Upon arriving in town in April my youngest son, the teacher and prepared principal, handed me a children's book, Julia, Child. Written by Kyo Maclear it outlines a fictitious childhood of the chef, Julia Child with her friend Simca Beck cooking up friendship and adventure using butter. It really is a cute tale and I can see why Miss M enjoys it. In the book a French meal is prepared including the following dishes: sole ala dieppoise (fish in a mushroom and shrimp sauce), cheese souffle and petite gateau (small chocolate filled cupcakes).
We set aside an entire afternoon to shop for and prepare these three dishes. The fish stock making up the bulk of the ingredients in the sauce for the fish had to be made. Three types of cheeses for the souffle had to be graded. It was a major cooking event, but by 6 pm that evening we had the meal ready. Miss M loved the cheese souffle (but then she really likes most anything containing cheese, a girl after my own heart) and was a bit put off by the presentation of the fish (the small filets are rolled up in a swirl and look something like a snail) but she tried it. Of course the chocolate cupcakes were a big hit. Now she knows what that meal is about when the book is read to her.
We set aside an entire afternoon to shop for and prepare these three dishes. The fish stock making up the bulk of the ingredients in the sauce for the fish had to be made. Three types of cheeses for the souffle had to be graded. It was a major cooking event, but by 6 pm that evening we had the meal ready. Miss M loved the cheese souffle (but then she really likes most anything containing cheese, a girl after my own heart) and was a bit put off by the presentation of the fish (the small filets are rolled up in a swirl and look something like a snail) but she tried it. Of course the chocolate cupcakes were a big hit. Now she knows what that meal is about when the book is read to her.
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| Sole a la dieppoise |
Then for the announcement of the new baby's gender we made a blitz torte, roughly translated from German to mean lightening fast layered cake. Mom has been making this cake all my life, but I have rarely eaten it and not because I don't like it, I love it.
Mom always takes it to church for the meal after funerals. Check out the recipe here. (This isn't her exact recipe; it is not necessarily mine to share. But this one is very close to Mom's.) She makes hers a three layer sponge cake topped with meringue. Just before it is served homemade vanilla custard is put between the two bottom layers. As you can imagine the shelf-life is about three hours from the time it is put together to when it begins to melt into a soggy mush. Since it is so rich that small cake can easily serve 16 people, so it had to be prepared to feed a crowd.
The blitz torte became one of those family legends, you could only get a taste of it if you attended a funeral. We jokingly nicknamed it the funeral cake. People knew Mom always brought the cake to a funeral and queued to get a piece. There never, ever were any leftovers for us who didn't attend. In fact this legend was shared at Dad's funeral when a kind friend of the family made the cake for us. It was so fitting to share that cake at that time. This act of course reinforced its funeral connection.
My youngest son wants to turn this legend around by 180 degrees. He has decided the blitz torte should be a celebration cake for our family and has prepared it for birthdays, anniversaries and now baby gender announcements. Although he is a wonderful cook and baker he asked me to join him in preparing the cake in April. I was more than happy to oblige.
There were some very unintended consequences from actions taken years ago. One of the things I did when my sons were young was have them "help" me in the kitchen. It seemed evenings just after we all returned home were hectic. Kids like to eat at the same time each day and I generally made meals at home. This meant the moment we walked in the door food preparation had to start. But my sons could not be trusted to entertain themselves while I cooked without bad things happening. I needed to keep them close and occupied. My solution was to have them contribute to the meal in ways that matched their skills.
This decision was very practical on my part, but in the end it developed within both boys/men a love for and curiosity about food. I had no grand long-term outlook at the time; however, it seems I inadvertently found an activity we can share for a life time. On this count the unintended consequences were very positive for me. We cook and bake together making things like cheese, a French meal and change the family legend about the blitz torte, but most importantly. we make memories.
Mom always takes it to church for the meal after funerals. Check out the recipe here. (This isn't her exact recipe; it is not necessarily mine to share. But this one is very close to Mom's.) She makes hers a three layer sponge cake topped with meringue. Just before it is served homemade vanilla custard is put between the two bottom layers. As you can imagine the shelf-life is about three hours from the time it is put together to when it begins to melt into a soggy mush. Since it is so rich that small cake can easily serve 16 people, so it had to be prepared to feed a crowd.
The blitz torte became one of those family legends, you could only get a taste of it if you attended a funeral. We jokingly nicknamed it the funeral cake. People knew Mom always brought the cake to a funeral and queued to get a piece. There never, ever were any leftovers for us who didn't attend. In fact this legend was shared at Dad's funeral when a kind friend of the family made the cake for us. It was so fitting to share that cake at that time. This act of course reinforced its funeral connection.
My youngest son wants to turn this legend around by 180 degrees. He has decided the blitz torte should be a celebration cake for our family and has prepared it for birthdays, anniversaries and now baby gender announcements. Although he is a wonderful cook and baker he asked me to join him in preparing the cake in April. I was more than happy to oblige.
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| Our Blitz Torte celebrating Baby Girl #2 |
There were some very unintended consequences from actions taken years ago. One of the things I did when my sons were young was have them "help" me in the kitchen. It seemed evenings just after we all returned home were hectic. Kids like to eat at the same time each day and I generally made meals at home. This meant the moment we walked in the door food preparation had to start. But my sons could not be trusted to entertain themselves while I cooked without bad things happening. I needed to keep them close and occupied. My solution was to have them contribute to the meal in ways that matched their skills.
This decision was very practical on my part, but in the end it developed within both boys/men a love for and curiosity about food. I had no grand long-term outlook at the time; however, it seems I inadvertently found an activity we can share for a life time. On this count the unintended consequences were very positive for me. We cook and bake together making things like cheese, a French meal and change the family legend about the blitz torte, but most importantly. we make memories.
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