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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, August 08, 2011
conversation last night
Marie stumbles sleepily into our bedroom, where the light is still on.
Marie: The light is so bright!
Me: We'll turn it off in a minute. Papa just has to finish reading something.
A few moments later, Papa leans over to reach the light switch.
Marie: No!
Papa: But I thought you wanted me to turn out the light?
Marie: I'm thirsty.
Papa: OK, then drink some water, and then I'll turn out the light.
Marie: I can drink in the dark.
Papa: Er, OK.
Papa turns off the light.
Marie: I can't see!!!!!!
Papa and I try to stifle our hysterical laughter.
Marie: The light is so bright!
Me: We'll turn it off in a minute. Papa just has to finish reading something.
A few moments later, Papa leans over to reach the light switch.
Marie: No!
Papa: But I thought you wanted me to turn out the light?
Marie: I'm thirsty.
Papa: OK, then drink some water, and then I'll turn out the light.
Marie: I can drink in the dark.
Papa: Er, OK.
Papa turns off the light.
Marie: I can't see!!!!!!
Papa and I try to stifle our hysterical laughter.
Friday, February 04, 2011
the praised carrots
I'm not really writing these days, but I thought I'd share a recipe for the yummiest carrot salad I've ever eaten. Seriously, this is NOTHING like the carrot salads you've had before.
For 4 people (or 2 greedy carrot lovers) you'll need:
1 - 1 1/2 pounds carrots (big, fat carrots are better than small and slender ones here)
1 lime
sugar
salt
pepper
brown mustard seeds
cumin (whole)
asafoetida (an Indian spice)
sunflower oil (or other neutral-flavored vegetable oil)
roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted)
fresh cilantro (aka coriander)
Start off by heating about a tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet. Toss in 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin and a pinch of asafoetida. Heat and stir until the spices begin to crackle. Remove from heat.
While the oil and spices are cooling off, peel your carrots and chop them into very thin slices or use a vegetable grater, mandolin or food processor to achieve a similar result (if you use a cheese grater, the pieces will be too small, but the largest setting on a box grater should be ok). Transfer the carrots to a medium-sized salad bowl.
Squeeze the juice from the lime. You should be able to get about 2 tablespoons. In a small bowl, mix the lime juice with a generous pinch of sugar and a small pinch of salt. Add the cooled-off oil and spices from the skillet and swish it all around. Add this to the carrots and mix to evenly coat the carrots with the liquid. It might seem like there's not enough liquid for the large amount of carrots, but don't worry. Just mix well and it'll be enough.
Now go do something else for half an hour. Work on whatever other dish you're making or take a bath, call your best friend or go walk the dog. Just let the salad sit there. After 30 minutes have passed, get yourself a scant 1/4 cup of peanuts and chop them roughly. While you're at it, take a whack at your fresh cilantro. This is your garnish, but I'm a cilantro fiend so I use several large handfuls rather than the specified smaller amount. Throw the peanuts and cilantro in the salad and salt and pepper to taste (Remember that if your peanuts are already salted, you don't want to add too much to the salad!). Toss the whole thing well and be prepared to fight your family for a coveted second helping!
My source suggests serving this with grilled fish, which I'm sure would be amazing, but I say this salad stands alone and would be perfect with some flat bread and raita!
For 4 people (or 2 greedy carrot lovers) you'll need:
1 - 1 1/2 pounds carrots (big, fat carrots are better than small and slender ones here)
1 lime
sugar
salt
pepper
brown mustard seeds
cumin (whole)
asafoetida (an Indian spice)
sunflower oil (or other neutral-flavored vegetable oil)
roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted)
fresh cilantro (aka coriander)
Start off by heating about a tablespoon of the oil in a small skillet. Toss in 1/2 tsp brown mustard seeds, 1/2 tsp cumin and a pinch of asafoetida. Heat and stir until the spices begin to crackle. Remove from heat.
While the oil and spices are cooling off, peel your carrots and chop them into very thin slices or use a vegetable grater, mandolin or food processor to achieve a similar result (if you use a cheese grater, the pieces will be too small, but the largest setting on a box grater should be ok). Transfer the carrots to a medium-sized salad bowl.
Squeeze the juice from the lime. You should be able to get about 2 tablespoons. In a small bowl, mix the lime juice with a generous pinch of sugar and a small pinch of salt. Add the cooled-off oil and spices from the skillet and swish it all around. Add this to the carrots and mix to evenly coat the carrots with the liquid. It might seem like there's not enough liquid for the large amount of carrots, but don't worry. Just mix well and it'll be enough.
Now go do something else for half an hour. Work on whatever other dish you're making or take a bath, call your best friend or go walk the dog. Just let the salad sit there. After 30 minutes have passed, get yourself a scant 1/4 cup of peanuts and chop them roughly. While you're at it, take a whack at your fresh cilantro. This is your garnish, but I'm a cilantro fiend so I use several large handfuls rather than the specified smaller amount. Throw the peanuts and cilantro in the salad and salt and pepper to taste (Remember that if your peanuts are already salted, you don't want to add too much to the salad!). Toss the whole thing well and be prepared to fight your family for a coveted second helping!
My source suggests serving this with grilled fish, which I'm sure would be amazing, but I say this salad stands alone and would be perfect with some flat bread and raita!
Monday, June 14, 2010
my big little girl
As Marie sleeps on the couch, miserable with what seems to be scarlet fever, I thought I'd share pictures of our ice-cream-loving, Lego-building, singing and dancing 3-year-old. Her favorite ice cream flavor is mango, and when she orders it, she asks for "mango and white." White is, of course, vanilla. So far, three is a wonderful age, and when she zips around on her new Like-A-Bike, I wonder how long it will be before she's all grown up and riding around in the big wide world. I'm sure it'll happen way too soon.
Monday, May 10, 2010
the voices in my head
I don't know if it's because she's about to turn three or because she just woke up one morning three weeks ago and decided to potty train herself or because she's just Marie, but it seems like the only voice she has is whining. Whining at me. All day long. Just now she walked into the kitchen and asked for a piece of bread and butter. Except she didn't ask. She whined, "Mamaaaaaaaaaaah, breaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" as if I was draining the life force out of her as she said the words. If she had asked for bread and I had denied her, I could sort of understand her repeating the request in a whining tone. I mean, it would still drive me nuts, but I could begin to understand. But Marie shows up whining. That's how she enters the world these days. She wakes up whining. Comes home whining. Asks for things whining. Refuses things whining. And while she whines about 50% of the time with her father, it feels like she whines 100% of the time with me. Okay, maybe 99%.
She has now perfected the pitch of the whines to such an extent that I no longer roll my eyes or sigh or take a deep breath when she lets one rip. I cringe. I get twitchy. And I yell. Far more than is called for. Because three-year-olds whine, right? I mean, this is what the parenting books say. What other parents say. What grandparents and daycare providers and teachers say. It is the way of the world. This is what I signed up for. But in the battle of Not Letting Things Get to Me, I have lost, and so I yell. Marie's voice is whining and mine is yelling.
We need to get some new voices up in here.
She has now perfected the pitch of the whines to such an extent that I no longer roll my eyes or sigh or take a deep breath when she lets one rip. I cringe. I get twitchy. And I yell. Far more than is called for. Because three-year-olds whine, right? I mean, this is what the parenting books say. What other parents say. What grandparents and daycare providers and teachers say. It is the way of the world. This is what I signed up for. But in the battle of Not Letting Things Get to Me, I have lost, and so I yell. Marie's voice is whining and mine is yelling.
We need to get some new voices up in here.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
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