Monday, January 28, 2013

Hoarding, expat style

Chances are, you don't have 5 1/2 bottles of wheat germ in your pantry.  I do.  I also have 1 1/2 large bags of pine nuts, 12 boxes of veggie-burgers, 1/2 a box of turkey bacon, a few dozen bags of frozen fruit, 4 bags of stone-ground cornmeal...you get the idea.  Not, I'm not a Doomsdayer or a contender for an A&E reality show, but I am living in a place where Goldfish trade as currency.  Show up with a pork product, and you are an instant rock-star.  Welcome to the world of Expat Hoarders.

Make no mistake, there is no shortage of good and fresh food available in Tunisia (wine too!), but if you want peanut butter, you're out of luck.  Same for pecans, cheese that melts, GOOD coffee (Tunisians drink a lot of coffee, but it's truly terrible), and a lot of other items of the first world.  As a result, each trip abroad involves strategic food purchases and transportation.  Essentially, we become food mules, albeit without actually having to disguise the "product" as fake boobs or stuff it into balloons to be swallowed.  Getting an airline ticket with an allowance for TWO checked bags is a cause for celebration, traveling with children means one bag per child (and they don't need that much room), and you always fly with extra bags that can be carried on if needed.  The food transport opportunities are greatly increased during the summer months due to less clothing requirements, but chocolate does not fare well.  Conversely, wintertime is a great time to fly with cheese.  Word of caution:  if you find amazing cheese at a Parisian market, do not attempt to carry it on board.  No, it's not your fellow travelers you have to worry about, it's the security nazis who determine that a certain cheese is just squishy enough to pose a danger to all aboard.  I nearly cried as I once watched a security screener take my freshly purchased Compt é to the trash can, ignoring my pleas for cheese clemency.  It wasn't pretty.  Don't do it, just check the cheese.

At this point you may be wondering why the eccentricities of Expat Hoarders has anything to do with this blog.  Well, it's a matter of supply and demand.  Pre-September 14, we made steady progress through our cornmeal collection and tablespoon by tablespoon, our 6 boxes of vital wheat gluten.  However, on September 16, there were suddenly three less tummies to fill, including one pecan-crazed toddler.  The result was a pantry and freezer full of random items in unusually large quantities, all needing to be used up.  Exacerbating this problem was the subsequent kitchen clean-outs and pack-ups for colleagues and friends that wouldn't be coming back.  While I will happily discard or give away junk-food, I can't in good consciousness waste good, usable food.  Consequently, my quinoa collection doubled and I'm unlikely to run out of baking powder before 2018.

So, like anyone else with a problem to solve, I Googled it.  "Rhubarb recipes," "pine-nut recipes," "cornmeal recipes" (this was surprisingly disappointing, turns out you mostly just make cornbread with it), "cheerios recipes" (I still have 4 boxes).  As a result, many of the recipes I've made recently I've found on-line, and it's been rather fun to try new things and flavor combos I would have never thought of on my own.  Plus, if I was cooking from a book, it takes too long to write down the recipe, but it's quite easy to just copy and paste a link to share on here.  So, the consumption journey continues, one $100 carton of butterscotch pudding at a time (an early and expensive lesson in too-quick-Amazon-one-click-shopping, but I'll leave that story for another time).

Happy Hoarding,
Bernice


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Let the blogging commence!

I've finally done it, I've joined the blogo-sphere.  It two minutes to set this thing up, and then a lot longer to de-link it from my primary email address, but here I am.  I started this blog as a way to share the "fruits" of my labors borne out of my need to do something to keep from going crazy or too depressed.

I've finally realized that I'm  "stress-baker."  Fortunately, I'm much less of "stress-eater," although there is a certain inevitability of increased consumption when yummy stuff is lying around.  This tendency first manifested when I was about 12 or 13 years old and was had to spend my first night alone in our house.  Before my dad left, I was self-assured and confident, but the minute he was gone, all the noises got louder and scarier and I had to do something.  I went to the kitchen, which was pitifully bare, save for a few eggs and lemons and what-not.  The result was a lemon meringue pie.  I wasn't a particularly big fan of lemon meringue, but it was about the only thing I could figure out to make.  And it was good!  It got rave reviews the next day, and a stress-baker was born.

When my family was evacuated, I was left behind in a place that had been turned upside down and none of us knew what was next.  I was still amped up on adrenaline but couldn't go anywhere, including work, and I couldn't look at any of my kids' stuff without falling apart.  What I did have at my disposal was a very well-stocked pantry (thanks to a recent stock-up, just in case things got dicey..ha!), and a lot of time.  We needed to have an office meeting at a house, and I suddenly had people to feed!  It was a perfect storm.

Due to an abundance of frozen berries, the first recipe was:


I don't think I made any adjustments to the recipe, but I likely cut back on the sugar as I almost always do.  It turned out great and will definitely be a means to finish up more berries in the freezer.

With that, I also made an old favorite, Oatmeal Scones from the Joy of Cooking (if there is only one cookbook to buy, this would be the one!).  I think I actually had some of Tunisia's amazing dates on hand, so I used dates, but any dried fruit will do.  I thing I love about this recipe is the lack of a need to cut in butter (a real pain in the a**, and I don't have a food processor here).  These scones are perfect for a brunch or afternoon tea.

Oatmeal Scones with Raisins or Dates
Joy of Cooking, 1997 edition

Position rack in center of the oven, preheat to 450F

Whisk together in large bowl:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 TB baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Stir in, using fingers if necessary to separate the fruit:
1 1/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates

Whisk together, then add all at once:
1 lg egg
1 stick unsalted butter, melted (the recipe calls for 1 1/4 sticks, but one is more than enough)
1/3 cup milk

Mix until just moistened, batter will be sticky.  Transfer to lightly floured surface and pat into a 8" round, about 3/4" thick.  Cut into 8-12 wedges and transfer to an ungreased baking sheet, placing the pieces about 1/2" apart.  Bake until lightly browned 10-12 minutes.  Let cool on a rack, or serve warm. Delicious either way.

This initial baking spurt didn't get to last too long, as that night I was on a plane to Germany, where I stayed for 10 days.  Bernice came along, although I'm sorry to report that she was not on her best behavior, drinking whisky and flying down the hall of the hotel.  But I hope you'll excuse her, it was a stressful time.

Next time, Expat Hoarders...