Tag: food

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Corona chronicles: Violet lemonade

Violets in mason jars
Violets in mason jars
We poured hot water onto the violets, and immediately the water began changing to blue.
This is the final lemonade.

Ludi tells the story:

One of my favorite creations I’ve made so far this year was Violet Lemonade. I first saw it when one of my friends posted about it on social media. It looked really cool and we had all the materials to make it.

To start, I picked enough violets to fill a mason jar. Later I made a violet syrup. Once I mixed the syrup into a pitcher of lemon water, the color changed and it was a pretty purple.

It tasted very good, just like normal lemonade with a hint of… I don’t quite know how to describe it. I almost want to say it had a hint of watery ground pepper.

It was very good, very pretty, and very time-consuming but overall it was very fun to make.

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Yoli’s culinary creations, 2019

From naan bread to Sioux tacos, from Goomba cupcakes to Frankstein cheesecakes, Yoli cooked up some cool stuff this year:

Apple cranberry pie, entered in Ferguson’s pie contest
Goomba cupcakes for Joseph’s birthday
Naan bread
Princess Peach cake for Josie’s birthday
Sioux taco, inspired by our trip to South Dakota
Coffeecake
Frankstein mint cheesecakes
Joseph, with his runs

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Do me a favor and say “por favor”

Joseph is a very polite boy. From a small age he has always said “thank you” and “you’re welcome” (in two languages).

But he also he can be very stubborn. For a long time, Joseph has said “por favor” only using sign language. He simply would not speak “please.”

This morning we had a little showdown. He wanted a second helping of cereal. I wanted him to speak “please” or “por favor” aloud. At first he would only give me signs, over and over. I kept repeating to him that I wanted him to speak the words. Then he started saying “I can’t!” (a phrase he learned from his sisters)

After a while I went back to my newspaper as he sat there sucking his two fingers. Yoli was talking to me, then she said “Did you hear that?”

And there was Joseph saying “por favor.”

Amid exclamations of “good job” and “bravo,” Joseph got his second helping of cereal.

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Cuisinart Chopper fail

So here’s a little video we’re posting in order to show Cuisinart the problem we have begun having with our “elite” chopper after about four months of use.

It’s been causing Yoli no end of frustration.

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Baking bread in the new kitchen

This is why Yoli was so insistent on having one long, uninterrupted countertop space — even though it may have violated the sacred “kitchen triangle” principle.

Baking with the kids.

Ludi and Josie each had plenty of room to work on their own dough balls. They had fun shaping them however they liked (mostly abstract).

And we all had fun eating them this morning! (I had mine with honey)

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Syllabub

Today Yoli made a concoction called ‘syllabub’. It’s heavy cream with juice from 2 lemons and 1 orange, white grape juice and a half cup sugar. You whip the cream and add the other stuff.

This recipe came from the American Girls Felicity cookbook.

It was tasty!

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A menu fit for a princess

Jadzia’s most recent Scholastic book order form included a title called “Disney Princess: Royal Recipe Collection.” Just as the Disney marketing machine hoped, Jadzia was immediately intrigued.

Rather than purchase this book, Yoli checked to see if the library had a copy. They did, so we requested it.

This morning we began cooking our first recipes from it. Our breakfast was “Fairy Godmother Wands” (aka sliced French toast). The girls were eager to help prepare it, but quickly became “tired” once they started assisting. The toast was accompanied by an orange dipping sauce.

Later for “dinner” (our meals were way off their normal times today) we had “Get Your Work Done Smoothies” (a reference to Cinderella’s stepmother). We followed those with one of my recipes — black jewel popcorn topped with butter and freshly-grated parmesan.

The princess recipes we had today were decent, but overall I’m not especially enthusiastic about this book.

In contrast, tonight at the library I found a Felicity cookbook, from the colonial-era character in the “American Girls” series. The recipes are far more authentic and the book is more educational. We’ll probably try a few in a few days.