Family Meal Plan: Comforting Cauliflower Bread Pudding + Massaged Kale Salad + Lemon-Up Soda

Comforting Cauliflower Bread Pudding

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• boil :

  to cook a food in liquid heated to the point of gas bubbles and steam forming (boiling point is 212 F at sea level).

• chop :

  to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.

• grate :

  to reduce food, like a carrot, to very small shreds or pieces of the same size by rubbing it on a tool with an outside surface that has holes with cutting edges (a grater).

• knife skills :

  Bear Claw (growl), Pinch, Plank, and Bridge (look out for trolls). 

• massage :

  to rub or knead a food to tenderize (e.g., raw beef) or one food into another to infuse flavors (e.g., mint leaves into sugar or oil and salt into kale leaves).

• sauté :

  to cook or brown food in a pan containing a small quantity of butter, oil, or other fat.

• squeeze :

  to firmly press or twist a food with fingers, hands, or a device to remove its liquid, like shredded potatoes, frozen and thawed spinach, or tofu.

• steep :

  to soak a food, like tea, in water or other liquid so as to bring out its flavor.

• strain :

  to separate liquids from solid foods or remove bigger food particles from smaller particles using a perforated or porous device like a strainer, sieve, colander, or cheesecloth.

• tear :

  to pull or rip apart a food, like basil leaves, into pieces instead of cutting with a knife; cutting breaks cell walls more, so herbs can discolor faster.

• whisk :

  to beat or stir ingredients vigorously with a fork or whisk to mix, blend, or incorporate air.

• wilt :

  to cook a leafy vegetable very briefly until it has lost its shape.

History of Bread Pudding!

• Bread pudding's history dates back sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries. Known as "poor man's pudding," it was created by English cooks to salvage stale bread. The bread was soaked in milk or water, sugar, butter, fruit, and spices were added, and then it was baked. Sometimes the mixture was housed in a "sop," a hollowed-out loaf of bread. 
• A 1700s English cookbook, The Compleat Housewife, included two bread pudding recipes. Bread pudding found its way to America with the English colonists. 
• Today, bread pudding is still made, but its current forms tend to be far more luxurious than their humble origins. Modern bread puddings often utilize fresh, gourmet bread, such as brioche, and may include expensive ingredients. 
• However, it is still considered comfort food. The dish is made by layering bits of bread and add-ins in a baking pan and then pouring a custard sauce over before baking. The possibilities are endless because cooks can vary the type of bread and any ingredients they choose to add! 
• Bread pudding can be either savory or sweet, although it got its name from the British "pudding," which refers to any dessert.

Let's learn about England!

• England is ruled by a Monarch, a Prime Minister, and a Parliament. Windsor Castle is the oldest royal castle in the world that is still being used by the royal family.
• England is on the island of Great Britain, along with Wales and Scotland. It is also part of the United Kingdom, which consists of those three countries and Northern Ireland. 
• Did you know that there's no place in the UK that is more than 70 miles from the sea?! 
• Stonehenge is a construction of immense stones that the early inhabitants of what's now Wiltshire, England, began building around 3100 BCE. The final sections were completed around 1600 BCE. Scientists are still not sure how or why they built it. One theory for its purpose is an astronomical observatory. It is very popular with tourists.
• Other popular tourist spots in England include the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament (Palace of Westminster), the Roman Baths and the city of Bath, and the Lake District.  
• London, the capital city, wasn't always called that. In the past, its name was Londonium.
• England took part in the briefest war in history. They fought Zanzibar in 1896, and Zanzibar surrendered after just 38 minutes!
• There have been several influential English authors, but perhaps the most well-known is William Shakespeare, who wrote classics such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet.
• English computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee is credited with inventing the World Wide Web.
• The British really like their sandwiches—they eat almost 11.5 billion a year!

What's It Like to Be a Kid in England?

• Most schools in England require students to wear a school uniform. 
• Sports kids play include football (soccer), cricket, rugby, tennis, netball (similar to basketball), and rounders (similar to baseball). They also play video games, watch the telly, and ride bikes or skateboards.
• Boxing Day is a unique holiday kids celebrate in England the day after Christmas, December 26. The official public holiday is the first weekday after Christmas if Boxing Day falls on a weekend. When the English created the holiday, it was the day to share the contents of alms boxes with the poor. Today, it is mostly a day off from school and work, although some small gifts may be given out to family and employees, or collected to give to the poor.
• English kids may have different names for everyday items also found in the United States. For example, a kid will call his mom "mum." Their backyard is a "garden." A big truck is called a "lorry," and the trunk of a car is a "boot." Biscuits in the US are closest to the British "scones," and cookies in England are "biscuits." A TV is usually called a "telly." Bags of chips are referred to as bags of "crisps." French fries, like those from a fast-food hamburger place, might be called "fries," but if they are thicker, like the ones typically served with batter-fried fish, they're called "chips" (fish and chips). Finally, kids call the fish sticks they might have for lunch "fish fingers.