Favorite Utensils

In these days of electronic gadgets, many people just have to buy the newest and latest bit of technology.  I was pretty excited to just have a phone without a cord.  Having one that takes videos, downloads stuff from the internet, helps plan your day, AND makes phone calls is simply astounding.

But I’m a simple woman.  Give me a practical item that helps me in the kitchen or to be more organized and I’m sold!  It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money or be over-the-top fancy.  The more practical, the better.
Let me introduce you to two of my favorite gadgets.  They were both given to me as gifts from my husband.  (I do need to clarify that they were gifts that I picked out … and even put in the cart … so that I could get what I wanted.)

My first helpful tool is my new Pampered Chef can opener. It’s works like magic as it demagnetizes the lid from the can.  It doesn’t leave that sharp edge that makes washing the can out for recycling a perilous job.


My other sweet tool is my label maker.  This one I actually pointed out on the shelf at Sam’s Club, fully expecting it to make it’s way into the cart and then into a gift bag for Mother’s Day.  (My expectations were justified considering I added an “or else” to the instructions on how to buy what Mom wants as a gift!)

If  you come to my house, you’ll find a lot of evidence of this handy gadget’s use.  The shelves in my homeschool room, the shelves of the pantry, the linen closet, my various binder, files and notebooks, all have nifty labels.  If you want to find a Newberry Award winning book, gluten-free snacks, Educational Computer games, or beach towels my labels will lead you straight to those specific items.


Since I like to share, I’ve taken my label-maker out to the church.  Now, there’s no reason to get lost in the kitchen … everything is well-labeled!

What’s your favorite gadget?  What handy-dandy item has made your life easier or just plain more fun?

A Plenitude of Swiss Chard

Swiss chard has become one of my garden favorites.  The first varieties of this leafy vegetable have been traced back to Sicily.  The word Swiss was used to distinguish chard from French spinach varieties by 19th century seed catalog publishers. (again, my friend, Wikipedia, helped with this information)  It belongs to the same family as beets and spinach and shares a similar taste.

Swiss chard has shiny green ribbed leaves, with stems that range from white to yellow and red.  Fresh young chard can be used raw in salads while mature leaves and stalks are typically cooked.  Swiss Chard is high in vitamins A, K and C.  It is also rich in minerals, fiber and protein.  Some research suggests that Swiss Chard provides a protective cover for the colon and kidneys.

Each year I plant a few more plants.  According to Go Organic Gardening,
Swiss chard is one of the easiest vegetables to grow. Some gardeners refer to it as a “cut and come again” plant, because you can continuously harvest from the plant all season long, as long as you harvest the outer leaves, and leave the center of the plant to grow.

We add it to other greens for a salad. But mostly, I cook it as you might spinach and add it to all kinds of dishes.  I also freeze it for use in the winter. 

Here's how I prepare it:
Frozen Swiss Chard
Chop the leaves and stalks of mature (large-leafed) Swiss chard.
     I usually cook up 6 - 8 cups at a time
Chop 1 small onion.
Saute onion in 2 T. olive oil.  After the onion softens, add the Swiss chard.  Cook until it's limp and reduced.
After the mixture has cooled, put 1 cup into a freezer bag.  Label and put in the freezer.

Possible uses for the frozen Swiss chard:
Vegetarian Lasagna
Quiche (a previous posted recipe)
Soups
Quesadillas
Stir fry
Sauces for pasta
Pesto/ hummus like dips

Meatloaf

Pizza

Calzones

Egg Dishes

Etc.

A Profusion of Zucchni

I'll wager that many of you wondered what the plural form of "zucchini" is.  I'll also bet that most don't know the etymology (word origin) of "zucchini."  And that, my friends, is why we have Wikipedia, to answer those nagging questions that pop up from time to time.

According to our beloved, and occaisionally accurate, source, zucchini comes from the Italian word "zucca" which means "squash," and "zucchina" is its diminutive.  It's commonly called a "courgette" in European countries.  Different countries serve this all-purpose vegetable in a variety of ways:  in Mexico they're put in quesadillas; in Italy they're breaded and pan-fried; the French cook up ratatouille; the Turks like to make a popular dish, mücver , or "zucchini pancakes",  stuffing with meat, rice or herbs is a common dish in the Mediterranean areas.

Some years, my zucchini grows pitifully.  This year my plants have surprised me and surpassed my expecations. I've picked small ones for stir-fry and large ones, the size of newborn babies, for grating.  I found an interesting recipe for Zucchini Hummus in the paper this week.  The whole family loved it.  The basil gives it a pesto flavor.



Try it, you'll like it.

Zucchini Hummus

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cup coarsely grated zucchini

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup fresh parsely

1/4 cup fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency is reached.

A Plethora of Cucumbers

This year, my garden has blessed me with a plethora of cucumbers.  If I was a pickler, I'd be pretty happy.  But I'm not.  As a kid, I helped my mom can bread and butter pickles.  As a young girl with plenty of discretionary time, working with wide mouth Ball jars and hot water baths was kind of fun.  As a mom with far too much to do, pickling cucumbers takes up too much time.
My solution (besides leaving these green sweethearts on the neighbors' front steps), was to use a couple of really big ones in a salad.  I served it at a larger family gathering, and everyone brave enough to try it loved it.

Creamy Cucumber Salad
2 very large (or the equivalent) cucmbers
     if the cucumbers are seedy, clean them out

     thinly slice the cucmbers

5 green onions, sliced

2/3 cup mayo

2/3 cup sour cream

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon dried dill

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 cup dried parsley

Slice the vegetables and place in a medium bowl.  In a smaller bowl, combine the other ingredients.  Add to vegetables.  Chill for at least one hour.

Eggplant Recipe

Last year, I harvested only one eggplant from my garden. How disappointing!  It's not that I'm a crazy eggplant lover, but when you spend time planting, weeding, fertilizing and watering you'd like to get something for your labors.

This year, my 4 little plants are prolific!  I've picked and cooked up 4 and have another 8 on the plants. My family is not overly keen on eggplant, but they're brave enough to try any recipe once.  Here's one we liked

Eggplant Caviar*
Real Simple, May, 2010
(I'm not sure why "caviar" is in the name.)

1 large eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic
2 T. chopped, flat leaf parsley
1 T. olive oil
1 t. red wine vinegar
1 T mayonnaise (opt.)
Kosher salt and black pepper
Pumpernickely bread and cut up vegetables

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Using a fork, prick the eggplant all over.  Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast until very tender, 50 to 60 minutes
Whe the eggplant is cool enought to handle, halve it lengthwise and scrape out the flesh, discarding the skin.  Finely chop the flesh and transfer it to a large bowl.
Add the onion, garlic, parsely, oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, salt and pepper and mix to combine.  Sprinkle with additional parsely and serve with the bread and vegetables.

*Note:  I rarely make a recipe as it appears in a book or magazine.  What's the fun in that?  Here are the adjustments I made:
2 large eggplants
1 medium onion & 3 cloves of garlic sauteed in 1 T. olive oil
1 handful of dried parsley
A splash and a drizzle of apple cider vinegar
2 medium globs of mayonnaise
Gluten-free crackers

Bake the eggplants for 60 - 75 minutes on parchment paper on a large baking sheet, turning every 20 minutes.  After scraping the meat of the eggplant from the skin, mix the other ingredients (excluding the crackers) with a mixer.  The result is a nice, creamy dip for crackers, etc.

A Family Friendy Fair

This week is our state's fair.  According to the State Fair's official website, this is  one of the nation's largest and and best-attended agricultural and educational entertainment venues.  The Fair's mission is to educate and involve our guests by providing a world-class showcase that is innovative, entertaining and fun.

Again, according to their website:

We strive to:

•Showcase Minnesota’s finest agriculture, art and industry

•Present an unparalleled forum for knowledge and ideas

•Provide outstanding customer service

•Offer exceptional value

•Provide a safe, clean environment that is accessible to all

•Create unique experiences

The State Fair is a pretty large event.  Over the years, we've chosen to take the kids to smaller, local county fairs.  The Steele County and Rice Conty fairs are nearby and have been a lot of fun.

This year we went to the Dakota County Fair.  We've been there a couple of times before.  This year, it was a beastly hot day.  We might not have gone, except that we had our German friend with us and thought it would be a great midwest, American experience.

As at any small fair, we saw 4H projects, livestock, garden produce, penned-up wild animals, food stands and carnival rides. 

Unfortunately, the hot and humid weather took a lot of fun out of our day at the fair.  The rides didn't entice us.  Neither did the Heritage Village or many of the animal barns.  However, we made the most of our day, finding shade and fans where we could.  We ate a little fair food, guzzled water and took pictures.

Gotta love the summer in Minnesota!

This Pun's for You

FOR LEXOPHILES ...  LOVERS OF WORDS

A friend sent this to me in an e-mail.  Rather than forward it to all of my known friends and relations, I'm posting it here so that even more of you can chuckle along with me.

Enjoy!

1.A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
2.A will is a dead giveaway.
3.Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
4.A backward poet writes inverse.
5.A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
6.When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.

7.The guy who fell on to an upholstery machine was fully recovered.

8.You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.

9.He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.

10.A calendar's days are numbered.

11.A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.

12.A boiled egg is hard to beat.

13.Police were called to a day care where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

14.To write with a broken pencil is pointless.

15.The professor discovered that her theory of earthquakes was on shaky ground.

16.When the smog lifts in Los Angeles ….. U.C.L.A.

17.He had a photographic memory, which unfortunately was never developed.

18.The short fortuneteller who escaped from prison: a small medium at large.

19.Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

20.When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.

21.If you jump off a Paris bridge, you are in Seine.

22.In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your Count that votes.

23.A thief fell and broke his leg in wet cement. He became a hardened criminal.

24.When she saw her first strands of gray hair, she thought she'd dye.

25.Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.

26.Acupuncture: a jab well done.

27.A dentist and a manicurist fought tooth and nail.

28.If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.

29.A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
30.The dead batteries were given out free of charge.

31.If you take a laptop computer for a run you could jog your memory.

32.A plateau is a high form of flattery.

33.Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.

34.Marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet.

35.The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

36.A grenade that fell onto a kitchen floor in France resulted in Linoleum Blownapart.

37.I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

38.She was only a whisky maker, but he loved her still. (Aye!!!!)

39.With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.

40.A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption.

41.No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
42.Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
43.A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
44.We'll never run out of math teachers because they always multiply.
45.A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
46.Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
47.I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
48.A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
49.A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'

50.The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
51.Don't join dangerous cults: practice safe sects.
52.When fish are in schools they sometimes take debate.
53.Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
54.A man’s home is his castle, in a manor of speaking.
55.Shotgun wedding – a case of wife or death.