornery) ramp haters, here we go: a short tutorial on where to find ramps, and what you can do with them. I’ve tried to make this visual so that you can see for yourself how versatile this simple green root can be….

Sourcing:

For some reason, I have never seen ramps in a Whole Foods or for that matter, any store with four walls and a ceiling.

The only place I’ve found ramps is at the farmers’ market, where you can find them in bunches, looking like this:

Season:

Although it depends on seasonal temps, ramp season (in the Northeast) runs from late April into early June.

Preparation:

Use them just as you would any fresh herb, or if you want a milder flavor, give them a quick sautee or grill.

Just go easy on them at first – their flavor packs a punch.

Here are some suggested uses:

1. Snip them raw like chives over anything that loves oniony things – omelettes, ricotta cheese on toast, or as my kids like to do, just eat the leaves plain.

(That was, for the record, ramps scattered over homemade labneh; harass me about writing a post on labneh because it’s ridiculously easy and so delicious)

2. Sautee them and add them to baked foods, like fritatta…

Stir them into a bubbling pot of mussels…

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What a long strange trip it’s been

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Friends, I’m writing to you from a very special place. It was a journey to get here, taking nearly 20 years, and 4 separate apartments across 3 cities and 2 states. To be fair, it’s more of a group than a place. As distinctive and special as the other groups that I’ve wanted to join but haven’t had the guts…..“those who have run marathons”, or “those who have jumped out of planes”.

And why? Minimal training is required. Cost is low, value is high. You can do it in your spare time, and if you kill them, others are for sale.

I’m not talking about adopting a family of hamsters. I’m talking about growing your own herbs.

After the early and tragic deaths of one too many sickly Whole Foods basil plants, I finally got my act together and bought a new breed of houseplant. A set of hardier herbs in actual pots that I tend to with regularity. Whole Foods, as much as I love you, those twiggy little basil plants that offer the promise of pesto by the batch, they’ve let me down. They wither the minute I get them home; all the sunlight in the world, a garden to graze and an emerald green thumb wouldn’t keep them alive.

It’s only been a week, but I’m proud to report back that early signs suggest that my real, authentic, farmers’ market herbs are in fact growing. All three! The apple mint, the rosemary, and the forest parsley, which looks like your garden variety curly parsley but with a more intense parsley taste.

I’ve seen graphic images floating around the Internet that compare a brain on cocaine to a brain on sugar. Apparently our body chemistry responds the same way, which isn’t surprising, we all know that sugar is addictive. I may suggest a third category of addiction: brain on herbs. Fresh herbs, not marijuana. That would be the inverse chart. Pure conjecture, but reflecting on my college days, the pot smokers weren’t leaping from the couch, breaking out a Mandoline and thinly slicing radishes. Nor were they following it up immediately by muddling herbs and lime for a sparkling Spring cocktail. That, my friends, is herb addiction.

Herb addiction touches everyone in a family. I’ve had to caution the kids against overwatering because their red toy watering bucket has made the trek across our hardwood floors a few too many times. Not to mention the residual spillage on our couch, which to be honest, knew better days before we owned a dog. But still. It has a few good years left, preferably without mildew and water marks.

Take a trip down memory lane with me. It’s only been a week, but putting down the chef knife was hard with freshly-grown herbs at my fingertips.

Six minute egg with tomato & watermelon radish salad with mint and parsley

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100 new foods

Napa cabbage

Thursday, April 24, 2014

We had such great success with red cabbage earlier this year that I thought Napa cabbage would be a shoe in. Aside from the Michael Jackson situation that we’ll all forget together, it was a great experiment. Napa cabbage, happening again, soon. And feel free to use the squiggly little friend line, it worked like a charm.

ME: Look guys. What is this silly vegetable?

LAUREN: It looks like salad greens.

ME: Yeah? Sam, look at it. Want to reach in and grab one? It’s squiggly. You can hold them in your hand.

SAM: No.

ME: It’s like a little friend. You guys have actually tried something similar to this already this year. It was one of the first —

EMMA: Let’s eat it.

ME: — foods that you tried.

LAUREN: Cabbage. Oh my god, so good.

ME: Yeah! Stop shoveling it into your mouth like that, you’ll choke.

EMMA: Yeah.

ME: So do you remember when we tried red cabbage? You guys all liked red cabbage. So maybe you will like this kind of cabbage, which is called… Napa cabbage.

SAM: It’s like a little friend. [giggling]

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Spring cleaning

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Last year I had what amounted to a pre-mid life crisis. It was late March and I was struggling with indecision – my career felt like it had stagnated and I lacked a creative outlet. My insomnia was incurable as I pondered the existential question: what do I want to be when I grow up?

I told my husband that I needed a break. A real escape. I’d travel somewhere far, far away. Maybe even Europe. Just a weekend escape, but preferably a place where I didn’t know the language and could focus on the basics: eat, sleep, wander, think.

Fortunately I’m married to the kind of person who can sense an impending meltdown. “Do what you have to do” is all he said.

I opened my laptop and started to search for last-minute travel deals.

No dice.

It’s been a few years since I’ve traveled overseas, but has airfare really doubled? Yes, sports cars are expensive, but a $2,000 decompression trip to Europe was well out of my mid-life crisis price range.

With my European fantasy on hold, I settled for a juice cleanse and a solo trip to the lake. My dog, of course, would join.

I loaded the trunk of our car with my meals for the weekend – beet, carrot & ginger; swiss chard, pear, and lemon; almond milk; coconut milk; turmeric tonic….The world was starting to brighten.

The value of rest can’t be overstated. Parents have a tough job, and scheduling time away isn’t always easy. But it needs to be done.

My weekend away did more for me than I though possible. I unwound, I read, I slept. I planned to start the blog, and quit my job by summer if things didn’t improve.

With a few coats of paint and some freshly-cut flowers, I’d restored my temple to its former self, and was ready to resume life with a renewed sense of purpose.

Now a year later, I look back to that weekend and realize how much I’ve grown. I’m happier now that I’ve made the tough but important decision to fulfill myself creatively, and not settle for career mediocrity.

The concept of Spring cleaning longer feels cliché. It has meaning beyond vacuuming under the beds, and rotating the mattresses. It’s a time of year to mentally, physically, and spiritually take stock.

And food can play an important role in that process.

Spinach salad with raspberries, persimmon, and almonds

Next week Rodney and I are starting our 3-day juice cleanse. We’ll follow it up with a healthy dose of cleansing foods to keep us moving towards the summer months. Raw vegetables, healthy fats, good proteins (sustainably farmed or caught). It’s less about losing weight, more about being mindful of the foods that we eat, and how we feel.

Sliced watermelon radishes with lemon, sour cream and herbs

And I’m making good on my promise to keep my personal spark alive. A few weeks ago I started an evening watercolor class. And I’m thrilled to have received a yearlong membership to Skillshare for my birthday. It’s not always easy to carve out the time, but it’s important to find some escape in the everyday, to continue to learn, and grow.

Spring panzanella with asparagus and green beans