My husband's work schedule is crazy this week so he got a day off other than the weekend for a change. When he is home, I don't always get a lot of sewing done but that's more than okay to spend some time with him. He doesn't mind going along for the grocery shopping and I certainly don't mind having someone pushing the grocery cart for me!
I did get over my day of non-inspiration earlier in the week and am currently in the process of actually having a quilt in the making! It 'only' has 336 pieces for the 42 squares but I have seven of said squares done yesterday. A rainy day, tomorrow, will lend itself to staying in and sewing.
Hearing the spatter of rain on the windows reminded me that, once again, I have to drag out a few of my cold-weather shirts and sweaters for morning Mass. It is cold as the clouds that brought us the rain here in the valley is dumping snow in the mountains.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Beef Stew goes with rain!
The rain has begun and it puts me in mind of a cozy kitchen with hot, hearty food. Yes, I know the California summer isn't too far down the road now but I'm planning on taking advantage of every little chill in the air until the temperature tells me otherwise.
A favorite for a cold evening is Beef Stew. Every family has their own version but here is mine for anyone who wants a jumping off point into their own stew pot! : - )
Approximately two pounds of cubed beef. You can buy it already cubed or purchase an inexpensive piece of beef and do it yourself. If you get a cheap seven-bone roast or check steak, save the bone to simmer down for soup broth.
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed, and chopped.
4-5 carrots, sliced (depends on size of carrots, how many you need.
OR just get a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.
Diced potatoes - you can use those small, thin skinned ones or baking potatoes.
1 can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons bullion - chicken or beef, it doesn't matter
Dust the meat with flour and brown in a pot. Add onions and cook until they start to wilt a bit. Add the tomatoes, bullion, and if you need it, some more water. You don't want the meat to be crowded at this point.
Bring to a boil, turn down, cover, and simmer for about an hour. When the meat is tender, add the vegetables. If you are using 'regular' carrots, add them a few minutes before the potatoes. Also, add your salt, pepper, pepper flakes, whatever spices, etc. at this point. Stir and simmer until vegetables are ready. Taste the sauce and add whatever it needs. Potatoes tend to leach out the salt so you might need more. If the sauce is too thick, mix a couple tablespoons of cornstarch in 1/4 cup water and stir that in.
If you are out to impress, throwing in some fresh mushrooms at the beginning of the cooking period is a serious consideration.
A favorite for a cold evening is Beef Stew. Every family has their own version but here is mine for anyone who wants a jumping off point into their own stew pot! : - )
Approximately two pounds of cubed beef. You can buy it already cubed or purchase an inexpensive piece of beef and do it yourself. If you get a cheap seven-bone roast or check steak, save the bone to simmer down for soup broth.
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled, smashed, and chopped.
4-5 carrots, sliced (depends on size of carrots, how many you need.
OR just get a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.
Diced potatoes - you can use those small, thin skinned ones or baking potatoes.
1 can diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons bullion - chicken or beef, it doesn't matter
Dust the meat with flour and brown in a pot. Add onions and cook until they start to wilt a bit. Add the tomatoes, bullion, and if you need it, some more water. You don't want the meat to be crowded at this point.
Bring to a boil, turn down, cover, and simmer for about an hour. When the meat is tender, add the vegetables. If you are using 'regular' carrots, add them a few minutes before the potatoes. Also, add your salt, pepper, pepper flakes, whatever spices, etc. at this point. Stir and simmer until vegetables are ready. Taste the sauce and add whatever it needs. Potatoes tend to leach out the salt so you might need more. If the sauce is too thick, mix a couple tablespoons of cornstarch in 1/4 cup water and stir that in.
If you are out to impress, throwing in some fresh mushrooms at the beginning of the cooking period is a serious consideration.
Humans, the biggest mystery of all!
Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are part of nature and therefore part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.
Max Planck
Max Planck
Tell the Children These are Grownup Cookies!
I like unusual recipes that aren't TOO odd! Poppy seeds have always been a favorite from poppy seed cake to a heavy sprinkling on fresh dinner rolls. When I found this recipe, I knew my life was complete (at least for the moment!) as it used two of my favorite things; poppy seeds and lemon zest!
Poppy Seed Slices
Not too sweet but goes great with sherbet. I keep telling my children these are grown up cookies but they eat them anyway!
2 sticks butter
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until light. Beat in the vanilla, then add the poppy seeds, lemon zest, flour and stir until the dough is well-mixed.
Form the dough into 2 or 3 logs, about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Wrap logs in waxed paper and freeze.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove the rolls from the freezer, one at a time. Cut into thin slices and arrange on un-greased baking sheets about one inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the edges just turn golden. Makes about 60 cookies.
Poppy Seed Slices
Not too sweet but goes great with sherbet. I keep telling my children these are grown up cookies but they eat them anyway!
2 sticks butter
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup poppy seeds
1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 cups all-purpose flour
Cream the butter in a large mixing bowl, using an electric mixer. Add the sugar and beat until light. Beat in the vanilla, then add the poppy seeds, lemon zest, flour and stir until the dough is well-mixed.
Form the dough into 2 or 3 logs, about 1 ½ inches in diameter. Wrap logs in waxed paper and freeze.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove the rolls from the freezer, one at a time. Cut into thin slices and arrange on un-greased baking sheets about one inch apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the edges just turn golden. Makes about 60 cookies.
Prelude to Pay Day . . .
Payday looms somewhere in the unforeseeable future. Okay, so it is only three days until the paycheck zips in and out of your checking account. You are in the today time frame and you have to feed your family. You peer hopefully into cupboards, refrigerator and freezer, praying that some forgotten sirloin roast shows up. No matter that your budget has never permitted a sirloin of any type in your grocery cart. You can still dream. You realize that if at least the fat, sugar and starch group are not met, you could be facing a mutiny.
Inspiration strikes. You will make the next three days a challenge for yourself and an adventure in eating for your offspring and husband. We will live off the contents already available in the refrigerator and cupboards.
Breakfast, day one: Pancakes are enthusiastically welcomed. The family sits down and then the critique begins. Why are the pancakes so thin? They are a new, healthier recipe, less eggs and more milk! For some reason the first bites are rather tentative. I thought we were out of syrup, my son remarks. Another healthier recipe! I just mixed some warm water with brown sugar! My cheerful Seconds, anyone? falls on empty space. Everyone certainly finished breakfast quickly today.
Lunch, day one: Why are we having fish sticks on a Tuesday? To thank God that we have been blessed with fish sticks!
Dinner, day one: Homemade ravioli, great! What are they filled with? Oh, it is a new, healthier recipe called “Meat Ravioli Surprise! How come this sauce tastes sort of like catsup? It does??? And how come the meat looks a lot like ground carrots? At this point, my older son, who counts carrots among his top ten hate foods, bolts from the table. My husband is stunned into grateful silence as I announce that there are more than enough leftovers to provide him with a lunch at work the next day!
The next two days were also filled with sustaining, nourishing culinary enterprises. I got the impression, however, that my efforts were not thoroughly appreciated. I overheard two of my children comparing notes on a recent meal. I caught the middle of a conversation as one said,“Oh, no! Just because this lasted three days doesn’t mean this was it!” The other child confirmed this. “You’re right. I don’t think the three days of darkness would be this bad!”
The next time I decide to live on the available food in the house, I’ll do it after I’ve been grocery shopping.
Inspiration strikes. You will make the next three days a challenge for yourself and an adventure in eating for your offspring and husband. We will live off the contents already available in the refrigerator and cupboards.
Breakfast, day one: Pancakes are enthusiastically welcomed. The family sits down and then the critique begins. Why are the pancakes so thin? They are a new, healthier recipe, less eggs and more milk! For some reason the first bites are rather tentative. I thought we were out of syrup, my son remarks. Another healthier recipe! I just mixed some warm water with brown sugar! My cheerful Seconds, anyone? falls on empty space. Everyone certainly finished breakfast quickly today.
Lunch, day one: Why are we having fish sticks on a Tuesday? To thank God that we have been blessed with fish sticks!
Dinner, day one: Homemade ravioli, great! What are they filled with? Oh, it is a new, healthier recipe called “Meat Ravioli Surprise! How come this sauce tastes sort of like catsup? It does??? And how come the meat looks a lot like ground carrots? At this point, my older son, who counts carrots among his top ten hate foods, bolts from the table. My husband is stunned into grateful silence as I announce that there are more than enough leftovers to provide him with a lunch at work the next day!
The next two days were also filled with sustaining, nourishing culinary enterprises. I got the impression, however, that my efforts were not thoroughly appreciated. I overheard two of my children comparing notes on a recent meal. I caught the middle of a conversation as one said,“Oh, no! Just because this lasted three days doesn’t mean this was it!” The other child confirmed this. “You’re right. I don’t think the three days of darkness would be this bad!”
The next time I decide to live on the available food in the house, I’ll do it after I’ve been grocery shopping.
Update on Lenny . . .
This got forwarded this information on Lenny, the young mother who was having so much trouble with her pregnancy. I posted this earlier in the month.
Thank for all your prayers!
God, as always, answers!
Barbara
Forwarded message:
The surgery was postponed from Monday to today. It went well today. They got the baby out safely. She is 5 1/2 lbs and healthy. They did not finish the operation and will go back in to do the rest, get the placenta. I don't know when, but it can't wait too long. My daughter is feeling optimistic. I am not a medical person, but there were so many doctors and specialists involved and my daugher has been doing this for 15 years and has not seen anything even close to being this complicated, that I think the risk has to be very great.
So I think we need to keep praying.
Thank you for your prayers so far.
Thank for all your prayers!
God, as always, answers!
Barbara
Forwarded message:
The surgery was postponed from Monday to today. It went well today. They got the baby out safely. She is 5 1/2 lbs and healthy. They did not finish the operation and will go back in to do the rest, get the placenta. I don't know when, but it can't wait too long. My daughter is feeling optimistic. I am not a medical person, but there were so many doctors and specialists involved and my daugher has been doing this for 15 years and has not seen anything even close to being this complicated, that I think the risk has to be very great.
So I think we need to keep praying.
Thank you for your prayers so far.
DUKKAH!
Bet the subject line got your attention! Dukkah is a homemade spice mixture that could become a real staple in your kitchen!
I like spice mixtures that can be used in or on just about any type of dish. I have a friend who swears by the stuff and asks me every couple of years to mix her up a batch - PLEASE! There are many versions and it is very adaptable to personal tastes. Here is my basic rendition!
1 cup nuts - your choice (I prefer walnuts and almonds, pistaschios, if I can find them.
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cumin seeds
1/8 cup fennel seeds
Generous dash of chili flakes
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Toast nuts and seeds EACH separately. You don't want the flavors to blend at the onset of the mixture. Cool completely and pulse in a food processor until dry and crumbly. You can go fine or coarse depending on your preferences. Do not over process or you have a weird nut/seed butter!
This makes about two cups. Store in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container.
I've seen some versions that include dried apricots or coconut. Once you try your first batch, it is up to you how you'd like to adjust the recipe.
It tastes good on bread brushed with olive oil, on scrambled eggs, etc. It's fun to try whatever sounds good to you.
I like spice mixtures that can be used in or on just about any type of dish. I have a friend who swears by the stuff and asks me every couple of years to mix her up a batch - PLEASE! There are many versions and it is very adaptable to personal tastes. Here is my basic rendition!
1 cup nuts - your choice (I prefer walnuts and almonds, pistaschios, if I can find them.
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup coriander seeds
1/4 cumin seeds
1/8 cup fennel seeds
Generous dash of chili flakes
1 teaspoon coarse salt
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Toast nuts and seeds EACH separately. You don't want the flavors to blend at the onset of the mixture. Cool completely and pulse in a food processor until dry and crumbly. You can go fine or coarse depending on your preferences. Do not over process or you have a weird nut/seed butter!
This makes about two cups. Store in the refrigerator in a tightly closed container.
I've seen some versions that include dried apricots or coconut. Once you try your first batch, it is up to you how you'd like to adjust the recipe.
It tastes good on bread brushed with olive oil, on scrambled eggs, etc. It's fun to try whatever sounds good to you.
My Rant of the Day . . .!
Women are now liberated! What good news. We can now invade all the hallowed halls heretofore belonging only to males. We can become anything we want in life, according to the feminists. If it was formerly a man’s domain, then we should show him how much better we can do it. And even if we can’t do it as well, take it away from him anyway. Although I am of the proper gender to take advantage of this invasion, I find myself uneasy and just a little sad. It seems that in the pursuit of feminine superiority, we have lost so much of what it actually means to be female.
The feminine versus the feminist is definitely in the minority. As we struggle to be all we can be, we watch the liberated women be all that they want to be with the blessings of the world at large and the church in particular. I never paid much attention to the whole matter until it invaded the Church. The dignity of the sanctuary has been jeopardized by pant suits, miniskirts and perfumed grandmothers. The solace we should be able to find in our churches is undermined by the feminist agenda.
There is a small aspect of this revolution, and I know I am in the minority here, that defies reason, dignity for the most part, and promise. And until I had a son serving Mass, I didn’t think about it much one way or the other. I now see altar girls as a potential threat to future, priestly vocations. And I feel sorry for the girls who feel they need to take part in a masculine role and try to make it their own. The influx of girls has cost many boys their rightful place in serving on the altar. In our efforts to be fair to females, boys may be turned from vocations that would be the building of our church’s future. And I don’t believe the retort that girls who serve Mass may go on to be nuns. Of course, some of these girls may find a vocation in religious life. Serving Mass, however is not a step towards the convent while it can be part of the path way to the priesthood.
There is a bonding that can occur between a pastor and his flock of altar boys. This can’t occur easily when females are involved. There are also many moments when the altar servers are alone in the sacristy, helping to prepare for Mass. Placing adolescent boys and girls in close proximity is asking for trouble. As reverent as servers can be on the altar, they are still children.
The cassock and surplice have traditionally been male attire. Putting a young girl into male clothing doesn’t bring dignity to either the Mass or the young lady wishing to serve. My son was in a CCD class the day it was announced that girls could become servers. The reaction of the girls in his class was to stand up and exclaim GIRL POWER! There wasn’t a lot of Christianity or religious feeling evidenced by the girls.
I was raise back in the olden days! I never found myself envying the altar boys at Mass. The nuns of that era said the boys have the future potential to become priests. Serving Mass let’s them experience that possibility to an extent. Girls should happily emulate our Blessed Mother. As much as I have searched in the Bible, I have yet to find an instance where Mary tried to overstep her son or his apostles. She was a nurturer and a keeper of the hearth. She was the Mother of God and accepted her role with love and dignity. When the Holy Ghost came down upon the apostles, Mary shared in those graces. The Apostles went out to preach and Mary channeled her blessings into being a true woman.
I am not sure what women are finding as they crowd around the altar. And I feel sorry for little girls competing with boys on the altar. And I shed tears for the young boys who leave the altar rather than compete. Who will accept responsibility when their path from the altar takes them away from God’s plans for them and, perhaps, even the Church?
The feminine versus the feminist is definitely in the minority. As we struggle to be all we can be, we watch the liberated women be all that they want to be with the blessings of the world at large and the church in particular. I never paid much attention to the whole matter until it invaded the Church. The dignity of the sanctuary has been jeopardized by pant suits, miniskirts and perfumed grandmothers. The solace we should be able to find in our churches is undermined by the feminist agenda.
There is a small aspect of this revolution, and I know I am in the minority here, that defies reason, dignity for the most part, and promise. And until I had a son serving Mass, I didn’t think about it much one way or the other. I now see altar girls as a potential threat to future, priestly vocations. And I feel sorry for the girls who feel they need to take part in a masculine role and try to make it their own. The influx of girls has cost many boys their rightful place in serving on the altar. In our efforts to be fair to females, boys may be turned from vocations that would be the building of our church’s future. And I don’t believe the retort that girls who serve Mass may go on to be nuns. Of course, some of these girls may find a vocation in religious life. Serving Mass, however is not a step towards the convent while it can be part of the path way to the priesthood.
There is a bonding that can occur between a pastor and his flock of altar boys. This can’t occur easily when females are involved. There are also many moments when the altar servers are alone in the sacristy, helping to prepare for Mass. Placing adolescent boys and girls in close proximity is asking for trouble. As reverent as servers can be on the altar, they are still children.
The cassock and surplice have traditionally been male attire. Putting a young girl into male clothing doesn’t bring dignity to either the Mass or the young lady wishing to serve. My son was in a CCD class the day it was announced that girls could become servers. The reaction of the girls in his class was to stand up and exclaim GIRL POWER! There wasn’t a lot of Christianity or religious feeling evidenced by the girls.
I was raise back in the olden days! I never found myself envying the altar boys at Mass. The nuns of that era said the boys have the future potential to become priests. Serving Mass let’s them experience that possibility to an extent. Girls should happily emulate our Blessed Mother. As much as I have searched in the Bible, I have yet to find an instance where Mary tried to overstep her son or his apostles. She was a nurturer and a keeper of the hearth. She was the Mother of God and accepted her role with love and dignity. When the Holy Ghost came down upon the apostles, Mary shared in those graces. The Apostles went out to preach and Mary channeled her blessings into being a true woman.
I am not sure what women are finding as they crowd around the altar. And I feel sorry for little girls competing with boys on the altar. And I shed tears for the young boys who leave the altar rather than compete. Who will accept responsibility when their path from the altar takes them away from God’s plans for them and, perhaps, even the Church?
Time escapes most readily . . .
Interesting to look back and remember how slow time seemed to go when I was a child. It was months and months and months until my birthday or any holiday and once the anticipated event had come and gone, I was back on the lengthy waiting list.
Even with all the planning and preparations for my wedding day, the time seemed to drag. Once the vows were said and done, the 'movie' of my life zipped into fast forward and I find myself 27 years down the road with grown children.
Most of my family enjoy sleeping in on weekends or any chance they get. Even as a child, I was always up first - much to my mother's dismay. I've continued that way my whole life. I don't so much anticipate the day but get up in time to share it's very first moments.
"Oh! do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch." - Jane Austen
Even with all the planning and preparations for my wedding day, the time seemed to drag. Once the vows were said and done, the 'movie' of my life zipped into fast forward and I find myself 27 years down the road with grown children.
Most of my family enjoy sleeping in on weekends or any chance they get. Even as a child, I was always up first - much to my mother's dismay. I've continued that way my whole life. I don't so much anticipate the day but get up in time to share it's very first moments.
"Oh! do not attack me with your watch. A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated to by a watch." - Jane Austen
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