When I started this blog, my goal was to post at least once a month, and I've met that goal until recently. My spouse is in the armed forces and, of late, frequently away from home for long stretches, leaving adult energy stretched thin down here South of Sunnybrook.
I've always been a big fan of family dinners. I loved them when I was a kid, and I love them now. I find it harder to have regular family meals when the other adult is gone, but the ritual of dinner, the giving of thanks and sharing with each other, this is what keeps us sane.
I think the idea of family dinner can be intimidating sometimes. But a bucket of fried chicken around the table is "family dinner." Baked potatoes and broccoli is family dinner. I prefer homemade, but it certainly doesn't have to be fancy.
"It is what it is"
And on the night I took the picture above, I'd been working for a day or two at one end of the table, with beans drying at the other end, and the kids had colored there in the afternoon. As you can see, we just scooped out spaces for our plates and lit the candles (which "makes it special" according to my kids). By the time the fish was ready, I just didn't have the energy to lead a full-on table clearing, so I let it go.
Sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good. On this night, we laughed, and shared, and had a great time surrounded by the detritus of our busy, bountiful lives.
And just after I posted this, a friend shared this link on Facebook. Quote: "...life on this little blue planet is too precious and fragile to be spent lamenting crusted Raisin Bran in the sink. That what really matters is grace, forgiveness, and understanding. And love. Always, unequivocally and without fail, love."
When Fall arrives, I start making chicken stock again. Homemade chicken stock tastes better and is far more nutritious than anything you can buy at the grocery store. And it's super easy to make. Really, I promise. Basically throw stuff in a pot and let it simmer....and enjoy the smells all day. Strain and freeze.
Chicken, garlic, onion, celery, carrots, herbs, peppercorns....add salt later after tasting.
The biggest revelation for me was learning that I didn't need to peel things or chop them small. Just quarter that onion and throw it in (remove produce stickers and wash off any visible dirt, of course). Chop a head of garlic in half and add it. Throw in some carrot peels. This is going to simmer all day, and the peels will add a lovely color to the stock. If you plan ahead, you can have a Stock Bag all ready to go! Use of a Stock Bag is quite thrifty and can add a wonderful depth of flavor because of the vegetable variety. I should caution you not to add purple cabbage, though, unless you want Barney-colored broth as my neighbor Abby discovered, much to her chagrin.
Making homemade stock -- especially if you use a Stock Bag -- is a wonderful way to Use It All! Here in America, we throw away vast quantities of edible food, and our house is (sadly) no exception, though we've cut waste dramatically in the last few years. Small changes make a difference! So if you have a few mushrooms that need to be used, but don't fit tonight's menu...toss them in the stock bag. Don't wait till it goes off and chuck it in the compost: SAVE IT in the freezer until you can USE IT.
The addition of some giblets to this batch produced a very small amount of foam which is easily removed.
So...I never use fresh chicken for stock (except for giblets when I have them). Instead, when I roast a chicken (or very occasionally cook bone-in breasts or other parts), I save the carcass/bones in a plastic bag in the freezer and use those to make the stock. Most of the nutrition in homemade stock comes from the bones. You can put them on a sheet and roast them first for a richer color/flavor for the stock, but I am all about easy, so I never do this and my stock never suffers from flavor deficiency. We did make stock with a fried turkey carcass once and it was delish!
Note: if you do use fresh chicken, you'll want to put it in a pot of cold water, bring it gently to a simmer, and scoop off the foam, or "scum", that forms on the top. This foam is not harmful, but it will make your stock cloudy. So remove, Then add veggies and continue to simmer.
Here is the "recipe" I use:
1-2 chicken/turkey carcass(es), including giblets if available (excluding the liver)
Good glug of vinegar (to leach nutrients from the bones)
Bag of vegetable trimmings
Add quartered/halved fresh veggies if necessary -- I make sure to have roughly equal parts of onions, carrots and celery, and then I add some garlic
-- other veggies that work well include mushrooms, leeks, fennel, tomatoes, any greens, broccoli, zucchini, squash...you get the idea
Add fresh herbs if you have them (parsley, thyme are my favorites)
Add a shake of peppercorns
Add a bay leaf or two
Start it cold and slowly bring it up to a gentle simmer. It won't hurt it it it boils, but the "low and slow" will give you clearer stock in the end. Simmer for several hours stirring/tasting regularly. If you like, you can let the bones sit in cold water/vinegar for a half hour or so to pull even more calcium, gelatin and other nutrients from the bones. Once it has been simmering for an hour or so, I start to taste and add salt sparingly as it cooks. I do not add salt at the beginning because there are generally trace amounts on the carcasses from when I cooked them the first time. I prefer a lower-sodium broth, since I can always add salt based on what I'm making with it. Taste as you go to learn how the flavor develops!
Here you can see the stock after simmering for about five hours. The broth is developing a lovely color and the vegetables are quite soft. By now, little bits of meat will also float off the chicken bones and the carcass will come apart when I lift it with the spoon. This photo was taken at 4:30, so this stock will cook another hour or two until dinnertime, but I could certainly stop here if I wished.
When you decide it is done, turn off the heat and let it cool. Strain it through a colander, and put it in the refrigerator. The next day, you'll see that any excess fat will congeal on the surface in the fridge, so you can just scoop it off the next day. Sometimes I've made stock that had a jello-like consistency when cooled -- this is very nutritious and great for soup when someone is sick!
The final step is to strain it through cheesecloth and portion it into containers for the freezer. Nowadays I use wide-mouth glass jars instead of ziplock or plastick (just don't tighten the lids).
You can make vegetable stock by leaving out the meat. Ask at your grocery or market for beef bones or fish bones to make other types of stock.
Besides delicious soup, use your stock instead of (or half and half with) water when making rice, use it to make risotto, pan sauces, use in mashed potatoes with 2% milk instead of cream, cook veggies in stock, sub for wine in pasta sauce, it is liquid gold baby!!
“Oh, heart, if one should say to you that the soul perishes like the body, answer that the flower withers, but the seed remains.” Kahlil Gibran
I teach my children that there is magic in a seed. Inside a tiny seed is a whole plant, which will grow and be pretty and give us lots of food...and it will make hundreds of more seeds that we can plant again if we wish. A seed is Holy.
Back during the August Garden Tour, I shared a picture of my lettuces going to seed. About a month later, when I found the dry seed pods, I finally broke one open and was amazed at the bounty. I started sprinkling them back into my garden since this is the perfect time to plant a fall crop, and then realized that I need to save some for spring so I won't have to buy new ones! This is my first year really attempting to save seeds of all my favorite things, like the Matt's Wild Cherry and Super Sioux tomatoes, the Rosa Bianca eggplant, and my wonderful lettuces, of which I hope to enjoy fall/winter crops here.
Above, you can see the flowers. When they fade, and all looks dry and dead, don't be fooled. There are miracles inside the pods where the flowers bloomed! Below is a picture of one cluster of "flowers" I picked and brought inside, so you can get an idea of size/appearance.
Inside each dry pod are about 10-15 seeds. I'm pretty sure they're probably Bunte Forellenschluss, which is my favorite of all the lettuces I've planted. The Buntes have beautiful bright green leaves dotted with a reddish-purple, and a lovely mild (almost sweetish) flavor and a gently crisp texture. I did plant other varieties nearby, so this year I will be getting the luck of the draw! I'll have to update again when they sprout leaves in the coming months. Magic. Miracle. Life.
I also need to note that only with heirloom plants can you be certain the fruit that springs forth will be the same as the plant from which it was harvested. This doesn't mean you can't save seeds from hybrids, of course, just that you should expect to be surprised at what grows! I mostly grow heirlooms because my goal all along has been to save seeds, but each year I do get a few volunteer (natural) hybrids, including one year something that seemed to be a Purple Cherokee plum tomato that was terrific.
"Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow — perhaps it all will." Albert Einstein
There is nothing like still-warm-from-the-oven bread on the dinner table.
I absolutely love freshly-baked breads and muffins, but have always found kneading/rising and the intricacies of yeast to be daunting. It all just seemed like a lot of work when I can pick up a really nice loaf of bread at the bakery for a special dinner. Then I started hearing/reading about "no-knead artisan bread" and was intrigued. Finally, about two years ago, I stumbled across this "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, Seriously" post and decided to give it a try.
Basically, it goes like this: dump ingredients into bowl, mix, cover loosely/let rise, put in fridge. Later, cut off dough, let sit, put in oven, eat yummy bread. Have I mentioned how my family raves about this bread? So, here it is again, with pictures. A printable recipe is here.
My ingredients: Flour (my "everyday" flour is a mix of unbleached white and King Arthur's white wheat), flaxseed meal, yeast, kosher salt, and warm water.
Put 1 1/2 Tablespoons of kosher salt and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of active dry yeast in a large bowl. If you are using the packets of yeast (this is what I bought at first), use two. Now that I make bread often, I buy yeast in bulk. I keep a jar of yeast in the fridge for regular use and store the rest in the freezer.
Add 3 cups of warm water (from the tap is fine). It should feel warm to the touch, but not hot.
Add 6 1/2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour, using the "scoop and sweep" method to measure. This is a great place to experiment! Whole wheat, spelt flour, sprouted grains flour, etc. Here, I used 6 cups of my unbleached white/white wheat mix and 1/2 cup of flax meal. I love the subtle, nutty flavor of flax meal, it gives a beautiful color/texture to the bread, and it's also a really great thing to put into our bodies.
Mix until there are no more dry spots of flour. You can use a mixer if you have one, but I don't and I wouldn't use it for this even if I did. Here I am about halfway mixed; it's coming together, but I still have spots of dry flour.
Here, it's well-combined and ready to rise! I scrapes down the bowl sides also. I have a lid for my bowl with holes punched in the lid (more about that later), but you can just loosely cover your bowl with plastic wrap.
Bread rising: pictures from l-r at 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30, respectively. You can cut off a bit now for your first loaf or just pop it right into the fridge, which is what I did this time. I think the flavor develops better if it has some time to sit. With this amount of dough, I'll typically make three loaves over the course of 5-8 days. You can leave the dough in your fridge up to two weeks; it will develop more of a "sourdough" flavor as it sits.
You need to bake in a preheated, 450-degree oven. You can bake it in whatever you usually use in the oven: pyrex pan, pizza stone, cookie sheet, cast-iron skillet. I did try baking on a pizza stone with a little dish of water, but decided it was too fussy for me. Then I went searching for other options and loved the idea of using an enameled dutch oven as shown here at Oregon Cottage. I don't find that I need the parchment paper she uses and my dutch oven is quite large, but I use a little enameled stoneware baking with a lid. The crust comes out beautifully with this method!
Whatever you use, I recommend preheating the dish in the oven.
Here is the dough the following afternoon when I took it out of the fridge. As you can see, it lost a bit of mass as it cooled. Sprinkle some flour on the top and dust your hands. Have a sharp knife or kitchen scissors ready.
Pull and cut the amount of dough you want. Then stretch the dough to create a gluten cloak.
I did not even attempt to photograph myself shaping the loaf because this short video will be much more helpful.
Do note that your bread may look different from the bread in the video because she used 100% white flour and bread flour at that! Here is what my finished loaf looks like before I let it rest. You should really let it rest for at least 30 minutes, though 45 is better if you have the time. I have popped it in the oven after only 15-20 minutes in a pinch and it comes out fine, though it doesn't rise up quite as much in the oven.
Before baking, dust the top of your loaf with flour and then slash the top (I sometimes do an X design as well). I pop mine in the hot pan, put on the lid and cook for 15 minutes. Then I remove the lid and cook an additional 15 minutes. When it's finished, the crust should be brown and it should sound hollow when tapped. Remove to a cooling rack.
To store uneaten bread, turn the cut side down on a plate or cutting board. Sometimes I wrap it in a clean tea towel. I did try storing it in a plastic bag but the crust became soft right away and I found it was prone to mildew in the summer as we are in the humid South.
If you start making this often, as I did, you'll probably want to invest in a bowl with lid that is a good size for your fridge. I'd initially meant for this picture to show the holes drilled in the lid, but then I saw the cool reflection of my kitchen window in the lid and went that way instead. Just make sure the dough is mostly covered but has a way for any gases to escape.
I cannot believe how easy it is to make fresh bread for dinner! Basically, I make a ball, let it rest for 15 minutes, preheat the oven and my pan, pop it in when the oven beeps that it's preheated and cook for a half hour. It's simple to do while making other food -- or to have fresh bread for a leftover night. I love being able to take freshly baked bread when I visit a friend or neighbor.
Updated 4/8 to add picture of bread interior. This was the last loaf from this baking and had been in the fridge for about 6-7 days. The crumb is denser if I use a higher proportion of wheat flour, I have found. The little nooks/crannies make excellent buttered toast!
I hope you will try your own hand at making this simple and delicious bread! I encourage you to explore further, either via web search or here at the original Artisan Bread in Five web site.
Here you see the remains of our Spring Smokeout: cole slaw, pasta salad and probably 10 lbs of pulled pork and some ribs. We make a ton and share it the first night with friends, eat leftovers the second night with family, then freeze the remainder in upcycled aluminum pie pans in smaller portions. Makes a great quick weeknight meal or easy to take to someone's gathering. You can see my husband's awesome homemade BBQ sauce balanced up on top of our water pitcher.
Speaking of water, the number and type of cold beverages in the fridge seems to grow as the mercury rises. In this picture, I can see the milk and water (which we always have) along with sun tea, green/mint coldbrew tea, homemade limeade, and margarita mix.
Viva la Lifestyle Change!!
We also have lots of fruit and salad greens right now. I recently stumbled across the Super Healthy Kids blog and loved their "50% of what you eat should be fruits and vegetables" approach to filling one's plate. How Simple! How Easy!
I really don't believe in "dieting" unless I have a medical condition and it's prescribed by my doctor. This is my way of saying that (unless my doctor tells me to) I absolutely and categorically refuse to count calories, weigh food, completely eschew any food group (like no carbs, no meat,), etc. But I also want to be healthy, so I need to find easy ways to guide and form my natural inclinations and choices so that I am enthusiastic about choosing healthy food.
In the last few years, I've taken the "Eat Real Food" banner and run with it, but I have found that this 50% guideline is great way to guide how I fill my plate. I cannot expect my children to do what I do not, so I have been trying to lead by example since I first read the Healthy Kids blog in January. Besides feeling better overall, I have dropped 5 lbs since without really "doing" anything else new. It's not a hard-and-fast rule, but a general guideline that is helping my whole family choose and enjoy a lot more good things!
Several years ago, I found out you can grow whole new green onions from the bit of root that would otherwise be compost. I stick them into pots on my back porch all winter long and then move them to the garden in the spring. Whilst googling a link to share since I don't seem to have a picture, I see that I could also stick the roots in water and leave them in my kitchen window. I will give this a try!
At any rate, there is little that gives me such pleasure as finding a beautiful use for something that I once discarded. I said as much to my Aunt Terri who told me I could do the same thing with ginger root. She said to just stick it in a pot and it would grow and the root would also grow and I could just cut some off if I was in need of ginger. Terrific!
1" of ginger root, freshly cut
So I tried this and it really does work! I put about two inches of ginger root into one of my pots and promptly forgot about it until I noticed some plant I didn't recognize growing in with my petunias. Lo and behold: Ginger! The root had grown about an inch over the summer, so I suppose it would take a while to get enough to count on this plant to be our sole supply of ginger, but it sure saved the day when the kids requested noodles with Peanut Butter Sauce and I had no ginger in the house.
The green part of the plant died back when I brought the pot in for the winter, but my aunt assures me it will spring back to life in the spring. Try growing your own next time you buy ginger root!
If you work at your computer all day, you may be familiar with upper/lower back pain, neck tension, possibly carpal tunnel issues...the list goes on and on and on. It doesn't take a lot of brainpower to recognize that sitting in the same position for 6-12 hours is not really good physically or mentally. But if your work requires a computer, then what are you supposed to do?
I first heard of a "standing desk" when a friend posted this link on Facebook. The idea appealed to me immediately. Over the next few months, I noticed other articles about standing desks and wanted to find a way to try one, but $1-2,000 is a bit cost-prohibitive for our family budget.
My "hack" on this pricey desk? Kitchen island and yoga blocks. This is quite sturdy since the blogs have an anti-slip quality, and it puts my laptop at the perfect height for standing to type. The screen is a little low, but doing a lunge here or there keeps me from straining my neck. Interestingly, I am much more likely to notice and respond to tension while standing.
I have noticed being able to switch between sitting and standing helps me think better -- it quite literally "gets the juices flowing." I love writing this way! The only caveat is that it's in my kitchen, so if my kitchen is not clean already I either have to clean or forgo the standing -- seeing dirty dishes makes it hard for me to think, apparently. But I can face outdoors, which is something that I've long realized helps me function better, so as long as I keep things tidy, it's a terrific solution for me.
So maybe you don't work from home or don't seem to have a good spot to do something like this. You can still spend five minutes every hour or two moving around, getting your heart rate up and stretching. But if the idea appeals to you, look around and see what setup you may be able to achieve using things you already have. I tried a shoebox and a plastic bin unsuccessfully before finally hitting on the yoga block idea.
So you're feeling all thrifty and culinarily advanced, making homemade stock in your kitchen. Maybe you're even kickin' it super-frugal old-school like your gramma and saving your veggie bits in a stock bag. Homemade stock is really easy, tastes incredible (especially compared to the high-sodium stuff from the store), makes your house smell great, and saves money. But you still need to be able to store it.
Stock "brick" sits easily, is compact, and easy to defrost in a bowl.
Like most people, I freeze my stock. I used to take the "flat bag" approach, but in my freezer approximately 10% of bags get mysteriously punctured. The only way to know which is to defrost and see if they leak! It took about a dozen episodes of losing half a bag of my lovely stock in the sink or microwave or fridge to decide to always use a container "just in case." Well, there's no easy way to put a flat bag in a bowl to catch any leakage! Now, if you have the perfectly organized freezer where you never toss items around and you also know you never, ever overfill your bags, then flat bags may work for you. Ditto for glassware. I prefer "stock bricks" myself.
Shown here just out of the freezer.
Filling 8-10 bags and fitting them into a 9X13 pan is easier (in my experience) than trying to freeze them flat. I can fit 8 bags with 3 cups each into a 9X13 and the other 2-4 in a saver of some sort. I do my best to make sure fluid is distributed evenly so they don't stick together (see photo above). I pull them out of the freezer after a day or so, separate them and store them back in the freezer. If any are stubborn, I let them sit on the counter for 5 minutes or so. You could run them under cool running water for a minute to separate, then stick them back in the freezer.
I used to freeze in smaller quantities, but I use more stock nowadays because it's a really wonderful way to add flavor. When I defrost, any extra goes into a mason jar in the fridge for use that week.
I am still using the plastic baggies. I would love a re-usable (or at least recyclable) alternative for freezing stock, so if you have a better option, please let me know. For now though, even with the baggies, my taste buds, my health, my budget and my planet come out ahead with homemade stock. Try some today!
My last summer before college, I dated a fellow whose mother always had a bowl of what she called "icebox pickles" in her refrigerator. She explained to me that it was perfect for summer because it required no heat, just mix and leave overnight in the fridge. Icebox Pickles take full advantage of a cucumber's natural crispiness and, as they're stored in the "icebox" (aka: the fridge), they're cool and refreshing in the heat of summer.
I'd never tasted anything like them before. I found my fork actually seeking out onions for the first time in my life; they were super-thin, just this side of raw, with a pickly-sweet crunch that perfectly complemented the cucumber.
This is a double batch, sliced super-thin with a mandolin, to give an idea of how much veg you need.
"Six medium cucumbers" is so very subjective!
A few years ago, I began trying to reproduce these unique pickles (with two unsuccessful attempts), when I found a recipe for "Marinated Pickles" on the recipe blog for my CSA, and suddenly I was in heaven. The recipe required no cooking, no heat -- cool and crunchy, all the way, so I adapted it to suit what I keep in my pantry/garden. Slice veggies thinly, toss it all together in a jar or bowl, and leave it in the fridge overnight. Easy, Fresh, Crisp. Summer!
Marinade (because it's technically not a brine if you don't boil it), before vigorous shaking.
The recipe is below, and calls for cucumbers and onions, but as you can see I added some green pepper and super-thin carrot. Use what you have.....
UPDATE, Summer 2018: After several years of experimentation, I have significantly reduced the amount of sugar from 1/4 cup to 1-1.5 TBSP. I kept cutting it and not finding a difference in flavor...until I went below 1 TBSP this year. Try this for yourself! See where your palate notices the change.
After making yogurt for a few months with my mini-crock, I found the time it took to get it to the proper temperature varied a lot more than making a whole gallon of milk in the big crock. Then one day in a burst of inspiration I realized I had the answer sitting in my kitchen drawer. We have an inexpensive digital thermometer with an alarm (similar to this one) so I can do the Ronco thing and set it and forget it!
To make Crock Pot Yogurt, pour 1 quart of milk in a mini-crock with the lid slightly ajar to make room for the thermometer (as seen above), set the temperature for 180 and wait for the beep (approx 2 hours). Then unplug it, re-set the temperature for 115 and wait for the beep again (approx 3 hours, depending on ambient temp). Dip out a 1/2 cup or so and whisk together with either 1/4c of your last batch (or any yogurt with live cultures) or with some powdered yogurt starter. I like yogourmet. Then whisk that mixture back into the crock. This is also the time to add some nonfat dry milk if you want to increase the nutritional content. It also makes it come out thicker, but mine is usually a nice consistency. Put lid on, top with some kitchen towels and leave overnight (or 6ish hours at least).
In the morning, stick it in the fridge (stores great in a Mason jar). Mix with fruit and/or jam and a little agave nectar as needed and enjoy! No preservatives. No high-fructose corn syrup. No sticker shock. No plastic, one-use waste. I mix with fruit preserves, fresh fruit or vanilla to flavor and add some agave nectar if it needs to be sweetened.
My sister-in-law mentioned freezing bacon and I thought it was a great idea. I pictured myself freezing already-cooked slices, ready for crumbling into a salad or adding to pizza, pasta, greens, etc. If you're going to fry bacon, you might as well do it all at once, right? Besides, I do save bacon grease in a jar to make cornbread or to add to oil on the rare occasions I fry something.
The problem with frying a whole pound of bacon in our house is that it never makes it to the freezer. Inevitably pieces get snagged right away by the whole family; part goes to the the dinner; the remaining amount is usually deemed "too small to freeze" and used for breakfast burritos and BLTs the next day. This rather defeats the moderation theme, doesn't it?
After bringing up this dilemma with my sister-in-law, she recommended freezing it raw. Yes, it does seem like this would have occurred to me on my own, but it did not. I just rolled each piece like you see above and put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer overnight. The next day, the already-frozen rolls went into a plastic bag to be used 1-2 at a time.
Unexpected bonus? it is really easy to dice or chop the frozen roll. This also means less hands-on time overall and, most importantly, makes it easy to only take out a single piece instead of trying futilely to resist the savory delight of hot, crispy bacon.
So if you've ever wondered "just how far south of Sunnybrook are you there, Becky?" I'll tell you I'm roughly 1,100 miles south of Maine (as the crow flies), smack dab in the middle of Tennessee, a beautiful and friendly place to live as long as you can appreciate a bit of heat and humidity. I grew up in West Tennessee (even more humid) in a house with one window a/c unit in the dining room that was only turned on for company. I've made my peace with humidity.
Now yes, of course, I do use a/c, though I try to avoid it as much as possible because I hate being closed in where I'm insulated and can't even hear the rest of the world. Cool air in summer is a wonderful and amazing thing, but I wonder how much it accounts for kids playing outside less...for all of us being outside less, which means being less connected with the natural world. When I was a kid, it was often cooler outside once you hit the high 90s and I wouldn't be closed up in a muggy house for anything.
Cold-brewed green/mint teas
Whether I'm indoors or out, I like a little caffeine in the afternoons. In the winter, I enjoy coffee or tea, but in the summer I need something cold. I do really like iced coffee, but only really strong, freshly-brewed coffee and that's just too fussy for a quick afternoon beverage.
Enter the cold-brewed green tea. Cold brewing renders a very smooth, drinkable tea and with no heating necessary, it's perfect for summer. Put tea bags in pitcher. Fill with water. Place in refrigerator overnight. Remove tea bags. Enjoy tea. I put five green tea bags and one mint tea bag in this batch and the result is smooth and intensely refreshing.
Now, being indeed South of Sunnybrook, I have to agree with my friend Julie Ingrum, who knowingly asserts "there is only one way to properly sweeten tea and that is in the brewing process." I agree with her and when I make "Sweet Tea", even in summer I will brew it on the stove, but obviously you can't sweeten cold-brewed tea the same way. Now, I think the cold-brewed green tea is great straight and I drank it that way all last summer. But I'm hooked on something else now.
One day when my 4-year-old wasn't feeling well, we snuggled up on the couch and watched Laura Calder make this lovely citrus simple syrup on television. It's really easy to make and I add a bit to my green tea now. I can also make fresh, homemade lemonade on demand if I have some of this pretty simple syrup in my fridge and who doesn't love that?
Citrus zest pretties up a sunny lemon simple syrup.
My sister adds thyme to her simple syrup and you can add other herbs (my friend Mary Alice adds mint and more in her delicious natural concoctions). I'm a lover of color myself, and I just really like the lovely bright yellow color this syrup gets from the lemon zest. It makes me happy to see it in my refrigerator. I can add herbage in my glass if I want some.
Try one or both of these this summer and let me know if you love this simple pleasure as much as I do.
I can't bear to throw out a perfectly comfy pillow just because its colors clash with our current paint scheme. Of course, it's not really embracing frugality to stash them up in the attic and buy new ones either. So, I found some cute fabric at Etsy, bought a stash of zippers and searched for a blog tutorial that didn't look too difficult.
After having all of this accomplished, I let everything sit for several months until yesterday, when I finally devoted that precious hour of "naptime" to get the zipper part done. I surprised myself by finishing the cover in one afternoon and I learned several new things in the process. Most important tip: you really do need to sew a basting stitch over that zipper if you want to actually use the zipper. I love learning useful things and it's good for my children to see me struggle with something but learn how to do it right.
I've been wanting to make my own household cleaner for some time. I don't mind supporting Method or Seventh Generation and (until recently) would have said that you can pry my Clorox Cleanup from my salmonella-covered hands, but the idea of making my own and knowing precisely what is in that bottle is very appealing to me. Also, natural cleaners made with herbs and essential oils can disinfect thoroughly and are not known to cause antibiotic resistance. I did some research and tried a few recipes and have been absolutely flabbergasted that what I make with a few simple ingredients cleans better than storebought. Unbelievable!
Tea Tree oil has antispetic/antiobiotic properties, so I include it. I'm uncertain about the efficacy when diluted in a half-gallon of liquid. I don't have near a 5% ratio of TTO in my cleaner, but my kids are almost old enough to warrant purchase of a microscope so I will run my own little experiment on this and report back soon. Regardless, vinegar is a very effective natural disinfectant so we're good either way.
You probably have most of these in your kitchen already!
Becky's All-Purpose Household Cleaner
Mix 1/4 cup baking soda, 1/2 cup white vinegar with 2 qts hot water. Add a squeeze of liquid dish soap, 1/2 tsp drops of tea tree oil and 5-10 drops of essential oil that smells good to you (lemongrass and sage are quite nice). Put in a spray bottle and feel good about cleaning. For tough grime, spray on and let it sit for a few minutes before wiping.
If you live in Nashville and want to try this, let me know and I'll be happy to make you a batch! I know it sounds odd, but I have been amazed by how well this cleans. I am also working on a spray formula with water/vinegar for cleaning hardwood floors. I refuse to use a mop bucket.
Anyone raised in a Catholic family is familiar with Lent, a forty-day period of penance, reflection and fasting leading up to the Easter celebration. As a child, I thought Lent was kind of silly. I didn't really understand how not eating chocolate had anything to do with Easter. But as an adult, I began to appreciate the value of having this period in my life. I began loosely observing Lent, most effectively by adding something (thus "giving up" time) instead of just stopping something.
When I finally left the Catholic church, I also left Lent behind me. In recent years though, I've begun to try to find a way to incorporate this tradition back into my life. I was initially inspired by Kevin Gillespie, who shared on Top Chef that he and his wife went full-on vegetarian each year for Lent. I felt a twinge and realized that I missed the positive growth I had found during Lent. Then one of my neighbors announced she would disappear from Facebook "for a while," and I suddenly saw the obvious: I didn't have to do "Lent" to have a period of reflection.
And so, this year -- today, in fact -- Lint was born. I had already decided to observe a 40-day period and said, "I should come up with my own name," when my husband immediately suggested "Lint" and once I stopped laughing, I knew it was the perfect moniker. Instead of Fish Fridays, we do Meatless Mondays. Observation of Lint in our home comes just after Festivus and is followed by Oyster; of course precisely where Lint falls on the calendar is a very personal choice, so timing varies greatly from one individual to another.
This year, I am giving up all adult cocktails, wine and beer, beginning today. My husband plans to begin his Lint tomorrow. I'm excited about my "Linten" journey and do plan to cap it off by eating Oysters, possibly with champagne! It is my intention to use the next forty days to reflect on ways to be healthier, to give more of myself to my community and others and to make time for quiet and prayer in my daily life. I will also practice discipline, self-denial during my own season of conversion and simplicity.
It doesn't matter if you're Catholic or Methodist, Pagan or Pastafarian. Lint is for everyone! Join me if you dare!
I'd love to know what others are giving up or doing for 40 days, whether it's Lint or Lent.
Inspired by self-proclaimed Farmgirl, Mary Jane Butters, this year I am saving my impatiens from a frosty death and plan to re-plant them next spring. Since I apparently missed the Farmgirl directive to stock up on Mason jars, I've resorted to using our pilsner glasses, much to my poor husband's chagrin. This will soon be rectified, I can assure you! Since I usually purchase at least a flat or so of impatiens annually, this should provide some color throughout the winter and also save some money come spring. I also plan to try this with begonias.
Roots develop quickly!
The other plants to come inside for winter include some dracena, shamrock, aloe, a spider plant or two and a rubber plant with which I cannot bear to part. These offer some comfort during the cold winter when it's easy to forget that things are still growing underneath, where we cannot see them.
Oh did you think I was going to dole out investing advice? Nay, nay, not so but far otherwise. Take me to my natal shore and the white cliffs of Albion.....oh wait, sorry, I got distracted.
Today's tip is the Stock Bag for the freezer. You can compost all those end pieces of onions, carrot peelings and leafy celery tops, but it's an even better idea to use them to make your own stock. You know how sometimes the inside of a garlic bulb is just those teeny-tiny cloves that are impossible to peel? Cut them in half and throw them in your stock bag. Don't worry about the skin! How about that one squash that got hidden in the drawer and is fine but a little shriveled? Stock bag! And don't forget to go through your fridge and toss in anything that you aren't going to be able to use that week. Any vegetables will work! The bonus is that your stock will taste like the season.
When my bag is full, I decide what kind of stock I need. For vegetable stock, I usually take a look at what's in the bag and round it out with an extra carrot or half an onion (again, resist the urge to peel off the skin!) and a potato. I add some herbs (if they're not already in the bag) and some peppercorns and let the whole thing come to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until it tastes right. I do taste throughout and add a little salt.
For chicken stock, I don't use fresh chicken. That seems incredibly wasteful to me. Besides, if you use fresh chicken, you have to cook that first and skim the top of the water multiple times before adding the vegetables. If you roast a chicken and use the carcass to make the stock, you can just dump it and the stock bag into a big pot with water and, again, herbs, peppercorns and bring to a boil. Add a splash of white vinegar to leach calcium from the bones and let it gently simmer all day. Taste and add salt as needed.
When it's done, let it cool, then strain it. One word of advice: do not put it in the refrigerator with the plan of straining it next day. You will have to reheat it before straining and it will be cloudy. And, well, why add all that work? Often I will strain it in a colander and put it in the fridge and then strain through cheesecloth the next day when separating it to freeze. That really doesn't add any extra steps for me.
I generally freeze mine in two- and four-cup portions in plastic, but am on the hunt for paper cups that will hold at least 1.5-2 cups. I plan to freeze those on a cookie sheet, same as I do with the baggies, then put them in a larger container for deep-freeze storage. Oh, and that Stock Bag itself? It's a perfect candidate for re-use.
Update: I now freeze stock in jars since I've built up a good stash. Do not tighten the lids until after the jars are frozen. Works wonderfully!!
So, start your Stock Bag today and plan to make some low-sodium, homemade stock yourself. It's the perfect touch for making soup or giving rice a boost without extra butter. And best of all, it's incredibly easy and doesn't take much time.
And special thanks to my mother-in-law for this tip. It's not something she does herself, but something her mother used to do and I'm awfully glad she shared it with me!
So there I sat one night, sucked totally into some mindless show in TV. I was totally drawn into this amazingly lovely shot of a girl, about to blow the white, puffy dandelion.. A Perfect Childhood Moment. Inhale and.....
And then....
Then it ended abruptly, with her father running out (ineffectively, I might add) to try to stop her from enjoying that moment, so that his perfect, green-blade grass would not be destroyed with.....(oh hold your horses)...flowers. You can see the slo-mo "glory shot" of him yelling "noooooooooo."
Well, I was bothered by the whole concept of that commercial.
My kids love dandelions. They love to pick them. They love to blow them. And they love to eat them (well, that varies, but they do eat them more than I would imagine). If you had a country gramma, you must know that you can eat them in a pinch. I've never done it, but I like knowing that I can. They are incredibly nutritious. So there! But mostly, they like to pick them and/or blow them. I've always loved this myself. The dandelion has adapted itself really beautifully for things we like to do.
Dandelions are one of the first flowers to sprout in the spring and they are so very welcome. They are heralds of growth. They pop out with the daffodils and provide In-Your-Face evidence that Our Earth keeps on keeping on. Then, when you're distracted by the other bulbs or flowering trees other things you might want to plant, they can grow big and green and cover the ground if there's nothing else there. But really those dandelions would rather to just chill out and let the clover have its day -- to hide down there and meditate under the fragrant flowers and soft leaves (and the honeybees)...and the occasional lawn mower.. The word "weed" is very subjective, truly. It just means "a plant that grows well in a place I don't like it."
How ironic! Water rises in the streets and yet there is not enough to drink. With Nashvillians being asked to cut water usage by 50% and in my county even more than that, life has been more odoriferous than ever before.
This is a great opportunity to develop new habits of using less of this precious resource. We have always tried to instill a sense of scarcity with this for the kids. We always turn off the water while brushing teeth or soaping up our hands. But a restriction of necessity has shown me that there is a lot more we could be doing every day.
I have been running some soapy water in the sink and instead of rinsing dishes under the tap, I scrape them and toss them in the sink. At the end of the day, I rinse some (like knives that need to be used for the next day) and put the rest straight into the dishwasher. We've run the dishwasher about every third day with this method and NO stuck-on food bits. We've been using paper plates and cups too, of course, but this simple change dramatically cuts down on the amount of water I normally use for kitchen cleanup through the day.
And yes, we are letting it mellow if it is yellow. I think this may be our new household system. We are potty training and I am now wondering if the many, many extra flushes are contributing to our recent higher water bill.
It started raining this morning and I ran and picked up all the pots that were not too heavy and moved them off the porch. I set out buckets to catch the water. I would never have done this two weeks ago; it would have seemed like too much trouble. Now I think perhaps that is just sheer laziness on my part!
I have been sparingly watering my plans with a bucket of collected rainwater. I think we really need a rain barrel! We've talked about getting one, but this water restriction has highlighted how useful it would be, even in normal circumstances.
The most fun thing about the water restrictions? Family bath! A perfect treat for 2 and 3-year olds if you have a big tub. Also a perfect treat for a mom and dad who have not had a proper shower all week!
with the lid slightly ajar to make room for the thermometer (as seen above), set the temperature for 180 and wait for the beep (approx 2 hours). Then unplug it, re-set the temperature for 115 and wait for the beep again (approx 3 hours, depending on ambient temp). Dip out a 1/2 cup or so and whisk together with either 1/4c of your last batch (or any yogurt with live cultures) or with some powdered yogurt starter. I like 
. Then whisk that mixture back into the crock. This is also the time to add some nonfat dry milk if you want to increase the nutritional content. It also makes it come out thicker, but mine is usually a nice consistency. Put lid on, top with some kitchen towels and leave overnight (or 6ish hours at least).
are fairly easy to find; I purchased mine 
