Polish Mushroom Soup

While it may be too hot here for soup, on the other side of the country, with damp, raw weather conditions, my parents have been warming up with this Polish Mushroom Soup. My Dad traditionally makes this vegetarian soup as part of our Polish Christmas Eve dinner, Wigilia, when Polish people refrain from eating meat.  For Dad's Polish mushroom soup you'll need:
 
Ingredients:
a few tablespoons of butter
a few tablespoons of olive oil 
1 package dried mushrooms, revived in warm water
10 ounces of fresh mushrooms, like button mushrooms 
10 ounces of fresh mushrooms, like cremini or baby bella mushrooms 
small onion, chopped 
sprigs of fresh rosemary
32 ounces of vegetable broth 
salt and pepper 
barley - rinsed and soaked in 16 ounces of water 
1 cup cream, or 2 tablespoons of sour cream 

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan (which has a cover), heat butter and oil.  Add the revived dried mushrooms and cover with the lid. 
2. After 2-3 minutes, add half of the fresh mushrooms (a combination of both varieties) and salt and pepper.  Cook for about 10 minutes - covered on low.  If the mushrooms look dry, add some vegetable broth. 
3. Next add the vegetable broth, barley with the water, and sprigs of rosemary.

4. In a separate pan, sauté onions and the remaining fresh mushrooms.  Then add to the above saucepan.  
5. Simmer the soup for about 1 hour.  Add salt and pepper to taste and cream or sour cream at the end.  

Note - soup will thicken due to the barley.  You may want to add more vegetable broth or water. Make sure to remove the rosemary stalks before serving. 

Thanks, Dad, for your recipe and pictures!

Broccoli Bow-tie Salad

Dear Baci reader, 

Welcome back to my blog! I have taken a little hiatus, but I'm back and ready to share some new recipes in the upcoming posts.

Let's begin with a summer-time favorite. Recently M's parents were out visiting us and we started talking about this recipe: broccoli bow-tie salad.  M's mom usually makes it, in a larger batch, for the annual 4th of July picnic.  I had a hankering when I saw a similar version (pasta free) in the deli case at the grocery store. Plus I thought I could use up a shallot (we have an excess of shallots from our CSA - community supported agriculture - basket) and the leftover broccoli and bacon in the fridge. Here's a similar recipe without the pasta and with sugar instead of honey.

Ingredients:
small head of broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces 
3-4 strips of cooked  bacon, cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 of red onion or whole shallot, diced into small pieces
handful of raisins or dried cranberries
bow tie pasta, cooked (enough for 4 servings)
several tablespoons of honey
about 1/4 cup mayonnaise
about 2-3 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste 

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the chopped broccoli, onion, bacon, and raisins (or dried cranberries) to the cooked pasta. 
2. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the mayo, salt and pepper, vinegar, and honey.  You may want to add more mayo and/or vinegar depending on your taste and/or the consistency.
3. Add the mayo mixture to the broccoli pasta salad. Gently toss together.
4. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.  

Serves 4-6 people.

Note - Make this recipe your own - feel free to add more raisins/cranberries or skip the bacon if you want to make this a non-meat side dish. 

Rainbow Carrots in a Brown Sugar Butter

Our friends invited us to Albie's Beef Inn for New Year's Eve, a hidden jewel attached to a Travelodge. I know, it doesn't sound classy, but the food is delicious, the drinks are stiff, and the piano bar and crowd provide hours of entertainment.

At Albie's, I usually order prime rib with a stuffed baked potato and a sweet whole carrot.  This is my ode to Albie's; since we were not able to make the New Year's invite, I made their carrots in a brown sugar butter here at home.  Perhaps it's too simple to blog about; however, the rainbow carrots were colorful, so I thought I'd share. 

 
I peeled, washed, and boiled the organic rainbow carrots WHOLE.  When the carrots were fork-tender, about 15 minutes, I drained almost all of the water, leaving a few tablespoons of water in the pot with the carrots.  Then I added a tablespoon of butter, or so, and sprinkled in some brown sugar. I mixed the water, brown sugar, and butter in one section of the pot (away from the carrots so I wouldn't mash them) to form of sauce.  Finally I coated the carrots with the brown sugar butter. 

Nana's Christmas Napkins

Happy Almost New Year! My mom created these cloth napkins, which she coined as Nana's Christmas Napkins, for our Christmas dinner.  She used various festive fabrics, like gingerbread men, peppermint candies, and golden zigzag trees on green.  There were ten of us this Christmas and the assortment of Nana's handmade napkins were sprinkled around my parents' table. So cheerful!

This is the same pattern I shared here for my back-to-school napkins.

I'm sure we both will be sewing-up and sharing other holiday 

and special occasion napkins in 2014!

Vegetarian Fiery Tofu and Coconut Curry Soup

Happy Holidays! The other day M made this delicious vegetarian soup.  It was the perfect balance of creamy and spicy with the right amount of tofu and vegetables.  The inspiration for this recipe can be found here.  He also added red and yellow bell peppers and mushrooms.

Thanks to The Museum Scout for the picture and for inspiring me to "get back on my blog."

Leek Potato Soup with Bacon

Last year I posted a recipe for Leek Potato Soup with Coconut Milk.  This is essentially the same recipe, but with some organic ingredients, crispy bacon, and melted cheese.

For this recipe you'll need:
a few tablespoons of organic extra virgin olive oil 
3 cloves of garlic, minced
small onion, chopped
2-3 stalks of organic celery, chopped
3 organic leeks, cleaned and chopped
1 32-ounce container of organic chicken broth
6-8 ounces light coconut milk (I used what I had leftover from another recipe)
salt and pepper, to taste
2 potatoes, chopped in bite-size pieces, cooked
4-6 slices slices of crispy bacon
favorite shredded or grated organic cheese

Servings: Makes 6-8 bowls  

Directions:
1. In a stock pot, add the olive oil and sauté the onion, garlic, and celery for several minutes.  Salt and pepper this layer. 

2. Add the chopped leeks and sauté until they wither down. Again, add salt and pepper.

3. Next add the broth, coconut milk, cooked potatoes, and another dash of salt and pepper.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Remembering to stir often so the coconut milk does not burn or stick to the bottom of the stock pot.

4. Remove from heat and stir in a few bacon slices.

5. Just before serving, top with some additional chopped bacon and your favorite shredded cheese.  Enjoy!

Organic Kale Chips

Whenever possible, M and I have been buying organic produce, meat, and dairy.  There are certain fruits and vegetables that you should always eat organic.  Rule of thumb, if you peel the skin before you eat it, you don't need to buy organic, like oranges and bananas.  However, everything else, from greens to berries to apples should be organic.  And organic milk tastes soooo much better, right Mom and Sister?

Kale - before placing in the oven

With that said, we have a suffice supply of organic produce in our fridge - especially kale.  It's been on sale for $0.99 at our local grocery store, so we keep purchasing it and adding this leafy green to different dishes, soups, and drinks. My latest kale creation - kale chips.  
You'll need:
1 bunch of organic kale
1-2 tablespoons organic extra virgin olive oil
1 gallon-size Ziploc bag
cooking spray and cookie sheet 
salt to taste

Kale chips - after cooking in the oven

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 275°F and spray the cookie sheet with cooking spray.
2. Wash the kale and remove the leaves from the stock.  Chop the kale into bite-size pieces.
3. Add the chopped kale and olive oil to the Ziploc bag.
4. Close and shake the bag so the olive oil is evenly distributed on all the kale leaves.
5. Add salt. Close and shake again.
6. Spread out the kale on the cookie sheet and cook for 15-25 minutes, depending on your oven.  Kale chips should be crispy, but not burned. 

Note - I checked the kale at 15 minutes and stirred and continued to check it every 5 minutes thereafter, until the edges were crunchy like a chip.  

Miso Soup

This miso soup recipe is super simple, so simple that I made it before work on Friday morning.  You only need four ingredients: Trader Joe's miso ginger broth, Trader Joe's roasted seaweed snack, organic tofu, and organic green onions. 

Directions:

1. Add the 32 ounces of miso ginger broth to a sauce pan. 

2. Cut about 4 ounces of tofu into bite-size cubes. Then add the tofu to the broth. 

3. With a pair of kitchen scissors, cut about 0.2 ounces (half of the seaweed snack pack) into small rectangular pieces. Then add to the broth.

4. Heat these three ingredients.

5. Remove from heat and scoop into bowls. 

6. Top with diced green onions.

This recipe makes 4 servings, which I happily enjoyed and ate all by myself for breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Friday and finished the last serving over the weekend.

Organic Milk and Honey

Natalie Merchant's lyrics for "San Andreas Fault" are in my head as I write this:

"Go west, paradise is there, 

you'll have all that you can drink of milk and honey over there." 

I have been sipping on warm organic milk and honey for the last few weeks.  It's an Ayurvedic sleep remedy that's calming and soothing before bed.  I also find it warming in the morning and perfect whenever I need to relax.  Heat 8 ounces of organic milk in a saucepan or a microwave-safe mug and then stir in a teaspoon of honey.  Sip and slow down with this sweet treat.

Lemon Shrimp Over Cheesy Polenta

I cleaned and de-veined my first wild-caught Alaskan colossal shrimp. Yay, Me! It was super easy and actually entertaining.  Not to gross anyone out, but it reminded me of a science lab dissection.  I know you can't eat your dissection, but you see my comparison, right?  M gave me a tutorial; and here's one you can follow.  Hands down, I would much rather devein shrimp, than handle and cut raw chicken. 

After the "dissection," I seasoned the shrimp and added freshly squeezed lemon juice, while M cooked polenta and topped it with grated cheddar cheese.  We served our lemon shrimp over cheesy polenta with Brussels sprouts. 

Mint Tea

I have been reading Ayurveda recipes and cookbooks.  My body type - vata -  prefers warm/hot foods and drinks.  This homemade mint tea is a hot and simple green drink for you to try this fall; it's perfect for vata and kapha constitutions when served hot.   Pittas will probably like this drink cold.  You can learn more about Ayurveda here. 

There are lots of ayuvedic tea recipes online and in cookbooks; I have been enjoying Eat Taste Heal: An Ayurvedic Cookbook for Modern Living.

For mint tea: You'll need about 5-10 fresh mint leaves (from your garden or grocery market), 1 cup filtered water, and honey.  Place the filtered water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.  Then remove from heat and add the mint leaves. Steep for 10 minutes.  You can strain the mint leaves if you prefer, but I don't.  I actually eat some of them. Pour into your favorite mug - my favorites are my Polish pottery mugs - and add honey.  Sip and enjoy!

Note - While writing this post, I had two cups of this warming, calming mint tea.  

Matryoshka Love

Yesterday I attended a baby shower for a friend/colleague who fancies nesting dolls as much as I do. This was the perfect opportunity to make a matryoshka baby gift for Baby B.  Onesies seem to be my go-to baby shower gift because they are adorable, inexpensive, do not require me to lug out my sewing machine, and can be personalized for the baby and baby shower theme.  These are my favorite onesies thus far, and are just too cute!

For the Matryoshka Love onesies, I used the felt heart pattern and the matryoshka template was a combination of the nesting doll cards and the felt nesting doll ornament. 

Baby B, sending you and your parents lots of matryoshka love.

Brain Breaks

Everyday we do a few brain breaks in class.  Brain breaks are easy, short movements that help children and adults re-activate their brains so they can think, learn, re-focus, do, work, etc.

My teaching philosophy - if your bottom is asleep, your brain is too.  Therefore, you need to get up and move - even if it's only for a few seconds or minutes. 

The Brain Break Popsicle Sticks I created with colored Popsicle Sticks and a label maker are a combination of yoga poses, breathing techniques, Brain Gym exercises, and sensory activities. The sticks are all color coded. For instance:

Blue = breathing exercises 

Green = exercises you can do at your seat 

Orange = balancing poses 

Purple = Tighten and release your muscles 

Yellow = Crossing the midline of the body 

Red = Active movements 

When I notice the class could benefit from a Brain Break or two, I stop what we are doing and have a student pick a stick.  I may ask the student to pick a particular color (like if they need to move - I will suggest a red stick), or I may let the student select a stick or two. 

We keep the sticks in a Rubbermaid bento storage box. It's the beginning of the year, so I am still teaching the students how to do the movements.  In order to remember which ones I have taught them, we place all the "new" sticks in one section of the bento box and the "taught" ones in another section. Once we have learned all the breaks, I am sure the Brain Break box won't be so organized. 

I highly recommend you incorporate Brain Breaks into your day - whether you are work with children, or not...

Stay Awake, Take a Brain Break. 

Ginger Garlic Tea

I survived the first week of school and Back to School Night with the parents.  However, Saturday morning I was feeling a little tickle in my throat.  I don't know if it was the new "germs," the air conditioning that has been blowing non-stop, an allergy, or what, but I refuse to be sick for the long weekend and the second week of school.

When my Baci A. was dying, my family hired a Hospice caretaker, named Sheila, to be with her 24-7.  Sheila was this kind, soft-spoken woman from Trinidad who made ginger garlic tea.  I don't remember if the tea was intended for my Baci or for someone who was starting to feel ill by my Baci's bedside. Anyway, the tea Sheila concocted for us many years ago is still a family home remedy whenever we begin to feel sick.  I will warn you, it's potent.  It may even border on the line of offensive in smell, taste, and from the burning sensation you may experience as it is going down, but it works.

For ginger garlic tea: boil a 1" piece of chopped ginger and a few cloves of diced garlic in water for about 20 minutes.  Then strain the tea and serve the hot liquid immediately with honey. You will need the honey to cut into the potency of the ginger and garlic.  Besides, honey is good for you when you are feeling under the weather. 

Needless to say, I made and drank several cups of this pungent tea Saturday and Sunday and I no longer have that tickle in my throat.  I am not saying this tea will cure everything, but it sure seems to help at the first sign of an itchy, scratchy throat, or at the beginning of a cold for my family.

Lobster Mac and Cheese

This summer lobster mac and cheese has been all the rave on the food shows M and I have been watching on the Food Network and Travel Channel.  So....we finally made lobster mac and cheese Barefoot Contessa style.

You can't go wrong with butter, cheese, and lobster tails all in one dish.  Personally the nutmeg was a perfect addition to this side dish, which we cut in half, baked in one dish (opposed to Ina's suggestion of individual ramekins), and ate all week.  I highly, highly recommend you try this dish!

Back-to-School Cloth Napkins

This afternoon I whipped up these charming cloth napkins for my school lunchbox.  Yes, I am a teacher and yes, they complement my lime green lunch bag.  (My Mom will tell you - ever since I was in kindergarten I needed everything to match - from my rainbow belt to my undergarments to my shoes.  Some things never change.)

I used fabric scraps, so all my napkins are different size squares, but I am okay with that, I wanted to practice sewing mitered corners. The tutorial from Buddy and Buggy has step-by-step directions with pictures, making it super easy to follow; she gives you instructions for sewing napkins with or without mitered corners.  I can't wait to bring these to school, or should I say work!

Beet, Berry, and Almond Smoothie

 My picture does not do this smoothie justice. It's a deeper color in person.  Let's call it very-mixed-berry and it was yummy! 

I have a list of smoothies I want to sample, many of which are on my Na zdrowie Pinterest board (Pronounced: Naz-droh-vee-ay, which means cheers, or drink to your health in Polish.)

Since I had some steamed beets in the fridge, I thought I'd give this one a try.  I added 2 small steamed beets (cut in half), some frozen mixed berries, honey, milk, mint, and slivered almonds.  I eyeballed the ingredients, but here's a similar, more detailed recipe. 

Turmeric: Tea and Sore Throat Remedy

I've been learning about Ayurveda - the sister science of yoga - through my yoga classes, readings, and have been perusing some Ayurveda cookbooks from the local library. Turmeric is used in many Indian dishes and is an Ayurvedic ingredient.  One yoga instructor stated that turmeric is also very healing; turmeric is said to be anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral, it may prevent Alzheimer's disease and some cancers. There are several studies and articles on this spice. Here's one. 

When I get a sore throat I usually gargle with salt water (thanks Mom) but I have also gargled with turmeric and salt (thanks to Pinterest).  For this Ayurvedic natural sore throat remedy you'll need: 1/2 cup of warm water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon powdered turmeric.

In the last week, I have made a warming turmeric tea with fat-free milk several times. When mixed well, it has a lovely yellowish mustard hue. Turmeric IS the ingredient that makes our mustard yellow. The recipe suggests almond milk (I am sure that has some Ayurvedic benefit too, but I just used what we had in the fridge.)

For turmeric tea, you'll need:
1 cup milk - heated on the stove
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon honey

Heat the milk in a saucepan, stirring often so you do not burn the milk.  When the milk is hot enough for your liking, add the dry ingredients to the milk and mix well.  Transfer to a mug and add the honey. 

NOTE - If the milk is not hot enough, the spices will not be incorporated into a tea; instead, they will settle to the bottom leaving you with a strong mud-like concoction.  

Marinara Sauce with Pappardelle

 

In memory of James Gandolfini - homemade marinara sauce with homemade meatballs and pappardelle. M used this recipe for a starting point.  We purchased the pappardelle at Trader Joe's.

Summer Drinks

M and I have been making drinks in our mason jars.  His drink is a Mississippi Queen and mine is a Ginger Babushka Mule. The Mississippi Queen is an ode to M's dad.  

Ginger Babuska Mule (left), Mississippi Queen (right)

For a Mississippi Queen you'll need: a 16 ounce mason jar and straw because drinks look cooler and even taste better in them (trust me), 6 ounces of lemonade, 4 ounces of an ale/lager, 2 ounces of bourbon, and ice. 

Directions for a Mississippi Queen:

1. Place the lemonade, beer, bourbon, and ice in a shaker or thermos (like us).  Shake well.

2. Add ice to the mason jar and add your shaken drink.

3. Top with a Maraschino cherry (optional).  Of course, you can adjust the liquids to your taste. 

The Ginger Babushka is our version of a Moscow Mule, since we are Polish.  Okay, okay, I cannot take credit for the name, I had a similar drink with the same name at a local restaurant recently. This green-herb  drink has alcohol, but I'm sure you could make it non-alcoholic. 

For a Ginger Babushka Mule you'll need: a 16 ounce mason jar and straw, 2-3 ounces of vodka, a few sprigs of mint (we used fresh mint from our garden), 12 ounces non-alcoholic ginger beer (you need non-alcoholic ginger beer NOT ginger ale), 1 teaspoon of bitters (the liquid in the olive jar), and ice.

Directions for a Ginger Babushka Mule:

1.Combine a handful of ice, 2-3 shots of vodka, 3 ounces of ginger beer, the mint, and bitters in a shaker. Shake well - in a shaker or thermos. 

2. Fill the mason jar with more ice.  Pour your shaken drink into the mason jar. 

3. Top with the remaining ginger beer.  Stir and add a straw.  

 Na zdrowie! 

(Pronounced: Naz-droh-vee-ay, which means cheers or drink to your health in Polish.)