A Little Breakfast Hamlet

Don't you picture a little village nestled in a green valley, with the lights coming on as the sky is lightening over the mountain?  And smoke rising from the inn, where the boy is out clattering the bucket at his chores? And breakfast with rich black coffee, finally, in front of an open hearth?

Dreamy.

But this, my friends, is my husband's little breakfast hamlet:  scrambled eggs and mushrooms with a nice sharp cheddar, tucked into a folded piece of ham:  a hamlet.  "Ham-lette" - get it?

A side of hashbrowns.  A cup of hot black coffee.  Maybe a piece of sourdough toast with strawberry jam to finish things off.

 

Still a pretty dreamy breakfast, even if it's in a small city on a foggy winter morning.

Cup Custards for the Lunchbox

These cup custards started with Genevieve in kindergarten; she told us how much she liked the classic book Jam for Frances.  This fall, we finally remembered to check it out of the library and were so charmed by the lunch menu that we recreated "an Albert lunch" for packed lunches one time.  I did take pictures, but at 6:30 am, they were just awful.  The children loved the lunches.

This is Albert's lunch, in his words:

"I have a cream cheese-cucumber-and-tomato sandwich on rye bread," said Albert. "and a pickle to go with it. And a hard-boiled egg and a little cardboard shaker of salt to go with that. And a thermos bottle of milk. And a bunch of grapes and a tangerine. And a cup custard and a spoon to eat it with."

I made the cup custards in tiny little quarter-pint canning jars - they can easily handle the oven heat and when they're cool, you put a lid on them (screw-top or the traditional lid and ring) and there you go:  a cup custard to pack in the lunchbox. 

 I find quarter-pints very handy little containers to have around, but glass custard cups or ceramic ramekins work just fine as well.  Cup custards use pantry staples, are fall-over easy to make, and are quite respectably nutritious.

Baked Cup Custards, adapted slightly from Moosewood

Place in a small saucepan:
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

Stir over low heat until the chocolate chips are melted.  Pour into a blender.

Add to the blender:
1 cup cold milk (be sure to add this first to cool down the hot milk mixture)
4 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla

Buzz until well-mixed and frothy.  Pour the chocolately liquid into oven-proof ramekins, custard cups, or quarter-pint canning jars; have at least 6-8 containers. 

Set the filled cups in a baking pan without touching each other or the side.  Add water around the cups so that the water comes halfway up their sides. 

This is the tricky part!  Carefully, steadily, place the pan of water with the custard cups in it in the oven; bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, until the custards are firm in the middle when the cup is jiggled. 

Use a jar lifter or tongs to remove the cups from the (now hot) water bath.  When cool, cover and store in the fridge.  Will keep for up to a week. 

Tip: Instead of covering each little ramekin with plastic wrap for storage, put them in a large square or rectangular container that has a lid. Much easier and no waste!

Great served with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream on top (depending on your chocolate, this chocolate custard is not overly sweet - you can add a 1/4 cup more chocolate chips if you wish).

To make maple custard, skip the chocolate chips and the heated milk.  Add 1/3 cup real maple syrup and a dash of nutmeg.

Piano Lessons at Home

Both our children show a musical bent; we told them that when they learn to read, they can start piano lessons.  I decided to see if it would work for me to teach Genevieve at home for a while - a little toe-dip into homeschooling, if you please.  I took 10 years of piano lessons as a girl, and I still play for church occasionally.

For accountability, I marked the calendar for a 10-minute lesson each Friday afternoon; Genevieve calls it "turning the page" because we just turn a page a week.

I borrowed most of the books from a friend, a former piano teacher; I got the first three on amazon for about $20. 

For the first few lessons, Genevieve was enthusiastic; now I am seeing that her learning style with me is fear of failure, so she can be reluctant to try a new step because it won't be perfect.  She is supposed to practice her page every day, but, you know, it doesn't always happen.

 

As long as her musical ability is blossoming and we're working well as teacher and student, we'll keep going.  I also really love not herding the children out the door to get somewhere on time every Friday afternoon.

(all photos on this post courtesy of my husband)

Ben Elevates Basic Cornbread

It suddenly occurred to Rebecca and me, by telepathy on the very same day (I'm not kidding) that we should split leftover cornbread and melt some cheese on top. 

When I served just such a piece to Ben at lunch with soup, he asked politely and firmly for honey on top.  I explained that the bubbly, toasted cheese was the topping, but he insisted.  And guess what?  honey on top of toasted cheese on top of cornbread is delicious!  Smart boy.

I thought it would be tasty for breakfast.  It is.  I told Ben he invented a new breakfast.

I tried some blackberry jam with the cheese, too, and it was also great.  We had Pink Lady apples on the side, and age-appropriate hot drinks.

This is an excellent way to use leftover cornbread; the other way is to make cornbread dressing.

Basic Cornbread from More with Less

Bad cornbread is really bad; it is dry and crumbly and hard to choke down.  I am careful not to overmix the batter and not to overbake the bread; I get tender, moist cornbread every time.  Also this recipe is so quick to whip up that the oven is never preheated by the time I'm ready to slide the pan in! 

In a mixing bowl, combine with a whisk:
1 c. cornmeal
1 c. whole wheat flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Make a well in the dry ingredients; this gives you a headstart on mixing without beating so hard that you turn out a dry, crumbly bread.

Put in the well:
2 eggs

Break them up with a whisk.  Beat slightly.

Add to the eggs in the well:
1 c. milk
1/4 c. vegetable oil

Mindfully, pay attention, and stir JUST until mixed.  It's okay if there are streaks of flour and egg.  Pour into a greased 9x9 pan or equivalent cast-iron frying pan.  Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes, when bread has pulled away from the sides of the pan and is lightly browned.  Better to underbake than overbake!  I use my cast-iron skillet and only bake for 18-20 minutes because the cast iron bakes faster than aluminum or glass.

Soap-Making for the First Time

Here's how I came to soapmaking:  I used the beef bones from our quarter of beef to make stock.  There was so much fat on the top that I couldn't bear to throw it away.  It sat in my fridge and freezer for a long time - for a couple of years, I think.  I finally offered it to a local soapmaker, but it didn't fit her method.  Another year went by.  I was shopping for reasonably priced bars of soap for handwashing and suddenly I thought:  why can't I use the tallow and make soap?

melting the fats

So I did. . . . after checking out numerous books from the library, reading some conflicting information online, making copious notes, and waiting for a time at home alone (not wise to work with lye around little kids who don't understand how caustic it is or how the fumes can get around).

I bought coconut oil from the Latino store nearby.  I bought lye from the hardware store in the town where I work.  I borrowed a digital scales because I have an old-school scales that I love and couldn't justify another scales for what might turn out to be a one-time use.  I already owned a stick blender, an instant-read thermometer and a candy thermometer; the tallow was a waste-product from making stock, and I keep the distilled water on hand for my iron.

I lined a cardboard box with pieces of heavy plastic I cut from a bag.  This was my mold.

I read my notes one more time, set out all the equipment, and off I went!  The actual soapmaking process is pretty simple:  make the fats melted and warm, add the lye to water and get the temperature down to warm, blend the fats with the lye/water until thickened, pour in a soap mold, cut into bars after 24 hours, cure for 6 weeks. 

the cardboard mold on top of my fridge for 24 hours - I'm afraid that's how my fridge usually looks

If you're going to make soap, however, do not rely on me for directions, but consider this post inspiration and introduction only.  I highly recommend Smart Soapmaking by Anne L. Watson, although I did not bother to test the finished bars with pH strips, nor did I get completely suited with protective gear when I handled the lye but rather acted with caution and purpose as my grandmothers would have.  I wore gloves and an old apron. 

 

 

It was hard to find a tallow recipe that suited the amount I had, but I found one at Miller's Soap that I halved, check on a lye calculator, and used:

Tallow Blend Soap
22 oz. tallow
10 oz. olive oil
10 oz. coconut oil
5.8 oz. lye crystals
16 oz. distilled water

The soap is pale green because when I make stock, I add vegetable tops and the resulting stock and fat has a shade of green in it.  I did not add scent because I love subtly scented soap such as shea butter, honey, oatmeal, or goat's milk.

Now the soap is sitting on its plant nursery tray in a closet to cure.  It is drying out and hardening up some more.  I can't wait to get out the first bar next year!  There was a little piece stuck in the corner of the plastic bag, so I stuck that on my kitchen bar and it seems to be quite nice.  I'm a little surprised that I made soap and it works! 

I'm adding this to my list of homemaking skills and probably when I've saved enough waste-fat, I'll make soap again.

2 Tips for School Mornings

After a nice Thanksgiving break, the children are back to school this week.  It really was a pleasant break and I did not spend it wishing for it to be over.

Here are two organizational tips for school that have been making our lives easier:

When I remember, I jot down what's available for school lunches that might not be readily obvious.  Sandwiches are always an option, so I don't bother to put them on the list. 

I learned the trick for creating an easy white-board when I was the teacher in study hall years ago and had to generate many seating charts:  use a vinyl sheet-protector and slide a sheet of paper in it. Use a dry-erase marker on it, just write and wipe like you would on a white board.  (I just looked at the package I bought - these things are called "document pockets" and they are side-loading, meant to be put in three-ring binders).

 

The second tip comes from my husband.  He made this visual by putting masking tape labels around the clock in our dining room to help Genevieve see what getting ready for school looks like. 

It dovetails with the unit on how to tell time she is doing at school.  The times don't correspond exactly with the reality of a school morning (there is no freakin' way it only takes my children 10 minutes to eat a meal - 10 hours is more like it), but it's been helpful to point to the clock and urge Genevieve on. 

One of the lovely things about vacation, actually, was ignoring the clock in the mornings and putzing around in our jammies.  We are trying to teach the children how to get into quick, efficient mode when it's called for (school mornings, apppointments, bedtime, etc.), but allowing them to linger and lollygag other times.

A Little Black Friday Madness in the Shop

Look, I'm not ready for Christmas, but apparently some people are and other people just like a good sale.  So here you go:

20% off my entire etsy shop - use the coupon code CYBERMONDAY12

I've been making silverware rolls for the shop! 

Sale ends on Cyber Monday (11/26) when I turn it off before I go to bed (probably about 10 pm, EST).