Brunch with grandma

I would've taken pics but the meal was dug into before I had time to pull out the cam... I'm not kidding you, the elderly may take half an hour to walk down a block, but they can be quick when they want to...and have selective appetites...


Gram's meal:
1 Banana walnut pancake with vermont maple syrup
(Pan fry 1 1/2 bananas in butter and remove to place in the batter...
toast walnuts...
Make batter: 1c flour, 1t baking powder, 1/2t baking soda, salt, 1 egg, 1 cup of milk, would've added a teaspoon of vinegar had I had it...or a few tablespoons of sour cream had my grandmum not stuck it in the freezer, caramelized bananas, and toasted walnuts)
1 Egg, over easy
1 vegetarian sausage
1 c milk
1/2 c coffee
1 small piece caramel apple bar

Yes, I could be a housewife...!
I more or less had the same but with soy and skipped the egg...

Speaking of caramel apple bar...I found the missing pyrex bowl and container after grandmum went to bed.  And I couldn't figure out how to get my mouse to work last night (long story) and my trackpad is dead so oh well, pity me, I just *had* to bake.

Here's the rest of the Caramel Apples experiment:

1c sugar
1/2 c water
Put on high heat until boiling (careful!!!!!)
Once it starts boiling, gently swish it around to evenly caramelize sugar
Very very carefully add a pat of butter at a time until you get caramel

There weren't a whole lot of apples left once my grandmum finished snacking on them but I spread what was left onto a greased cake pan and poured the caramel on top.

In a separate bowl, I mixed two eggs and three egg yolks, sugar, flour, baking, salt, and cooled melted butter.  I poured this on top of the caramelized apples and baked at 350 for 30 minutes.
In the future, I'd use a deeper pan perhaps--e.g., a round one.  But it still tasted good :)

Lessons learned in living with the elderly:
1. You need lots and lots (and lots) of napkins.  And if you think you have three times as one needs, get another handful more.
2. Going down the street for lunch is a three to four hour process.  Plan accordingly.
3. Although everything takes ten times as long as usual, life experience gives you an edge on hiding things quickly and well. Expect to spend three hours a day looking for items that have been safely tucked away. Plan accordingly.

The apple baking experiment will finish once I find the mixing bowl that was out... stay tuned.

Apples

Approx 1 c sliced apples

Approx 1/4 c sugar

Approx 1/4 c Trader Joe's pineapple juice not from concentrate

1/2 stick butter in pats

 

Heat until bubbly...  

Summer with grandma

I'm pretty excited about spending this summer with grandmum.  I remember when I was in second grade, still a single child, she moved into what eventually became my brother's room.  That was the year that I discovered I actually *liked* homemade Chinese food.  I was introduced to a whole new world of handmade "pulled" noodles (you cut the dough into strips and pull them right before dropping it into boiling water), handmade dumplings, slivers of veggies stir fried with meat, and stuffed spicy peppers.  Every now and then, she'd humor me, hand me a lump of dough to play with, and I would earnestly try to roll it out.  No matter how hard I tried, they never turned into those perfect little circles ready for wrapping dumplings. For those of you in the neuropsych world, I'll just say that if there were a VMI equivalent, based on my round dough-rolling capabilities, I'd be in OT.  Even worse, in trying to wrap those dumplings, mine would inevitably break apart in water and just never be pretty at all.  !Que sadness! S= 4, 2nd percentile.

Times have obviously changed much in the last twenty-plus years.  I gained an amazing brother.  My grandparents became not just visitors, but an enormous part of my childhood growing up--walking me to school, cooking dinner, spending time when I came home afterschool, and becoming my extra parents.  I tried on multiple occasions to get my grandma to teach me to cook but as far as I can tell, measuring cups and spoons just didn't exist in pre-war China.  You cooked with what you had, and that made the idea of recipes impossible. "Just add some of this" or "I did nothing" and somehow we were five steps ahead with a miracle meal on the table.  (Or maybe I was just a terrible student).  My grandparents eventually moved to a place of their own nearby.  I moved away for grad school and without easy access to decent reasonably priced Chinese food, I started learning to cook it myself. (Although I still have not managed to make perfect circles despite trying to cheat and buy an American rolling pin instead).  And my grandparents have aged.

When it became clear it was impossible to keep in touch with my grandparents via phone or email, I tried moving back to Boston to be closer to my grandparents while I still could see them.  But between multiple work demands and other family circumstances, I never quite had the same time I expected to have to hang out.  I'd leave work and I knew it would be too late to bring dinner.  I'd cook dinner on a Saturday to bring over but then it'd start pouring. I'd wait out the rain before contending with walking to the bus station to wait for the bus, and then it'd end up being too late.  I knew I was pushing it with timing, and hemmed and hawed and agonized over my next job placement--one was pushing a hundred and the other pushing ninety.  Was I making the right choice by moving, yet again?  And then I thought I'd at least be noncommital in July so I'd have more time to spend with my grandparents, family and friends--the life I thought I'd have when I moved back to Boston...

And then my grandfather died after a sudden accident and life turned upside down while I was in the midst of other life changes.  Eeks.  In all honesty, as much as I miss him and am sad to see him go, he was healthy and never had to suffer in ways I've seen other relatives or patients' families have suffered from illness.  It was the most humane end of life I could ever hope for anyone.  That said, I am still kicking myself for those times I chose to turn left instead go right.  The times I could have just dealt with the rain and brought over food.  The times I could have gone over instead of sleep in.  It's too late now for regrets.  I thought I'd have July with both grandparents and I don't.  But I'm incredibly grateful and lucky to have at least July with my grandmum--time to sit, time to listen, time to cook, time to eat.  It's the first true summer vacation / time-off I've had in ten years and it's nice to keep her company and have hers.  She's losing her ability to form new memories but she's still lucid enough to generally know who I am and tell old stories or sing songs of the past.  Who else gets to live within a live mental documentary? I might be one of the luckiest folks on earth.

Day 2, July 3

We went to Flour in the morning http://flourbakery.com/.  It was delicious, as usual.  For future reference however, 2 slices of french toast is really = 4 slices of french toast as far as I'm concerned.  My grandmum had the breakfast sandwich, which is huge.  Yet she was able to devour it.  I'm starting to wonder if I eat too little.

Dinner--Thanks goodness for $4.50 maki rolls on Sundays at Gari http://www.garifusion.com/
I'm a huge fan of the tempura softshell crab maki roll and their tuna and salmon rolls.  Makes for a super easy and reasonably priced dinner after an afternoon of family and lil kids.

Random lesson learned: back in the day, book paper was so thin and fragile, that it was easy to tear through the pages while flipping.  You used special paste to put it together.

More summer veggies

Started living with my grandmother

Day 1. July 2

Swiss chard with toasted walnuts and sesame oil










Stir fried green beans, Asian style

Baby bok choy / shanghai bok choy / little Chinese cabbage...pick your translation

Veggie sausages

Tomato and egg scramble (traditional Chinese dish--yes, for dinner, not breakfast)



TA-DA!  

Mac and cheese

Background: I seem to gravitate towards ordering mac and cheese whenever it's on a menu.  Yes, I can make it by myself when I'm a single woman, it just turns into lots and lots and lots of mac and cheese...and cheese is pricey... And honestly, I'd just rather not know how much cream or butter is in it.

But not all mac and cheese is created equal...  Last night, I added to the experiment since I was desperately craving company and comfort food.  Liz and I used it as a time to *finally* make it to Regal Beagle for dinner--we've tried scheduling for perhaps since the beginning of the year, if not earlier...but two busy people = difficult plan-aking....I've been curious about their dinners forever.  The app of blue cheese potatoes was stellar, as was the nightly special of tuna with blood orange and beet sauce...  The truffle mac and cheese with crumb topping was decent and I'd order it again...perhaps at the same level at Publik House--but it needed a tad more salt to bring out the flavors.  So thus far the rankings are:

1. Lord Hobo.  http://lordhobo.com/
2. Harvard Gardens http://www.harvardgardens.com/
3&4. Publick House and Regal Beagle http://eatgoodfooddrinkbetterbeer.com/publickhouse/
http://www.thebeaglebrookline.com/


That said, hands down, the German Chocolate Cake at Regal Beagle is by far the yummiest cupcake-ish dessert I have had in ages and ages.