One of the pleasures of living in wine country is the easy access to all things grape and wine related.  Harvest has ended early this year, but we made it to a winery in time to see the production process in full swing.  Although Monkey is too young to drink wine, she has certainly seen her parents drink enough of it to recognize the special glasses when they appear on the table and request a sip on occasion.  Showing her the grape sorting and crushing and fermenting process was a great deal of fun, and at this stage of the game it’s all still grape juice – perfect for sampling.   If you’re lucky enough to bring home some juice from a visit to a winery, try this recipe for sorbet:

Grape Juice Sorbet

3 cups of grape juice

1 cup sugar , divided into quarter cups

Dissolve the sugar into the grape juice, a quarter of a cup at a time, adding only enough sugar until it tastes good to you.  Place the mixture in the refrigerator until it is very cool, at least 4 hours.  Freeze in an ice cream maker, according to the manufacturers instructions.  Store in freezer in popsicle molds or freezer-proof container.

We were a bit nervous about trying something new, especially since we’ve been bombarded with “no!”s when new food appears on the table.  (We’re working on “no, thank you,” too.)  Maybe the stars were aligned this day, but Monkey ate clam chowder with gusto.  Of course, we were in clam chowder country, up in the Northwest, where every bowl is better than the last one.  It’s not something I’ve attempted at home, and canned clam chowders are often not very tasty.  What a thrill when Monkey moved her dad out of the way and gulped the rest of his soup.  Maybe that’s the trick – just have her taste our food, but order her favorites when we’re out at restaurants.

I’ve gotten so used to a turned up nose that sometimes it feels like the norm.  Gratefully, I’m discovering that it’s not all about the food.  I’ve been killing myself to deliver VARIETY when in reality I think my monkey would be happier with the standards and a better presentation.  To that end, I’m experimenting more with colors on the plate and, since she is a girl, accessories.  By accessories, I mean straws, fun utensils, placemats and plates – anything to make eating together more about the dining experience and less about “please, PUH-lease take two bites of the soup, and then you can have the clementine.”   One of my friends calls it distraction.  A rose by any other name, I say.  I’m all for peaceful meals, and for me that means less on the floor, less waste and less whining.  In the meantime, I’ve invested in some crazy straws.  I’m channeling my own craziness out of the meal prep and into the straws.  It seems to be working.

Tomato season is drawing to an end, so we didn’t want to waste an opportunity to have some fun with tomatoes from our garden.  Monkey was delighted to create this smiley face, with some help from me.  We also made other faces before slicing them up and eating them in a salad.

Sometimes, the whining is just too much and I give in.  These are baked cheese crisp things.  Who knows?  It’s seems so futile some days to fight the good fight.  All the other kids seem to be eating them and Monkey just wanted them so badly.  I’ve dubbed them cheesy-oaty puffs after a great line from the kids’ picture book, Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney.

Ah well, by the next day she was no longer interested.

We’ve been reading the fantastic book Zen Ties by John J. Muth a lot recently.  Since it’s fall, it’s a happy coincidence that this book features apples.  I decided to have a little apple tea party with Monkey by having her help me make an apple galette, and serving apple tea.  We shared a wonderful afternoon, first admiring and selecting apples in the store and then preparing this freeform pie.  We purchased the tea, which was too spicy for us.  The pie turned out beautifully.  Here’s the recipe:

Apple Pie

Crust Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup very cold water (+ more if needed)

Apple Filling Ingredients

• 2 mediums-sized baking apples such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored and sliced very thin
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 teaspoons apricot preserves
• Vegetable oil spray

Instructions

1. Combine the flours, sugar and salt with a whisk in a large mixing bowl.  Add in the shortening in small chunks, cutting them into the flour mixture with each addition until the dough reaches a crumbly stage.
2. Mix the vinegar with the cold water together and then, using a fork, add it to the flour mixture in a couple of batches.  If needed add up more cold water until the dough holds sticks together uniformly.
3. Knead the dough on a floured surface a couple of times, then shape it into a ball and flatten into a disc as if making pizza dough.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 425.
5. Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
6. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
7. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.  You may roll out the dough into one large galette.  The dough should be not be any thicker than 1/4″.
8. Place the dough on the baking sheet, and spread the apricot preserves on the crust.  Then arrange the apple slices in overlapping circles, working from the outside in, leaving a 3/4″ border around the edge.  Sprinkle the apples with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
9. Fold the extra dough around the edges up and around the apples, overlapping the dough to create a rustic event.
10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the edges of the crust are golden.

Make sure you let the galette cool down before eating.  Serve with your choice of ice cream.

Our sparkling water bills have been skyrocketing ever since Monkey caught the bug from her father.  We have friends who have invested in some of the various systems out there, so we undertook a highly unscientific taste test and study of whether we find a home carbonator system palatable.

In this tasting, we put Crystal Geyser, Lauretana and some home-brewed sparkling using the very portable iSi system to the test.  The big surprise was that each water could be enjoyed, and while we had grown accustomed to the big bubbles of the big brands like Crystal Geyser and San Pelligrino, the iSi delivered very nice quality, delicate sparkling. We were convinced that this could be done at home.

We were initially attracted to the iSi (pictured above) with its handsome good looks, the fact that you simply add one cartridge to the canister, pump it, and you’re done.  There is no appliance to set out on the counter and my friends were able to carry their system to our house.  A quick check on the Web confirmed that the price was right, too.  We weren’t completely sold, however, since we’d learned to prefer a really powerful carbonated water and with the iSi, your choice is one cartridge or two.  There is no ability to customize the water, if you will.

Soon thereafter we were able to see The Penguin demonstrated at another friend’s place.  The Penguin does require a ‘machine’ to house one huge container of CO2- another something to set out on your counter.  However, the advantage of this system is that you get to control the amount of CO2 going into your carafe.  The Penguin comes with attractive glass carafes.  The initial investment is more steep than the iSi, but at this point it gets difficult to do a true cost comparison, because it depends on how much CO2 per liter you add to each bottle.  We were sold, though.  Not only is our daughter occasionally picky, but her father can be a stickler about what he drinks.  We decided on The Penguin.

The good news is that when we went online, we learned the manufacturer of The Penguin, Sodastream, has a more lightweight and less expensive model called The Fountain Jet.  We were familiar with the system, so we purchased a starter kit and have been delighted with the results.  We do require more CO2 than is demonstrated or recommended in the company’s promotional materials, so we are probably not saving as much money as suggested elsewhere, but we have already made our investment back.  The system is extremely popular, though, so our only complaint was the initial wait while the company worked through its backlog.  It’s been two months and we’re still using our first CO2 cartridge.  Our daughter loves her sparkling water (has to have it before bed every night) and the rest of us are drinking more water.

What better way to encourage healthy eating than by staring at this wall of beautiful apples on display at this weekend’s Harvest Fair.  Naturally, there were samples of the various types of apples – and, naturally, we tried them all.

I maintain that food should be fun.  In that spirit we checked out all of the animal barns – dairy, draft horses, rabbits, llamas, and the pygmy goats (one year old contest pictured above).  We also watched the clown show (2x!) and a grape stomping competition.  The downside of the grape stomping is that I now have to convince my daughter not to do that at home.

At the end of the day, after the rides and the treats and the clowns, what was Monkey’s favorite part?  The pumpkins – you betcha!

Once you know what your kid will eat, this machine is a life saver.  I can’t rave enough about how much time this thing saves me.  We have a freezer and we’re not afraid to use it – for everything.  Make life simpler for yourself:  batch process and then freeze, freeze, freeze.  (BTW, I know we have horrible 70′s counters.  I think that they’ll be in style again in about 20 more years.)

Part of the whole “dial down the picky eater-ness” philosophy is to connect kids with where their food is made.  On a road trip this summer, we were delighted to spend some time at the Rogue Creamery in Central Point, OR.  It’s not a huge shop – but it has all the essentials.  There is a large glass window into the cheese-making area, a sampling area along with some cheese paraphernalia, and a couple of deli counters with bricks and logs and wheels of some very divine cheese.

Monkey especially liked sampling.  To her credit, for a 2 year old, she did watch the video about the cheese-making process and seemed to get that it would be an excruciating wait before the milk that was being hauled in at that moment would be available in a cheese form.  She was also mildly disappointed that there wasn’t any goat cheese – her favorite.  Nevertheless, the kind people behind the counter gave her tastes of some exceptional cheeses like the Rogue River Blue and the Oregonzola (how many toddlers like blue cheeses?).  I think they converted her by the time we left.

P.S.  If you go, there is a chocolate store next door called Lillie Belle Farms that serves up heaven in little chocolate squares.  Save time to visit both places.