Cream of Mushroom soup

I have made this soup 2 weeks ago, just before falling sick. It had been a spur of the moment, what-do-I-have-in-the-fridge kind of thing. The result however, was gold. A definite keeper. Easy, economic, good-looking and delicious ( Sounds like a personal add now that I re-read this), this soup is soooo much better then your regular salty, chemical, canned c^%p. A crowd pleaser.

Cream of Mushroom soup

1 Tbsp Canola oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
300-350 gr sliced white button mushrooms 
4 small potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
2-3 cups boiling water (depends how thick you like your soup. It is always possible to add more at the end so don’t over do it)
1/3 cup cream (the fat percentage is up to you, I use what I have on hand)
Salt and Pepper to taste
a handful finely chopped parsley

Heat the oil and butter in a small pot and saute the onions for several minutes, until soft and transparent. Add the mushrooms and cook together on medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add potatoes, soy and water, lower the heat and cook until the potatoes are well-cooked. Blend soup until creamy with a blender stick straight in the pot (go get one, we’ve been through this before. you NEED this gizmo) Add salt a pepper to taste, your chopped parsley and cream.

This soup looks handsome decorated with a dollop of sour cream and some more chopped parsley.

Back from the dead

So last week we took the plane southbound to visit the grandparents. The plane ride ordinary, as much as ordinary can be with a toddler and a three-month old on board. The toddler threw a few tantrums, the baby slept. Then the toddler threw a tantrum and the baby slept some more. The baby ate and the toddler threw a tantrum. The baby was changed, then immediately put his new diaper to good use while the toddler – you guessed it- threw another tantrum. All in a day’s work.

 Although sufficiently exhausting, it is not the trip that kept me from blogging these last few days. For this you can thank a particularly nasty specimen of a throat infection. This one was not your ordinary “I don’t feel so good” garden variety bug like the one we had as a house guest the week before last. This was the real deal. I was leveled to the ground (ok, to the bed) with a temperature of almost 40°c  for nearly a week. Completely out of commission. My usual cheery drill- Sergent efficient self (stop laughing honey) reduced to a word slurring door mat. I got more bed rest than after giving birth. Acute Tonsillitis the doctor said. Charming , but I would have thought more along the line of  “Everything hurts-so-much-I can’t think straight-metal-shards-in-my-saliva-somebody please shoot me-llitis”. Slightly more informative and user-friendly.

I am happy to report that my prescribed horse pills of antibiotics are doing their trick. I am back.

So how was your weekend?

I wish I could tell you we went to Disneyland. Or camping/swimming/ice fishing.  But noooooooooo, we had to stay home. All weekend long. And I wish I could blame the kids. ”no, the kids are sick again, I’m so sorry but we won’t be able to make it”, but the truth is that they are the epitome of health. The adults are the problem this time.
Here,  I’ll break it down for you: Papa goes to work + papa socializes too much with the hospital staff = Papa contracts germs. Papa then comes home + Papa kisses Mama =  Mama contract’s papa’s germs. Papa and Mama get sick. And they lived smuttily ever after.

I don’t know about you but when I am sick, my usual need for TLC quadruples. Is lying motionless on the sofa while being served head to toe really too much to ask? (the pink cover please honey, no, this one is too small..no honey, my tea is not warm enough, can you please microwave it for me again? and where are my cookies?). The obvious answer (just in case you were wondering), is Yes. You just can’t tell a newborn and a toddler to take care of themselves because mommy and daddy are sick (anyway, they are too short to reach the microwave). So we pulled it together and played house, hoping the 2-year-old won’t play too much with the growing piles of kleenex. Sometimes I think that we will just have to burn this house instead of disinfecting it. Much easier.

Rice with nuts and fruits

Our absolute favorite rice. ridiculously easy to make, super elegant to serve when you have company coming (read on for a neat little trick) and keeps extra well in the fridge for up to a week.

I used 2 kinds of dried raisins and pine nuts for my topping  because that’s what I had on hand. Feel free to switch these up for sliced almonds, dried apricots, cranberries or anything else that catches your fancy (or sits in your pantry). Yum. If you do have leftovers, be sure to sprinkle it with some water and cover it before you heat it up in your microwave. That way the rice stays nice and soft.

 The recipe calls for cooked rice. I cook mine the same way I do pasta, in a big pot of boiling salted water, until slightly softer than al-dente (which means you can still bite on it). I then drain my rice, place it in a bowl and mix 1 spoon of vegetable oil in it to prevent it from sticking. You can use any kind of long grain rice. I like Jasmin and Basmati because of their aroma. Try them once and you will never go back to that plasticky parboiled stuff.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked long grain rice
3 Tbsp Canola oil
2 sliced onions
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, chopped apricots, cranberries etc), soaked in a cup of water for 20 minutes.
1/4 cup sliced almonds or pine nuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt to taste

For the rice:

Cook your rice in salted boiling water just like you would pasta, until chewy but not too soft (about 8 to 10 minutes). Drain and place in a large bowl. Mix in 1 spoon vegetable oil (I like to use canola). Cover and set aside.

For the super tasty fruity topping:

In a pan heat the oil, then add 2 sliced onions and saute on medium heat until the onions turn golden brown. Add drained mixed  fruit (save the soaking liquid) , 1/3 cup of nuts, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon,  1/2 teaspoon turmeric and salt to taste. Allow to cook while stirring often, for about 3 minutes (be careful not to burn the nuts). Add about 1/3 cup of the soaking liquid and cook, stirring often, untill the liquid is well absorbed. Take off the heat.

Now for a cool serving suggestion ( I keep forgetting to take a photo of it before eating ): pour the topping into a bowl, cover with rice and press down firmly. When ready to serve, flip the bowl carefully over a larger plate. You will now have a beautiful rice mountain, topped with glossy, golden brown topping. Dig in.

The revenge of the dishwasher

Did you ever have one of these days? where nothing works and disaster looms in every corner?  
My day started when I innocently opened the dishwasher’s door, only to meet the foul draft of  the very insulted dishes I forgot there the night before. Sighing, I shoved a few fossiled coffee cups into the beast’s mouth and chose the “sanitize rinse”, just to make sure everything in there will be nice and dead.

Now, I don’t remember if I mentioned this before, but I hate this dishwasher. With every fiber of my being. It was an expensive piece of %^&* we bought from a very talented sales woman, to whom I wish a bad, bad cold that will alter her voice forever to the one of a 56-year-old chain-smoking truck driver (hopefully, she will smell like him too). It takes an eternity to work (and I choose “work” over “wash” since it doesn’t), it is noisy to the degree of silencing the  most lively dinner party  (which I would throw more often if they didn’t always end up resembling Yo-gaba-gaba), and, oh yeah,  IT DOESN’T WORK. We practically have to wash the dishes by hand before putting them in this traitorous piece of junk because if we don’t, it ends up baking the food remains on top of them. Did I mention how much I hate this dishwasher yet?

Today I think  machine won over woman. It probably decided to finally get back at me for all these nasty remarks I sweetly whisper in its ears every morning when there are no witnesses around. When I victoriously opened it’s ungrateful doors, expecting the sweet smell of soap, I saw that the beast has used it’s evil powers to strike me where it really hurts. My food processor bowl. My beloved food processor. My faithful friend that has saved me time (and knuckles), is forever destroyed. Now, to all of you who side with my non-compassionate husband (he has this nonsensical idea about not putting plastic in the dishwasher), I can testify that all other plastic came out of this ordeal safe and sound. All except my sturdy, ultra thick, food processor bowl.

I hate this dishwasher. I guess now it’s pretty clear that it hates me right back.

Oink Oink. My family, the swine flu shot and other animals

So we went and got the shot. All of us, excluding the one in the “under six months of age” category. I know it kinda spoils the suspense but since my decision to go and get vaccinated was made on the fly, I thought I might as well just tell you about it right away.  And why did I hurry such an important decision? I guess it’s because I had enough of deliberating. The more I tried to educate myself about the subject, the more confused I became. According to Maclean’s magazines, only one in three Canadians plan on getting the H1N1 vaccine, due to growing apathy stemming from contradicting information. I hear these people, I really do, but unfortunately I do not have the luxury of making a point here and refraining from participating in this battle of giants. We live in a remote area, which means that our small village of approximately 4500 inhabitants is secluded. The closest real hospital is over 1000 km away and most people come and go via air, thus transporting and spreading viruses even faster than in busy urban centers. We work for the health system. My husband passes his days going in and out of our hospital and so do many of our closest friends. And if that isn’t enough, my little one (actually, she is my oldest one but as long as she doesn’t even pass the maximum weight for an infant car seat, I will continue to refer to her as little, ok?) goes to daycare which does double duty as virus central, returning happily everyday with her nostrils tainted a different shade of green.

So we got the shot. The morning after I saw on the news the parents of that poor Toronto teenager that died from the swine flu. At age thirteen. A hocky player. 48 hours after contracting it. Gosh. Think about it, your kid complains he isn’t feeling very well and 48 hours later, poof, no more kid. I admit I may not know much about this vaccine, I shamefully admit to not doing my homework about H1N1, but  what I do know for a fact is that I will not be able to live with myself if something happened to my kids because I wanted to make a point.

Hearty Vegetable and barley soup

Its hearty, its tasty, it has both protein and veggie goodness and  it is easy to make. Can’t ask for more in 15 minutes of work.

You will need:

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped (the size is up to you)
2 celery stalks peeled and chopped
1 large onion peeled and chopped
1 liter hot chicken or vegetable stock
1 (540 ml) can of red beans, drained and rinsed
1 (800 ml) can of tomato cubes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup barley
salt and pepper to taste
2 large handfuls chopped spinach (frozen is fine)

Heat your oil in a large pot and saute the onion, carrots and celery on med-high heat until they soften up and begin to get golden in the edges. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the spinach), mix well and continue to cook on low heat until the barley softens up, about 35 minutes. Add your spinach and cook for additional 5 minutes.

A dose of Humor is all it takes

This morning I have the honor of being featured on the “Dose of humor” column, here at the ever popular 5 minutes for parenting site.  I must say that their timing could not have been more perfect. A dose of humor is the one thing I needed this morning or else today would have remained “projectile Friday”. My morning started (after 4.7 hours of sleep..does that count as a night yet?) with the baby demanding to be nursed. I pick him up and bring him to our bed.  So far a typical AM. From there everything took a turn for the gooey (warning, this post is not for the faint of heart) when the poor little thing got instantly sick. So long our “better homes and gardens” cushions. My husband, absorbing a substantial amount, became instantly airborne. What a way to wake up. So we get up, we take a shower, We smell like soap. Life is not so bad.

10 minutes later, the baby attempts to have his breakfast. Again. He gets sick. Again. Sigh. At least I now have enough mess to fill a load of laundry. But wait, the fun doesn’t end here. In the course of 1 morning, baby Tom managed to stain green his new outfit (all you parents out there know what I am talking about), to wet another and to spit on poor mommy (and daddy) trice more. To his defence I can only say that the poor baby is unmistakably sick. His eyes are gooey, his nose makes noise and he is atypically clingy. Can anyone explain to me how after all that jazz, he still smells so good?

Motherhood is

As I see it, Motherhood, especially fresh new one, is all about readjustments. When your miracle child is born into this world everything changes. Among others you find yourself readjusting your standards so that:

Burping in public becomes desirable behaviour (the baby ladies, the baby)
5 consecutive hours of sleep constitute “a night”
A quick pass of baby wipes and getting out of your pj’s is considered “getting ready to go out”, and the contents of a diaper is an acceptable topic to discuss over tea.

The next thing to go is your vocabulary. A quick glance at your new and improved lexicon will reveal that: “Solid food” is in fact mushy carrots, and “curves” have more to do with your baby’s weight then the size of your thighs.

Even your culinary preferences will take a toll when you learn to like dry toast and lukewarm coffee, and to loudly praise sticky biscuit, fed to your mouth by even stickier little fingers.

Your taste in fine arts long forgotten after the 68th time of watching the “Aristocats”, especially after catching yourself humming “I am Thomas O’Malley the ally cat” while making your morning coffee.

Ok, I feel all better now. Time for another coffee.

Sole in butter, lemon and capers

I probably mentioned this earlier, but my father is an amazing cook. Totally devoted. His dishes are always succulent and he follows recipes to a tee. My mother says I am my father’s daughter but here is where the apple took a slight detour from the tree. I always tweak my recipes. part scientific curiosity and part pure laziness. I will go to every length trying to make my life in the kitchen a no-brainer. The only problem with that is the perfectionism my dad did manage to pass on to me (or was it you, mom?). I cheat on the recipe and then expect it to be perfect. It’s hard to be me.

This recipe was inspired, of course, by a recipe handed to me by my father. The other lemon-caper-butter sole recipe was wonderful, but slightly more labour intensive. To my defence I can testify that I did plan to make it as is but then 5 pm arrived. Really quickly. So I did what I had to do. I cheated. And it worked. This fish remains tasty even microwaved-after-2-days-in-the-fridge.

You will need:

8 thawed sole fillets
25 gr melted butter
1 small onion sliced thinly into graceful rings
1 lemon sliced into rings
1 heaping spoonful of capers
salt and pepper

Arrange your fillets in a single layer on an aluminum covered baking sheet. Brush with melted butter, season well then artfully arrange the lemon and onion rings over the fish. Sprinkle your capers over the fish. Cover with another layer of foil and cook for 15-20 minutes in a 400 F.

Told you I cheated. So easy.