eG Foodblog: tammylc - (and Liam)

[tammylc]

Rachel - I used your baking method in mini muffin tins and used a disher to portion. But I made 144 of them - it took a long time! I borrowed a couple of muffin tins so we were able to make 48 at a time and bake them in three batches. I just remember it as a lot of work. But then again, I was 8 months pregnant, so maybe that was my problem...

[tejon]

Ah, the memories of freezing food in cubes for the boys! Have you tried the Super Porridge? I always had jars of assorted dried, ground grains and lentils to use for a quick breakfast for little ones. Another big favorite was mashed white beans with some olive oil, garlic, s&p as a sandwich filling. I loved walking past all of the jarred and boxed infant/toddler fare and grinning because I made such better, cheaper foods at home.

As for the dinner, what about a pilaf or Biryani? You could have one featuring chicken and another layered with vegetables. Add in some roasted cauliflower and dal as supplimental protein and you're all set. Everything sits well and doesn't need exact timing or temperatures, so it should be easy to put together.

[tammylc]

Okay - I haven't disappeared entirely, but between picking up the baby from daycare, feeding myself, feeding him, getting him bathed and in to bed, I've not had a minute to post.

But I did have minutes to take pictures, which I'll be posting along with the details of tonight's common dinner, just as soon as I get back from grocery shopping for Liam.

I have to write a shopping list for myself, so I might as well do it here...

Yogurt

Cheese

Cottage Cheese

Tofu

Bananas

Pears

Frozen peaches and mangos

Kiwi

Carrots

Leeks

Mandarin oranges

Diapers

Okay, time to print this out and head to the store. Back in a little while with pictures.

[tammylc]

Okay, shopping is done. Where was I? Oh yes, dinner.

Each night one of the cooks writes out the menu for the evening. This is a particularly nice example - clearly this cooking crew had some time to kill!

Different cooks approach the job in different ways. Tonight's cook, Amy, has a stable of dishes that she rotates through over the course of a couple months, and Mac and Cheese is a standby for her that is generally well appreciated.

Liam certainly liked it.

He ate quite a bit of it. As did I, to be honest. Plus some salad (romaine with dried cranberries and cherry tomatoes, with some Shitake Sesame Vinaigrette). Dessert for me was butter pecan ice cream. Liam had kiwi.

After each spoonful of kiwi, Liam would make that face. But then he'd open up wide for the next bite, so we're thinking it was the baby version of sour candies - good, but you still can't help but cringe a little from the sourness. After he finished the kiwi he was still hungry, so we gave him a little bit of banana, and then he gnawed on a couple hunks of Zingerman's farm bread. We're doing our best to raise a little gourmet - the first bread he ever had was Zingerman's, and he loves it. The nice hard crust of the farm bread is perfect for teething on.

Earlier bleudavergne asked about the kitchen, so I took a couple pictures of the setup. These were taken just a few minutes before dinner was served. The kitchen never looks this clean moments before I serve - this meal is simple and has a long downtime while the mac and cheese bakes, so there's ample time for the cooks to start cleaning. There's a separate team of cleaners that comes on after dinner, but it's considered polite to clean as you go if you have the time.

And here's a shot of the dining room. This is our most common table configuration, although we try to mix it up a little by combining tables in different ways. We can seat 64 easily, with 8 people at each dining table, and on the rare occasion we need more than that, we pull the buffet tables into service.

Last, a couple of pictures of the community that all this is located in (it was twilight as I was taking these, so they're a little dark, sorry). We have 37 households built on 6 acres of land. The buildings are clustered together to preserve green space, and each building has 3 or 4 units - basically condos. The interior of the community is pedestrian only (with exceptions for move-in/move-out, emergency vehicles, snow plow, etc), which makes it great for kids to play and neighbors to connect.

[Malawry]

Cool blog, Tammy. And the photos of the kitchen are very satisfying--I've long wondered what it looks like! I have the same dishwasher in my work kitchen.

What's in the potted plants on the dining room tables?

[snowangel]

I will not respond to any post in particular, Tammy.

But, I love that shitake and sesame dressing. I figure it's Amy's Naturals. The only bottled dressing I will purchase.

Mac and cheese? A natural with anyone, especially with salad. You get the gluttony of cheese and pasta. And, the salad makes one feels as it one has had a "good and balanced" meal.

I love looking at Liam discovering mac and cheese. I can't tell you how many photos I have of each of my kids discovering different foods. The best was Peter discovering grapefruit.

Thanks for the pics of the kitchen and dining area of the co-eating area. I have watched your "cooking for 40" thread with great interest. Question. How do people seat themselves? Choose different seats for they and their kids each time? Same seats? Do people always tend to sit with the same folks?

Finally, sorry, but no clever suggestions for the next meal that you will do. I'll continue to think.

[Pam R]

Tammy, I'm really enjoying your blog so far. I spent a VERY brief time on a kibbutz after high-school and your communal eating is bringing back some really great memories for me. I think your community has a great idea and can't wait to see what else you all cook up.

[tammylc]

Cool blog, Tammy. And the photos of the kitchen are very satisfying--I've long wondered what it looks like! I have the same dishwasher in my work kitchen.

What's in the potted plants on the dining room tables?

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Plants. I don't know what kind. Not edible ones. There's a really nice herb garden right outside the common house door, though. Doesn't look like much this time of year, but I was harvesting rosemary and thyme into December this year.

[tammylc]

Thanks everyone for the kind words - glad you're enjoying my blog! I'm having fun writing it.

Also thanks to everyone who weighed in on my menu decision for Sunday's meal. The summer rolls are a really good idea, but not for this week, since I'm going to be too busy blogging to plan a meal I haven't made before. So I'm going with the Middle Eastern/meze approach. Tabbouli, hummus, baba ganoush, yogurt and cucumber salad, feta cheese, lamb or beef kabobs, pita bread, baklava for dessert. No falafel this time around.

While I was writing down my menu for this week I had two people request that I make Tortilla Soup again before the weather warms up too much, so I went ahead and put that in the book for the next time I cook, April 14. And I'll definitely do the summer rolls this summer, when they'll make for a nice refreshing cold dinner.

[bleudauvergne]

There's something wonderful about the place I can't put my finger on, something that makes me want to explore. I loved the shot of the people in the kitchen. The lady in the pink apron reminds me of someone I knew in school. The buildings out back, the brown ones give a wonderful sense of place... Now when do you start cooking, the day before? Are you going to stuff grape leaves?

[Behemoth]

Hi Tammy,

Liam is such a cutie. And your community looks like a really nice place to live.

One possible vegetarian middle eastern option that doesn't require a lot of work could be to do a tray-style kibbe (see middle east forum of foodman's ecgi course) using pumpkin instead of ground lamb, and stuffing with maybe a lentil-mint-feta mixture if you want to avoid nuts.

[tammylc]

Ah, the memories of freezing food in cubes for the boys! Have you tried the Super Porridge? I always had jars of assorted dried, ground grains and lentils to use for a quick breakfast for little ones. Another big favorite was mashed white beans with some olive oil, garlic, s&p as a sandwich filling. I loved walking past all of the jarred and boxed infant/toddler fare and grinning because I made such better, cheaper foods at home.

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Liam has never been a cereal fan, so I never bothered trying the porridge. He ate rice cereal a couple times, but has refused oatmal whenever I've offered it, and looked at me like I was trying to poison him.

Speaking of beans, last week he happily ate a whole pile of cooked black beans (smooshed to break the skins), so I picked up a can of them at the store last night. He loves things he can feed himself.

[tammylc]

There's something wonderful about the place I can't put my finger on, something that makes me want to explore.  I loved the shot of the people in the kitchen.  The lady in the pink apron reminds me of someone I knew in school.  The buildings out back, the brown ones give a wonderful sense of place...  Now when do you start cooking, the day before?  Are you going to stuff grape leaves?

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It really is a lovely place to live. It's a little gray now, but we've got many avid gardeners so it will soon be a a cacaphony of flowers and vegetables. The flashes of orange pumpkins wending they're way through gardens always make me smile.

In addition to the 6 acres that we are built on, we've also got 3 acres of wetlands and a pond. So we're a regular stop for migrating birds, and as they take off from the water they fly right past my windows! Right now two swans have taken up residence in one of the ponds - it's amazing to see them fly. In a couple of weeks the spring peepers (frogs) will start singing, and we won't be able to sleep at night for the noise! There's a small group of deer that wander along the edges of the wetlands, and we've seen coyotes and foxes too. Not to mention the pheasants strutting along the edge of the road - they always make me think of dinner!

It's a really wonderful place to raise kids. The pedestrian village, lots of room to explore, and more ability for unsupervised play than in most neighborhoods, because we (and the kids) know all of our neighbors. Plus there are some great opportunities for intergenerational involvement - Liam doesn't see his own grandparents very often, but our senior citizen neighbors are happy to watch him for a little while during the day if I have to run out for an errand. One of his best friends is an 8 year old boy who'll come to the door and ask "Can Liam play?"

Okay, back to the cooking. I try to avoid starting the day before, and plan meals that will fit within the constraints of the scheduling. I sometimes shop the day before, although often I do it all in one fell swoop, grabbing ingredients at the grocery store and moving straight into the kitchen when I get to the common house. I am not planning to stuff grape leaves, but anything could happen between now and then. I'm going to check out the EGCI course that Behemoth mentions, and maybe I'll try something interesting and new from there.

[tammylc]

So this morning was a typical morning - bananas, yogurt and toast for Liam, frosted mini wheats for me. He must not have been very hungry this morning, because he left behind most of his banana.

I gave Liam a couple pieces of cantaloupe to try, but I don't think he even tasted them before deciding that they should be deep-sixed off the side of the highchair tray. He did the same thing to the beets we gave him last week.

Unfortunately, Liam has decided that morning starts at 6:15, and has woken up at that time all this week. I was fine with 7 - heck, even 6:45 was okay. But 6:15 - blech! This allowed us a somewhat leisurely morning getting ready for daycare, so I put Iron Chef America on in the background and watched last weekend's Bobby Flay vs. Rick Bayless Buffalo Battle.

And now I'm at work, so I suppose I should go do some.

[tammylc]

My - you all are quiet today...

The problem with having a baby who wakes you up at 6:15 am, is that by 11:30 breakfast is long behind you and you're hungry again.

My office can be a dangerous place to be hungry. I've already scarfed two pieces of chocolate out of the bowl in my coworkers office.

And as if that wasn't enough, if I get hungry later I have this spread to look forward to:

I suppose it's very nice to work for a company that provides such an array of treats (healthy and non) for its employees, but the temptation to indulge is awfully strong.

For now, I think I'm going to eat my lunch - leftover macaroni and cheese from last night's dinner. I usually try to bring leftovers or a frozen dinner for lunch - with only working 3 days a week and needing to leave promptly at 5 to pick up Liam at daycare, I don't have time to go out very often. Not to mention the cost savings, of course.

[Rachel Perlow]

Your leftover macaroni and cheese is from your common meal, yes? Are there often leftovers and how does taking them work?

[tammylc]

Your leftover macaroni and cheese is from your common meal, yes? Are there often leftovers and how does taking them work?

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There are quite often leftovers. Basically, after about 6:45 or so, any food left in serving dishes is considered fair game and can be taken on a first-come, first-served basis. We have plastic lids for the Corelle bowls, or some people bring their own containers from home. Things that aren't taken are either thrown away or occasionally saved for the next day. There was a lot of bread left last night, and I noticed that it was still in the kitchen this morning.

[CaliPoutine]

Im curious, what kind of work do you do? Do you eventually want to work in the food industry (assuming you dont already).

[tammylc]

Im curious, what kind of work do you do?  Do you eventually want to work in the food industry (assuming you dont already).

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I'm a research associate at a company that does workforce development consulting. (Don't worry, I don't expect anyone to actually understand what that sentence means.) Basically I sit in front a computer most days.

I'm toying with a career change right now, actually. Not sure what I'd want to do, but something that would incorporate my interest in and knowledge of food is certainly appealing. A while ago I got the card of someone who runs a specialty food import business in the area, and I keep thinking I need to call and see if there might be something I could do for them. I'm still kicking myself for not pursuing an administrative job at Zingerman's that I was up for a couple of years ago. The pay and benefits just didn't match up to what I was getting from my current job and I didn't feel like I could take the downward step.

I wouldn't want a restaurant job, though. I value my weekends and evenings too much. I've got considerable event planning experience and have thought about pursuing that, but once again, the hours suck. So here I sit at my desk job...

[tammylc]

As I mentioned in my intro post, I have a weekly problem. Every Thursday - tomorrow - Liam and I attend a playgroup. For months now, a bunch of us moms have been going out for lunch afterwards. When the babies were little, it was easy - they napped in slings or car seats or strollers. But now they're getting bigger and needing to eat too, so our options for places to go have diminished. At the same time, the number of moms wanting to go for lunch has increased.

So every week we face the same dilemma - where to take 8 or 10 moms and an equal number of babies, most of whom now need highchairs? We don't need a kids menu or anything like that, but we need a place that has at least 6 highchairs, and can set up a table that will fit all of us. Most chain restaurants can fit the bill - we've done Olive Garden once and Red Robin many times - but it's my foodblog week and I'd hate to inflict that on you! (I wouldn't inflict it on myself if it weren't for the good company...) So I promised the moms that I'd try to find something better for this week.

I have a few places in mind but need to make some phone calls to see if they pass the highchair test...

Oh, and for the record, this afteroon I've snacked on a few more pieces of chocolate, and some nuts and grapes from the kitchen stash. And drank a lot of water, as is typical for me.

[tammylc]

Tonight's dinner:

Tonight's cook was Willie. He's a great cook, but has a tendency towards overcomplicated extravaganzas that end up more expensive than most people like. Also, he's a vegetarian who doesn't feel the need to do anything special to accomodate meat eaters. This doesn't bother me at all, but some people complain. Tonight's meal was pretty straightfoward, and really, really tasty.

Here's Willie plating up bowls of jasmine rice from the big rice cooker:

One of the coolest things about cohousing is coming home after work and having dinner ready and waiting for me. And no dishes to wash! We eat much better than we would otherwise - salad almost every night. Of course, there's dessert almost every night too. And since we try to accomodate kids who are picky eaters, it's harder for parents to force kids to eat/try foods they don't like. Every night there's a selection of foods for the kids. Here's a shot of tonight's kid's table:

Bread, baby carrots (a standard selection), steamed broccoli, hardboiled eggs, and some leftover mac and cheese from last night. I took some of the broccoli and mac and cheese for Liam. I'd also brought a few things from home - 3 cubes of veggie lentil puree, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, and a pear.

Liam's dad tried to feed him the lentils, usually a favorite, but he wasn't very interested tonight. But he actually fed himself a little bit of broccoli (usually green foods might as well be poison, so this is a good sign). He ate all of the cottage cheese, some mac and cheese, and as many bits of mango (from dessert) as we put in front of him. He loves mango.

Last night, snowangel asked how seating is handled. People seat themselves, and no one seems attached to any particular seat, at least not that I've noticed. Families usually sit together, although sometimes kids will create their own table so they can eat with their friends, or if people arrive too late they might get split up. We try to set a few extra spaces each night to allow for flexibility. And we try to occasionally use different table layouts - when the tables are set for 6 a family of 5 might as well just be eating at home, in terms of opportunity to socialize with their neighbors...

Certain people definitely do sit together more often than others, though. Our table mates for the night included Willie, his wife Katie, and Jillian, who lives in a unit in the same building as ours.

Alright, off to turn some of the groceries I picked up last night into baby food. Stay tuned for a baby food recipe that doubles as a tasty dip for pita chips.

[Pan]

Panang curry works well with tofu, so I wouldn't object to a good rendition of that as a main dish anytime. Along with South Indian vegetarian food, this sounds like about the best kind of vegetarian meal you can have. Plus, you're getting your protein in that dish. Some people just love to hate tofu, though.

[bleudauvergne]

Tammy, this blog is fascinating. I am so sorry you have to face the "spread" each day at work.

I was thinking about your evening meals. You mentioned that the kids sometimes split off into groups. That's like going to your friend's house to eat any time you want! Do the parents generally linger and talk much at the dinner table, or does the cleanup take place and everyone goes home? How many other people in the community have babies Liam's age?

[Liz Johnson]

Who does the decorating in the common area? I ask because I have a tapestry very similar to the one over Willie's right shoulder. I got mine in Guatemala.

And, a food-related question: Because your community feeds so many people, is it possible to buy things wholesale? If not, is there some kind of incorporation that would allow you to do so?

[tammylc]

Great questions, everyone! Now that Liam is *finally* down for his nap, maybe I'll have time to answer them.

Tammy, this blog is fascinating.  I am so sorry you have to face the "spread" each day at work. 

I was thinking about your evening meals.  You mentioned that the kids sometimes split off into groups.  That's like going to your friend's house to eat any time you want!    Do the parents generally linger and talk much at the dinner table, or does the cleanup take place and everyone goes home?  How many other people in the community have babies Liam's age?

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There is frequent lingering and socializing after dinner. Kids have to stay at the table for a half hour after dinner is served, then they're set free and descend upon the kids room in the common house (pictured below) or just out to the playground depending on the weather. The common house has a number of other rooms in addition to the kitchen, dining, and kids rooms that you've already seen. There's a comfy sitting room with a gas fireplace, used for socializing and committee meetings, an exercise room with a treadmill and a weight machine, a media room with big screen satellite TV, and a games room with a ping pong table and a piano (pool or foozball pending). Plus a laundry room (about a third of the community chose not to have laundry in their own home and use the common resource instead, a guest room (which can be reserved on a first come first serve basis and costs $5/night) and 3 office, which are rented out by community members for their small businesses. The idea of the common house is that it is to be considered an extension of your own home, and that by having all these resources in common, we were able to build smaller homes (our 3 bedroom is 1300 sq ft, plus an unfinished 800 sq ft walk out basement).

Kids room:

A little bit more about cleanup, and community work in general - in addition to the 3 cooks, there's a team of 3 cleaners who start cleaning up at 7, and are usually finished no later than 8:30, depending on how much baked on cheese the meal contained. While I tend to cook, Mr. Tammylc (my husband Eric, pictured feeding Liam a while back) takes cleaning shifts. Other people in the community do gardening or bookeeping or other tasks - every adult it expected to put in about 8-9 hours of work each month.

We have a lot of kids at a variety of ages in our community. There's a big cluster right around 4-5 years old (almost all boys), and there's a little cluster around Liam's age, with Sawyer 3 months younger, Divya 6 months younger and the newest baby due in April.

Okay - I went off on a few tangents there - thanks for the inspiration.