Last Month, I ate at home for more consecutive days than I have in as long as I can remember. It was a small feat, to be sure, since most normal people I know do this on a regular basis. I updated the meals list as the month went on to show what we actually ate (as opposed to the original plans I had)
Did we eat anything fancy? No. Could we have eaten healthier? Yes. Is any meal at home healthier than eating at a restaurant? I'd argue, most of the time. Portions at home are much smaller, and I eat less (almost no) fried food at home, and almost always have something fried when I eat out.
So what did I learn?
Part of the goal last month was to eat from our pantry and freezer exclusively. I ended up spending about $30 on groceries the entire month, replacing staples. This part of the experiment was a success. I also discovered it's almost impossible to plan ahead of time from what groceries I'll need- By August 31st, I was totally out of eggs and butter drinks, and the pantry and freezer were considerably more empty. That said, I was impressed how much food we keep on hand. This "clearing out" month was good for us.
I learned that the convenience foods were the first to go, and I had to increasingly cook from scratch more and more as the month went on. I guess I'm lazy- I took the easy way out many times early in the month.
I learned that, if we eat at home more and I'm cooking from scratch, I do a LOT more dishes. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who helped me out on this one. Canning projects also dirtied a good number of dishes, adding to the load.
The biggest thing is, I learned it can be done. Even in the midst of working and get-togethers and family events and church responsibilities and lessons, dinner can be on the table. It's not anything elaborate most nights, it's just simple and filling and good family time together.
Needless to say, September 1st, with an empty pantry and freezer and no meal plan to speak of, we ate out at one of our favorite restaurants. I felt it was deserved.
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
9.02.2009
7.23.2009
New experiment: Month-long meal plan
Where is this summer going? It's flying by. If you haven't heard, I'm keeping myself plenty busy with the garden, in addition to typical family busy-ness. July is fast coming to a close (I can't believe it!) and August is upon us. For August, I'm going to try a new experiment: a meal plan. For the whole month.
This is kind of silly, since I have a hard time sticking to even a week's meal plan. When I try to plan for a week, I end up cooking Tuesday's meal on Monday because I didn't feel like Monday's meal Monday, and shuffling everything around, so that by Friday, we end up eating out because I've used up all my meal ideas or we didn't have something on-hand that I thought we did.
So why even try to meal plan? Well, for me, it makes mealtimes less stressful. Throwing together a meal is easy- it's figuring out what that meal will be that makes me stress out. If I have an idea of what's on hand, going home and putting it together is easy.
So now, drumroll please.... What We're Eating in August (subject to change)
Breakfasts:
Cereal (neither of us are big Breakfast Eaters, unless we go out.)
Lunches:
Homemade "Lunchables" - crackers, cheese, summer sausage, salty snack & sweet snack
Sandwich, salty snack & sweet snack
Leftovers
Quesadilla & salty snack
Dinners:
As I go through the month, I'll italicize the meals we've had, to see if I can actually cook for a whole month, and we can avoid going out to eat. Check back here to see my progress (once August starts!) No promises that I'll actually make these meals in order.
Full disclosure: I know this is a painfully boring list. We typically go out to eat 2-3 times a WEEK, so this will be a different pace for me, and I wanted to keep the meals easy. I think I can do it, but even if I reduce the amount we go out to eat, the experiment will be successful. Food made at home, from scratch, will always be better than eating out, with the huge portion sizes and questionable ingredients. Also, home is cheaper.
Now, to make a grocery list!
This is kind of silly, since I have a hard time sticking to even a week's meal plan. When I try to plan for a week, I end up cooking Tuesday's meal on Monday because I didn't feel like Monday's meal Monday, and shuffling everything around, so that by Friday, we end up eating out because I've used up all my meal ideas or we didn't have something on-hand that I thought we did.
So why even try to meal plan? Well, for me, it makes mealtimes less stressful. Throwing together a meal is easy- it's figuring out what that meal will be that makes me stress out. If I have an idea of what's on hand, going home and putting it together is easy.
So now, drumroll please.... What We're Eating in August (subject to change)
Breakfasts:
Cereal (neither of us are big Breakfast Eaters, unless we go out.)
Lunches:
Homemade "Lunchables" - crackers, cheese, summer sausage, salty snack & sweet snack
Sandwich, salty snack & sweet snack
Leftovers
Quesadilla & salty snack
Dinners:
- Leftovers
- Family reunion (Made cole slaw to share)
- Spaghetti & meatballs
- Roast chicken & green beans
- Pizza
- Chicken and Rice
- Hot dogs and Chips
- Biscuits & gravy
- Chicken alfredo
- Chicken Tacos
- OUT TO EAT WITH FRIENDS
- OUT TO EAT AT STATE FAIR
Rice and chili- Burgers, grilled corn, and roasted potatoes
- Sandwiches
- Bean and cheese roll-ups, with chips & salsa
- Green beans, potatoes, and bacon, and corn on the cob
- OUT TO EAT (Birthday dinner for my mom)
- Cheese & crackers picnic
- Frozen chicken Parmesan (pre-packaged :-/)
- Grilled cheese & tomato soup
- Vegetable Soup & Broiled Fish
- Baked Mac & Cheese (cookout potluck)
- Leftovers
- Tacos & refried beans
- Chili
- Eggs & bacon & hashbrowns
- Pork chops & roasted potatoes
- Brats & mac & cheese
- Pizza
- Leftovers
As I go through the month, I'll italicize the meals we've had, to see if I can actually cook for a whole month, and we can avoid going out to eat. Check back here to see my progress (once August starts!) No promises that I'll actually make these meals in order.
Full disclosure: I know this is a painfully boring list. We typically go out to eat 2-3 times a WEEK, so this will be a different pace for me, and I wanted to keep the meals easy. I think I can do it, but even if I reduce the amount we go out to eat, the experiment will be successful. Food made at home, from scratch, will always be better than eating out, with the huge portion sizes and questionable ingredients. Also, home is cheaper.
Now, to make a grocery list!
7.01.2009
Always Being Ready
This holiday weekend, our plans never materialized. I mean, we'd probably try to do the traditional things we always do on the 4th of July- go to the hometown parade, visit family, eat grilled meat, watch fireworks. No concrete plans were in the works, though, and the burn pile out back had grown higher and higher over the last six months...
Let's have a bonfire with friends! I said to my husband yesterday.
When? he asked.
How about Thursday night? That shouldn't interfere with all the festivities already planned, I surmised.
Who should we invite? we wondered.
The list was made, friends were called, a lot of "Maybe" answers were received. If all the Maybe's turn to Yes's, we could end up with a party of 15 people. In less than two days. No forethought at all.
I love entertaining. I'm not a social person, but to welcome people into my home, with prepared food and kind words, is a joy to me. Which means a 2-liter and a bag of chips won't cut it. And I have very few hours until all these potential people start showing up at my door. What have I gotten myself into?!
I did an inventory while ticking off what we'd need for a proper bonfire & cookout: Hot dogs, hamburgers, condiments, a salty snack, a healthy snack, soda and non-soda drinks, and s'mores for dessert. We had 2 full packs of hot dogs in the freezer, as well as two full packs of hot dog buns. We have plenty of ground beef for hamburgers, and a pack & a half of hamburger buns. We have half a pack of graham crackers, no marshmallows, no chocolate. I just stocked up on drinks earlier this week, so both soda and non-soda is covered.
I love that I can whip up a good-sized party from what is in my freezer, and only need to go shopping for a few odds & ends (The list primarily consists of chips, marshmallows, and chocolate). A well stocked pantry (and freezer) is the biggest step toward drop-of-the-hat hospitality. And hospitality matters.
Let's have a bonfire with friends! I said to my husband yesterday.
When? he asked.
How about Thursday night? That shouldn't interfere with all the festivities already planned, I surmised.
Who should we invite? we wondered.
The list was made, friends were called, a lot of "Maybe" answers were received. If all the Maybe's turn to Yes's, we could end up with a party of 15 people. In less than two days. No forethought at all.
I love entertaining. I'm not a social person, but to welcome people into my home, with prepared food and kind words, is a joy to me. Which means a 2-liter and a bag of chips won't cut it. And I have very few hours until all these potential people start showing up at my door. What have I gotten myself into?!
I did an inventory while ticking off what we'd need for a proper bonfire & cookout: Hot dogs, hamburgers, condiments, a salty snack, a healthy snack, soda and non-soda drinks, and s'mores for dessert. We had 2 full packs of hot dogs in the freezer, as well as two full packs of hot dog buns. We have plenty of ground beef for hamburgers, and a pack & a half of hamburger buns. We have half a pack of graham crackers, no marshmallows, no chocolate. I just stocked up on drinks earlier this week, so both soda and non-soda is covered.
I love that I can whip up a good-sized party from what is in my freezer, and only need to go shopping for a few odds & ends (The list primarily consists of chips, marshmallows, and chocolate). A well stocked pantry (and freezer) is the biggest step toward drop-of-the-hat hospitality. And hospitality matters.
12.29.2008
How I Cook
I'm not really that into recipes.
Go figure, I have a recipe blog, but really, I'm not into recipes. Typically, when I want to make a dish, I search food blogs, get an idea of the proportions and approximate ingredients to make the dish, then get home and maybe (or maybe not) follow one of those recipes. Sometimes these "experiments" turn out, sometimes aren't as stellar, but I pride myself for using what I have on hand to get the meal put together.
Enter my Christmas gift.
As a total afterthought, I put Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything on my Christmas list. Practically the only cookbook I use is Joy of Cooking , since it's more efficient to search the index of one book rather than 10 for a particular dish- the extra-thick cookbooks are more likely to have what I'm looking for primarily because they have more of everything. I'd been following Bittman's blog for a while, and liked the simplicity of the recipes and the explanations.
What I REALLY like about this cookbook however, is that it explains as I cook. I think it will make me a better cook. It does have recipes- and, as I stated, I'm not that into recipes- but the recipes are accompanied by a lengthy explanation of why we're doing it this-way-or-the-other. Also included with most recipes is 5 or more variations. This is what I really prize- ways to use what I have on hand to do something different. If I get an idea of how a recipe is put together- the "formula", the proportions necessary- and get an idea of what sort of things in what proportions can be added, I can fly by the seat of my pants with much more confidence. This cookbook is perfect for me.
Really truly, the reason I love to cook is that I'm a scientist at heart, and all these variations on recipes is just me doing experiments in the kitchen. Now if only I had it together enough to actually record what I'm doing, so I can cook something the same way twice- though, if I write it down, I'd be following a recipe, and I'm not so into that.
Go figure, I have a recipe blog, but really, I'm not into recipes. Typically, when I want to make a dish, I search food blogs, get an idea of the proportions and approximate ingredients to make the dish, then get home and maybe (or maybe not) follow one of those recipes. Sometimes these "experiments" turn out, sometimes aren't as stellar, but I pride myself for using what I have on hand to get the meal put together.
Enter my Christmas gift.
As a total afterthought, I put Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything on my Christmas list. Practically the only cookbook I use is Joy of Cooking , since it's more efficient to search the index of one book rather than 10 for a particular dish- the extra-thick cookbooks are more likely to have what I'm looking for primarily because they have more of everything. I'd been following Bittman's blog for a while, and liked the simplicity of the recipes and the explanations.
What I REALLY like about this cookbook however, is that it explains as I cook. I think it will make me a better cook. It does have recipes- and, as I stated, I'm not that into recipes- but the recipes are accompanied by a lengthy explanation of why we're doing it this-way-or-the-other. Also included with most recipes is 5 or more variations. This is what I really prize- ways to use what I have on hand to do something different. If I get an idea of how a recipe is put together- the "formula", the proportions necessary- and get an idea of what sort of things in what proportions can be added, I can fly by the seat of my pants with much more confidence. This cookbook is perfect for me.
Really truly, the reason I love to cook is that I'm a scientist at heart, and all these variations on recipes is just me doing experiments in the kitchen. Now if only I had it together enough to actually record what I'm doing, so I can cook something the same way twice- though, if I write it down, I'd be following a recipe, and I'm not so into that.
10.30.2007
Happy Birthday Irma!
From The Writer's Almanac:
I feel inspired to whip out the ol' white-and-red cooking bible tonight in recognition of Irma's 130th birthday, but its packed. Perhaps I'll find a recipe from it anyway. It just seems like the right thing to do.
It's the birthday of Irma Rombauer, born in St. Louis (1877). She wrote one of the most popular cookbooks of all time, The Joy of Cooking (1935), even though she was a terrible cook, according to her own family. But her lack of cooking experience was an advantage, because hers was the first cookbook aimed at women who did not have any experience making food from scratch. It was the first cookbook to endorse the use of convenient ingredients, like canned soup, and it was full of humorous advice for people who felt clueless in the kitchen.
I feel inspired to whip out the ol' white-and-red cooking bible tonight in recognition of Irma's 130th birthday, but its packed. Perhaps I'll find a recipe from it anyway. It just seems like the right thing to do.
10.27.2007
Kitchen Facts!
Ashley has tagged me for a kitchen meme. I have to name eight random things from my kitchen/cooking. This is re-posted from my other blog, keeping feet, where I was tagged- but it belongs here.1. My favorite kitchen implement is the wooden spoon. I use it for whatever I can possibly use it for. It is indispensable.
2. I love sunflowers. My plates, bowls, bread box, recipe box, and anything I could get a hold of has sunflowers on it. Even my apron. I prefer designs with fall-colored sunflowers, with oranges and greens, rather than cheery yellow ones.
3. I really hadn't cooked much before getting married a year and a half ago. Since then, I have discovered I love cooking, and treat it as an experiment & an adventure.
4. I hate making a roux & white sauce. I burned it once, and have this fear of doing it again. Besides I think it takes longer than it is worth. I make it, but only when necessary.
5. My knitted dishcloth is my favorite thing to wash dishes or wipe up with. Right now, I have no sponges at my sink. The only thing that gets use is the dishcloth I made.
6. Pies are my favorite thing to bake. Apple, pear, peach, strawberry, sugar cream, chocolate pudding, chicken pot... you name it, I love making pies. Unfortunately, when I cook dessert, its usually for a decent-sized group, and pies will feed 6-8 people, but not many more. I make them anyway.
7. My favorite cookbook is the Joy of Cooking cookbook. It's classic, and I appreciate not only the fact that the recipes have been tested over 60 years, but that there's such a wide variety of them.
8. I cook based on what I have in the house. I don't like having to go to the store to pick something up for a planned meal- I'd much rather use the staples I have to throw something together. As I learn to plan menus further ahead of time, perhaps I'll be able to cook things not in the normal rotation- but currently the 'normal rotation' uses what's always stocked in the pantry.
9.19.2007
George Foreman Works for Me!
Chicken & rice... Chicken tetrazzini... Quesadillas & tacos... Chicken alfredo... chicken pot pie...
What do these dishes all have in common? Obviously, they all have 'chicken' in the name. They are also all go-to dishes that are staples at our house, and they all call for precooked, cut up chicken breasts.
These are all pretty easy meals, but cooking the chicken is just one more step in the process (and one more pan to clean!). My solution: I use the lowest-maintenance way of cooking the meat, that requires the least attention, so that I can get the other ingredients for the recipe ready without worrying about the chicken. For me, that means flipping on the George Foreman grill (that we got for $5 at Goodwill last year!), plopping the not-quite-defrosted chicken breast(s) in it, and letting them sizzle while I prepare the rest of the meal. So easy. And my favorite part: the grill gives the chicken a flavor that goes particularly well in Chicken Alfredo or Chicken & Rice, as well as other meals. Grilling is healthier than sauteing in oil, or other options for cooking the chicken, so that makes me happy too!
Something I do less often, but am glad when I do: precook, cut up, and freeze the chicken, to make any of these meals really quick and easy. I do this more often with ground beef or ground turkey, to freeze taco meat for tacos, quesadillas, dips, and refried-bean casserole. I also will brown & freeze crumbled sausage for dishes like pizza, omelettes, or Italian Sausage soup.
Check out more tips at Works-for-me Wednesday!
What do these dishes all have in common? Obviously, they all have 'chicken' in the name. They are also all go-to dishes that are staples at our house, and they all call for precooked, cut up chicken breasts.
These are all pretty easy meals, but cooking the chicken is just one more step in the process (and one more pan to clean!). My solution: I use the lowest-maintenance way of cooking the meat, that requires the least attention, so that I can get the other ingredients for the recipe ready without worrying about the chicken. For me, that means flipping on the George Foreman grill (that we got for $5 at Goodwill last year!), plopping the not-quite-defrosted chicken breast(s) in it, and letting them sizzle while I prepare the rest of the meal. So easy. And my favorite part: the grill gives the chicken a flavor that goes particularly well in Chicken Alfredo or Chicken & Rice, as well as other meals. Grilling is healthier than sauteing in oil, or other options for cooking the chicken, so that makes me happy too!
Something I do less often, but am glad when I do: precook, cut up, and freeze the chicken, to make any of these meals really quick and easy. I do this more often with ground beef or ground turkey, to freeze taco meat for tacos, quesadillas, dips, and refried-bean casserole. I also will brown & freeze crumbled sausage for dishes like pizza, omelettes, or Italian Sausage soup.
Check out more tips at Works-for-me Wednesday!
7.13.2007
The Adventure that is Cooking
or, Why I Do What I Do
Once upon a time, about a year and a half ago, I didn't cook. I was a senior in college, living off campus but with an on-campus meal plan, and most my time was spent in class or in the computer lab. If I cooked, it was simple and fast and cheap. I was a college student, for goodness sake!
Fast forward to today. I'm still all about "simple, fast & cheap," but I love cooking. No one- myself included- would have ever guessed this. Computer Scientists are supposed to like pizza from the delivery guy and Mountain Dew, right? Two weeks after I graduated college, I got married, and two weeks after that, got a job. This made me a bona-fide working wife, but left me with the dilemma- what am I and my new husband supposed to eat? There was no running to the campus cafeteria and swiping a card. Thus began The Adventure That Is Cooking.
I had to view cooking as An Adventure, or else it would never get done, and we would forever eat grilled cheese sandwiches and frozen pizza. I decided to tackle it as a combination between a crazy science experiment and a beautiful creativity outlet. The early attempts were exploratory and simple- the from-a-mix cookies with icing & sprinkles from a year ago July are an example. I was testing the waters. For the first time, I felt like I was allowed to be creative. I was allowed to experiment. (At times, I feel bad for my husband, who has to eat the results of my experiments!) After the cookies, I tackled the staples that I felt every cook should be able to do: yeast bread, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, Nestle Toll House Cookies, apple pie. I gave each a shot, and was excited with the results. Looking back now, the results weren't all that stellar- but, for me, then, they were astounding. Who would have thought? That I would ever cook? And enjoy it?
I moved on to bigger things, got more creative with the presentation of food, and took more liberty with recipes. I've discovered the some of ethical and environmental issues behind the food we eat, and have been exploring those. I've been able to blossom in the area of hospitality, because I am unafraid to share my cooking (good or bad) with guests in my home. I've learned that The Adventure That is Cooking is less 'science experiment' and more 'art'. And an Adventure wouldn't be an Adventure without risk, pitfalls, and the possibility of failure, right? There's been plenty of failure, that's for sure. Just this week, I was baking a cake that was to be served to some of my best friends, and it broke into three pieces as I took it out of the pan. I was able to salvage it, to some extent, but this just goes to show: Adventures never cease. I'll be cooking a camping breakfast for 14 tomorrow morning, and I haven't the slightest clue what I'm doing, but, in the spirit of Adventure I'm willing to give it a try. If it fails, it fails, so be it. If it succeeds, I will put it on the list of yet another challenge conquered, and I will have 14 happy friends.
(Cooking is my adventure. What's yours? Check out scribbit's Write-Away contest- the theme this month is Adventure. This is my first time participating. It was fun!)
Once upon a time, about a year and a half ago, I didn't cook. I was a senior in college, living off campus but with an on-campus meal plan, and most my time was spent in class or in the computer lab. If I cooked, it was simple and fast and cheap. I was a college student, for goodness sake!
Fast forward to today. I'm still all about "simple, fast & cheap," but I love cooking. No one- myself included- would have ever guessed this. Computer Scientists are supposed to like pizza from the delivery guy and Mountain Dew, right? Two weeks after I graduated college, I got married, and two weeks after that, got a job. This made me a bona-fide working wife, but left me with the dilemma- what am I and my new husband supposed to eat? There was no running to the campus cafeteria and swiping a card. Thus began The Adventure That Is Cooking.
I had to view cooking as An Adventure, or else it would never get done, and we would forever eat grilled cheese sandwiches and frozen pizza. I decided to tackle it as a combination between a crazy science experiment and a beautiful creativity outlet. The early attempts were exploratory and simple- the from-a-mix cookies with icing & sprinkles from a year ago July are an example. I was testing the waters. For the first time, I felt like I was allowed to be creative. I was allowed to experiment. (At times, I feel bad for my husband, who has to eat the results of my experiments!) After the cookies, I tackled the staples that I felt every cook should be able to do: yeast bread, meatloaf, chicken pot pie, Nestle Toll House Cookies, apple pie. I gave each a shot, and was excited with the results. Looking back now, the results weren't all that stellar- but, for me, then, they were astounding. Who would have thought? That I would ever cook? And enjoy it?
I moved on to bigger things, got more creative with the presentation of food, and took more liberty with recipes. I've discovered the some of ethical and environmental issues behind the food we eat, and have been exploring those. I've been able to blossom in the area of hospitality, because I am unafraid to share my cooking (good or bad) with guests in my home. I've learned that The Adventure That is Cooking is less 'science experiment' and more 'art'. And an Adventure wouldn't be an Adventure without risk, pitfalls, and the possibility of failure, right? There's been plenty of failure, that's for sure. Just this week, I was baking a cake that was to be served to some of my best friends, and it broke into three pieces as I took it out of the pan. I was able to salvage it, to some extent, but this just goes to show: Adventures never cease. I'll be cooking a camping breakfast for 14 tomorrow morning, and I haven't the slightest clue what I'm doing, but, in the spirit of Adventure I'm willing to give it a try. If it fails, it fails, so be it. If it succeeds, I will put it on the list of yet another challenge conquered, and I will have 14 happy friends.
(Cooking is my adventure. What's yours? Check out scribbit's Write-Away contest- the theme this month is Adventure. This is my first time participating. It was fun!)
6.03.2007
We're like two peas in a pod!
Incidentally, today is our first wedding anniversary.
And my peas have pods. And tomato plants have flowers. And the basil, parsley & chives continue to do well. The balcony garden is growing this season, but not as much as our marriage has this year. Hooray to both.
5.02.2007
Ode to a wooden spoon
While working on a blog post for my other blog, I came across an article that spoke almost poetically about the mixing bowl (Disclaimer: I don't agree with about 80% of the sentiments expressed on that site. It was this one article that caught my attention) It says, in part:
For me, it is not the mixing bowl in my kitchen that is the treasured tool, it is my wooden spoon (and, thus, I included it in my header). Perhaps my mixing bowls are too 'ordinary' (they're all very utilitarian, and plastic) for me to speak of them so highly. What is said here can apply to the wooden spoon as well, about the contemplative act of mixing by hand, and the meaningfulness of it.
Unless there seems to be no other way, I do not use an electric mixer. I do not own a food processor or blender. My set of pots are nonstick, so I don't use a metal whisk on them. It is my wooden spoon that is my tool of choice for almost any stirring job. It is light and easy to hold. It is thin, able to cut through thick doughs and batters, but wide enough to mix chunky doughs. It is wooden- it won't melt or get hot when left on the side of a pan. I love the wood- the soft, natural look in my kitchen. With my wooden spoon, I feel as if I could make anything, given the right ingredients and something to put them in- then the spoon can work its magic. Even as a child, I must have thought the wooden spoons in my mother's kitchen were magical- either from reading a book about colonial days, or from Girl Scouts, I remember creating wooden spoon dolls out of a couple spoons just like the one I use now.
I wanted to make something with my wooden spoon last night- specifically, Cowboy Cookies for my husband- but I was out of chocolate chips. The spoon will have to save its magic for another day.
In all the things we perceive as greatness in the world, this is one of the most cherished experiences for people of all ages. In doing this, the woman with the mixing bowl tells something about herself. This is her world, her time, and her freedom. She doesn't have to worry about time- sheets and schedules and bosses, keeping her job, competing with someone else for better batter, or anything that takes place on "the outside," as I call it. She's not worried about losing her position if it doesn't turn out well. It is the doing of it that counts. She can think about that bowl, and if she got it at her wedding, the person that gave it to her. She can spend a few minutes quietly stirring and thinking about the people that made it possible for her to be as she is today, contentedly stirring something in the mixing bowl.
...
That mixing bowl isn't just a utilitarian article in your kitchen, beckoning you to work. It is a ritual, a memory, an experience, an example, a history lesson, and a connection to our forebearers. It is, in my opinion, one of the most glamorous things a woman can do. She is leaving a type of moving picture in the minds of her children and other family members, which will not seem so important right now, but later, when the grown children bring up their memories, she'll be glad she took the time to do it.
It isn't just the act itself that is so comforting and reassuring to a home, but the end results. The enticing aroma and the final partaking of such a treat, holds a special feeling of anticipation for all members of a family and their visitors, no matter what age. The mixing bowl transcends the so-called "generation gap" and, even moreso, the gap we often feel in time. In doing something that the Pilgrims, Pioneers, and Victorians did, these people that once walked the earth and have now "gone home" do not seem so foreign or so strange to us. Like you, there was once a woman in 1890 standing at her sink, glancing up at her family, with the mixing bowl in her arm. When we are re-creating something our foremothers did, their lives don't seem so distant from our own.
For me, it is not the mixing bowl in my kitchen that is the treasured tool, it is my wooden spoon (and, thus, I included it in my header). Perhaps my mixing bowls are too 'ordinary' (they're all very utilitarian, and plastic) for me to speak of them so highly. What is said here can apply to the wooden spoon as well, about the contemplative act of mixing by hand, and the meaningfulness of it.
Unless there seems to be no other way, I do not use an electric mixer. I do not own a food processor or blender. My set of pots are nonstick, so I don't use a metal whisk on them. It is my wooden spoon that is my tool of choice for almost any stirring job. It is light and easy to hold. It is thin, able to cut through thick doughs and batters, but wide enough to mix chunky doughs. It is wooden- it won't melt or get hot when left on the side of a pan. I love the wood- the soft, natural look in my kitchen. With my wooden spoon, I feel as if I could make anything, given the right ingredients and something to put them in- then the spoon can work its magic. Even as a child, I must have thought the wooden spoons in my mother's kitchen were magical- either from reading a book about colonial days, or from Girl Scouts, I remember creating wooden spoon dolls out of a couple spoons just like the one I use now.
I wanted to make something with my wooden spoon last night- specifically, Cowboy Cookies for my husband- but I was out of chocolate chips. The spoon will have to save its magic for another day.
4.06.2007
Growing things
Inspired by a couple friends and blogs I read, I wanted to try my hand at growing our own food. The catch: we live in an apartment on the third floor. No yard. I'm doing a fun experiment by growing vegetables and herbs in pots on my balcony in hopes I'll get some garden-fresh vegetables to try. Currently, the broccoli, cauliflower, peas, chives, and parsley have sprouted, and the basil, thyme, and marjoram are just starting to peek up. No tomatoes yet, and I haven't planted the carrots or green beans.
With my few pots, I don't expect to have tons of vegetables to be able to feed us through the winter or anything. Someday, I would like to try my hand at freezing or canning what we grow and having our garden food last longer. As it is now, I just wanted to give growing a first-try.
This week, the weather went from short-sleeves-and-capris weather to heavy-coat weather. I guess an advantage to having no yard is that all my plants are portable. Due to the below-freezing temperatures at night, they all came into my dining room, and will remain there until spring decides to return to central Indiana.
This is the super-cute herb pot I bought at Aldi. It came with FIVE kinds of seeds, but I decided against putting then ALL in this little pot. As it is, chives are around the sides and parsley is in the middle.
These are my baby broccoli plants. I planted enough seeds to make sure some came up, but I think I'll have to pull some of these up to make room for the grown-up plants- they're supposed to be planted feet apart, and I don't have that kind of room, but to give them some reasonable amount of room, it'd be good to have 2-3 adult plants in this pot, I think.
These are my pea plants. I'm excited about these. I like peas. I like green beans even more, and, once the peas are harvested, I'll plant beans in these planters.
So, give me a few weeks, and these plants will be in my dining room for a different reason- to be eaten rather than just kept warm!
With my few pots, I don't expect to have tons of vegetables to be able to feed us through the winter or anything. Someday, I would like to try my hand at freezing or canning what we grow and having our garden food last longer. As it is now, I just wanted to give growing a first-try.
This week, the weather went from short-sleeves-and-capris weather to heavy-coat weather. I guess an advantage to having no yard is that all my plants are portable. Due to the below-freezing temperatures at night, they all came into my dining room, and will remain there until spring decides to return to central Indiana.
This is the super-cute herb pot I bought at Aldi. It came with FIVE kinds of seeds, but I decided against putting then ALL in this little pot. As it is, chives are around the sides and parsley is in the middle.
These are my baby broccoli plants. I planted enough seeds to make sure some came up, but I think I'll have to pull some of these up to make room for the grown-up plants- they're supposed to be planted feet apart, and I don't have that kind of room, but to give them some reasonable amount of room, it'd be good to have 2-3 adult plants in this pot, I think.
These are my pea plants. I'm excited about these. I like peas. I like green beans even more, and, once the peas are harvested, I'll plant beans in these planters.
So, give me a few weeks, and these plants will be in my dining room for a different reason- to be eaten rather than just kept warm!
3.28.2007
Housekeeping, circa 1903
So, I was on the Project Gutenberg site today and came across a book titled THE EASIEST WAY IN HOUSEKEEPING AND COOKING, published in 1903. The chapter I read in its entirety, "CHAPTER IV. THE DAY'S WORK." made me smile.
An (long) excerpt:
I think I will make this my motto: Housekeeping is a combination of accidental forces from whose working it is hoped breakfasts and dinners and suppers will be evolved at regular periods. That's awesome. I can also relate to the "New home halo". I'm (slowly) getting over it.
The chapter goes on to the day's routine, which details silly things, like the order in which dishes ought to be washed or "Turn the mattresses daily", but useful things as well- such as, when scrubbing wood table or floors, scrubbing with the grain will take the stain off, against the grain will rub it in.
The rest of the book appears to have other household tips as well as recipes. Some are outdated, for example, we don't need coal or wood for our stoves anymore. Some are probably valid, and are just tips lost to history or modern convenience.
An (long) excerpt:
The first difficulty lies in taking for granted that successful housekeeping is as much an instinct as that which leads the young bird to nest-building, and that no specific training is required. The man who undertakes a business, passes always through some form of apprenticeship, and must know every detail involved in the management; but to the large proportion of women, housekeeping is a combination of accidental forces from whose working it is hoped breakfasts and dinners and suppers will be evolved at regular periods, other necessities finding place where they can. The new home, prettily furnished, seems a lovely toy, and is surrounded by a halo, which, as facts assert themselves, quickly fades away. Moth and rust and dust invade the most secret recesses. Breakage and general disaster attend the progress of Bridget or Chloe. The kitchen seems the headquarters of extraordinary smells, and the stove an abyss in its consumption of coal or wood. Food is wasted by bad cooking, or ignorance as to needed amounts, or methods of using left-over portions; and, as bills pile up, a hopeless discouragement often settles upon both wife and husband, and reproaches and bitterness and alienation are guests in the home, to which they need never have come had a little knowledge barred them out.
I think I will make this my motto: Housekeeping is a combination of accidental forces from whose working it is hoped breakfasts and dinners and suppers will be evolved at regular periods. That's awesome. I can also relate to the "New home halo". I'm (slowly) getting over it.
The chapter goes on to the day's routine, which details silly things, like the order in which dishes ought to be washed or "Turn the mattresses daily", but useful things as well- such as, when scrubbing wood table or floors, scrubbing with the grain will take the stain off, against the grain will rub it in.
The rest of the book appears to have other household tips as well as recipes. Some are outdated, for example, we don't need coal or wood for our stoves anymore. Some are probably valid, and are just tips lost to history or modern convenience.
3.27.2007
Nuking sponges
Originally posted at keeping feet on 1/23/07
From LiveScience:
Guess what I'm going to do when I get home? I wonder if this goes for cutting boards and dishtowels as well? I'm certainly going to try it!
From LiveScience:
Sponges and kitchen scrub brushes can be loaded with disease-causing viruses and bacteria.
So microwave them, scientists say.
Researchers soaked sponges and scrubbers in a disgusting brew of raw wastewater containing fecal bacteria, viruses, protozoan parasites and bacterial spores, including Bacillus cereus spores—known for being very hard to kill with heat, chemicals and even radiation.
Zapping at full power for two minutes killed or inactivated 99 percent of living pathogens. It took 4 minutes to destroy the B. cereus spores.
“People often put their sponges and scrubbers in the dishwasher, but if they really want to decontaminate them and not just clean them, they should use the microwave," said Gabriel Bitton, a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Florida.
The study was announced today and was detailed in the December issue of the Journal of Environmental Health.
Other studies have shown that sponges and dishcloths are common carriers of pathogens from uncooked eggs, meat and other food. Damp objects help them thrive.
The researchers suggest wetting the objects—water being heated by the microwave seems to play a role in the sterilization—before zapping them every other day or so.
Guess what I'm going to do when I get home? I wonder if this goes for cutting boards and dishtowels as well? I'm certainly going to try it!
Domesticated
Originally posted on 11/21/06 at keeping feet
I've been domesticated.
Not entirely, I suppose- I still work outside the home- but I've begun to feel the reality of housekeeping. It's not all bad, actually. I've acquired a newfound hobby in cooking, and cleaning, in a way, I see as an act of service to my husband and responsibility to my guests (No one wants to visit a cluttered house!) Glasses and clothes left around the house now bother me to no end, and piled dishes or laundry make me feel like I'm failing in my pursuit. I do my best to keep up.
I will admit, while washing dishes at 10:30 last night, after returning from a late-night Meijer run and putting away the groceries, I was not as joyful about keeping house as I've been. It was somewhat more discouraging because I knew the reason I was cleaning these dishes last night rather than a more acceptable hour was so I could mess them up again tonight- I planned on cooking dinner for three then three apple pies (The apple pies will still get cooked. Two of the three who were to eat dinner are now eating out, so I'm off the hook there.) It's a never ending cycle I suppose I'll get used to and accept at some point.
I was called 'industrious' today. I'm off to live up to it. I'll let you know how the apple pies go- making a pie's easy (... as pie?), making the crust is what I'm worried about. It'll be an adventure!
I've been domesticated.
Not entirely, I suppose- I still work outside the home- but I've begun to feel the reality of housekeeping. It's not all bad, actually. I've acquired a newfound hobby in cooking, and cleaning, in a way, I see as an act of service to my husband and responsibility to my guests (No one wants to visit a cluttered house!) Glasses and clothes left around the house now bother me to no end, and piled dishes or laundry make me feel like I'm failing in my pursuit. I do my best to keep up.
I will admit, while washing dishes at 10:30 last night, after returning from a late-night Meijer run and putting away the groceries, I was not as joyful about keeping house as I've been. It was somewhat more discouraging because I knew the reason I was cleaning these dishes last night rather than a more acceptable hour was so I could mess them up again tonight- I planned on cooking dinner for three then three apple pies (The apple pies will still get cooked. Two of the three who were to eat dinner are now eating out, so I'm off the hook there.) It's a never ending cycle I suppose I'll get used to and accept at some point.
I was called 'industrious' today. I'm off to live up to it. I'll let you know how the apple pies go- making a pie's easy (... as pie?), making the crust is what I'm worried about. It'll be an adventure!
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