Family

Carnita Cravings

Our Carnita in the crockpot

It is an exciting time at our house again. It is not Christmas or someone’s birthday. And, if is not even close to a vacation. It is time for carnitas. As I searched Wikipedia briefly, I wonder if what we are eating is really “carnitas”. It refers to them as “little meats”. Our is kind of little, but it is definitely cooked in its own juices. Since we use a pork shoulder butt, there is PLENTY of its own juices to cook in. We don’t claim to make the best carnitas, but we have developed a following within our household. Thanks to our exchange students, it also seems to play well in China and Korea.

Besides cooking the meat slowly (we put it in before and let it cook slowly all night–it will probably cook 12-15 hours before it is all done), their are a few spices. Cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic are something found in every kitchen. After adding a couple of finely chopped onions, the real key is the jalapenos peppers. The original recipe I started with mentioned only a small amount of some other pepper. But, being in Texas with a bounty of jalapenos, it just seemed right to include them. Today’s batch included 14 or 15 of them finely chopped. The real secret here is convincing your exchange student who is craving this spicy, yummy taco-ish meal to step up and prep the peppers to be chopped. (Cutting off the stem and halving the peppers is not bad. It is using the spoon to scrape out the seeds that becomes slightly dangerous. Eye rubbing is not permitted for quite a few hours after preparing the peppers for the carnage unleashed by the food processor.) Once all ingredients are all piled into the nearly overflowing crockpot w/ a 12 hours setting on “low”, we can all go to bed knowing the craving will only accelerate as the time for dinner eventually arrives.

At this point, I am anticipating the meal more than the others. I have pulled the bone out of the meat. I have tried to separate the meat into small little pieces that can be completely saturated by the juicy porky-ness. The jalapenos are nearly “dead” in the vegetable sense of the word. They have released nearly all of their flavors into the juices that are completely infusing the pork……excuse me, but I think drooled. Once dinner time arrives, there is one more step that precedes consumption. As I was looking for carnita recipes way back in the spring, this is the step that hooked me. After pulling the meat out of the crockpot, the meat is placed on a cookie sheet. After making sure the meat is separated nicely, the meat is put under the broiler for 5 minutes. The sheet is then pulled out, and the meat is turned over with more juices drizzled over it. After being broiled for another 5 minutes or so, it comes out an irresistible crispy. It is served with regular taco sides, and in this families humble opinion, it is pretty awesome. Our Chinese exchange student said carnitas and tacos are her favorite things she has eaten since being here.

I try to have a “message” or insight at the end of my blog postings. I am afraid this one might fall short, but I will still try….. It doesn’t matter what food your make or what you like to eat! A meal at home with all gathered around the table is a good thing. And, when this meal is something causing all the saliva glands of all of the household members to work overtime, then chances are the conversation will be special, too. As our kids age, it is memories of these type of meals that will help make their own families stronger. And, selfishly, I hope it makes them want to call home someday and ask, “So, are you making carnitas soon?”

The carnitas post-crisping

Exchange Student Fried Rice

A great experience was had the other night. (As I write this on Monday, it happened last night.) With less than 2 weeks in America, our Chinese student was convinced she could make fried rice for dinner for us. We were not sure if the ingredients from Kroger would give her enough spice to be pleased with her creation. (There was minimum Asian spice options at Sprouts, and the local Asian market is still on our “to do” list.) We had a few unknowns. Despite these, we/she persevered!

She decided to make two separate batches of fried rice. Our jambalaya from earlier in the week convinced her smoked sausage would be an excellent ingredient in whatever she would attempt to create. This doesn’t rule out shrimp-fried rice, but it was not to be created this evening. Her ingredients and any applicable back story:

Smoked sausage: (listed above) We love this stuff! When you buy the 3 lb package at Sam’s, it is always good to have multiple ways to use it.
Rice: At home in China, her parents have a rice maker. She was a little skeptical I could make adequate rice in a pan w/ a lid on the stove. Fortunately, the goal was achieved. (The fact we misjudged the amount of rice necessary was a very small point!)
Celery: She did not precook this at all. She probably only included a couple of stalks for both of the varieties.
Carrots: Probably only 10 or so carrot nubs (what I call the small little carrots that are demanded by all children when they pack their lunches. 😉 She boiled them for a little while before cutting them into little pieces.
Eggs: Prior to starting the frying process, a couple eggs were cooked and readied to be dumped into the fried rice. (So, they were fried before being fried.)
Green onions: Cut and in a separate bowl. These were added at the end. Earlier in the week, after having a bit of Mexican food, she had mentioned using cilantro in the fried rice. Having established a baseline rice, we can now consider creating some mutations.
Soy sauce: Not much, but the garden variety of stuff is probably fine.
Lee Kum Kee Chile Garlic Sauce: This stuff added great flavor, although I am not sure if its spiciness may have created some chaos once it entered my body. Very flavorful, but…..???
Ketchup: We just used standard Heinz. It probably amounted to a couple of tablespoons. She told a story of how for one week in China all she ate for all of her meals was ketchup fried rice. (I believe there was also some protein [shrimp or sausage?] with it.) When her mother found out, she scolded her.
Lee Kum Kee Oyster Flavored Sauce: This sauce/seasoning did not go in the ketchup flavored fried rice. It may have just been her choice.

Tools

Wok/pan: She claimed my wok was too big. So, we used our indoor pan-not the one claiming to be a non-stick.
Heat source: When I got my wok, I got a outdoor burner to use it on. It can easily get to over 400 degrees if necessary.

Results

Good meal: Both types of rice were very good. The ketchup version was good, but I probably enjoyed the other version better. It had a little more heat and flavor. And, even though I have confirmed with our Chinese student that they have ketchup in her refrigerator at home, it still seems sooooo American. Something without ketchup is certainly more exotic and interesting.
Warmups for school lunches: The next day, all remaining rice ended up in somebodies lunch. The little plastic containers were all packed full, and stowed away until the appropriate school lunch time arrived. To my knowledge, all who took the rice ate it cold the next day.

Future Meals….?

Since having this meal, we have discussed what other items we might make fried rice with. We had some pork the other night that was being considered for fried rice, but it ended up in pork and noodles. (We had never made pork and noodles before, but we were assured by our local fried rice consultant it was the better choice.) However, if we did the fried rice w/ pork, she thought the addition of spinach might be a good touch. When she first arrived, her often hear comment was, “Chinese….we eat everything.” And, I suppose if you have the capacity to eat everything, you should know how to accompany it. As a corollary to “eating everything”, there is “wasting nothing”. I am sure if we didn’t have spinach available, she would have come up with something else to throw into the wok w/ the rice and pork. There will likely be a seafood, beef and/or chicken fried rice before the final votes are cast on “best” fried rice.

As with all of the many experiences the exchange students have provided, we just sit back and watch and lend a hand when asked. To come this far from their family, they have to have a spirit of independence. It only seems logical we try and encourage their independence. Since we are not native to their countries, anything they cook us is going to be judged very much in their favor. Although we may have ideas on Chinese or Korean food, our daily interaction with them and how and what they eat gives us a much fuller picture of what life is like around their dinner tables when at home. Our palates can only become richer from the experience! Our teenage daughters cannot help but be more open to foods from other cultures. (In the past, there have been occasional reservations.) And, our refrigerator and I (official member of the leftover police and the excessive plastic container detectors) are grateful for other options as we effectively reuse our food overages in creative and tongue-pleasing ways!

Year of The Taco

After another busy day of 6:00 AM cross country practice for my girls (one middle schooler, one daughter, and one exchange student), a full day of school (depending on which girl, it was double full because of all the brain work translating into Chinese or Korean) and then another after school run for the high schoolers, I picked up the girls to head home for dinner. Since they have only been here for 3 weeks, we do still have some “new” things to make for them. And, little did we know the simplicity of Tacos would be such a big score!

After dealing with the over excited flavor pouring our of the ranch dressing bottles, the avocado chunks, and the actual folding of the soft taco, they really liked them. With minor modifications, they both had a second taco that disappeared nearly as quickly as the first. Although we had more soft tacos, they chose to make LOTS of little mini spoon tacos. By this I mean, they scooped out a little bit of meat, put some lettuce on their plates, and then sprinkled some cheese on it prior to scooping it onto their spoon. (They have adapted to knife and spoon much better than I would have adapted to chopsticks.) It was somewhere during there 4 or 5 spoon taco where I asked, “What year this is?” (The implication was in the Chinese cycle.)

With some thinking, she recalled, “It is the year of the horse.”

After responding to each of our requests for what animal our birth year was assigned, She gave an abbreviated story about how the order of the 12 animals that formed the Chinese Zodiac. She didn’t seem very clear on a good bit of the story (She could not recall all 12 animals in order off the top of her head. Our Korean student tried to help recite them in Chinese, but was scolded by our Chinese student as she said, “That is not Chinese.”) She only recalled the first 5 or 6 animals that crossed the finish line. And, the rat won because he was on the oxes back.

Besides being educated in the Chinese Zodiac, I did my PeeWee Herman laugh. Meal times are so much fun. Whether it is tacos or Korean BBQ or just grilled vegetables, all of the teenagers are wonderful to engage with us and contribute so well to the conversation. They don’t finish eating and think, “If I don’t talk, I can be done more quickly.” They recognize what knowledge can be transferred in post-dinner conversations. They are well-mannered enough where they will not jump up without being excused. So, I don’t care if it is 2014, the year of the Horse, or the Year of the Taco, it is a great year to share our culture and to absorb one of the many other cultures that make this world so amazing.

Our Grill’s New Job

Our grill has been a standard in our house for a number of years. While living in Ohio, we have used it in January and whenever it seemed appropriate. (When you are hungry for something grilled and weenies at the fireplace is not enough, you have to choose the grill!) Our first Texas grill went through a couple of cooking surfaces before we realized we could do better and cheaper over the long term. Our grill has been friendly with chicken (with many different glazes and configurations) for a number of years. This year our grill became an herbivore. (Depending on the night of the week, it is a vegetarian.) Yes, it has had a few skewers of chicken and veggies on it before. As the pictures shows, it is meatless with only a little olive oil to give it a slight feeling of being manly.

Our grill did not become a “sometimes” eunuch over night. It has been a gradual process. A process that began accelerating in the spring. My daughters, specifically my oldest daughter, wanted to eat better. However, since we like our hamburgers, brats, mac n’ cheese, and other comfort foods, it was not enough for her to make this resolution for just herself. She began discouraging us (If you knew this daughter, discouraging is a mild word. Buying something like a few gummy bears at Sprouts would make her throw every form of guilt she could at you. And, if I was at Walmart and came home with a couple packages of knock-off Oreos, she would give me the “Do-you-really-love-me?” treatment. When I say persuasive on this issue, it is only scratching the surface of what goes on. She is the “anti-catalyst” for sweets entering your mouth and any enjoyment that might happen afterwards.) from participating in sweet things. She does still allow slight caloric sins, but compared to most teenage girls, she is very disciplined in this area.

Although we had visited Sprouts prior to her being possessed by this creature with mild-to-severe “allergies” to sugar, the girls became much more excited about these visits in the spring. Once we were bored with Sprout’s offerings, we had to mix it up a little bit. Although Trader Joes is not as convenient, we have wondered there a couple of times to allow her to seek out various ingredients. (They also have the black mango tea I like.) With Whole Foods opening up close to our home, the variety of healthy-food shopping options makes it almost impossible for us to “not” find certain ingredients she needs for her various health food mixes, smoothies, and/or other concoctions she believes will give her body the respect it demands. And, now, with the arrival of our Asian exchange students and their desire to maintain multiple appearances of fruit (strawberries, raspberries, melons etc) and vegetables at every meal, it appears we are locked into this “healthy” cycle for at least another 9 months.

If vegetables would immediately be flavorful, we would not have had to invite the grill to our pseudo-vegetarian party. As good as baked beans can be and as bad as microwaved corn can be, it seemed crazy to NOT invite the grill sooner. We suffered through endless zucchini-ish veggies mixes sauteed on the stove. We ate bland green beans, and if we were lucky we might get a sweet potato or two. Broccoli with cheese sauce may be yummy, but it does not scream healthy. With our vegetable past being less than cordial, we just needed to break down and let the grill convince us it could create “happy” flavors in the veggies we offered it.

In the image above, there are eggplant(we have grilled w/ and w/o the skin. The skin is not good to eat [our Asians liked it], but it does hold the eggplant “meat” together very well.), red peppers (previously, we only grilled to include in our hummus) , zucchini and yellow squash. (We also do onions, but none present on this night.) After flipping a few times and dabbing in olive oil, they usually come out pretty well. The heat is down all the way when cooking. After dabbing with the oil, the fire sometimes starts licking its lips in anticipation of a sacrifice. A shuffling of the grills contents usually brings the fire back into submission. We are still fiddling with the thickness of the zucchini and squash. If cut to thin, they burn fast. If too fat, they are a little on the mushy side. A couple of evenings ago, we cooked up 6 small zucchini, 2 squash, 1 onion and 1 pepper. Nothing was left at the end of the meal.

Whatever my daughter(s) motivation for pulling/tugging/shoving us down this pathway, I am glad we have all jumped on it together. (With my wife doing a pretty particular diet, she does not always actively participate in our recent meals with the higher vegetable percentage.) As a significant birthday awaits me later this year, I am glad to be able to gain awareness and a pathway to healthier eating. (I am still convinced we didn’t eat badly before. We are just eating better now.) As I continue to enjoy my family and look forward to what a long life might offer, I will gladly modify any corner of my life that needs sandpaper. I guess I will go to Whole Foods and see if they have a sandpaper squash….

Introduction To Korean BBQ

After church Sunday, I had a very busy day. My wife and I took a walk; I drove my 2nd son to his “ride” that would be driving him the 3+ hours back to college; I picked up my daughters friend to spend the night; I tried to stop at a B&N to get my daughter and her friend both a book they needed for school, but had to reserve two copies at another store; I drove home to pick up my other daughter and son before heading to the larger and better stocked B&N, AND after picking up a couple of ingredients from Walmart (not the ideal place-we will plan better next time) and helping cook outside with the wok, we ate Korean BBQ. It was ALL worth it!!

After skipping the arrival of our exchange students and the alternating meal cooking by our exchange students of which a Korean meal was now scheduled, our adventure began Friday night at the Super H-Mart. As I review our purchases of the evening, the most critical purchase was the beef. (Some Krogers stock the BBQ sauce.) Although the kimchi was a close second, the thinly cut beef is not very easy to find in most butcher departments. (The Sprouts butcher told me yesterday they don’t have the slicer to do it. So, future Korean BBQ feast may mean a bit of a drive before hand.) All agreed the beef was excellent. The kimchi experiment needed a little work, but not all cultural experiences turn out perfectly.

While the beef was being marinated (the key was definitely in the sauce. The other vegetables were good when cooked in the wok, but it was the meat flavor that sealed it), our Chinese student made “egg pizza”. It involved egg, flour, and the extra chopped green onions. The taste was good, but the second one was MUCH more presentable.

The kimchi pizza was a different animal! After the kimchi was chopped, flour, an egg, and a “special” mix from our market purchase were added. Once the mixture reached the right consistency, they were dropped in a pan. (She called them pizza, but I think “pancake” is a better illustration) In her nervousness, I think the pancakes were rushed through the cooking process. The flavor was good, but an after dinner re-frying, made sure they were all cooked through and fully edible when it came time for warmups.

I don’t know if our exchange students enjoy our game/challenge of them cooking us meals. Beyond the pictures we are able to take and send/post for their parents to see, it provides a very rich cultural experience for our whole family. (We had friends over for the Korean meal, so it even expands out beyond our walls!) I believe both or our students helped their parents when at home more than did the actual cooking. Whatever they present to us is heavily complimented while possibly dripping a little sarcasm. Even when they are “forced” to eat our takes on American food, it is such a blessing interacting with them. They like more veggies and shy away from too much bread, but they like flavor. We welcome flavor of all types of all countries at our table. I am not sure what dining awaits me the rest of the year. It is likely to be full of new flavors and, if I am lucky, fewer calories. Serendipity is grand!

Prepping all of the vegetables

Something made by Dawn–I think she called it egg pancakes…??

Marinating the meat

Cutting the kimchi

Jenny cooking the meat

Tongue Twisters: Lost In Translation

As is often the case, something is said and the unexplained synapses takes place. When in a house with 4 teenage girls of three differing nationalities, it is sometimes hard to remember what the catalyst was for the mental belly smacker. Whatever the case, I started reciting the tongue twister “Peter Piper Picked a peck of pickled peppers……”

Following this, it was only logical to ask if they also have tongue twisters in their countries. And, although I expected it, I was a little caught off guard when they recited them. With no ability to determine what syllable belonged to what word, I had no chance of understanding and/or repeating any of the 3 or 4 tongue twisters they rapidly produced. All I could do was stare blankly with my mouth slightly ajar with 100% confidence I could not reproduce ANY of the sounds they had just completed uttering.

Feeling like a failure due to my tongues lack of energy and enthusiasm, the only way to partially redeem myself was asking, “So, what do they mean?” The first Korean tongue twister was something to do with a giraffe with a long neck but due to peer pressure he needed a shorter neck so he accidentally got bariatric surgery instead of neck reduction surgery. The second Korean tongue twister had something to do with two guys who owned the same store or similar stores, but one of them wouldn’t order items from China, so he was having trouble making any profit. (There is a small chance I forgot exactly what the tongue twister was about—very small!) The Chinese one had something to do with a tree that was growing slowly and a panda could not wait on it to grow so he decided to start eating the bamboo. (Also sketchey on the translation of this one.) Regardless of their meanings, I am absolutely certain the English explanation of what they claimed they said was not remotely close to a tongue twister. And, for all I know, they may have been reciting their alphabet or “Mary had a little lamb” (or equivalent)

Why do I seem to take pleasure in distorting reality so? Why do I insist on falsely remembering what exactly happened? Once my age is dismissed and my disposition is adjusted for, I just enjoy making a smile (or hint of a smile) appear on someones face. And, if it has not been noticed, I am certain we have the best exchange students ever. It has been great fun, and we have SO much school year to go. I have asked them both already if their parents will just let them stay with us. Since this seems unlikely, we will try to suck as much culture out of them as we can. Not being greedy, we are offering to fill the newly greatly void with all of the American culture they can handle. Lots of good times await!

My Son Is NOT An Illegal Immigrant

My son is one of those rare (or not so rare) teenagers who is completely comfortable in his own skin. If he decides not to comb his hair for a week and only rely on whatever direction provide by his bath towel or pillow, he is okay with that. He typically does not worry too much about what people think about him. (Since he is now at college and possibly becoming interested in a special extracurricular subject, this may change….) He is the type of son who gets along with most any one. And, even if he doesn’t like them, the other person probably would not know my son feels that way. He majors in making people feel comfortable and good about themselves.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to this attitude. As an 18 year old who has already moved into college, he does not have or have a plan to get his driver’s license. I share some of the blame for this, but my son is also carries much of the blame. Due to lack of interest, he did not get his permit until he was 17 years old. He was reluctant to do so, but felt he could not avoid the inevitable. I drove many hours with him, and he did all of his classes on line. (This is an option in Texas and possibly other states as well.) Since he needed his permit 6 months before he could take his driver’s test, we were not able to take the test until well into the school year. Between a social life, sports, his job, and overall apathy, he didn’t start thinking about completing the process until his birthday was only a few weeks off. As apathy and poor planning mushroomed, an appointment was never scheduled prior to his birthday. At this point, his driver’s permit becomes slightly more than a laminated piece of paper. Yes still, the appointment did not get scheduled.

As he flies to see relatives in June, he finds out his driver’s permit can still be used for a year as a form of ID. (Thus its small amount of value.) At this point, “driver’s license” gets added to the list of “Must Get Done Before School Starts”. The rest of the list seemed to get attention, but not the license. The week prior to moving to college, my wife told me this was also my priority. On one very “productive” day, I went to one Bureau of Motor Vehicles and was told it was a 1.5 hour wait. (Since we were missing two pieces of paperwork my wife did not think were needed, I was grateful to leave to explore and less lengthy wait.) After a trip home and a lunch, I headed out with an hour of time allotted to wait and get the license once we arrived at the other BMV. With a 2 hour wait there and no way to pickup my daughter/sister in a timely manner, we admitted defeat and agreed a valid passport is likely to meet all of his school ID needs.

If he needs to take a test, fly or get on a cruise ship, he is fine. If anyone sees him behind the wheel of a moving vehicle that is not in an amusement park, please inform me immediately.

The Blackened Fish Experiment

We have a side by side freezer as part of our indoor refrigerator. And, we also have an outdoor refrigerator. It is similar, but the freezer is on top. (When you have a few kids, and like to make a Sams run a couple times a month, you need more frig space. We used to put an extra carton of milk in it, but it seems our milk drinking days are mostly in our past…) Also, we have a top-opening freezer (I believe they are called a “chest” freezer). Quite a bit of space including a couple baskets at the top to make it very easy to bury items at the bottom. In a recent pseudo-defrosting party, we found meat and other items living on borrowed time. And, if too borrowed, they defrosted in a container with a plastic liner–they were not alone.

We recently committed to clean out our freezers for a couple of reasons. Beyond the obvious, “They were full.”, they also needed to make a little room for items we know we will be able to rotate through much more quickly. As we anticipate the arrival of our TWO foreign exchange students in three weeks, we want to make sure we have the necessary room to stock a few items that will especially tantalize their Asian taste buds. (At Whole Foods the other night, my bio-girls went crazy over all of the options available. When the house has 4 teenage girls, the glee will probably be almost tangible.) And, with the boys shifting into their fall schedules (whether commuting to school or living at a campus in a different state), the “big” eaters will soon be off the radar when it comes to planning most meals. (With their work schedule, their lack of attending meals has been a large cause of the accumulation of warmups. The thinning of the stock is really just a natural progression as our household evolves toward the goal of “empty-nesters”. [an eventuality, but a few years yet]).

As the freezers have been purged, some whacky meal combos have taken place. Last night it was sausage and frozen waffles. Not whacky you say? I made a peanut butter and jelly waffle sandwich. My daughters used Nutella, cashew butter, and whatever else we had in the house that was spreadable. But, I digress…. As an added bonus, we needed to clear out some dieting items accumulated in the freezer by my wife. (The turkey burgers are not bad, but they will NEVER be hamburgers.) We were fortunate to stumble upon a 2 pound bag of tilapia my wife had purchased. Since our meat typically had feet when it was alive, we were not sure how to prepare this fish. Not wanting to be boring, but not being excessively ambitious led us to the recipe on the tilapia package. Since “blackened” sounded interesting and the recipe was for 1 pound, we decided to double the recipe and “blacken” the whole package.

As we mixed the blackening rub together, it was obvious the fish was going to have some flavor! After spreading the rub on the fish and letting it sit for awhile before cooking, we attempted to perform the cooking side of the things. Again, another opportunity to improve on the NEXT visit to the “blackened” zone. It stuck, and it probably had more oil in it than was necessary, but a paper towel on the serving plate, and we were mostly good. During the meal, most of the reviews were okay. “Too hot” was a pretty typical response. Due to guilt for over spicing the fish and a an occasional need to punish my stomach for its failures of the past, I ate numerous portions. As the meal ended, 3 fillets were left on the plate.

It is here where the story become most interesting to me. I like to mix and match warmups. And, when able, I bribe and reward to get rid of warmups. Since previous “hot” meals turned into tame little pussycats when the flavors chilled for a night, I was hoping the fish had endured a similar fate. Never having tried them, but with an ample inventory of tortillas available, we embarked on a new pseudo-Mexican journey. (In my mind, if it has a tortilla, it is Mexican) Thankfully, the journey was a good one. The tamed tilapia was nearly perfect for a taco. I believe we through a little chipotle ranch and lettuce on the taco, too. The fish was the star! My only regret was eating as much fish as I did the night before–my daughters made me share the warmup.

All explanations aside, it would appear serendipity is not dead. What began as “Operation Make Space”, has had some highlights. The project continues. Fortunately, our taste buds have gotten a few pleasant surprise along the way. If we are lucky, they will hang in until the operation closes around Labor Day.

Whole Foods Diversion

With the nice cool weather, came a bit of boredom. The great outdoors which is a typical playground for my kids (more so my younger kids, but mostly all of them) failed miserably in providing some of the entertainment they needed. So, around dinner time with limited prospects for excitement before bedtime. (This is discounting the viewing of the troubled and uneducated southerners found on “Honey Boo Boo”.) we went on a very limited adventure with the simple goal of getting Chinese food. To make sure no one would be bored while waiting for our food, we all grabbed our books.

After wandering through a couple of speed traps, we made a right at the light as we neared our most tastebud-tested Texas Chinese restaurant. (My Ohio Chinese restaurant has still had quite a few more visits. While in Ohio, we had not yet discovered texmex or guac.) But, just north of the restaurant (the insides of which are “dive-like”, so our meal was to go), we realized the Whole Foods we had watched transform the old strip mall was finally open. And, since distraction was the purpose of our adventure, we promptly found a parking space with our name on it. As we walked in, the girls are getting excited. The produce greets us as we enter the door. The purple pepper (my oldest daughter claims she had a dream about one the other night) found its way into the cart, as well as a couple of pluots. As we wondered the bulk foods bins, they started to drool and throw their previous favorite bulk food store under the bus. (Whole Foods did strike us as a cross between Trader Joes and Sprouts.) They liked the variety available, the in-house bakery, and the quirkiness of some of the stocked items. They made a few comparisons to Sprouts, but I think they were able to realize both stores had their strengths. The wood burning stove with pizzas on display at the front of the store/restaurant also left a very positive feeling. After finding out during checkout the store had opened the previous week, we paid our bill. I am sure the girls will lure me back for another visit. And, when we go, they will have a list and not just impulse shopping.

As we piled back into the car and stowed our bag of groceries, I took full advantage of the rather lengthy strip mall. I wondered through the hole parking lot to get to our dinner. I took a quick jog on a side street and avoided the main road as I went into the back entrance of the purveyors of General Tso’s Chicken. (RiceKing) The parking lot was sparse, empty in fact. And, the locked door confirmed what we feared: if we did Chinese tonight, it would be trying out the wok skills of someone new. We less enthusiastically took our seats as we resumed our dinner adventure. I thought of another Chinese place that was too far away. The girls seemed okay with whatever–they had trail mix and some funky whole grain graham crackers to focus their minds on. As we neared Dad’s favorite “default” restaurant of choice, we look to the left in a different strip mall and saw what “could” be out previously dismissed producers of wok-wonders. The ONE car in the parking lot did not bode well, but the pangs of hunger drove us to the front door. After a few seconds, we were greeted by an Asian gentlemen who immediately apologized for his inability to serve us. It went something like this…(to properly picture, be wearing no glasses and squint to the point where you cannot see. When repeating his statements, be very animated around the mouth-overly accentuating the corners of the mouth.)

“I so sorry we cannot serve you food. Many people miss our food very much. We be open very soon. Two weeks we be open. (holding up two fingers) Please come back then. We very happy make food for you.”

We likely will be back. His command of the wok is better than his command of English. And, his command of English is far better than my command of Chinese (if that is his native tongue–definitely Asian) The girls and I again found our seats. Before we pulled out and headed to Chick-Fil-A, I had to do a poor impression of our would be restaurant host. I love that the girls will laugh at my efforts.

We “settled” for chicken sandwiches and a shared large waffle fry. My girls are easy to please. They drink water, and do their best to keep the bill down. I will miss them the next few days as my wife works her 80 hours of birthday for her dad. (She took bells in her checked in bag to play happy birthday on.) I like a new adventure, but I like it especially when I can share it with a couple of young ladies I can affectionately call “my girls”.

Easy Salmonella?

What started out as a simple day where the only real plan was making fajitas on the grill, did have a few complications!

With both boys off at 5:00, it looked like we could have one of those rare meals together. (We do very well eating together IF the kids are at the house. The “Chik-fil-A wrinkle” is whether they will be off when dinner time arrives OR if they will be far enough removed from their break to make dinner something they will consider.) We had a partial package of chicken breast in the frig, so I put on my marinading hat. (Of course, this can be understood to mean tenderizing hammer/mallet and my fat-removal knife.) I grab a convenient cutting board, and I start trimming and pounding. A few pauses for coating the chicken in the marinade, and 5 breast later, we know the chicken will be our best all tex-mexed for dinner. I clean up my mess (put away the marinade ingredients, clean off the cutting board, & put the covered chicken into the frig) before going to get the girls.

Knowing the boys can eat a bit of fajitas, we stop at Sam’s on the way home to get another package chicken. Once we get home prepping the chicken is on my mind, but the fresh hummus we had been planning means lunch, and lunch is our priority. After some tweaking to our first hummus venture and the introduction of the roasted red pepper (roasted a couple of days before and refrigerated in anticipation of this blessed blending in my new food processor), I praised the girls for reaching the pinnacle of hummus perfection in only two tries. They took the praise, and prepared the veggies for the hummus dipping. After arranging the celery, carrots and thin pretzels nicely on a plate, we sat down to eat. There was no double-dipping as we all dipped into the hummus container. All 3 of enjoyed it very much. And, the container was greatly depleted of its marvelous hummus-ness before we hung up our taste buds.

And, no, I haven’t forgotten the salmonella in the title. As we were cleaning up the kitchen, I noticed the cutting board I had cut chicken on earlier. It was sitting in the exact spot I would have expected the veggies to be cut on. Her quick “yes” answered the question I had hesitated to ask, “Did you use this cutting board for the veggies?” (I had scraped the board and the board was made of plastic, but yet it just was not “good” to reuse the board after the previous food that had been playing on its knife etched surface was a protein known to carry “bad” things.)

After running through a quick lecture on “if it is in the sink do NOT use it without asking first”, I did the obligatory Google search on salmonella. As it turns out, the site I went to informed me we would know in 12 – 72 hours if we were sick. And, as I write this, we are sitting on 56 hours. I am VERY hopeful it will just turn out to be a great life lesson for my daughter, but if not, I will still love her. I am guessing my stomach will ultimately forgive her. (She did make homemade granola bars today, so I am guessing my stomach has already warmed up to the idea.) Maybe further research will prove hummus has salmonella killing qualities…. If I am “clean” in 16 hours, I am willing to swear on a can of garbanzo beans that it does!

Walking Down Life's Road With Andy