Apples!

Like strawberries, my kids pick apples faster than I can pay for them! We had great weather for some very fun apple picking this weekend with some friends. The funniest part of the trip was when my son and his friend tossed an apple into the dirt road and sat and watched for several minutes for it to be squashed by a car. They were not disappointed!

For many Maryland apples, picking time is almost over, so get out there with your basket and enjoy the beginning of fall!

Here are two recipes to use your picked apples in:

For Gala apples:
Waldorf Salad Jubilee

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

6 Gala apples, unpeeled nad cut into 1/2" pieces

1 1/2 cups chopped celery

1 1/2 cup chopped radishes

3/4 cup orange flavored craisins

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 1/2 cup toasted pecan pieces
2 heads radicchio, washed

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well. Toss apples with the next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add mayonnaise dressing and toss to coat. This can be done 1 day ahead. Cover and refridgerate. Before serving fold in toasted pecans and then spoon salad into the radicchio leaves as if they are little bowls. Yield: 10 servings
For any apple that is excellent for baking:

My Grandma's Apple Pie

This is my grandma’s recipe. She usually used Granny Smith apples. She and her mother were known for their excellent pies.

2 9-inch pie crusts (if you want to make your own click here for a great recipe from Melissa D'Abrabian from Food Network)

1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

8 medium sized apples (a medium apple = about 1 cup)

2 tablespoons margarine


Heat oven to 425. Peel, core and slice the apples. Try to keep the size of the slices even. Mix sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Stir in apples. Pour into pastry lined pie plate. Dot with butter or margarine. Cover with top crust and seal the edges. Cut slits in the top. Cover edge with foil to prevent too much browning. Remove foil during the last 15 minutes. Bake 40 to 50 minutes.

Strawberry Fields Forever

Our play group headed out to pick strawberries this week, an annual trip of ours. I always look forward to it. I feel such satisfaction in getting outside and working in the dirt. Maybe I should be a farmer. I also love being able to make things like my grandmothers used to. I like to make jam and pies. So, I was really motivated to pick as much as I could so I could make all these things when I got home.

I went a little overboard. (Geez, I could say that about so much!) I was a picking machine. I picked 21 pounds. Holy moly! This year's crop was definitly full of smaller berries than last year and because of the rain and lack of sunshine, the berries started to spoil faster. I needed to act fast! So, I did--- in two days this is what I did . . .

Strawberry Jam

This is no secret recipe, it actually can be found on the inside of a packet of Sure-Jell.

ingredients:

5 cups crushed strawberries (already washed and cut)

7 Cups sugar

1 packet Sure-Jell

Wash jars in extra hot dishwasher, leave in the steamy dishwasher until ready to fill. Boil the 2 piece lids, drain before using.

Prepare strawberries by washing, hulling, and roughly cutting any large berries.

Measure exact amount of fruit into a saucepan (I use a large pot).

Measure exact amount of sugar into a separate bowl.

Stir one box of Sure-Jell pectin into the fruit. Bring to a full rolling boil on high heat.

Stir in sugar quickly, return to a full rolling boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Ladle quickly into the hot jars filling to 1/8 from the top. Wipe the jars and the threads. Cover with the two piece lids. Screw tightly.

Katie's Upside-Down Seal Method:
Pace upside down on the counter for 15-minutes, then flip over, jars should seal, to test, press the middle of the lid with your finger.

Jam sets in 24 hours.

Strawberry Gelato Hearts

Alyssa loves to help make and eat this. If you have an ice cream maker, this is worth it!

1/2 pound fresh or frozen strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cold heavy whipping cream

Pull off the leaves and stems of the strawberries and cut in half. Wash in cold water. Put the strawberries with all the sugar in a food processor and pulse for a few moments, then add 3/4 cup water and continue to process until liquefied. Whip the cream until it thickens slightly, to the consistency of buttermilk. Put the cream and the strawberries in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Use a spatula to fill silcone hearts with the gelato. Freeze in the mold. When ready to eat, remove the ice cream from the mold and serve.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
This is my absolute favorite pie! My grandma and I used to make it together when I was little. I love the combination of sweet and tart in this!

2 1/2 cups cut rhubarb (about 6 stalks)
2 1/2 cups cut strawberries
1 cup plus 2 tsps. Sugar
3 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. butter
2 tsps. Orange or lemon juice
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt

Blend sugar cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour. Add rhubarb and strawberries and toss until well coated. Pour into pie shell and dot with butter. Preheat oven to 425°. Bake 30 minutes then reduce temperture to 350° and bake for 30 minutes.

Strawberrries 'n' Cream Pie

1 8 oz. package of light cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

1 baked 9 inch pie crust, I use the Pillsbury kind

1 quart strawberries, hulled

Beat cream cheese at medium speed iwth an electric mixer until creamy. Add sugar and almond extract, beating well. Stir in 1/4 of the whipped cream into the cream cheese. Fold in the remaing whipped cream. Spoon mixture into cooled pie crust. Arrange strawberries stem side down over whipped cream mixture. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.

Book Review- The Shack

I read a lot. I love books, always have. Very rarely do I come across a book that I feel so strongly about I think everyone should read it-- and to confess, I think people "should" do a lot of things I think. But this book does something so profound, I'd hate anyone to miss it.

I did not want to read this book. I heard about people reading it, I knew it had to do with kidnapping and a grisly crime. Well, as a mother of two young children, I felt that I just didn't need to read a book that dealt with such "dark stuff." It would just feed my already paranoid, overprotective craziness, right?! Wrong.

If anything, this book helped me overcome some of that paranoia. And believe me, I am QUEEN of paranoia, I was raised on it as if it was something good for you to eat. Maybe I shouldn't say paranoia since the definition of that is "unfounded or exaggerated distrust of others, sometimes reaching delusional proportions. Paranoid individuals constantly suspect the motives of those around them, and believe that certain individuals, or people in general, are "out to get them."

Well, my distrust has always been "founded" so maybe I am not really paranoid. But like any good mom, I am wary, careful, and protective.

So, this books first few chapters were enough to send me screaming, keep my heart pounding, and yes, I did check on my children a few times while they were asleep and I was reading.

But then this book opened up into a beautiful calm. I don't want to ruin it for you, but I will tell you that if you push through those first few chapters, you will be rewarded with so much. This book ambitiously tries to capture the nature of God--from the trinity, what he wants from us, how he approaches us, what we can do, what he will do. It achieves this ambition. For Christians, this book will draw them closer in relationship to Him. For people with little relationship with God or Christ, this will draw them to Him.

This book also deals with the age old question "Why?" Why does God let bad things happen. This book so effectively deals with this question. I have never been so satifised before as I have been with how this book deals with that question. And I am sure everyone has asked that question!

Not only do you care about the people in this book and what happens to them, you fall in love with a loving, forgiving, and merciful God.

Now--go read it!

Eco, Kid, and Pocket Book Friendly Cleansers

Spring cleaning is here! I have to say, I am messy by nature. I have a real hard time following through with picking stuff up and putting it back in its "home" if it even really has a home in our house. Many objects in our home are nomads or gypsies. However, I have been really dedicated to some new cleaning products.

The first one is vinegar, which my mom uses a lot for windows, but as I have been researching, it does more than windows. Vinegar is a cleaning superstar. My sorority sister Meredith who lived overseas, says the Germans use it to clean everything! I use it in a spray bottle mixed with water. 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. I do windows, clean the kitchen sink, and shine the crome fixtures with this. This mixture also takes the price stickers off glass with a magical ease. I think of the time I spent getting those stickers off the bottom of my new china when I was first married, I wish I'd known the vinegar trick then! I also use it to wash my wood floors! My girlfriend puts some in her wash to soften the clothes instead of using fabric softener. Vinegar is great for descaling and removing calcium and lime deposits as well as removing soap scum.

Here is a great website for vingar uses.

I also have fallen in love with liquid Ivory dishsoap. It is very eco-friendly. Add 1 tablespoon soap to 1 cup water and you have yourself the BEST all-purpose cleaner ever. It makes things sparkle, you even hear that little--ting! You know, like the people on the Orbit commercials. I use this spray to clean my kitchen counters, stovetop, microwave, bathroom sinks, around (not in) the toilet, walls, I could go on forever! Spray, wipe, and dry. Drying I have found is essential to the cleaning process. Especially with windows and countertops. You need to dry it with a cloth or paper towel for it to really look its best.

Probably my favorite product here is the baking soda. My Grammy has always sung its praises and it deserves it. You can use it to scrub, to deodorize, cut grease. I polish silver with it. Use a damp cloth and some baking soda for a beautiful shine. Here is a great website for baking soda uses.

My very favorite thing is when you add vinegar to baking soda--that is a dynamic duo.

I recently found in Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook how to unclog a drain using vinegar and baking soda. Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda in the drain, pour 1/2 vinegar down the drain, cover the drain with a cloth to keep the gasses in the drain. Wait five minutes and pour boiling hot water down the drain (use a teakettle to keep from burning yourself).

You really cannot go wrong with any of these products as they are not harmful to kids as many household cleansers are. They are friendly to the earth. And, they are inexpensive.

So, let's get spring cleaning!

Mommy Friends

I have been blessed with many friendships in my life. Friends I have had since childhood, college friends, church friends. But today I have to give the shout out to my Mommy friends. It it hard to capture in words just what these women do for me. But I will now try.

Just in the past week some of my mommy friends have:
a) watched my preschooler on very short notice so I could go to a Dr's appt.
b) lent me a boatload of dish and glassware so I could host a party
c) disciplined my child gently and without passing judgment on me
d) listened to concerns or worries I had
e) made me lunch
f) made my kid lunch
g) gave me hand-me-downs
h) found the number (and a coupon) for the garage door fix it man
i) encouraged me
j) offered to do a playdate swap giving each of us some alone time
k)shared a great recipe--breakfast casserole
l) lent me a mop!
m) just called
n) gave my kids a snack
o) let my kid give her dog a snack
p) brought my kid home from the bus stop


I would not be as good a mother, wife, or friend without these women. I also would be a little crazier and at wits end most of my days.

• Potty training would have been a lot less funny and tolerable had I not had you all around to know I am not alone.
• Having moms who have been there before was so crucuile those first few months after birth! The things only another mom would tell you!!
• Knowing you love my kids and I love yours.
• The wealth of cleaning and cooking tips that we have all shared!
• Knowing we don't have to be perfect--or even seem perfect.

Thanks for being such great Mommy Friends!

Eulogy for Caroline Frances Kolacz Martinell, Grammy

My Grammy was never afraid to give advice among her pearls of wisdom was, “Take care of each other“ and she lived it, as a wife, as a mother, as a grandmother, and great-grandmother, she took care of us and in doing so showed us how to take care of each other.
Grammy lived her childhood amidst the poverty of the Great Depression. Yet, she recalled memories of these days with a thankful heart. She was thankful that her family had a farm, because that meant there was food. She was thankful she slept in the middle of the bed between her two sisters, that meant she was warm. She was thankful to have finished high school, recalling the sacrifice her older sisters made for the family by working at an early age after their father died. But that is what families did, they took care of each other. I’ll never be able to know all she overcame during those years, but I do know she learned some lessons to pass on to us.
The biggest impression Grammy has left on me is in her devotion to my Pop, and it is rivaled only by his devotion to her. A more loving couple you will never find, search if you will, my Gram and Pop chose to love each other through it all. Since the beginning of their marriage, they’ve been taking care of each other. They sacrificed by working alternate shifts so my uncle and dad had parents at home. When Pop suffered his first of many heart attacks Grammy adjusted the menu and cared for him—the rest of us recall that as the “no salt era”. In Grammy’s illness, Pop has cared for her, loved her in such huge ways. My grandparents’ marriage has taught me so much—about how daily love is, how to persevere, how to take care of each other.
Grammy had a zealous kind of love. You know she loved in what she did for you, cooked for you, and sent to you. Grammy would do anything for us kids, I mean anything. I remember, after getting my Polaroid camera, asking her to “pose” for me. We took all the plastic fruit from her counter outside and I made her pose with apple under the tree. I even went as far as to ask her to get up in the tree, she did it. She was that kind of Grammy, the kind of Grammy who played with you. She entered our world when we would play. She knew Pigs in a Blanket were my favorite dinner, so it was always there waiting upon our arrival. My favorite memories are of cooking with her, her showing me how to roll the pig up like diapering a baby. I love the times we’d go visit Aunt Kay together and talk about all the different things you could do with a zucchini. She also used to send me stuff, that made me always know she was thinking of me, whether it was cotton for my nail polish remover, recipes, coupons, or articles from the paper. I especially looked forward to her letters when I studied abroad, a great comfort when far from home and she was my most faithful penpal. And Each and every birthday you could count on a phone call from her and Pop singing in unison. She was always thinking of ways to “take care of us.”
In the past years, I’ve missed being able to call her for advice on cooking, gardening, and cleaning—did you know how many uses there are for baking soda? She did. She also can bake the perfect chocolate chip cookie, cook the perfect pot of chicken soup, and I am convinced that they taste so good because of her secret ingredient: love, her love. So no one else’s will ever quite be the same.

More than once I’ve been told I am like Grammy. My dad once said I was here to replace her. I don’t know about that but I felt a connection to her like I have had to no other person. There are just some things I think we understood about each other. We never spoke them, but they were always there.
My Grammy is feisty—“she’d give you one of these”, strong willed, frugal, spiritual, nurturing, loving,-- If anyone says, “You are just like Grammy” you know that’s a compliment.
When we would visit I got to sleep with Grammy. There is nothing better than laying in bed next to Grammy and saying your prayers, it’s the safest most comfortable place, all is right in the world hearing her say, “Good night, God Bless, tootaloo!” Which I do say to my kids, they smile and think I am silly, but it affords me the opportunity to share with them my memories of a very special Grammy.
And we when we clean with baking soda, or make a batch of pigs, or dance around the kitchen, or sing a little ditty, or work in the garden we will smile and think of her.And now our Grammy is home, we are left with her words to us, “Take care of each other.” That’s what she wants us to do.

Polish Blessing: "Zit-cheh toe-byeh styen-chah, zdrove-yeh, doe-breh poe-vode. Zen-yeh, a poe schmer-chee nyeh-byess-kee kore-oh-knee." I wish you luck, health, and prosperity, and afterward a crown in heaven."

New Year

So as part of a New Year's resolution I am trying to memorize some scripture. I am starting with Micha 6:8--“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

I picked this verse for a few reasons-- 1) it was readily available as the verse of the day on Biblegateway.com 2) it really spoke to me

God has showed me what is good. I have come into 2009 so thankful for all His blessings and just wanting to be faithful and of service. So I love that this verse spells out what is required of me: "To act justly and to love mercy and walk humbly with [my] God." Today the sermon was all about mercy and how that is what Jesus is all about, not "the law." I tend to like the law, but I do always fall short of keeping it. But I sure notice when others don't and that is not loving mercy. If I myself act justly and love mercy instead of acting righteous and loving justice, I'll be a much better person.

The best part of this verse is about walking with God. That takes time and effort. That means I need to spend time with Him in His word. I need to be delibrate about that. More so this year than last. I hope that this verse will stay with me and help me prioritize.

Happy New Year