F is for Food

With the exception of Oma's signature pound cake that arrived at our door last weekend and my husband telling me that I had made the best grilled cheese ever on Wednesday night, my kitchen has left me little to write about over the past couple weeks. The stories range from bland to downright bad. (So bad that I actually took one bite and threw my pasta away on Friday.)

The overtired working mom in me can produce countless excuses why our dinner table doesn't have the same look and feel and taste as it used to. I've been sick on and off for a month. There's not enough time. We have a new little diner on a solid food regimen. And now there's even less time.

But the fact remains, I feel like a slacker.

I used to get a big kick out of Peter bragging to his friends about how he ate like a king every night. And I loved adding my culinary tales to the Coke cooler chatter at my office. I kind of wondered why some of the other women seemed less interested, but nonetheless, I loved sharing stories of seared duck breasts, cherry compotes, roasted fingerlings, and spinach gratins whipped up on a Monday night. (Ah, I sense why the other moms were annoyed at my gourmet diatribes.) The commoner cuisine we've been having lately is far less novel and I guarantee Peter's been focusing his food boasts on the bacon wrapped corn he grilled the other day, not my dinners.

Over a high point of the week - crab cakes on Sunday night, I apologized to Peter for a week of more mediocre meals. Peter poo poo'd my comment and told me that we eat very well.

My next bite tasted a little better. 

Yes, my bar is set sky high and my expectations are unreasonable. I'm working harder than ever, training for a Marathon, managing a household, reading and writing (okay, just writing), breastfeeding, pureeing my own baby foods, and (trying) to put a decent homemade meal on the table every night. Something has to give, right?

In my type A world, the answer would be 'wrong.'

I'll continue to try to do it all. I might get sick along the way; people may spit out their peas; and I might have to stop and walk the last mile. But by looking at smiles as my new qualifier - my own and my family's - and by leaving the other rats out of the ranking system, I'll win every time.

My advice is to focus on your little cheering section - their applause is what you are fighting for. And likely, they'll keep smiling no matter how bad the shrimp scampi is.

Lo.

Crab Cakes with Avocado Salsa 

Adapted from Plumpjack's Cookbook 

(Makes four - six) 

Ingredients: 

2 scallops 

1/4 cream 

1/2 pound jumbo lump crab meat (it's expensive, but so worth it) 

1/2 cup panko crumbs 

1 tablespoon cilantro, roughly choped  

1 small plum tomato, finely chopped

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon olive oil 

Avocado Salsa 

1/2 avocado 

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon champagne or white wine vinegar 

1 tablespoon cilantro 

Juice of half of a lemon

Salt, pepper 

Directions: 

In a blender, puree scallops and cream. (I thought these were incredibly strange instructions, until I saw the result. Basically you get this scallop whipped cream that acts as an emulsifier for the cakes. I didn't even use an egg.) Set aside and clean blender. 

In a large bowl, combine scallop cream with crab meat, panko crumbs, cilantro, tomato, mustard and olive oil. Stir carefully to combine, careful not to do too much damage to the lump crab meat. Make four (entree size) cakes or six (appetizer size) cakes. 

To make the avocado salsa, puree avocado, water, vinegar, cilantro, lemon, salt and pepper until smooth. Set aside. 

In a large skillet, heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil over medium to medium high heat, depending on how hot your stove get. You want the cakes to sizzle and brown, but not burn. Cook about seven minutes per side. I put the lid over my skillet for about six minutes per side to make sure the middle was heated through as well. 

Serve hot with avocado salsa.