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I get the impression that chiles rellenos are a point of pride in Mexican families as every household (and restaurant) has their own unique recipe. Always one to pile in with the crowd, we’ve got our own recipe, too. These are modeled after my favorite chiles rellenos from Chuys. Like Chuy’s rellenos, our batter is crunchy instead of the more typical soggy, and we use tomatillo salsa instead of rancheros – though, they’d be lovely with rancheros. It has been at least 10 years since I bit into Chuys chiles rellenos, but I’m still pretty sure ours are not quite like theirs. We like them enough that they end up on the menu no less than once every two weeks and sometimes weekly. Without further ado:

1 fresh poblano or other long, fat pepper per person (We’ve been using heirloom sweet peppers from Berkeley Bowl, recently)
3 finger sized chunks of monterrey jack per pepper (queso blanco or cheddar would be fine, too); Use more or less cheese to your liking.
1/4 c flour
1/4 c breadcrumbs
1/4 c milk
1 egg

Cook the peppers over an open flame until the skin is completely charred. Peel the skin off. (I’ve heard that some people put the peppers in the broiler for 2 minutes on each side until the skins are charred, then remove the peppers from the oven and immediately place the peppers in a paper bag to steam until cool. Allegedly this makes them easier to peel. I’m not that patient.) Cut the stems off the peppers. Clean out any seeds. Stuff the peppers with cheese. Lay out each dry ingredient in a shallow plate. Mix the egg and milk until combined, then pour this mixture into a shallow dish. Working with one pepper at a time, dip the pepper in the milk mixture, then flour, then breadcrumbs. Repeat with the remaining peppers. Lay the peppers on a few sheets of paper towel between coats. When the peppers have dried a bit (~5-10 minutes), redip each in the milk mixture then the breadcrumbs. Repeat this 3 times until you have lovely, crusty peppers.

Heat ~1/2 inch of oil in a shallow pan until it begins to smoke or until a drop of batter dropped into it immediately begins to brown. Place your peppers in and fry on each side until brown (~1-2 minutes).

We cover these in tomatillo salsa and melted cheddar cheese and then promptly inhale.

Oh, and Diego Style pairs well with whatever Belgian Ale you have on hand.

This recipe can be adapted for jalapeno/habanero poppers by:
– Not charring and skinning the peppers first. Just chop the tops off and remove seeds. (Wear gloves or have fresh Aloe Vera stems on hand if you attempt with Habaneros)
– Replacing the white cheese with 1 tsp cream cheese and 1 tsp cheddar.

Another note – We’re not big on salt and pepper, so if the salt in your sauce or cheese is not enough for you, salt and pepper the flour to taste.

I realized yesterday that my favorite Christmas songs were all written by men who don’t even celebrate the holiday – “There’s no place like home for the holidays” was written by Al Stillman (aka Al Silverman), “Let it snow!” by Sammy Cahn, and “Donde esta Santa Claus” by Guster. Although for us Christmas has very little religious significance, it is a time when we pause to soak in our families and reflect on all the things for which we are thankful. You might have guessed from my reading list and suggested movies that our focus is not on grandeur but instead on simply cherishing people we love, sharing what we have and trying to find simple ways to brighten the day/lives of people around us, so stories like the following really touch me.

NPR printed the transcript of John Henry Faulk’s Christmas Story, written in 1974, on their website. If you have anymore Christmas spirit left in you, it is a worthy read.

Now that Christmas is on it’s way out, I’m ready to bring in the new year. I’m from the south, and so my new year tradition involves eating cabbage/greens (for money) and black eyed peas (for luck) in my first meal of each year. My husband, a true Californian, can’t be bothered with these foods, but has been choking down his obligatory bites since he realized that I’d been getting larger bonuses. Be it the tradition or something else, we’ve been pretty lucky and have not had to go without, so we’ll be keeping with tradition on January 1.

That said, I found a good recipe in the January issue of Vegetarian Times for Southern New Years soup. It is not online, yet, but my mildly altered version is below:
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies,
1 can diced tomatoes,
1 can or 1/2 bag of black eyed peas,
8 cups water,
2 cups unsalted vegetable broth,
1 head of kale,
1/2 head of cabbage,
4 cloves garlic.
Heat 2 tbs olive oil until it starts to smoke. Add the kale (torn), cabbage (torn or shredded), and minced garlic. Cook until wilted, stirring constantly so that you don’t burn the garlic. Add the tomatoes and broth. We used fresh beans and added them with the tomatoes, simmering 20-30 minutes until soft. (If you use canned, you’ll ruin this as they’ll retain that canned bean flavor. If you use dry, you’ll need to cook those according to the recipe on the bag – 2hrs?)

We’ll be eating this as our first meal in 2009. Lord knows with the economy the way it is, we’ll need all the greens and black eyed peas we can swallow to hold us in good stead.

Hope you are having (have had) a very Merry Christmas.

Video evidence that Santa visited our house:

Will was unenthusiastic about the video footage of Santa. He didn’t find the half eaten cookie, dribble of milk or eaten carrot interesting, either. And he wanted to know why Santa brought him so many presents. (Between you and me – Santa was so excited about having a 4 year-old around this year, he couldn’t stop buying!)

The children nestled all snug in their beds:

(this one fell asleep on the way home from dinner)

The lollipops fell out of their hands before they awoke and went overlooked in the morning unwrapping enthusiasm.

The favorite gifts:
(Will’s shuttle)

Sylvie’s toothbrush (and chocolate residue):

Runner-up in the present department is the bathtub flutes from Grandma and Grandpa Tex. Both kids have been fluting and singing Christmas Carols. Dinner tonight is crab and caesar salad, then we can start taking the Christmas tree down. Yippee!

In the Christmas reading list is Santa Mouse about a mouse who gives Santa a present and in return is made into Santa Mouse. We’ve got a mouse problem. The suckers have come into the house to winter, and are sneaking into my kitchen pantry through an unfinished electrical outlet. When we catch one (humanely killed, of course) Doug and Will get really excited. Since it is Christmastime, Doug told Will we caught Santa Mouse, and Will responded, leery, “Does he have a hat? Does he have a beard?” “No” “Then you didn’t catch Santa Mouse”

This evening he told me that if Santa gives him something he doesn’t like, he won’t cry. He will like it. But, if Santa gives him something he really likes, he will keep it forever and ever.

We’re going to sleep tonight having laid out the filled stockings; arranged the presents under the tree; left a half eaten cookie, a carrot top and a sip of milk; and created video evidence of Santa having been here. Even the presents from Santa are wrapped in special paper so they are identifiable from the rest. Its the perfect plan. How many more years can we keep up this ruse? 

I have to say, 4 is the best Christmas, yet.

I’m not one for vapid feel good movies. So if you are looking for a list of saccharin movies to get you in a holiday mood, turn back now. This is not it.

If, instead, you are looking for a few movies that remind you what you have to be thankful for or that some joy does come from the depths of sorrow, here you go:

Slumdog Millionaire – In theaters right now. Directed by the same guy who directed Trainspotting. This is a gritty, dark romantic comedy – in the same way Trainspotting was a dark comedy. It follows the appearance of a young Indian man, Jamal Malik, on the Indian version of who wants to be a millionaire. He is very successful – is it luck? is it cheating? is it written? Just stay in your seat, it gets less violent as the movie progresses. And you need to see the end.

City of God – This gritty movie follows the lives of two kids from Rio de Janeiro as one of them grows to become a slum lord and the other a photographer. It is heartbreaking and a little joyful. You’ll be so happy you were born into your life.

Children of Heaven – The only purely feel good movie on my list. There is no grit in this movie about two Persian children in Iranian slums trying to hide the fact that they are sharing one pair of shoes between them. Just sweet.

Enjoy.

What is it about that white beard, fur trimmed suit, and jolly laugh that strikes fear in hearts of toddlers? This guy is supposed to be beloved! After all, he brings toys to all good girls and boys across the world. I admit something about the story doesn’t add up – he parks his sleigh on your roof then slides down your chimney while you are sleeping to raid your pantry for cookies then leave you presents in return. To a 2 year-old whose sense of the world is mostly intuition, the creeps who dress up as Santa at the mall – not the kind of guys you’d want to hang out with any other time – probably don’t help the story. So, why is it so surprising when the 2 year-old skirts the farthest reaches of the room that Santa is in? Even when the man offers gifts, the tot arches and struggles like the man is instead wielding a horse needle. ‘Tis all part of the Christmas experience. Sylvie is dreadfully afraid of that stinky ole Santa. Even when he comes bearing new babies. Me, too.

Some great anti-Santa photos.

I was in a Christmas mood until I read Bob Boilen’s best songs of 2008 list, and since I’ve been dying to listen to the music from his list that I purchased. (Such an NPR zombie.) To get myself back in the mood, I’ve found some good free Christmas music. And because I’m practicing this Christmas spirit, I’m sharing the fruits of my research.

Indie Christmas Music

NPR’s Christmas collection

Oprah’s free playlist

But best of all – some Fat Albert memories:

To answer the age-old question:
When a kid falls on the pavement and there is no one around to care, does he cry?
No.

Witnessed Will take flight superman style and completely eat it a block away from me. He laid there stunned for a moment, and then, since no one was around to console him, stood up and started running, again.

I’d forgotten until last night one of the primary reasons I had kids – to share my favorite books. Sure, there were many other reasons, but I’d been looking forward to building traditions around books like we’d had growing up. Yeah, yeah – I’m bookish. To this day, Christmas involves reading (and crying through) The Gift of the Magii, The Littlest Angel, and A Christmas Carol. (Okay, I watch the last one; my daddy reads it.) We read How the Grinch Stole Christmas throughout the year. Now that Will is 4, he is the right age to enjoy The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

I have fond memories of my dad reading me all but the Pageant – that one was a favorite of my mother. If you mention the Herdmans standing around fires they’d set so they could eat the firemen’s donuts, you can bring tears of laughter to my mom’s eyes. Dad used to read The Grinch in funny character voices which I hated. Bring a copy of the Littlest Angel out at a family function and the entire room would well up in tears. It is this emotional attachment to words and stories that I wanted to share with my kids. This is why part of my pregnant nesting involved sorting our books into stages – the explorational stream of consciousness Faulkner for newborns, dark and clangy Poe for the sleepless infant nights, sing-songy ee cummings and William Carlos Williams for those pre-verbal infant months, Dr Seuss’s good stuff for the language acquisition year, filler for the years between, the heady poetry of Anne Sexton for those dramatic 5s, … Probably more than I wished my children old enough to walk, I wished them old enough to enjoy reading.

So, here we are. Will has anxiously consumed most of Roald Dahl’s books. We began one of my favorites – Pippi Longstocking – last night. He kept interrupting me to inquire – “Can she really pick up a horse? Could she pick up our car? Could she pick up our house?” or to comment that she is really a messy cook and I wouldn’t like her in my kitchen.

Yes, this is why I had kids. The fact that they also do dishes is just icing.