Chickpea and carrot soup. Ekjakjo and a man of plans

My husband Nick is a man of plans. He organises the weekend according to many family activities including exercise, cafes, visits to the market, museums and, of course, siestas - although he usually forgets to add in the list children's birthday parties, I wonder why.

The good thing is that the kids and I never get bored. There is always something to do during the weekends - and holidays -, even if it is just "reading time" scheduled in the day. By 6pm on Sunday night we are all exhausted in bed, including Nick.

Last Saturday morning, I didn't have a plan. Neither he had. We had a pile of 7 guide books of Peru on one of the bedside tables in our room but we didn't know where to go or what to do, perhaps because Lima is still new to us and we are discovering it little by little each day. We were dressed, inside the car, ready at 7.50 to go...somewhere...waiting for Nick to decide.

And this is what we did...

8am: Visit to the market

Following the directions given by the little Spanish voice of the Waze app, which is a fantastic GPS in the iphone, Nick drove us to the food market because it was open since 6am.

I love markets. My dad used to take me when I was small, teaching me how to buy fresh fish . Sometimes we didn't buy much, or even nothing at all, but we spent two hours walking around, talking to the people behind the stalls who knew my dad well.

I like to maintain that tradition with my kids, wherever we live. I want to teach them that the market is the best cooking school where you delight your five senses. It is like having a playdate with the butcher, the fishmonger or the lovely lady selling seasonal fruits and vegetables, I was trying my best to explain to my second child Gabriel, who seemed curious about our special trip to the market. The more you ask them about the meat, the fish or the tomatoes, the more you learn about food and how to cook it - and if you become their friend, they will always look after you with the best produce...I added excited, talking to myself, really. Obviously, Gabriel wasn't paying attention to my words and kept playing with his cars.

This traditional market is called Zurquillo, Mercado 1, and it was a bit grotty but very authentic. We saw unbelievable vegetables, quite exotic and sometimes hard to find in other countries, like the rocoto, a spicy red pimiento. We also saw more familiar ones, artichokes, chirimoyas, granadinas...Amongst the fish and the meat, there was a glass cage of a Saint, Jesus and the Virgin Mary, a Catholic reminiscence from the Spanish conquers.

Nick and Aurelia had breakfast in a tiny little bar, a piece of the traditional Peruvian keke de higo seco or dried fig cake - which I will make at home soon and post the recipe - from a lovely shop whose owner looked like Nick's grandma. I wish I had tasted the sweet fig cake but my eyes were lost looking at the clay pots with faces in one hidden dark spot of the market. I was fascinated.

I couldn't leave the market without trying a tamal from an old woman outside the market though.

10am: Peruvian Frozen birthday party

After the market, Gab was invited to his first birthday party in Lima by a little girl from his classroom in kinder or el nido . I questioned my stupidity when I offered to go while Nick stayed at home, resting pleasantly. 

The invitation said 10am but Aurelia, Gab and I arrived - sweating like chickens from walking for 45 minutes with the pusher - late, at 10.45. I was embarrassed and wanted to apologise to the mum of the little girl but I couldn't find her. 

I couldn't because the party hadn't even started: the birthday girl just came out to the garden with her pretty Frozen dress when we arrived, while her mum and the helpers were  in the kitchen, preparing the party food and taking it to the tables. I must say, the party food was very healthy.

When we understood that we were actually early, the only ones plus another mum and her son, we were quite surprised, and our faces "frozen" I would say.

Two weekends ago we were invited to a lunch - one hour away by car - with other parents from Aurelia's new school. The meeting time was 12pm, but we didn't sit down to eat until 3pm. Everybody seemed pretty comfortable with the three hours of delay. I was dying of starvation!

There are many lessons to learn  about Peru, a country rich of customs and traditions, some are similar to us but others are unique and different. The discovery of a new culture is the beauty of living in overseas and what keeps us going with the diplomatic life. 

Gab had a blast with the dance, the piñata and the bouncing castle

3pm : Harvest time

After the party, Gab and Aurelia had a rush of sugar with the alfajores and a few lollies, so they went chasing each other in the backyard of our house. 

We have a small vegetable patch looked after by our wonderful gardener Samuel. It has got planted some onions, garlic, beetroots, spinach,  zucchini, herbs, strawberries and carrots.

When I worked for Majura Primary school as a kitchen teacher - I was part of the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program - I embarked my life on an unthinkable cooking adventure. The children gave me the excitement I needed to go ahead with my cooking experiments in our kitchen and garden. It was such a rewarding job. Of all the most memorable moments we had together I kept a precious one: their smiling face when they pulled out a carrot from the veggie patch. It was beautiful, a gift from the Nature 9and from Stephanie Alexander, who created that amazing program.

My daughter Aurelia was so exalted holding her two fresh carrots that kept looking for more vegetables to harvest - although some were not quite ready! 

5pm: Merienda at the cafe 

If we were in Australia, I would have written dinner, but Lima follows the eating patterns of  Sudamerica and my country, Spain. Big lunch and late dinner, but light.

I took the kids to a close cafe, five cuadras walking distance. It has a kids friendly atmosphere, with wooden toys to keep them amused while the mum and dad actually "enjoy" their coffee. In one of the top shelves, above the green leather sofa, there was a funny little clay man, laughing with bizarre objects attached to it. The nice waitress explained me that it was the ekeko...

According to wikipedia, "The Ekeko is the Tiwanakan (pre Columbian civilization) god of abundance and prosperity in the mythologyand folklore of the people from the Andean Altiplano^[1] Its chief importance in popular culture is as the main figure of the annual Alasitas fair, a cultural event that happens every January 24th in La Paz, Bolivia.^[2] The Ekeko is a traditional god of luck and prosperity, popular in Bolivia, Peru, and neighboring regions, like northern Argentina and northern Chile"

EKEKO: god of luck and prosperity

In Quechua, the language of the Inca empire,  Ekjakjo

8.30pm: Date night

The traditional Peruvian Pisco Sour drink totally "killed" me...Next time I will make sure I order a tapa with it. I think I was talking in Quechua by the end of the night!

10.45pm: dead in bed

I went back today to that kids friendly cafe and had a cup of hot chocolate, in my search of finding the best hot chocolate in Peru during these three years. So far I have tried it with a hint of cinnamon, and other spices, and even with orange rind. Marvellous. 

I was by myself and enjoying my quiet time. I looked up at the Ekeko, and nodded - me, not the Ekeko! - in a sign of respect to that god, although I am Catholic, and of gratitude because my kids have already planted their tiny feet in this land - or should I say its land? - with a positive attitude, making new friends, which makes me very happy. 

And finally settled.

Chickpea and carrot soup

This delicious soup was made with the carrots that Aurelia harvested from our garden. The recipe comes from Fiona Inglish, a primary school teacher from Victoria who worked for the same Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program I did - she was also a former Masterchef Australia contestant.

Diego, the residence's cook, made this soup for our first "informal" dinner party at the residence for Nick's colleagues of the embassy. It was a total success! - the soup and the whole evening.

• 25 g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut in 4 cm chunks
• 2-3 large carrots, peeled and cut in chunks
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, ground turmeric, ground coriander
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 400 g chickpeas (tin or cooked at home)
• 60 ml thickened cream
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

1. Heat the butter and oil in a large deep saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion until softened, and add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute. Add the sweet potato and carrots and stir to coat in the onion mixture. Add the spices and cook for 1 minute.
2. Add the stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low and the chickpeas. Cover the pan and simmer until the vegetables are tender.
3. Remove the soup from the heat and set aside to cool before blending it until smooth with a hand blender (or in the blender) 
4. Return the soup to the heat and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the cream (I used greek yogurt to make it healthier) and sprinkle with the coriander.

“Cheesy- veggie travel soup”. Flying overseas with children…how hard could it be?

It was Sunday 6^th of April, 6.30pm, Manila time. We were at the airport, and it was possible the worst time to fly with three young children under 7. They were already sleepy but also utterly animated by the great adventure ahead of them: holidays in Australia.

I don’t know who was more anxious, Nick, me or the children. I think we all were, really, but for different reasons. We were saying “bye, bye, heat”– my son Gabriel says bye to everything, even to his drinking water bottle- and welcome autumn. I am afraid Nick and I were also thinking in our minds “bye, bye yayas” and home help, and welcome reality. God help us, I thought.

A few days before our travel date, Nick became obsessed with the idea that the trip was going to be a nightmare, a disaster; that the children would be annoying, tired and grumpy; that we would spend the whole flight struggling with them…etc.

And he was right, but prior the flight, I didn’t want to listen. I was aware of the fact that travelling overseas with three small children it couldn’t be fun. I just kept in the back of my mind ”this will pass too”. …but all the muscles of my face and the rest of my body were quite tense before and during the trip.

I must confess, we are not good travellers.

We were in the new terminal of Aquino airport in front of the counter of the Philippine Airlines. Nick was making sure that we had the five passports, the plane tickets from Manila to Sydney, and the 3 big suitcases (one for the children with winter and summer clothes, one for Nick and I, and one for milestone “useful stuff” such as a hand blender, a plastic bath and a feeding chair…), Aurelia’s suitcase with the cars, books, coloring pens and soft toys, another suitcase for the plane with snacks, nappies and change of warm clothes …and, we haven’t finished yet, the cot and the pusher.

Leaving the house on Sunday afternoon felt like moving countries again- which will happen in the middle of June, by the way-. A lot of stuff to take in, and I do not mean only the luggage. Emotionally speaking, the preparation for the trip creates a tense atmosphere in my family –although I am sure I am not alone in this-. 

Once we reach our destination, things go back to normal. I should be more explicit, once the children are settled in the new place, our family catches up a routine and we enjoy the holidays.  

So they we were, waiting for the boarding call at the gate 19. Our departure was imminent but the tiredness of the children too, and our patience reaching its limit. Nick was chasing them around so they could do some exercise before spending 8 hours on the chair. In addition, I was in a nervous consuming state, meditating as it was the last night of our lives. I was incapable to relax myself.

Finally, the plane took off. I tried not to think of the Malaysia aircraft that crashed recently. I kept praying. Nick ignored me, as he knows me well, and distracted the kids from looking at his crazy mum.

Our only hope to keep the children busy during the flight was the TV , to be honest- we don’t have an ipad- but there was only one tv for everybody in economy class and the movie that Philippine Airlines chose was 12 years of slave, totally unsuitable for children. All sort of questions appeared in Aurelia’s head during the entire flight.

I was feeding the baby at the same time I had my arm around Gabriel’s to comfort him. It was midnight and he was still awake!. Aurelia was in a bad mood. And the food was terrible, so we didn’t eat anything, and the service, to my surprise, unfriendly. Well, it is economy, what would I expect!.

Eight long hours passed and the plane landed in beautiful Sydney. Nick and I looked like zombies. My eyes were so red that Gabriel said “mum, aui”, which means that mum has hurt. And I was indeed by the painful flight.

We waited in Sydney airport to catch another short flight to Canberra. Just one hour flight but after a long night, it seemed an eternity. When we were at the waiting area, I was desperate to have a cup of coffee – I needed some caffeine intravenous, actually- and I had a brilliant idea to order a warm chocolate for the kids, but it ended on the floor and on Gab’s jumper.

We arrived in Canberra feeling that we had been in the war. The initial exhilaration about our holidays was evaporated. We were exhausted and looking forward to getting into the rented apartment in Kingston, my favorite suburb of Canberra. But it took another 2 hours to get the car we hired at the aiport. In the meantime, I managed to spilt some of Nick’s coffee on the pusher and almost burn tJuanan.

To end the drama of our travel, once we were inside of the beautiful apartment , I broke a glass and had a deep cut in my finger. Blood everywhere in the toilet.

When I popped out my face of the bathroom to tell Nick, I saw this scenario: Nick was unpacking suitcases, Juanan fast asleep, and Aurelia and Gabriel jumping on the beds, happy to be on holidays.

At last, we all were. I pretended my finger wasn’t bleeding. I pretended the long, long trip didn’t happen. It was the start of our holidays!

Happy Easter!

 “Cheesy- veggie flight soup”

Every time we are flying I make sure our stomachs are full. The food served on the plane isn’t usually good. I like to have some kind of comfort with a home cooked meal, anyway. I made up this soup last year using the leftovers I had in the fridge and since then, it is a traditional meal in our family before we head off to the airport.

Aurelia called this soup “Cheesy- veggie flight soup”. It is a quick and simple soup, and very nutritious, excellent to keep you going on a long, long flight. I made it in a pressure cooker but you can equally make it over a low heat for 45 minutes or until the veggies are soft (add the zucchini in the last 20 minutes of cooking).

My trick is to use a good chicken stock, a piece of cheddar cheese and a roasted tomato sauce - its sweetness helps to balance the sharpness of the cheese.

You will forgive me I don’t post a photo. I was in a rush and forgot to take a snap of it. Just imagine a minestrone soup but with tomato sauce and some melted cheddar cheese all over it. And remember, you don’t want to eat big chunks of vegetables, so it would be better to dice them in small cubes.

• ·      1 brown onion, chopped
• ·      1 carrot, chopped
• ·      1 celery stalk, chopped
• ·      3 garlic cloves, grated
• ·      2-3 slices of jamon Serrano, finely cut
• ·      2 zucchinis, chopped
• ·      2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
• ·      1 cup of homemade roasted tomato sauce
• ·      3 cups of chicken stock
• ·      Fresh thyme
• ·      Salt and fresh pepper
• ·      100g of cheddar cheese
• ·      1 cup of basmati rice or dried pasta (I use animal shape pasta for the children)
• ·      Some pesto to garnish, if you wish

1.     Heat a lug of olive oil in a big pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion, carrot and celery (mirepoix) and cook until softened and a bit brown for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the garlic and stir. Down the heat to low.

2.     Add the potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add the zucchinis (do not add them yet if you don’t use the pressure cooker). Give al lthe vegetables a good stir for 5 minutes to soak up the flavours.

3.     Pour the chicken stock and the tomato sauce. Add the thyme, cheese and season with salt and pepper (careful with the salt if you are using proscuito as the jamon Serrano is sweeter).
Cooked in a low heat for 45 minutes or in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes after the initial whiz.

4.     Serve in warm bowls with some cooked rice, or pasta and a dollop of pesto on top or spread over a toast.

5

a.     My roasted tomato sauce:

                                               i.     Preheat the oven to 150C.

                                              ii.     In a deep oven tray, add a can of 1kg of whole tomato.

                                            iii.     Grate 6 garlic cloves over the tomatoes.

                                            iv.     Add /2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar and some fresh black pepper.

                                              v.     Drizzle ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil

                                            vi.     Cook for about 90 minutes.

Red lentils two ways: a soup and a dip. A bonding is born when you spend time

Nick and Aurelia left to Hong Kong Disneyland yesterday morning for 5 days. We are only three in the house: me and my two young boys. Suddenly, the house feels even bigger than it is already. My family feels smaller though. From five to three, you notice the change.

Nick tells me through mobile texts that Aurelia is quite excited and enjoying the adventure. After spending the day at the park using some of the attractions such as the "space mountain", they have a long nap and ready to go out, as they were a couple. Nick has one or two cocktails in the bar of the hotel while Aurelia has a juice and they watch some Disney movie on the big screen. 

Some friends of mine were surprised when I told them this trip it was just Nick and Aurelia. Why didn't you go? why the two of them? They asked me with curiosity; "Because it is a nice bonding between the two of them"- I replied.

Bonding between parents and children is about spending time together, doing things that make the relation special. I love taking Aurelia to the movies, for example, like my mum used to take me when I was little. It is just the two of us, and we have a lovely time. 

This bonding  is when you build a pattern in which quality of time is important. Even if it is just 30 minutes, your child will appreciate it but you too. And this will have a very positive influence in the future, like we notice in our eldest daughter Aurelia- there are particular things she likes to do just with me or just with Nick, or the both of us. 

I haven't gone to Disneyland with Aurelia but I occasionally organize our girls night at home when Nick is out; or I take her to do the nails and have a merienda afterwards; we run together; and one day we will go on a girls trip somewhere.

Gab loves going to Rockwell mall and have an "aiggkrem" (ice cream) with mum or going to the swings at the park and demands:" higher, mum, higher!" while I push him. 

I like taking Juanan to do the groceries in the morning- I think he enjoys being the center of the attention of all the cute filipinas working at the supermarket who smile and play with him-. 

Perhaps having three children means less time dedicated exclusively to each one than if you had one. It doesn't matter what you do or for how long, the important is spending time with them. I don't believe the new technology- iPads and other gadgets- can replace that. Actually, in my opinion, they jeopardize the bonding. 

Time is precious and the way you spend it is your choice, anyway. 

Summer has already hit the Philippines and with the heat, lots of people are sick, including myself. I am not a person for tropical weather, neither is my husband.  I must confess that the thought of moving back to Canberra, with its four seasons, is one of the main reasons I want to leave Philippines. Wearing a nice cozy coat makes me happy and having a comfort meal even more…

And nothing better than a hot lentil soup with 34 degrees outside and 15 inside my house- I love my aircon, it helps me to feel winter again!-.

Pulses are a main ingredient in the Spanish cuisine. They are healthy and extremely versatile. If you are worried about the flatulent part, add 1/4 teaspoon of asafoetida- yellowish Indian spice-, it is very effective. 

This recipe is from Melissa Clark. It is "bright, deep, compelling and easily accesible".

Serves 6

Red lentil soup with lemon

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and ground pepper
• Pinch of ground cayenne
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups red lentils
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, mint or parsley

1. Heat the oil over high heat until hot. Add the onions and garlic and cook until golden.
2. Stor in the tomato paste, cumin, salt, pepper and chilli powder or cayenne. Saute for 2 minutes.
3. Add the stock, 2 cups of water, the lentils and the carrots. Bring to simmer, he partially cover the pot and turn the heat down to medium-low. Simmer until the lentils are soft. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
4. Using a blender, puree only half the soup.
5. Reheat the soup if necessary, then stir in the lemon juice and cilantro, mint or parsley. 
6. Serve the soup drizzled with good olive oil and dusted with chili powder if desired.

Dips are an excellent way to encourage children to eat vegetables. They like it because it is fun eating with the hands sometimes.

According to Donna Hay, "This spicy dip is delicious as part of a mezze plate or with grilled flatbread".

Lentil dip

• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 1/2 cups water.
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• sea salt

1. Place the lentils in a saucepan and add the water. Boil for 2 minutes. Cover and allow to stand for 12 minutes.
2. Place the lentils in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth.

Note: the way I crush a garlic is with a fine grater. It produces the same effect, to release the flavor and the oil of the garlic than if you crush it with the knife.

Apple and pumpkin soup. The story of a "stay at home" dad versus a working mum

It is fascinating the response I have received to my email (esther.tolmos@gmail.com in case you wanted to know) about the last, perhaps, controversial post I wrote of a working mum versus a stay at home mum. 

Most of the emails came from my friends or friends of my friends. I enjoyed reading them so much! Thank you all for your honesty about finding yourself identified with one side of the story or the other.

When I was grabbing for lunch a delicious warm manchego cheese,  jamon serrano and fresh tomato sandwich in the new Rustans supermarket in Rockwell, I met a mum from Aurelia's school ISM. Apparently, she liked my last post - although I had no idea she was actually reading my blog- because her husband had lived an experience that "most of the fathers should live to understand that being a mum full time is an unpaid  and unrecognised job, and exhausting some days", she said. For the record, she allowed me to write her story and comments, with my own style and a bit of humour.

Her words attracted my attention this morning while I was gobbling up the sandwich. 

She has two kids and worked as a lawyer in another country before the family was moved here to Manila. After the birth of her second child and a few months before they started to live in the Philippines, she suggested a silly idea to her husband, a nonsense idea which he would reject for sure: "when our the second child is 6 months old, I would like to go back to work and you could take three months off to be a "stay at home dad"."

The silly idea became real. "We will have so much fun!" her husband said excited to their eldest daughter while holding the baby who just spit on him the first puree cooked apple he had tried to prepare. 

Not many weeks after the mum went back to work with a law firm, wearing spotless clothes and carrying a leather handbag, her husband was becoming very grumpy. 

The new routine in the family was chaotic! For him, not for her. In the mornings, the wife said good-bye  to her husband and kids, after she drank her coffee, brushed her teeth and put the red lipstick on. She had a smile on her face as she enjoyed working again.

The husband, now a full time dad, couldn't finish his breakfast or reading the newspaper  ( that his wife took to the office, by the way ) because he had to change the baby's nappy twice in less than half an hour and the eldest daughter, who just turned three, wanted just dada to be with her without the new little annoying baby brother.

He wore the same stained shirts and the same wrinkled jeans because washing and ironing were in the weekly schedule that her wife wrote specially for him but…he just didn't have time!!!!!

Her husband cooked reasonable dinners from the Gordon Ramsay cookbook " Cooking at home" that she bought for him as a "Thank you gift for accepting my silly idea. I love you". At least he tried, if the meals were tasty is a different matter, better than Jolly Bee or Burger King.

One night, when she came home from work she helped herself a glass of white wine and sat on the sofa to have a friendly chat with her husband about his day. He was very quiet though, he even looked pale, perhaps sick? Nope, he was ROOTED. " I want to go back to work", he confessed with desperation. She laughed feeling sorry for her husband who seemed to have lost a battle.

It was the battle about recognition of the work she used to do, a "real' job that sometimes people forget or don't value enough. 

She kept working until the end of the three months though but helped her husband at home with the kids, groceries and cleaning to make his life more enjoyable at least until the agreement was over. He even found time to do exercise because he started to organise his schedule better, although the jeans were finally ironed by her. 

On the other hand, he appreciated even more than before what his wife did at home for him and the children.

And they live happily ever after…The End.

This story ( a bit exaggerated on my behalf ) reminds me of the fantastic picture book The piggy book of Anthony Browne that I loved reading to Aurelia when she was around four. It is in her bookshelf covered by other school books, and probably with dust. I might give it a clean and read it again. To myself, actually, to remind me that life is about personal choices, good or bad, but yours and your family's.

After the interesting morning I had I came home thinking of what this mum told me ( we became friends after and had a cup of coffee!! ) and what it would happen if I did the same arrangement with nick…Who knows…tonight I just thank her for letting me using her family experience as the subject for this post. 

And tonight, I had a simple and light apple and pumpkin soup while Nick was in a work dinner. The jet lag is still making struggles in my evenings with a baby ready for party at midnight. So i am sure i will be hungry in a couple of hours, about 2 am. Good night!

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 tspn peeled and finely grated ginger
• 1 kig pumpkin, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
• 1 tbsp honey
• Pinch of cinnamon and ground cloves
• 1L vegetable broth or chicken stock
• salt and pepper and a bit of chilli oil, if you like spicy
• To serve: I had a toast with goat cheese

1. In a large pot over medium heat, add the oil and then when it is warm, fry the onion and ginger until oftener.
2. Add the pumpkin, the diced apple, honey, cinnamon, and ground cloves and cook for 1 minute. Add the broth or stock and season with salt and pepper.  simmer for 10 minutes or until soft ( I used my pressure cooker and it took me 7 minutes ).
3. Blend until smooth. Top with a few drops of chilli oil.

Buen provecho!