Frank, could you have known when you came over the Oregon Trail from Kansas in 1896, at the awkward age of 14, your family creaking along in a covered wagon and you riding alongside on a pony the whole way to Sweet Home, Oregon - a trip that makes a man out of a boy…could you have known your legacy?

Here are Frank and Hilda with their first daughter, Mina, in 1917. Mina would be the first of 10 daughters. The couple had just two boys, one of whom died in 1991. Mina is 92 years old now and in a wheel chair, widowed for 11 years.

Frank and Hilda owned a grocery/feed store in the 1930s, and Mina still reminisces about working there, packaging up 50 pound containers of lard and sugar for customers.

I found the perfect summer dessert salad that Mina handed down to her family, a sure hit with the kids. Don’t worry, there’s no lard. Here is Mina’s Orange Jello Salad, submitted to the cookbook by her granddaughter Holly:

Orange Jello Salad

3 cups boiling water
1 small package orange jello
1 small package vanilla pudding (cook kind)
1 small package tapioca pudding pudding (cook kind)
2 cans mandarin oranges
8 oz. Cool Whip

Mix dry pudding and jello together, add to boiling water and boil 2 minutes. Put in a bowl and cool completely. Drain oranges and add oranges and Cool Whip to pudding mixture.

Frank lived to be almost 93, but his beautiful bride Hilda, who was just 17 when they married, died at the age of 46 from a cerebral hemorrhage, her last child only a tender five year old. But Hilda clearly taught her children well, because they expertly took over the household after her death, the older girls caring for the younger ones.

Here is one of Hilda’s simple recipes, passed down to her daughters and submitted to the cookbook by one of her youngest girls, Marian.

Mom’s Coleslaw

1/2 head cabbage chopped thin, very thin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup vinegar

In small, deep mixing bowl, add sugar and vinegar, whip, then start ading cream slowly, whipping all the time. Will thicken slightly. Pour over cabage, salt and pepper.

If you have a garden full of tomatoes, then this next recipe will make a great summer dinner. It was submitted by Carla, the daughter of Norma, who was the second of Hilda’s children. Like her mother, Norma was blessed with an abundance of girls, having six daughters and just one son. Norma recalls needing money for college and occasionally receiving from father Frank a $100 bill rolled up in a walnut shell.

Capellini with Burst Cherry Tomato Sauce

1 lb very thin spaghetti or capellini
1/4 cup olive oil
3 pints cherry tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp oregano
1/2 cup sliced calamata olives
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Boil pasta when sauce is in final stage. Heat olive oil in large skillet til very hot. Add tomatoes, cover with lid and cook 10-12 minutes. Shake or stir occasionally. Cherry tomatoes will burst, if they do not, press gently. Add garlic, oregano, olives and salt to taste. Lower heat and simmer another 7-10 minutes. Top pasta with sauce and cheese.

If you have a summer pie-baking tradition, you need a good crust. My Grandma-in-law, Frank and Hilda’s sixth child as I showed you up there with my husband, has a Never Fail Pie Crust. I would have married into this family just for Donna’s pies. She brings them to every family holiday gathering–berry pies, apple pies, pecan pies, you name it–they are mouthwatering delights held together by this magical flaky crust. Here’s the recipe, but I doubt you can even come close to Donna Alice’s pies:

Never Fail Pie Crust

3 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups shortening
5 Tbls water
1 Tbls vinegar
1 egg

Mix egg, vinegar and water, add to dry ingredients and shortening (mixed). Take enough for one shell at a time and roll out. Makes 4 or 5 crusts.

Donna’s great-grandkids love her pies, too.

I suppose you need a pie to go in that pie crust! Donna’s Strawberry Pie made it into the family cookbook, submitted by her niece Lyn. Apparently this pie gets rave reviews at parties and potlucks.

Donna’s Strawberry Pie

Mix together:
3 oz. Philadelphia cream cheese
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Fold in:
1/2 cup whipped cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Put in cooked pie shell and chill.

Cook: (until thick and clear)
1 pint strawberries with juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbls cornstarch

Cool. Spread over cheese layer in pie shell. Chill. Garnish with whipped cream.

In the beverage section of the family cookbook, I noticed Joe’s Home Brew. Joe would be Frank and Hilda’s grandson, and his mother Bonnie was girl number eight. Bonnie must share Frank’s spirit of the Oregon Trail, because she’s had some crazy adventures in her lifetime, including rafting down the Grand Canyon and working in remote Alaska.

Joe’s recipe is for homemade root beer, and I’ll include his description and directions –it gets a bit lengthy but this is well worth it.

Joe’s Home Brew

When we were growing up, we made home made root beer in glass bottles with caps. It was so much fun, and tasted so good, that Laina and I have continued to make it the past 30 years! It’s a staple at our house! Great with popcorn or by itself on a hot summer day or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a fab float!!

1 bottle of root beer extract (sorry he didn’t say what size bottle!)
5 pounds of sugar
1/2 tsp active yeast
5 gallons lukewarm tap water
Need 10 2-liter plastic pop bottles and caps

Mix the water, sugar and extract in a 5 gallon plastic pail, stir thoroughly. Add yeast (best to dissolve this first in a cup of lukewarm water) and stir thoroughly. Pour root beer into pop bottles, leave about 1/2 inch air from the neck of the bottle. Screw caps on tightly. Store bottles on their sides for one week at room temperature. Then store them upright in a cool place. You can drink the brew after a week. The longer it sits, the fizzier and less sweet it gets. The plastic bottles get very hard as the yeast “eats” the sugar and produces carbonation. Refrigerate before opening! Warm brew may be explosive!! Enjoy!

Have you had a family reunion this summer? Do you have a favorite family recipe? Enjoy these last days of summer with some good food and family fun!

p.s. Don’t you think my daughter JJ looks just like her great-great-grandma Hilda?

Technorati Tags: children cooking, family tree, family life, food, Oregon Trail, homemade root beer, recipes, pie crust recipe

Welcome to Buffy’s kitchen, where she bakes about 3,000 cookies a week and makes a nice addition to her family’s income. As long as I’ve known Buffy, she’s always loved cookies and cookie dough, so when she told me she was thinking about starting a home cookie business, it seemed a perfect fit. Being a full-time mom with three little cookie monsters in tow, she still manages to keep things running smoothly, but with the irresistible aroma of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies constantly drifting from her home, I don’t know how she keeps the entire neighborhood from invading the kitchen.

My first thought, actually, was “it’s so simple!” What is any more basic and American than baking and selling cookies? My local grocery store has about 100 varieties of cookies to choose from, attesting to our national past-time of cookie snacking! But there is always room for a good homemade product, and Buffy has found a smart niche.

She has one corporate client, a large jewelry store chain with stores in Oregon, California, Idaho, and Washington, which give the cookies away as gifts to their customers. Again, this adds to the simplicity of Buffy’s business model, and streamlines the process into a successful enterprise.

I wanted to share a few words from Buffy, especially because the topic of women in business is near and dear to me. I run a business with my husband, and many of my friends and readers are women who are home taking care of their children - I so often hear these ladies commenting about their desire for a home-based business to add to the family earnings, so here is Buffy sharing a bit of her experience:

Jen: How did you decide to choose the cookie/baking business?

Buffy: One evening, as I was putting Ella to bed, I had an idea of baking specific sugar cookies for the family ski and snowboard business to put on the shelf for sale. The holidays were just around the corner and I was in the mood. I have always loved baking cookies and so I thought, why not try to make money doing what I already do and enjoy? I got excited and ran the idea by my husband. He had a better idea that included a bigger scope and possibility. His work was already giving away candy bars and were looking for a more homemade giveaway. It evolved from a special cut out cookie to miniature chocolate chip cookies.

Jen: What are the greatest benefits and greatest challenges of having your own small business, and how does this business fit into family life?

Buffy: The greatest benefit is being at home while making a little extra money. It’s satisfying knowing what I can accomplish alongside being a full time mother. The challenges include the stress of fitting the baking/packaging times into family life and timing the packaging correctly. I try to do most of the baking during school and nap times and then package at night. I love the one-on-one talk and music times I gain at night with my husband and friends.

Jen: Tell me about one particular hurdle you had to overcome.

Buffy: One hurdle I overcame was figuring out how to make the cookies last 2 weeks to a month. It took about 2 months of testing the cookie recipe and researching different techniques. It was really challenging and overwhelming. I felt strongly, in the moment, that the Lord really helped me figure everything out. The timing was perfectly in His hands. When I needed a specific answer at a specific time, He would give me just the information I was looking for…time and time again.

Jen: What do you see for the future?

Buffy: I see myself making this business work as long as there is a need. Maybe, someday, if there’s extra time and outside interest, it could become an online business or I could cater baked goods for local parties. As long as it’s fun and manageable, I’m up for the challenge.

Jen: I know the “family business” runs in your family (and your husband’s family). Do you think your background was helpful in giving you the courage/motivation to step out and do this?

Buffy: Because of the family business, I have a wonderful client. I couldn’t operate successfully without it. I don’t think our family businesses, per se, gave me the motivation to do this, but I do think that my parents’ role modeling a good work ethic did. My husband believing in me and sharing in the excitement really motivated me as well.

I’ve sat in Buffy’s kitchen many a time (and never want to leave), and truly, her cookie business is just another extension of her gift of hospitality. She loves baking and is an excellent hostess. This is important to mention, because my advice for those of you considering a business is to choose a venture that you have a passion for or a natural interest in. Be willing to make adjustments, as Buffy has done, but try to stick to your vision.

I also like Buffy’s attitude of “as long as it’s working.” I wouldn’t stick with an idea for the sake of principle if you’re hating it and it’s more trouble than it’s worth. That being said, there is work to be done and there will be difficult seasons in all things. A young mother has the extra burden of working her business in with the often overwhelming task of raising children. However, it’s good to look at the family business as a teaching tool, and it’s a marvelous way to train your young ones in so many life skills, financial skills, and relational skills.

Well, as the Cookie Monster says, “C is for cookie, it’s good enough for me; oh cookie cookie cookie starts with C.” And as for my dear friend’s cookies…these are such a delicious treat that you might have to go buy yourself a new piece of jewelry just to get your hands on one of Buffy’s cookies!

Technorati Tags: baking, cooking, cookies, home-based business, family business, women in business

Little girls love tea parties, but so do big girls like me, and even the little boys in my family want a part in the fun — my eight year old son would like to be the server, and my three year old son just wants to eat the goodies. We are planning a strawberry-themed tea party, at the request of the girls, and would like to share the menu and details with you.

The tradition of teatime is a long and cherished one, and our tea party, which will include the children, a few friends, and a few mommas, will open with a bit of the story of tea. The first known reference to the sale of tea in Britain comes from a 1658 London Gazette, with this historic news:

That excellent and by all Physicians approved drink called by the Chineans Tcha, by other nations Tay alias Tea is sold at the Sultaness Head a cophee house in Sweeting’s Rents by the Royal Exchange London.

It was from China that tea came, and the exact origin is lost in the haze of legend, but one story traces this charming drink to an Emperor who lived almost 5,000 years ago.

This Emperor set the good example to his subjects of always boiling his drinking water. One day a few leaves from the branches burning under the water pot fell into the water, giving it a delightful scent and flavour. The branches were those of the wild tea plant.

There is so much more to the fascinating history of tea, from China to Japan to Holland, to England and the rest of Europe, and to the United States. For you home educators and history buffs, you may want to incorporate more of these details into your party, and perhaps even have a “Tea Unit Study” beforehand. I have listed some resources for you at the end. But we must get on the party!

Come, little cottage girl, you seem
To want a cup of tea;
And will you take a little cream?
Now tell the truth to me.”

She had a rustic, woodland grin
Her cheek was soft as silk,
And she replied, “Sir, please, put in
A little drop of milk.”

Barry Pain
WORDSWORTH

Strawberries are soon in season, and if you grow them yourself, how easy and delicious this tea party will be! An elegant bowl filled with fresh strawberries will grace the table, along with the table settings of tea cups, saucers, tea pots, dessert sized plates and forks. Mugs will not do for tea, but your tea cups do not need to match. It’s funny how tea tastes best when sipped from thin bone china. A white linen or lace tablecloth is a lovely touch, I mustn’t forget the soft linen napkins.

An assortment of teas will include, of course, strawberry tea. Small pitchers of cream, sugar, and honey will be set out. For my little ones, I’ll brew a not-too-strong tea. Depending on the weather, we may indulge in the glory of tea al fresco, taking advantage of our large wrap-around porch and spacious yard.

In a few minutes tea was brought. Very delicate was the china, very old the plate, very thin the bread-and-butter, and very small the lumps of sugar. (Mrs. Gaskell, CRANFORD)

A tea party is not complete without the delicacies and pastries, and this is my simple menu:

Strawberry Gems
(from Tea Party Cookbook)

2 Cups Flour
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter (8 oz., room temperature)
2 Egg Yolks
1 Tsp. Vanilla
3/4 Cup Packed Dark Brown Sugar
10 ounces Strawberry Preserves
1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly combine flour, butter, egg yolks, vanilla and brown sugar. Spray a 9-inch by 13-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Press the mixture into the prepared baking pan, trying to keep an even thickness. Spread the strawberry preserves on top. Sprinkle with chopped pecans, gently pressing them in.

Bake (at 350 degrees) for 30 to 35 minutes. Let it cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares.

Creamed Scones
(from Tea Party Cookbook)

2 1/2 Cups Flour
5 Tsp. Baking Powder
5 TBS. Sugar
3 TBS. Chilled Unsalted Butter (cut in small pieces)
1/2 Cup Milk
1/4 Cup Whipping Cream
1 Egg Yolk
Cooking Spray
Flour (for the work surface)
1 Large Egg (beaten to blend, for the glaze)
Unsalted Butter
Strawberry Preserves

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Lightly spray a heavy, large cookie sheet with cooking spray. Sift together flour and baking powder into a medium bowl. Mix in sugar. Add the butter and rub between your fingers until the mixture resembles fine meal. Pour the milk, whipping cream and egg yolk into a small bowl and blend with a whisk.

Bake (at 450 degrees) until golden brown, around 15 minutes. Transfer scones to a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve with butter and strawberry preserves.

Cucumber Sandwiches

Loaf of Country Style White Bread
3 Seedless Cucumbers, thinly sliced
Butter

Cut good quality white bread into thin slices. Butter one side of each slice and remove the crusts. Thinly slice seedless (hot house or European) cucumbers and place one layer of slices on 1 piece of buttered bread. Put another slice on top, butter facing the cucumbers. Cut on 2 diagonals in the shape of the letter X to produce 4 triangle-shaped finger sandwiches.

Fresh Strawberries

A large bowl of fresh strawberries, cleaned and cut. On the side, a bowl of whipped cream and melted chocolate for dipping.

Strawberry Tea
(from The Charms of Tea)

Strawberry tea, which contains no caffeine and is easy to locate in specialty shops, natural-food stores, and many supermarkets, is an especially appealing iced drink. You might serve it bejeweled with strawberries.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

2 Quarts Water
8 Tsp. Strawberry Tea
1/2 Cup Sugar
Juice of 1 Lemon
4 Large Strawberries, Sliced

In a large saucepan, bring the water to a full boil. Add the tea and sugar, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Strain the tea into a large pot or pan. Stir in the lemon juice, and let the tea cool to room temperature. Serve the tea over ice, garnished with the sliced strawberries.

Tea Concentrate for a Group
(from Friendship Teas to Go)

When you are preparing for a large group tea, you can brew this concentrate up to two hours ahead and still serve hot, perfect tea to your guests. This recipe makes about fifty cups of tea, but you can make more or less concentrate according to your needs. Just remember: To make tea in quantity, don’t brew longer — use more tea.

1 1/2 cups loose tea or 16 family-size teabags
2 1/2 quarts boiling water

Pour boiling water over tea in large non-metallic container such as an earthenware crock. Let steep for five minutes, then strain the tea leaves or remove the teabags. Store concentrate at room temperature until needed. To serve, use about two tablespoons of concentrate per five-ounce cup — or about three parts of water to every part concentrate. Simply place the desired amount of concentrate in a cup or pot and then add hot water.

Note: This concentrate also makes delicious iced tea. Put four tablespoons in an eight-ounce glass of water, then add water and ice.

Hospitality is at the heart of tea time, so the best part of your Strawberry Tea Party will be the care the hostess shows for her guests, the conversation that flows, the giggles among children feeling so grownup-ish, and the memory of tea.

Resources for this article:

Talking of Tea by Gervas Huxley
The Charms of Tea by the Editors of Victoria Magazine
Tea Party Cookbook by Debbie Mumm
Friendship Teas to Go by Emilie Barnes

Technorati Tags: children, tea time, tea party, children’s tea party, strawberry tea, creamed scones

So here is a very SIMPLE carnival, which I suppose is in keeping with the theme of homesteading! There were just 12 submissions, which I’ve listed first, followed by some of my own Top 10 Editor’s Picks that I grabbed from around the blogosphere, which fit the homesteading motif. You’ll find my own small commentary following each post.

(Let me know if you find any errors, omissions, bad links, etc.)

Rose Denson presents Spearmint Hot Pepper Horseradish Spray posted at Grandma Rosie’s Texas Home.

This is for the bugs, not for you!

Dora Renee’ Wilkerson presents Making Cottage Cheese posted at Y-2K Hippie.

This looks yummy. There is also a recipe for hand milled soap here.

Belle presents My Diary of No Shampoo—-Day 4 and 5 posted at Born 100 Years to Soon.

Belle shares her egg shampoo experiment. Yes, the kind you crack open and out comes gooey stuff. Find out why in the world she’s putting this in her hair on purpose.

Valereee presents Foraging: hot new foodie trend, or the hottest new foodie trend? posted at Cincinnati Locavore.

Finding wild edible treasures - is this trend here to stay? Is it fueled by fears of a depression? Read more!

Dave Trenholm presents How to Make a Square Foot Garden posted at Alberta Home Gardening.

Learn how to plant in blocks and eliminate the 80% of your traditional garden that you just walk on.

Moobeema presents MooBee Farm: The Burn Barrel Incident posted at MooBee Farm.

What happens when WIFE wants a burn barrel to match the color of her house…MooBeeFarm delivers up some amusement for you.

Sister Brenda presents Da Yooper Pasties Recipe and Tutorial posted at haflinger.

Mmmm, meat pie!! Having lived in Michigan for many years, I knew right away what this was all about! “Da Yoopers” are those great folks who live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Flossie presents Aunt Lizzie’s Pound Cake posted at The Funny Farm.

Oh, my, this isn’t just the aunt’s recipe…it’s the great, great aunt’s recipe! And Flossie knew her! This family must have started having babies young. I didn’t even know one single great aunt, let alone a great-great.

Stephanie presents So Much to Say! posted at Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

We know about the guard dog, but a guard donkey? Oh, yes, read on!

GP presents How Green is Your Garden posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn.

Just get a load of her greenhouse! I’m positively green with envy!

Miss Amanda presents Cake Baking Photo Essay posted at My Learning Experience.

What a sweet sister to make such a lovely cake for her brother!

Jacque Dixon presents From the Archives- Gardening 101 - You *Can* Teach Your Children!! posted at Seeking Rest in the Ancient Paths.

There is something for every age in the garden, and Jacque gives some great tips on teaching children that incorporate science, math, art, biblical lessons and more.

And now for the 10 other goodies that I discovered in cyberspace:

At Tales from Creekistan, I found The Daffodil House. Just don’t look inside the house.

At Blind Pig & the Acorn, I enjoyed The Fields of Home. I love that field, and read her garden wisdom.

At Hidden Haven Homestead, this author is Counting Blessings. I’m just trying to count the goats.

Down On The Farm shares some “Tails” From the Farm. In search of the perfect Jersey cow - bringing Buttercup home to the Back Forty.

At Kentucky Hollers, Running Into the Neighbors can be a literal experience, and Catherine discovers that sometimes movie stars retire to the Appalachian foothills.

Adventures in Farming coins a new saying, Snug as pigs in straw. The cutest little things I’ve ever seen.

In My Kitchen Garden has an intriguing offer: Attention Homeless Organic Vegetable Lovers: Would You Like To Move To A Farm? Seriously. Pack your bags and go live with the enormous pot-bellied pig.

Old Red Barn Co. clarifies work: It’s the reason you have kids, afterall. It was planting time, and lucky for Dana, she has a few sprightly young’uns.

Yarnstorm muses about tulips and tempests.Wow, those colors.

CraftApple instructs us on Gathering. For the seamstress in you - simple, foolproof techniques for a perfect gather.

Happy homesteading, now get on with your baking, planting, stitching, haying, milking, crafting, canning, quilting life!

Stay tuned next week, when the Homesteading Carnival will be hosted by Jacque at Seeking Rest in Ancient Paths. Submit your Homesteading posts HERE.

Technorati Tags: blog carnival, carnivals, farm, garden, gardening with children, homesteading

The latest statistics from CDC show a yearly fatality of over 23,000 unintentional poisoning deaths. Non-fatal injuries (per year) for unintentional poisonings were a whopping 703,702. In the United States alone. Unintentional poisoning is second only to motor vehicle crashes as a leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States.

Well, I did not want to write this post and have put it off, because I hate those stupid emails about freakish things that could happen to you. I always delete them, and just today a friend sent me an email about all the symptoms of a deadly form of breast cancer. I just can’t handle it all.

HOWEVER, because MY CHILD just today nearly poisoned himself to death, I do feel compelled to give you all a reminder about Tips to Prevent Poisonings.

I just wrote a post this morning about how Little L got into Big L’s candy basket. He is just one of those kids. He is 3 1/2, loves sweet things, and he is naughty, sneaky, and dishonest, God bless his cute little cheeks. We are working on all of these issues. And DAMN IT, children’s medicine is SWEET. I’m sorry, I’m just really angry about that right now.

I couldn’t find Little L. He was supposed to be playing with Big L and the girls on the porch. They didn’t know where he was. I raced into the kitchen and there he was, and he blurted out, “I didn’t drink the medicine!” WHOA, what?? Thank you, Jesus, that the boy had a guilty conscience. Of course, I immediately knew he must have gotten into the Children’s Tylenol, because it wasn’t where I had stupidly left it on the counter in plain sight (and obviously with a lid not completely secure).

Little L eventually led me to Grandma’s bathroom, where he had gone into hiding to do his evil deed. There on her toilet seat was the nearly empty bottle of Children’s Tylenol and I FREAKED OUT. Yes, completely. I had enough sense to call Poison Control, which phone number is posted on my refrigerator (Parents, take note, please have this number posted: 1-800-222-1222).

The operator was wonderful. She was calm, and since I wasn’t, that was immensely helpful. Be prepared to know the weight of your child, have the bottle in your hand, and DO NOT take your child’s word about how much he ingested. Little L told me he had “just a little bit, Mommy,” but if memory served me, the bottle that was 3/4 full was now almost empty. And for the sake of LIFE, please keep your medicines locked up and NEVER refer to them as candy.

She talked me through the ordeal. The total capacity of the bottle was 4 ounces, at 80 mg per 1/2 teaspoon. I measured what was left: 2 Tablespoons. We figured Little L had drunk 4 Tablespoons, based on what was left over and what was originally in the bottle. THANKFULLY, even though that sounded like enough to endanger his life, it was not a toxic level. This, folks, is why those bottles of Children’s Tylenol are so darn small. Poison prevention. Had this been ADULT medicine, this story would have a different ending.

I was advised to have Little L drink some water to dilute the medicine in his tummy. He laid down and slept for two hours.

This close call really rattled me. I held all of my little ones tighter and counted my blessings. And clearly, I need to get a handle on my casual way of leaving medicine on the counter. Dad and I had a talk with all of the children about medicine, and how it is POISON if taken in the wrong amount. Based on information I’ve read today, children who have episodes like Little L today are likely to do it again. So, here is a list I’m copying from the Centers for Disease Control website for your safety:

Keep Young Children Safe from Poisoning

• Put the poison control number, 1-800-222-1222, on or near every home telephone and save it on your cell phone. The line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Keep all drugs in medicine cabinets or other childproof cabinets that young children cannot reach.
• Avoid taking medicine in front of children because they often copy adults.
• Do not call medicine “candy.”
• Be aware of any legal or illegal drugs that guests may bring into your home. Do not let guests leave drugs where children can find them, for example, in a pillbox, purse, backpack, or coat pocket.
• When you take medicines yourself, do not put your next dose on the counter or table where children can reach them.
• Never leave children alone with household products or drugs. If you are using chemical products or taking medicine and you have to do something else, such as answer the phone, take any young children with you.
• Do not leave household products out after using them. Return the products to a childproof cabinet as soon as you are done with them.
• Identify poisonous plants in your house and yard and place them out of reach of children or remove them.
• Read how to prevent lead poisoning.

What to do if a poisoning occurs

1. Remain calm
2. Call 911 if you have a poison emergency and the victim has collapsed or is not breathing. If the victim is awake and alert, dial 1-800-222-1222. Try to have this information ready:

• the victim’s age and weight
• the container or bottle of the poison if available
• the time of the poison exposure
• the address where the poisoning occurred 

3. Stay on the phone and follow the instructions from the emergency operator or poison control center.

God bless you, dear friend, as you parent and care for your little ones. I’m tucking Little L into bed now.

Technorati Tags: children, Poison Control, medicine safety

After a visit to the southern part of Salta in 1996, with his wife Ursula, Don Hess was directed to Cafayate, the center of wine production in the region. It was there that he drank an intriguing Malbec-Cabernet blend from Colomé, and there that he began fermenting the idea that he could plant a world class vineyard at over 9000 feet. As Hess explained,

When I go into the wine business, it is always because of the microclimate, and secondly, to have a good story. When you do something no one has done, like climb a mountain, it is a risk. If it works, I’ll have a great story and hopefully very good wine.

Hess now owns a vineyard in Colomé, along with a stunning hotel and art gallery which he built, about a four hours’ drive from Salta, in northwest Argentina. Colomé’s vineyards include century old vines that pre-date the deadly vine disease phylloxera, being planted on original French rootstock. This land encompasses about 96,000 acres, and then, of course, there is the 60,000 acres at Altura Maxima (near Payogasta) and another 865 acres at nearby El Arenal. Currently, just under 300 acres are being cultivated.

It’s the Altura Maxima property that is gaining fame these days, as this vineyard currently holds the world record for vineyard at the highest altitude. In a country where bottles of wine are marked with the specific altitudes of their vineyards, there is a machismo contest going on amongst the landlords over who can go the highest. To give an idea of the heights, the California vineyards top out at 3,000 feet, and Europe at 4,300 feet. In Argentina, vineyards average 5,500 feet, and Altura Maxima boasts vineyards at close to 10,000 feet.

The high altitude, while still a very experimental thing, is thought to be viticulturally advantageous. The extreme elevations give the vines an abundance of solar radiation, and some researchers think this increases the level of healthy polyphenols in red wine. The thinner air and lower humidity seem to cause the grapes to develop thicker skins, resulting in a more flavorful, aromatic, and tannic grape.

Argentina is clearly a special place for Donald and Ursula Hess, who now spend half the year there. They love the people, and in fact, when they bought Colomé, they inherited not only the oldest winery in Argentina, dating back to 1831, but also its 400 inhabitants. Hess has been kind to these natives, who previously were forced into slave labor. Colomé employs at least one person from each extended family. Hess takes time to train them, provides them with health insurance and has built facilities to meet their needs: a clinic, community center, and church.

Hess also takes great care of the land itself. At Colomé, he installed an Italian-made hydro-electic turbine for energy, he grows everything from the vines to the food he cultivates for the hotel using traditional biodynamic principles, and the entire estate is self-sufficient. You’ll find sheep and cattle there producing organic meat and milk, and their manure fertilizing the vines and gardens.

If you think you might want to go start a vineyard, keep in mind the timetable. Hess realizes that Argentina will probably be the cap of his career, because these ventures take a great deal of not only money, but time. Here is his projection:

If you start from scratch, it takes two years for the soil preparation, one year to set up the drip irrigation, five years to have a sixty percent crop. That makes eight years. Then another two aging in the winery, three for a reserve wine. So it’s a decade before you get your first money back.

Time will tell if Donald Hess’ high altitude experiment will pay off. As he battles the unique hurdles of the region - frost, hail, wild donkeys, minimum oxygen, and the Argentine leaf-cutting ant (which destroyed 13 acres of his first planting), Hess still presses on.

The Hess Group produces four wines at its Colomé vineyards, just three of which you can find in the United States in very limited quantities: Colomé Torrontes, Colomé Estate Malbec, and Colomé Reserva. If you have the opportunity to travel to Argentina, you’ll want to stay at Hess’ Estancia Colomé.

photo credit: Estancia Colomé and USA Today

Technorati Tags: Argentina, biodynamic viticulture, Coloma, Donald Hess, organic farming, high altitude viticulture, Salta, vineyard, viticulture, wine making, winery

My St. Patrick’s Day Menu:
(from Heather in Michigan)

*A wonderfully traditional corned beef brisket that has been slow cooking all day in the crock pot- it is literally falling apart- yummy!
*Boiled potatoes with some root vegetables (Again, very Irish!)
*and Mom’s Irish Soda Bread

Since we do not imbibe of the green beer- which I sincerely doubt is really very Irish anyway and likely an American adulteration- I’ll probably just make some green kool-aid to appease the kids who’ll want something green to drink!

Do you remember Mom making that Irish Soda Bread? That is a fond memory of mine as she made it often when we were young, along with her Boston Brown Bread that she baked in those coffee cans. She was really a very good baker- I also recall her awesome cream puffs…. mmm- getting hungry here- it’s almost dinnertime. Mom really enjoyed baking when we were still quite small. But, back to the Day- St. Patrick’s! I could not make anything else but Corned Beef and Irish Soda Bread today- perhaps in honor of our Irish grandmother, Mary Kincaid- or just because that Irish Soda Bread is so very, very good, right out of the oven, with a crusty top split into a cross, soft and warm inside- sliced and slathered with butter!

If you get a chance- you should make it again- here’s Mom’s recipe (culled from the old church cookbook I still have):
******************************************************************************
Irish Soda Bread

4 cups sifted flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup shortening
1-1/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda

Sift 1st five ingredients together, blend in shortening. Add baking soda to buttermilk then mix in the egg. Form a well in the dry ingredients and add liquids to dry ingredients quickly. Knead dough gently to form a round loaf. Place in a greased and floured loaf pan and cut a cross in the top of the loaf. Bake in a 350 oven for 50 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before turning out.

Enjoy!
Heather
p.s. Are you wearing green today?

Close to Mt. Vesuvius, the land is layered with mineral-rich deposits of volcanic ash, remarkably favorable to vines, producing a grape with very distinctive flavors and aromas. Many of the vines used by Feudi di San Gregorio are centuries old, including the oldest Aglianico vines in the country, a grape with origins in ancient Greece. When a food writer and wine lover set out to find Italy’s oldest vineyard, his quest eventually led to one of Feudi di San Gregorio’s vineyards, about which he was told:

It dates back to the time of San Gregorio Magno. That is 590 AD and the secrets of centuries old cultivation techniques have been jealously kept alive by local farmers.

This is an ancient grapevine, not a tree:

Enzo Ercolino and his wife Mirella Capaldo started Feudi di San Gregorio, and along with Italian enologist Riccardo Cotarella, they have taken every advantage of the natural conditions of Campania, and added a modern technology twist to make exquisite modern wines from ancient vines. You will not find them stomping grapes with their feet, despite the ancient history. Feudi di San Gregorio took a high spending approach, building a $25 million winery and hospitality center.

The sleek new wine cellar has capacity for 5,000 barrels, and their state-of-the-art technology includes vineyards equipped with solar-powered meteorological stations which are constantly gathering weather data. This high tech method actually minimizes the need for artificial viticulture. The Feudi di San Gregorio estate also includes a gourmet restaurant, a stunning glass enclosed tasting room, a wine shop, lush landscaped gardens, and an outdoor amphitheater. It’s well positioned to be a world-class tourist destination.

And the wine, ah, I hear it’s good.

The first time I had a Feudi di San Gregorio wine, it was just a dark red wine in a glass that someone handed to me at a tasting. I swished it back and was bowled over by a set of flavors that I had not yet experienced before. It was my first glass of old-vine Aglianico and my first glass of Feudi, and my brain snapped to attention and demanded to know more. If you haven’t ever had any wines made from Greco di Tufo, Fiano de Avellino, Falanghina, or Aglianico, I would be hard pressed to recommend a better place to start exploring these and other fantastic Italian varietals than at the competent hands of Feudi di San Gregorio.

photo credits: New York Times, Vinography

Technorati Tags: aglianico, Campania, Feudi di San Gregorio, Italy, ancient vines, viticulture, technology, vineyard, wine making, winery

Doug, a Greek/Italian with a long family history of wine making, and his wife Gina, half-Italian herself, seem the perfect couple to be taking on this historic task. The idea for Maragas Winery was first dreamed up by the couple in 1999, and by 2001 Maragas had produced its first vintage - out of a four-bay garage on the east side of Bend, and by 2003 in a nice downtown Bend location. But all this with grapes from outside of Central Oregon - currently the Maragas wine is made from the grapes of Western and Southern Oregon, and California.

At this point, it’s helpful to know that Doug Maragas had a very industrious Greek grandmother. Anna Maragas and her husband owned a grocery store in Canton, Ohio in the 1940s. When good oranges were nowhere to be found, she said, “I can do better,” and set off to California. By herself. And came back with a train car full of delicious oranges, somehow obtained on credit. Anna began brokering fruit, and eventually grapes, up and down the west coast, her tenacity landing her with the only train car permit to do so during the war. Once the good lady had her hands on some fine grapes, she did what any industrious woman would do - she began to make wine.

So, I can imagine Doug Maragas paying the great amount of money that winemakers must pay for grapes, and saying, “I can do better.” And like his grandmother, doing it all against the odds and with great tenacity, despite the risks.

You may wonder why Maragas Winery is the only one operating in Central Oregon. Goodness, vineyards abound in the Willamette Valley of Oregon where the Pinot Noirs are as famous as anything from the Napa Valley. The freezing winter temperatures are probably the biggest deterrent. Spring and fall frosts can also be deadly to the crop - as Gina says, it can frost here at any old time, and lastly, Central Oregon has a short growing season. There simply must be enough heat to ripen the fruit.

There is some encouraging news, however.

The new Maragas Winery and Vineyard, completed in November 2006, is located about 20 miles north of Bend in a fortuitous microclimate. The 40-acre property is at a lower elevation and gets more sun than other parts of Central Oregon, possesses a beneficial sandy loam, volcanic soil, and most advantageous, is protected by rock cliffs that serve to draw cold air away from the vines.

With help from the Oregon State University viticulture experts, Maragas carefully picked 16 of the heartiest varieties most likely to survive and thrive and produce an excellent wine. The Maragases opted to not plant any hybrids at this point (which are actually more suited to cold-climate growing), instead cultivating the traditional Vitis vinifera varieties because of their status as the best-tasting wine grapes. So far, they have planted a one-acre pilot vineyard, to test the varieties before choosing the vines for the remainder of the acreage. It will take about three years to know the results.

The first vines are now springing forth with new buds, a hopeful sign of an agricultural breakthrough that will someday soon christen Central Oregon as wine country.

photo credits: Maragas Winery, Google Images, Wines and Vines.

Technorati Tags: Maragas Winery, Central Oregon winery, vineyard, wine making, winery

My eight year old son takes making pancakes very seriously, as you can see. This was the first time he did the entire process by himself. He mixed up the ingredients carefully following my recipe, and although he was prone to putting too many pancakes on the griddle at once, he made a fine flapjacker.

Jen’s Country Pancakes
(feeds my family of 6)

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons ground flax
2 eggs
3 1/2 Tablespoons oil
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 cups milk

My son has already learned to mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately, then add them together at once. He stirs only until blended, because he’s learned the hard way that overstirring makes a flat pancake. But, my goodness, it’s hard to resist the temptation to overmix.

This hearty pancake is best served with butter and pure maple syrup. I got absolutely hooked on pure maple syrup when my neighbor brought me back a gallon jug of pure Vermont maple syrup several years ago, straight from her hometown. A little tip to get your kids used to the rich taste: mix the maple syrup with regular corn syrup, slowly decreasing the corn syrup over a period of days, until they are accustomed to the pure maple flavor. I do this to avoid the high fructose corn syrup in the conventional syrups.

Technorati Tags: children, children cooking, healthy pancakes, maple syrup, pancakes, high fructose corn syrup, Vermont maple syrup

I fell in love with wine when my uncle decided to buy three vine parcels in Chåteauneuf-du-Pape to re-create the family vineyard, Domaine du Banneret, which originally dates back from many centuries.

This begins the story of Domaine Rouge-Bleu. Jean-Marc Espinasse, the charming man behind this Provençal vineyard, went on from that first wine making adventure to begin his very own vineyard just over a year ago. He was offered 25 acres of old vines, and with his lovely American wife Kristin and their children, began the amazing task of creating Rouge-Bleu, along with renovating a nearly 400 year old Provençal farmhouse. I was immediately drawn into this story because of that endearing quality of a man living out his dream.

I stumbled upon Jean-Marc’s blog recently, and was excited when I saw that he and his wife were doing a west coast tour! But, I read his blog a few days too late, as he had already passed through Portland, just hours from me. I left a comment on his blog anyway, mentioning our dream of a vineyard on our property someday. I was so surprised to see an email several days ago titled Vineyard in the desert, from Jean-Marc! He asked the telling question:

Do you have underground water at around 5-10 yards deep in the soil?

I knew immediately I was in trouble. I responded that it was quite doubtful, since we had to drill through over 60 feet of solid rock, plus another 200 feet, to hit water when we installed our well. Monsieur Espinasse is a gracious but straightforward Frenchman, and gave me no-nonense advice:

I am afraid but I don’t think that vine is the kind of plant that would behave well where you live. I am also “deeply” convinced that irrigation is the worst thing you can give to a vine since they have natural genes to get rooted deep to find the water. I am sure you can find another farm crop to do there. Making wine is great but farming in general is always rewarding. Cheers.

Ah, well, let’s talk about Rouge-Bleu! Their “Dentelle” Cuvée is scheduled to be bottled in just over a week, and I imagine everyone is very excited. Organic and ancestral practices at Rouge-Bleu call for some interesting viticultural procedures. Jean-Marc’s latest post involves egg whites — don’t worry, they won’t end up in your bottle. Evidently, the albumin contained in egg whites aids in the clarifying process, and using them allows Jean-Marc to avoid too much filtration, which kills the natural sediments so vital to their natural wines.

What are the benefits of organic grape farming? Jean-Marc says that the combination of natural cultivation and harvesting at low yields allows the vines to produce their very best. The result will be good levels of alcohol, high levels of acidity, the right balance of sugar, and a promising aging.

Another term you’ll hear around Rouge-Bleu is biodynamic viticulture. It’s hard to define, as each grower will modify his practices to suit his needs, but it seems to go beyond organic farming. Biodynamic farming will also take into account timing, and, for example, apply certain soil applications according to traditional seasonal markers. A biodynamic approach to a vine disease, for instance, would be not to focus on how to kill the disease, but to ask why the plant is sick in the first place. There is something depleted in the soil, let’s fix the soil, instead of, there’s just something wrong with the vine. This makes sense, but biodynamic philosophy can also lead into mysticism, at which point I would depart.

Here’s a nice sampling of how Jean-Marc practically applies his farming philosophy:

Our Carignan grapes are very weak towards Oidium [fungus]. Using our tractor that pulls the sulfateuse would damage some vine shoots and would not permit to spray straight on the grapes. Since the surface we have is small, I decided to use the traditional manual sulfateuse last week which allowed me to be much more precise while spraying the grapes.

Due to all the rain we had, our baby vines have been completely surrounded with “weeds.” Leaving them would damage our vines because those herbs would drink all the water in the soil. But since we don’t use chemical weed killers and since our décavailloneuse can’t recognize a baby vine and would kill them, we have to remove those herbs by hand.

Provence is an ideal location for wine making, as Jean-Marc is discovering. The Mistral, which is the strong, cold northwesterly wind that blows through southern France and into the Mediterranean, can be deadly; however, the dry Mistral winds minimize vine disease and can return health to the vineyard. The stony ground and soil rich in calcium carbonate is quite amenable to vines and little else. The Mediterranean climate is famously favorable to the vines.

If you have any questions about Rouge-Bleu, be sure to check in at Jean-Marc’s website. I think I’ll be asking how to get my hands on some bottles of the upcoming Dentelle Cuvée and also the Mistral, which is scheduled to be released later this year. If you live in Houston, Texas, you’re in luck — French Country Wines imports the Domaine Rouge-Bleu wines.

photo credits: Rouge-Bleu

Technorati Tags: bottling wine, Provence, organic farming, biodynamic viticulture, Rouge-Bleu, vineyard, winery

When I’m at home in the morning, which is just about always, I make a pot of coffee - or, like this morning, my husband does - and we take simple pleasure in that morning cup of coffee. Grinding the beans, listening to the gurgles of the coffee pot as it labors for us, smelling the first aroma of the fresh brew, and finally, drinking out of a nice ceramic or china mug. This ordinary and basic routine is comforting.

And here’s my tip for drinking a hot cup of coffee to the end, sans microwave or lidded travel cup: I pour HOT water into our coffee mugs of choice, and let them sit for a few minutes. This gets the ceramic all toasty warm…so that when I pour our coffee into the mugs, the coffee isn’t expending all of its heat energy into the walls of a cold mug, and can instead just sit and relax in its warm surroundings. You won’t believe how this already warm mug extends the life of your hot coffee! No microwave, no lids, no problem.

More Works for Me Wednesday Posts.

image: flickr.com, by gluGirl

Technorati Tags: coffee, coffee mug, microwave

As you can see, ladies (and gentlemen), there was no room in the freezer for this quart of ice cream, so I simply had to eat it.

I believe it fit before I took it out, but somehow, various frozen food stuffs were shuffled in such a way that it no longer had a space, not an inch to spare in there. And truly, there was only about a quarter of the quart left, so my goodness, why make such a fuss over rearranging the entire freezer to wedge this luscious, chocolatey, creamy dessert back in there? Can’t you see that the carton is already slightly crushed?

Ahem, for more Works For Me Wednesday posts, visit Don’t Try This At Home (who is hosting while Shannon is in Uganda), and I’m sure you’ll find something other than Breyers All Natural Organic Chocolate Ice Cream that works for you.

Technorati Tags: ice cream, Breyers, chocolate

I used to use a sort of salt rock deodorant before I switched to the Crystal spray. It had basically the same minimal ingredients, but every time you used it, you had to wet it with water to moisten it up enough to roll under your arm. What a hassle. And honestly I didn’t think it was all that hygienic, all that wetting and rubbing. The beauty of this product is that it’s a spray and never comes into contact with your skin, so it maintains purity and can be used by multiple users.

The Crystal Body Deodorant Spray contains the following: purified water, natural mineral salts, and potassium alum. That’s it! This product is also fragrance and paraben free. Frankly, if you’re in a real bind, just rub some salt water under your arms and you’ll be okay. Just to clarify, the ingredient alum has a very different composition from the other forms of aluminum in question.

Also, note that I’m only addressing deodorant, not antiperspirant, which is a different thing altogether, and I would avoid it. Here’s how the FDA describes antiperspirants:

Antiperspirants have an aluminum-based compound as their main, “active” ingredient, which can be any number of compounds within an established concentration and dosage form. The active ingredient gives antiperspirants their sweat-blocking ability by forming a temporary plug within the sweat duct that stops the flow of sweat to the skin’s surface.

A temporary plug within the sweat duct? Most people say don’t sweat it, but I think I’d rather.

What Wikipedia has to say about aluminum:

Aluminum has been established as a neurotoxin.[15] Aluminum chloride, an aluminum salt that is commonly used in antiperspirants, is also commonly used in studies on aluminum-induced neurotoxicity.[16][17][18][19][20] Aluminum itself adversely affects the blood-brain barrier, is capable of causing DNA damage, and has adverse epigenetic effects.[21][22] Research has shown that the aluminum salts used in antiperspirants have detrimental effects to a number of species such as non-human primates,[23] mice,[24] dogs[25] and others. An increased amount of aluminum is also present in the brains of many Alzheimer’s patients, although this link does not currently seem to be causal.[disputed][26][27][28].

Dare you share what works for your underarm odor control? (Or your feet, for that matter. I just read on the back on the Crystal spray bottle that it can be used to eliminate odor on your feet).

You can find more Works for Me Wednesday tips over at Rocks in My Dryer!

I look and see the half-eaten sandwich on his plate, the fourth one today. “But,” I protest, “you haven’t eaten all of that one!” His wide sky-blue eyes, full of a three-year-old’s innocence, plead with me. “I don’t want the cwust.”

When he wakes up in the morning, he asks for a peanut butter sandwich. Mid-way through morning, he asks for another. I take the kids to Papa’s Pizza for lunch, where I have to meet with a group of moms while the kids play, and he doesn’t eat his pizza. “I’m full,” he declares. But minutes after leaving, he cries, “I’m hungry! I want a peanut butter san’wich!”

This latest dinner sandwich emptied my peanut butter jar. For weeks now, I’ve been giving in to the no-crust-peanut-butter-san’wich-monster. It’s become a bad habit. He and I are both lucky that he is child number four, and I’ve been down this slippery road before. Else I would be insane, and he would have peanut butter poisoning.

But it’s all over now. I shall not buy another jar of peanut butter until I deem it is safe. Until he stops begging for the sticky, gooey, fattening spread morning, noon, and night. Until he submissively eats what is set before him with no thought of sinking his teeth into delicious peanut butter encased by two slices of peanut butter holders. Those great big eyes and “You’re my best friend” song will not tempt me at all, and if they do, there will simply be no peanut butter in the house.

“It’s all gone, honey,” I call out.

I have a 24 ounce tub of this shortening that I use daily, and no, I haven’t been making any pies lately. The label forgot to mention how great this is for the SKIN! Since I’m a freak about parabens, PABAs, laureths and other synthetics in my lotions, I have a hugely difficult time finding a lotion or cream I can use with good conscience. (See this list of chemicals to avoid in your cosmetics and soaps). I’m cursed with dry skin, and my kids all suffer from eczema, especially right now, in the high desert in winter, so a product like this is a necessity.

I’d already tried rubbing olive oil on my skin with good results, so I naturally tried the Spectrum Shortening, which I had in my cupboard. If it’s good enough to eat, surely it’s just fine for your skin. And only one ingredient, which name I can easily pronounce and understand: palm oil. And, truly, it works just as well as any lotion or cream I’ve tried for dry skin. I like that it’s naturally in a solid state - it has a creamy texture that’s not too messy like an oil. You don’t need to refrigerate it, just keep it at room temperature in the pantry.

If you will be using the Spectrum Shortening for cooking, I’d recommend having a separate tub just for the skin. My kids help themselves to the shortening tub and just love getting their sticky little fingers in there and rubbing it on their own skin. So you can imagine I’m not very willing to cook with it after that!

The Works for Me Wednesday Master List is Here. Oops, I just realized today is Backwards day, in which you ask a question, not give a solution - oh, well, please just go rub some shortening on yourself, and ask, is this working?

Smooth and sweet, this gushing garden gulp is a blend of sweet apple juice and luscious purees of peach, mango, strawberry and banana, expertly blended with green foods including wheat grass, barley grass and wheat sprouts, plus other great stuff.

The best part is that it tastes GREAT! So, what works for you?

Well, at least that’s how it happens in my house with three and four year olds - and even the six and eight year olds.

It’s a great temptation to lock kids out of the kitchen, and there are pressing times when I have to say, “No, Mommy has to do this herself,” but I try to have a general rule that the children can always help. However, to maintain a level of sanity, I’ve come up with some tips and tricks which I’ll list below, for making the cooking time with kids an enjoyable and educational experience.

I’ve read several stories of great chefs who always point back to their childhood cooking with their mothers or grandmothers as a meaningful element in their later careers. I’ve also read accounts of women who know little about cooking because their mothers didn’t allow them in the kitchen.

There is a wonderful book called The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber that convinced me I needed to make a significant place in my time with the kids for food - from the picking out of the ingredients at the market, to the preparation of the meal, to the enjoyment of the taste. Abu-Jaber “comes from cooking,” and notes that how you cook and eat, and how you feed your neighbors defines who you are.

I’ve been remiss in keeping to that commitment, but especially as the holidays are welcomed, I want to renew that vision. Here’s my list to keep me on track with cooking with kids:

1. Plan ahead for the extra time required for the children to be helping.

2. Assign turns if you have multiple children, or chaos will ensue unless you’re WonderCook. With my four children, I allow up to two at a time helping, and the kids take turns. I’ve had meltdowns involving four chubby little hands all trying to stir the same batter.

3. Pick a few recipes for the children to work on consistently so they have it memorized. My children help make pancakes or muffins several mornings a week and know the recipes by heart and have such a joy in preparing something they know so well.

4. Teach as you go. “JoJo, show me which one is the tablespoon and which one is the teaspoon,” I say to my four year old, and she quickly picks the right one. Or I say, “JJ, what does the baking powder do for the recipe?”

5. Allow licking! My kids enjoy the licking of the spoons and bowl nearly as much (or more!) as eating.

6. Ask your older children to prepare simple meals for the family, and maybe come up with a schedule, like every Wednesday, your eight year old son makes lunch for the other children. I have a cookbook called Kids in the Kitchen with great recipes youngsters can make themselves.

7. Encourage creativity. If your six year old daughter does what mine did, and creates a concoction including milk, raisins, cinnamon, coconut, pepper, and cracker crumbs, at least oblige her by tasting her creation.

8. Safety first! Any parts of the cooking projects that involve sharp knives or burning hot ovens, Mom takes over. I am right by my children’s side as we prepare foods because they are all still very young.

Happy cooking with kids, and enjoy the upcoming holiday feasts!

And before you can catch her, because you are busy with other work and four little children, she proceeds to then remove these same dirty clothes from the dryer, fold them, and put them away, never minding that they have bits of food stuck to them and the crusty socks still have retained their owner’s shape.

This calamity causes the daughter whose nearly 80 year old mother lives with her to race from drawer to drawer, feeling for clothes that are still warm and smelling for nasty socks, to pull out and begin the proper wash process once again. The chaos caused by all this commotion causes the elderly mother to break down in tears and retreat to her room.

Repeat above scenario with the dishwasher, and I believe your mother has Alzheimer’s.

You can find me over here getting help.

My friends ask, why don’t you just go buy one?! They are not that expensive, after all. Well, the tight-wad husband says we are not about to waste money on a cheap microwave when we’ll have a very nice one to go with all the new stainless steel appliances that will be in our new house that he’s building. Same reason we don’t have a T.V. Or dressers. Or a bed. Well, okay, I have a bed - it’s a mattress on a steel frame. You get the idea. Good thing I enjoy living simply.

So, the microwave. Reheating my coffee in the morning was my biggest concern. I must have hot coffee. Well, RV life introduced me to French press coffee. I boil water in a pan and pour it in the sexy French carafe. I reheat my coffee as needed in the pan. Now that we’re in a house, I do have a coffee pot I use (though nothing quite compares anymore to the richness of French press). But since I refuse to drink coffee out of anything but high quality ceramic, those plastic lidded mugs are out - thus the need to reheat. I also sip and savor, and will never get through a mug of coffee without the bottom third getting cold. And actually, since I’ve been drinking my coffee out of these cool coffee mugs with pewter logos (remember these?), I couldn’t put it in a microwave, anyway.

Here’s what I discovered: I can reheat my coffee in a pan on the stove in about three minutes. Is my life so high speed and busy that I can’t take three minutes to heat my coffee? If so, perhaps something’s wrong. It’s not like I have to gather wood, start a fire, and keep it stoked. I just turn a knob. Really, what would our great-great grandmothers think of us, complaining about waiting three minutes (in our warm, cozy houses) for our coffee to reheat?

What about left-overs? The horror! No microwave to reheat leftovers! Well, there is that dinosaur of an appliance called the stove. It reheats food remarkably well. Pizza - 10 minutes at 350. Casserole - 10 minutes at 350. Chicken - 10 minutes at 350. That’s my mantra: 10 minutes at 350. And honestly, I can understand reheating those particular foods in a microwave, but you’d never want to actually cook them in a microwave. The pizza would be soggy, the casserole would be mushy, and the chicken would be rubbery. And I always hated how microwave heated french fries tasted like wet sawdust.

The stove-top is just as clever at cooking or reheating. I found that my left-over rice was really tasty when I heated it in a big skillet with either a few tablespoons of water or oil. And if you think your popcorn days are over with no microwave, think again! I grew up fascinated with popping corn in a big pan on the stove, and today’s kids will love the novelty - just be sure to use a clear glass lid so they can watch the excitement. It tastes REAL, not fakey, oversalty. Do you see? The microwave steals away the fun, the interaction, the creativity to be had with food.

The baby bottle? Mommas, never, ever, put the baby bottle in a microwave. If there’s no microwave there to tempt you with its time-saving tentacles, you’re better off, perhaps. Just heat a pan of hot water and let the baby bottle stand in it for several minutes. No hot spots to burn baby, no loss of nutrition.

Here’s a lesson I’ve learned: after a readjustment period of cooking-time expectations, I DO NOT miss the microwave. Once I had it in my head that I needed to allow 30 or 45 minutes to cook dinner, not five, I learned to plan ahead and be prepared. And be prepared for better tasting food, by the way!

If you can bear with me a moment, there are health/nutritional reasons, too many to number, for choosing traditional cooking over a microwave. Here are a few, and follow the links for the full scoop.

From the USDA:

Do not let plastic wrap touch foods during microwaving. Also, plastic storage containers such as margarine tubs, take-out containers, whipped topping bowls, and other one-time use containers should not be used in microwave ovens. These containers can warp or melt, possibly causing harmful chemicals to migrate into the food.

Microwave ovens can cook unevenly and leave “cold spots,” where harmful bacteria can survive.

Cooking whole, stuffed poultry in a microwave oven is not recommended. The stuffing might not reach the temperature needed to destroy harmful bacteria.

From Delicious Organics:

Microwaves can destroy the nutritional value of food. For example, a 2003 study by The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture found that broccoli cooked in the microwave with a bit of water lost up to 97% of the beneficial antioxidant chemicals it contained; by contrast, steamed broccoli lost just 11% or fewer of its antioxidants.

Studies done by Swiss food scientist Dr. Hans Hertel found that microwave cooking can result in unnatural chemical alterations to t