Grandma’s Spaghetti
The Year 1 teacher who organised Louisette’s new recipe book wanted FAMILY recipes (with a strong hint of ‘multicultural, please’) and this one is a ripper.
My children are dead-set against anything to do with tomatoes (except of course, for tomato sauce, which bears little resemblance to the fruit*) so I knew that this was unlikely to be accepted with grace. However, any recipe that contains only three ingredients is a winner in my book.
- 500g spaghetti
- Tin condensed tomato soup
- Grated cheese
Cook the spaghetti, drain it, mix it with soup and sprinkle it with cheese.
Aaaand. . . you’re done!
TJ liked it (although I know from experience he’d probably refuse it next time.)
Yum Factor: 3 (I like grated cheese)
Health: 3 (passable as a meal, but is mostly made of starch and salt)
Easy: 5
Will make again? Probably not, because Louisette won’t eat it; I require more meat in my meals; and putting any red liquid near my 4 year-old is asking for trouble (especially when there’s also long, whippy, drippy noodles involved).
* * *
In other news, today I filled in my annual stall holder form for the Goulburn Waterworks Steampunk & Victoriana Fair. (Here‘s the facebook page for last year, and I blogged about it here, with pics.)
The fair (now called the Steampunk Victoriana Fair) has been getting much bigger every year, and this year they’ve gotten big enough to have “Stall Holder APPLICATION” forms rather than just forms.
What I mean to say is, they’re bringing in STANDARDS.
They now request details about the stall, and a picture or photo of what the stall will look like. If you’re connected to me on facebook (especially on either my ‘general‘ page or my ‘Antipodean Queen‘ page), you probably see such things about once a month, for example:
But since I’ve been stallholding at the Steampunk & Victoriana Fair for the last three years (before I had any books out, in fact!), and have enjoyed all my interactions with the divine (and divinely well-organised) Julianne, I decided to do a drawing instead. This drawing:
I feel there’s a raw honesty to my work that goes beyond the merely picturesque. I also feel that I probably won’t be a contributing visual artist to the “Murder in the Mail” and “Magic in the Mail” stories anytime soon.
*Or is it a vegetable? Argue away in the comments.
Moose?
My daughter had heard of moose, but not mousse. . . so when her dad and I discussed making chocolate mousse she asked, “Will it come alive when it’s finished?”
(Being scientifically-minded, she knows perfectly well that mammals have live young. . . but she also knows there are a lot of weird and wonderful ways to make life happen.)
Speaking of Louisette, she and I were talking today about what she wants to be when she grows up.
She told me that she wants to be a scientist, spy (a new kind who doesn’t spy on people), vet, doctor, nurse, police officer, firefighter, artist, writer and mum. “I have decided that I WILL be a Mum and I WILL marry a man.”
[I have told her that she can’t marry a family member, and if she marries a girl it’s slightly trickier to have kids.]
I said, “The most important thing about marriage is picking the right person. If you pick, for example, a bully—that would be terrible every day.”
She said, “I already have some ideas.”
Of course I wanted details, so she told me (names redacted, obviously):
Kid1, “because he likes science just like me.”
Kid2, “because his name starts with ‘L’ just like me.”
Kid3, “because he is kind.”
Kid4, “because he is funny and has all the best stories.”
Kid5, “because he is very very very very kind.”
I was very impressed with her logic, and with her choices (I know all of these boys; some quite well). I was especially happy that none of her choices have ever been mean to her (I do encourage her to be friends with those that tease her, within reason), and that only one is Caucasian.
We talked about how far away marriage is, and how marrying a good friend is definitely the way to go.
So that was fun.
Chocolate Mousse was always going to be a winner. (You can google your own recipe; I’ve typed enough today.) Vast amounts of chocolate and cream, with sugar added?
Yum Factor: 5 (so rich it’s deadly)
Health: -1000 stars
Easy: 4 (gotta use a dry bowl to whip egg white. . . which I didn’t, and it was still fabulous)… but it’s not easy to tell the kids they can’t eat it until the next day.
Will make again? Probably not, but maybe at Christmas (probably with Bailey’s added). It’s WAY too much cream for my system to handle, so I’d attempt it with lactose free cream (after consulting my also-low-lactose Mum about whether lactose free cream can whip). It’s gluten free (like my mum), so actually that’s helpful. A LOT easier than cake, and yummier too. So… probably yes, now I think of it.
Holiday Recipes
My daughter is getting three weeks of holidays between Terms 2 and 3. She’s a pretty great kid, but that still fills me with blinding terror.
A few weeks ago, her Year 1 teacher asked the kids for family recipes. Those recipes were typed, bound, and printed (with illustrations by the kids). There are about 15 recipes altogether, and I decided that Louisette and I would cook them ALL these holidays.
Yes, THAT will make everything less stressful! Come along and watch as I inevitably regret all the life choices I ever made to end up on this path to horror and pain!
We started with. . . us. Louisette’s recipe was originally from a low-FODMAP recipe book, and it’s a fantastic snack—high in protein, easy to transport (after it’s been cooled, it stays non-sticky even when left out), and still yummy!
I love the magic of SCIENCE inherent in this recipe; taking a gooey mess and adding elements that dry it out to a perfect texture.
Peanut Butter Balls
3/4 c peanut butter (cashew butter is good but stickier, so you gotta add more cinnamon and/or coconut if you cashew it up)
2 T maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c oats
1/4 c coconut
2 T dark choc chips
Method:
- Mix everything in a bowl.
- Using your hands, roll into balls (this gets very messy and sticky).
- Place in the fridge until set.
We make this recipe all the time (and of course we always eat one before they set anyways). It’s great for diabetics and low-FODMAP people (low salicylates, not so much). The above pic is the result of a double portion.
Yum Factor: 5 (aka “yes, it contains chocolate”)
Health: 4 (not exactly a salad, but a million times better than just chocolate)
Easy: 3 (heavy to stir but mixes easily; annoying to put into balls)
Will make again? Uh. . . yes. About three times a week until the kids move out. This is one of the five foods they eat willingly AND it counts as a treat (useful, since our household is a treat-based economy).
Felicity Banks 