Tuesday, September 8, 2009

delicious

Gemma is taking her sweet time doing a lot of things, talking being one. She says daddy and she has a grunt that I know means the other kids and then there's the screech that means milk. Or food. Although lately that screech has begun to be accompanied with the sign for milk, so that's progress. She can also sign eat, more, cheese, banana, cracker, please and maybe a few others. It's actually quite adorable when her little fingers and fists communicate that she would like a banana, please. It will probably only be a matter of time before she realizes that I will give her whatever she asks for, so long as I can understand her. She will not even try to say Mommy. But I'm ok with that, because there's another word that she says that trumps it: delicious.

Have you been looking for something quick and tasty to eat? My lovely friend Celeste, who is the epitome of hip and awesome, posted a recipe recently that I've wanted to try. And try, I did. And will again, time and again. We ate it as a main dish and the 4+Gemma of us polished the whole thing off, with sides of fresh fruit and vegetables. I made it again for friends. That's twice in one week (about what Celeste recommends).

Another wonderful pasta dish I recently tried was from my lovely friend Amber. While you have a pound of pasta boiling, roughly chop 20 sun-dried tomatoes and saute them, along with 1/2 tsp of minced garlic and about 20 green olives in 1/2T of the oil from the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss it with the sauteed stuff. Sprinkle on some toasted pine nuts if you want. Or maybe some parmesan cheese. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. It's fantastic next to a steak.

Also superb: steak. I don't need to elaborate, do I? Never underestimate the power of steak+kosher salt+pepper+smokin hot cast iron skillet.

All of these things have made Gemma say, "Dish-iss!" She shoves whatever it is into her mouth, her eyes holding onto the smile that her lips can't as she chews. Granted, she's learned this from me - to put something in your mouth, savor it, and then say, "Mmmm, delicious!" But when she does it, it makes me feel like I've really accomplished something. Her head tilts back and with pursed lips she makes the, "Mmmm!" sound, before kind of giggling and quietly saying, "Dish-iss!" She can hold off on saying Mommy until she's two, for all I care, but in this I know we are on the same page. We love all things delicious.

2 comments:

Lisa said...

If I was your kid, that would be one of my first words as well. MmmmMMMMMmmmm :)

Why am I often hungry after reading your blog?

loewymartin said...

I'm with Lisa - I'm typically hungry after reading your blog too! And Gemma sure is her Mommmy's girl - delicious as one of her first words :) I knew that love of good food was genetic!