Domestic Delia
Mar. 28th, 2008 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pegkerrDelia has always been the much more domestic of our two girls. I mean, this is a girl who within one week of getting her iPod had discovered and downloaded all the Cook's Illustrated podcasts and soon was seriously discussing the relative merits of various brands of cookware. She loves to make cakes and bread (which reminds me: she's been complaining again that OMIGOD she is out of YEAST, which is a CATASTROPHE and if I know what's good for me I'll make sure we get that on the next grocery shopping list). She has been busily exploring all my various linens I got for my wedding and even the linens I inherited from my grandmother, and frequently over the past month I've come home to find that she has nicely set the table with a whole other set of place mats and matching napkins and plates that it hadn't occurred to me to use for ten years. Or she'll have the table set for tea, using my Nana's tea set.
She is sewing all sorts of things. She is making beautiful jewelry. She is knitting. One of her birthday presents for her sister was a knitted cell phone case which was just so cute I just about exploded.
Cooking, other than baking, is rather problematic. She is extremely interested in cooking, and goes through and marks up all sorts of cookbooks--but her tastes are whimsical when it comes right down to making things. One of the side effects of some medication she is taking, I think, is that things sometimes taste weird, and her appetite is unpredictable. She is, as we have previously noted, a supertaster, and she is also extremely sensitive to textures, and she'll reject something if it feels "weird" in her mouth.
She is leaning, again, to wanting to be a vegetarian. Her reasons are mostly philosophical (loves animals, doesn't want to eat them) and her revulsion for the texture of meat is growing. Except she still ALSO has revulsion for many cooked vegetables. We are having a great deal of trouble identifying protein sources which she will deign to eat, which has meant (esp. since she's as skinny as a rail) that she's been troubled a great deal by hypoglycemic incidents this spring, especially after intense karate classes.
Does any one know of a, say a cooking class locally (not too expensive) to suggest for say, parents of kids, when the kid wants to become a vegetarian? I know a lot, more than most parents about vegetarianism, but I must admit, I'm somewhat stymied by Delia's endlessly changing reactions to tastes and textures--trying to keep her nutrition adequate on a vegetarian diet that she will EAT is like trying to hit a swiftly moving target. Or does anyone know any skilled vegetarian cooks who might be willing to tutor an eager-to-learn kid who is, really, quite a good cook already, but just needs to be shown the ropes on vegetarian cooking?
I just found Compassionate Cooks podcast, a vegetarian podcast, and told her about it, and she's gone ahead and subscribed to it on iTunes. Other thoughts, anyone?
She is sewing all sorts of things. She is making beautiful jewelry. She is knitting. One of her birthday presents for her sister was a knitted cell phone case which was just so cute I just about exploded.
Cooking, other than baking, is rather problematic. She is extremely interested in cooking, and goes through and marks up all sorts of cookbooks--but her tastes are whimsical when it comes right down to making things. One of the side effects of some medication she is taking, I think, is that things sometimes taste weird, and her appetite is unpredictable. She is, as we have previously noted, a supertaster, and she is also extremely sensitive to textures, and she'll reject something if it feels "weird" in her mouth.
She is leaning, again, to wanting to be a vegetarian. Her reasons are mostly philosophical (loves animals, doesn't want to eat them) and her revulsion for the texture of meat is growing. Except she still ALSO has revulsion for many cooked vegetables. We are having a great deal of trouble identifying protein sources which she will deign to eat, which has meant (esp. since she's as skinny as a rail) that she's been troubled a great deal by hypoglycemic incidents this spring, especially after intense karate classes.
Does any one know of a, say a cooking class locally (not too expensive) to suggest for say, parents of kids, when the kid wants to become a vegetarian? I know a lot, more than most parents about vegetarianism, but I must admit, I'm somewhat stymied by Delia's endlessly changing reactions to tastes and textures--trying to keep her nutrition adequate on a vegetarian diet that she will EAT is like trying to hit a swiftly moving target. Or does anyone know any skilled vegetarian cooks who might be willing to tutor an eager-to-learn kid who is, really, quite a good cook already, but just needs to be shown the ropes on vegetarian cooking?
I just found Compassionate Cooks podcast, a vegetarian podcast, and told her about it, and she's gone ahead and subscribed to it on iTunes. Other thoughts, anyone?
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-28 09:45 pm (UTC)One of my favorite, totally lazy-ass ways to get veggies in my diet is to steam about half a bag of frozen vegetables (usually centered around broccoli, as it's one of my favorites and very good for you) then toss them in a bowl with a bit of salad dressing and chow down. Some veggies do well with oven roasting rather than steaming or boiling, e.g., brussels sprouts, which seem to lose the bitterness with oven roasting (olive oil and rosemary or other Italian herb = yum). And there are also salads, which can be made pretty substantial with the addition of chickpeas and cheese and other add-ins.
Does Delia like soups? There are TONS of recipes out there, and vegetarian soups are as easy as just using vegetable broth (or water, if you have veggies in the soup and are simmering it long enough) instead of the ubiquitous chicken broth. It's hard to recommend a specific recipe not knowing what she likes, but since she's into research, anyway :-D she can do the legwork herself. Two good authors I know of are Mollie Katzen (the original Moosewood Cookbook) and Nava Atlas (she has a Mediterranean cookbook that I'm thinking of getting).
If you and Delia would be interested in getting together at Namaste or Common Roots some Friday evening (or whatever is best for your schedule), I'd be willing to chat and share such knowledge as I have. Just e-mail me (or call, if you still have my phone number) and let me know!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-29 03:19 am (UTC)Delia is very unpredictable on soups. I've made dozens, many of them vegetarian, and she'll eat only about a quarter of them. She keeps going back to chicken noodle soup (despite the vegetarian thing). I think she dislikes the sensation of having different textures in one mouthful, and there are some things that are common as the base of many soups (i.e., cooked tomatoes) that she just won't tolerate at all.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-29 03:41 am (UTC)One advantage here is that it's doable in the crock pot AND requires almost no prep, so it could be started before school and would be magically ready at dinner time; always a bonus.
Soups
Date: 2008-04-02 10:05 pm (UTC)On the subject of soup: For convenience, Imagine makes a "No Chicken Broth" in the 1-liter aseptic cartons that is basically a vegetable stock with NO TOMATOES, so you may want to check that out. Also try the Amy's No-Chicken Noodle soup for a vegetarian substitute for chicken noodle soup. Bonus: Delia can prepare it herself!!! :-D Can you tell what kind of a Mom I was when my son was her age?? Buhwahaha. And yet the Boy Lives!