Ashley's clone

Yes, I'm so sad that my kids will be leaving in less than a year that I've started making duplicates.  Well, maybe not exactly.  I've been trying to do some sewing for Ashley but it's hard because she's never home to try anything on.  I've seen instructions for making duct tape dress forms before, but I finally decided to do it.  There were actually two reasons for this.  First, I really do need to try things on Ashley more often than she is home, and second I wanted her to learn how to do this so she could make a dress form for me.  I thought it was kind of a fun project, but then I was the one taping, not the one becoming ever more tightly encased in a duct tape straight jacket.  It was really pretty simple:  I taped strips of file folder together and taped it down her back (to protect her from scissors later), put an old t-shirt on her, and wrapped her in 3 layers of duct tape (short strips, to conform to the curves).  Two hours later I cut straight up the back, through the duct tape and t-shirt, and there was my Ashley double!  We still need to stuff it and decide how to mount it, but I can pretty much do the rest without her.  Now I have no more excuses, I better start sewing.

Random thoughts on our trip to Europe

During the second week of our vacation we stayed near Marbella, Spain. It’s a beautiful city on the Mediterranean, and a popular vacation destination for tourists from the UK. I can certainly understand why. I’m sure England is beautiful, I’ve never been there, but I associate it with the color gray. I like gray, but it makes me think of cloudy skies, drizzly rain, and cold damp air. Marbella on the other hand is white. Not stark white like a blank canvas, but the white of a whitewashed village, soft white linen, and fluffy clouds. It’s the kind of white that makes me think of a warm dry summer day. If I had to pick between the two I’d pick Marbella, and apparently a lot of English people feel the same way. Much of the hotel staff seemed to have moved to Marbella from Enland about 15 years ago. The area seemed to be a combination of the two cultures. Many signs were in Spanish and English, most people we talked to spoke English, and the grocery store we went to sold frozen Yorkshire puddings. I’m pretty sure that’s not a Spanish food!

The Spanish - English mix made me think a lot of California. We’ve got a similar situation, with two cultures trying to coexist. I wonder if the people of Spain feel threatened in any way by the encroachment of English language and culture. I wonder if the English immigrants feel welcome in their new home. I wonder if the children learn both languages in school. I realize there are also some huge differences between the two situations so they shouldn’t be compared too closely, but it certainly gives me something to think about.

The shrinking difference between cultures was apparent everywhere we went in Europe. We didn’t feel the need to buy any types of souvenirs (except for some soccer jerseys) because pretty much everything we saw in the stores there was identical to what we could buy at home. Ashley said even the street vendors were selling the exact same sunglasses and purses in Rome as they were in NYC (and in both places they disappeared almost instantly when the police showed up). We thought it was funny that the best Italian food we had on the trip was at a restaurant in Spain. I think when you combine cultures you generally end up with something better (my apologies to Naples, but I prefer American pizza), but I also think it’s important to find a way to preserve culture as well. I was really intrigued by something I learned in Morocco. While on a bus tour, the tour guide pointed out some new houses being built, and he said it was a requirement that each of those homes have one room built with traditional architecture and decor, all hand-crafted. They do that to preserve their culture, create jobs for local artisans, and ensure that a new generation is taught those traditional arts. Somewhere in there is a lesson to be learned.

Ashley's favorite Indian food

Chicken Tikka Masala

Serves 4 – 6

This dish is best when prepared with whole-milk yogurt (like Brown Cow brand), but low-fat yogurt can be substituted. For spicy dish, leave the ribs and seeds in the chili; for a mild dish, remove them. Serve with rice.

Chicken Tikka:

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground coriander

¼ teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper)

1 teaspoon salt

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons minced garlic

Masala Sauce:

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced fine (about 1 ¼ cup)

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 serrano chili, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

2 teaspoons sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup heavy cream

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

For the Chicken: Combine cumin, coriander, cayenne, and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with spice mixture, pressing gently so mixture adheres. Place chicken on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 – 60 minutes. In large bowl, whisk together yogurt, oil and garlic and set aside.

For the Sauce: Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until light golden, 8 – 10 minutes. Add garlic, chili, tomato paste, and garam masala; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, sugar and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cream and return to simmer. Remove pan from heat and cover to keep warm.

While the sauce simmers, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position (about 6 inches from heating element) and heat broiler. Using tongs, dip chicken into yogurt mixture (chicken should be coated with thick layer of yogurt) and arrange on wire rack set in foil-lined rimmed baking sheet or broiler pan. Discard excess yogurt mixture. Broil chicken until thickest parts register 160 degrees on instant-read thermometer and exterior is lightly charred in spots, 10 – 18 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through cooking.

Let the chicken rest 5 minutes, then cut into 1-inch chunks and stir into warm sauce (do not simmer chicken in the sauce). Stir in cilantro, adjust seasoning with salt, and serve.

Make ahead tips: The sauce can be made ahead of time and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 4 days. I would think it could be frozen as long as you don’t add the cream until after it’s defrosted and heated.

I had to look at 4 grocery stores before I found garam masala. Look for it in the McCormick spice section. I think I found it at Safeway. Not all stores carry whole milk yogurt either. I found it in the organic dairy section at Raley’s.

The original recipe, in Cook’s Illustrated magazine (Sept./Oct. 2007), calls for 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger in the yogurt mixture and 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger in the masala sauce (added with garlic and chili), but I really don’t like ginger in anything but cookies.