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February 2009
Chaya Rao: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
She just returned to Austin from a culinary journey in her native India after the New Year and blogged about it along the way, further enamoring me with her cuisine and culture.
Her passion for cooking is visible even before she fires up the burner at her home or at one of her cooking classes at Whole Food or Central Market. Talking quickly with her hands, she’ll explain the similarities between Latin and Indian cooking, why she needs more than a dozen blenders and how to shop for the proper spices without getting a knock-off “curry” blend.
(Take note of her pantry, below, which must be the envy of the neighborhood, with every grain, bean and spice you could think of neatly stored and organized.)
What three things are always in your fridge? Cilantro, some variety of green chili peppers and ginger
What is your favorite condiment? Hot Sauce! I have 6 varieties today: Lizzano from Costa Rica, Mexican habanero, sriracha, gourmet chipotle from Santa Fe, homemade Indian cilantro and mint chutney and homemade Indian pickled mangoes in hot hot mustard and chili sauce.
What’s the hardest to find ingredient you always have on hand? Curry leaves. I have fresh and some dried in my pantry. Also just in case if I run out I have a few plants in my backyard.
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Chili and claret = peas and carrots
(I profiled Yates, a 29-year-old who also co-owns a music label, last fall about taking over the winery from longtime owners Ed and Madeleine Manigold.)
Judges, including winemaker Jeff Ivy and myself, will pick an official winner, but you can sample from 25 chili entries and judge for yourself which goes the best with Yates’ claret, which is one of the Spicewood’s most popular wines. $10 for glass of wine, which gets you a tasting cup, and $4 per refill.
If you can’t make it to the cook-off tomorrow, keep your eyes on the Web site for more info about the second annual pig roast on April 4.
(Photos by Ralph Barrera)
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Ray Ray wants to party, Mama just wants to cook
Food news from my fellow Statesman reporters:
Over on the Mama Drama blog, Tara Trower says Top Chef host Tom Colicchio is whack to think that parents, especially those who have young children, can easily find 20-30 minutes of uninterrupted cooking time. I hear you, Tara. The only way I can cook (ie, not heat up) a decent meal is if Julian gets to be my “counter bird” perched next to me while I prepare ingredients and work the stove.
My food section buddy Mike Sutter has the details on the restaurant deals Yelp has set up for SXSW. Check out the half-price deals at Uchi, Paggi House and even Sugar Mama’s Bakeshop.
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One month in, and we’re eating out of the garden
With the lovely rain and sunny days we’ve had lately, my vegetable plants are having a party and it looks like they’ve invited a lone petuniapansy, a rescue transplant we added a few weeks ago.
The peas are starting to curl their little fingers around one another, so I built a trellis out of string and bamboo from our yard. (Cost: $0)
March 1 is Sunday, which means the danger of a hard freeze has passed. I guarantee nurseries will be packed this weekend with Central Texas gardeners preparing to plant their next round of crops.
I will be one of them. Will you?
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Wagyu beef, wine, Michelle’s dress shine at White House state dinner
Here is what the White House kitchen staff, led by Cristeta Comerford, whom Obama kept on as head chef from the Bush staff, served for the National Governors Association:
Chesapeake Crab Agnolottis with Roasted Sunchokes (Wine pairing: Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc 2007 — California)
Wagyu Beef and Nantucket Scallops with Glazed Red Carrots, Portobello Mushroom and Creamed Spinach (Wine pairing: Archery Summit Pinot Noir “Estate” 2004 — Oregon)
Winter Citrus Salad with Pistachios and Lemon Honey Vinaigrette
Huckleberry Cobbler with Caramel Ice Cream (Wine pairing: Black Star Farms “A Capella” Riesling Ice Wine 2007 — Michigan)
It will be interesting to see the impact locavore Sam Kass, the Obamas’ personal chef in Chicago who joined Comerford in the White House kitchen as assistant chef last month, will have on these dinners.
Glad to see a Michigan wine on the menu, as well as huckleberries, but I’m not sure where you get those in the D.C. metro area in winter.
Before the meal, Michelle Obama showed off the kitchen to reporters and culinary students and talked about how important local, sustainable food is to her. (She credits Kass and his local-centric cuisine for keeping her and her family healthy on the long campaign trail.)
And finally, Obama’s toast: “Let me propose a toast. To the nation’s governors, to the United States of America, and to the certain hope that despite our current travails, that we will all emerge more prosperous and more unified than we were before.
And with that, I believe that dinner is served.”
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Cheap eats, drinks with top winemaker
Rob Moshein, the Austin blogger behind Austin Wine Guy, clued me in to two opportunities to sip and sweet talk the winemaker in charge of what Wine Business Monthly named the “Hottest Small Label Winery” of 2008.
Greg Graziano, whose Graziano Winery in Mendocino, Calif. caught WBM’s eye and is featured in this month’s issue, will be on hand for a free tasting from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the North Lamar Central Market, but the real deal is a $55 dinner with five courses specifically paired with Graziano’s wines at Bess Bistro on West Sixth. The dinner starts at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Reserve a seat by calling Bess at 477-2377.
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Free pancakes tomorrow at IHOP
Or maybe not so much throwing, but they will be serving one free short stack per customer from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow. (Find a location near you.) The ‘cakes are free, but IHOP is accepting donations for the Shriners Hospitals for Children in Houston.
Interesting factoid about national pancake day, from the IHOP Web site:
Known also as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, National Pancake Day dates back several centuries to when the English prepped for fasting during Lent. Strict rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so pancakes were made to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other dairy products…hence the name Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday.
So, get your pancake on. Responsibly, of course.
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Eating an Oscar (Mayer weiner)
With drama like this, I need a bag of popcorn and a Coke.
Maybe I’m alone in this, but I don’t associate food with Oscars. I know the food at the bashes in L.A. is to be envied, but not in my corner of the theater.
I was thinking about swinging by the newsroom, where one of our colleagues brings Oscar Mayer hot dogs on Oscar night. (What, you don’t think copy editors and designers want to catch the action? I guarantee you the Oscars will be on every newsroom TV screen tonight, just like the Super Bowl or Kentucky Derby.)
Now I’m hungry AND glued to the television. Bring on the drama, Walters: “You’re telling me ‘The Wrestler’ and you are the same story?”
Where are my Raisinets?
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GQ hearts Polvo’s breakfast
In the March issue of GQ, hitting newsstands on Tuesday, Polvo’s gets a nod for its fantastic breakfast, which reporter Robert Draper says is guaranteed to “lift you out of yesternight’s gutter.”
The ten-page breakfast guide, which finally declares the death of brunch (not a day too soon, if you’d ask me), highlights the coffee, fresh produce, migas and salsa bar at the “slacker-filled” South Austin Tex-Mex joint.
Does that mean March cover boy Justin Timberlake can’t eat there?
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Guy Forsyth: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Last time I caught him was at one of the free Friday lunch shows at City Hall. (With the half-eaten avocado, Claussen pickles, leftover green beans and random assortment of beers, his fridge is one I’d be happy to raid for lunch any day.)
Forsyth, who helped start The Asylum Street Spankers in the mid-1990s, is known as much for his sense of humor and strong song-writing skills as he is for his powerful vocals and ability to play just about any instrument. If you haven’t experienced one of his shows, you are really missing out.
He is playing gigs in Louisiana this weekend, but check him out on Wednesday at his weekly happy hour show at the Continental Club. On Thursday, he’ll play at the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau’s CD release party at Antone’s and on Friday he’ll likely sell out the Saxon Pub.
What three things are always in your fridge? eggs, broccoli and milk
What’s your favorite condiment? Soy Vay Hoisin Garlic Sauce
What’s your go-to late night snack? I try to avoid eating late at night but chocolate chip cookies (homemade by my wife) are crack to me.
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Hot links: SXSW eats, on-campus meat markets
As usual, lots happening in the food scene, both in real Austin life and online…
You’ll be reading more soon on Relish Austin and in the trusty paper about food happenings at the South by Southwest festival. Serious Eats pulled the SXSWi food panels from the Web site, which includes a talk by Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk, who is becoming quite the SXSW regular. During the music festival Robb Walsh, John Morthland and others will talk barbecue.
Speaking of grocery delivery, Greenling Organic Delivery will be launching a new site in the next day or so, says owner Mason Arnold. I’ve peeked at the new site: it’s a cleaner and easier site to navigate to order organic and sometimesmostly local food.
Chris Wilson, the chef blogger behind Austin Gastronome whom I finally met at the Uchi happy hour on Monday night that had everyone buzzing this week, says he loves this Belgian Web site called Food Pairing that helps you figure out what goes with what and what ingredients can replicate certain flavors.
We realize that some folks might be a little leery about buying meat from a research University, but we feel it’s actually a good thing because of the care we are obligated to provide to the animals we keep here. In fact, we think that our meat tastes a little better because our animals are so well cared for.
Brittany of He cooks, She cooks made goat meatball pitas with meat she probably picked up on the way home from class. (Dare I say it in this burnt orange town, but Columbia, Mo., is a super cool place if you ever get a chance to visit. Pick up some meat for me if you do. :))
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Cuckoo for kombucha
Drinking all this kombucha to write today’s Relish Austin column about the mysterious drink must have made me a little crazy.
Not only do I have a 2.36 liter pickle jar full of kombucha brewing in my pantry, I have another 2.36 liter jar of pickles in the fridge, just in case I want to start another batch, and I have half a dozen old Buddha’s Brew jars full of pickles, because you know how I can’t stand to throw away perfectly good food.
Oh, and I went out and bought a case of the stuff last night because my own homebrewed kombucha won’t be ready for a few weeks.
Maybe all those good-for-your-belly enzymes have gone to my brain.
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Get cameras out for Alamo’s Dogfish Head film festival
The festival, which takes place at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek on April 3 and 4, features short films submitted by you that should:
- be less than five minutes in length.
- include a storyline containing the concept of an underdog or be a mock advertisement.
- include a reference to Dogfish Head in the script OR have Dogfish Head product placement in the film.
You have to be 21 to submit and it can be on DVD, DV tape or electronic media. Deadline to get your films in the mail is March 1.
First prize is $1,000 cash, and the top three get airline tickets and hotel rooms in Austin for the festival, which means this competition is most definitely not limited to Central Texas.
So, get out your cameras, your six-packs and get to work, people!
If you need inspiration, check out last year’s winning film:
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“Dilemma” still tops in Austin; Tyson Cole nabs James Beard nomination
You can tell a lot about a community by looking at the books its citizens read. That said, I was delighted to come across the local best-sellers list in the Sunday paper (what, you don’t spend Sunday mornings leisurely flipping through your real live ink-laden local newspaper?) and find that Michael Pollan’s 3-year-old “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” still on the local best-seller list (No. 3 behind Spike Gillespie and Katherine Tanny’s “Stricken” and Carol Dweck’s “Mindset”). Add to that Robin Goldstein’s second edition of “The Fearless Critic” (No. 7) and you’ve got two of the top 10 nonfiction books being sold at Book People centered on food.
Go us.
Another exciting thing happening is a surge of food writers hopping on Twitter. Joining @andrewzimmern, @ruhlman and @amandahesser in recent weeks are NY Times food writer Mark Bittman (@bittman), author and Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl (@ruthreichl) and cookbook author and Austinite Paula Disbrowe (@pauladisbrowe). No Jonathan Gold yet, but @FollowingGold goes to all the places the Pulitzer prize-winning restaurant critic reviews for LA Weekly.
I have a feeling my Top 10 Twitter food follow list will need an update soon.
Also nominated in the category were Bryan Caswell of Reef in Houston (@wholefish on Twitter), Sharon A. Hage of York Street in Dallas, Paul Petersen of Cafe Cenizo in Marathon, Armando Pomales of Cafe Central in El Paso, Andrew Weissman of Le Rêve in San Antonio and John Tesar of The Mansion Restaurant at Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas.
Stephan Pyles of Dallas nabbed an outstanding chef nomination, and Houston’s Feast and Dallas’ Tei An were nominated for best new restaurant.
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April aka @SweetLeafTea: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Building relationships online is something Riggs says she feels personally and professionally gratifying, especially with Twitter. “I get to openly interact with folks from all over the place instantly,” she says. She spends her tweets answering questions and responding to updates that mention Sweet Leaf Tea, which she often responds to with coupons for free tea. “Our goal is to be out there ready to start an easy dialog with all consumers and potential consumers,” she says. “If Twitter helps me to anticipate issues before they become problems, that’s even better!”
What three things are always in your fridge? 365 Organic string cheese, fresh veggies, eggs or Redi-Egg (or both)
What’s your favorite condiment? My favorite condiment has got to be Dijon mustard. You can transform anything with that one simple ingredient. You can slide it on to a tasty sandwich or mix it with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil and spices to make a great-tasting and easy salad dressing. It’s so versatile!
What’s your favorite non-Sweat Leaf beverage? My favorite beverage by far is Mexican Coke. I don’t think there is anything better tasting on the planet!! Working on a huge life-style change (aka weight-loss), it’s the one sugary drink that I allow myself to have every once in a while. It must be in an icy-cold glass bottle.
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Saint Arnold launches Austin scavenger hunt
Ready for a beer scavenger hunt? Saint Arnold is hosting one in Austin through Sunday, Feb. 22.
In the video below, you’ll find six clues to six items in six bars. Over the next week, take a photo of yourself with each of the items. Upload your photos to flickr, photobucket, etc. and e-mail the link to Lennie Ambrose. If you’re still shooting on film or otherwise stuck in 1994, you can mail your photos to the brewery.
Everyone who correctly completes the contest will get an invite to a give-away party in a few weeks, where the winner will get a kegerator from the Austin-based Kegerators.com.
Now that I’ve run my box of wine dry, I’m craving some beer straight from the tap. Maybe I’ll see you around at some of these watering holes.
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Wanted: Desserts, more time and Weinermobile drivers
When it rains it pours, as it did last night on my little sturdy sprouts and as it continues today with stories, columns, the Texas Social Media Awards (for which I am a judge) and a very exciting something-or-other that I can’t talk about yet but that you will want to know about (stay tuned to Relish Austin for details soon).
Oh, and my crazy fun 2-year-old whose wicked gum-chewing habit is leading to premature hair loss.
As I wrote about in Food Matters today, the Newflower Farmers’ Market opened up at 6:30 a.m. this morning. Biz reporter Lilly Rockwell stopped by the opening and blogged about the madness over at her Whole Scoop blog.
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Appetizers with Addie: Shiner drank, barbecue devoured
The folks at Shiner gave a special Saturday tour this weekend for a group of us from Austin as part of February’s Appetizers with Addie event. We learned all about the 100-year history of the Spoetzl brewery and the little town of Shiner (pop. 2070) and enjoyed samples of Shiner Blonde, Black, Commemorator, Hefeweizen and Bock, the beer that thrust the brewery into the national spotlight.
After the tour and tasting, we hit City Market in Luling for barbecue worth the 25 minute wait in line. It was so great to meet so many Relish Austin readers (as well as a good number of you who heard about the trip elsewhere and will hopefully return to Relish Austin for my take on food and drink in Central Texas!) that I was already looking forward to next month’s food meet-up. Look for something later this month about bowling at the Dart Bowl, which will likely take place at the Dart Bowl.
Check out the Facebook group for Addie’s Eat-ups, the new name for Appetizers with Addie, which never really centered around appetizers anyway. That will be the home base for info about these monthly food meet-ups, which originate from your stomachs as well as mine, so let me know where and what you’ve been wanting to try!
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Sasha and Malia Obama’s Eastside connection
From kindergarten through second grade, Dorsey was a student at Malia and Sasha Obama’s new school in Washington D.C., but it was her father and grandfather who spent the most time there.
“My family was connected to the school for 40 years,” Dorsey said a few weeks ago, just after Obama was sworn in as president. Her grandfather and father were both principals and teachers at the school; her grandfather started working at the school in 1941 and her dad left in 1981. Dorsey’s brother is now in charge of the boys’ summer camp that her grandfather started.
In January, Sasha and Malia Obama started school at Sidwell Friends, a private D.C. school that was started by Quakers in 1883 and is a favorite of presidential families. Even though a Clinton, a Gore and two Nixons also attended, it wasn’t until the Obamas enrolled that Dorsey felt so emotionally stirred.
“The middle school at Sidwell Friends’ school, where Malia is attending, was my grandfather’s idea,” she says. “He loved teaching those kids at that age and he decided that there was something about that age group, from 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade. They were too old to be with elementary kids, so he came up with the idea of a ‘middle school,’ ” she says. This was back in the 1940s. “He said ‘This is a special group. Let’s break them out and focus attention on them at this place in their lives.’ “
No one in Barger’s family is Quaker, but it was the social advocacy of the Quakers that drew Barger’s family there in the first place. A child of the 60s, Barger has spent much of her life advocating equal rights for all. “My dad would take groups of kids on school field trips to go picket in front of the South African embassy,” she says.
And an interesting note, considering Obama’s place as the first black president: Even though Quakers were vociferous advocates of abolition, the school was not desegregated until the mid 1960s. Barger went to school with Gilbert Queen, the first African-American ever admitted.
Dorsey, who spends her days tending Eastside’s gardens, the produce from which graces the tables of her restaurant, says she always thought it was neat when presidential children attended her former school, but this is a moment she’s been waiting for her whole life. “Because my family was so involved with equal rights for everybody, this is a special moment for me,” she says. “We are being true to the things that we have claimed to be since this country was conceived. We’re living a dream.”
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Who needs men when you have chocolate?
Or at least that’s what chocolate advertisers want you to think.
Rather than get myself all worked up about the ridiculous ways food is marketed toward women (I already went on this rant last year about cookbooks, yogurt and Easy-Bake ovens), I will just sit back and laugh at what the incredibly witty Sarah Haskins has to say today, just in time for the big V-day, about chocolate ads. (It’s part of her popular Target Women series on Current TV. Food-wise, she’s tackled diets, cooking for your family and yogurt, and you can’t miss her video about birth control ads.)
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Stuart Smith: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Did you know heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States? In an effort to spread awareness about the role women can play in preventing heart disease, the American Heart Association to be National Wear Red Day. Stuart Smith, who is an investment adviser by day, helped organize Central Texas’ show of support as a member of the Go Red for Women executive leadership team. She volunteered to show us her fridge today in honor of Wear Red Day.
Some tips from the association on keeping your heart healthy: Get your heart checked regularly. Maintain an active lifestyle. Choose baked over fried food. Don’t smoke (as if you needed me to tell you that).
The general guidelines for eating well apply if you want to avoid foods that will adversely affect your cardiovascular system. Omega-3 fatty acids are especially good. Limit saturated and trans fats, sodium and cholesterol. Increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. The heart association has this awesome recipe for chicken pot pie (you’ll have to register for the site to view it, though).
What three things are always in your fridge? Organic skim milk, fresh seasonal fruit (grapes, apples, oranges), fresh lean meats (chicken, turkey or pork) What is your favorite heart-healthy ingredient? Spinach What is your favorite heart-healthy dish? Vegetarian black bean chili
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Hundreds of seeds a-sproutin’
Top row, from left: radishes, garlic, spinach. Second row: carrots, shallots, dividing onions, kohlrabi. Bottom row: peas, unknown bean, onions.
16 days after I first planted my garden, I’m seeing little green sprouts everywhere! I took these photos this morning (there’s nothing like staring at tiny seeds that you sowed over a nice cup of coffee, right, Renee?), and I guarantee you that the first thing I’ll do when I get home is run out back and see what’s changed.
Nearly everything but the onions, shallots, garlic and unknown variety of bean (I threw a handful of over-sprouted sprouts into the garden that my friend Cloud gave me. Who knows if those are black-eyed peas, mung beans, lentil or rye seeds?) were started from seed.
The garlic is from a head that started to sprout in my pantry; some of the onions I bought and others are from a friend (onion sets are meant for sharing). Several lettuce, beet and broccoli seeds have also peeked through the soil.
We’re still waiting on several varieties of flowers, herbs and my pepper seed to sprout, but in general, the garden seems to be well on its way to providing our family with food. Now, if only I can keep Julian from harvesting them early.
For those of you playing at home, the infamous “Square Foot Gardening” is available online as a free Google book, and the Travis Country AgriLife Extension Service provide this list of what you can plant when in Central Texas.
How are your gardens growing? I know plenty of you are planning tonight’s dinner based on what’s ready to be harvested in your backyard….
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Chili contests, kombucha and more free breakfast
From Shiner beer to $1 Jimmy John sandwiches and kosher chili, this weekend is rockin’ if you’re into food:
On Saturday, we’re hitting the Spoetzl brewery in Shiner for February’s Appetizers with Addie. Can’t go? Next month, we’ll be bowling — and eating — at the Dart Bowl.
Cloud McCleod will be teaching classes on how to grow sprouts and make kombucha tea on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. E-mail him to sign up. $25 a class.
The new Jimmy John’s at 183 and Anderson Mill Road is offering $1 sandwiches on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The flyer for Sunday’s kosher chili cook-off says it all:
And if you’re looking ahead to next week, Chick-fil-A is giving away a free breakfast item (chicken biscuits on Monday and Thursday, nuggets on yeast rolls on Tuesday and Friday, sausage biscuits on Wednesday and Saturday) Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Stop by just about any of the Central Texas locations (not the ones located in dining halls or schools) for your free item. And with no purchase necessary, I wonder if it will inspire the craziness that this week’s free Denny’s Grand Slam caused?
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Gas is cheap, but what about food?
A lot can change in six months. We did a price comparison story last summer to look at how $4 a gallon gas was affecting food prices at local grocery stores.
The good news now is that gas prices are well below $2 a gallon, but the national economic turmoil is hitting both consumers and food companies.
How have prices held up? I popped by the H-E-B at South Congress and Oltorf the other day to find out. Interesting results.
- The biggest cost increases were in corn flakes (from $1.19 cents to $1.38), carrots (50 cents to 79 cents), kidney beans (from 55 cents to 74 cents), whole wheat bread (from $1.39 a loaf to $1.93), eggs (from $1.27 to $2.14)
- I was most surprised by the handful of items whose prices fell in the past six months: butter (from $2.29 to $2), mayonnaise (from $3.98 to $3.59). Milk dropped 55 cents from $3.89 a gallon to $3.34. The price of apples also fell from $2.58 for two pounds to $1.98.
- A 13-ounce can of Folgers cost $3.54 last summer. It’s $3.29 now, but you’re only getting 11.5 ounces.
- Things that haven’t budged more than an cent or two include chicken noodle soup, lettuce, broccoli, sugar, toilet paper, peanut butter, lentils, frozen orange juice, chicken breasts and ground beef.
The grand total for all 20 items is $40, 27 cents less than it was in July and 50 cents more than it was two years ago.
Phil Lempert, the self-proclaimed Supermarket Guru who helped us out with the summer story, says that the Austin grocery market is one of the most competitive in the country and that H-E-B and Wal-Mart are usually neck-and-neck for the lowest prices.
Are you surprised by any of these numbers? What are you seeing in your grocery store? Do you spend more or less money depending on the time of year?
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Buy a massage, eat for cheap(er)
My hard-working massage therapist friend, Scot Maitland, has a cool deal for Valentine’s Day. If you buy a 90-minute gift certificate by Feb. 14th, you get a $25 gift certificate to Wink, Zoot, Starlite, Asti Trattoria, Imperia or Louie’s 106. Book the massage online to get the deal.
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I heart Austin food bloggers
As I was telling Kristin of The Schell Cafe over tea today, I am absolutely humbled by all of you wonderful food bloggers in Austin. I get paid to do this. You don’t, yet you do it anyway, telling tales of tacos and tenderloins, what inspiration you found at the farmers’ markets, where to find the best burger in town.
I added a few blogs to the blogroll at left, which to my knowledge contains just about every food blog in Central Texas. If I’m missing any, let me know.
Here are the additions: Stuffed Taco Lisa is Cooking Letters from Graceyland The Alcoholian Coffee and Queso Bakin’ Love — You Look Hungry Tasty Type
Happy blogging!
P.S. If you write a food blog — or like to read them — consider joining the Austin Food Bloggers group on Facebook. A book club and several food blogger events have stemmed from this group, so it’s worth joining!
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Some recipes for feeling better
I was too delirious to take proper notes when Ian was preparing the soup, but I did help tweak my grandmothers’ dumpling recipe I posted a while back.
That recipe was stumping me for the longest time because I’d follow her simple directions to the tablespoon and couldn’t get them to turn out like I did the first time without adding more milk. Was it me or the recipe?
I concluded that maybe it was neither. Perhaps it was the humidity or type of flour or some other mysterious glitch in the universe that made it so that I was getting different results from the same recipe.
So when I tried to make the dumplings again last week — Ian has a lifelong fear of making dumplings, so I peeled my sick self off the couch to help — I threw in an egg and just added milk until the consistency was close to mashed potatoes.
Dumplings
2 cups Bisquick (see note below about making your own)
1 egg
8 (or more) Tbsp. milk
salt and pepper to taste
Homemade Bisquick: 1 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, salt and sugar.
Voila! Hearty dumplings to go with Ian’s awesome chicken, corn, green bean, paprika soup. After a few days of soup, an allergy tea from The Herb Bar and this special gargle my mom gave me, I was feeling up to speed. Halle-freakin’-lujah.
Mama’s gargle
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Karo syrup
6 oz. water
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