Out Like a Lamb??

"March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb!"

Each year, I led my Kindergarten classes in this declaration of Spring, as we glued cotton balls onto outlines of baby lambs. But this year, on precisely March 29th, I awoke to clouds, frosty temperatures and sleet! What happened to that lamb?!

So, Monday as it was, soup would have to be on the menu for Cooking Night with the girls. Two warm, flavorful comforting soups for a cold night. Some of the gals were exhausted from a conference they worked on all weekend, and couldn't attend (we missed you!). But we had the privilege of a welcoming a few new faces; Lucinda, Enid, and little Rosie, Mattie, and Christen - who always make the occasion extra fun!

Menu: Butternut Soup, Taco Soup
Cornbread
Fruit
Apple Crisp with Vanilla Ice Cream

Often butternut soups are a little on the sweet side, but I like it with a little kick at the end. Cayenne pepper does the trick in this recipe. Also, I'm not a huge fan of too much 'squashy' flavor, so a potato does a good job of mitigating, and creating a smooth soup. I must give a nod to my friend, Nan, who is an amazing cook and homemaker. She passed along the recipe for Taco Soup, which has become a staple around here in the cold months. We use ground beef, but chicken also works great.

The other great thing about these two soups? They can easily be multiplied to feed a crowd. Or you can make some rice to pour the Taco Soup over to make it stretch.

I'm a cheater when it comes to cornbread. When m y kids were little, and time was of the essence, Jiffy cornbread mixes were cheap (remember when they were 20 cents a box?), easy, and yummy. My family still prefers it. And with honey. It's kind of like having cake for dinner.

The soups have so many veggies in them, that they really are a stand-alone meal. But I always like to round out the table with a bread and a side, so a few fruits arranged on a plate work well for this meal. Plus it's a great job for a four-year-old. When there are kids around at meal prep time, it can be very stressful. They are hungry, thirsty, whiny. There's food everywhere, and they can't have it yet! So get them involved. Give them a task. Even if they make a mess or do it wrong, it's food, right? So it will be fine. Don't sweat the small stuff. I used to say, "As long as a washing machine or a bathtub can fix it, it's not really a problem."

Our current little lambs!

Nesting: Creating a Safe Place

Fall used to be my favorite season...school shopping, starting a routine, cool weather, lots of color. But I think I've morphed as my kids have gotten older and some of those things aren't so pertinent anymore. Spring, though, is full of new beginnings; lots of hope as dead things become alive again, sticks turn to green branches, the birds return, the sun warms the earth, and I get to plant basil again.

Last year, every time I went out of my front door, a bird flew fast and furious out of one of my tall Italian cypress trees. I became curious after 10 or 15 of these startled flights, and had a peek inside the branches: sure enough, there was a perfect nest, with a two little blue eggs. As the summer wore on, and fall came, the birds removed their nest bit by bit and went away. Kirk wondered if they were putting all their little bits of grass, twigs and feathers in a mini-storage somewhere.

Because last week, I noticed they were back, and the nest was taking shape in exactly the same spot.

And today - four impossibly tiny blue eggs appeared in that perfectly shaped nest. I was so happy to show the little ones staying in my house. They were awed by the perfection.

That color. That blue. I want to paint something in my house that color. Maybe a ceiling.

I love that this mama bird feels safe enough to make her home in one of my trees. I have always wanted my home to be a place of peace. A place of refreshment for the weary, provision for the hungry, laughter for the sad. A friend once told me that your home should be a safe place to fall, especially as our children are growing into adulthood and struggle with choices and important decisions. Most importantly, our family members should be able to feel loved and cared for, no matter what, to know that everyone loves, accepts and forgives them when necessary.

I love to feed people, feed their bellies and feed their souls. A good chat about important things, a soothing hug, a comforting cup of coffee or tea. Fellowship around a table of amazing food. And "feathering the nest"...yep, that mama bird added some downy feathers at the very end to make it really cushy for those babies. I like feathering my nest, too. These are the things that last. These are the things that make a home. Homemaking. Yea, that's it.

Shrimp and Grits and Taylor Swift

As we started in on cooking lesson #4, Becca declared that the only thing missing was some Italian opera playing in the background...but hold it. We're making shrimp and grits. I don't think Andrea Bocelli will do. But Taylor Swift...now that is fitting!

So with Taylor crooning about boys and love/infatuation, we peeled shrimp, fried some bacon and got a massive pot of grits going. It was warm enough to eat outside, so I sent the decorators in the bunch out to light up lots of candles and set the table. Becca's comment: "It's 'ro-tic'...that's romantic without the man. True, it was just the girls tonight.

And you can always tell when the guys aren't around; conversation turns to, well, girl stuff.

Menu: Shrimp and Cheese Grits
Fruit Salad
Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce and Almond Cookies

After a failed attempt at one chocolate sauce recipe, we tried another...by the way - what IS a good substitute for evaporated milk in a pinch? We took some vanilla ice cream with said chocolate sauce and a couple of thin almond cookies out on the loggia and enjoyed the fireplace and some warm conversation.

But a gorgeous spring evening with great food is not just for romantic moments. A woman's home should make her feel great. A great meal can be prepared for one. I've bought myself fresh flowers many times, because they make me feel happy and dress up my home. I make my bed everyday, because a neat bedroom feels restful and peaceful.

The tone a woman sets in her home is contagious. Others will feel at rest, encouraged, happy and comfortable if the woman of the house has created this environment and enjoys it herself first and foremost. If entertaining stresses you out, then you are probably trying to do things you aren't accustomed to doing. Practice them and perfect them just for you, first. Then share with others.

One Potato Per Person

How do you figure how many potatoes to prepare? How did my grandmother always know how many to chop and cook for that massive pot of mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving? And fruit salad...if I'm trying to feed 6 people, then how many bananas, cans of pineapple, apples and oranges do I gather?

This was part of the lesson on Monday night with my girls, along with chicken and glazed carrots. We really needed a good name for this particular way of preparing chicken, and several ideas were tossed around: Intoxicated Chicken, Drunken Chicken, Tipsy Chicken (are you getting the idea alcohol was involved?) We settled on Rosemary Chicken, since it also took center stage, and is quite a bit less offensive. Rosemary was also involved in the potato endeavor.

There are several favored ingredients in a lot of the things I make, and I always try to keep them around: rosemary and basil (grown in my backyard), fresh onions and garlic, olive oil, white wine, various forms of prepared tomatoes (paste, sauce, crushed, whole, diced, stewed), fresh parsley and cilantro, lemons and limes, cayenne pepper, and a really good parmiggiano reggiano, otherwise known as parmesan cheese - and not the kind in a green can!!!

Menu: Rosemary Chicken (with white wine and garlic)
Roasted Potatoes, Glazed Carrots
Simple Lemon Cake with Strawberries

To roast potatoes, chop one scrubbed but not peeled potato per person. Mix together olive oil, salt and pepper, 1 clove of crushed garlic and a sprig of fresh rosemary together in a small bowl. Pour over chopped potatoes, wrap in foil and put on hot grill for 30-45 minutes. They will be crispy and delightful and you might wish you'd chopped an extra potato!

Our dinner conversation was lively, including some embarrassing revelations and a lot of uncontrolled laughter.

(A note on determining serving sizes: one potato is considered one serving, so one potato per person if you are making roasted or mashed. Fruit salad? One apple is a serving. One banana is a serving. A can of pineapple is probably 4 servings. So if you've got 6 people to feed, then add up the servings of fruit until you get to 6.)

(Another note, on buttermilk...most of us don't keep this strange thick, yellow version of lactose in our refrigerators, so what to do in a pinch? Put one teaspoon of white or cider vinegar in a measuring cup and add one cup of regular milk to it. Let it sit for 60 seconds and voila! Buttermilk!)

Family Projects

When Kirk and I married 25 years ago, we were paupers. Well-educated paupers, but poor none-the-less. And we were staunchly opposed to debt. So we barely had anything to fill our new apartment save a few random pieces of furniture: a really old couch from my grandma, Kirk's big 1980s stereo components, which included some hefty speakers that doubled as end tables, the lovely storage unit made from fruit crates to hold said stereo system, and a bed that we actually bought. Figured we needed a bed. :)

So, every weekend we scrounged yard sales in Dallas where we set up housekeeping. And in Dallas, you can find some pretty nice used stuff. One of our first acquisitions was a recliner that we paid $15 for. It was in good condition but we didn't like the fabric. I knew how to sew (clothing, that is) so Kirk decided with that skill in hand, we could recover this chair. He declared, "It'll be our first family project!"

And so our tradition of family projects ensued. We've repaired other chairs, built bookcases and remodeled kitchens. A good marriage takes effort; a 25 year marriage doesn't just happen. You must be intentional. We often talk to young couples about building oneness through shared experiences. Each time you do something together, it's like wrapping a thread around two pencils. If you only wrap one thread, the bond is not very strong...wrap many times around, and it's nearly impossible to pull those pencils apart. Add a minor crisis in there - spill a can of paint, cut the fabric too small, have to live without a kitchen for a week - all the better! The memories mellow (and sometimes get embellished) with time, and make for great stories.

That chair has been recovered a second time, and needs it a third. But the best thing is that the tradition of family projects is being passed on down to the next generation. Our son loves that chair, and I promised he could have it when he moved out.

But I had to take that promise back recently, when I rocked a baby to sleep in it, just like the old days...my kids are adults now, and I know that eventually there will be some grandchildren that need rocking, so I told Jonny, you'll have to find your own recliner!

Sure enough, he did (and he only paid $5 for it!). He and his girlfriend decided to attempt recovering their chair. I told him it would probably make or break their relationship...I would give a few pointers at the beginning, but they were on their own, to make their own memories. They are getting there, relationship in tact, but they are taking a breather. Jon has cursed it and verbally sent it to the depths of the earth a few times. It's about half finished, and they are doing a great job. But the best part is that they are building relationship through this experience.

Maybe re-upholstering a chair is too daunting to you, but what could be your family projects? Cooking together? Painting? Writing a book? Find something that is yours, and spend some time developing that skill. It may come in handy one day, as you are intentional in building a relationship with someone!

Cannelini and Personality Types

"Hold up a cooking implement!"

Monday night cooking night...this time we have the usual suspects: Caroline, Becca, and the Jessies (though Stacey and Abby, of course! were greatly missed); but we're expanding with some welcome additions! Emily and Kristen joined us for the 'lesson' and of course, there's always a boy involved who somehow gets invited to the consuming part. That's fine. A way to a man's heart is through his stomach, right? And I've always said one of the most satisfying things in life is feeding hungry boys. :)

So, tonight, we're making Cannelini e Gamberetti (white beans and shrimp in a tomato sauce) and Calzone Fritti (fried calzone). Lots of instruction and demonstration on how to hold a chef's knife, popping little cherry tomatoes without squirting them all over the stovetop, kneading, keeping an even temp while deep frying, etc. Everybody's hands were busy and messy.

I loved this particular menu because it incorporates so many basic skills: chopping, mixing and kneading of a basic yeast dough, fundamentals of frying, utilizing the necessary ingredients in any great Italian sauce, peeling shrimp, dispelling fear of using too much olive oil ("don't be shy with the olive oil"). And in the end, you have this lovely, visually-appealing-long-before-it-hits-your-tastebuds platter of delight. And the fried calzone...ahhh, is there anything better than fried dough? Seems every culture has its version. And this has the added pleasure of cheese and ham tucked inside.

With so many bright young minds in the room, what could be better than ending a great meal with stimulating conversation? Tonight's topic? Personality types. We discovered several obvious ones in the room - The Enthusiast, The Individualist, The Achiever, The Reformer. I love the multi-generational nature of being with these girls. They challenge the way I think, and bring fresh ideas to the table. This age-segregation thing is not for me; bring on the twenty-somethings! (At least they'll tell me when I'm wearing something ridiculous!)