The Red Plate

I heard about these plates "You are Special/The Red Plate" a few years ago. You use them on special days to recognize someone in your family. A mother of 3 teenage girls told me, she the red plate when raising her girls. She pulled it out on their birthdays, days when someone had reached an exciting goal or was recognized for something and then on days when she felt like one of her girls (or her husband) really needed some encouragement. That family also tied the tradition of everyone going around the table saying something special about the person who had the red plate. One day this mom was having a bad day, one of her girls was slated to set the table, she started to serve dinner only to find, that there was the red plate sitting in Mom's spot at the dinner table. Then everyone in her family went around and said how much they loved their Mama. It meant so much to her that her children would love her that way. She cried and has always remembered their loving words.

Here is our first use of the red plate. We used it to serve my husband breakfast on his birthday. Thanks to my sis-in-law, CB, who gave it to me. I've always wanted one! I've had friends that used the "red plate" or they went to a paint your own pottery place and made their own. There is a pen that comes with the red plate that allows me to document when we used the plate.

Brown Stew

We absolutely love this recipe. My mom-in-law gave this recipe to me.

Brown Stew
2 pounds beef chuck, cut in to 1 inch cubes
2 tbs. olive oil
4 cups boiling water
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 glove of garlic
1 medium onion, sliced
1 bay leave
1 tbs. salt (seems like a lot!)
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
Dash of allspice

6 carrots, quartered
1 pound small white onions (optional- I don't do it)
2 cups cubed potatoes

I always measure out all the spices first and put them in a prep. bowl. Things get to moving kind of fast once the stew gets going. Pick a big soup pan do cook this in. In another saucepan boil your water. Brown meat in Soup pan, add boiling water. Add all ingredients through allspice. Cover, simmer 2 hours; stir occasionally. After 2 hours remove bay leave and garlic.

Add carrots, potatoes. Cover continue cooking 30 minutes or until vegetables are done.

Slightly off topic...but worth it!

Okay, so my husband says that I cannot post about this, b/c it has nothing to do with hospitality. I say this is my blog....I can do whatever I want.

Today I had the day off and a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory.

Never had their cheesecake before, but I talked my husband into a piece. It's $8.99, but worth every penny.

The 30th Anniversary Cheesecake.

It's got plain cheese cake and chocolate. Look, there are just days when you need cheesecake. I am thinking that even though I haven't made it to tomorrow, I may need another piece! :0) Just kidding. It was great though!

Be sure to share with someone else b/c the piece is huge. We weren't crazy about the dollop of frosting on top, but hey what are kids for...give them the frosting you eat the cheesecake!

Soup and Sandwich Dishes

Check out these dishes I got as a wedding gift.

Soup n Sandwich plate.

Isn't it cool? There is a place to put the bowl so it doesn't slide around.

It's a great gift idea!

New Soup

Trader Joes has a tomato and roasted pepper soup that part of my family is really enjoying. It's organic. Pretty healthy tasting.

My husband and father in law like to eat it with a sandwich and some fruit.

Give it a try! But be sure you shake the carton, all the good stuff is on the bottom!

Random, but funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83JDXXKzOXg

You have to go to the the You Tube video above. The link on Blogger doesn't work. I tried to get to work several times but it won't. So sorry you have to copy and paste the address in.

But I promise I laughed until I cried.

Check it out.

Something to laugh about on this cold NC evening.

Money and Energy Saving Tips

So, I have a recipe I hope to publish on the blog later today. So, come back and visit!

In the mean time:

I just read energy saving tips on our Electric Company's website. It says most of the cost of drying your clothes, comes from the the heating element/coil in the dryer having to heat up. So, it says keep a continuous cycle of clothes drying going, so the heating element doesn't have to heat up over and over again. So I've switched doing doing laundry on certain days, instead of everyday, in order to save money and energy. It's actually worked out well. I am also hanging up more and more of my clothes to air dry. I've been doing this with my daughter's jeans and I promise she's been getting a lot more wear out of them.

I've been cooking a lot of chili, soups and spaghetti sauces. I have decided as long as the stove is on and the kitchen's a mess, might as well spend a bunch of time cooking and preparing stuff to freeze, to save time and energy later.

I requested a bunch of bar towels/mops for my kitchen, in an effort to save paper towels. That has also worked nicely.

I got a a Brita Ultra Water Pitcher/Filter system for my fridge. It has already saved us a bunch of money from having to buy bottled water. Bottled water was a must in our house, since I have a sensitivity to our town water.

I turned the drying cycle off on my dishwaster. Who cares about a few water spots? And the plastic never dried anyway, so just opening up the washer at the end of the cycle and letting it air dry, is making a difference.

Now if I could just convince my three year old to stop turning on all the lights.

The First Meal I Cooked and Delivered.

Stress. I still feel stress when I think about the first meal I volunteered to bring over to a family with a new baby.

Good grief.

Okay, let me tell you all the things I did wrong. First, I decided to cook a recipe that I'd never made before. Keep in mind, that I barely cooked to begin with and I decided to make a gourmet roast chicken. Also keep in mind that I still had a baby at my house, so this was an ambitious project for me. Also, it was an expensive recipe to make.

So that's all the things I did wrong. The meal was late, I was a wreck. I am pretty sure I neglected my own kid trying to get it ready.

Why do we feel the need to impress people? It just ridiculous. When I realized that I was in over my head, I should've called the family and said...your dinner didn't come out the way I planned for it to. Could I please bring you guys your favorite take out? Chinese, Pizza, or curbside service from a restaurant?

Sometimes it is just best to realize we have limitations. When you are doing something for someone else, and you try to go over the top, you have to realize that you may be missing the whole point of caring for the other person/family. It's not about how well it came out. It is about helping when there was a need.

This particular time in my life is just another example about how I made showing hospitality/helping others about me and not about those I was trying to help.

Having been on the receiving end of meals after a baby was born, it's just nice not to have to think about what to cook. Your tired, emotionally exhausted and hungry...it's just good to have someone bring food and put it in front of you.

Gourmet Roast Chicken...what a nuthead I was. Seriously. I barely knew how to use my gas oven! I didn't even know what a roasting pan was. I was a mess!

Strawberry Bread

My poor neglected little blog!

Check out this recipe that I got from from Martha Phelps Stamps The New Southern Basics Cookbook.

The bread is gooey. My husband likes it okay. My old College roomie, makes it all the time and loves it. So it will either be a hit or miss with you.

Strawberry Bread

(This will make 2 loaves of bread)

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
4 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup strawberry jam
1 cup chopped walnuts (I think nuts are a waste..but you do what you want)
1/2 cup sour cream


Preheat Oven to 325 Degrees

Prepare loaf pans (grease and flour)

Cream together butter, sugar and lemon juice. Add eggs and beat. In another bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking soda and then mix into butter/sugar mixture. Mix together in another bowl, jam, nuts (optional) and sour cream. Fold into batter. Pour the batter into the loaf bans, bake for "around" an hour. Sorry there is not a precise time to this one. Keep your eye on it! Cool in pans for 10 minutes before placing on the baking rack.

This bread is good toasted as well.

A New Year!

=
More fondue! This is on the list of to-dos for 2009. It's so much fun to share with friends and it can be inexpensive, IF you plan it right.

Also on my list of to-dos for 2009, learn to make soups and to use my crock pot. I have only used my crock pot maybe 5 times.

On my list is eat my fruit and Veggies. Below--Isn't this a cute orange sunshine my 8 year old made for a brunch we went to?




Happy New Year!