Some Thoughts on LR

I was discussing the naked children phenomenon with a friend and we got onto those cool fountains that shoot water in carefully programmed patterns. I was reminded how when we were in Ohio, LR (my dad) wanted to take the girls to a nearby mall that has one of those cool fountains. Kids are encouraged to play in it (but, being Ohio, they come in swimwear).

Alas, that day there was a concert scheduled and the stage was built over the fountain area. So we went to Cheesecake Factory instead and had margaritas with an extra shot of tequila on the side which we split and added to our already lethal mixtures. I had never thought of that! I guess the frightening thing is how impressed I am by the idea. We Rosenthals do like to drink. This is the same man who can do remarkable things with gin that I cannot duplicate.

On this same visit he gave me a rather touching gift, too. He had been dancing around for a long time about my mailing address because he had something for me. I duly sent the address, but no treat in the mailbox and, frankly, I sort of forgot about it except he would ask for my address again from time to time. I was at a loss as to what it could be, but figured something arty or ceramic . . . he has a ceramic platter I told him I was putting my name on the back of . . . it is called something like The Revenge of the Birds and the Fishes, and it has cats being chased by birds and fish . . . it's very cool and I love it. I have two coffee cups and a plate by the same artist, but my plate isn't nearly as good.

But I digress. While we were visiting he also kept teasing me about having this gift out in the garage somewhere . . . gee, wonder if I can find it before you leave . . . I made an effort to look/remind him once and he shooed me into the house with an "all in good time" sort of grin. The night before I left, he comes out with this ball glove. The back story on this is that when we were kids, he used to play catch with my brothers in the back yard. He has always been a big baseball fan, but never a significant baseball player probably because he had polio in his arm as a kid.

Anyhow, I used to grouse that maybe I wouldn't throw like a girl if someone ever spent any time playing catch with ME. Not that I aspired to the Major Leagues or anything, but it was the 1970s and we were all into Title 9 and equal opportunity on the playing field and all. Being a lefty, I also couldn't just pick up my brothers' gloves and shove them out of the way. Anyhow, he gave me a left-handed glove, a baseball, and a kid's mitt. Made me cry.

Not Tired of My Own Cooking

Two weeks of Casa Paco meals is usually something I look forward to, but this year our trip to Spain was marred by a tag-team case of la tourista. Nothing looked good for days. The Spouse remarked that the flatulence resulting from the bug was waking him up at night, and he wasn’t talking about his gas. Oh dear. How embarrassing.

The good news is that my cooking has, in comparison, suddenly looked good to both of us. Here are some highlights.

Ribs
Pork and chicken are about the best you can do for meat here in Slovakia. I recently rediscovered this recipe for ribs that I got from a fellow expat in Argentina:

About 2 kilos/4 pounds ribs or whatever you find in the grocery store. Often I get those pieces of pork without bones. Boil them in salted water for about one hour. Drain.

Cover with the following sauce made of

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vinegar (I use whatever, including balsamic)
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 onion, diced

You can thin the sauce with a little water if you want . . . 1/2 cup. I forgot this time. I spread the meat in a shallow pan like a lasagna dish. Cover with sauce and put in over at 250F for about 2 hours, turning the pieces a few times. Messy, but really delicious.

Roasted Beet Salad with Feta and Toasted Pine Nuts
I love beets. I had this salad at my friends’ restaurant and then recreated it at home. Not exactly the same, but very good.

I wrap the beets in foil and roast them in the oven. This time I did three beets, but that was really too much for just the two of us. Since roasting beets is not an exact science, I discovered that if they are still a little too crunchy, you can dice them and then finish them in the microwave. I add a little olive oil, lemon juice, crumbled feta, and the pine nuts. Chopped fresh herbs are nice if you have them: mint or oregano or both works well.

Roasted Endive and Prosciutto Ham
This is something I stole from Jamie Oliver. Take fresh thyme and pound it in the mortar/pestle with garlic . . . add LOTS of olive oil, pour the whole mess into a large bowl, and then work it into endive which I cut in half long ways. Wrap the oiled/herbed endive in prosciutto ham, pour some good balsamic vinegar over it all, and roast. It also works with radicchio, but that turns an awful color when it cooks, although it tastes really nice.

Roasted Cauliflower
Are you noticing a theme here? I like roasting things because they require so little attention (and then I can waste more time at the computer). I tried some grilling recently, but burned both the eggplant and the zucchini. I have been relieved of my tongs.

But this is easy and really good. Just cut the cauliflower into small florets. Drizzle with olive oil. I add sea salt, ground black pepper, and maybe some hot pepper flakes. Ground cumin is really good, too. Toss it all, spread in a shallow dish or pan, and roast it until it gets brown and sort of crispy.

Roasted Tomatoes
I can’t seem to get tired of this. I blanch tomatoes in boiling water to remove the skins. Those oblong Italian tomatoes work best. Slice them in half. Sometimes I deseed them, too. I put them in a shallow dish and drizzle them with olive oil. If I am feeling ambitious, I make some basil pesto and put a small dab of that on each tomato half. If I am lazy, I just chiffonade some basil leaves and sprinkle them over. Lots of sea salt and black pepper and roast. I like the results best when I use a slow oven and they take on more of a sun-dried consistency, but you can also blast them quickly in a really hot oven until they start to blacken. Some parmesan cheese or mozzarella is good on these too . . . while they are still in the oven is best so it all melts.

Plum Tart
On Monday I went to see my friend Sona and her new baby. She fed me a lovely plum tart that was just some ground almonds and a little sugar and halved plums in a pie shell. But the girls really liked it, so I was going to try my own, except I was too lazy to make a pie crust from scratch (and the better premade ones come from Austria). So I found a Nigella recipe for a plum and pecan crumble, which was really good, except the girls turned up their noses at the pecan aspect and I ate most of it myself . . . so now I feel bloated and uncomfortable. Bad girl.

While searching for a tart recipe, I found, on http://www.epicurious.com/, a recipe for Plum Tart with Goat Cheese and Walnut-Thyme Streusel, which looks really good. I printed it off and will try to make it soon.

Ah, Europe!

Oh, I have been remiss about reporting all the funny things that have happened over the summer and on our various trips. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Copenhagen, Ohio, Torremolinos: it was all nice and that’s probably already more than you need to know.

More interesting, to me anyhow, was the culture shock of returning, dare I say it, home where home=Bratislava. How on earth that happened, I don’t know.

Anyhow, we took the kids to the amusement park in Austria recently. There has always been a sort of water play area in this amusement park, with little flowing rivers you can dam up with locks and gates. There are waterfalls and jets that squirt at regular intervals. But it never seemed appropriate to get wet while playing there.

However, this time when we arrived at this point in the amusement park we were greeted by an army of naked toddlers and little kids, children who had clearly anticipated getting wet and had come prepared to do so with towels. Oh, there was some swimwear, but that was the minority. Most kids were either bucknaked (and those tended to be tan all over, demonstrating that they had clearly spent most of the summer this way), or in their underpants.

I related this little incident to a fellow expat who responded with a variation of her own. She was at a wedding at a country club just outside of Bratislava. There is a nice swimming pool at this club (I’ve even swum there . . . it is nice and very kid friendly). When the bride appeared on the lawn nearby, all the little naked children ran over to watch the wedding. They stood there, entranced, like little cherubs bringing tidings of good fortune and fertility. No one in the wedding party batted an eye nor made to shoo them away. No one at the pool sought to reclaim them.

Ah Europe . . .