Do you also eat morning glory leaves? I can't imagine eating those! What do they taste like?

dcarch,

I've wanted to ask this for some time...so here goes...

Do you cook for a family every day? Kids? Just for yourself?

/tricia

"dcarch,
I've wanted to ask this for some time...so here goes...
Do you cook for a family every day? Kids? Just for yourself?
/tricia"

Tricia, Actually, all the above.

I cook the same way I do everyday, every meal, whether for one or for 50. Whether I am cooking expensive meals or leftovers. I don't see why not if it does not cost more money or take longer time.

I am sure you have noticed my dishes are not plated the way you see some otherâÂÂs plating style. I donâÂÂt do stacking, I donâÂÂt do artificial sculpting, and I donâÂÂt do âÂÂtasting menuâ cute arrangements. Just meal-size food piled on a plate.

I try not to preach much, I enjoy tasting new food, I enjoy eating well economically and I enjoy eating as it relates to good health, for instance, pandan leaves are supposed to be good to prevent diabetes. Another thing which is interesting, cooking can be inspiring creativity in the young mind. Many dishes you have seen are plated with helps from youngsters. I post here about 1/10 of the dishes I cook.

dcarch

Rob, although sweet potato belongs to the morning glory family, I don't have the confidence to try to eat flowering morning glory leaves, the seeds are hallucinogenic, I don't know what the leaves can do.

dcarch

dcarch,

lol

Have you considered running for public office? That was a political statement that answered a question that was not asked. :)

/tricia

" Many dishes you have seen are plated with helps from youngsters. I post here about 1/10 of the dishes I cook."

Ohhhhhhh NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Does that mean there are mini-dcarch's in training???

dcarch,

Please don't be offended. I enjoy your pictures. I wouldn't eat them - but I do enjoy looking. They are "artsy" to me rather than WFD. :)

This one though made me laugh out loud imagining the reactions of my DH, 3 children, and 7 grandkids if I said, "Dinner's ready! Look at the yum screwpine sauce I made for you!"

There is a reason that when the United Nations makes food air drops into refugee camps or disaster areas they drop packages designed for specific regions of the world. People do not like to eat what is unfamiliar. Studies have consistently shown people will first starve. So, just saying my family would quietly get up and one by one abandon me at the table if I served them screwpine sauce. rofl

I am reminded of an outdoor BBQ 3 years ago when I served a cucumber, watermelon, and mint salad presented in a stemmed martini glass. My 4th youngest GS started to cry visibly shaken. I asked, "Sammy, what's wrong honey?" Said Sam, "Gram, somebody put WEEDS in my watermelon!" So, together we discussed who might have done such a dastardly thing while we picked all those minty WEEDS out of his watermelon. lol (grin)

/tricia

I'm with dcarch - my mother was a big believer in trying new foods. We always had to take one bite, and after that we could leave it alone. It finally dawned on me one day that there was a reason why when she cooked artichokes and I only ate the leaves, she was standing over me ready to snatch the heart away and eat it herself!

I learned that if somebody else wants something off your plate, maybe it's because it's tasty, LOL. Haven't given away an artichoke heart since, needless to say.

Mom had a sure-fire way of getting us to try new foods. She'd say, "Sorry, this is for grown-ups ONLY."

We were begging for lobster, sweetbreads, liver, and all the other exotic stuff she liked to cook at midnight just for herself (my dad was a firm meat-and-potatoes eater, which is hysterical since he was a Nisei JapAm).

I'm always in awe of what dcarch does on a daily basis. I go out to a lot of restaurants that don't plate as beautifully as she does! My mom did the same thing; sadly, I lack such talent. A good cook, but not a great presenter...my parsley on a plate looks just like a lonely piece of parsley, I'm afraid.

I don't know which species you might grow, but my all time favorite Ipomoea alba, the leaves are edible. You can also eat the leaves of Ipomoea aquatica. Ipomoea violacea (wild morning glories) are the species which has seeds that should be avoided. Ipomoea purpurea is not listed, so I don't know if it can be eaten, but I typically only grew moonflower. When I did grow morning glories. Seems like purpurea is the basic, broadly grown morning glory.

Here is a link that might be useful: eat the weeds website

jkom, I don't disagree with you. But, I'm grammy - not mommy. :) Sam doesn't have to eat weeds at gram's house. lol

/t

Rob, Very interesting. I will have to look into growing other Ipomoea.

jkom51, thanks. I will have to remember, "Sorry, this is for grown-ups ONLY." LOL!

Tricia, you are going to have to try much much much harder to offend me, :-). I am quite interested in other people's eating habits and traditions.

Teresa, oh yes, all kids enjoy cooking, and early cooking experience always lead to better eating habits. As a matter of fact, recently I taught a boy, still in diapers, how to cook. Obviously a plastic knife was used, obviously the only food you can cut with a plastic knife was tofu. Guess what, that little boy has been asking, "I want to eat tofu". Have you ever tried to convince a little boy to eat tofu?

I have a video somewhere in one of my computers. I can't find it.

dcarch

dcarch,

Where ever do you get Pandan (screwpine) leaves and what culture are they from? What does the sauce taste like? Tangy, grassy? The colors are so pretty together with the purple rice, you've grabed my attention.

Now, inquiring minds want to know.

Kimka, Pandan leaves can be found here in NYC in Asian stores, frozen. Pandan sauce can be found on-line (Amazon?)

Pandan leaves, mostly used in Asian cooking, imbues a very nice grassy herby flavor to food. Not a overwhelmingly powerful flavor. Pandan is used often for rice, so it works well with the purple rice. The surprise was the combination of Pandan and sweet potato leaves. Sweet potato leaves have a mouth feel like spinach, and an after taste like artichokes, that pairs well with the pandan flavor in a very interesting way.

dcarch

Thank you, dcarch, for those pics ... they are a feast to my eyes, such artistic presentation. No restaurant can match how you present your dishes. YUM!

Thank you Strawberryhill. I appreciate your having the patience to put up with my silly food play.

dcarch