The Daily Tiffin

LIFE AND DEATH AND THE ROAD WE TRAVEL TOGETHER

2009-11-17T12:08:00.008+01:00

How do we deal with the death of a loved one? You wipe away your tears as you walk away from the funeral, join the family back at the house for a cool lunch, cold cuts and fresh fruit and more tears but mostly laughter, enjoying this time together no matter how bittersweet, recounting family stories, pulling up memories from some deep spot in your heart. And then, what happens next? You pack your suitcases and fly back home where husband and kids await, the laundry pile has mysteriously grown all out of proportion, the dog dances around you, nosing into your bags as soon as they hit the floor, everyone clamoring for your attention.

Michael and I 1962

You try and get back into the swing of things, “real life”, as quickly as possible, partly because there are those who need you, who depend upon you, but more likely because it is the easiest way to block out the thoughts, the loss.

Almost two months has past since I was standing in the burning Florida sun trying not to look in the direction of the wooden box stretched out serenely in front of us, saying good-bye to my beloved brother. Heartbroken doesn’t even begin to describe it. As we get older we begin to expect, to understand that one by one we will lose our loved ones, grandparents, parents, and we try and brace ourselves for the eventuality. Yet when another older generation passes away, someone in their 70s or 80s or 90s, we can comfort ourselves with the thought that they lived a good, long life, accomplished what they wanted to accomplish and hopefully didn’t suffer too much on the way out. It is the way of life, one generation at a time, life then death.

Sue and Michael 1960

Yet when the unexpected happens, friends or family of our own generation or, heaven forbid, a child, go, whether illness or accident, incomprehension intertwines with the pain: We look at their life and think of all they had yet to accomplish, the years and road ahead of them, and we wonder if the tears are for them or for ourselves. Their death brings us closer to our own destiny and, truth be told, we just aren’t ready, we have such a long time ahead of us, there is still so much to do, so how is this possible? The loss is so close, too close, and it is as if we have lost a limb or part of ourselves. And now we return to our family our home our job and must move ahead. How?

Michael and I 1972

I have been keeping busy. Blogging, writing, cooking, baking. Laundry, shopping, evenings out or in with the family. No time to think about the loss. Afraid to look at it in the face, scared and simply not understanding the unfairness of it all. And then I wonder if we, the survivors, cry for them and such life cut off in its prime, everything left undone, or are the tears for ourselves, left alone like orphans, no more birthday calls or silly cards, no more long catch-up phone calls or brotherly advice, no more visits or cooking together or laughing over stories of when we were kids. Or maybe this unexpected death forces us to look our own destiny, our own eventual death, in the face. And what happens afterwards? Heaven? Reincarnation? Nothing? And all too often, we close our eyes and refuse to look.

A dear friend of mine reminded me of the importance of grieving: “The death of a loved one is something that we all experience at some point in our lives and I think it is important to talk about it instead of tidily brushing it under the carpet. When my grandfather died, I was so unprepared and had no idea how to deal with my emotions.” We tend to skip around the issue, avoiding it as if it were taboo. Yet somehow it is comforting when people ask how the funeral went, how we are doing and open the door to discussion. Why are we so nervous bringing it up to someone who has just lost a loved one? We should talk about it, even if we stumble around searching for just the right words. Even no words, the “I don’t know what to say”, helps break down the invisible barrier and allows us to share feelings and fears, hopes and dreams, memories and ideas about where we go when it all ends. Another friend of mine sent me a fascinating book about reincarnation. Her philosophy? Spirits are all around us but aren’t there to do harm but rather to watch over us, help us understand what we don’t understand and we should simply give a friendly Hello from time to time and let them know we appreciate the visit and the care. Talking with her is so comforting, no black thoughts, no fear of the unknown, rather the joy of life, the dream of an afterlife and never losing touch with those who have passed on.

Michael with our mom and my boys @1995

And what about the kids? Children may not feel the death of a loved one as strongly, but may need to talk about it even more than we do. My 19-year-old son said “I didn’t see Uncle Michael often enough to really feel the loss, not like you do what with your history together.” Yet several weeks later, as we were strolling down the street, he burst forth with “I just can’t believe Uncle Michael is gone. It is so strange to think about!” The door to discussion needs to remain open for them as well as for us, for the strangeness of it all, the scariness of an illness or death, should be talked about. If we don’t talk about that then how can we spend the time talking about his life and all that fun that we shared together? It all blends into one.

So it is perfectly fine to broach the subject, don’t be afraid. There is comfort in allowing us to talk, to share the stories that we all have, to hear yours as well. This is the only way we can grieve, by telling the tale, sharing the stories, crying and laughing together. Not only does this draw us, the living, closer together, but it allows us to face our own fears of “what happens next” and realize that we are all in it, this crazy thing called life, together.

The family in Florida 2008

This post was written by JAMIE

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Foods You Thought You Knew

2009-11-13T17:52:00.000+01:00

So I think I’m probably going to be known as the baby-lady around here, but as many of you know, it does take over your life doesn’t it... but in a very good way.
Today we are going to talk about carrots. That’s right, you heard--err, read me correctly, carrots. Why are we going to talk about carrots? Because I use them a lot in my baby’s food and because they’re quite interesting in more ways than you’d think.

I guess there could have been many other vegetables I could have written about for this post but I picked carrots because -WARNING: I’m about to admit something I probably shouldn’t here so get ready- I only just discovered- NO not carrots silly, of course I’ve known carrots forever, who hasn’t- rainbow carrots. I’ve only just discovered rainbow carrots. I didn’t actually know there were other colors of carrots than orange, (did you?) so imagine my surprise when my husband brought home these beautiful carrots in shades of purple and greenish-yellow and told me there even were red carrots out there somewhere.
Upon doing a little bit of research I discovered that carrots, in fact, were not orange to begin with. That seems odd doesn’t it? It seems like no actually they always were orange and then some guy with too much time and a lot of carrot seeds laying around started making hybrids and coming up with cool funkedelic colors, but it just seems that way, that’s not really what happened.
In reality, it’s not exactly clear what the chronology of the modern carrot is other than, from evidence found in archaeological digs, some form of carrot, as in plants from the carrot family, existed back in the Eocene period (55 to 34 million years ago). After that, there is no actual written record of their use either for food or medicinal purposes until the Greeks and Romans, although the domesticated version of carrots (oh yes, I’ll tell you about that in a minute) are believed to date back to approximately 5000 B.C. in Afghanistan.
So, to the issue of wild vs. domesticated carrots. When I first read that there were wild carrots and that the carrots we take for granted as simply being carrots are the hybridized and domesticated descendants of "wild" ones, I imagined a Mr. Potato Head version of a carrot wearing a loincloth and carrying a sharpened stalk of celery for a spear. It turns out that you probably know wild carrots by another name; they are commonly known as Queen Anne's Lace and are mostly considered to be a weed, albeit a pretty one; the root is tough, pale (most often white), bitter and quite small. Presumably, over thousands of years and many combinations, the modern, domesticated carrot evolved partially from the wild carrot, but attempts to create domesticated edible carrots -such as we know them- purely from wild carrots have failed, so the belief that domesticated carrots come entirely from wild ones is inaccurate.
The first domesticated carrots that I mentioned above were purple and sometimes yellow. Through time and cross-cultivation, other colors appeared, first red, then white, then orange which became the most common form of carrot particularly in the West. They were brought to Europe by the Arabs in the 10th century, at which time the orange version did not yet exist, and it is thought that Western Europeans eventually developed the common orange-colored carrot some time around the 16th century.

Now to the nutritive properties of carrots, which is really why you might still be reading this post:
Carrots are phenomenally nutritious. They contain the most beta-carotene (unsurprisingly and that which gives carrots their orange color) of any fruit or vegetable which is converted to vitamin A by the body. They also are a source of vitamins B6 and C, and a pectin fibre known as calcium pectate which may have the ability to lower cholesterol. Carrots are loaded with potassium, thiamin, folic acid, and magnesium and when cooked also contain copper, iron, manganese, phosphorus and sulphur. The lesson here being that an apple a day is all well and good, but maybe you should consider eating some more of those carrots you have laying around. It's as easy as washing and peeling one. If you happen to get a bunch of carrots with their greens, those contain vitamin K which is not present in carrots themselves, so you might want to use those as well. It's all good.

I used to hate cooked carrots when I was little, but realized in retrospect that that was only because my mother didn't cook them and the only cooked ones I had were often boiled to death and lacking any flavor. I've always loved them raw however, and now like them cooked as well. I've been making all of the carrots pictured above for my little noodle and she loves them, no matter the color or the manner in which they are cooked. It is thanks to her that I've discovered all of these things about carrots, and that I continue to discover things every day about foods I eat.
Have you learned anything about foods you thought you knew from your children?

This post was written by Hilda

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Tiffin Tuesday - The Grain-Free Bento

2009-11-10T10:00:00.000+01:00

Whenever I read (quite useful) instructions on packing bentos, I stumble upon tipps like this one:

Plan your meal. Bento lunches traditionally consist of 4 parts rice, 3 parts protein, 2 parts vegetables and 1 part dessert or pickles. Even easier-- mentally divide the box in half. Half for rice, then 1/3 of the other half for protein, 1/3 for veggies and the final 1/3 for condiments and dessert.

While this is great advice, I sometimes feel at a loss. What are people on special diets supposed to do? E.g. my body doesn't respond too well to grains, to put it mildly - rice is one of the few things I can digest in small amounts, and I'd rather keep that portion for other occasions. If you are on a low-carb diet, or suffer from type 2 diabetes, having to control carbs, or are restricted in your food choices for one reason or another, especially when it comes to carbohydrates, you'll have to find alternatives.

On the other hand, this is one reason for me - and I bet many of you - to pack my own lunches, aside from better value for money: being able to control what is in my foods, catering for the needs of allergic children or spouses.

Still, rice, or noodles, bread, potatoes, are the obvious fillers in a bento - so we are in need of fresh ideas.

Here I packed feta cheese cubes, with a sprinkling of pepper, and halved grape tomatoes (actually the pepper came in a small paper sachet I had saved on an airplane trip last year, and waited under the lid until lunch time), cucumber pieces, an egg, and a tuna dipp.

In the spirit of getting back into the habit of packing bentos, here are just a few ideas for (not only) grain-free bentos:

grilled chicken pieces
leftover grilled steak, sliced
tiny brochettes (saté) with shrimp or meats or fish
paneer cubes
mini cheeses
cubed feta
eggs (think quail eggs!)
tamagoyaki, of course
omelette
konnyaku noodles (shirataki)
cooked chickpeas
tiny amounts of curry (any kind) to be eaten with torn romaine leaves
chicken or tuna salad, in muffin cups, or in cucumber cups or tomato halves
dips - guacamole, tuna dip, herbed quark or cream cheese, tsatsiki, hummus, Mexican bean dip, blue cheese dip, peanut dip, salsa
cooked beans
edamame
green beans
cherry tomatoes
kohlrabi sticks
celery sticks
carrot sticks
cucumbers
radishes
bell pepper strips
pickles
mini salamis
nuts
dried fruit
steamed cauliflower or broccoli
olives
yogurt (any type)
berries
mango pieces, to name just some fruit (because some are rather evil on the glycemic load)

To replace flour, instead of using gluten-free mixes, you might coat chicken pieces with sesame before frying them - the sesame adds great nutrients, too!

If your diet allows them, potatoes and sweet potatoes make great fillers, from potato salad to braised sweet potato, as do jerusalem artichokes - I like to eat these raw, they have a great crunch and nutty taste.

Do you have allergies you need to consider when packing lunches? Please feel free to share your ideas for special diet bentos - we'd love to hear / read from you.

This post was written by Petra

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Roasted Potatoes and my trip to Aleppo

2009-11-09T18:55:00.003+01:00

note: I want to apologize to everyone for being late with this post. I am going out of town in a few days and have been running around like a crazy person trying to get everything in order before my trip.

A couple weeks ago, I finally bought my plane ticket to go to Aleppo. My grandmother is there now, visiting her sister, and I will get to join them in just a few days. Middle Eastern food, like most of the food from around the Mediterranean, is extremely fresh and healthy. I promise to be back with lots of pictures and recipes that I will share on the Daily Tiffin.

In the mean time, I've been strategically trying to use up all my produce and perishables for the past couple of weeks. Today I chose to write about roasted potatoes because they're a healthy alternative to fried potatoes, but are still popular with the kids. They're great in lunch boxes or afternoon snacks, and easy enough to make in large batches. There are a few steps, however, to ensuring a perfect roast with an extra crispy exterior and ultra creamy inside.

Preparation is simple. It makes a big difference to scout out good potatoes for this dish: small, firm and tight skin. I prefer reds simply because they have a higher sugar content, so they tend to caramelize better than other potatoes in the oven.

Since potatoes grow underground, you'll want to give them a quick rinse before you roast them. Make sure to pat them dry so that the outsides crisp up.

It's also important not to crowd the potatoes in a pan, otherwise they will still steam, regardless of how well you've patted them dry.

Although I usually use Spanish paprika, or pimentón, it's a lot easier to find the Hungarian variety at my local grocery store. My inspiration for using paprika in my roasted potatoes came from patatas bravas -- a classic tapas made from fried tomatoes covered in a spicy pimentón-base sauce. If you can't find Spanish paprika near where you live, Amazon is where I usually buy from.

Once they come out of the oven, they can be eaten hot or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Click here for the recipe.

This post was written by Antonio Tahhan

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Vegetarian Pyramid Series - Seitan

2009-10-30T00:31:00.004+01:00

It sounds like ‘Shaitan’ and probably looks like one to most of us! But sometimes good things come in ugly packages and Seitan follows that literally. The first time I saw it, I made up a face similar to its looks but then after reading considerably about it, I thought why not. I am so glad I did cos not only it is an excellent meat replacement, is a super duper source of protein for vegetarians like me. Come to think of it, it doesn't taste bad either.

Image source from wikimedia

So what exactly is Seitan?

It is made from gluten, the protein part of wheat. It is popularly known as ‘vegetarian meat’. It is also known by other names in different places – wheat meat, gluten or simply gluten meat. It has a very chewy and firm texture.Instead of reaching out for imitation meat in your local stores, which by the way has loads of additives, it would be a great idea to use seitan instead. It is immensely nutritious and without any artificial flavors. Seitan does not have any flavor of its own and hence it benefits from a marinade. Mostly you will find the precooked variety of seitan, hence simply adding it at the very end is enough. You can chop it or slice it and it goes extremely well in stir fries or stews of any kind.

Availability

Mostly available in health stores and in Asian specialty markets. Next time you visit one, don’t forget to look out for Seitan.

Benefits of Seitan

The protein content is humongous - About 85gms of Seitan consists of 18gms of Protein! It is also filled with essential amino acids and if cooked in soy sauce based broth then it would enhance the amount of vitamins and minerals. A four-ounce serving of seitan supplies between 6 and 10 percent of the U.S Reference Daily Intake of vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and iron.

To kick start your cooking with seitan, here are some sample recipes with Wheat gluten.

I have one simple and amazing recipe with Seitan. Its Vegan sloppy Joes. You know how some kids have problems eating any vegetables? ( or should I say anything healthy?!!). A friend of mine recently brought her son, who is die hard carnivore, to my place. Being a vegetarian, I thought why not make something which looks like a non-vegetarian and also has nutrition. I made these sloppy joes with couple of vegetables, beans and seitan and they were gladly gobbled up by him!

Other interesting recipes from the net

This post was written by Dhivya

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‘Earth to Table in the Shortest Time’… The locavores have arrived!

2009-10-23T13:19:00.004+02:00

Locavore … a term coined on World Environment Day, 2005, to promote the buying /eating of produce grown within the 100 mile (160Km) radius.

The issue being addressed in 2005 was the alarming trend of produce being transported half way across the globe to feed a ‘global appetite for exotic fare'. What was satiating the palate was no different in calories, but meant hugely in terms of miles it travelled, the cost of shipping … in other words, the significant carbon footprint it left stamped on a burdened Earth.

I am a firm supporter of the 100 mile diet. My Indian lamb chops taste as good as any I have had. New Zealand lamb chops may still be the best, but I am ‘palate happy'. I cringed when I heard of a new butter chicken launched in a city in India, advertised as “Anaarkali, the classiest Butter Chicken on earth is about more than just exotic ingredients & years of research.” A dish that serves 2 is for Rs 6000/- (USD 136/-), counts as its ingredients fresh tomatoes and Hunt’s Tomato Paste, Danish Lurpak Unsalted Butter, Fillipo Berio Olive Oil and Evian Natural Spring Water. It might well be the best butter chicken on the face of this Earth, and the entrepreneurs mean well as they are donating part of the proceeds to charity, yet, wouldn’t ‘eating off the land’ have been better for Earth?

This is not about food snobbery. It’s all a matter of perspective, and it’s heartening to see foodie bloggers playing a hugely responsible role in following a locavore diet. It’s wonderful to see them following seasons, blogs glowing orange with anything from persimmons to pumpkins announcing fall. Even better to see folk roasting their own pumpkins for puree! It’s imperative to begin counting ‘Food Miles’, or the distance food travels from where it is grown. The words ring loud… the closer the food, the better the taste! Andrea Meyers leads with her Grow Your Own event, a twice-a-month blogging event that celebrates the foods we grow or raise ourselves and the dishes we make using our homegrown products.
In September this year, the Obama administration launched a 'Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food' initiative to connect consumers with local producers. The idea is not to limit choice, but to expand consciences, and encourage healthy seasonal eating. 2 recent cookbooks that sing the locavore anthem of ‘Earth to table in the shortest time’ are worth a mention. In their book, Earth to Table, renowned chefs Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann remind us of the relationship between local eating and taste, and demonstrate how you can reduce your carbon footprint without diminishing your enjoyment of food. Bringing together stories of the passage of seasons on the farm; how-to sections; stunning photographs; and, of course, creative and delectable recipes that will leave anyone wondering why they ever considered eating a tomato in February. In Cooking for Friends, award-winning chef, world-renowned restaurateur, bestselling author, and Hell’s Kitchen star Gordon Ramsey offers us more than 100 exceptional recipes from his own family table. The way Gordon cooks here embodies his strongly held views: use in-season, fresh ingredients at their peak; support local producers and farmers' markets whenever possible; and celebrate the food culture and its many influences.

This post was written by Deeba

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Tiffin Tuesday - Getting Back Into The Habit

2009-10-20T10:10:00.001+02:00

It's been a long time since I've posted a bento here - or on my blog. It is not that I don't pack lunches any more, but... most days I just grab some leftovers, and an apple or banana, and a cereal bar, and I'm done.

Although it is not quite 2010 right now, I think it is time to start over and make 'New Year's resolutions', to set up new goals, and get back to packing lunches which are not only nutritious, but also fun to look at. Even if you don't pack meals for a child but for an adult, enjoying your lunch visually is a great part of the food with love theme, I think.

And it doesn't have to be elaborated, fancy food, or decorating stunning anime images on a rice bed (which I could never do, anyway):

Here I packed tiny tomato halves with a tuna salad stuffing, tiny cucumber and carrot bites for crunch and color, a slice of buttered wholegrain bread (wrapped in cling film to prevent it from turning soggy), 3 mini chocolate muffins, dried mango, banana chips, the last of the plum harvest, and an apple. Basically a pantry raid, but looks so much better than just a sandwich or a box with noodle salad :-)

So, when do you get back in the habit?

This post was written by Petra

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Nursing: A Journey to a Destination

2009-10-15T00:10:00.007+02:00

Any men out there who start to read this, gag and want to skip this article, if there is a woman in your life who might get pregnant and deliver a child she intends to nurse, I'd try to at least get halfway through it. I promise I won't get graphic.

Disclaimer: This post is meant in no way to make a statement about the merits of nursing over formula or vice-versa. I don't see anything wrong with feeding your baby formula, I was a formula-fed baby and I turned out ok (I think anyway).

The last time we saw our pediatrician at the 6-month appointment, he took one look at my baby and said "she looks perfect, she could be an advertisement for breastfeeding." I think it would be hard to describe the sense of relief I felt when he said that. I didn't originally think that I would be writing about breastfeeding/nursing here, but when I told K.'s Godmother what the doctor had said, she immediately insisted I had to write about it for my next DT post, if only to let other soon-to-be mothers know that as hard as it may be in the beginning, it can end up being perfectly fine. You see, it was very difficult for a while.

In England, midwives are the bulk of the maternity unit staff, rather than nurses, and because they are the main baby birthers in the public system (a doctor is called in to supervise if there is an issue of some sort but otherwise midwives often deliver babies themselves), many also consider themselves to be the authority on everything pregnancy and baby-related; this results in, over a post-birth period of 48hrs, receiving the advice of at least four different midwives on the proper nursing positions, times, frequency, etc... and they all have different ideas about every part of the process, all in contradiction with each other. The day I left the hospital, I had a breakdown on the phone with my sister because my baby seemed a bit jaundiced and had needed hardly any diaper changes that day, so she couldn't possibly be well; surely I was doing something wrong. The midwives weighed her, checked her bilirubin level (for jaundice), reassured me that she was fine, and off we went with a stash of painkillers for me.
The timeline from then on went basically like this:

Day 4 - Morning: Community midwife comes to the house as part of the National Health Service. First helpful with tips to improve latching position and keep baby awake during a feed, but also thinks baby looks very jaundiced and even though the hospital pediatrician has declared her to be fine, I become extremely anxious.
Day 4 - Afternoon: Our pediatrician checks baby over thoroughly and plots out her bilirubin level on a special hospital jaundice chart so we can see that she's fine. He declares her to be in very good health. Says to put her in sunlight for the jaundice.

I'd been told that it would take 6 weeks to establish the nursing completely, but I'd also been told that I seemed to be a natural at it and that I had the latching down properly somehow from the beginning, the main issue was that I had this baby who just couldn't last more than a few minutes into a feed without falling asleep and I was having a great deal of difficulty keeping her awake long enough to eat.

Day 6: Baby has slept entirely way too long at night and I haven't been able to feed her at regular intervals. Am worried about my milk coming in and the supply being sufficient with a baby that doesn't create a demand (it's a demand-supply system). Midwife visits and weighs her, declares she is not putting on enough weight. We should supplement feeds with formula.
Day 8: I've developed an infection and must urgently return to the hospital, nursing baby in tow.
Day 9: I have an operation under general anesthesia which makes me drowsy and sick to my stomach. I am exhausted and have a hard time waking regularly to feed a baby I can't wake to eat and who won't stay awake through a 45mn feed. Am convinced my supply is not going to get established and my fatigue only augurs bad things when I'll get home. Am hysterical on the phone to my sister about the baby not putting on enough weight and my supply dwindling. Am sent home with more painkillers and antibiotics.
Day 11: Midwife visit, I am advised to really supplement more with formula as she is not gaining enough weight, and by then am a complete mess. Tired, in pain, with an adorable baby who seems fine and alert when awake but who is asleep when the midwife visits and isn't gaining weight quickly enough. Try to pump to increase my low supply. I supplement grudgingly, feeling excessive guilt even though I know very well that it would be fine if I ended up not nursing and giving her formula, after all I was a formula-fed baby. No matter how much coaxing we do or what we try, she takes almost no supplemental formula.

Day 16: Midwife visits, the baby is an ounce shy of her birth weight and a few days away from being declared as"failure to thrive". Am about ready for the loony bin. Make my husband buy a medical scale most often used for weighing babies so I can weigh her every or every other day.
Day 17: The health visitor, a person who basically checks in on the family from a child's birth until he/she is 5, comes by and I see my first glimpse of hope. She says that though she has no empirical evidence to support her thoughts, her experience is that in cases such as mine, as soon as the new mother stops taking the painkillers, the milk supply increases dramatically and the baby gains weight very well. I'd taken my last pill that morning and wait to see what might happen over the next couple of days.
Day 19: Even though I can't measure it, I know my supply has increased and baby is starting to wake up to the world, clearly the painkillers were not helping in this whole debacle.

Over the next few weeks, I had to sort through a number of other hiccups in the process (biting, soreness until I thought I couldn't possibly get through one more feed) until by about 6-8 weeks in, just as predicted, and in spite of everyone saying it would take me less time because I seemed to be doing well the first couple of days in the hospital (even though I wasn't), I'd figured out 95% of the problems and was nursing her fairly comfortably. I'm still nursing her now as she discovers solid foods.
I often thought about just giving up, especially since we'd found a brand of formula that she actually seemed to like when we first had to supplement her, the point being that it was only perseverance and the will to nurse her that got me through. During those first three weeks in particular, and still fairly often until she was about 2 months old, I never thought I'd make it this long or that the pediatrician would ever say that she looked wonderful and could be an advertisement for nursing.
I know this has been a long post, but I wanted to share that, just in case one would-be mom reads it and it makes a difference. Experiences like nursing that are very personal can make one feel very guilty or inadequate when they don't go well and it becomes hard to share, so if this helps even one woman out there, it's worth putting the rest of you to sleep.

This post was written by Hilda

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FEEDING THE FINICKY

2009-10-08T14:51:00.012+02:00

MEET MR. PERSNICKETY

Oh, happy the parent who has children who eat everything. Happy eaters are a joy to behold, watching as they merrily lick beaters and agree to taste test all cooking adventures. Pure pleasure is the child who digs the serving spoon into the bowl and piles it high on his/her plate, no matter that he/she has never eaten it before. Garlic, eggplant, carrots, mascarpone cream, preserved lemons or pumpkin desserts don’t lead to wrinkled brows, turned up noses and groans of disgust, but rather interest, excitement and licked lips.

The persnickety child's dream!

Clement was – and is – this kind of child. Maybe he was influenced by my diet when I was pregnant, a diet consisting of the savory and the spicy, couscous and tagines, stews and seafood creoles, the intense flavor seeping through my body to him, a baby growing into my adventurous tastebuds. Or maybe it is due to the fact that from the moment he could open his tiny mouth we would offer him tastes of everything soft and smooth, from fresh goat cheese to chocolate pudding, just a tad on the tip of our pinkie finger, enough to get a reaction. And the reaction was always one of pure pleasure. By the time he could sit in a high chair, he loved sucking on lemon slices or biting into cloves of garlic, he would suck down baby spoonfuls of everything that we cooked or baked for ourselves, a foodie in the making.

And he always loved everything, cheeses, from the mild to the strong, exotic food from any culture, vegetables one and all, desserts both child-oriented and adult.

And then came Simon. Ah, what do the experts say about this? This second pregnancy was punctuated by American fast food cravings and plates piled high with brownies. The tiny taste tests were mostly abandoned when he was a tot. And one day, out of the blue, he pressed his lovely pink lips together, crossed his baby arms and refused what was on the end of the fork. And life was never the same. Here was a child, adorable, sweet and mild-tempered, a child who simply said “no” to food, no to anything flavorful, anything out of the ordinary, his version of ordinary. Years followed, years of eating pasta in bianco or white rice, plain grilled fish drizzled with the smallest amount of olive oil, plain chocolate cake with a smattering of powdered sugar, simple, tiny cheese ravioli in brodo, chicken broth. Fruit he loved, almost all fruit, so mealtimes usually found Clem with a plateful of vegetables in front of him and Simon with a bowl of sliced strawberries and banana, grapes and cubes of apples or pears, anything to get the maximum mix of vitamins.

As he’s grown, Mr. Persnickety, as I call him, has continued to eat simply, from pasta with red sauce to plates of white rice or unadorned couscous grains, spurning the fragrant, delicious veal blanquette or the lamb tagine that are served as the main course alongside these simple grains. He is wary of meat, dissecting it so minutely that it would make a forensic scientist proud, slicing off even the tiniest hint of fat. Vegetables get the old heave ho and most of what I cook is insulted with a “Oh, not that! Disgusting!” Fried foods and pizza, peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwiches, hamburgers and fries all pass with a thumbs up and desserts are limited to brownies and chocolate chip cookies, the most simple of chocolate cake or coffee cake with streusel. Simon was never so simple.

Feeding your child can't always be a hold up!

So how do we, the parent of the picky eater, how do we get our little darlings to eat anything healthy, anything vegetable, anything new? It becomes a game, a test: how to we package eggplant or spinach, fish or pumpkin in such a way that will actually have them eating it? Do we cook and serve them a separate meal or do we let them go hungry if they turn up their nose at what we have placed on the table? Or do we try and imagine dishes that may please, dishes that blend the loved with the hated in such a way that the persnickety child will finally put a forkful in his/her mouth and taste and maybe, just maybe, give a gentle shrug of the shoulders and say “it’s not bad”? And clean their plate. And make the foodie parent happy for one more meal. This is an ongoing project for me and I hope to be able, over the course of time and through my posts, I hope to be able to share some of these tasty dishes, successful meals, and there are indeed a few, with you.

Have them eat better... and healthier than this!

Greek-Inspired Spinach and Feta Triangles are easy to put together, if just a tad bit time consuming because of the phyllo/filo dough, and something that even my spinach-hating son, my finicky eater, will eat with pleasure (although he would never admit to the pleasure). I have made this at one time or another in one large baking dish, the filling sandwiched in between layers of filo dough, but wrapped in individual triangles makes it more fun to eat. Crunchy, buttery and delicious, chock full of feta cheese, add pine nuts or even chopped walnuts if you dare, this is a treat that everyone loves. It can be made in advance and stored in the fridge covered well with plastic wrap, just baking before serving.

GREEK-STYLE SPINACH-FETA TRIANGLES

1 1/2 lbs (800 g) fresh spinach, well-cleaned and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups (235 g - one package) feta cheese, drained and crumbled
1/2 cup (60 g) grated parmesan cheese, fresh when possible
3 large eggs, lightly beaten (if you make this in pie form, use 4 eggs)
2 Tbs chopped fresh mint
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
freshly ground pepper and a dash of salt to taste
1/2 lb (250 g, about 20 sheets) filo dough, thawed if frozen - if you make these 6 large triangles, you will need 12 sheets
Melted butter for the filo

Wash the spinach leaves, shake off excess water and put into a large pot with a tight-fitting lid. Steam the spinach until wilted, then pour into a colander to drain. Allow to cool until easy to handle. Press out all the excess water you can with your hands, then gather up the cooked spinach and place in the center of a clean but old cloth dishtowel. Wrap or roll up the spinach in the towel and squeeze for all you are worth, squeezing out as much water as possible. Place the spinach on a cutting board and chop.

Put the chopped spinach in a mixing bowl, add the crumbled feta and parmesan cheeses, the chopped mint, nutmeg and salt and a good grinding of pepper (when adding salt, do so sparingly; remember that the feta is salty). Blend well. Now beat the eggs until well blended and stir them into the spinach-cheese mixture.

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).

Now - the filo triangles. As you use each sheet of filo, keep the rest of the sheets covered with a just-damp towel so they don't dry out.

Melt the butter and allow to cool a bit.

Lay out the first sheet of filo with the wider length side to side, left to right. Brush the sheet quickly with butter. Lay a second sheet on top of the first and brush with butter. Repeat with a third sheet. With a very sharp knife, carefully slice from top to bottom into three equal strips. This will make the first three triangles.

Divide the spinach mixture into 6 (like I did here) or more parts depending on whether you want to make more or less triangles.* Scoop up one quantity and place it on the edge of the first strip of filo closest to you. Now, to form a triangle, lift up the bottom edge and bring the right bottom corner up towards the left edge (side), lining up the bottom and side edges to form a triangle. Holding this in place, use your free fingers to push the spinach mixture so it fills the triangle shape. Lift this up and fold upwards and continue folding until you have only about an inch of filo dough at the top. Brush this with butter to moisten, fold it over and seal your triangle "package". Place the triangle on a parchment-lined or buttered baking sheet, sealed side down.

Continue until you have made three triangles with the first three sheets of buttered filo. Repeat the process with three more buttered sheets and the rest of the spinach mixture. You now have 6 large triangles on your baking sheet. The triangles can be made ahead up to this point. Cover them well with plastic wrap and put into the fridge until ready to bake.

Brush the surface of each of the triangles with more melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes until golden.

* You can make this as one large pie, layering 8 - 10 of the buttered filo sheets in a buttered baking dish (the size of the dish depends on how thick you like the filling to be), spreading the spinach mixture evenly, then layering and buttering 8 - 10 more filo sheets on top. Bake until golden. Or you can make many more smaller triangles by cutting the filo dough either width- or length-wise into narrower strips.

Serve large triangles for lunch or dinner with a salad or smaller triangles as finger food.

This post was written by JAMIE

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Quick Parenting Tip: Consequences

2009-10-02T16:00:00.001+02:00

I recently joined a book group organized by the Parent Engagement Network of our local school district where we are reading Please Stop the Rollercoaster by Sue Blaney. It is different from most other book groups as we are going to read just this one book, chapter by chapter. Book groups for this particular book have morphed into parent support groups, as we struggle to deal with the world of our growing teens and tweens. I am looking forward to sharing some of the nuggets I come away with here on The Daily Tiffin, the first of which is:

Consequences
Raising our children to be independent responsible adults is a common goal that all parents share. Consequence is a lesson they need to learn early in life so that they are able to make better choices for themselves as they grow. We were talking about simple things that result in an extra chore for Mom or Dad to do like:

not waking up in time and missing the bus
forgetting to take homework or books to school
forgetting to bring their books home from school
forgetting their lunchbox at home
and so on.

All the above result in either Mom or Dad having to drop what they are doing and drive an additional amount to bail their kids out. Some kids need this kind of support on a daily basis - almost. That is where consequences comes in. One parent says she has an understanding with her kids where she allows them one rescue per month, or she charges them $1 per event from their allowance. This seems to work very well for them but it did not appeal to me as the underlying message is that you can buy yourself out of trouble.

Another suggestion that was put forth resonated well with me: the child takes on additional chores for the amount of time that her parent had to take out of his/her day to bail the kid out. My time for your time and the exchange must take place on the day that the support was required. This reinforces the value of time and also ensures that parental support is not taken for granted.

Do you have any tips that work well for you in such scenarios?

This post was written by Manisha

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Rebel without a cause….

2009-09-30T06:34:00.009+02:00

Went to drop the daughter to school this morning for the annual camping trip. They’re off for 3 days to an adventure camp in the lap of the Himalayas. A camp filled with much excitement for the 13 year olds…with promises of body surfing, night hiking, river crossing, rappelling, fish catching techniques, rowing & much more.

It's 3.30 am, time to get moving, and the argument begins once again…
1. You aren’t going to wear flip-flops & board the train?
Of course I am! We ALL are!

(Pre-decided...hmmmmm)
But, I argue, lamelessly, the platforms here are filthy.
Don’t I know? We do this every year. It’s OK. We’re ALL wearing these!
I rest my case! Peer pressure, mob mentality… whatever!
2. For heaven’s sake, does each toe nail HAVE to be a different colour?

(Fuchsia pink, sunshine yellow, lime green, orange & turquoise)
Yeah, they’re matching the flip-flops. That’s why I bought them!

‘Them’ refers to new Converse flip flops, & also to a dazzling array of nail paints.
3. Hurry we’re getting late.
Wait. I still have to paint my nails!
WHAT?
Change of plans over last minute telephone conversations. Multi coloured is off; black is being lavished on the pretty toes. I am about to explode….

We reach school, thankfully well in time, as we are known to be punctual folk. Meet up with a bunch of my friends, parents from the school community, and 4am seems the perfect time to air our woes. Our drift is the same, and we begin exchanging notes. The kids who’ve studied together since they were 4 years old are all thick pals. Everything is obviously decided because one look around, and you can see black painted toe nails & flip flops all across the gym.

A harried father of one of her girlfriends joins our animated conversation. “Why black, why is everything black? My daughter is a rebel. A rebel without a cause,” he says. He hit the nail on the head! Mine is too, only until this morning I didn’t have a coined phrase for her. ‘REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE’ - It does feel better putting her into a category of sorts! (Am I being mean?)

The harried man goes on to add. (They are Bengalis from Eastern India, and this is the most auspicious month for them. They gather at a community fair at this time every year to offer obeisance to their goddess). "We went to the prayer service and fair yesterday and she went dressed like ‘that’." He points to his daughter dressed in shorts, sneakers & a black tee. In India, at fairs like these, you would find people dressed, or rather overdressed, in traditional attire. He continues…"Then when we went to offer flowers to the deity, she stood far from us, refusing to join us, asking what we expected to achieve by doing 'all this'. What do you think you'll ‘get’?" He was pretty alarmed by the sign of times to come as she said she didn’t believe in ‘stuff like this’!

I got back and related this to the hub, who is on the quieter side, and pretty much reserved about his thoughts in public! He had but one comment to make, and with a smile of amused relief. "Thankfully we aren’t religious, so at least we have one less thing to argue over!"

That said, it’s not easy bringing up teens. The daughter has marked her ‘rebel’ path, and the son is beginning to show similar signs too, like an infectious disease! To those who have ‘been there, done that’, when does it get better? And to those that have yet to get ‘there’, good luck to you! This saga never ends!

This post was written by Deeba

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Vegetarian Pyramid Series - Millet

2009-09-25T23:57:00.006+02:00

Many of my Indian friends here bemoaned about lack of availability of Millet in the US of A, when I first moved here. I was surprised to hear that since I sort of remembered seeing lots of millet in the stores esp. in Health foods market. When I told them that, they informed me that they were talking about a different kind of millet altogether which was often confused with regular millet here in the stores. They told me they were talking about Indian Millet which is otherwise called as Finger Millet.

source: http://www.biztrademarket.com/User/174611/bb/millet_8su.jpg

Well if you give a glance at what Wikipedia has to say, then you would know that Finger Millet is not a different Millet but is actually just a type of millet. Among the different available ones like

1. Pearl Millet
2. Foxtail millet
3. Proso millet
4. Finger millet

Indians are fans of finger millet which is otherwise and commonly knows as Finger Millet. It is treasured by the Indian population thanks to the unavailability.

Finger Millet

A recent statistics in some Food Magazine enlightened me with the fact that Millet ranks as the 6th most important grain in the world, sustaining about 1/3rd of the world's population!!!!! Quite a celebrity, Millet is!:)

Millet is Gluten Free
Hence can be consumed by the celiacs and by those with wheat allergy. You can make breads, flatbreads or just enjoy them as pilafs. Since it does not have enough gluten essential for bread making, you would have to use it in conjunction with other flours.

In India the finger millet is ground as flour and taken in the morning as porridge. They are also sprouted to make Malt, ground together with other ingredients to make Indian crepes and also made into numerous snacks and tiffin items like roti's, pakodas etc. Try it as a
1)cooked cereal,
2)casseroles,
3)soups,
4)stews,
5)souffles (yes, you heard right!),
6)pilaf or as
7)simple stuffing.

The versatility of this grain is boundless

How to cook Millet?
Millet is a bland grain having no distinct taste of its own. It adopts the flavors from the other ingredients cooked with it. Toasting it before cooking helps to enhance its taste.

For 1 cup of Millet, it takes about 2 cups of liquid and a cooking time of approximately 20-30minutes.

If you leave it along as it cooks, the texture would be similar to that of rice - fluffy! But stir constantly with some liquid added at regular intervals ( like that of Risotto), it could end up resembling mashed potatoes. A fellow blogger informed me that her Millet takes longer to cook and more water to get the fluffier texture. She uses

For 1 cup of Millet 3 cups of boiling water and simmer for approximately 30 minutes.

I think the cooking time and liquid measurement depends on the variety or specific type available in that particular locality. You can also pre-soak the millet which will reduce the cooking time to 5-10 minutes. You can soak it overnight and steam the next day for about 30 minutes or until tender too.

Millet Sprouts and Flours.
I have never sprouted the pearl millet before although I have sprouted finger millet and made flour out of it to make my morning porridge.

The Millet flour produces dry, light and v delicate baked goods. It makes great crust which is thin and buttery smooth.

If using with yeast, you would have to use other glutinous flours to get the classic rise from yeast. You can also use it as a topping for your baked goods to get that crust. Try this Stuffed Millet Bread for starters. It makes a great accompaniment to soups and a wholesome lunch!

Nutrition
Its one of the major foods in India and for a good reasons. It is about as high in Protein as wheat and is a mineral powerhouse. It contains niacin,vitamin B6, folic acid and bits and pieces of calcium, iron, potassium,magnesium and zinc - well enough to make it nutritious.

How to Buy and Store
Buying organic Millet at your local health stores is the best. I haven't seen them in other stores. They keep well if stored in air tight containers and stored in dry cold shelves. It would be a great idea though to refrigerate them if you have a very hot and humid weather in the place where you live. Properly stored whole millet can lasts up to 2 years. The flour goes rancid very fast- hence use it fast and store it in freezer.

This post was written by Dhivya

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bless your hands

2009-09-21T18:25:00.006+02:00

note: This recipe was a favorite of mine growing up. I figured since the school year has started I would write about these spinach pies, which I'm sure was my mom's sneaky (but delicious) way of getting my brothers and I to eat our spinach. Enjoy!

If I had to pick one dish to become a vegetarian for, it would be fatayer (فطاير).

It's a strong statement, and I'm not sure whether I would actually do it, but hypothetically, if I had to choose one dish to give up meat for, that would be it. That's all I'm saying. Of course, there are meat, as well as cheese and za'atar, variations of this Middle Eastern triangle-shaped pie, but the spinach ones are my absolute favorite.

My sito is an expert at making these, and I'm not just saying that because she's my grandmother. She's good -- not only at making these pies, but at everything she cooks, really. There's a saying in Arabic, تسلم يدك (tislamou eedaik), that is used to thank a cook for preparing a delicious meal -- it literally translates to, bless your hands. My grandmother's hands have been blessed plenty of times. The truth is, she's happiest when she's cooking, and it shows in the food she prepares. It runs in her veins, and even mine, she tells me.

Fatayer is a simple dish, in theory: just dough and filling. The dough can be made with either milk or water. My grandmother tells me she makes hers with water, but that she'll sometimes use milk (or powdered milk), depending on what she has on hand. Somehow she manages to make both versions taste equally amazing. I am convinced her hands are blessed! Luckily, we live in the age of twitter and blogs and facebook, so I knew this would be a perfect question to ~~ask~~ tweet Anissa Helou. Chef Helou is a Mediterranean food scholar and instructor based in London, who also keeps a Mediterranean food blog. To her knowledge some cooks use milk in Syria, but no one does in Lebanon. My grandmother is Syrian, so this made sense to me.

I have a feeling there will be some tension around the red bell pepper. While the red bell pepper is not traditional, I don't think, it works on many levels - photogenically and culinarily. The specs of red in the filling add contrast to the shades of dark green spinach, while adding a subtle sweet undertone to the dish. It works. Try it, at least once, and let me know.

The filling starts with freshly chopped spinach. I used baby spinach, but that wilts down to almost nothing. In the end, any spinach will work. After you roughly chop the leaves, add salt to release the water from the spinach and let sit for 5-10 minutes, while you prepare the dough.

If you're using dry, active yeast, you don't necessarily need to make it bloom. I do this as a check to make sure that my yeast is alive and well. Simply add the yeast to warm water with a bit of sugar or honey, cover and let sit for 10-15 minutes. If it gets bubbly and foamy, it's alive, if not, you just saved yourself a lot of frustration (and cussing).

The smaller you make the dough, the prettier the fatayer will be, but the more patience you'll need. In the Middle East, these involved dishes are almost never prepared alone. The women of the family usually gather to help the host and also take that time to catch up with each other and talk about stuff I wasn't allowed to listen to as a child.

Just imagine how much quicker this would be if you had four or five pairs of hands helping you.

Once they're all formed, make sure the seams are well-sealed before they go into the oven. I like to brush the surface of mine with a little milk, or a light egg wash, just to give the crust a nice sheen after they come out of the oven.

These pies are surprisingly better the next day, at least in my opinion. You can heat them up for 7-10 seconds in the microwave, or eat them at room temperature, which is what I will usually do.

Click here for the recipe.

This post was written by Antonio Tahhan

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Immunization - Truth and Rumor

2009-09-16T09:00:00.003+02:00

My families are a bunch of trivia heads, both the one I was born into and the one I am now a parent in. I think asking us trivia questions incessantly and providing interesting trivia continuously was a way for my father to instill deep curiosity about everything in us.

On occasion, my father will ask me the same question, perhaps forgetting that he has asked me it before: What would you name as the three most important discoveries for mankind? My answer has always consisted of the same first two things: 1) Fire and 2) The Printing Press. The third one is not always the same depending on the occasion, and while he agrees with me about the first two, my father is always unerring in the third one: 3) The generalization of the vaccination process by Louis Pasteur.

When I was little, I don't think there was even a shadow of a doubt that I was going to be vaccinated. In fact, I can't recall there being any issues with vaccination during my lifetime except within the last five to ten years. In that time, the rise in instances of autism in young children has led factions of people to believe that vaccines and vaccinations in general are a direct cause of the condition.
So, to vaccinate or not to vaccinate? That is the question.
As the mother of a nearly six month-old baby, I'm going to be honest and begin this discussion by saying that my little girl has had her prescribed shots; at two months, three months, four months and has just had a BCG shot which is recommended before the age of one in Europe. The vaccines that she has received so far are meant to protect her from Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping cough, Polio, and Pneumococcal(lung) and Meningococcal(brain) strains of influenza. The BCG is a vaccine against Tuberculosis. Further shots when she'll be thirteen months old should protect her from Measles, Mumps and Rubella. So it's obvious which side of this equation I fall under, but I'll break it down and see if it makes sense to you too.

Even before the mercury rumor, which persists to this day, the first rumor blaming vaccines was started by a group of researchers who published a study in the late 90s theorizing that the Measles, Mumps and Rubella vaccine (MMR) caused autism in a study they did of 26 children (12 with autism and 14 without). Yep, you read that right, 26 children, there's no zero missing at the end of that number. The researcher who headed the study was very vocal about publicizing the results though the study did not prove anything. However, the said same researcher was later found to have hidden a conflict of interest involving funding from potential plaintiffs in a lawsuit against a vaccine manufacturer. Ten of the thirteen researchers who had published the original study later retracted their findings. Nevertheless, the rumor that vaccines caused autism was cemented into the psyche, and as the MMR debate was being fought, a new target was found in mercury.
The most persistent rumor in the anti-vaccination campaign has been that mercury found in a chemical known as thimerosal, which was used as a preservative in some vaccines, is the cause of higher rates of autism. However, upon doing extensive reviews of such a possibility, it was found that the quantity of mercury in thimerosal, measured in nano grams per milliliter in children after vaccination, is well below the acceptable level as defined by EPA standards. I trusted the reports I read because I was trained as an environmental engineer in college so I know about measurements like nano grams per milliliter (ηg/ml) up the wazoo as I had to study air, water, and soil pollution (did you know that if you work in the United States, the air in your workplace has to be recycled 5.4 times per hour? Yes, I'm so scarred I remember OSHA standards by heart twelve years after the fact). To be specific, the amount of thimerosal measured in children after vaccination was less than half of the acceptable amount. Unfortunately, in this day and age of electronic communication, coming on the heels of the claims about MMR, the fuse had already been lit and spread in part by the New York Times and Rolling Stone and the thimerosal rumor grew to enormous proportions.

In my mind there are several things that are more likely the cause of autism, than just something as unlikely as a simple vaccine or set of vaccines. I apologize in advance to anyone with an autistic child who may read this but I do not pretend to be an expert, I am simply going forward with what some research, experience, and logic are telling me. Autism does not describe one particular condition, rather, it is a spectrum of disorders. This is why a condition such as asperger would be said to fall within the autism spectrum of disorders. My mother has asperger, some of the symptoms being stronger than others in her particular case. My paternal uncle, who is a mathematician, also falls within the general spectrum; though which one of the exact disorders he would qualify as having I wouldn't know. What I do know, from these two people close to me and many others mostly unrelated to me, is that many of the disorders which fall under the autism spectrum umbrella have only recently been identified and categorized as such, and that the diagnosis of many of these disorders is not always evident unless a person has a severe case of that particular category. In other words, what I've gathered from people of my parent's generation and above is that as recently as my parent's generation (the '40s and '50s) they weren't aware that there was any such disorder, they were simply considered to be relatively slow, quirky or eccentric. The octogenarian mother of a man I know who is in his early 50s didn't know that he suffered from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) until he was diagnosed a few years ago. As she recanted, she had always thought that he was simply over energetic, this being his quirk compared to her three other children. To me, this translates to the steady increase in the reports of autism as actually being a function of our recent heightened awareness of its distinct categories rather than its sudden increase as a consequence of vaccination.
Moreover, autism, in severe cases, is often diagnosed in young children as early as one year old. This is right in the middle of the standard vaccination timeline and I, as a new mother, can attest that I would consider it odd if my perfectly normal-seeming child suddenly started displaying autistic behavior shortly after being vaccinated and might want to think of that as the possible cause for her sudden change in behavior. I completely understand the urge to find a concrete cause for something like this happening to one's child as the more concrete the cause, the more possible a specific treatment and/or cure might be. However, it should be considered that the urge to blame vaccination comes partly from the fact that when children are this young, vaccination is one of the only things that we as their parents can control completely since they cannot fully communicate with us yet and we have little or no control over a number of other factors in their environment such as pollution or allergens and, for that matter, many other things which surround us daily but which we've come to accept as the natural state of the 20th and 21st century life. It's important to remember that while we can control the administration of vaccines to our young children, unless we are doctors or biochemists ourselves, we don't fully understand them either, and understanding something only partially may be worse than not at all in some cases like this.

Finally, if I haven't caused you to nod off on your keyboard by now, the third and last part of this equation is the fact that some of the diseases which our generation, and now our children's generation, are routinely vaccinated against used to kill scores of infants and adults alike. Because the population of people, however small, who are not vaccinating their children is on the rise, diseases such as measles, which was considered to have been eradicated in the United States in 2000, polio and mumps are now on the rise again, with outbreaks over the last few years. I think it's hard for my generation to comprehend diseases like polio because we were vaccinated against them. We didn't have to endure them as people of our parents' generation had to. The risk of my daughter catching one of these diseases and perhaps dying from one or more of them if she were not vaccinated, is higher and more likely than her developing autism from the composition of the vaccine; particularly since the causality between vaccination and autism is not proven. So I think in the end it must be pretty clear why I'm in the vaccination camp.
I have to note the following: All children are, of course, individuals and it is important to take family history with allergies and adverse reactions into account when deciding whether or not to vaccinate a child.

I can't remember now what other answers I've given my father when it comes to the third most important discovery for mankind, but now that I have a child who is being vaccinated, I don't think I'll ever forget that that is probably the best third answer I can come up with. Perhaps that has been the point of his asking me repeatedly over the years, to see if I would come to this realization when I had children of my own. Thanks Dad.

This post was written by Hilda

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THE WONDER YEARS

2009-09-10T11:36:00.000+02:00

MULTICULTURAL FAMILY, MULTICULTURAL KITCHEN

Ah, my sweet little boys; born in France to a French (Catholic) father and an American (Jewish) mother and brought to Italy at the tender ages of 1 and 3 to spend 7 years learning to become Italian before moving back to France. Life is a dream, life is full of wonder and life is tough and confusing. Caught between all of these various worlds, struggling to juggle conflicting identities, find common cultural ground, muddling through the learning process of cultural identity, my two boys became true mini-cultural melting pots.

Children soak up language and culture like tiny sponges. They pick and choose what suits, copying friends, trying to fit in, asking questions, accepting or refusing. We struggled as well, trying to guarantee that they spoke all necessary languages, were able to slide into one culture or the other as we traveled, moved around or spent time with family, trying to give them a bit of Opera or quality cinema and good books alongside the Italian love of football (soccer) or the schoolyard passion for Ninja Turtles or Space Rangers, the teen craze for American skateboarders or bands. But how do we, those of us raising multi-cultural children (and there are more and more of us out there), how do we instill a sense of self, an identity? How do we keep our own culture alive and pass it on to the next generation? I ended up turning to what I know best: food.

Culture and cooking are as intertwined, as necessary to one another, the old saying goes, as a horse and carriage or love and marriage, and, for us foodies, as are marshmallows and hot cocoa, peanut butter and jelly, tomato and mozzarella. They are so intertwined that we can’t tell which is more necessary to the other, which came first, each one infusing the other with spice and vitality and maximizing the qualities of the other.

My father-in-law in front on his shop in the suburbs of Paris.

Culture is expressed in both what and how we eat: from ingredients to cooking method to the way it is served and how mealtimes are arranged. Most of us, whether we realize it or not, conscious gesture or not, express our culture everyday by what we prepare. An Italian or Chinese home is found on the dinner table, whether that table is found in Rome or Beijing, London or New York or Sydney. We may travel the world, move from one country to another, but one thing we all carry with us, the one aspect of our culture that generations of immigrants have kept close to their hearts, loathe to leave behind, is our cuisine and the rituals that surround it. Through our cooking, we remind the children, grandchildren and generations of family to come who we are, where we came from and, whether that culture is ethnic, religious or even political, it is how we keep our culture alive. Each time we gather around the table, this ritual, this eating together strengthens bonds between individuals, whether family or friends, as well as between generations, and we become part of a community.

Dinnertime with my family in Florida, mom, grandma, brother and sister, aunt and cousins, gathered for Michael's Bar Mitzvah.

Like most Americans, I am a mere two generations from the Old Country. I grew up straddling two cultures, two culinary worlds, sandwiched somewhere between the Steak and Potatoes and the Cabbage Soup and Pastrami, the Apple Pie and the Apple Kugel, the Hot Dogs and Cole Slaw and the Chicken Soup and honey drizzled over warm, fresh Challah. I always took these things for granted, never questioning why we ate what we ate. Yet marrying a Frenchman, a man raised on blanquette, daube and baguette smeared with Camembert, raising my own kids in a new, foreign place, I realize the enormity of the balancing act that it is, trying to keep them at home culturally while letting them discover new worlds. My sons have grown up with several cultures, sometimes in harmonious joy, sometimes clashing like warring factions. I have tried to bring something of each culture to the table, explaining origins, history, family lore as I set each dish before them. I have tried to keep the continuity of family history alive through the ceremonies and holiday meals. There is also something so comforting in re-creating and eating what is so familiar. Through all of this, I hope something has been brought home to them, I hope that they feel their roots just a little bit with each mouthful.

Sarah & Shapsa, my great-great grandparents, photograph taken in Russia before their emigration to the US in the 1890's.

You see, each time I open a cookbook and choose a recipe, each time I grab my shopping basket and head out hoping to find a particular ingredient, I think of my ancestors newly arrived on American shores trying to figure out how to cook; unusual ingredients, new-fangled cooking methods, trying to adapt Old World habits to New World offerings. Things formerly taken for granted have become rare jewels, family favorites metamorphosing into something foreign before transforming into tradition. Like those immigrants of old, I do what I can with what I have and hope that something survives.

Lamb Tagine with Prunes, Almonds and Honey is a family favorite, a wonderful dish I make all year round, yet special for the Jewish New Year, which is right around the corner. I have adopted this sweet dish as my very own for this holiday (the honey and the prunes promising a round, sweet year), creating a new family tradition, one steeped in the North Africa culture rather than my own. And it reminds my husband of his years living in Morocco, a culinary culture he fell in love with.

AGNEAUX AUX PRUNEAUX: LAMB WITH PRUNES

1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
A few tablespoons vegetable oil for cooking
2 – 2 ½ lbs (1.2 kg) boneless lamb, excess fat removed and cut into large cubes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
½ tsp saffron powder or turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
½ lb (250 g) pitted prunes, or more as desired
Handful (about 2 oz/60 g or more) of blanched whole almonds
2 tsps ground cinnamon
3 Tbs honey

In a large, heavy-bottom pot with a lid, heat the oil and then fry the chopped onion until it starts to soften and become translucent. Add the chopped garlic and continue to fry until the onion and garlic are soft and just golden.

Add the cubes of lamb and sauté, tossing to guarantee even browning, until lightly browned all over. Add the saffron, ginger and nutmeg, salt and pepper generously.

Add enough water to cover the meat, stir well, and bring up just to the boil. Turn down the heat, cover the pot almost completely and allow to simmer for 1 hour 20 minutes. The meat should be tender. Check every now and then, adding water as needed (remember, if too much water boils away, there will be no delicious sauce! You can always thicken it up a bit at the end of the cooking.).

At the end of the 1 hour 20 minutes, add the prunes, almonds, cinnamon and the honey, stir and continue simmering for another 15 – 20 minutes. Taste and add more freshly ground black pepper to balance the sweetness, or a tad more honey if desired.

Serve over hot couscous grains.

This tagine is fabulous reheated the next day, as the sauce thickens and the flavors meld.

Are you interested in contributing to The Daily Tiffin? Drop us an email: thedailytiffin@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing your ideas.

This post was written by Jamie

Vegetarian Pyramid Series - Kamut

2009-08-27T02:19:00.006+02:00

“What we know is a drop, what we don’t know is an ocean.” (Isaac Newton)

This proverb holds so true whenever I visit my local health stores. Every time I assume that I am getting to the end of familiarizing myself with myriad range of whole grains (or any other ingredient for that matter), a new one pops up taking me completely by surprise. This is what happened about 6-8 months back when during my ~~window~~ grain shopping. I saw some fresh Kamut grains.

I got very curious and researched more about them. Kamut is an ancient grain and relative of Wheat. It was supposed to be originally from Egypt where stories go as far of it being taken from the Egyptian tombs. Some other studies say that they probably originated from Asia too. Anyways irrespective of wherever they are from, they are available in most areas of North America, Australia, Europe and in few Asian countries.

How to use Kamut?
Kamut is available in various forms in the market now days. You will see

Kamut Berries (see how to cook them here),
Kamut flour – these make delicate baked goods inspite of being high in gluten. Use them in place of whole wheat pastry flour in any recipe. I sometimes use them to replace half of white flour in my baking recipes,
Kamut Cereals sometimes find their way into my breakfast as a hearty porridge
Kamut crackers makes a great snack in the evening topped with dips and salsa
Kamut pasta making life much easier especially in cases when other forms are not available. Also its so much simpler to consume this whole grain in this form without getting into any time consuming effort too. No excuses to avoid eating them in any case.

Health Benefits of Kamut
Though it’s a cousin of Wheat, it has a higher nutritional value than whole wheat. It compares in the following points

40% more protein,
more minerals,
65% more amino acids,
more magnesium and
30% more vitamin E makes it stand up mightier than wheat.

The controversy - to eat or not to eat, that is the questions (for celiacs)

From what I read in few books, they claim that Kamut (though wheat based) could be tolerated by people suffering from Celiac – if eaten in moderation. But other sources deny this claim outright.

Few people from Gluten Intolerance Group actually were kind enough to point that out to me in my Article about Kamut in my blog that it is not advisable for such people (including wheat allergies) to consume this grain which in some cases could lead to death (!!)

The end result? I would say better safe than sorry. If you have any wheat allergies or are suffering from celiac disease, avoid even going near the grain! Whenever there is dispute about such things, I usually take the safer route and would advise the same.

For the rest of us, if you have never tried this grain before, here are couple to start off. Simple, fast and delicious.

This deliciously simple and subtly healthy kamut pasta with baked asparagus is a winner in its own right.

Everything but the kitchen sink Kamut Pilaf is not only hearty but also healthy with mixed greens and baked Tofu. What a way to clean your fridge out :)

This post was written by Dhivya

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Back to School with Healthier Lunch Boxes

2009-08-23T15:20:00.004+02:00

Soeren's already back at school since the past few weeks, but in many countries schools are still out for a few weeks. Not sure about how you feel, but vacations always bring back some of the easy going feeling and especially after summer break I seem to be scrambling to keep up with the hectic pace school life and chores bring along.

One thing that needs attention everyday is packing balanced and healthy lunch boxes. They need their daily nutrients to keep them active and give them the power to get through the day. Unfortunately, in our convenient world, lunch boxes are often filled with packaged ‘convenience’ foods. Full-calorie soda, chips, and cookies can add up to a lot of excess fat, sugar, sodium and calories, which may contribute to long-term health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity. Furthermore, these extra calories also make kids sluggish or cranky in the afternoons.

After packing lunches for Soeren over the past few years I have learned quite a few things. Next week he's going to be 7 and very much has a head of his own. So, I know that the lunch boxes has to have items which he enjoys and is most likely to eat.

What we've done is made a chart and included included all his favorite healthy foods. The chart divides the foods into different groups and we try to focus on a variety to be able to provide a balanced lunch box. This provides the energy and nutrients needed to grow, play, learn and stay healthy.

The basics are simple - the lunch box needs to include:

One serving of vegetables or salad and a serving of fruit (preferably fresh, but canned or dried can counts).
One serving of a low-fat or fat-free dairy item such as a low-fat cheese stick, a yogurt cup, milk or some cottage cheese.
One source of protein. Things like meat, chicken, fish, eggs, peanut butter or beans.
A healthy drink such as water or unsweetened 100% juice or as Soeren likes a mix of 100% fruit juice with some sparkling water.

With this in mind the chart is fairly simple to create. Below I've made a copy of Soeren's chart.

Main	Vegetable/Salad	Fruit	Dairy	Protein	Drink
Whole wheat pita with egg salad + quark dressing	Carrots	Strawberries	Natural quark w/honey and peaches	Gouda cheese stick	Apple juice w/Sparkling water
Multigrain bread with tuna salad	Cucumber Sticks	Peaches	Chocolate milk	Unsalted cashew nuts/almonds	Cherry Juice w/ sparkling water
Rye bread with turkey meatballs	Bell Peppers (no green ones)	Homemade apple sauce	Plain yogurt w/ agave nectar and strawberries	Hummus dip	Multivitamin juice
Chicken/Falafel wraps	Tabouleh	Honey Melon	Plain yogurt w/ blueberries

These are just a few of his favorite things. There are plenty more items he likes but we wanted to list just a few so that both of us understand in which direction we are going. What I mean is, by getting Soeren to make this chart with me he is more aware of the healthy things he likes. For me it means something to follow when I am lost for ideas or need some inspiration.

I use the chart to mix and match and as a basis to make new creations. From a very young age Soeren ate a lot of fruit - I am lucky there as I get no fuss in that aspect. In addition I do add a healthy treat or snack, like buckwheat blueberry muffins or homemade cookies, sticky buns etc. I prefer to make these treats at home so I can manage the level of sugar and use healthy organic products with less preservatives.

It’s important to add variety and be innovative. If you’re packing cheese and cucumber, cheese and lettuce, or cheese and tomato day in and day out it most probably will get monotonous.

Here are a few ideas I’ve successfully put past Soeren:

I use different kinds of breads avoiding white bread as much as I can. I try to make variations of different sandwiches – everything from whole wheat pita, naan bread to wraps and baguettes, focaccia to ciabatta rolls.
Sneaky mums add salad to the sandwiches – arugula, shredded cabbage, lettuce, cress etc. Soeren has learned to love his salad in this way!
I use different spreads like goat cheese, cream cheese, avocado dip or a herb flavored quark. Go easy on the butter and avoid mayo.
Add raw veggies like cucumbers, carrots and bell peppers to the lunch box as a side to nibble along with the sandwiches. I make this a must. Soeren loves to have a dip with these raw veggies. I often pack a hummus, herby flavored quark, plain cottage cheese or a yogurt tahini dip for him to dunk his veggies into.
A nice change from sandwiches are leftovers from a quiche, spring rolls or pasta bake.
I pack at least 2 types of fruit in his lunch box. Strawberries, blueberries, yellow kiwis, raspberries, apples, orange wedges, melon slices – the list goes on.
During the colder season when the variety of fruit is not as abundant as in the summer, I often turn to dried fruit and nuts.
Sometimes I skip sandwiches and make a salad with couscous, bulgur, pasta or rice. Adding some shredded chicken, veggies or hard boiled eggs makes it more filling. Fat-free or low-fat dressing is often packed in a separate container.
Drinks – I pay very close attention to this. It’s amazing how many drinks label themselves as “healthy!” but a closer look at the label show that they are loaded with sugar. I usually buy 100% fruit juices like apple, grape or cherry. I fill Soeren’s drink thermos with 1/2 juice and the rest is topped off with sparkling water. Low-fat and unsweetened chocolate milk and unsweetened herb/fruit iced teas are also a few of Soeren’s favorite drinks.
Like every child, Soeren loves snacks and treats. I usually make mini treats like small muffins, cookies and brownies, where instead of sugar, I use agave nectar, honey or maple syrup. Smaller mini versions satisfy the snacker’s appetite and does not have that many calories/sugar as the larger portions. Furthermore, I try to use fruit as much as I can in my baked treats.

If you are looking for great inspiration you’ll find several healthy, fun, innovative and scrumptious lunch box ideas right here on the Daily Tiffin. If you’ve ever wondered what Bento is you’ll find the answer to this and much more in our article The art of Japanese lunchboxes - an introduction to Bento.

Finally there are always times when we are in a rush and the lunch box needs to be packed quickly. The best tip I can give on this is try to prepare as much as one can the evening before.

Fruit and veggies can be cut the evening before and wrapped in Clingfilm.
Frozen rolls, bread etc. can be taken out the evening before. In the morning they are thawed and ready to be spread.
Spreads and dips can also be made the evening before and packed in containers.

You’ll find more useful quick lunch box packing tips in our article Need for speed: A mommy's lunch manifesto. While packing lunches, hygiene plays an important role and our food safety for packed lunches article will provide you with the best pointers.

Our recipe section might also offer you with a few healthy option for the next lunch box. These sweet Asian meatballs are simple and low in stress, which work not only as a party appetizer but also are perfect in a lunch box too. Or how about quesadillas? In our article Que Sera Sera Quesadillas, we share with you just how versatile these are. They make great alternatives to the regular sandwich. My personal all time favorite are these quick Chickpea Spinach Pockets. We also have several ideas and recipes for breads, which you can easily make at home.

I hope a few of these suggestions will help you to recover from the lunch box burn out.

Do you have more helpful and yummy lunch box ideas?
What do you find challenging when packing lunch boxes?

Share your thoughts with us.

Are you interested in contributing to The Daily Tiffin? Drop us an email: thedailytiffin@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing your ideas.

This post was written by Meeta

STEPPING OUT OF 'MY' COMFORT ZONE...

2009-08-19T06:45:00.012+02:00

A few days ago the hub decided to shake the kids out of their secure bubble, & announced it was time to take a trip into town using public transport. The call was for a trip into the old city here in Delhi, 'Old Delhi, Purani Dilli or the Walled City' as it is also called, and by the Delhi Metro. The Metro has been around for a couple of years yet we hadn’t experienced it. 'Oh NO'… a huge cry rose across the room, both kids looking at me in despair. The hub always feels that the two of them have got too used to being driven around from point A to B, or using the school bus. They have no idea how the transport system works, & how we used to hop on and off buses when we were young. We’ve been on the Monorail in Sydney, MRT in Singapore, Metro in HKG, Tube in London, even the Moscow Metro…but every country is different, and ours is no exception. Hopped onto the train, stumbling around the system initially, but we soon got a hang of things. Though the journey into town was an hour long, it was stress free, in air conditioned comfort, with no crowds etc. Being a really hot and humid day, once out of the train, the heat, humidity & chaos soon hit us. We had stepped into a different world, & the kids just gaped! The walled city has a certain charm of it’s own. Lots of old dilapidated buildings, delicious roadside food (which we didn’t heat because of jaundice, typhoid fears), hundreds of people, cattle, rickshaws ... all sharing space on the road. A happy balance of complete chaos. We had fun sauntering around streets with no names, reaching dead ends, then piling into rickshaws and racing each other, passing the Jama Masjid en route, India’s largest and most picturesque mosque. Screeched to a halt to crowd into a tiny shop dealing with brass ware etc. Was fun to see the kids’ eyes light up… so much to sift through. A shop packed with fascinating bric-a-brac. They wanted everything, the daughter especially who went ballistic and almost needed to be tranquilized. I wanted everything, but then I’m ‘grown-up’, so that’s my perk!! We shopped till the hub dropped, & then set off again. The bait was the food of course! Here the kids were game. Let’s go to Karim’s was the call…a place that found its way into top Asian foodie joint listings, including the Times and BBC guides. To quote from the Time Magazine, 'Travelers in Delhi have a lot on their plate. Mughal monuments like the hulking Red Fort and the elegant Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, loom above the city's myriad bazaars and the dusty homes of forgotten poets. But no matter how much there is to explore, locals and visitors alike always return to Delhi's most beloved haunt: Karim's. A cycle-rickshaw ride from the Chandni Chowk Metro stop, Karim's is neither soaring fortress nor ancient temple, yet it is an unmissable landmark nonetheless, often filled to capacity with the faithful. This drab roadside dhaba (or eatery) serves up the most authentic Mughlai fare in the city—which is what you might expect considering who runs the place.'The hype had been created before. We conveniently forgot to tell them that it was a glorified road-side dhaba that is famous for its food, not interiors. They were shocked & refused to eat. Hub and me exchanged looks, & told them to wait while we ate, and they could eat at home. To Karim’s credit, the minute the food was served, the kids devoured it like there was no tomorrow, enjoying each morsel.Long day done, early supper enjoyed, and we set off into the setting sun to catch the Metro back home. This time the journey wasn’t easy. We got caught in the holiday rush & were squished like sardines in a can. Crowds like we’ve never seen before, jostling for every square inch. Quite alarming actually, but surprise surprise; the kids didn’t complain. Not once. They just took to it and were quite fancy-free. Not a whine the entire hour of standing with teeming millions, not a whine when there was a power cut for a minute & my heart stopped beating, not a whine till we got back home…WOW!!Lesson learnt - It's me who has to step out of my comfort zone. I confess I was VERY skeptical and doubted this idea would work. Rolled my eyes at the hub when the kids weren't looking. Experience is a great teacher! Kids are so much more adaptable. They just need the opportunity.

This post was written by Deeba

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Middle Eastern house salad

2009-07-28T18:45:00.005+02:00

Sorry this is a day late. I was in Seattle for most of last week for the Web Design World conference and then spent time with my parents who came to visit me for the weekend. Seattle was beautiful and I cannot wait to show you pictures, but first, there's a salad I've been meaning to write about - it's called fattoush (فتوش).

It seems like the market for Middle Eastern salads outside of the Middle East is disproportionally dominated by tabbouleh, a salad, that when made right, combines ultra-finely chopped parsley with tiny pearls of fine-ground bulger wheat and other finely chopped vegetables. Fattoush is quite the opposite, at least when it comes to preparation - it can be thrown together in a matter of minutes, in a very rustic and hearty way that's all about flavor rather than embellishments. Tabbouleh is delicious though, don't get me wrong. Sometimes, however, I just want a quick and tasty, no-frill salad, and for moments like these I make fattoush.

The mise en place can be overwhelming, but in one trip to the farmer's market you can have all these vegetables laid out on your table, too. The most exotic ingredient here is probably the sumac, which is a lemony, sour spice that can be found in most specialty markets these days and certainly any Mediterranean market you know of. If you like cooking Middle Eastern dishes, this is a spice that you should always have on hand.

This is the part where some people might disagree: the bread. Probably the best (and most traditional) way you can prepare the bread for fattoush is by pan-frying the triangles in extra virgin olive oil, but that takes a long time and makes a mess of my stovetop. I prefer to toss the triangles in olive oil, sprinkle some sumac on the bread (something my grandmother taught me), and throw the whole tray into the oven/broiler, on high.

The dressing for this salad is equally simple, as promised. It's a combination of olive oil and lemon juice, with a sprinkle of salt and sumac - that's it. You can add dried mint to the dressing like I did, but that's completely up to you.

Click here to view or print the recipe.

This post was written by Tony

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Vegetarian Pyramid Series - Wheat Berries

2009-07-23T20:52:00.005+02:00

Have you noticed how certain ingredients which were earlier labeled as “Poor Man’s Food” have now come to be adorning the health food stalls of today? Or sometimes even the gourmet plates of people calling themselves the connoisseur of fine food? Paradox or the fate of homosapiens today? – call it whatever, it sounds indeed heartening that whole “complete” foods have come to be cherished and they have finally “arrived” at last.

What Are Wheat Berries?

Among such ingredients, Wheat berries find its rightful place. They are nothing but Whole Wheat grains with the husks removed. The ones responsible for imparting nutrition to our body – the bran, the germ and the endosperm – remain intact and that’s why consuming these are extremely beneficial. For the least amount of calories, you get maximum amount of fiber and nutrition. I mean with such a bargain – what is it that you are waiting for?

How do they look and where to look for them?

I know when someone mentions a new ingredient to me, my brain cells starts grappling to any image that it could possibly associate to in its memory book and if nothing comes around, gets frustrated. So to avoid this unnecessary process let me show you a picture which will put you at ease and the next time you buy these, you know you are not bringing home something else assuming them to be these berries!

The berries are sturdy grains with brownish-reddish tinges. Here in the U.S they are mostly available in the health food section. In India they can be bought in regular stores which sell grains.

How to cook Wheat Berries?

To do it the propah way, it would have to be:

Clean and soak the wheat berries overnight,
Cook them on a stove top for 1 to 1-1/2 hours until the grains get chewy and add them to your salads or something of your choice

But the motive of this post is to make sure you consume these grains and not to chase you away with the labor associated with them! I mean the way the current universe is trying to maintain its balance on a roller coaster ride, we don’t have the time to waste – ‘err I mean’ – to embark on such strenuous process.

Hence quick method to cook these is:

Buy a Pressure cooker. I know that you know that you can afford it! Awe come-on – imagine the amount of time you save, the extent of nutrition that you are going to gain for the “pounds” [ pun intended ] you are going to lose. And this gadget lasts like forever!!
Soak the grain overnight (or forget it! Doesn’t matter).
For 1 cup of Wheat Berries add 2 cups water and cook for 15-20 min ( which amounts to approx 5-6 whistles for me in an Indian styled cooker)

For the curious cats - lemme put it in another way - for the Knowledge Thirsty - here is a comprehensive list of ways to cook Wheat Berries, if you are interested, where it includes cooking methods in microwave, stove top, pressure cooker even rice cooker.

Recipes that Make Wheat Berries interesting

Just like there is a myth floating around that vegetarian foods are bland and that they suck ( sorry to burst your bubble, but its that recipe in your hand that does), there is also this hate-hate relationship with foods which are listed under ‘Health Food Section’. Forget your Arborio rice, these Wheat berries when cooked throw up fierce competition in the chewy department. Move over plain old white rice – Wheat berries are here.

They can be enjoyed as

Breads (I have one baking in my Oven right now! Yum)
Soups ( my recipe below )
Stews ( see this recipe and tell me if you are not inspired!)
Or come to think of it - throw in some the next time you make your favorite Chicken casserole. No one will know! Even if they do who cares – they will be tasty – so no worries

I have one recipe in my blog to convert you into wheat berry hoarder

Wheat Berry and Pinto Soup is one hearty and yummy appetizer which I assure you will warm its way into your appetite.

I am trying out some pancakes with some wheat berries too! It’s a new whole world out there – Why don’t you take a gander with me to explore these, burp with satisfaction and say bon appétit!

This post was written by Dhivya

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The luxury of homemade Mascarpone...in a cake!

2009-07-18T06:02:00.010+02:00

Have you tried making soft cheese at home?

I've tried & I'm sold on the idea. Not only is it a much cheaper option, it's also a very satisfying process. Fresh cheese should be moist and white, with no sign of mold. The fat content of fresh cheese varies as they can be made from whole or skimmed milk, or even with cream. I've been on a soft cheese making spree these days, having been completely taken in by the luxury of homemade soft cheese, amazed at the freshness & smoothness. It's from Vera's Baking Obsession that I've tried homemade ricotta & mascarpone, both with outstanding results. Cottage cheese is something inherent to Indian culture, & is made in almost every home, ours too. My next attempt is going to be Quark, from a recipe @ Meeta's What's For Lunch Honey. I'm going to share a recipe for a cake I made using homemade mascarpone, a cake I made for my father's birthday. It was a delicious to goodness cake with a genoise sponge as the base. The crumb of the genoise was light, tender & moist, and a dousing of coffee syrup made it perfect! Sandwiched with a cream as luxurious & indulgent as homemade mascarpone, the cake was perfect. Just right - not exceedingly sweet, light, yet luxurious! I made the mascarpone 2 days in advance, the genoise a day in advance, & refrigerated both.

HOMEMADE MASCARPONE CREAM
as adapted from Baking Obsession
Makes about 12 oz
Ingredients:
600ml low fat cream (25 %) pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized), preferably organic cream
1 tbsp fresh lime juice Method:
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a wide skillet. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the water is barely simmering.
Pour the cream into a medium heat-resistant bowl, then place the bowl into the skillet. Heat the cream, stirring often, to 190 F. It will take about 15 minutes of delicate heating.
Add the lime juice and continue heating the mixture, stirring gently, until the cream curdles. Do not expect the same action as you see during ricotta cheese making. All that the whipping cream will do is become thicker, like a well-done crème anglaise. It will cover a back of your wooden spoon thickly. You will see just a few clear whey streaks when you stir.
Remove the bowl from the water and let cool for about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, line a sieve with four layers of dampened cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Transfer the mixture into the lined sieve. Do not squeeze the cheese in the cheesecloth or press on its surface (be patient, it will firm up after refrigeration time). Once cooled completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (in the sieve) overnight or up to 24 hours. CHOCOLATE GENOISE
As adapted from this recipe @ Baking Obsession
Ingredients:
3 tbsp clarified butter/ghee
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
4 large eggs (I used 5 as the eggs were smallish)
2/3 cup fine granulated vanilla sugar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line, grease & flour an 8-inch round cake pan.
Sift the flour and cocoa together three times; reserve.
Bring some water to a boil in a large pan/griddle & reduce to simmer. Place eggs & sugar in a large bowl, whisk constantly over the simmering water, heat the eggs to lukewarm (about 105F). Remove the bowl from the pan; leave the skillet on the stove but turn off the heat. With an electric mixer, beat the egg mixture at high speed until it has cooled, tripled in volume, and resembles softly whipped cream, about 5 minutes in a heavy-duty mixer or longer with a less powerful mixer.
Meanwhile, set the bowl of clarified butter/ghee and vanilla in the skillet of hot water, with the burner off, to keep it warm.
Sift about one-third of the flour and cocoa over the whipped eggs. Use a rubber spatula to fold in the mixture-quickly but gently-until combined. Fold in half the remaining flour and cocoa, then fold in the rest. Remove the warm butter mixture from the skillet. Scoop about 1 cup of the batter into the bowl with the butter and fold together until completely combined. Use the large rubber spatula to fold the butter mixture completely into the remaining batter. Turn the batter into the prepared pan and tilt to level.
Bake until the cake beginning to shrink slightly around the edges and the top springs back when pressed with your finger, about 40-45 minutes. Cool the cake completely in the pan on a rack.
To unmold, run a small knife or spatula around the inner edges of the pan. Invert it onto a rack and remove the parchment liner. Turn the cake right side up. The génoise can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.
MOCHA MASCARPONE FROSTING
Ingredients:
12oz Mascarpone Cream (recipe above)
200ml low fat cream (25% fat)
1 tsp coffee powder (increase or omit as desired)
2-3 tbsps ground vanilla sugar, or regular sugar (according to taste)
Method:
Beat mascarpone cheese with a wooden spoon till smooth. Fold in the rest of the ingredients & mix with the spoon till smooth. CHOCOLATE GENOISE CAKE with MOCHA MASCARPONE
Ingredients:
1 chocolate genoise sponge (recipe above)
1 portion of Mocha Mascarpone Cream (recipe above)
Coffee syrup
Dark chocolate shavings, flakes & coffee beans etc to garnishTo assemble:
Make a strong coffee syrup with 1/4 cup of hot water, 2-3 tsps sugar & 2 tsps coffee powder. Cool.
Cut the genoise into 2 horizontal layers.
Place one layer on the cake platter. Brush well with the coffee syrup. Sandwich with a little less than half the mocha mascarpone.
Top with the second layer, & brush that well with the coffee syrup.
Frost the top & sides of the cake with the remaining mascarpone. Grate dark chocolate over the top, edge with coffee beans, & sift cocoa over the edges.
Chill for 3-4 hours.

This post was Written by Deeba

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Edible Flowers

2009-07-09T06:09:00.002+02:00

Flowers have long been used in cuisines around the world, including ancient Rome, Greece, and China, and the practice is once again growing in popularity. Growing your own edible flowers will add beautiful color to the landscape as well as delicious flavors to your table, and you can control the conditions and safety of your edible flowers by following organic cultivation practices.

Precautions

Not all common flowers are edible, and even some edible flowers can cause discomfort if consumed in large quantities. Daylilies can act as a diuretic or a laxative, and apple blossoms have cyanide precursors, so always research the type of flower you plan to use before adding it to food.

Pesticides for flowers have not been tested to determine safety on food crops, so be very careful and make sure the flowers have not been sprayed with pesticides or other chemicals. For this reason you should avoid flowers from florists, nurseries, garden centers, and any growing by the roadside. Exercise caution if you have allergies, asthma, or hay fever as some flowers may cause a reaction.

The following is a brief list of common edible flowers in North America, but this list is not exhaustive. For more detailed information, you may want to consult an authoritative book on edible flowers or contact your state’s university cooperative extension. You can find a list of poisonous flowers at Wikipedia.

Herb Flowers

basil
chives
dill
lavender
mint
rosemary
sage
thyme

Ornamental Flowers

calendula
carnations
chamomile
chrysanthemum
daylilies
impatiens
Johnny-jump-up
nasturtiums
pansies
scented geraniums
tulips
violets

Trees & Shrubs

apple
fig
hibiscus
lilacs
peach
pear
plum
roses

Vegetables

arugula
broccoli
fennel
okra
squash

References

North Carolina State University, Department of Horticulture – Edible Flowers

Iowa State University Extension – Reiman Gardens: Edible Flowers

National Gardening Association – Edible Landscaping: Growing Edible Flowers in Your Garden

Wikipedia – Edible flowers

Wikipedia – Poisonous flowers

This post was written by Andrea

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Blender Carrot Cake

2009-07-05T10:57:00.002+02:00

This is one of my favorite cakes, it can be made in almost no time at all, and is perfect to go into lunchboxes, as you can cut it into any shape desired (aka the leftover space in the bento).

The recipe was given to me by a friend who received it from her guest mother in Brazil, and it has become a family favorite ever since. In Brazil it is called bolo de cenoura.

You can prepare the batter in a blender or in a food processor.

Ingredients:

2 large carrots
150 ml vegetable oil
240 g sugar
2 eggs
a pinch of salt
240 g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder

Combine carrots, eggs, oil, sugar and salt in a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. Add the (sifted) flour and baking powder, process until a batter forms. Pour into a baking dish (I used my new IKEA reactangular baking pan, which was perfect) and bake in a medium hot oven until done (test with a toothpick).

Of course you could add any frosting you like with carrot cake, but we prefer this plain.

This post was written by Petra from Foodfreak

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WHAT'S ALL THE TWITTER ABOUT?

2009-07-03T09:40:00.002+02:00

Twittering changed a part of my life, for the better. About an year ago, I read about an article about Twitter & how this micro blogging application is changing the world. At the time, I understood it minimally, but it held my attention. Eventually, I began twittering, after being coerced into it by my bunch of foodie friends, and it changed a part of my life. I find that twittering brings people closer, bridges gaps and helps build long lasting relationships. Being part of this forum, allows you to think about issues differently, sometimes 'out of the box'. More people mean more perspectives, in harmonious balance, because you choose who to follow! Do you Twitter? Has it changed your life?

What's Twitter all about?
By accepting messages from sms, web, mobile web, instant message, or from third party API projects, Twitter makes it easy for folks to stay connected. Simplicity has played an important role in Twitter's success. People are eager to connect with other people and Twitter makes that simple. Twitter asks one question, "What are you doing?" Answers must be under 140 characters in length and can be sent via mobile texting, instant message, or the web.

What I like about Twitter ...

Always someone to tweet to at any given time night or day
Can catch up with friends in uno momento
Can join like minded groups - foodie, medical, parenting etc, & find passionate people
Make new friends who are a treasure & absolute fun
Meet up with bloggers that you might not be able to keep up with otherwise
ALWAYS someone who says good morning or good night to you with a HUGE smile!
'Tweeples' are the most fun & helpful people. Just a tweet with a question or dilemma & rest assured, there's bound be a solution soon, if not many
Photo uploads to share take a couple of seconds
News breaks fastest here. Is Twitter the Face of 21st Century News? ... but sometimes the reliability is in question
It's easy to lend support to a political/social movement. Currently quite a few of us are 'draped in green' to lend support to the situation in Iran

Twitter is addictive & gobbles away a large part of your day if you aren't careful. Sometimes I need to be peeled away from twitter. It's fun, not eactly or easily describable, but a whole lot of FUN!

To get twittering, all you need to do is get an account on Twitter, & then get a desktop application/tool to make life easier. Some tools are TweetDeck , Twhirl, Twitter Gadget, Twitterrific, Twitterfeed and TwitThis. Check out lots more applications here, & get twittering!!

This post was written by Deeba

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Gulkand

2009-06-30T21:34:00.008+02:00

It's no secret that I am a lazy gardener. I prefer to let wildflowers and native grasses rule my yard than spend hours tending to specialty flowers and plants. The few plants that I have brought into my yard are drought-resistant. My neighbor cultivates roses. He has blossoms of various colors on the same bush. Me? I love the wild rose, Rosa woodsii.

It's a treat to see this wild rose in bloom as it lasts for just a day. If I could, I would have a thicket of wild roses to line my property but wilder things would leap over it, so I have abstained from taking it on. I do have a bush of hardy climbing roses that refuses to die. When it didn't bloom one year, I was rather thrilled because I had other plan(t)s for the coveted spot it is in, but it bounced back the following year and blooms profusely late spring through early summer.

If I hadn't been consumed by bed bug bites during late spring last year, I might have noticed my climbing rose bush. This year, I did take notice: the flowers are small but they do have a pleasant fragrance. That, to my mind, translates into essential oils even though this is no damask rose. I figured that these roses might have at least some of the 300 compounds reported to be found in rose oil.

While roses are generally not used in western cuisine, their culinary history can be traced back to Persia. Roses are used as flavoring agents in Middle Eastern as well as Indian cooking. Since I do not have the wherewithal to make rose water or extract rose oil, I decided to do the next best thing: make Gulkand in the sun, now that we have a respite from the incessant rains we have seen this spring. Gulkand is often referred to as rose petal jam but let's please just call it gulkand (Gul-kundh) - gul for rose and kand for sweet.

My first task was to deadhead the bush. Once I had that out of the way, I took stock of the number of buds on the bush to make sure that I would have enough petals to justify making gulkand. Just opened blooms are best for gulkand so it's worth the effort to wake up early to pluck the flowers off the bush.

Remove the petals gently, discarding petals that may be disfigured, have holes or appear to be eaten by insects. Also, discard the rest of the flower. Inspect closely to make sure there are no insects or other creatures that might inadvertently make it into your gulkand, making it not so vegetarian.

Wash the petals several times and lay them out on a wad of paper towels. There is no need to pat them dry as any residual water will simply aid in making the sugar syrup.

In an wide-mouthed jar, make layers of rose petals and sugar, pressing down with a spoon every so often and finishing off with a layer of sugar at the very top. Since my flowers were small, I arrived at the following estimate for a recipe:
3-4 cups of rose petals
3/4 to 1 cup of organic sugar
3 cloves (optional)
seeds of 1 cardamom (optional)

I like the hint of spices in my gulkand so I added cloves and cardamom. Allow this to cook in the sun for at least two weeks. Open it up every other day, not just to get a whiff of the heady fragrance, but to mix it up, too.

This little jar was overflowing when I put the lid on it. It whittled down to just about an inch thick in less than a day. I made two more jars of the same quantity and after a week of being in the sun, I combined them all into this same jar. It's been just over a week and I will update this post with a picture of gulkand as soon as it is ready. Until then, take a look at Anita's Gulkand.

If you have roses that have not been sprayed - please do not use store-bought roses unless you know they are organic and safe for consumption - do give this a try. It's great as a summer activity for kids, too. Which kid doesn't like ripping petals off flowers? They can also take the responsibility for putting the jar out in the sun and bringing it in every day.

Gulkand is supposed to have cooling properties and is best consumed in summer. And, supposedly a host of other benefits for the entire body. My parents sourced the purest and best gulkand for me to help cool my highly myopic eyes and perhaps even deter what genetics had in store for me. I can't say that it worked but I do know that unlike those awful Threptin biscuits that I launched off an 11th floor balcony or that terrible tasting Chyawanprash that followed a trajectory to the ledge under my bedroom window, gulkand made its way safely to my stomach with the spoon being licked clean each time!

This post was written by Manisha

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