A New Award and a Mother-in-law

A door bell rings, a man opens the door, and there stands his mother-in-law with a suitcase.

“Ah, Mother, welcome, are you staying long?”

“For as long as you would have me, dear.”

“Why so fast? At least sit down and have a cup of tea first!”

This appetizer is actually called Mother-in-law Tongues.  But I am having it “sit down and have a cup of tea first” while I thank an incredible blogger and incredibly hard worker Esmé Slabbert of https://cookandenjoyrecipes.wordpress.com who has nominated me for a Versatile Blogger Award.

Esmé has created a great Recipe Exchange program that provides an invaluable service for the community, both by disseminating the recipes and by creating a wider network of food bloggers.  Truly, Beautiful People, you will help yourselves and help others by participating in this program!

Thank you, dear friend, for working tirelessly to post all my holiday recipes in time for readers to see them and, hopefully, benefit form them before the holidays! And of course, thank you for nominating me, even though I really don’t know what makes me versatile! This is way too humbling for a simple funky cat who loves food.

Here are the rules :

• Show the award on your blog
• Thank the person that has nominated you
• Share 7 different facts about yourself
• Nominate 15 blogs of your choice
• Link your nominees and let them know about the nomination

This is becoming more challenging every time, as I have already shared 14 facts about myself for two previous awards.  As extrovert as I am, I am essentially a private person, but I’ll try my best nonetheless. I will attempt to list 7 things that make me feel exhilarated.

1. Swimming in moderate chop ocean and diving under the waves.
2. Dancing, especially flamenco and Gypsy dances.
3. Gypsy songs, both listening to them and singing.
4. Certain paintings – I can look at them for hours.
5. Some poetry, when it really touches me, and the same with books.
6. Certain opera numbers and instrumental classical music pieces.
7. The best for last – doing things with grandkids!

No, this is not me at 14 (come on, we didn’t have colored photography then!), it’s my granddaughter Alisia.

Now, it is my great pleasure and privilege to nominate some outstanding bloggers.

1. https://gfhomebakery.com/ by Rita
2. https://comeinsitdown.wordpress.com/ by Anna
3. https://japanese-food.org/ by Aki
4. http://mshealthesteem.com/ by Sara
5. https://ilbruciacchio.wordpress.com/
6. https://sashafromrussiablog.wordpress.com by Sasha
7. https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/ by Sally Cronin
8. https://cookingonpage32.wordpress.com by Peggy
9. http://thishappymommy.com/ by Jessica
10. http://therichmondavenue.com/ by Jasmine
11. https://smoothbreeze7s.wordpress.com/ by Liz Collet
12. https://earthacooks.com by Eartha
13. https://nourishedpeach.com by Melissa
14. https://ruchisvegkitchen.com by Ruchi
15. http://ministryofcurry.com/ by Archana

Congratulations to all my nominees! You are not in any way obligated to accept, and I fully understand that not everyone has the time and inclination to participate in these self-and-others-promoting exercises.  Therefore, I will truly appreciate if you accept the nomination, as I sincerely think you deserve it, but I won’t get offended if you don’t.  Nominating each one of you is my way of giving credit to some exceptional bloggers and perhaps attracting attention to your work.

Back to mother-in-law jokes and my recipe.

A middle-aged lady walks into a room where her son-in-law is watching TV. She is carrying a broom.

“Mother,- says the man,- are you planning to clean or fly?”

On that note, I have to tell you, Beautiful People, that I had a great relationship with my mother-in-law OBM, and my husband, unfortunately, never had a chance to meet my mother OBM, so I absolutely do not relate to all this stuff! I had spent considerable time sifting through the multitude to find at least a few less offensive jokes, and the result, as you see, was scarce. I had spent even more time browsing through Russian and Ukrainian food sites trying to figure out why so many recipes nowadays are labeled Mother-in-law Tongue. The common factors are two: all of them are relatively spicy, depending on your taste, and all of them contain vegetables shaped or sliced to resemble a long sharp tongue. I suppose this answers my question as to how my old innocent delicious appetizer acquired this libelous label.

Basically, you just need a couple of nice firm zucchinis, a ripe juicy tomato to dice, and as much garlic as you wish, if you don’t want Dracula to visit your house. For the delicious spicy sauce that gave it its new name, you will mix light wine vinegar, olive oil, cinnamon, salt and pepper, a bit of sugar or xylitol, to sweeten things up, and some very spicy mustard. We buy this one at a Russian deli, and it is actually called Mother-in-law Mustard. Believe me, if your mother-in-law has a tongue as sharp as this mustard, you’d be telling these jokes and more!

While all the sauce ingredients, including diced tomato and minced garlic, are slowly coming to boil (just like some people’s tempers!), scrub your zucchinis, but don’t peel them. Slice them paper thin into fairly long stripes, and yes, they do resemble tongues.

Throw them into the boiling sauce, add a nice handful of chopped cilantro, mix it all up, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 – 20 minutes, until zucchini slices are fully cooked.

Among all guests in my Sukkah, I saw only one smirk and one sad, but understanding nod. I guess most of us are simply lucky! The appetizer, however, disappeared almost as soon as I placed it on the table. New name, but old and proven delicious recipe!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 medium size firm zucchinis
• 1 large soft tomato, diced
• 3 – 4 large garlic cloves, minced,  or more to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon light wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon spicy mustard
• 1 teaspoon sugar or sweetener
• A pinch of cinnamon
• Salt and pepper to taste
• A handful of fresh chopped cilantro
• Optional chili or jalapeno peppers.

PROCEDURE

• Mix all ingredients except zucchini in a saucepan, stir, bring to boil.
• Scrub zucchini, but do not peel. Slice paper thin into long stripes. Add to sauce.
• Add cilantro, stir, reduce to simmer, stir occasionally. Cook for 15 – 20 minutes until zucchini is very soft. Remove from heat, serve cold.

Enjoy!