Ratatouille

Cute movie, like most Pixar movies. We have it and the boys watch it..........you know it's funny, Andrew does the most movie watching. Like most four year olds, he watches the same movie over and over......two maybe three days in a row. Go ahead, ask me a line from Zathura, Indiana Jones (he watches all of these), Super Heroes..........I do know quite a few........see my conversation skills are headed south.........



Oh ratatouille
Daniel, the oldest of the two, came up to me a few days ago and had an idea. We could make ratatouille for the family. Ok, so I gave him this blank look..........hello? I have never considered the kitchen my most favorite spot in the household to shine in..........oh,my family never went hungry, but I am a pretty blah type of cook an if push comes to shove will have to admit that until recently not very adventurous either. Now I am thinking........nope, I am not a cook, but I did like to bake.........see past tense.........that doesn't tickle my fancy any more either.....

Ok, from my shadowy memory, I thought ratatouille was a French stew........what did I know. The first obstacle we had to jump was spelling it. Nope, we couldn't put our hands the DVD....no comment. So I grabbed my old, torn, and truly "I have seen much better days" dictionary and it wasn't in there. I tried phonetically spelling it and did a spell check........that wasn't working.........so I resorted to the online English to French dictionary and found the correct spelling. Onwards. I like the recipe site http://cooks.com/ it seems to cover everything quite well and prints out easily............and here is one of the recipes I found.

RATATOUILLE (VEGETABLE STEW)

1 med. sized eggplant

1 tbsp. salt

1/4 c. olive oil

2 lg. onions, cut into rings

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 green peppers, cut into strips

4 med. sized zucchini, cut into bite sized pieces

2 med. sized ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges

1/4 tsp. salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. thyme1 bay leaf2 tbsp. parsley, finely chopped
Cut eggplant into thick slices and then into small pieces. Sprinkle with salt. Allow eggplant to stand for 30 minutes, then rinse and pat dry on paper towels. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Saute onions and garlic for two minutes. Add green pepper and cook for two minutes. Add eggplant and cook over high heat for three minutes, stirring constantly. Add zucchini and continue stirring for three minutes. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf. Simmer uncovered for 40 minutes until all the vegetables are tender.
Remove bay leaf. Garnish with parsley and serve hot. Can be prepared in advance to this point. Ratatouille can also be served cold as an appetizer.

I read it, sounded good to me.........and then I started reading it to my grandson...........the look of excitement and anticipation was quickly running from his face...........VEGETABLES!!!! The boys do not eat vegetables..........oh Dan will eat peas, and raw carrots........Andrew like corn on the 'husk'.........in my most serious Nana voice I had to ask "You don't want to make this now?"

"No."

" Why?"

" Well Nana, it has tomatoes in it."

"You love tomato soup........you love Chef-Boy-ar-Dee spaghettios.........you love spaghetti."

" I don't like tomatoes, and the other stuff I just know are vegetables too."

Ok, the end of this adventure for him.............me, well I am seriously thinking about making this now..........it sounds good. I also liked where most sites recommended eating it with a good French bread............oh that alone will tempt me further. If and when I do find the way into the cooking part of the kitchen and make this, I will let you know..........

Smile......