Category Archives: Food

A Quartet of Sisters Hodgepodge

It’s Wednesday and time for the Hodgepodge questions this first week in August! Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond!

1. Do you have a sister? Tell us something about her. If you don’t have a sister, tell us about a friend who has been like a sister. Or tell us about a sister-in-law if you have one who is extra special. 

I have 3 sisters and 4 brothers. My sister-in-laws are extra special, too. The photo above is of us sisters in age order, youngest on the left and oldest on the right.

My oldest sister Kathy is a gifted teacher. Vera has the gift of hospitality. Lana is an amazing organizer. We all challenge each other to follow Jesus closely. We all sing and have sung in choirs, trios, duets or in a ‘rock’ band. We all can cook for a crowd.

2. Resister, assister, insister, persister…choose one of the words listed and explain how it relates to you and your life lately. 

Right now since I’m working on dropping unwanted pounds I would say I’m a resister. It’s interesting what a great resister I am in the morning up until about 3pm and then it gets tougher for me to resist so I switch to insister, telling my brain I do not need to have this or that as it will derail my plan. I’m working on some healthier eating habits, too. I want to be able to walk in England in September without huffing and puffing and sweating more than I need to because of excess weight.

3. Share a favorite song, book, movie, or television program that features sisters.

How timely as we pulled out BBC version of Pride and Prejudice on Monday evening and are watching all the episodes again with the 5 sisters who are all quite different from each other.

4. August 3rd is national watermelon day…are you a fan? ~ Yes

Do you like watermelon flavored candy?  NO

Besides eating the melon as is, do you have a good recipe made with watermelon? 

This Watermelon Cucumber Salad is perfect for a summer get together.

5. ‘Tis August…what are three things you’re looking forward to this month.

Our Coast kids are hopping over for a long weekend visit, Addy starts soccer this month so I’ll enjoy watching on the sidelines, and I’ll be helping a little with Vacation Bible School.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I’m making this dessert again this week for a dinner we are having here on Saturday evening. It has a few steps but is pretty easy to make. It’s a dessert you can make a few days ahead. I think it would easily serve 10-12 people. I’ll give you the link so you can see how much prettier you can make it look with whip cream and fresh strawberries on top. I only used a large carton of good Strawberry Ice Cream. My carton was not 1/2 gallon so my version is not as tall as the showstopper…

I used vanilla wafers and regular Strawberry Ice Cream.

To see the showstopper version of this cake and get the recipe click below!

You can find the recipe here.

It’s called Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Cake because she used Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream. I call mine Strawberry Ice Cream Cake since I didn’t find the shortcake version of ice cream to use. It is not overly sweet. Hopefully I’ll remember to take a photo of the cake decorated with whipped cream and Strawberries on Saturday.

Goodbye July Hodgepodge

Another Summer Wednesday Hodgepodge today with thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond.

1. According to author Gary Chapman there are five love languages-words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service, and receiving gifts. Which one is yours? 

If you mean which one do I receive as love, I’d have to say acts of service with true words of affirmation coming in close. On the other side, the giving not receiving, I like to give gifts.

2. What are five foods you eat every day? 

As it stands, I’m in a period of trying to drop some pounds so according to that regiment here are five foods I’m eating at present:

High Fiber Cereal from Trader Joe’s with 9 grams of fiber per serving, a good handful of blueberries, low fat string cheese, eggs and an assortment of veggies.

3. Five places you’d love to visit?

Prince Edward Island, Ireland, New England States, More National Parks, More of Great Britain

4. Something you’ve done recently that deserved a ‘high five‘?

I’ve lost a good solid 12 pounds.

5.  Give us five 5-letter words that describe your July. 

Water: with the summer heat I’ve been watering, a lot.

Shade: If I’m outside I try to find shade. We have also put up our shade cloth.

Walks: Early morning walks have started in July.

Grands: July has lots of opportunities for fun in the sun with our Grands!

Focus: Working on a more God-Centered focus. Something I read yesterday in a devotional by Alistair Begg: “Jesus made it clear that in order for us to embrace a God-centered focus, we must first understand who we are without Him. In fact, Jesus explained to His disciples that apart from Him they could do nothing; after all, “in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17) Our need for Jesus is not partial; it is total. None of us can even breathe without God’s enabling. How can we think of taking credit for any work that He’s done through us? We are absolutely impoverished without divine help.”

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Speaking of our grands and July, on Monday we went into the Colville National Forest to a very remote area to help our kids get stocked up with fire wood for the winter. I’ll do a whole post on our time there. Here are the grands who persevered a whole 4 hours!

Mango Jicama Slaw

This slaw is a fresh alternative to traditional coleslaw for a barbecue. You can use a store bought dressing or mix up Anneliese’s dressing. Anneliese also has a tutorial on how to cut a mango at that link.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 Small Jicama, peeled and julienned
  • 2 Mangoes, peeled and julienned
  • 1/2 small cabbage julienned
  • 1 handful of cilantro, chopped
  • 2 green onions/scallions sliced thin
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Store bought mango dressing or Anneliese’s dressing

Method:

  1. Mix all fresh ingredients together.
  2. Add enough dressing to coat.

Serves 6

You can double or triple this recipe for a large crowd using up a whole Jicama, whole head of cabbage, adding more mangoes and increasing the dressing. An easy tip is to use equal parts Jicama, Mango and Cabbage.
If you don’t want to bother with whole mangoes you can buy peeled and pitted mangoes at your grocery store. I bought mine at Costco.

Free Range Hodgepodge

Time for Wednesday Hodgepodge with thanks to Jo From This Side of the Pond for coming up with the questions.

The internet has been touch and go at our country bungalow so I’m behind on my visits to your blogs. Hopefully things will speed up and I’ll be back soon.

1. July 6th is National Fried Chicken Day…are you a fan? Do you make your own or have a favorite place to buy from? Do you own chickens? If not chicken what’s your favorite fried food?

Chicken is not my favorite fried food but we do enjoy fried chicken and buy it once in a while from Colonel Lickie Quickie Chickie. We do not own chickens but our local kids do. I like Tempura Vegetables and they are probably my favorite fried food.

2.  What’s something you’re too chicken to try?

Sky diving, bungie jumping, backpacking just to name a few.

3. When did you last find yourself running around like a ‘chicken with its head cut off‘?

I’m drawing a blank with this one.

4. Something you’ve done recently that makes you think ‘I’m no spring chicken’? 

Oh boy, here we go. Trying to get up off the floor when I get down to play with the grands. Getting down on the floor isn’t easy either. Weeding is another thing that reminds me of the natural progression of my age and how it affects my body. Trying to get out of cars that sit low to the ground.

5. ‘Winner winner chicken dinner‘…tell us about something good that’s happened in your life lately. 

So many things…

Time spent with loved ones that I hadn’t seen for ages. Visits from our kids and grands. Finding a friend to walk with. My dear husband and his care for me. Speaking of Dear, he’s painting the exterior of our home and it is looking fresh and good. Generally relationally I am blessed with very little conflict, with good relationships and I don’t take that for granted.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The many faces of our grands reacting to their at home Fourth of July fireworks! Thank you to our daughter-in-law for capturing these moments.

Greek Salad

Here’s another great Summer salad.

Greek Salad
Ingredients:

  • 1 cup cucumber chopped
  • 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 cup canned chickpeas (garbanzo), drained, rinsed.
  • 1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted, sliced
  • 1/4 cup scallions, sliced (you can substitute red onion here)
  • 1/4 cup coarsely chopped parsley
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2-3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

Method:

  1. Combine the cucumbers, tomatoes, chickpeas, olives, scallions, and parsley in a large bowl.
  2. Whisk together lemon juice, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper for the vinaigrette in a bowl.
  3. Drizzle olive oil into lemon juice mixture in a steady stream while whisking, after it emulsifies stir in mint and adjust seasonings to taste.
  4. Pour over the combined ingredients and mix well.

Double the recipe if you are serving this as a main dish. This recipe would serve 2 as a main dish.
As a side it serves 4-6 people.
I used the whole English Cucumber for the salad pictured above which was probably 2 cups or more of the cucumber.

Cobb Salad

A Cobb salad is a great choice for a summer dinner. I’m working on a more heart healthy diet and would like to have this at least once a week for dinner. You can add all these ingredients or leave out the items you don’t enjoy.

Cobb Salad for two:

2 hearts of romaine chopped, washed and spin dried.
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced.
1 Avocado skinned and chopped.
4 slices of Canadian Bacon, chopped.
1 cup cooked and chopped chicken breast.
1 tomato, chopped.
Crumbled bleu cheese or Gorgonzola, optional
Red onion thinly sliced.

Layer your choice of ingredients and enjoy.

The choice of dressing is up to you. My husband enjoys a Bleu cheese dressing with his Cobb. I prefer to just use salt and fresh squeezed lemon. A Red Wine Vinaigrette is also a good choice.

Mocha Toffee Dessert

I got this recipe from my mother over 45 years ago and have no idea where she got it from.

serves 4

Ingredients:
  • 1- 3 or 3 1/4 ounce package regular vanilla pudding mix
  • 1 Tablespoon instant coffee powder
  • 1 3/4 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
  • 2/3 cup of evaporated milk
  • 2 chocolate covered English toffee bars (5/8 ounces each) coarsely crushed
  • whipped cream
Method:

1. In medium saucepan, combine pudding mix and coffee powder.
Gradually stir in 1 3/4 cups milk till mixture is blended.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil.
3. Remove from heat and cover surface of pudding with waxed paper or plastic wrap, cool and chill.
4. In small saucepan combine chocolate pieces and evaporated milk. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture boils and chocolate is melted. Cool and chill.
4. Remove paper from pudding mixture.
5. Spoon the pudding mixture equally into 4 parfait glasses.
6. Sprinkle crushed candy onto top of layer.
7. Top with a good portion of chocolate sauce and top with more crushed candy.
8. Finish off with whipped cream and a sprinkle of crushed candy.

If you use taller and narrower glasses you can make more layers before you top it off with whipped cream.

I found the smaller containers to work better as this is a very rich dessert.
Instead of crushing two candy bars I found these packaged toffee bits that worked real well.

Sunday Night in Cali

On Sunday afternoon/evening my sister and I were invited for dinner at our friends beautiful home in the city of Orange. We sat in their patio and enjoyed appetizers, lots of conversations and then dinner. It’s hard to tell from the photo above but that is an infinity pool in the background.

Our wonderful host and hostess, Ken and Heidi. Heidi was my best buddy in my college years and beyond. She was living with Dear and me when she met Ken, dated him, got engaged and then married. I was her matron of honor. She is truly the hostess with the mostess.

Ta-da and toodle-pip!

Toodle pip is a very British and informal way to bid farewell.

Thank you for a beautiful evening, great food and good conversation. Till next time…

Driving home from Ken and Heidi’s I took a photo of the gas prices at this station.

While I was in Cali the local kids dropped by on Sunday to pick up a package that was delivered to us for them.

JJ and Gramps also went next door to pick up one of my packages that was mistakenly delivered to our neighbor. Addy conquered the gravel mountain in front of the shop.

Back to Colville and the Country and away from the big city lights. Tonight we are having our local kids and grands over for dinner. This will be the first time since April 29th. For much of May and into June they were in another state for a Workation.  It will be fun to have some extended time with Addy and JJ and see what new skills or vocabulary they have developed.

For those in the U.S. and Canada a Happy Father’s Day weekend to you!

Starting the Day…

Enjoy a cuppa of whatever you wish as we start our long Memorial Day Weekend here in the States.

Tea or Coffee?

What State or Country do you hail from?

What’s your favorite kind of muffin with your cuppa?

Maybe a scone is more desired. Plain or fruity?

Relax on a sofa or overstuffed chair inside or in a quiet spot with a relaxing view out of doors?

Thank you for dropping in. Have a good day and weekend.

Memories Hodgepodge

 

borsch-snoqualmie-001

It’s Wednesday and that means Jo From This Side of the Pond is asking questions for us to answer. Thank you Joyce!

1. What’s something that makes you feel stressed? How do you cope? 

Confrontation makes me stressed. If I can I walk away, I do. One of my coping mechanisms is to avoid it altogether. That’s okay unless I’m the cause for the need of the confrontation. Asking for forgiveness is a good solution. There are other situations where being a peacemaker is the solution.

2. What’s a food you eat that evokes a memory? Explain. 

Borsch (Borscht) evokes lots of memories of growing up. I hated it when I was little. The cabbage was not a pleasant texture to my palate. Having to sit at the table until I finished my bowl is not a good memory. I sat there for what seems hours after everyone else left the table. My solution was rebellious and I suffered for it by the reprimanding from my mom. While I was alone in the kitchen I decided the solution to my problem was to pour my bowl back in the pot. This would have worked except for the fact that I had soaked lots of bread in the bowl of soup. It was clear to my mom that I dumped my bowl of soup back in the pot. Oye, was I in trouble!

I love borsch now! Here’s our mom’s recipe.

3. This week’s Hodgepodge lands on National Visit Your Relatives Day. Will you celebrate by visiting a relative? If so is travel involved? Geographically, who is your nearest relative (not counting those living in your own house)?

No, I will not be visiting a relative. Our nearest relatives live 8 miles away from us. They are enjoying sunshine elsewhere right now. I will travel to their property to water the garden and maybe check the chicken coop for eggs. Our other relatives (children, siblings, aunts, nieces, nephews, cousins) live in Western Washington, California, Colorado, Texas, North Carolina, New York, Illinois, Florida and Israel. Dear and my parents, grandparents, uncles and all but one aunt are deceased.

I will see some of our California relatives and friends when I travel to Southern California for a Memorial Service in June.

4. What’s your most frequently used emoji?

Probably a heart or smiley face.

Do you make more phone calls, send more emails, or mainly text to communicate with friends and family? 

It used to be phone calls and emails but now it’s mainly text. Phone calls are few and far between because our country connections are dismal.

5. Tell us the story behind a favorite piece of furniture. 

We have an eclectic collection of furniture with lots of stories behind them but one of our newer purchases of an old piece is my current favorite. I wrote about it here.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

It’s Ice Cream weather for these two! Love seeing their faces via texts!