Conquering Lice One Nit At A Time

This blog is nothing if not a little bit of everything. . . 

As my little guy came up to me and gave me a big hug, I looked down at his blond head and did something that has become a bit of a habit lately:  I searched for lice.  I'm finally far enough removed from this experience to share it with you.  That doesn't meant I'm not still ever so slightly traumatized by what happened.

So, one morning at the beginning of the school year I was getting ready to send my kids off to the bus when my little guy complained that his scalp itched.  My first thought was that he didn't fully rinse out his shampoo.  I checked the nape of his neck where he was itching and couldn't believe what I saw.  It was bad.  BAD I tell you!  Really bad.  

We made it through 11 years of childhood socializing before the lice finally hitched a ride home.  It wasn't even my daughter's long blond hair that brought them home.  I'm picturing a group of 9 year old boys, heads stuck together over a pile of Legos.  Or putting each other into headlocks while wrestling on the carpet.  Getting them from someone else's hairbrush?  Definitely not what happened: my 9 year old doesn't even use his OWN brush.  Sweaty wrestling boys sounds highly likely.


Luckily we had one of these:

When the kids were in preschool in Italy, I read a notice on the door one day that mentioned "pidocchi" and was told I needed to go directly "la farmacia" and buy a special comb.  There were plenty of notices about lice in the years to come, but my kids never had any.  I guess when it rains, it pours.

Want to get rid of lice?  Then get a good quality metal lice comb and use it on EVERY STRAND OF HAIR.  My kids have a lot of hair.  That's a lot of combing.  But it is also THE BEST way to get rid of lice.  My daughter, with her piles of blond hair only had what may have been 3 nits (the eggs).  They are so small that sometime you wonder if it a speck of sand or a flake of dandruff.  The boy child was a different story altogether.  Really really bad.  All kinds of bad.  This was no minor infestation.  My head is suddenly so itchy as I write this!

I combed my son's hair over a large unfolded piece of newsprint so that I could easily dispose of anything that was removed.  Then I thoroughly washed his hair.  THEN I used a blow dryer in an effort to desiccated any nits or lice that had eluded my wrath.  Then I combed through his hair AGAIN!

Finally, I took him to school.  I dropped him off in class and then swung by the nurse's office to give her the option to send a note home to other parents. (When lice are found on kids at school, the nurse sends home a note informing parents that a student in your child's grade had lice so check your kids.)  I wasn't required to say anything but I felt that, because his infestation had been so bad (shudder), I should alert her.  Alas, no good deed goes undone.  She informed me that he could NOT return to school until he had received a chemical treatment to rid him of lice.  I told her that wasn't going to happen.  Under no circumstances was I "dipping" my child.  She wasn't pleased.  She said it was policy.  I said it was not going to happen.  She called my son into her office and threatened told me that if she found even one louse or nit he would have to go home immediately.   She got out her little wooden chopsticks and started searching his hair, determined to find something.  She couldn't find a thing.  Back to class he went.  Ah, sweet victory! 
  
Then I went home and really got to work making sure no stray lice or eggs were in the house.

• I machine washed and dried ALL the bedding, including mattress pads, in the house.  My daughter had what might have been a few nits and my son also makes the rounds snuggling in everyone's bed so I was taking no chances.  

• I tumbled all the stuffed animals on high heat in the dryer.

• I removed the blankets, pillows and fabric slip covers from the pillows and couches and into the wash they went.  The inserts that would fit got tumbled on heat in the dryer.

• I vacuumed everywhere.  I pulled my son's bunk bed from the corner and got every inch of carpet in his room.

• I put fresh bedding on all the beds.  

• I collected all the towels, dirty clothes and jackets and put them in the wash.

I admit to maybe going overboard.  For a week straight, I used a lice comb and a blow dryer on everyone's hair at least once a day.  I removed a few more nits but never saw another louse.  We didn't have a reinfestation issue from eggs that hatched.  I don't regret it but admit my vigilance was a bit excessive.  Extreme but certainly not crazy.  Crazy would have been using a bottle of chemical on my kid's head. Why, OH WHY would I feed my kids pesticide free food and then douse their heads in the stuff?  You know what works?  Lice combs.  That's why every box of chemical treatment comes with a comb and tells you to use it!  Oh, gracious, I seem to have climbed up onto a soapbox.  Down I come.  

Setting the Record Straight

My sweet husband commented that someone reading my posts might assume that all I ever do is cook and do projects when I actually clean all the time too.  Sweet of him to notice.  So, in case anyone was under the impression that all I ever do is craft and cook, here's some of the other exciting stuff I was doing yesterday . . .

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Wash Dry Repeat Repeat Repeat.

I'm also wiping up yellow pollen.  It's everywhere!  I had the windows open when the wind picked up.  The carpet feels like I dusted it with baking soda.  I'm now cleaning pollen from every single surface and window blind.  If it was edible, I'm sure we'd have enough for a meal.

I used the power washer and sprayed down the front porch of all its accumulated pollen.  Then I tackled the front walkway.  There were several years of accumulated dirt and mold.  Every time I finished a square there was such a sense of satisfaction, and every time I started spraying the next one I felt as if I would never finish.  If you power wash barefoot just make sure you keep your toes out of the spray - because it hurts.  Learn from my mistakes and spare yourself.   

I was actually going to make olive focaccia bread but I was out of yeast.  Say it isn't so!  I am trying to use up everything in the pantry/fridge/freezer but it is too soon to run out of yeast.  So, I let the kids snack on the olives instead and I'll pick more of both up at the store today.

Zucchini Tart

So, my husband has started calculating the nutritional information for the foods that I cook most frequently.  Where is the fun in that?  Yesterday he looks up from his computer and informs me that I don't cook low calorie food.  I think I had a stick of butter in my hand when he was talking.  My response to him was something along the lines of "Portion control" "Calories - whatever" and "Go play outside."  I prepare lots of low calorie food.  It's called salad.  Kale, arugula, half a dozen different lettuces, sprouts, cabbages, root vegetables.  "What's for dinner?"  "Salad!" (Emphasis mine, not the family's.)   I love a giant bowl of raw veggie goodness dressed with, as claims my true love, a lemon passed over the top.  Ha!  Not squeezed, just, you know, in the vicinity of the salad.  Um, sorta true.

Life is about finding a balance.  A big bowl of salad and a slice of zucchini tart are the perfect pairing for me.


The Dough

A single recipe of dough yields more than enough for the 9.5 inch glass pie dish that I bake this tart in.  I always double this dough recipe, divide it into thirds and I've got dough for 3 tarts.  (Wrapped, the uncooked dough keeps well in the fridge for a few day.)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 salt
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons of ice water

In food processor fitted with steal blade, mix flours and salt.  Add butter gradually, pulsing food processor until you have pea sized pieces.  Add sour cream and and lemon juice pulse to incorporate.  Gradually add ice water until dough just starts to hold together.  Remove from food processor and shape into ball and form into disc (or 3 balls/3 discs of equal size if you are doubling the recipe). Wrap in plastic and chill in refrigerator for at least one hour.



The Filling

I like to use small zucchini because their seeds are nearly non-existant and that keeps the tart from getting soggy.  Larger zucchini can be sliced and then blotted dry with paper towels or the seeds can be scraped out.

2 small zucchini, sliced into 1/8 inch thick rounds (I use a mandoline slicer for uniform slices)
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove of garlic
1/2 cup ricotta
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
1 egg
1/8 teaspoon course sea salt
1 Tablespoon chopped parsley


   
Preparing the Tart

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Smash garlic and mix with olive oil in a small bowl.  In separate bowl, combine ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt, and parsley. On a lightly floured surface, roll disc of dough into a 10-inch circle.  Transfer dough to pie dish. It should cover bottom and about 1 inch up the sides.  Brush half the garlic/olive oil mixture over the dough.  Spread the cheese mixture evenly over the bottom of the dough.  Starting at the outer edge of the cheese layer, layer the zucchini in tight spiral finishing in the center.  Brush the remaining olive oil mixture over the top of the tart.  Bake for 30-35 minutes until crust turns golden.  Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting. 

  

This dish can be served hot, room temperature or anywhere in between.  My favorite way to eat it is with lemon freshly zested over the top.  It's also delicious with freshly ground pepper and a little dollop of dijon mustard on the side.

New York Style Cheesecake

Spring arrived yesterday all at once.  Sunshine, warm breezes, leaves unfurling on the trees. First mosquito, first June bug, patio table covered with yellow pollen.  I've spent most of my time outside for the past few days but still got to benefit from time in the kitchen.  I threw together another cheesecake together Monday evening, cooled it and tucked it in the fridge to chill and firm up. Then I got to enjoy a piece for lunch yesterday! Finally! This was the recipe I was searching for. 

I used only lemon zest, no lemon juice.  I added sour cream but no flour.  I made a crust that came almost all the way up the sides.  Instead of a heavy sauce, I thawed some cherries and blueberries from the freezer, smashed them with a fork and it was the perfect subtle topping for the rich cake.  I'm a dessert lover, but it really is impossible to eat too small a piece of this.  Cheesecakes are rich and this one doesn't disappoint.  Oh course, to drive the point home, my dear husband calculated the calorie content.  This is celebration food and I am celebrating Spring!  

Troubleshooting

The two biggest problems people seem to have when baking cheesecake are cracking and falling.  If you don't want cracks then use a water bath.  It keeps the humidity high and the temperature steady. The other problem is a cheesecake that falls in the middle.   Assuming the cheesecake was adequately cooked, falling cheesecake is usually the result of overbearing the batter.  I solve this by using my trusty handheld mixer on low and constantly scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl by hand. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth not fluffy.  You don't want to incorporate air.  Mix in the eggs slowly, one at a time, don't beat them.  I've read that the addition of flour or cornstarch helps prevent falling because its presence gives the air bubbles something to cling to instead of just burst. I think flour makes for an unpleasant texture.  Always use a water bath and always gently mix on low to avoid whipping in any air.   Cook it slowly, cool it slowly.  Butter the sides of your springform pan so the crust won't stick and pull away from the center or cause a crack.  Shame on me for not keeping a closer eye one the cake in its final minutes of cooking.  It is much darker on top than I would have liked but thanks to the water bath, the cake is still very moist.  It was still jiggling in the center when I took it out of the oven to finish cooling which is what you want.  Once it fully cools down and then chills in the fridge overnight the consistency will be perfect.

Now for the recipe!

The Crust
15 graham crackers (The texture and taste of organic graham crackers is often quite different than traditional graham crackers.  Trader Joe's graham crackers are a good compromise with all the flavor but no HFCS or artificial ingredients.)
6 1/4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Butter a 9 inch springform pan.  Mix together crust ingredients and then press mixture into the bottom and a 2 inches up the sides of the pan.  Bake until set, abut 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

The Filling
5 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese, room temperature, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream

In large bowl, mix cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth.  Add sugar and continue mixing until smooth.  Constantly scrape down sides of bowl.  Add lemon zest and salt.  Add eggs, one at a time. Continue to mix on low, scraping down the side and thoroughly combining the ingredients after each edition.  Mix in sour cream.  Scrape down side.  Make sure everything is fully incorporated so you don't have lines in your cake.

The Baking
Boil water for water bath.  Wrap the bottom of the springform pan in foil or with a silicone cover.  Pour in filling.  Set springform pan into a roasting pan and pour in enough water to come about halfway up the side of the springform.  Place in preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes.  Turn off oven and leave cake inside to cool for about an hour.  Remove from oven and cool on counter until room temperature.  Cover loosely and chill in fridge for 6-8 hours before serving.

Pizza Night

Pizza Night is not an uncommon occurrence around here. It's a fun way to get everyone in the kitchen.  We try to encourage experimenting but, ingredients permitting, the kids like to fall back on  their faithful standbys of pepperoni/olive/mushroom and green onion/mushroom/tomato.  I can't blame them because I have my favorite too:  Thai Chicken Pizza.  

It's my pizza and salad all rolled into one.  It's not a sweet peanut-sauced version of Thai pizza.  It's a savory coconut milk, fish sauce and green curry pizza.  Folks have been asking for the recipe so I'm going to pretend that I measure when I cook.

The Dough
This recipe makes an easy to work with dough that produces a thin, crisp, crust.  It is a yeast dough but it only needs to rise for a less than an hour total.  That makes it about 1 1/2 hours from "Hey, let's make pizza!" until we are eating.  I like to use a mixture of all-purpose flour and white whole wheat flour.  This recipe will make enough dough for 2 15-inch pizzas.  This recipe started out in Pizza, Pasta & More by Wolfgang Puck.  I pulled it off of foodnetwork.com back in 2003 and have only made a few changes. 

2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon honey
1 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Dissolve honey and yeast in the warm water.  (If using a  Kitchen Aid with a dough hook, do this in the bowl of the mixer.  Then add the flour mixture to the wet mixture.  If mixing by hand or in a food processor, dissolve the honey and yeast in a small bowl and then add it to the flour mixture.)

In a separate bowl, combine the flours.

When yeast is dissolved (and foamy) add the olive oil.  On low, mix in 2 1/2 cups of flour.  Add salt to the final 1/2 cup of flour and mix in on low until a ball forms around the dough hook.  About 5 minutes.  Remove dough and hand kneed a few minutes to make sure it is smooth.  Place dough in lightly oiled bowl, cover with warm damp towel and let rise for 30 minutes. (My favorite place is in the microwave.)  After 30 minutes the dough should hold a dent if you poke at it with your finger.  Divide it in half and, on a very lightly floured surface, gently roll and smooth each portion into a nice ball.  Again, cover with a damp towel and let rest for 15 minutes.

When it comes time to form the crust, I use a french rolling pin to form a 16 inch circle.  If you want to throw your pizza dough in the air, this dough is great for that - have fun.

I use a pizza stone dusted with cornmeal to cook my pizzas.  This is such a thin crust that a baking sheet works just fine.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.  


The Topping

3 Tablespoons coconut cream from an unshaken can of coconut milk
1 Tablespoon (more or less according to preference) green curry
2 green onions, whites only, chopped
3 chicken thighs, grilled (If I use breast, I marinate them in coconut milk to keep them from drying our.  You can omit the chicken for an equally delicious but less carnivore friendly pizza.)
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella (or add an extra Tablespoon of coconut cream and omit the cheese)

Spread the coconut cream on the crust with the back of a spoon.  Add the green curry and spread.  Sprinkle on green onions, chicken, and cheese.  Place on the middle rack of preheated oven and cook for about 12 minutes.

The Garnish
I will list what went onto the latest version but there are other ingredients that work really well too: bean sprouts, Thai basil, thinly sliced hot peppers.  Remember, precise measurements are extremely important on this step.  Ha! I kid! Don't be afraid of the fish sauce.  Just do it!

1/2 cup red cabbage
1/2 cup white cabbage
2 green onions, greens only, thinly sliced
1 carrot julienned  (I cheat and use a traditional lemon zester - works great)
1/4 of a red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 cup chopped cilantro
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons fish sauce (how does something that smells so bad taste so good?)
1/2 cup chopped peanuts

Mix all that goodness together and toss it on the pizza when it comes out of the oven.  Slice and enjoy.

(Bad quality iphone photo.  Foreground is the Thai Pizza.  Pizza in the background is veggie: roasted tomatoes, roasted eggplant, grilled asparagus, and mushroom on a spelt crust.)

Tea Kettle: Farewell and Hello

Our beloved tea kettle has come to a premature end.

My honey put water on to boil for tea when he was called upstairs at the request of the boy child who was alone and watching Harry Potter.  We generally don't leave the kitchen when the water is on to boil.  Then they both got engrossed in the movie and before you know it there was a terrible smell in the house.  The whistle hadn't been in to alert him and the tea kettle had boiled dry.  Drier than dry.  The bottom was burnt black.  Not good.  More than a bit scary.

The kettle has now started to audibly crack every time water is heated.  The enamel is chipping and flaking.  After nearly 10 years of loyal service we are in the market for another kettle.

The saddest thing about those pictures?  The electric stove.  Oh, how we have missed a gas stove these past few years!  Because of code issues and the location of the microwave we couldn't swap it out without considerable kitchen renovation or expense . . . OK, my little pity party is over.


We have loved our Le Creuset and the color scheme "Flame" is so cheerful that it was a no brainer to get the same one.  Two days latter it arrived in the mail.  The design is the same but with a few updates.  There is a new stainless collar around the lip of the pour spout.  I presume to prevent wear.  Instead it causes water to drip all over the stove when you pour.  And the whistle!  It is sooo piercing that I didn't even want to walk near it to turn it off.  I had my free hand over my ear!  Strike 3 was the discovery that a piece of plastic had broken off in shipping.  This was not meant to be.  We returned the kettle and started our search from scratch.

Even though we had loved our original one, reviews for the Le Creuset were across the board unflattering.  We decided to go a different route and get stainless steel this time.

And here she is!  I love that she arrived straight from Japan.  Via Amazon.co.jp.  I'm also glad I know how to boil water already because the instructions are entirely in Japanese.  She pours water without and errant drip.  Isn't she lovely . . .  That wasn't a question.  I'm singing Stevie Wonder . . .

No, she doesn't have a whistle.  I checked to see if our old whistle might fit but her spout is too shapely.  Small concession.  Now I need to learn to make a proper cup of British tea and all will be OK.

Keep On Sorting, Keep On Sorting

Still sorting this all in my head so it is good to get it written down.

I made a quick list of what we were doing with the stuff that isn't moving with us in this post over here.  Now for all the stuff that is going with us! 

Category B:  Things That Move With Us

Another 4 piles to sort the rest of the stuff into.

1.  Household Goods  (HHG)

This is the large shipment sent by ship that might take a few months to arrive.  It is the bulk of our belongings.  In addition to furniture, this shipment contains things that we don't necessarily need but would really like to have because they make a house a home.

• furniture

• appliances

• lamps

• bikes/motorcycles (depending on the time of year, bicycles can be a great item to send in your Unaccompanied Baggage)

• clothes: out of season

• linens

• kitchen wares

• Christmas/holiday decorations (unless you plan to run them off of a transformer, leave your lights in storage)

• large rugs

• photos/artwork

• gardening tools

• garage "stuff":  tools, workbench

• books

• board games/kid toys/craft supplies

• DVDs/CDs

2:  Unaccompanied Baggage

This much smaller shipment is sent by plane and will ideally show within a few weeks of our arrival.
This is going to be a "starter kit" to help you move into your house and prep for your HHG to arrive.  I'll pack as much varied stuff as I can into this shipment.   There are some items of furniture that will be available on loan until our large shipment arrives: Beds for everyone, table and chairs to eat at.  We can also request a loaner kitchen kit.  Lighter weight items in this shipment means we can send more things.

• folding table and chairs

• basic kitchen set (I take the one I have set aside for camping, plus a large pot and real knives)

• bathmats/shower curtains

• bikes if the weather will be suitable for them

• a few small lamps

• vacuum cleaner if it is dual voltage.

• simple storage:  large plastic containers and drawers drawers are great to help keep organized. 

• small area rugs

• inflatable mattress

• professional gear that won't be needed right away

• simple curtains 

• old desktop computer/speakers

• dog beds

• laundry hamper/baskets

3:  Suitcases and Carry-ons, for the plane:

If I have room in my luggage, may reallocate some things from Unaccompanied Baggage, but schlepping 2 carry-ons and 4 large pieces of luggage through an airport isn't my idea of ideal.  I'd prefer to travel light even if it means mailing stuff ahead (see point #4) 

• clothes and shoes

• medicines

• paperwork/important files

• passports

• pets.  Don't forget to make arrangements for pets!

• small electronics: ipads, phones (unlocked), laptops, ipods and headphones

• jewelry 

4: USPS
I will take advantage of our new APO address to send ahead a few care packages that will be waiting for us upon arrival. It's nice to think that Unaccompanied Baggage will arrive before HHG or possibly even before us, but this isn't always the case so I'm not counting on it.

• On our last move I packed sheets and blankets in Unaccompanied Baggage.  We will get loaner beds while we are waiting for ours to arrive, but they don't come with bedding.  The problem is that you can get your UB delivered when you have have found a place to live, but it might not have arrived yet.  Or you may have to wait your turn for delivery.  I learned this the hard way on our last overseas move.  I had to run out and buy sheets.  Even though I found the cheapest ones I could, its no fun spending money when the move is already costing a fortune.  This time I am mailing sheets, towels and some light blankets on ahead.  I will save the receipt and get reimbursed.  

• It also happens that the kids get out of school after the shipments will have been sent.  There will inevitably be school related stuff that I don't want to carry around for weeks.  There will also be a child's birthday between the pickup and the move.  Any presents that don't fit into luggage can be mailed.

• We also plan to back up our desktop computer and mail it.  We could take it as excess baggage on the plane.  That is another option.