I Can't Stop Eating This

It's so darn good. My enjoyment of it is kind of scaring me. Have I been eating cardboard by accident the last few weeks? Anyway, the pursuit of ricotta-using recipes (b/c of my rather large jar sitting in the fridge) led me to an old Real Simple magazine that had some, you guessed it simple but yummy recipes for the grill.

Enter grill. I don't have a grill. But I DO have a grill pan thanks to my recent trip to Beijing... which means IKEA. I am also a little concerned about my level of excitement about this grill pan. It really doesn't grill food-- but it leaves cool grill lines on them and that excites me. My inner artist just loves the way it looks. 

Anyway, I really hope if you read this that you will try this lovely, fresh, summery meal. I'm so in love with it I might need some accountability. I've eaten it for lunch for several days straight now and can't wait to share it with my man who is coming home TONIGHT!!!

grilled bread with zucchini, ricotta, and basil 

(originally published in Real Simple July 2009)

4  thick slices country bread

2 Tablespoons olive oil

4 small zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise

1 cup fresh basil, leaves torn (I used dried, but added some fresh spinach)

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Kosher salt

1 cup fresh ricotta

Heat grill to medium high. Brush bread with 1 T. of the oil and grill until golden and crisp, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to plates.

Grill the zucchini until tender and slightly charred, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Toss in a large bowl with the basil, pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, and remaining T. of oil.

Top the bread with zucchini mixture and ricotta.

note: I think the bread is kind of important... use a good, tasty country bread. I added tomatoes which was so fresh and colorful.

Palette's are not for Palate's

We are getting near the end of my list of things to do with the kids while Daddy is gone. A morning of color mixing and canvas swiping seemed like a good, let-keep-the-kids-well-rounded idea.

 I even hired babysitters to take the little Scout out in order to ensure a pleasant experience. Minutes before they came to pick her up, I set the previously unopened canisters of acrylic paint out on the table and walked away to get some water... only to minutes later hear my thrill-seeking toddler hacking and coughing as she slathered yellow paint all over her tongue and lips. Oh my sweet crazy child. I rung and rinsed her out like a dirty dish rag over the sink and she seemed to recover fine. Then I shooed her out the door with her faithful guardians, hoping she didn't smother her face in dog poop or jump over the railing or some such nonsense in her absence.

Then it was on to the mini-Picasso's.

In the end we had a self-portrait, the universe, celebration of turning 4, spaceship flight, and more celebration of turning 4 (someone's birthday is tomorrow).

Eeking out the summer :: getting wet helps

Just when I think I can't answer another "mom, what can we dooo?", the beautiful, magical gift of water saves the day. My favorite activities are ones that require little planning, no money, and keep the kids happy for a good length of time, preferably out of doors. Water enters the picture here and it can do wonders for a small, second floor patio, a low tide at the beach nearby, or even an afternoon haircut (who doesn't love getting their head massaged with warm cascading water and bubbles!). 

In the last couple days I've been thankful for the many moments this simple element has brought us. We've worked on our aim in tide pools while sidestepping crabs and other water lurkers, we've washed windows with mops and played slip n'slide on our porch, we've made buckets of green tea and who knows what else (with water and a pile of dishes... our salad recipes have no rival to these kid's concoctions) and all with something as simple as water. 

On one of these days I was reading in the UNICEF kids book about the water shortage in much of the world, and it struck me as we splashed and poured and let the water run through our hands as though they were rivers of sparkling silver coins, that our somewhat ignorant play is very fortunate indeed.

Easy Cheezy :: Ricotta Making

One of the wonderful things about living in China that is also one of the trying things about living in China is the lack of cheese. They don't eat it here and so anything we find is imported and thus expensive... and the options are limited. So delights like fresh mozzarella and ricotta, or varieties of blue and feta are not readily, and some of them never, available. 

But the more I learn from others and from some of my reading, the more I would love to make my own cheese anyway! Many kinds require rennet (the lining of a cow's stomach... who comes up with this stuff?) and milk that has not been ultra-pasteurized-- more items that are hard to get here. But Ricotta does not require either of these things and is pretty easy for a first timer.

The recipe is simple. You can also find a similar one here.

I used: one gallon of milk

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/3+ cups of distilled white vinegar

nylon stockings (never worn... just so you know)

Heat the milk to about 180-185 degrees, near scalding temperature, just before it comes to a boil (use a thermometer if you can). When it reaches that temp, turn off the burner and add vinegar, stirring for one minute. Add the salt. Curds will form. Cover with a dry clean dish towel and let it sit undisturbed for a couple hours.

Ladle out the ricotta curds into cheesecloth lined colander, or stockings if you don't have cheesecloth! Let the colander rest inside a large bowl to allow draining. Let drain for two hours or so.

And oala! you have ricotta. Place in a sealed container and refrigerate for up to about seven days.

Make sure to use whole milk. You can vary the salt amount depending on what you are using it for and your taste. I think I would add a little more next time.

Now for some ricotta recipes. It's been so long since I've used it that I forget what to make with it! You all did great with suggestions for salads... any ideas for ricotta? And I'm keen to learn some more cheeses so let's hope there's more of this in the future.

summer salad inspiration

I talked to my dad this morning about his burgeoning garden. The produce is starting to come in like a tidal wave, threatening to take over the counter tops, freezers, wheelbarrows, anything that can be filled with lettuce and spinach, broccoli and cauliflower, onions and peppers, and loads of blackberries. Soon to come will be garlic, tomatoes, snow peas, muskmelon and next year... asparagus. 

I wish I could run over to the backyard of my childhood, leaping over the peeling picket fence, and lie down in all that warm dirt and fragrant produce. I wish I could hike back through the freshly cut grass with him in the early evening light and pick a fresh salad and bowl of berries. I wish I could string up all that garlic and hang it from the timber rafters in my kitchen (I don't have timber rafters in my kitchen).

I can't do any of those things, but I love that way over there in the middle of the armpit of America, my dad is doing dirt work, following in the footsteps of man since the dawn of time, cultivating food from the earth. 

All this talk of lettuce and radishes, colorful sweet peppers and homemade cheese (hopefully in the next few days) is making me salad inspired. I keep running into them everywhere... pictures of leafy greens piled high with grapefruit and walnuts or goat cheese and cranberries... I can't even remember all the combinations but I know I want to try them ALL and summer is the perfect time to do so. 

I'm going to try a new salad combination as often as I can, with the available ingredients here in my seafood loving city, and see how long the inspiration lasts. If you know of any unique, favorite or summer-terrific salads... or food blogs, please share!

Beijing and Back

Sometimes we will do anything for love. There are songs about it... climb mountains, swim through rivers, travel great distances, endure great hardships. I merely flew by myself with three kids, but it seemed at moments like an incredible sacrifice. Regardless, as Pa Ingalls likes to say at the end of every death-defying Prairie-almost-burnt-down-our-house-and-the-natives-stole-my-cornmeal-circumstance, "all's well that ends well."  And outside of wrestling my head-strong toddler for hours on end in a confined area (that we are so blessed to be able to afford and access!), the trip was all kinds of wonderful. 

We stayed with some wonderful people who have a special gift of hospitality (you know who you are and I love you!) and I come away learning a lot about inviting others into your home by watching them. My children received some some serious Daddy-time which they soaked up and he seemed to as well. They also were blessed by our hosts who are like automatic grandparents... they just seem to know how to naturally love on and connect with kids. There were chores and books, baking and treats, balloons and little trips. It was so sweet and special for my kids who miss their grandparents sorely and it was one more way we were made to feel right at home. 

Then there was the Backstreet. You can spend a lot of time there if you want when you stay at this house in Beijing. It's just a line of little restaurants, lining up their charcoal grills every night to start cooking up chuars (meat on a stick) and other authentic goodies. We found a little muslim place at the end of the line that served delicious meat, grilled bread, noodles, and simple veggies, and we ate there several nights. This little girl was playing quietly with her chopsticks after dinner on our way home, happy to look imploringly at me as I snapped her photo and showed her the result. 

When we returned home last night, Skills announced that his dream house would have a backyard and a pool inside (neither of which this house had, but we did go swimming, and they do have a patio area in the back instead of a  20 foot drop off like at our apartment). 

We all miss Daddy again. My inspiration seems to have left me and my patience might have gone with it. Could that have something to do with my sweet little thing looking like THIS a lot lately?

pride goeth before the pictures

It seems only right to follow up a post on pride with tons of pictures of my beautiful and talented children. I would post pictures of your beautiful and talented children, if only I had them. But it seems all I have is ones of mine. A ridiculous amount of them. What does one do in the age of digital cameras when you can click and click and click and pile them all into your computer without spending a penny? Even after weeding out, they still pile up like a stack of  kindergarten papers, meaningless and and superfluous except that they hold a scrap of his work, a scrape of his pen, a stroke of his artistic or literary genius beginnings. Why can't I just pick out that one representative piece, that perfect moment that encapsulates all the myriad of moments that lie there stacked and collected and begging to be let go?

I can. I will. Before I do though, I will throw them up all over you and this space that begs to be filled with narcissistic behavior. Some of which include talking about myself and showing pictures of my family. What would Jack say??

My friend who is an amazing photographer is doing this thing on her blog called Dog Days where she takes a photo ever day this summer, cataloging the days that can seem long and challenging when you live in a city with not much to do and little ones who don't have off switches. I think that is a lovely idea. I don't know how fully I can join in, but maybe once in awhile, or once a week. Today our "exciting" activity was playing in the little fountains down the road from our apartment.

Tomorrow the exciting activity is heading to Beijing for a long weekend to visit the Man! We started packing at about 7 am this morning and some of us were so excited, we asked to "pack all day long." But since we're only bringing one bag we soon discovered that was not a very feasible idea.