Page 4C
EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
Saturday, October 7, 2017
FLYING DUO
Traveling with just one of your kids can forge bonds in new ways
Bingham says. “Any chance
the parent actually gets to
flex their muscles at being
competent at something can
be really beneficial.”
By MELISSA RAYWORTH
Associated Press
Something
wonderful
happened when Lauren
Asnis took her younger son,
Danny, to Philadelphia for
a weekend trip. Beyond
visiting the Liberty Bell
and devouring some tasty
cheesesteaks, mother and son
really got to talk and listen to
each other. They bonded over
the adventure of exploring a
new city together, while her
husband, Jon, and older son,
Zach, spent time together at
the family’s New York City
home.
For the first time, Danny
“didn’t have to worry about
being ‘the younger brother,’”
Asnis says. And as just two
travelers instead of a group
of four, they could change
plans as they wished.
“We didn’t have to
worry about anybody else’s
timeline,” she says. “With
a group of four, sometimes
spontaneity can’t happen.”
Added bonus: By being
apart for a few days, her boys
got a chance to miss each
other.
So while they still plan
whole-family
vacations,
Asnis and her husband now
prioritize short trips with
each of their boys throughout
the year.
If you have more than one
kid and haven’t done this
before, give it a try: Plan a
trip where one parent takes
one child away for a few
days, or longer if possible.
Even a quick overnight close
to home can be a surprisingly
powerful opportunity to
get to know each other in
a new context, says Erin
Boyd-Soisson, professor of
human development and
family science at Messiah
College in Mechanicsburg,
Pennsylvania.
“Every
child
needs
one-on-one time with both of
their parents,” she says.
Gary Bingham, an asso-
ciate professor at Georgia
State University who studies
adult-child
interactions,
agrees that any time you
can spend individually with
one child can be beneficial
and lets parents “pick up on
different things” going on
with each child.
STEPPING OUTSIDE
THE GROUP
Family vacations are often
an exercise in compromise:
Bingham says he was never a
fan of camping, but his family
did it often. So in planning
individual trips with each of
his four children, he chooses
activities that include their
interests.
PLANNING
TOGETHER
Boyd-Soisson
recom-
mends letting children help
plan their solo trip with a
parent. When she travels
with her daughter, she says,
“having her plan it can tell
me as a parent a lot about
“Every child
needs one-on-
one time with
both of their
parents.”
— Erin Boyd-Soisson,
professor of human devel-
opment and family science,
Messiah College
AP photos by Ted Anthony
This May 5, 2016 photo shows Wyatt Anthony silhouetted under a sign while awaiting a flight at Bangkok’s
Suvarnabhumi Airport. Wyatt occasionally travels with just one of his parents while his sibling and other par-
ent remain at home — a type of trip that offers valuable opportunities for bonding, says Dr. Gary Bingham, an
associate professor at Georgia State University, who studies the impact of high-quality adult-child interactions.
LEFT: In this May 7, 2016 photo Wyatt Anthony is shown at Buddha Park in Laos.
RIGHT: This Nov. 27, 2015 photo shows Mason Anthony at a hawker center in Penang, Malaysia.
George
Scouten
of
Columbia, South Carolina,
takes trips with each of
his three boys. With his
17-year-old,
he
might
spend the day at a football
or baseball game. With his
middle son, 14, it might
mean a quiet weekend at
the family’s mountain cabin
reading books and cooking
dinner together. Whatever
the activity, Scouten finds
that one-on-one trips allow
for moments of connection
and deeper conversations
than might happen on a
whole-family vacation.
“When we’re all in the
car together,” he says, there’s
often “this sort of jockeying
for attention” among the
siblings. But “when you
travel with just one person,
it’s just calm. ... There’s no
need for one-upmanship.”
Solo trips also help kids
learn more about each parent.
Stacey Funt, a mother of
13-year-old twins on New
York’s Long Island, was a
frequent international trav-
eler before she had kids. She
and her husband now take
summer trips to a quiet lake
in New Hampshire with the
twins. But as the kids have
gotten older, she’s also begun
taking them on more adven-
turous trips that suit her style,
including a trip with her
daughter to Guatemala that
included horseback riding.
Her husband supports her
interest in taking overseas
trips with each child —
something Bingham says
is vital in making solo trips
work for a family.
“I think most children
have very little sense of what
their parents do in general,”
Pumpkin coconut squares
By SARA MOULTON
Associated Press
Here’s a scrumptious treat for Halloween.
It happens to be too delicate to give away
to the trick-or-treaters, but it’s just right
for y-o-u and your family and friends at a
Halloween party or dinner.
Preparing Pumpkin Coconut Squares
takes some time, but it’s mostly waiting
time, not hands-on time. This beauty is four
layers thick, and two of them require time
to set up. There’s a gingersnap crust on the
bottom, a layer of pumpkin/coconut milk
puree, a layer of tart cream cheese and a
topping of toasted coconut flakes.
If you’ve ever dug into a pumpkin pie
or dessert and wondered where the flavor
went, I can pinpoint the problem: Pumpkin
puree is terribly watery whether it’s fresh
or canned. It occurred to me that draining
it would concentrate the flavor, and here’s
how to do it: First, wrap it in a layer of
cheesecloth, then tie the cheesecloth like
a hobo’s sack to a chopstick, skewer, or
dinner knife, and finally hang the sack over
a deep bowl. Let it drip, drip, drip for eight
hours or overnight. Afterward, there will be
a fair amount of water at the bottom of the
bowl — and even more in the cheesecloth.
Squeeze the cheesecloth gently to remove
the additional water. When you’re done,
you will have captured and eliminated
anywhere from ½ cup to ¾ cup water from
the puree. (If you don’t have cheesecloth,
a coffee filter will do the trick.) Be sure to
use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling,
which is presweetened.
If you’re inclined to lighten up the recipe,
swap in light coconut milk, one-third-
less-fat cream cheese and unsweetened
coconut flakes for the specified full-fat
Sara Moulton via AP
This Sept. 25, 2017 photo shows pumpkin coconut squares in New York. This dish
is from a recipe by Sara Moulton.
ingredients. Then again, it is Halloween
and these Pumpkin Coconut Squares are
an old-fashioned holiday treat. Feel free to
enjoy the uncensored version.
Directions
Start to finish: 11 hours, 20 minutes (30
active)
Servings: Makes 36 squares
One 15-ounce can pumpkin puree (not
pie filling)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided,
plus extra for buttering the pan
1 1/2 cups finely ground gingersnap
crumbs (about 35 2-inch cookies)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup well-stirred unsweetened
coconut milk (stir the coconut cream at the
top of the tin down into the rest of the milk
to incorporate it before measuring)
2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon,
divided
1 3/4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon table salt
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons toasted sweet-
ened coconut flakes
Cut out a square of cheesecloth large
enough to wrap around the puree with about
a 4-inch border on all sides. Spoon the
puree into the cheesecloth, tie the ends of
the cheesecloth together to form a bag (like
what we used to call a hobo sack) and thread
a chopstick, skewer or dinner knife through
the opening at the top. Place the chopstick
over the top of a deep bowl and let the bag
hang over the bowl. Chill for at least 8 hours
or overnight. After the draining period,
squeeze the cheesecloth gently to extract
even more water, discard all the liquid at the
her and her likes and what
her personality is developing
into.”
Especially with teenagers,
it’s good to see what they
like, “and they’re getting
to tell us, as opposed to us
saying, ‘You’ve always liked
the beach,’ or ‘We’ve always
liked hiking as a family,’”
Boyd-Soisson says.
BALANCING
Siblings and parents alike
might get jealous if others
seem to get the more exciting
trips, or have more time with
each other, so try to keep
things fair.
Funt took her daughter
to Paris, and then planned to
take her son to Washington,
D.C. “After we got home and
he saw the (Paris) photos, he
was like, ‘D.C.? I get D.C.?”
she remembers.
Fortunately, the best trips
can sometimes be the least
expensive. On a drive from
New York City to Lenox,
Massachusetts, last summer,
Asnis stopped for a few
hours with her older son at a
treetop zip-line course.
“I’m 44 and I’m afraid of
heights,” she says, but her
teenage son encouraged her
and talked her through the
scariest moments. As they
made it through the course
together, she realized, “the
roles are changing now, and
here’s my son becoming this
young man. ... and I realized,
I actually loved zip-lining!”
Those hours forged a
connection that no full-on
family vacation could have
accomplished.
bottom of the bowl and set the puree aside.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter
a 9-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan. Melt 1½
tablespoons of the butter.
In a medium bowl, stir together the
gingersnap crumbs and the melted butter
and pat the crumbs evenly into the bottom
of the pan. Bake on the middle shelf of the
oven until the crumbs begin to darken, 6 to
8 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Meanwhile, in the same bowl you mixed
the crumb mixture, whisk the eggs until they
are beaten lightly, add the coconut milk,
brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon,
1 teaspoon of the vanilla, ginger and salt,
and whisk until smooth. Stir in the drained
pumpkin puree and spread evenly over the
crumbs.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven,
until the center has set, about 25 minutes.
Remove and let cool completely on a rack.
In a medium bowl combine the cream
cheese, the remaining 4½ tablespoons
butter, confectioners’ sugar, remaining ¾
teaspoon cinnamon and ¾ teaspoon vanilla;
beat until very smooth. Spread the mixture
evenly over the top of the cooled pumpkin
filling and sprinkle the coconut on top of
the cream cheese frosting, pressing it down
lightly. Chill until firm, about 2 hours. Cut
into 36 squares and serve.
Nutrition information per serving: 99
calories; 47 calories from fat; 5 g fat (3 g
saturated; 0 g trans fats); 21 mg cholesterol;
76 mg sodium; 12 g carbohydrate; 1 g fiber;
9 g sugar; 1 g protein.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Sara Moulton is host
of public television’s “Sara’s Weeknight
Meals.” She was executive chef at Gourmet
magazine for nearly 25 years and spent
a decade hosting several Food Network
shows, including “Cooking Live.” Her
latest cookbook is “HomeCooking 101.”