Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Holy Saturday was sunny, sunny, pretty. A walk on the hill, silliness, cold brook, ah…
The Chief was busy at home moving his bees around.
Recipe for Gateau Paris-Brest in case you are interested, here.
Friends for Easter, food, wine, dessert, music…
Ginger-Garlic Bacon Slaw, Like Mother, Like Daughter
(As always, amounts are approximate. Don't be afraid.)
2-3 cups shredded Savoy cabbage (you can use any kind, but Savoy has curly, sort of crenelated leaves that keep the resulting slaw from sort of matting down. Those who fear slaw often just object to this matted down, slippery aspect; and you can avoid that by getting Savoy)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped bacon (or whatever you have. To make this kind of thing worthwhile, you will have made the effort to hide a few pieces of bacon after your Sunday brunch. Just make way more than you need right then so you are not depriving anyone. Freeze them in a dark corner. The bacon is what makes this amazing, though — of course — so do what you have to do)
a few very thin slices, chopped, of sweet red onion or a chopped green onion or two
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste (again, this is something you make beforehand so that your slaw — a simple side-dish — doesn't turn into a production. Just take equal amounts of fresh ginger and fresh garlic — say, 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup each — and process them with enough olive oil to make a paste. Add a little salt and keep in a jar in the fridge)
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (you can use other vinegar but I think this kind complements the ginger)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
Mix dressing ingredients (from the mayo on) together and toss with the rest. Seriously, this is sparkling and tangy and sweet and bacon-y! You will love it!
Blair says
I love the photos of your lovely table and the children and adults interacting, playing music. It gives me hope that one day our holidays will be more beautiful than chaotic! They're fun, but there is no elegance going on. Our Easter celebration with one side of the family was pizza at the park! Maybe one day…
Sue says
Oh my goodness!! I never knew that cabbage could be missed so much! We are still being very careful about where our veggies come from here, and our cabbage almost always comes from the prefecture just under Fukushima, which means that we haven't had more than a head or two in the two years since the nuclear disaster. I feel like I could eat that entire bowl of slaw!! I'll keep the recipe until I come across an unexpected safe head of cabbage.
_Leila says
Oh, Sue, this breaks my heart! It's terrible to think that what you're eating is tainted like that. We'll pray for cabbage…
Paula says
Wow, you set a beautiful table! My Mim used to go a all out like that…shame on me!
Amy Marie says
Beautiful family and lovely table and please pass the beans! 😉
_Jessica says
Your Easter looks lovely…and your guests are from my hometown! Such a small world!
Mary says
Leila, you look so very healthy, happy, skinny and youthful! Beautiful pictures of a happy life.
sjohnston522 says
I was with you on that Dyngus Day meal until the part about leftover bacon. Please explain this phenomenon.
_Leila says
sjohnston, I tried to explain — it's only the result of hard-headed determination to do what is best for them regardless of what they want — sort of an example of ACTING on their behalf, not REACTING to their need to consume all the bacon everywhere. You must be cunning. Above all, you must have the self-control of a swami, not to eat it yourself. Serve breakfast sausage as well, so they don't notice. I dunno. You'll figure it out somehow.
Chris C says
Love the family photos. What a beautiful day you had!
Thank you for sharing this glimpse into your family and your Easter.
Thanks for hosting; I love this idea and I am so happy to link up.
God bless
~Chris
Melissa Diskin says
I'm staring at my lumpy bumpy ginger wondering how you had the patience to scrape off all that skin and all those little bits to process it. Any helpful hints, or am I just being a lazybones?
_Leila says
MDiskin, yes, some ginger is so finicky and little. Try to choose a big fat piece and then use the equivalent amount of garlic.
Woman of the House says
Your food looks gorgeous! I noticed that in the pictures of the Easter dinner, you did not use a tablecloth. Is that etiquette these days? I would love to be free not to use a tablecloth (or placemats) sometimes, but my eighth grade home ec teacher went to great lengths to impress upon us how gauche that is, how she hated to eat on a bare table, how western civilization would fall if we tried it, etc., etc., etc. So what do the LMLD readers say? Can I be free of this burden?
_Leila says
WotH, here's the thing. Sometimes I do use a tablecloth. But this table was made by the Chief and the wood is really awesome. It's cherry from our property! He likes how it looks and so do I — it's nicer not to cover it up. HOWEVER, I get worried about the hot dishes hurting the finish. So then ensues a lot of moving around of hot pads/tiles etc… even with a tablecloth, I worry.
The table looked very pretty without the cloth, though, and certainly I wasn't having a lot of time to iron just before Easter! So that worked out. Wish I had been able to take pictures before the meal, but you know how that goes!
Amy M. says
Ooooh, I have all these things on hand. Will have to make this soon, especially since, due to a moment of forgetfulness in the grocery store, I now have an overabundance of ginger (if I had a blog that would have to be my “real” photo). Thank you so much for posting! Also, I just have to comment that I think The Artist is one of those people who looks different in every photograph. Every time I see him on here I wonder, “Wait, who is that?” and then I figure it out. I meant to note that on the “Love from Deirdre and The Artist” post awhile back (because with all the pictures of him in that post it stands out more), but by the time I got around to it the moment seemed to have passed 🙂
DeirdreLMLD says
Amy, I agree! I actually enjoy looking at old photos of him and observing how different he looks (I guess I just enjoy looking at him in general… ;). But also he recently shaved, so he has the fresh look of no facial hair. And a guy's appearance can change a lot when he can switch up beard/no beard/goatee…!
Amy M. says
Hahaha, it's true! I mean, I could change my look in 2 hours by cutting 6″ off my hair and/or getting bangs (both of which I've done) but neither of those are undone quite as easily as shaving off a beard or goatee when you get tired of it. Plus guys look different when they wear hats vs. no hats, or are sporting a different style of haircut, etc. This characteristic in people fascinates me because, due to my reluctance to change hairstyles and rather prominent “chipmunk cheeks,” I look pretty much the same in pictures from 10 years ago as I do today. Sometimes I covet that ability to re-invent oneself!
Kathy says
I so enjoyed seeing a glimpse at your Easter, your pictures evoke such a warm happy time. I will be trying the coleslaw and as far as leftover bacon – the only way that happens in this house is if I hide it in a non-clear container that is labeled with something like 'spirulina powder' or 'nutritional yeast' – teenage boys never suspect and hopefully never will so long as they don't read this post ha ha!
Thomasquiver says
Woman of the House…you are as free as you want to be:)
Mary says
WOW! my hubby will love that cole slaw. Can't wait to try it!! Your Easter table was stunning. LOVE the table. Nice job Chief!!
Marcy::A Simple Life says
Lovely! I look forward to when we're able to host meals like that again. Our home is 1000sq ft and we've got 7 humans, 1 dog, 2 cats, and myriad of little critters living within these walls. Doesn't leave much room for many visitors, but we try! And it's certainly cozy 🙂 It'll do but somedays I wish for more space to stretch a bit!
Your slaw recipe looks divine! Will give it a go 🙂
Anne-Marie says
I bet that slaw would be yummy using balsamic vinegar, too.
I was trained in the same vein as WotH's home ec teacher, but I have since decided that what really feels uncivilized to me is plates directly on the wood with lots of bare wood around them. When there are lots of guests and the table is crowded, the lack of placemats/cloth is hardly visible and so they're not missed. I sometimes use a runner down the center of the table for the hot serving dishes to sit on.
Margo says
mmmm, that coleslaw looks good!
Bobbi says
I follow your Thursday's so faithfully…I thought I'd give it a go this week myself. It's always so inspiring and encouraging here. Thank you!!
Corrine says
Grew up and still live in South Bend. Oh the sausage and cooked cabbage, but only Eastern Europeans would feel a meal is incomplete without mashed potatoes AND noodles. Another wonderful Polish tradition is the blessing of the Easter food on Holy Saturday morning. Our whole family loves this tradition. http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgical…
On another note I'd love to see you write something about homeschooling high school. This is my first year with a high schooler and I must admit it has been hard – very hard. I'm not sure if I'm making it harder than it has to be or if I just need to come to terms with how much time it takes. My daughter is hard working and does what she's asked but to help her I need to read or at least review the work she's doing and well that takes time.
Thank you for your wonderful words
Rebecca says
Coleslaw with bacon, hmmmm? I'll have to try it!
PS. My favorite photo of the bunch is you and your girl walkin' and talkin'. That is truly lovely.
Marie says
I love the hilly country on your family walk. Is that in your neighborhood, or perhaps a golf course? Very dreamy!
Donna L. says
Yes, yes the slaw looks lovely….but the BAKLAVA!!! ~swoon~ I'd love the recipe for that dreamy, decadent dessert, please–or even a “sort of” recipe that I have come to know and love here at LMLD
I, too, loved the pictures of your family — lean, smiling in the sun– such picture-perfection with that
Sarah says
Your Easter pictures are lovely. So much joy and life!
Lee Akter says
I love all of your family photos, but the picture around the piano is my personal favorite. Thanks for sharing the photos of your beautiful table as well. I am salivating!
Karen says
I didn't see a working link to your gorgeous Paris-Brest… I like my sweets much more than coleslaw (though that would be a hit around these parts too! Thank you for sharing 🙂
_Leila says
Karen, I put the link in, thanks for telling me. It's not a hard dessert if you know how to make pate a choux (which is not hard, just a knack).
Karen says
Merci! I am currently educating myself on French cooking and have tried some choux-based recipes, but I want to know what precisely you used for your filling! It looks so yummy and beautiful! I should perhaps also mention that I am a regular reader, as are many friends up here in SE Michigan, and we enjoy your blog very much. It is a lovely resource for solid Catholic family living, and I thank you for sharing your musings and doings with the rest of us (especially we in the formative family years!)!
Bonnie says
I made the slaw yesterday for a barbacue and I have to say that it tasted better as the evening went on (maybe more time for flavours to come out from the ginger/garlic?) I didn't add bacon (because we were already having a ton of meat), but did add a handful of toasted cashews and some julienned parsnip. It was really awesome! The ginger garlic paste is great and I now have a whole jar 🙂 What else can I use it in?