In which PPC does not review 2009

Let's just get on with it.

Mama Thursday: First Word!

We got through our first Christmas with a fair amount of guilt-tripping, but not nearly as much as I had thought there would be.  Why?  Because we spent our first Christmas Eve at home as a family.  Husband and I were both sick as shit and none of us, Lily included, was in any mood to deal with any extended family.  We're going to continue this tradition of Christmas Eve at home for as long as we can. 

Christmas Eve was extra special because Lily said her first word.  She hasn't said it since.  That's my Aries child.

On Christmas Day Lily got all sorts of toys that we need to find room for and lots of awesome clothes.  She ate cookies and quiche and potatoes.

Foodblogging: Chap Chae (잡채) with Tofu

Chap Chae is one of those foods that Americans seem to really be into.  I guess it's because it's sort of like chow mein or chop suey.  It can be really bland and boring, which is why I don't eat it very often -- especially at restaurants where they tend to put the smallest amount of the cheapest veggies and meats in a slop of noodles.  Then it tends to sit around under a heat lamp and that's just not how I roll. 

But if you make it fresh it's a whole different dish.  So here's my riff on a fairly basic chap chae recipe without all that pesky measuring or animal parts.

First you make the marinade.  This combination of soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, garlic, and green onions is essentially the flavor of Korea.  Many recipes start out with this.  Just mix enough of everything to coat whatever you're marinating and still have a few tablespoons left over.  Set the extra aside for later.

Slice firm tofu into whatever shape you prefer.  I went with planks to maximize the golden brown deliciousness that will happen when it's fried..  It's going to break up later on anyway so it really doesn't matter.  Let it marinate while you chop up your other veggies.  At this time you'll want to soak your rice noodles in boiling water and set them aside to soften.

I made enough veggies and tofu for four big servings and soaked two small bundles of noodles.

When you've got everything prepped and ready to go, get a wok nice and hot.  Fry your tofu in enough oil that you'll have some left to coat your veggies.  Heat is key here.  It's best to use peanut oil so you can get it very hot without smoking.  I was out of peanut oil so I used canola and a lower temp...

 

...so I didn't get as much browning on the tofu as I would have liked.  Oh well.

 

 

Add your carrots, bamboo shoots, napa cabbage, and spinach. 

 

 

Your spinach will wilt down and it gets a lot easier to stir everything.

When your veggies are crisp-tender enough to your liking add your drained rice noodles and the reserved marinade.  Cook it long enough to heat everything through.  Season with black pepper, red chili flake, and salt if you don't think the soy sauce had enough.

And there you have it.  Comfort food, Korean style.  You can serve up big bowls of it as a main dish, eat it as a side, put it over rice, add or subtract veggies or proteins, and add whatever spicy condiment gets you excited.  I recommend stirring in a bit of gochujang and serving with kimchi on top.

It may be boring, but it sure tastes cozy on a cold winter night.

PPC's Guide to Not Failing At Life

1. If you drive on the right, walk on the right.  Move all the way over.
2. Never, ever stop in the middle of a road, sidewalk, or hallway.
3. If you must talk on your cell phone in public, lower your voice.
4. Nobody wants to hear your ringtone.
5. If someone comes up behind you at a register, place the plastic separator on the belt so they don't have to crawl over you to reach it.
6. Don't spend more than 15 seconds putting your change/receipt/checkbook/card away.  You can reorganize your purse/wallet in your car or at home.
7. Be aware of your surroundings.
8. Say please and thank you to everyone you encounter.
9. Tip 20%.
10. Cashiers: hand the coins over first, then the bills.
11. Don't run on the bike/skate path and don't bike/skate on the footpath.
12. Wear deodorant.
13. Please hurry across the street when there is someone waiting to turn.
14. Use basic proper grammar.  Always.
15. Lay off the self tanner/tanning booth.
16. Limit yourself to one spray of perfume/cologne.  You should not leave a vapor trail.

This is a work in progress.  Suggestions are always welcome.

Mama Thursday (on Tuesday): PPC's Guide to Homemade Baby Food

Have you tried canned baby food?  Imagine condensed soup mixed with canned vegetables.  No wonder so many kids grow up to be picky eaters.  If I had to eat nothing but soulless, lifeless commercial baby food for the first year of life I'd want to drown myself in Kool-Aid and chicken fingers too.

I've been making homemade baby food since Lily was able to eat it.  The few times she's had commercial baby veggies were acts of desperation by an exhausted Mama.  I still feel bad about it.  I still get commercial fruits though, because they haven't screwed those up too bad.  Still, Lily definitely prefers my applesauce over the jarred variety.

To many people, making baby food sounds too difficult.  Put on your big girl panties, folks, because you can do this.  Easily.

Some people (me included) think you need one of these jobbies:

No!  Do not waste your money!  The only thing this will provide you is sore arms and despair.  You will, however, want to get one of these babies:

Yes, it's 50 bucks.  DO IT.  Get the Cuisinart one, or at least get an immersion blender that is at minimum 200 watts and NOT cordless.  I seldom go a week without pulling this out at least twice.

This magic wand is your key to baby food goodness.  Do you have a microwave?  Do you have ice cube trays?  No ice cube trays?  They've got them 2 for a buck at the dollar store.  Now get yourself some frozen veggies (or fresh, whatever you've got on hand), put them in the handy cup the Cuisinart blender comes with, add a little water, cover it with some wax paper, and nuke until soft.  You're aiming for soft and bright, not mushy and brown.  Most veggies take about 6 minutes in my microwave.  Then buzz it up with the blender, spoon into your ice cube trays (most trays hold 1 Tbsp [2 oz] in each cube), and freeze.  Then you can pop them into plastic freezer bags and they're ready to go.

It took me more effort to type that out than it does to actually make baby food.  It's not even worth taking pictures of the process because it's so stupid easy.

Lily's a big fan of single veggies like carrots, peas, green beans, and broccoli, but lately we've been expanding her horizons into combinations like carrot, onion, and lentil; broccoli, rice, and cheese; and corn and oat.  I've mixed white beans and green beans together with Italian seasoning with great results.  She also likes butternut squash with onion, cumin, and chili powder.  The best thing about the stick blender is that you can just put it to whatever you're eating for dinner (maybe mix in a little breastmilk/formula) and puree it.  How easy is that?

This child will eat anything we put in front of her and I really believe it's because she's had so much good, fresh food.  It's interesting to note that we tried some macaroni, cheese, and veggie commercial baby food last week and she barely choked it down.  She was NOT happy about it.

Foodblogging: Crave at the Mall of America

We stopped in to Crave at the MOA last night after experiencing the chaos of the mall (we have to be a part of the madness once a year just to get a feel for the season even if we don't actually buy anything).  We and our stroller were shuttled off to what appeared to be the family section out on the "patio" area outside of the main part of the restaurant.  I didn't mind looking over Camp Nickelodeon Park Knott's Snoopy whatever it's called.  Our server was very nice and recommended the Sunday special: all-you-can-eat prime rib, snow crab legs, and fettuccine alfredo.  After agonizing over the menu (not a ton of veggie options and the entrees are a little pricier than I would have preferred) this sounded like a winner because we could just share that and the hummus plate. 

I had a couple of bites of the prime rib because it used to be my favorite food in my days of eating bird and mammal.  It was tender, juicy, and flavorful just as you'd expect prime rib to be.  The fettuccine alfredo was really good as well.  The cheese they use was a lot more flavorful than most of the white slop you get at your average restaurant.  We were brought plate after plate of crab fresh out of the pot without having to wait for it.  The crab legs weren't gigantic, but they weren't exactly small either.  I think we managed a crab and a half each.  We definitely got more than our $25 worth and we didn't even have to drive up to Black Bear Casino on a Thursday night for their AYCE crab legs.

The hummus plate was pretty good but the hummus itself was a bit on the stiff side.  The olive tapanade is stellar and I can't complain about the whole roasted garlic.

So would I come back?  Sure, if we had the money and we happened to be at the MOA on a Sunday.

Adventures in Tech Support: We're a Different Sort of Creature

Client in boardroom where I'm just trying to get a projector to work: *extends hand* Hello there!

Me: Uh... *takes hand* Hi.  (I do not know how to respond to your social gestures)  I'm the IT girl. *run away*

A little circular logic for my commute

I heard one of those Jesus minute commercials from some church or another on KFAN the other night. It actually tried to argue that the absense of proof that God exists proves that God exists.
I am more and more confused by theists every day. This is not for lack of trying to understand this way of thinking, I just can't get behind blind faith.

Foodblogging: Anchor Fish & Chips

It was packed at 6:00 on a Tuesday night.  That really tells you something.

Had the fish and chips and was not disappointed.  I actually like my fries a little on the not-crunchy side.  The baby enjoyed the fries as well.  And the highchair they brought out -- adorable!  A real vintage highchair with a tray and everything, not just one of those chair-with-rail thingies at every other restaurant in the world.

I am puzzled by the white vinegar and the $0.50 tartar sauce.  But whatever, they still made it onto my fish.

The mushy peas are as amazing as everyone says they are.  Almost everyone at our table had a few bites and the baby finished them off.  I wish I had more to bring home.

Foodblogging: Beermato Sauce

I asked Husband to hand me a beer out of the fridge last night, cracked it open, and poured some of it into the pot of sauce I had simmering on the stove.  He dubbed it, "beermatoes."

I put this over mini chimichangas (minichangas?) last night.  I can see it on enchiladas, chicken, cheap steak, pasta, mussels, fish, polenta -- anything, really.  It's easy and quick.  This is key when you're starving after work and fresh from nursing a baby.

Beermato Sauce

1/2 cup jarred salsa
1 tomato, chopped
1 Tbsp tomato paste
4 Tbsp beer, preferably ale, more or less depending on how thin you want the sauce to be

Bring the first three ingredients to a boil, lower the temperature, add the beer, simmer five minutes.  You can blend it to make it smooth or not.

Makes roughly 2 servings

Mama Thursday: Week 35 - Moving right along

You know what's fucking scary?  The Leapfrog handheld game system commercial.  The kids barely take their eyes off the tiny screen for a second and when they do -- it's straight onto the computer!  They're running around the house with these things and mom and dad look so proud of their little screen zombies.  Sure they haven't been outside since they left the hospital but at least they're learning!

I don't know what's worse: those things or this horrible thing.  I mean really -- really?

Lily's a champion crawler now.  She's also the most punctual child I've ever met.  6:00 PM means time for a boob and time to turn in for the night.  5:00 AM is time to wake up.  Do not deviate from the plan.  Deviation from the schedule means a very cranky baby.

She is pulling herself up to standing on things like the crib and the coffee table much more often now.  Husband finally got to see her do it this week when she stood in the crib and grinned at us while we were going about our morning routine.

I'm so proud of my little foodie.  She will eat anything you put in front of her and will actually pout if you don't give her at least a taste of whatever you're eating.  I hope this trend continues throughout her childhood and the rest of her life.  If there's one thing I can't stand it's a picky eater (and evidently neither can Conner).  You're damn right I was forced to sit at the table in front of a cold plate for hours until I finished my food.  You're damn right Lily will have to do the same if it comes to that.  I'm not a short order cook and if you don't like what I've made then you're going to go hungry.

I'm a bit frustrated that I haven't had a chance to fully babyproof the house yet.  I've done bits here and there in the important parts of the house where she most frequently is but I don't have the cabinet locks installed yet.  And if I don't do it it won't get done.  *grump*