Tag Archives: life

Like Water for Chocolate

Posted on by
9
The movie poster for Like water for chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate movie poster

Like Water for Chocolate- by Laura Esquivel, has always been a book that I have savoured. A book that involves romance, tragedy and food. Three key ingredients that can hardly go wrong in a best selling novel. A sumptuous feast of a book that follows the main character Tita, and her life long love Pedro.

Writing about  mindfulness recently, I was reminded of it, so I re-read it again.  This book talks of emotions being felt when cooking and the taste of that emotion in the end result. Causing anyone that eats the food to be effected by it. When the main character is in love, the love comes out in her cooking. When she feels sad and bitter while making her sister’s wedding cake, the eating result is everyone is left with a tearful longing, ending with a collective vomiting.

The scene of the final wedding feast where everyone has paired off after eating chillies in walnut sauce, makes for wonderful imagery.

I wanted to cook like Tita. Or at least a little Mexican influenced. So with Mole on my mind I did an easy version. Not because I wanted it to be easy, but because time availability dictates what I can cook. (The monkeys are busy business.) I wanted to play around with the flavours of different spices, the chicken, and the chocolate. To be cooked as mindfully as I could, and to put as much love and attention in as I could muster.

Having never tasted a dish like this before, I was unsure of what to expect. But I liked every ingredient that went in, so it had a good head start.

Tasting it, after I had made the sauce, my taste buds weren’t sure what was going on. It had an almost earthy taste, I’m guessing from the 85% Cocoa I had put in. A curious taste that had my mouth, zinging from one side to another  to find another different subtle taste to briefly savour. It had certainly been cooked mindfully, the monkeys were sidetracked and I could put all my love and attention into my little mexican novel cooking inspiration. But had I put too much?

Making the mole the the day before. The next day, I cooked it in a baking dish with chicken legs and added some tomato passata. I felt it needed the added zingy-ness that you get from good tomatoes. Cooked for about an hour at 200 C.

The end result?…

Not bad. I didn’t think “Woohoo Mama!”, and launch myself at my husband, but I didn’t start sobbing and vomiting either. It was certainly flavoursome, packed a chilli punch, and it was a stray out of the usual food street I walk. Served with some rice, flaked almonds and sesame seeds on top.

And when it really comes down to it… it was really all about the book anyway.

Chilli Chocolate Chicken

A good dollop of olive oil

1 diced onion

4 cloves of diced garlic

1 1/2 tps cinnamon

1 tps smoked paprika

1 tps nutmeg

2 tps cumin

2 tps coriander

1 tps dried chilli

salt to taste

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup masala

1/4 cup muscavado sugar

250mls vegetable stock

50 grams 85% cocoa chocolate

Everything cooked in that order, with the broken chocolate added in at the end when the sauce has been turned off the heat.

Mindfulness

Posted on by
3

Mindfulness. It seemed to be a word that just kept coming up last year for me. I thought about it, thought thats an interesting concept. Wonder if I could be more mindful and then sort of let it go, with the word just sitting there, slightly sticking out so as not to forget it.

A word that I know I should look into more as I feel my life would be more fulfilled if I did.

Mindfulness- being completely aware and present in that moment. The body and mind in harmony. Paying attention to the present moment and allowing the person to disengage from mental clutter- creating a clear mind.

My children are more fulfilled when I am mindful. Taking that moment to see what Monkey Boy is showing me, rather than giving a “ah huh. looks good” answer, and then continuing trying to complete whatever I was doing. He’s happy because I have taken the time to listen to him and see what he is involved in, so less inclined to keep interrupting me with what ever I am doing.

I think if I was more mindful in everything I am doing, things just might flow a bit easier.  I get caught up in the small things just like lots of other people, but I think it might be right time to take a step back and just see what happens for awhile. Rather than trying to be on top everything, all the time. Time to de-clutter the mind.

I’m going to try to look at it on a really basic level, and then if I can master that, go further with it in terms of its Buddhism background. Certainly not two things that can be compared, but a good place to start.

Mindfulness in cooking I have always been aware of, just not always put it in to practise. It makes a huge difference. The bread that has been mindfully mixed, kneaded, proven, and then baked. Of course it will taste delicious. So much better than the loaf that was interrupted with, kids fighting, phone call taken, and negative thoughts of other things. If mindfulness has been put in to cooking you can taste it.

The simplest of dishes can taste amazing if made with care, awareness and perhaps a dash of love. Compare that with a dish that has been made in haste, while side tracked with other things, slapped down on the table and then eaten without any thought. It doesn’t compare.

So can I do it? Can I bring myself to be more mindful in everyday life? Mindfulness brought to my cooking, my daily chores, my conversation and most importantly to my husband and children?

I’m sure going to try.


Peanut butter and marzipan

Posted on by
6

Musing one day I was thinking of what foods would sum me up in a nutshell… (why can I not write that without thinking of Austin Powers- “help, help I’m in a nutshell!”) I digress…

Five foods that are me. Foods that define who I am, what I am all about, combined together equal one city hippy farm girl. Five foods if given a week and could only eat these five foods, I would be quite happy. Five foods (not dishes) that are truly delicious and are me, me, me.

Peanut butter– crunchy, and slapped on so thick your tongue gets lost in the fog of it all. The natural one is the best, when its just crushed peanuts. Just quietly, I have been known to eat just with a teaspoon.

Coffee– Its the ritual, the aroma, the kick, and those damn cute little cups. I wouldnt waste my time with instant, its just not the same. The stove top precolator is my weapon of choice. Never to be rushed, always to be enjoyed.

Marzipan– the texture is quite unique don’t you think. It’s kind of gritty, it’s sweet, your not quite sure, so you have a little more. So the circle continues.

Granola/Muesli– it keeps me going and is just the kind of breakfast (or late night snack) that works for me. Lots of seeds and nuts added. Either eaten just with milk or with a dollop of yogurt.

Sourdough– the grainier and fruitier the better. I seriously will have to be cremated with a whole stack of sourdough when its my time to leave this earth. Then everyone can smell just how delicious sourdough is, when they are thinking of me. (a little odd, but think about it…its a good idea isn’t it.)

What would your top 5 be?

Orecchiette

Posted on by
12

Italy is very important to me. It’s the country where my adored exchange student family is from. This is where I lived for 6 months as an exchange student when I was 16. This is where I returned to as a 19 year old and again as a 22 year old. This is where I felt loved and valued, and embraced as an Australian sister.

Back then Italy taught me how to short sheet a bed, (well actually my sister did). I tell you hours of giggly fun for two 16 year olds in there!

Italy taught me the love of the espresso. Still to this day 16 years later, when ever I hear and smell that stove top espresso pot percolating quietly I am transported back to Italy.

Italy also taught me the love of the simple margarita pizza. Pizza was never the same again.

If only I had had the interest of food that I have now back then. If I did I would have asked Nonna just how exactly to make those delicious Pugliese thumb pressed pasta pieces, known as orecchiette. I ate it with gusto. If only I had the foresight to ask how she made it 16 years before. I would kill now for a hands on pasta lesson from Nonna in the beautiful region of Puglia.

This week I was struggling to find a great orecchiette recipe. The recipe seems to vary a lot from equal parts flour to water and rest over night to 4:1 ratio. So I harnessed the Italian nonna within and decided to gauge it myself. Using a fine semolina, tepid water and a little salt. It was quite a hard dough, and was a bit of a labour of love. Usually I wouldn’t be able to designate this long to cook but the monkeys were napping and then other adults were on hand to entertain while I finished off. (We had gone away for the weekend so I was making full use of a much, much larger kitchen and other adults to keep the monkeys out of mischief.)

Quietly, and methodically rolling and knifing.

It was so quiet. The laugh of a far off kookaburra, the air outside so still, and the pesistant buzz of wandering fly.

Knead, cut, roll, slice, knife…..knead, cut, roll, slice, knife…. until half the table was filled with many beautiful ‘little ears’.

These are the quantities that I ended up using, which produced some happily eaten pasta. Possibly would vary with the type of flour that you use- so go slowly and jiggle.

900 grams fina semolina flour

400mls water

1 dessert spoon salt

Make a well on the bench with the flour and salt, slowly pouring in the water and mixing it to a stiff dough. Knead until smooth.

Cut off a portion, then roll into a long snake, then slicing off small portions. Then pressing down with a knife, push until the little circle starts folding in and looks like a thumb hat. It needs quite a bit of pressure. Orecchiette should be thiner on the bottom with thicker sides to hold the sauce. This is not a smooth pasta.

Would Nonna approve?… not sure.

Does it look right?… a little ‘rustic’ but passable.

Would it pass the  Italian taste test?….?

Will I make them again?….. yes indeed.

The secret of the picnic

Posted on by
5

To me the perfect Sunday is spent under a shady tree in the park, in the company of wonderful people, and with a  scrumptious selection of delicious-ness spread out on a picnic rug before me. Lucky for me this was just how Sunday was spent.

A group of people not seen for 5 years, but the conversation commenced like it was just the day before that we had all gotten together. We had all changed a little. Three little ones that weren’t there last time, some hair was lost, some hair was greyer, some weight was gained, and some was lost. The minor details were incidental, the excitement of being there and not a phone call away was wonderful. Catching up on events, news and wishes. Monkey Boy made a campfire of twigs and cooked us some ‘soup’ and the Little Monkey flaked out in his pram with his little monkey pal.

A gorgeous day followed by coffee and hysterical monkey giggles back at our place.

Thats what I love the most. Easy conversation amongst people that I respect and value their company… (with a little cake on the side.)

Orange and Coconut Cake

Serves 8-10.

2 oranges

185g butter

1  cup sugar

3 eggs

1 cup desicated coconut

1 1/2 cups of self raising flour

Preheat the oven to 160C. Cook the chopped orange flesh up a little until soft, add the grated rind of the two oranges. Process them until lumpy consistency. In to the processor add the butter, sugar, eggs, coconut and flour. Process until smooth.

Line a 22cm round cake tin with non-stick paper. Bake for 1 hour 20 mins.

(Adapted from a Donna Hay magazine recipe)

Frugal Friday

Posted on by
19

Once more Friday rolls around and there is not much left in the fridge. Not quite so little as to go shopping but not quite so much as to have many options. What to do with some organic pumpkin, carrots, and some flaccid celery and still get the monkeys to eat it? Carrying on from the Indian theme from last Friday, I think it was going to have to be dhal. Add a little red lentils, vegetable stock, some garlic, a fistful of spices and I had myself a tasty, healthy, budget friendly, monkey friendly dinner. Add a little natural yoghurt on top, and some fresh naan bread and dinner was done for ‘Frugal Friday’.

Naan bread I had tried to make a number of years ago, with the end result being little hard round bricks. That was the last time I had attempted them. Naan bread being a firm favourite here and with an excellent little Indian take away around the corner to happily oblige us when the taste for naan over comes us.

But not today. I wanted to give it another crack…..

160ml warm water

1tsp dry yeast

1 tsp sugar

2 cups plain flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbls oil/or ghee

2 tbls yoghurt

Mix the water, yeast and sugar together in a bowl until dissolved. Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes. Add flour salt, half the oil and yoghurt. Mix to a soft dough then knead on floured  surface until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in a bowl with wet tea towel over the top in warm place for approx 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.

Knead dough on floured surface for 5 minutes, then divide into 6 portions. Roll out into rounds. I pulled one side to get the traditional ‘teardrop’ shape that you would get if cooking in a tandoor oven.

Cook in a very lightly oiled frying pan and pop the frying pan under the grill to get those distinctive brown puffy circles to finish it off. Brush naan with remaining ghee or butter.

The week that was…

Posted on by
6

The week started off with a little playground action.

Visited the our wonderful local council nursery. So many great plants to buy. Also got some good tips for my worm farm.

Actually I am loving our local council nursery, an un-utilised resource for people. I’m trying to spread the word but I have seen a few glazed eyes as I tell people how great it is. Most people still like to keep to what they know and that’s a chain hardware/nursery supplies shop.

…..then we had  some  playground action.

The old favourite banana cake was made once more. Tried and true and eaten in a day. Its too easy not to make when those bananas are racing out the door in their black coats. And you can dress ’em up or dress them down’.

Depends on my mood whether it’s a sweet banana cake made with brown sugar and is lovely, light and fluffy or it can be a healthy little brick that involves a whole lot of pepitas, sunflowers seeds, linseed meal and honey. I like the brick but the boys like the fluffy.

After the cake was polished off, the monkeys and I had a little more play ground action.

Then some white nectarine jam. I wasn’t sure about this one. I’m not a big fan of white nectarines to begin with. I find them, not particularly juicy and the flavour is a little perfume-y. So when a whole lot of end of season fruit found their way in to my kitchen, I was unsure of what to do with them. So jam it was.

1kg white nectarines

600 ml water

600 gms sugar

juice of 2 lemons

1 large strip of lemon rind

It has actually grown on me. I thought initially it was too tasteless and just sweet in taste. However the next day after it had had time to think about things a little, the subtlty of the nectarine is a bit more apparent. The consistency is great too. Thick and delicious. Actually it was the consistency that made me re- think the whole jam and find something else to like about it. I don’t love it, but it still sure beats a generic shop one.

That ended our week, right after we went to the playground.

why cafes and kids simply don’t mix

Posted on by
9

I live in the city. I live in a flat. I have 2 young energetic kids.

Now back in the day I loved nothing better than to sit back sipping my decaf soy latte. Then I moved on to the little macciato’s, cappuccino’s had a look in for a while and then back to the decaf latte again while pregnant. Add a little biscotti, some people watching, the weekend paper, it doesn’t get much better. So I know my cafe culture. I love my coffee culture. Its one of the best perks of living in a city. The choice of many great coffee haunts.

So what happens when you have a child? You drag them along too of course. You cling on to that cafe culture as long as you can. We don’t have a grassy back yard, where the kids can run around, so parks and playgrounds are utilised nearly daily, or even twice daily. And if it happens to be raining? Why a playdate at the local cafe for a babycino sounds quite lovely.

Now with one child a cafe date is ok. It’s not great, but you can do a little chatting, mop up the spilled milk, back to chatting, help the child back on to the chair after falling off etc etc. You can still cling on to that coffee dream that cafes are still for you, just as a family now.

Then the 2nd one comes along. Lets face it, the dream is shattered. Even with two adults to referee, and a toy box (if the cafe is really kind), it’s just not worth the pain of it all.

The youngest screams for more biscuit, the oldest trickles milkshake down the leg of the table, the youngest snatches the best toy off his big brother, the oldest dongs his brother on the head with said toy and gives him a quick pinch for good measure. The ‘ahhh, this is a lovely coffee ‘ moment is so brief, you vow not come again with the little monkeys.

Then 2  months go by, you forget the pain of it all as the mesmerizing coffee smells tease your nostrils again, wooing you in. So you drag the monkeys in with promises of milkshakes and biscotti again, in order to clutch on to that fleeting memory of old cafe days.

Episode repeats itself, with younger monkey fluttering his eyelids at the waitress as she starts sweeping the metre wide crumbs from under the table and older monkey stepping on outside dogs tail while trying to pat it as we make a hasty retreat once more.

Rainy days

Posted on by
Reply

What to do on a rainy day with 2 kids in a flat?

Over a period of time I collect all sorts of things that would usually go into the recycling bin and instead pop them into a box in the kitchen for a ‘rainy day’. Toilet rolls, patty pans, cardboard boxes, what ever looks like it could be turned into something else gets kept and thrown up on top of the kitchen cupboards. The boys love it when I get the box down and empty it out on the lounge room floor as it always changes and we can always make something new and exciting. So this is the rainy day activity box. Egg cartons become buses, toilet rolls become people, the carpet with the pattern becomes the road, and the flat becomes a recycling centre with things thrown about every where!

Another favourite is getting a few bigger boxes and joining them together to make a train for all their stuffed toys. Hours of fun in there.

I also pack away one box of toys that get stored under a bed and brought out as well. That way they can ‘re-discover’ their toys for the day and then that box gets packed away again. This can be rotated a bit so they never get tired of the one thing.

And when that rain won’t stop and it really is far too soggy to go outside, the dining table gets turned into a cubby house. Blanket over the top, and every available blanket and cushion for the inside. All cosy and squishy inside, perfect for 2 boys who love nothing better than to hide away and giggle.

 ….and maybe some space for a moment or two for Mama to lay a weary head down as well.

City hippy worm girl?

Posted on by
Reply

I was at playgroup this morning and someone started asking me questions about worm farms, what to put in and what not to. I did for a split second think thats a bit weird, I don’t know you, no one was talking about worms, an odd conversation to start up but hey. I knew the answers so, happily told her what the little fellas like to eat. When I was finished, she said,

“I knew you would know the answers”

“why? Do I look like the wormy type?”

“yes, you do”.

Now, I thought this was really funny. A small part of me thought I should be a little offended, but the rest of me just had a good chuckle and thought ‘city hippy farm girl’ in mind and body.

I was wearing plaits…does that make a difference?

Mindful grocery shopping

Posted on by
5

Shopping- I really try and buy the weekly groceries as organic, locally produced, Australian owned, as little added numbers/preservatives etc,  minamally packaged as possible, and still within a budget. This can be a really time consuming thing to do, due to checking and rechecking – (well up until recently it has been.) I can usually alternate between two different main supermarkets, and know now which ones regularly have the products that I want. Add in some farmers markets, fruit shop and health food shop and we are away!

This has been no easy feat! I think it has taken the best part of the last year for me to now know most brands which fall in to my buying categories. For a long time it was reading the backs of EVERYTHING, checking out ingredients, where its made, who the company is owned by etc etc. Shopping could take a really long time.

Last weekend  after a  shop at the local main competitor super market (that will see us through the week), groceries for 4 people, $150 dollars spent, only one item made out of Australia- toothbrushes were made in Singapore. Thats pretty good I thought.

So what is my point with all this? (bit tired today but I’m getting there…)

People have become completely removed from what they are buying. .

I don’t want to just buy my packaged meat, neatly cut up in stir fry pieces with no idea where it comes from. I don’t want my pears to come from China, when perfectly delicious ones are grown in Victoria. I don’t want my chocolate ingredients to come from 4 different parts of the world to be put together in a factory that is still on the other side of the world and then shipped to me and bought for $4.50 a block on the supermarket shelf (thats not good food miles!)

What I would like is for people to be a bit more questioning of what is actually in that jar of food they have just bought, question where the meat is from, is the dairy from free range cows, and does the supermarket offer a more locally produced chocolate product? If people even slightly changed their buying habits, super markets would follow suit and produce on the shelves what is selling the most. Look at how far fair trade coffee has come in recent years.

Its really easy to look at a shopping list and just go bang bang bang in the trolley and dashing out the checkout with not a clue of how many food miles you have just clocked up, and how many additives and preservatives you have just added. Every one does this as its easy! Its convenient. We all lead busy lives and at the end of the day when your knackered, the kids are whingey, you still have to make dinner and 50 other things to do after that, that you think “as quick as possible please”.

So, how to change current habits? Even if you started off small it would make a difference.

Animal Vegetable Miracle- a book that tells the story of how our family was changed by one year of deliberately eating food produced in the place where they lived. Loved it!