Hardship Homemaking

Easy Way to Grow Green Onions and Celery

2012-03-09T01:07:00.000-05:00

I wanted to pass on an idea I tried recently. (I originally saw the celery idea on Farm Bell Recipes at Chickens in the Road.)

Basically, you take the end that you chop off of the celery and plant it. It starts growing right away. In fact, I stuck one end in a glass of water because I didn't have time to plant it and it took off too. We're leaving it in the water for now just to see what it will do. I think that next time around, I'll just plan on starting it in the water and then move it to the dirt since the water seemed to help it take off faster.

Since I had some green onions that were about to go bad, I cut the ends off of those and had the kids plant them too. Below are pictures of the growth so far. We've been surprised by how quickly they've grown. I figure that even if we do have to start these from seed, the later harvests can be faster using this process.

Celery

After 6 days in dirt

After 3 days in water

Both after 2 weeks

Green onions
After 6 days

green onion on left

After 2 weeks

Supporting a friend/family member from afar

2012-03-07T22:04:00.003-05:00

Admin note: We received this note today and I'm reprinting it with the submitter's permission. If you have ideas, please take a moment and add your thoughts in the comments. You can also contact Antoinette through her blog. My go-to is usually to send gift certificates for meals since I can't take in a meal. It never seems like enough though. It can be hard to be so far away. I am hoping some of you have other ideas to share as well. Thanks. -Becky

"I'd love to hear ideas/suggestions on how to support a friend who's grieving when you can't be there physically. My normal two modes are active listening (difficult when conversation requires a phone date that is too much of a burden to place on the person grieving--at least in the initial phases) and practical help to free up time (walk the dog, cooking meals, throw out the junk mail). Cards/flowers seem inadequate."

Thank you,

Antoinette

swaggeringpirates.blogspot.com

Making Rag Baskets With Your FS Fabric Stash

2012-03-05T00:01:00.002-05:00

Admin Note: This is a guest post from Kelly.

Kelly is currently appreciating Vienna, Austria, after a string of earlier hardship posts. She blogs at Well That Was Different. Thanks Kelly!

So, a couple of weeks ago, I posted about ways I am trying to creatively use my big stash of Foreign Service craft supplies. The rag basket, in particular, was a hit. I’ve made a couple more since then because they are FUN. I’m learning as I go along, and I’m not all the way there yet. But, here’s the basic idea, with some photos.

First, look at the stacks of scrappy happy local fabric you’ve acquired along the way, and pick at least three kinds that are a similar weight and content.

Using a rotary cutter if you have one, and scissors if you don’t, cut the fabric into long strips. They can be any width, but I did find that three inches worked well for cotton batik. The 1.5 inch strips made a very small braid that didn’t show the colors as well. For a thicker fabric, I would probably cut two-inch strips.

Loosely iron the strips, folding them lengthwise into three pieces. Don’t fuss too much about this, it’s just to make them easier to handle. In fact, don’t fuss too much about any of this. It’s a RAG basket, remember?

Pin the ends of three strips together and braid them. Not too tightly, because you have to be able to get a needle through them later.

When you reach the end of a strip, use one of the methods pictured below to attach a new one. Put the strips together in any order or color combination that looks right to you.

Next , sew the braids together using a strong needle and thread. I found a leather quilting thimble to be helpful. You can make whatever shape you like!

Stitch on the outside because it is easier, but if you want to flip the basket around later you can, and put the stitching on the inside. They are completely reversible.

When you are done, you can decorate the basket with beads, buttons, embroidery, ribbon, whatever turns your crank.

Here’s a photo gallery to clarify further. Now, back to braiding…

: Here’s the first basket I made, with 1.5 inch strips of hand-dyed cotton batik from Zambia.

: And the second, made with leftover strips from the first.

: Method number one for attaching the strips. Cut slits, as above.

: Pull one strip through the other one.

: Pull each strip through its own slit (think “slip knot”)

: Gently tighten, and there you go. Start braiding the strips.

: Sew the strips together to make a basket. It can be helpful to drape it over a bowl shape to get the bend just right.

: Second method, using three-inch strips. When you need to add one, fold it inside the previous strip.

: Fold it over to secure the edges and make a nice, fat braid.

: Keep braiding. Once you have incorporated the join, it won’t slip.

: Try to stagger the joins so you don’t get a lump in the braid.

: When you reach a stopping point, use a big safety pin to keep it from unbraiding, and start sewing the basket together.

I used red thread on this basket because I thought it looked cool.

: The other side, where the stitching doesn’t show.

: Ta-da! Decorated with beads from a broken necklace (there really is a lot of weird stuff lurking in my craft room…)

: This basket is made with 2-inch strips of blue jeans scraps and an old curtain made of Guatemalan fabric. I decorated it with vintage metal buttons that I found at a thrift store a while back, and sewed two jeans pockets to the inside to hold knitting or sewing notions. I’m happy with the way it turned out, but the denim was a little tough to sew together.

: Latest project: Indonesian batik that my husband bought on TDY plus scraps of quilting calico…

What should I put in my Consumables?

2012-03-02T00:36:00.001-05:00

At some point, if you haven't already, you'll head to a post where you get a consumables allowance. What's that? Extra weight they'll ship for you, to be used for...well...things you consume -- like popcorn, or toilet paper -- which may not be available (or easily available) where you are going.

What to ship? That's the magic question, and there's no simple answer.

When to ship? Once before you go, once after you've been there a while and know what you need or want. You can split it like that.

FAQ

Q. How much toilet paper do I need (or paper towels, or disposable diapers, or...)

I bet you never thought about this before. I know I hadn't. So I wrote down when I put a new roll on, and when I put the next roll on, and then did the math (of course, this is tougher in a multi-person house). Then I multiplied by two. Why? You don't want to run out, and TP weighs almost nothing.

Q. How much laundry/dish soap do I need?

More than you think, for a variety of reasons. For one, hard water. For another, if you hire help, they're used to using more because the local stuff is of low quality. If you don't keep reminding them it only takes X, not 2X, you'll be running out sooner than you can imagine.

Q. So outside of that, what did you end up needing/wanting?

Everyone's different. Do you cook? Bring seasonings. Do you bake? Bring flour, yeast, shortening. Do you like a specific ethnic food? Bring what you need to make it. What did I forget? Cream of Mushroom soup (I like to cook with it and it comes in pop-top cans which are not pouch-legal), Old Bay seasoning, various ethnic mixes (matzoh ball soup, gumbo, taco seasoning). Also, holiday foods -- cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, marshmallows, canned yams, french fried onions, etc. Special tastes of home. That's what to remember!

Q. But can't I order that stuff through the pouch?

Yes and no. There are places like Netgrocer and Amazon, but the pouch has some odd restrictions. No liquids makes sense, but what they consider a liquid (like peanut butter) doesn't. It's hard to get some things in non-pop-top cans, and the rule is no pop-top cans. No glass. Read the pouch rules when putting together your list. Consumables is also the place to stock up on wines, beers and sodas if you want something in particular. None of that comes through the pouch.

Q. Can I ship refrigerated/frozen items in my consumables?

I don't know if there are rules against it, but they won't be cold when they get to you. Consumables come on the slow boat. One thing I did was when visiting home, I'd return with a cooler full of frozen goods (mostly meat). Check it through. Depending on how long your flights are, and the time of the year, hard frozen stuff should still be cold (if not frozen) when you get back to post.

Q. What do people forget?

Sunscreen and bug spray. Shampoo. Ziploc bags and containers. Aluminum foil.

Q. What did you not bring/not bring enough of?

Salsa. Queso.

Q. What did you bring and not use?

Dishwasher soap. I don't know why I thought we had dishwashers.

Q. Any final warnings?

Stuff expires. Even stuff in cans. I wasted a lot of breakfast cereal that way. Check the expiration dates on stuff you buy.

Biscuits

2012-02-27T00:49:00.001-05:00

I love biscuits! What southerner doesn't? But I admit that I usually rely on the canned variety in the US. However, biscuits are definitely an American thing and not something I'll be finding on the store shelves in Brazil anytime soon! I have been using this recipe for a few years, but really stepped it up once we moved to São Paulo. I have made a few modifications to the recipe that I found here. These biscuits are delicious and will definitely be a hit with family and friends!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/3 cup cold butter

~1 cup milk or buttermilk (you may have to use more or less)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C)

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar into bowl (sifting will integrate the ingredients well, otherwise you might have spots of baking powder which doesn't taste so good). Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.You can use two knives or your food processor. I prefer to use my (clean and unjeweled) hands. It is much easier than two knives and cheaper than a food processor (unless you already have one). This is a job you might like to give to one of your kids! Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Add a little more flour if you think you put in too much milk. Don't mix too much or the dough will be too tough! If you do have a food processor, you could probably do all these preceding steps there.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface (more flour is better than less), and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Make sure you put flour on your hands or the rolling pin. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

Tips

- If you place the biscuits closer together, they will rise more and be softer in texture. If you place them a little farther apart, they'll have more of a crispy outside with a soft inside.

- Often I don't have that much time to make biscuits. When I do have the time, I double or triple the recipe and freeze the extra uncooked biscuits! To freeze, I place them in a tupperware container separated by wax paper. When they are frozen I toss them in a freezer bag. You can also make the dough the day before and place in the fridge until needed.

- You can use half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour if you'd like! I wouldn't recommend going all whole wheat because it changes the texture too much.

- Don't have buttermilk? Here is an easy substitution: Combine 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice and let stand for 5-10 minutes. Works great in a pinch!

_________________________________________

Janelle currently lives in São Paulo where people think biscuits are cookies ala the British (biscoitos)...

PCS 101, Lesson 2: Schools, Shipping Pets and Choosing a Car

2012-02-24T05:22:00.006-05:00

Researching Schools

If you have kids, one of the first things you’ll want to do after getting your assignment is research the schools at post. If you are going to a smaller post there might be only one or two schools to choose from while the selection at a larger post might be much broader.

You probably did some preliminary research on schools at post while you were in the bidding process, but now is the time to really take a hard look at what’s available and if it’s going to suit your needs. Contact your CLO at post to see if there are any parents you can talk to about the schools. Try to talk to as many parents as possible to get as many perspectives as you can. You want to get a really good idea of the situation because the last thing you want to do is get to post and then find that the school is inadequate for your needs or is not what you expected. Once you have decided on a school, don’t hesitate to get your child enrolled as soon as possible to ensure a spot.

If you haven’t already, now is a good time to start putting together a folder of your child’s school records. This will be important to have as you move from post to post, especially in the event of an evacuation where you might be putting your child in school in the middle of the year at your safe haven. You should include things like transcripts, test scores, samples of the student’s work, curriculum outlines and anything else you think is relevant.

You can find a lot more information on researching overseas schools here.

Shipping and Importing Pets
Let us not forget those other important members of our families, our pets. It’s important to start the pet importation process early to make sure you get everything done in time for your pet to accompany you to post. If you are in the D.C. area, the Transition Center at FSI has an in-person course on traveling with pets. The State Department website also has some really good information and resources for shipping pets.

In my experience, it has been very helpful to directly contact the GSO office at post and find out if there is anyone there who can help with pet importation. Most of the time there will be someone who is well versed in the process who can provide you with the information you need to bring your pet to post and also help you with the importation process. You will also want to enquire about the pet policy at post. Some have restrictions on how many animals you can have living in embassy housing. Make sure you get clarification on your post’s policy - some are hard and fast and some are more like “guidelines”.

To make things easy on yourself, consider using a pet shipper. A pet shipper will be able to board your pet before departure, make travel arrangements and make sure your pet gets to the flight on time. We adopted our critters during our first tour and have used a pet shipping service for every PCS except the first one after we got them. While hiring a pet shipper will no doubt be more expensive than doing it yourself, it will really take a lot of stress out of your PCS, especially if you are traveling with small children.

Selecting a Car
Now is a good time to start researching what type of car is best for your next post. If you’re going to an African post, chances are a sedan just ain’t gonna cut it. You’ll need something with more clearance, and possibly 4-wheel drive, to navigate poorly maintained roads that are often riddled with potholes and have a propensity to flood during the rainy season.

Make sure you properly understand the car importation laws of your host country. Some countries have restrictions on the age of the vehicle, the side on which the steering wheel is located, and even the manufacturer or color!

You might also want to think about whether or not you’ll really need a car at post. Some places have decent enough public transportation that you might be able to get around without one. At our present post, moto taxis (tuk-tuks) are plentiful, cheap, and downright fun to ride in. One person I know sold her car not long after arriving because she found she could get around just fine without it.

Another option is to purchase a car from someone who is departing post. However, this strategy might not be the safest if you know for sure you’ll need a vehicle. Car sales can be slim pickings at some posts and there’s no guarantee you’ll get a bargain in countries where nicer cars are a rare commodity. Departing officers will often advertise vehicles in the post newsletter, so make sure CLO has included you on their mailing list.

Stay tuned for the next installment of PCS 101: Planning for Contingency Planning (yes, I meant to write that!)

Impending packout? Relax :)

2012-02-22T02:10:00.000-05:00

Packing out involves a stress level that is only matched by the bidding process itself. However, a few simple relaxation techniques can help ease the tension caused by packing and moving all your worldly belongings across the world. Here's a top 5.

#1. Take a few deep breaths. Slooowly breathe in, filling your belly first and your chest last (counter to how most adults breathe). The when you breathe out try to push out every last bit of air. This is also great to do when the kids are driving you nuts before you start screaming.

#2. Semi-meditation. Take a few minutes to focus on your breathing. You can think to your self "in ... out" with each breath, or "one ... two ... three ... one ... two" counting each breath just to 3 and starting over again at 1, or "om" with each breath or anything else that comes to mind.

#3. Get outside. Sometimes just getting out of the physical place where the stress is occurring can hugely help the situation. It can be as quick as a walk around the block. This is also really useful when you're in a rut on a project at work or home (projects other than planning packout) - some fresh air and a break in what you're doing often is all you need to get a bit of perspective on what you should do next.

#4. If you have a bit more time - exercise. It both gives the cortisol that builds up when we're stressed something to do AND releases the feel-good endorphins. Like the other suggestions, it doesn't have to be a marathon. Just 10 minutes of jogging up and down stairs or doing rounds of situps/pushups/squats will motivate the cortisol/endorphin dance.

#5. Write it down. In a notebook or a scrap piece of paper, write out everything that stresses you. You might find you've just written your To Do list. Or the list might give insight to one overriding issue that you can make a plan to solve. Or you may find worries that, when you read them back, are just silly. This completely diffuses their power over you.

In any case, always remember that no matter what, time ticks on and eventually this trauma too will be over. Until it's time to find a home for all this stuff in the new location. Happy travels!

Butternut squash smoothie

2012-02-17T01:55:00.000-05:00

I just discovered this and to my surprise my 4 year old even preferred this to regular fruit smoothie! So if you live somewhere that butternut squash is available (I bet this works with canned pumpkin too, actually...) give it a try.

Ingredients*

Butternut squash baked until tender (about 1h)

1 banana

1/2 - 1 cup of milk (can be rice, soy, almond etc. I used my homemade rice milk)

1 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)

1/2 tsp ground ginger (or to taste - you might want to start with 1/4 tsp)

Directions

Combine everything into a blender. That's it.

* The proportions listed are just guidelines. I didn't measure anything except the spices. This recipe will be pretty thick, just use more milk or some water to thin it.

Easy Method for Cooking and Storing beans

2012-02-15T05:51:00.000-05:00

Dried beans are very versatile and usually inexpensive but not always the easiest to cook. I have tried a variety of different tips over the years and have always come back to simply using a slow cooker.

Step One:
Wash your beans. Be sure to check for rocks and other beans and grains that may have accidentally been mixed in. Be sure to pull out any beans that look like they might be a bit moldy. This can just be dirt though so try to wash it first. (I just wash the beans in the slow cooker crock, one less thing to wash when I'm done.)

Step Two:
Place beans in slow cooker and fill until the beans are covered by quite a bit of water. This is going to vary by the size and shape of your slow cooker as well as the type of bean. When in doubt, add more water. It's better to have extra water than to have it dry up on you. As you do it more, you'll be able to better gauge how much you need.

Sorry, I was cooking black beans yesterday. Should have done a different color for a better picture I guess.

Step Three:
Throw the lid on and let them cook

At sea level a pound of most beans will cook in 3-4 hours on high in my slow cooker. However, the time varies depending on the size of your slow cooker, how old the beans are, etc. Older beans are drier and take longer to cook. I always leave an hour or two of leeway when I get a new slow cooker, move to a new altitude, or try a new kind of bean. You can try it the first time on a day that you will be home so that you can periodically check on it to see how things are going (how fast it is cooking, if you have enough water, etc.) Add water if it seems to be getting low. We like our beans very well cooked so I often will err on the side of cooking them longer. As long as there is enough water in the pot, you have quite a bit of wiggle room. (Our kids' stomachs seem to handle beans better when they are very well done. We also used to often use an immersion blender in bean soups and things like that. The kids just seemed to process the beans better when they had been blended first. Now that the kids are older, it doesn't seem to be a big deal.)

Another thing I do is to start the beans on low the night before we want to use them. That way they are fully cooked by the morning and I can add ingredients for something like chili that can then cook the rest of the day. The first time you do it overnight (or all day while you are gone) make sure to have more than enough water so that the beans don't burn. Alternately, if we are having beans and rice or something like that for dinner, I will start the beans on low in the morning and just let them cook all day. Then they are ready to add to a dish when I get ready to cook dinner. We have lived in different climates and altitudes and the cooking times have really varied; you just have to try it out and see. The good news is, if you like your beans well done and you add a lot of water, they can go for awhile after they are "done."

Your house will smell "beany." There is a point in the middle of the cooking that gives off a kind of weird smell. If you hang on through that, it improves a lot. It is one reason we cook them overnight a lot though. Then it doesn't bug us.

I don't add salt to my beans when they cook either. I had heard that it slowed cooking time and the one time I added it early on, the beans took forever to cook and never got quite right. It's easy to add at the end. I have added cumin while they cooked and it didn't seem to change how they cooked at all.

Step Four:
Storage

You can of course eat your beans right away or you can store them. They will stay fresh in the fridge for a couple days (especially if you add salt first) but they go bad pretty quickly. However, I've left them in the freezer for months with no problems. If I am sure I'm going to use them in a soup or something, I'll freeze them in the liquid they were cooked in. Otherwise, I drain them off and freeze them that way. When I cook dried beans in the slow cooker, I almost always cook at least double of what I need so that I can use half and freeze the other half for a quick meal later.

Quick and Easy Recipe Idea:
We often make "refried beans" by cooking (or defrosting) pinto beans, adding some cumin, chili, onion powder, and salt and blending it all with the immersion blender. Quick and easy if the beans are already cooked and/or frozen with a bit of their cooking liquid.

Hope that helps! Now that I have an easy way to cook dried beans, I almost always prefer to cook my own instead of using than canned beans. With a slow cooker, it still takes awhile to cook them but you don't really have to do anything except wash them and throw them in. It's pretty easy.

Related Recipes:
Tortilla Soup

Versatile "crisp" topping

2012-02-13T10:55:00.001-05:00

I first found this crisp topping recipe on allrecipes.com when planning an apple crisp. As I usually make my crisps in an 8x8 dish, this recipe (calculated for a 9x13) makes about twice as much as needed. I have accidentally used this topping on pies and cobblers and it's a very tasty topping to almost anything involving cooked or baked fruit.

Ingredients:

1 cup quick-cooking oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Mix together everything except the melted butter if you're going to store it for later - just stick it in an airtight container. To use right away, add the butter and mix until the whole thing is wet and use it to top one of following...

Apple Crisp

Chopped apples - enough to fill whatever size dish you're using

1 cup white sugar (or 1/2 white, 1/2 brown sugar)

1 Tbsp. flour

1-2 tsp. cinnamon (depends on taste)

Combine ingredients into baking dish, top with Crisp topping above, bake in preheated oven 350F/175C for 45 minutes or until bubbly.

Berry Cobbler

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

1 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

4 cups fresh berries, rinsed and drained (It can be a mix or all of one type but if using strawberries cut sugar to 1/2 cup. Can use frozen berries)

Mix cornstarch and water, set aside. Cook berries, lemon juice and sugar until a boil. Remove from heat, transfer to 8x8 baking dish, mix with cornstarch mixture just until incorporated. Top with the Crisp topping above. Bake in preheated oven 400F/200C for 25 minutes or until the topping is browned.

Rice Milk

2012-02-10T01:15:00.001-05:00

For those who can't consume cow's milk, living overseas can either be an adventure of trying to find a new favorite brand among many options or begging family at home to send supplies every so often because you do have DPO but Amazon.com won't ship to you or figuring a life without "milk" because there aren't any options. I've lived all of the above and finally decided it was time to go DIY.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup long-grain brown rice (preferrable, but I hear white rice works too)

8 cups water

sweetener to taste*

(optional) 1 tsp vanilla OR

(optional) 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Add the rice, sweetener, and any optional additives to the water in a large pot.

Bring to boil, then lower heat to a bare simmer for about 3 hours or until it looks like a soupy mess.

Pour "soupy mess" into a blender or use an immersion blender (I used a regular blender).

Strain into containers (I used glass jars). The advice all over the web is to use cheesecloth; I have no idea where to find it in Russia and my dictionary doesn't even have it. I took a chance on my fine mesh strainer and it was perfect. At this point it will be pretty thick and goopy.

Dilute with water to taste. Refrigerate for up to 1 week.

This is how goopy it will be before thinning.

Here it is nicely subbing for milk in my cereal.

* Advice all over the web seems to think that we make rice milk to be granola-crunchy people who disdain any kind of artificial or processed extras. I make rice milk because my body doesn't like cow's milk. I added two very large spoonfuls of plain old white sugar to my milk to make it palatable. As it was a first attempt, I added it at the end after tasting. Next time I'll put it in at the front end and let it cook with the rice.

Chicken noodle soup

2012-02-08T10:32:00.000-05:00

Like stocks and tortilla soup, I make large batches of chicken noodle soup when I have a lot of leftover vegetables laying around. The formula is very simple: sautée vegetables, add chicken, add chicken stock, add noodles, cook until noodles are done.

Ingredients

6c chicken stock
1c cooked shredded chicken (more or less, shredded or chunked to taste)
onions
garlic
corns
carrots
celery
egg noodles (or spaghetti noodles or any pasta, really)
salt
pepper

Directions

Saute vegetables in a large pot. Start with onions, then add other vegetables in order of time it takes to cook.
Add chicken, and saute for one or two minutes.
Pour in chicken stock, bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Add in noodles, cook until al dente (about 10 minutes at a low simmer).

Cook's notes

Vegetable selection can vary according to taste. I add green beans, tomatoes, and potatoes to mine, which turns it into a Brunswick stew.

If you're not using leftover chicken, chunk the chicken to desired size, then brown it first.

Cooking times will vary depending on desired tenderness of vegetables and pasta. I like mine al dente, you may like yours more tender.

Zucchini bread/muffins

2012-02-06T11:35:00.003-05:00

It seems that only Americans make zucchini bread. So, with this recipe (assuming zucchini exists where you are) you'll be a big hit! I prefer to make this into muffins as I usually make it for play groups and it's easier for little kids to handle than slices of bread but this recipe can also be made into loaves.

Ingredients

Group 1
3 cups flour

1 ts baking powder
1 ts baking soda
3 ts cinnamon
1 ts salt (optional)

Group 2

3 eggs

1 cup veg oil

3 ts vanilla extract

2-1/4 cups sugar *

Group 3
3-4 cups shredded zucchini **

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

* sugar can be white, brown, or a mix. Can also substitute honey or apple sauce for 1/4 cup of the sugar (any more and it tastes funny). If substituting, drop the oil to a bit less than 1 cup
** if using more than 3 cups, you'll want to drain the zucchini a bit or it will be too wet.

Directions:

Grease 2 8x4 loaf pans or 3 12 count muffin tins, preheat oven to 165 C

Mix Group 1 in a small bowl

Beat Group 2 together in a large bowl

Add Group 1 into Group 2, mix well

Add Group 3, mix well

Pour into loaf pans or muffin tins

For loaves: bake 45-60 minutes; for muffins bake 15-25 minutes

I wish I had photos but this is not the season for making them.
TIP: They freeze VERY well. This summer when zucchini was practically free in the markets I made over 120 muffins. They didn't make it 6 months, so I guess next summer I'm making 200+. For defrosting just leave them at room temp, I usually take them out of the freezer the evening before I plan to serve them.

Evacuation 101: Part 2

2012-02-03T11:08:00.000-05:00

Part II: Before the crisis hits – preparing to go

A Go Bag is imperative. It is just what it sounds like - a packed bag ready to grab on your way out the door in the event of an emergency. Although the precise contents will vary from family to family, post to post, some fundamentals include:

Legal documents: Wills, birth certificates, divorce decrees, passports, social security cards, car titles, General Power of Attorney for spouse in case they are separated during the crisis

Financial documents: credit cards, checkbook, bank statements, ATM cards, tax records

Insurance documents: inventory records, photos, bills of sale, insurance policies (car and home)

Educational documents: report cards/school records, EIP plan if your child has one; copies of standardized test scores, list of textbooks used in last grade, samples of representative student work

Medical documents: immunization records, medical records, dental records, prescriptions

Tangible items: USA cell phones and chargers, kids’ blankeys/loveys, jewelry, Vonage modem, Camera/video camera, batteries and cords, DVD player/ipad/Wii/Gameboy and cords, laptop and cord, computer external drive, clothing for every member of the family for hot, cold, and wet weather, keys to any house or car in the USA.

From the voice of experience: We have one backpack that holds our laptop, passports, checkbooks, credit cards, US keys, and other important docs. If we leave with just that, we're good to go. We keep a separate go bag with clothing, etc. It also includes a couple days worth of snack food and water that doesn't have to be cooked or anything just in case we get stuck in without power (or we are stuck in a car or airport for awhile). We keep some simple snack food and water in the car as well. Just in case.

Some additional advice for anyone who lives anywhere near a border to a country calmer than the one you inhabit:

Have a second list in case of land evacuation if there is any possibility for your post - that means you have your car, instead of just your one suitcase that you're allowed on the plane.

Kitchen items: dishes, silverware, cups (sippy cups/bottles!), scissors, can opener, cutting board, chopping knife, dish towel, pot & a couple of pans, teapot

Laundry items: one set of towels and sheets for each person, clothing for each person for a week – make a list so you don't forget something obvious like socks. Pay attention to seasons as it may be a while before the shipment arrives and pack for the next season

Bathroom items: soap, shampoo & conditioner, sunscreen, lotion, OTC medicines (Advil, stomach stuff, antibacterial ointment, Band-Aids)

Office items: small stapler, sharpies, pens, notebook, Post-Its

Other: pets and accoutrement; favorite recipe books; hobby items, slightly larger supply of toys/books

Evacuation 101: Part I

2012-01-27T06:02:00.003-05:00

Evacuation is an unfortunate possibility in anyone’s life - natural disasters such as hurricane, flood, and earthquake are common enough in many populated areas of the world. Evacuations seem to be even more likely in the lives of expatriates, however, as you add in the possibility of civil unrest or localized health crises.

The worst time to plan how to respond to an evacuation is during one. Many embassies and consulates organize preparedness seminars to help employees get their ducks in a row while things are still calm and evacuation seems an impossible eventuality. This series will draw heavily from such preparedness resources, as well as from the horses’ mouths. I thank in advance my evacuee resources, your experiences and challenges will help the rest of us plan smarter for when our day comes!

Part I: Before the crisis hits – laying the groundwork

Banking: If you don’t have any joint banking accounts with a spouse, family member, or close friend, you’ll want to establish one now. Even if there’s no money in it now, having the open account enables you to put money in there if someone needs to pay for things on your behalf when you are unable – for example, child, pet or house care. Also, if you don’t have all of the following: an emergency fund, at least two credit cards, and a credit limit of at least $10,000, start working toward those goals. Recent evacuees have reported that the pre-reimbursement costs for an evacuation can easily be as much as $10,000.

Powers Of Attorney: In addition to enabling someone other than yourself access to a bank account, you also want to ensure that all necessary Powers of Attorney are executed and valid before you need them. Powers of Attorney enable another to legally act on your behalf, such as buying or selling property (e.g., a car), enrolling a child in school or taking the child to the doctor, or even made medical decisions for you in case of your incapacity. Sample POA forms can be found on InfoQuest (if you have access) or just by Googling “sample power of attorney”

Planning a safehaven (family, schools, employee): It also helps to think now about where would you go?Elizabeth B., a recent evacuee, reports “I always assumed I would go to my parents. But once I had kids, the school system there isn't great so it wasn't attractive as a long term plan. I ended up coming to DC …the school systems here are great and used to taking kids on a short term basis.”

In fact, no matter where in the USA you are from/have family/like the weather/hate DC, the DC area has some advantages over anywhere else – 1. they are used to children arriving at any time of year with incomplete, imperfect, or simply not-used-in-the-USA school records; 2. Most USG employees who are themselves evacuated will be evacuated here so families can be together.

Planning for pets: One evacuee advises “Make a contingency plan in case you can't take them with you when you evacuate. Ask if a neighbor or someone else staying behind will be able to drop in to feed them, or if not, find a pet care facility that could watch them. Make sure you are stocked up on food, litter, medicine or anything else they need on a regular basis. Make a packing list of favorite treats, toys, blankets, etc., for your pet so they have that comfort with them when you're apart.”

Computer files: Advice from an evacuee who’s been there, “One thing I would also check is what you have on your hard drives. Try to keep all sensitive information to one laptop – which will be the one you grab when you go. Also use an online backup. Digitizing things has helped cut down on the paperwork we have to haul around.”

Next week: Part II, what you can do at home to be prepared for an evacuation.

Make Your Own "Boxed" Mixes

2012-01-16T09:40:00.000-05:00

I am not a fan of boxed mixes for the simple fact that they often contain unnecessary ingredients that I prefer not to put into my family’s bodies. I have often puzzled over comments from people about how they needed to make a cake but couldn’t find a boxed mix at post. Hasn’t anyone ever heard of a recipe? However, boxes mixes are helpful when you are in a hurry and from time to time I have resorted to a box when I was short on time and needed to make a quick snack for a social gathering.

Not only do I appreciate the speed at which you can dump the powder into a bowl, add eggs and oil, and voila you have cake batter; I really love that there is so much less to clean up when you’re done. But you don’t have to resort to expensive, preservative-laden, hard to find boxed mixes for this convenience. You can make your own!

Take, for example, this excellent chocolate cupcake recipe from one of my favorite blogs, Glorious Treats:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (best quality available)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (best quality available)

1 cup boiling water

You could make a mix by combining the dry ingredients (the first six) and either storing individual batches in ziploc bags or making a bulk mix and storing it in an airtight container. Then all you need to do is dump the mix in a bowl and follow the rest of the directions (which can be found here) to add the rest of the ingredients. By the way, her cream cheese frosting recipe is TO DIE FOR! I once made a batch of it even though I had no cupcakes to put it on. I may or may not have eaten it all straight out of the bowl.

I have made mixes for pancakes, cornbread, brownies and even pizza dough. You might have to experiment with recipes that call for creaming butter and sugar together, perhaps by melting the butter and adding it to the dry ingredients. I recommend keeping mixes that you use less often or that contain yeast in the freezer (yes, you can freeze yeast). That will keep them fresh longer.

Granola

2012-01-13T05:28:00.006-05:00

I've always been a fan of granola. When I was a kid, my mom made it from scratch. Now that I think about it, I doubt it even was available in boxes back then. Now it is, of course, but it isn't available everywhere, and when it is, it can be super-expensive.

The beauty of this recipe -- the origins of which you can read about on my blog here -- is its adaptability. In fact, the version I'm sharing here is different than that linked-to version because I make it a little differently every time.

To start, you'll need:

6 cups of rolled oats. Either old-fashioned or quick-cooking are fine. I typically use about three cups of each.
1/2 cup of brown sugar. If you pack it to measure, you'll want to make sure it gets broken up and distributed evenly.
1 cup coconut. The versions sold here in Italy are more powdered than shredded, but either works.
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 cup chopped nuts. (I love pecans, but finding them outside the U.S. can be a challenge. Use what you like. The photos here include a few pecans pieces and some chopped almonds.)

Don't like something listed here? Skip it. Want to add sesame seeds, shelled sunflower seeds or the like? Great idea!

Combine all of these in a large bowl. (This is when breaking up the brown sugar happens.) Then add:

1/2 cup oil. (I use canola.)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup honey. (I rarely measure the honey because I hate having to clean it out of measuring cups.)

Mix it all until the liquids are evenly distributed. It will look something like this:

Spread on a baking sheet (coated with cooking spray if that's something you use) and cook for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees F/170 degrees C. Then add:

1 cup raisins (or Craisins or a combination, if you prefer)

Cook for an additional five minutes.

Adding the raisins only for the last few minutes is important because they burn easily. Burned raisins are nasty, I can assure you. If you're not using raisins, just set your timer on 30 minutes from the start.

I wish I could tell you how long this will stay fresh, but I think we've always eaten it within a week. For such a short period in a relatively climate-controlled house, it works to store it on the counter or in a cabinet in a zip-top freezer or storage bag. If bugs or rodents are an issue, it can be refrigerated or stored in the freezer in such a bag or in a sealed plastic container.

PCS 101: Lesson 1

2012-01-11T08:49:00.004-05:00

It’s that time of year again – PCS season. Well, not really. It’s still a few months away but a PCS can sneak up on you. It seems like one day you get your assignment and the next day you turn around and you are packing out, thinking to yourself “why am I moving that thing again?” or, “I wish we’d had time to do such and such”, or “I wish we’d gotten something special to remind us of our time here”. I know, I know, it seems like you’ve just settled in and it’s too soon to start planning to move again. But it’s never to soon to start planning!

For me, planning for the next move starts as we are getting settled into post. You know how it goes, we unpack our HHE, trying to find homes for everything we’ve brought. Perhaps we find things amongst our household goods that should have gone to storage (who hasn’t had that happen?) or worse, we can’t find something we thought we’d brought only to find it on the storage inventory list. And then there are those things like metro smart cards, house keys, and club cards that we don’t use while at post but rely on when we are back stateside. I like to set aside a drawer for these items so I know where to find them when I need them. After the movers left as we were finishing up pack-out for our current assignment I found a large ball of tape on the floor of our dining room. For some reason, I decided to open it up and what did I find inside? All of the screws to our dining room table! So into the drawer they go. But I digress…

Planning for a hardship post can feel a bit overwhelming. What to pack? What to put in storage? What should I put in the consumables shipment? Should I bring my china? Procrastinators like me will find something else to do and put off thinking about it until “tomorrow”, which never comes. But if I’ve survived five separate PCSes, so can you! Over the next few posts, I will share with you how I plan for a PCS (this year we are getting ready for number six). I’ve learned a few things over the years; I hope you will find some of my hard-learned lessons useful!

Today’s Lesson: Getting Started
The first thing you’ll want to do when you find out your assignment is contact the community liaison officer (aka, the “CLO”) at your post. The CLO is usually a family member of an FSO, whose job it is to help you find out the things you need to know such as: what kinds of jobs are available for family members (EFMs), what kinds of things are available at post and what you should put in your consumables shipment, and how to get your child enrolled in school. The CLO will also assign you a sponsor who will help you get settled in once you get to post (more on this in a later post).

And speaking of jobs, depending on if you’re interested in working at post and how much time you have before you depart, you might want to look into what kind of training you could do to make you a more marketable employee. This could be anything from taking the Consular Associate course at FSI to getting a Master’s in Public Heath, if that’s up your alley. For anyone interested in teaching overseas, George Mason University has a program for foreign affairs spouses interested in earning a teaching credential. More information on that program can be found at the FLO website here. Remember, there are other agencies at post that hire locally, including USAID, DOD, and Peace Corps to name a few, so be sure to include these in your job search.

If you’re going to a consumables post start thinking about all of the things you use on a regular basis – such as shampoo, laundry soap, and toilet paper – and start keeping track of how much you use. Consumables are anything that you use up, including food, toiletries and paper products. I’ll include my consumables list in a later post, along with some tips on things you’re likely to use way more of than you would in the US.

I find it helpful to keep a notebook with all of the information I need for a PCS. It usually contains information about schools I’m researching; my tentative consumables list; State Department publications that I find helpful; and a very, very long to-do list broken out by week. It also includes the notes that I have made after we have arrived at a post. I can’t depend on myself to remember all of those “great ideas” that I had during the mental fog that sets in during those first few days at post, such as, “gee, it would have been a good idea to mail myself some extra baby wipes”, or “wow, this welcome kit is abysmal, I wish I had brought my knives with me in the suitcase”. This notebook has been invaluable to me and I refer to notes from previous moves frequently as I’m preparing for the next.

So there you go. A few things to get you started. Every move is an adventure. You never quite know what is waiting for you on the other end. Stay tuned for more information on getting ready for the “big move”; planning your HHE, UAB and consumables shipments; how to survive long-haul flights; traveling with young children and pets; and what to do when you finally get to post, besides turning around and getting on the next plane out of Dodge.

Julie is a scientist by education, a registered nurse by profession, an amateur cook by necessity, a mom of three by choice, and an EFM by default. She currently lives in Phnom Penh where she is refining the art of herding cats.

Easy Lemonade

2012-01-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

This is a simple recipe that we use for lemonade. You may want to use less sugar if you like a more tart lemonade. The nice thing about using a simple syrup is that you can add less simple syrup to the water and lemon juice if you'd like a less sweet mixture.

First create a simple syrup by combining the following in a small pan until the sugar is completely dissolved:

1 cup sugar
1 cup water

You may need to stir or whisk it more than once as the syrup comes together.

Once the syrup is created you can store it in the fridge for a bit or add it right away to:

1 cup lemon juice
1 quart (4 cups) water and ice

Mix well and chill. Makes about 6 cups total.

Note: There were a couple times we messed up the recipe by mixing the sugar, water, and lemon juice together in the pan and then creating the syrup. It works just fine. For some reason, it seemed slightly less sweet but that was the only difference.

Microwave Coffee Cup Scramble

2012-01-04T15:01:00.000-05:00

This post is for those of you who may find yourselves in a hotel (sans kitchenette) for a longer period of time than desired.

The recipe comes straight from The Incredible Egg.

Prep Time: 1 minute
Cook Time: 75 to 90 seconds
Makes: 1 serving

Ingredients:
2 Eggs
2 Tbsp. milk
2 Tbsp. shredded Cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper

COAT 12-oz. microwave-safe coffee mug with cooking spray. ADD eggs and milk; beat until blended.

MICROWAVE on HIGH 45 seconds; stir. MICROWAVE until eggs are almost set, 30 to 45 seconds longer.

TOP with cheese; season with salt and pepper.

Frozen Clementine Cups

2011-12-30T08:00:00.004-05:00

aka Clementine Granita (published in Dec 2011 Martha Stewart Living)

These Clementine Cups are simply elegant and can be put to use almost anywhere in your dinner. They can be your dessert, a palate cleanser or part of your salad.

Ingredients:
24 clementines, (12 whole, 12 just for juicing)
1/2 cup sugar
1 slice (1/2 inch) peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Slice the top 1/2 inch off each clementine; reserve. Cut around flesh and scoop out into a sieve set over a bowl; reserve skins and be careful not to tear them. Press flesh to extract juice. Squeeze in juice from tops. (You'll have about 1 cup.) Juice more clementines to yield 2 cups.

Moisten clementine skins with some juice or water. Roll skins in 1/4 cup sugar to coat. Freeze until solid, about 2 hours.

Bring remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and ginger to a boil in a saucepan, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat. Let stand for 30 minutes; discard ginger. Stir in 2 cups juice and the lemon juice; transfer to a nonreactive 8-inch square baking dish. Freeze until solid, about 3 hours.

Scrape granita with a fork to fluff. Spoon granita into clementine "cups." Freeze for 10 minutes before serving.

Cook's Note:
Granita can be frozen for up to 2 days. "Cups" can be frozen for up to 2 days (unfilled) or 1 day (filled).

We served one cup to each of our Christmas Eve dinner guests as a palate cleanser between courses. It was such a hit that we had to bring the extras back around again for dessert.
_________________________________________________________
One of Mindy's simple pleasures is flipping through a recent Martha Stewart magazine to lose herself in its set-designed world. It is always a treat to find something simple AND elegant to serve.

Easy Tortellini Soup

2011-12-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

This is so easy you think it can't be a "nice" soup to serve guests, except it is so yummy and special looking that you'll want to bring it out when entertaining. It comes from Recipes from the Heart, a cookbook put out by the Mid-Atlantic Springer Spaniel Rescue and is hands-down the best recipe in there.

Please note the ingredient sizing is for guidelines only. The book says things like "1 large can of X" which is totally useless when you don't have cans of "X" so I make vague guesstimates and it has always turned out delicious.

Ingredients

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
32 oz. chicken stock or broth
15 oz. diced tomatoes
2 cups fresh spinach, washed & torn
a couple of handfuls of dried tortellini (put in only as much as you'll eat as this ingredient doesn't keep well in the soup and can cook in the leftover soup when reheated)
Grated Parmesan cheese

Ingredient substitutions

To make this entirely vegetarian you can use vegetable stock/broth instead of chicken.

You can use frozen spinach instead of fresh and can even put it in straight from the freezer. I have actually never made this soup with fresh spinach as it is too rare and dear here.

Directions

Cook garlic in olive oil in a large pot until browned.
Add broth and tomatoes, cook until heated through. If using frozen spinach, add it here.
If using fresh spinach, add it and cook over medium heat to wilt it gently.
Add tortellini and cook until tender.
Add the grated Parmesan to each bowl just before serving.

It goes with the egg drop soup

2011-12-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

I grew up (in New York) with Egg Foo Yung. I know it's not traditional Chinese, but I don't care.

After a search, this recipe (from about.com) made the best EFY I've had since New York, and you can tweak the recipe to deal with missing ingredients. It's a great "use up what's in the leftovers" dish. My biggest surprise was learning the sauce is mostly thickened chicken stock.

Ingredients:

Sauce:
1 cup homemade or storebought Chinese chicken broth (this doesn't make enough for me, I double it)
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 4 tablespoons water (or corn flour, in fact, I like corn flour better, and don't forget to double this if you double the stock)

Egg Fu Yung:
3/4 pound fresh shelled, deveined shrimp (or any other protein...or none)
1/2 cup mung bean sprouts
1 medium white or yellow onion
1 red bell pepper
fresh mushrooms, to make 1/2 cup
2 green onions
Oil for stir-frying and deep-frying
6 large eggs
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

Preparation:
To prepare the egg fu yung sauce, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Stir in the seasonings, and thicken with the cornstarch and water mixture. Keep warm on low heat while making the egg fu yung.

Rinse the shrimp under warm running water. Pat dry and finely chop.

Rinse the mung bean sprouts and drain thoroughly. Peel and dice the onion. Cut the red bell pepper in half, remove the seeds and cut into bite-sized chunks. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth and thinly slice. Wash and finely chop the green onions.

[Here's where I step in. I used some fresh veggies, but I was also known to buy a can (locally or through the pouch) of "mixed Chinese vegetables" and do a rough chop on them before adding to the eggs.]

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a frying pan [I have a wok. The wok worked well]. When the oil is hot [my trick was to put in a couple of kernels of unpopped popcorn. When it popped, the oil was hot enough], add the shrimp. Stir-fry until they turn pink and are cooked. Remove from the pan.

In a large bowl, lightly beat the eggs with the salt and pepper. Stir in the rice wine or sherry, cooked shrimp and the vegetables.

In the wok, heat 2 1/2 inches oil for deep-frying to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. When the oil is hot, gently ladle 1/4 of the egg mixture into the wok [the amount is variable depending on for who and why you are making this. I found a medium ladle full was about right for me, but you may want to go 3/4 of a ladle...you can always eat 2!] Deep-fry on one side until browned (about 2 minutes), then ladle a bit of oil over the top so that it firms up. [I never found this necessary] Use a spatula (or 2 spatulas if necessary...or your chan) to gently turn the omelet over and brown the other side. Remove the omelet with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve with the egg fu yung sauce poured over top. [and rice, another reason to make extra sauce]

Gifts that don't have a shipping fee!

2011-12-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

As we are now in the very midst of winter holidays, here are some last-minute gift ideas that don't require anything but a little note card or home-made gift certificate!

Here are a few ideas to get your creativity flowing:

Gifts of Time
Special date with spouse
Special parent & child date
At-home movie party or pajama party

Gifts of Service
At-home spa party (this can be involved or as 'silly' depending on the age of your participants)
Chores (give your loved one the day off from doing something they normally are expected to do)
Baby-sitting
Certificate for someone's favorite food(s) for dinner

Experiences (depending on what is available in your area):
Movie tickets
Concert tickets
Production tickets
Daytrip
Weekend away
_____________________________________________________
As a professional organizer Mindy has always been a fan of "experiential" gifts over receiving stuff you have to dust or trip over!

Easy Homemade Yogurt

2011-12-21T15:22:00.000-05:00

Perfect!

This is another recipe given to me by a friend and I make it all the time. It is super easy and doesn't require any special equipment!

Ingredients

You can use milk, UHT milk, or powdered milk with water!

- 1 liter of water

- 10+ tablespoons of powdered milk

- 3+ tablespoons of non-flavored regular yogurt

Directions

- Heat water up in microwave or on the stove until it is about 110 F. If you have a thermometer, great! If not, just think of it as hot to the touch, but not unbearably hot. If it is too hot (i.e. anywhere close to boiling) the active culture in the yogurt will die.

- Mix in the powdered milk. Make sure there are no lumps.

- Add the yogurt and stir again!

- Cover with a towel and place in the oven with the light on. This makes a nice temperature (~100 F) for the yogurt to develop.

- Leave yogurt for 7-9 hours. I like to leave it in the oven overnight.

- After the yogurt is finished, place in refrigerator and enjoy for about a week!

Tips

- You can use regular milk or UHT milk for this recipe instead of the water and powdered milk. However, I find the powdered version to be much cheaper!
- You could also place the yogurt by a space heater instead of in the oven with the light on.

- Is your yogurt too thin? Add some agar or gelatin to thicken it a bit. Alternatively, you can strain it through cheese cloth, a coffee filter, or some sort of lint free towel to thicken it a bit. Strain for about 6-8 hours and you have yogurt cheese!

Yogurt Cheese in the making!

- Sometimes my yogurt turns out with little chunks. I think it is because I didn't mix the dried milk well - oops! It is still tasty, but if you don't like the texture you can make yogurt cheese- no need to throw it out!

- Use the whey (the liquid that comes off of the yogurt after straining) to add to pancakes, biscuits, etc. for extra nutrition.

_________________________________________

Janelle currently lives in São Paulo where plain yogurt is only available in individual serving sizes.

Easy Fabric Gift Bags Tutorial

2011-12-19T10:00:00.000-05:00

No wrapping paper (or crazy expensive wrapping paper) at post? Try making your own reusable fabric bags. This is my first time ever writing any sort of tutorial, so please let me know if anything is unclear. I had to take pictures of several different projects to get all the pictures I needed. I hope it makes sense anyway.

You can use a sewing machine and serger or just a machine. Here's how.

Supplies:

1 rectangle or square of fabric cut to fit your gift with room to tie the ribbon
(I do this measuring very unscientifically by putting the gift on the fabric and cutting. It's not even straight half the time but it works. You need about 4 inches above the gift for the ribbon. So your fabric needs to be about 4 inches bigger than the top of the gift. Leave about an inch on the sides of the gift.)
Thread
Ribbon 10-12 inches minimum

Step 1:
Cut Fabric

Step 2:
Finish off top raw edges (see Step 4 for different ideas on this)

The top two edges will need to be finished off somehow so they won't fray. I have a serger right now so I serge them.* You can also zigzag the edges or use other seam finishes. There is a great seam finish tutorial here at Sew, Mama, Sew. Another option would be to finish the top using bias tape. If you serge or use bias tape, you can even leave the top as is which saves you a step. Bias tape was my go-to option before I had a serger. Any way you choose to finish the edges and seams is fine. The top edges will either be left as is or hemmed over depending on what you want to do. (See step 4).

Step 3:
Sew and finish off seams; attach ribbon as you do it

I fold the ribbon in half

Then I pin it into the seam

Then you can serge or sew the seam with the ribbon in it.

If you serge it, it might cut off part of the ribbon but it will be fine as long as it is serged and sewn well.

The only thing you have to watch is that the ribbon hangs straight so you don't accidentally sew it into the seam in the wrong place.

When I sew the opposite seam, I pull the ribbon out the top of the bag to ensure I don't catch it in the seam.


Once the seams are serged, I sew them inside the serging to reinforce them.

When you are done, the ribbon will look like this on the outside

Step 4:
Finish off top edge

There are a couple options on this.

You can just leave the serged edge:

You can use bias tape or ribbon along the top edge:

To do that I usually sew the ribbon or bias tape on before I sew the sides seams. (If you fold the ribbon and iron it, it works just like bias tape.)

Then you can sew it straight into your seam.

You can also do a hem on the top edge. I think this would be the easiest way to do it if you have been zigzagging to prevent fraying:

Step 5:
Tie and trim ribbon; if needed, use a method to keep the ribbon from fraying.

I just touch the ends of the ribbon with a little flame to keep it from fraying. Be careful though because some ribbon will burn very easily. You can use fray block too. I don't have any. Some ribbon will be fine without some type of finishing on the end because it won't fray.

Step 6:
Insert gift.** Tie the bow nicely and gift away.

Step 7:
Open gift and then reuse the bag. Good for your pocketbook and the environment.

* You can get a serger somewhat inexpensively. Mine isn't top of the line or anything; it was under $200. I always thought they were more in the neighborhood of $500 until I started looking. I bought one that can take regular sewing machine needles and any type of thread so I can hopefully use it anywhere.

**If you have peekers at your house, you can either wrap everything right before they get it or you can use a closely trimmed ziptie under the ribbon. It will hold it nice and secure until it's time to open. We use this system to keep the ribbons from "accidentally" untying. You can snip them all on Christmas Eve or right before the birthday party so they are easy to open when the time comes.

Homemade Margarine

2011-12-14T08:00:00.001-05:00

A not so great picture of our homemade margarine on cornbread.

We found it a challenge sometimes to find gluten and dairy free margarine (our kids can't eat butter). Here's how to make it yourself. It can be vegan as well.

I made it in a blender but I'd bet a food processor would work too.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. non dairy milk (we used soy)
1 c. oil (we used canola; either use a mild oil or something you are okay tasting)
salt to taste
tumeric (opt.)
a few drops of lemon juice (opt.)

Instructions:
Blend the milk on highest setting.

While it is blending, drizzle in oil slowly and continue blending.

Stop when it gets to a decent thickness.

Add salt to taste and blend until well combined. I add some, then taste, then add some more till I like it.
(You can also add the tumeric and lemon juice here. Or any other herbs you want to incorporate.)

We had no tumeric so we just added a bit of cayene. And since the recipe said that the lemon juice was to help keep it from going bad, we didn't worry about it either.

It is not as thick as regular margarine but it tasted fine and worked well on things like pancakes and bread.

Original recipe here.

Homemade chicken and vegetable stocks

2011-12-12T08:00:00.000-05:00

The difference between homemade stock, canned broth, and cubes of bouillon is dramatic. Dramatically delicious! Homemade stocks have a deeper flavor, and you can control the ingredients and sodium. Stocks can be made with minimal supervision, which means you can start them, then do other things, instead of slaving over a hot stove for a few hours.

Minimal ingredients for stock

Carrots
Celery
Onion
Chicken bones

Optional ingredients for stock

Parsley
Mushrooms
Leeks
Garlic
Turnips
Yellow squash
Zucchini
Chicken bones with meat on them (if making chicken stock)

Ingredients to avoid (they'll make your broth bitter)

Broccoli
Bell peppers
Cauliflour

Directions

Collect vegetable leavings (carrot skins, mushroom stems, onion skins, the ends of celery sticks, etc.) in a gallon Ziplock bag in your freezer. If you're making a chicken broth, save your chicken bones in the same manner!
When you have a bagful of trimmings, dump them in a pot of water and simmer for 4 hours, adding water as necessary. You can also simmer overnight in your slow cooker on low heat.
Strain, then freeze the stock in Tupperware or ice cube trays.
Add salt, pepper, and other seasonings when it's time to use the broth in a recipe.

Theresa Sondjo heads out to Freetown in February 2012. Before joining the Foreign Service, she spent many years running a business in West Africa, where she learned to make a home wherever she was. She blogs about food and life abroad at himynameistheresa.

Post-Thanksgiving Gobble

2011-12-09T13:39:00.000-05:00

I had a bunch of leftover turkey, and rather than make turkey salad with it this year, I decided to try turkey pot pie. This recipe is very easy in a developed country, a little more work in places like Africa, but still very doable.

The difference comes from the fact that I used canned condensed soup and premade pie crusts. If neither is available, you can make both yourself. If you don't have a pie crust recipe, here's one I used in Cotonou which doesn't need Crisco.

http://www.landolakes.com/recipe/2092/butter-pie-crust

And here's a recipe for condensed cream of mushroom soup I found online, but haven't tried.

http://www.salad-in-a-jar.com/family-recipes/make-your-own-condensed-cream-of-mushroom-soup-in-less-than-5-minutes

Okay, now here's how I made the pot pie:

2-4 cups of meat broken up/cut into chunks
2 cups of mixed vegetables (corn, peas, carrots, whatever you like)
1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can of condensed cream of celery soup
2 refrigerated pie crusts
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Cook the vegetables to the point they are a little undercooked (I did it in the microwave).
Mix veggies, meat, soup in a large bowl.
Season to taste.
Place one pie crust on bottom of pie plate (or whatever else you have)
Fill.
Place other crust on top. Crimp around edges with fork. Poke some holes in the top.
Bake 35 minutes.

Makes a very well-filled pot pie.

Veggies can be fresh, frozen or canned (canned probably won't need pre-cooking). Cream of X soup can be used (where X = broccoli, chicken, etc.) if you'd like. I made this pie with about four cups of leftover turkey and it filled up the 9x5 Pyrex container fully. If you have less leftover meat, try more veggies, or add some potatoes.

What's great about this is that you can put almost anything between the crusts and it will taste good. Pot pie is classic "comfort food", but until now I always bought them from the grocer's freezer. This is better.

-------------------------
rich kolker http://rkolker.com Was in Cotonou, headed next to Ottawa.

Thanksgiving for 40: Post-Mortem

2011-12-05T13:17:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we hosted a special Thanksgiving Dinner for many of our friends that we have made at post. We prepared food for 40 guests and 30 were able to come join in one of my favorite celebrations of the whole year.

I am writing this post-mortem for two reasons: to hopefully help someone else save time and a little sanity when they decide to invite their whole neighborhood, as well as to get feedback and ideas about what I can do better next time.

Our menu:

Turkey Breasts (2): We knew we didn't want to commit to an actual bird this time around and luckily we found breasts-only that we were able to cook in a fraction of the time. (It would have been better had we had a third breast to serve).

Ham (1): Just right! We didn't want to commit to an actual bird this time around and luckily we found breasts-only that we were able to cook in a fraction of the time. (It would have been better had we had a third breast to serve).

Mashed potatoes (20 lbs): Too many! We really only needed 10 lbs of potatoes

Spinach salad (2 lbs): Again, we made far more than was eaten

Green Beans (2lbs): Very popular, trace leftovers

Broccoli (2lbs): Very popular, trace leftovers

Stuffing (2 boxes): Very popular (apparently stuffing is not widely known)

Cranberry Gelatin Salad, molded (2): Since everyone assumed this was desert we were left with quite a lot of it

Pies (5): The guests brought all of the pies except one.

Hot apple cider: (6 two-liter bottles) We had about 2 liters left over even with plenty of refills for those interested. Everyone kept commenting on how tasty it was warm (I reason that there must be a similar beverage they traditionally serve chilled).

Cultural things I learned:

Tijuanans assume that the molded gelatin salads you set out are for dessert and not one of the side-dish options (as I had planned for).

Carne is king. The meat almost vanished immediately! I might consider setting out the meat after everyone ate of plate of side-dishes first???

Logistical things I learned:

Creating a "work-back" schedule kept things manageable. I had at least one thing to do each day for a week before our dinner. (Write me a comment if you want me to post my work-back schedule).

Have at least one kind of gravy ready ahead-of-time. We didn't really allocate enough time to make the gravy on the day-of. When we do something like this again I will make one kind of gravy (that isn't necessarily dependent on turkey juices) at least one day ahead-of-time. Serving the gravy in a larger pitcher on the buffet table meant that we never had to refill it!

The funny mis-hap:

Sometimes attempting to do something in advance can get you. We peeled, cubed and refrigerated our 20 lbs of potatoes a day in advance to save some time on the day of the dinner. However, this meant that our beautiful potato cubes had an exceptional amount of surface area ready to receive oxidation.

The result: grey mashed potatoes the next day! I'd love your suggestions in the comments about successfully making mashed potatoes in advance! (Would covering the cubed potatoes in water alone have done the trick? Would having mashed them immediately then reheated them on the day of been the way to go? I'll be waiting to find out what you have to say!)

While grey, they were still tasty!

_________________________________________________________________

Mindy enjoyed the challenge of putting together this dinner, though she admits that it will be quite a while before she is ready to consider another one! In her all spare time this week she is going to relax and eat left-overs!

Homemade Holiday Decor - Orange Slices

2011-12-02T03:55:00.000-05:00

My husband and I started experimenting with food-related Christmas decor last year.

We dried citrus slices, found some star anise, and experimented with popcorn chains. While star anise is a natural work of art in its own right, our orange slices were our favorite accomplishment.

Here's how to make them better than we did initially:

1. Pre-heat your oven to the lowest setting possible, somewhere around 175 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cut a few oranges in 1/4 inch slices through the orange's "core." (In the photo the orange on the right was cut through its core.)

3. Arrange on a greased baking sheet.

4. 'Bake' for 4 hours. (Some slices will not be completely dry by 4 hours.) Do keep watch on your slices so that they do not turn brown. In this picture, the slices on the left were dried at a higher temperature - low temps work best!

You can then string thread, ribbon or string through their centers.

Our orange slices are were incorporated into our Fall and Thanksgiving decor this year, too!

_________________________________________________________________

Mindy enjoys figuring out how things can be made more simple, elegant, and delicious. She is currently in Tijuana with her husband, their toddler and her newest entrepreneurial venture.

Eggdrop soup

2011-11-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Egg Drop Soup Recipe

Serving size: 2 1/2 cups (serves 1)

Ingredients

3 cups water + 1 cube of chicken bouillon or chicken flavored Maggi (mmmm, MSG) OR
3 cups chicken stock
1/4t ginger
1/2t cumin
1/4t salt (or to taste)
cayenne pepper to taste
2t thickener (tapioca flour or cornflour)
2 eggs
2T chopped scallions

Directions

Break up bouillion cube into water and bring to a rolling boil.
Add spices and thickener, stirring until soup has desired consistancy.
While soup continues to boil, beat 2 eggs in a small bowl.
Holding the bowl of eggs in one hand and your whisk in the other, slowly pour eggs over the gently moving whisk into the soup. Slowly. SLOWLY.
Remove soup from heat. Pour sesame oil over top and garnish with scallions.

Applesauce

2011-11-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

I love applesauce! Cinnamony and slightly tart, it makes a great addition to lunch and makes a healthy replacement for oil in cookies, cakes, and granola. I make large batches using bruised and imperfect apples that have been sitting on the counter for a few weeks.

Ingredients

5-7 apples (preferably Granny Smith, but any apples will do)
2t cinnamon
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4c raw or or brown sugar (optional, I don't sweeten mine)
1c water

Directions

Peel and chop apples in to pieces roughly 1" cube and add all ingredients to pot.
Bring apple mix to a low boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes over low heat.
When apples are soft, process in a food processor or blender.

Makes 3-4 cups, depending on the size of your apples.

Note: Sweeten to taste. I don't usually use sweetener because I use applesauce as an ingredient in other dishes. You may also increase or decrease the water you use, depending on the size of your apples.

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

2011-11-25T07:44:00.000-05:00

Pumpkin Cookies with and without chocolate chips

I have been making this recipe for the holidays (sometimes I use that term loosely and make them in July!) since I was about 10 years old. This is a nearly fool-proof recipe that will be one of the first things to disappear at your next get together!

One year during the 4-H Club's annual Fall Festival in my hometown, they held a cooking/baking contest for anything that contained pumpkin. This recipe was entered by a girl named Ashley and was the blue ribbon winner. She gave the recipe to me and now you can make these cookies and tell everyone it is a rustic recipe from rural Kentucky... or something like that!

I usually make this with canned pumpkin, but you can easily make the puree using tips from Theresa's post. Chocolate chips really make this cookie super yummy. I started to make them plain because we didn't have any chocolate chips in the pantry. However, I just couldn't take the idea of not adding them, so I looked up Becky's chocolate chip recipe - it was pretty easy and the results were worth the extra step!

Ingredients

Yes, there are two types of brown sugar in there...

- 1 cup of pumpkin puree

- 1 cup of brown sugar

- 1/2 cup of vegetable oil

- 1 teaspoons of vanilla extract

- 2 cups of self-rising flour*

- 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of cinnamon**

- 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of nutmeg

- 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of ginger

- 1/2 - 1 cup of chocolate chips

Directions

Dump ingredients (except chocolate chips) into a bowl and stir until you are satisfied that everything is thoroughly mixed together. These days I use a hand mixer, but you can use a large spoon or your (very clean) hands! The latter method is super fun if you are a kid, trust me. Add chocolate chips. Spoon out golf-ball (or larger) amounts of the batter onto a baking sheet. Place them about an inch or so apart - they really don't rise that much. Place baking sheet in oven at 350 F and bake for 12-15 minutes.

* You can use self-rising flour for this recipe or substitute all-purpose flour and add 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1 teaspoon of baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

** I am a little heavy handed with the spices...

________________________________

Janelle currently lives in São Paulo and has been known to pack a couple cans of pumpkin puree in her suitcase when visiting the U.S. just for this recipe...

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

I got this recipe from a good friend, who in turn found it at food.com. I've made a few slight changes to fit our tastes. In the U.S. we buy the vegi-meat crumbles and a can of Manwich if we want Sloppy Joes. If I'd known how easy, cheap, and tasty this recipe was, I might have started making it sooner!

A great thing about this recipe is that is calls for dried TVP (textured vegetable protein). This soy-based product is super cheap (especially if bought in bulk) and can easily be shipped in the mail. It is packed with protein, like other soy products, and easily soaks up whatever flavors you throw at it.

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green/red/yellow pepper

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1.5 cups of boiling water

1.5 cups dry TVP (texturized vegetable protein)

Sauce -

2 cups of tomato sauce

.5-2 tablespoons of chili powder

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of mustard

1 tablespoon of sugar

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

- Chop up one onion and the equivalent of one bell pepper. I like to use a mix of red, green, and yellow peppers so I usually cut up 3 peppers and 2-3 onions. I use what I need for this recipe and save the rest for something else later that week!
- Saute onions and peppers in a pan with olive oil over medium-high heat until tender.

- While that is cooking, mix together your sauce in a bowl. You might want to play around with the amount of chili powder you use depending on the amount of spiciness you (or your kids!) like in food.

- Next, heat up water over stove or in the microwave until close to boiling. Mix with the dry TVP and let sit for a few minutes.

- Pour sauce and TVP into saucepan. Turn down the heat and cook for approximately 20 minutes - or until it is 'sloppy' and not 'soupy'!

Tips

- This can easily adapted for meat eaters - just substitute the boiling water and TVP combination for some ground beef/turkey/whatever.

- The recipe calls for tomato sauce. However, I usually make my own thicker version using 3/4+ cups of tomato paste and 1 cup of water. Same flavor and less liquid to work with which means the Sloppy Joes are ready sooner!

_________________________________________

Janelle currently lives in São Paulo where hamburger buns do not come pre-sliced.

Homemade Brown Sugar

2011-11-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

One extra snowy day in Chicago, I decided it was perfect weather to make some cookies. Unfortunately, my chosen recipe called for one key ingredient that I didn't have on hand - brown sugar! Well, I already knew that brown sugar wasn't a singular ingredient, but rather a mixture and decided to use the internet to see if I could make some sort of substitution.

The following recipe came from that day. It is super simple and great when you just don't want to go to the store or your local store doesn't carry brown sugar. I modified the original recipe that I found online, but can't remember which website... and there are a ton that list some variation of the one below. Anyway, thanks internet!

Before: granulated sugar and sorghum molasses

Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2.5 tablespoons of molasses (light, blackstrap, sorghum, etc.)

Directions

Mix together using a fork. This usually takes 5-10 minutes and is a perfect task for the little ones! I used sorghum this time around because I didn't have regular molasses on hand. You can use different amounts and types of molasses to achieve flavor variation. As a bonus, blackstrap molasses is a good source of iron!

After: Ready to enjoy!

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Janelle currently lives in São Paulo where they have plenty of brown sugar (açúcar mascavo) and no snow...

Roasted onion dip

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Need a quick dip for a party, but have no more packets of French Onion soup left in your pantry? This simple recipe for roasted onion dip is so good and so easy, you'll never go back to processed packets again. I use red onions for this recipe, but sweet onions also work. Lower the calories and fat in the recipe by using low-fat mayo and sour cream.

Ingredients

4 medium onions (skins on!)
2T olive oil
2T mayonnaise
2T sour cream (or creme fraiche, or fromage blanc)
3-4 chopped scallions (green onions, use both green and white bits)
1t salt
red pepper flakes to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lightly coat onions in olive oil, then roast for 45 minutes or until soft.
Remove onions from oven. Remove skins and cut off any remaining papery bits you may not want to eat (save for stock making!).
Blend or food process with mayonnaise, sour cream, and remaining oil.
Stir in scallions. Salt and pepper to taste.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving to allow flavors to blend.

Makes 2 cups.

Corn Dogs!

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

I had never made corn dogs when I decided what we needed in Cotonou (Benin) for July 4th was some genuine American state fair fried food. It was an experiment, and one which would have kept me in the kitchen making corn dogs all night if I had not run out of hot dogs. The kids loved the. The adults loved them. The Beninois loved them. You can't go wrong with corn dogs!

1 egg, beaten
1/4 c. milk
1/4 c. cornmeal
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. sugar
oil (peanut oil is good, but anything you can fry in will work)

Get some hotdogs (good dogs are better, but great dogs are not necessary) and some skewers (8 inchers are usually good).
Heat oil to 325-350 degrees F (put a kernel or two of popcorn in the oil and when it pops, it's ready). If you have a deep fryer, even better, but a pan on the stove will do, although then you'll need to turn the dogs.
Combine everything but the oil to make a batch of batter. The consistency should be similar to pancake batter, maybe on the thick side.
Put hotdogs on skewers.
Dip in the batter.
Fry until golden brown.

Note 1: A good idea for parties is corn dog nuggets. Cut the dogs in quarters, forget the skewers, and otherwise follow the directions.

Note 2: If you have leftover batter, it makes good hush puppies. Just drop small spoonfuls into the hot oil.

------------------------
rich kolker http://rkolker.com

Foolproof homemade flour tortillas

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

In some parts of the world, tortillas are inexpensive and plentiful. In others, they don't exist on the local market, and end up moldy before they arrive. A slightly modified version of the Homesick Texan tortilla recipe is a lifesaver and consistently results in perfect tortillas (despite imperfect ingredients!).

Ingredients

2c sifted flour
1 1/2t baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
2T vegetable oil
3/4c warm milk

Ingredient substitutions

This recipe turns out fine with cheap, locally milled flour. Just sift it first. You can also subsitute whole wheat flour for half of the flour.
Skim milk, whole milk, UTH milk, even powdered milk result in perfect tortillas. Be sure to add the powdered milk with your dry ingredients, and add warm water where you'd add milk (you may need 1 or 2 extra T of water).

Directions

Mix together dry ingredients.
Add warm, but not hot, liquid (milk or water), gently forming dough into a loose ball.
Knead for two minutes. You may need to add more warm liquid if the dough doesn't form properly into a ball.
Put dough into a large bowl and cover w/ Saran Wrap or a damp towel. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
Break dough up into 8 balls for regular sized tortillas, or 12-16 balls for tiny tortillas.
Put the dough balls back into the large bowl and cover w/ Saran Wrap or a damp towel. Let the dough rest for 15 more minutes.
Once the dough's finished resting, roll out tortillas one at a time on a well-floured surface. If you've made 8 balls, the tortillas should be about 8" in diameter.
One by one, cook the tortillas 30-seconds on each side in a dry skillet.

Store finished tortillas for a few weeks in a ziploc bag in the fridge, or freeze them for long-term storage. The tortillas may harden, but usually 30 seconds on a hot dry pan softens them up. Once the tortillas can no longer be softened, I cut them into triangles and fry them to make tortilla chips.

Countertop Toys

2011-11-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

Before I joined the Foreign Service, I wasn't very interested in cooking, but I always liked countertop toys. You know what I mean:

George Foreman Grills
Crock Pots
Food Processors
Waffle Irons
Deep Fryers
and so on...

Cooking more just led me to want more (for example I never had a food processor before Cotonou...and hadn't had a deep fryer in 20 years), but it also taught me there are some things to remember with countertop toys overseas.

1. Counterspace - Kitchens overseas often aren't the American model with endless cabinets, counters and islands. It often doesn't take long to fill up your counters leaving no room to actually prepare food on. Think about building or bringing extra shelves for the kitchen for storage of your toys when you aren't using them.

2. Voltage, Amperage and Wattage - Anyone who's spent some time living overseas knows electricity is a crap shoot. When it is running, it is often 220-240 volts at 50 Hertz (cycles per second) instead of the 110V 60Hz we're used to in the United States. The current varies and spikes. Most appliances come in dual voltage, and it's worth checking if you're buying something new. But if you have a house full of 110V 60 Hz appliances, you'll be needing some combination of transformers and power conditioner/voltage regulators. One more term you may remember from high school science (or light bulbs): wattage. Transformers and PC/VR come in different wattages, and you shouldn't exceed them. For example, don't (as I did) plug your 1500 watt Fry Daddy into a 1000 watt transformer, or you'll start smelling the distinctive smell of ozone rather than french fries. The good news is that kitchen appliances tend to be more power spike forgiving than electronics, so I got away with just a simple 2000W transformer, and you probably can as well.

3. Storage - At this point I'm not talking about cabinets, but food storage. You can never have too many zip lock bags (in quart, gallon and 2.5 gallon sizes) or storage containers. Zip lock bags are reusable two or three times before the zipper usually gives out. They keep things fresh (like flour, sugar, salt, yeast...) keep bugs and critters out, and when you make a big pot of something, you can freeze half.

4. If you're going to use it, get a good one - I own a $10 hand mixer. There wasn't a time I made something with it I wished I hadn't bought a good mixer. The same is true of other countertop toys. Go bigger. Go better. The time you're making something for a party and the mixer seizes up, you'll wish you had.

5. You might not have thought of - An ice cream maker. I know I hadn't, but once I got one it was great fun for parties and you can make whichever flavors you crave. For example:

We ended up with 15 flavors of ice cream, some of which Ben and Jerry had never thought of.

So, bring your countertop toys.

Tortilla soup

2011-11-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

I make both chicken stock and vegetable broth ahead of time and then freeze it, so I have a homemade base for soups whenever I need it. I just throw the frozen stock into the recipe and let the ice blocks melt. Canned broth and powdered bouillon also work wonderfully here. If you're adding pre-cooked shredded chicken or ground beef, do so at the same time that you add the vegetables. If you're counting calories, coat the tortilla strips with olive oil and bake them instead of frying them.

The recipe below makes two bowls of soup, but easily doubles, triples, and quadruples for large groups. My husband calls it "leftover vegetable soup," because I tend to throw whatever extra vegetables I have on hand (grated carrots, chopped zucchinis, etc) into the soup. Not only is a super-quick and super-filling meal, but it also uses up all the leftovers I have in the fridge!

Ingredients

2 flour tortillas, cut into 1/4" strips (cut them in half, and then into quarters)
2t vegetable oil
1c chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2c chopped bell peppers (optional)
1/2c corn (optional)
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1t salt
1t cumin
Chili powder to taste
2T grated cheddar cheese
1T sour cream

Optional Proteins

Cooked shredded chicken
Cooked ground beef
Cooked sausage
Black beans (prepared or from a can)

Directions

Heat 1/2" to 1" oil in a frying pan and fry the tortilla strips until chrispy and golden. It takes about 90 seconds. Drain them and set them aside.
In a medium-sized pot, heat oil, then add onions.
Cook onions until translucent, then add garlic, bell peppers, and corn. Add any proteins.
Once the garlic is cooked (no longer sharp when you taste it), add chicken broth and tomatoes. Cover pot and simmer for 15 minutes.
Check the consistancy of the soup. Add water (up to 2c) if necessary, and simmer for 5 more minutes.
Add spices and salt to taste (lots of salt!).
Split the tortilla strips between two bowls, reserving about 6 strips. Pour soup over strips. Serve with cheese, sour cream, scallions, and/or remaining strips.

Theresa Sondjo heads out to Freetown in February 2012. Before joining the Foreign Service, she spent several years running a business in West Africa, where she learned to make a home wherever she was. She blogs about food and life abroad at himynameistheresa.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

2011-11-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

I often find vanilla extract difficult to find overseas. To top it off, I have had shippers refuse to pack it with our kitchen stuff because it is alcohol based and is flammable. That time, everyone I know got a parting gift of a bottle of McCormick's vanilla extract, since I had stocked up and bought enough to last me through a two-year posting.

You can pack whole vanilla beans in with your kitchen spices, and if you search around online, you can order the beans in half pound or pound packages for a very reasonable price. Once they are opened store them in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. I use an old Smucker's jelly jar. Use what's handy.

Vanilla beans can be used in all sorts of ways. You can slice them open and scrape out the seeds then throw the seeds and pod into your favorite ice cream base when you are cooking it. You can chop a bean up and tuck it into a container of sugar and in a few weeks the whole container will taste like vanilla, and smell amazing. Try that in your morning coffee. Best of all you can use vanilla beans to make your very own vanilla extract. It's not hard, in fact there is no cooking involved, just time.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

1+ cup vodka*
2 or 3 vanilla beans

Slice the vanilla beans open and place them in a clean glass jar. Fill the jar with vodka. If it takes more than a cup of the vodka, no problem, this is a very forgiving sort of recipe. Screw the lid on tightly and give it a shake. Every few days for the next couple of months, give it a shake. I keep mine in the spice cabinet so that when I am rummaging around trying to find whatever spice I can't find today I will see it and will remember to give a shake now and then. After about 8 weeks, it should be quite dark, and smell strongly of vanilla; it's ready to use. Use it just like you would use regular vanilla extract.

Two week old extract in need of shaking.

Same extract after shaking.

When the vanilla starts to run low, add some more vodka, toss in a new vanilla bean, and keep cooking.

I realize some people do not use alcohol for personal reasons, or because they are living in a country where alcohol isn't readily available. I have never tried making an alcohol free extract, but I did a quick search and found that a combination of 3 parts glycerin, one part water, and vanilla beans makes an extract substitute that is alcohol free. You can find more detailed instructions here. If you give this a try, be sure to let us know how it works.

* I read somewhere recently that at least one food blogger is using rum as her basis for vanilla extract, which makes sense to me. I have been known to use a bit of rum when I am cooking, and I realize too late that I am out of vanilla. It works like a charm, so vanilla rum sounds like a winner to me. I think you could probably use a variety of different alcohols as a basis for this recipe.

But the big screen TV won't fit in the pouch!

2011-11-04T08:00:00.007-04:00

When I left for Africa I didn't take a big TV, because I thought I'd need something multisystem, and I figured I could get it less expensively there. I was wrong. Locally purchased flat screens were expensive (whether to go multisystem is up to you, but we'll get back to that).

I found I didn't watch much local TV. Most of what I watched came through some kind of cable (AFN or Satellite TV out of South Africa), and although the South African TV was PAL (there are three standards for analog TV in the world: NTSC, PAL and SECAM...the U.S. used NTSC), when it fed to the TV it had already gone through a set top box, so I didn't need a tuner.

Big screen TVs back the US had come down in price, but the pouch size limits made "big screen" a bit misleading. So, I was looking for a solution when I discovered this:

That's an eight foot ceiling (so the picture is about 5x10, and it'll go bigger), full 1080p, projected on a white painted wall (use a screen and it's even sharper). And it all comes out of a box about the same size as an old VHS player.

What's the down side? No tuner, so you have to feed it from a settop box, (Blu-ray is incredible on this) or something similar. No amplifier, so you'll need a small amp and some speakers. If you feed old fashioned NTSC or VHS signals into this and blow them up to 12 feet across, you'll see the quality difference (and scan lines).

On the other hand, you'll have a theater experience from something which ships easily through the pouch. It only comes in 110V/60Hz, so you'll need transformers and power conditioners, and I recommend a UPS if your power is shaky, because eventually, cycling the bulb each time the power drops isn't good for it (mine lasted just under 2 years in Benin).

Oh, and you need a large white wall.

Plenty of places to find these. Here's one.

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rich kolker http://rkolker.com

Crepes

2011-11-02T17:04:00.001-04:00

Today's 30-minute recipe is a guest post from Connie, who blogs at Whale Ears and other Wonderings.

Here's my recipe for crepes! I make them thicker than usual so the kids can spread them with nutella and peanut butter, or jam and fruit. It's an easy and satisfying meal. I also try to make a double batch (depending on time) because they keep pretty well in the fridge and we can heat them up again and have them before school too.

The recipe I started with was 3 eggs, 2 cups milk, 1 cup flour. Just mix into thin batter, cook each crepe in a bit of butter. This made for a very thin pancake. Tasty, but not very sturdy. I also did not like adding so much butter to the pan with every crepe. So, I messed around with the idea!

Crepes

4 eggs
1.5-2 cups milk
1 cup flour
2-3 tbsp sugar
1tsp vanilla (powder or extract)
.5 tsp baking powder
2-4 tbsp melted butter or oil, added a little at a time.

I add the eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla and baking powder first and whisk smooth, then add the milk until I reach a desired consistency. It should be thinner than pancake batter, but not as thin the recipe above (ie. Swedish pancakes). Next I whisk in about half of the melted butter or oil. Pour a bit of batter onto the hot pan, perhaps a palm sized dollop, and make a test crepe. It should be thin enough to roll like a tortilla, more flexible than a pancake (which would likely tear when rolled), but thick enough to spread peanut butter on... with the oil added, it should not stick to the pan. Add a bit more oil as needed.

This is more of a 'method' than a 'recipe'. It's tough to be precise about measurements because it seems the size and consistency of the eggs will always vary, and even the milk (I use the local fresh whole milk) seems to be more or less creamy at times. I sometimes have to add more flour to thicken the batter, milk to thin it, another egg to make it stick together better, etc. Fortunately, it's a very forgiving recipe and easy to play around with until you get it right!

This is a 'treat' that I like serving my family because it consists mostly of eggs and milk!

Lentil and Spinach Soup

2011-10-31T06:54:00.000-04:00

I may not be a great food photographer, but trust me, this is delicious!

This recipe is my take on a gem from allrecipes.com. I love it all year round, but especially enjoy it during colder months. The prep time is pretty fast and the rest of the time you can leave it cooking in a slow cooker or check the pot periodically while it finishes off on the stove.

Lentils are one of my favorite foods and are high in protein. They are also relatively cheap and widely available. The other ingredients are usually easy to find or keep stocked in your pantry. I think that the key to having the richest flavor is to simmer the soup on the stove for closer to 2 hours.

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 carrots, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 teaspoon dried oregano

2 bay leaves

1.5 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspon of coriander

1 (~14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

2 cups dry lentils

8 cups water + 1-2 vegetable bullion cube (or half water and half broth)

2 cups spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (feel free to substitute)

Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

Heat oil over medium heat in large pot. Add onion and carrots. Cook until onion is translucent and carrots are slightly tender, stirring occassionaly. Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano, coriander, and basil; cook for 2 minutes. This is the best part - it smells sooo good!

Stir in lentils, and add water/broth and tomatoes. Bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat, simmering for 1-2 hours. Stir in spinach right at the end and cook until it wilts. Stir in vinegar, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Tips

- This is a great recipe to freeze. I recommend freezing before adding the spinach.

- Feel free to add or substitute other great vegetables like potatoes, squash, zucchini, etc.

- When reheating, sometimes adding a little vinegar will perk up the flavor!

- Don't have diced canned tomatoes? I use whole peeled tomatoes and squish them into the pot with my (very clean) hand... Hey, it works!

- I use bullion cubes because they are easy to find or ship and work when there isn't ready-made broth on hand or I don't feel like making my own!

_________________________________________

Janelle currently lives in São Paulo where despite what you've heard, you can find good vegetarian food, promise!

Need a Dessert?

2011-10-28T23:07:00.000-04:00

I have a great recipe for peanut butter cream cheese pie I use for pot lucks all the time in the U.S. (no baking, tastes great), but I never could find all the ingredients in Benin, so I needed to find something else for dessert.

This recipe for fruit cobbler (not really a cobbler, but what you call it isn't important) can be used with any fruit, fresh or canned. I've made it with canned peaches and jars of cherries and this is my first experiment with fresh fall apples. Even better, it's easy to remember (as you'll see) how much of each ingredient you need.

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter (two sticks US), room temperature (or 15 seconds in microwave to soften)
1 cup self-rising flour or pancake mix
1 cup milk
1 (15 ounce) can or jar dark cherries in juice/syrup (not pie filling) (or peaches, or pretty much any other sweet fruit).

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a one-quart baking dish or 9 inch square pan, cream together sugar and butter. Mix in flour and milk until smooth. Drain most juice from cherries. Save for flavoring iced tea or lemonade. Pour cherries and their remaining juice over the top.
Bake about 1 hour in the preheated oven, until golden brown.

Notes: With peaches, cinnamon on top is a good addition. For the apples, since I didn't have cinnamon, I added a little maple syrup and some spiced apple cider (which I had lying around) to the fresh sliced apples before cooking. I've substituted brown sugar for some of the white and that's worked fine. I've pretty much always made it with Aunt Jemima's classic pancake mix (the kind you have to add egg and milk to) since that's what I had in the pantry in Cotonou.

Kids on planes (preschool version)

2011-10-28T00:01:00.001-04:00

The skills foreign service leads us to develop! I have joked that I can fly with a toddler armed with nothing more than snacks, diapers and a glue stick (flights under about 4h, I'd say) Here are some tips and tricks to flying with wee ones on the long haul:

1. Figure out what they need to sleep. Every kid has her unique sleep needs, and finding a way to meet them will ensure your kid doesn't pick up the most viral strain of the most viral cold going around the day after arrival.

My daughter is a bit of a challenge - she NEEDS darkness. Figuring that out was the first trick. Creating darkness on an afternoon Europe to USA flight (10h of brightness!) was the next. Voila! The 2-blanket-cave.

And (this should go without saying), for the love of all things good, if your kid has a favorite sleep lovey, or a blankey or whatever, make sure that thing is in the carry-on!

2. DVD player. And child appropriate headphones.
Our kids don't get to watch too much TV and it turns out their appetite for TV is only 2h long, although on a long flight that cycles. It also turns out the TV can be quite lulling ... think of how many adults you know who snooze by the flickering lights. Not all airplanes have a children's channel or the one they have may be more suited to 7 year olds than 3 year olds, so your own portable DVD player is a must. Or an i-pad loaded with movies. You get the picture. The headphones are a must not only to avoid broadcasting Sponge Bob to your fellow passengers, but also for tiny heads the adult 'phones fall right off and many child styles have a feature that prevents the sound from going over so many decibels - necessary when your kid loves to play with all the buttons.

3. Snacks & treats.
To ensure your kid actually eats something - because so many are so picky - bring food you know they will eat. As travel day is special and you'll do anything to get them through it, bring a few special treats too. Sometimes what your kid considers a treat isn't even particularly unhealthy (think yogurt covered raisins).

4. A new book that your kid chooses (you can get one in the airport, most bookstores have an English section. Or however else you obtain your books, but let it be chosen by your kid and never read yet). AND a favorite book.
Kids can read the same story a dozen times in a row. A new book easily can be read 2 dozen times - same for the most favorite. You may want to tear your eyeballs out, but your kid is happy and quiet and cute to the fellow passengers when saying "Again!" for the 20th time.

5. A bunch of small wrapped "presents".
I threw this one in as lots of people suggest it. It never really worked with my kid (although we'll try it with #2 soon!). Wrap up small toys, the special treats you brought, a new box of crayons, whatever it is. Some suggest having one for each hour of the flight and letting the kid open one each hour. For my kid the novelty wore off after a few hours and she was eventually busy sleeping (see #1!) but my motto with the kids is it's better to have too much than not enough.

6. Extra clothes.
For babies it's a "duh". Same for potty trainers. But other wee ones too can have an unusual reaction to particular turbulence. Or, for example, my daughter used to puke when the plane got too hot. Or they spill their juice. The number of reasons you might want new clothes for your kid are innumerable and let's face it, kids' clothes just aren't that big. At worst you have spare clothes for when the airlines loses your luggage.

7. The airline will provide this one for you ... an extra blanket that you can put down on the floor before letting your little ones play on their "picnic blanket" under their seat.
Kids get claustrophobic in their little seat. They generally don't like their motion restricted anyway. The floor had less real space, but it's relatively forbidden so it's cool and if you put the blanket down first it isn't so disgusting ... and it gives them room to spread out.

8. Glue stick.
So many uses! One thing we do is go through the in-flight magazine and/or the airMall flyer looking for ... animals/red things/pretty dresses/whatever. That's quality entertainment in itself. Then, you can tear them out (kids love to rip paper!) and glue them to the airsick bag. It's a good hour of entertainment. Those bags are pretty sturdy, depending on how much glue you use you can tear your initial masterpiece off the bag and go back with a new theme later.

9. Color Wonder.
4 colors and one new book will get all the attention your kid has to give any one thing. If you can't get your hands on these, use crayons and a new coloring book and once you're in the USA, head to the nearest kids' store and get some. Stock up!

10. Whatever packable, non-breakable things they like to play with.
Sort of a duh but look around the playroom and hide away a few things about a week in advance so they are fresher and newer on travel day.

10. What NOT to bring.
Puzzles, balls, Legos, play-doh unless you are absolutely certain it won't end up ground into the fabric of the chair, anything you'd be sad to lose (except of course the sleep lovey, that one's a necessity).

Quick Tomato Basil Pasta

2011-10-26T00:01:00.004-04:00

(Admin Note: Another post in the: "Quick and Easy Meals" series. Thanks Shannon!)

I find it a lot harder to a make a meal in 30 minutes overseas than in the States, where I have access to all sorts of convenience foods to speed food preparation. One recipe I turn to quite often (too often if you ask a certain tomato hating boy) is pasta with tomato and basil. I made it a lot in Asia where I could always find fresh tomatoes and Thai basil. In Germany it was mostly limited to the summer, but for 3 months of the year we ate a lot of it. It couldn't be simpler and takes at most 20 minutes. None of the measurements are precise and all can be adjusted to your taste. You can make it with almost any pasta. I have made it with everything from angel hair to bow ties, the original recipe called for rolling your own herb fazzoletti pasta. I can only manage to do that once or twice a year at most, and it certainly takes more than thirty minutes.

Pasta with Tomato and Basil

1 package pasta (1 pound or about half a kilo; this is a very forgiving recipe)

2 medium tomatoes

2 tablespoons chopped basil or a mixture of other fresh herbs, I use basil, chives, and parsley, you can use what is available and suits your tastes.

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup butter or olive oil

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. While the pasta is cooking dice the tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper, set aside. Melt the butter or heat the olive oil and stir in the chopped herbs. Heat for one minute until very fragrant. At this point your kitchen will smell amazing. Drain the pasta and toss with the herb butter/oil and top with tomatoes. Take a quick taste and adjust the salt and pepper. Serve with some bread and enjoy!

You can jazz this recipe up by adding in leftover cooked chicken, grilled shrimp, or even some capers.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

2011-10-24T00:01:00.005-04:00

Many people seem to like the pumpkin spice flavored drinks at places like Starbucks. I have used this syrup in hot soy milk but not in milk or coffee since I don't drink either of those. I would guess that it would work but no guarantees. In any case, we really like it and it is easy to make. I think it tastes much better than the Starbucks stuff because it isn't fake at all.

I found the original recipe at Mom, What's for Dinner. This is my take on it since no one likes nutmeg really at my house and I was out of ginger the first time I made this. I have made it with sugar, brown sugar, and agave and with and without ginger. I added just a dash of allspice one time too. You can kind of play with the ratios.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

1 cup pumpkin or squash puree
(the link will take you to the recipe here on HH or you can use canned pumpkin)
3/4-1 cup sugar, brown sugar, or agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt (opt.)
1 teaspoon all spice or nutmeg (opt.)
1 teaspoon ground ginger (opt.)

You put it all in a pot and bring it to a boil. Then, turn it down to a simmer and let it cook down for a bit stirring here and there. Mom, What's For Dinner suggests 15 minutes of simmering. I didn't really time it but just let it go until it looked syrupy and tasted good.

The most important thing seems to be to let the spices really mellow.

Once it is done, you can put some in your favorite drink and enjoy. A little of this syrup goes a long way as far as flavor goes. I'd suggest adding a little at a time and tasting it as you go to get to know how much you'd like. It stores well in a covered container in the fridge.

Happy autumn! (Or spring depending on your location.)

Recordable Storybooks

2011-10-21T00:01:00.012-04:00

First, the disclaimer: I don't get a commission from Hallmark.

My mother sent a couple of these books to my kids for Christmukkah last year, then my mother-in-law sent some back with us after Home Leave. I'd say at a minimum, 5 days out of 7 at least one of these books is opened and listened to, and they are usually chosen by who speaks (e.g., "Grammy!" and grabbing a book she recorded).

The point of these books is that the "reader" gets to record his or her voice reading each page of the book, so when the "listener" turns each page, the book is read out loud by someone who doesn't live in the same time zone. It's one more way to stay in touch. It's a way for Grammy to read a bedtime story, and it works as well when the Grammy is FS and sending the book through DPO to a child back in the USA.

I don't know if anyone other than Hallmark makes these, but here's a link to the Hallmark web site.

And here is my daughter "reading" the Princess book.

Pancakes

2011-10-19T06:00:00.000-04:00

(Admin Note: One of the requests we received was for quick and easy meals that don't rely on convenience foods. Here is one idea. Also, stay tuned Friday for a great holiday gift idea.)

At our first post Bisquick was unknown, and as a non-commissary, Pouch post many of the comforts of home were just not going to come. Weekends have always meant pancakes for me, so what to do? Learn to make them myself, of course.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
3-4 tsp. baking powder*
1 tsp. sugar
1 cup milk (we've used cow, coconut, rice, and soy milks. They all work.)
1/4 cup melted butter
2 eggs, beaten **

* I know, nobody has baking powder outside the USA. The cans are small and it doesn't go bad for a very long time so put it in your HHE.
** Yes it's a really annoying extra step that requires you to dirty another bowl ... and yet it dramatically changes the taste, for the better!

Mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar together, then add in the butter, milk and eggs. Mix well and pour onto the hot griddle/pan/whatever you've got.

Pumpkin puree

2011-10-17T17:42:00.002-04:00

No Libby's? Your favorite brand of canned pumpkin now uses a pop-top, and can't come to post through the pouch? Never fear! Once you start making your own pumpkin and squash puree, you'll never go back to the canned stuff again.*

Go buy yourself a big pumpkin (a cooking pumpkin, not a carving pumpkin) or a butternut squash. Or whatever you can find on the local market that looks more-or-less squash like.
This is a very large squash.

This butternut squash is somewhat smaller.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Chop the squash in half and carve out the seeds. Save them for later if you want to roast pumpkin seeds.
Cut the squash into large pieces (3"x3" is fine).
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or aluminum foil) and place the squash pieces skin-side up the paper.
Lightly brush the tops of the squash pieces with olive oil.
Roast for 20-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of your squash pieces. The tops should cave in, and the flesh should be soft and sweet. It's OK if they burn a bit on the bottom.
Remove the squash from the oven. Line a colander with cheese cloth (or paper towels), and scoop the flesh into it.
Drain for about an hour.
If you're making pumpkin bread, you may be able to stop here. Otherwise, puree the squash flesh in a blender.

* This is a lie. I love coming back to the States and having canned pumpkin on hand to instantly satisfy my pumpkin obsession.

What to do when the toys are in HHE?

2011-10-14T00:01:00.001-04:00

A few tips on how to keep the kids busy post-PCS when they are sick of the 3 toys you packed in luggage and HHE is a month away:

Pack box cutters and packing tape in your UAB. When the boxes arrive, make a fort out of one or many boxes. You can see the one below is comprised of 3 boxes and has a skylight in the tunnel (and a husband hiding inside).

To keep the fun going, let the kids decorate the boxes. You're going to have crayons in your carry-on bag anyway (right?!?) and it's worth bringing a glue stick or two. Grab the in-flight magazine or use the Where you are likely to find in your Welcome packet from post. If you have a little one who's learning to use scissors - be sure they go into UAB too - it's a great time to let them practice by finding and cutting out pictures they want to glue on the inside or outside of the fort. My son tore down all the magazine pictures but extra glue had been used on the old photographs.

Front view

Looking out the window. Please note that it was the amazing nanny who added the window shades, flower box and other detailing - not the uncreative mommy!

One UAB box comfortably fits a 2 year old, a 4 year old, and a couple of pillows from the couch.

Get in touch with the CLO. Often there's a small toy box in the CLO office for borrowings, or he or she can put out a call to other parents at post. Our sponsors loaned us a handful of toys that definitely kept our daughter entertained until the full store of toys arrived, and we've tried to pay that forward when we've sponsored folks with kids.

Get creative. It takes a long time before Tupperware, kitchen utensils, and cardboard boxes become boring to a kid. Dried beans, a spoon and 2 different sized bowls can keep them busy long enough to cook dinner. Or, enlist their help. It may take longer and be messier, but you know exactly where they are and they aren't whining that they want to watch TV. I've heard rumors that assisting in the meal prep makes a kid more likely to eat the dinner, but I haven't seen that around here.

Homemade peanut (and other nut) butter

2011-10-12T00:01:00.000-04:00

Ingredients

2 cups salted roasted peanuts
2T honey (optional)
2T peanut oil (optional)

Notes: Any type of roasted nut will work. I roast almonds and cashews myself, then add salt in the food processor. Maple syrup or molasses can be substituted for honey.

Directions

Dump peanuts into food processor.
Process.
Process some more.
Process even more.
Add salt, sweetener, and other seasonings, adding oil if the nut butter becomes less creamy. Keep processing!
The nut butter is done when it's as creamy as you'd like. Generally, it takes me about 15 minutes in my heavy duty food processor to achieve penultimate creaminess.

Homemade Chocolate Chips and Dipping Chocolate

2011-10-10T12:01:00.000-04:00

It seems like lots of consumables lists include chocolate chips. We learned how to make our own during our post in Mexico. It wasn't because we couldn't buy chocolate chips; it was because we had kids who couldn't eat dairy and the dairy free chips were really expensive. We figured that we might as well figure out how to make them and use the recipe in future posts as well. I think shipping cocoa powder is easier than shipping chocolate chips. The chips are not as firm as store bought ones but they taste great.When baking with them, I'd reduce the liquid a bit to account for oil that will come out of the chips. I would also use them as chunks to help them hold up better.

Chocolate Chips/ Dipping Chocolate

I found the original recipe here. The first time I used the only room temperature solid fat that I had on hand: shortening. Later I used extra virgin coconut oil and it was a pretty fantastic taste. You have to like coconut flavor though. If you mix the chips with toasted coconut, it is pretty good too.

I also found that you can really play with the different amounts of sugars, vanilla, salt and cocoa to get different tastes. (I like adding a little extra vanilla.) I've used brown sugar, white sugar and powdered sugar. The powdered sugar made the smoothest chocolate but it melted easiest too. I found it harder to get the other sugars to really dissolve into the mixture. I think I'd run the sugar in the blender if I used regular or brown sugar again.

A couple of my recipes:

Semi-sweet
1cup solid fat
1/2 cup sweetener (brown sugar, sugar, powdered sugar, etc.)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 small pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Regular
1 c. solid fat
3/4 c. sugar
1/4-3/8 c. cocoa powder
1 small pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Put fat, sugar, salt, and cocoa in a double broiler. (You can make a quick one by placing a glass jar or bowl inside a pan with boiling water. Put all the ingredients in the glass jar. I have used a metal bowl over a pan of water as well. The point is to heat the ingredients gently.)

2. Stir ingredients until they have combined well and cooked for a bit (10-15 minutes).

3. Remove from heat and add vanilla.

4. Then you can do several different things with it:

-Pipe chocolate* onto parchment or silpat mat,

-pour it onto parchment or silpat in a pan (to later break into chunks)

-or let it cool a bit and dip things into it

5. Cool chocolate for a bit outside the fridge. Then put it in the fridge to finish cooling. If you cool it too quickly, it will get bloom. (The white stuff you see on chocolate sometimes.) No one cares much about looks around here so I just throw it in the freezer sometimes to hurry up the process.

6. Enjoy!

*Piping the chocolate is tricky. There is a happy medium temperature for the chocolate chips that lasts for a very short time.

Too hot

Just right

A few seconds later -too cold

We decided to settle for chocolate disks and chunks rather than go nuts trying to get the right shape.
Good luck!

Variations
Peanut Butter Cups and Peanut Butter Balls

Peanut Butter Cups and Peanut Butter Balls

2011-10-08T17:19:00.002-04:00

Peanut Butter Cups and Peanut Butter Balls

Ingredients:
1 recipe dipping chocolate
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar or brown sugar

1. Mix peanut butter and sugar.
(You can really do this to taste. Add sugar until you like the taste and consistency.)
2. Mold into balls or discs for peanut butter cups.
3. Freeze until firm.
4. Make dipping chocolate.
5. Let it cool for a bit (until a frozen ball sets up right as you dip it)
6. a. Peanut butter balls- Dip frozen peanut butter balls into the chocolate and place them on parchment or silpat mat to cool.
b. Peanut butter cups- Fill muffin tin 1/3 full of chocolate. Add frozen peanut butter disk. Add chocolate to cover. Silicon muffin cups work really well for this.
7. Enjoy!

(Admin Note: Stay tuned for a peanut butter recipe coming on Wednesday.)