May 07 2010
I recently bought 25 bare root strawberry plants from my local garden center, and I got some great advice. “Soak ‘em good for a day,” the man said. I did, and two weeks after planting, they are doing really, really well. I cannot even believe it, but I think I see the beginning of blossoms on a few plants. I mixed June bearing with everbearing varieties. I am anxious to see what kind of crop I get.
Jan 31 2010
After years of wanting a gas stove instead of an electric, I finally got one. I love cooking on it, though I still need practice regulating the heat. I found that my stove presents another challenge–keeping it clean. With my old ceramic top electric, cleaning was relatively simply. But there is more to maintaining a pristine appearance with the new one. My stove has porcelain grates, which get a bit dirty of course, but I have found the perfect tool for keeping them clean–without a lot of elbow grease. A Magic Eraser works wonders. Dunk one in a bit of warm, soapy water and the grease spots and “baked” on grime will come off easily.
Jan 03 2010
Winter is the best time to try new soups. I recently had a meatball minestrone at a local deli and enjoyed it. This is my version, which I think is better. While tasty, the deli soup was full of overcooked penne pasta. This version is more delicate and has more discernible vegetables. One bowl definitely satisfies. Dip crusty bread to soak up the broth.
Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped
2 med/large cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
3 carrots, peeled, sliced
3 stalks celery, cut into ½ pieces
1 4 oz can of mushrooms, with liquid
1 15 oz can kidney beans, rinsed
1 28 oz can whole tomatoes cut up, with juice
1 32 oz box chicken broth
¾ cup uncooked elbow macaroni (Barilla Plus or Whole Wheat)
18-20 Italian meatballs (frozen)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried Italian parsley
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
In stock pot, saute the onion, celery, and garlic in olive oil on medium heat for five minutes. Add carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes, kidney beans, meatballs and chicken broth. Add herbs. Turn heat up to bring soup just to boiling stage. Reduce heat and cook covered on medium/low for 30 minutes. Add macaroni and cook for ten more minutes.
Serve with crusty bread and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on soup before serving.
Serves 6
© heymom.info
Aug 28 2009
The old expression, “eating us out of house and home” implies that one eats a lot–beyond just the food on the table to even the house itself. While the saying is a good example of hyperbole, that is not why I chose it as the title for this post. I chose it because it is a good way to think about a little experiment I did this year, one that helped me control my impulse grocery shopping and stop wasting food.
In a meeting today, the presenter said that Americans throw away 27% of our food. I am not surprised. I know that there are times when I buy something perishable at the store, fully intending to use it right away, but then plans change or I forget, and when I find it later, it’s no good. I throw it away. Well, I compost my vegetable garbage, but still, I’ve wasted it.
Last year, I decided to do something I had never done before: use up all the food in the house before I bought more. I found that when I inventoried my pantry, freezer, and refrigerator, I had more food than I thought I had. And some of it was getting old.
Meat left in a frost-free freezer doesn’t last very long. Ice cream goes bad pretty quickly, too. Almost nothing is meant to last a year.
Using up all our stored food was a challenge for my menu planning. I’ll admit I got pretty creative, but we never ate anything we didn’t enjoy.
Also, it took a lot longer than I expected it would to get down to the bare minimum, which means that we had quite a bit of food on hand.
Now when I say that I vowed to use everything before I’d buy more, I didn’t mean that I had to use up all the sugar, flour, spices, etc. I meant pastas, rices, canned goods, and fresh and frozen foods.
If I really needed something to make a meal, I’d buy it, but I tried really hard to use just what I had on hand.
The experiment taught me some valuable lessons:
I know that most of us live hectic lives and a trip to the grocery is often something done on the way home from work. But the trouble is that we tend to just toss things into our carts, thinking we need this or that. And if we’re hungry, we’re just tossing in things that look good. Pretty soon, we’ve got four jars of peanut butter in the pantry.
If this sounds like you, why not try my experiment?
Just twice a year, use all your stored food. The goal is to get your fridge, freezer and shelves as empty as possible before you restock. You might be surprised at what you discover.
Jun 27 2009
In one of my recent magazines, there was an article about hanging laundry outside for the health benefits: bending, stretching, etc. So it seems that this very old way to dry clothes is now popular again not just because it saves energy, but also because it’s good exercise.
However, just about every picture I see of clothes on a line makes me wonder. If I hung my clothes out like I see in magazines, I’d have to iron just about everything. I am not eager for more work, especially hot, steamy ironing.
While there are many methods for just about everything, there are some common sense “rules” about how to hang clothes on the line so that they are ready to fold or hang and will need no more care than that.
A few common sense rules for wrinkle-free clothes:
Blouses/Dress shirts: Shake them out and put them on a nice hanger, like a sweater hanger that will shape shoulders and not leave dents. Then put the hanger on the line. A clothespin on each side of the hanger keeps it from sliding along the line. Once dry, you can just put them in the closet. Only linen or some cottons prone to wrinkling will need light ironing.
Underwear: Hang by the waistband. There is no need to fold the waistband over. Simply layer to the line and pin. I like to layer the next pair with the first and save time and pins. So the right side of the next pair overlaps the left side of the first pair about an inch. The clothespin goes over the overlap. Bras are no brainers–just hang by one end with one pin.
Socks: Hang by toes, where any stretching will not be noticeable. Heavy socks are hung separately. Lightweight socks can by hung as a pair.
T-shirts/Tanks: Hanging by the shoulders creates “dents” left by the clothespins. Hanging by the tails also can create dents and stretch out the sides. After shaking out, lay the shirt over the line so that the underarm seams are at the line and pin there. The neck and top of the shirt will hang over one side of the line, the body of the shirt over the other. Halfway through, you may have to unpin and reverse to get the shirt fully dry. This method does not stretch out the shirt and it leaves no dents. Nice tanks/shells are best dried on hangers.
Pants/Jeans: Button the waistband and zip up fly. Shake well. Hang by the waistband, one pin on each side should do it. Do not fold waistband over line. Pull the crotch seam to the back so it will get more air. I advise using fabric softener in the wash if you’ll be hanging jeans outside. They will dry, though and won’t shrink. Be sure you shake them out really well. Hang jeans towards the outside ends of the line, for if you hang them in the middle, they’ll pull everything down.
Kids dresses and jumpers: Use the T-shirt method or hang on a hanger.
Sweaters: It is really best to lay sweaters flat, but if the sweater is very light weight and almost dry, then it can be hung out on a hanger like a blouse. A tip for sweaters is to put them in the dryer on a very low temp for about ten minutes. Then remove them and lay flat until they are completely dry. This takes out the wrinkles and speeds up drying time. Be really careful with anything wool in the dryer. It’s best to follow care labels.
Sheets: Fold flat sheets in half and hang by overlapping center fold about two inches on line, pinning at ends and once or twice in middle. The loose ends are free to flap in the breeze. Fold fitted sheets the same way, but once hung, turn “pockets” so they face out for faster drying. Hang pillow cases by the seamed end, overlapping line an inch or two. Put dry sheets directly on the bed for a sweet smelling night.
May 04 2009
Papered walls are quite passe these days, even a drawback if one is trying to sell a house. But I was reminded today, as I helped my daughter clean her 60-year-old new house, that good (heavy; vinyl coated; pre-pasted) wallpaper is perfect for lining old drawers and shelves.
There is no shortage of storage in her house, but many of the drawers and shelves are made of fir and are old and stained (sometimes even smelly and splintery). In my day, I papered many a wall and I always kept my scraps. So today I took my big box of scraps to her house.
After cleaning the drawers first, I measured paper to fit the space. Then I ran the pasted side gently under warm water to moisten the paste. After that, it is important to fold the piece together and let the paste soften more. At this stage, you don’t want to crease the fold, but you do want to minimize any exposure of pasted edges to the air or the paste will dry.
I let each piece rest a few minutes, about five seems right. Then I peel it open, lay it in place, and with a wrung out dish rag (or a sponge–not dripping) will work to smooth the paper to the surface, ease out any bubbles and clean off any paste residue. Note: the pasted side should seem sticky, not dry or drying. It can even be somewhat wet. If it’s not, wet it some more.
It is also important to let the paper fully dry before putting anything in the drawers or on the shelves. You’ll know it’s dry when it no longer feels cool. The paper will “suck” itself down to its surface.
The wallpaper lining should last for a long, long time. I have papered shelves that are 20 years old and still look fresh. It will hold up to washing, and it is easy to clean. It doesn’t get gummy like old contact paper either, and if you use a good, heavy paper, it won’t (or shouldn’t) rip or tear.
An added bonus is that it can brighten the look of your drawers. Instead reaching for your toothpaste and seeing old, stained wood, it will be bright, clean, and fresh.
No old wallpaper in your house? It might actually be worth the investment for this purpose. Try your paint store. They may have a bolt or two that has been returned. One roll will go a long way.
Apr 21 2009
T.S. Eliot wrote that
April is is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land,
Mixing memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Taken out of context of The Wasteland, we lose Eliot’s meaning. But these lines are often quoted and misquoted to say something profound about April.
To be fair, April is cruel in some ways. For example, after a fantastic Saturday (temps in the upper 60s) when we tilled up space for eight new asparagus plants, Sunday came back at us as if to say, “Oh yeah? You think it’s spring?” And today (Tuesday morning) we awoke to snow. But this afternoon the snow is gone, replaced by the famous April Showers, and even the daffodils, which looked a bit perturbed this morning in the snow, seem happy enough. Who, then, are we to complain?
Mostly April is kind. It is April that unlaces the straight-jacket of winter. The “dull roots” do indeed stir with desire in April. Saturday we remarked how quickly the plants grow–overnight it seems. Even a snowy morning does not deter our hopefulness. I know that real warmth and time to plant is only short weeks away. While seedlings thrive indoors, daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, and chives thrive outdoors. We have waited a long time for April, and it is indeed kind, not cruel, and April rains are the sweetest of all rains, turning brown grass green right before our eyes.
Apr 11 2009
There is the return of the robins, of course, daylight savings time, the snow melted and green grass growing–but one of the best, for me, is being able to hang my laundry outside again in the sun. Today, it was sheets and one load of whites. They gleamed in the sun, swayed in the breeze, and smelled beyond fresh as I folded them to take them in. I feel like I can breathe again!
Mar 09 2009
I can always tell when spring is here. I buy seeds and plan my garden layout. This year I am also going to buy a small electric tiller. My garden is fairly small, so it should do a good job. I tossed a lot of nice compost into the garden last fall, and it needs to be tilled in before I plant. I am also going to add two or three new grape plants this year. I bought seeds for peas, pole beans, spinach, and baby romaine lettuce. I saved seeds from my butternut squash, so I’m curious to see if I can start new plants from those. I previously had no luck with that and had to buy plants.
As always, I will start my tomato plants indoors. I save some seeds from my favorite pink beefsteak tomatoes and they are good producers year after year. I also bought some heirloom seeds that will be fun to try. I love garden tomatoes. Nothing I can buy in a store comes close to their taste. Tomatoes take time, energy, and patience, but they’re worth the effort. We’re still enjoying the tomatoes I canned last summer.
Over the winter, I discovered a tip for keeping the blight off my tomatoes. When I plant my tomatoes, I need to plant them deep, up to the leaves, but then prune off any leaves that touch the ground. Also I need to mulch well to keep the soil and the plant from becoming too close. Blight spores live on in the soil. Continued pruning should help.
Of course, I know that I should rotate my crops by planting the tomatoes in a different spot than I did the year before. Tomato blight is a huge frustration. I do not like to put chemicals on my garden, so finding organic ways to deal with pests, both critter and otherwise is my choice.
As for the rabbit problem we had last winter (they nibbled nearly all of our raspberry canes to the top of the snow), our new fence seems to be very successful. While our poor, fenceless neighbor’s garden was a salad bar for the neighborhood rabbits, ours was not. We should have a lot of wonderful raspberries this year.
By the way, the best rabbit repellent is a roaming cat or two.
Aug 30 2008
Even one zucchini plant can be a prolific producer. If everyone in your neighborhood has planted zucchini, you may find you can’t eat it fast enough. This easy to grow squash is, thankfully, a versatile food in the kitchen. It can be cooked, eaten raw, added to baked goods, soups, salads, and more.
It is best to pick zucchini when it is relatively small, like about 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches diameter. This is the best size for cooking, as it is tender. But sometimes we can’t get out in the garden and before we know it we’ve got a giant squash. The big ones are fine for grating for cakes or bread. It is best to take the seedy middle out before grating, but you can and should leave the skins on.
Finding recipes:
The Internet is great for recipe hunting. I found a nice cake recipe that my family enjoyed. It’s a lot like a spicy carrot cake. I used cream cheese frosting. It was very good, but there are many, many more out there. I will try another recipe next time. This one from All Recipes looks good and it uses more zucchini, which appeals to me.
There’s no harm in experimenting either, or inventing your own recipes. I wanted to cook just zucchini for supper one night, but I wanted it to have a lot of flavor and be somewhat filling. My brother in law made something similar to this one time, but I didn’t have his recipe. I made my own and it turned out great. Feel free to try it or add it to your recipe file.
Zesty Skillet Zucchini (Serves 2-3)
1 green zucchini
1 yellow zucchini (or summer squash)
1 medium tomato, cut into one inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped red onion
4 slices (thick sliced) bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
kosher salt to taste
crushed red pepper
fresh grated parmesean cheese
Wash zucchini and cut ends off. Quarter zucchini lengthwise, then cut into one inch pieces and set aside. In a large skillet, brown the bacon until not quite crisp. Drain off some fat if desired, but leave about two tablespoons in skillet. On medium heat, add the onion and saute two minutes. Add the tomato, the zucchini and salt. Saute, stirring often, until zucchini is tender (not translucent). Stir in red pepper to taste right before serving. Top with parmesean cheese.
Variation: Blend in 1 cup cooked farfalle pasta