April 2011

Offline

by MomGrind

“But I can get you on your cell phone, right?” He asked. “Nope,” I said. “I won’t be accessible at all for five days.” “But what if I need you urgently?” He inquired. “Well, Amy will be at the office. I’m sure she’ll manage.”

Whether Hawaii, Napa or Lake Tahoe, these days, when I go on vacation, I make sure it’s a real vacation – none of that modern stuff of “I’m on vacation, but I have my iPhone with me, which is connected to my work email, and since I check my email compulsively every hour, and can’t help but answer emails once I’ve read them, I actually work while on vacation.”

Not that I don’t check my email compulsively. I do. (Still working on that one.) But not while on vacation.

The Internet is great. Every time I google something, I am in awe at the sheer amount of information that is now accessible to me. Back when I was a kid, getting a fraction of this information would have required a special trip to the library. Each time I use Google Translator to write a coherent letter to my elderly Dutch grandma (my Dutch is very basic), I am grateful to technology for helping me have better, more meaningful conversations with her.

Every time my kids use Skype to talk with their grandparents or video chat to stay in touch with friends when they can’t have a play date, each time I reconnect with someone from my past on Facebook, I am reminded of how awesome the Internet is.

But the Internet, Web 2.0, social media and the mobile Web have a dark side. They are fast and they are everywhere – and this is their strength, and how they drastically improve our lives. But this is also their weakness, and danger, and how they significantly lower our quality of life.

Many of us don’t ever disconnect anymore. We are always accessible, always there when someone needs to reach us. When emergency strikes, this is great, but in the vast majority of cases, by allowing ourselves to be so accessible, we are making ourselves vulnerable. We put up with constant interruption, constant stimuli. I don’t think this is goods for us. I think our brains are evolving far more slowly than technology. I think our brains need downtime.

The worst aspect of always being accessible is that we become accessible not just to family and friends, but also to random acquaintances, to marketers, to employers, and to clients.

I don’t know about you, but I do social media for a living, and it’s so very fast and demanding and constantly evolving, that if I didn’t take the occasional break from this intense connectivity, whether by simply going outside WITHOUT A PHONE, or by taking a few days’ break once in a while, I think my brain would explode!

So we spent five days in Hawaii’s Big Island last week (the collage above captures many of the experiences), blissfully disconnected. No Internet, no interruptions, just the four of us, amazing nature, great food, snorkeling, kayaking, swimming, and a very relaxing resort and spa.

Now that I’m rested, it’s good to be back.

Olive Oil Tasting In Barcelona, Grandma’s Onion Rolls, and a Giveaway!

by MomGrind

Onion rolls closeup

We stared at the row of olive oil bottles, a little perplexed. We were sitting at one of the best gourmet restaurants in the world, Charles Abellan’s Comerc 24 in Barcelona. We knew it was going to be an amazing experience – and it was, so much so that we returned the next day for lunch.

But olive oil tasting? We knew about wine tasting, of course, but we never tried olive oil tasting.

Needless to say, Abellan knew what he was doing. Each of the four oils had a distinct color, aroma and flavor. They were very different from each other, and the way they were arranged on the tray, leading us from the mildest to the strongest flavor, just like you would do when savoring a cheese platter, enhanced the experience.

In beautiful Barcelona, in the summer of 2008, we learned that olive oil is not an either/ or thing (either “extra virgin, imported from Italy” or “grocery store variety.”) Olive oil has a wide variety of flavors, even textures. Tasting it, using freshly baked, crusty bread, is just as pleasurable as tasting wine, if not more so!

Fast forward three years. When the nice folks at Di Palo Selects have recently offered to send me a bottle of their Lochitello Cerasuola olive oil, and explained that it’s a gourmet, extra virgin olive oil imported from Sicily, I couldn’t possibly refuse. The oil, they explained, “has an aroma of freshly cut grass with a finish of a fresh green tomato. It is fruity and fresh, with a very green olive flavor.”

I was intrigued!

Olive Oil

I’ve been using olive oil a lot lately. As part of my slow transformation from a diet heavy in refined carbs and saturated fats (lots of butter on those thick, crusty white bread slices) into a healthier diet, I’ve been using olive oil in everything, including baked goods. I actually discovered that using olive oil, in small quantities, in muffins and even in pancakes works very well. It definitely works in savory baked goods, including my famous pita bread, yeast breads, and savory quick breads.

The first thing we did when the Lochitello olive oil had arrived was to pour a little into a small bowl. We then used crusty homemade bread to taste it. With or without a little balsamic vinegar, we loved it. We turned this into a proper olive oil tasting by also pouring a little extra virgin olive oil of a different brand – the Whole Foods store brand – into another bowl, and comparing the two oils. They were both very good, but the flavors were decidedly different. The Whole Foods brand was heavy and had a strong, earthy flavor. The Lochitello olive oil was indeed light, “fruity and fresh.”

The Recipe

Of course, I had to make a recipe too! I made onion rolls, AKA Pletzlach (thank you Avital for reminding me of those!). My husband’s late grandma used to make them. The first time I visited his parents’ house, I discovered a small basket filled with these rolls, wrapped in plastic, nestled above the refrigerator. They were golden brown and innocent-looking, but as he opened the plastic bag for me (I asked for a taste, I’m not the shy type when it comes to foods that look promising), the amazing yeasty-oniony aroma enveloped me, promising intense pleasure. I bit into one, and as I experienced the doughy goodness of these little baked treasures, I knew I was going to marry him. ;)

The original recipe is here. I adapted it to use in my beloved bread machine. Here goes:

Onion Rolls Recipe

Makes 20 rolls

Ingredients
1 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large egg
4 cups bread flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4.5 teaspoons bread machine yeast, or 2 packets rapid rise yeast

1 medium onion, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions
1. Place first 7 ingredients into bread machine pan and select the dough cycle. When done, remove, cover with a clean towel and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile:
2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Place diced onion in a small bowl, and stir in poppy seeds and 2 teaspoons olive oil.
4. Divide dough into 20 balls, each weighing about 50 grams. On a floured board, roll each ball into a 1-inch thick circle.
5. Sprinkle a tablespoon of onion-poppy seed mixture on each circle, and gently roll to 1/8-inch thickness.
6. Prick each circle with a fork and sprinkle with some kosher salt.
7. Transfer to 2 ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
8. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Nutrition
This is for one roll, but you can’t stop at one!
Calories 137
Total Fat 3.8 g
Saturated Fat 0.6 g
Sodium 179.1 mg
Total Carbohydrate 22.4 g
Dietary Fiber 0.9 g
Sugars 2.6 g
Protein 3.1 g

The Giveaway

Di Palo Selects is generously offering to send one of my readers a bottle of Lochitello Cerasuola olive oil. If you’re a US resident over 18 and are interested, please email me – vered (at) momgrind.com. I’ll keep this open for entries until tonight at 8pm Pacific time, and will then use random.org to draw the winner. Good luck! –> Congrats to Patricia for winning!

Being a Mom: Love the Kids, Hate the Job?

by MomGrind

mom comforting childOr, more accurately – love the kids always, love the job most of the time, but often resent several aspects of the job:

1. Constant tiredness. Being a parent is extremely draining! At the end of each day, I am so tired – I never felt that tired before becoming a mom. And lest you think I’m a freak, let me share a story with you. My late grandmother Eve was an amazing person – warm and loving, much more so than I’ll ever be. She loved children and adored us, her grandchildren.

But whenever one of her three daughters called with the amazing news that she was pregnant, grandma would start crying. “Why are you crying, mom?” they would ask, assuming her tears were tears of joy. The reply? Those were NOT tears of joy, but tears of sorrow for her beloved daughter that will now face all the challenges and difficulties of motherhood.

2. Guilt and self-doubt. I know I’m a good mom. But like most moms, I often feel guilty about small, daily things (“I was so busy, I hardly talked to my kids today!) and also about big life decisions, such as choosing to have a career. A real-life friend recently told me, over brunch, that she’s one of those rare moms who do not experience guilt – at all. She works hard, and she knows she does what’s best for her, for her family and for her kids. I always respected this woman, but now I respect her even more. Guilt is such a huge waste of time and energy. I still can’t help feeling it, almost daily.

3. Stress. Relates to the guilt – kids have the ability to give us so much pleasure, but also cause so much stress and angst. Whether dealing with temper tantrums, the inherent ungratefulness of kids, or the famous motherly guilt, sometimes I think kids add to one’s life equal amounts of stress and pleasure. I remember reading an article, years ago, where scientists tried to measure happiness. I can’t remember everything the article said, but one thing that stuck with me was the claim that while having children changes a person’s life, it does not necessarily make them happier.

4. Worry. I worry a lot about my kids. I believe all moms worry to some extent, but of course those of us who tend to worry in general, worry even more. I worry about their health, about their social success at school, about their future. I worry about my own relationship with them and the many ways it will change as they grow. I worry a lot. :)

5. Pressure. There’s a lot of pressure on moms these days, and a lot of it comes from other moms, which is quite unfortunate. As long as we’re normal (not talking about cases of neglect or abuse of course), we’re all doing our best, and for the most part, at least from what I see around me, we’re doing a darn good job. But there’s so much pressure, so much criticism. Whatever choices you make as a mom (breastfeed or not, stay home or not, play with your kids or let them be, keep their diets “perfect” or allow them regular access to treats) – whatever you do, SOMEONE is going to think you’re a terrible mom and criticize you, openly or behind your back. Usually, it will be another mom.

Having said all of the above, I do love being a mom, and would not make different choices if I were given the chance. I will list the positive sides of parenting (as I see them) next week, so all you Mothering Police folks can relax.

In the photo: September 2005. Comforting my then 4-years-old daughter.