Sevilla tiene un color especial...

We couldn't resist a jaunt down to Sevilla for a few days during Malanga Girl's school break. Did you know that French children get a TWO WEEK vacation every six weeks? Well, neither did I. Good thing I was able to come up with a quick plan to get us some fun and sunshine.

Not sure what to do in Sevilla with a small child? If strolling around the beautiful Parque de Maria Luisa isn't enough, you're sure to run into a playground while you wander the streets. There is at least one right inside the Parque de Maria Luisa (we spent such a long time there, I never got to see if there was another one within the large park's confines). There's another lovely one in the Prado de San Sebastian, right off of Avenida del Cid, where the bus from the airport drops one off. We also discovered one in the Jardines de Cristina (near the Puerta de Jerez) that was designed for two-year-olds, but was a lot of fun for my almost-four-year-old.

The big draw for us, however, was flamenco. Eyeing the shop windows on Calle Cuna alone was a treat, since every gorgeous dress, fan and sparkling hair comb is out on display during these weeks leading up to the April Feria. The real deal dresses cost several hundred euros, but luckily the tourist shops around the Cathedral sell kid-sized dresses in your choice of pink and black polka-dots, red and black polka-dots, or red and white polka-dots for about 10 Euros each. (Shop around as the prices can vary a bit from store to store, as well as the size and color selection.) Malanga Girl stocked up on a matching fan, hair combs, hair flower and shoes as well and was quite excited to stomp away in her new shoes in our hotel room every evening.

The Museo del baile flamenco was worth a visit. The interactive exhibits were a lot of fun for both Malanga Girl and this Malanga Mama. The highlight of our "ruta del flamenco," however, was a show at the Casa de la Memoria on Calle Ximenez de Enciso (Barrio de Sta. Cruz). While they don't technically let small children in, I smooth talked our way in and Malanga Girl was perfectly behaved for the whole 1 hour & 10 minute show, even though it was way past her bedtime. She was absolutely transfixed by the fancy footwork on stage.

And now we're back in Paris, where things are starting to feel a little more like "home."

Banania

It is a truth universally acknowledged that there's nothing like chocolate milk to make a heart, young or old, beat with excitement. (Sorry, Jane Austen, I couldn't resist.) Back at home, Malanga Girl's favorite was chocolate milk from the farmer's market, when I lived in Spain, I loved Cola-Cao. Here, it's Banania for both of us, a yummy choco powder that has cereals and banana in the mix.

Adventures in Trilingualism, the Revived Blog

Welcome to our new lives in Paris, where we are on Day 10. Just when Malanga Baby/Toddler/GIRL was switching effortlessly between Spanish and English and begging to learn Turkish like one of her dear friends in the neighborhood, we whisked her away to France. No matter, she has embraced the change with her usual joie de vivre. Thanks to the millions of references to the Eiffel Tower in books like "Madeline" and even "Barbie: A Fashion Fairy Tale," our little girl's first question as soon as we landed was, "where's the Eiffel Tower?"

Despite the fact that the temperature at the top of the Eiffel Tower in January is probably close to what it is in Antarctica, Malanga Girl reveled in her visit, which included a trip to the merry-go-round across the street. I would venture to say that the view from the merry-go-round is the most charming one I've had of the Tower in all my visits to this city. At 3 Euros a ride, don't miss it, even if you won't be in Paris with a child.

Last Sunday, we went to the Musee en Herbe, a kids' museum on the Right Bank that was fun enough for a short visit, but would not constitute a day-long activity like some other children's museums we've been to in the past.

Monday marked the first day of school and despite all my apprehensions about life en français, we were greeted at the door by the one English-speaking teacher at the school. Accompanying her were two little girls who speak Spanish at home, so I couldn't have asked for a warmer welcome. Malanga Girl took to the new environment immediately. And lest I think no French-learning was happening, Malanga Girl surprised me in the middle of a very crazy, crowded department store last night (we're in the middle of the big after-Christmas sales) by suddenly proclaiming, "quatre, cinq, six..." I nearly dropped the 40% off Le Creuset pot I was clutching in my hands and asked her if she knew what "quatre" meant. As if it were the most obvious thing in the world, she responded, "quatre is four." I then asked her to say more numbers. The French people around us must have wondered why in the world I thought it was necessary to have my daughter recite "un, deux, trois..." right then and there, but I was more ecstatic than the sum combination of all the shoppers on all 7 floors of that department store who had found the bargains of their dreams.

And now I have to make the very difficult decision of which picture to post here. Shall I showcase the whimsical views of the Eiffel Tower from the merry-go-round? Upload a video of my very own Malanga Girl saying "un, deux, trois" in our living room? Or how about some shots from yesterday's visit to the Musee de la Poupee- the doll museum- a place that was absolutely magical if you have ever had an attachment to dolls yourself? Maybe I'll have to devote some posts this week to pictures only?

Malanga in the Country

A picture from our idyllic, rural weekend.

Meatball Baby

I should say I made Malanga Baby “albóndigas,” but the first word that springs to mind is actually the Italian one- “polpette.” The summer before Malanga Baby was born, I spent a dreamy three weeks in Italy doing yoga in Tuscany, eating scrumptious meals in various cities and cooking in my friend’s small kitchen in Naples. The activity that brought me closest to the Italian language was those afternoons shopping for the ingredients for whatever I was making. I learned that the Macellaria sold meat and that what I wanted from the local produce vendor was not a cebolla or even a sebola, but a cipolla (so many attempts to make myself understood!) and that bread crumbs, such a plain and pedestrian thing, sound like something infinitely more interesting in their Italian incarnation- pane gratuglatto. I will forever think of those brilliant, sun-drenched Naples afternoons chatting with the locals whenever I make meatballs.

I hope Malanga Baby grows up with happy memories of meatballs, too, since she seemed to gobble them up with great pleasure last night. Her method is unique. First she takes the entire meatball in her hand and gives it a squeeze, looking at it as the meat squishes and flexes. Then she pops the whole thing in her mouth, dividing it into smaller pieces with her jaw and spitting it all back out to then pick up the pieces one by one for proper eating. Our dinner was a very drawn out affair last night, but such an enjoyable one as the three of us ate our meatballs. I am thrilled to find something that Malanga Baby finds both fun to play with and delicious.

My meatball making has become a bit more refined since my Italian days now that I have access to lots of cookbooks. The following recipe is from “The Best Recipe.”

Meatballs for the whole family

Ingredients
2 slices white sandwich bread (crusts discarded), torn into small pieces
6 tablespoons plain yogurt (the original recipe calls for thinning out with 2 tablespoons whole milk, but I didn’t use the milk and everything turned out fine)
1 pound ground meat
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh parsley leaves (REALLY FINELY MINCED)
1 large egg yolk
I skipped the salt, but did add some ground pepper
About 1 & ¼ cup vegetable oil for pan-frying

Method
- Combine bread and yogurt in small bowl, mashing occasionally with a fork, until smooth paste forms, about 10 minutes
- Place ground meat, cheese, parsley, egg yolk, garlic and pepper in medium bowl. Add bread-yogurt mixture and combine until evenly mixed. Shape into meatballs, making sure you don’t make them too dense. I made quite a few of the meatballs smaller for little hands.
- Pour vegetable oil in a sauté pan to a depth of ¼ inch. Turn flame up to medium-high. After several minutes, test oil with edge of meatball. When oil sizzles, add meatballs in a single layer. Fry, turning several times, until nicely browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer browned meatballs to plate lined with paper towels to cool before serving.

Beautiful Lentils

"Las lentejas te suben lo bonito."
- a Sevillano, circa 1995

Lentils make you pretty, that's what they told me when I studied abroad in Spain. My señora made steaming, thick lentil stews the whole year I was there and looking back at the photos, I think I did look rather radiant.

I introduced lentils to Malanga Baby this week at the same time that I introduced a third meal per day- lunch! Both were a resounding success. And I must say, Malanga Baby is looking prettier by the minute.

I made a batch of lentils for the first time Tuesday night and tried again tonight with some modifications. Here's what I've done so far and as an added bonus, I have a recipe for adults as long as you're putting those lentils on the stove.

Baby Lentil Method- BASIC

- I use brown lentils, which tend to get mushier than green lentils. The Goya brand is good, but so is Vitarroz and probably any other brand.

- Soak the lentils for about 1.5 hours-2 hours. They really start falling apart after 2 hours.

- Bring a pot of water to boil, then add lentils. Bring to boil again, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

- When draining the lentils, RESERVE some of the water for pureeing.

- Let lentils cool, then put in food processor with some of the water.

- You can use a sieve/strainer if you want to make the puree even smoother.

Notes on the basic method:

- Using a sieve is a big pain. I did this on Tuesday and it added another 10-15 minutes of cooking time. I also lost a lot of my lentils. I got about 5 ounces of pureed lentils out of 1/2 cup of dry lentils.

- I forgot to reserve the cooking water and in fact, didn't add enough water at all while pureeing. I ended up adding some breast milk to the lentils just before serving.

Baby Lentil Method- VARIATION

Even though I added a dash of cumin to the basic recipe above, the lentils still tasted kind of bland to me. I served them with some plain yogurt to make the whole meal a little tangier. Tonight, I played around with adding some fried onions.

- Follow basic method above. Add an "onion pique" (a bay leaf attached to a peeled onion using a clove as a tack) to the boiling water for extra flavor. The lentils will absorb the flavor as they cook.

- After draining lentils, fry a few slices of onion in olive oil in the cleaned out pan you used for the lentils. Add these to the food processor along with the lentils and puree.

Since I was making lentils again tonight anyway and needed to use the rest of the onion, I decided to make myself one of my favorite lentil recipes (copied out of a book of which I don't know the name).

Lentils for adults

Ingredients

- 1 cup lentils

- 1/2 onion, sliced

- 1 small crate cherry or grape tomatoes- halved or quartered

- 5 tablespoons olive oil

- 2 teaspoons sumac (a Turkish spice)

- sea salt and black pepper to taste

Method

- Boil lentils as above in basic method.

- Drain lentils, clean out pan and fry onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil.

- Add the lentils, tomatos, sumac, remaining olive oil, salt & pepper and mix together.

Tools of the Trade

While I have been using google.es and google.br a lot these days to look up the preparation of guavas, passion fruit and the like, there are a few basic things I couldn't do without in my baby food-making kitchen. These are:

My OXO steamer basket. It's the perfect size for the amount of fruit or veggies I need to steam for several days' worth of puree. I like that it's collapsible and super easy to clean.

Baby Cubes. I have them in one and two ounce sizes for easy mixing and matching of meals. Make sure you don't fill them above the line or they'll pop open in your freezer when the liquid in the fruits and veggies expands. To defrost, I either leave them in the fridge overnight or put them in a pan of boiled water for about 10 minutes.

My mini food processor. No link here as any food processor or blender will do, but I bought a mini because I can keep it on my counter top. My regular food processor is too large for this and also has many small parts that I still haven't quite mastered.

Lisa Barnes' The Petit Appetit. Great ideas for different foods to try by stage.

Libros, libros, libros

The biggest Spanish-language bookstore in NYC, Libreria Lectorum, closed its doors on 14th Street forever at the end of September 2007. I didn’t know I was pregnant yet, but Malanga Baby was already with me as I browsed those long aisles divided by geographic regions, by topic, and even by gender one last time. Ramón, the employee who happily chatted with me about the cooks at various Cuban restaurants around the city as easily as his book recommendations, was quiet, more serious than I had ever seen him. Our sense of loss ran deep.

But I’ve still managed to stock Malanga Baby’s library with Spanish-language children’s books. My friend Jaime, a Mexican living in London, sent me a copy of the The Little Prince in Spanish for my birthday when I was pregnant. I got into the habit of reading it out loud to Malanga Baby in utero. After she was born, I realized that the small Spanish-language bookstore in my own neighborhood, Barco de Papel (owned by yet another Cuban Ramón in the NYC book business), carries a nice selection of children’s books. It was there that I discovered the fantastic author-illustrator team of Antonio Rubio and Oscar Villán. Malanga Baby loves their book Cocodrilo, but we also have Luna and Miau. They’re all the perfect size for little hands and are fun to read out loud.

And, of course, there are some wonderful translations out there of American classics. Aida Marcuse did a masterful job with Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham. The very phrase “No me gustan nada los huevos verdes con jamón” brings a smile to Malanga Baby’s face every time. As much as I love browsing in bookstores, I’m happy to note that these books are widely available on Amazon.com.

Swim, baby, swim!

Malanga baby and I hit the piscina this weekend for her first baby swim class. She seemed confused and on the verge of crying at first, but was kicking and splashing by the end of the 30-minute lesson. She got the same joyous look on her face in the water that she gets when she is flying through the air on a swing in the playground.

I was pretty happy, too. It was my first time in a pool since my pre-natal swim classes (with amazing Andrea of Aqua Moms in Manhattan). One of the things I miss most about being pregnant is swimming every Thursday night.

I started looking for swim classes for Malanga Baby back in the fall, but didn't have many leads. I found one place in Forest Hills, Queens through Google that seemed to take younger babies, but they never returned my calls. Then I tried the local Y, but their fall session was starting when my daughter was just under six months and they were very strict about the six month age requirement. So we had to wait. Unfortunately, the bathing suits I bought on clearance in September no longer fit her. I did, however, find that Baby Gap has their full spring line out now, including bathing suits. So here we are, swimming away. I predict that Malanga Baby will love the beach come summer.

Classes at the Y seem like a good deal financially and we didn't have to become members to sign up. A very helpful tip I picked up from another mom in the neighborhood is to bring Malanga Papi along to the Y. It was very helpful to have another pair of hands to get Malanga Baby ready and to hang out with her when I had to change in and out of my own suit. And, of course, he could be the parent to go in the water with her if he wanted to, but in our case, he didn't.

BABY SWIM CLASSES
WHERE: YMCA, check your local branch for locations & times
THINGS TO BRING: Baby bathing suit, parent bathing suit, swim diapers (available year-round on diapers.com), towels, lock for locker, flip-flops for pool area, another parent or friend to have a pair of dry hands to help. Bathing caps are available on site for $7 or $8 each. These are required at the Y.

PRE-NATAL SWIM CLASSES
WHERE: Aqua Moms in Manhattan, check local gyms in other cities
WHY I LOVED IT: There's nothing better than the feeling of floating when you're carrying around all that extra weight. It also greatly relieved joint swelling and just generally made me feel good and refreshed. An added benefit was how well I slept the nights I swam. I like to think that I also toned up the muscles I needed to push Malanga Baby out and later carry her around all day in my arms.