Blue Moon Surprise

My husband, Patrick, and I have this tradition of trying different bottled beers when money allows. This started some years ago when we moved into our first new home. The idea of coming home, getting a beer, and relaxing in your own living room until dinner (or in my case drinking a beer while I made the dinner) was something we relished. We don’t drink a lot of beer, maybe once or twice a month, and don’t want to have too many bottles of extra un-liked beer around. So we don’t taste test very often.


Not too long ago my husband came home with a six pack of Blue Moon Beer. I was immediately intrigued by the title and his enthusiasm. He opened two bottles and immediately started to cut an orange to put some slices into the beer. Orange? Yep. He said that his work buddy drinks it that way and that the beer was real smooth. To my surprise that idea was true. I think that the Blue Moon beers will disappear faster than our treasured dark Heinekens. As I drank my beer making dinner that night, I wondered what foodie things were related to a Blue Moon.

First, let us review a little history of a Blue Moon. Since each calendar month has a Full Moon and a New Moon, a Blue Moon is a second full moon in a calendar month. Depending on your perspective, this does not happen very often, about every 2-3 years -- Thus one reason for the saying “once in a Blue Moon. “ Our next Blue Moon will be in August 2012.


(Reference: http://www.obliquity.com/astro/bluemoon.html)

In learning about a Blue Moon, I remembered a cookbook treasure I had found a couple of months ago at a second-hand store. It is a family cookbook by Chief Gary Goss and Illustrated by Jane Dyer entitled Blue Moon Soup (1999). It is a beautifully illustrated book with many soup recipes organized by season. On the back dust jacket (yes, I was lucky enough to find this book with an intact dust jacket) is an illustration of a turtle eating soup in front of full moon and the saying “Soup this good comes only once in a blue moon”. This coincides with the first page poem by Lewis Carroll, Turtle Soup. If you click on the book cover below, you will be taken to Amazon and can browse the contents in which I guarantee you will enjoy.


  At the Blue Moon Brewing Company website, you will discover that they idea of putting an orange in the beer is their own. Also, they produce a Winter Abbey Ale between November and January in which they suggest you make a hearty stew and a chocolate dessert to go with this beer. A great idea! http://www.bluemoonbrewingcompany.com/ We splurged and bought this Ale…it is wonderful and is now my new favorite beer. Sorry Corona. I am going to try making “Sob Soup” from the Blue Moon Soup cookbook which is Baked French Onion Soup (p. 9).


Here are some other great foodie things related to the Moon in general:

The Moon Food Page
Here you will find some great recipes for making food related to full moons.
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonfood/index.htm

The Original Moon Pie
The official site for this dessert tradition.
http://www.moonpie.com/

Rachel Ray’s Recipe for Full Moon Sundaes at the Food Network
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/full-moon-sundaes-recipe/index.html

Bible Translations
MANY different bible version of the verse Psalm 81:3 which mentions feasts and full moons.
http://bible.cc/psalms/81-3.htm

RECIPE: Sweet Mini Pepper Medley

2 cups sweet mini peppers sliced into rings
6 large mushrooms sliced
1 cup sliced purple onion
4 medium Yukon Gold Potatoes cut into quarter-size pieces
2 teaspoons Granulated Garlic
2 tablespoons Corn Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; add the potatoes and cook until slightly crisp.
Remember to keep turning the potatoes periodically so they do not burn.
Add the peppers, onion and garlic and mix well and cook for 3 minutes.
Next, add the mushrooms and mix well again cooking until mushrooms are soft (about 3-4 minutes).
Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Francesca's Kitchen by Peter Pezzelli ISBN: 0758213271

Synopsis: Francesca an older Italian Lady, whom is widowed with grown children, finds herself feeling useless after a long life of relishing in the busyness of the everyday family life. She soon finds a single-mom family that needs her as much as she needs them. With her wisdom and cooking abilities, this needy family and her begin to heal the wounds of lonliness.


Recipes in Back of Book:

Billy’s Funghi Ripieni (Stuffed Mushrooms)
Alice’s Arance e Pepe (Oranges and Pepper)
Corianne’s Spaghetti Agliio e Olio (Garlic & Oil Sauce)
Norma’s Lasagna
Sue’s Zcchini Frittata
Camella’s Anisette Biscotti

Other Recipes: What I love about this book is that the author embeds recipes in the descriptive actions of his main character. You can follow Francesca’s recipes throughout the story. I have listed the page numbers below with the dish she made. I have made her “Tomato Sauce” which is actually a wonderful Spaghetti sauce (with a few of my own modifications of course). It is wonderful and has now become one of my staple meals. You won’t ever eat plan Spaghetti sauce again! In the book, she serves this sauce with soft bread and it makes a meal.

Francesca’s Tomato Salad (p.16)
Francesca’s Simple Beef Dinner (p. 32)
Francesca’s Chocolate Cake (p. 157)
Francesca’s Soup (p. 188)
Francesca’s Tomato Sauce (p. 190)
Francesca’s Chicken Topping (p. 232)

– She also makes Sausage & Peppers and Baked Ziti for her son along with this chicken but these two dishes are not described on how they are made.

Personal Notes: It was this book that sparked my ”foodie” book passion to read stories that have recipes in them and/or food themes. This book is absolutely wonderful!

Lunch Odyssey

For any mother of a picky eater, you could probably relate your experiences with getting your child to eat to Homer’s Odyssey.  For me, the journey or adventure (depending on your point-of-view that day) has been over his school lunch.

When John started Kindergarten he ate the school lunch like most of his classmates.  This was going fine until I discovered he was throwing the entire contents of his lunch tray away and only drinking the milk.  Well of course this was unacceptable so we started to see if he could be responsible with a lunch box.  Needless to say he was delighted since it was a soft printed one with Transformers all over it and he was careful not to throw it around or forget it somewhere.  Everything seemed fine so when he started 1^st grade I was confident that lunch would continue in its normal routine.

This silly expectation of mine ended when it was brought to my attention that John was giving his lunch away to other classmates that were “guilt tripping” him into this.  John is required to put all of his wrappers back into his lunch bag (so that we can see what he ate).  For a while, I thought that he was eating all of his lunch because everything was empty.  When I asked John about this, he admitted that he was giving all his food away even though he was hungry because he wanted “to be their friend”.  Well this turned into a learning experience about friendships.  John now knows what he can say to the guilt trips and what he can and cannot share at lunchtime.  Still, I battle what to put into his lunch that he will eat.  So many sandwiches have gone uneaten, fruit untouched, and other items ignored.  My mom and I decided that anything we can get into his stomach at lunch would be better than not eating at all…even if it wasn’t very nutritious.  Our rationale was that John is a great “at home eater” most of the time.  He eats good nutritious food at home better than anywhere else.  So what he misses at lunch during school time will be made up at home.  At least until he gets more mature and his pallet enjoys more lunchtime food items.  Trying to get him to eat at lunch has lead to many different items and combinations of food in his lunch.  Sometimes we have felt like the “lunch box scientists” with all the things we have experimented with.  Some days we are great lunch box packers and other times it seems like a mess, but the goal each day remains the same…please eat something, anything from your lunch box.  Please!

What happened next was a sucker punch to the stomach.  John came home recently and told me that a “teacher” who monitors the lunch time took a picture of the contents of his lunch with her cell phone.  He said that this lady would look at his lunch sometimes and tell him what to eat an not eat.  Well, after an evening of being upset at the gall of this woman and wondering what the core issue really was, I talked with his regular teacher the next day.  She told me that this “lunch lady” was an Educational Assistant (EA) that monitors lunch and that she had concerns about the Nutritional Value of John’s lunch.  John’s regular teacher also said that she chose not to burden me with this situation because she felt that it was not anyone’s business as to what I put into John's lunch…that I am his mother and know what he will eat.

I went straight to the principal’s office.  Many people were already gathered in his office for a different meeting and reason in which they thought I was there for.  They were not expecting me to bring this situation to their attention or use the tone and emotion in my words.  I was honest and made it clear that this was wrong.  A sincere apology from the principal on behalf of the school was offered and I was ready to accept it, but then the nurse decided to start quizzing me about the contents of John’s lunch.  Before my senses kicked in, I replied that one item was a flour tortilla (something John can hardly resist – he favorite thing is to watch them being made at a local restaurant that has a tortilla making machine) in which she wanted to know if it was white flour or wheat; that a better choice would have been wheat.  Before this went any further, I asked which was it going to be?  An apology or an inquisition into the personal choices of items?  The principal stopped the meeting, apologized again, and said he would talk to his EA and that she would no longer inquire about John’s lunch, that no more questions about its nutritional value would be made, and that he would make sure the picture was erased from her cell phone.  NOTE: My son is not mal-nourished or over weight and his doctor is not concerned with either of these issues. He is also very active and loves PE.

In the spirit of tying to see the “gifts in the trials” or if you prefer, “seeing the glass half full”, I am going to process this situation as an exercise in speaking up for myself as a mother, being more alert to how outside organizations try to interfere in our personal lives using bullying or wrong methods, and even look for more ways to get John to eat more types of food.  Still, this question as to Nutritional Value made me feel like I was failing as a mother at different times during this experience.  I think that if this EA is passionate about the Nutritional Value of lunches, she should have gone about it in a different way.  I think that mothers struggle with many different things in their journey…nutrition being one of them.  From the moment our babies are placed in our arms and we decide to breast feed, use a bottle or both, I think that we as mothers need support and encouragement, not bullying tactics or guilt trips in navigating this nutritional road.  I am glad that this experience has not had a negative effect on John…he still feels great about his lunch box.

LINKS
Great Resource for School Lunch Informationhttp://www.livestrong.com/article/255577-school-lunch-nutrition-information/

7 Picky Eater Solutionshttp://www.parenting.com/gallery/7-picky-eater-solutions?tier1=yhoo-picky-eat1

A great website resource:  Books for Picky Eatershttp://www.neatsolutions.com/ChildrensBooks/PickyEaters/PickyEaters_01.html

 

Grandma's Tea

After a long week of letting things reopen old wounds of “feeling like a failure” and “not begin good enough”, I decided to take a long hot tea bath.  A tea bath is soaking in your favorite tea added to your bath water.  I take the largest cloth tea bag I can find and fill it with Lavender Tea.  Then I tie it to the water facet as the tub fills.  My sister-in-law, Dianna, used to tease me and say, “Don’t drink the bath water!” when she saw me preparing my bath tea bag.  Sometimes I will add rose petals and peppermint tea, but this time I just wanted to smell the lavender and soak up its goodness.  BTW – I really love to drink tea…well iced tea.  Here is a great site for “Bath Tea” recipes:  http://diybathrecipes.com/list.php?pagenum=0&catid=6
As the tub filled with water, I started to read Barbara O’Neal’s new book, How to Bake a Happy Life.  The main character, Ramona, owns a bakery which was her grandmother’s house.  In the beginning of the novel, Ramona retreats to her grandmother’s garden and is surrounded by her memory.

p. 14 – Bending my head, I let my tears fall.  Here in this safe place, my grandmother’s garden, I can weep freely.  It often feels that my grandmother, Adelaide, is with me here in the enclave she created.  Sometimes I imagine I can hear her softly humming a nameless tune.

This passage struck a deep emotion in my heart.  I know how this character feels.  Often I have run to my grandmother’s grave to let my tears fall.  In recent years, I have remembered her words, her cooking, and her Alusema (Spanish for Lavender) tea.  My grandmother used to also hum to the radio sometimes in her kitchen.  It seems that this weekend, I have been surrounded by my Grandmother’s care.  A way of nursing a sour soul wound.  My mom had made her “Soupa” and left it in our fridge for the weekend.  (RECIPE: Olivares Soupa, FEB 2010).  It has been our warm satisfying treat each day.

The lavender tea, the Soupa, and this passage have reminded me of what is important and lavished my wounds in memory balm and mended the frayed fabric of my peaceful thoughts.  The old adage of, “does this really matter in the big picture” or my other favorite “will this be remembered by your family and friends when you die”.  The answer is NO.  Not all the data crunching, curriculum transforming, or creative teaching is going to change the fact that my family needs me…needs me to be whole.  I want to serve their dinner with peace on my face not the stress overly served to me that day.  Just like my Grandmother did. When she served the food and we all sat down to eat, we were to have our focus on eating with no interruptions which included answering the phone.  She enjoyed her food despite whatever was going on.  That is my focus as this new week begins with all the old and new assaults upon my self-confidence, to have peace while I prepare our supper and sit and eat well with my family.  Maybe I will make some lavender tea and let the scent invite my grandmother’s spirit to surround us with peace.

Here is a wonderful book I found at our local library book sale about how grandmother’s and the food they make influence our lives.  It is a beautiful book and I hope you take the time to read it.

At Grandmother’s Table:  Women Write about Food, Life, and the Enduring Bond between Grandmothers and Grandaughters, Edited by Ellen Perry Berkeley.  ISBN: 1-57749-096-7

RECIPE: Olivares Soupa

Because “soupa” means different things in some families, our soupa is not a dessert or soup.  It would be considered a pasta side dish.

1 Can Tomato Sauce (8 oz)
1 Package of Angel Hair Pasta (6-7 oz) cracked
1 Tablespoon Minced Onion or ½ of chopped White Onion
2 Teaspoons of Granulated Garlic
1 Cup of Chicken Broth
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

In a large sauté pan, put the Olive Oil and the cracked Angel Hair Pasta and cook over medium heat until the pasta is toasted.  Stir to ensure that the pasta is evenly toasted and is well coated with the olive oil.  Then add the tomato sauce and chicken broth, mix well, and bring to a low boil.  Lower the heat and add the onion and garlic.  Cook until the pasta absorbs all the liquid adding more garlic to desired taste.  Add more chicken broth or water to maintain a liquid sauce not sticky consistency.  Remove from pan and let cool in container.  Serve in a bowl and add salt as needed.

Cupcake Thorn

My precarious relationship with cupcakes began when my son, John, was in Kindergarten.  It was his Christmas celebration where each parent signed-up to bring a food item to eat following the kids singing.  When John’s teacher showed me what was left on the sign-up sheet, I could have easily chosen chips, but my perfectionist mentality got the better of me and I chose cupcakes.  I left feeling confident that even though I rarely bake anything, this cupcake thing would turn out OK.  I cook a lot but buy most of our sweets because I tend to toast or burn cakes, cookies, muffins, and of course, cupcakes.   By the time I made it to my car, I had grand visions of beautifully decorated cupcakes that I would make with my son.  I wanted to show him that mama could make cupcakes too since he was always raving about making them with Grandma Annie.  John would be excited that everyone loved his mom’s cupcakes!

Well time got the better of me and I ended up buying a big expensive platter of beautifully decorated Christmas cupcakes from the grocery store.  I had already forgiven myself by the time I had gotten to the school and dropped them off.  Later when I showed up for the performance and celebration, I was still feeling OK about not making the cupcakes.  When everyone started to eat, I saw my cupcakes next to another batch which were obviously homemade – the Tupperware container gave that away.  Still, I wasn’t letting that bother me.  I told myself that I was still a good mother fulfilling my responsibility, taking time off work, clapping and taking pictures, smiling and being happy.

Then John’s teacher asked the parents to help pick up the food area and that the last of the cupcakes were to be divided amongst the kids.  When I went to the counter to begin this task, she came to see my progress then said, “Oh my!  Homemade cupcakes are so good.  They were absolutely delicious!”  My failure mom guilt trip started…it crept up my spine, spun around my heart, and hit my head like a brick.  I honestly don’t think she knew how her comment sounded.  I knew that letting this comment affect me so much is due to my perfectionist mother mentality…but the guilt trip took its toll and did nothing for my baking confidence.
Since then this “cupcake thorn” in my side continues.  My son found some Transformers cupcake baking cups, I have read 1 out of 3 novels with cupcake in the title, and I just bought a cookbook devoted to making cupcakes.  Why?

I believe that making cupcakes for me is like writing.  You can buy writing books and magazines, great notebooks and pens for writing, read good writers and worship others, but it still comes down to getting over yourself and overcoming your fear and JUST DOING IT; sit down and write…just suck-it-up and make the damn cupcakes!  Well, this cupcake thorn still lingers.  This past fall I found these great cupcake decorating ideas for Halloween and Christmas and I still did not make them.  For John’s 1^st grade Christmas party I signed up to bring chips…there were no leftovers.

CUPCAKE NOVELS
It's Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder (middle grades novel)
The Icing on the Cupcake by Jennifer Ross (Women's Literature)
The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler (young adult novel)
Fancy Nancy and the Delectable Cupcakes  by Jane O'Connor (Beg 1 Reader)

COOKBOOK MENTIONED
Crazy About Cupcakes by Krystina Castelea (great find at Kohl’s)




















Song of Solomon 2:5
“Sustain me with cakes of raisins, refresh me with apples, For I am lovesick.” (NKJV)