Weekly Gourmet

Today is Wednesday. I know what you're thinking. Chinese New Year is nine days away and Liz most likely thinks it's today and has prepared a dish worthy of dragon parades and fireworks! I knew it! Yep- I went with an AWESOME pork stir fry tonight because I was thinking about my niece, who hails from China, and how it's her birthday tomorrow and she was born on Chinese New Year. I assumed CNY was an annual thing but I guess it's one of those tricky date-changing holidays like Memorial Day. Anyways, Sophia is going to be a FAMOUS ballerina one day so I like to do all I can to show her I am an amazing aunt, probably like a mentor, maybe even an idol to her. The big sister she never had...who ALLLmost honored the Chinese part of the family's heritage correctly. With pork. She's vegan. Whatever, this DOES happen to be gluten and dairy free! So it accommodates some people's diets, just not my niece's. Happy 15th to Sophia. Couple notes on Asian stir-fry dishes...

Today is Wednesday. You know how I feel about picky eaters (see my dissertation below), so you can imagine my thoughts on "people with dietary restrictions." I just love 'em. I'm not at all annoyed by my kid's nut allergy. Not! Basically, diets of almost any kind irritate me on some level. Bananas make my mouth itch, but I still eat them every day! I'm just not into being restricted by what foods I can or cannot eat. That being said, my new friend Katie asked me what I make that she can have, being both gluten-free and dairy-free AND having a peanut allergy in her house. I have been thinking about a non-gluten, non-dairy, non-sucky something I could make for her, and I think I have got it with this one. This recipe also works for people who are unsure about fish (should read: children) and are just trying to get their feet (fins? Ha get it!?) wet with the idea of eating seafood. Adding coconut to mild fish barely even counts as eating fish because all you t...

  Today is Wednesday. It's freezing cold today. I really wanted something homey to warm us all up so I decided on an old staple: split pea soup. Very old- this is my grandma's recipe! My grandma was a simple cook. This is just a simple soup, only to be jazzed up after Easter, when one has a ham bone on hand. Adding the ham bone is so good that I used to fight my (elderly, feeble) great-aunts for it. My mom would have to split it so we could each have some for our split pea soup the following week. Oh Italian women. Don't ask me about the gizzards on Thanksgiving. Simple, meatless meals like this are what my first-generation Grandma from Sicily had to offer.   Grandma B's Split Pea Soup Ingredients  1 bag dried peas 8 cups water, chicken stock, vegetable stock, or a combo thereof  1 tsp. salt, more or less I say more. I doubled. Note on salt below. 1 T. olive oil 1 cup diced carrots, more or less I used 2 big ones. ¼ cup finely chopped onion, more or less I used half ...

  Today is Wednesday. Dear Lord. My kids finally went back to school! I took out some boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the morning and then made no further plans for them, because I was too busy running errands and thinking straight. I knew I needed to break up our days of sweet potatoes and side salads so I decided I would use the one vegetable I had left on hand: broccoli! I seriously am a much more responsible grocery shopper when it’s not Christmas break and I’m not so busy eating cookies and shopping the sale racks of every store. Anyways, this afternoon was chaos. My parents came over and as soon as they left, I let Sienna have a play date because her friend has a fun mom. So then I had fun mom friend, five kids, husband working from home, and eventually our piano teacher all over during my prime cook time. I was left at 5:00pm with wild-eyed, hungry children; a messy kitchen; ringing ears from piano-playing and idiotic screaming; and a worn-out husband who was on th...