Dinner. (A.K.A. Delighting in Disaster)

While it is certainly improving, rare impossible is the moment in my house when everyone is simultaneously seated, still, focused, and pleasant. Evan and I wish we could have such moments, especially at meals, more often. While the blogging world seems to magnify mostly perfection and that one perfectly panached cupcake, I often wonder how often they are just displaying their one percent.  In my life, at least, that is the way it seems to be. (In case you were wondering, frosting is, in fact, my complete nemesis). Meal times certainly have their share of stress. Even when we try and calm minds with a prayer, two kids are bickering before it even begins, then admonishing at high decibels because the other feels that they did it wrong. Someone is sneaking food. Someone is sneaking boogers. We are snarking. One son is walking around the table in circles incessantly, drinks are spilled, food is spit, someone doesn't like sauce or food touching or anything green or how the chicken is cut--Oy!

Oddly, this ritual is desirable. Even when it is a mess, it is mine. After an especially intense and lengthy season of our lives with grad school and too much work, and too many late hours, I admire that we try hard to have dinner together as often as possible. (Did you know that only 28% of Americans had dinner together seven days a week in 2003?). This table, where I can look simultaneously at the three faces, who in only moments are outgrowing my lap, is my treat. These tinies are my terroir; my land and my soil.

Unsurprisingly, there may be much to be learned from how the french create and even sanctify family dinner. In French Kids Eat Everything, I love the Food Rules. In a conversation with her friend she is reminded that north americans only see food as a commodity or fuel and consume it constantly and unmindfully. They live to eat rather than eat to live. Living in it's broader and best sense, of course, means hearing, enjoying, tasting, experiencing, fellowshipping.  But, really, how probable is all that with three small children?

In the book Karen Le Billon makes the assertion that the French never eat without putting a tablecloth on the table. She describes the joy of getting the table "dressed" and says that doing so and lighting candles has a "hypnotic effect on (the children) who spoke in hushed tones throughout the entire meal." In my own house it is also true. The kids are much more eager and attentive when they get assigned to "make the table more beautiful"  If they must put the silverware on, they also love adding adornments of candles or flowers. They love making celebrations, having feasts, preparing picnics.

We have also been playing little games at the table that nurture quietness and attentiveness to the words of others. Sometimes it is "bat ears" where one person has to whisper and everyone else cups their hands over their ears facing outwards to catch the whisper. Sometimes we also play telephone, passing silly phrases from one to the next. In small ways these games help us capture little bits of silence.

I'm working harder at savoring, not scorning, all of the moments and even the mess because, as I'm also reminded while it is too easy to just see food as fuel, it is also a love story.

Lately our seeds are started and we are waiting about six more weeks for our garden to start producing. Meanwhile here's one night's worth of dinner.

Salad

• shaved carrots
• fried shallots  $1.00
• mixed greens 3 cups $3.00

Roasted peppers with polenta

• 1 red pepper $1
• two corn cobs $2.00
• 2 summer squash $1.50
• 4 large carrots $1.00
• sun dried tomato polenta make your own $0.75

Pesto

• 0.75 lbs of pecans $4.50 (Checking pine nuts in the store this week, they were up to $20/lb. The pinion trees are facing some harsh realities).
• 6 large handfuls of basil (free from garden or indoor pots) or $4.00
• 0.5 cups olive oil $0.50
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast $0.50
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Total cost: $19.75
Price per person: $3.29

Mix pesto first by combing all ingredients in a food processor.

Shave one carrot for the light salad. Cube the remaining carrots, squash, pepper, and corn into chunks. Set broiler to low and cook pepper and corn for 7 min and squash and carrots for 15 or until they come out slightly blackened.

Dice the scallions. Next pan fry the scallions until crispy and the polenta in 1/4 inch slices for 4-5 mn each slide with pesto in pan halfway through.

Serve the pesto cold on top of the hot polenta and vegetables with the salad greens and scallions on the side.

Enjoy!

PS: What ways have you found to make peace at your table?

Stone Soup Rocks!

New development. Starting in August, we have been homeschooling around here. My newest hat is first grade teacher. There are many reasons why this made sense for us right now. I'm sure I will bore you with all of them soon enough. It is more demanding, but also more rewarding then I ever thought possible. So, a ladle of some of what I am enjoying the most? Those impromptu lessons that you can savor right out of books. Those connections from fresh food to fork. Using dangerous appliances and sharp objects. And watching some little boys cooking and taking ownership over that domain.

A few days ago the boys were begging me to read our antique copy of Stone Soup. Many versions of this story exist, but the one we have with the most comical illustrations is by William Furstenberg and Hans Wilhelm.

If you have never heard of this story it is a morality tale all about how all the people in the town are too greedy to share their surplus of food with some unexpected traveling guests because they fear those which they do not know. (Where else do we begin making peace then around our own tables?) The guests outsmart and guilt the greedy and piggish (pun intended) townspeople into bringing out all their stores of food from the ridiculous places they have hidden them, inside the cupboards, in the well, under the bed. . So one by one the concealed items are brought forward and plopped into the water and the cooperative effort ends up making, of course, soup.

My kids love this story. And it's a punchy lesson for grownups too. So on that day, THE KIDS decided to make up their own recipe for Stone Soup. (Mama helped, a wee bit). And it just so happens to be quite frugal, so we thought we'd include it here.

In a large crock pot add:
A handful of smooth well washed rocks (a crazy paranoid science mom, who checks those things, says don't include any of these... because I am sure that you keep piles of asbestos in your kitchen).

• 2 tsp of salt
• Pepper to taste, but leave out the pepper if you are seven 
• 3 Tbsp of rosemary ~ $0.50
• 4 Tbsp of oregano ~ $0.50
• half a cabbage ~ $1.00
• 4 diced carrots ~$1.50
• 1/2 a white onion ~ $0.75
• 5 diced potatoes ~ $1.75
• 1 lb of cured ham ~ $5.50
• 2 cups of whole milk or cream ~$0.74

Enough water to just cover all the ingredients. Set to cook on lowest temperature. When 30 minutes to hour is left add the milk or cream.

We just cooked our rocks in our soup. If you are sneaky or paranoid you can "magically" take the rocks out while the kids aren't looking and use a separate pot. My kids were really convinced they would, and rather disappointed when they didn't, melt. But, nevertheless, they still cooked and ate with atypical zeal!

For a yummy addition check out these honey breadsticks.

• water
• 3 Tbsp honey ~ $0.66
• 2 Tbsp of olive oil ~$0.20
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour$2.56
• 3 tsp of yeast ~ $0.50

Fresh homemade butter for serving: $2.25
Serves 8. Total = $18.41
or  $2.30/ person

Zuppa Tuscana (or Soupa Oklahoma) with fruit compote

Swiss chard wins most hardy plant in my garden this year, despite snails and cabbage moths in abundance and very inconsistent watering. I put it in the ground in February and it is still growing strong.  Hurray for my stems of steel! I also love the way it looks, the way it flutes like flowers overflowing in a bouquet. And when my children kneel next to it, and it grows above their heads, it reminds me of the painting by Diego Rivera of the girl with the calla lilies.

Diego Rivera. 1941. Flower seller, girl with the calla lilies.

Breakfast in bed, a jar of happiness

Remember those glorious B.C. (before children, as we like to call it) days of lounging in bed, sleeping in very late with your partner for hours on a weekend morning? No? Well, me either. Not really.

One of the greatest cruxes of our marriage is that one adores and the other abhors sleeping in. This, as you have probably already discovered, along with other essentials like what temperature you are going to keep the thermostat, who is going to take out the recycling, whether you are going to have an alternative fuel vehicle, is probably the real stuff that should be in prenuptial agreements. Fortunately, one of us is also warm bodied so the other reptilian soul is usually coerced into lingering a little longer. And nothing makes that quite as sweet as breakfast in bed, pulled together really quickly in your jammies, before your feet get cold.

I had these kind of romantic moments in mind when thinking what to give an old friend as a wedding present. So I gave her breakfast in bed, in jars. Some mason jar scones, homemade jelly. If you want to do more you could add some summer sausage or a sweet cheese like almond cheddar or blackberry wine cheddar or directions on how to make clotted cream, or a gift certificate towards a membership with the Oklahoma Food Coop. And if you like wrap it in an antique handkerchief or a blue ribbon. 

Mason Jar Blueberry Oat Scones

• 1 tsp baking powder $0.05
• 1/2 baking soda $0.05
• 3/4 cup oat or wheat flour $0.23
• 3 tsp Energ Egg replacer (not local) $0.12 (or omit this and just add 2 real eggs when making the recipe).
• 3/4 cup finely ground corn meal $0.75
• 1/4 cup sugar $0.36
• 1/2 c. powdered milk (not local) $1.92
• 1/4 cup of dried blueberries $0.82

 1/4 cup of water

• 4 tsp Scrumptious strawberry spread $0.90

Mix the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, and egg replacer. (Energ egg replacer is a great substitute for eggs in most baked goods and is useful when you have run out of eggs, are cooking for friends with allergies, or trying to make a dry mix). Use a funnel to put this in the bottom of your sterile mason jar. Pack tightly down with a spoon. Then layer the cornmeal, next the sugar, next the powdered milk then the dried fruit on top, remembering to pack tightly after each dry ingredient layer. Put in a quart mason jar.

To prepare mix with 1/4 cup of water then add 1 tsp of water at a time till it is moist enough the dough can be shaped into circles or triangles but is not goopy. (Or if you add too much water just make muffins)!

Bake at 375 for 12-15 min.

Makes 6 large scones.
Total: $4.90

**********
Serve with:
3/4 lb Turkey sausage $4.49

Clotted cream 
3 oz fresh cream  $0.94
pinch of salt

I think that this cream from the Oklahoma Food Coop will work best because it is not ultra pasteurized and this allows the cream to clot better.

The night before put sausages in a crock pot and cover with water.

Then set a shallow baking pan with a lid on top. Add water to go up the inner pan halfway. This creates a double broiler. Pour your cream in the inner pan and cover with inner and outter lids. Set your crock pot on low all night. When you wake up to put the scones in the oven you should be able to scoop the buttery cream off the top (save the remainder for another recipe) for your scones.

Total: $10.63 or $1.77 each

Scrumptious strawberry spread and participating in the 2012 Urban Farmbook Challenge

Ok, so you are perhaps a little interested in also creating a Farm City, or you wouldn't be here. A few weeks ago I stumbled across this really rockin' blog called Sustainable Eats and the Dancing Goat Garden communal project that outlines some brilliant baby steps towards sustainability. Currently as part of their endorsement of the Urban Farm Handbook, they are having a 2012 challenge of little tasks you can do each month to feel like you are saving the world. I signed up, intending to just carry over through 2013. The August tasks, that are being expanded into September are all themed around putting up food. It is something I may be becoming infatuated with. So here is one recipe I made that I wanted to share with you.

A simple supper: light fried zucchini, applesauce, and spicy nuts

Some of my earliest and best memories are watching my grandmother cook in her kitchen. Somehow she is the best and, perhaps perplexingly, skinniest southern chef I know. Every meal there were fresh pies, bread, cakes, cookies, or other delightful treats streaming out of the oven. She can take any three ingredients and make something delicious, five and it will be a feast. She is also super savvy and clips coupons for everything. She can tell you the lowest price to get zucchini or any other single item on any given day in three counties.

But one of my favorite things still is her pan fried zucchini or squash. It revels the crispyness of french fries but with an added sweetness. At her Oklahoma house there was always a big garden some country kin or friend was always coming to unload more of their surplus zucchini, as if she didn't have plenty already. So she sliced zealously and stored extra battered squash in the freezer to use throughout the winter.

To me a plateful even by itself is a delightful dinner or it goes with just about everything. So here is a super simple super.

Peach butter, peach ginger chicken, mustard green beans, baked apples

After having a kitchen filled with freshly picked peaches something had to be done with them immediately- eekk! Peaches have a zero tolerance for shelf life so I decided to do some canning. My childhood fears of monitoring an ancient pressure cooker that I was told (nonchalantly) had actually exploded, are certainly not the whole story of canning. Water bath canning is actually pretty easy. Phew, what a relief.

This is a two-part recipe. But so easy, I promise.

Crock pot peach butter with ginger and mint

(c) Can Stock Photo