Haiti, Mobile Giving and Technology Changing The World

Today I  marveled at the way that giving has been transformed by technology.


You can donate $10 to The Red Cross Haiti relief by texting “Haiti” to 90999. Amazing. Easy. I did this as soon as I was made aware of it. It took seconds....Just seconds....  Imagine that! Just think of the people who will donate who might never have before. Or those who mean to donate but just never get around to it. This was so immediate. So fast. So impressive really. In 2 days they have raised $3 Million Dollars, $10 at a time.

You can learn more about the  Red Cross Program Here.

Whole Wheat Artisan Bread

A lot of people find the time after the holidays a letdown. I like the slower pace. Less stuff in the house. Less expectations all around. I'm usually recovering from my own Christmas overindulgence and tend to turn to a  kind of self imposed austerity. I like using up things from the pantry & freezer (I usually don't let anyone near the frozen strawberries or blueberries until Jan, although this year I relented in November.) I also like to cook and bake from scratch at this time of year. Nothing says cosy like a windy storm outside and warm bread baking in the oven.

I have been making this no knead bread from Mother Earth News. It turns out beautifully. It's easy. I made it for stuffing for Thanksgiving and it's pretty impressive when you have people over. (my friend Kristin's is better than mine  because she has a baking stone)  It's made with completely white flour though and we  normally eat whole wheat so it's not ideal for every day. (And it's so good that it's probably better if I don't have enough around to eat it every day.) I've tried making the loaf with whole wheat but it results in a pretty dense loaf that I could possibly use as a home protection device should the need arise. The nice thing about that loaf is that you can leave the dough in the fridge for up to 14 days and the longer it sits, the more it starts to taste like sourdough.

So I was delighted this month when my copy of Mother Earth News showed up and there was a recipe for a WHOLE WHEAT version. From the same people who came up with the first recipe! Each loaf contains only 1/2 cup white flour which is pretty awesome. I made my first batch yesterday. It turned out super. So super that I now completely want the book that it comes from, Healthy Breads In 5 Minutes A Day.

I didn't take a picture of it and now the darn loaf is half gone!

Where Do You Want To Go?

When I was a little girl I read all of the Little House on the Prairie books. After I was done with those, my mom bought me a biography of Laura Ingalls Wilder. In the back of that book are some pictures taken from the Laura Ingalls homesteads that had been made into museums.

They made sad because  I was never going to get to see them.  I noted the museum at The Surveyor's House was in DeSmet, South Dakota.  I could not imagine ever getting to go there and I knew,my parents would never take me there. We had no reason to travel to South Dakota. I pondered the unfairness of life and that I lived so far away.  South Dakota might as well have been New Delhi.  It was rather depressing.

My parents never did take me there.

I, however, got there anyway. One time, I worked in Sioux Falls, South Dakota for a few weeks.  Sioux Falls is about an 1-11/2 hours away from DeSmet. I can't recall how far exactly. Anyway, there was no way I was going to get that close to DeSmet and not go. I took the last day of the business trip as a vacation day, rented a car with my own money, and set off early to realize my childhood dream.

It was a magic day for me. South Dakota is a place visually different from where I live. The clouds were high in the sky and the landscape stretched out far in every direction. The radio plays farm reports and already, in September, there was a cold chill in the air, even though it was a bright sunny day.

I got to the museum and bought a ticket for The Surveyor's House.. I remember saying something like "You have no idea what this means to me." to the woman at the counter and she just looked at me. Of course she did, she probably hears that same line 100 times a week. It was no less true for me though.

When I got over to the house I had to wait a few minutes for someone to come and open it up. While I was waiting, a car pulled and a woman and her son got out while the dad idled at the curb.  He finally shut the car off when she motioned for him to. We said hello and I told her I was waiting to go in and asked if she was too. She got all teary eyed and explained that they had already come 30 min out of their way on their journey somewhere else and that her husband didn't want to spend anymore time or money to go in....She said she had always wanted to come here and she was never again going to get the chance so she at least wanted to SEE IT....I got teary too.

To come all that way. And be so close.... And not get to go in. OH MY GOD.....

The door opened and I went in and  gave her a little wave as I did. (I guess dreams are like that sometimes aren't they? Some people get to come along, some people don't.)

I stood in the doorway of the pantry which is made up to look like how Laura saw it for the first time.
I stood at the graves of Ma & Pa and Mary Ingalls (Laura and Almanzo are buried in Missouri.)  I went to the other museum at  Pa & Ma's house.  I saw Mary's piano. I stood on Main street where Pa's store had been and tried to imagine a blizzard such that I could not see across the street.  I stood at the site of Pa's original claim and TOUCHED THE COTTONWOOD TREES THAT HE PLANTED FOR HIS GIRLS (Can you say chills down my spine!) I saw Laura and Almanzo's claim and imagined a little white house on fire. The entire day I was giddy with excitement.

I thought of this whole post because when I was at Wegmans today I bought a book from the Bargain Table-1000 Places to go in the US & Canada before you die. (Which included the homestead in DeSmet) I've been feeling some wanderlust lately and an intense need for newness.  It made me think about all the places I want to go and all the things I want to do before I die and the many morals I could draw from the above story. (From don't give up your dreams to don't marry a man who won't give you an hour to live out one of yours.)

But really, I probably wrote it as a reminder to myself. I do have a lot of places I want to go but sometimes I can't see the forest for the trees. Just like that little girl back in my childhood bedroom who knew she was never going to find herself standing in The Surveyor's House in South Dakota, I doubt.  I worry.  I plan. I plan to plan.  I wonder. I don't always Believe... Belief is hard. Sometimes harder than actual doing. No one taught me that I could do whatever I wanted. WHATEVER I WANTED. I have come to that conclusion on my own. And while I know it to be true, sometimes it bears repeating to my un-trusting mind.

Do you have somewhere that you want to go that you haven't yet?

Why not?

Believe.

I have been to the Surveyor's House. It was amazing...

The Princess And The Frog

Today I took my girl to her first movie in a theater! (Yes, Jacquie, I know, Amish child....)

We have been to the planetarium before which is very much like the movies. Why am I defending this? Possibly because it makes it sound like I'm part of some weird religious sect that I've never taken my 5 year old to the movies before....It just really has not come up.

We saw the Disney movie, The Princess And The Frog. It was really pretty great. It was a lovely looking movie and the story line is by far, the most far reaching one in terms of messages to little girls. The main character is not looking for a husband, much less a prince. She's working hard so that she can own her own restaurant.  The music is good. The frog is funny. At the end, my daughter turned to me and said, "That was a perfect movie!" and it pretty much was. 

It's probably the best Disney princess movie there is, although personally I would rank it right behind , Beauty and the Beast, due to the bookish Belle, and the fact that she loves the beast, AS THE BEAST. While he is still horrible looking. (And he's actually not horrible looking as a beast, but then again, I tend to like facial hair.....) As the prince he looks a little too much like Fabio....

We took homemade popcorn ( I like to make it on the stove in a pan) with, what else, real butter on top and our own drinks. When I was younger my mother's habit of bringing snacks to movies always embarrassed the crap out of me. It really did. Her bag was kind of ugly and rather obvious and she carried it kind of like a cooler. I felt like the whole world knew we were sneaking in forbidden food and thought we were poor. Silly child, I know. These days I carry it in a pretty Vera Bardley bag that could very well be a large purse. I'm not trying to hide it mind you and I'm no longer embarrassed about it, I just can't abide paying $7 or whatever it is for buttery flavoring....   As an adult I get it. I'm just wondering if my daughter will as she gets older or if she's going to be cringing when I hand out ziplock bags of popcorn...

We don't Need No Stinkin' Snuggies

Today I noticed that something that I own looks suspiciously like a Snuggie already.

My bathrobe.

It's long and fleecey and even has a hood (which I don't wear) Alas, it is not leopard print. But when turned around, works much the same way as the Sunggie. How do I know this? Well I tried it out of course. And laughed the whole time.

After dinner tonight I announced my new discovery and got the bathrobe out. At one point soon after that ,all 3 of us had our bathrobes on like Snuggies. I noted that the hood could be used to store remote controls or catch food from falling on the couch (because if I'm going to be a couch potato I might as well be sloppy to boot!)

I was joking about it because I really do want the leopard print one and I'm not about to go walking around my house with my bathrobe on backward. However, after I put my daughter to bed, I came downstairs and there was my husband, sitting on the couch, wearing his darn bathrobe backward while using the laptop.... Seriously.... I don't even know what more to say about that.....

Scrambled Eggs

Yup, this post is really about scrambled eggs. I didn't use that title as a pithy little intro about my biological clock or anything like that. I'm really talking about chicken eggs....

I make really great scrambled eggs. Jen thinks I make the best scrambled eggs ever and lets me make them whenever we see each other. Or perhaps it's that fact that I'm critical about the scrambled egg endeavors of others and she just doesn't  want to be bothered with my bitching.

Ok, I know there are other things in the world that one might want to brag about. Harder more complicated things to cook.  This might seem like a pretty small accomplishment, almost not worth mentioning. Scrambled eggs. But a lot of people get them wrong.

I'm not one of them.

There are a few key things that you must and must not do and I am going to share these with you today.

Scramble your eggs with a little water. I mean like a teaspoon per egg (not like the one in your silverware drawer, like a real teaspoon-you don't need to measure this-just be aware of this. Of course if you have no clue what a real teaspoon of water looks like you may want to check it out.) Now just mix it all up. Don't beat the hell out of them. You don't need to totally incorporate your white into your yoke. Gently is your key word here. Use a fork. Don't be a spaz.

Melt some butter. Ok this is important. I use a stainless steel pan so I need to do this. Otherwise the eggs stick like crazy in it. But even if you use non-stick, MELT SOME DAMN BUTTER IN IT. And I mean REAL butter. Forget the non-stick spray. That is why your eggs suck.

I'm going to take a small aside and talk about butter for a minute. Most of you know I love butter. You know what-Life is way to short to use crappy margarine. Really people. Butter is not going to kill you. Neither is real cream in your coffee for that matter. It's the other crap you eat that might kill you, but butter won't be the culprit. Trust me, my father had a heart attack and a quadruple bypass and eats margarine and those flavored fat free coffee creamers.  That didn't help him....It won't help you. Enjoy your life a little more. Eat some butter.

So back to your pan with some melted butter. Use enough so your eggs don't stick. I use about med high heat. Pour the eggs in and let them set for 20-30 seconds. I like a heat resistant spatula for this next part.  Gently fold the eggs over on themselves. Keep folding. Don't get all crazy and stir them around. You'll end up breaking them apart too much like that. Again, gentle.....

Ok here is the CRUCIAL step. Just BEFORE you feel the eggs are done. Like you think "These eggs are almost done." At that point take the eggs OFF the heat. Then fold them over again. The eggs will finish cooking in the pan. You won't be eating runny eggs. I promise. If you wait until the eggs are done then you will over cook them. They will be hard and dry and you'll have to eat them with burnt toast with margarine and coffee with fake cream in it.... (and I do know so many of my  friends use this creamer, don't worry. I still love you. I can even find pleasure in it myself sometimes...I just prefer the real thing.)

Now another step for the more advanced. If you want cheese in your eggs, you NEVER, EVER, EVER mix the cheese into the eggs when you scramble them up. Put the cheese into the eggs at the time that you take the eggs off the heat. Just fold it all in. There is no way that your cheese needs to cook for as long as your eggs do. Additionally, some cheeses will give off a lot of water and you'll end up with a runny mess if you add the cheese and eggs to the pan from the beginning. Just don't do it. You might as well start from scratch if you do.

Add salt and pepper after the eggs are done. Not before they are cooked.

If you want to add veggies, cook them up before you add the eggs, unless we are talking spinach and then add that with some feta cheese at the cheese time mentioned above.

It's all really about the butter and the heat, use them both well.

Happy Eating!

"We will open the book. It's pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day."

                                -- Edith Lovejoy Pierce