Pseudo Chicken Chow Mein: Dear GE

January 29, 2013

Dear GE -

Please stop building stoves that no one can fix.  This is my second GE monogram stove, and after waiting 8 days for a technician to come out and repair it (for which I paid $99.95 for his service trip), I still do not have a functioning stove.  I'm assuming the length of time it took for the technician to come out is a direct result of other GE stoves not working and requiring attention elsewhere.  If your product really was superior - I'm guessing that my technician would have been there the day after my request and my problem would be solved by now.

As it is, even after my technician visit, my stove STILL DOES NOT WORK.  I explained clearly on the phone the error messages I was receiving on the stove top, explained exactly the situation, and when the technician arrived I had to explain this all over again.  Clearly the dispatch did not properly note my situation, so when the technician arrived, he had no idea of anything.  In addition, he did not have any parts to install for my stove, even when the error message my stove was giving clearly indicated that I was going to need a particular part.   With no parts, there is no repair and how one can call themselves a repairman when it doesn't get repaired is beyond my comprehension.  A better word for today's situation is to call the repairman a visitor, because all he did was VISIT with my stove.  "How are you doing today?  Oh. Not feeling well?  So sorry to hear that.  I hope you can feel better next time when I come!"

I'm disappointed in your service, your commitment to your product, and the lack of timeliness in regards to repairing my stove.  I have three children to feed and a non working stove has hindered this process.

Fortunately for me, the portable stove I paid about $20 works just fine, so please convince me as to why I should even bother having my stove repaired when I have a cheaper solution at my fingertips?

Frustrated,

Joanne Choi

P.S.  The only good that has come out of this stove situation is that I've become really inventive in the kitchen and I've learned to stir-fry one pan meals.

Now that my rant is over, let me talk about the recipe itself.  Because of my one burner situation and a non functioning stove, I've had to think carefully how to prepare meals.  This dish, because it is a noodle dish, I boiled the noodles much ahead a time and just sent them aside until I needed them.  It did not affect the flavor of the dish.  Having all the vegetables cut up, everything ready to go makes the execution of this dish fast and simple.

Pseudo Chicken Chow Mein
Serves 6

Ingredients
1 lb spaghetti or linguine noodles
⅔ cup chicken stock
¼ cup soy sauce (I use the kikkoman low sodium)
3 tablespoons Chinese oyster sauce (Lee Kum Kee brand is my favorite)
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sambal (Chinese chile sauce)
1 to 1¼ lbs boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch chunks
¼ cup vegetable oil (you’ll probably not use all of it)
2 tablespoons freshly minced ginger
2 tablespoons freshly chopped garlic
8 bunches of bok choy, washed, and then pulled apart into individual leaves
3 scallions, thinly sliced

Method
Cook pasta according to package directions, about a minute less than it asks for.  (9 minute pasta, cook for only 8 minutes.)  Drain, and set aside.

In a small bowl, or measuring cup, mix together chicken brown, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and sambal.  Set aside until needed

In a large nonstick skillet or wok, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat.  Add chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook, until golden and fully cooked, about 7 minutes.  Add ginger and garlic, and cook until fragrant.  Add cooked noodles and bok choy and begin tossing so that noodles get coated with oil and bokchoy begins to cook, another 2 minutes.  Stir in sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is absorbed and noodles are evenly coated, about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle scallions on top and give it one final toss.

Serve right away (although the cold leftovers are also pretty good.)

Printable recipe

Apricot Almond Shortbread Bars: When the now becomes more important than the future.

When I normally look at Children, I spend time thinking and planning all the different things I'm going to do, say, teach, train them to do so that they can become some sort of figment-of-my-imagination-super human being in some distant future.  I evaluate, plan, and consider old activities, new activities, and still newer challenges and opportunities I'd like them to have.  The task and goal is to see their future, and move them onto the path that  they are supposed to be on.

This means that I don't spend a lot of time appreciating where they are, right now, in the moment.  I take a moment to evaluate where they are and then think about where they need to be, but I never see how far they've come.  I never look back and think about their progress, their growth, or their amazingness right now.

However, over the past 10 days, due to some choices Husband and I have to make about the future, I've been forced to study, evaluate, and appreciate where Children are right now.  And I'm blown away.  This is not about praising Husband and my parenting skills, or what phenomenal programs we've managed to find for Children to make them great.  This is simply about them.  Their character.  Their personality.  Their motivation.  Their resolve.  Their resilience.  Their joy. Their curiosity.  Their intelligence.  Their spark.  Their childhood. 

It's been a bit of a heart wrenching and soul searching time for me trying to make some choices, but it's at the same time been a huge blessing to me to think about Children and to thank God for making them who they are.  Special.  Perfect.  Wonderful.  Mine. 

I had all three Children home today, and although there were crazy moments of crankiness, and a moment of extreme frustration as I discovered the stove top was broken, I tried to spend more time appreciating them in the "right now" instead of thinking only of the "what do they have to do."  Together we made some of these yummy simple treats, and Daughters passed them out to their piano teachers.

Apricot Almond Shortbread Bars
(adapted from Ina Garten’s Foolproof)
Makes 9x13 pan, about 16 to 20 bars, depending on how you cut them

Ingredients
2 sticks (1/2 lb) unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ⅓ cups flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
12 to 15 ounces good apricot jam
1 cup sliced almonds

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment or in a bowl where you will use your hand mixer.  Mix on medium speed until just combined.  With mixer on low, add vanilla.

Sift flour and salt together and, with the mixer on low, slowly add to the butter mixture, mixing until it almost comes together in a ball.

Lightly pat 2/3 of the dough evenly on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan (Ina Garten uses a 9 inch square pan)  Spread the jam on top of dough, leaving ¼ inch border.

Mix almonds into remaining dough with your hands.  Crumble and mix together into small bits and distribute on top of jam, covering most of surface.  Bake bars for 45 minutes, or lightly browned.

Cool completely and cut into 16 to 20 bars.

Printable recipe

Another something to savor and appreciate - just the way it is at this moment.

Lego Birthday Party for Son's 5th Birthday: Low key fun

The cruddy thing about having your birthday in December, as Son does, is that it smashes up against other holidays which means that this momma has a hard time thinking and planning it in a manner that she normally might.   But Son, in all of his wisdom of age 4-and-turning 5 figured out that he'd better start laying out his demands for what he thought his birthday should look like early.  And he did.  Just that.

"Mom.  I want a lego birthday party.  I want my friends to come, sit down and build a big lego project and take the lego project home."

"Huh?" I responded, in the midst of reviewing college essays.

"My friends.  My birthday.  Legos and lots of them."

I looked up and said, "Okay.  That's fine.  But if that is the birthday you're going to have, you can only invite 5 kids."

Son looked dismayed and said, "WHY?"

"Bigger lego kits cost more money - so if that is what you want, you can't have as many boys.  Think about it."  Secretly I actually hoped that he'd go this route because that would just mean a lot less chaos for me.

"Okay.  Five boys.  I can decide which five boys?"

"Yes."

And so it was.  I figured five boys, six bigger lego sets (the ones that cost $9-$10), some simple treats, and bam - I'd have a party with minimal fuss, which was what I really wanted.  I managed to find a great deal on the size lego set I wanted (buy one, get one 50% off) and bought a couple of varieties.  The lego sets would be their project during the party and their party favor.  Simple streamlined and exactly what the Son ordered.

However, a week before the party, Son entered the party space and casually remarked, "The girls always get some nice decorations.  How come I don't have any?"

"Uh...you need decorations too?"

"Yes.  I just want something that goes from here to there," and he pointed to wall where he wanted his decorations.  My heart sank.  What was I going to do?

Turns out - I was going to make legos.  I had cardstock, in all the appropriate colors and the only thing I needed to buy were foam squares to help raise the circles off the cardstock.  And that's all I did.

Activity
Each child followed the instruction booklet inside their lego kit and built their own.  I was lucky and I recruited my nephew, two of my students, and Daughters (all great lego builders) to all be assistants for my young lego builders.  My nephew in particular, who is a young lego master, was extremely helpful as he was able to troubleshoot when a couple of the builders ran into trouble.  If you're going to go this route, I definitely think having people who are experienced with legos helping out.  (I'm good at building too, but I didn't want all the stress. :) )

I used half pan sheets (I borrowed some from my friend) to keep the legos from individual kits in one place and to help organize the children.   It's definitely a worthwhile idea.

I purchased sets similar to this one at a brick and mortar store.  I bought a selection of sets (more than I needed) - three different kinds all similarly priced, so that kids could choose the one they wanted and I simply returned all the extras.  After the kids choose, hide the rest so no one is tempted to change their mind.
.

The half sheet pans which are super nice to use.


Decorations
I did not plan to do decorations, because I figured it wouldn't be all that important to Son.  I thought wrong.  At the last minute, I was inspired by a picture I saw which created lego shapes with paper, and decided to do the same.  I had to come up with my own dimensions however, and these are the ones I came up with using 8.5x11in cardstock.

Square (2 x 2 legos) - 4.5 x 4.5 inches
Rectangle (3 x 2 legos) - 6.5 x 4.5 inches
Mini lego (1 x 2 legos) - 2.25 x 4.5 inches
Large rectangle (2 x 4 legos) - 8.75 x 4.5 inches

I basically cut my 8.5x11 sheets of paper, down the length, into a 4.5 inch strip and a 4 inch strip.  The 4.5 inch strip I cut into the various sizes for the blocks, and the 4 inch side, I used to cut the 2 inch circles.  If you have a 1.5 inch or a smaller punch, by all means just use it.  (I go for the modern representation, and my legos are NOT to scale.)

2 inch circle punch which I just used it to punch away.


These foam stickers allow you to create some height from the circles and lift the circles off the cardstock, giving the illusion of legos.


I made a bunch of different blocks in a variety of colors, and made a garland with some, a mobile with some others, and then a randomly hung some strings of them....

Menu
Since Son spends all the birthday parties he goes to surrounded by food he cannot touch, I wanted to have a birthday party for him FULL of food he could eat.  In years past, I always made a cupcake that he could have in conjunction with a dairy and egg rich cupcake for the guests, but this year, I decided that he should have a birthday with his friends only full of food that he enjoys.  I kept it simple, as it was only going to be a snack and not a full blown meal and he told me what he really wanted to have.

Dairy and Egg Free Banana Muffins
Mango Rice Crispy Pops (I just substituted freeze dried mango for the strawberry)
Fruit Salad
Hummus, pita chips, and carrot sticks
Water, in mini water bottles

Son loved his birthday, and at the end of the day, gave me a huge hug and said thank you.  He also sat in the middle of the living room for about 4 hours straight opening various lego birthday presents and didn't budge from his spot building, rebuilding and playing with all of his toys.  It was a lovely, quiet (SOOOO QUIET) birthday party, it's one I'd like to recreate for each Daughter.

Honey Glazed Anchovies: Contemplating help

For RH, LCH and AH and KSG, RG, and RGx2

I have a number of good friends who had their children, even later than I had my children, which means that when they come over, I ask Daughters and Son to take care of the little children.  The amazing thing is, Son and Daughters are GOOD at taking care of other little children.  Daughter #1 ensures safety, Daughter #2 ensures that the child goes to the bathroom (she's actually gifted in this area I think), and Son is the ever present fount of new and interesting toys that the child may want to play with.  The three of them are the most awesome baby sitting team ever, and are so good to Friends' children that it makes me pause.

I actually wonder if I should have another child.  If only so I can tap into this free, extensive, awesome, babysitting service that is ALREADY INSTALLED IN MY HOME.  Not that I begrudge my friends the babysitting service they get from my own, but how come one of my own don't benefit from some of my own!

I heard the story recently of a mother that I knew many years ago (I was her child's Sunday School teacher) who has now a child in college (one of my Sunday school students) and a ONE YEAR OLD.  There are 6 children in between the eldest and the youngest, and it turns out that the older children have really done well taking care of the younger ones.  And I think I missed out on that benefit.  I had Children very close together, all about 22 months apart, and lived life bleary eyed and exhausted as three children all NEEDED me AT THE SAME TIME.  I won't easily forget the year of overlap where ALL THREE were in diapers, or  the time when mealtimes were nothing but chaos of trying to maneuver with only two hands, food into three different set of mouths.  Where was my older child, babysitting assistant when this was happening?

These days, because I am not a benefit of childcare from Children, I look at other ways to benefit from their age and their skill set.  Daughters and Son are all fairly proficient at help in the kitchen.  Setting the table (Son's great at this) and pouring water, and arranging a pretty table setting are all well done by my kitchen help.  Daughters are good at peeling veggies, washing rice, even the occasional loading of the dishwasher.  So I guess I haven't fully lost out on their ability to help me out at home.

I tapped them to help me with the following project - which was removing the heads and the bowels of a pile of anchovies I wanted to turn into their favorite side dish.  It's tedious, time consuming, so with the soundtrack of The Sound of Music playing loudly, we sat down and tackled the beheading and disembowelment of these tiny little sea creatures.  They had done it before so they were quite skilled but even with six hands working, it took almost an hour to collect 1 cup's worth of anchovies.

Once that part is finished however, the rest of the dish comes together so quickly it's a shame.  If you can find the super tiny anchovies (a pile can fit on a penny) then you won't need to mess around with the head removal, but you also don't want to use this technique with bigger anchovies.  Tiny and small anchovies are the ideal choice for this simple side dish.  The end result is an anchovy with a crispy honey coating, which sounds sort of strange (fish candy?) unless you're used to such delicious concoctions and you think - YEAH YUM!  Son and Daughters will often gobble up a bowl of these that I leave out, much like one would gobble up a bowl of candied nuts or chocolate.

Please use tiny or small anchovies for this - and if you're using anchovies that are small/medium, you can take time to pull off the heads and pull out their innards.  If you're lazy, don't feel like it, then don't, but you will notice an improvement in flavor from this process.

This picture shows you the ideal way to get the head and bowels out together.  Grab the head between index and thumb and gently wiggle back and forth and pull outwards.  It should help you pop off both the head and that interesting black stuff as well.

Honey Glazed Anchovies (Myulchi Banchan 멸치반찬)
Makes 5 dozen

Ingredients
1 cup tiny or small anchovies (smaller ones where it is possible to remove head and bowels do so)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 ½ tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Method
To a cold fry pan, add anchovies and oil.  Place fry pan over medium heat, and begin heating oil and anchovies together, coating all the anchovies with oil, and allowing the heat to help the anchovies to absorb oil.  Continue heating and begin toasting the anchovies in the oil, toast together for about 5 minutes, until pan and anchovies are nice and warm.  Add honey to the pan, and quickly mix together, coating all the anchovies with honey, and cook together for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, until all pieces are sticky and coated.

Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and remove from pan and cool.  Anchovies will develop a crispy coating after cooling.

** for those who can have nuts in their anchovies, add ¼ cup of walnuts to the cold pan along with the anchovies and oil and proceed with recipe as above.

Printable recipe

This is the tiny anchovy version - heads did not need to be removed.

Rice Pudding (Gluten and dairy free): No resolutions this new year

When I was younger, Mom and Dad would ask Brothers and me every December 31, "What are your resolutions for the coming year?"  I'd stare at Parents blankly, because mostly I couldn't think of anything.  Usually I'd mumble something like, "My resolutions are to study harder and practice piano more."  What else was there to say?  Maybe two weeks tops I'd work on these resolutions, and then within three weeks, I'd be off doing my thing, my own way.

This year, thoughtfully, deliberately, willfully I made no such resolutions.  Why should I torture myself on a day trying to figure out how I'm going to make myself better when in reality - one day of thinking I'm going to get better, do better, live better isn't necessarily going to end up with results.  Change, true change, comes from within, with slow deliberation, willful determination, and a lot of time.  One day to decide all of that just doesn't make sense to me.  So instead, I've decided to throw caution to the wind and not resolve to do anything.  I'm going to make it through 2013 and not accomplish, resolve, fix or do anything extra.

The lovely folks over at Stephen James Organics sent me a bag of their Carazuc, which is a sweetener made from the sap of the buds of the coconut flower.  It's dark brown in color, and the flavor is reminiscent of brown sugar with hints of molasses.  I looked at it and decided that it might be interesting to make rice pudding with it and make the rice pudding something that Son could enjoy.  Enter coconut milk.

The end result was something that Daughters and Son alike enjoyed.  Daughters preferred it warm, and Son liked it with a dollop of apricot jam on top.  I liked the fact that it was a slightly sweet dessert, but not so over the top that I felt guilty feeding it to the kids.  And so, despite my attempts to the contrary - I end up doing something - a dairy free, refined sugar free dessert that the entire family can enjoy.

Ah well.  Happy 2013 to me.

Coconut-Milk Rice Pudding
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients
¾ cup sushi (short grain) rice, rinsed
¼ cup Carazuc or regular sugar (brown sugar also works)
Pinch of salt
3 ½ cups unsweetened coconut milk (not the kind in cans, but the kind in cartons - So Delicious brand or Trader Joe’s brand)
1 cinnamon stick
3 or 4 whole cardamom pods
Fresh fruit or fruit preserves/jam for topping

Method
In a large saucepan, combine the rice, carazuc (sugar), salt, 1 cup of the coconut milk, cinnamon stick and cardamom pods.

Cook over low heat, stirring, until coconut milk is absorbed, at least 5 minutes.

Add ½ cup of coconut milk at a time, stirring and cooking until the milk is absorbed, then repeat, adding another ½ cup again until you have added an additional 2 cups of milk and the milk is mostly absorbed, about 25 minutes.

Remove cardamom pods and cinnamon stick carefully.  Let cool and then add remaining ½ cup of coconut milk.  Serve topped with fresh fruit or jam.

Printable recipe

Here's to a year of doing less.