Recipes

Are you hungry? I am. I made eggplant parmesan this weekend and it was pretty darn good if I say so myself. It made me realize that I really haven't made any "new" foods since May or June. Instead, I've been sticking to the old favorites (gnocchi, burritos, etc.) Partly, it's been laziness, but it's also because once you have 5-6 dishes you know your kids will eat, you don't want to tempt fate by varying the menu.

Now that I've revamped this blog, however, I thought it would be fun to post a recipe of the day (or the week). I'm going to start by posting the recipes I've used from Dinner with Dad (the good, the bad, the ugly), but I will post anything "kid friendly" I get from you. So please email or post me your favorites, and I will get them up on the blog.

Happy meals!

A New Beginning

You may have noticed the absence of archives from this past year of dining. In part, it's a shameless marketing ploy on my part to drum up intrigue for my forthcoming book. I don't want to give away the ending before the bed linens, bath towels, and McDonald's Happy Meal toys are released. But mostly it's because I want to write on a blank slate, without the strict rules of the past year to bind me. If Dinner with Dad (the blog) used to be about Dinner with Dad (the project), then this new blog (still located at the same address) is about something more fluid and dynamic, without the same strict rules of the project.

What's for dinner at your house this Thanksgiving? Is it just me, or does it seem like Thanksgiving has taken on an almost religious quality this year. People are wishing me "Happy Holiday," in the same hushed tones that they will wish me "Merry Christmas," in about a month. I love Thanksgiving, but I love it because it's not religious. It's a little spooky when Halloween and Thanksgiving begin to supersede more spiritual holidays. Let's not forget to eat.

time = food

The truth is, good food takes time. Take yesterday afternoon, for example. To make the egg rolls and Chinese noodles I wanted to make for dinner, I really needed to start at 3pm. That's when I began stir-frying ingredients for the egg roll filler. At the same time, I boiled some flat Udon noodles. Both needed time to cook, and then to cool. The egg roll ingredients so I could wrap them in wrappers and deep fry them. The noodles so I could rinse them in water and then stir fry them with garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Then there was also edamame, which needed to be boiled and salted. All told, the entire process took 2 1/2 hours, and yielded only 10 egg rolls (but plenty of noodles and edamame).

Does anyone cook like this anymore? In a world of 30 (and 15) minute meals, is it just sheer insanity to spend 2 1/2 hours in the kitchen on any day except Thanksgiving?

Of course, it wasn't as if I was just standing in front of the stove for 150 minutes. There was music playing, and kids running in and out, and dogs barking, and me ducking out to check my email. But, still, it's a lot of time to be in the kitchen, even if the egg rolls were pretty delicious (if I say so myself).

Diner Dad

I've definitely been eating at the diner more frequently (so frequently that the waiter says, "Hello, again," when he sees us). I suppose this is bad because the food is not usually as good or as healthy as homemade, and it definitely encourages the diner mentality at home -- where the kids think they can just order up chicken fingers and matzoh ball soup and I'll bring it to them. But there is something great about not stressing about cooking or -- worse -- cleaning, but still being gathered around the same table. It's dinner with dad, without the downside of dishwasher with dad.

Lulu and I like to play hang man on the back of the paper placemats. Simon orders fries and I order onion rings, and we split them.

Everyone has a favorite diner. Mine's the Blue Benn diner in Bennington, Vt. It's been years since I've been there, and I wonder if it's still around. Anyone know?

Sitting Down

How do you get your kids to sit still at the table? I swear I can't get mine to stay in their seats for more than two minutes. Last night I literally timed Lulu, and she was getting out of her seat every 40 or 50 seconds. Playing with a helium balloon, finding her comic book, looking for her homework. What ever happened to the art of conversation? What happened to manners? (And don't get me started about keeping all 4 legs of the chair on the floor).

Are you able to keep your children at the table, have a reasonable conversation, make them help clean up? Eating is only 10 percent of the battle. I'd almost trade picky eaters for stationery eaters (though not quite).

Beta Blogging

I've switched to the new blogger beta. I'm not sure I understand what the difference is, but perhaps I'll see when I post.

Welcome back chachlilmum! Good to hear from you again. Hope all is well in your kitchen.

You ever have one of those quiet nights at the table? We had one of those today. Not because we were busy eating, but just because we were quiet. Maybe it was the rain. Maybe it was the long weekend. Maybe it was the 2 mile run I made Simon do with me and the dog (good for both of them!). Anyway, we ate in relative silence, and when it was over, I felt like I had missed something.

So what did you talk about at the table tonight?

After Dinner

I didn't stop cooking. I just stopped blogging. After all, there are only so many hours in the day. So many hours to commute, write, teach, sleep, eat, work, play, get home in time to make my own gnocchi. Etc. What's a dad to do? But now my book is done, my life has returned to a more regular rhythm, and I have plenty of time to make delicious meals that my children devour, smacking their lips and demanding more.

Or not.

Okay, so I haven't turned them into gourmets yet. But they're trying. We're all trying.

But I'm not giving away the ending here. I've got a publisher who wants to sell hard copies, and a pub date in May, and if you want to read more about it, you can click on the link off to the right ....

Instead, I've decided to use this blog as a forum for recipes, ideas, simple things to bring us together and get us eating good food. Here's my plan: I'll come up with a daily theme (or maybe every other daily), and you'll post your recipes, food tips, eating tips, children tips, parent tips, etc. If I say "Pasta carbonaro," You'll say, "I really miss eating bacon. It reminds me of my grandmother." Or, I might say, "Bananas are the perfect fruit," and you'll say, "The last time I had a banana it reminded me of my college roommate, who had this potassium obsession . . . " I think it would cool and fun to start a conversation about food, but one that is not so focused on showing off ("Look at the fancy meals I can cook!") and is more about the things that food means, or that food makes possible, rather than the food itself. I guess my thought is we could have a dinner conversation on the Internet with virtual food as our dish.

What do you say?