tammy circeo: telling life stories

Links fixed

I was alerted earlier today (thanks, Glenn of laptop fame) that the links in my Scrapbooking button (up top there) were not functioning correctly … that they were 'double-keyed'. I wasn't sure what that meant, but I acted like I did. It's always a good thing to act like that. I assumed that Glenn appreciates feigned intelligence.

… and then when you can't figure it out on your own, due to your feigned intelligence, you can ask probing questions. Thankfully, I didn't have to probe too deep, nor ask too many questions that would reveal my true ignorance as opposed to my feigned intelligence, to find out that my lovely Typepad service gratuitously inserts the http:// in front of all the links I upload and that when I pasted in the URLs for the scrapbook pages, it was indeed, 'double-keyed'! Meaning that Typepad had already inserted http:// and then I inserted as well with my copy and paste, making it 'double-keyed'. (Thanks, Kenny! You are so smart. You know just what to look for. As opposed to me … who doesn't even look! ;0)

Are you thoroughly confused?

That's totally OK. Because I really was, too, and furthermore, don't know what I'm talking about anyway! I fake my way through half of what I do on this site! (and then I ask my husband about it.)

I just want you to be able to see my scrapbook pages if you even wanted to in the first place and I think I've corrected the issue that would prevent you from doing just that.

Thanks to Glenn and Ken. And my superior intelligence. I MEAN … my ability to follow instructions and do what I'm told.

Hey! That rhymes! "Glenn and Ken" rhymes!

"That means I'll see my boyfriend before bedtime!" (My mom always said that. I always thought it was kind of cute.)

I'm going to bed. I think it is the best place for me.

A Holiday Treat: 4-layer dessert

I know our Independence Day has passed, but you guys know how things go around here …

… birthdays and holidays alike last for a while. We like it that way. We let them linger and simmer. Really, it's just an attempt to be 'on holiday' a bit longer!

All across this great nation of ours on July 4^th, there are innumerable desserts that are dressed with blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries to resemble our flag. Hmmm … I just thought, "Is is desecrating to 'eat the flag'?" I am going to answer "No" because I didn't have 50 blueberries for each state, and I certainly didn't have the correct number of stripes! My strawberries were too large.

Anyway, there are Flag Cakes made with white cake, topped with whipped cream and then fruit. There are pudding tarts. There are coconut cakes and *lovely* jello creations. My Flag Cake is very simple and not even a cake, actually. The recipe was passed on to me by my mother-in-law, and my kids won't let me get through the holiday without making it. I posted the recipe last year, but I didn't decorate it like a flag.

4-layer dessert

1^st layer: Mix 1 ½ c. flour, ½-1 c. pecans, and ¾ c. melted butter. Spread in 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° F for 15 minutes. Let cool.

2^nd layer: Mix 8 oz. softened cream cheese, 1 c. powdered sugar, 1 c. Cool Whip with a mixer and spread on cooled 1^st layer.

3^rd layer: Mix 2 small boxes of Jello instant pudding with 3-3 ½ c. of milk and 1 t. vanilla till slightly thickened. Spread over 2^nd layer. (You could just as well make a homemade pudding!)

4^th layer: Spread remaining Cool Whip on top.

Refrigerate till ready to serve.

You can top it with fruit or chocolate shavings, or toasted coconut, or chopped nuts, or whatever your imagination spurs you on to do!

We love this dessert best made with chocolate pudding, but you can use whatever kind you like. You can top it with fruit or chocolate shavings, or toasted coconut, or chopped nuts, or whatever your imagination spurs you on to do! Hey … it's a free country!

Download 4-layer dessert

This year, I made it with gluten-free flour mix in the crust. Just after I pulled it out of the oven, it didn't seem so golden and browned like the 'original' and I wondered whether I should put it back in. I didn't, but decided instead to just let the gluten-free be 'gluten-free'—it acts a bit different than 'normal'! So I let it cool as normal and made sure the cream cheese for the 2^nd layer was very soft. I did have to spread it VERY carefully over the crust to keep from pulling up gluten-free crumbs! After it had set in the fridge though, it was perfect! Just like it should've been!!

Here is that gluten-free flour mix again …

All Purpose Nearly Normal Gluten-Free Flour Mix

• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1 cup potato starch
• 1 cup cornstarch
• ½ cup corn flour (NOT corn MEAL!)
• ½ tapioca flour
• 4 tsp. xanthan gum

Mix all of those babies together and you'll have yourself a nice all-purpose flour mixture that Jules says is very much like what you grew up on!

If you are storing for a long period of time, you should probably refrigerate this mixture.

From Nearly Normal Cooking for Gluten-Free Eating, by Jules E. D. Shepard. I'm sure she wouldn't mind my sharing her recipe for an all-around great all-purpose flour as long as I have told you where it is from!

Download All Purpose Nearly Normal Gluten

Meat Stocks: Simple How-To

I mentioned in the Simply Living: Nutrition post about making your own Meat Stocks and how simple it is to do. Here is the way that I keep Stock 'stocked' in my freezer:

• After we've had roast chicken for dinner, (even if I bought that roast chicken at the store!), I put the leftover carcass in a large pot or in my crockpot.
• I add large pieces of an onion, 2-3 stalks of celery cut into 2-3 inch pieces, 2-3 carrots cut like the celery, fresh or dried herbs (like parsley, thyme, rosemary, oregano … whatever I have.) You can also add garlic or shallots. Whatever tickles your Meat Stock fancy.
• Top it off with water and whatever wine was left over from dinner. (Wait! Leftover wine? Not at MY house!) Let it simmer for as long as I want. Really, it doesn't matter. The longer it simmers, the more flavors it picks up, but it really doesn't matter. I do recommend at least 2-3 hours.
• If I don't have time to do that after dinner, I put the bones in the fridge and throw them in the pot any time within the next 3-4 days or I put it in the freezer to get to when I have time.
• After it has simmered, I strain the bones and veggies out using my colander, and refrigerate the broth. After any fat hardens on the top, I skim it off and ladle the broth into freezer containers. This same process can be done with beef bones (from ribs, roasts, steaks, etc …) for Beef Broth and with fish discards for Fish Stock. You can experiment with various seasonings and vegetable combinations with the different meats, but you really can't mess this one up!
• Another thing I do regularly is save vegetable discards (like ends of carrots –I cut the root off-, the tops of green onions, etc …) and freeze them in a freezer bag that I just keep adding to as I make meals. You can add your meat bones to that same bag and make stock whenever you have time.
• This long-time simmering thing is really convenient to get going on a Saturday morning before you start cleaning, or before you head out to baseball games or soccer games, or gymnastics meets, or horse shows, or a day at the beach. (I've got it all covered!) When you return, not only will your house smell yummy, but the chicken is perfectly content still in its pot. Then just strain it, and put it in the fridge. Putting it in the freezer cartons will take you less than 10 minutes tomorrow after the fat hardens!

See? I told you it didn't take much time or effort!

Download Meat Stocks

Simply Living-Nutrition

[cue music] Thanks for joining me again for another edition of … Simply Living. [fade music] This week, we'll be talking about Nutrition and how it affects your grocery shopping decisions. [end music] Joining me today with her expertise is ….

Oh, sorry, I got carried away there thinking I was doing a show or something. Or maybe just wishing Someone Else was imparting their wisdom to you!

This week is all about Nutrition and next week will be all about grocery shopping. Nutrition plays a large part in my shopping choices and I'm grateful that there has been more awareness in this area in recent years. Understanding what I should be looking for in terms of healthful food really helped our budget, too, contrary to the common thought of 'the more healthful, the more expensive'. Although my list is not comprehensive, nor is it full of details, here is my list of tips on nutrition.

Tips and Tricks for shopping with Nutrition in mind:

1. Educate yourself about nutrition. Processed food has little to no nutritive value and your grocery dollars could be better spent on fresh food that would be more filling, satisfying, and tasty.
2. Read labels, know what they mean, and buy wisely and accordingly.
3. Cook from scratch as much as possible. I've heard so many people say that it takes way too much time to do that, but I counter that it really doesn't take that MUCH MORE time and the tastes and kitchen fragrances are worth it!
4. Know that 'fat-free' or 'sugar-free' means that something ELSE has been added to make up for the missing taste of fat or sugar. Most times, that is not a good thing.
5. Buy as many fresh vegetables and fruits as you can and buy them as much as possible from farmers or farmers' markets rather than the grocery store. The ones in the grocery store have been trucked in from who-knows-where and are not nearly as fresh and tasty as the ones grown on the local farm. Those local farmers appreciate your business, too, as much as you'll appreciate the food!
6. If you can't buy fresh (think Dead.of.Winter in the NW!), buy frozen. Frozen vegetables are less processed than canned, thereby retaining much of their nutritive value. Plus, they just taste better!
7. During the summer, buy fresh vegetables and prepare them for your freezer. There's nothing like taking a package out of the freezer and being reminded of those long, warm summer days!
8. After buying fresh food, cook it simply. Eating healthfully doesn't take a lot of time!
9. Stock up on whole-grains! The grains that are refined have been stripped of essential vitamins and minerals. Many people are unknowingly deficient in B vitamins and it is largely because they don't eat enough whole grains. Fiber is also lost in the refining process and with all the media attention on colon cancer, we should all be aware that a clean colon is a good thing! So, buy good whole-grain bread, brown rice, and quinoa. And millet. And oats.
10. Make your own chicken/beef/fish stock. If this sounds like something only Julia Child would've attempted, think again. Using canned or processed meat stocks brings added sodium and preservatives into your system. Making your own stock is so VERY simple. Yes, REALLY! And, in the long run, much cheaper than buying canned stock or bouillon cubes. (I'll be back soon with a Stock post.)
11. Know that any effort you make toward eating healthfully will show up in how you feel!

There are so many books, magazines, and blogs out there with nutrition information and it seems that the information is always changing based on some new study or some new cultural trend. I'm currently reading SuperFoods HealthStyle: Proven Strategies for Lifelong Health, by Steven G. Pratt, M.D. and Kathy Matthews. Where have you gleaned nutrition information from? What health magazines do you read? What books have helped you learn about your health?

Please share in the comments section so that we can all widen our knowledge base about this very important subject. Looking forward to learning more!!

 

Saturday Chez Nous-07-04-2009-American Independence Day

As I sit comfortably in my office after having spent the evening with neighbors in the cul-de-sac shooting off fireworks, I still smell the fragrance of smoke coming through the open window and continue to hear the pop of 'celebration'. And as I sit comfortably here, I'm aware of other Americans, friends of mine even, on foreign soil, who are celebrating our country and what she stands for. And furthermore, as I sit here, tapping away at the keyboard, I am aware of at least one soldier who lost his life early today, perhaps yesterday, serving the greatest nation on God's green earth. I don't know him personally, but I read about him this morning through a friend. It sobered me to think that his mother received that news today on our Independence Day and made me realize that even though my own son is away from me today, he is not far and he is alive, healthy, and well. Thank you, God, for all the freedoms You've afforded our country and for the family that I have!

My son is only about two and half hours away and we drove over mid-state to watch him play today. It was certainly a forgettable game (it was a bad baseball day from the Red Sox on down!), but it was great to get out of the norm of our routine. We were in Yakima, WA, and they sure know how to do a holiday right … everything was closed! They must know something that we don't … like maybe there was a lake close by or something … because literally, there was NOTHING open! Crazy people east of them thar mountains! I took some photos, though, of their old Capitol Theatre … a pretty amazing piece of architecture for such a small town.

I am amazed every time I drive east on I-90. Mount Rainier seems ever-present! And my camera struggles to match up to her grandeur!

The route is lined with pine trees clear through the pass till just on the other side of Cle Elum and then the scenery changes as if at the whim of a movie director. No longer is it the lush green and pine trees with threads of snow lingering on the upper peaks, but instead it is rolling hills and farm land that looks from a distance like a quilt made of greens and browns.

On the way over, I kept seeing signs for farmers' stands and fresh vegetables, but we were short on time. The first batter was due up at 1 PM, and we would barely make it by 1:15. However, on the way home, we stopped at a couple of places. I came home with fresh corn (lots of it—think freezer time!), doughnut peaches, Pink Lady apples, Bing cherries, green beans, tomatoes … Washington-made Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (Oh YEAH!). And remember the plea for a dill pickle recipe from Mom a couple of days ago … I came home with 10 pounds of cukes, guaranteed by the knowledgeable lady at Gibson Produce to yield me 6 quarts of dills, not sliced! She even looked it up in the Ball Blue Book. Now we'll see if Mom's recipe matches with this lovely Gibson Girl's calculations. Even if it doesn't, I'm so grateful for her sweet spirit, willingness to share home-grown knowledge as well as home-grown veggies!

Which leads me to sing the Gibson Produce praises!

Gibson Produce is run by two gals, childhood friends, who work together as they once played together. Their business is at the same exit as another, more commercial 'produce stand', but they are definitely the more authentic of the two, I must say. I write this here because if you are on I-90 headed anywhere and you want local produce, Gibson's is the place to stop. ALL of their produce is local whereas the 'more commercial' one has stuff all the way from Canada, Maine, and who-knows-where-else and their prices aren't that fantastic anyway. Gibson has great prices on local stuff and will treat you right, too. Why, they'll even look stuff up in the Ball Blue Book for ya!

I suggested a picture of the two childhood friends, but they promptly refused and I didn't push the issue. They had been working hard with the produce all day and if you think that is a flattering, glamorous job, you should SO totally think again! They were more than happy, though, for me to give them a small bit of publicity here. SO … my Washingtonian readers, or anyone passing through, if you are EVER traveling to Yakima for a baseball tournament or a horse show, or a wine country tour … and if you are ever doing one of those things and want as well to bring home fresh, local produce, please ignore the larger commercial shop and stop by to see the sweet Gibson Girls at Gibson Produce. They'll treat you good and they may have no idea why you are referring to them as a Gibson Girl! I plead innocence on that count!

Our 4^th of July dinner was very tasty … more to follow on that, but here's a little eye candy …

I hope you Americans near and far enjoyed the remembrance of where America came from and why we could all enjoy ample food and fireworks to celebrate our nation's birthday today. And if you aren't American, know that we as a country will always welcome you in our Melting Pot. "We'll leave the light on for ya."

Happy 4th

Red, white, and blue ... 

 ... berries. 

Celebrate safely and remember what made America the "Sweet Land of Liberty".

85 … feels like …

... lemonade.

Whenever I'm driving along and see kids sitting at the end of a driveway under their umbrellas selling lemonade in the summer, I always stop. It seems to be such a quintessential way for kids to earn a few extra pennies and pass a few hours as well during the hot days of summer. It's usually a powdered mix lemonade, but I convince myself that it is refreshing nonetheless.

Today definitely felt like lemonade! It was quite warm in these 'here parts' and I wasn't out and around looking for lemonade stands. Remember how I said yesterday that my car is going negative on the AC? So I decided to make my own refreshment.

In California, you can almost literally get lemons for a dime a dozen, but since I live in the Great NW, I'm happy to find them at Trader Joe's for a buck 29 – there's about 6 or 7 lemons per bag. I squeezed about 10 today.

There's nothing wrong with simply dissolving some sugar in the juice, and making lemonade that way. It's probably a bit quicker. But I like to make a Lemon Syrup. Not only does it intensify the lemon flavor, but you can also hide the syrup in the fridge and just make one refreshing glass at a time for yourself without your offspring or husband even being aware. Of course, they might ask why all the lemon rinds are in the compost bin, but …. Well, I'm sure you can come up with some story to throw them off the scent!

So melt some sugar in a bit of water with a little lemon rind to enhance the flavor.

Add the juice to the syrup and let it simmer for just a bit. Then pour it into a container to cool. Cover it with a paper towel or something to keep the summer flies and any other airborne creature out. If those creatures are like me, they will be on that Lemon Syrup like a chicken on a junebug! (That's the Southern side of me showing.)

If you are serving a group, pour the syrup into a pitcher that holds about 2 quarts and finish it off with about an equal amount of still OR sparkling water, or just a wee bit more than equal amount. If you are hiding the syrup for yourself and you find yourself hankering for refreshment, pour your glass about half-full, then finish off with whichever water you choose. I'm sure you'd never find Homemade 'Sparkling' Lemonade at a roadside stand, but it shouldn't keep you from treating yourself on a warm summer afternoon.

Please remember that even though all the photos on this site are not of professional quality, they are, nonetheless, the property of this blog's owner. This blog's owner is fully aware of when the photos are being shown elsewhere! Good luck with the Web Resolution, btw!

Download Homemade Lemonade

Pickle Possibility?

It is 85 degrees here today, still comfortable with the breeze really, unless you are driving in my car. Ol' Bessie, as I affectionately refer to her, has decided that I really don't need enjoy the comforts of air conditioning as much as I once did so it is quite toasty when I'm out running errands. Suffice it to say, that if I decide to purchase frozen goods, or fresh spinach, I make a run to the store in the cool evenings. It really does cut down on the cartons of melted cream and the wilted greens!

Warm summer days remind me of big gardens and all the fresh produce that they yield. Since my yard is the size of a postage stamp, I've resorted to container gardening. It's all I really have time for anyway!

Look at my jalapeno pepper plant …

Isn't that the perfect bright yellow pot for a jalapeno? I thought so, too. And that's a grape tomato plant behind it in the boring pot with little to no color.

Garden or no garden, I have been thinking that I want to make pickles. I remember eating homemade pickles at my grandma's house and Mom making them in the summers when we had gardens. I mostly remember the large gi-nor-mous garden we had when I was in 5^th and 6^th grades. I'm telling you, no joke … that thing rivaled a small ranch farm! Mom put up 150 quarts of green beans that summer! AND she gave birth on August 3^rd to her 5^th child. She is one amazing chick!

I encountered some problems as I thought about making pickles so I tried to come up with some solutions.

Problem #1: No garden. Solution: Go to farmers' market and buy cucumbers.

Problem #2: What kind of cukes are best? Does it depend on what kind of pickles you want to make? Solution: Ask Mom.

Problem #3: If I'm going to the trouble of making pickles (is it REALLY trouble? Well, yeah, more so than hopping in the car and trucking it down to the grocery store!), I want to be sure that they are dang good when I'm done. Solution: Ask for Mom's recipe.

Problem #4: If the only recipes Mom has are for sweet pickles, or bread-and-butter pickles, who can tell me how to make Dill Pickles, the pickle of choice in our house? Solution: Ask Mom.

Problem #5: Mom is miles and miles away. No, I mean, thousands of miles. What if I need help? Solution: Use your cell phone to call her and Cowgirl Up! You can do this!!

For the moment, I'm off to call Mom and make sure she checks in on my blog … I have a feeling she will have answers. She usually does.

(Mom, don't feel that you have to answer here … you can call me or e-mail!)

Simply Living-Menu Planning

Menu planning and I have a long-running conflict.

I am convinced that menu-planning is one of those things that you either love or hate, or both. That is confusing, huh? Well, that's how I approach it … I love it because I don't have to wonder what to make for dinner, but I hate it because so often after making the plan, other things enter our schedule and I end up not using the plan. And as the kids have gotten older and rummage through my fridge and pantry looking for any and everything consumable, they can so easily devour ingredients intended for dinners, then I have to change plans anyway!

I have a label maker and a Sharpie … And I'm not afraid to use them!

There are a couple of solutions I came up with. One is to always keep my label maker and Sharpie close by! ;) Another is to only plan about four meals a week and make sure they are ones that can easily be prepared at any given time. And thirdly, simply keep staples on hand at all times. When the pantry is stocked with staples, then I do my 'shopping' in the pantry and dinner is served up pretty quickly.

I tried doing frozen dinners and commend anyone who can spend an entire weekend cooking for an entire month! Even when we didn't have sports filling our weekends, and although I love to cook, I was never tempted to spend all that time prepping and cooking for a month at a time. Furthermore, I commend anyone who can remember to take something out of the freezer in time for it to thaw for dinner … I always struggle with this feeble brain of mine. I do once in a while make a double batch of a dish and freeze part of it, but it isn't a common practice for me.

There are a couple of well-known franchises now that allow you to come 'to their kitchen', prepare your meals for the freezer on-site using their menus, already-prepped ingredients, utensils, etc … It sounds like a fabulous thing! The ingredients are already prepped and you don't have to do the clean-up either! You do, however, have to hope that you like the menu choices, and that you can work around any food allergies or likes/dislikes that those in your family might have. I tried this service a couple of times … had trouble with the feeble brain syndrome again, though. AND I missed my own recipes, choice of ingredients, and opportunities to cook new stuff from scratch.

I have learned that for the way that I operate, and for the way that our family lives and eats, it is easiest and most effective for me to prepare quick meals, using fresh ingredients. I do, sometimes, have to still exercise the feeble brain in order to get meat out of the freezer to accompany the meal, but I've learned how to more quickly thaw meat, too! So it has become a win-win solution for me.

Here are my top tips for creating fresh, quick, healthful, and budget- and schedule-friendly meals: (these are in NO particular order!)

1. Make an appointment with yourself to sit down and make the menu plan. Sounds silly, but if you don't make time, you won't take time. Write that appointment in your planner! ;)
2. Make a list of your family's favorite meals.
3. Each week, plan to make at least one of the family favorites, a vegetarian meal, a new recipe, and a meal that you cook with your kids.
4. Keep a running of list of recipes you want to try from various cookbooks and magazines and of course, from your favorite blogs!
5. Consider nutrition needs.
6. Consider the grocery store sales and coupons if you use them. (Did you know that grocery store sales are on about a 6-week cycle? More on this in another post!)
7. Plan meals that will showcase local and seasonal fruits and vegetables.
8. Plan meals with your calendar right besides you so that you make the quickest meal or the crockpot meal on the busiest night(s) of the week.
9. Keep a running grocery list of things you are running out of, then add your menu ingredients to it as you make your menu plan.
10. Write your menu plan for the week in your planner, even if only in list form.
11. You might find it helpful to write the menu on a Family Calendar or post it on the Family Bulletin Board or at least in a central location where everyone can see it. I noticed that as my kids got older, they would sometimes start dinner before I was available to do it just because they knew what was coming up. (Truth be told, this is usually my oldest child!) This practice also helps eliminate the question that is invariably asked fifteen times although you KNOW that you didn't labor and deliver that many times, "What are you making for dinner?"
12. After grocery shopping, prepare as many of the vegetables and meats as possible, label them according to the meals you plan to make, then refrigerate or freeze them. For example, wash all the lettuce for salad (you'll eat more salads if you don't have to wash lettuce every time you want one!). Prepare the vegetables by chopping or dicing or julienning … you know those fancy ways of cutting veggies! Clean, trim, and bag the meats needed for certain recipes.
13. Avoid the grocery stores from 5-7 PM every day and on Saturday mornings!

Happy Meals to you!

Saturday Chez Nous-06-27-09

What an absolutely gorgeous day in the great Northwest! Ben had a game at noon at the Husky Ballpark at the University of Washington and I so wanted to photograph Rainier from there again. It was beautiful. But the sun was so high and bright that I'm sure the photos wouldn't have come out very well.

We are preparing for Ken's brother, Mick and his wife, Jennifer to come for dinner this evening so after the ball game, I went over to the Fran's in University Village (where there was the most wonderful sidewalk sale, but I passed every store –didn't even look in Anthropologie's direction, believe it or not! just focusing on Fran's!) … anyway, went to Fran's to pick up some chocolates to go with the fresh berries and cream I'm planning for dessert. It's very simple, but in warm weather, fruit and chocolate are a great pair.

Besides, I absolutely LOVE the ribbons from Fran's!

Finally got the 'window boxes' on my front porch planted! Again, very simply: coleus, sweet potato vines, and some small white flower that I can't remember the name of and I already threw away the tag. I weeded yesterday while Ben mowed and trimmed so we have a little more curb appeal now!

Oh yeah, and that is my 'Attack Fern' hanging down there! That thing is HUGE!! And a little scary to small kids, I must say … And maybe to adults, too.

My grandmother turned 91 yesterday! She had cataract surgery on Wednesday, but passed her birthday with lots of celebration and NO pain! So awesome.

I must be off now … I have veggies and salads to prep for tonight, then I'll fire up the grill for the salmon. We love treating people to salmon when they come to visit … it is absolutely the best NW meal.

I hope you are in the middle of a fantastic weekend … enjoying good weather, good food, family, and friends!