Spice, spice baby

Yes. I'm still here. And no. I haven't been stuck in Atlanta traffic all this time.
I will blame the lapse in transitioning and starting a new job because that's sounds better than laziness.
But don't lose heart; I've been doing a lot of feeding Josie — an activity that now includes more spices.
I've always been a gal who likes to mix it up. I've perked up butternut squash bisque with allspice and zinged plain, old steamed vegetables with a little smoked paprika. I ain't scared.
Yet, I was kind of shy when it came to whether I should spice Josie's food and with what. I wasn't quite sure what would agree with her, what she'd like, what would be too much to handle and what might just turn her into a werewolf. Fortunately, the latter hasn't happened...yet.
She likes sweet potatoes baked with a mix of ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves or scrambled eggs with a dash of dried oregano. She's a spunky chick like her momma. She's done well with spicier cuisines, as well: Indian, Ethopian and Thai. (Perhaps because I ate so much of it while pregnant and nursing.)
I'm not sure when I got comfortable with the notion of spicin' up Josie's meals. Perhaps, it happened when I just got too tired of making separate meals for her and decreed she'd eat the same thing as us.
Now, I don't put A LOT of spice in her food. I probably hold back a little more on seasoning than I normally would, and I stay away from the hot stuff. But all in all, she's been pro-spice.
Truth be told, she's been doing a little experimenting of her own:

(Warning: This video contains scenes of extreme cuteness, heightened by chubby legs and hiccups.)

Here are some links that I found helpful, too, during my quest to suss out the skinny on spices:
- http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/tipspices.htm
- http://www.babycenter.com.my/baby/startingsolids/spicesinbabyfoodexpert/
- http://www.livestrong.com/article/153972-what-herbs-spices-can-be-added-to-baby-foods/
- http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/tipcurry.htm

Weekend recipe: Chai tea

Baby, it's cold outside. And also iced over. And that's why we haven't gone past the front door in three straight days. Aghhhh...
Thank you for humoring my temporary freak out. Anyway, as I was saying, it's down right cold.
To combat the chill, I've taken to coffee, cocoa and my most favorite warm beverage: tea. And my favoritest of favorites is chai.
It's soothing and milky. It has a slight caffeine kick. It's spicy. It pretty much gets me through this rough patch of cabin fever. Fevah!
So while this is not a recipe for babies or toddlers, an occasional recipe for mommies and daddies is important, too. After all, it's rather hard to feed Josie if Mommy's all cross-eyed and itchy from being stuck indoors for 72 consecutive hours.

Chai tea
Time
About 20 minutes
Ingredients and Equipment
- 4 to 6 cups of water
- 3 to 4 bags of black tea (Don't used flavored black tea; just plain like assam or darjeeling or pekoe. And truthfully, plain old Lipton's is the best.)
- whole milk
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 whole cloves
- 6 green whole cardamom pods
- a dozen whole black peppercorns

- 1/2 to 1 cup white sugar (optional)

- saucepot
- ladle
- sieve
Directions
- Bring water to a boil in the saucepot and drop in the tea bags. Make sure to add enough bags to brew a strong, very dark tea.
- Also drop in the whole spices, though you should crush the cardamom pods in your hands before adding to the mix.
-Stir in the sugar. (Alternatively, you can leave the sugar out and sweeten my the mugful or leave it plain.)
- Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and cover with a lid. Let the tea and spices steep for 10 minutes.
- Turn the heat up just slightly and add several splashes of whole milk.
- Serve warm. (Place the sieve over a mug and ladle the chai into the sieve to strain out the whole spices.)

Best birthday dinner ever

Tonight, we ate at our favorite Indian place to celebrate my birthday. (Hot Dang! I've been able to string this celebration out for a week!) It wasn't fancy. It wasn't expensive. It was perfect.
Particularly because I was there with my two favorite people, my tribe, my husband and daughter. And we all shared.
Chris and I ordered our curries mildly spiced and Josie dug into yellow dal (a lentil stew with tomatoes and cumin) and palek paneer (spinach with cheese cubes). I split open my samosa and scooped out potato and pea stuffing for her. I even shared my gulab jamun dessert.
We left a pretty generous tip considering half of it wound up on the floor, but I think she liked it all.
Side note: What is the proper tipping protocol for the times when child-in-tow makes a moderate to unholy mess? I always tip 20 percent for good service, but I imagine leaving more is a better choice, right?
I've realize I take pleasure in being able to share food with my babe. When I was carrying her in the bread basket, I had no choice but to share. When she nursed, I was the food. When she started solids, I made the food. But now, we finally sit down and eat the same things and it feels different ... complete.
Am I making any sense?
Anyway, best birthday dinner ever!
And the dinner before was nice, too. Just us ladies.
I picked up a premade meal from the grocery store since time and an empty pantry weren't on my side. Grilled chicken, cheesy pasta and mixed vegetables. It was ordinary, but it will be a meal that will always stand out. Watching Josie stuff her face with the same dinner made me feel happy.

Carrots and green beans and pasta! Oh yum!

C'mere veggies!

Yo moms, more eats!

(Josie apparently loves exclamation points and finger points)
Now, I can't wait for Chris and I to make our favorite foods for her and to find out what her favorites are.
What are your family's favorites? Gimme some ideas. After all, it's my birthday.

It's in the blood

Mommy's little Fressack

My paternal grandmother, Nana, who grew up in the Bronx always speaks to us in her own (perhaps made up) language. And per our culture, the vocabulary has several words for food and people who annoy us. The word I most remember and most use myself is "fress." As in to chow down. I fress, you fress, he/she/it fresses, Let's fress! It's something our family does well. It's in the blood.

And because we are Polacks, there are two subtypes of our people: Fressacks and Pissacks. (You can probably figure the difference out on your own, sans explanation. If not, you may be what my Nana refers to as a hossesfootya. I'm sorry.)

So I'm happy to report my daughter is a Fressack. Case in point, my parents are in town this weekend and we had dinner plans. I asked my folks where they wanted to eat (as if that's a question that needs asking) and, of course, they say the local Indian joint. (Man, we eat a lot of Indian for Polacks. Maybe there's a story in the bloodline I'm not aware of. OK. Back on track).

So nine-month-old daughter is in her high chair munching away on blueberry-flavored puffs and the occasional spoonful of turkey squash dinner until THE ADULTS' FOOD COMES.

And she's freakin' out. Quick like a ninja her tiny paws are grabbing handfuls of basmati rice drenched in Goan curry sauce off my poor father's plate. I'm watching in slow-mo, powerless to cut her off before she's jammed a few long grains into her gullet.

Pshew! Close call. But now, she's pissed. So to appease the raging Fressack, I offer a sacrificial spoonful of plain rice. Surely, she can handle that. Boy, does she!

She starts delicately extracting single grains and then expressly adopts the shovel strategy. Curiosity piqued, I gingerly approach her with a small spoonful of unnatural red but oh-so-delicious butter chicken sauce. She takes it in without even looking up. Smacks her lips as if to say "Yep, that's good" and continues shoveling rice.

"Hey, watch this," I warn my parents (isn't that how disasters start?). I offer up another spoonful. This time, Josie looks up.

"Oh! Oh! She wants water," my mother saws, brows knitted, ready to douse the baby.

Smack. Smack.

"No. I think she likes it," my dad says. "Do it again."

I agree to one last bite (I don't want to risk an upset tummy in the name of flavor exploration). Suffice to say, she was 'bout it, 'bout it.

In fact, I'm pretty sure when Josie's old enough to comprehend race and nationality, she may be quite disappointed to discover she's not from the Indian subcontinent. Hopefully, she'll be sated knowing she's not a Pissack.