[Dining Tables at Home]

I was talking to an home economics extension person about family meals a while ago. She said that most of the young low-income families she works with don't own a dining room table. The first piece of furniture they buy is the TV, then a bed, then a couch. A dining table is way down on the list, after the stereo, VCR, computer.

Eating together as a family is pretty much unknown.

[Dining Tables at Home]

My son and I eat dinner together every night, unless one of us is working. On occasion, we will take our plates to the living room to watch something on TV, but that is pretty unusual.

When my boys were little, they used to beg for TV dinners--it was a very special occasion for them to get to eat dinner and watch TV.

When I was little, there was one night a year when dinner was in front of the TV--when the Wizard of Oz was on.

[Ich bin ein Berliner]

It means "chilly today, hot tomorrow (tamale)."

[What Pantry Item Are You Never Out Of?]

Diet Coke or Pepsi (whatever is on sale)

Dog Food

Laying Mash

Eggs (side effect of the laying mash)

[Julia Child's Hard-boiled Eggs]

I just boiled a dozen--brought them to a boil for a minute or so, turned off the heat and let them sit till I remember them--a hour or so. So far I have peeled and eaten 2.

One was impossible to peel--ended up with a quarter inch of white--the rest of the white stuck to the shell. The yolk was nice and yellow. The other peeled nicely, but the yolk was green ringed.

Should I do a spread sheet on the status of the rest of the eggs?

I marked the box with the born-on date (the day I picked them out of the nests)--December 1--so they were 25 days old when I boiled them.

And I do love hardboiled eggs.

[Heirloom Recipes]

I remember my grandma teaching me how to make homemade egg noodles, and I still have the recipe she wrote out. My dad loved chicken noodle soup, and I made it every time he came to visit. (Does anybody else sprinkle nutmeg on their noodle soup? There was always a shaker of nutmeg on the table when grandma made her soup.)

Also have her recipe for wilted lettuce salad she gave my mom, and the date nut bread recipe she baked every Christmas. From the other grandma, I have a recipe for elderblossom wine, and one for a rhubarb custard pie, which I HAVE to have every spring, sure as daffodils.

[In praise of a bread machine]

The Zojirushi bread maker is horizontal with 2 paddles, and seems to be infinitely programmable. I love mine--have been running it almost non stop for the last couple of days. (I have the dressing assignment for Christmas dinner.)

[Festivus]

We'll be having scrambled duck eggs sprinkled with mung bean shoots. It is an old family tradition from my dad's side. I remember lots of arguments about exactly how many shoots needed to be on each portion, but it was all in good fun.

My mom's side of the family tended to be more elaborate--kind of a quiche thingie, with a little Velveeta cubed into the the eggs, and a cracker crust.

[This REALLY works]

I bought a Hoover Floor-Mate--kinda like a carpet shampooer/vacuum, but for vinyl and wood floors.

Little known but true fact - if you ever hope to refinish your hardwod flors every so many years by just buffing out the top surface and having a new topcoat put on... you should never clean them with anythign other than plain water or at most, some water with a few drops of liquid dishwashing detegergent in the bucket. Most cleaners will leave waxy residues in the interstices of the poly finish and recoating after a simple buff-out will result in orange peeling of the new finish. Murphy's Oil Sopa is the absolute worst offender (this is according to the guy who installed and finished my hardwod flors and he's been inthe business for many years). If you inherited hardwods in the house when you moved in, it's safe to assume that you'll need to sand in order to refinish. If you have new floors installed or existing oens refinished - heed the above. It's relatively cheap and easy to get a recoat every 5 - 7 years rather than a complete sanding.

Not a problem in my house. The floors are painted pine, original to the house--which makes them 132 years old . If I ever wanted to have wood colored floors, I would have to lay a new floor on top of the pine.

[Need turnip ideas]

Here is my favorite thing to do with turnips:

Feed them to a pig. Eat the pig.

Turnips are on the very short list of veggies I cannot abide.

[Glad Press 'n Seal]

Jeez. The thermos joke.

Actually, 2 of them, which I first heard in MN, so they star a Swede and a Norwegian.

1. Norwegian comes in to work with a new thermos, which he shows to the Swede. Norwegian says, "It's a great new invention--keeps hot food hot and cold foods cold."

Swede says, " How does it know?"

2. (Better one) Swede comes into work with new thermos. Says the wife bought it for him, and told him it would keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Norwegian asks him what he brought for lunch.

Swede says "Coffee and a popsicle."

[Bureaucrats try food stamp diet]

I worked for the KY Health Department years ago, as a petty bureaucrat, making sure all the rules and regs from the state office were followed in the county health departments.

At that time, WIC recipients (pregnant and nursing mother, infants and children under the age of 5.) could get dried or canned beans, real cheese (not processed), milk, unsugared cereal, real orange juice (not drink) and infant formula. Maybe it's different in other states, but those are the items I see in MO stores with WIC labels.

They were required to show up at the HD for nutrition counseling, which was much more complete than any nutrition counseling I ever recieved from my doc or OB.

Their kids had to be up to date on shots and well-baby checks for the food to keep coming, and pregnant women had to be receiving prenatal care, all things that keep folks healthy and save the taxpayers money later on.

It did, however, piss me off the other day to see a woman paying for her Diet Coke with food stamps. That just ain't right.

[You know you are in a bad restaurant when....]

Mudpuppy, you missed out on a real treat. That was probably Ted Drewes Frozen Custard.

A "concrete" is a shake that is so thick they hand it to you upside down with the spoon stuck in it.

[Impulse Buys at the Grocery Check-Out]

Put me in the Weekly World News column. When it makes me laugh out loud in line, I buy it.

[This REALLY works]

I bought a Hoover Floor-Mate--kinda like a carpet shampooer/vacuum, but for vinyl and wood floors. I don't do product endorsements, but my floor has never been so clean. Until I train the dogs to wipe their feet at the door, this will remain my favorite cleaning tool.

edited to add: They are on sale today at Amazon--Friday Sale.

[Bacteria and Grocery Store Carts!]

if you see people using a shopping trolley to stir their soup

And even that would be ok as long as they bring the soup to a good hard boil after stirring.

[Venison]

I think flavor has a lot to do with sex and age. A big trophy buck may make a lovely mount for the wall, but he will taste strong and (to me, anyway) unpleasant.

Give me a young doe anytime.

[Entries: Round Thirteen]

The Crocodile Hunter

Sunscreen

antivenin

bandaids

gauze

adhesive tape

Neosporin

vegemite

[Two People, Thirty-four bucks]

Should I mail ya a couple dozen eggs?

[Q&A -- Preservation Basics]

Good job. As an Extension specialist, I would stress to US folks to call their county extension office (or look it up on the web) for instructions.

Water for water bath canning must cover the JARS by one inch.

Most tomatoes are acid enough to can with a water bath, but some new varieties are low acid, and need to be pressure canned.

I make dilled green beans--I don't like them, too sour, but other folks gobble them up.

Dilly Beans

2 pounds (very) fresh green beans, put into 4 clean pint canning jars. In each jar, put

1 head dill

1 garlic clove

1 hot pepper

Boil

2 1/2 cups water

2 1/2 cups white vinegar

1/4 cup non-iodized salt

and pour over beans.

Put on lids and bands, process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

[Paw paw]

Paw paws (the asimina triloba kind) are greenish yellow when ripe, soft like a peach and quite fragrant. (Actually, I think they stink, and taste just like they smell, but some folks like em.)

Your trees will not fruit every year, and when they do fruit, you will have to fight the squirrels for them. I would rather eat the squirrels.

[Braised Beef Sandwiches]

Big buttered toasty rolls with provolone melted in them, stuff with beef, dip in broth.

Yum.

Provolone, yeah.

[Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Help]

Whisper to maggie: grits is nasty. Breakfast grits, cheese grits, garlic grits, all of them--nasty. Try to avoid them.

[Aussie Meat Pies]

Could someone explain "mushy peas" to me? The only thing I think of when I hear that is canned sweet peas, which, IMHO, should be a felony. The only thing worse is canned peas and carrots, which is the only kind of child abuse I was ever exposed to. Canned peas and carrots, thrown into tuna noodle casserole, for "color."

Yarp.

[Eggs]

I think you are just bragging, myself.

I have chickens, and always use the freshest eggs--the ones that are 2 or 3 days old go in the cartons and are sold or given away. (And they are still way fresher than the grocery store eggs.)