A bite of rhubarb crumble

When I saw Smitten Kitchen’s post on her blueberry crumb bars it instantly made me want to live somewhere in America where fruits like blueberries, cherries and peaches are so abundant they practically give them away.  We grow blueberries here in Dorset but even a small punnet full will set you back a couple of pounds.  My greengrocer has a sense of humour and whenever they get U.S. cherries in they put up a sign saying “Time to get out the credit card: Cherries are here!”  If only I lived by my stomach.  This week’s organic delivery didn’t bring me any blueberries but I did get some beautiful stalks of rhubarb.

Not quite as nice as the sweeter forced pink stuff we get in winter, but there is something rather enticing about the tartness of this fruit/vegetable.  The recipe seemed simple enough: crumble crust, fruit, crumble topping.  Rhubarb crumble is such a classic dessert, and with just a bit more sugar and smidge of ginger the bars were made.

And my alterations worked!  I loved how the rhubarb turned into a thick jammy mess in between the sweet layers.  There’s enough crumble to balance the bite of the rhubarb (though next time I probably won’t be shy with the sugar).  It’s given me the confidence that really any fruit could be used to suit the seasons.  Berries for summer, plums and blackberries for autumn, apples and raisins for winter, and spring?

Let’s just hope there’s more rhubarb for spring.

 

Baby has landed!

After 41 weeks gestation and 22 hours of labour I am now auntie to little 8lb 4oz Harvey Edward Norris!  Both mum and baby are doing well, but thoroughly exhausted.

 

Jja Jang Myun

I have fond memories of being little and enjoying a bowl of Chapagetti, those sweet and sticky blackbean noodles that never failed to get all over your face and clothes.  Since we’ve found the Korean store I’ve been able to buy some but now as an adult I have to ask myself what the fuss was all about.  imagine my surprise when I found the recipe for the real stuff, jja jang myun, on Maangchi’s site, proving to be perhaps the most popular of her recipes.  I liked the idea of it being full of vegetables and pork and it looked like a much more substantial dish.  Still slightly skeptical I went to the store and picked up the ingredients.

I was not prepared for how nice this would be.  This was not Chapagetti, this was jja jang myun, full of flavour and vegetables.   I used what I had in the house: courgettes, potatoes, onions, and carrots and I had to force myself to stop tasting the sauce it was so good.  I now understood why it is so popular, I would have eaten a bowl of the sauce on its own, or just on some rice but putting it together with noodles was when the magic began.

I still have some packets of Chapagetti in the cupboard for those days when I can’t be bothered to cook anything or want a snack, but now I know that it is truly just a shadow of the real dish.

 

In Search of the Perfect Scone

A couple of weeks ago when the weather finally started to pick up we went over to a nearby pick your own hoping to get some good berries.  The strawberries, sad to say, were in poor condition and really suffered from all the wet weather we had.  Fortunately the raspberries were in much better shape and we were able to pick a few kilos worth before heading home.  Since berries never keep for as long as you want the next day was quite a marathon of baking and jam making.  I made 2 jars of jam, a bakewell tart, raspberry pie, blueberry muffins (the blueberries were a bit of a treat with our organic delivery), as well as our dinner of pittas, falafels, and hummous.  I don’t think I managed to do anything over the next two days.

The jam was my biggest triumph; rich, sweet, and fresh tasting it was exactly like summer in a jar and I’m kicking myself for only making two jars (one I gave away).  We’ve been enjoying it mostly on toast and once even on pancakes but I knew I wanted to make a batch of scones to really give it justice.  I’ve been making scones for a long time to Delia Smith’s recipe but they’ve always come out disappointingly flat and uninspiring.  Today would be different.

I don’t know why it took me so long to do it but I decided to use the recipe from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess.  Nigella very rarely fails me and I liked the fact that she used regular flour instead of self raising, adding the raising agents herself, and that the photos of her scones looked so promising.

She didn’t let me down, these scones were perfect.  They rose nicely, were fluffy and crumbly with just a hint of crispness in the top.  They look so substantial and yet they had a real lightness to them.  I would say these actually remind me far more of American style biscuits than they do scones.  I can picture them at home next to a pot roast or chicken stew just as happily as they were with cream and jam.

Nothing says English summer like a warm scone with thick cream and homemade jam.  Better make it two.

 

Korean Kick

Starting my second trimester I’m at that point where it’s almost like I could totally forget I was pregnant.  I’m pleased because it means I have the energy and desire to do my old hobbies again, like knitting and particularly, cooking.  After finding the Korean store in Bournemouth and Maangchi’s cooking videos I have been on a real Korean cooking kick.  It’s great because I hadn’t felt like cooking anything, much less anything with garlic or spices in it, for months and it’s given me a new interest and a way to eat well.  Of course, I may be going overboard with the whole thing, I’m struggling to think of what other foods I’ve eaten lately.  So far I’ve made:

• Cucumber kimchi – Refreshing and delicious!  A great fresh kimchi for summer.  I didn’t stuff them but cut them up into big chunks.
• Napa Kimchi – I kept whole cabbage halves and stuffed them with the kimchi paste.  They turned out perfectly, the fish sauce really makes a huge difference, it’s much better than any kimchi I’ve made before.  The only thing that lets it down was that the cabbage wasn’t great.
• Bulgogi – The marinade is wonderful, very fruity tasting, and I get to use quite a cheap cut of beef for this.  When I run out of it I’ll probably use the blender to make my own batch and see if it’s any better.
• Pa Jeon – I had everything I needed for these, including the bochu chives.  So much better than just having loads of green onions in there.  The consistency was just right too.
• Mandu – I just bought frozen mandu, but they taste just like how I remember.  I’m crossing my fingers that one of us gets a cold one of these days so I have a good excuse to make duk mandu guk.
• Doenjang Chigae – I can’t remember liking this when I was young but it’s probably because there’s loads of vegetables in it.  It turned out perfectly, very delicious and savoury, and definitely good for me.  It’s so easy to make I can imagine this will turn into a staple meal for us.
• Korean salad (Gut Geo Rie) – I had loads of salad leaves leftover and decided to dress it with soy, garlic, sesame seeds and oil.  Much tastier than your usual dressing, and I served it with rice topped with chigae and then topped with this salad all mixed together.
• Rice – this seems so obvious but there is really no rice like Korean rice.  I’ve only had long grain Indian rice since I’ve lived here and I feel stupid for taking so long to get a rice cooker.  Even making 4 cups of rice doesn’t seem to last long between the two of us, so I’m glad we got the big one.

I meant to take photos of everything, but I tend to get so hungry that I don’t want to dawdle with the camera when there’s hot food around.  I love having the leftovers too, and thankfully David’s still not sick of Korean food and keeps asking to me to make dukboki and japchae.  There are still so many dishes that I want to make.  My friend Karen might be coming over this weekend and I’d love for her to try some Korean food.  I was thinking japchae might be a good introduction to it, as well as the bits of kimchi I have around.  I don’t ever remember anyone not liking Korean food, but it’s so different from anything else here that it’s hard to tell what she’ll think.

 

Feeling Fruity

This week I have felt the beginnings of morning sickness, or for me, all day car sickness.  It seems to be getting gradually worse and some smells just push me over the edge.  The only thing the baby wants me to eat is loads and loads of fruit.  It’s pretty much the only thing I can eat without feeling queasy.  I’m just glad I’m starting this pregnancy in spring, I’ve got all the beautiful soft fruits to come this summer and then my favourite stoned fruits in autumn.  I’ve had to give up quite a few of my favourite foods: pates, cold cuts, soft cheeses, and unpasteurized milk.  Ice cream is now off the menu too but at least I can stomach yoghurts and Ben and Jerry’s have released some of their best flavours in frozen yoghurts.  A lot of women feel relief from morning sickness around four months and so far mine has not been really bad but I will be happy when I can stand the smell of garlic again!  In a way I’m very glad that I’m feeling these symptoms, it’s reassuring to know that it’s a sign that the baby is doing okay since I still have the risk of miscarriage in the first trimester.  I have a doctors appointment on monday, I’m not sure how much they can tell me but I hope everything is so far so good.

 

34 Weeks to Go

For those who are not in the know I can officially announce myself pregnant, due around December 1.  I’m almost 6 weeks along now and it’s all a little bit surreal.  So far I don’t have many symptoms and feel pretty much normal if it wasn’t for this nagging feeling in my mind telling me that I’m having a baby.  34 weeks to go seems like nothing, and if it’s anything like the last year it’ll come around before I know it.

I decided to give the blog a little revamp to celebrate.  I like the title “Against the Tide” because it always feels that way whenever I think about what I want to do with my children.  Here’s a little breakdown of the things we both aim to achieve with our baby.

• Cloth diapers – Not just for the environmental benefits but also for the baby.  It’s now known that all those chemicals and plastics in disposables are absorbed right into the skin causing all sorts of problems like rash and eczema.  Plus you can save thousands of pounds.
• Breast feeding – It’s been on the radio a lot recently about babies who are breastfed do not gain as much weight as formula babies and some women are even discouraged from breastfeeding.  This makes me so sick that such a natural thing could possibly be considered not the best thing for babies.  Formula was never intended to replace breastfeeding (and usually states so on the package) and the last thing I want is a lot of additives and chemicals pumped into my infant.
• Baby slings/carriers – Surprisingly this is one of the things everyone seems to disagree with.  I personally hate baby prams/buggies/strollers.  They get in the way of everything, are horridly expensive, and half the time I never see anyone even in them.  I love the idea of keeping a newborn close by having her in a sling, and these modern baby backpacks distribute the weight so evenly that even heavy toddlers can be carried.
• Second-hand clothes – Everytime I go into a charity shop there are loads of baby clothes, most haven’t even been worn.  People go absolutely nuts when buying clothes and they grow so fast it’s not worth spending loads of money on a wardrobe.  Mostly I see clothes as a way of complimenting the baby knits that I plan to make.  As long as they are warm I do not care what other people think of my child or me as a parent.
• Homeschooling – Obviously not a big issue until they get older but everyone seems to disagree with this and for all the same really asinine reasons.  I could practically write a book why I think homeschooling is a very good option for many (but not necessarily all) children, the main point being that school discourages creativity and makes learning a chore.  And the time that I’ve spent learning at home I think I learned more than I ever did in school, not to mention the bizarre social situations an institution like that provides.
• Home birth – This is the trickiest one for me.  I would love to have a home birth, I think hospitals are not only unpleasant but are actually harmful for babies.  I don’t like the fact that they take the newborn away from the mother (sometimes interfering with their ability to breastfeed) but that the strange environment is more traumatic for the baby.  It is not recommended for first-time mothers to give birth at home, but man if I could be sure that I won’t have a medical emergency during the birth this would be my only option.

All of these points go against common parenting, but we would never just do something for the sake of being different, we both love to research methods that are both healthy and make sense.  We have the unique opportunity of having both parents at home all the time with children and want to make the best of it.  That may mean re-evaluating our methods to double check what we’re doing is right.  We want to make sure our child grows up healthy and, most importantly, happy, free from consumer culture, but full of love and the ability to explore and grow.  If my way of thinking goes against the tide then I never want to go out to sea.

 

First Purchases for the Year

So I think it’s safe to say we kind of failed on our “not buying anything for 2008″ goal.  But I am glad that we at least went three months without buying anything and what we did buy was worthwhile.  After a long consideration I decided to buy a slow cooker.  I wanted one for a bit of convenience, I often make stews and dishes that use the oven or stove for long periods of time.  I’m always worried something will go wrong and usually stay in the house while it’s cooking.  The slow cooker saves me so much time, I can brown all the meat and veg in the morning and just leave it.  Like today we went out to town for a bit and then for a walk later in the day, and came home to a house full of smells of braising meat.  I’m also always concerned about energy consumption.  Any oven uses a lot of energy but ours seems as inefficient as they come and I already use it such a lot for baking.  If I save even a pound by using the slow cooker I’ll feel better for it.  David on the other hand bought a Giffon Grip for turning pottery.  Apparently it’ll save a lot of time when he’s finishing his bowls and mugs, etc.  He’s been making so many things at his classes he’s hoping he can maybe sell a few online once we’ve replaced all our own pottery.  He can’t get enough of his classes and is starting to seriously considering pottery as his future career path.  It’s only a shame we don’t have enough space here to have a wheel, but his classes are going to go straight through the year, and he’s thinking of doing an apprenticeship.  I only hope this will be the answer to his cutting down on web work and he can have a more fulfilling job.

 

On the Joys of Motherhood

I belong to a few forums based around this whole simplicity living philosophy and someone posted a thread on work and simplicity.  The lady had a job in a career she really loved, but since having kids she found herself wanting to spend more time with them.  But the problem was that their lifestyle had made it impossible for her family to live on one income.  She asked people how they juggled the work/life balance and I commented, saying that our goal is to always only have one income.  When we have children we want to spend as much time with them as possible (and homeschool) and that no matter what job or career I could possible get it would never be as rewarding as watching them grow up.  It will mean sacrificing a lot of things people take for granted, and time away from hobbies I have, but there will always be time for myself after they are self sufficient.  I received a message from a lady after posting this that I really love. 

Have been SAHM (Stay at Home Mom) and then a single working mom I can tell you these things

1. 1. Stuff never made my kids happy (even though we all tried hard to pretend it did.)
   2. What they REMEMBER is that I let them dig trenches in the backyard and set up their blocks all over the house. When they think of their childhoods the oldest two (for whom I was a SAHM 3/4 of the time) remember coming home to a snack and sitting at the kitchen table w/me and the “little boys.”

You will NEVER regret staying home with your children. EVER. Yes, you will have twinges of “what could I have been” etc. etc. etc. but the bottom line is what you ARE and who you choose to be. THEIR mom.Although now disabled my 18 yr. old and I have grown closer this past year than we EVER have been. The reason? I’m always here when he gets here. I’m here to listen to his anecdotal stories and frustrations. I’m here. In the “quality time” vs. “availability” issues … it’s all about being there.I did not post this on the board as there are many who can’t or don’t make this choice … I don’t mean to diminish their free will at ANY cost, but I know the price my younger two have paid for not having me there all the time.Is it laying down one life for another (or a bunch?) Pretty much. But I truly believe when a woman commits to having a child that she has made the decision to do what’s BEST for that child. 

 

I think that is some of the most encouraging words I have heard on the subject.  In a world where stay at home mothers are devalued (like Hilary saying she could have stayed home and baked cookies, but didn’t) it’s good to know that it’s a decision I will never regret.

 

Idle Life 2008

Recently David and I have read a book that has put into words ideas that we’ve had for a while.  It’s “How to be Idle” by Tom Hodgekinson.  His philosophy is that as we’ve become wealthier we have lost our freedom to just be idle.  We’re put into school earlier and earlier, tested earlier, and begin our life of 9-5 before we even leave elementary school.  The system tells us we need to work, to fuel the economy, to be efficient, and productive.  Whatever happened to being happy?  In school we’re trained to choke a lunch down in 30 minutes.  By the time you’re in the workplace the need for lunch is a health bar in front of the computer.  Does time = money?  Yes it does, but ultimately what is more important? 

 This year David’s going to make an effort to work less.  To work less is more difficult that it sounds since we’ve been programmed since childhood to work and to make money.  To turn a job down is to lose money and it triggers something in the modern psyche.  It’s going against the grain, but what will we gain?  We’ll be able to take walks on sunny days to go to the beach.  Take a nap in the afternoon.  Spend a weekend or even a week at a music festival.  Enjoy all the events that Dorset has to offer.   We want to go camping and enjoy the outdoors.  Once upon a time people would have been more self sufficient.  Work would have either been intense few hours every day or very long hard days for only a few weeks of the year.  With fewer and fewer holidays the modern man has become a robot, who is made to feel guilty about the time he spends doing what he really enjoys.

  If we can put this philosophy in practice this year, it can only mean good things for the future.  We don’t want a big mortgage or new cars.  We just want the time to enjoy ourselves, before we realise that it’s too late.