It's happening

We are soon to get to eat fruits and vegetables produced in-state, or maybe even down the road! I did a double take when I saw these strawberries today at the first day of farmers market in this little town of ours.

And soon... we will get to harvest from our very own garden! No strawberries from that, but hopefully lots of other goodies.

Meatless Monday: Homemade Pizza

 

Onions and I. We have a challenging relationship. But it's quite a clear-cut 'love-hate' relationship, namely, I love you onions, but only if you are very well cooked, caramelized, and wilted.  Otherwise, I avoid you like the plaque.



Our family has been following the "Meatless Monday" theme for quite sometime now, with most of our Monday dinners being completely vegetarian meals.

The cool rain has returned in Columbus, so I thought making pizza would be appropriate (considering that last Monday was too hot to even eat in the house, let alone cook anything in it).



Our usual topping for a homemade pizza? Anchovies. Yes, you read it right. Perhaps it was love at first sight when my husband and I  shared our first pizza experience together and we both ordered it with the salty, stinky, delicious fish friends. But tonight, my pantry was devoid of the little guys, hence, the attention given to my pseudo enemies: the onions.



Caramelizing  onions is very therapeutic for me. It's like taming an untamed beast. I was in control of its destiny, just to my liking. If you have not done this, oh, you must. It's a treat really, to watch the stiff, eye-watering pungent rings, wilt before your eyes. They become soft, and sweet, and delectable. And so perfect on top of pizza dough, under a thin layer of cheese.



And that was precisely what we had for our Meatless Monday. How about you?

Buddhist Temple (?)

We are still trying to decipher what this place we found yesterday actually is. Clearly, it's a southeast Asian venue. We were told that it is a temple, but the lack of temple-like fixtures made us think twice.

We will report back when we find out more. Intriguing, is it not?!

Summery

I could easily ask what happened to spring? I was just turning up the heat the other day, and today, sweating.



The truth is, however, is that we had spring. We had a beautiful spring, albeit a wet one.

And spring will come back, I am sure, with its pleasant temperatures, its sweet clean air.



Today, however, was very summery. Hot. Humid. Summer all the way.

The Early Garden

I don't remember a recent summer when we were not either planning a move, traveling overseas, or actually moving from coast to coast. I also don't remember having a backyard big enough to have a garden. Not just a garden in pots the way we managed for the past many years. This summer we actually get to transplant our seedlings and directly sow seeds into the ground! It's exciting!



We had been dreaming about this garden since January when seed catalogues greeted us at the door. Looking at plump colorful tomatoes back then felt dreaming about landing on the moon. It didn't seem possible that the frozen ground out back could produce anything at all, let alone a tomato plant, or delicious herbs, or scrumptious peas and zucchini, and spicy arugula.



But Spring did come. It came in vengeance, actually. The warmth, the rain, the bugs. They are all here now, and are here to stay for the next many months. Oh, the fun we will have outdoors!



There will also be many meals outside, with and without the amazing Ohio bugs.  With all the rain so far, we have a feeling that there will be several uninvited guests around here!

Precious Sun

If you have spent the last couple of months in central Ohio, today was a gift. Nothing fancy. Nothing bought or sold. Simply, we got to have the sun, along with the crisp clean air back. For one day.

Spring on the farm

We have a wonderful metro park system around here in central Ohio. One of these parks, Slate Run Historical Farm, is superb.

It is an 1880s working farm that the park has kept it in suspended animation. The workers there wear period clothes. There is no running water, or electricity. The orchards and corn fields along with the animals raised on the farm provide the meat and vegetables. There is a smoke house, a storage hut (where they keep canned goods), an outdoor summer kitchen. It's like going back in time when we visit the park, in the most serene and peaceful way.

The kids had a school field trip there today, and so I tagged along, with my camera. These are just some images I captured, a confirmation that it is truly Spring here, with baby animals making squeaky cute sounds all around!

Easter Flowers

We are celebrating spring here in central Ohio. A rainy spring, with lots of wet flowers all around.



Some are celebrating Easter today, and for the Jewish, it's also been a holy week. For me, I am enjoying these flowers (and the crazy children with crazier teeth!). I am also enjoying wearing skirts again, and a blouse, and no coats (except for the rain ones).



One of these days the sun will re-introduce itself to us. One of these days...!

Happy Spring, Merry Easter, or just a joyous day to all!

Fiddleheads for lunch

Look at these beauties. Tricia, of Edible Columbus, included these spring delicacies into a delicious quiche today.

She might even be sharing her recipe with her readers, soon.

I was one of the lucky ones to have eaten these fiddleheads, after photographing them. Instant gratification, I tell you.

From Bloom to Bust

We were forewarned. When we first moved here last summer, we were told how beautiful the magnolia in the yard will be in the spring. With beauty, however, comes a lot of petals (not unlike fall leaves) to clean up.



Last night, a big storm went through central Ohio. It was the kind of storm that brought lightening, and thunder, and tornado warnings. At three o'clock in the morning.

The driveway, and yard were covered with the magnolia petals when we awoke (reluctantly) this morning.

Another lesson of impermanence. The short-lived beauty of the magnolia blossoms is a great reminder that nothing in life is permanent. Better enjoy it while it lasts! And then remember to clean it all up afterwards.

Naturally Dyed Eggs

With a little patience, and a lot of beautiful colors around from all kinds of things, this is what we have for our Easter eggs this year.

Pretty, aren't they?

Our favorites? The curry powder made the beautiful yellow, the walnut shells made deep brown hue and the pureed blueberries made an interesting blue tone.

There are more white eggs to be dyed...maybe we will explore more possibilities...

Happy Egg dying to all!

Recital

Does every little girl (in America) have to live through recitals with tutus and tap shoes? I sure didn't live through it. We just experienced what we thought was just a fun 'dance class' we signed her up for months ago, turned into a Spring recital. 

Oh there was so much more about this recital than just the cute daisy tutus – so much I didn't know about!

Shall we just leave it at that?

Our own tulip

Our tulips, my birthday presents from Jim and the kids, back in September, are finally starting to bloom. We planted them last fall, in front of the house, and in the backyard. Most other houses have been decorated with their tulips all ready. I am not sure why ours took much longer.



At any rate, I was going to capture the beauty of the tulip's simple elegance, when a little person came over to 'love' the tulip with his hands...

How much better is the tulip with those loving hands! It does look loved, coddled and cherished as compared to the single lonely flower. I think you will agree.

Sushi, at home

It's no secret that our family likes Japanese food. I grew up eating Japanese food at least once a week. It was a tradition of sort, a Sunday dinner with my father after we picked him up from his office (the one time a week that we saw him, it felt like. Busy man that he was...busy man that he still is).

There was a restaurant near by that we would stop for dinner before heading home called Hakata. I still remember its open room, the tatami area where our family tended to sit, the warm white towels offered to us when we first sat down. It's a comforting, almost nostalgic experience for me, eating Japanese food. 



Here in Columbus, we have frequented a few Japanese restaurants, near and far. The kids eat the food with zeal, and we all leave happily full, every time (except for the times when one of us ate just one too many rolls!).

Earlier in the day, we had planned on going to a different Japanese restaurant – one recommended by a Japanese living in Northwest Columbus. We had a hearty breakfast at home, a light lunch at home, and for dinner, I was going to put my feet up and rely on the restaurant to feed (and clean for) us.



Late afternoon came, the kids played outdoors amidst high winds, and torrential rain. They came in for a warm bath; and re-emerged in...pajamas. Wait! I said. We are going out for dinner!

Oh NO, Mommy. We are eating at home! They both protested.


But...we were going to go out for Japanese, remember? Sushi? Unagi? Miso? I tried to stand firm. Those clean dishes didn't need to come out again...until tomorrow.


You can make all of that stuff, Mommy! We don't need to go anywhere! They both looked at me with puppy eyes.

Alright. Yes, I can do it. Where's the sushi roller?



Sushi Rice

Make your sushi rice as normal (we use our handy rice cooker), make about 2 cups of rice.

In a bowl or pot, combine 2 Tablespoons of Rice Vinegar, 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar, and 1 Tablespoon of salt. Heat this on the stove or in the microwave until all dissolved.

Once the rice is done, add the vinegar mixture to the rice. Mix well.

To make the sushi rolls

You will need Nori sheets (seaweed sheets for making sushi rolls), a sushi bamboo roller, and anything that you like to go inside your sushi rolls. We like avocado, cucumber, pickles, mango, roasted eel, crab sticks...

Put the nori on your sushi bamboo roller. Add a thin layer of rice (like first snow falling onto the ground) all over the nori. Put your contents in a straight line on the edge  closest to you (not too much, less is more here). Now, carefully roll the bamboo roller together with the nori, and keep rolling, keeping the contents inside using a firm grip. Roll until you get to the end of the nori, and give it a good squeeze.

Wet a sharp knife under cold water, and cut the roll into bite size pieces.

Serve immediately with a little soy sauce on the side. Wasabi and pickled ginger also welcome.

All Together

After months of waiting, and wishing, and wondering if it will happen again...poof! all the trees and flowers burst out into the world in unison, as if they had planned it ahead of time.



And if you were lying on your back, in our backyard, this is what you would see: petals upon petals of pink magnolia, like a curtain obstructing your view of the blue sky.



It's a fine way to be obstructed, though, isn't it? A welcome sight this time of year. There will be so many more sights like these to share, I think you know that pretty well.

Songkran 2011

Songkran is Thai New Year, always on April 13th, the hottest time of the year. It's a family-time, a time to relax, and visit relatives, and eat a lot of good Thai food.

The tradition also includes splashing each other with water, to cleanse away the previous year's negativity. I have a feeling that this tradition might have a lot to do with the unimaginable heat and dryness of this season in Thailand. Who wouldn't want to cool off a bit?

We did this reenactment when we visited Thailand a few months ago (no, we can't grow tropical plants in Ohio, sadly). It might be warm enough tomorrow for a little splashing, too. But I will let the children do that part of the business. I will honor it by making some Thai food instead.

When the yard gives you violets...

You make cake, of course!



What cake? There is only one cake that is oh so appropriate for these newly sugared violets. It is Molly's Yogurt-Lemon cake, our favorite around here.



Many months ago, in the middle of winter, when the kids flipped through their Nature Craft for Kids book, they begged me to make these candied violets. I agreed, with one contingency: we had to wait for the ground to be rid of snow, and ice, and then maybe we can start dreaming about sprinkling sugar onto violets.



That was before we knew about these little gems that happen to pop up all over our front yard!

Candied Violets

Pick a handful of violets, with stems attached. Rinse well, and dry on paper towel. In a bowl, separate egg white, and with a small brush, cover each violet with the egg white. Sprinkle white sugar all over, and set to dry. Decorate on whichever cake you desire!

The Young and the Old

For five minutes waiting in line at the post office this morning, I peeked into a woman's life, and wisdom.

Two older ladies were behind me, chatting. I missed the beginning of their conversation (they were strangers to each other). I came into this:

"I have an 89 year old mother! She lives with me..." said the African-American lady. "I am 75 myself!"

"Really! I just turned 70. Didn't want to..." said the Caucasian lady. I could see that she came in with a limp, and a cane.

"Why not?!" asked the African-American lady. She was stout, but cane-less, and well dressed (for coming to the post office).

"Oh...I don't want to get old! I want to be young forever!" replied the Caucasian lady.

"I don't! I don't mind getting old. Well...if I could be young again, I would want to be 23. My husband was still around, so were my kids. Life was good."

Then she went on: "Now they are all gone... I take care of my mother now... But ya know, my grandfather lived to be 105, and my grandmother was 95 when she died...so...I have a feeling I will be around a bit more. And that's okay with me, I look forward to it!"

It was then my turn to get help from the postal lady. For the first time in my going-to-the-post-office-life, I wish I had a little more time standing in line, to continue to eavesdrop on these two ladies as they relived their lives, one wanting the past, the other didn't mind the unforeseen future.

But the little glimpse I got from them was just enough to add a spring-of-wisdom to my steps as I walked home.

It's the attitude that counts. Young or old.

Our own Christopher

As in, Christopher Robin, the little boy whose best friend is Winnie-the-pooh. In this case, Pooh is his sister. (Wouldn't it be wonderful if all those characters really were to exist? I would like to be a good friend of Piglet's myself).

It rained here yesterday. Wait, no, it poured here yesterday...a good drenching April shower that hopefully will help grow the May flowers.



Our children, both of them, wanted nothing to do with the indoors. They came home from school, ran right back outside with umbrellas, boots, cups and bowls. They even brought books with them, to read under their 'protected fort'.



They were enjoying the rain the way children are meant to. And despite the mud and the water that came back into the house with them, I would be silly to complain.

Playing with fire

I once spent some weeks in the north of India, in the foothills of the Himalayas.

My host family belonged to the warrior caste, in the multi-caste system dated back many centuries in that part of the world. This is to say that they were considered a middle class family. They were relatively wealthy, as far as Indians go.

The host parents gave up their bedroom for me, the largest room in their house on a hill over looking a gorge. The bed was a mattress on a hard wooden platform. They would serve me Indian tea (with lots of milk and sugar thanks to the Colonial Brits) the first thing I woke up in the morning.

My host mother would have already spent several hours up and about, milking their only cow, making butter and ghee (Indian clarified butter), doing laundry – the old fashioned way. I can't remember how I communicated with her since she didn't speak a word of English. My only translator was her oldest daughter who was in school most of the day, but when at home, she would help around the house, or I would find her knitting socks for the upcoming winter.



The most vivid memory I have from my time spent with this family was, of course, in their kitchen. It was the warmest room in the house, with the most basic essentials. This is to say, there was not a dining table, or chairs, or elaborate cookware.

The host mother was often at a granite counter, chopping vegetables, making Indian delicacies, or making chapatis. We, the eaters, would wait on the cement floor. My host sister was in charge of stoking the small fire pit around which we sat.

What I remember is that what I ate there was far better than any Indian food I had before stepping foot into India. The vegetables were freshly collected from their vegetable plot down the slope in front of their house, and the chapatis were always made fresh. I can still hear the sounds of the flat dough tapping back and forth between my host mother's flat hands. Tap Tap Tap. And then she would put it on direct flame to cook and char it before giving it to one of us.



Those Tap Tap Tap sounds were heard again this weekend, thousands of miles from that small, warm, cozy Indian kitchen. The hands tapping the dough were much smaller, and much less experienced. I recounted my India stories to my family as we prepared some Indian dishes for dinner, probably only half as good as the ones I had in its mother land.

We even made ghee, from our own homemade butter, and Aloo Saag (with frozen spinach). Our ambitious endeavor was well rewarded not only in our tummies. My faded memory is now that much clearer, thanks to the opportunity to relive a fraction of my experience through these foods.

Funny how that works, isn't it?