I am noticing a theme my friends. I have always known that I have a recurrent subject of cooking and food because in a major way my life revolves around menus and meals. Well of course you might say, anyone who eats may feel the same way what with the planning, shopping, cooking and eating sustaining life thing. Cooking makes me happy creatively as well as gastronomically, especially when I produce something delicious!
However something happens when you become a parent and just like popcorn and movies after 8pm (when you can stay awake) they are not as enjoyable, so cooking that once was a dove feels more like a ball and chain. I laughed long and hard when my friend and housemate gave her 6 month old banana for the first time, but this is precisely when the change occurs. When we go from boob juice to solid food it’s a delicate transition. The same is true every time my son falls in or out of love with something I cook. When he says things like,
“This is disgusting” or “mom, gross” or “I didn’t like this, I was just pretending” (what the ?!?). It’s hard not to take it personally. Except, so is everything else if you are not careful. It’s just after a splendidly joyful interlude in the kitchen that by all rights is a hit with adults will go down in flames as soon as it hits my child’s plate.
Take last weekend for example I was trying another recipe from Nicolas Hortense, off of Blogtastic Food for Crispy Potato Cakes. It is similar to potato latkes with less ingredients. It was a labour of love to grate the potatoes and squish all the water out of them. When I spread them in the pan with a little olive oil and butter, they gave potato love right back. Inhaling deeply I contemplated the next challenge, to “put a plate over the pan, carefully but confidently turn the hash brown onto the plate.” Confidence, hum, Okay lets do this shit, I though
I grabbed a plate with zero to five percent fear, threw it over the large potato pancake and with one swift movement flipped upside down onto the plate. I slid it back into the pan and again experienced potato bliss as well as deep feeling of satisfaction. After that it went into the oven for additional crisping. I was so proud when I deposited it on the table next to the poached eggs and sausage; and what did I get from the french fry king
“I don’t like this.” Sigh.
“Then you will have this much” I said and looked at my friend for some sort of valid response, thank God for other adults.
So I loved the outside crispness but it was still a bit soggy in the centre, maybe I didn’t squish it enough or used too much potato? Originally I was wishing I had some egg rings to do small versions, what with my inherited love of adorable sized food (see my post Adorable Vegetables). As brunch only comes once a weekend my conclusion is I shall try them again, fully enjoy potato bliss and my son will have to suck it up.
See you on the flip side :).
That was the first mistake, or rather it was the mistake, as I had no idea how much moisture coconut flour required! I just kept adding almond milk and water until my waffle batter had grown twice the size it regularly did filling two bowls. When I put it in the waffle maker the batter had the nerve to remain in its gelatinous form, burn and bond with the inside of the waffle maker like cement.
So I cooked up some eggs and asparagus, placed one on top of the other and garnished with balsamic vinegar and chives. As I served it to my neighbour and my housemate I coined it the adult breakfast. Eggs and asparagus rock! It would be great to add something creamy but I was certainly not prepared to sub in anything else coconut that day. Check out his blog and find your own awesome brunch recipes to try and may the force be with you!