A cake made with butter that's been used for sucking up to men for centuries: Boterkoek

Apologize today.  You won't regret it.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup butter 
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1 egg, beaten (reserve 1 tsp)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• sliced almonds, for garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, mix together butter, sugar and almond extract.
2. Add beaten egg except for 1 teaspoon.
3. Sift flour and baking powder, and add to bowl, mixing with wet ingredients.
4. Put dough in greased 9 inch pie plate.
5. Mix the reserved 1 tsp of beaten egg with 1 tsp of water, and brush over dough.
6. Sprinkle with sliced almonds, if desired, it looks pretty.
7. Bake at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until done (firm to the touch). This is a dense cake, but should be soft on the inside and hard on the outside, but not too hard!

cleaning out my nostrils... not so hard... they've got good instincts

I finally finished sanding the oldest dresser in the history of time.  I almost gave up.  I started about a month after we moved into the new house... which was... wait what is the date today? TOMORROW. We moved in a year tomorrow. Crazy.  I started it, got 3/4 of the way through or more and then abandoned it in the car port with the rest of the JUNK out there that we weren't sure what to do with once we moved.  This is me. Saving money. Without a dresser for a year. ENRAGED that I have no place to put the stretched out clothes I wore while 4X pregnant with the little critters that inhabit my home.

It's old. It's solid wood and it's big.  It was free from Dave's sister in the first place.  Worth trying to salvage right?  It was green (no offense Paulina, it was a nice colour, just chipped, thick and time to come off).  Unfortunately, there are no before and after pictures; none that I am going to go digging for anyway.)

All I can tell you is that my nostrils are going insane.  One of them is half bleeding.... and they are just overall IRRITATED with me.  WITH ME!  The nerve.  How did I work on this project for a couple months last summer?  I spent 1 hour working on it today (that's all it took to get it done folks... yeesh when will I learn to complete things?!), and my body is physically hating me right now. Revolting in so so many ways.   Why do I choose to do things like this? Who am I? Seriously.

Now that the piece of crap is sanded. Now what? Paint it? Stain it?  Give up now completely?  I don't know. I kind of hate the thing right now. 

 

So give me your votes.  What? What do I DO now?!
Run to the nearest IKEA and buy the first thing I see?

I am in HUGE lawnmower trouble.

I wanted to help Dave (ok... myself, I wanted to help myself to Dave...) The guy gets home from work and... mows the lawn.... first thing. I hate it.  I want his time. I don't want his time on a lawn mower.  Today the weather was, well... not raining.  I wanted to be outside.  I saw the long grass in the back and thought, "Perfect, I can do this for him and forget all about the jobs that need to be done inside the house.... I want to be outside!"


Two rounds.  Not even two rounds on that ride'em lawn mower and it was smoking.  Good grief, I should have paid attention when it shut off automatically the few times that it did on the first round.... but no... I  pushed it, and all of a sudden, all I saw was SMOKE billowing out from under the tractor. Oh shit. What the Vegt have I done?  Dave is going to be sooooo choked at me. so choked.  I decided to leave the mower right where it was.  Nope. Not. Going. To. Touch. It. Again. So, I called him.... turns out, he's on his way home RIGHT NOW.  I don't have to agonize over my punishment or penance, whatever.... I'm going to find out RIGHT NOW just how bad it is.

 Oh shit. This is not good.

 Boterkoek (Dutch for Buttercake) my peace offering.

 He takes it.

And is sooooooooo annoyed with me. He thinks he'll have to take it away to get fixed.  Turns out I had the blades on FAR TOO LOW, for one, second, the "grass" I was trying to mow is like 7 inches tall... woopsies.  Third, I probably ran over something that I shouldn't have.

Lawn-mowing FAIL.  He'll never ask me to do it again. Oh. Wait. He didn't? Nevermind.

Organic Produce?

Totally stealing this from here. I thought it was so good I had to share.... makes it simple.  Keeps me from wasting my money...
When should I buy organic?
These foods are referred to as "the dirty dozen" - they're the fruits and vegetables most likely to have residue from pesticides, and they're ranked in order from most to least toxic. This is where buying organic has the most benefit.

• Peaches
• Apples
• Bell pepper
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Grapes
• Carrot
• Pears

When is it okay to save money and buy conventional produce?
These fifteen foods are the cleanest in the produce aisle - they're the ones least likely to have harmful pesticide residues on them when you buy them. Get them organic and/or local when you can, but here's where you can feel okay with saving money by going with conventionally-grown produce.

• Onion
• Avocado
• Sweet corn
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Asparagus
• Sweet peas
• Kiwi
• Cabbage
• Eggplant
• Papaya
• Watermelon
• Broccoli
• Tomato
• Sweet potato

This is just a guideline to get you started. It may not always be convenient for you to buy or get access to organic produce, but do your best. Otherwise, take the initiative and explore the local produce options in your area. Choosing local sometimes outweighs the cost of shipping organic food from across the world. Local farms and farmers' markets are booming with abundant produce in various communities. Find out which ones are closest to you and get to know your food. Ask as many questions as you need to get the answers you want!

Common Sense, but it's not Common.

We're trying to make a difference.


Since Christmas I bought a clothes drying rack on sale at MTF, the local clearance and damaged goods outlet.  I paid 15.99 for it.... half the regular price.  Great I thought, this should make a difference.  I should be able to set an example for my kids... and actually DO something; show them how to make a difference rather than just talk about how we need to reduce our consumption.  I have used the clothes drying rack almost exclusively since then, putting a load in my dryer ONLY when something is needed right away.  I can count on one hand how many times I have used my electric dryer since Christmas.

Why? Why would you do that Kristi? You must have a crazy amount of laundry to do with 4 kids & a husband who works a labor job.  Yes. Yes I do. But when we talk about reducing consumption of power and a host of other things I don't want to be one to just talk about it.  We grew up talking about it, the importance of it, the benefits of it, and yet, I can't recall anyone, not my parents, not my teachers, not anyone who actually translated it into actual living.  We say the world is headed to horrible places because of our lack of restraint, because of our consumption... but who's actually making a practice of doing something about it.  I'd like my kids to see it.... if their futures are to be compromised, I'd like them to at least KNOW how to do things differently.  I'd like them to know how to raise an animal, collect an egg, grow a garden, dry a shirt. Seems like common sense, but I don't need to tell you.... It is not common.

Sure, some of us have switched all our light bulbs.... with the promise that it will make an impact both in the world and in our pocketbooks.  Here's the thing though.  Your household dryer uses MORE energy than all the rest of your household appliances put together.... so you'd think this would be the one appliance that would actually make the biggest difference if we used it less.  I decided to find out.

I'm sure I'm probably saving the world, but I haven't noticed much of a change in my Hydro Bill.

Turns out, Hydro has a threshold quota of power use.... we get charged a certain HIGH amount for the first portion of that threshold, no matter how small.  If we use MORE than than that initial threshold of power, we aren't charged much more at all for it.
BC Hydro's Advice on Drying Clothes
Really? 45$ a year? come on! Surely we are saving more energy than that?! Look at the 'quick facts' section of that link.  The money savings does not keep in step with the CO2 Reduction.... it should. In fact, go down the list of all their energy saving tips.  None. Not a single one of their CO2 reducing tips translates to compensate you in a fair amount in savings. Incentive indeed.
Is this backwards? I mean, schools have been teaching for years and years to use less power, to reduce our consumption, and yet the incentive is taken away.  Don't they have this messed up?  Shouldn't we be charged  small amounts for that first bracket of power use? If we go over THEN we should be charged a higher amount to coincide with the amount of power we use?    It doesn't make sense to me. 

I'll continue to dry my clothes on that rack.  I still want to do things differently. I want my kids to see me take some action that steps in line with the things they learn at school.  At least I'll  know I'm actually saving energy even if it doesn't make it back to my wallet.... heck... I'll even make the cost of that drying rack back again. That's good right?

On a Dark and Stormy Night

I just heard thunder. Oh boy! Do I need another reason to break this out? 
 
Dark and Stormy

Tall Glass full of ice.
1 1/2 OZ Goslings Black Seal Rum
Top up with Ginger Beer
Squeeze in and garnish with a wedge of lemon
Stir & Tuck In

 Thank You Anthony for this one.

Butter Chicken.... oh baby.

Warning: I am not Indian, and I'm not great at actually measuring things.... but to my taste, this was so so so yummy, easy and I hope you try it.

Marinade: I used 5 HUGE chicken breasts... in olive oil and a bit of lime juice (or vinegar or lemon juice works to tenderize the meat)...1 fresh onion diced, 6 cloves garlic minced, 3 Tbspns Garam Masala, 2tsp, ground cumin, 1-2tsp coarse salt, black pepper to taste, 1 tbsp paprika, 1 tbsp curry, 1tbsp corriander.  Let sit overnight in your fridge... you don't have to... but the flavors get deeper.  I used frozen chicken breasts so I put the spices on them as they thawed in my fridge.

Fry in 2-3 tbsps butter... about 5 minutes each side, so that they get a little brown on each side. Medium heat.

Flip and brown each side.

My breasts were so big (hahahaha, All you Mintz ladies know exactly how funny that is!!), that I reduced the heat (NOTHING ELSE) to low and put the lid for 10 minutes on so that they would be thoroughly cooked inside.

Let them cool a bit, because you're going to chop them up... at this point you could even put them in the fridge and cut them another day... you've done the most time consuming part of this recipe already... most of the time I use the leftovers of a roasted chicken.  See all that GOODNESS in the bottom of the pan? DON'T throw it out. Don't you dare. That stuff right there is THE  mind-blowing flavor that will have you wanting this dish over any thing else in your life.

Next you'll need some Crushed Tomatoes.  I know. What is someone who's not in the food industry doing with such a HUGE (2.4 Liters to be exact!) can of crushed tomatoes.  I'll tell you.  It's 3$.  THREE DOLLARS PEOPLE!  This can is as cheap as two small cans of crushed tomatoes and it's at least 4X as much!  Just half of this can means I can cook this sauce and it will last me 5 meals... I freeze it and don't have to cook another day.  I give it away as an easy meal to those who are under the weather, just had a baby, or as a fair trade to someone who gives me raw milk. AND I still have the other half to make pasta sauce with! Score.

Add the leftover goodness from the bottom of your fry pan to HALF that large can (or about TWO 796ml cans) in a stock pot.

Your chicken should be cool enough to handle... cut it up, de-bone it (SO easy to de-bone it when it's already cooked... and way cheaper to buy bone in...) CONTROL YOUR SELF at this point. DO NOT EAT ALL OF THE CHICKEN... one or two bites at the most... the chicken GOES IN THE POT.

Add to your sauce.

Don't wash that pan yet.  Add a bit more butter and fry some more onions in it.  oh baby baby baby. You might lose me here.

Add 1-2 cups of cream or milk, whatever you like, fuller fat is yummier, but that will mean you'll have to watch your portion intake!

Add enough so that it turns a nice pink colour.  Serve over brown rice with Naan Bread... You MUST have the Naan Bread.  Get it, keep it in your freezer until you are ready to make this meal. 

Special shout out to Nicole Krahn for inspiring me to make this dish when she dropped it off at my house when Nova (I think) was born. YOU HAVE CHANGED MY LIFE.

The best part... I can't believe my kids eat it.... like GOBBLE it up.  To make sure I have leftovers, so that I can eat it alone the next day in the privacy of my obscene facial expressions and moans, I need to limit the amount that they eat.  Wes hates spicy food, but to him spicy food means you can see little bits of something in it... like parsley... oooo that's so spicy Wes... and THIS isn't?  Cool.  I won't argue.