eG Foodblog: tejon - Served family style

[tejon]

Here's a link for you on badgers. Mighty fine eating, I hear.

[NulloModo]

I love your tea cup. I thought it was a cream-jug in the first pic, but now I see it is the beverage receptacle itself.

[tejon]

The mug is from The Jabberwock, a bed and breakfast where my husband and I spent part of our honeymoon. We each got a mug to remind us of the trip, and I smile each time I reach for one.

Lunch:

Had a rare opportunity: my mother in law and sister in law decided to take the boys out to the children's museum, leaving me childless for the whole day. I ended up going to lunch with a friend out in Huntington Beach and the eating was fine. See for yourself:

We ate at Mo's BBQ. I had pulled pork with cole slaw, she had the pulled beef. The pork was nicely tangy and smoky, the beef was a bit sweeter and richer in flavor. We split an order of homemade potato chips, which were thick and crisp and really good. Definintely have to find my way back there again.

Edited November 8, 2006 by tejon (log)

[jgarner53]

Hey, I spent part of my honeymoon at the Jabberwock, too! We got married just before Christmas, and just took 4 days to drive around the state, spending a night here, a night there (and a night at the famous Madonna Inn!). The Jabberwock was beautiful!

Back to the food...

[tejon]

Hey, I spent part of my honeymoon at the Jabberwock, too! We got married just before Christmas, and just took 4 days to drive around the state, spending a night here, a night there (and a night at the famous Madonna Inn!). The Jabberwock was beautiful!

Back to the food...

Did you come back for the snacks set out in the late afternoon? Their crab dip was delicious and addictive, as I remember.

(See? Everything comes right back to food )

[hjshorter]

What a gorgeous sandwich! I look forward to this blog. Your kids are close to mine in age, so maybe I can pick up a few new meal ideas.

I recall from long ago that one or both of your kids have food allergies, or sensitivities. How did you find out and what kind of dishes are out of bounds for them?

Edited July 22, 2004 by hjshorter (log)

[tejon]

I recall from long ago that one or both of your kids have food allergies, or sensitivities. How did you find out and what kind of dishes are out of bounds for them?

Both the boys had food allergies - my oldest was allergic to corn, soy, dairy, eggs, shellfish, peanuts, starwberries, peaches, and mangos. My youngest was allergic to wheat and corn - this made things even harder because wheat was one of the few things my older son *could* eat, so meal planning was really crazy for a while. We figured out which foods they were allergic to mainly by watching for reactions - biggest tip off was red dots around the mouth pretty soon after eating something, and dark circles under the eyes is also a marker. Some foods caused swelling around the belly and pain (corn was the main offender here), sleep problems and even behavior changes - my 2 year old would be mellow until eating something that had a little corn syrup, then would run around in circles like a whirling dirvish of activity. I learned a lot about how to cook wheat free, dairy free, corn free (this is HARD - corn is in almost everything that is even minimally processed), egg free, etc.

Thankfully they no longer deal with such a list of allergies. My oldest son is still allergic to peanuts, though not in any life threatening way. That's pretty much it. I actually credit a lot of my current cooking to their allergies - I was forced to look for things we could all eat and forced to make many things from scratch that I might not have done on my own. Now we eat much differently than we did even 3 years ago. We eat much healthier food (well, for the most part ), and the things we eat have broadened a lot as well. All in all, not a bad thing.

Dinner started:

[tejon]

Dinner: I made up some masoor dal cooked with turmeric and ginger and topped with sauteed garlic and a bit of cilantro, cauliflower with cumin, turmeric and ginger, and basmati rice.

Afterwards, leftovers are packaged up to go into the freezer for future lunches for my husband. He doesn't like leftovers in general, mainly because he's recently eaten the same thing. Freezing solves this problem since he can grab whatever looks interesting that day, along with some fruit.

For Heather, I'm going to include reviews from my two boys on each of their meals. Tonight both ate the dal (always been a favorite of both of them) and rice, but the cauliflower got a thumbs down. So I subbed raw carrots and celery and all was good.

[herbacidal]

I recall from long ago that one or both of your kids have food allergies, or sensitivities.  How did you find out and what kind of dishes are out of bounds for them?

Both the boys had food allergies - my oldest was allergic to corn, soy, dairy, eggs, shellfish, peanuts, starwberries, peaches, and mangos. My youngest was allergic to wheat and corn -

Wow, someone else who was allergic to the things I was.

I used to be allergic to: brown sugar, corn, oranges, bananas, mustard

[hillvalley]

How is having a foot stool working for your son? Is dinner time calmer?

(On the Q&A for Cooking with a Disability it was suggested that tejon try putting a foot stool out for her son. Often having a resting place for feet calms fidgety children and helps them stay on task.)

Edited July 22, 2004 by hillvalley (log)

[tejon]

It's definitely helping. I also took a cue from that lesson and am having him use a bowl with sides with foods that need a fork, as he has problems with fine motor skills (like the ability to use utensils). It is much easier for him to scoop food against the sides, and success makes it easier for him to keep practicing something that is difficult. We also use a round bumpy mat for him to sit on, which seems to help ground him a bit as well. Thanks for asking!

[tejon]

Breakfast: blackberry smoothie made with frozen blackberries, soy milk, protein powder, and a few ice cubes all whirled in a blender.

[JennyUptown]

Great color!!

Which child is shown in your avatar?

[tejon]

That's my younger son, Arden, eating miso soup (which both the boys love). I think he liked the big spoon almost as much as the soup inside.

[tejon]

Dinner started:

Ribeye steak, onions, garlic, oregano, cilantro, cumin, thyme, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper are all going to marinade for a while. Sorry for the blurry picture - little hands were "helping".

Edited July 22, 2004 by tejon (log)

[Susan in FL]

Badgers, yet another reminder of the many worlds out there that I don't know about!

...Enjoying your blog, Tejon.

[tejon]

Making chimichurri sauce to go with the steak:

Parsley, cilantro, oregano, jalapenos, garlic, salt, oil and vinegar all go together and sit for a few hours so the flavor gets even better (though it's incredibly good right now - must keep repeating this is for dinner, this is for dinner over and over so I don't grab a spoon right now and attack it).

[bleudauvergne]

The chimichurri sauce sure does look good.

[NulloModo]

Wow, I love all the colors in this blog. I am such a visual eater, I am always distracted by bright and colorful/shiny things...

[tejon]

They say confession is good for the soul, right?

All right, then. My older son Ryan's lunch:

[eunny jang]

I love chimichurri - yours looks wonderful! Try putting a tiny bit of cumin in some time - it really rounds out the flavor without being domineering or harsh.

I am really enjoying this blog, by the way.

[tejon]

This afternoon's snack was a bit healthier :

Edited July 22, 2004 by tejon (log)

[Cusina]

My 4.5 year old son is looking over my shoulder while I read this blog and now MUST have macaroni and cheese for dinner. You are not alone in resorting to the box.

I know I'm a little late in asking, but what is an oven rack squirrel?

The chimichurri sauce does look fabulous. Yum. I'll try that soon. :)

I'll love to see your grandmother's recipes too. I have a soft spot for those.

[tejon]

I know I'm a little late in asking, but what is an oven rack squirrel?

It's used to move the oven racks in and out without having to use a pot holder - the spot beind the squirrel's "ears" hooks a rack easily to pull it out, and the angle between the neck and head holds the rack so it can be easiliy slid back in.

I'll love to see your grandmother's recipes too. I have a soft spot for those.

I'm thinking of making her rolls tomorrow, and then something special for Saturday's breakfast since the whole family gets to sit down together. Dinners on Sunday and Monday will most likely come from her classics as well - nice to have an excuse to dive into the recipe box and remember delicious meals from when I was growing up. I'll also scan in one of her recipe cards so I can show how she kept track of each recipe - some have over a decade's worth of dates and sides and occasions for each dish, along with which family member liked or didn't like the dinner.

I will be ending the blog with the dessert everyone in the family remembers most fondly - my Grandma's peach crisp. I might even share the recipe .

[jgarner53]

Wow, what a challenge to cook around all those allergies! Good thing they have grown out of them (except the mild peanut allergy).

You asked if we'd had the afternoon appetizers at the Jabberwock. I barely remember (it's almost 10 years ago), but we got there near the end of the "afternoon sherry" hour so missed most of the snacks. I believe we left the next day after visiting the aquarium. I do remember the "blumbleberry" they served at breakfast - basically something like a blueberry crisp. Hoo boy, was that good!