A Mid-Winter's Brunch

The weather outside our apartment (notice the slightly cheesy Picasso sculpture--it's actually real.)

New York City winters can be brutal for families with young children. What do you do with two active kids on the weekends, when it is too cold and icy to play at the playground or even in front of our building? Most Manhattan families cope by arranging play-dates, attending cultural institutions including The Museum of Natural History or the knights and armor section of the Metropolitan Museum (but how many times can you look at dinosaur bones and medieval swords?) and going to the never-ending stream of enrichment classes--swimming, soccer, Mandarin, fencing, Spanish, tumbling, chess...the list goes on. Which of course results in smart, educated, cultured children (or so we want to believe), but also in families that spend all their spare money and time running rushing from place to place, and ultimately up feeling utterly exhausted by Sunday night. I try to keep things balanced, to limit the classes and allow for a little downtime in our lives, even boredom. I want our family to know what it means to relax, chill out, and just hang out home--even if it means watching TV together. This matters to me.

Clockwise from the top: Kimberly, Steve, Sue and Ward discussing the intricacies of pitching comic strips to the New Yorker Magazine.

I've also found hosting Sunday brunch a lovely way to pass the time. Less expensive than a dinner party--breakfast foods are always cheap and people tend to forgo alcohol or drink sparingly (which can be a big money-saver)--and more kick-back than a day at the Met, Sunday gatherings are a time when the kids can run around and the adults can sit at the table and catch up, read the paper and mind our children in a communal setting. I like the idea of creating a non-hectic space in our home for us to enjoy with our friends.

Last weekend we had Kimberly and her daughter Chloe ( age 1), Ward Suttton, a comic strip artist and Sue, his wife and business partner, and their children Yineth (6) and Octavio (2) over. New friends, Ward and Sue and Steve and I met because Sydney and Yineth are in the same K/1 class at PS3. After volunteering to help chaperon the children's bi-weekly swimming class, Ward and I got to be friends...and then, like everyone else in New York, it took us 3 months of emailing to finally get together.

Ward told us some hilarious stories about pitching the New Yorker magazine. His political cartoons are exceptional. Check them out here.

The kids frolic around the apartment.

Since Kimberly is a vegetarian who doesn't eat eggs (but loves her some cheese!), I decided to create a vegan menu with a vaguely Mexican theme--a simple guacamole with sweet white onions, piquant jalapenos, a bit of cilantro, a splash of lime and a sprinkling of salt, refried beans, whole wheat tortillas and a big tofu scramble. Then, feeling rather lazy, I simply opened up a jar of Trader Joe's Double Roasted Salsa for the table, and Ward and Sue brought bread and fruit to round out the meal. For drinks, I served up OJ and coffee, but if you wanted to, bloody mary's or a bit of prosecco would be a nice addition to any winter's brunch.

Menu

Guacamole and chips

Refried Beans

Tofu Scramble

Whole-wheat Tortillas

French baguette

Fresh cut-up fruit for kid-style snacking

Sebastien and Yineth with their swords and armor--way better than the Met.

Guacamole Recipe
I always seem to make my guacamole differently, depending on the season, the guests and what I have on-hand. Given that this recipe was created for a winter brunch, I skipped on the tomatoes (out of season) and went light on the jalapenos (in case Ward and Sue were sensitive to heat).

2 avocados, skin and seeds removed
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped without the seeds or internal membrane
1/2 white onion, chopped finely and rinsed under cold water (this removes some of the onion flavor that can "repeat" on guests)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 lime, juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Mix all ingredients together with a fork, leaving it slightly chunky.

Refried Beans
Ideally, I make refried beans from dried pintos that I cook in a broth of garlic, onions and cumin, over the course of many hours, and later imbibe with a shot of tequila for a killer flavor. When I haven't thought ahead, I open a can of pinto beans and call it a day. Here is the easiest refried beans recipe I can think of.

1 tablespoon canola oil (or olive, like me, that's all you stock)
1/2 white onion chopped finely
1 teaspoon ground cumin (I usually have whole seeds that I crush with a morter and pestle before adding. Mmmm fragrant!)
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 can pinto beans (Goya is a good brand), drained and rinsed
1/4 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a heavy pan (I use my biggest iron frying pan) on high and add onion and cumin. Sautee for a few minutes, then add garlic. About 30 seconds after, add the can of beans and the water. Let it all sit for a minute, then smash it up with a fork or potato smasher until it is creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm. (For a truly decadent dish, add crumbled bacon to the top.)

Chloe and Kimberly lounging on the (mostly likely dirty) floor.

Tofu Scramble

1 tablespoon canola or olive oil (or whatever fat you have on-hand)
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound tofu, cut into 1" squares
2 carrots, grated
1/2 bag cleaned spinach
Salt and pepper
2-3 tablespoons jarred salsa (like Trader Joe's Double Roasted Salsa)--optional
2 tablesoons cilantro, chopped--optional

Heat oil in a cast iron pan, or equivalent. Once hot, add onion. Saute 2 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, and heat for 1 minute, then add tofu. Let the tofu fry for a few minutes, then flip using a metal spatula. Add carrots and cook for 2 minutes. Then add spinach until wilted. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and top with salsa and cilantro, if using.

Stephen and Sebastien's during a post-brunch nap.

Beef Stew with Root Vegetables and Fresh Herbs

It's been a rough week--Steve has been working almost every night and I am in the middle of a rather boring and tedious copy-writing assignment, plus Sebastien spent Tuesday night projectile vomiting every hour or so. It's amazing how a three year old wouldn't think to barf in the toilet or a bowl like the rest of us, but rather just every place but--like my bed, on the carpet, in the hallway, his own bed, on his carpet, on the couch, etc. I literally slept next to him with a large aluminum bowl in one hand and a towel in the other, waiting for the tell-tale signs of retching. I was thrown-up on twice.

But that is all behind me now. Friday is a day I always look forward to. I get to go grocery shopping and then I volunteer for lunch duty at Sydney's school--which is always rewarding. On my trip to Trader Joe's this morning, I found some organic stew meat and a package of pre-cut root vegetables including butternut squash, sweet potato and rutabaga. Next to the bags of prepackaged vegetables, was some prepackaged sage, which somehow called to me, so I threw it into my cart, feeling slightly guilty about the amount land-fill I was about to produce. (I felt even guiltier about not going to the farmer's market, which is only 2 blocks away, but I digress; at least I brought my own reusable bags.)

Once home, groceries delivered, kids picked up from school, I started thinking about dinner. I had taken some duck legs out of the freezer early in the morning, but they were still half -frozen, so I would save those for Saturday, when we had guests coming anyways. Perhaps chicken curry would be nice, but then I would have to cook something else for the kids and I hate making two different dinners.

Then I remembered I had recently read a recipe for beef stew that didn't require browning the meat first. Normally, I would be skeptical of this sort of short-cut, but it was from Jamie Oliver who rarely disappoints. In addition, I had a half bottle of French red wine in the fridge that was a few days old--and the stew would be a great way to use it up.

I simply switched up the recipe to accommodate my Trader Joe's loot and the dish was thrown together in mere minutes, even with Sebastien "helping" me. Feel free to use whatever root vegetables you have on hand in this recipe--carrots would be an obvious choice to add, or even Jerusalem artichokes. Your children will love this.

Beef Stew with Root Vegetables and Fresh Herbs
(Adapted from Jamie Oliver)

Ingredients
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
a handful of fresh sage leaves
1.5 pounds beef stew
salt and pepper
2-3 tblsp white flour, for dusting
1 package peeled and cut root vegetables (or 3 cups butternut squash, sweet potatoes, parsnips etc.)
6 small yukon gold potatoes, cut in half
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ a bottle of red wine (I used a bottle of V-Rac Cotes Du Rhones)
1 cup beef stock

zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
a handful of rosemary, leaves picked
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.

Heat olive oil and butter in a large dutch oven on the stovetop over medium heat. Once butter has melted, but not browned, add the chopped onion and sage leaves. Cook about 5 minutes. While onions and sage are cooking, sprinkle the meat with flour, salt and pepper, then add it to the pot, along with vegetables, tomato paste, red wine and beef stock. Bring everything to a boil and then place in the oven for 3-4 hours.

Combine lemon zest, rosemary and garlic in a small bowl. Serve stew in soup bowls topped with small amounts of the lemon zest mixture.