I've moved...thanks to my amazing man!

So my blog has moved to a new site http://www.lifefromsimplyme.com/.  I originally tried to blog without bugging my husband since he tends to have a never ending list of technological problems to solve.  However, when I finally started to share that I was blogging he took one look at the blog and said, "oh babe, we need to do something here so you can succeed."  So...I now have a gorgeous new blog.  Please visit me there!

Frog catchin'....or sometimes life really does come full circle

I was never really a girlie-girl.  I had stuffed animals and not dolls, I loved blue-green and not pink, and a day of play for me was a day outside, not with barbie.  Before the age where boys were gross I had several childhood friends with whom I would go frog-catching, snake catching...or sometimes even bird and small animal catching.  For my 10th birthday I asked for wading boots so that I could get in the swamp near our house with the boys.  Up until that point I had been stuck on the shore holding the bucket.  I had a large aquarium in the backyard that held the frog colony and several 10 gallon buckets with the snake collection.  I got the boots I asked for, they were black rubber waders with the letters "HS" on the side of them.  When I opened my presents and tried them on my grandma quipped that those must be my "high society boots".  We grew up, the boys got more into sports and I into art and our worlds grew appart.

A little while ago Ahlem started asking me about frogs.  I realized her interested came from a different angle: she had read a lot of books about princesses kissing frogs and she was intrigued.  When we became Ahlem's  legal guardians 2 years ago I fastened my seatbelt for a wild ride.  We hadn't even had our first anniversary yet; suddenly I was mothering a 4 year old.  And this 4 year old knew what she wanted in life.  I just watched an interview with the Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook.  She stated that instead of correcting our daughters for having a strong opinion and telling them they're being too bossy we should affirm that they have "executive leadership skills."  I nearly died laughing, Ahlem is off-the-charts in her executive prowess and I expect great things from her.  She wants pink, she wants her tiara, and she IS the princess.  I walk along side Ahlem as she tries to work through what happened with her birth mother.  Sometimes the brokenness of that relationship affects the way she reacts to me; it is one of those things that is hard at the center of your being.  I feel caught in the in-between of loving her so much and being thrilled that she's in our family to being absolutely broken hearted for her that she couldn't have a happily-every-after with her birth mom.  She is such a brave girl; it hurts to watch her struggle.  I saw this sudden interest in frogs as a much needed connection point after a difficult mothering week, "Do you know when I was little I used to catch frogs?"  "REALLY MOM??? Can we catch some?? Please???"  The frog hunt was on.

So we donned our rubber boots, thankfully rubber boots are now a lot cuter than my old high society pair.  We were both wearing dresses...as you do to catch frogs.  We set out with a small jar in hand and girlie's hopes running high.  The one place I knew we could find frogs was a swanky golf course in our area...the water hazards...and so off we went.  The water hazard was near the tee off for hole 2...um..yeah...we got some looks and honestly we were a sight to be seen.  Wading into water that I don't even want to think about I realized that this was going to be a bit more challenging than I anticipated because Tunisian frogs are BIG...nothing like the little tree frogs I used to catch at home and they're also FAST.  I was feeling that my old skills were long gone and I was also feeling a little like the scene out of Duck Dynasty when the rednecks sneak onto a golf course to catch bull frogs...as people in preppy shirts drove by on their golf carts. We tried everything, we tried sitting still, Ahlem tried singing to the frogs, but they were always just out of reach.  Then we found it, a shallow area with a group of tiny baby frogs and like a flash I scooped them into the jar.  Apparently I haven't lost my touch.  We are now the proud owners of two tiny frogs, "John and Bridget"...don't ask me.  Now what have I gotten myself into?  The princess asked for the frogs to sleep in her room tonight, I just hope she doesn't try to kiss one.  Sometimes I just have to say thank you for a beautiful parenting moment of love, connection, and enjoying the world together.

Fresh Salsa

We can start this post with a little ode to Mexican food: "Mexican food, YUM!".  Mexican food was one of the first things I had to figure out how to make from scratch here in Tunisia.  I'm from the West Coast of the USA and we eat Mexican food a lot (or at least our American version of it...although during my time in Los Angeles I hope I got something close to the real thing).  This recipe is for fresh salsa.  It's super easy to make!  Here's how it goes:

You need a simple list of fresh ingredients: coriander (cilantro), onions, garlic, lemons (if I were in the US I would be using limes but we don't have them in Tunisia...do lemons get the job done, definitely), a hot pepper or two and 2 cans of tomatoes. 

Here are the spices you'll be needing: a few of your garlic cloves, some salt, paprika, and cumin.  At this point in the photo shoot I was hijacked by a future food stylist: 6 year old girlie suddenly put her riff on this picture.

"Now Mom it looks totally gorgeous!".  White walrus stuffed animal couple plugging salsa recipe, why didn't I think of that??

Now around our house we like our salsa on the hot side, so I tend to just chuck the hot pepper in the food processor.  If you don't like spicy you could seed the pepper (carefully protecting your hands by holding the pepper with plastic wrap) or you could just throw in a wee bit of the pepper, it's up to you.

Blend, blend, blend.

Adding the 2 cans of tomatoes, spices, lemon juice.

Voila! This is going to be really yummy on our taco salads tonight!

Walrus couple forms circle of love around salsa, but don't take their word for it, try it!

Here's the recipe:

Fresh Salsa

1 bunch cilantro (coriander)

2-3 garlic cloves

1 onion

1-2 hot peppers

1 lemon juiced (or lime if you're in the West).

2 cans of tomatoes

1 t cumin

1 t paprika

1/2 t salt

1. Wash all your veg.  Put cilantro, garlic cloves, onion and hot pepper (as much as you desire for mild or spicy salsa) in food processor.  Pulse for 1-2 minutes until everything is finely chopped.  Add the canned tomato, lemon juice, and spices.  Pulse again for 1 minute until everything is well blended.   Serve up!

A note on coriander in Tunisia: I love cooking with coriander (cilantro if you're American...if you need to find it in the market in Tunis you'll be looking for the French "coriandre"). Unfortunately it is definitely not one of staple items that you can find in the market everywhere.  You can find it though, places I buy coriander are Carrefour, the La Marsa market, the central market in Tunis, the market near Bab El Khadre in Tunis, and sometimes Monoprix.  It's not something I can find 100 percent of the time, usually the fresh outdoor markets such as the central market and Bab el Khadre are more likely to have it than the grocery stores.  So, I don't plan an important dinner around it...but if I do run into it guarantee we'll be making fresh salsa or Indian food in the next 2 days :).  

Fabric nerd session

So over the past year and a half I took up sewing again...in a massive way.  I sew nearly every day that I get a few free minutes.  I've loved fabrics since I was...actually according to my mom since I was a baby but since that's not my own conscious memory I'll spare you that story.  Anyway, I've re-learned sewing from a few amazing sewing blogs; one of my favorites is by the talented Rachel at Stitched in Color. I took an online class about hand-stitching from Rachel this winter which was super helpful and I loved all the projects we did, I would highly recommend her classes if you're interested in sewing.   Rachel is hosting a contest about warm and cool fabric choices to be "bundled" by one of her fabric shop sponsors.  I had to enter, I am kind of obsessed with warm and cool contrasts and always have been.  As a water color painter using warm and cool was my favorite way of capturing light.  Plus, this fabric mosaic was supposed to feature turquoise which is my "signature color"...yes, most little girls like pink but I've always been in love with anything aqua/turquoise, I'm kind of like a raccoon with shiny objects if something is that color.  So, here's what I've got for my fabric mosaic...we were limited to 12 choices.

Please check out Rachel's blog if you're into fabric creating and if you feel like it, show a little love and vote for me :).  

Strawberry ricotta pizza with reduced balsamic and basil

So I decided to make cooking a regular feature on this blog: more specifically I decided to share recipes that we've come to know and love as a family which can be made in Tunisia.  The deal is that I've heard a ton of stress coming from some of my friends and acquaintances who are new here to Tunisia and from abroad: it is like they are suddenly thrown into the cooking deep-end with no warning or preparation.  To make matters worse, when you google something like "chocolate cake recipes" it seems that the vast majority liste "chocolate cake mix" in the ingredient list.   In Tunisia produce is seasonal and there is almost nothing pre-fab.  Now, this is stressful for us Americans initially but in the end think of it as joining the slow-foods movement stress-free.  You don't have to fight against the current of junkfood, out-of-season forced food, or chain fastfood.  That said, it certainly does increase the time spent at the market or in the kitchen.  Personally, it's not a change I'm sad about.  I once heard a foreigner say that Tunisia was for the rest of her life her "Arab mother" and in many ways I totally agree.  Cooking something my time in Tunisia has taught me.  It will forever now be an interest and hobby to enjoy fresh and creative foods.  So, know that if I share a recipe on this site and you happen to be reading this in Tunisia you will find nothing on the ingredient list that you will see and say "dang, we can't get that here."  If you're joining us from elsewhere of course you will be able to make this, but might I add "neener neener neener...our produce is fresher than yours."  Sorry, just had to gloat for a wee second.  So without further delay, today we enjoyed a strawberry ricotta pizza with reduced balsamic and fresh basil.  Please, please, please stay with me.  Do not freak out about the idea of fruit on pizza...just try this once with me (or try it later on in the season with peaches or nectarines) and you really, really won't be sorry.

Here's a photo representation of what you need (if you're in Tunis that is) minus the basil and random cheese:

The recipe:
Strawberry Ricotta Pizza with Reduced Balsamic and Basil

For the dough: tried and true pizza dough without stress
1 2/3 cup warm water
2 t sugar or honey
1 pack yeast
2 t salt
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 T olive oil

1.  In a small bowl put the warm water, sugar, and yeast...mix them together and then let them sit for about 5 minutes until the mixture is a bit foamy.
2.  In a large bowl mix the flours and the salt.  Note here, you can play with the mix of whole wheat and white flours.  This is a mixture I like, sometimes I use all whole wheat but the texture of the pizza crust isn't quite as good.  Of course you can use all white if you want to.
3.  Mix in the water yeast mixture, now add the olive oil.  Start mixing this with your hands.  You may need to add a bit more flour or a bit more olive oil until you get a nice dough consistency.  This is where most dough recipes would tell you to knead the dough for 10 minutes, I find this isn't necessary. Try to need it for a few minutes until you feel the dough is holding together but beyond that, don't bother.
4.  Cover your dough with plastic wrap or a cloth and let sit.  Ideally you're planning dinner a bit ahead of time and so you can let it sit for 1 hour...on the fly you can cook it right away or even after sitting for 15-20 minutes, of course it's better with the rise time.  Also, supposed to rise in a warm place...see cooking in Tunisia is easy.

The pizza topping:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup mixed grated cheeses: I used fresh mozzarella, gruyere, and a smoked cheese.  This is a good way to use up various cheese in your fridge.  PLEASE NOTE: the pre-grated cheese you buy in Tunisia is...well...I'm not sure it's real cheese and it certainly doesn't melt.  If you don't actually have a block of real cheese to grate better to stick to the ricotta and call it good.  The pizza will only be as good as its cheese.
20 strawberries
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
a few leaves of fresh basil

note: this is enough topping for about two 12 inch pizzas...the dough makes enough dough for 3.  If you're like me the 3rd pizza has tomato sauce and plain cheese on it because there is no way that kiddo is going to try something like this.

1.  After letting dough rise divide it into 3 portions.  Preheat your oven to 400 F or 220 C (oven quality and cook time will vary, please monitor cook time the first time you bake pizzas).
2.  On a sheet of parchment roll out one section of pizza dough very thin till it's about 1/8-1/4 inch thick and 12 inches circumference.
3.  Mix your cheese together and spread 1/2 of the mixture over the dough.  Wash and slice your strawberries and place all over the pizza about 1 inch apart.
4.  Bake for 10-15 minutes until you see the cheese and crust are brown.
5.  In the final 2 minutes of bake time, place the balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan on the stove on medium high heat and begin to cook...about 3-5 minutes until the vinegar reduces (becomes slightly thick).  Please watch your vinegar closely and whisk it around as it goes from runny to reduced to burnt in a matter of 30 seconds.  Remove from heat.
6.  Take your pizza out of the oven.  Drizzle with the reduced vinegar.
7.  Take a few fresh basil leaves, mince them and sprinkle them on top.  Voila!  You're a gourmet!

Victory over the pigeon...aka I was rescued by a woman stronger than myself

So yesterday I had the problem of the pigeon body staring at me from my fridge.  I really thought I was going to have to man-up and gut the pigeon, not looking forward to it because I'm a bit weak in the stomach.  And then this morning inspiration struck...oh yes...Thursday mornings are when our amazing house cleaner Kalthoum is with us.  Kalthoum is a country girl and heart and she LOVES cooking...could it be I was rescued?  Kalthoum arrived and with her usual chipper demeanor asked, "So, what should we cook today?" "Well"...I hesitated..."Do you know what to do with this?" "OOOOOoooooh...pigeon!!!"  She was thrilled, you see Kalthoum really looks out for our daughter Ahlem and she likes to do things that she considers spoiling her.  "I can make the most delicious stuff for Ahlem with this..I can roast it, grill it, or fry it...or make a pasta sauce."  The list just kept getting longer of things you can do with a pigeon.  My rescue had arrived, I was not going to have to gut the pigeon.  

Until this morning I had somehow forgotten one of the keys to successful cross-cultural living which is this: when in doubt, ask for help.  People are more than willing to show you how to do things their way.  In my experience, living cross-culturally is an act of becoming like a child again; it takes humility and letting go to really do it well.  I remember during my initial time in Tunisia one of my friends said, "Learning a new language is like re-learning the whole universe!"  And it is, really.  And it's also relearning how the universe works; cultures exist because we need constructs and rules with which to order our world.  Stepping out of my own construct and coming to another I have to make a choice: will I become an enfant in this culture to learn again or will I exist here but keep operating with my old construct.  I feel like in my case I still move in and out of taking on the humility necessary to do things a new way or just barricading myself in with my own rights.  The beautiful part is seeing myself grow up into a new kind of person, a person who takes on some of both and is forever changed. Anyway, so for today I had to become like a child and let another adult cut up my meat for me.  I'm really glad I did because not only did I learn what to do with a pigeon (if you fry it like we did you need lemon, cumin, garlic and salt to make it tasty), I also got this reaction when little girlie got home from school.

Pigeon...it's what's for dinner

I have a small problem in my fridge.  For the past 24 hours every time I open the fridge door I startle when I see its small body.  I have a dead pigeon in the fridge, and it's what's for dinner.  I think it will be for dinner tomorrow because I didn't have the emotional strength to face it today.  Mike offered to help by looking up instructions on how to clean a pigeon on youtube but he was unwilling to deal with the practicalities of cleavering the pigeon in half and taking out it's pigeon guts. This task will be left to me. So here is how I ended up with the pigeon.

About 9 months ago we bought a lab puppy from a jolly farmer in the countryside surrounding the capital city.  Actually Mike thought he had found his Tunisian BFF because this guy had a dream shop/workspace area and a Toyota 4x4...and he had guns, which is a rare thing in Tunisia.  It turns out that our rolly polly lab pup was rolly polly because our farmer friend hunts wild boars and fed the meat to the pups.  She hit hard times when she came to our house.  Anyway, we have been wanting to go back and visit him on the farm every since so yesterday we jumped in the car and went for a drive.

We had so much fun seeing his family again and all the animals: geese, turkey, and multiple breeds of dogs.  As we were sitting there sipping mint tea one of his farm hands ran up, grabbed a rifle, and ran out.  Ahlem yelled, "Mom!  Is he going to kill someone?"  No...they all laughed, he likes shooting birds.  So sure enough, about 10 minutes later shots were fired and then he came running back in with a dead pigeon.  Ahlem's face grimaced, "Is he dead?"  "Yes." Our farmer friend chuckled as he whisked the bird away.  The problem was Ahelm couldn't leave it alone.  Intrigued by the life and death scene that just played out before her eyes, she kept going and touching the bird.  Finally she said, "I'd like to hold it" and so she picked it up...and then it's head flopped over and she screamed and dropped the bird to the ground.  So our farmer friend decided it was time to teach her the facts of life...he took her by the hand and started plucking the pigeon...in 5 minutes time we had a naked pigeon and a girl with a handful of feathers which she was thrilled about.  Then he proceeded to decapitate the pigeon in front of her...which again to my shock and amazement she watched and asked practical questions about it.  He then wrapped it in plastic wrap and handed it to her.  As we drove home from the farm the plastic-wrapped bird with the bloody stump from the head was in her lap, her prized possession   He told her how to flavor it with spices and she is insisting that she do this herself. This is after mommy gets the courage to cleave the pigeon and clean it....so this is my problem as it stands.  My 6 year old can handle the realities of meat-eating better than I can.  And this goes into the category of "you never know what you will experience today."  All I can remember when looking at the small pink thing in our fridge is my friend saying "Pigeons are just rats with wings."  Yum.