Independence Day - Recap in 10 Parts

This year, we were especially mindful of the meaning of Independence Day and our reason for celebrating. Yes, we played and cooked out and decorated in red, white and blue but throughout the day, we incorporated thoughtful activities and paused to reflect on the enormous sacrifices of our patriots, past and present, and our incredible blessing of liberty.

ONE
Our 4th began on the 3rd when the little children came over

to paint their patriotic T-shirts. We saved the expense of buying fabric paint knowing that house paint won't wash out of clothing and will wash off of children. The kids were given their choice of techniques: potato print, drizzles, sea sponge, and/or foam brush.

They came up with their own designs and the only adult interference was the little stars added to the twin's creations. Click HERE for more photos, details and tips.

TWO
The pennant garland, made of scrap fabric stitched to a length of twill tape helped define a game area. Flags lining the front walk were a daughter's bargain, $1 for a single, flag-patterned yard of fabric found in the off-season, cut apart and stapled to dowels. The front porch had been decorated with red, white and blue since Memorial Day.

THREE
The 4th began with a mid-day gathering around the flag pole for the Pledge of Allegiance and the little children led the singing of our National Anthem.

FOUR

Homemade pickled eggs and hot, spicy pickled sausages, blue and white corn chips served in a red bowl with a side of home-canned salsa, the 4-generation standby of potato chips with sour cream/onion dip, crackers and
a daughter's shrimp dip helped stave off hunger until the day cooled enough to fire up the grill.

Pitchers of lemonade and sweet tea were refilled from giant jars and jugs kept on ice in an old, oval wash tub and star shaped sugar cookies, iced in red and blue were a hit with the little ones. Securing table cloth corners against the breeze.

FIVE

Everyone was free to find an activity to their liking: baseball was less hazardous, required less skill and was more appropriate for one or two or three to play with the use of a sturdy foam bat and wiffle balls. Tic-tac-toe was set up on the grass using five scrap 12" X 12" tiles and caning jar rings and stars cut from laundry detergent bottles and glued to the caps. Unfortunately, interest in the tic-tac-toe was short lived. However, the "Sock Toss", our safe version of lawn darts, was a huge hit with the adults as well as the children. It also made great use of those pesky unmated socks we all accumulate. There were 5 white socks and 5 colored ones. The "feet" were stuffed with a zip type bag of dry beans and a knot tied at the "heel". They were perfectly weighted and slung from their tops to the hula hoop target 15 or 20 feet away. Our scoring went like this: outside the ring, not touching = no score; outside the ring but touching = 5 points; inside the ring, but touching = 10 points; inside the ring, not touching = 15 points. GAME was to 100 points.

SIX
A little pool time was a definite blessing as the late day sun erased our shade.
SEVEN

I think the best of the best was the races. Adults and children were laughing to the point of tears through the Sack Race, the Three-Legged Race and the Wheel Barrow Race. The finish line was established using a couple of tomato stakes from the garden, topped with small flags. The "potato" sacks were made by a daughter, from fabric left over from some long-ago project and, yes, they were purple. She asked the little children what colors combine to make purple. Of course, they answered "red and blue"
...Taa daa!


EIGHT
We read the poem "Paul Revere's Midnight Ride" and I was flabbergasted at how much my four, home schooled grandchildren knew about the American Revolution and the founding of our nation. We sang "God Bless America", prayed for our country and fired up the grill as the children's bubbles drifted into the shadows. We had long hot dogs and fat ones and kosher ones with "fixin's" for 4 variations. I did make one change...rather than wrapping the Kraut-Dogs in bacon, precooked slices were just added to the buns. We had Oven-Baked Beans and my Southern Potato Salad and another daughter brought her signature Pasta Salad. Dessert was two pies instead of three: one blueberry and one apple/cherry so we still had red, white and blue.My daughter-in-law made bite-sized Apple/Cheesecake Crepes (a Betty Crocker recipe) sprinkled with fresh strawberries and blueberries from her own back yard. I completely forgot about making ice cream. No one noticed.

NINE

As darkness approached, we lit the candles on the tables and the ones hanging in the trees. The little birdcage candleholders were a last minute yard sale find with my painted wooden stars added.

The kids went through a couple boxes of sparklers and the delay on my camera prevented me from getting the wonderful photos I had imagined. The fireworks, provided by a daughter and son-in-law, lit the sky accompanied with the traditional "oohs" and "aahs".

TEN

My 4th of July surprise came late last night as I was downloading pictures.It seemed we had an unexpected angel with us. My only "sparkler" photo.

15 Real Ways to Beat the Heat

After a week of triple digit temps here in June of 2011, I've decided to repost this from August of 2010: Toward the end of winter I long desperately for summer, for flowers and gardening, swimming and picnics and generally enjoying being outdoors in shorts and sunshine. Spring tiptoes in like the answer to a prayer and all is wonderful in my world. Unfortunately spring turns into summer and each year it comes as a surprise that a hot summer can be as difficult as a hard winter. In the sweltering heat and humidity of Florida in late July and August, I find myself wishing for winter again. Perhaps it is God's way of having us always look forward to something.

Over a lifetime, I've put together a mental list of ways to keep my cool. This year, I wrote it all down and did some research to make sure my inclinations were backed by science.
Here's the list:

1. Avoid make-up whenever possible. Skin needs to breathe. Pores have a purpose and clogging them with make-up is like wearing a blanket on your face.
2. Keep your hair off the back of your neck. The nape of the neck is very sensitive to touch and interprets the smallest breeze as a wash of cooling air. Also, hair gathered loosely in a clip allows for more air circulation along your scalp than when it is pulled tightly in a pony tail.
3. Cool pulse points, especially at the inner wrists, inside the elbows and behind the knees. Pulse points are places where blood runs just below the surface of the skin. Cooling the blood, cools the body. This can be done with cool running water, a damp cloth or an ice cube wrapped in a cloth.
4. Keep a bottle of Witch Hazel and a container of cotton balls in the refrigerator. A cotton ball wet with Witch Hazel cools pulse points, both when applied and as it evaporates and it is great for removing make-up and removing the oils that accumulate on the face when we're over heated.
5. Drink water. Stay well hydrated. This is always good advise but it is especially important in the heat as the natural cooling processes of the body can deplete the body's reserves and cause dehydration stressing the body's organs. Avoid caffeine and alcohol because they increase dehydration.
6. Adjust the Air Conditioner to a higher temperature and use fans to move the air. The moving air will feel just as cool while the higher artificial temperature reduces the difference between the air indoors and outdoors.
7. Wear loose fitting clothing. Air circulation is always key to keeping cool.
8. Wear natural fabrics - cotton or linen.
9. Avoid use of fabric softeners on clothing during hot weather months. Fabric softeners coat the fabric fibers reducing or even eliminating their absorbency. Even our wonderfully soft and fluffy towels will not remove water from skin nearly as well as those rinsed with plain water.
10. Avoid large meals heavy with protein and fat. They put more stress on the digestive system and as it works harder, it produces internal heat. Smaller, more frequent, lighter meals will actually help beat the heat.
11. Eat Jalapenos - or other hot peppers. This might sound strange but it's true. Check it out HERE.
12. Add lemon juice to your water - eat alkalinizing foods. Maintaining a proper bodily pH balance is important to proper system function, one of which is cooling the body. Find food lists HERE.
13. Get your laptop off your lap. You may as well be sitting on a heating pad.
14. Don't neglect your feet. The inner arches of your feet are also pulse points and need air movement to keep cool. Set your feet free. Sandals are not just for fashion they are practical.
15. Sleep with your feet out of the covers. Again, it's a lot about air.

This is my personal list. There are many others that include things like standing in a bucket of ice or lying in a bathtub of cool water. You bet. They work. But I've tried to share the things that I do on a daily basis that are practical and achievable whether you stay at home or work in an office or in the field. Let me know how they work for you by leaving comments (below).

Brunswick Stew using B-B-Q Leftovers

While experts debate the origins of Brunswick Stew between Virginia and Georgia, my family might be closer to the truth. For as long as I can remember, and believe me that's a very long time, Brunswick Stew has always been the meal that follows a huge afternoon bar-b-q regardless of the location. As much a part of the Southern Tradition as fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, is the thriftiness involved in Southern foods and Brunswick Stew is just another example of wasting nothing.

Southern hospitality requires that no one leave the table hungry and the result is always leftovers. Hence, the stew pot - usually a cast iron dutch oven. Into it goes the remaining bar-b-q pork and chicken, pulled from the bone. Plates of sliced tomatoes and onions are tossed in. Leftover corn is cut from the cob and added, a jar of home-canned tomatoes tenderizes and moistens while the addition of butter beans serves as a thickener. Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce give it a traditional, Southern "kick". The concoction is given a good stir, covered and left to rest on the hot grill as the embers diminish over a number of hours. Some time, into the evening, it is announced that there is stew for anyone who is again hungry. It's an informal sort of thing; some helping themselves, some not. Always, there is a great deal of left over "leftovers" and the pot is carried to the kitchen to be refrigerated and served to family the following day.

The Brunswick Stew I remember and make is never exactly the same from one time to another but it's always close and the difference doesn't seen to be a "better or worse" kind of thing. Sometimes I make it using the pre-cooked meats of a bar-b-q. Other times, I start from scratch, with Brunswick Stew as my actual goal, which only adds the step of cooking chicken and pork in the oven or crock pot before actually starting the stew. BRUNSWICK STEW

• 6-8 cups of pre-cooked & boned chicken and/or pork or both
• 1 large onion - coarsely chopped
• 1 quart of canned tomatoes - undrained
• 1 can butter beans - drained
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 can whole kernel corn - drained
• Salt to taste
• Tabasco or Louisiana Hot Sauce - added a little at a time until the flavor suits
• Bar-b-q sauce - add 1/2 cup if you are not using previously sauced meats

A couple of things to remember are:

1. It is a slow cooking process - a crock pot works well for this - 8 to 12 hours works for me.
   
2. The final product should have solids and liquids evenly incorporated into a semi-stringy (sounds terrible, doesn't it?) but wonderfully tender mass.
3. The butter beans, tomatoes & onions should be more or less indefinable, with the crunch of corn present.
4. The bar-b-q taste should be subtle but "there" (a little goes a long way).
5. The Tabasco or hot sauce should be present but not hot.
6. I have never known anyone to add potatoes, although, if the result is not thick enough, some instant mashed potatoes sprinkled in will do the trick.

Power Outage - Smart Moves & Stupid Ones

Parts of the Florida Panhandle have been in desperate need of rain. My poor pond decreases by inches every day and is down almost 10 feet, so I was thrilled when storm clouds began to gather...but a little concerned when the rain came with hail.

With the storm and dinner time approaching simultaneously, I had headed to the kitchen to fix the quickest meal I could think of. With pre-cooked rice and pre-cooked and cubed chicken in the freezer, stir-fry was only minutes away from the table. While the frozen packages got a quick thaw in the microwave, I began to cut some fresh onions, celery, carrots and broccoli. Then the lights flickered once and were gone.

Five minutes later, the storm passed on, leaving only an eighth inch of rain in the gauge, the thunder muffled by distance, the clouds lighting up, one after another, as if in conversation. With darkness due at any moment, I sat on the sofa watching the flicker of candles instead of television. My mind was still on dinner. I was so close. At the point of suggesting that we go out for dinner, I suddenly remembered the propane burner that is a part of our gas grill.

Problem solved. In five minutes we would eat. First the raw veggies got a quick stir in hot Sesame Oil.

Then the pre-cooked and thawed chicken went in.

Once the chicken was thoroughly hot, I added the rice and an egg to toss around.

A little Szechuan and Soy Sauce, a thorough stir, and I called it quits. Dinner in less than 5 minutes. Under other conditions, I might have added straw mushrooms and water chestnuts but the wind was again picking up and the thunder moving closer.

Darkness fell with a thud, that deep black that you cannot see into. The wind and light show settled in for the duration and, as hours passed, it became obvious that power would not be restored any time soon. So, I set about preparing the house for the night. Candles were extinguished. The little battery operated radio was set to our nearest, semi-local station, a flashlight was placed on the bedside table and I was about to turn in when I had one of those thoughts that makes one wonder...
I remembered seeing a DC adapter in the box with the radio and headphones and speakers. "Aha! If I use that, I can leave the radio on all night without worrying about running down the batteries." I got the adapter from it's storage place and plugged it into the radio and then into the wall - nothing. "Hum?! Maybe the plug won't work while the radio has batteries in it", I reasoned. Somewhat pleased with the quickness of my mind, I opened the battery compartment, and paused. My eyes fell sheepishly on the plug in the wall - the plug in the electrical outlet in the wall. "Duh!" I snickered out loud and went to tell my husband what a screwy thing I had done. He made me feel so much less stupid. As my story approached the point of considering whether or not the radio would work with both batteries AND the plug, I could see his mind switching into problem-solving mode. I just stood there watching his wheels turn. He looked at me curiously because I had stopped mid-sentence. "Plug, honey", I said, "electrical plug." The expression on his face was priceless and I felt so much better knowing that I was not alone in expecting power while knowing very well that there was none.
We take so much for granted.

A couple of ideas that work well for me: 1) I turned this chandelier into a candle-lier by moving the rod so that the globes face up instead of down. The globes hold votives in glass containers and give enough light over my work space to keep me going.

Solar powered path lights, can come inside to keep rooms from being completely dark and they make great night lights.

Unlike candles, they are safe and can be left unattended all night. Just remember to return them to the outdoors the following morning so that they will recharge.

Quiche - the EASY Way

Quiche has been one of my all time favorites. I've enjoyed some wonderful flavor combinations in a number of delightful cafes. But I've always hated making it myself. Oh, the filling ingredients are a breeze but the crust has never come easy to me no matter which recipe I've used. I've tried ready-made pie crusts but they are too oily and get soggy. So, I quit making quiche altogether even though I had gone to the effort of making my own, personal quiche pan/dish.

When I made the pan/dish, I thought I'd be clever and print my filling recipe inside. Silly me. Once the crust was in, I could no longer read the recipe. Duh ! Sometimes, I wonder where my brain is.

Anyway, this is my recipe. Super simple. I've even substituted condensed milk for the cream and had it come out just fine. The "filling" can be any combination of things you particularly like. I'm fond of spinach and mushroom (with grated onion added to the drained spinach) and a bit of feta cheese tossed in for good measure. Other favorites are asparagus and ham, broccoli and chicken, and bacon-tomato-feta & black olives. Whatever you like.
BUT THE KEY TO "EASY" IS MY DISCOVERY OF A NO-FUSS CRUST
Today, desperate for quiche at any cost, I actually lined the bottom of the sprayed pan with Saltine Crackers and topped them with a sprinkling of Swiss Cheese. As a crust it worked out great. I'm thrilled. Using the crackers instead of making a crust cut the prep time to almost nothing. Give it a try. You'll be surprised.

I grabbed a couple of links you might be interested in:
click HERE for filling combinations and alternative filling recipes, and
click HERE to find a huge assortment of quiche and tart pans.
Enjoy!

8 Recycling Uses for Plastic Bottles

Before discarding that next plastic bottle, take a look at it with new eyes to see if it has an additional use.WATER & SODA BOTTLES

1- Try cutting the bottoms out of 1 and 2 liter bottles, removing the caps and planting them upside down in your flower beds. Filling them with water when your plants need a drink will direct moisture deep into the ground, to the plant roots, where it's needed.

2- Surely most have gotten an email about adding a bottle top to a zipper type bag. It seemed like busy work to me since the bags already open and close. But I tried it on a large bag of rice and it's really quite handy because the bag can be reduced in size as the contents are used. Simply cut the neck of the bottle off, as shown above, and thread the open top of the plastic bag through.

To keep the bag from slipping out of the bottle neck, I've folded it back and secured it with a rubber band. Replace the cap and there you go!

MILK BOTTLESMilk Bottles have many uses.
3- One of my favorites is as a freezer container for casseroles. When the bottle is cut just below the handle (as shown), the resulting "bowl" holds the right amount for a square casserole dish. For a layered casserole, layer the contents in reverse order. When you're ready to use it, turn it upside down in the casserole dish to thaw.
4- The "milk bottle bowl" is also a good size for freezing an ice block of punch. Freeze additional punch instead of water and it will not only stay cold it will not dilute the punch.
5- The "milk bottle bowls" are also great inserts for the summer picnic cooler to keep items from ending up in the melted ice water.
For the Garden:
6- With the bottoms cut out, they make perfect, little greenhouses for starter plants in the early spring, protecting the tender leaves from the cold. Save the bottoms. They can be planted, (with the top edge just at the top level of the dirt) and filled with water for trapping insects and slugs.
In Addition:
7- Milk bottles and gallon bleach bottles, when filled with water, make great hand weights and they are absolutely FREE.

FLAT BOTTLES WITH A SIDE HANDLE

8- I was introduced to this bright idea while out to sea, on a boat with no head. You can take it from there. The size and shape of the cut bottle helps level the playing field between little girls and little boys when nature calls at inopportune times.
Click HERE to link to a ton of unusual uses for plastic bottles - from making mouse traps to building houses with them.

Memorial Day - 2011

There will be no Memorial Day family bar-b-que at my house this year. I won't even make it to the service at the war memorial. I am under the weather and most of my children are far away. So, this year, instead of being busy with preparations and planning a moment of reflection, I find myself just remembering... remembering "thank you"s to the Military at airports, the previously unknown Sailors we'd invite to share Thanksgiving dinner, the flag I placed at my father's grave and the flag folded in silence and given to my niece at the funeral of my little brother. Memorial Day is confusing to me. In part, I am strengthened, standing tall and proud, uplifted by the Lee Greenwood song "I'm Proud to be an American - where at least I know I'm free..." The other part of me is reduced to tears as the haunting notes of "Taps" sounding from a solitary bugle replay in my mind. I think of my brother and father and husband and of the boys in my high school classes who traded youth for a uniform and I want to say "thank you" but some are no longer here. Then I notice the red, white and blue of our flag against our clear Florida sky and I know that as long as that flag flies, as long as there are those of us who truly cherish our liberty, our fallen are never forgotten. Every Memorial Day, I find myself balancing on this same emotional see-saw, and every Memorial Day, I eventually recover my equilibrium. What I conclude is this: that Memorial Day actually is a two-sided coin: the heartbreaking sadness of sacrifice and the abundant blessing of the liberty it has secured. THANK A SERVICE MEMBER AND FLY THE FLAG PROUDLY
(All photographs on this blog are protected under Copyright)
I give permission to download and use any of my American Flag photographs.
Click HERE to access the collection.

Being Prepared for a Sudden Emergency

UPDATED NOTE:Prayers for the Joplin, MO tornado victims of yesterday.
There is a significant difference in an emergency and a tragedy. This year has already taken "emergency" to the extreme. We are witnessing the tragedies of earthquakes & tsunami in the news, millions of acres burning in Texas, record setting tornadoes in Alabama and other southern states, the Mississippi is flooding...and hurricane season is just days away. No amount of preparation will see us safely through all circumstances but it will help is through most of them.

Whether at home or away, with family or with family scattered, most emergencies happen without warning. In the immediacy of the moment, your mind will rush to a number of things: what is the phone number of the children's school, how much cash is in my wallet, what do we do for food, we only have the clothes on our backs. And, if the emergency leads to actual loss, contact information will be most needed and loss of family photos will be most heartbreaking.
Click HERE to access an entire section on Preparedness. In the meantime, here are some basic preparation measures that all of us can take if we will only take the time:
An emergency kit in the family car:

• Change of clothes/shoes for every family member
• Water (gallons)
• Blanket(s)
• Food (MRE's or even protein bars)
• Hand sanitizer
• Wet wipes
• Personal needs (glasses, contact solution, inhalers, meds, etc.)
• Cell phone charger
• Flash light & extra batteries
  
• Matches or cigarette lighter

Information to bury or hide securely to prevent theft:
(** indicates need for a hard copy as well)

• Cash (a few hundred to a thousand dollars in $5's & $10's) Click HERE for 9 ways to make $$$ fast.
  
• Flash Drive containing: Account & Phone numbers for Bank, Insurance, Utility & Services** - Contract & payment information** - Address Book** - Medical Information** - Photographs - Email contacts - Computer account(s) passwords
  
• Individual photographs of family members w/ descriptions & contact information written on the backs
• Several days of critical medications
• Credit Cards not usually on your person
  

Providing Shade for Tender Plants

As the morning sun begins to top the trees, some time around 9 AM, the Cilantro along the deck rail stands proud and tall, leaves glistening with the evening dew. By 11, the surface soil is dry and calling me to water, careful not to wet the leaves. The futility of this late morning ritual became evident a few days ago as I became aware of the increasing number of browning leaves, sunburned to a crisp by the heat of the afternoon. Checking the watering needs, I found that the soil completely dry to the bottom of the planters even before the sun went down.

With twice-daily watering already becoming a burden, my mind began to stray to possible sources of shade, preferably something that would filter the sun rather than block it out altogether. From twigs with paper flags to cocktail umbrellas taped to wooden skewers, it seemed my direction got more outlandish with each flitting idea. But the thoughts all had a common theme, something on a stick. Ah-ha! Silk flowers. Remembering the bag of tulips, used as decoration for an event a couple of years ago, I found myself on the deck in the middle of the night planting fake flowers.

Whether this idea was a stroke of genius or not is yet to be determined but, in theory, the approach is a sensible one. The plastic stems should be safe in the soil. The leaves and flowers do provide a measure shade which will vary with the intensity and direction of the sun. And, the stems slip out of the soil for harvesting as easily as they slipped in.

And, other than the fact that it's a little late in the season for tulips, they look nice, almost natural, in the boxes that were rapidly becoming useless in the scorching sun. And the Cilantro is oh so happy.

Garden Mixture of Food & Flowers

Now that I have land enough for a 'proper' garden, age and ability limit my space. Filling pots on the deck with a mixture of flowers and foodstuffs accomplishes the multiple goals of being decorative, functional and thrifty. Here, Basil provides a backdrop for the graceful Blue Salvia, a growing habit shared by the abundant Rosemary. The Rosemary shares space with Parsley and Sweet Red Peppers, in their own pot, will be anchored by the red Dalia. With a later addition of something white, this corner of the deck will be ready for a red, white and blue Fourth of July.

The Cilantro planted from seed in the railing boxes, is ready for use and new seeds will fill spaces left from the season's continuing harvest.

Because I can no longer bend to meet my garden at ground level, I'm working on a couple of plans to literally bring the ground up to meet me. It's a simple matter with unlimited funds but my goal, as always, is to do it with as little cost as possible. I'll keep you informed.