cooking asian lettuce wraps

itty bitty stove

I love to cook. Cooking, like certain forms of cleaning, is therapeutic for me. I had planned to share recipes on this blog but unfortunately my teeny tiny temporary kitchen has caused too much frustration to result in cooking anything that involves more than 2 ingredients.

However, for Allen's birthday, since going out is no longer a viable option, I offered to make him a succulent dinner... and allowed him to choose the courses! Well, with the exception of anything requiring attention to detail, which I clearly and admittedly lack. Nerve-grating Rachel Ray's "Eyeball It" method (EyeBall It - A term for adding ingredients without measuring them) is my motto. Thus, automatically excluded were meat requiring a certain cooking temperature, dishes requiring meticulous measurement of ingredients (i.e. anything baked) and intricate, artistic dishes or those containing the words "wrapped", "stuffed" or "zest". Oh, also automatically excluded were any dishes involving an OVEN. Don't ask.

In the end, Allen requested a stir fry containing, but not limited to, carrots, water chestnuts, chicken and shrimp, with lettuce wraps as an appetizer. He also mentioned those round Chinese noodles but I couldn't find them in Giant, so I used flat lo mein noodles instead.

teeny tiny prep area

I found a simple recipe for lettuce wraps on Kalyn's Kitchen, a South Beach cooking blog I accidentally discovered, ironically, while researching baby names! Her recipes are simple, contain ingredients I usually have on hand, and are easily adaptable and of course I rarely have to actually measure out the ingredients.

So, a few spoonfuls of garlic here, a splattering of ginger there, a lil soy sauce, a splash of garlic chili sauce... resulted in an absolutely heavenly aroma! They were quite tasty, too. My lettuce wraps came out a little dry, but I suspect I cooked the turkey too long in an attempt to properly time the appetizer to be ready prior to the stir fry while only able to fit 1 other pot on the burner with the wok. I would post a picture of my wraps, but I used the wrong type of lettuce (romaine) and they didn't turn out pretty like Kalyn's.

The stir fry recipe is my own, but while delicious, it always turns out too watery. It's easy to drain in the end, but I haven't been able to figure out why this happens and how to fix it... any ideas?

Note: Do not attempt lettuce wraps unless you have a hard surface on which to eat (most people have these - they are called kitchen or dining room TABLES). Is it certainly not easy or enjoyable attempting to consume lettuce wraps while balanced on the edge of a couch with dogs underfoot and cats jumping abound and across the lap.

my assistant

babies who lunch

In case I haven't mentioned it, Having A Baby really does change everything. If there's anything the past few months have taught me, it's that having a child is like any other responsibility, you have to respect the limits that it imposes. Take eating out, for example. We’ve been taking Kaellyn to restaurants with us since she was two weeks old without any problems, but suddenly around four months she became a different baby in public. Instead of sleeping or quietly observing her surroundings, she now wants to interact with the world around her. She wants to sit at the table and eat WITH us and will no longer sleep or calmly watch while we devour the daily specials in front of her - the nerve! This makes me nervous and anxious.

Cobb-envy at Screwtop

Dining out is my favorite activity, and while it is still a option and certainly something we want to take advantage of while Kaellyn is still somewhat immobile, it truly has become an EVENT. Such an event that must be planned carefully and cautiously.  First, we must go out during off-peak, or blue-hair, hours. Not only do we want to avoid being two slices into a pizza when The Baby decides it's bedtime and demands a bottle, but it is also important to avoid peak lunch and dinner hours if we want to comfortably frequent an establishment that is not typically over-run with children... like my favorite wine and cheese bistro, Screwtop (who's restroom, by the way, boasts the best baby-changing station I have seen in all of Arlington!). Dining during off-peak hours will also lessen the number of patrons to potentially annoy if things go south. Let's face it, if folks wanted to dine with screaming babies or children underfoot, Chucky Cheese would be one hot happy hour spot.

Not only is it important to be cautious of The Baby's behavior, but let's not forget about our own! While Allen and I can now matter-of-factly discuss Kaellyn's bowel movements while dining on a succulent mahi mahi, I've unfortunately learned the hard way that this is not something fellow dinner patrons enjoy accidentally overhearing. Oh, and I think it goes without saying that lingering over a bottle of wine or ordering one appetizer at a time to savor the dining experience are no longer options. 

mommy's friends are so mature!

I'm really quite fortunate to have several close girlfriends who do not have babies, yet their places in life currently allow them the luxury of lunching with me and Kaellyn on a regular basis, often during our coveted blue hair hours! Perhaps we are the reason they drink wine, but if any of these lovely ladies seem to mind the presence of A Baby, they are masters at hiding it. It's amazing how quickly you learn to appreciate what used to be taken for granted. For me, spending time with other mothers and babies is sort of a lifeline, but there is nothing quite like a little old-fashioned validation from those friends who knew me pre-motherhood, back when the thought of muttering nursery rhymes over a moderately chilled Pino Grigio horrified me. These are the type of friends that, no matter how different our lives have become, can listen and share without judgement, reminding me of who I am... until death do us part. Or at least until the first major table-side meltdown, or God forbid, blowout.

Here are some recent pictures of Kaellyn at the park. Now that she is semi-mobile, I can fulfill my pregnant dreams of lounging at the park in a cute stylish mom outfit, sipping a latte and catching up on my reading while The Baby plays and emits sounds of laughter and happiness. Ok, so the weather is in the 90's again, none of my cute outfits fit, and it is impossible to order, purchase, carry and drink a latte while transporting a baby, but you get the picture.

Wearing purple: