What I eat for breakfast every single day

Before I launch into the post: Did you notice a change on the blog? After years and years of keeping the same blog header, I was ready for a change and tinkered around and made a new one, just for fun. It looks a little blurry and I still need to figure out how to fix that. 

Today I'm writing a quick post about breakfast, which remains an important meal for my early-bird self. Two years ago, I went on a work trip and discovered the hearty simplicity of steel-cut oats. Back home, I quickly got into the groove of cooking 1 cup of dry steel-cut oats and eating that batch over 4 days. Rinse and repeat. Having discovered an easy and tasty topping for the plain porridge, I found myself eating it every day. I waited to tire of it, but almost 2 years have passed and I still look forward to that hearty bowl of oatmeal, no matter the season. 

My husband has eaten granola for breakfast for about 15 years and counting. I always wondered how he did not tire of eating the exact same thing every day and now here I am, eating the same meal every morning. There's something to be said for it. I spent so much time planning, shopping for, and cooking meals, trying to keep the menu somewhat varied and interesting, that it is a relief to have one meal that is sorted out every day. Just a little less decision-making in a day filled with thousands of choices and decisions, minor as they may be. 

Basic steel cut oats

(About 4 servings)

1 cup dry steel-cut oats

4 cups water

1/4  tsp. salt

• Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot.
• Pressure cook on HIGH for 4 minutes. 
• Natural pressure release. The natural pressure release is important so that the oatmeal does not stick to the bottom of the insert.

I usually add 3/4 cup or so of almond milk to the oats after cooking, for some creaminess. 

On days 2, 3 and 4, when I am eating refrigerated oatmeal, I simply scoop some in a bowl, add some water if needed, and microwave for a couple of minutes until it is piping hot.

To my bowl of warm oatmeal, I typically add:

1. 3/4 cup of frozen blueberries, thawed in the microwave for a minute

2. A spoonful of hemp seeds

3. A spoonful of ground flax seeds

4. A serving of mixed nut butter

On alternate days, I add 1 or 2 chopped Brazil nuts for the selenium.

So that is it- my low effort breakfast! 

Do you or would you eat the same thing every day for a meal?

Classic flan in the Instant Pot

While I don't have much of a sweet tooth, there are some desserts that I am very fond of. Near the top of that list is flan, or as I grew up knowing it, caramel pudding. A simple and comforting confection of eggs, milk and sugar, it was the first dessert I really learned to make- in the pressure cooker, in those stainless steel inserts- and also one of the first posts I wrote back in the spring of 2005. 

My pressure cooker was small, so I was making caramel custard in the oven, using a bain marie (water bath). The same method went into making a pumpkin flan that featured on our Thanksgiving table some years later. However, bain maries are a bit tedious and I never really felt like I had a standardized flan recipe. By standardized, I mean a solid recipe that works in my hands, with tools that I own and familiar ingredients, and quantities that fit in my pots and pans, and with great results. 

Finally, I have landed on a flan recipe that checks all the boxes. I made it this weekend for dinner guests and it is "the one". For one thing, it is made in the Instant Pot so there is no fussing with the oven or a bain marie. The flan mixture exactly fills my 7-cup Pyrex bowl which in turn exactly fits in the Instant Pot. The resulting flan has the perfect, smooth texture and serves 10-12, enough for a dinner gathering of two families, with a bit left over for the next day. 

Making caramel is probably the hardest part of this recipe, which is good news because caramel is not hard to make at all. It can be done in the oven, stovetop or microwave and having tried them all at different times, I am firmly in the stovetop camp. 

While flan is definitely a rich dessert and an occasional, special, treat, it is far from being cloyingly sweet. I don't use a whole can of condensed milk, saving a portion of it in a glass jar in the fridge. We can use it for another dessert later this month.

Classic Flan

(recipe adapted from this video)

1. Set out whole milk, cream cheese and eggs out to come to room temperature (check quantities below).

2. Make the caramel. In a small saucepan, mix 1/2 cup regular sugar and 3 tbsp. water. Heat on medium heat until sugar melts, bubbles and caramelizes into a deep golden color. Watch the pot carefully because caramel can burn quickly. Pour the caramel into an ungreased 7 cup round bowl and let it cool for a few minutes. 

3. In a blender, blend the following to a smooth mixture-

• 4 oz. cream cheese (quarter of a standard brick)
• 1 can evaporated milk
• Most of a can of condensed milk (4/5 or so)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt

4. Pour the flan mixture into the bowl that has cooled caramel. Cover the bowl tightly with foil.

5. Place 2 cups water into the Instant Pot insert. The bowl goes onto a trivet and into the Instant Pot. Pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally. 

6. Pull out the flan from the Instant Pot. Let it sit out for 15 minutes to cool slightly, then refrigerate for several hours to chill thoroughly before serving.

7. Run a knife around the edge of the flan to loosen it, then turn into a platter to catch the lovely caramel sauce. 

* * * 

Duncan enjoying a beautiful fall day

My interview on a podcast, and 10th birthday fun

I have been blogging in this space for over 16 years, and have lost track of everything that the blog has given me- friends in different places, loads of goodwill, and opportunities to meet cool people and experience new things. The blog brought me another "first" a few months ago when a reader named Aditi emailed me and asked me to be a guest on the podcast she co-hosts with Natasha. 

It turns out that Aditi and Natasha were childhood friends in India. They both now live in the US and have stayed friends over the decades. Their conversations about life in the US turned into a podcast called Chai and Chat, in which they chat with their guests about bicultural and bilingual identities in America and swap cultural stories in a relaxed and informal way, just the way you would have a thoughtful discussion with a good friend over a cup of chai. 

I had never been a guest on a podcast and am pretty self-conscious about being interviewed, but after I listened to a few episodes of Chai and Chat, I wrote back and said I would be thrilled to meet with them. And so we had a zoom call (on a rainy Saturday, with me locked in the bedroom, hiding from the kids and hoping for some peace and quiet), and it was simply delightful. Aditi and Natasha are so warm and sweet, and they put me at ease right away. They are expert conversationalists, which is an art in itself. They know how to ask interesting questions, coax out stories and anecdotes from their guests, and steer a conversation into thoughtful territory. 

If you have 32 minutes and 10 seconds to spare, listen to the episode here. Our conversation was completely unscripted, impromptu and flowed in many directions. I'm a self-conscious speaker, often tongue-tied and riddled with verbal tics. I say "you know" 3 times in every sentence! You have been warned. If you're up for it, and want to hear the person behind this blog, go listen to the "Home on the range" (LOL) episode of Chai and Chat. And my huge thanks to Aditi and Natasha for inviting me on their podcast, and most of all, for their overall efforts in bringing new voices and stories into the world. 

* * *

Double digit excitement! The other big event in our life recently was that my daughter (whose birth I announced here) turned 10 years old. From being too small even for newborn sized onesies, she now wears the same shoe size as me. As they say, the days are long but the years are short. We celebrated her birthday in a small way, while giving her everything she requested- pizza and salad for dinner, an ice cream cake, and a sleepover with two close friends with pancakes the morning after. 

Even before the official party started, the birthday celebrations kicked off with a breakfast of pastries from a local bakery.

The pizza recipe was the crispy pan pizza from King Arthur flour. It is an excellent recipe with low effort and great results, and the recipe can be doubled or tripled as needed. I started the dough the day before the party, and made personal pan pizzas by rounding up a bunch of cake pans. Everyone got to choose their own toppings- olives, red peppers, onions and so on. I helped myself out by buying jarred pizza sauce and shredded cheese.

The pizza dough can be frozen, and prepared pizza itself can be refrigerated and reheated on a griddle. All this to say that this is a keeper recipe if you're looking to make pizza at home. 

Next up, the cake, or rather ice cream "cake". The birthday girl much prefers ice cream over cake and we looked at ice cream concoctions online as we planned her party. Ina Garten's ice cream bombe caught her eye immediately. Luckily, I own a set of nested glass Pyrex bowls which were perfect for assembling this. 

I made the bombe the weekend before the party- a big advantage of ice cream cakes is the make-ahead feature- and again, simplified things for myself by buying these three ice cream tubs. All that was needed was softening and assembly. I lined the big bowl with plastic wrap and when it came time to unmold the thing, I was glad I did that. 

I didn't get any great pictures (just that messy one below), but the ice cream bombe was a pretty grand dessert. Each wedge has mango sorbet, raspberry sorbet and strawberry ice cream, a refreshing combination of flavors and also pleasing to the eye.  This thing was about 16 servings. (We still have some in the freezer!) 

I will definitely make this again. In fact, we were brainstorming other flavor combos that would work. Raspberry sorbet, dark chocolate ice cream and vanilla ice cream would be nice. I would always keep the outermost shell a sorbet, because they freeze more solid than ice creams do, and make for better cutting of the bombe. 

After the sleepover, the kids were treated to chocolate chip pancakes with fresh berries. I used this recipe and the result was fabulous. 

With only 2 little guests and a birthday girl and a milestone birthday, I decide to put some effort into a party favor and made matching book pillows for the three girls. These are 18 x 18 inch throw pillows with a pocket in front, big enough to tuck some books and a flashlight, or maybe a diary and a pen, or a coloring book and a few markers, or some card games. They have a handle so you can take them on car trips or just from room to room. I used this pattern to make the pillows and was very pleased with how they turned out.

Tell me what podcasts you listen to, and what you have been making and cooking and eating! 

Stuffed eggplant, lemon rice and other summer delights

We're halfway through August! How are you doing? Here in Northeast Georgia, August is the hottest month of the year. Temperatures soar to about 95F (35C) most days and are broken only by occasional furious afternoon thunderstorms. It still feels very much like the peak of summer, but also, since the new school year has started, it feels like we're done with summer and into a new season. 

Vacation pics from
Jekyll Island, a barrier island off the Georgia coast

The school summer break- May through July- went by safely and with some sense of normalcy, which I am extremely grateful for. We were able to take a weeklong beach vacation to the Georgia coast with my sister and nephew. My daughter was able to attend several creative and engaging summer day camps- a sewing camp, art camps, a camp at a barn animal sanctuary, among others- all of the camps being held either outdoors or with indoors with masks. My son graduated from his preschool and started kindergarten at the "big school"- the elementary public school. Our school district has a mask mandate and I am glad the kids get to be in school with their teachers and friends- while staying as safe as possible under the circumstances.

There's a lot of uncertainty about how the coming weeks and months will shape up, with COVID cases rising again locally and nationally- so we are still taking it a day at a time.

* * *

Over the years, I have been a frequent subscriber to CSA boxes, paying local farmers for a regular share of produce and other locally grown food. I restarted my CSA this spring and enjoy picking up a selection of fresh vegetables every week. 

This month's selection has been heavy on some of my favorite vegetables, the stars of summer- okra, eggplant, peppers. There are fresh tomatoes- green ones, red slicers, cherry tomatoes that my kids love to snack on. And fruits too- ripe fresh figs and berries. 

I love all vegetables but eggplant is up there at the top of the list. Growing up, eggplants big and small featured in a lot of everyday curries- stuffed eggplant (bharli vangi), vangi batata- eggplants with potato, eggplant sambar, smoky vangi bharit or mashed eggplant. Eggplant is also a component of the sublime Gujarati winter dish undhiyu. 

Since moving to the US, I've discovered the different ways in which global cuisines cook eggplant and I adore every single one of them- Italian eggplant parmesan, Middle Eastern baba ghanouj, Thai curries with eggplant, and Sichuan eggplant. 

Surprisingly, several of my close American friends who love Indian food and love vegetables will pointedly say, "all vegetables except eggplant"- they don't care for the taste and texture of eggplant. I think this may be because supermarket eggplant is often tough and bitter. The summer eggplant I've been getting in my veggies boxes, in contrast, is so tender and sweet, and a joy to cook and savor. 

I've been adapting many recipes to the Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) since my sister got me one a couple of years ago, and this month I discovered that stuffed eggplant (bharli vangi) is so easy and wonderful in the Instant Pot. 

You start by making a tasty stuffing mixture, a paste with savory, sweet and tangy notes. Baby eggplants are washed and have slits cut into them. Then you stuff them with the paste, and pressure cook them for a few minutes with only a bit of water. The result is tender eggplant in a luxurious sauce. I love this dish with a bit of yogurt rice but it is great with lentils, roti, rice or any combination of the above.

Stuffed baby eggplant (bharli vangi)

Stuffed eggplant (bharli vangi)

The stuffing: This time I made an easy, no-cook stuffing, using what I have on hand. Mix it up in a small bowl.

• The base for the paste is minced onions and crushed roasted peanuts.
• This is seasoned by salt, turmeric, red chili powder, ground cumin and coriander, goda masala if you have it, or garam masala instead. 
• Then you add something tangy, like tamarind paste or lemon juice; I have even used cranberry chutney at times. 
• And something sweet, like crushed jaggery. 
• Optional- Seeds like poppy seeds or sesame seeds can be added for taste and texture. Grated coconut or a little coconut milk can add richness. 
• Finally, a handful of minced cilantro goes in and you mix everything together. The stuffing should be a nice balance of flavors.

The eggplant: Choose tender baby eggplants. Wash them and at the side opposite the stem, cut slits to make a deep "X", without slicing through the eggplant completely. Stuff each eggplant and set aside. Save any leftover stuffing.

Cooking the dish: 

• Heat a little oil in the Instant Pot on saute mode. 
• Pop a generous amount of mustard seeds in the hot oil. 
• Then layer the stuffed eggplant gently. Turn off saute mode. 
• Mix up a little water (half a cup to a cup at most) in the leftover stuffing and pour over the eggplants.
• Cook at high pressure for 3 or 4 minutes. (The first time I cooked it for 6 minutes and the eggplant were overcooked.)
• Release pressure quickly.
• Test eggplant to see if a knife goes through easily. If not cover and let it cook in the residual heat for a bit. 

* * *

Lemon rice is another quintessential summer dish and easily made in the Instant Pot. (Look up the instruction manual for ratios of rice and water). 

Instant pot on saute mode: Heat a bit of oil and temper it with mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and chana dal, curry leaves, dried chilis. Add salt, turmeric, grated fresh ginger. Turn off saute mode. 

Add soaked and drained rice and water. Pressure cook for 4 minutes on high. Release pressure after 5 minutes. 

Add fresh lemon zest and lemon juice (or lime zest and juice to make lime rice), and minced cilantro. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

* * *

Stuffed peppers
waiting to be 
pan-fried

Stuffed poblano peppers were a treat when I got a big haul of fresh peppers in the veggie box. Cut the tops off poblano peppers and cut in half vertically. Microwave the halved peppers for 3 minutes with a sprinkle of water, to par-cook them. Drain well. 

For the stuffing, mix mashed/grated boiled potato, minced onion, ginger and garlic and salt, spices and herbs. Stuff the peppers.

Pan-fry the pepper, starting cut side down, until they are browned. Covering the pan in the last few minutes is a great way to get the peppers to cook through. 

Just a pic of another classic summer lunch:
Khichdi with pan-fried okra/bhindi

After I wrote this post, I realize that I've written a very similar post 16 years ago! 

And with this array of home-style Indian dishes, I will end by saying (a day ahead of time)- Happy Independence Day, India!

Tell me how things are in your neck of the woods, and what you are cooking and eating in August 2021.

Catching up on the United Tastes series

In earlier posts this year, I shared about the United Tastes project that my daughter and I are working on, reading and cooking our way alphabetically through the 50 States, starting with the four A states and California and Colorado. Here are the others that we have toured since...

#7 Connecticut: Every now and then, my daughter will ask me to take her to Subway (the sandwich chain) for a lunch treat; it is our little mom and daughter tradition a few times a year. (My husband refuses to step foot into this particular chain restaurant.) It turns out that Subway started in Bridgeport, Connecticut when a student started selling sub sandwiches to earn money for college. So for the state food, we made our own Subway sandwiches. 

I always get the veggie patty sandwich at Subway and that's what I wanted to recreate. The Morningstar garden veggie burger sold in the supermarket frozen section comes very close to the veggie patty that Subway sells. On a toasted sub-sandwich bun, we layered a bit of cheese and the veggie burger, followed by lettuce, tomatoes, onions and picked jalapeños. Finally, I made a knock-off southwest chipotle sauce based on this recipe by mixing a few ingredients that I had on hand- like mayo, yogurt, ranch dressing powder, white vinegar, chipotles in adobo, etc. and added it liberally, and the result was so tasty. We will be making this sandwich again and again.

#8 Delaware: The 8th state of our journey is famous for being the first state of the union. Here in Georgia we claim peaches as our own, but peaches were an important crop in Delaware in the 1830s way before they made their way south as the railroads were built. In fact the peach blossom remains the state flower of Delaware. So we made a snacking peach cobbler cake, with canned peaches, as fresh ones are not yet in season. The peach snack cake came along with us to a park picnic. 

#9 Florida: Florida is our wild neighbor to the South and we have visited beaches on the Atlantic coast there. At some point, I suppose we will make a pilgrimage to Orlando and the theme parks, a mainstay of American childhood. We went all out on the food front and celebrated two iconic Floridian things- Cuban food and citrus. We made lime bars (with regular limes because key limes are hard to find!) using this recipe. I also made vegetarian Cuban sandwiches using Tofurkey vegan "ham", cheese, mustard and pickles, with the sandwich toasted by pressing on a griddle, and washed down the sandwich with a glass of OJ from FL. 

#10 Georgia: This is the state that we have called home for the last 8+ years. During this time we have come to embrace Southern Comfort and to love this state and its people. From mountains to beaches to forests and waterfalls, GA has loads of natural beauty and we love to get out there and fawn over it. As for food, we had endless choices. We eat Southern food all the time. Over here we just call it food! Peaches would have been the obvious choice for the Peach State but they’re not in season yet. 

The universe made my decision easy when Vidalia onions arrived in my CSA share that week. Vidalia onions are sweet onions that are grown only in Georgia and they are the state vegetable. We made a beautiful Vidalia onion pie. (I should have served the Vidalia onion pie with some Diet Coke because, as you probably know, Coca Cola was invented in Atlanta). Georgia is also nicknamed the Goober state so we also enjoyed some boiled peanuts for snack. Peanuts came to North America with enslaved Africans and remain a very important cash crop in GA to this day.

#11 Hawaii is a chain of volcanic islands floating away in the Pacific Ocean, far far away from pretty much anywhere. I mean, their state animal is the humpback whale!! Hawaii joined the US as the 50th state only very recently, in 1959. The word most associated with Hawaii- Aloha- is not Hawaiian slang for “hi”. It is a word with a spiritual meaning; the coordination of mind and spirit within each person. Hawaii is associated with macadamia nuts, sugarcane, pineapple. We made Dole whip, a pineapple soft serve dessert with frozen pineapple and juice and vanilla ice cream (which in my hands turned out softer than soft serve but was still praised by my two kids and a visiting neighbor kid). We also made classic Hawaiian comfort food called loco moco- rice topped with a burger, mushroom gravy and a fried egg. 

#12 Idaho, the Potato State. Idaho is synonymous with potatoes so there was no doubt that this is the ingredient to showcase. Idaho was our state for Memorial Day weekend back in May, the unofficial start of summer. So we made a tub of potato salad with the works (Pickles! Onions! Chives! Celery!) and took it out to a state park for a picnic lunch. 

#13 Illinois! We lived in neighboring Missouri for many years and have visited Illinois several times- my experience can be summarized as lots of flat crop land after which you arrive in the glittering city of Chicago with its great restaurants and museums and the lakefront. We paid homage to Chicago by making deep dish pizza from scratch. It was a half day project and lots of fun- a buttery crust with some cornmeal for tenderness; cheese at the bottom and sauce on top (an upside down version of regular pizza) and baked in a deep cake pan for thick cake-style slices. It turned out fantastic! This was my favorite culinary experience of all the states we have covered so far and I highly recommend this recipe if you are looking for a cooking project. 

#14 Indiana: You know how we often rave about things being “the best thing since sliced bread”? Well, the OG sliced bread- the first pre-sliced bread that was commercially sold- was Wonder Bread from Indiana. The iconic wrapper of this bread was inspired by the colorful hot air balloons at the international balloon race on the Indy motorway. Wonder Bread celebrates its 100th anniversary this year so, well, we bought ourselves a loaf as the food of Indiana. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are THE food of American childhood. I made a back-of-the-envelope calculation that I have made over a thousand PB&Js since my kids were born and will probably make a couple thousand more before they grow up. So we used the Wonder Bread for a PB&J (this was my first and last time buying Wonder Bread; there is much better bread out there.) And for something extra, we made French toast roll-ups stuffed with peanut butter and jelly with the bread.

#15 Iowa. Iowa is a big corn producer and the Midwest does love its casseroles so we made a corn casserole as the state dish, using fresh sweet corn which is in season at this time. It was pretty good. A few interesting facts about Iowa: there are 7 pigs for every human in Iowa. Quaker Oats got its start in Iowa. The house shown in Grant Woods’s iconic 1930 painting American Gothic still stands in Eldon, Iowa. 

If you are on Instagram, I update the project here every week (or two or three; life has been busy lately); feel free to follow along if interested! You will also see pictures of the books we're reading for each state. The next state is Kansas, known to be the bread basket of America. 

How is life going for you? 

Pav bhaji with a very pav-like focaccia, and what I'm reading

A couple of months ago, I heard of a program in our community that delivers food to seniors in need. Someone came up with the idea to add homemade bread to the food delivery as a gesture of love, and asked for volunteer bakers. I volunteered to send two loaves, and decided that one would be sweet and the other savory. I ended up being a cake baked in a bread pan and a bread baked in a cake pan.

This happened back in March, and for the sweet bread, I decided on a pumpkin loaf to use up the last can of pumpkin puree for the season. I found a recipe for easy pumpkin bread that uses a whole can of pumpkin and makes 2 loaves- one to share, and one for home. 

For the savory bread, I wanted to make a focaccia, because it is a versatile bread that can be made into a sandwich, or toasted, or served with soup. I hunted for a recipe with the main criterion being that it would make two loaves, again, one to share and the other to keep.

Finished focaccia

And somehow I stumbled upon this gem of a recipe. The ridiculously easy focaccia- as it is titled- is really, truly that easy. I followed the recipe closely. However, I was able to avoid using plastic wrap, just covering the bowl with a lid and also avoided lining the cake pans with parchment. My cake pans are dark non-stick metal and the focaccia slid out easily after baking. 

Dimpled, bubbly and ready for the oven

This recipe is a total keeper! With no effort at all, I got focaccia that was flavorful, airy, pillowy with all the good hallmarks of pav, being crusty on the outside but soft on the inside. 

* * * 

This weekend I made the focaccia again, as a pav to dunk into pav bhaji. 

My pav bhaji recipe has been a popular one on this blog, and one I've used for years, and I made the same recipe, just in an instant pot, using the saute mode followed by the pressure cooking mode.

1. Saute 1 minced green pepper
2. Add ginger-garlic paste, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder,  pav bhaji masala
3. Add 1 cup of tomato puree
4. Add rough chopped 2 potatoes and 1 medium head cauliflower.
5. Pressure cook for 4 minutes
6. Natural pressure release (or quick release after 10-15 minutes)
7. Mash it up
8. Simmer for a bit to thicken

IP pav bhaji

Serve with onion, cilantro, lemon and extra spice! 
Also butter.

* * *

Some good reads from the last few months-

Three Keys by Kelly Yang. This is the sequel to Yang's middle-grade book, Front Desk, which I adored. Mia Tang is back- a sixth-grader who helps her parents run a motel. This book is set in the 90s and covers the immigration-related political events in California at the time. 

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga. This book was a very thoughtful and unexpected gift. The cover art is gorgeous. 12 year old Jude tells her story- in free verse- of leaving an unstable situation in Syria with her mother and fleeing to her uncle's home in suburban America. With ups and downs, she finds her footing in middle school. A beautiful story!

“There is an Arabic proverb that says:
She makes you feel
like a loaf of freshly baked bread.

It is said about
the nicest
kindest
people.
The type of people
who help you
rise.”

Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. This one is a non-fiction parenting book by my favorite duo who wrote another book that I adore. My two kids are typical siblings in the "can't live with you; can't live without you" style, and it is always nice to find ways to quell some of the sibling drama that inevitably happens. A few of their tips:

Feelings-- Acknowledge negative feelings about a sibling in words and express what the child might wish. Show better ways to express anger but stop their hurtful actions.

Comparisons-- Avoid unfavorable comparisons AND favorable comparisons. Instead describe what you see, what you feel or what needs to be done.

Equality-- Instead of worrying about giving equally, focus on each child’s needs. Instead of claiming equal love, show each child how they are loved uniquely. Give according to need.

Roles-- Don’t lock a child into a role and don’t let the child themselves or their sibling lock them into a role (the bully, the victim, the smart one, the pretty one)

Fights-- In case of physical fights, pay attention to the injured party, not the aggressor.

Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz. Just a good escapist cozy mystery. Or actually, two cozy mysteries in one book!!

Humans by Brandon Stanton. Stanton goes around the world interviewing people. Everyone- absolutely everyone- has a story and Stanton wants to hear it. This book is a collection of some of the photos and stories and it gave me all the feels. Stanton runs a blockbuster Instagram account- here's one of my favorite stories that he has featured- I dare you not to tear up. 

The Noonday Demon by Andrew Solomon. I read this book for a task in the Read Harder challenge: Read a book that demystifies a common mental illness. Solomon has written an absolute tome on depression- part memoir, part investigative journalism, part history. 

How are you doing? What are you cooking and eating?

California rolls, knock-off Hot Pockets, and what I'm watching

In my last post, I introduced the United Tastes virtual travel project that my daughter and I have started, and shared what we made for the four "A" states. Our alphabetical journey continued west from Arkansas to the great state of California, the Golden State. 

California is a state that is golden in many ways- it bears an outsize influence on the culture of the US and the world in general. There is so much to learn and admire about this state and its people. We read three books about different aspects of California history and life. The Camping Trip that Changed America: Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and Our National Parks by Barb Rosenstock is an interesting slice of history and a tale of how a leader's vision helped to put laws in place to conserve some of our outstanding natural resources in the form of national parks. Levi Strauss Gets a Bright Idea: A Fairly Fabricated Story of a Pair of Pants by Tony Johnston is a funny tale of how denim jeans came into vogue in the days of the California gold rush. In First Day in Grapes Book by L. King Pérez, the author tells a story about a migrant child who goes to a new school every few months as his family travels from place to place to pick different types of produce in California.

California food presents us with a number of choices. There is the famous San Fransisco sourdough bread, which is enjoying a trendy moment at this time but is more of a commitment than I wanted to make. The ever popular ranch dressing and green goddess dressing were both invented in California. Other choices were California club sandwiches and mission burritos. But my daughter suggested California rolls and that's what we went with. 

California rolls are a type of sushi, non-traditional but highly popular. They are characterized by being rolled inside out, with rice on the outside and the seaweed sheet inside. Usually they contain crab or imitation crab, but we followed this recipe for a vegan California roll. The other Cali-special ingredient in this roll is avocado. 

California rolls in the foreground and "regular"
sushi rolls in the background

The first order of business was to go to the local Asian store and buy some sushi rice (grown in California!) and roasted nori (seaweed) sheets. I already had seasoned rice wine vinegar at home. To serve with the sushi, I also bought a small tub of sweet pink pickled ginger. 

The vegan "crab" mixture calls for chickpeas, cabbage, carrot, etc. with a dash of cashew paste for creaminess. As odd as it might sound, it tasted really great. 

I made a cup of sushi rice in the instant pot. Then we laid out the "crab" filling, and thin slices of cucumber and avocado. We had fun rolling the inside-out California rolls with the help of a bamboo sushi mat, although they turned out far from perfect in our inexpert hands. Still very tasty, though! For a change, we also made some "regular" rolls using the same ingredients. Funny enough, the rice-out rolls tasted better to me. With the leftover ingredients, I made some sushi bowls the following day, also good to eat and very easy to put together!

It was fun to try something new, and I was gratified that it turned out tasty at the first try. Now I have 5 pound of sushi rice and will have to make these frequently over the next few months. This is good timing, as sushi rolls are a refreshing and light choice during the summer months. 

* * *

From California, we flew to Colorado, the Centennial State. We read two fascinating books about the history of the region- Down the Colorado: John Wesley Powell, the One-Armed Explorer by Deborah Kogan Ray, and The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde by Caroline Arnold. We had the opportunity to visit Colorado for a cousin's wedding a few years ago, and it is such a spectacular place.

For Colorado we considered making a Denver omelet, which is a thick and sturdy American-style omelet (almost a frittata) with onions, peppers and ham. Another choice was to make a batch of trail mix, because I strongly associate Colorado with hiking, climbing and other outdoor adventures fueled by a baggie of trail mix. 

It turns out that Hot Pockets, the frozen microwaveable snacks, were invented by a pair of immigrant brothers in Denver, CO, in the 70s. I've never actually bought or tasted Hot Pockets but this factoid reminded me of the comedian Jim Gaffigan's bit on Hot Pockets, parodying their ridiculous ad jingle. We decided to make our own Hot Pockets for this state's food.

Hot Pockets! 

I found this knock-off recipe, which calls for a quick dough that is somewhat like pie crust. Normally, I would use puff pastry dough or something as a short-cut for pastries of this sort, but this dough came together in just a few minutes. I simply used a bowl, not a stand mixer. I stuck the dough in the fridge while I made the filling- mushrooms sautéed with some onions and garlic, with a bit of tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. 

When we were ready to make the Hot Pockets, I rolled out the dough, sliced it into 8 portions, added some filling + mozzarella cheese to each pastry sheet, then folded and crimped them. The resulting mushroom Hot Pockets were absolutely delicious! The crust was tasty and it would be perfect for samosas. 

* * *

My TV watching time is severely limited these days. I just go to bed as soon as the kids go to bed, and sometimes even before they go to bed! But here are a few good shows from recent months.

Looking around for some light reading, I checked out Tina Fey's memoir, Bossypants, a book that has been on my to-read list for many years. I love Tina Fey's sardonic brand of humor and her work on SNL, and this book was really fun to read. I particularly enjoyed the behind the scenes chatter about 30 Rock and have now started watching 30 Rock on Prime streaming. A great escapist sitcom.

During dinner every evening, we have been watching a couple of episodes of Jeopardy! on Netflix. My husband and I are both trivia buffs. Alex Trebek hosted this show for decades; he passed away a few months ago. I happened to find Trebek's memoirs The Answer Is . . .: Reflections on My Life in the new books section of the library (yes, the library is open again and it the biggest joy to be able to browse again) and it was a very quick and fun read. With little snippets and anecdotes, Trebek shares some moments from his life and from behind the scenes at Jeopardy!

Perhaps the most gripping show I watched recently is Challenger: The Final Flight, a four part documentary series on Netflix on the ill-fated space shuttle mission. The demands of managers and bureaucrats were prioritized over the concerns of engineers, with devastating results. 

Wherever in the world you are, I hope you are safe and well. Please share snippets of your life- what are you eating? What are you watching? 

Chocolate fondue, vacation eats, and the United Tastes

I had some inertia after my last post in Jan that turned into an unplanned months-long break from blogging- chalk it up to not wanting to crack open a laptop in the evenings after cradling one all day for work. As for weekends, they seem to disappear without a trace. Now Spring is here and I thought I would pop in and share some food moments from the past few weeks. 

Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year. We planned a cozy family meal with a special dessert- chocolate fondue- featuring the stereotypical ingredients for that day: strawberries and chocolate. 

My 9 year old enjoyed making these strawberry hearts. As fruit carving goes, these are easy peasy. Lop off the stem, cut the strawberry in half vertically (stem to tip) and carve a notch at the top end to make the heart shape. 

For the fondue, I literally just made a chocolate ganache. 1/2 cup cream, heated until it simmers- then turn off the heat and add 1/2 cup chopped chocolate (I used a mix of dark and milk choc). Let it sit, stir until you have a nice creamy sauce. Serve warm. (Can be gently reheated if it gets too thick).

We served strawberry hearts and chunks of pound cake (store-bought this time) for dipping. Other things that would be nice for dipping include pretzels, graham crackers, bananas, apples- but we kept it simple with just two kinds of dippers. Hand a fork to each diner and let the dipping begin. What an excellent dessert for sharing with the ones you love! I can't believe we haven't done this before. 

* * *

One of my favorite things about the US in general, and Georgia in particular, are the state parks. National parks get lots of attention and kudos and that's great, but the state parks are accessible, scattered around the state and offering opportunities for low-cost, low-maintenance getaways that are a short drive from home. They are perfect for a family with young kids. We don't want to spend time in transit, and we don't need big, splashy destinations. Just a small, splashy destination preferably involving a lake, river, waterfall, ocean or other water body (both my kids absolutely love the water.) 

Earlier this month, we rented a state park cabin for the weekend and spent a couple of days next to a picturesque lake. I packed all the food we needed, and over this short vacation, we were able to go canoeing and hiking and build a campfire for s'mores. And it was all pandemic-safe- forget crowds, we barely encountered any other people. The cabin even had a small private lake beach right next to it. 

Row, row, row your boat

Eating on the porch

The little lake beach next to our cabin

Sunrise from the back porch

* * * 

From real travel to armchair-and-kitchen-travel- My daughter and I have started a project that we are calling the "United Tastes". She owns a book- Greetings From The 50 States: How They Got Their Names by Sheila Keenan, illustrated by Selina Alko. We are visiting each state- ahem, virtually- in alphabetical order, and reading a book or two from each state and making a food from each state. I've been writing about this project every weekend on Instagram; we are done with the first 4 states, all the ones that start with A. This project will take us well over a year. 

We started our journey right next door, in Alabama, and read a picture book about the civil rights struggle in Gee's Bend, Alabama- Belle, the Last Mule at Gee's Bend: A Civil Rights Story by Alexander Ramsey Calvin and Bettye Stroud. We made banana pudding, a Southern specialty by layering vanilla custard with nilla wafers and banana slices. 

Banana pudding

Then we flew North to the vast expanse of Alaska, and made "fish" and chips, that is, frozen Gardein fishless filets and frozen chips, all cooked to perfection in a convection oven. The kids were so delighted by this meal. We read a book about how life (for animals and humans) in the frozen Alaskan landscape is so different from our own- This place is cold by Vicki Cobb. 

"Fish" and chips

Our next stop was back in the South, in the Southwest this time, in Arizona. We learned a bit about the Grand Canyon online (now that's a national park that I do hope to visit someday) and made baked veggie chimichangas- layering refried beans, cheese and sautéed veggies on a large tortilla, rolling it into a burrito and baking until crisp. This was a hit, a solid meal that will go into the dinner rotation.

Baked veggie chimichangas

Last week, we were in Arkansas. We read an Arkansas folktalk set in the Ozarks- Good Morning Granny Rose by Warren Ludwigand made Arkansas chocolate gravy- a sweet version of typical Southern breakfast gravy. I halved the recipe and reduced the sugar, and served the gravy on pancakes. The kids declared that chocolate gravy is even better than syrup. We might have to do this again for special birthday breakfasts. 

Pancake with chocolate gravy

This has been a really fun project so far and next week we will be in California. Any guesses for what we will make?

How are you all doing? What have you been cooking and eating lately?

Blog Post Redux: Make the Ghee, Buy the Paneer

I've been posting on One Hot Stove for about 16 years now. Yep, I've been blogging here practically since dinosaurs roamed the planet. I thought it might be fun to revisit some of my favorite posts from yesteryears. 

Today I am revisiting "Make the Ghee, Buy the Paneer" from March 2013. I started that post saying, "Once in a while, there comes along a book that is downright entertaining." Well, once in a while, there comes along a blog post that is downright entertaining to write, and this was one of those. 

The post centers around the question that every home cook has surely considered. In a world where anything and everything (and many things I could never have dreamed up) can be purchased in a store, should I buy or make any particular food or ingredient? In that post, I listed out things that I buy and things I make, and why. There are 99 comments on the post, counting both reader comments and my responses. Several readers chimed in with their own lists of things that they prefer to make or buy. 

In the post, I predicted, "This list has evolved since I started to cook, and will further change as I go along, I'm sure of it." What has changed for me in these 8 years? I still make all of the things that I used to make back then. But there is no denying that my life has gotten busier since that time.

It is said- Fast, Cheap, Good: Pick Two. Meaning, there are always three competing values of time, money and quality and there are compromises and trade-offs to be made. And truly, life in a nuclear family with two working parents and two young kids (not to mention a needy dog) does not lend itself to an abundance of free time. This past year has been particularly time-strapped as we are try to be playmates and companions to our kids on top of everything else. And so I prioritize getting a hot dinner on the table every evening, and make the extras that give the biggest bang for the buck (or the minute), using convenience foods to fill the gaps. 

Image: Goodreads

After I wrote that post, my dear friend Cathy gave me a cookbook that is written in a very similar vein, The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making by Alana Chernila. This is a beautifully designed book and fun to read. When Chernila addresses the "why" of making foods at home in the introduction, she mentions, "Food made at home will change the way you think about food" and this is such a true and thoughtful statement. Making things at home does make you understand where food comes from and what goes into making it, at a time when we as a society seem to be consuming food products rather than eating food. 

Chernila's book is organized by supermarket aisle, and she provides a few homemade recipes for each aisle. Each recipe comes with a charming story or note, making this book more of a loose cookbook-memoir. I decided to take a tour of the supermarket with her and add my own notes.

Aisle 1: Dairy- Chernila gives recipes for making butter, buttermilk, yogurt and some cheeses like ricotta and mozzarella. 

I make- yogurt and ghee. I generally sub yogurt in recipes that call for buttermilk or sour cream. 

I buy- whole milk for the kids, non-dairy milk for the grown-ups, some cheeses as needed- cream cheese, ricotta, mozzarella, cheddar, paneer. 

Aisle 2: Cereal and snacks- The book offers recipes for granola, instant oatmeal, popcorn, cereal and granola bars, toaster pastries, potato chips, etc. 

I make- granola in large batches. My daily breakfast consists of steel-cut oats which also I make from scratch in batches in the instant pot every 4 days or so. I make snacks like cornflakes chivda, popcorn from kernels and mixed roasted nuts every now and then.  

I buy- some cold cereal to have on hand for the kids (I try to read labels and buy ones that are low sugar and high fiber that the kids will still eat.) I buy tortilla chips which we like as a topping for soups and bowls. And potato chips and other snacks are an occasional indulgence. 

I'd like to make- granola bars more often for the kids. 

Aisle 3: Canned fruits, vegetables and beans- applesauce, jam, pickles, sauerkraut, cranberry sauce, canning tomatoes and beans. 

I make- beans and lentils on a daily basis; cranberry sauce during the holidays.

I buy- cans of beans for last minute meals, Indian pickles and American pickles, cans of crushed tomatoes.

I'd like to make- refrigerator pickles. Quick pickled onions, for instance, are a lovely addition to many meals. 

Aisle 4: Condiments, spices and spreads- The book has recipes for ketchup, mustard, salsa, hot sauce, salad dressings, mayo, hummus, nut butter and a few spice mixes.

I make- salad dressings, some spice mixes like cumin-coriander powder, salsa, hummus, peanut chutney (podi).

I buy- hot sauce, nut butter, peanut butter, mayo, ketchup, mustard, some spice mixes.

I'd like to make- dips more regularly to always have on hand to accompany raw veggie sticks.

Aisle 5: Soups- Chernila gives recipes for stock, lentil soup, pureed soups etc.

I make- all kinds of lentil and vegetable soups.

I buy- jars of stock concentrate. 

Aisle 6: Baking needs and mixes- The book has recipes for pancakes, waffles, cornbread, yellow cake, frosting, pudding, vanilla extract, etc. 

I make- pancakes and waffles, cornbread, cakes, frosting, cornstarch-based vanilla and chocolate puddings.

I buy- a buttermilk protein pancake mix that my husband likes to use to make the kids pancakes on the weekends.

I have made my own vanilla extract once, years ago, by infusing vanilla beans that my boss brought back for me from Zanzibar. Except for that glorious exception, I buy vanilla extract. For the holidays, I treated myself to a big jar of vanilla paste (with the seeds in).

I'd like to make- pancake mix.

Aisle 7: Frozen foods- Chernila describes how to freeze vegetables, and gives recipes for pizza, veggie burgers, fish sticks, chicken nuggets and ice cream.

I make- extra portions of meals to freeze for later, ice cream and popsicles in summer.

I buy- frozen saag paneer boxes as emergency lunches, frozen peas, green beans, spinach, corn; some meatless frozen stuff like meatballs and nuggets. 

I'd like to make- more meals to freeze and stash away.

Aisle 8: Pasta and sauce-  The book has recipes for pasta dough, tomato sauce, pesto, mac and cheese and lasagna. 

I make- lasagna, mac and cheese, marinara sauce, enchilada sauce from dried chiles.

I buy- pesto outside of summer, bottles of pasta sauce for last minute dinners, dried pasta.

I'd like to make- gnocchi.

Aisle 9: Breads and crackers- Chernila offers recipes for burger buns, sandwich bread, tortillas, breadsticks, crackers, etc. 

I make- I rarely get around to making bread on a regular basis. It is an occasional project.

I buy- sprouted grain bread, rolls for the kids, wheat tortillas, corn tortillas.

I'd like to make- bread more regularly! 

Readers were most surprised/irked at my lack of roti-making skills in that post. For many Indian families, rotis (wheat flatbreads) are a number one staple and I did grow up eating them on a daily basis. But in my family here, we don't eat rotis on a regular basis- Indian vegetable dishes and curries in my home tend to be served with rice, or other grains, or just as a stew (think misal with toppings) or with dosa/adai. 

Aisle 10: Drinks- The book has recipes for lemonade, chai, herbal tea mixes, soda syrups, hot chocolate and liqueurs. 

I make- Chai, iced coffee (instant coffee frappes) in summer, hot chocolate in winter, smoothies, and the kids like to make lemonade and limeade on their own. My husband buys locally roasted coffee beans and grinds and brews his own coffee. 

I buy- loose leaf tea, herbal tea bags, instant coffee.

I'd like to make- hibiscus tea. 

Aisle 11: Candy and sweet treats- Chernila gives make-at-home recipes for supermarket favorites like Oreo cookies, Fig newtons, Twinkies, peanut butter cups and marshmallows. 

I make- date and nut treats; cookies occasionally, including almond biscotti, jam thumbprint cookies, cardamom shortbread.

I buy- pound bars of dark chocolate; cookies on occasion.

Your turn: Tell me what you buy versus what you make! 

Welcoming 2021 with lasagna and jigsaw puzzles

2021 has arrived quietly after a year that felt about a decade long. Our little family celebrated New Year's Eve quietly at home with a candle-light dinner. The kids made some decorations with construction paper, and declared themselves in charge of appetizers- they put out a tray of crackers with peanut butter and jam, and some apple slices. I made a big pan of vegetable lasagna.

A friend had made and shared some delicious lasagna over Thanksgiving that we enjoyed, and sent me the recipe- vegetable lasagna, from Cook's Illustrated. With a filling of mixed fresh vegetables, and no-cook red and white sauces, it is a little different from my go-to recipe, the spinach lasagna from Cook's Country, which uses boxed frozen spinach and a red sauce, and some ricotta and eggs as part of the filling. 

I was happy to try this new recipe but of course, I altered it to suit what I had in the fridge (using up some jarred pasta sauce and ricotta) and my personal tastes (cutting down drastically on the cheese). The other thing about Cook's Illustrated recipes is that they can be head-scratchingly complicated at times, and I chose to make the vegetable filling in a simpler way. 

So here's my shorthand version of the vegetable lasagna recipe-

1. No-cook red sauce: I used a bottle of store-bought pasta sauce. 

2. No-cook white sauce: I used ricotta because I had it on hand, some half-and-half instead of cream, 3/4 cup parmesan, 1 tsp. cornstarch, and some minced garlic.

3. Veggie filling: (my easy way) On a sheet pan, toss together 1 diced Italian eggplant and 2 diced zucchini with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven- I use a 400C convection setting for 12 minutes. While veggies are roasting, heat a little olive oil in a large pan and saute a bag of baby spinach with garlic. Mix the roasted eggplant/zucchini and the cooked spinach- this is the veggie filling. 

4. Chopped kalamata olives: about 1/2 cup (we probably used a little more)

5. Chopped/shredded mozzarella cheese: about 1 and 1/2 cups

6. No-boil lasagna noodles- 12 of them

Assemble in a greased 9x13 tray in this order (fractions are portions of the ingredient):

Layer 1-

• 1/3 red sauce
• Shingle 4 noodles
• 1/2 white sauce
• 1/2 veggies
• 1/2 olives
• 1/3 mozzarella

Layer 2-

• Shingle 4 noodles
• 1/3 red sauce
• 1/2 white sauce
• 1/2 veggies
• 1/2 olives
• 1/3 mozzarella

Layer 3-

• Shingle 4 noodles
• 1/3 red sauce
• 1/3 mozzarella

Cover with foil. Bake at 375F for 35 minutes. (Mixture should be bubbling). Rest for 25 minutes before cutting and serving.

On new years' day, in keeping with local traditions of eating lucky foods, we ate black eyed peas amti and collard greens wadi for dinner. 

* * *

In 2020, my daughter and I became jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts and assembled puzzle after puzzle. Little bro also caught the bug- "I'll find edge pieces for you, Mama". Over the holiday break, we had plenty of time to fill (I had two full weeks off from week- can't remember the last time that happened!)- and took on a variety of puzzles. Puzzling can be a wee bit addictive. 

Pokemon collage-style 1000 piece puzzle

Deer puzzle- tough because of the shaped border
and irregular pieces!

Gingerbread houses puzzle- came with different sized pieces
so kids and adults can both enjoy it

Landscape puzzle- 1000 piece

I was never a "candle person" but have discovered this month that a sweet-smelling candle can be a comforting presence in the evenings. Now the kids remind me to light a candle after dinner and it is our cue to wind down for the night with puzzles, books or games. It is a nice addition to our cozy evenings, and we'll especially cling to these simple pleasures over this winter.

Vintage wool shop puzzle- 300 piece

Happy New Year, and may 2021 bring a measure of safety, health, peace and stability to our hurting world. How was the holiday season for you?