Ready for St. Patty's

Chicago celebrated St. Patrick's Day this weekend. It tends to be a very big deal in this city - the Chicago River turns green, parades lace through the city, pubs fill with partyers at 8 am. Although we weren't able to celebrate with the usual debauchery and the weather was typically "Irish" (cloudy, foggy and rainy), we managed to have a very nice day walking around the city and people-watching. Sometimes all it takes is a simple walk with my little family to make me feel like the luckiest mom in this town!!

My parents came over for breakfast this morning. In honor of St. Patrick's Day I decided to make a loaf of Irish soda bread to serve alongside eggs, fruit, homemade yogurt and homemade granola. My friend Carolyn sent me this recipe a couple years ago, and today was my first time making it. I was really surprised by how easy it was and how quickly it came together. Quite a treat served warm out of the oven at breakfast, and a delicious toasted snack this afternoon!

Carolyn's Irish Soda Bread

4 cups flour (Carolyn uses 4 cups unbleached flour - I used 2 cups whole wheat and 2 cups unbleached)
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup raisins (optional but delicious!)
1 lightly beaten egg
1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, sift or whisk the first six ingredients together. Add the egg and buttermilk. Mix well - it will start to get pretty stiff, at which point I abandoned the spoon and started to knead with my hands. Shape into a round or oval loaf about two inches tall. Put on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes.

I served this with some butter I whipped with powdered sugar and a splash of orange juice. It really was a treat!

Peanut Butter Cookies - Easy as 1,2,3,4!

I never buy packaged cookies, crackers, or snacks from the store. Processed foods that contain too many hard-to-pronounce ingredients, preservatives, and high fructose corn syrup offer minimal nutrition and empty calories. If I'm craving a sweet treat, I'll take the time to make something from scratch. If I don't have the energy or time for homemade, then I don't really want (or deserve) the treat!

After lunch today I craved a little something sweet. I recently blended a batch of homemade peanut butter, so the first thing to come to mind was this super easy peanut butter cookie recipe. I've been making it for years and I don't know where it originally came from, but since I always have all four ingredients on hand its become an old standby.

Four Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter (preferably homemade)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix all four ingredients together until smooth and well combined. Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cookies sit for two minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Thoughts Inspired by Vintage Cookbooks...

I recently found http://www.vintagerecipes.net, a website devoted to vintage cookbooks, recipes, and cooking techniques. Some of the cookbooks posted here date to the 16oo's, and as I read through the recipes I feel like I'm taking a step back in time. These books are a really cool glimpse into what life was like for homemade mothers hundreds of years ago. In many ways, these women were no different than we are today. They had the same desires to make their families feel warm and safe and comfortable. Their daily challenges no doubt kept them up at night. And they strove to share love and spread happiness through the common bond of a family meal.

As some of these cookbooks reveal, women of recent centuries were not given a choice whether or not to marry, have children, or forgo careers and outside pursuits. The 1910 cookbook Practical Suggestions for Mother and Housewife makes it pretty clear: "Marriage is the crown of woman's life...There is a presumption that the unmarried woman has missed the central and significant reason for her existence, the perpetuation and nurture of the race, and that the burden is upon her for compensating society by other services for this lost opportunity." I was given the wonderful opportunity to attend college and expand my horizons through education and world travel. When I chose to make my family my primary occupation, I did so knowing that I was free to choose otherwise, and that freedom was both liberating and a bit overwhelming. I feel grateful to live in the time I do, and to my sisters who came before me and fought hard to open the world to women, I say "Thank you!"

Greenwashing

I recently saw a commercial for Sun Chips' new "earth friendly" packaging. Yes, I applaud Sun Chips decision to use 100% compostable materials in their packaging, but to advertise this as "good for the environment" drives me crazy. The bag must be placed in a hot, active compost bin in order to break down in the promised 14 weeks. How many people have access to a compost bin?! You are not doing the environment a "favor" by eating Sun Chips. No sort of consumption is good for the environment (and, let's be honest, no sort of chips are good for your body!). The planet would be much better off if you opted for an apple rather than a bag of chips.

I appreciate Sun Chips initiative as their new package may be kinder than a typical plastic bag, but it certainly isn't helping anything or anyone. I look forward to the day when all packaging is compostable or recyclable, and I especially look forward to the day when everyone takes the initiative to actually compost, recycle, or forgo waste-creating processed and packaged items altogether. Until then, don't let yourself be swayed by advertising that absolves you of any responsibility to yourself and our planet.

Homemade Peanut Butter

I am on a crusade to continuously reduce the amount of garbage my household creates. While I think we're doing a very good job - we recycle everything and because we don't buy much processed foods a lot of what we do throw away comes from food scraps and leftovers - there is always room for improvement. I make homemade yogurt and homemade laundry detergent to avoid the plastic containers, we haven't purchased paper towels/napkins in years, and I made all of Evelyn's baby food when she was only eating purees. The next venture?

Homemade peanut butter!

This is really the easiest homemade mothering trick yet. And, not only does it help the planet by reducing waste, but it was also cheaper than buying factory-made peanut butter. But, I think the best part is that the only ingredients in my peanut butter are peanuts! Popular peanut butters available at the grocery store also contain sugar, fully hydrogenated vegetable oils, and mono and diglycerides. Ick!

I brought a re-used plastic bag to Whole Foods and filled it with a pound of bulk peanuts for $1.99. At home I dropped the nuts into a food processor, pressed "on", waited 90 seconds, pressed "off", and poured the homemade peanut butter into an old peanut butter jar. Could not be any easier!!

Chocolate Tart

My sister had us over for dinner last night, and I offered to make a dessert. For the past couple weeks I've been playing around with an idea for a chocolate tart, and I think I may have the recipe figured out. I've made this with a mixture of dark/semi-sweet/milk chocolate and it was really good. I tried with all milk chocolate and it lacked oompf. The semi-sweet route seems to yield the best results, but feel free to tweak as you'd like.

Tarts are an easy way to impress a crowd as they are always so pretty and usually filled with fresh ingredients.

My Chocolate Tart

Crust:
1 3/4 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 sticks cold butter, cut into cubed

Filling:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup milk
1 2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/8 cup sugar (or more if you are using dark/bitter chocolate and less if you are using milk chocolate)
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine crust ingredients and, using your hands, mix well until coarse crumbs form. Press into an 11" tart pan (or a springform pan would work well). Be sure to press dough all the way up the sides, making a nice bottom layer, too (don't use all the dough if your pan is properly filled - just make a few short bread cookies on the side with the leftover dough!). Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.

For the filling, pour the cream and milk into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer (do not boil). Turn off heat and add chocolate chips and sugar, stirring well until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth. Slowly stir in beaten eggs. Pour chocolate into shortbread shell and bake for 20-25 minutes (until chocolate is almost set).

Remove tart from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the pan. Slice and serve!

A Facial Every Day!

For the past decade or so, my skin has been very tempermental. While I noticed significant improvement when I cut processed foods out of my diet, it wasn't until I started giving myself a mini facial every morning and night that I started to feel better. I've put together a unique routine that seems to just work for me. Unlike conventional skin care products bought in the store, all of which feature scary chemicals and pricey unfulfilled promises, my routine is simple and natural. Plus, it gives me an excuse to take 3 minutes for myself every morning and evening!

Here's my morning facial routine:

1. Wet face with warm water.
2. Put a bar of plain unscented glycerin soap into a little dish. Add a little hot water.
3. Lather soap using a boar's hair barber's brush. Using the brush, massage soap into face. This seems to work as a gentle exfoliator.
4. Rinse soap from my face and apply a gentle moisturizer.

Here's my nighttime facial routine:

1. Wet face with warm water.
2. Wet a clean washcloth with warm/almost hot water. Put the cloth on face and enjoy the steam.
3. Massage a small amount of jojoba oil into skin, including around eyes to remove make-up.
4. Mix 3 tablespoons castor oil and 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil. Gently massage 1/4 teaspoon of this mixture onto face (you'll have enough left over for a couple weeks). I also rub a little oil mixture onto my lips.
5. Run the washcloth under hot water, and place it on face again. Relax for a minute or two, enjoying the heat.
6. Gently rub off any excess oil. Do NOT rinse your skin. Any residual oil serves as a nighttime moisturizer.

I know the idea of putting oil onto troubled skin sounds crazy, but it works! Jojoba oil is very similar to the oil found naturally in human skin, so it may help balance oil production. And just a little works great as a make-up remover. Olive oil is a wonderful all natural moisturizer - I use it on little Evelyn's skin instead of conventional baby lotion. Castor oil - which heals and cleanses - also contains anti-inflammatory properties. These three oils seem to do the trick.

My skin is so so soft and my complexion has improved!