Delivery complete. Mission Accomplished.
Mom lives about 70 miles from me. In good traffic, it takes about 90 minutes to drive there. I got home from delivering at 11 last night. Whew! It was such a good feeling.
Mom is thrilled to have a whole new batch of food. And I got to see the look on her face as I revealed each dish. Priceless. :)
Here is the actual menu:
Sweet and sour cabbage soup
*Meatloaf w/carmelized onion marmalade/mashed potatoes/roasted acorn squash
*Asian grilled shrimp/brown rice pilaf/grilled asparagus
*Roasted pork chops with spiced apples/roasted parsnips, carrots, and potato medley
*Grilled lemon garlic chicken/sliced sweet potatoes/steamed green beans with crispy garlic slices and pine nuts
egg salad
I didn't have time to make a frittata this week. As it was, the entire cooking process took eight hours. The trip took four hours (one hour to visit with mom). I'm trying to pay attention to time so that I can become more efficient.
My goal is to produce the most exciting food for mom in the most time economical way. I don't want to sacrifice the wow! factor for mom to take less time. The wow! factor makes it fun for me too.
For me, this is an expression of love, shared with my mom. It is also an act of creativity that allows me the freedom to spontaneously create something out of nothing. I LOVE this! it's the light in my life, the best day in my week. I'm aware every time I cook for mom that I'm lucky to have this time; it's a luxury.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Time to Cook!
Mom's running out of food. It's time to cook again. I went grocery shopping today; tomorrow I will cook!
The menu is as follows:
Sweet and sour cabbage soup
Spinach frittata
Grilled lemon garlic chicken/Sweet potatoes/almondine green beans
Meat loaf/mashed potatoes/roasted veggie medley
Roasted pork chops with grilled apples, roasted rosemary potatoes, and acorn squash
Grilled Asian shrimp, brown rice, grilled asparagus
Egg salad
If I have time, I might make some popovers---they are one of mom's favorites.
The menu is as follows:
Sweet and sour cabbage soup
Spinach frittata
Grilled lemon garlic chicken/Sweet potatoes/almondine green beans
Meat loaf/mashed potatoes/roasted veggie medley
Roasted pork chops with grilled apples, roasted rosemary potatoes, and acorn squash
Grilled Asian shrimp, brown rice, grilled asparagus
Egg salad
If I have time, I might make some popovers---they are one of mom's favorites.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Frittatas
One of the things I try to include in every batch of food is a frittata. Mom loves them. It's the first thing she digs into when the food arrives. Mostly though, she eats them for breakfast, the perfect way to start her day.
A frittata is like a quiche but without the crust. Frittata is an Italian dish. However, the Spanish have their own version, which they call the tortilla; it is cooked the same way as the Italian version. The traditional Spanish "omlette" is made with potato and garlic, yum! It is often served in bars as a tapa.
The French omlette is different in a couple of ways: First, it is folded over at the end; second, it is completely made in a pan on top of the stove. A frittata is made in two stages, first on top of the stove, then it is finished in the broiler.
It's taken me a long time to get the hang of making a frittata, but now that I "get it," it's a great and simple method of cooking with just about any ingredient you have in the fridge. It's a terrific"garbage" dish to clean out the fridge!
Mom's favorite is the spinach frittata.
Three-Cheese Spinach Frittata
Turn on broiler to medium level (#3 on 5 point scale)
(All measurements are approximations. Use your best judgment!)
6 to 8 eggs
Half and half or milk to loosen the eggs (1/4 cup?)
6 to 8 oz spinach sautéed or fresh
4 slices havarti
2 handfuls shredded mozzerella or 4 slices fresh mozzerella
1/4 cup grated parmesan
chopped onions (1/4 cup?)
Garlic pwd or salt to taste
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
TOOLS
1 oven proof sauté pan (larger size, not small--I have used both stainless steel and teflon, teflon is easier)
1 rubber spatula
Begin by prepping all your ingredients and arrange them near the stove because the cooking process goes quickly.
* Mix the eggs and the half and half or milk with a wire wisk or fork.
* Chop onions (use fresh or sauté depending on what you like).
* Melt butter and oil together in saute pan.
* When bubbly and pan is hot, add the eggs.
* Treat the eggs at this stage as you would an omlette. Use the spatula to gently lift the edges and push underneath to keep the egg mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
* When the eggs are setting a bit (not too much!), add your other ingredients, the spinach and onions first, then havarti and mozzerella cheeses.
* When the eggs are half way set and done, slip spatula underneath the mixture all the way around to loosen it from the pan.
*Remove from heat.
* Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top.
* Put frittata beneath the broiler flame.
After two minutes check to see how it is doing. You don't want it to brown too fast. The object is to cook it slowly under the broiler. When it is finished (about 4 to 6 minutes), it will have puffed up beautifully and will have browned nicely on top.
When you remove it from the broiler, slide the frittata from the pan to a platter or a flat serving surface. I slide it into a round shallow container for transport to mom's house.
You may serve a frittata hot from the oven or cold in a picnic or lunch box. It's such a versatile dish.
Enjoy!
A frittata is like a quiche but without the crust. Frittata is an Italian dish. However, the Spanish have their own version, which they call the tortilla; it is cooked the same way as the Italian version. The traditional Spanish "omlette" is made with potato and garlic, yum! It is often served in bars as a tapa.
The French omlette is different in a couple of ways: First, it is folded over at the end; second, it is completely made in a pan on top of the stove. A frittata is made in two stages, first on top of the stove, then it is finished in the broiler.
It's taken me a long time to get the hang of making a frittata, but now that I "get it," it's a great and simple method of cooking with just about any ingredient you have in the fridge. It's a terrific"garbage" dish to clean out the fridge!
Mom's favorite is the spinach frittata.
Three-Cheese Spinach Frittata
Turn on broiler to medium level (#3 on 5 point scale)
(All measurements are approximations. Use your best judgment!)
6 to 8 eggs
Half and half or milk to loosen the eggs (1/4 cup?)
6 to 8 oz spinach sautéed or fresh
4 slices havarti
2 handfuls shredded mozzerella or 4 slices fresh mozzerella
1/4 cup grated parmesan
chopped onions (1/4 cup?)
Garlic pwd or salt to taste
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
TOOLS
1 oven proof sauté pan (larger size, not small--I have used both stainless steel and teflon, teflon is easier)
1 rubber spatula
Begin by prepping all your ingredients and arrange them near the stove because the cooking process goes quickly.
* Mix the eggs and the half and half or milk with a wire wisk or fork.
* Chop onions (use fresh or sauté depending on what you like).
* Melt butter and oil together in saute pan.
* When bubbly and pan is hot, add the eggs.
* Treat the eggs at this stage as you would an omlette. Use the spatula to gently lift the edges and push underneath to keep the egg mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
* When the eggs are setting a bit (not too much!), add your other ingredients, the spinach and onions first, then havarti and mozzerella cheeses.
* When the eggs are half way set and done, slip spatula underneath the mixture all the way around to loosen it from the pan.
*Remove from heat.
* Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top.
* Put frittata beneath the broiler flame.
After two minutes check to see how it is doing. You don't want it to brown too fast. The object is to cook it slowly under the broiler. When it is finished (about 4 to 6 minutes), it will have puffed up beautifully and will have browned nicely on top.
When you remove it from the broiler, slide the frittata from the pan to a platter or a flat serving surface. I slide it into a round shallow container for transport to mom's house.
You may serve a frittata hot from the oven or cold in a picnic or lunch box. It's such a versatile dish.
Enjoy!
Schedules
It's been about ten days since I delivered the last batch of food to mom. Since then, she's had a few things happen in her life that have altered her normal routine. She wasn't feeling well for the past week. And then, one of my brothers and his family came to visit her over this long Labor Day weekend. As a result, she hasn't eaten my food as frequently as she would normally do.
This is a regular part of mom's life: disruption to schedules. She's used to it being the mom of eight kids! That's one of the things that makes other food alternatives difficult to find: the scheuduling requires a lot of administration time that would almost as difficult as cooking the food ourselves. Really a schedule for mom is probably the exception to the norm. And there is nothing mom loves more than having her children, grand children, and great grandchildren come to visit. When they do, mom eats with them at restaurants or they do the cooking.
So, I am thinking about my next batch of food, but I have a breather because she still has lots of food stashed in the freezer. That's one of the reasons I package the food as I do, so mom has flexibility.
This is a regular part of mom's life: disruption to schedules. She's used to it being the mom of eight kids! That's one of the things that makes other food alternatives difficult to find: the scheuduling requires a lot of administration time that would almost as difficult as cooking the food ourselves. Really a schedule for mom is probably the exception to the norm. And there is nothing mom loves more than having her children, grand children, and great grandchildren come to visit. When they do, mom eats with them at restaurants or they do the cooking.
So, I am thinking about my next batch of food, but I have a breather because she still has lots of food stashed in the freezer. That's one of the reasons I package the food as I do, so mom has flexibility.
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