Got Zucchini?

I love zucchini! It is so very versatile. You can slice it thin and toss onto a salad, chop it and fold into an omelette or shred it and make zucchini bread. This is the very best time of year for zucchini lovers. Grab some of the fresh veg from your garden (I am totally kicking my own butt for not having a garden this year.)or farmer's market, and make this super simple frittata.
Zucchini and Onion Frittata
1 large or 2 small zucchini
1 vidalia onion, yellow will work if you can't get your hands on vidalia onions (bless your heart)
6 large eggs
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil, dried is fine too
1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme, again I have no problem using dried
drizzle of olive oil
nice sized spoonful of butter, or fake butter product
Grated cheese of your choice. Use as much or as little as you would like.
Slice zucchini and onion into very thin slices. In a large skillet over medium-ish heat melt butter and drizzle olive oil. Add zucchini and onion to skillet in batches to make sure the veggies brown evenly. Once browned on both sides remove veggies with a slotted spoon onto a plate, set aside. While veggies are cooking, beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add the ricotta and parmesan and beat with a whisk to combine. Add the salt, pepper, basil and thyme, whisk to combine. Set aside.
Once all of the zucchini and onions are browned mix them into the egg mixture. Gently stir to make sure all the veggies are well coated. Pour eggs and veg into the skillet that should still be hot. You may need to add another drizzle of olive oil to the skillet to make sure the eggs don't stick. Reduce the heat, you don't want the bottom to burn. Let cook for a few minutes. Run a spatula along the edge of the frittata, separating the cooked edges from the pan. Cook on the stove top just until the top is beginning to set. This only takes about 6 or 7 minutes. Top with the shredded cheese and place under the broiler. If your skillet has a plastic handle wrap it in aluminum foil, it will be safe. Keep an eye on your eggs. Broilers are super hot and it will only take a couple of minutes for the eggs to set and the cheese to be nice and bubbly. Enjoy!

Put those kids to work!

I spent the better part of my day yesterday cleaning up and sorting junk in Chloe's room. What started out as a let's try on last year's school clothes to see what fits turned into a hoarder intervention. As a matter of fact it took so long cleaning up her room I didn't even get the chance to bloviate on my blog. Three bags of trash and 2 bags for Goodwill later, her room is pristine once again. Seriously, she was keeping worksheets from 2nd grade, all of the Scholastics Book order forms from last year, ripped out coloring book pages, random rocks, I could go on and on, but I will stop. I have also noticed that her other chores have really been slipping lately too. (I have been letting a lot of stuff slide.) So this morning I sat down and thoroughly wrote out her chores. This summer Abby has started doing some chores also. I'm talking more that just picking up the toys in their bedroom. There really is no reason a five year old shouldn't know how to make their bed, scrape their plate and put it next to the sink after a meal, or put dirty clothes in a hamper. It is my belief that children should be taught at an early age to take pride in where they live. Respect the fact that their parents work hard to provide a good life and home for them, and they should participate in the care of the home. Mommas, if we don't teach our children who will? What are we waiting on? Trust me they aren't going to wake up one day and magically know how to do laundry or dust the ceiling fans. Yes, the ceiling fans should be cleaned regularly. We are always so concerned if they know the alphabet, shapes, colors, how many words can they sight read. That stuff is just a matter of memorization. You wanna impress me? Can your 3 year old clean your grout? Now that takes skill.

Fashion Today vs Fashion Yesterday

I have always believed that I was born in the wrong decade. I should have been born in the 1920's. That would have landed me right in the middle of the 40's and 50's to be a happy little homemaker. You know back in the day when people didn't give you that, "oh you are a stay-at-home-mom you must be lazy and take and take advantage of your husband" look. Never has this been more evident to me than getting the opportunity to see into the boxes of treasures that have been hidden away in Nene's basement for the last 50 years. Gloves, embroidered handkerchiefs, and costume jewlery just to name a few things. I loved slipping the gloves on and feeling how soft the material was. Clipping on the earrings and fastening the matching necklace around my neck and I was instantly elegant. Sitting at my mom's dinning room table in my pajamas with such fashionable accessories I started thinking about how most people dress today. To borrow a phrase from one of my favorite authorities of fashion Tim Gunn, it's the slobbification of America. Most people today just sort of roll out of bed throw on some jeans and head out the door. Some can't even be bothered with jeans they leave the house in their jammies. When did this become okay? At what point did we decide as a society that pajamas were just fine? Frumpy and wrinkled is just not a good look.

Our grandmothers would have never EVER gone out of the house in their sleep attire. If you had been seen in the market or heaven forbid a restaurant looking like a dirty clothes basket with legs you would have been institutionalized. Having lunch with the girls? You would have worn your prettiest dress, heels, gorgeous jewlery and cute little hat. Do not forget your lipstick, red lipstick. Now I'm not saying that we have to go back to such stringent fashion regimens, but for goodness sake put on a pair of pants or a cute skirt and a clean shirt with no wrinkles. As I have pondered my questions I have decided to blame the Lindsay Lohans and Britney Spears of the world. These girls are not good role models for anyone...remember both have gone into rehab (more than once), one is about to do some jail time, and the other walked into a gas station bathroom in her barefeet. I'm just sayin'.

No Sew Curtains

I detest shopping for curtains. I can never find what I am looking for. Finally I find something I love but it's always so expensive. I could live off ramen and pb&j for 2 weeks just so I could buy living room curtains, but I think my husband and children would feel differently. The very best way to get exactly what you want without spending a fortune is to make your own. You don't have to sew a single stitch. If you know how to use scissors, and a ruler you can make these curtains. To be honest you can go as highfalutin or as lowfalutin as you want. (If you don't know what those terms mean consult your Southern to Yankee translation dictionary.) Fabric stores are wonderful magical places, but sometimes a little pricey. If you are really decorating on a budget vintage fabrics are a must. Look for lovingly used tablecloths or bed linens. If there are a few unsightly spots just cut them away. Speaking of bedding I just had a wonderful idea, chenille! Wouldn't window dressings made out of a vintage chenille bedspread be adorable for a nursery? So get creative and get busy!
Materials Needed: Fabric, fabric glue, scissors, tape measure (really ladies get your own dang tape measure) ring clips, curtain rod (I know that one seems obvious but you just never know) and turn your iron on. Wrinkled curtains are just tacky.
1) Measure from the point you are going to hang the curtain rod to the bottom of the floor and also measure the width of the window starting about 6 inches outside of the window frame. Now hang that curtain rod up high. The higher it's hung the taller the room feels which makes the room feel bigger. The bottom of the curtain should just brush the floor. You don't want your window looking like it's wearing high waters.
2) Now that you've got your measurements go pick out your fabrics. Be sure to buy a extra yardage just to be on the safe side.
3) Gather all the materials in one spot. Make sure you have everything. You don't want to be in the middle of all of this ready to cut your fabric only to realize you don't have your scissors, and you have to spend 30 minutes looking for them.
4)For the top hem of fabric: lay the fabric on the table backside facing up. Fold the top over about 3 inches. Put a little dot of glue at the point where you measured just to be sure every thing stays put. Measure again to be positive you will have a straight looking hem and glue glue glue. Allow the glue to dry and attach the rings, hang curtain.
5) For the bottom hem of fabric: take a few steps back and look how the curtain hits the floor. Remember the fabric should just kiss the floor. We don't want heaps of material piling up and we don't want the window looking like it's too tall for last school year's jeans. Using a pencil (for the love of all things good and Holy do not use a permanent marker) on the inside where nobody will ever see it mark where the fabric will hit the floor. Take down curtain, lay on table (the curtain not you) measure measure measure, glue glue glue. Trim away excess material.
6) Don't be tacky iron those curtains. Hang 'em up!
7) Step back and admire your handy work. Take a picture and send it to me so I can see too.

Summertime Cooking

It's now July and the temps are soaring and my kitchen feels like it has been kissed by a solar flare. The girls have eaten their weight in Fla-Vor-Ice popsicles for breakfast and lunch and now they are begging for real food. The answer is so easy and no it's not going to Burger King. SALADS! I know salad seems kind of obvious but it is so easy to get into a salad rut; iceburg, cucumber, tomato. That has been my go to salad recipe for a long time. I had never eaten fruit in a salad (I mean unless it was a fruit salad, yummy yummy) until going over to my friend and fellow warriorette Kori Lopez's house one night for dinner. There it was a spinach salad with strawberries and orange slices. Hmm...you are a guest in her house don't be rude. I got my salad poured on my rasberry vinegrette took my first bite and decided right then and there it was time to get adventurous with my salads. There is a wealth of veggies out there dying to be chopped and tossed onto a salad. Plus veggies are not expensive. (please do not leave me a comment debating the price of fruit and veg. I could go on for days about this topic, and I know that I am right and you are wrong; so there.) I will now share with you one of my favorite salad recipes that I could probably eat every dang day of the week. The original recipe calls for fried chicken which I have made and it is to die for. However, for the health concious out there grilled chicken is really good too.

Southern Cobb Salad with Pimiento Cheese Dressing

3 hard cooked eggs

4 grilled chicken breasts sliced beautifully (presentation folks)

1 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp olive oil

1 can black eyed peas, drained (you can also use pinto beans)

Romaine lettuce or what ever looks the best (buy the whole head it's more cost effective and less chance for contamination than the bagged crap. besides you will burn more calories chopping lettuce than just opening a bag)

Tomatoes (as many as you want or none at all depending on you)

1 SMALL bag of chopped pecans

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

* Combine black eye peas, cider vinegar, olive oil and 3 of the chopped green onions; not 3 little pieces but 3 onions chopped.

PIMIENTO CHEESE DRESSING

*1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, sit it out on your counter for about 30 minutes. It needs to be at room temp so it will combine with the other ingredients better. In a large bowl beat cheese and 1/2 cup mayo to combine. Add 1/2 cup milk, one 2 oz jar of diced pimientos (if you can only find the 4 oz jar don't panic just use half) oh, drain the pimientos. A dash of cayenne pepper more if you like thangs a little muy caliente, salt and pepper. Stir that up real good. Save some of the dressing and mix with the boiled egg yolks to make dressed eggs.

Layer your veggies, chicken, and pour on the dressing. Serve with a huge glass of sweet tea with a wedge of lemon, sit in front of a fan and enjoy ya'll.

**Prepare black eyed peas and dressing before grilling your chicken that way all the flavors have a little time to work together.

Shut The Front Door!

The front door and porch are the first things people see before entering your home. When they are waiting for you to open the door what do you think they look at? Your door, your front porch. Go outside, stand on your porch and ring the bell or knock. While you are waiting evaluate the situation. (If you are home alone count to 45 oh and take your keys so you don't accidentally get locked out.) What do you see? Nice and clean or dried leaves, spiderwebs and dirty smudges all over the door? What does your porch look like? Does it look like a cozy place where you would like to linger over a glass of iced tea with a good book, or does it look like your family is at the camp grounds? I am not against folding lawn chairs they certainly have great uses just not on the front porch. They give your home a transient feeling. Get yourself to your nearest antique store or flea market and pick up some rocking chairs; wicker is always a good choice for the outdoors. Keep in mind the worse shape they are in the lower the prices. There is nothing in this world some wood glue and paint can't fix. Speaking of paint. Nothing will give your home a quick facelift than a couple of coats of fresh paint on your front door. If you rent your home just paint in the same color or talk to your landlord about updating the color. The appearance on the outside of your home is just as important as the inside.

How to Boil an Egg

My entire life I have never eaten deviled eggs. I couldn't get past the smell or the slimy consistancy of the egg white. However, that all changed two Thanksgivings ago when we had our first Bollin Family Thanksgiving. It was the first time that all of our family was going to be together since we had lived in Washington. Not only do you have to have turkey and dressing but you must also serve deviled eggs. With no clear plan or recipe I set to work prepairing the boiled eggs. Sadly most of the eggs cracked and I had to start over again. Finally, the eggs were boiled and I set to work peeling the shell. Of course, the shell was plastered to the egg, the whites were mangled, but the yolk was perfectly done. I mixed the mayo, mustard, dill pickle and some other seasonings and fell in love. Why have I been avoiding these tasty morsels my whole life? What a fool I have been. Now occasionally for lunch I will whip up a few of these babies and the girls and I fight to the death to see who will get the last one. Although, I still had a bit of trouble getting the eggs to not crack and peeling the shell away from the white. Until, I found this little gem of a book called "Watkins Household Hints" copyright 1941.

Eggs-Hard Cooked

Place eggs into the water with a slotted spoon. Do not drop eggs in the pot this will avoid cracking the shell. Bring to a boil. When water has reached a rolling boil remove from heat cover pot and let sit approximately 15 minutes. If an egg is cracked, wrap in waxed paper, twist paper to hold secure and place in boiling water with a spoon.

To avoid the shell sticking to freshly cooked eggs, crack shell lightly with a spoon immediately after cooking. Place in a bath of cool water until cool enough to handle.

The book doesn't tell you to do this, but if you run water over the egg while peeling the shell just slides right off. Cut in half, pop out the yolks, mash them with a fork, mix in mayo, a little bit of mustard, finely chop some dill pickle or jalapenos if you're feelin' sassy, just a dash of pickle juice, salt and pepper. Even better than that is some green olives in there too. I have a lot more to say on the subject of eggs, but I think I need to devil some eggs!

The Simple Things

It's the simple things in a person's life that make it remarkable, that's my opinion anyway. When I think about my husband and something I miss it's taking our morning coffee on the front porch in our rocking chairs. We sometimes talk about plans for the day and sometimes we say nothing at all. My first thought isn't our honeymoon in New Orleans, although it was great it's just not something that I long for. The simplest thing in the world most often holds the most importance in your heart.

One of my simple pleasures are these little plates. My grandfather Pawpaw worked at the airport for as long as I can remember. There's no telling where exactly or how exactly he picked these dishes up, but they are the plates used by the airlines for serving meals. In Nene's house they were the spaghetti plates. Everytime she cooked spaghetti for dinner it was eaten off of these little dishes. Now our spaghetti dinners are enjoyed on these dishes as well. However, I don't only use these for spaghetti. They are perfect for soup and sandwiches, chips and dip, veggies and dip. Getcha a little bowl full of chili, stew or soup with cornbread, a biscuit or a chunk of crusty bread and I am the hap hap happiest girl in the world. Astheics matter. If you are walking through a store and a particular item catches your eye and begs for you to come pick me up look how pretty I am, you should purchase it. *With in finacial reason of course don't spend your grocery money for the month just so you can have a pretty little vase. I am talking about the simple things.* Do you have something in your house that you don't regularly use because it is only for special occasions? Well let's just put a stop to that right now. Life is short, use the good china. Get that lead crystal platter out of the box and serve your hamburgers and hot dogs on it at your next BBQ. What's the worst that can happen? Yes, it could break, but at least you have the memories of all of the times you used it instead of it being stuck in a smelly box shoved in the top of a closet. Ya can't take it with ya, and do you really want to be on your death bed thinkin; if only I had used to good china?

Landscaping

I love the way my yard looks with the grass freshly mowed, the weeds have all be obliterated and happy perky flowers line the sidewalk. Butterflies frequently seek out the nectar from the lantana and we have a little hummingbird husband and wife that love to eat at the feeder then rest for just a few minutes on the Japanese Maple outside my dining room window. From the very first moment that I put my hands in the dirt to plant my first petunias I fell head over heels in love with gardening. I seem to have inhereted my green thumb from my mother and great-grandmother. Plants just seem to do well for me. If something seems amiss I follow what my gut tells me and to my delight the sickly plant usually bounces back to life. With the exception of the poor little African Violet that had gnat fungus...UGH.

Since Tony is deployed the "pleasure" of mowing the yard has found it's way onto my list. Don't get me wrong. I like mowing the grass and I don't even mind doing the weedeating too. As a matter of fact, I enjoy this chore. It's wonderful exercise, and for a person that loves order it's awesome making the lines in the yard. However, power tools and I just don't gee-haw (as Nene would say). I spend the majority of the time with the weedeater on the ground trying to fix those dang neon green thready coil things. In this day and age with all of our technology that's the best we can do? Green plastic thread going around in a circle at 500 miles an hour is it? We put a man on the moon for crying out loud! So you can imagine my ultimate frustration when I am about 10 minutes away from being finished mowing my back yard when for seemingly not reason the mower starts shaking. I mean S-H-A-K-I-N-G! Then this little rubber black thing shaped like elbow maccaroni just sort of falls off. My first thought is; well that can't be good. I see where it fell off so I put it back on (after much struggle). Get the mower started and it's working just fine. The darn thing starts shaking again and the little black maccaroni falls off again. I will tell you this, this lawn equipment will not beat me! Two things may be happening very soon 1) I will do some googling and repair the lawn mower myself or 2) I will do some googling and TRY to repair the lawn mower myself only to have to go to Lowe's and purchase a new lawn mower. (I only hope I talk to Tony before he reads this.)

Monday = List Day

For most people they dread Mondays. The weekend is over and back to work. However, I enjoy my Monday mornings. I sit down with my coffee and prepare the Weekly List. As a side note, I love lists. There isn't a day that goes by that I am not making a new list, adding to an already existing list or making a list of things I need lists for. I feel the overwhelming need to list a few of my lists now, but I will refrain. Although, I should mention that I am making a mental list of all my lists. Back to the Weekly List. Take a look around the house. Is there anything that really needs to be cleaned or repaired? Something that needs to be tended to, but doesn't HAVE to be done right away? Is there a craft project that you have wanted to start but keep putting off? Do you have specific errands that need to be done, doctors appointments, hair appointments, shopping for a birthday present or trip to the post office? It all goes on the Weekly List. Once you have completed your task mark it off the list. There is nothing more gratifiying that taking your pen and drawing a thin black line through the words on your paper. If something didn't get finished that week don't fret just move it on to the next week's list.

My Weekly List so far: bank to deposit FRG funds, Markiea's sewing machine, grocery store, mow back yard, spray paint flower pots, re-pot coleus, Lowe's for potting soil and plant food.

So sit down with your favorite beverage, get a pretty notebook and a nice pen and Happy Listing!

Celebrate Father's Day with Pancakes.

So my honey is not home this fathers day, but that isn't going to stop the pancakes from flowing. My dear husband LOVES pancakes. Actually, love may not correctly describe the way he feels about pancakes. He would die for pancakes, go to war for pancakes. His very purpose for being in Afghanistan now just might be to bring democracy and pancakes to the people of Afghanistan. Knowing this, I have accumulated about a quadrillion pancake recipes. Blueberry, banana nut, pumpkin pie, oatmeal and sour cream pancakes just to name a few. Of course, his favorite are the plain old variety with a little melted butter and warmed maple syrup, bacon on the side and don't you dare forget the coffee.

The humble pancake is one of the most versitle things you can pour onto a griddle. They can be super healthy by using whole wheat flour, buckwheat, flaxseed and almond milk. I think it goes without saying that they can be super indulgent as well. In the beginning they can be a little intimidating. If your griddle isn't just the right temp the cakes will stick or even worse, BURN. Over mix your batter and they will be tough. Make them too big and they are cooked on the edges but gloppy in the center. With a little practice you can be a pancake connoisseur too.

1) Find a good recipe. No Bisquick please.

2) Prepare batter. Get two bowls, in one mix the dry ingredients in the other mix the wet. Make a well with the dry ingredients. (push the flour and stuff around the sides of the bowl making a little well in the middle.) If your recipe calls for eggs beat them first. They mix easier that way. Pour wet stuff into the dry stuff. Whisk well. DO NOT OVER MIX. It's okay to have a few small lumps, small like the size of a pea.

3) Heat the griddle. After about 5 minutes drop a little water on it. If it just sort of slides around it's too cold. If it evaporates it's too hot. You want the water to sizzle and jump.

4) Grease the cooking surface. I don't care if you have non-stick cookware; GREASE IT. If you are being indulgent go for the butter, if healthy use the smart balance...go for the butter. Do not use the spray stuff is junks up your cookware.

5) Cook. Pour about 1/4th cup of batter onto griddle. The great thing about pancakes is they tell you when they want to be flipped. Look for the bubbles on top. Once you see 10 or so flip them. You must have a sturdy spatula. Those flimsy little plastic things will do nothing but ruin your whole day. Cook for just a few more minutes. When you see steam they are done, if you see smoke; start over.

6) Butter them, stack 'em up and pour it on (the syrup that is). Enjoy!

Ready, Set, BLOG!

Let's face it most of us grew up with full time working moms. Some because they enjoy their careers and want to work, some because of a messy divorce, and for some because they felt pressure to work either because of finances or nosy people with overly distorted opinions. My point is our mothers worked, but now more and more ladies are choosing to be homemakers (my husband refers to me as a Domestic Engineer). The problem is our mothers didn't teach us much about homekeeping. Oh sure they told us to clean our rooms and clean the kitchen after dinner, but I am talking about good old fashioned homekeeping. For instance, how to properly roast a chicken and get two meals out of it plus make your own stock. Basic sewing skills like sewing on a button or how to hem your husband's pants or your little girl's skirt. Oh they know how, they all took home economics, but at the end of the day they were just too darn tired to pass all of that knowledge along. Besides, why do it yourself when you could pay somebody else to do it?
So now I begin this journey to discover my inner mid century modern housewive. I have found some wonderful vintage cookbooks and household hints books from the 40's and 50's that are busting with great information...well some of it is really out of date. Like, kerosene stops a washboiler from rusting. Huh? Most of it is still valid and will also save ya some money. I am so excited to start this blog and I really hope you enjoy reading it!