Family stories

I recently heard an interview with Robin Fivush, who is a professor of developmental psychology and the director of the Family Narratives Lab at Emory University. She has done some fascinating work studying how children’s and adolescents’ knowledge of their family histories can serve as a "clinically useful index of psychological well-being and prognosis."* Fivush and her colleagues reported that such "knowledge of family history is significantly correlated with internal locus of control, higher self-esteem, better family functioning, greater family cohesiveness, lower levels of anxiety, and lower incidence of behavior problems." This is about as correlational (as opposed to causative) as findings get, but I still like the idea that knowing your family's stories somehow makes for healthier families and family members.

 

Given the benefits they found from knowledge of family history, Fivush and her colleague Marshall Duke developed the “Do You Know?” scale. The scale is a series of 20 questions which has both diagnostic and prescriptive functions in that it gives you some idea how much you already know about your family history and can also be used as a starting point for sharing family stories. For example, Fivush suggests turning the 20 questions into a game at Thanksgiving by writing out each question on a strip of paper and then having each family member pick one and then either tell or ask to hear that story.

 

Here are the 20 questions. How many do you know the answers to?

1. Do you know how your parents met?
2. Do you know where your mother grew up?
3. Do you know where your father grew up?
4. Do you know where some of your grandparents grew up?
5. Do you know where some of your grandparents met?
6. Do you know where your parents were married?
7. Do you know what went on when you were being born?
8. Do you know the source of your name?
9. Do you know some things about what happened when your brothers or sisters were being born?
10. Do you know which person in your family you look most like?
11. Do you know which person in the family you act most like?
12. Do you know some of the illnesses and injuries that your parents experienced when they were younger?
13. Do you know some of the lessons that your parents learned from good or bad experiences?
14. Do you know some things that happened to your mom or dad when they were in school?
15. Do you know the national background of your family (such as English, German, Russian, etc.)?
16. Do you know some of the jobs that your parents had when they were young?
17. Do you know some awards that your parents received when they were young?
18. Do you know the names of the schools that your mom went to?
19. Do you know the names of the schools that your dad went to?
20. Do you know about a relative whose face “froze” in a grumpy position because he or she did not smile enough?

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*Duke, M.P., Lazarus, A., & Fivush, R. (2008). Knowledge of family history as a clinically useful index of psychological well-being and prognosis: A brief report. Psychotherapy Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 45, 268-272.

 

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There's not much that smells better than frying onions ("the best domestic perfume"). One of the only other things that can make a house smell so good is something yummy cooking all day in the slow cooker. We don't have many slow cooker recipes on UaKS yet, other than our beloved Black Bean Posole, but I'm aiming to remedy that, starting with today's recipe. This one is as simple as its gets, with no pre-cooking of anything required, and not much in the way of chopping either. Just measure everything into the slow cooker and let it rip. This got a huge vote of approval from Mom, Brad, and me.

 

Note that the croutons are a nice addition but in no way required. Mom made an extra-large loaf of sourdough and I didn't want any of it to go to waste, so I made some croutons while the slow cooker was doing its thing.

Tomato Lentil Soup

Adapted from Sarah DiGregorio via NYT Cooking

Time: ~17 minutes to get the slow cooker started, then about 4 hours to cook and finish

This recipe is written for use outside of tomato season. If you’re in peak tomato season, you can chop ~28 ounces (total) of best-quality tomatoes and divide them between steps 1 and 3.

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, with their juices (see note)
300 grams (1½ cups) red lentils, picked over and rinsed
65 grams (¼ cup) tomato paste
27 grams (2 tablespoons) extra-virgin olive oil 
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 large basil sprig
2¼ teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
1½ teaspoons (6 grams) sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
A few generous twists of freshly ground black pepper
5 cups (1,180 grams) water

For serving
400 grams (~14 ounces) grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered or halved depending what size they are (see note)
175 grams (¾ cup) heavy cream
30 grams (2 tablespoons) freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste
½ cup roughly chopped fresh basil leaves

    1. Place all of the ingredients (except the stuff “for serving”) in a 6- to 8-quart slow cooker. Give everything a good stir to combine. Cook on high for 4 hours.
    2. Turn the slow cooker off. Remove the basil sprig. Whisk vigorously to break down the tomatoes and lentils.
    3. Stir in the “for serving” ingredients. Taste for salt, pepper, and acid. Serves 4 to 6.

 

 

Croutons from Mom's leftover gluten-free bread are on the left

Croutons

 

Time: <30 minutes 

 

Leftover crusty bread

Olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper, optional

 

    1. Place a rack in the center of the oven; heat to 400 degrees.

    2. Cut the bread into ¾-inch cubes, discarding any especially leathery bits of crust. In a large bowl, toss the cubes with a fairly generous amount of oil. Sprinkle with salt and, if desired, pepper, then toss the cubes again. Transfer to a 13-by-18-inch (half-sheet) baking pan, scraping over all of the seasoned oil.

    3. Bake for 8 minutes. Give the bread a good flip and stir. Flip the baking sheet from back to front. Bake until the bread is browning and crisp, another 8 to 14 minutes. The croutons will continue to crisp up some sitting on the baking sheet to cool, but if you take them out too early, they'll be a little soft in the center (though still good).