182 replies to this topic

[Marlene]

So, everyone, welcome to Canada. I’ll be driving the food bus this week. For those of you who don't know me, my name is Marlene, and I manage the Recipe Archive here on eGullet and I am this semester's Manager for the outstanding eGCI

I guess now is a good time to tell you that I really have a split personality. One week I’m Super Mom/Business Woman/Volunteer/Wife and the next week, I’m Super Hostess/Wife/Business Woman/Volunteer. The two personalities have very different eating habits. Why is that, you may ask?

My ex husband and I share joint custody of our 11 year old son, Ryan, or Ry-guy or "the lad" as we tend to call him. We each have him for a week at a time, with Sunday being the change over day. During my week with Ryan, I'm Mom, and I cook - a lot. When Ry returns to his Dad's, I step into the nearest telephone booth and become Super Hostess - wife of a senior parter in an Accounting firm - and I seldom cook. We either eat out, entertain, or during Audit Season (as in now), I become an Audit Widow, and almost always eat alone during the week. Both weeks, I run my business and do a lot of volunteer work.

During my food blog week, I'll be Super Mom, so I'll be cooking this week. Ry-guy is due to arrive at noon today. What you'll get from me this week, is lots of home cooking. I'll try to take some pics along the way and post them, and I'll provide links to any of the recipes from the archive that I use. If I haven't posted a link to a recipe, it's because it doesn't meet the criteria for being in the archive (meaning it isn't mine), but if you're interested in something, I'll be happy to PM the recipe to you.

I'm afraid I don't have gsquared's ability to plate. I come from a family, where everything was put in serving bowls or on platters and passed around the table, and I still do that in my own home.

This will be an interesting challenge. When I first found out I was tagged for the next blog, I immediately started planning my menu for the week. Which is something I never do. The standing joke in my house is "What's for dinner tomorrow Mom?" Ryan asks me that question every night when he goes to bed, and every night I say "I don't know". I very seldom plan ahead what we are going to eat, so to be consistant, I'll continue that this week. I'll be surprising myself as much as everyone else here

So welcome to my little world everyone. I invite you to sit back, relax and be part of my family for a week!

Edited by Marlene, 29 February 2004 - 11:46 AM.

[Jinmyo]

Let's go.

[Marlene]

Sunday morning:

Last night marked the end of a week of my other personality- Super Wife. We attended a very formal event, dining on a horrendous chicken dinner . This morning, we are recovering from too much wine, and too little food. No matter. Sundays are for lazy breakfasts, baking and relaxing.

Breakfasts during the week can be a rather frantic affair, but Sunday is a bacon and egg kind of day or pancakes, if the lad has had a friend sleep over. On the weekends, my husband is generally designated the offical breakfast cook. As I type, the smell of frying bacon is wafting towards my office. We'll have bacon and eggs, toast, hash browns and my usual gallon of coffee. After that, the eating machine known as the Ry-guy will arrive and begin his week of grazing. Today is baking day. Now that I have my wonderful KA mixer, I'll be making Chocolate Babycakes to go with our dinner this evening. I'm also planning a Ceasar Salad, so I've got to make the dressing, bacon bits and croutons to go with it. In between, I'll make sure the lad has his Social Studies project done, the rest of his homework done, watch him practice his Saxophone and drive him over to his friend's house for a couple of hours. Thus begins the mad rush.

Must dash, breakfast is almost ready (and I'm out of coffee)

[Jake]

Looking forward to the blog, Marlene. Is Ryan generally an adventurous eater, or does he prefer the more standard kid fare?

[Schneier]

Tell everyone about "Homo Milk." It'll be great to see everyone from the U.S. argue about it.

Bruce

[Marlene]

Ryan is getting more adventurous as he gets older. While he does love the standard kid fare, he also loves crab legs, steak, shrimp, and lobster bisque. As well as herring (something I can't stand )

The baby cakes are in the oven, and I've got blueberry and chocolate chip muffins ready to go. See basic muffin mix. I've also got a new onion confit starting in my crockpot see
the Onion confit thread for more details.

I've sent hubby to the grocery store while he drops the lad off at his friend's house (after much begging and promising that he'll finish his project when he gets home). I think I'll make brocoli with hollendaise for dinner instead of a ceasar salad.

Edited by Marlene, 29 February 2004 - 12:32 PM.

[Jaymes]

I'm looking forward to pulling up a cyberchair at your cybertable, Marlene.

You say that you "run [your] business." What exactly do you do?

[Marlene]

I'm looking forward to pulling up a cyberchair at your cybertable, Marlene.

You say that you "run [your] business." What exactly do you do?

Welcome to my "home" Jaymes! I run a Consulting business, that specializes in Facility Management. If you need offices built or renovated, office moves done, telephone systems installed etc. I'm your girl . I provide project managment for office projects, advice on ergonomics and Human Resources issues.


I am a CFM, a CFMJ and I'm working on my HR designation. CFM stands for Certified Facility Manager, and CFMJ stands for Certified Facility Manager, Japan.

[GG Mora]

Looking forward to your blog – especially to watching someone else shovel-load a preadolescent male. We have a 12-yr.-old eating machine, affectionately known simply as "boy". It's simply astonishing what they can consume, no?

[Marlene]

Looking forward to your blog – especially to watching someone else shovel-load a preadolescent male. We have a 12-yr.-old eating machine, affectionately known simply as "boy". It's simply astonishing what they can consume, no?

It's incredible. And we've just started the whole pre teen/teen thing. Ryan is as tall as I am now, and the Dr. thinks he'll be 6'2 or 6'3" by the time he stops growing.

This is the kid who can eat an entire dinner, plus dessert, and come back to me 10 minutes later, telling me he's hungry again.

[Marlene]

Since arriving home from his friend's house Ryan has eaten a blueberry muffin, a banana, had a large bottle of water, and is working on a fruit cup. He had Monkey Bread at his friend's as a snack. Dinner is still about an hour away.

Our conversation has been thus:

Ryan: "Mummy, I'm hungry"

Me: "You're always hungry, what do you want?"

Ryan" I don't know, what do we have?"

Me: "Pick something healthy"

Ryan: "How about this chocolate bar?"

Me: "Um, that's not exactly healthy".

Ryan" "It's got milk in it!"

Me: "Nice try. Try again" How about a banana? A nice fresh blueberry muffin?"

Ryan: "Naw"

Me: I guess you're not hungry then"

Ryan: "Can I have both?"

Me: "Why not?" Rolling of eyes

Ryan: " Can I have a pop?"

Me: "No, pop doesn't go with bananas. Have milk or water"

Ryan" Ok, I'll go get one of your bottles of water

Heavy sigh comes from Mom.

Don and I have been enjoying a couple of CC and cokes, while helping Ryan put his Social Studies project together. He now has a complete Haida village in a shoe box .

It was a beautiful day here in Oakville. Temps were quite mild, enabling us to find our BBQ for the first time in months. We decided to celebrate by spit roasting our rolled prime rib tonight. It's turning away merrily on it's spit, the potatoes are in the oven roasting, and the brocolli and sauce are ready to roll.

The house smells wonderful. The onion confit is burbling away in the crockpot, although by the looks of it, it's got a long way to go yet.

Pics to follow after dinner.

Edited by Marlene, 29 February 2004 - 04:43 PM.

[Jake]

Marlene, could you enlighten us as to what Monkey Bread is???? Sounds intriguing...

[suzilightning]

Marlene, could you enlighten us as to what Monkey Bread is????  Sounds intriguing...

kinda like a poor man's cinnamon bun
don't know if this is the same recipe marlene's sons' friend uses but it is the abomination someone at work tries to foist on us all the time:

http://singleparents...monkeybread.htm

scroll past the ad to where it starts with several sleeves of premade biscuit dough

Edited by suzilightning, 29 February 2004 - 06:22 PM.

[Marlene]

No Suzie. It's close, but I and Ryan's friend's mom, make it from fresh bread dough. I will make Monkey bread tomorrow. Granted, I do make the dough in my bread machine, but heck, it's better than refrigerated biscuts.

[Marlene]

Pics of tonight's dinner. I swear the food tastes better than it looks. I'm a lousy plater, and a worse photographer!


Blueberry muffin


with butter!


the wines


spit roasted prime rib


roast beef, rare


oven roasted potatoes


broccoli and hollandaise sauce


Chocolate babycake


babycake with ganache filling

[winesonoma]

How was the Amarone?

[SobaAddict70]

Wait till Ryan sees eGullet. heheh

Did he ask why you were taking pix? Nice potatoes btw.

Soba

[Toasted]

The muffins look wonderful. Good job with the pictures- I have yet to photograph a dish and have it look at all edible. Or maybe it's just my cooking.

[helenjp]

So, were there any left-overs?

I was just about to post a topic on Boys Who Eat. My elder son just turned 12. He usually finishes his meal with a sigh, a pause, and..."I'm hungry!". He hasn't started growing yet, either!

Today The Sons and two mates ate two home-made pizzas and several apples, plus assorted stuff that they brought with them. In doing so, they consumed all the cheese for tomorrow morning's breakfast...and darn it, I haven't got time to run to the supermarket every day!

A couple of days ago, I was at school for the end-of-6th-grade pre-graduation hamfest, and was shocked at the number of mothers who called out "So glad your house is right next to the Middle School...I'm sure you'll be seeing my son on his way home every day next year!" I got *really* worried when I started hearing the same stuff direct from the sons -- not so much a plague on first-born sons as a plague OF first-born sons.

As they all know, home-made snacks do get served at our house...but I'm often phone-dueling my way out of deadlines at that time of day, and when I work away from home, I get back about the same time as the descending hordes.

How do people cope with Sons & Friends who come to eat? Take out another mortgage? Buy a very large freezer (and in Japan, a second house to store it in!)?

[Marlene]

How was the Amarone?

The Amarone was quite nice. I'm fairly partial to Amarone's and this one was good. I had thought I'd retrieved a '98 from the cellar, but it was a 2000 that I grabbed instead. Still, It ws quite drinkable. In fact, I drank most of it while watching the Oscars.

Wait till Ryan sees eGullet. heheh 

Did he ask why you were taking pix? Nice potatoes btw.

Soba

Yes he did actually. Now that was an interesting conversation!

Ryan: "Why are you taking pictures of food?"
Me: "I'm doing a blog this week on food on the Internet"
Ryan: "What's a blog?"
Me: Short for web log. It's a for a food website I belong to.
Ryan: Um, right. Are they friends?
Me: "Sort of. It's a big site."
Ryan: "Do you talk to them?"
Me: "Sometimes. We usually just post comments on the boards"
Ryan: "How come I'm not allowed to talk to people on the Internet"
Me. "Just eat your dinner

[Marlene]

So, were there any left-overs?

I was just about to post a topic on Boys Who Eat. My elder son just turned 12. He usually finishes his meal with a sigh, a pause, and..."I'm hungry!". He hasn't started growing yet, either!

Today The Sons and two mates ate two home-made pizzas and several apples, plus assorted stuff that they brought with them. In doing so, they consumed all the cheese for tomorrow morning's breakfast...and darn it, I haven't got time to run to the supermarket every day!

A couple of days ago, I was at school for the end-of-6th-grade pre-graduation hamfest, and was shocked at the number of mothers who called out "So glad your house is right next to the Middle School...I'm sure you'll be seeing my son on his way home every day next year!" I got *really* worried when I started hearing the same stuff direct from the sons -- not so much a plague on first-born sons as a plague OF first-born sons.

As they all know, home-made snacks do get served at our house...but I'm often phone-dueling my way out of deadlines at that time of day, and when I work away from home, I get back about the same time as the descending hordes.

How do people cope with Sons & Friends who come to eat? Take out another mortgage? Buy a very large freezer (and in Japan, a second house to store it in!)?

Thre were leftovers in fact, most of which will become my lunches this week, as no one else in the family will touch a leftover. Not even a starving 11 1/2 year old boy

Ryan is still in the habit of asking me for food, so I'm not in any danger (yet) of him eating all the dinner ingredients before I get to them. His best friend is 13 and is growing like a weed. Most weekends, this kid sleeps over at our house, because my son, is not a fan of sleeping at other people's houses. When David is here, I'll order the kids a large pizza, and an order of wings, plus garlic bread. I make monkey bread, and have a ton of fresh fruit available.

It's usually gone before the night is over.

[Marlene]

Ah, peace and quiet.

The frantic Monday morning rush is over. A typical morning when we have Ryan goes something like this:

Don gets up first (5: 00 a.m.) and gets the coffee started (good man ). He comes upstairs for his shower and wakes me up. I stumble downstairs and grab my first cup of coffee and read the paper for a couple of minutes. My eyes are almost open at this point. Go upstairs and give the first of several wake up calls to the lad. Ask lad what he would like for breakfast. Lad mumbles incoherently. I finally turn on the overhead light, lad grumbles.

Ryan gets up to have his shower (he's taken to doing this lately. I can only wonder how long it will actually last ).

I go downstairs to fix whatever he wants for breakfast, in this case, 2 blueberry muffins, (easy this morning). And start to pack his lunch.

Ryan quite often gets junk for lunch. So don't shoot me. He's fairly partial to lunchables, especially the sub ones. I finally decided I might as well give him something he'll eat. I make sure he gets enough healthy stuff when he's at home. The school recently switched to something called a Balanced Day timetable, which means instead of 2 15 minute recesses and an hour lunch, they have 2 "nutrition breaks". One is 40 minutes long, the other 50 minutes. The first 20 minutes of each nutrition break is set aside for eating. Which means I have to pack a snack as well as a lunch.

Today he got a sub lunchable, 2 apple juice boxes, 2 cheese sticks, a jello pudding, a Mrs. Field's cookie, a blueberry muffin and a fruit cup. He also belongs to the milk program at school so he'll get a carton of milk during the second break. He's asked for chili one night this week, and that is the one thing he will eat as a left over. He'll take some for lunch the next day.

Don's breakfast normally consists of a Carnation Instant Breakfast, but he had a muffin this morning as well. I think I need to make more muffins today.

So far, my breakfast has consisted of coffee and cigarettes . I run everyday for 30-45 minutes (2 1/2 - 3 miles). Once I've finished my run, I'll eat a piece of toast with peanut butter. (Breakfast is not my favourite meal. ).

On days when I weight train, I'll come home and have a protein shake and a piece of toast right after training.

Tonight's menu will be beef stroganoff and salad, so I must go slice the steaks into strips.

Oh and the confit actually looks like confit this morning

[Katherine]

The school recently switched to something called a Balanced Day timetable, which means instead of 2 15 minute recesses and an hour lunch, they have 2 "nutrition breaks".  One is 40 minutes long, the other 50 minutes.  The first 20 minutes of each nutrition break is set aside for eating.  Which means I have to pack a snack as well as a lunch.

Gee, you folks up there north of the border do things lots differently than we do down heah.

In the middle school I teach at, students get one 10 minute snack break, which they're considering taking away (Let them eat at home...they don't get snack breaks in high school...) and one 20 minute lunch. It's totally inhumane, but it keeps the costs down I guess.

It's hard for the teachers, too, because if any little thing comes up, you miss lunch.

[Marlene]

Wow, that's not very nice. The balanced Day timetable came into being for a couple of reasons. It allows for longer teaching periods . The amount of time wasted before and after recess getting coats, boots etc on/off was quite a lot. Also, kids were taking food out to the playground because they never had time to eat it in the school, and the playground was awash in litter.


Now, the kids have 20 minutes to eat in their classrooms before they go outside and there's no garbage outside any more. Kids are actually eating, which helps them stay more alert throughout the day. It's particularly good for growing boys like Ryan, and for the younger children, who can't go that long without eating.

The kids love the schedule. They say it feels like the day goes by faster.

And high school kids here get spares - where they have time to eat if they want!

[Jake]

Cigarettes and running -- a girl after my own heart! cheers.

[Cynthia G]

I have a 12 year old son who is with me in the summer, so I can identify with lots of this!

And I think the food looks great, Marlene.

[Tydel]

I suppose I'm still in the "eat a full dinner, plus dessert" and still be hungry. Well, not so much hungry, as able to eat more.

I also gather that's why I started exercising more frequently. Huzzah for logical trains of thought.

Food looks delicious.

[Marlene]

It's been a fairly packed day. After my run, I did the laundry, cleaned up the kitchen, worked on the eCGI, practiced my piano, sliced the sirloins for dinner tonight and made monkey bread. Lunch was a fairly haphazard affair of leftover roast beef, and some cheddar cheese.

I'm waiting for the monkey bread to come out of the oven, and then I'll go get the lad from school. Thus will begin the after school, "get your homework done, cook dinner" routine. Of course he'll need a snack first


Edited to add: How special. I opened the oven door to take out the bread, and immediately the room filled with smoke, setting off the smoke detectors Some of the topping juice had spilled onto the oven floor, creating a ton of smoke inside the oven. The bread however, is lovely

I guess cleaning my oven is on the list for tomorrow

Edited by Marlene, 01 March 2004 - 02:46 PM.

[mags]

The food does look great, particularly those yummy-looking taters. And I am amazed at the amount of food a Growing Boy can consume. A few years ago I was in Chicago on business, and took my nephew, then a college freshman, to dinner. He had:

Two large Cokes
A spinach-and-bacon-and egg salad in a bowl the size of a hubcap
The entire contents of a basket of rolls
A dozen grilled scallops
A 24-oz steak
A 16-oz baked potato "with all the fixins"
An entire head of broccoli with hollandaise
Most of a bottle of wine
Most of my grilled mushrooms
An enormous slice of apple pie with an equally enormous scoop of ice cream
Irish coffee

I just stared in awe. I mean, I'm no slouch in the fressing department, but this was...a revelation. And then the bill came and I started crying.

[helenjp]

Interesting to hear about school meal breaks.

Here in Japan...Boy Who Eats #1 starts middle school in April, so I don't know the schedule yet, but they can have a hot school lunch or bring a packed lunch, to allow more time for sports practice (school sports clubs are sort of cadet military here...)

Boys Who Eat #1 and #2 are currently at elementary school. They get two 25 minute play breaks, separate from eating -- lunch is collected in class sets from the kitchen by the children, served by them, eaten in the classroom (teachers eat the same menu), and tidied away by them. After lunchtime play, the kids also do 20 minutes of school cleaning before afternoon classes. They sometimes get a 5 minute play break on days when classes continue until 3:30pm. (Classes start at 8:20, they are supposed to be in their classrooms preparing for the day by around 8am).

When they are at school in New Zealand, the boys' preferred packed lunch is a roll-up with hummus and smoked fish or chicken, or cold fish fingers with sweetcorn. NZ lunchboxes have become huge, to accommodate packs of crisps and bottles of softdrink. No more canned spaghetti sandwiches or marmite/potato crisps/lettuce sandwiches!

I guess we are moving to a bigger breakfast and a smaller dinner pattern, partly because I am now out teaching more days than I'm at home translating.

Most of my northern american friends serve pretty much what each family member requests for breakfast -- a novel concept for me,, but I bet it gives kids a reason to get up!! At first I couldn't figure out how there would be enough time to make several different breakfasts in the morning, but then my kids are out the door 1 to 1 1/2 hours earlier in the morning in Japan than in NZ.


Breakfast (and husband's packed lunch, which includes cooked rice) is over here, and my term doesn't start till April! Another cup of coffee and a slow start on my work for me!