The party is when?

You know how it is.

Maybe you forgot a get-together. Or one of the kids neglected to tell you about the school BBQ and you're supposed to bring a dish to share.

Keep this recipe in your back pocket and the ingredients on hand. You never know when a party will sneak up on you!

AMBROSIA - QUICK AS A WINK!

Ingredients:

3 cans of chunk pineapple
3 cans of Mandarin oranges
1 jar of Maraschino cherries
Couple handfuls of mini marshmallows
16 oz (two normal tubs) whipped cream
Optional: shredded coconut, pecans, walnuts

Instructions:

Drain the fruit
Mix all ingredients, except whipped cream, in a pretty bowl
Gently stir in the whipped cream

Then, cover the bowl and hop in the car!

Have a lovely day!

Always picked last

 I write a weekly column called “Neighborberry.” If you would like to see "Neighborberry" in your local paper/website, please tell the editor to email me at krisjane7@gmail.com. 

Thanks so much!

Always picked last

By Kris Kolk

Our family holiday functions are not complete without the playing of board games.

Sounds like fun, but for me, it’s not. You see, many in my family are scientists. Since we usually play teams on trivia games, I end up sitting in silence while watching my teammates avoid the arts and entertainment categories.

Here’s what happened on Thanksgiving:

“Oh! We’ve landed on a green square. Read us the science question,” we demanded of the other team. Here was the question:

“What is the manner by which an amoeba’s contractile vacuole releases water to the systole?”

The entire table of players (except one) groaned, because the answer was so obvious. Our team almost took another turn without even answering such a simple one; but our opponents insisted on playing by the rules.

Everyone looked to me while shushing one another. They agreed to let me go solo since I’m rarely able to contribute. Unfortunately, the answer did not occur to me so easily.

“I have no idea,” I admitted.

The house rumbled as nine people chanted in unison, “Exocytosis!” Banter ensued regarding my negligence on pursuing all matters amoeba.

“Well, she’s had a long day,” someone justified for me.

I routinely petition our team to land at any pink or purple square to prove I’m not as dumb as they think. I just enjoy different topics than they do. Bach was a composer during the Baroque period. I also happen to know what a lute is.

But they don’t even pause at my favorite categories, not as long as a science question is within reach. The game is plagued with spicules, quantum electrodynamics, and molecular orbitals. I must admit, though, I’ve learned a lot from these mandatory lessons, I mean festive recreation. I now understand what makes popcorn pop, the names of the bones in the hand, and that lemurs purr.

The Thanksgiving game wrapped up as our opponents silently read the last question of the game before agreeing the card must have been misplaced from the Junior edition. I thought perhaps this would be my moment.

The question was: “What is the transformation rule for a pseudovector?”

The answer, “v’=(det R) (Rv)” was stated almost at the same time as the question.

The game ended quick as a wink (approximately 1000 picoseconds). My hypotheses on pseudovectors were unnecessary. Fine with me.

All I really wanted to do was enjoy the season in a traditional way. Nothing beats biting the phalanges off Zingiberbread men and making angels out of chilly crystalline oxygen and hydrogen flakes.

Kris Kolk has been a writer and neighborliness promoter for more than a decade. You can also visit her at www.neighborsabouttown.blogspot.com. Email her at krisjane7@gmail.com.

A serious new year's post and apple crisp

 

How is 2014 treating you so far? 

I can't help reminiscing about when I was a stay-at-home mom--about 10 years ago. We were able to keep the bills paid and even had extra money at the end of the month for music lessons, pizza outings, and savings.

Where are we today?

Well, to say the money doesn't go as far as it used to is an understatement. In addition, I see no reason to believe the economy will get better soon. 

How's that for a new year's sentiment from an otherwise "Pollyanna" blog?

It's time to get busy. Seriously.

Whereas frugality was a lifestyle choice for some, I believe it will become necessary for all but an elite few. But most of us will need to get super creative with how we live. Creative with food, creative with transportation, creative with recreation, creative with utilities. 

Frugality is but a distant memory.

The good news is that when we start thinking about life OFF the treadmill, we find unexpected joy. By eating the food we grow, our bodies become healthy. By working outside to produce that food, our lungs enjoy fresh air and our muscles tone. By pooling resources with our neighbors, our communities strengthen.

Hey wait. Maybe this is still a "Pollyanna" blog.

How about a dessert recipe?

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

8 medium apples from your backyard orchard (Ha! Made ya look.)

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 cup oats

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cup butter, softened

Directions:

Butter a 9x13 baking dish.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Skin and slice apples.

Arrange apples in the dish.

Mix remaining ingredients and sprinkle over the apples.

Bake for about 30 minutes.

Serve warm.

It's up to us to keep spirits up. We've got a lot of work ahead, but we can do it!

Have a neighborly day! (I'm serious) 

The saga continues this season

So many people think I sell Christmas trees. Such an odd thing to think of someone, right?

The following is from last year's post about it...

This time of year, our phone rings off the hook. Why?

People think I sell Christmas trees.

Why would they think such a thing? Well, there is a simple explanation.

Many years ago (2007, I looked it up), I wrote an article for a local tree farm. I visited the farm and had such a great time. The owners were oh-so-nice and taught me a lot about varieties of trees as we walked their acreage. Of course, I said awesome things about them in my article. 

They liked that I said awesome things about them so much they put a blurb on their home page along with my name and phone number at the bottom. When people go to their website they just glance and see my number. Then my phone rings.

Mostly callers want to know if I'm open on Thanksgiving. Or Sundays. Or what time I close.

I could call the tree farm people and ask them to remove my phone number. I think I already did that a while back. 

But that's OK.

I like it when people call me.

Broccoli-cheddar casserole

Here is a classic holiday potluck recipe. 

I attempted it once before except I used shredded cheddar. 

I think the secret is to use Cheese Whiz or a knock-off of it. The second try was the charm! 

Throw in some chopped ham pieces and you've got a meal.

Broccoli-cheddar casserole

Ingredients:

3 T butter
1 bag (16 oz) frozen broccoli
1/3 cup milk
1 can (10 ¾ oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 jar (8 oz) of Cheese Whiz or something similar
1 ½ cups Minute Rice
1 ½ cups water 

Directions:

Melt the butter in a skillet and sauté the broccoli until a bit tender.
Stir in the milk, soup, cheese sauce, rice, and water.
Cook and stir until the cheese is melted.
Pour the mixture in a buttered 9 x 13 pan.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

I'm curious. Is this how you make yours?

 

Happy Independence Day

"Happy Fourth of July!" says Mr. Cool.

The Little Weirdo wouldn't sit still for a posed photo.

I'm in the cuddle zone," he says. "It's a free country, you know."

Have a happy holiday!!

Strawberry-sticky tuxedos

Looking for something to give your Valentine?

How about cranking out some strawberry tuxedos!

These chocolate-covered treats are super easy and frugal, too! 

STRAWBERRY TUXEDOS

Ingredients:

Strawberries
CandiQuick or chocolate bark
Smidge of royal icing (recipe to follow)
Food coloring or paste

Instructions:

• Wash and dry the strawberries.
• Melt chocolate in microwave according to directions.
• Stir.
• Dip strawberries into chocolate. Let dry.
• Prepare some royal icing (a really thick powdered sugar and water icing might suffice).
• Using a spoon, piping bag or bottle, paint a white "shirt" onto each berry.
• Add red or pink coloring to leftover icing.
• After the berry's "clothes" are dry, dot on a bow tie and some buttons, using a toothpick.

OK, here's the royal icing recipe:

ROYAL ICING

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of meringue powder
  (found in the cake decorating department)
4 cups of powdered sugar, preferably sifted
6 tablespoons of warm water

Instructions:

Beat ingredients in a mixer for about 7 minutes. Add more water during this step if the icing seems too stiff.  

You're sure to receive a sticky smooch for your Valentine tuxedo efforts!

 
P.S. I originally posted this recipe on our previous website, sccworlds.com. It also appeared in our newspaper, Home Matters. This is my original work and photo (just so ya know).   :)   --- Kris

Shared on these neighborly websites:
A Cat-Like Curiosity     
Creating My Way to Success
Mad in Crafts
Flour Me with Love
Adventures of a DIY Mom
Learning the Frugal Life
Growing Home 
Handy Man, Crafty Woman 
Robyn's View 

On twitter, too:
#SITSSHAREFEST 

Lovey dovey treats

This activity has it all:

feeding hungry love birds

busying bored kids

decorating for Valentine's Day

 Here's all you do:

• Line a jellyroll pan with foil.
• Melt a suet cake (about 12 oz.) in a saucepan over low heat.
• Add some birdseed and mix.
• When all is melted and mixed, quickly pour mixture into the foil-lined jellyroll pan.

• Chill pan of melted suet in the fridge overnight.
• Cut the suet into fun shapes using cookie cutters.
    (Some shapes will break. It happens.) 
• Poke a hole through each shape--for hanging with strings later.
    (Be sure to poke all the way through.)
• Freeze the shapes that look best.
• Save the scraps. The birds will eat them even if they aren't pretty.
• Remove the frozen shapes from the freezer.
• Thread a string through each hole and tie.
• Hang these festive creations in a tree.

Warm your heart while watching the birds enjoy their special Valentine dinner!

 

This post was shared on these neighborly websites:

Robyn's View (Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party) 
Creating My Way to Success
Mad in Crafts
Natural Living Mamma
The Prairie Homestead
Flour Me with Love
Adventures of a DIY Mom
Learning the Frugal Life
Growing Home
Handy Man Crafty Woman

Hang in there, budddeeee

During the holiday chaos, I neglected someone very special.

Green pepper plant was born a few years ago from seed. He was destined for a life in the garden. Other starters made their way outside, but this guy? Well, we became attached to him.

He's charismatic.

He offers teeny-tiny green peppers every once in a while. I know it's the best he can do. He tries so hard.

Recently, I've become concerned about his health.

It all started after Thanksgiving.

"Hey Christmas tree, you're standing in my light," green pepper plant said (trying to sound intimidating by using his "Joe Pesci" voice).

Did Christmas tree inquire about being moved? No, because Christmas tree and green pepper plant aren't friendly to one another--not since last Christmas when green pepper donned twinkly lights and Christmas tree was all,

"You're such a poser, green pepper plant."

Anyway...

Because of all the holiday hoopla, green pepper plant was forgotten in a dark corner. I believe I heard him wheezing faintly. He can be overly-dramatic sometimes, but on closer inspection I realized a rescue truly was in order.

Oh no, green pepper plant!! 

"Hang in there budddeeee," I said like Pauly Shore. 

Green pepper always liked Pauly Shore.

The patient was immediately taken to a sunny window where he has been receiving scheduled guilt waterings. Some of his leaves turned crunchy and had to be snipped--falling sadly in slow motion, and they remain on his dirt...in the spirit of compost.

And hope.
 

This post was shared on this neighborly site:

Found the Marbles

The perfect gift

"We NEVER have tape in this house. If you REALLY want to make me HAPPY, buy me some TAPE for Christmas," says the person who has nearly everything.

I love it when hints are hurled at my head. Finally, I know what they really want.

I wasn't going to splurge on the "Jumbo," 

but it's Christmas.

Fighter pie maneuvers

 

Parry, dodge, spin, thrust!

My pies will soon be outfitted with crucial pieces of combat equipment:

Pie shields!

For years this has been my strategy to prevent crusts from burning:

Foil is flimsy and usually bails just when the mission gets heated. 

I have wanted these shields forever! Thought I might have to wait 'til 2112.

En Garde!

Pies have assumed control. 
Pies have assumed control. 
Pies have assumed control.

 

Side note:

While waiting in the car mechanic's waiting room, I talked to another customer who told me he was very skilled at baking pies. He brought it up. Anyway, he said just to turn the heat down for the entire baking time and the crust won't burn. Well, maybe the crust won't burn, but then I'd wonder if the pie filling would be done. Pecan and pumpkin pies, especially, sometimes prove dubious.

I don't sell Christmas trees

This time of year, our phone rings off the hook. Why?

People think I sell Christmas trees.

Why would they think such a thing? Well, there is a simple explanation.

Many years ago (2007, I looked it up), I wrote an article for a local tree farm. I visited the farm and had such a great time. The owners were oh so nice and taught me a lot about varieties of trees as we walked their acreage. Of course, I said awesome things about them in my article. 

They liked that I said awesome things about them so much they put a blurb on their home page along with my name and phone number at the bottom. When people go to their website they just glance and see my number. Then my phone rings.

Mostly they want to know if I'm open on Thanksgiving. Or Sundays. Or what time I close.

I could call the tree farm people and have them remove my phone number. I think I probably already did that a while back. 

But that's OK.

I like it when people call me.
 

Rejected homemade ornaments

It was a day of Christmas music and craft scraps. I was in over my head.

First, I decoupaged some garden-themed fabric onto a paper plate.

They turned out kinda cute, I guess. I don't know.

While digging for fabric, I found a bag of pistachio shells I saved a few months ago.

Pistachio shells! Now those have crafting potential!

Paints stood at attention and at-the-ready.

Wouldn't it be cute if the pistachios put you in the mind of old-fashioned Christmas lights?

I found a black twist-tie on the kitchen windowsill, so I used snips of it for the tops.

Since there were so many pistachio shells already painted , I glued a bunch of them together and stuck a cranberry in the middle. 

Regarding glue: spare no expense.

I pity the person who gets my white elephant gift this year.

How are your crafting projects going?

My kitchen on Saturday

Christmas music was blaring when the crafting bug attacked. Besides, the kitchen Christmas tree was incredibly homely and needed a rescue makeover.

After having fallen on the basement floor, decorations and all, the tree was smashed and lopsided. We've been stepping over it for months.

Yet, we propped it up "as is" in the kitchen. I was tired of looking at it. Ashamed, actually.

I was going to make button ornaments and even adorn him with painted pistachio shells! 

The crafting bug kinda makes one delusional.

I made some homemade "mod podge" to get down to business decoupaging ornaments. Various skeins of yarn appeared on the scene, just in case.

Cranberries were strung individually; and the popcorn garland was continually under attack by Kitty Baby. 

It was quite a day.

Eventually, the button ornaments seemed unnecessary and the pistachio project was scrapped. The decoupaged ornaments were OK, but overkill for this little tree, I decided.

After a full day of painting, gluing, decoupaging and stringing, this is what I ended up with:

I did decoupage some blue gingham to a paper plate and snipped a star for the topper. I ripped some country-style fabric and tied it to branches here and there. It's like the tree is wearing rag curlers.

Less is more. 

And it's for the best.

Ice cream cake with a homemade touch

Since it is so unseasonably warm today, how about some ice cream cake? 

My version replaces store-bought hot fudge with decadent homemade. Yum.

ICE CREAM CAKE

Ingredients:

30 Oreo-type cookies
1/4 cup butter
1/2 gallon ice cream, softened a bit
1 jar of hot fudge topping or homemade fudge sauce (see recipe below)
8 oz. tub of whipped cream

Directions:

1. Crush the cookies. They don't have to be a powder--just a rough crushing.
2. Melt the 1/4 cup butter.
3. Combine the crushed cookies with the melted butter.
4. Press the cookie combination into a 9 x 13 freezer-safe pan.
   (reserve 1/2 cup)
5. Spread the ice cream on top of the cookie crumb mixture.
6. Put the fudge sauce on top of the ice cream as evenly as possible.
   (might be more like dollops)
7. Spread the whipped cream on top of that layer.
8. Sprinkle the reserved 1/2 cup of cookie mixture on top for decoration.
9. Freeze a few hours until firm.
10. Take out of the freezer about 15 minutes before serving.

Homemade fudge sauce:

4 Tablespoons cocoa
6 Tablespoons milk
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup of nuts, chopped (optional)

Bring cocoa, milk and butter to a boil.
Remove from heat and stir in the powdered sugar.

Have a bite!

This post was shared on these neighborly websites:

Fresh Eggs Daily

Robyn's View

What a day

My kitchen is a mess, but I don't care right now. 

Hooray for the post-Thanksgiving couch crash.

Let's not think about Christmas season quite yet. Just a couple more days of no cooking and basking in leftovers, please.

"I'm so exhausted," says Kitty Baby, "Wake me when it's time to open presents."
 

This post was shared on this neighborly website:

Sarah Did It!

Thank you, Norman, wherever you are

Last Father's Day, the kids wanted to make their dad a sonic screwdriver like Doctor Who uses. 

For those unfamiliar with Doctor Who, a sonic screwdriver is the device the doctor uses to often save himself and others from dangerous situations. It's awesome. Doesn't work on wood, though.

Anyhoo...

OK, the kids wanted to make a sonic screwdriver. Of course it wouldn't have the amazing life-saving properties of the real thing, but a fun project nonetheless.

The device would have to be large enough to hold a sound chip and some LED lights. We decided on using PVC pipe.

We took this fuzzy vision to the hardware store and ended up in the PVC pipe department.

That's where we met Norman. Norman was definitely 50+ and easy-going. He was confident striding the aisles of PVC and had his job because of expertise, I decided.

We described our project and he didn't bat an eye. He asked us some questions and pointed us to the size pipe we would need. 

Problem was, the PVC pipe was eight feet tall! It was very reasonably priced...but we just didn't want to wrangle an eight-foot pipe into the car.

Norman advised us to cut it.

"How should we cut it?" I asked.

He told me it is very easy to cut. We could use a saw.

"I might know where Dad's saw is," I said, "Could we  use a knife instead?"

While Norman said that a knife would probably work, I believe he sensed our cluelessness regarding all things in the garage. He seemed to become concerned about our knife skills as well.

I could see his paternal wheels turning.

He couldn't send this mother and children skipping off to cut this PVC pipe. Their innocent Father's Day project would now surely involve bloodshed.

Norman said he may be able to fix us up. He scraped around in the PVC department's junk drawer and came up with a piece just right (shhh, it was on the house).

The sonic screwdriver was, let's say, an artistic representation. But it's the thought that counts. It makes the authentic sonic sound and lights up, so I say it's a winner. Their Dad loved it.

Anyway...

I have carried around this gratitude for Norman since last June and FINALLY decided to write a letter. His boss should know we think Norman is awesome. The letter was addressed to both the store manager and Norman. The part about the pipe being free was left out, just in case.

I composed the letter on the computer before hand-writing it.

Even so, it took many rough-drafts.
 

I hope Norman still works there. I waited way too long to send this!

Thank you, Norman, wherever you are.

This was posted at the following neighborly site:

Found the Marbles