Great Guy Presents (You can Make)

Great Guy Presents (You can Make)

Many of the men in my life have been celebrating birthdays.  I have been in need of gifts, really awesome, useful gifts.  My dad has been repainting his barn with oil based paint, which he has been cleaning off with mineral spirits.  Repeat after me, "Petroleum products are not healthy for me." My brother-in-law is an avid griller/smoker and a close family friend is an auto mechanic.  All these gents were in need of . . . 

Handy Man Handy Wipes

Supplies:

20 Thick paper towels (I used Bounty select-a-size)

Spouted measuring cup

Table Spoon

Quart sized freezer bag

Ingredients:  

 Olive oil

liquid dish soap (I used Ivory)

Lemon essential oil - 5 drops

Cedar wood essential oil - 3 drops *

1/2 cup distilled water (not interchangeable)

*Ceder wood EO is for the manly scent of it all.  Cedar wood EO has anti-bacterial and other cleaning properties but the real grease cutting star of the show is Lemon EO.

Step One: Label Freezer bag.  Count and fold the paper towels 

I counted out 20 paper towels. Next I folded each one so that it was slightly narrower than the freezer bag.  I slightly offset the fold and then alternate the sheets like so. . . 

After all 20 are folded and stacked. . . 

Step Two:  Place the stack into the freezer bag. 

Step Three:  Measure the ingredients and stir gently so as to not make bubbles. Your mixture will look like this just before it is stirred. 

Step Four:  Pour the liquid ingredients into the freezer bag over the paper towels.  Zip the freezer bag and squish the liquid to evenly distribute.  The wicking action of the paper towels will distribute the liquid.  Open a very small section of the zipper and roll the paper towels up to remove as much air as possible.  Rezip the freezer bag. 

Step Five:  Decide how to wrap your gift. Next week's post:  Up cycle wrapping,  

Aperitif - a Success Story

Aperitif - a Success Story

On my book review page,  I wrote a paragraph or two about the book, Lessons From Madame Chic 20 Stylish Secrets I Learned While Living in Paris by Jennifer L. Scott.

Part of my review read, "Chapter 15 - Practicing the Art of Entertaining.  I give a dinner party every other month and, good golly Miss Martha, do I go at it from the wrong perspective.  When my guests arrive I am usually a bit worse for wear. I settle down after we begin the meal but I am usually rushing around when they first arrive.  According to Jennifer and Madame Chic, frazzled, rushing hostesses are not chic. The author suggests resurrecting the ritual of the aperitif.  I looked up aperitif. It means a beverage which stimulates the appetite. As Jennifer, the author, describes it an aperitif is used to settle the parties involved and prepares them for a pleasant dinner. I think an aperitif in the living room with my guests would help me transition from maker and planner to hostess and participant."

Dear Reader, if you doubt my need for a better transition of dinner maker to dinner hostess please read the post "Mis-steaks and Baked Potatoes".  No harm could come from testing this "Aperitif hypothesis".

I love an experiment, so I gave it, the aperitif,  a whirl last Wednesday.  Our close friends came to our home for the monthly dinner party.  When they arrived at 6:00 pm, they were greeted by soft classical music and an aroma therapeutic (Cheer*) fragrance, as well as a tray of brie appetizers and blackberry mock-tails.  The dinner was simmering on the stove and didn't need my attention for another half an hour so I sat and enjoyed conversation.  Our guests had had a very harried day and were grateful to just sit a spell and unwind.  I wasn't rushing and they didn't feel like they needed to pitch in and help me plate supper.  It was wonderful!!!!!!

Aperitif (1st Course)

Brie wedge with a drizzle of honey and blackberry sauce 

& round butter crackers

Blackberry Mock-tail*

We enjoyed the appetizer, made individual conversations and the half hour past pleasantly.  When there was a natural break in the conversation I was participating in, I excused myself.  I went to the dinning room,  filled water glasses and plated the dinner.  Then I returned to the living room.  I slid back into my seat, made a bit more small talk, and quietly announced dinner.

Dinner (2nd Course)

Poached turkey breast

Boiled new potatoes

Steamed & buttered broccoli shoots

Traminette Wine* (Sweet White)
*(VanTill Family Farm and Winery, Rayville, MO)

The whole evening ran quietly, comfortably and beautifully.  I netted many, many compliments.  The food tasted better without rush or panic. After dessert, the young men excused themselves to have conversation elsewhere in the house.  The adults remained at the table sipping our water or wine and continued on with a most pleasant conversation. If our guests had not had such an exhausting day, we would have returned to the living room with a beverage to continue our visit.  Instead, being weary, they headed for home around 8:30 pm.

Dessert (3rd Course)

Chocolate Torte 

With Blackberry Sauce and Freshly Whipped Cream

The entire evening was delightful and I had enough gumption to do the dinner dishes. I wasn't exhausted from the event; I was rejuvenated. (Even the kitchen and dining room looked snug and happy as I turned in for bed.)

This experiment was a success.  The Outcome:  I do recommend adding the aperitif to your dinner parties or the occasional weekly family dinner. Your family will feel extra special.  The atmosphere of the aperitif is worth the extra 15 minutes of food prep and a few more dirty dishes (small plates and glasses). When you try it out, please post your results.

*Blogger's Note*
*Cheer (Uplifting Blend) is a product of doTERRA.  Cheer is part of the Emotional Aromatherapy collection.  Please contact your local Wellness Advocate for purchase or questions.
*Blackberry Mock-tail Recipe:
In a glass flute, spoon 1 T of blackberry sauce.  At serving time, fill remainder of the flute with seltzer water.

Freezer Meal - The "Oh, no!" Emergency Meal

Freezer Meal - The "Oh, no!" Emergency Meal

Dedicated Readers, I must apologize.  I did not have a post up for you at 5:00 AM.  This week I was quite ill and didn't attend to any of my work until Friday, yesterday.  With so much to catch up on I thought of you, the Reader often.  Alas, I ran out of Friday hours.  So here I set, with Saturday morning half gone, writing what was running around in my mind all week. 

Thank you Lord for my 'Emergency Meal'.  

The frozen meatloaf is a thing of beauty!

The 'Emergency Meal' was an idea born from Financial Peace classes.  Dave Ramsey tells a story about peanut butter breath and how when people are stressed and hungry they make poor decision which usually effects their finances.  This story became my story when one afternoon at the end of my rope, no plan for supper, I ordered food for our dinner.  The food was poor quality fast food which made my feel ill, physically and emotionally.  Why emotionally you ask?

I had blown the budget for a fast food meal because I was stressed and ill prepared.  So. . . I decided a plan would be in order and 'Emergency Meal Plan'.  

The first solution was a 16" frozen pizza.  This solution didn't work because the pizza was too tempting to my family and therefore was missing when we needed it for the 'Emergency'.  

The second solution was an enormous batch of burritos.  48 burritos to be exact, six bags containing eight burritos.  We spent 8 hours creating re-fried beans, homemade tortillas and ground beef.   It was a marvelous solution while they lasted but when we ate the last bag no one was willing to go through another 8 hours of labor to recreate those 6 bags. 

The third time is the charm, yes?  Yes.  The third solution was a meatloaf.  I have many, many pie plates thus I won't miss the plate while it is sitting in the freezer. My youngest son likes to make meatloaf sandwiches so he truly prefers the meatloaf made in a loaf pan. However, I have only 2 loaf pans so I won't sacrifice one of those to long term storage in the freezer. The pie shape is accepted because it is better then being hungry. 

I used my 'Emergency Meal' this way.  

• Remove the meatloaf from the freezer.  Unwrap the meatloaf and set it in oven.  If there is time to let the meatloaf thaw before turning on the oven it reduces the cooking time. (Thawed meatloaf, 350 degrees for 45 minutes for 1 hour) If not . . . 
• Set the oven to 300 degrees with the meatloaf on the rack.  Allow the meatloaf to go through the preheat.  Most of the time the 'tempering' will keep the plate from cracking if it is a glass or ceramic material. (which mine are)  I have not had a pie plate break using this method but there is always that one time. 
• Scrub and wrap potatoes and sweet potatoes in aluminum foil.  Throw those in the oven with the meatloaf. 
• Take the next hour to contemplate the vegetable to serve. 
• I choose fresh peas I had hulled the end of last week.  So with an hour to go, I put the peas in water with salt and set the burner to low.  With a lid the water and heat will cook the peas slow enough they will not be mush by supper. 

Snap a photo of your 'Emergency Meal'.  I'd like to add some variety to our "Emergencies" 

Mis-steaks and Baked Potatoes - When Dinner Parties Go Wrong?

Mis-steaks and Baked Potatoes

When Dinner Parties Go Wrong?

I mentioned in my post about the Mom's Blues that my family participates in a monthly dinner party. I noted in that post just how much I enjoyed this monthly event and what a huge benefit it had been to my mood and outlook. Perhaps in the post I was being boastful or arrogant and I needed to have my attitude adjusted, perhaps it was the "meal was acting as a child does" you say they don't and they do, or perhaps I needed to learn something new and profound.  With the foreshadowing out of the way, I'll begin my story. 

The dinner party was scheduled to be at our house this month. My youngest son was taking his final ITBS test, the 10th grade test, of his homeschooling career. He was taking his test at home this year because there was only one other high school age student who wanted to take the ITBS. Thus, paying a proctor for two students was not as cost effective as allowing the testing to take place at home since each parent was a qualified proctor themselves. I felt like I had hit the "time lottery".  This was going to be the most laid back, stress free dinner party I had ever hosted.  I would have all day at home to prepare. Yippee!

Menu: 

1st course:   Asparagus soup with Wholegrain Batter Bread

2nd course:  Marinated T-bone Steaks with Baked Russet Potato or Baked Sweet Potato

3rd course:  Cream Puffs with Vanilla Filling and Dark Chocolate Drizzle

I had removed the steaks from the freezer the night before and had begun their marinading. (Italian dressing makes a marvelous and quick marinade for beef.) Additionally, I had started my whole grain flour to soaking in the acidic liquid, preparing for the batter bread. So first thing in the morning I rotated the steaks, picked some more asparagus, wrapped the potatoes in foil and placed them in the crock pot on low, and picked a variety of flowers for my centerpiece.  I headed back out of gather eggs. 

Cream puffs and their filling require very few ingredients but one of those ingredients is eggs, 7 eggs as a matter of note.  During the planning of the meal earlier this month, I called my mom and ran a "what if I" past her.  I was not willing to experiment first and ask questions later.  So I asked mom what if I . . . whipped the cream puff filling, which is a cooked pudding, with the whisk attachment of my stand mixer?  Would this increase the volume of my filling?  She felt it would.  

, 

By 1:30PM, having gathered enough eggs, I had created a double batch of dainty little cream puffs, and I had baked my batter bread.  I was feeling like the most marvelous homemaker.  I was calm.  It was time to fill the cream puffs.  During a break between test subjects, I placed the filling in the bowl of the stand mixer, affixed the whisk attachment, and turned the machine on five.  It took all of 20 seconds to realize this was a huge miscalculation. Twenty more seconds past before I could convince myself the filling was not going to fluff up.  In forty seconds, I had reduced my lovely vanilla filling to a thick vanilla flavored milk.. Inside my head, I'm saying, "Just return the filling to the frig; it might set back up." With dread and doubt, I returned the filling to the refrigerator.

We finished the first day of testing by 4 PM and I made an attempt to fill the cream puffs.  The filling didn't set back up and was too runny to stay in the pastry bag.  If I did get any filling in the puff, when I set it down the filling ran back out.  My dessert dreams were dashed.  I called mom. She was shocked.  She too was at a loss as to why it happened but it did.  So now what?  I'd use all the beautiful little crispy puffs and create a trifle.  I needed a cup of tea and a small piece of the batter bread.  It was cool now and I needed a break to regroup.  But first, I must remove the steaks from the refrigerator.  After all Rachael Ray, says a room temperature steak grills better.

I pull the bread knife from the drawer and fetch the cutting board.  I attempt, yes I said attempt, to cut around the loaf so I can free it from the pan.  I cannot not cut the loaf free. I had to chisel the loaf free.  You see in all the excitement of making the most lovely little cream puffs, my bread was also rising and when I placed the bread batter in the pyrex pans; I had forgotten to spray them.  That one small overlooked detail had left me clawing at the loaves, freeing one shred at a time from the pan. I make a cup of herbal tea and butter a torn piece of the bread.  "Maybe I can call it 'European Torn Batter Bread'", I say to myself as I sit for a short rest. 

Small Silent Prayer, "Dear Lord, I know many things come in 3's.  

Please let there not be a 3rd dinner failure. Amen"

By now, only an hour separates me from the arrival of my guests. It is time to make myself and my table presentable for company.   I asked my youngest son to preheat the grill.  We begin to set the table.  The time comes to set the steaks on the grill and we even remembered to set the timer so we won't get distracted and forget to turn the steaks.  I was planning on a serving a nice medium rare steak.  I warm the oven to hold the steaks during the steak course.  Six minutes later the youngest son is yelling from yard as he extinguished the flames leaping from grill.  A grease fire had charred the underside of all 8 steaks.  There it was faux-pas number three. 

Our guests arrived and we settled into our evening meal.  

Newly Adjusted Menu:

1st Course:     Asparagus Soup with European Torn Batter Bread

2nd Course:   Mis-steaks and Baked Russet or Baked Sweet Potato

3rd Course:    Cream Puff Trifle with Fresh Whipped Cream and Chocolate Sauce

Although the menu changed, one thing remained the same. We enjoyed the evening with our friends.  We chatted and laughed.  We filled each other with stories of the accomplishments and concerns of our families. We had great fellowship. It didn't matter that the menu had been altered by errors. There is a proverb in the Bible, "Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred" (Proverbs 15:17)  I could have served peanut butter and jelly with the crust cut off beside bowls of apple sauce. It isn't the meal or the center piece.  It is the friendship we share and our concern for each other's welfare.  As the evening ended, we broke out our calendars and planned next month.  Next month, , , dinner is at their house.

Lettuce - Raising, Harvesting, Preparing and Enjoying

Lettuce - Raising, Harvesting, Preparing and Enjoying

Hip. Hip. Hooray! The lettuce is abundant in the garden.  I and my budget could not be happier.  I buy nine heads of various leaf lettuces every month.  My family enjoys salads year round.  We also enjoy lettuce on our burgers, sandwiches, and burritos.  The most amazing salad creation of all is our heuvos rancheros salad. I'll add that recipe at the end of this post. If you don't raise your own lettuce, this article has benefits for you also, just skip to the preparing and enjoying sections.

Raising Lettuce

• It all starts with seeds.  I order mine from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.  I prefer salad blends to planting just one or two varieties of lettuce. This year I ordered 1 oz. of Rocky Top Lettuce Mix Salad Blend.  
• Preparing the lettuce bed.  I set out a string between to stakes to ensure my row is straight and with the hoe I begin to build a small mountain range, following the string.  
  This photo shows onions.  The dirt mountain range is the same one on which the lettuce is planted.  The lettuce is just out of view of the camera. 
• Along the ridge of the mountain range that was created with dirt, plant the lettuce seeds. Lettuce seeds are very small.  I have mixed them with sand before to assist in sowing them thinner but of late I just plant from the packet.  I decided when they emerge I'd eat the thinnings. 
• I place a soaker hose atop the seeds and give them a good watering daily until they begin to sprout.  Then depending on rainfall, I water every other day.  The soaker hose has many advantages.  I don't lug watering cans, and the water flows gently from the small holes so I don't wash the tiny seeds away.

Harvesting:

 This is full grown lettuce, well most of it is full grown.  I planted them closely to crowd out weeds and thin as they grew.  Thinning is a process of taking the larger, "ready" plants or the sad, sickly ones out of a crowded bed to make room for the smaller, healthy plants to grow.  To do this thinning: 

1. Isolate a large, ready lettuce by parting the other plants and reaching down to the dirt.  Grasp your lettuce firmly and pull straight up. 
   like so.
2.  The newly picked lettuce will look something like this:
   Now cut or break off the roots and about 1/2 inch up the stem, just about where my thumb is. I snap it off high enough that the leaves fall loose into the colander.  

Preparing 

Your lettuce is full of dirt and perhaps bugs.  Dirt and bugs are not tasty to eat. Neither is pesticide, so even purchased lettuce needs to be washed and soaked.   So I recommend a veggie wash.  To wash the lettuce, I fill the sink with cold water and add about 2T of white vinegar (a healthy glug from the bottle will suffice)  and 5 drops of lemon EO*.   Swish the lettuce in the water and let it rest in the water for about 1/2 an hour. 

 Lift the lettuce out of the water, trying not to disturb the water.  The dirt has settled to the bottom of the sink. Being careful will keep the dirt off the lettuce. 

Yep little green worms.  These were hiding in my veggies. Not tasty eats!

Place the lettuce in a towel pull the ends up and head outside. (yes outside)  Holding the ends tightly,  spin the towel around in a circle.  Spinning will create centrifugal force which will throw the water off of the lettuce.  Store the lettuce, in the refrigerator, in a zip top bag or storage container lined with paper towels.  The lettuce will keep for about a week.

Enjoying 

Heuvos Rancheros Salad

Ingredients:

sour cream

can of black beans, rinsed or 1/2 c. dried beans cooked and cooled

salsa

lettuce

butter or oil for frying egg

eggs (one for each person)

shredded cheese

Directions: 

1. On a dinner plate, swirl about 2T sour cream
2. Top with the desirable amount of lettuce, usually a large handful
3. Top lettuce with 1/4 c. black beans
4. Fry egg and top black beans with freshly fried egg
5. Garnish the egg with salsa and shredded cheese.

Serve and eat promptly.

*Bloggers note: Lemon EO will break down sticky substances and petroleum products.  Pesticides are petroleum based.  If the veggies set for about 1/2 an hour the lemon EO will break down the sticky substances that hold the small worms, eggs, and parasites to the veggies.  Lemon EO contains anti-oxidants which preserves the washed veggies longer in storage.  Healthy veggies contain enzymes which are good for human digestion but cause the veggies to spoil.  Refrigeration, anti-oxidants, and the moisture absorbing paper towels will keep the food waiting and edible a few days more.