More broccoli taste testing and a fire!

Last Sunday I wrote about our taste testing experiment and how we started with broccoli.  This past week I made two more broccoli recipes for us to try.  The first, called "party pasta" was from the book which started all this for us, Getting to YUM: The Seven Secrets to Raising Eager Eaters by Karen LeBillon:

Party Pasta

Little bits of broccoli were mixed in with pasta and Parmesan cheese and a few more ingredients.  Tabby loved it.  Of course.  Hunter said "I don't care for it."  No surprise especially since he does not like pasta.  Frank had his straight, serious face and said it was better than the other broccoli recipes because the boring/plain pasta covered up the taste somewhat.  Solomon ate it OK.  I "did not care for it" either.

After last week's post I had a good half dozen people contact me to tell me they liked roasted or sauteed broccoli.  Cooked very crisp - almost blackened.  So yesterday I made roasted broccoli for supper: I tossed broccoli in olive oil and lemon juice and sprinkled it with salt and pepper.  I forgot to take a picture until everyone had been served, so that's why only a few little pieces are showing:

the remains of the roasted broccoli

The verdict?  Tabby "I love it!"  Hunter "I don't care for it."  Frank "The pasta dish was better."  Solomon ate a few pieces.  Me - I can not believe it - I actually really liked it!  I even went back in the kitchen and got those little remaining pieces on the pan.  And ... I am looking forward to eating it again.  What a major triumph - broccoli in a form that I like!

LOL - this must sound ridiculous to so many people.

The biggest excitement of the evening (to Hunter anyway) was when I went to get the food out of the oven.  I saw that the heating element was on fire.  I told Hunter, who was in the kitchen with me, that it was on fire. I turned off the oven.  The fire did not go out.  (Several inches of the heating element was smoldering - no flames. Yet.) I thought about the fire extinguisher, but Hunter knew exactly what to do "Turn off the switch in the fuse box!" he shouted and ran out of the kitchen.

I followed at his heels - he opened the box and I began scanning the labeled fuses.  I threw the switches of everything labeled kitchen and for the rooms around it.  The stove area stayed on.  (When our house was built in 1907, it was before electricity in homes out here.  So it was added later and the groupings in the fuse box are bizarre, in my opinion.)

I again tried turning off some more switches and the oven still remained on.  Hunter kept yelling "Turn off the main power switch!"  I hesitated.  That just sounded scary to turn off ALL the power!  But then Tabby hollared from the kitchen "There are BIG FLAMES now!"

OK - I turned off the main power switch.  We ran back to the kitchen.  The oven was finally off and the fire died down quickly.  Thank goodness it happened inside of a place made to get really hot!

Hunter led the supper prayer shortly after that and thanked God over and over in different ways that the fire did not hurt anyone or come out of the oven and that God helped him know just what to tell me to make it stop.  :)

So - I am afraid a new oven in on the "to buy" list for this week, even though it is not in the budget.  Just the week before, an appliance repair guy came out to see about replacing the thermostat on the oven but he said that it was so old he doubted the parts were still being made.

What I would love is one of these vintage looking, but new ovens:

from Google images

Of course it's way too expensive.  But I think it's really neat how there are a few companies out there that are either refurbishing antique appliances, or making new ones that look like old models.

When our house was built, the original owners had a huge cook stove in the corner of the kitchen.  The fireplace chimney is still on the other side of the wall.  I wonder what it was like to cook on something like that.

Taste testing: broccoli

When I was growing up, we had at least one vegetable every night for supper.  Unfortunately I did not, and still do not, like many vegetables.  And I am embarrassed to say, that even at my age, I still involuntarily gag trying to eat some veggies.  I think it was in the 1980s that broccoli was put on the "anti-cancer diet."  My mom, a big broccoli fan, quickly fell in to the habit of feeding us broccoli several times a week.  Yuck.  If we kids dawdled too long over eating anything, we would be served a second helping.  We always had to clear our plates.  (And I bet my mom is reading this thinking "you don't have cancer do you!"  No mom I don't nor does any one else in our family.  Thanks to the broccoli??!!)

So last month, when I read Getting to YUM: The 7 Secretes of Raising Eager Eaters by Karen Le Billon, I was excited thinking "maybe I will finally learn to start liking more vegetables!"  Oh yeah, and I want my kids to eat them well.  (Tabby already does though.)  And ... for Frank to eat more too.  The author wrote, and used evidence, that repeated exposure to a food can help a person develop a taste for it.  Hmmm.  I was very skeptical when I read this because I've eat lots of "yucky foods" - besides broccoli - hundreds of times and still despise them.

However, she pointed out that when the French teach their children to like foods, they expose them to that particular food in many different forms.  Interesting.  Thinking back to my childhood I remember only eating broccoli cooked one way.  (Sometimes I was allowed to smother it with cheese, so maybe that counts as two ways.)

And, I reflected on an amazing broccoli experience I had earlier this year.  Tabby had asked me to make a recipe called "broccoli bites" from a cookbook I have called Effortless Read Food:  Taking the Kitchen Approach to Health by Wendi Michelle.  In this recipe, you mix sharp cheese with lightly steamed broccoli and them roll it into little balls and into a mixture of salt, Parmesan cheese, and breadcrumbs.  Fry in grape seed oil.  I forced myself to try one and was surprised.  IT WAS NOT BAD!

So I knew that I could tolerate a little bit of broccoli prepared at least one way. In Getting to YUM the author states broccoli is one of the "mildest green vegetables."  (Really?!)  I decided to start our experiment in taste testing with broccoli.  I would prepare it several different ways for several days.  I would use the recipes in Getting to Yum.  We would discuss what we liked and didn't like about it.  Life happened though, and we only had two recipes.  Two more to follow this week.

First I made "George's Broccoli Puree." I managed to eat several small bites without gagging.  Frank didn't say a word and had his serious face on as he ate.  Hunter tried it and said "I don't care for this."  Solomon ate half of his without protest.  Tabby smiled with the first bite and said "YUM!  I really like it!"  She was happy to get to finish up the boys bowls of puree.

George's Broccoli Puree

The next recipe we tried was called "Mollie's Enchanted Broccoli Rainforest."  (The author of the book said that it has been proven that people like things better when they like the name.)  It was a fun sounding name.  Reactions:  same as first night, though we thought it did taste a little better than the puree.  Tabby once again ate it smiling.

Mollie's Enchanted Broccoli Rainforest

Sigh.  I was hoping for fast results.  I know, I know, that was only two tries.  Two more coming this week.  Then after that, it is time for carrot taste testing.  I am determined to expand our eating horizons!  (I know any "foodies" reading this must be shaking their heads in bewilderment!)

I thought I would share one recipe - a non-broccoli one!- that I have been obsessed with this summer.  It is from the book Trim Healthy Mama by Serene Allison & Pearl Barrett.  It is called "Fat Stripping Frappa" and the author's describe it as a "creamy, icy, chocolately drink."  It reminds me of a fluffy Wendi's Frosty, but not as overly sweet.  It will fill you up for hours and is a great drink for losing weight.  I don't need to lose weight but am addicted to it anyway.  :)  The recipe is on pgs. 240-41 of the book, and I have re-written it below, using the amounts of everything I use:

1 - In blender, put in 1/2 c. of milk AND 1/2 c. of water (I use our goats' milk - the authors suggest almond milk).
2 - Add:  1 heaping Tbs. cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp. glucomamman powder, 2 pinches sea salt, 1 tsp. NuStevia Pure White Stevia Extract Powder [or Truvia], and a splash of vanilla.
3 - Blend well, then add about 20 ice cubes.  (It gets really thick - I use our Vitamix and use that push down thing that came with it to get things to mix when it's on).
4 - Add 1/2 to 1 scoop of plain whey protein powder and blend again.
5 - Pour into a quart sized jar and enjoy.  YUM ....

On a non-food related note, I bought Solomon his first pair of rubber boots last week.  It was so funny seeing him learning to walk in them. (They are up to his knees so I'm sure it felt weird!) He had lots of short practice sessions one morning and then by the afternoon was walking pretty well.  Now he gets so excited to put on his rubber boots when we go outside and put ours own.  When you live on a little farm like we do, you WANT to wear boots outside.  ;)