Aug
03
Posted in adventures in parenting, dinner, olympic, Things to do
by Jennifer
We’ve been eating our way around the world as we pay tribute to the Olympics that have taken center stage this week for us and the rest of the world.
We started last Friday with our take on traditional British food — shepherd’s pie and (frozen) fish and chips (steak fries) — for the opening ceremonies. I picked up a $6 world map at Staples, and we pinned it to our family room wall, where we could locate each country as their athletes paraded in. (yes, it became a bit of a battle as each of the boys was determined to locate the country first, but the idea was good.)
Saturday we had a graduation party to attend, where the hosts served traditional picnic fare, so we called that USA day.
Sunday, my husband had a taste for steak and decided to use a tempura batter mix we had in the pantry to make a bloomin’ onion, ala Outback Steakhouse. So, while I can’t tell you we prepared authentic Australian cuisine, we celebrated Down Under that day. I made a little sign with a map image of the country for the back door, to greet him when he arrived home. I also assembled trivia questions about Australia, then we quizzed ourselves about the relative size of the country (sixth-largest in the world), its population, seasons (the reverse of ours), capital city (hint: it’s not Sydney), indigenous people (Aborigines) and famous Australians (such as Nicole Kidman). It was kind of fun!
On Monday I had a taste for Pad Thai, and I decided that was the day to try it. I’ve never made it, mind you, but it is my favorite dish at Medina’s House of Hunan, where I’m lucky enough to dine about once a year. To be honest, even now I’m not certain that Pad Thai is actually from Thailand, but we toasted that country anyway.
I sort-of followed a recipe I found on the back of the rice-noodle box I bought at Buehler’s and cut honeyrock melon as our only side dish. My boys ate only melon for dinner that night. The rest of us who were brave enough to try my creation found it was pretty tasty after all. Not nearly as good as House of Hunan, of course, but it wasn’t bad. I even slipped in some tofu along with the shrimp and vegetables, and those who saw me do it did not protest. The others didn’t notice. (phew!)
This time my 13-year-old son created a “Taste of Thailand” sign with the country’s flag, and my daughter found trivia questions about the culture.
While I was at Buehler’s for the Pad Thai ingredients Monday I found colored peppers and fresh salsa were reduced, and shredded cheese and chicken breasts on sale, so Tuesday’s dinner became chicken fajitas — our salute to Mexico. One of my daughters found the trivia questions online, but we didn’t have time for the sign since she and I were running out the door (late) to choir practice and my husband had to work late. Oh well.
Wednesday my 13-year-old son had an orthodontist appointment, so we decided soft pasta would be gentle on sore teeth. Viva Italia! Nothing fancy, just spaghetti and a meat sauce, with frozen peas (my children have come to expect peas with spaghetti for some reason!) and a garden salad. My plans for Caprese salad — fresh mozzarella, tomato slices and basil — and garlic bread were dashed by a deadline and another choir practice. No trivia or door decorations that night — we were lucky just to eat.
On Thursday we ate slices of Canadian bacon with our frozen Bob Evans sausage gravy and biscuits, as our nod to our neighbor to the north. Sadly, no time for creative trivia and decorations that night either: my dad offered to take the kids to the Medina County Fair, so we had to eat quickly once again.
Tonight is Friday, and since I got paid yesterday, I am thinking we’ll celebrate China and stop by Happy Garden on Route 18 for the $23 family meal takeout special my friend Lisa told us about. She swears it feeds her family of four twice — so I’m hoping the seven of us will be satisfied with that and a few spring rolls. Our 7-year-old has a birthday party to attend at Amazone at 6, so I suspect he’ll have pizza and I haven’t figured out when the rest of us will eat.
I’m not sure that I can carry this through Aug. 12 when the games end, but it’s been fun to play with our food a bit this week. We’ve thought about Greek salads and gyros (the place across from Giant Eagle has ginormous — and delicious — gyros for $4.99), which might be a good way to wrap this up for another four (or two, until the winter games) years.
Heaven knows there are many more countries whose cuisine I could butcher — er, acknowledge — as we eat our way across the globe!
Source:
http://medinacountymoms.northcoastnow.com/2012/08/03/celebrating-the-olympics-gastronomically/