Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Cooking for one-and-a-half

Cooking for myself has it own challenges. Cooking for both Mama and me is a whole 'nother thing. Not only do we have the difference in taste preferences, there's also the problem of appetite. Mama eats like the proverbial bird (but not a real bird--they eat half their own weight each day). Me, a little more (than the bird).

I ran across this somewhat relevant article on how to cook for "just yourself." There are some interesting ideas for shopping, storing, and cooking for one person. "Try cooking sequences that use common bases" has worked for us. I can bake a chicken (we both are happy) and take the leftover chicken (and pot juices) to make chicken and dumplings for Mama (the dumplings are taboo for me) and chicken salad for myself. If there is still chicken left over, I can use it to flavor soup with fiber-rich veggies (again, both happy).

What I dislike about the article is the contradiction in recommendations to buy smaller packages so that food doesn't go to waste and to buy in bulk and throw the excess away because it's cheaper! Maybe the author should review recommendation #9: "Try cooking sequences that use common bases." Oy!

No fish no mo'

Just read "Aquacalypse Now: The End of Fish." It's not news. This concern has been around for quite some time.

The gist: the ocean is being over-fished and fish populations are being critically depleted.

The question is how to address it. And will whatever we do be too little too late?

Perhaps a starting point is to see where we as individuals fit into this. While I rarely eat fresh fish (and feel guilty--for health reasons--that I don't), I do have a few packets of frozen fish in the freezer. Then there are the canned items: tuna, salmon, maybe the occasional tin of smoked oysters or sardines. My Prince buys large bags of frozen shrimp at every available opportunity. We both take a daily fish oil capsule. We both delight in the occasional outing for all-you-can eat catfish and sometimes take Mama to her favorite restaurant: Red Lobster. While she eats chicken fingers (everywhere), we certainly know what to do in a seafood restaurant.

What I need to do, I suppose, is look at how those fish items (more than I thought) come to my table and tummy and then buy responsibly. I also should look at over consumption. Portion control is my personal demon anyway, but being good stewards of our planet may mean more self-restraint in partaking of her bounty. (May? Does!) Perhaps, without becoming total bores about the subject, we need to introduce the discussion of this issue to friends and family.

However, as the article points out, this is a matter of public policy which needs to be addressed by our nation at the global level. That makes it feel too big to handle, but we can, of course, if we are concerned enough, do our little bit on this and any of the big issues that concern us: a letter or call to our representatives expressing our thoughts does matter. Even if we have no specific recommendation, the call or letter is noted. When enough calls are made (as few as five can do it), the legislator will at least begin to pay attention to the issue. It's a thought.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Buried in cup towels

Mama's kitchen is not organized for cooking. Slowly but surely over the past year, I have been cleaning out the various nooks and crannies and trying to reorganize things. While I have covered most of the territory available, I still have a few crannies to go. In truth, I despair of ever having enough storage space or any efficiency in food prep.

My latest adventure was to clean out the cup towel drawers. Mama has only one more drawer in her kitchen than I do, but hers are deeper and all in one column. Mine (3) are shallow and scattered about the kitchen. Still I have drawer envy both for number and for depth.

After getting the new supply of kitchen utensils from Next Door Cousin, I needed a place to store them. The utensil drawer is jam packed and so is the counter top container that holds essential items like wooden spoons and such. The only choice was to start clearing out some cup towels. I had no idea what I was getting into.

Three drawers were smash jammed with towels. One had as much miscellaneous junk as it did towels, and one had quite a few aprons (who uses those nowadays?). But all three drawers were overflowing with faded terry cup towels. As you know, I no longer used terry towels at home. (Indeed, it would seem that some of my own old terry towels wound up in Mama's kitchen drawers.) Whatever I might use, I did not think that I needed that many towels as much as I needed the space.

My first step was to throw them all in the washing machine. Actually, it took four loads and twice as many dryer loads to get them all done. In truth, I still have one that is mostly aprons yet to go. I was well and truly sick of cup towels by the time I got through washing, sorting, folding, and storing them.

Among the observations:
  • Mama had a lot of Christmas towels and aprons.
  • Mama showed a marked preference for towels that tied to the drawer handles. These were more ragged and faded than some of the others.
  • A lot of her towels had hand-crocheted work, some of it, at least, done by my late Aunt G. But which ones?
I now have room for more utensils (a good thing), but have not yet had the courage to tackle the junk in the bottom drawer (a cowardly thing). I am also left with an abundance of perfectly good toweling with faded images. What to do with it?

One suggestion is to make sure that My Prince has as many as he needs for working around the garage. Will do. Another discovery is that the towels make nice jewelry rolls for the necklaces that I have been making. Will use more of them. But there are still a bunch that we won't be able to use that way. Any suggestions?

The best ever

Trying to find something that suits Mama's taste buds can be a challenge. Her dining experience has been fairly limited in the past few years. Like most of us, she tends to find a "favorite" menu item at a restaurant and order that every or nearly every time she goes to that restaurant. Because of her handicap, her choice of restaurants has been limited by how well the owners understand the Americans with Disabilities Act and provide facilities that support her presence. (The exception is Landry's in Kemah, a dangerous place for someone with a handicap--hey, Landry's, I have pictures!--which Mama dares to enter because of the view and a sad hope that she will be safe.)

Getting her to eat my cooking has been an adventure, but she seems to have weathered it fairly well this year. I am told that she even brags on my cooking to others now. Wow!

Still, I'm never certain what will please her when I enter the kitchen and start throwing things together. Saturday night it was chopped cabbage, sliced onion (halves), and shredded carrots stir-fried in a tad too much canola oil. I tossed in dried chives, dried celery flakes, and dried parsley. Once the vegetables were somewhat tender, I added some Sesame Ginger marinade that I had bought at Kroger along with some leftover steamed veggies (baby carrots, yellow squash, calabacita) and some browned ground beef. I served her a tiny bowl (she really won't eat much), and she allowed that it was "the best ever." I offered a second bowl, and she ate all of that too. I think it was the marinade that gave it some extra flavor, but I now know that the taste appeals.

The marinade didn't add a lot of carbs, maybe 20 to the whole dish, which easily had 4 servings. I will look for other things that might add a different taste to these same old veggies, cuz they will surely show up on the menu again. In one variation or another.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Pot scrubber thread

I continue to use (and wear out) those wonderful pot scrubbers that I talked about before. I've been looking and looking for the thread that is needed to make them. No luck. #2MIL thought it might be something like "teflon thread," but the only thing I could find in that vein was used for plumbing and is really a tape (as it turns out, pipes have threads).

Today I think I found it. This pot scrubber looks like a close relative to the ones that I am using, and the supply list calls for "nylon plastic canvas yarn." Ima go get some the first chance I get and hand it over to Big Kid Cousin. Let's see what the girl can do. ^.^

Precious memories

Have you ever been to the kitchen department--or a kitchen store--and coveted just about everything you see? Or have you been to someone's house, wandered into their kitchen, and seen things that you wish you had in your own kitchen?

Sometimes we get some of those things by gift or inheritance. Long ago, when my late grandmother had to close her house and move in with an aunt, I was given her old cast iron skillet. I've treasured that thing for nearly 40 years now. (It's taken almost that long to get some of the crusts off of it. I come by my housekeeping skills honestly.) When my late mother-in-law passed away, I was thrilled at the Pyrex casserole dishes that I inherited. Every time I take one out to use it, I smile with satisfaction that I have the perfect dish for what I want to do and #1MIL's hands have used it too. The connection feels real and very comforting.

Last week, Next Door Cousin was packing up some things for Good Will. By great good fortune (and the sad occasion of a leak near our front faucet), I happened to wander into her garage and just asked: "Anything I might want?" Sweet child. She opened up a gym bag and it was as if I had wandered into one of those wonderful kitchen stores. A vegetable steamer. Four short-handled spatulas. Assorted wooden spoons and other odd items that I had ask about. A working can opener. And--happy day--a full set of those aluminum nail things that you stick in the middle of a potato to speed baking.

These were clearly some old things that her late mother, our long time next door neighbor and very dear friend, had had. I happily took the whole bag home and cleaned everything up. The only reject in the bunch was a "church key" that got tangled up in the lid when I tried to open a can of tomato sauce with it. Everything else was a keeper (well, except for that red spatula that matched Big Kid Cousin's kitchen).

I'm using it all and thinking of NDC and her mother every time I do. "Cooking with love" takes on a whole new meaning when you have a good tool that not only does what you need it to but surrounds you with precious memories of the good cooks and sweet women who used it before you.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

What day of the month is this?

That's a sample of recent conversations with Mama, and that particular quote represents progress. She's had a tough time of it in the past few months when she didn't know what day it was nor care. It has--as you can tell by the long gap in posts here--also been quite hectic for me. Today she actually looked at a calendar and tried to figure out the date. This places us as close to normal as we've been in a long time.

I have myself been finding more and more time to think, including thinking about food and this blog. I'm taking a risk by trying to post again, but let's see how far we can get. I certainly have lots of thoughts to key in.

If we have stability and time for a while, here are some of the thoughts that have been occupying my mind lately: fiber, peristalsis (that's as polite as I can make it), weight loss, more cup towel, slow cookers, old kitchen tools, and more. Wish me luck!