Until today, I wasn’t sure whether Iris understood my job. But I should remember that it never pays to bet against Iris understanding something, because this evening we had the following conversation.
> **Iris:** Iris is at Victrola.
> **Me:** What are you doing? Drinking some coffee? Writing an article?
> **Iris:** About you’re eating sandwiches.
One of Iris’s favorite Spongebob cartoons involves Spongebob adopting a seahorse named Mystery. Spongebob’s boss Mr. Krabs, overhearing Mystery’s whinny in the kitchen of the Krusty Krab, bursts in and finds the horse draped over Spongebob’s knee, upon which he says, “Mystery got a bellyache from eating too many Krabby Patties, so I made her a bicarbonate of soda.”
This has given Iris the idea that “bicarbonate of soda” is some sort of delicious beverage. Today we were out doing sidewalk chalk (her second biggest obsession of the moment, after Spongebob), and I was drawing various pictures on request. The mother of Iris’s friend Sam walked by, and Iris pointed and said:
> That’s frowny face and that’s smiley face and that’s Iris drinking Iris’s bicarbonate of soda!
My brother and his girlfriend took Iris to the zoo today. She went hoping to see penguins, lizards, and monkeys. The penguins and lizards had the day off, but she did see giraffes, tigers, orangutans, elephants, and monkeys.
After dinner, Laurie and Iris were discussing the zoo.
> **Iris:** The elephants were eating grass. Mama tell Iris what are tigers eating.
> **Laurie:** Tigers eat meat. Should we invite a tiger over for dinner?
> **Iris:** Yes.
> **Laurie:** We could make it some meatballs. Maybe chipotle meatballs.
> **Iris:** BIG chipotle meatballs.
> **Laurie:** What would the tiger like for dessert?
> **Iris:** Pocky sticks. Strawberry flavor.
Today is St. George’s Day, an important English holiday that I learned about yesterday on Becks & Posh. If you don’t know who St. George is, this web site informs you that:
> One of the best known stories about St. George is his fight with a dragon. But it is highly unlikely that he ever fought a dragon, and even more unlikely that he ever actually visited England. Despite this, St. George is known throughout the world as the dragon-slaying patron saint of England.
I’ve never fought a dragon, but I have been to England, so I guess that’s why I was passed over for sainthood. Hmm, I’ve never been to Belgium. I could totally be patron saint of Belgium. Or of fries.
Er, anyway, to celebrate St. George’s day, we slew some rhubarb (meaning Iris and I bought some at Frank’s Produce, at Pike Place Market) and made Nigella Lawson’s rhubarb crumble. Actually, we made it yesterday.
If rhubarb crumble isn’t the national dish of England, it should be.
Aside from the fact that rhubarb crumble is delicious and appropriate to the holiday, I wanted to do a little science experiment. Last time I made rhubarb crumble, I thickened it with cornstarch. It was good, but had a distinct chalky cornstarch texture. So this time I made two batches, one with cornstarch and one with arrowroot starch. I got the arrowroot at Uwajimaya. Iris was also along for that shopping trip, and when we got to the starch aisle she said in a booming voice, “Dada, GRAB. THAT. STARCH.”
I grabbed that starch and noticed a couple of things about arrowroot, or at least this particular batch. First, it comes in hard little chunks rather that smooth powder like cornstarch. Second, when you mix it into a slurry, it has a weird smell. I was afraid the smell would permeate the crumble.
No worries! The arrowroot crumble won hands-down: it was less runny but had almost no artificial starch texture, and no weird smell, either. Iris cleaned her plate. If she keeps this up, she will be patron saint of rhubarb farmers.
Here’s one of the crumbles coming out of the oven, still bubbling:
We attacked it, St. George-style, and soon it looked like this:
Here it is, plated up with whipped cream, since we had no double cream:
And here’s the recipe:
**RHUBARB CRUMBLE**
Adapted from Feast by Nigella Lawson
Serves 2
*This recipe is halved from the one in the book; feel free to redouble it.*
*For the filling:*
1 pound rhubarb, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon arrowroot starch, dissolved in a couple of teaspoons of water
*For the topping:*
1/2 cup (2-1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons (half-stick) butter, cold and diced
3 tablespoons (1.25 ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons (1.25 ounces) brown sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 375. Combine the filling ingredients in a saucepan. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted and the sugar is well dissolved, about five minutes. Turn out into a small baking dish.
2. Combine the flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour mixture with your hands until you achieve a coarse, powdery texture. Stir in the sugars.
3. Pour the topping evenly over the rhubarb filling. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbly and well-browned. Let cool at least five minutes before serving; serving at room temperature is fine.
Technorati Tags: st. george’s day, what’s for pud?
**Iris:** Iris would like a stomachache.
**Me:** Why would you want a stomachache?
**Iris:** Iris would like one for Iris’s birthday.
**Me:** A stomachache is when your tummy hurts. It’s not a good thing.
**Iris:** It’s a kind of cake.