day 6: soup

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Who woke up this morning thinking, OMG another fucking day?! What are we going to do? Without our homeschool schedule (It is Saturday after all), we are more at a loss than ever. Right now the kids are fighting over a video game. And that’s probably how it’s going to go for the next 4 hours.

I got up this morning and looked in the fridge to find a giant cauliflower that was about to lose its life. So I proceeded to try to teach Mack how to make cauliflower soup, the easy way. I think a lot of parents are taking the quarantine as an opportunity to teach their kids how to do things they normally wouldn’t—cleaning bathrooms, for example. It’s the new version of homeschool or as a friend recently put it “home, work.” See my recent article for some ideas.

So here’s what I told Mack: cut up cauliflower in small florets and add to a big pot of half water, half chicken broth. Cook until cauliflower is soft, about 20 minutes. Puree cauliflower plus about 3 cups of liquid in blender and add back to the pot. Now the fun part: flavor. I usually add some combination of milk/cream, parmesan cheese, 1 tsp of sherry vinegar, onion and garlic powders and salt. Keep tasting until it’s delicious. Then leave on the (turned off) stove all day for everyone to help themselves. *You can reheat in a bowl in the microwave.

It’s not even 11am and half the soup is already eaten.

my version of friday take-out

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For some reason, I cannot order takeout when the rest of the intelligent world would, so tonight's dinner is a result of what was in the freezer/fridge after a week with TWO school holidays, six loads of laundry and a movie about cartoon turtles who fall in love. Eaten silently with a spoon in two identical bowls. And yes I realize they don't really go together and yes, I was too hungry to take pictures so this is a somewhat lame post but actually both were pretty awesome...Michael and Mack ate every last bite. I will make both recipes again. Unless someone orders takeout.


Easy Chicken-Broccoli "Fried Rice"

  • 1-2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove chopped
  •  chicken thighs cut into small pieces
  • 1 bag frozen broccoli defrosted
  • 1 tsps each fish sauce, soy sauce
  • 1 small bag Uncle Ben's parboiled brown rice
  • 1 egg


Heat olive oil and garlic clove in saucepan. Add chicken and cook for 3 minutes then add fish and soy sauces. Cook for 5 minutes and add broccoli then rice. When hot, add raw egg and mix to cook. Season with soy or hot sauce to taste.


Easy Greek Shrimp

  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 garlic clove chopped
  • 1 pound raw shrimp cleaned and shelled including tail (I used bag o' frozen)
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
  • 1/4 cup feta


In saute pan, olive oil and one garlic clove then add tomatoes, tomato sauce and salsa and cook until tomatoes are soft. Add raw shrimp, stir until covered then scatter feta on top. Cover and cook over medium high until shrimp is cooked and feta melted (about 3-5 minutes).

can someone get a sandwich around here?

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Sandwich dinner is many family's cop-out meal. Not ours. For us, sandwiches for dinner turned out to be an emotional journey and a major turning point on our road to better times. Some people don't know this but my husband, Michael, is actually the self proclaimed king of sandwiches. See this post. Our kids however shun sandwiches. Last week Mack ate a few bites of salami and cheese sandwich and Michael was glowing for days.

The idea arose this morning. Me: Nate you've eaten 85 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this summer. Can we try another kind? Nate: no. Michael  "Nate I'm going to make some sandwiches for you to try tonight at dinner," translation: mommy is going to make sandwiches for us.

I bought some new breads and salami, then made egg salad. (It occurred to me that Nate likes hard boiled eggs so what if they were just mashed up?) I'll admit, I was somewhat hopeful that this dinner would change the rest of our lives,

An hour before dinner Nate fell into a funk. I don't want sandwiches for dinner, Don't worry, I said. There are lots of options...." he looked intrigued. "Like hot dogs," I lied. Nate made his way to his room saying he wanted to be alone. I gave him some cool down time then entered to find him crying. I held him, then threw a couple hot dogs in the microwave.

When we sat down to dinner, I was nervous, standing up a lot, making announcements and stopping Michael from saying anything that might ruin my master plan which was anything at all. I quickly spread some egg salad (but refrained from calling it "salad") on a lenders bagel and gave it to Nate, then proceeded to pretend to not care what happened next. Michael made Mack a salami sandwich  and I started to make myself a sandwich when a crazy thing happened. Nate ate the open-faced egg salad bagel and liked it. Next we tried a closed egg salad bagel with toothpicks and he ate that too. I was so excited that I rewarded him with no carrots required AND candy. Michael was pleased. Well done he said.

My theory is that seeing foods that Nate could reject (salami, ham, etc) gave him the leeway to choose something that looked familiar even if in a different form.

Unfortunately neither of us noticed that Mack didn't eat anything and he was up all night, hungry. It was a big cleanup and Michael had to leave early to play tennis in Queens. Looking back I will probably realize what a ridiculous person I have become, with fucked up values and an unhealthy need for my kids to eat well. But for the night, I called it a triumph.

a very bad muffin day

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I took Mack to camp today, all psyched up with a giant backpack of towel, bathing suit, water bottle, extra clothes, lunch box and shoes but when we rolled in, the receptionist informed us that camp starts tomorrow. Fuuuuuck. 

A whole day with no plans, I considered taking Mack on some great big adventure but just didn't have it in me (wasn't that what the last 2 weeks were for??). Mack was complaining that he was tired and wanted to watch a movie so I tried to energize him with a muffin but that turned into a crying fit ("I don't want that one!") so we left the cute organic cafe, balling. On the way out, a guy eating a yogurt parfait at a little table gave Mack the thumbs up. "I know how you feel my man," he said.

So we went home. And here we have stayed. We've both had naps, we've seen a movie, we did art projects with popsicle sticks and glue. We are both sporting numerous Star Wars tattoos and we made these very healthy whole-food pumpkin muffins (my constant dilemma for baked goods - make it healthy... or not). They come from a blogger in Australia on Southerninlaw.com and they are super simple. I made a few changes and I think they are really moist and yummy but as today would have it, Mack decided he didn't like them before they even came out of the oven. 

Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins

  • 3/4 c flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/4C-1/2C honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. In a bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking powder, baking soda, spices and a pinch of salt.
  3. Combine your eggs with the pumpkin puree, applesauce, honey and vanilla.
  4. Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
  5. Bake for 20-30 minutes, depending on size, until a skewer removes clean.

when life gives you cucumbers

I was reading Judith Viorst's Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move to the boys last night. (Michael was at a  disco party in Mamaroneck).  It is the sequel to Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day, and Alexander is still extremely stubborn and his older brothers tell him to "stop being so immature" and then call him "puke face"—which of course greatly appealed to the boys' literary sensibility even though they didn't know what puke meant. "A cucumber face!" Nate said erupting into contagious giggles which sent Mack falling off his bed in hysterics. He heard "cuke face" and I let it go. I was afraid if I corrected them that they would literally never stop laughing and I would never finish the book and they would never go to bed.

Someday I'll tell them the truth.

But coincidentally, at Nate's camp which he will start in a few weeks, the different age groups are called newcomers, cucumbers, pickles, grapes and raisins. This year he will be a cucumber.

And also I bought too many cucumbers at the store this weekend so I made easy cucumber salad: slice and put in a big bowl. Then add equal parts white vinegar and water to cover. Add about 1 tablespoon of salt and 1/2 tsp of sugar per 4 cucumbers. Throw in a bunch of dill (don't bother chopping). Let sit in fridge for a few hours then drain.

the sun will come out

As summer approaches with the speed of lightning, our apartment is back to bright, hot mornings when we all fight for a shady spot at the table. And now we have a new breakfast that mirrors the outdoors. As Mack says, "Sunny-side Schtup." The kids love to break their own yoke and dip bacon or toast into it. Today Mack said: the sun is coming out from the clouds. Outside and on our plates!

slow cooker plays steamer

Last night was my first attempt to use the slow cooker as a steamer. Huffington Post wrote about this technique and Grant Achatz opened up about his love for the crockpot in Food & Wine Magazine. (Achatz even uses one in a prix-fixe as a departure from all the fancy and precise dishes -- the actual container is served at the table for a family style dish). Even The New York Times is in the conversation.  It's happening: The Slow Cooker Revolution phase 2.

The most creative and sophisticated way to steam via crockpot is to create a flavorful bed for the food. Lemongrass or herbs can work for fish or vegetables and will impart added nuance to the dish. I didn't have either  and after trying to rig up something with bamboo sticks, I decided to just use my steamer—that flimsy red thing below—that fit perfectly in the cooker. I went super simple-an inch of water and raw asparagus lying on the red steamer. (There is a "steamer" button on the slow cooker but I don't know what it does exactly...must look that up!) So I just set it to high for 30 minutes: 15 to heat up and 15 to steam. It worked pretty perfectly. Asparagus was cooked but still firm. I transferred it to a plate and topped with some diluted cheese sauce I had made for the kids Mac and Cheese and parmesan cheese. Huge hit with Michael and, of course, Mack!

One more thought: could the slow cooker also sous vide? Does it hold the liquid at a reliably steady and low enough temperature...The Huffington Post explored that too (why is the HP so schooled in the slow cooker??!) and suggested that it CAN be done if you are a supersonic engineer that could rig a DIY temperature controlled device to the slow cooker wires. Um, no.

the mommy chef who saved dinner

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My Brooklyn Based article about chef Paula Hankin and her ideas for feeding picky eaters.

 Read here

cheese sauce

My favorite veggie dish growing up was cauliflower with cheese sauce. I tried to make my own version tonight, steamed cauliflower with nouveau-trashy cheese sauce.

nouveau-trashy cheese sauce

  • 1 can “healthy request” Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup
  • ½ cup milk
  • ¼ cup chicken broth
  • 2 slices American cheese torn into pieces
  • ½ teaspoon yellow mustard
  • salt/pepper

    simmer and whisk until smooth and hot (about 10 min.)

farmer's market pasta

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This picture is misleading.

The tomatoes don't figure prominently in this dish. But they are what I am most proud of about this recipe because they were entirely my invention.

This is how I usually decide what to make: 1. Have a general idea in my head 2. Do a lot of research on sites/books I trust. Like a lot. Probably too much. 3.Think about it for awhile. 4. Look in my fridge. 5. Put all materials away and make my version.

So for this one, I read several recipes about broccoli rabe sausage pasta and then made this one up based on what I bought at the farmer’s market (turkey sausage, mustard greens, kale) and the fact that Mack somehow put two boxes of cherry tomatoes in our grocery cart without me seeing them. (He obviously thought they were balls. He loves balls so much! It's almost weird. )

Anyway, since tomatoes aren’t even in season I knew I had to do something to concentrate their flavor which is why I crushed the hell out of them, reducing them to a sticky, quite tasty, pulp.

Farmers Market Pasta

  • I pint cherry tomatos
  • ! tbsp oliveoOil
  • ¾ lb sweet turkey sausage
  • 1 head mustard greens
  • 1 small head kale
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 small yellow onion
  • 1 lb Rigatoni
  • 1 c parmesan
  • ¼ c cream
  1. Heat olive oil in pan over med-high heat. Add tomatoes, cook for 10-15 minutes to soften. If they start to burn, turn down head. Use a wooden spoon to squash them down and release their juices. Turn to low and let them for another 10 minutes. Mash and scrape them some more until you have a loose paste.
  2. Blanch greens for 4 minutes then shock them in ice water.
  3. Cook sausage (out of casing) until almost brown (5-10 minutes). Add onion, cook for 5 minutes, and then add garlic. Cook for 10 minutes adding some water if dry. Add greens. Cook for a while adding water if needed.
  4. Cook pasta reserving 1 cup cooking liquid. Add pasta to sausage mixture along with water (1/4 cup at a time) to make it saucy. Add ¼ cup cream and one cup cheese. Serve.