"Egg Pizza," Grandpa's Galbi-jjim + Bowls & Bowls of Berries
A Cub Street Diet from Rosa Park, Founder of Cereal Magazine + Francis Gallery
Hi friends,
Ahhhh Summer! Thou hath arrived, and with you new challenges for feeding our school-free children, even as things are trending upward in the produce aisles and farmers markets.
In an effort to offer the Cub Street Diet platform to voices beyond the category of “food people,” we reached out to our friend, the LA-based curator and editor, Rosa Park, cofounder of Cereal magazine and founder of Francis Gallery. Though, by her own admission, Rosa “doesn’t cook,” she is, like all of us gathered here, deeply invested in what her toddler son eats, despite the challenges of running a popular arts & culture magazine, and operating a gallery that works with more than 35 international artists across locations in Bath, UK, and Los Angeles. Francis is a special place, unique in its emphasis on the interplay between art and environment, and for championing an emotional connection to art as a vital part of daily living. What else is a vital part of daily living, you ask? Food, of course!
So, without further ado, here’s Rosa to tell us about three consecutive days of feeding her three-year-old son, Turner.
Fanny + Greta
If you asked me to pick one life skill in which I feel the most inadequate, without hesitation, I’d say cooking. What’s bizarre is that people often assume I must be a decent cook. I’m not sure what kind of vibe I’m projecting to elicit this (delicious) expectation, but I can assure you that if you came over for supper, you would, in fact, be served a crudités board with store-bought hummus.
Before the arrival of my son Turner, I was quite happy to be a serial snacker; for meals, I relied on a combination of take-out, Charlie Bigham’s ready-made meals (I see you England), and one-ingredient-led ‘dishes’ that I could assemble, i.e. a jacket potato. I will take this moment to give a shout-out to my partner, Rich, who enthusiastically cooks for our family when he’s not traveling for work. However, as a photographer, travel he does, and as a mum of one toddler, I’ve had to figure out some things in the kitchen. I’m happy to report that I’ve now advanced to the five or six key ingredients stage. This is my way of saying: if I can do this, you most certainly absolutely definitely can!
FRIDAY
Breakfast:
I recently picked up some stainless steel cutters to test a theory that Turner will eat almost anything if it comes in a fun, kid-friendly shape [We have espoused a similar theory]. I realize halfway through stamping out cloud-shaped apple and flower-shaped banana bites that I’m an idiot, because apples and bananas are his go-to fruits. I should be stamping out celery and beets for him in the morning. However, at this point I’m committed, so I see it through. Two plates, each stacked high with cloud apples and flower bananas, await Turner when he makes his way to the kitchen. He is delighted! He asks for more, and eats almost two bananas and two apples for breakfast. I have the joy of eating the off-cuts; I secretly pine for the cute shapes but he’s three and I’m almost 40. He wins. Turner has no interest in the regular-shaped toasted bagel with cream cheese that I’ve also prepared. I decide to re-purpose the neglected bagel for his lunch box.
Lunch:
An open, toasted bagel with cream cheese for breakfast becomes a cream cheese and sliced cucumber sandwich for lunch. Accompanying the bagel sandwich today are: cut strawberries, Castelvetrano olives (I soak these for about 30 minutes so they’re not too briny), roasted pumpkin seeds, and Simple Mills almond flour crackers. In case you’re interested, my favorite lunch boxes are the ones from Planetbox, after trying a few.
Dinner:
It’s donabe night! One of the recipes from the cookbook, Donabe, is currently on weekly rotation: steam-fried black cod with crispy potatoes, leeks and walnut-nori pesto. I cheat on the walnut-nori pesto by using American Basil Pesto Perfectto as a base and adding sheets of nori and crushed walnuts. Something about cooking in, and eating out of, a donabe makes me feel like a pro. I reckon Turner agrees because he loves donabe night! We each eat big spoonfuls of cod with charred leeks; Rich and I dip our crispy potatoes in the walnut-nori pesto, T dips his in ketchup, which he calls “tomato jam!!” For dessert, we bring out a HU hazelnut butter-filled chocolate bar. Rich and I eat two squares each, and try to convince Turner to have just one because he’s smaller. Doesn’t work. He negotiates two squares by relentlessly declaring, “Two for mummy, two for daddy, two for Turner!”
SATURDAY
Breakfast:
Devouring bowls of fresh berries — blackberries and raspberries are the current berries of choice — is how Turner likes to start his ideal Saturday, especially if it comes with a side of Octonauts. T’s weekly cartoon quota is usually allocated to weekends, which means we can enjoy a cup of coffee (for me) and matcha (for Rich), luxuriating in the ease of iPad-induced zen. I washed the berries last night and have them ready to go in Tupperware, so this morning feels extra breezy: I place blackberries in bowl one, raspberries in bowl two, and set them on the table with a glass of milk. While T enjoys his amuse-bouche of berries and much-coveted screen time, I make breakfast frittata with chives and grated parmesan cheese — my spring obsession. When it’s ready, we sit around the table, cut the frittata into triangular slices, and eat them folded like pizza. That’s why T refers to our breakfast frittata as “egg pizza”. Egg pizza is a hit.
Mid-morning Snack:
Two hours later, T wants a snack and is asking for his dad’s banana bread. There’s none left; I ate the last piece. He starts crying because what could be worse than not having banana bread on demand??! I make a peace offering in the form of Medjool dates filled with almond butter, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds. After ignoring me and my dates for about ten minutes, he decides he wants some and ends up having two with a few cucumber sticks. Huzzah for healthy snacking!
Lunch:
When in doubt, build a bowl. There’s always rice in the house, so we make a lot of rice bowls. I feel as though I should be loyal to short-grain rice, but I’m partial to jasmine, as is Turner. Today, I add slices of avocado, leftover ground beef from Rich’s taco night two days ago, and cubes of tomato for T’s portion. I also add furikake and Sriracha to mine. Turner picks out all of the tomato, pushes his food around, and keeps sniffing my bowl and yelling “SPICY!!!” I finish mine, his remains half full.
*I decide to skip his afternoon snack with hopes of working up his appetite for dinner.
Dinner:
I get disproportionately sad when Turner doesn’t eat well, aka finish his food. So I decide to make one of his favorites: stir fried rice noodles with shrimp and scallions, drizzled with Bachan’s original. He munches on some Croccantini crackers and carrot sticks while he waits for dinner. When the rice noods are ready, he dives in, and eats his first bowl theatrically, declaring, “Mmmm, delicious!” By bowl two, he’s less focused on noodles, and more interested in playing with his pterodactyl stuffy. For dessert, we share a bowl of CocoRolls and a pot of mint tea.
SUNDAY
Breakfast:
We’re heading to the Hollywood Farmers’ Market, so we keep Turner’s breakfast light: Greek yoghurt topped with sliced banana and almonds drizzled in honey. I tuck into a whole roasted sweet potato and pour my filter coffee to-go into a Kinto, and we’re off. Rich always wants us to beat ‘the crowds’ but we’ve never made it there earlier than 9am.
Morning snack (or Breakfast number two?):
T adores the farmers’ market. He begins his snacking tour by sampling apricots and cherries. I have some too, and get swept up in the excitement of stone fruit season and purchase not one, but two jars of something advertised as ‘single origin plum jam.’ Next, we queue for Bub & Grandma’s bread and pick up a baguette and an olive ciabatta. By the time we reach Dave’s Gourmet Korean — via Leona for Bucatini — T has chomped almost a third of the baguette, and is ready for Dave’s seaweed tempha. As Rich and I contemplate scallops vs. shrimp and king oyster mushrooms vs. shiitake, T grazes on the tempha between sips of freshly squeezed orange juice. When I attempt to hide what remains of the baguette so we can have it with plum jam for breakfast tomorrow, he cranes his neck and demands, “More!”. I create a diversion by asking him to smell the fresh herbs. It works — baguette is safe.
Lunch:
One of my fave meals of the week is the lunch that follows our trip to the farmers’ market. As we unpack and cook, T shares what he fancies most from our bounty. Today, I’m pan searing scallops with a dollop of butter, which I sprinkle with black sesame seeds and black lava salt. Rich stir-fries bok choy and shiitake mushrooms. Turner eats four scallops and wants only the “crunchy” part of the bok choy – stems not leaves. He eats one mushroom and declares, “Just one. I’m full.”
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Dinner:
I want Korean, so I opt to reheat food my parents dropped off this weekend. My dad makes the best galbi-jjim (braised beef short ribs) and this is Turner’s preferred beef dish — I think he likes how tender and flavorful the meat is — so I add a quarter cup of water to a pan, cover it, and let the galbi-jjim simmer back to life. This is a stretch, but I feel like I’m cooking when I reheat in a pan or oven instead of a microwave, so this is going to count as my Sunday evening ‘cooking’. I plate two types of kimchi: classic napa cabbage for me and Rich, and a baek-kimchi (white kimchi) for T. Turner is excited to see white kimchi and eats it first. He then mixes in the galbi-jjim to his steamed rice and devours it. I must admit I feel a tinge of pride when I see him enjoy Korean flavors; maybe I’ll prepare dduk (rice cakes) for breakfast tomorrow…
Foolproof ready meals & snacks for T: