Things you learn when in Rome with 180 Boys:

1.  Food tastes amazing (no matter what it is) when all of those boys are in bed.


2.  You can see up to six sights in Rome and squeeze gelato into a 1hr 15 minute cab ride if that's all the time you've got.

3.  A uniform consisting of only 4 shirts for 12 days of travel makes for interesting odour combinations.

4.  Lines consisting of more than 6 people are impossible.  IMPOSSIBLE.

5.  Gelato does not universally taste good (see number 1).

6.  People who think it's fun to get out their decibel meter App during dinner are annoying.

7.  Sometimes yoga pants are necessary for survival.


8.  Even if you are at the Vatican Tourist shop, boys will find the only toy car in the place and fight over it.

9.  No matter what wonderful sights the boys get to see, their favourite will always be seeing the eagle killing a mouse at the side of the road.

10.  It is possible to need some distance from your best friend 'penne' once in a while.

11.  There are definitely moments when the only way to keep your sanity is to just start laughing.  It prevents crying, or sometimes facilitates it but it's always better to be laugh/crying than just crying.

12.  Sometimes, even though you ask everyday for boys to brush your teeth, they still don't tell you until Day 8 that they left their toothbrush at home.

13.  It's all fun and games until someone loses a passport.

14.  Even though they tell you it looks like cat food, if they're hungry enough boys will eat foie gras.

This is all of us.  Boys Gr's 5 - 12 and Chaperones.  Yikes.

There were many times that I indulged heavily in number 11 and number 7 - although I always had this twinge of 'I've-totally-given-up-now' - and the jury is out as to how long penne and I might be on the 'outs'.  I made this curry before I left because I knew that I wouldn't be eating any curry while I was away and because it's one of the easiest and most satisfying things I could think of doing.


Beef Curry adapted from Naparima Girls High School Cookbook
serves 6 - 8

2 lbs beef (stewing beef or leftover roast), cubed
1 med. onion, sliced
2 cups carrots, thickly sliced
1 cup turnip, cubed (optional - opt for more potato if you don't have the turnip)
2 - 3 cups potato, cubed (about 3 med/lg potatoes)
3 - 4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 1/2 tbsp mixed herbs (parsley, chive, oregano, mint, thyme, marjoram - stay away from tarragon or dill)
2 1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp west indian curry powder (or curry powder of your choice)
2 - 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
4 cups good quality beef stock
pepper sauce to taste


Use a large, heavy bottomed dutch oven and heat over medium heat.
Add about 3 - 4 tbsp of oil or grease to the dish.
Add in the onion, carrots, turnip and potato and let it cook in the oil for about 5 minutes.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking or burning.
Add in the meat and the garlic and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a bowl add the mixed herbs, salt, curry powder, worcestershire sauce and soy sauce together until it forms a paste (add a little water if needed)
Add the paste to the meat and veggies and mix well.  Turn the heat down to med/low and add in the beef stock and the honey.  Stir until well mixed.  Cover and simmer for about an hour over low heat.
Check the tastes and adjust (i.e. add pepper sauce) if necessary.

I have amended my Christmas wish list.  'Time' is now officially the first item on the list. I know that it makes no real sense to have 'Time' as part of my wish list because once Christmas is here I'll have lots of time.  Let's look at it as 'At least I know that I'm going to get what I want for Christmas' - oozing positivity.
I have so many recipes ready to go.
I have cookies to bake.
I have lemon curd to whip up.
I have chex mex to make.  This is important for the Christmas Eve movie that we will go to and sneak in our own snacks.
Although most things of worth have gone by the wayside lately, here are some of the things that I've managed to keep up with:
1.  Bathing and teeth brushing
2.  Birthday cake making
3.  Clothes washing... almost
4.  Breakfast
5.  Biking to work
6.  Letters to Santa (Kid #2 wrote a letter that went like this: Dear Santa - I want....... signed Kid #2.  Kid #1 got really upset and told him that if he didn't write some nice things to Santa first that he wouldn't get anything on his list.  You can't just send Santa a list!  He was confused and more than a little frustrated but wrote the letter anyway)
7.  An early gift to myself.  This took a little more of that precious time than I had anticipated but it was so worth it and I'm thrilled and a little itchy.


So I'm keeping up in a manner of speaking.  However, when it comes to food I'm falling way way way behind.  It's pathetic.  And then there is the whole 'dark-in-the-middle-of-the-day' thing that is just totally wrecking photos for me.  It's bumming me out.  Curry helps.  Curry feels warm and sunny.  It reminds me that there are many places in the world that aren't dark, damp and cold.  If you find the curry powder amount sounds a little rash then by all means start with half the amount and ramp it up from there.  We prefer our curry kickin'.


I truly hope that you are finding some time for reflection and quiet.  I hope that you are making all the cookies and curds that your little heart desires.  I hope that your Chex Mex making schedule is right on target... and if it's not just know that you are not alone.


Cabbage and Squash Curry adapted from Simply in Season
serves 8

1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3- 4 cups butternut squash (or other winter squash), peeled, de-seeded and cut into 2 inch cubes
3 - 4 cups cabbage
2 lg potatoes, cut into 2 inch cubes
1 cup frozen peas or green beans

Curry seasoning:
2 bouillion cubes
1 full cup mild curry seasoning (I used west indian curry)
4 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
1 tsp pepper sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 - 3 tbsp tomato sauce or paste
1 can (400 ml) chick peas
1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
2 tbsp honey

Preheat oven to 350° F.  Coat the squash cubes in oil and spread onto a baking sheet.  Roast for about 35 minutes or until turning golden brown on the outside and soft on the inside.  Remove from oven and set aside.
Heat a heavy bottomed soup pot or dutch oven over medium heat.
Add about 4 tbsp of oil or butter and then add in the onion and cubes potatoes.  Cook together for about 10 minutes (turning the heat down if necessary).  The potato should be browning on the outsides.  Add in the garlic and cabbage.  Turn the heat down to medium/low.  Make sure that the cabbage is coated in oil and continue to cook for about 10 minutes.  Stir when necessary to keep the vegetables from sticking.
In another bowl combine the boullion cubes (crushed up with your fingers), curry seasoning, garam masala, ginger, cumin and salt.  Add just enough water to form a paste.  Add in the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce.  Stir well.
Add the paste to the cooking vegetables.  Stir well.  Add the chickpeas, coconut milk and honey.  Stir well.  Add in the roasted squash and the frozen beans.  Mix well.  Check the tastes and adjust if necessary.
Cover and simmer about 15 minutes on low heat.
Serve with rice.

Kid #2 started soccer last week.  It's pretty funny watching 5 years old play soccer... unless you live in Brazil and then I would imagine it's probably inspiring.
I stretched my garden planting over 3 days to make it a little easier to deal with in my head.  It helped and now I've got pretty much everything planted.  I always wish I were doing more.  Always.  But the run down goes something like this:

Seeds:
cucumber (we'll see)
snow peas
green/purple beans
mammoth dill

In pots:
Black Prince tomatoes
Chadwick Cherry tomatoes
basil
dill (more dill)
strawberries (it's an experiment)

In the ground:
zucchini
eggplant
peppers
kale
beets (fingers crossed)
parsley
oregano
thyme
pumpkin


It sounds like a lot but it isn't.  Just one or two plants of each thing.  I've given up on carrots for the moment and we'll see about the future.  I'm willing to renegotiate but I've got some serious doubts.  I'm pretty confident about the beans and snow peas.  The cucumber... well we'll see.  The zucchini I'm really hoping for... I've wanted to grow them for a while and for some reason can't seem to get it to work from seed.  I'm sure I'm not doing something.  Along with my raspberry patch that is now threatening to take over the back half of my yard I think I'll content myself with this much.
Potatoes.  I almost forgot my potatoes.  I threw some earth into a tall box.  Made sure that the box drains well.  Put about 7 or 8 potatoes that were already growing eyes into the box and covered them with about another 10 inches of earth.  In theory it should be that easy.  In reality... fingers crossed.

D is away right now.  Somewhere in Europe.  I can't remember where he is today.  I know that he'll be back in France by Thursday because I have to put in my requests for 'bring back's'  by then.  In the meantime I've cooked myself some comfort food.  Nobody around here is a huge fan of chickpeas except me.  I love them.  LOVE.  Combine that with curry and coconut milk and I could pretty much eat this stuff everyday.  I actually ate it with my baked risotto from a couple of posts ago.  Curry and Risotto.  It totally worked.  I used some lovely spring spinach from the food box.  Two full bags.  It was about 6 cups but if you were buying in bunches or bags it would be two as well.  I didn't get this from anywhere it just kind of appeared in my life.  It morph's every time I make it but it never disappoints.


Easy Chickpea Spinach Curry 
serves 4

1 can chickpeas (don't drain)
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup onion
6 cups spinach (washed and the big stems removed)
2 1/2 heaping tbsp pataks curry paste
1 veggie boullion
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom and turmeric
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey

Heat a large pot over medium heat.  Throw in a couple of tbsp's of oil.  Cook the onion for about 4 minutes until just lightly browned and beginning to become see through.  Turn the heat down to med/low.
Add the canned chickpeas with the liquid.    Add in the spinach, stir and cover for just a few minutes until the spinach begins to wilt.
In the meantime combine the bouillon cube, pataks curry paste, gram masala, cumin, cardamom, turmeric and salt together.  Mix well and add just a little bit of water to form a paste.  Add in the coconut milk and the honey.  Stir well.
Add the spice mixture to the spinach/chickpea mixture.  Simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.  Turn off and ideally let it sit for a few hours.  If you can't wait then just check the tastes, adjust if necessary and then dig in.

My turnip obsession continues.  It's like I've got some kind of masochistic streak in me.  I don't like the things much but I can't stay away from them.  I've been spending some time ('cause god knows I've got so much of that to spare right now) thinking about why turnips have become so embedded in my psyche.
Here are some of the reasons that I've come up with:
1.  It's the challenge.  They basically suck.  I am the super hero who can change all of that.  I can find a way to rescue turnips from their own suckiness.  It's like that guy you were dating because you were pretty sure that if you could just work on him for a while that your love would rescue him... yeah, that totally worked.

2.  They're big - usually.  I have to use them to 2 or 3 dishes because using a whole turnip for one dish is really just unthinkable quantities of turnip all up in your face.

3.  I feel some sort of seasonal commitment at the moment.  Maybe it won't last forever or maybe it's my new paradigm, I'm not sure yet.  Whatever it is it means that turnips are, at least for the moment, a part of my late winter world.  I've accepted it and am moving on.

4.  I feel somehow sorry for the butt-ugly turnip.  Somehow my weird-ass brain has personified this vegetable and if I don't use it I feel like I'm rejecting it.  Weird-ass brain.

I love that UK food magazines are picking up on this whole seasonal thing in a way that North American ones just simply are not.  It's cool.  I'm finding parsnips, rutabaga, squash, turnip... all that crap.  So it was in the Good Food magazine that I found this Swede Fritters recipe.  I passed it by completely the first few times I paged through the magazine.  Somehow today it just caught my eye and my imagination.  Why hadn't I thought of this before.  It makes so much sense.  Adding bacon aside, spicing the living crap out of turnips would definitely improve them right?  RIGHT.  Yes.  I've done it.


I've rescued turnips from themselves.  From their drab, frumpy little corner of the root cellar.  (Number 1 covered)  I have found a way to use up that half that was leftover from the stew last week.  (Number 2 covered)  I have found a way to use turnip on their own - just a little onion - no other vegetable.  Completely seasonal. (Number 3 covered)  I used turnip.  I no longer feel guilty about it sitting in the bottom of my fridge waiting for my pot.  (Number 4 covered)
Make these.  They really don't suck at all.  I reheated 3 for work today and they were fan-friggin-tastic without any condiments at all.  I would make these again anytime.  And they were easy.  I still don't like turnip much but I no longer feel guilty or afraid that it can't be redeemed.  If only I hadn't ordered another one.


Turnip 'Pakora' Fritters adapted from 'Good Food Magazine UK'
made about 14 med/small ones

4 cups turnip/rutabaga diced fairly evenly
3/4 cup all purpose flour
plain yogurt
whole milk
1 lg egg
1 small onion, diced
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp curry powder (I used west indian)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper sauce or cayenne
oil for frying

Boil the diced turnip for only 15 minutes or until just softened.  Drain and set aside.
In a bowl mix the yogurt, milk, egg and mix well.
Add in the onion, garam masala, curry powder, cumin, salt, turmeric, coriander, cardamom, sugar and cayenne.  Mix well.  Finally add in the flour and mix well until it forms a paste.
Mash the turnips but only barely.
Add the turnip to the flour mixture.  Mix well.
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.  Add the oil of your choice - I used lard that I had rendered but you could also use coconut oil or ghee for something authentic.  Otherwise just go with what you have. - to the hot pan.  Place about 1/4 -1/3 of a cup of mixture into the hot oil and quickly form into a rough circle.  You can put as many circles in the pan as will fit.  Turn after 3 - 4 minutes on each side.  It should be golden brown and slightly crispy.  Once both sides are done remove the fritter from the pan and place on a paper towel to rack to cool and drain just a bit.
Serve all alone or with your favourite chutney or tamarind sauce.

You know, I spend a lot of time on this blog telling you all about myself.  I talk to you about how I'm feeling socially (or 'un'socially), politically, environmentally, personally, spiritually (kinda).  I've also read a whole lot of other blogs that do exactly the same thing.  Here's something I've never seen though:  A post about what the reader would say to the blogger.  That sounds ludicrous right.  Ludicrous or not I'm gonna try it 'cause I'm in just that kinda mood.
Here it goes:
Reader #1:  I think that you bake and cook like a god.  (Nuff said right?) Sometimes you just talk too much.
Reader #2:  I love your pictures, especially the ones that have nothing to do with the food.  Sometimes the goopy, soupy looking things are gross but 90% are decent.  I'm looking forward to you getting a better lens on your new camera so that the focus will be better.
Reader #3:  Sometimes I don't understand what you write.  It could be because you seem not to spell check and/or proof your work (very true Reader #2, very true).  It's cool that you give a damn about things though.  I think that sometimes you are coherent enough for me to almost get your point.  Other times though it's just weird.
Reader #4:  I just had a baby and named it 'Wanda' because I love your blog so much.  P.S.  My baby is a boy!
Reader #5:  I think that when you write one of your cooking recipes you might fudge your spice amounts just a bit - sometimes they feel a bit off.  (Another astute reader that #5.  And I like that you might have actually tried my recipes and found that out)  I think that you write funny things though.


Yeah, I could go on but I think that I've proven myself convincingly enough.  I can get into the heads of my readers.  I can.  And since you've been so honest with me, here is what I'm going to promise to you my imaginary Readers #1 through 5:

I will do my best to continue baking and cooking like a god but I can't promise that I won't fudge my spice amounts sometimes because when I'm in the middle of my creative genius it just doesn't feel right to stop and write things down.
I will get a new lens for myself as soon as I can so that even the goopy, soupy crap that I'm not going to stop taking pictures of will look even better.
I will let you all know my middle name in some random post in the future.  That way you'll have options for children's names (or what if you have more than one child).
I will keep writing cheerful and funny, weird things and will do my best not to ignore the annoying correction prompts from my blog program.  I can't make any promises about the proofing reading citing the same kinds of creative genius from a few sentences ago.


I'm glad that we had this little talk.
Here are some more pictures of the goopy, soupy mess that tasted really good.  I made it the other night and was really going for a thai thing but it ended up not really being thai at all and just tasting good.


Thai'ish' Vegetables adapted (rather generously) from BBC GoodFood magazine
serves 4 - 6

1 onion, sliced
1 zucchini, cut into large strips
2 cups green beans (or purple or yellow), keep long or cut in half
3 cups greens - I used Kale - chopped
3 - 4 cups potato in large chunks
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can chickpeas
1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 lg lemongrass or quite a few small ones
2 tbsp Thai Basil chopped

1 1/2 tbsp red curry paste
2 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp ginger (I used powdered for this one but fresh would be fine, just add it with the lemongrass and basil)
1/2 tsp cloves
2 tsp salt

In a small bowl combine the curry paste, cardamom, cinnamon, turmeric, coriander, cloves and salt together.  Add just enough water to make a paste of it all.  Set aside.
Saute the onion, zucchini, beans and potatoes over medium heat (add some oil or something too).  After a few minutes add in the Kale and garlic.  Saute another 5 - 6 minutes or so.
Lower the heat and add in the rest of the ingredients.  Stir and then simmer over low heat for about 15 - 20 minutes.  Don't let it simmer too long or else it will all start to look wilty and kinda gross.
Check the tastes and adjust if necessary.
Serve over rice.

Here is a little bean flower with some baby beans to boot.

I've started to wonder, I mean seriously wonder, recently just how much crap I could accomplish in a day if I didn't watch tv.  Allow me to explain...
We had our awards ceremony recently at school.  This one kid cleaned up.  Seriously, mopped it, waxed it and buffed it afterwards.  So much so that I told him that he'd better keep his head together because with his mind he could easily turn into the anti-christ or something and take over the world.  You know, as I'm writing this I'm thinking that it probably wasn't the most eloquent or straightforward way I could have chosen to congratulate a 15 year old kid... I'll fix that in September.
Anyway, I did get talking to him about his life at home because I figure that there might be something that I could learn for my own Kid #1 and #2 so that they could also become the anti-christ and the 3 of them could like co-rule or something.  So, one thing that really stuck out in my conversation with him was the fact that his family has no tv.   They've never had a tv.  No cable.  No PS3.  No Wii.  No PSP.  They do have a computer.
Did it mess you up?  I ask.
He says: At first, when I was a little kid, I felt like the poor kid (they're so not) because it was like a status symbol - to have a tv.  Then I got into High School and kinda stopped caring.  Now I'm glad.  I feel like I'm better because of it.  (I'm paraphrasing)
Whoa... hold up.  What?!  The conversation kinda stopped there (probably because that's when I blurted out the whole anti-christ thing so that's as far as I got with it).  So I've spent that last few days wondering just what the hell I could accomplish without tv.
Let me be honest with you and tell you that I'm not an addict.  I watch between 4 and 5 hours a week (sometimes less).  Still, generally it's crap.  And... it's 4 or 5 hours right.  My roomie in university didn't have a tv.  So, when I lived with her 'we' didn't have a tv.  I stopped caring after a while too.
So, what would I do with that 4 - 5 extra hours?  Here are some thoughts:
Read 1 1/2 hrs
Talk 1 hr (but not on the phone - dang), maybe to myself definitely to my family and even to friends
Clean 1/2 hr
Write 1 hr (or cook and write - whatever)
and any additional time... lie on the couch and listen to trippy music like a hippie.
I know that world domination isn't on the list but I still think that I should try it.  It could be kinda like my summer experiment.  Since nothing is on tv in the summer anyway it's like I've lost nothing.
So, I'm not saying that you should do this too.  I'm not even trying to suggest that it's a good thing.  I don't know yet.  I'm saying that I'm fascinated by the idea and I think I might be willing to give it a whirl... do Blue ray movies or Netflix count???????


Potato, Yam and Pea Curry
serves 4 - 6

3 1/2 cups Potato in large chunks
1 1/2 cups Yam in large chunks
2 medium carrots in large chunks
2 ribs of celery diced
1 smallish onion diced
2 cups peas
3 cloves garlic crushed or 1/2 cup garlic scapes, diced
3 tbsp curry powder (I used West Indian)
1 tsp salt
1 heaping tbsp brown sugar

parboil the potato, yam and carrot for about 3 minutes.
Add in the shelled peas (omit this step if the peas are frozen and just throw the peas in later)
and parboil for another 3 - 4 minutes.
Drain the potato stuff and set aside.
Heat a large (I used caste iron) skillet over medium heat.
Add in some oil (use your discretion) and throw in the onion, celery and garlic.  Swish that stuff around for about 5 minutes, letting get limp and transparent (the onion that is).


Add in the parboiled veggies.  Continue cooking over medium heat.  Stirring every few minutes so that the bottoms don't burn (it's nice when they do just a little though) and keeping them coated with oil.
Combine the curry powder, salt and sugar together in a bowl.
Once the veggies have started to brown up a bit (after about 7 -8 minutes) sprinkle on half of the curry powder mixture.  Stir it in.
Check the tastes and sprinkle more curry powder until you like what you taste.
Serve.

Sometimes, there is just too much noise.  It's everywhere in the city.  Unescapable.  Noise pollution is a growing concern and it's toll is still be researched and documented.  
We had a whirlwind of a weekend culminating in a two hour end of year dance recital for kid #1. It was long and loud.  It was relentless.  Kid #2 was trying to stay positive but by dance segment #24 (out of 39!), he was saying out loud 'Ugh, I told them to stop', 'That song is too long', 'I want to go HOME'.  I sympathized.  By the time we got home we all wanted to have a bath and go somewhere quiet (read: bed).
Sometimes I just want to be home, with no noise.  No tv (please), ipod, radio... nothing.  Just the hum of the refrigerator.  The kind of quiet that can clear your mind or can at least leave you free to contemplate in your own honest way.  That unavoidable kind of quiet.  It might make some uncomfortable but not me.  I could stare at the sky, at a piece of art, hell, I could stare at a wall for a good long time and just think.  Inward.  Contemplative.  Sometimes uncomfortable but hopefully most honest.  
That's not how I was feeling when I made these samosas.  I was in a rush.  I was hungry.  We were all hungry.  I had at least two small/loud voices asking regularly what we would be having for lunch.  We were running somewhere (I can't remember) and I had to use up what was in front of me without too much fuss and fill our bellies.


It worked.  It's an easy recipe but it takes a bit of time.  The rolling and filling part at least.


It was worth it in the end though.  Kid #1 used these for school lunches for a couple of days - they're nicely portable.  I would recommend grabbing a tamarind sauce or a chutney and using that on the side as well.  It will definitely elevate this humble veggie pocket to something higher.
I have to believe that my quiet moments will come more often.  Right now they are fleeting glimmers.  In the meantime I snack on veggie samosas doused in chutney and listen to my fridge humming away behind me.  



Curried Veggie Pie Samosas adapted from Moosewood
serves 4 - 6

Dough:
2 1/2  cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
additional flour for rolling

Combine the flour,turmeric and salt in a bowl.  Add the buttermilk and mix until combined.  Set aside until ready to roll out.

Filling:
3 tbsp oil
1 small onion, diced
3 small potatoes, diced
1 med. carrot, diced
2 cups broccoli, diced
1 cup chard or spinach diced
3 cloves garlic
turmeric
mustard seed
coriander
ginger
cumin
garam masala
salt
sugar or honey
veggie bouillion
water

Heat a large pan over medium heat.  Add the oil, mustard seed and veggies.  Cook together for about 7 minutes.  Turn the heat down or even off.  Add the rest of the spices, the bouillion, salt, sugar and water. Mix until just combined.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
On a lightly floured surface take a piece of dough the size a golf ball.   Roll it out in a circle.  The dough should be about a 1/4 inch thick or so.  Cut the circle in half.  Place a good spoonful of filling in the middle of one side of the half circle.  Using a pastry brush, brush water along the edges and fold the other half over the veggies.  Pinch the edges together and use a fork to cinch them.  Place on a lined baking sheet.
Repeat until all the dough/filling is used up.
Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.  Turn the samosas over (although I didn't) and turn down the oven to 375.  Bake for another 10 minutes.
Cool for about 15 minutes before serving.
Serve with Tamarind sauce or chutney or something.

Just when I think that my cycling is probably over for the season the weather surprises me.  We are at about 1 month before Christmas and, no word of a lie, I'm still biking.  It's cold mind you.  I'm piling on the layers.  But, once you get out there, moving in it, you feel fine.  You feel good.  In fact, you feel great.  It's kind of like you are beating the season - HaHa Winter.  I know you're there but I'm not going to let you keep me down.
Let's face it though, the riding is going to be over soon and I gotta fill the hole.  It's back to yoga in a serious way.  I start ramping up my running to 4 times a week as well.  You know, keeps your heart pumping and your brain clear.  Well, clearer!  I love that about exercise in general.  The stuff that you think about, the way that you motivate yourself, the focus.  Today, as I was running to work I started to think about words.

I think that some words are funny.  Not just words like 'twat', 'munter' or 'wanker' but everyday words like 'bloop' or 'splish' (yeah, I totally use that one on daily basis Wanda).  So, I also think that 'cauliflower' is a funny word.  I have no clue what a 'cauli' is - I should look it up... let me go do that....
Ok, thanks to Wikipedia I have just learned that it comes from the latin word 'caulis' which means cabbage and, well, 'flower' is pretty straight forward.  Ok, well that learned it's still a funny word.  It's a great nutritious veg though.  In the past I have made this adaptations of this curry with chick peas instead of daal or lentils.  Since D doesn't like chickpeas I have altered things a little.  I saw this recipe for this funny sounding veg in one of my mags and decided to give it a go - with my own little twists of course ;-).  Now do take note, D found that this wasn't quite strong enough in the curry department for him and would also have preferred a little more heat (which you can add after the fact so I don't know what he's on about there) so if you think that you might be in the same boat then adjust accordingly.  Add another tbsp of curry/cumin/garam masala and maybe a dash (or four) of pepper sauce.  I love this kind of stuff.  This is comfort food that keeps me going and feels good doing it.  Funny words and all!


Cauliflower, Lentil and Coconut Milk Curry adapted from Delicious UK
serves 4

1 cup (150 g) red lentils or daal (I used daal)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cardamom
2 tbsp curry paste (mild or hot)
3 tbsp grated ginger (less if using ground)
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 med cauliflower broken into florets (cut large ones in half)
2 tomatoes diced (I left this out although it would add some depth to the curry)
1 can of coconut milk
dash of salt

Put the lentils into a bowl with double the amount of water and simmer for about 20 min.  Until the lentils or daal become a thick puree.  Set aside.

In a small bowl combine the garam masala, turmeric, cumin, cardamom and curry paste.  Add a little water and make into a thick paste.  Set aside.

In a large pan, heat about 3 tbsp of oil and add the mustard and coriander seeds.  Cook just until they pop a little.  Add in the onion and cook for about 3 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook for about 2 min.

Add the cauliflower to the pan and coat with the onion/spice mixture.  Cook for about 4 min.  Add in the spice paste and mix well.  Add a little water to mix it.  Add in the tomatoes and the lentils/daal (with the cooking water and all).  Mix well and cover for about 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is cooked through.  Check the tastes and add a dash of salt if needed.

Thai food has become very fashionable of late.  It's kind of become, for me, like 'chinese' food was in the 70's and 80's.  You know the stuff I'm talking about, I know you do.  I grew up in a small town in Ontario.  We had all the stereotypes to go with it.  That  included the one 'chinese' family in town owning and running our only chinese restaurant - The Coronation Restaurant!  Yup... I ate there.  Chinese fried rice, sweet and sour chicken balls (ok that makes me want to gag just a little bit right now),  chinese bean sprouts (I don't know exactly what they were called but that's what we called them!).  Imagine my shock when I went to my first dim sum in Montreal's Chinatown and discovered that chicken balls were not on the menu.  I discovered that in reality most actual chinese food was nowhere near that stuff from The Coronation Restaurant.  Shattered!!!  (The dimsum was dope though, I won't lie)
I have a suspicion that if I went to Thailand that the food we are eating here and calling Thai curry and such would be nothing like the red/green curry, phad thai noodles and crap that we're eating ourselves silly with.  What the hell though, it tastes great.  I'm not complaining.


Here's what I've discovered with Thai stuff though.  If you want it to taste like it does when you go out for it (well almost the same) then you have to use fish sauce.  I'd heard that this stuff smelled gross so I was expecting something to knock me over when I opened the bottle.  However, nothing of the sort happened.  In fact, I didn't smell anything at all.  It was pretty innocuous.  It made a huge difference in the taste of the red curry sauce though.  All in all, this came together quite quickly with the right ingredients.  I got this ready in about a half hour from start to simmer.  The taste is really good, it's satisfying and it would be nice enough to serve to guests - especially since it makes you look all 'au currant' and all that ;-)


Red Curry Pork
serves 4 - 6

oil for frying
1 1/2 lb pork (I used chops, tenderloin would do too) cut into strips
1 small onion sliced thin
1 or 2 red/yellow/orange peppers, sliced thin
3 cups green beans, ends cut and beans halved
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of coconut milk
2 - 3 tbsp soy sauce
2 - 3 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp red curry paste
2 lemon grass sticks (optional)
salt to taste


Heat a large wok and add enough oil to fry veggies.  I used sesame oil which has a beautiful aroma.  Add in the onion, pepper and beans.  Fry at medium heat for a few minutes.  Add in the garlic and fry that for about 3 - 4 minutes.  Add in the pork.  Cook with the veggies until the pork begins to turn colour.  Add in the soy sauce and fish sauce.  Swish around for a couple of minutes.  Add in the coconut milk and curry paste.  Swish around some more until the curry paste is well incorporated.  Add in the lemon grass and salt just to taste.
Serve with rice or noodles.
Easy... Yum!

Well, it's back in the saddle - so to speak. It's amazing what 10 days, give or take, will do. It's like you totally forget that you have another life. A mortgage, energy bills, taxes... a job. Everything just is forgotten for a while. You live on another plane. There are only beach excursions, little shopping trips, walks to the sand and picnic, endless time to read and run (if you are me). I felt for a while like the clock stopped. Amazing. And then all that other stuff (called your real life) comes flooding back... work, school, dance classes, piano lessons, day care and all those bills that you forgot about! Sounds depressing but really it isn't. It's just life and there is a simple comfort in that. The routine of it. For me, after having two weeks of meals out or made by my Mother-in-law (God bless her), it means getting back into the kitchen and getting busy.

Sometimes you just hit the mark - I mean head on, centre, bull's eye. This curry got me right in the best place. I'd been wanting to do a Keema since last week when I got some lovely, fresh peas in my food box (I promise I'll start taking more pics of the food box when it comes - it's so much fun).