National Wear Your Apron Day is May 12

"With her pretty hair tucked into a little cap, arms bared to the elbow, and a checked apron which had a coquettish look in spite of the bib, the young housewife fell to work, feeling no doubts about her success, for hadn't she seen Hannah do it hundreds of times?" (Little Women)

Bombshell Mama

"...that poor man came to the door, red as a beet, with perspiration streaming down his face, he had on one of his wife's big gingham aprons. `I can't get this durned thing off,' he said, `for the strings are tied in a hard knot and I can't bust 'em, so you'll have to excuse me, ladies.' We begged him not to mention it and went in and sat down. Mr. Blair sat down too; he twisted the apron around to his back and rolled it up, but he did look so ashamed and worried that I felt sorry for him, and Diana said she feared we had called at an inconvenient time. " (Anne of Avonlea)

The most comfortable place in the world--Nana's lap

"Joseph and Rusty were both curled up in her lap. A warm plummy odor filled the whole house, for Priscilla was cooking in the kitchen. Presently she came in, enshrouded in a huge work-apron, with a smudge of flour on her nose, to show Aunt Jamesina the chocolate cake she had just iced." (Anne of the Island)

"She looks well to the ways of her household..." Proverbs 31:27

"Don't you wish, Polly," said little Phronsie, bustling around with a very important air, nearly smothered in the depths of a big brown apron that Polly had carefully tied under her chin, "that you didn't ever-an'-ever have so many dishes to do?" (Five Little Peppers and How They Grew)

Superheroes

"Were you asked to tea?" she demanded, tying an apron over her neat black frock, and standing with a spoonful of the leaf poised over the pot. " (Wuthering Heights)

Voted #1 Multi-tasker on the Central Coast!

(To all who participated in this special project by submitting a photo, you will be getting a special apron for your dishsoap, courtesy of Grandma Jones. THANK YOU and may God bless you with domestic felicity!)

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I hope you all found a way to celebrate, even if it was in a small way. The kids and I all dressed in green, and we had chicken for our main dish. BUT that wasn't the fun part.....we had green Irish Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli, Green Chicken Gravy, and Green Grape Juice. MMM! I even had some GREEN napkins. This was a FUN day with making everything green. Oh, and I made root beer with sparkling water, and we had root beer floats for dessert.

~Serena

IRISH CHAMP

8 medium potatoes

1/2 cup milk

5 tablespoon butter

one bunch scallions or green onions, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Peel and cube potatoes and boil in salted water until tender. Drain and mash slightly. In a small pan, heat milk and butter until butter is melted. Add chopped scallions. Fold mixture into the potatoes until well blended. Potatoes will be still be somewhat lumpy. Season with salt and pepper.

Entertaining

I hosted a Taste of Home Entertaining Party last night. (Anyone want to order something while my party is still "open"?) Because it was "Taste of Home," I decided to serve all Taste of Home recipes. I took pictures because it all turned out so pretty! (and tasty!)

--Lady Daja

Beautiful Baked Ziti

1 package (19.76 oz.) Sweet Italian sausage cooked according to package and sliced
1 package (8 oz.) penne or rigatoni pasta, cooked and drained
1 jar (26 oz.) pasta sauce
3/4 cup water
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 package (10 oz.) frozen garlic bread, thawed and cut into 12 slices
3 cups (12 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
2 Roma tomatoes, cut into 12 slices
12 fresh whole basil leaves

In a large bowl, mix sausage, pasta, pasta sauce, water, basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, and pepper. Toss to coat. Place mixture in a greased 13-in x 9-in x 2-in baking pan.

Place 12 slices of garlic bread on top of mixture and cover with mozzarella. Dip tomatoes slices in oil and place on each bread slice. Bake, uncovered, at 400F for 30 minutes or until heated through. Place one basil leaf on each tomato. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 9 servings.

Cranberry Bruschetta

1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced into rings

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tablespoons minced fresh basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 unsliced loaf of French bread

Vegetable oil (I used olive)

Combine cranberries, sugar and vinegar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add onion and garlic; return to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer on low for 10 minutes or until cranberries pop. Pour into a glass bowl. Stir in basil and oregano. Cool at room temperature.

Cut bread diagonally into sixteen 3/4-in slices; brush both sides with oil. Broil each side for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown. Top each slice with cranberry mixture. Yield 16 servings.

Italian Stuffed Appetizer Bread

1 package (16 oz.) ground mild Italian sausage

1 loaf (1 pound) frozen white bread dough, thawed
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar (7 oz.) roasted red peppers, well-drained and sliced
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Swiss Cheese (but I used Monterrey Jack, because I don't like Swiss Cheese)
1 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

In a skillet, brown sausage until no longer pink; drain. On lightly floured surface, roll bread dough to a 16-in x 12-in rectangle. Combine cream cheese and garlic; spread lengthwise over center third of dough. Top with sausage, peppers, olives and cheese.

Fold dough over filling, pinching seam to seal. Make slits across top of dough every 2 inches. Brush lightly with water and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Yield: 16 appetizer sized servings. (Or less and make it a main course! YUMMY!)

Fruit and cheese platter

Chocolate Peanut Butter No-Bake Cake

1 cup cold milk

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 package (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix

1 1/2 cups thawed whipped topping

55 Nilla Wafers, divided (Don't start snackin' out of the box until you've counted out 55! Trust me on this one!)

Chocolate curls, optional (But this is really what made it so beautiful!)

2 cups whole strawberries

Gradually add milk to peanut butter in a medium bowl, beating with wire whisk until well blended. Add dry pudding mix. Beat 2 minutes or until well blended. Stir in the whipped topping.

Reserve 5 wafers. Spread about 1 teaspoon pudding mixture onto the bottom of each of the remaining 50 wafers. Stack wafers together, standing them on the edge to form a ring around the out edge of a round serving platter.

Frost ring with the remaining pudding mixture. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight. (Do NOT skip the step of refrigeration. This chilling turns the cookies into cake! It's magic!)

Crush remaining 5 wafers; sprinkle over dessert. Top with the chocolate curls. Fill center of ring with strawberries. Yield: 12 servings.

Biscotti to eat with our tea

Picnic

To me, the ideal dining experience involves a picnic basket and the great outdoors. Although, in a pinch an indoor picnic will do.



I love to eat. Seriously, I do. So, it's a mighty good thing that I also love to cook. I'd almost rather eat no food than fake food or bad food. So, even picnics are to be tasty and beautiful.



Today my husband left for a men's retreat. The retreat fee covered meals Saturday and Sunday, but not Friday night. So, I packed a picnic for him and the pastor who was driving him. I didn't take a picture of the packed picnic. I should have. But, here are some of the individual foods.

Menu

Buttermilk Twiced-Dipped Fried Chicken Tenders

Antipasto Sticks

Mini Cheesecakes

Apples

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Quick Beef Pizza

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. It was a surpise hit. And so easy! Click on the title and it will take you to the recipe.

I didn't even think of taking a picture until we were done eating. :-) So, here's a partially eaten pizza.

The recipe is for one pizza. I used 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef and divided it between two pizzas. It was plenty.

I used Daja's pizza crust recipe and pre-baked it. (I also used all all-purpose flour. Didn't have any whole wheat ground and didn't feel like grinding any!)

Bread Machine Pizza Crust

1 c. water
3/4 t. salt
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2 t. yeast

Set on dough cycle. After forming into crust, let it rest 10 - 30 minutes.

Some tips from Daja:

Use only 1 t. yeast to make the crust more like pizzaria pizza. Also, though this recipe is for 1 pizza, stretching it for 2 pizzas makes it a better thin crust pizza.

Both of these tips worked for me.

Cooking with Zaia

Recently my children each chose and helped cook a favorite meal, but only one of them created her own recipe and then taught me (her mother) how to cook it.

--Jenee

Zaia's chicken tacos with NO onions.
(official transcribed recipe)

You cook some chicken in a pan.
Put in:
Water
The taco flavor
Salt
1 chopped-up-not-spicy-red-pepper
A lot of corn
And... don't put ANY onions.
Cook until hot.

Make the tortillas warm
Then put in some chicken with cold tomatos, avocados, some sour cream, and some more cold tomatos on top.

Eat the yummy tacos!

I followed her directions exactly, and she made SURE I was careful! They were quite good.

Oh, Zaia will turn three next month :)

Schoolhouse Coffee Cake

Pleasantview Schoolhouse is a blog that I absolutely love to visit. If you take a look around, you may understand. The pictures (many by her son) are fantastic, her skills enviable, and her life peaceful.

I finally got around to making her coffeecake. It is really easy and easily tweaked. The recipe is dairy-free, but it can be made with dairy products also. I used blackberries and a thinly sliced apricot for the topping. I am sure I will be making it again real soon.

For the recipe, click on the title or here.

Pumpkin Chip Muffins

Update: I placed third. Won $2. I have no idea how many entries there were. Maybe 3? :-)

I have entered food items in our county fair years ago when my daughters were in 4-H. It was fun and we all won prizes. Well, one of the items on my 101 list was to enter something in the fair again. Today I submitted one of my favorite recipes: Pumpkin Chip Muffins. They really are fantastic!

Below is a copy of the very easy recipe. Enjoy!

4 eggs
2 c. sugar
16 oz. canned pumpkin
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil

3 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. salt

2 c. (12 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

(Note: This recipe has been adapted to healthier standards by substituting Sucanat, olive oil, freshly ground wheat flour and carob chips and still been a favorite.)

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt; add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees for 16 - 20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Yield: about 24 standard-size muffins.

Grilling for $5!

MENU: Grilled Chicken, Corn on the Cob,

Grilled French Bread (leftover), and Salad

My house is staying nice and cool this summer.

Summer Grilling

MENU: 12 Grilled Tri-tip Kabobs

(Squash, Peppers, Onions, Cherry Tomatoes, and Pineapple),

Herb Rice, Homemade French Bread,

Iced Tea, and Apple Coffee Cake.

I also made two dipping sauces: Ginger and Peanut.

Everyone liked the ginger sauce better, except Abishai.

The whole meal cost about $15.

Fast and Easy

I don't often plan too far ahead in my meal planning. I leave room for spontaneous creativity. (And I often ask God for help in that creativity!)

A few days ago, my mother brought home two loaves of French bread from Food 4 Less that she found for 2/$1. French bread doesn't stay soft long, so I wanted to use it right away. Aha! French bread pizza! I didn't have "normal" pizza fixin's, but I improvised: canned spaghetti sauce ($.98), ground beef ($1/lb.) spiced up with Italian seasoning (ground meat does not need to be thawed before frying), and some cheese.

I added a salad and we had dinner. I was surprised with all the compliments this so very easy and fast dinner received!

This fed six adults and one toddler AND we had some left over. Cost per person: CHEAP!

Fourth of July with The Gombojavs

Menu: Ribs (purchased about two months ago at 99 cents a pound(!) and put in the freezer. Saving money on food is often a matter of planning ahead or even just having workable things on hand. We don't usually eat ribs, but they were a great deal so I bought them and put them aside for a "special" day.)

Corn on the cob (from the Farmer's Market the day before. So fresh and good!)

Watermelon (from the Farmer's Market the day before. I like watermelon with seeds. I think they taste better.)

Glass Bottled sodas (The first time the kids have ever gotten a soda. They were so excited! Glass bottle sodas are really cheap at the local Mexican market.)

A flag cake. Recipe here.

Gana grilled the ribs and corn and we ate outside. So, it was fairly easy clean-up! Before we ate we all sang the National Anthem.

Last Tuesday at Lady Dorothy's Table

I tried another recipe from The Hillbilly Housewife. She calls these both "Cheese Pancakes" and "Fried Cheese Cutlets". We liked them! I served them with fried potatoes and a spinach salad. She says they are also good in a sandwich with lettuce and tomato.

Lady Daja's Week's Worth of Meals

Wednesday, June 20

Breakfast
Kids: Malto Meal with honey and milk
Dad: Bread and jam, coffee
Mom: Tea and a banana

Lunch
Dad: Egg rolls and shrimp (leftover from frozen)
Mom: (I can’t remember, I’m writing this on Thursday!)
Kids: Applesauce, cut up veggies with ranch dip, fruit

Dinner
Fish tacos with cactus salsa and Mexican crème
Sliced oranges
Water

Thursday, June 21

Breakfast
Kids and Mom: Yogurt with honey and wheat germ
Dad: Bread and jam, coffee

Lunch
Field trip with homeschool co-op to CPK
Dad: Leftovers in a lunch at work

Dinner
Huurshuur (Mongolian fried dumplings)
Nisel Salat (Mongolian potato salad)
Fried cabbage
Tea

Friday, June 22

Breakfast
All: cereal, milk, coffee/tea

Lunch
Leftovers from dinner last night

Dinner
Vegetarian tostadas and rice

Saturday, June 23

Breakfast
Muffins (made from the left over hot cereal)
Milk
Coffee/tea

Lunch
PB&J
Oranges
Dad: Leftovers in a lunch at work

Dinner
Spaghetti
Olive breadsticks

Sunday, June 24

Breakfast
Cereal and milk, coffee/tea

Lunch
Instant soups

Dinner
Potluck with homeschool co-op.

We brought herb rolls, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and tea.


Monday, June 25

Breakfast
Dutch Baby, coffee/tea

Lunch
Turkey sandwiches

Dinner
Buuz (Mongolian steamed dumplings)
Nisel Salat (Mongolian potato salad) on a bed of greens

Tuesday, June 26

Breakfast
Oatmeal
Toast
Coffee/tea

Lunch
PB&J
Dad: Leftovers in a lunch at work

Dinner
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Salad
WW dinner rolls