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Friday Reads – Amish Lit

Posted on April 26, 2013 by admin

Anyone who’s seen my Goodreads profile in the last few months knows that I’ve kind of been on an Amish Lit kick. There’s so much to choose from! What I really love about them is the simple happiness that just seems to radiate from the pages.

Life these days can suck, a lot. It’s stressful, fast-paced, filled nearly every single moment with something. That crazy feeling is what led to my picking up one of my new favorite books.

Julie Charlton is at the breaking point. She’s overwhelmed and burned out, and in today’s unrelenting society, her kids are, too. When her sister-in-law Susan, a Martha Stewart-in-training, lands the chance to participate in a reality TV series promoting simple living, and needs another family to join her, it seems like the perfect opportunity.

Reading this I felt like the words jumped off the page and screamed YES YES YES! And that feeling kept up as I read. The book explores the lives of two women, one uptight and a perfectionist, the other who is always feeling like she’s running around and never good enough. It’s funny how much I related to both women. And after talking with a friend of mine who read the book after me she completely felt the same way. There’s aspects of both personalities I think a lot of women will find themselves understanding.

Although this book is not purely an Amish read, it kind of sums up why I am really into Amish lit right now. There’s a simpleness, a focus on family and faith that speaks to me. The books are not complicated, easy reads that always leave a smile on my face. And there is a lot to be said for a book that can do that.

They encourage and inspire me. I love the faith focus of the Amish where their lives revolve around the community. It’s something missing from our lives these days and every time I read about it I’m prompted to recreate that as best I can with my family. It’s a constant reminder to think about what’s important and what our priority should be.

Posted in Book Things, Reviews | Tagged amish, books, community, family, fiction | Leave a comment

Minime’s Favorite – Sausage Spinach Soup

Posted on April 22, 2013 by admin

This sausage spinach soup recipe is super easy. The ingredients are not exotic or weird. And my little munchkin just LOVES it.

The first step to success in the kitchen is preparation. Before I even start anything I pull everything I’m going to want out of the cupboard. This is where I see how well I was able to translate my meal plan into a shopping list. Some weeks it goes better than others, and some weeks have me sending my amazing future hubby to the store on his way over for dinner.

Of course part of the art of cooking is to know when something is essential and when something is just meh. There’s a few additions I add to this recipe when I have them (or remember to buy them) but what I’m going to give you here is the bare bones basics.

can of diced tomatoes (stewed tomatoes would also work)
4 (ish) cups of stock (could be chicken or vegetable)
onion
spinach (I prefer baby spinach but a bunch will also work)
package of sausage (all they had were these at the store this week, but I prefer lean turkey which is a lot harder to find)
shell pasta (about two cups or so)

As you can see none of my measurements are super precise. But that’s ok! In a soup like this we’re practicing the art of cooking, not the science.

First you’re going to want to remove the casing from the sausages and break it into bite sized pieces. Take a sharp pointy knife and gently slice the sausage length-wise. Peel off the wrapper and pull apart.

Once that’s all done it’s time to dice the onion. In this case I also happened to have a shallot in my fridge which I tossed into it as well because hey, why not? There’s a neat method to get nicely diced onions I’m going to try and share with you.

Peel the onion and cut off one of the ends. Then cut through, leaving them attached at the one side.

Then you just cut across up til you get to the end that you left attached and it’s THAT simple! I’ve yet to find a better way to chop up onions and I feel silly for not having learned it sooner lol.

Heat up a bit of oil in your pot on medium high and sauté the onions until they’re soft, then add the sausage. I like to add the spices at this stage. Typically I sprinkle rosemary and oregano along with some garlic but you can really add anything that you like.

Once the sausage is cooked through add the diced tomato and the broth. Let it simmer on low for about an hour so that all the flavors can mix.

Now you’re ready to add the pasta shells and the spinach. If you’re not using baby spinach roughly chop it. Cook it for about 10-15 minutes and you’re ready to serve! Depending on how much pasta you put in you may need to add more liquid. This can either be more broth, a bit of water, or tomato soup.

Dish up and enjoy!

Sausage Spinach Soup

Things I will do to vary the recipe:

use a can of tomato soup to give the broth a bit more “oomph”
meatballs instead of sausage
different pasta noodles, although the shells are a definite favorite in this house
all sorts of different spices, including crushed red pepper for a kick

Posted in Foodie Things | Tagged family favorite, one pot meal, sausage, sausage tomato soup, simple soup, spinach, tomato | Leave a comment

Friday Reads – A Plea to Early YA Authors Everywhere

Posted on April 12, 2013 by admin

The older I get, the more I delve into this thing we call parenting, the more I realize how amazing my parents are, and the more I realize how tough it must have been for them. My daughter, like her mother, is an avid reader. At 8 years old she consumes the books written for her age group faster than I can drive home from the bookstore. True story, this has happened a LOT. Then, for Christmas, my sister bought her Chris Colfer’s Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell

Up til this point giant novels have always scared her a bit. She loves the Harry Potter movies and has made a few attempts at the books but they’re long and having seen the movie I think it’s hard for her to get into the book. A result of this next generation sadly. Anyways, this novel seemed to have flipped some kind of switch. She proudly, happily, and zealously worked her way through all 438 pages and loved every minute!

Armed with this new knowledge I went to the bookstore to stock up on a few novels that might keep her busy for more than 30 min. I moved up to the 9-12 section thinking to find more books about friendship, fun and adventure.

Looks good eh? at nearly 300 pages I figured it’d be a great read, looks cute (which is important). Until I looked at the back.

“New School, (something something something), New Crush”

Back to the shelves then. Book after book, looking so promising and awesome only to be set aside as the synopsis or a quick skim reveals a focus on boys, romance and dating. Now, I realize that these books are “too old” for her, being the 9-12 section. But it’s the 9-12 section!!

I accept that my daughter will date one day. Not today. And not at 9, and not at 12. Is it too much to ask for a novel-length book that’s about friendships, family, and adventure and doesn’t have crushes, romances and an obsession with boys?

Apparently.

Did manage to find one, plus a few promising that I am going to look into more. The one I bought looks all kinds of cute, I’ll probably read it when she’s done.

I took to Twitter in my ragey, make-my-baby-grow-up-too-fast anger, and sent out a call to the readers of the world for requests of non-romance early YA novels. Needless to say there is a huge shortage. However, fortunately there are a few which I’ve compiled here.

This all got me thinking how much the world is pushing at my little girl to grow up so fast. It’s everywhere I turn. From itsy-bitsy bikinis and backless tankinis (I wish to GOD I was kidding about that) to diets and fashion and makeup and everything telling her she shouldn’t be happy with the amazing person that God made her.

Right now, at this point of my parenting, I feel like my biggest job with her is helping her hold onto that amazing little thing called childhood. As the world pushes against her I’m standing right here pushing back. So my plea to every early YA writer out there is help me.

Help me by remembering there’s a stage between learning to read and being obsessed with boys.

Help me show my daughter there is more out there for her than becoming what society thinks is the perfect little woman.

Help me introduce her to the idea that women can be friends with each other, and we can have adventures too!

Help me by keeping a little bit of that magic alive for as long as we can. You know, that magic that believes in fairies and dragons and that anything is possible.

Please, help me save my little girl’s childhood.

Posted in Book Things | Tagged childhood, kid's books, novels, parenting, YA, young adult | 1 Comment

Kids in the Kitchen

Posted on April 1, 2013 by admin

The last week I’ve been really thinking about including Minime more in the kitchen. She absolutely loves cooking with me, and I think it’d be something fun for us to do together.

It’s not her first foray into the kitchen. She’s earned her Girl Guides “Be A Chef” badge and learned a lot from my Oma. But, I want to make it more of a normal thing. She’s only 8 but I don’t think it’s too early to get her to help out.

I have learned over the years to budget at least double the amount of time when using a little helper. I am hoping that as she gets more comfortable in the kitchen that will decrease, but I want this to be a fun, not frustrating, experience for the both of us. It can be hard for me, I’m not always the most patient of people but it is so very fun with her helping me out!

Too many people from my generation and the ones that follow are not comfortable in the kitchen. I know the whole, making almost everything from scratch is not for everyone. But there’s no reason that someone shouldn’t feel capable of making dinner from a recipe as opposed to a box.

For this weekend’s fun project we decided to make crackers as snacks for the week. Minime looooves Goldfish, but like most things I find them A) expensive and B) full of preservatives. Could we find a suitable alternative? After all a little handful of crackers makes a great (almost entirely mess-free) snack after school on the way to piano, or before grocery shopping so I don’t buy the entire store. They’re easy to transport which is another big plus.

I found a recipe in one of my favorite cookbooks The Homemade Pantry and figured why not? Seemed pretty basic. We set to work with my overseeing while she read the recipe and mixed it up. Once the dough was ready to go I let her have at, cutting out little animal and flower shapes.

For her this was the funnest part. She carefully selected which cutters to use, wanting to have a good mix of all of them. I was pretty impressed with the dough and how easy it was to handle. I wanted little crackers but honestly wasn’t sure how the dough would take it as the recipe called for much larger cutters.

Ready to bake!

Homemade Crackers

3 Tbs cold butter
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 C shredded cheese (we used cheddar but I think I’m going to be experimenting)
2 tsp vinegar
3/4 C water (very cold)

Mix butter, flour and mustard (I found it easiest to use the beaters in my mixer)
Add the cheese
Mix the water and vinegar
Spoon 6 Tbsp of the wet into the dough and mix
Add, 1 Tbsp at a time, the rest of the wet til the dough is about cookie consistency. (I found at this point it was very similar to the dough used for sugar cookies)
Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Let sit out for at least 15 min before rolling.
Preheat oven to 325F and get two cookie sheets. (I used parchment paper on one and silpat on the other. Didn’t notice much of a difference).
Use desired cutter to make shapes and put on sheets.
Bake for 30 min, rotating halfway.
After 30 min turn the oven off but leave the trays in while the oven cools (at least an hour).
Enjoy!

Posted in Foodie Things, Home Things | Tagged baking, crackers, DIY, homemade, kids, kitchen | Leave a comment

Friday Reads – RIP Goodreads

Posted on March 29, 2013 by admin

It’s true. And it’s so heartbreakingly sad. Goodreads has been acquired by the soul-less, own-all-the-things corporation that is Amazon. In case you can’t tell I am NOT PLEASED!

First off, to join me in my mourning, you need to understand what Goodreads is. In a nutshell, it’s a third-party, totally neutral, website for reviewing and searching books. If you like reading it’s essentially the nirvana of the internet. You go there, put in books you’ve read, rate them, review them and see what your friends are reading and what they think of them. Goodreads will also suggest books you might enjoy based on your ratings of previous reads and genres you’re indicated a leaning towards. Their slogan “Meet your next favorite book” is totally not a lie. In the nearly three years since I’ve joined Goodreads I’d say a good 90% of what I’ve read has been books I learned of through the site. Either recommendations or being curious about a book a friend read. If you see a book and like it there are links to several different retailers to provide you the book in the format of your choice. I’ve used this feature lots and love that it really just takes a few clicks and I’m reading it on my Kobo.

This brings us to the first worrisome point of the acquisition. Amazon owns Kindle. And if you think for a second they aren’t going to push it on you at every turn you’ve got another thing coming. When you read the official blog post the word Kindle comes up, a LOT. There isn’t a doubt in my mind that Goodreads is going to become very custom tailored to the Kindle crowd, leaving the rest of us in the lurch. Obviously as a Kobo owner this bugs me. I expect to see the links to other retailers (read kobostore) disappear slowly. You don’t need to be a business genius to know that a monopoly is bad (there’s a whole game about it, own the board and everyone winds up broke and/or owing you a buttload of money).

But say that’s not a problem, there are other ways to go find the books on your preferred website, it’s just not as easy. There’s still the giant elephant in the room. Amazon’s reviewer policies.

This most concerning? Amazon owns your review. As a new reviewer this is something that I will not stand for. If I get a hint of this policy transferring over to Goodreads I am GONE. My writing is my mine, and if someone else would like to own it they can pay me for it. Sneaky as this is, it also leads to other problems.

If Amazon owns your review it means they can do what they like with it. That means removing it. On Goodreads sometimes a reviewer just really hates a book, I mean violently hates it. Let’s face it, some books are bad, I mean really bad, offensively bad. Amazon doesn’t think so, afterall bad book reviews hurt sales and that’s what it’s all about right? In their policy they claim they don’t remove a review for being negative, however their very, very tight-fisted language policies include distasteful content. Sometimes reviewers are rather colorful in their description of a book they don’t like. Goodreads allows us the freedom to accurately express our distaste for a book. I think we’ll be seeing this disappear in the near future.

Basically all this boils down to Amazon having ultimate control (and a history of exercising it and THEN some) over their domain. And now this domain includes Goodreads. Excuse me while I go mourn the loss of my favorite website

Posted in Book Things | Tagged acquisition, amazon, goodreads, policies, review | Leave a comment

Why Fanfic?

Posted on March 27, 2013 by admin

Fanfiction has to be one of the most misunderstood genres of writing. For the most part, and sadly in most cases, fanfiction is used as a vehicle for people to write romances that did not exist in the show/book/movie/etc. These are often badly written, insanely inappropriate, and make me want to claw my eyeballs out. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against fanfic romances, it’s the driving force of the genre… it’s the writing… oh my hat the writing… that gives most fanfic a bad name.

The above is a very common reason that real fanfic is written. Sometimes an author creates a world but the actual writing falls flat, there are holes in the story, and sometimes, like my twitter buddy @rattyfleef said “I wanna play in the sandbox too!”

The last one there is why I write fanfic, personally. My favorite ones to read have always been those featuring Original Characters immersed into the author’s world. I think the majority of the fanfic world would agree the Potterverse is soooo much fun to play in! The world is huge, there is so much potential for parallel stories in the setting that Rowling gave us. Fun fact, JK is one of the fabulous authors who doesn’t hunt fanfic writers down with a giant stick of “copyright infringement”. It’s reported that she herself reads some and has liked it. Cuz we needed more reasons to love JK, just saying.

Then there are crossovers. Take two or more worlds and smash em together and see what happens. Some of these make more sense than others. Some of them I read just because of the wtf factor. My other twitter friend, @Lorata writes some truly fabulous mashups between the Avengers and the Hunger Games. Putting the two worlds together allows her to explore aspects of the Avengers’ characters, Loki in particular, and the fascinating world of Panem.

Of course then there’s the self-indulgent fanfic. You know what I’m talking about. The kind where you write yourself into the story. We’ve all done it. Whether we actually write the story or it lives in our imagination I think anyone who’s ever read a story they loved has put themselves into it at some point. It’s also a great vehicle to experiment and play around. Whether it’s to stretch our writing muscles, to explore what would happen in different scenarios, or just because we really, really want to go to Hogwarts, fanfic writing can be a great exercise.

I think the biggest driving force of well-written fanfic is to address the gaps, confusions and things that make us raise an eyebrow. As authors we know that we can’t explain every little thing in the story, we have to keep it moderately on track and that can leave some holes, sometimes very interesting holes. Insert fanfic here. Fanfic authors that immerse themselves in the fandom can write background stories that flow seamlessly with the original work. These are my other favorites. While I’m not the sort of reader that picks up on these things (I’ve never really learned to read with a critical eye unless I try really hard) once they’re pointed out to me they drive me nuts. Fanfic lets my brain file it away because it’s explained.

Lastly we come to the alternate universe fanfic. There are lots of different kinds, but one that I’ve always enjoyed is the one where the writer takes one part of the story and makes it go another way. For example,

What if Sirius didn’t die? (according to my brain he didn’t)
Donna and the Doctor are happily roaming the universe, there are shennanigans, it is great
Peeta didn’t survive the Hunger Games, Cinna did

I think you get the idea. Sometimes, even though the book is written beautifully there are things that bother us readers. So we create a world where said thing did not happen and life is better.

Don’t write all fanfic off because of many, many bad apples. There is some truly great writing there that can add to your enjoyment of a beloved story!

Posted in Book Things | Tagged AU, crossovers, fanfic, fiction, OC, writing | Leave a comment

Manicure Musthaves

Posted on March 25, 2013 by admin

Going to a salon and getting a manicure is not cheap and except for special occasions it really hasn’t been an option for me. It’s hard to justify the money. I’d rather take that $20-$30 and buy some great tools to do my nails at home. You’ll have to forgive the pics for tonight’s blog, I snapped them all with my camera quickly so that this post would not just be a huge wall of text.

Confession, I adore Essie’s product line. They may not be the cheapest ever, but despite the sometimes pushed budget message of cheap is best… well.. it’s not. The Dutch in me firmly believes that some things are worth spending money on. I love having my nails done, I like when they look good. So, I’ve been slowly building my collection.

So, without further ado… some manicure musthaves.

Essie – Disappearing Trick

This stuff is stupidly amazing. Run it all around your cuticle, let sit about 15 seconds, and then remove with a cuticle pusher. Voila, all those icky ragged edges – Gone! It’s like magic.

Revlon – Nail Tools

I use the cuticle snips and the pusher, depending on the state of my nails. When I keep them up the pusher and Disappearing Trick are really all I need to make my nails look awesome.

Essie – Good to Go and Grow Stronger

This is my “go-to” duo. The Grow Stronger is really just a good base coat. Essie makes a few different ones, depending on what you need. But it’s that Good To Go topcoat that is seriously amazing. We’ve all been there, nails just done, looking awesome and it’s bed time. Wake up in the morning and you got hair nails. Ugh! You can put the Good To Go on mostly dry nails, wait a lil bit and they’ll be dry!! I mean, I wouldn’t go do anything too crazy, but just going to bed they’ll be fine. You’ll wake up in the morning and your nails will still be looking perfect. Plus it does a pretty decent job of chip-proofing your nails. Of course, I change my nail color like every three days because Essie has WAAAY too many amazing colors.

Really truly, that’s all you need for a basic manicure. Essie offers a bunch of colors, some of my favorites being:

Jamaica Me Crazy - A fun pink with a bit of sparkle, I do love me some sparkle.
Buy Me A Cameo - I call this one “vintage pink” it’s so classic and pretty!
Trophy Wife - Gorgeous turquoise color
Lilacism - One of my go-to colors. A subtle purple

I could really go on, there’s never really been an Essie color I didn’t like. I will say, was mildly disappointed with Blanc, their white polish. Essie’s polishes normally go on beautifully, just the right spread. The bottle of Blanc I got was thick and I wasn’t super impressed, but I could have just been having an off-day re: application.

Now, if you’re sitting there thinking, well this is all good for doing my left hand, what about my right? (Or the other way around if you’re a leftie) I will say this. It’s practice. Honestly, that’s all it is. Some things you can do if you’re a manicure-newb are:

Make sure you have good lighting, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done a manicure in dim tv-lighting thinking how awesome it looks and I catch a glimpse of my nails the next day at work and I’m horrified!
Take your time, a good manicure is never rushed. Do a light coat first to establish the color, good for sneaking it right down to the cuticle and along the nail bed. (my nail bed is deep and a real pain in the @ss to paint next to). Then do a good coat over that and let it dry. Some colors will require another light third coat, but I find with most of Essie’s colors that is not necessary.
As for learning to paint with your off hand, go for lighter colors, pinks are a favorite of mine for a quick job because they are so very forgiving.
But… if you do mess up, I have two sneaky little tricks to tidy up when they’re all dry. Take a nice hot shower, spend extra time lathering your hair. For one, head massage… YAY! For two, that hot soapy water will remove most of the oopsy paint. Or, do the dishes. Groan I know… but it’s a great way to get a cheeky little manicure in! Dipping your hands over and over into the hot water helps soften up the skin around your nails and then you can go in with a rough towel to slough off the spots of paint, or the cuticle trimmers for a bigger oops.

To keep my nail polish addiction budget friendly what I do is pretty much every time I go grocery shopping I pick up a new color or two. Sometimes (like the last time I went) I’ll splurge on a few, but it helps to spread them out. Plus, even if you change your nail polish every couple of days, you can only wear so many hehe.

So, those are my nail tips. Got anything vital I missed? I’d love to hear it! Always looking to learn more

Posted in Beauty Things, Money Things | Tagged at home, DIY, essie, manicure, nails, polish, tips, tricks | Leave a comment

Friday Reads – Hunger Games Trilogy

Posted on March 22, 2013 by admin

I’m going to say right now, if you haven’t read the Hunger Games and you don’t like spoilers don’t read this blog post. We’ll see you on Monday, it’s fine But honestly, if you’re waiting to “just watch the movies” you’re sooooo missing out. Not that the movie isn’t good, because it is, and it’s a fantabulous companion to the book you need the rest of the story. With that out of the way, on with the review!

I chose to review all three together because I have to think of the Hunger Games as a whole, not as single parts. After seeing the movie and reading the first book I wasn’t sure how I felt. For certain I did not really think that they were YA (young adult) fiction. I think most teens, (and, let’s face it) the majority of adults even are going to completely miss the point of the books. One only has to look at the way they’re marketing the movies at us like we were Capitol citizens to know that. Add that to the number of “Capitol Couture” fashion lines cropping up and I want to just weep.

There are a few people who raise their eyebrows at these books. I admit, I was with them for starters. Even after the first book I reserved judgement. The content is horrific if you let yourself think about it. It’s violent, it’s difficult, and extremely moving. Despite every indication to the contrary these books do not glorify violence. They are violent, although it’s easier to read than watch as Katniss does not describe every gory detail, it’s the mind-violence, the stuff your brain fills in. But the violence is BAD, very bad. The way the Games change the children is not presented in a positive light whatsoever. Suzanne Collins manages to walk that line of writing about it without glorifying it. But don’t let the events of book 1 put you off the series. Wait, wait and be patient and see how it all unfolds.

I find it hard to breathe while I read these books. It starts when Katniss volunteers for Prim in the Reaping in Book 1 and I pretty much hold my breath through the end of Book 3. In only a few ways do these books turn out the way I wanted them to. The Capitol is overthrown, Snow dies, Katniss lives. That’s basically it. Everything else about these books makes me mad. That’s not to say I don’t love them, I do. But Katniss (and us the readers) can not catch a break!

Nothing, I repeat, nothing takes my breath away, goes straight in and shreds my heart like the two people above: Cinna and Rue.

The moment I met Rue I loved her. Confession: I saw the movie first with a friend. I hadn’t read the books because of all the reasons a lot of people are hesitant. I just really wasn’t sure how I felt about the whole idea. Anyway, so I met her in the movie first and she was adorable. Heartwrenchingly so, as you know her fate. Even now, sitting here curled up at home, enjoying the last bits of sunshine, thinking about her death, about the flowers, the song, and the three fingers raised in salute to District 11 who respond with a salute and a revolution, I tear up. She symbolizes the horror of the Hunger Games to me. Yes, there are horrible things like Careers and what the Games does to the Victors… but those are complicated many layered feels that I don’t really feel qualified to talk about. Rue’s death and the pointlessness of it can’t help but touch you. A beautiful, innocent, life crushed under the shadow of the Capitol.

The movies do not do Cinna justice, not even a tiny, puny, little bit. And in doing so I think they fail to recognize another of the most powerfully moving parts of the books. I could be biased, Cinna is my favorite character hands down, but I don’t think that’s it. The books reveal something the movies don’t touch, Cinna’s masterful hand in the Uprising. Without him there would be no Mockingjay, heck… without him I don’t think Haymitch’s drunk ass would have been able to get the sponsors. But, back to the Uprising. Cinna did nothing by accident. He was deliberate, intentional, and fully aware that his actions would lead to his death. (Side note: I have a headcannon in which Cinna, although badly beaten by the Capitol guards, lives and he and Katniss are besties in District 12 after the war). Even after his death his hand reaches in and moves me to tears. I can only hope and pray that movies 2 and 3 do this amazing man justice and portray him as the revolutionary that he is.

The books are a bit of an uncomfortable read. And they should be. Not because of the violence alone, which is disturbing, make no doubt. But because of how I walk away thinking how we are not so very different from the Capitol. The excess, the blind eye, the corruption, the reliance on others, it’s all there and then some. The Hunger Games are adisturbing look at a world that honestly is not all that much different than ours.

I would not suggest reading the Hunger Games as a book to enjoy, although it is very good. It is far better considered a political and social commentary meant to start a fire in us as it were. Personally I do not think it is a coincidence that not long after putting down Mockingjay I picked up one of my Urban Homesteading books and began to plan for a simpler life.

“But there are much worse games to play.”

Posted in Book Things, Reviews | Tagged catching fire, cinna, hunger games, mockingjay, revolution, rue | Leave a comment

An Emergency Gift And a Recipe for TLC

Posted on March 20, 2013 by admin

There’s nothing quite like remembering at the last possible second that you need a present to give a child’s favorite teacher. We’ve had a bit of a sad week here as we’ve prepared to say goodbye to Minime’s grade 2 teacher before she moves on after Spring Break to an excellent teaching opportunity. This past Friday just snuck up on me far quicker than I would have liked. And so, in a week when I’ve really budgeted myself right down to the last couple bucks (emphasizing the need for an emergency cash fund), what is a Mommy to do to allow a child to show her appreciation?

Thank goodness for Dollarama and a dash of creativity!

I’d stocked up on chai tea latte ingredients earlier this week, so I decided to give the departing teacher a gift bag of quiet time. As an ex-TA I know life can get crazy and a little TLC can go a long way.

To make a fantastic chai tea latte one needs the following:

2 bags of tea (I usually use Red Rose)
1 whole clove
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cardamon
1/2 C sugar/sweetener (or to taste)
2 C water
3 C milk (in my case a Vanilla Almond Milk)

Obviously I’m not including the milk, water or sugar in the teacher’s gift.

Throw all the spices, the two tea bags and the water into a pot and boil for 5 min. Once it’s boiled add the sugar and the milk and bring to a boil again. Strain and enjoy It’s that easy.

For the teacher I took all the dry ingredients and put them into a cute little jar I picked up at the Dollar store for a whole 50c. Added a cup Minime picked out and a candle (not pictured) and put the whole thing in a bag with a card containing the instructions for the tea.

IMAG1025

So, a nice going away gift for teacher, at a grand total of about $4.

Au Revoir Mme Wilson! You will be missed!

Posted in Foodie Things, Home Things | Tagged budget, chai tea latte, DIY, gifts, school, teacher | Leave a comment

Sugar Cookies – The Swiss Army Knife of the Dessert World

Posted on March 18, 2013 by admin

I love sugar cookies. Of my entire arsenal of things I can whip up at a moment’s notice they have to be my favorite. They’re like a staple around here. And they are the most versatile treat ever. Any shape, any color, any occasion, I’ll be there with my plate of sugar cookies.

They can be as simple or finicky, quick or time consuming as you want. First let’s talk the basic recipe.

3/4 C soft butter
1 C white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 C flour

Cream the soft butter and sugar together.
Add the eggs
Mix in the rest, leaving the flour for last.

One of the tricks is that we don’t want to over beat the dough. It’ll be ok if we do, no panic… but the less we handle it the better it’ll be. When you’re adding the flour mix it as you add and as soon as most of the flour is mixed in, stop. Cover the bowl and chill for at least 1 hour.

If you’re using a marble rolling pin, which is what I highly suggest for sugar cookies, put that in the fridge too, it’ll help the dough not stick to the pin when you roll it out. Also, keep the pin and the dough in the fridge between rolling them out. Nice chilled dough is the best to work with.

Personally I like to roll my sugar cookies a little on the thin side. I know this goes against the usual rule of making them nice and thick but hey, I’ve never been one for rules. I roll mine out about a 1/4 of an inch. Once I cut them out, using whatever cookie cutter I fancy (I really like doing just plain circles and then decorating them, but when pressed for time using a shaped cutter and a single layer of icing with sprinkles is perfect). Then onto the cookie sheet.

I can not suggest strongly enough to use a silpat mat when baking sugar cookies. Seriously, it is the secret to making perfect cookies with just a hint of golden brown on the underside. The other secret is to make sure the rack is in the center, possibly just a smidgen above the center of the oven. Too low and all that heat is just going to wreck the light little cookies.

Bake at 400F for 6-8 minutes. This is really a matter of knowing your oven. If 8 min gives you cookies with a burnt bottom, lower it, obviously. Especially when you make your cookies on the thinner side there’s not really much baking time required.

Once the cookies are out, put them on a rack to cool completely and then we’re reading to ice!

I use my own variation of royal icing. I know there are lots out there but this is the one that works for me. Keep in mind that the measurements given here are the starting place, and we’re really looking for specific consistencies.

1 C icing sugar
2 tsp water
2 tsp corn syrup

I start with the 2 tsp of water but 9/10 I need more than that. To just straight up ice the cookie we want something that is spreadable but will keep its shape so it doesn’t just goop everywhere. Thankfully icing is SUPER forgiving, I always just make sure I have lots of icing sugar on hand for adjustments. The corn syrup is going to help it dry nice and hard and give it a really nice gloss, I don’t suggest skipping it.

The easiest sugar cookie is just a shape that we then ice. The royal icing is pretty forgiving. Get it on the cookie, let it set for a minute and it will sort of naturally smooth itself out. It’s one of the reasons I love it so much.

As you can see I’m all kinds of super precise with my icing of the cookie. I could use the fill/flood method here, but I was saving that for the shamrocks.

What you want here is an icing that is nice and stiff. Just runny enough so you can get it out of your piping bag with the piping tip attached, but that’s it. It needs to hold it’s shape. For this week’s church group potluck we were celebrating St Patrick’s Day so these cookies are going to have little shamrocks on them.

You have can either use black icing to give the whole thing an outlined feel, or use icing in the same color as what you plan on filling it with. In this case, obviously, I opted for a simple same color outline. Probably if I had more piping bags or bottles I’d have gone for a black outline, but hey… this is what I had.

Next comes the fun part. The flood. Take your icing and go for something that is still pipe-able, you know not completely watery, but doesn’t really hold its shape all that well. To do this I just added another tsp or two of water into my already colored icing. Cuz I’m lazy and hate cleaning up, I just put it all back into the same piping bag I used to do the outline.

Then I just piped my way around the inside of the outline, tapped the cookie gently on the table, and the icing just fell nicely into place. It will start to harden quickly but not like EEEEEEE NOOOO quickly. So if you make a mistake, or it didn’t cover well no worries. I just use the tip of the piping bag to kind of smoosh everything gently into place.

Now, if you look closely, you can see the outline still around the edge of the cookie. I sort of like that look for this cookie so I didn’t worry about it. To eliminate that you’ll need to have both your outline and flood icing ready to go at the same time. Outline it, and then flood it right away. It won’t have a chance to harden and will blend seamlessly together.

It is really just that easy! The rest just comes with practice. The more you make the more you get a feel for it. I love making them, I’ll bust out my sugar cookie recipe at the drop of a hat, quite nearly literally. Any occasion at school and you’ll find me, 1 AM the night before, hopped up on coffee, whipping up a batch

Posted in Foodie Things | Tagged decorating, icing, recipe, sugar cookies | 1 Comment