Southeast Asian Cookbook Challenge

One of the best parts about travelling is trying the new and interesting foods in other places.  I love to try the "local" specialities.  I've experienced some really amazing foods in my travels, so much so that it would be difficult to pick a favourite country for eating.  Italy was probably one of my favourites - in 3 weeks I can tell you that we had only 3 meals that were not amazing.  The rest was simply over the top.

My other favourite place to eat was South-east Asia, particularly Thailand.  I travelled to Thailand, Malaysia and Laos when I did my "world tour" with Throckmorton & my friend Mya in 1997-8.  The food in Thailand was incredibly fresh & flavourful.  In Laos it could be a bit hit & miss, but there were some interesting options for the adventurous eater (mostly involving unidentifiable meat products.)  The food was so spicy & they were not afraid to put a full measure of spice in to the "Farangi's" (their word for foreigner) meal.  This was the opposite to India, where the food was also great, but I suspect was often toned down for us.

I vividly remember one night eating Som Tum at a market on the Thai-Malaysian border.  Mya and I had travelled down there with our friend Shiela to renew of Thai visas.  All you needed to do was cross the border to get a 30 day renewal, so we went to Malaysia for the night.  By this time we had all become accustomed to the spice & took some pride in how hot we could handle.  Som Tum is Green Papaya Salad, which is widely available at markets & street vendors.  It's prepared fresh & served in a bag with a side of glutinous rice.  All three of us ordered ours "hot" and the vendor happily obliged.  I'm sure he was laughing as we sat there with sweat pouring down our face, tears in our eyes and smoke coming out of our ears, smiling & too proud to admit we'd finally gone a step too far!

In Thailand we did a cooking class in Chang Mai.  We went to the market with our class to buy the food & then we cooked and ate all day.  It was probably one of my top ten fullest days ever.  As in, full stomach.  It was worth it though, and to this day, I can still make a pretty mean Thai Curry (if I do say so myself!)

Cookbook Challenge # 23: Neu Naam Tok (Isaan Steak Salad) from Pok Pok by Andy Ricker

Pok Pok is a fabulous Thai restaurant in Portland, where my sister and her husband live.  It has a casual & slightly hectic atmosphere - sort of like Thailand!  When we were visiting a few years ago we had Steak Salad, which didn't sound like much on the menu, but holy doodle was it good.  Derek devoured it & got another order!

When my sister got me this book for Christmas, I knew I had to try to re-create the magic!

Special basket & pot for preparing sticky rice

Glutinous or "sticky" rice is often served with grilled food and salads.  It is cooked in this awesome basket & then served in cute little baskets (I didn't bring any home, which I still regret to this day!)  It is very sticky and amazingly fragrant.  You smush it into little balls & eat it with your fingers.  Delish.

Red curry with Chicken

I made a curry to go with the salad.  I usually make it from memory, but I decided to use this book for guidance.  (More on this book below!)  Their method was pretty much the same as what  I was taught in Chang Mai & it tasted authentic.  The secret is to separate the thick coconut milk from the thin.  The other secret is lime leaves.

Neither the sticky rice nor the steak salad were very photogenic.  Luckily they tasted great...

...as you can see!

Cookbook Challenge # 24: Som Tum from Hot Sour Salty Sweet by Jeffrey Alford & Naomi Duguid

My mom gave me this book in 2000.  This and its predecessor "The Seduction of Rice" by the same authors, are the first cookbooks that I remember that were more than just cookbooks.  When I look at the classics - the Joy of Cooking, Best of Bridge etc - you basically have a recipe with a  brief description.  Then authors started telling little stories, such as: "I got this recipe from my good friend so & so who runs a fab restaurant in Timbuktu."  Now it seems that most books have gorgeous pictures of more than just the food, & page-long stories about who/when/what inspired the author.   For the most part I enjoy it, though sometimes I'm irritated that I have to read all about someone's college roommate and the cafe they loved the time they were lost on a road trip before I can get a sense of the food I'm about to make.

This book is a cookbook, a travelogue, and history & cultural lesson all rolled into one.  And the photos are absolutely stunning.  The food & stories featured are from Southeast Asia & remind me of my travels there.

I've been wanting to make Som Tum (Green Papaya Salad) for a while, but it's not easy to find a lot of the ingredients in Squamish.  I've got no shortage of recipes for it - both of the books above have versions.  In fact, the Pok Pok book has a picture of Som Tum on its cover.

I was in Victoria last week & it was easy to find the ingredients.  My mom had the book, so I took a stab at it.  I learned by perusing the net & the book that if you cannot find cooking/green papaya you can also use green beans, yard beans or even apple.

I was able to find green papaya in Chinatown & here's what it looked like:

Som Tum, Grilled Chicken & sticky rice

I made grilled chicken with sweet & spicy dipping sauce to go with it.  It's from the same book, is super easy & very very tasty!

Mom enjoying her meal on the deck

Finley's Ocean

Before I started blogging, I spent weeks trying to answer 2 questions:

1. What kind of blog will I make?
2. What will I call my blog?

Obviously I answered #2, but I'm not sure that I ever really answered #1.  And if I did, I seem to have gone a bit sideways.  I blog about my work (women in medicine blog?), I blogged about my pregnancy (belly blog?), I blog about travel (but hardly have time for that anymore!), I blog about my cooking (lifestyle blog?), Zamboni (crazy cat-lady blog?), and I blog about my family a lot.  But i definitely don't feel like a mom & baby blog, and I'm sure they would never allow me in due to one big fail: my baby is 1 year old and I have not given my readers a tour of the nursery.   The reason, my dear readers, is that I just decorated the nursery!  In fact, it is not even a nursery anymore as no more nursing is happening up there (Finley self-weaned at 12 months).  So it is just Finley's room, and it is newly decorated.

I have slowly been gathering the decorations for an underwater nursery.  I never intended to have a theme nursery, but I was running with my sister two years ago on Christmas eve and she was asking me what the theme of the nursery would be.   I told her I didn't know.  She pressed the point (those of you  who know my youngest sister will not find this hard to believe.)  I told her I didn't really think I needed a theme.  She pressed further.  "Well, I guess I would be drawn to an underwater theme if I had to chose."  This answer seemed to please her and we spent the rest of the run discussing how lovely the nursery would look.

On Christmas morning the reason for my sister's insistence was revealed: on a trip to Maui she had bought a beautiful quilt to decorate the baby's room.  The theme?  You guessed it: underwater!  It was a beautiful gift & it sealed the deal on the nursery decorations!

Underwater is a great theme because it's gender neutral, colourful and timeless.  As a diver, windsurfer & coastal girl, I just love the ocean & its creatures.  I might be stretching, but I hope an underwater nursery might instill a respect for the environment and the ocean.

Welcome to Finley's Ocean!  This cool print came from a calendar my Aunt T gave me for Christmas last year

Here is the famed quilt around which the entire nursery is built.
 Also a Finding Nemo lamp which Finley broke but I repaired with duct tape (bet you can't even tell!)  

Whale toy chest, custom growth chart, and... 

whale & seahorse hooks for hats & jackets

Aquatic mobile

Our second hand change table came with jungle animals on the drawer pulls, which would not do!

I got all artsy & painted these ones!  You won't find them on Etsy, but I think they are pretty cute.

Home-made quilt from Yoyo!  

Do you like your room, little boy?

I think it's pretty awesome!

This week I am hoping to take my love for the local sea-life a bit further.  I have always wanted to try diving at home, but have been scared off by the cold temperatures.  I've only dived in warm tropical waters so far.  Everyone says the diving around here is fantastic, so I feel I need to check in out.  On Sunday I'll be going out with two friends of mine in Victoria to brave the cold & explore our waters.  Wish me luck!

That's Mr Toddler to you!

This is a long overdue post about a big and wonderful celebration - Finley's first birthday!

There are many memorable birthdays in ones life, but turning one is probably not one of them.  Nor is  the actual birth day, but I suspect that nature is doing us a favour by not granting us the ability to recall that moment!  Imagine the shock of arriving in this world after 9 months floating in a cozy warm swimming pool, where all your needs were taken care of 24-7.

However, for new parents, the first birthday of your little one is a big one!  And even if he can't remember it, we wanted to make Finley's first birthday memorable.

This year has been so full, I feel like I've done more than a year's worth of living.  But on the other hand, I'm realizing the truth behind the saying: "The days are long but the years are short."  I am amazed to look at this little dude - who is standing, cruising and climbing stairs,  who drinks from his own cup, doesn't want to be spoon-fed and is pretty much over breast-feeding - and think of how quickly he's growing up!

Finley's birthday at the end of May is one day before one of his good friends, Vi.  With Vi's parents, we decided that since we know a lot of the same friends, that we would host a combined party.  The weather had been unseasonable warm and we planned a potlatch picnic to be held in the common green space at our townhouse complex.

There were only two hiccups:

1. While we know many of the same people, we also know lots of not-the-same people.  And when you get the common friends & uncommon friends together, you end up with a full house...
2. Yes, a full house, not a full green space.  It is May in the Pacific Northwest... Sunny weather doesn't usually stick around for too long in the spring.  It was raining pretty hard on the day of the party, and the idea of 15-20 one year olds playing in the rain is nobody's idea of a good time.

I don't believe there have ever been so many kids in our house, and probably never will again.  It was a riot!  It was great to catch up with many of my mommy friends who I have seen much less of since I went back to work.

It was a pretty chaotic scene.   I meant to keep a tally of guests, but there was too much happening.  Everyone brought something to share & we had lots of yummy food, including banana cupcakes & chocolate cupcakes.  Finley was having fun until his nap time rolled around, then he had to excuse himself for a little sleep.  I thought there was no way he would sleep with all the noise, but he had a really deep nap and missed most of his own party.  He even missed the cake.  I think he may have inherited some of his dad's introvert genes!

Not everyone was having a good time.

Zambo was just starting to understand the ways of a toddler, but she didn't quite know what to do with a whole room full of them!  But did she leave and go hide?  No, she stubbornly stayed put on the couch, surrounded by 15 pairs of grabbing little 1 year old hands.  Finally I put her out on the back deck for everyone's safety.  An hour later Connor, a little friend from daycare, tried to rescue her.  Connor is 4 years old and has a very proper English accent.  He came over to me and asked: "Can I let the cat in please, because I like cats ever so much."  It was cute!  But I still had to say no.

Pop quiz: what is the most like outcome of putting your child in a room with a bunch of other children?

Answer: Germs!

Germs are part of childhood, this is a fact.  It's a drag when Finley gets sick, but it's a unavoidable part of hanging out with other kids.  The day before his actual birthday (3 days after the party), Finley woke with the classic croupy cough.  It was nice to be able to recognize it easily & know what to do for him.  I took him to one of my colleagues at the walk-in clinic & she gave him a dose of medication that made a huge difference.  He still had to spend his birthday and the week to follow with a runny nose, cough & crummy energy, but it could have been worse.

For Finley's actual birthday we had a quiet lunch party.  Grandpa Bruce & Grandma Sharon had been visiting from Ontario for 2 weeks and they came over for the party.   I made a lunch spread with some sandwich fixings and salad.  The highlight, however, was the banana cupcakes I made.  They were quite delicious, if I do say so myself!  Finley threw the cupcake aside on the first three offerings, but when he finally bit into one, he seemed pretty happy with the taste!

Finley got lots of really nice gifts for his first birthday:

Awesome quilt made by Yoyo (Grandma Janet) and a lovely book with matching bib

Percussion set from mom & dad

Super cool ride-on toy from Grandpa Bruce & Grandma Sharon

Lovely photo from Finley's nanny (who is currently away in the Philippines but still arrange for this gift to be delivered!)

Custom growth chart for his "under the sea" bedroom

From Finley, thanks to everyone for coming to the party, for bringing delicious food, for thoughtful gifts and birthday wishes.  And from the mom & dad of Mr Toddler, thanks to everyone for your help, advice, love and support in our first year as parents!  It's been a wild, but amazing ride, & we are so grateful to have awesome friends & family around us!  We love you all!

Little people need good eats too! (And big people need quick & easy eats!)

Cooking for Finley has been a riot!  It's so fun to try new things & see how he takes to them.  I am truly amazed and sometimes a little disgusted by what he will eat.  I am thinking of contacting Chobani's to introduce a new line of yoghurt inspired by Finley: kale, butternut squash, egg yolk, tofu to name a few.  I'm sure they could be a hit!

Increasingly I am able to feed him what we have, sometimes with the odd modification.  If he's got his parents' palate he is probably ready for the spice, but I haven't been brave enough to chance it!

Eating one of my favourites: Quinoa, chickpea & roasted yam salad

But Finley needs his variety, it can't be Mommy's special yoghurt all the time.  So I decided it was time to put our baby book to the cookbook challenge.

Cookbook Challenge #21: Cheesy Broccoli Casserole from The Baby & Toddler Cookbook

An old friend of mine gave this to me now that her little man is almost 4.  It has a a few "duh" recipes, such as teaching me how to puree random fruit & vegetables.  But it also has a few actual recipes.  I decided to make a special meal for Finley.

He likes cheese, broccoli & rice, so this seemed like a good recipe.  It also called for mushrooms, which he hadn't had before, but I wasn't too worried as for the most part, he will eat ANYTHING.

Looks pretty tasty fresh out the oven.  

I wasn't home when he tried it for the first time, but I left it for our nanny to feed Finley at lunch.  She leaves us nice little notes about how Finley's day was.  I was so excited to see what he thought of this special dish.

Spat out!!!  What a little monkey!  It must've been the mushrooms.

I tried it myself and I thought it was pretty tasty.  So I fed it to him again the next day, and second time around it was much more to his liking.  He disappeared the entire ramekin!

Cookbook Challenge #22: Steamed Fresh Vegetables & Tofu with Soba Noodles and Miso-Almond Sauce, from Still Life with Menu Cookbook

The recipe is a mouthful (har-har, what a punster!), but the preparation is super easy.  This cookbook is by Mollie Katzen of Moosewood fame.  It is a vegetarian book with a great variety of recipes from around the world.  I like books like this that put recipes together into menus.  That way if I ever get a chance to entertain, I have a good sense of dishes that will go nicely together.

If you are really good with your timing, your veggies are steaming while the noodles are cooking and you are mixing up the miso-almond sauce.  So simple, so quick.  If you are not good with your timing, like me, some of your veggies are overdone while others are underdone... but no biggie!

Throw your veggies on the noodles, toss with your sauce & some chopped nuts & you have a healthy, hardy dinner.  And bonus - it's Finley friendly too!

2014 is almost half over!?

Hello!  Did anyone miss us?  We didn't mean to take such a long hiatus, but life has been busy.  The weather has been glorious and warm, and we've been enjoying time outside.

The view from a recent hike

My flower garden

We are almost 6 months through the year, and so to keep myself honest, I thought I'd take this moment to take stock of my progress (or lag of progress) on my new year's resolutions.

Free the Mind in 3 Easy Steps

I have tried a few different approaches to the daily meditation, but was not succeeding at doing 5 minutes per day. One of my colleagues at work has done a ton of work in mind-body health and she taught me a quick easy technique that she uses & teaches her patients.  Breath in for the count of 4, hold for a count of 4, then out for a count of 4.  I do this as I'm drifting off to sleep & think of all the things I am grateful for.  Sometimes I imagine myself giving a hug to all the people I love.  It is very relaxing.

I was really struggling with reducing my screen time, until I stumbled on my new guru, The Hands Free Mama.  This awesome blog talks about exactly what I'm feeling - that our society has become so distracted by gadgets & tasks that it becomes harder to live in the moment.  With some of her suggestions, I've made some improvements & we now have dedicated "hands free time" around our house.  The phones etc get put away & stay away!

With any luck, Finley will enjoy his toys over my iPhone.... but only if I can break my fascination with it!

The Body is a Temple

 I do sometimes enjoy more than one treat per day, but overall we are eating healthy meals & I stop when I'm full (most of the time!)

I'm still running, but I will not be doing the 8km trail race next weekend - that would be too much for me to bite off.  Still, I'm doing 35 minute runs & I'm back at my old gym, Challenge By Choice, once per week for some weight training.

One treat per day (not the whole cake, though technically that is only one cake, so one treat!)

I resolve to have fun bird watching

I am still an amateur bird nerd.  I have recently ID'ed our local woodpecker, who is a Pileated Woodpecker.  We've had a few Steller's Jays take a shine to our patio, so we see them often.  Last week on my run I saw a gorgeous water fowl that I have not identified to my satisfaction. It was either a Harlequin Duck or a type of Loon... I hope to see it again so I can make the ID!

Bad photo of a new bird

I resolve to have fun reading

I read a lot while we were in Maui, but was struggling through  few heavy books since we got home.  I decided to revisit an all-time favourite series - Harry Potter.  I started with The Philosopher's Stone and now I'm at The Order of the Phoenix.  I'm going to read them all straight through then I'll have a movie marathon!

I resolve to have fun cooking

We are cooking more in this house & I'm excited that BBQ season is upon us.  I've been working away at the Cookbook Challenge, including some exciting new baby recipes... but I will share those in a separate upcoming post.

I resolve to have fun skiing

I had a ton of fun!  After a dreadful start, it turned out to be a fantastic ski season.  I got 10 days on the hill, including a day with Dad and a few days of chasing around some super-fun hot-shots.  I had a really memorable day with some friends of a friend  - the visibility had been bad all morning, but the snow was nice.  The conditions seemed to drive a lot of people off the hill and we were still getting fresh tracks at 3pm.  I was doing some fun little airs & skiing as well as I could to keep up with the group.  I could barely walk the next day, but it was so worth it!

I resolve to have fun blogging

The creative juices seemed to have dried up for the past month, hence the hiatus.   But with great visits with both sets of grandparents, new recipes and an upcoming birthday, you had better believe there will be some posts coming up!