When you are under the weather

Dear daughter,

Whenever you find yourself feeling under the weather for one reason or another, do not think twice about tucking yourself into bed. Stay under the lovely warmth of your sheets and think of your forthcoming trip to the city of your dreams until you feel a bit better.

It's alright to have days like this.

Love,

Mom

How to have a grand time in Sydney

Dear daughter,

We ended last October with a quick trip to Sydney, Australia to witness the wedding of your dad's cousin, and the sojourn was beautiful for several reasons-- it was my first out of the country trip with your dad, it gave me plenty of opportunities to bond with my new sisters, and Sydney was just extraordinary.

While the trip was too short, I think it was perfect. When you're older I hope you get to experience it, too. And while I would want you to discover the city for yourself and create your own memories, I thought I'd share with you some of my stories and tips, just in case you find yourself in that rare pickle when you do not know where to go next.

1. Explore the city by foot with your favorite person in the world. For a starting point, choose a place that is beautiful and meaningful like St. Andrew's Cathedral. When you are feeling a bit tired, grab a couple of beers and a table at the Opera Bar, where you have a splendid view of the sea and the Sydney Opera House. Let an hour fly by as you listen to each other's stories. It is hours like this that are most magical. 

2. Go to the boutique that sells things you absolutely love but can't find at home. Get bottles of hair conditioner and facial hydrosol, and a big tube of facial cleanser from Aesop, an up and coming Australian brand that creates organic skin care products that are kind on both your skin and the earth. Look, too, for that quaint little shop that sells spices from all over the world and get yourself a jar of something that sounds delicious and wonderful like herbs from Provence. 

3. Take photographs- and lots of them-so that years from now you will remember what you loved the most. Take photographs, for instance, of your cousin's beautifully intimate wedding in a charming old manor, where the couples said their vows while the birds chirped, and the string quartet played "La Vie en Rose." 

4. Get lost in the city with a bunch of lovely people-- in my case your dad's sisters. It doesn't matter that it takes you three hours to get to Bondi beach. When you finally get there, take off your shoes and feel the soft sand between your toes and the breeze on your face. The beach and the company are all worth it. 

5. When hungry, grab a tray of fish and chips from a nearby kiosk. Eat like a local and enjoy your food al fresco on a park bench. For dessert, share a meat pie. Don't mind the seagulls-- they are actually very harmless and are only perpetually hungry.

Finally, do not be scared to explore-- to walk into that tucked away street or to hop into a metro, even when you do not know where it will lead you. You are a tourist, after all-- you are meant to get lost.

Love,
Mom

When you are too busy

Dear daughter,

For the last two weeks I had been particularly busy, and while there is a singular sense of fulfillment that one gets from truly hard work, I find that it is very important to every so often remove myself from everything and remind myself of who I am.

And so in the middle of things, I stopped to read a page or two from the book about the city I love and wrote an itinerary in my head for when we go in March.

After a long week’s work, I spent hours in the kitchen with your father baking his favorite cookies—the ones he made for me years ago. I felt the soft dough in my palm and smelled the cinnamon wafting from the oven and I realized that I am home.

When in the middle of the day I realized that I had been so preoccupied with work that I had forgotten about lunch, I quickly made myself macaroni and cheese from a box. There just wasn’t time for a proper meal. When I sprinkled an inordinate amount of grated parmesan on top, however, and served it in a pretty whisky glass, I found that my macaroni and cheese from a box wasn’t too bad, after all.

And finally, today, before I left for work, I paused to write this letter for you.

Amidst work, one should never be too busy to be herself, don’t you agree?

Love,

Mom

How to make roast chicken with crème fraiche and herbs

Dear daughter,

Three years ago, I stumbled upon the blog of Mimi Thorisson, a beautiful lady who threw caution to the wind and left urban Paris to live in an old farmhouse in Medoc. There, in the quiet of small town France, she spends her days taking care of her big family with her photographer husband Oddur. In between, there is plenty of cooking. The blog, after all, is entitled “Manger,” which means “eat” in French.

I remember immediately falling in love with Mimi and everything about her utterly charming life—her idyllic home, her picturesque dining table, the lush woods where she forages, the quaint markets she frequents where everything is wonderfully fresh and where the butcher knows his meat like a scientist, and her handsome children among a million other things. Everyday she cooks a feast for her family and friends, and still looks graceful, elegant, and perfect, and always remembers to have a glass of wine in hand. Ah, French ladies. I told myself that when I have my own family, I will be just like her—my family happy and fed, me with perfect hair and immaculate clothes. One can dream.

And so shortly after I got married, I got myself a copy of Mimi’s lovely book, “A Kitchen in France.” The moment I got home, I proceeded to read the cookbook as I would Jane Austen. Its every word inspires—to cook up a storm in the kitchen and to move to France. While it is unfortunate that a trip to France must come later, nothing stopped me from right away satiating my appetite for French food.

I intend to explore as many recipes in “A Kitchen in France” as I possibly can, and will of course let you know what I think of each one. To begin, let me tell you about the lunch I made for your dad just yesterday.

Here is the recipe, from page 46 of Mimi’s book:

Roast Chicken with Crème Fraiche And Herbs

Ingredients

1¼ cups crème fraiche

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 shallot, thinly sliced

A large bunch of fresh parsley, leaves removed and chopped

A few sprigs of fresh thyme

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 whole chicken

½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

Preheat the oven to 180-degree Celsius.

In a small bowl, mix the crème fraiche, garlic, shallot, parsley, and thyme. Season with fine sea salt and pepper. Spoon half of the mixture inside the cavity of the chicken. Truss the chicken securely with kitchen twine. Rub the remaining cream in a thick layer all over the chicken (make sure to rub under the thighs and wings. Sprinkle the coarse salt over the chicken and put it in a roasting pan.

Roast the chicken until golden brown and cooked through (the juices should run clear, not pink, when you prick the thigh with a knife), about 1 hour. Check the pan halfway through the cooking and add a few tablespoons water, or more, if needed, if the bottom of the pan has started to dry out.

Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 4

I am proud to say that as dilettante as I am in the kitchen, I was able to follow the recipe with only a few alterations:

1.     As crème fraiche was not available at the grocery, I prepared a substitute of sour cream mixed with a bit of heavy cream.

2.     As shallot was unavailable, I had to use an onion. I am not very proud of this as nothing can really quite stand in for the singular flavor of shallots.

3.     With your dad’s advice, I extended the chicken’s time in the oven to 1 hour and 30 minutes. The chicken came out golden brown and perfectly cooked—moist, herby, and gloriously fragrant.

While the chicken cooked in the oven I prepared some pasta to go with it. Penne tossed in olive oil cooked with garlic, and mixed with basil leaves, olives, tomatoes, and grated parmesan. And then there was a cold glass of chardonnay for me and coke and whiskey for your dad.

I prepared lunch for around two and a half hours and we finished everything in less than thirty minutes. Your dad said lunch was wonderful, but then again, as you would know, he eats everything.

Love,

Mom

An introduction

Dear daughter,

Perhaps you know by now that you have not been born into the world’s best parents, but I hope you also know by now that your dad and I are always giving our very best for you. You have been born into two people whose biggest dream is to become great parents. For one I hope you’ll find it grand that even before you were born, a blog was made just for you.

This blog is a compendium of everything I love and find beautiful and true—tips that I hope you will find useful at some point in your life. Most of them you may think are but little things, but I have always thought that it is the little things that make every moment of life meaningful. Feel free to sift through them as you wish and take only those, which you find valuable. You are your own person after all.

And so there are some things, which you may not care for—how to make pretty flower arrangements, for instance, or how to make rose petal ice cubes. In the case that you take more after your father who puts up shrines to the now NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki instead, feel free to skip through these topics. There are topics, however, which I feel are important for you to know, like how to say please and thank you and when to say them, how to be kind to your colleagues, or how to be the best sister ever. Please take the time to read them. And then there are things, which I hope we can explore together, like throwing the perfect backyard movie party or putting together a picnic basket. I cannot wait until you are old enough so that we can do these things together.

In this blog you will encounter a mélange of topics. Among other things, we will cover:

1.     How to speak basic French. Just in case you grow up to be a Francophile like your mother.

2.     How to make coq au vin. Your dad attempted to make this for me on my birthday.

3.     How to properly make a bed. And what to put on your bedside table so that you will never want to get up.

4.     How to make a beautiful flower arrangement. The trick, I find, is to use clear vases.

5.     How to put together a lovely spread for afternoon tea. It all begins with exquisite china.

6.     How to put together a reading list for every occasion. Fortunately, the world’s great writers have written about just about everything under the sun.

7.     How to be the perfect dinner guest. This includes getting the perfect hostess gift and having impeccable table manners.

8.     How to conduct yourself around people of other cultures. Taking the time to know their mores, I find, is the highest form of respect.

Now I do not claim to be an expert at these things, but don’t you think it would be wonderful if we can learn them together? And, if you happen to be a son who would love to know these things, too, then this blog is yours, too.

Welcome to your blog, dearest.

Love,

Mom