Not too long ago, I took down my old foodie blog, and with it went my roast chicken recipe. I've had a few requests, so I am reposting it on my new blog.
Here's the link: RPW's Amazing Roast Chicken
Monday, November 07, 2016
Friday, October 28, 2016
I know I've Said This Before
I've been going through a heck of a lot of work learning the new art of blogging: SEO, self-hosting sites, social media techniques, yadda yadda.
I am moving to www.rebelliouspastorswife.com Seriously. I mean it.
For a while, I will post links to my posts here, but eventually I will enter a little code that will direct you over there. There is a spot in the sidebar or on the top. I'm really not sure if I will keep the popup that comes up 3 minutes in. I don't really like them.
If you followed me here, please sign up for email there, or follow my Facebook Page www.facebook.com/rebelliouspastorswife
And here's my first post on the new site: Lazarus and the Rich Man, inspired by a sermon my hubby gave and a discussion we had after.
Thanks, my friends. God bless you.
RPW
I am moving to www.rebelliouspastorswife.com Seriously. I mean it.
For a while, I will post links to my posts here, but eventually I will enter a little code that will direct you over there. There is a spot in the sidebar or on the top. I'm really not sure if I will keep the popup that comes up 3 minutes in. I don't really like them.
If you followed me here, please sign up for email there, or follow my Facebook Page www.facebook.com/rebelliouspastorswife
And here's my first post on the new site: Lazarus and the Rich Man, inspired by a sermon my hubby gave and a discussion we had after.
Thanks, my friends. God bless you.
RPW
Monday, August 29, 2016
A Question
I have a question for you. Over the past several years, I've noticed comments drop off considerably. Part of that is probably the security measures that have to be taken in order to prevent spammers from completely taking over. Other things might be Facebook, etc. It just seems a lot harder to have a conversation on a blog.
What would help? I know that in order to get you to answer that question, I am asking you to possibly deal with whatever is causing you to refrain from commenting in the first place. Would an easier comment moderation/security help (and this might mean moving to a Wordpress site for that to be possible). Do you hate my wallpaper or choice of font and so can't stand to hang around? Would posting from a Facebook page devoted to the blog help facilitate conversation by moving it there? I so want to hear from you, and I know that there are people out there...I see it in the stats.
Please let me know what would help. I want to write more, but I want to also hear from you. Thanks in advance.
What would help? I know that in order to get you to answer that question, I am asking you to possibly deal with whatever is causing you to refrain from commenting in the first place. Would an easier comment moderation/security help (and this might mean moving to a Wordpress site for that to be possible). Do you hate my wallpaper or choice of font and so can't stand to hang around? Would posting from a Facebook page devoted to the blog help facilitate conversation by moving it there? I so want to hear from you, and I know that there are people out there...I see it in the stats.
Please let me know what would help. I want to write more, but I want to also hear from you. Thanks in advance.
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Starting to Click
After several years of moving, my definition of "home" has evolved into "Home is where you know which grocery store to go to." If I am on vacation, I could care less where the grocery stores are. If I need to eek out a life for me and my family, even for a short time, I do need to know which grocery stores have what I need/want. Grocery shopping inevitably mean cooking. Cooking means doing dishes, wiping down counters and cabinets, taking out the trash, and sweeping/vacuuming. Definitely NOT a vacation.
(This is also why I have become very resistant to "vacations" involving camping, timeshares, or apartments/rentals. They are infernal, diabolical lies! Lies, I tell you!)
For a while, getting meals on and off the table is all that we do. But at some point, something just clicks and I start doing more than just subsisting. I start making things that I could buy or things that can't be bought, at least the way I really want them. Now, don't get me wrong...it's never anything complicated. But I open up to doing something MORE.
At various times in life, this has meant different things. When the kids were little, I made baby food for a short time: nothing complicated, just steaming veggies, pureeing them and freezing in an ice tray to thaw later. That was only necessary until I knew they were not allergic to the basics, and then baby food simply became whatever was on my plate, mashed with the back of my fork. A few years later, I dabbled in sourdough, but soon we were practically drowning in pancakes and muffins to use the extra batter that was constantly being produced. It was like that scene in the Magician's Apprentice where Mickey is fighting a flood of water that keeps coming...but only sourdough and more sourdough (oh, but they were amazing pancakes and muffins). Then I discovered Nourishing Traditions and my countertop became home to jars for brewing kombucha, separating whey, and lacto-fermenting sauerkraut (I am REALLY good at just letting things rot on my counter. It's probably my gift, and now I could do it INTENTIONALLY! What a world!).
Coming back from overseas and the nomadic drama and trauma that followed, the focus has been on recovery. The way we've embarked on our new life has been slow and anything but deliberate. So when I decided to buy a bag of almonds and make my own almond milk for my dairy-allergic family, I thought about how I could soak them to get rid of the phytic acid, and it wouldn't have junk like carageenan or added crud vitamins, but it didn't feel momentous. It wasn't until I was straining the fresh milk that I had slipped into doing what I do when I am really and truly home, as opposed to someplace I am just staying for a while.
And it was pretty cool.
(This is also why I have become very resistant to "vacations" involving camping, timeshares, or apartments/rentals. They are infernal, diabolical lies! Lies, I tell you!)
For a while, getting meals on and off the table is all that we do. But at some point, something just clicks and I start doing more than just subsisting. I start making things that I could buy or things that can't be bought, at least the way I really want them. Now, don't get me wrong...it's never anything complicated. But I open up to doing something MORE.
At various times in life, this has meant different things. When the kids were little, I made baby food for a short time: nothing complicated, just steaming veggies, pureeing them and freezing in an ice tray to thaw later. That was only necessary until I knew they were not allergic to the basics, and then baby food simply became whatever was on my plate, mashed with the back of my fork. A few years later, I dabbled in sourdough, but soon we were practically drowning in pancakes and muffins to use the extra batter that was constantly being produced. It was like that scene in the Magician's Apprentice where Mickey is fighting a flood of water that keeps coming...but only sourdough and more sourdough (oh, but they were amazing pancakes and muffins). Then I discovered Nourishing Traditions and my countertop became home to jars for brewing kombucha, separating whey, and lacto-fermenting sauerkraut (I am REALLY good at just letting things rot on my counter. It's probably my gift, and now I could do it INTENTIONALLY! What a world!).
Coming back from overseas and the nomadic drama and trauma that followed, the focus has been on recovery. The way we've embarked on our new life has been slow and anything but deliberate. So when I decided to buy a bag of almonds and make my own almond milk for my dairy-allergic family, I thought about how I could soak them to get rid of the phytic acid, and it wouldn't have junk like carageenan or added crud vitamins, but it didn't feel momentous. It wasn't until I was straining the fresh milk that I had slipped into doing what I do when I am really and truly home, as opposed to someplace I am just staying for a while.
And it was pretty cool.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Chicken Night
The night of grocery shopping is usually eating out. I've done enough. But the night after...it's chicken night. I love chicken night.
The logic in it is simple. I have uses for whole chickens, but I don't have the freezer room, so they get cooked first and the rest of the meat goes in the freezer. If we are cooking one chicken, we might as well cook two.
Maggie roasted them tonight. She coated them with olive oil spices. She decided to try thyme, basil, garlic powder, and salt. This was a mixture I'd never tried, and it was dreamy. Nestled side by side in a 9x12 Pyrex dish in a 425 degree oven, breasts down, they became golden and toasty, juices running into the pan so that the white meat was immersed in the juices,soaking up the flavor of the herbs. Amazing.
Accompanied by roasted cauliflower and sugar snap peas, a salad, and iced tea, it is one of my favorite dinners.
Then the work starts. We pick all the meat off the bones, saving the breast meat for salads and chicken salad, which is what the rest of the cauliflower is going into as well. The dark meat is going into the freezer to wait for a soup. The bones will be in the freezer too, for stock. Those juices that in the Pyrex are strained and the herbed chicken fat will be used for sauteing veggies.
And then there's the dishes. It's more work than I like to do on a warm night in an oven-heated kitchen, but it will be worth it.
(Pictures would've been nice, but I decided to write about it after it was all cleaned up).
The logic in it is simple. I have uses for whole chickens, but I don't have the freezer room, so they get cooked first and the rest of the meat goes in the freezer. If we are cooking one chicken, we might as well cook two.
Maggie roasted them tonight. She coated them with olive oil spices. She decided to try thyme, basil, garlic powder, and salt. This was a mixture I'd never tried, and it was dreamy. Nestled side by side in a 9x12 Pyrex dish in a 425 degree oven, breasts down, they became golden and toasty, juices running into the pan so that the white meat was immersed in the juices,soaking up the flavor of the herbs. Amazing.
Accompanied by roasted cauliflower and sugar snap peas, a salad, and iced tea, it is one of my favorite dinners.
Then the work starts. We pick all the meat off the bones, saving the breast meat for salads and chicken salad, which is what the rest of the cauliflower is going into as well. The dark meat is going into the freezer to wait for a soup. The bones will be in the freezer too, for stock. Those juices that in the Pyrex are strained and the herbed chicken fat will be used for sauteing veggies.
And then there's the dishes. It's more work than I like to do on a warm night in an oven-heated kitchen, but it will be worth it.
(Pictures would've been nice, but I decided to write about it after it was all cleaned up).
Saturday, January 09, 2016
Making Green Tea
In Singapore, we went to a tea house where we were taught the basics of the Chinese tea ceremony. The instructor told us that it was much less formal than a Japanese tea ceremony. He showed us how to use all the utensils properly and then left us alone to enjoy several potfuls while the rain poured down outside.
I'm not going to go through the process now, though I might at another time. A friend of mine mentioned looking up how to make green tea on the internet and how she'd "been doing it wrong," and to be honest, at home we forgot all about making green tea any differently than black tea, because we didn't have the cool drainage trays, bowls, or utensils. I figured that we had it covered because our electric kettle had a "green tea" setting.
I came upon this site "How to Make Green Tea." which shows how to brew green tea many different ways, yet the basic process was very much like we learned in Singapore at the tea house. It is important to add more tea leaves than you would be used to if you were using tea bags or making black tea. Then, pour hot water over the tea and let it steep. Fill your cups and then pour off the rest in order to keep it from steeping too long and getting bitter (which is why I am not as fond of green tea). Then, pour more hot water over the same leaves and repeat, lengthening the time for each steep, until the leaves have completely spent their flavor.
This site shows how to brew green tea without shelling out a ton of money for the accoutrement. There is an informative video that shows brewing with a simple teapot. And if you are enjoying your tea alone, it even describes making green tea using a little bowl both as your cup and brewing device.
Ceremony is nice, in fact, it is quite beautiful, but it is also great to see the same routine narrowed down to the simplest components. I just learned one more thing that will enrich my 2016.
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| Photo: Neptunati |
I'm not going to go through the process now, though I might at another time. A friend of mine mentioned looking up how to make green tea on the internet and how she'd "been doing it wrong," and to be honest, at home we forgot all about making green tea any differently than black tea, because we didn't have the cool drainage trays, bowls, or utensils. I figured that we had it covered because our electric kettle had a "green tea" setting.
I came upon this site "How to Make Green Tea." which shows how to brew green tea many different ways, yet the basic process was very much like we learned in Singapore at the tea house. It is important to add more tea leaves than you would be used to if you were using tea bags or making black tea. Then, pour hot water over the tea and let it steep. Fill your cups and then pour off the rest in order to keep it from steeping too long and getting bitter (which is why I am not as fond of green tea). Then, pour more hot water over the same leaves and repeat, lengthening the time for each steep, until the leaves have completely spent their flavor.
This site shows how to brew green tea without shelling out a ton of money for the accoutrement. There is an informative video that shows brewing with a simple teapot. And if you are enjoying your tea alone, it even describes making green tea using a little bowl both as your cup and brewing device.
Ceremony is nice, in fact, it is quite beautiful, but it is also great to see the same routine narrowed down to the simplest components. I just learned one more thing that will enrich my 2016.
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