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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Date: 2008-03-29 03:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-29 05:15 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-29 01:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-29 12:47 pm (UTC)I know very little about supertasting, but looking at the likes/dislikes page, I'm noting that it doesn't say much about raw fruits or vegetables, so you may want to look into a raw foods book or two. Ecopolitan has a section, they're a restaurant on about 24th and Lyndale. Raw foods sound weird to people who aren't that familiar, but it's really very good for you.
Protein sources: nuts, nut butters, seeds, black beans, lentils, rice, quinoa, tofu, seitan (she can make her own here, it's not difficult, and it's easy to make variations on flavors), tempeh (I have no idea if the texture here would be weird, it tends to be a love it or hate it food).
I would also say try different kinds of mushrooms, and try grilling them or putting them in soup, but different kinds of mushrooms are nothing alike to me.
Miso and seaweed might be useful if she's okay with the taste.
Soup may also be a good way around the texture issue, since most soups will blend fine and then you just have liquid.
Cookbooks: I don't know how accessible these are for kids, but they're cookbooks I like and have found helpful.
Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Moskowitz
Veganomicon, Moskowitz and Romero (this is a favorite cookbook of a lot of omnivores I know, and has good basic instructions for a lot of things)
Joy of Vegan Baking, by the Compassionate Cooks author whose name I can't remember
Moosewood, by Mollie Katzen
I've heard very good things about Vegan Lunchbox and that it's partly geared towards things that are accessible to kids, making as well as eating, but I don't actually know
The New Vegetarian Epicure, by Anna Thomas (one of my omnivore dad's favorites, very user-friendly)
Complete Vegetarian Kitchen, by Lorna Sass (she's a little obsessed with pressure cookers but there are instructions for if, like me, you haven't got one)
if she takes an interest in any particular ethnic cuisine that's also a good starting place.
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, by Deborah Madison (kind of a couch-levelling book but very complete in many ways)
I hope this is helpful, and I'm happy to talk about it more if you want.