Funky Lunch

image by Funky Lunch

Today I followed a swissmiss link to a site named Funky Lunch. The aim of the authors is to produce a book with fun yet healthy sandwich options to tempt fussy eaters. Have a look at their gallery for some fun ideas.

I like this idea for an Eric Carle inspired Very Hungry Caterpillar - what a great idea for a garden party!

Photograph by Mark Northeast at Funky Lunch

Drawing Summer to a close...

Summer activities are drawing to an end as the beginning of the school year looms. Our impending move seems to make the end of Summer appear more defined or final. This is not a good thing in Chicago as the Summer is impinged upon at either end by that domineering Winter. To finish it any sooner is sacrilegious!

Master 5 finished his Kung Fu classes today. He has been doing Kung Fu for a couple of months and has, on the whole, enjoyed the experience. He takes classes at Healthkick and adores his teacher Sifu Paula who seems to have a masterful way with kids. Last weekend, we attended a performance his school put on in Chinatown. Demonstrations were made at all skill levels. Four performers playing the parts of two dragons were particularly impressive.

The last soccer class will be next week. I enrolled the boys over the summer in Soccer classes with Chitown football - part of the Lil Kickers group. This was to give ourselves some sort of structure over the long gap in the school year - as well as provide an excuse to exercise and meet some new friends.

Our intention is to take the boys along to Soccer next Tuesday, have some lunch, then drive to Virginia! (well, part of the way at least).

Class photo

Tying up one those loose ends before our move, I dropped a class photo of Master 5's preschool class to his school this week. At the end of the last school year I took photographs of the students to incorporate into a thank you montage for each of the class's three teachers. The photos of the kids were so beautiful and natural, it seemed like a great opportunity to create a class photo as a memento for each family... and a great fundraising opportunity for the school! The school was thankful for the photograph and the nice packet of money too.

Master 5 was going to complete his final year in a Montessori preschool program this school year. We are sad that he is going to miss out. We are also going to miss his wonderful and caring teachers Mses Michele, Casey and Kimberley.

Empty that fridge

It is one week until we depart Chicago. It is beginning to sink in at last. WHERE HAS THAT TIME GONE! Now we have to do those mundane but necessary things like empty the refrigerator and work out what we eat/throw/donate... As someone that hates wasting food, I will have to use a little ingenuity.

The first item for tonight's dinner 'hit list' was a white eggplant the boys chose at a recent farmers markets. I think they loved the way it looked (as Master 5 is not a great fan of *eating* eggplant). I also had abundant coriander, basil, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella from last weeks market, some parsley and a pound of frozen ground lamb from Mint Creek Farm.

I decided that the eggplant would be turned into a baba ghanoush. This would also help to finish our tahini, drain a bottle of olive oil and use up a lemon. The coriander and lamb would make great meatballs and I could use the tomato, basil and mozzarella in a simple salad dressed with salt and olive oil. I thought this might look a little lonely on the plate so I opened a tin of garbanzo beans (chick peas) and dressed these with some chopped parsley, olive oil, salt and lemon juice.

BABA GHANOUSH

Ingredients:

Eggplant - medium to large (white is less bitter)

1 clove garlic

salt

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

juice of half lemon

olive oil

2 tblsp tahini

Method:

Using tongs, turn eggplant in flame on gas stovetop to char surface. If not quite cooked, zap in microwave for a minute (alternatively, rub with olive oil and roast in an oven). Peel the charred skin off then press out bitter juices in a colander. Using a stick mixer, blend with pinch of salt, chopped garlic and tahini. Add lemon juice and olive oil to taste. Stir through parsley. Alternatively just mash all ingredients with a fork if a chunkier consistency is desired.

MIDDLE EASTERN LAMB MEATBALLS

Ingredients:

1 pound (500g) ground lamb

pinch salt

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground allspice

1 cup coarsely chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves

olive oil

Method:

Blend onion, spices and coriander in a food processor. Add lamb and process until smooth. Shape into small balls or wrap around a wooden skewer (soaked in water for 30 mins). Fry in small amount of olive oil until brown and cooked through (or grill or broil kebabs on sticks). Drain on paper towel.

These recipes were adapted from The Cooks Companion by Stephanie Alexander. The absolutely brilliant tome and ONLY cookbook I will ever truly need.

The kids LOVE chick peas (garbanzo beans*) so I always have a tin handy. A great source of protein and fiber, these can quickly be turned into a hummus or simple salad or curry. The kids will eat a whole tin between them if I don't rescue them quickly enough.

This was a very successful meal with Master 3 and Little Miss 11 months eating everything without complaint. Master 5 brought up his aversion to eggplant, but insistence that it was really like 'Hummus' from Master 3, helped persuade him to finish his dinner.

* Master 5 once misheard and thought these were called Rapunzel beans - so we often call them by this name :-)

Bye bye Sue

The boys were keen to visit the Field Museum before we leave Chicago, so we made a visit today. The Field Museum is a brilliant 'old school' museum of curios, artifacts and animals, with something to appeal to almost everyone. We have barely scratched the surface of what this museum has to offer. Possibly something to do with being trapped in the dinosaur section too many times.

We said hello (as we do when we arrive at the museum) and then goodbye to 'Sue', the 'largest, most complete and best preserved' example of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever found. With some speed-viewing, we even managed to fit in a couple of more exhibits than we usually do, including the Underground Adventure exhibit, the Real Pirates, The Ancient Americas and Water. The Pirate exhibit was extremely popular but required too much reading for this young family, making it a very slow moving experience, compounded by a couple of bottlenecks (where a number of patrons were beginning to lose their patience). This was a shame as 'pirates' appeal to all ages, and there would have been great scope to provide some more kid-friendly exhibits, or at least a fast route through.

We are going to miss the Field Museum, but are also very excited at the prospect of being able to explore all the Smithsonian has to offer.

Molly's Cupcakes

There are several establishments - just around the corner - that we are going to miss BIG TIME! We just LOVE our neighborhood and the fact that we can live without a car (we did for 18 months) as so much of what we need is within walking distance. Living on acreage in a more suburban - less city-like environment is going to be a big adjustment for us.

We visited one of those establishments yesterday. Molly's Cupcakes. Although we are not super-regular visitors, we do visit from time to time - particulary during our very brief Chicago-Winter-walks, when it is just TOO cold to walk any distance, but we need to get outdoors before we succumb to cabin fever.

A selection of games including Jenga and Connect 4, keeps the boys occupied while I have a warming cup of coffee. The success of the lattes served here totally depends upon the barrista, but they do use the local Intelligentsia blend, so it bound to be better then the chain stores... and they use ceramic cups. YAY.

I love the ethos behind the cupcakes baked here: using a recipe from a favorite grade-school teacher, with a portion of profits benefiting local schools. The photo shows Master 3 eyeing our selection: Cookies-n-cream, Coconut Cream and Lemon Meringue cupcakes.

What to do with abundant corn and coriander?

Recent trips to the farmers markets have left us with a fridge full of corn and coriander (cilantro). I was wondering what to cook for the kids dinner and remembered that my brother's partner Amanda*, a committed vegetarian, used to make great corn cakes. I dug out the recipe and set to work...

AMANDA'S CORN CAKES

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from 3 to 5 corn cobs)

1 small red onion, chopped

2 eggs

1/4 cup fresh coriander/cilantro (including stems and leaves)

1 cup plain flour

salt and pepper to taste

3-4 tbs peanut oil

Method:

In a food processor, place 2 cups of the corn kernels, onion, eggs, coriander and flour. Process until combined.

Stir in remaining corn kernels and season to taste.

Heat peanut oil in in non-stick pan over medium-high heat. In batches, drop heaped tablespoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil and cook for approximately 1 minute per side. Drain on paper towel once browned both sides.

Variations:

I used olive oil instead of peanut oil. I used a brown onion as I didn't have any red onions. I used more coriander than specified. I used a soupspoon to drop the batter into the oil.

Amanda served these with a chili sauce (1/2 cup sweet chili sauce, 1/4 cup lime juice, 1 tbl fish sauce).

Little Miss 11 month was happy to eat the corn cakes, but the boys were not so enraptured (preferring the honey-glazed chicken I served them with). Interest did peak however, with the addition of tomato sauce (ketchup).

I think these corn cakes would be great as a brunch item served with some crisp bacon and perhaps a creamy but spicy tomato sauce. They would also make a fantastic appetizer if made teaspoonful size and topped with a hearty guacamole, pico de gallo or perhaps a mango/avocado/chili salsa.

I'm not too sure where this recipe came from, but I guess the absolutely brilliant Australian delicious magazine, or perhaps Good Taste.

*Our whole family fondly remembers, and misses Amanda. Amanda was a beautiful soul who succumbed to a nasty and virulent melanoma cancer... way before her time.