Every Wednesday my family and I went to Fiona's house to have dinner with her.
Even though Fiona lived near us, this was almost the only time my kids saw her. Both of my kids were trying to see her more often, but as everyone knows days pass without much notice....Especially for kids who were busy with friends, work, etc..
Fiona loved her grandchildren from deep in her heart and wanted to know them well.
She felt she didn't know them well enough before she moved close to us. It was only my kids who Fiona felt that way about, probably because they were quiet and whenever they saw her they didn't speak much. Or maybe it was because they were the youngest among her 7 grandchildren.
Of all her grandchildren, she knew the two from her oldest son, who lived near her for their whole lives, the best. She took care of them since they were small, and I think those grandchildren were closest to Fiona. She once said: "I kind of raised them, especially the boy, my very first grandchild."
Fiona was always there whenever they needed her.
Fiona's youngest son's boys were close to her also. That son always included her whenever he planned family vacations, which were for a few weeks at a time, at least once a year. They hiked together, camped together, rented family vacation houses together, and so on...
So Fiona felt she knew her other grandkids well, but not my kids.
And going to her house at least once a week for dinner was a great opportunity for Fiona to get to know them!
Since my daughter is a vegetarian, who doesn't even really eat many vegetables (aka picky eater, lol) Fiona made meals with tofu, a lot. Here's one of her tofu recipes that my daughter loved.
Ingredients
1 tofu, firm or extra firm, your preference
Sesame oil
Salt and pepper
1 lb snap peas, or green beans
1 tablespoons ginger, grated
2 garlic, grated
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Directions
Wrap in a paper towel and leave for 5 minutes to dry excess liquid, Cut the tofu into 1 inch cubes and season both sides with salt and pepper.
In a cast iron pan or skillet, heat sesame oil over medium high heat, place cubed tofu and sear until browned on all sides about 3 minutes each side. Set aside.
Add more sesame oil into the hot pan, and add the snap peas or green beans. Cook until sizzled and tender. Drizzle a small amount of soy sauce and shake the frying pan to coat. Season with salt and pour extra sesame oil to coat lightly. Set aside.
Add ginger and garlic into the same pan and cook until fragrant. Add the coconut milk, soy sauce, and brown sugar and simmer until the sauce thickened, about 5 minutes.
Bring the tofu back to the sauce and cook another 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Serve with the snap peas.
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