Tamales

They say that "food is best enjoyed with friends", and I experienced that tonight. Albeit new friends. ...even if they do know your friends, haunted your haunts, dream your dreams, and speak your language!

We recently met this couple who, years ago, actually lived in Guadalajara at the same time as my husband, were friends with his friends, ate at the same places, experienced so much of the same life as him, and they never met. Until now. I don't know how the whole 6 degrees of separation thing works, but I think it's really a matter of timing and miles. We all live on this great big globe and have sooooooo much more in common than we think!

I am generally shy when I first meet people. No, not shy - scared to death (if I'm going to be honest about it). I'm so nervous to make new friends that I might not even really be all with it at first. This happened to me tonight. I could watch myself frozen. I can't seem to comprehend social cues correctly - laugh at the right thing, say the right thing, say what I want to say. (And on top of all that, trying to watch my toddler!) But, I can cook them a mean meal. I put three days into the tamales I served tonight, and not only were they eaten up instantly, but the woman actually said something to the effect of, "So this is your spiritual gift, isn't it?" And I was honestly really relieved that she saw that. (Not many people do.) It seemed to mean something to them that I put a lot of effort into a meal that they enjoyed, which sparked conversation about days in Mexico... even if they thought I was a bit of a babbling idiot.

When I say I put three days into these tamales, I mean three days of my child watching Bubble Guppies so that I could wash corn husks and banana leaves, make four masas, cook chicken and make a sauce, boil strawberries down for a glaze, stuff tamales, and steam and bake four batches of tamales with a jerry-rigged steamer! I LOVED IT!!!!!! Tamales are extremely time-consuming and, honestly, pesky and temperamental creatures. But these turned out amazing. I was really scared they wouldn't and was prepared to be really disappointed! So, I'm really proud of myself =)

This is one of those recipes that you simply can't convey in a few simple steps. You need to hang out in the cocina with a Mexican lady for awhile to pick up on a few skills. And if you can't find a Mexican to teach you, I hope to be teaching classes in the near future!!!!
(AKA: I'm too tired to write out 4,000 steps tonight and I didn't take any pictures!)

Last Saturday's Meal

I'm running a little late on posts these days =)

On 3/21 I mentioned that my husband and I were having friends over, that the wife required a special diet, and I was trying to figure out what in the world to make for them! Well, it turned out that she was able to eat a couple of more things than I listed in that post... So, this is what I ended up making:

Zeljanica Pie
Quinoa with Carrot & Corn
Turkey Meat Muffins
Chocolate Cream-Filled Puff Pastries

Yes, a very interesting menu indeed... But I felt like I did really well with the ingredients I had to choose from! Everything went together much better than I anticipated, and I'm glad it served my guest(s) well.

Zeljanica Pie - Cream spinach with a pinch of thyme, roll up in phyllo, place in casserole dish, with extra cheesy cream sauce on top. Bake at 350 until golden.

Quinoa with Carrot & Corn - Cook quinoa, add thyme, salt, and cooked carrots & corn. (Done in a snap!)

Turkey Meat Muffins - In food processor mix turkey meat, salt, a bit of whole wheat flour, and asiago cheese. Pack into muffin tin. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350. Makes 12.

Chocolate Cream-Filled Puff Pastries - Bake (8) puff pastries as directed on package; let cool. Mix 6 oz. cream cheese with 2 TBSP. cocoa powder, 6 TBSP. sugar, and a pinch of salt. Fill pastries with mix. Serve! YUM!! =)

Just checking in...

To my four faithful readers, Thank-you for your sweet comments on my last post last week, and email encouragement. I really appreciate it! I'm just "checking in" to say I won't be gone long... I just don't have much of a spark right now. Wow, that sounds like I'm depressed or something! Haha! I'm not, I just don't want to cook right now, especially for the sake of blogging =)  I told my husband tonight that next week is sandwiches every night! (Dinner BOMBED! I messed up my second attempt this week at Spanakopita, and then made the raunchiest Curried Zucchini Slaw in the history of curried anything slaw! My husband had dinner, I had Whole Grain Cheerios, which make a GOOD dinner, by the way! Yum!)

... Even though I did see a small remnant of a spark today when I was given a very difficult challenge: We have invited a wonderful couple over for dinner next week, and the wife has extensive food allergies. Exxxxtennnsivvvvvvve! No exaggeration, I have a whole 8 ingredients to choose from to make this dinner: Rice, Sweet Potato, Meat, Spinach, Romaine, Carrots, Pasta, and the ONLY spice she can eat is Thyme! WOW!! Talk about a CHALLENGE!!! I'm up for it =)

See you soon.

PS -- If you have any IDEAS for this meal, I'll take any ideas into consideration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12 Ways to Make a Visitor Feel Welcome in Your Home

As part of my "30" series, I sat down and just wrote out a list of random topics that either mean something to me or are just plain fun. Here's one of them, and I thought it was fitting to the blog because having visitors into your home is synonymous with feeding them, or at least should be.

Have you ever gone to someone's house and they didn't at least set out a bowl of mixed nuts on the coffee table? If not, how did that make you feel? ...Like they kind of want you to leave, right!? And, if they did set out some nuts, but you are allergic to them, how did that make you feel? ...Like either they didn't care to take the time to get to know you, or they didn't really care whether you dropped dead, eh?! I have been in homes that didn't even offer a glass of water. That's just shameful! One thing my mother taught me about hospitality is to offer even the plumber a glass of lemonade.

So: Feed your friends!
And: Make sure what you are feeding them won't kill them. Ask ahead of time.
Ask preferences - Just because you like tomatoes doesn't mean they don't taste like death to the next person. I really appreciated that almost every person we were invited to eat with while I was pregnant went out of their way to ask what I did/didn't want to eat... But only one friend has asked since! (I know, I know, I'm not the usual woman... It took almost a whole year for my taste buds to readjust after pregnancy ... and the tomato thing still hasn't gone away!)
Make plenty of offers - Just because someone is shy (or from another culture where it is rude to accept anything on the first offer) doesn't mean they're not starving to death. Don't badger them, but offer something every little while.
Place food in front of your guests - Even if someone just dropped by out of the blue, surely you have some random snack to offer them! Be creative! Do you have some fruit? A pack of crackers? Cheese (of ANY kind!)? Half a can of olives lurking in the fridge? Pimientos? (ewww...) Well, whip up a snack and place it in front of them. "But it's the tax man", you say? Well, Jesus ate with Pharisees. And prostitutes.
Your table should be inviting - I don't have nice dining room furniture. It's used, old, and hideous for modern tastes. But if we have people over, especially if they've never been to our house before, we do everything we can to make them feel comfortable, relaxed, and special. My husband is the master at this. He pours water in glasses and sets each place so that no one is wondering where to sit. We turn the table so that the chairs are more accessible. The first thing we always ask someone is what we can get them to drink.
Your home should be inviting - Turn on lots of lights. Light a candle in the bathroom. Set fresh flowers on the coffee table. Something! For goodness sakes, at least clean up a little before they come over!!!
Make your guests feel individually special - One way of doing this is really surprising to some guests. And might mean more to them than they would expect! Research their name (first AND middle scores lots of extra points!!) and make them a little place card with their names and the meanings on it.
You should be inviting - If a visitor is staying the night, don't go out without them. If it is something very, very important, and they can't or don't want to go, at least let them know ahead of time. And supply something for them to do while you're gone.
Set necessities in view - No one feels right rummaging through closets! Set towels out in view. If a guest is staying for several days, show them where everything is that they might need.
CHANGE THE SHEETS - This really shouldn't have to be said... But some people just don't get it... Seriously, if ANYONE has slept in that bed then change the sheets for your guest!!
Give them "refrigerator rights" - If staying for several days, or is a frequent visitor, give them the freedom to get their own drink (or whatever) from the fridge. They will feel like family =)