CityMama™

Big, big news: We're turning 40!

Bad Kitty and I are turning 40, I mean.

This year.

And we're doing. it. up. as only we know how. By blogging it:

 My husband says he "doesn't get it" which can only mean we're doing something right.

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White bean soup with sauteed lacinato kale and veggies [my way]

This is how I do bean soups:

First I soak the beans over night, then I put them in a pot with their soaking liquid, bring it to a boil, skim any foam, reduce to a low simmer and cook until the beans are tender and most of the water has been absorbed (about an hour). They should be slightly dry and not yet soupy. Sometimes I add a ham hock or a Parmesan cheese rind and/or a bay leaf or two to flavor the beans while they simmer.  Then I remove anything added, season the beans and mash them lightly leaving some whole.

In a separate pan, I saute (in olive oil) whatever I am adding to the bean soup. Tonight it's a sturdy bunch of organic lacinato kale, sweet shallots, lots of garlic, garden carrots, and celery.  I cook the veggies until they are crisp-tender, then I season them as well.

To the bean pot I add more water or broth (3-4 cups) to make them soupy or as in the case of tonight, 3/4 of a box of no-chicken broth, then I dump the sauteed veggies into the soup, heat through, and serve. Don't cook too long or the kale (or spinach or chard or whatever you are using) will loose its deep green color.

Tonight's bean soup will be served with a a sprinkling of chopped fresh rosemary, a drizzle of special olive oil, and for the kids, a shaving of pecorino romano, but it's also wonderful topped with freshly toasted bread crumbs or caramelized onions or even a splash of sherry vinegar. You can even add a cup or two of al dente cooked short pasta to the soup for a warming bowl of pasta e fagioli. I love how verstile bean soups can be, whether "meatful" or vegan, it's always tasty.

Once the beans are soaked, the soup comes together fairly quickly.  It's done in about 2 hours (about an hour to cook the beans + 15-20 minutes to saute the veggies), but you don't have to watch the pot every minute.  Enjoy!

Meal Planning Monday for 3/30/09

Chinese-style ox tail soup with traditional garnishes of grated ginger and cilantro and a soy-sesame dipping sauce (for the ox tails). You have to go to a bowling alley in Aiea to get it and it's so worth it. As they say in the islands, this soup is "winnahz, brah."

We're back from Honolulu and after 10 days of delicious restaurant eating, my tummy is in a funk and I'm wanting to get back to a simpler diet.  Our trip was fun and relaxing once everyone was healthy. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins and the plane ride home was the saddest ever.  Once we all landed in San Francisco the kids wanted to get back on a plane to Hawaii. I wish the cousins (and my brother) lived closer.

We're still on island time so we slept in this morning missing hippie church and the farmer's market hours, so after brunch we headed down the street to our favorite local natural foods store, and stocked up on supplies.  We bought grains and veggies and fruits and this week it's going to be all vegetarian, vegan-when-possible fare.

I baked a loaf of 100% whole wheat (no white flour but with vital wheat gluten added)-honey bread in my new Zojirushi bread machine today.  I've never used a bread machine before.  It was absolutely delicious, but the top came out kinda lumpy and uneven (not smooth like in the photos) and I followed the directions to the letter.  Any experienced bread machine users know wassup wit dat?

The [*] indicates locally grown or sourced items. (Haven't done that for a while.)

• Monday: White bean soup with sauteed lacinato kale* and caramelized onions*, green salad* with strawberries*, walnuts*, and Soy Bleu.
• Tuesday: Broccoli* stir-fry with steamed barley and brown rice*, tofu* salad with red beans, olives, and parsley*
• Wednesday: French lentils with herby* yogurt* drizzle, salad with mint*, tomatoes*, and croutons
• Thursday: Probably leftovers from the above with salad if needed
• Friday Family Movie Night: Take out
• Saturday: Possibly Date Night (not sure)
• Sunday: If the nice weather holds, I'm thinking we'll grill some salmon or halibut (not vegetarian, I know) with a chimichurri-style sauce and a some veggie skewers (the girls like to make--and eat--those).

What are your favorite vegetarian dishes? What fun things do you do with whole grains? Tell me!

Hot Links for 3/26/09

We're still in Hawaii and having a great time now that everyone is on the mend. (My kids do not travel well. At all.).  Here are some things to tide you over until posting gets back to normal.

• Need some blog Botox? Sweetney is your girl. Just take a look at the magic she's worked with  MamaPop and We Covet (as well as her own blog). If you are ready for a blog change, give her a holla.
• Check out my lastest post on Kimchi Mamas: Stuff Korean Moms Like.
• Planting a little seed that Bad Kitty and I are working on a fun, new project...it's going to be mayjah! (At least for us.) If you are "a woman of a certain age" like we are, you won't want to miss it because it's about you, too. April 1...
• I love the Children's Place because I like to dress my girls in cheery basics that don't cost a fortune. The quality is much better than at a big box store, on par with the more expensive Gymboree or Gap. True, some of the clothes are crazy-embellished and some are styled a little too "old" for a 4- and 6-year-old (IMO), but they have lots of tees, tanks, shorts, and dresses that are simply, girly-cute. The bathing suits are especially well-made and sturdy.  We spend a lot of the time in the water during hot weather and these just might last TWO seasons. Sizing runs small (at least for us), so we always buy at least a full size bigger. I've been working with Children's Place since last Christmas and they recently hooked us up with some cute vacation clothes that we'll be enjoying all summer.  Thank you, CP!

Bunny and Wallie at Ko'Olina (Oahu) wearing their favorite colorblock dresses from Children's Place (we bought these.)

Who goes to the ER for a nose bleed? I do.

The vacation so far.

We kept Bunny out of school for a couple of days before leaving for Hawaii last Thursday because she seemed to be coming down with something.  She had a cough and was running a low-grade fever.  On the day we left for Hawaii, she was feeling better and the plane ride over was uneventful until a tray table that she thought she had locked properly came crashing down on her nose as she was bending down to reach for her backpack.

She was sitting a couple of rows in front of me with her cousin and came to me crying.  She rarely does that anymore, and so I scooped her up into my lap and rocked her like a baby while she shut her eyes, held her nose and sobbed.  After a few minutes, she felt better and went back to her seat.

When we landed, I noticed she was looking a little wan, and at the Korean restaurant where we stopped for a quick dinner, I made her a little bed out of three pushed-together chairs and she feel asleep.  The waitresses came over and clucked and fussed over her as only Korean waitresses will do, and found some towels with which to cover her. She didn't want to eat even when her favorite things were placed in front of her.

Somen Salad: A summery taste of Hawaii

This beautiful salad started life as a grouping of composed ingredients in a green heart-shaped bowl. It's then tossed with chilled Japanese somen noodles and a shoyu-sesame dressing.  You can google for your favorite recipe (read them through and you'll get the basic idea), but the basic ingredients remain the same: somen noodles, shredded omelet, pork (char siu and/or Spam), kamaboko (pink and white fishcake). We added daikon sprouts, carrots, and shredded surimi because our market was out of kamaboko.

It's the quintessentially Hawaiian salad—a blend of Asian influences that reflect the beauty of the islands—and I post it in honor of our trip.  We leave this afternoon and I can already smell the sweet, soft fragrance of ginger and plumeria flowers carried on warm trade winds.

Aloha!

Corned beef and cabbage

It was frickin' delicious.

In this economy, love thy neighbor

One evening about a month ago, I received a phone call from a woman who attends my beloved hippie church asking me how I was doing and if I wanted to talk to our beloved minister about any issues relating to the economic downturn. (I realize that's a lot of "beloveds," but this place and the people in it are my rocks.) She was reaching out to all the members of our community to ask if we were facing a job loss or home foreclosure or anything else that might be causing financial hardship. She also let me know about a new group forming at church—the "Recession Riders"—and that its members were planning on weathering the economic storm together.

I've heard people saying that the area I live in is "recession proof." Restaurants are packed, people are out and about doing their thing, but I wonder: when it gets worse, and it will, will this area crash that much harder? How many people in my community are barely keeping it together or putting up fronts or needing help but are too afraid to ask?

Meal Planning Monday for 3/16/09

This is the best kind of meal planning because it's a short week due to (a very much needed) Spring Break. Also, I am getting sick (noooo!!!) so tonight is all about spicy, warming things to eat. Must not get sick before vacation!

• Monday (kind of a hodge podge)—Pork, Garbanzo, Orange, and Chipotle stew, homemade borscht (Bunny has a great book called "Three Cheers for Catherine the Great" which includes a recipe for borscht that I promised her we'd make over the weekend. We never got to it, so tonight we will make it together), salad
• Tuesday—Corned Beef and Cabbage (and Rutabagas and carrots and new potatoes) with spicy, grainy, mustard, homemade Irish soda bread, plenty of beer
• Wednesday—C.O.R.N. (clean out fridge night—probably leftovers from all of the above, will make a pot of rice [Hawaiian Style] to round out the meal)
• Thursday—The girls and I are off to Hawaii for 10 days!  Will try to blog some of the fun meals we have planned there.  Any Hawaii folks want to meet up? Let me know!

What are you cooking this week?  Do you do corned beef or do you skip it? I personally cannot wait for Tuesday night!

Hot Links for Friday the 13th

• Everyone just needs to leave poor Rush Limbaugh alone.  No, really! [MOMocrats]
• Why I love Daylight Savings Time. [Tonic News]
• My bathroom smells like the 80s because I started using this soap again. It's as great as I remember. [Erno Laszlo freebie]
• Don't forget to get your corned beef and cabbage this weekend [CityMama]

Oh, oh and!  I'm giving away TWO Zojirushi bentos and they are the most adorable little lunch containers you've ever seen.  You want these. Get on over here!

Have a great weekend!