Reacting to Reactions

My mom made an excellent suggestion this morning. Being in the early stages of this blog, I sent her a draft and asked for some feedback.  She said that maybe I should think about putting the food first for any readers that are reading this just for the food. My initial internal response was, "Ha...oh, Maj. She doesn't know blogs too well," thinking of any food blog I've ever seen.  Usually the writer kind of rambles, gives a little context for the recipe, mentions their kid or something, and then gives you the recipe.  Duh, Maj!

But then..."Ahh. Maj is so smart."  I go to random blogs for recipes. In fact, these blogs come up because I searched for a specific recipe, and someone happened to write about it in a post. I don't actually follow any of these blogs because the writers write about their days so much, which is super uninteresting if you don't know the writer.  So, I'm going to start with food, and then ramble. Because I can't not ramble. So, read the recipe, duck out if you'd like, or keep reading!  I will never know the difference.  It's times like these when I thank the generational gap- thank God my mom isn't my generation and hasn't read a lot of blogs or else she would not have given me this advice!

So, food: Last weekend, anticipating a busy week, I made two different dishes to get me through the week with minimal time spent in the kitchen: Quinoa, Kale and Edamame salad (next post), and Red Curry Lentil Soup.  Although, I used, well, not red lentils. Both of these have been working really well for me this week because they're pretty versatile. I can add stuff in to spice them up a bit, or just leave them plain. So, without further ado:

Curried Red Lentil Soup

I went off of this recipe, but made a few minor tweaks.   I didn't have a jalapeño pepper, and I lacked one can of chicken broth (had 3, called for 4).  But overall, here is what I did:

My planned dinner (funky picture

but the sun had already gone down. What

are ya gonna do).

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic,minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and minced
1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups not red lentils
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons mango chutney
Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/3 cup plain nonfat yogurt

If you do have more chicken broth, though, I'd recommend using it. 

Instructions:
Heat olive oil in pot (wherever the soup will end up) and sauté onion for a few minutes, until soft and slightly browned.  Add in minced fresh ginger  minced garlic, and minced pepper; curry powder, cinnamon, cumin, and bay leaf  and sauté for about five more minutes.  Then stir in the chicken broth and lentils, bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.

Have some patience. Cook other stuff while you're waiting. Like these roasted chick peas. Yummy and easy. Not to mention a great way to get rid of chick peas when you awkwardly have half a can.

Anyway, then stir in the cilantro, lemon juice and mango chutney, salt and pepper to taste, and throw a dollop of yogurt on top!

Things I did to spice it up a bit (which is hardly needed because it's great on its own):
1) sauté some tofu cubes and throw some of those bad boys in with the soup (the tofu is a very versatile dish in its own right)
2) slice up some ripe banana and stir that in (I had half a banana with one bowl)- this was delicious. Sounds weird, but banana curry rang a bell- I think my mom made something like Thai Banana soup one time, or something...
3) eat it out of a super cute coral colored bowl with a complementing turquoise spoon, and you're golden.

I must admit one thing though.  So today is Thursday, I made the soup Sunday.  That means I made it four days ago.  Well, I packed it for lunch today and included some banana in it. Sounded great. Then I took a bite a lunchtime and it tasted not so great. I blamed the banana, knowing how poorly it does in fruit salads, etc. over time. Well, I got back to my apartment after work and was all stoked about trying the soup for real, not with any banana mishaps, and...it tasted the same! Like acidic.  Does tofu make soup go bad more quickly?  

Anyway, a big part of experimental cooking is learning, I guess... You've been warned!

It's okay, though. I had enough good stuff to make a quick fix :)

My unanticipated dinner. Yogurt and homemade granola, roast beef, 

avocado, spinach, and hummus sandwich, and...

dark chocolate.

I was pretty happy with this.  Especially the granola. I'll make it again so I can remember how I made it, and I'll post it when I do! For now, enjoy the lentil soup, though eat it soon after you make it!

All right, back to that generational gap.  Sometimes it can be frustrating, like when you just can't see eye to eye with your parents, older colleagues, whoever, on something you really care about. Sometimes it is responsible for nontrivial disconnects.  Bob Dylan puts it well in The Times They are a-Changin.  (which is poetically just to include, since it's about change with time, yet it was written in the '60's and still applies. Oh, Bob Dylan. What an artist.)

Check out them letters!

Sometimes "out with the old, in with the new" is a good thing, and other times it's really not. Like my mom's advice on this blog, having never read other health/food blogs. Or like in communication.  It's getting to be little ridiculous in the new world. Some friends and I have been rebelling against our own generation by maintaining a letter correspondence this summer, and that has been awesome.  I even have been writing in cursive because it feels more authentic! My boyfriend writes his with a fountain pen. Legit.  In very nice cursive, mind you. That's why I date him.  But, point being, older generations just have some things right. They are often written off too easily for being outdated, when sometimes they're just out-voiced. 

All right, heavy topics aside, sometimes the generational gap is downright hysterical. Like when it comes to technology.  I wrote my first post and sent it to three people: my mother and sister, Meg, since they requested the recipes, and then Grandma Josie because, let's be honest, who wouldn't want to read a blog after finding out it announced pancakes named after you in its first post? Well, here is the range of their responses:

Meg: "YOUR BLOG IS AMAZING! Can't wait to see those recipes!"
Maj:  "I tried to post a long glowing comment but at the end did not remember my Google password. I changed it 4 months ago!"
Josie: "I don't know what a blog is, but I will definitely learn!"

You see the trend?  I could not have scripted responses that were more indicative of their generations. So anywa-- 

Wait, you don't see the trend? Oh.  Well, see, Meg figured it all out, no problem (granted, she has a blog of her own, referenced in the last post).  Maj could access the blog, read it, and even tried to leave a comment, then clicked "enter" and realized she needed her Google password, that which she forgot (and cannot find in one of her many iPhone "notes" containing all of her passwords). And Josie, well, she had no idea what a blog was! But she is so supportive and soswehatch that she promised to figure it out!

Ah. An important sidenote I should mention: "Soswehatch".
Even if you're Polish, you haven't heard this word in the Schneiders context. Allow me to explain.  "Soswehatch" is defined (and probably spelled) very differently in its native language.  My family has come up with two of our very own definitions:

1) adjective: sweet, caring, kind.  
    usage: "Aww, you are soswehatch!" (or, if you're Maj, it's "so. swe. HATCH"!  Which she finds funny because of the double meaning of "so")

2) expression: a bashful response to someone appreciating your sweetness, caring, and/or kindness.
    usage: "Aww, that was so sweet of you!"   
                 "...Soswehatch... :) "
My younger brother, Joe, is particularly fond of the latter.

And the word "Swehatch", a derivation of "Soswehatch" (due to the natural split "so-swehatch" because "so" has a meaning in English):
1) noun: A sweet, caring, kind person.
    usage: "Hey, Swehatch. How goes it?"

All righty...well! Until next time!