Clutter Control- This is how we do it...

I had a temporary roommate whose stuff would explode all over my living room when they got home. I was on a reclaiming the floor space riff and they weren't geting the subtle hint that I didn't want their stuff all over the room when they came in the door.

I decided I needed a defined space for them to drop their stuff. In Japanese homes they have a genkan (a place to put your shoes) when you enter a home. I wanted a genkan but didn't feel like doing the bamboo thing on the floor.

I went out and got two doublesided placemats (red and black) that were on sale for $2 apiece.

When they came home, they saw their stuff piled neatly on the red genkan. It was much better in the living room after that.

Planning a Tea Party-

The ladies at my church are having their annual tea this weekend. This is very cool for me because I have Scottish / British roots and with my love of things Japanese, tea is very high up my cool list.

I also have a British ex-pat family that recently moved to states to join my church. I promised them some scones - in reality it was just an excuse to make a big batch of them.

In my pantry, I have a baking section that covers most of my usual needs. I had to decide if I wanted plain scones or something else - I opted for blueberry scones. I used canned blueberries because it was the least amount of overage from what the recipe called for. The cans were $2.79 as opposed to $3.99 for fresh (I would definitely use the fresh in season - its way cheaper). The only other thing I had to buy for the scones was milk because I do not keep in in the house.

I used a basic recipe from Cooks.com. It took 20 minutes to get the batter mixed, rolled out and the scones into the oven. I was able clean the table off while they were baking and the dishes while they were cooling off. Got good reviews for them.


BLUEBERRY BREAKFAST SCONES

3 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 c. shortening
2 tbsp. cold butter
1 c. blueberries
3/4 c. milk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the shortening and butter using a pastry blender or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add blueberries and toss lightly to distribute. In a separate bowl using a fork beat together the milk and eggs until well blended. Using a large spoon gently stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture. With floured hands gather the dough up and place on a floured surface. Sprinkle the top lightly with additional flour and pat the dough out to a thickness of about 1/2 inch.

Using a 2 1/2-inch fluted or rounded cutter, cut the scones out (dipping the cutter in flour before and after each one) and place them on a lightly greased baking sheet. Gather up the scraps and cut additional scones until all the dough is used. Sprinkle the tops of the scones with granulated sugar and bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Do not over bake or scones will be dry.

Sweet and Savory Jones-

Every now and then I get the sweet and salt craving-

This is when I have a bowl of potato chips and ice cream. A bowl of Ben and Jerry's super fudge chunk and Lay's wavy potato chips are hut the ticket when I get this way.


A nurse friend of mine told me that when we crave something, it is because our body needs it. That's my story and I'm sticking with it....

No Time Dinner-

There are days when I want a hot meal but I don't want to spend time in the kitchen to get it. Here are some options for these days-

Salad with things in it-

I love spring mix. I get a tin a week and have never had to throw any out. If there is any protein in refrig, I add some to a large bowl of salad greens. In the summer, A summer variation is tuna fish. Add two pieces of home made garlic bread and I am a happy puppy.


Risotto -

You can get risotto in that takes less than 20 minutes to fix. My favorite is the mushroom variety. While the risotto is thickening up, I heat up a can of vegetable soup and get some frsh fruit. Simple and filling.


Breakfast for dinner -

Frozen waffles and sausage take less than two minutes to prepare. I usually have three types of jelly and and two types of syrup on hand so I use one that I have not had lately. Ice Cream is a great accompaniment for waffles and you don't have to use chocolate syrup - a berry jelly is wonderful. I love to do this when I have a movie night.

Relaxing at the end of the week-

For most of my adult life, I have worked off-hour jobs. I am not complaining - the best time for my brain is 4PM - midnight.

When I get to Friday, I treat myself to a medium sized container from my favorite hot bar or go to the charcuterie counter and try a starch or vegetable prepared in a way I do not normaly do. I have gotten some great inspiration for the meals tis way

My mad money limit is $10 a week. As my mother one told me, when you get paid, treat yourself to something small so you don't feel like every cent you make is going to pay bills. I did tell her recently how wise her words had been to me over the years.

Comforting Comfort food.

The last week has been brutal. Work has been off the chain and I have not had any me time. I decided I needed to have spaghetti, garlic bread and salad for dinner.

For spaghetti sauce -

1 lb of ground meat
2 TBs of oil (if you don't use a non-stick pot)
2 large can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 TB chopped garlic
sesame oil
reduced sodium soy sauce
6 shakes of bitters - optional
mirin - optional
salt
pepper


Brown the ground meat in a large saucepan. If the pan is non-stick, you will need to heat about 2 TBS of oil in the pan. (When you see the oil swirling or flick a drop of water in it and it sizzles, the pan is hot).

Transfer the browned meat into a medium size pot.

Pour in fire roasted tomatoes.

Add garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce to taste.

I use bitters to punch up the tomato flavor and mirin to add a touch of sweetness.

After the flavor marinate for a about 30 minutes - taste to see if you need any more salt and pepper.

Seasoning spaghetti sauce is a very individualistic thing. This is my basic go to sauce. These are a few variations on my sauce-

spicy sausage - specialty stores have great flavored sausage. One of the best I ever had was soy garlic mesquite.

sliced hot dogs- when my nieces and nephews were younger, I added these for the cool aunt factor.

chiffonade of basil- roll basil leaves and slice thinly perpendicular to the roll. If you do this correctly, it lools like sting segments. If it is not in season, I will use dried.

pesto- I like pesto. You do not need a lot to flavor the sauce.

Chinese five spice - when I want something a little different.

A good sauce needs to sit and get better. I eat a small bowl the day I make it and then let the post of sauce sit overnight. It really does taste better the next day.

Spiffing Up Your Place-

It does not take a lot of money to make your place look nicer. A glue gun, cute stuff you have laying around the house and a little imagination. will have your abode easy on the eyes.

Low Dough Spiff UP#1-

Flowers all year round
I have wo trash bags filled with different plastic and silk flowers. While I would much rateher have bouquets of fresh flowers all around the house, my cat has a nasty habit of thinking that is his salad course. So went to a craft store and bought an armful of stems and fillers when they were 50% off. I was able to make three arrangements and had some to spare. I change the arrangements once a week like a fresh bouquet. A scented candle in the room that coincides with one of the flowers in the arrangement brings a touch of realism to your work.


Low Dough Spiff Up #2-

Fabric Wall Hangings

I like art but am too cheap to buy expensive prints and do not have artsy friends to make hangable art for me. I have a ton of extra fabric in the house from old projects. I also love to rumage in the ends bin at fabric places. I went to a dollar store and got a cork board. I covered it with about a half a yard of an red printed fabric and secured it with a staples on the back. I put a hercules hook in the wall and voila, a one of a kind accent piece.


Low Dough Spiff Up #3

Chachkas (Bric a Brac with a Flair)

Most folks have a lot of things we can display that are cool. I took clementine crates and used them as accent pieces in bookcase around the house. I put all kind of treasures in them - a tibetan singing bowl, a minature sake set, a cool candle that I don't feel like burning yet or something one of my nieces or nephews made for me. If you want to a very cool shadow box, go to the local thrift store and see if there are any hat boxes for sale.

Low Dough Spiff Up #4

Decorative Conatiners Full of Stuff

I did catering for many years so I have a collection of baskets. During the holiday season, there is no end of decorative containers. When you want to add a little zing to a room, you can fill up a nice glass container with colored stones (red and black is my favorite combo), a shallow vase with potpourri, or set out some scented candles in glass jars that you are always seem to be accumualting.



Low Dough Spiff Up #5

Impromptu Memory Wall

I belong to an online haiku group that has a tradition of sending New Year's postcards. I hand stamp a card with and pen haiku for the new year on it. last year, I made 45 cards and recieved and 32. There were a few I really liked and I moved them to a wall in the study from the living room. I have cards from far off places that frinds and family have traveled. Recently I framed a few matted printes and added them to the wall. Folks who visit can tell what I hold near and dear at a glance and try to see if they have sent wall worthy submissions.

Spring Cleaning-


As far as I'm concerned, "spring cleaning" is a misnomer. I start my spring cleaning every year on January 1st.

When I sit down and make up my yearly resolutuons, I decide how many boxes of stuff I want to shed this year. This year I want to get rid of 24 boxes of stuff. I went down to that basement I looked at the piles of boxes I have. I was able to go over and pick up two boxes I realized that I had unopened since I packed them over 10 years ago. I opened tham and saw I had replaced every item sitting in those boxes so I had my two boxes for the month. It only took my 15 minutes and I was on the road to an emptier basement floor.

Another thing I do in January is spend 15 minutes a day cleaning out the spare bedroom that serves as my office. It was a mess after the holday craft fest that I have during the month of December. In 10 days of working consistently for 15 minutes a day, I reclained the desk and half of the floor.

The next time you gave a large job, break it down into small sections, and you will be surprised to see that it will get done if you plug away at it.

Chicken in an hour...

You need to start with chick that is thawed, cleaned and dried. Unless you are doing something special to it, a baked chicken is cooked at 350 degrees for an hour. If the chicken pieces are really thick, you may need an extra 10-15 minutes. Most recipes will tell you chicken is done when you pierce the meat and the juices run clear. If you have cooked for long enough, you will be able to smell that the chicken is done.

Fried chicken is a totally different animal and I will address it another day.


I love the leg joint of the chicken. It has more robust flavor than the breast meat. It just takes a little more work to eat but since dinner is my favorite meal of the day, I do not mind taking a few more minutes at the table. Besides, folks need to stop grazing at meal time.

I cook a package of legs at a time so I have food options during the week.

There are many things that I put on chicken and bake it in the oven. Some of the my usuals are:

1 can cream of mushroom soup mixed with 1 cup of sour cream, adobo and 1TB minced garlic. This also makes a sauce to put over rice that is its typical starch accompaniment.

Cherry Cola BBQ sauce with a four extra spoonfuls of cherry preserves.

4TB maragarine metled with 2TB ancho chili wing spice mix

BBQ sauce with a pinch of season salt. There are a lot of great bottled BBQ sauces on the market.

honey mustard glaze-


Once the chicken is in the oven, you can putter around the house. This would be a good time to start the laundry, clean the bathroom or go through the junk mail. You will feel better when you know that not only you will have stress free meal, you can knock one chore off your list.

Dinner and a Clean Kitchen-

I love cooking, especially on the weekends.

I also make something that takes at least 45 minutes in the oven or on the stove. The reason for this is that I clean the kitchen while dinner is cooking. If I have chicken in the oven, I usally do the following - clean the inside of the microwave (10 minutes), wash all the prep dishes (10 minutes), wipe down the stove and refrigerator (10 minutes ) and wash the kitchen floor (30 minutes).

When dinner is finished cooking, I can sit down to a fabulous meal and when I am done, all I have to clean up is the dinner dishes - which is five minutes.

Weekend Fun-

Last weekend I had to go to work both days. It was not as bad as it sounded because I was able to get the shopping done and have a look at the hot bars for inspiration.


I saw cajun roasted sweet potato wedges - they were tasty and I was able to duplicate them at home.