Some meatless Friday lunches

My family tries to observe meatless Fridays year-round. After a lot of peanut butter or egg salad sandwiches, I have found that the easiest way to provide an interesting Friday lunch is to either serve a meatless meal (or meatless base with meat on the side) on Thursday night as well, so as to have some leftovers to work with. Outside of Lent, we have a family Friday night pizza and a movie tradition, so Thursday often ends up as our fish night. I lack the motivation to cut up fruit at lunch time, so the kids usually have frozen berries or homemade applesauce on the side.

My kids have enjoyed

Arugula pesto pasta with broiled fish

Shrimp salad with brie

Deviled eggs, corn salad, rye bread

Tuna rice salad

Vegetable pasta salad

Vegetable stir-fry with eggs

Shrimp pasta salad, tomatoes with buttermilk dressing, goldfish in beet hummus

Imitation crab salad open face, roasted sweet potatoes, applesauce

Wondering what to do with all that rhubarb?

This recipe got high marks from some Church Ladies recently:

3 pounds rhubarb, cut up


Mixed with
1 bottle vodka
1/4 cup grand marnier
Simple syrup (6 tablespoons sugar heated to boiling with 1/4 cup water)


Cool the syrup before mixing into the rest of the ingredients. 
Let stand 1-2 weeks in covered container.

Recipe is flexible - it originally called for 1/2 cup of the Grand Marnier, but my source preferred with less.

It's a lovely pink color and, according to reports, is dangerously good when mixed with 7-Up.

On a somewhat related note, I'm re-reading Anne of Green Gables now and this is just homey enough to make me think of Marilla's Raspberry Cordial.  (Medicinal purposes only, right?)

Slab piecing + Easter cards

 

 

I recently came across the book Sunday Morning Quilts at my public library and can't recommend it enough.  It is chockful of ideas about how to make the most of fabric scraps - from organizing them to incorporating them into new projects.  Although I'm not a quilter, the parish thrift store has baskets of tempting fabric scraps available for a pittance (the fabric for the apron pictured above ran me 25 cents).  Many of the book's projects are built on the technique of slab piecing - putting together scraps or strips to form a "fabric."  Think Log Cabin, but with the strips all different widths to make the most of leftover fabric or crazy quilting on a larger scale. 

 

My forays into slab piecing left me with some small irregular pieces.  I'm the first to admit you will not find me making a postage stamp quilt.  A particularly bold paisley reminded me of Rechenka's Eggs, and I made these Easter cards from fabric scraps and basic office supplies:

 

Supplies
5x8 unlined index cards
(Optional - printer with black ink)
2-3 brown paper grocery bags
(Optional - Brown marker, crayon, or stamp plus ink)
Colored fabric scraps
Scotch tape
Glue stick

Directions
Print or hand write text on to the cards. 

Cut the wide front and back panels off the bags.  Remove handles or areas of double thickness. Fold each panel into a square twice - now you have a square 1/4 of the size of the original paper.  Fold it into a triangle from the center to the outside edge and cut basket (split in half vertically across the diagonal fold) like you would a snowflake - 4 baskets.  If desired, use markers or stamps to add some texture to the baskets).  I found it easiest to cut proportional eggs if I held the fabric in small half square triangles, but there is a lot of wiggle room, as a large portion of the eggs are covered by the basket.  Use tape to position eggs on the wrong side of the basket and then glue in place.

 

My Lenten Challenge

One of the things I love about Lent is the challenge to simplify my life and make room for important things. While pondering the spiritual clutter this week, I kept picturing other clutter; the time it takes from my life and the resources that could be going to better use elsewhere.

Where did I put that birthday gift I bought 6 months ago now that his birthday is coming up soon? Is it really necessary to keep all 50 of these cookbooks when I use the same 10 or so over and over? (You get the idea.)

Anyway, along the lines of the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge, I'm making a list of random places in my home that can be simply cleaned and organized. We've lived in the same house for 20+ years and it's quite surprising to consider all the places that are hidden away from sight but still get filled to the brim with stuff I don't even use or want anymore! To make it doable, I tried to choose small places that could easily be organized in a short period of time (hence, my 6-drawer desk could take 6 days), but by the end of Lent I'm looking forward to a greater sense of detachment, a better use of my time (not searching for that missing whatever) and a greater overall sense of stewardship as I bring things to my favorite charity garage sale this spring.

My List:

• desk drawers
• silverware drawer
• cookbook collection
• closet shelf
• DVD cabinet
• Holiday decorations
• shoe collection
• out-of-season clothes
• sock/underwear drawer
• night stand
• pantry
• freezer
• magazine basket/rack
• bookshelf
• under the bed
• craft area
• yarn/fabric stash
• toy box
• make-up bag
• hair stuff
• nail polish
• linen closet
• bathroom cabinets
• car glove compartment, console, trunk
• Mitten box (hats, umbrellas, etc.)
• top of my file cabinet

Decorganizing

"I went to the new flagship Compartment Store on Fifth Avenue and bought everything I need to get my life in order.

There was a stacker thing to separate your junk mail from your humidifier catalogs, a thing you stick on your laptop that holds your keys, a round plastic deal that holds your shoes with a pocket for a photograph of what shoes are in there.

I'm going to become wonderful. It's a new beginning, like a phoenix rising..."

(Liz Lemon, 30 Rock)

Décor organizing has been all the rage for the last few seasons. For a simple, attractive, and cheap storage solution, I turned to a cardboard module in high availability at my house- disposable diaper boxes. Covered with contact paper for a decorative finish, they ended the teetering piles of sweaters on my closet shelf.

More winter weather ideas

Marilla sighed and then said proudly: "I'm giving Anne that half-dozen braided rugs I have in the garret... I made them from the nicest rags, and braided them in stripes."
(L.M. Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams)

With an oddly shaped entry way, I have been hard-pressed to find an indoor doormat. Appreciating the aesthetic of rag rugs, I turned to Vintage Chica's tutorial to make my own from quilting scraps and men’s shirts in too poor condition for donation. I hit on this method by luck of the draw, but what I like best is that there is no need for seaming as each row connects to the next and that there is limited tying needed due to the switchback style of cutting strips.

These boots are made for walking

It has been a warm winter in New England with no accumulated snow for the last three months, but other parts of the country have not been so lucky. A boot tray can expedite the drying of your boots. Plastic ones are available at most hardware stores (and can be spray painted to match your décor). If you live in a child free, pet free household, this DIY option with pebbles could be very attractive.

I painted a battered roasting pan from the parish rummage sale with outdoor spray paint, then lined the interior with a piece of cork. Egg cartons help tall boots keep their shape.

C.L. Hint of the Day: Organizing tea

There's nothing like a hot cup of tea on a cold winter's day. But between the small samplers that came in a Christmas basket and a cavernous cupboard above my head, my tea shelf had become a mess. I couldn't tell what I had or how much of it. I was loath to give up the original boxes because some brands of tea were tag and bag less.

Solution:
One quart jars
Dry erase marker
snack size baggies
scissors

Group your tea into categories- mine were black, chai, caffeine free herbal, mint, and citrus. Trim an identifying portion of the box from tea bags that don't have tags or bags, and place it in snack size baggies with the loose bags. Put the tea in the appropriate jar and label with a dry erase marker.

Quick Tips to Get Well Quick

Just in time for flu season, Apartment Therapy has a great list of items to keep on hand for when you're taken sick. After all, schlepping to the drugstore or the supermarket is the the last thing you want to do when you or a family member is ill. I always keep chicken soup and herbal tea in my pantry- what are your must haves?

Image source

Hint of the Day: Waste bowl

Because washing a dish is easier than cleaning a counter!

A recent cookbook suggested using a bowl to collect all the discarded bits while doing meal prep. If you are clumsy like me, there is nothing more frustrating than dropping a carefully peeled garlic clove or carrot into the trash can. It's also helpful when you have multiple cooks in the kitchen.

CL Hint of the Day: Yarn Stash

When your yarn stash begins to exceed its storage space, call it home decor.

Apothecary jars would work well for this, too.

Uplifting the mundane

This take on a dry erase board has been making the rounds of various ladies' magazines and blogs and it really is a nice addition to my kitchen.

Supplies:
large picture frame with glass
light colored fabric 1" larger than the back w(edges serged or treated with Fray check)
stapler
masking tape (optional)

Remove carboard backing. Wrap fabric around it, smoothing away any wrinkles. Open stapler, and staple fabric in place on reverse side. Place inside frame, fabric side forward, and seal back (either with masking tape, or replacing the original staples etc).

The whole process took 5 minutes, start to finish, and cost next to nothing. It would make a lovely hostess gift or dorm-warming present.

N.B. If you have little ones or a tile floor, I would recommend making sure the frame is hung with wire rather than relying on the backing loop for support, in case the frame gets knocked.

Making it beautiful

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

(Keats)

I have been occupied lately with an impending move, that has required packing up my beloved scullery.

In the process, I've come across a number of jars carefully saved. The jars themselves are quite lovely. (I haven't decided whether I buy Inglehoffer mustard for the mustard or the jar- I love their little potbelly shape, and they are the sweetest bud vase for a casual table.) Glass jars are so handy and timelessly beautiful for coralling sundries- but I didn't feel the need to annonce for eternity that this jar once contained creamy horseradish.

That's where my good friend contact paper comes in (and this was nothing fancy in the way of contact paper- my husband picked it up at the hardware store). I traced circles as large as the bottom diameter, then cut rectangular strips the same length as the circumference, and smoothed it all together.

Voila- pretty little jars for pennies. My next project will be to re-cover the lids of my spice jars, which are almost all re-purposed condiment jars, since I buy spices in bulk.

Also check out my new bud vase for larger blossoms (originally a bottle of Redemption bourbon). I like its lines.

Reclaiming the Rag Bag

An impending move has me mercilessly weeding through my posessions, and I came across two bundles of potentiality that had been lingering in the ragbag for many years. T-shirts and other knits get claimed as rags rather quickly, but old garments unfit for donation might have a long stint, as I am not much of a sewer. The menfolk of my kin are hard on dress shirts, and that compromised a large portion of the ragbag's contents.

The shorts (right) are nothing to write home about- I traced a pair of my infant's shorts for the pattern, then sewed an elastic casing to the top. It's nice to see an old shirt of my brothers' passed on to a new generation.

But I am rather proud of the pants. Since I do most of my sewing by hand, I try to keep the original seams in a garment intact. I cut the arms off an old dress shirt, and again used an existing infant garment as a pattern, leaving an extra few inches in height at the waist to make the elastic casing. All it took was two seams- one between the legs and one around the waist. The inseams of the arms are the inseams of the pants, and the cuffs are a darling detail that allow the pants to grow with the child. If someone in your family has an outgrown plaid shirt, those could be turned into darling preppy pair of pants for your little one.

Sew Homegrown

A coworker of mine just introduced me to Sew Homegrown, a blog that has all kinds of Anthropologie-inspired home-making ideas to pique a Church Lady's interest. From having a cleaner house in less than an hour a day, to recipes, gift ideas, home decorating and much more, it's definitely worth a look.

For all the Jane of Lantern Hill fans- do you think Aunt Irene's chocolate peppermint cake was anything like this?

Waste not, want not

"Anne's a good housekeeper," she said to Marilla in the spare room the night of their arrival. "I've looked into her breadbox and her scrap pail. I always judge a housekeeper by those, that's what. There's nothing in the pail that shouldn't have been thrown away, and no stale pieces in the bread-box. Of course, she was trained up with you, but then she went away to college afterward." [Anne's House of Dreams, L.M. Montgomery]

Stop! Don't throw that away! That last bit of dinner not big enough for anything, the lone carrot in the crisper, the ends of your bread loaves, stale cracker crumbs. The sum is greater than the parts, and the savings do add up.

All of these odds and ends can be re-purposed if one has the foresight to freeze them before they spoil. Depending on the the size of your family and your freezer space, you will need freezer bags or containers. When I was single I used quart bags; a mixture of quart and gallon bags now better fits my needs.

Freezer Soup
"Have all the good bits of vegetables and meat collected after dinner and minced before they are set away; that they may be in readiness to make a little savoury for supper or breakfast."
[The American Frugal Housewife, 1829]

I've tweaked the Tightwad Gazette's Freezer Soup a bit. Instead of one container into which all scraps go willy-nilly, I have three themed bags. It takes a little longer to accumulate left-overs, but the results are far more palatable.

Minestrone
Get in touch with your inner Italian- make minestrone from leftovers. This bag is for your most robust vegetables, like zucchini, bell peppers, or tomatoes. Odd bits of beans, pasta, rice, and lentils find their home here. Don't let that half used can of tomato paste languish in the back of the fridge- scrape it in. I keep this bag meatless.

Poultry
Bones (like thighs and drumsticks) get frozen for pot-au-feu broth. In separate bag go vegetables such as peas, carrots, or unseasoned potatoes to be stirred in the soup.

Beef
Ditto for beef. Save the bones for broth. The deeper flavor of beef means you can get away with saving vegetables or other bits cooked in a flavored sauce here. Root vegetables are a natural fit, and I usually add some barley to the finished soup.

Stuffing
"Above all, do not let crusts accumulate in such quantities that they cannot be used. With proper care, there is no need of losing a particle of bread, even in the hottest months." [The American Frugal Housewife, 1829]

You might be surprised how quickly all the loaf ends and stale bread add up. Just cube the old bread before putting it in the freezer. When you have enough to fill a terrine, toss it with a pinch of sage or tarragon, a little melted butter, some chopped onion, and enough stock to moisten it before baking it in the greased dish at 325 for 30 minutes, covering to start and finishing uncovered.

You can also crush stale bread for great bread crumbs.

Cracker crumbs
Excellent for breading chicken or fish. Substitute for bread crumbs in your favorite recipe.

Pork bones
Are saved for a top-secret Church Ladies' purpose!

Image source: Crespi, The Scullery Maid