I didn't post any meals for last week. We went out of town to my mother-in-law's house. I did bake a challah to bring to her, but I didn't do any cooking. I didn't even make a salad! My mother-in-law is a great cook, she makes plain but tasty vegetarian food. She always makes the salad in the mode of Adele Davis, dressing the greens with oil and lemon and putting some spice blend on them.
This week, my parents came to visit. For Friday evening, I made:
Challah
spinach with chickpeas (Claudia Roden, New Book of Middle Eastern Food)
tomato rice (ditto)
roasted brussel sprouts with olive oil and garlic
roasted beets in mustard vinaigrette
baked tofu with lemon and sesame
for Saturday lunch:
challah
Potato-leek-carrot cold puréed soup
green salad with romaine, arugula, walnuts, oranges and dried cherries
(and lemon-sesame dressing)
Israeli cous-cous with French lentils (Moosewood New Basics)
leftover beets and brussel sprouts
One thing that was super about this meal was the challah. I made two batches by hand simultaneously--meaning I had two bowls going. I let my son put raisins in one of the doughs. He measured out a full cup of yellow raisins and then added some more! When I made the loaves, I decided that one should be a "yud-beis" challah--a pull-apart challah with 12 sections. I made each section out of a knotted roll. It looked like a crown.
Another thing that was good was providing beets for my mom and brussel sprouts for my dad. They were both really happy to have a vegetable they each like but don't each much at home. The beets recipe is one my mother-in-law makes that my son liked a lot. My dad is a big fan of puréed potato soups, this one was just very slightly golden from the carrots. It was very creamy and I didn't need to add any soy or rice milk to make it flow.
It's very hard to cook for my mom, because 1) she's always on a diet and 2) she likes to express her disapproval frequently, and this extends to not liking food I've made. But I am most grateful to say, it does not extend to my son, who is the apple of her eye. Both of my parents are completely wonderful grandparents. They are generous with gifts and with time and with love. My son figured out that they would each read to him if he asked, and kept walking books over to them.
I tried to make sorbet in my ice cream maker, and wound up sticking the whole bowl of the ice cream maker back in the freezer full of slush. I didn't have to mix anything together, I just took a relatively sweet bottled mango juice and poured three cups of it into the device. So it wasn't like I lost much effort there. The slush finally froze and we are eating it slowly now that Shabbat is over.
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