Country Cousin

Penny...

Hi Folks!

Just think! We’re at half past January, and so far this year, Old Man Winter has been pretty kind to us. In just over two weeks, that groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, will be checking out his shadow, and then, whether he sees it or not, for us here in the Northland there should be only about six weeks of winter left.

This may be wishful thinking, but one year, Spring came in early March and just stayed. Wouldn’t it be great if this would be a repeat of that year? Businesses that depend on ice fishing and snowmobilers probably wouldn’t like it too much, but for the rest of us - how wonderful!

Mild weather means lower fuel bills, and for hard pressed state, county and local governments, less snow to plow and salt to spread means fewer tax dollars to be eked out of meager budgets. Might even be some money left for next year!

ON THE SOAP BOX

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

If all the signatures check out, we Wisconsin taxpayers will be forced to dish out about $9 million dollars in the next few months to pay for a recall election aimed at punishing Gov. Scott Walker for committing an unthinkable crime - the crime of being a politician who actually kept his campaign promises.

What a heinous offense!

Whether the anti-Gov. Walker people are successful or not, this recall campaign points out a need for some serious changes in Wisconsin election laws.

We should find a way to allow recalls only in cases of dereliction of duty - witness the Democrat Senators who hid in Illinois to avoid carrying out the legislative responsibilities for which they were elected - or for some other serious legal violation.

A recall attempt simply because some folks don’t like the way the last election turned out has never been done in Wisconsin before, and should not be allowed to ever be done again. That sort of thing leads to governing by bullies and makes a mockery of the whole American election process.

Regardless which side we supported, most of us here in America have been willing since the nation began to bow to the will of the majority and live with their decision until the next election. That’s how our system works.

That isn’t the case this time, and that’s a crying shame!

PENNY PINCHERS

We all seem to end up spending more than we expect on food for the family table, but there are ways to save if we’re careful.

First, shop the specials. If you can get some dollars ahead, stock up on bargains. Banks aren’t paying much interest these days anyway. For example, when pork chops are at a good price, buy enough for perhaps four or six meals instead of one. Prepare one meal now, and freeze the rest for future use. Better yet, if you’re making a dish that can be frozen, cook up enough for two meals. Then serve one and save one. Saves time and money later, and prepared home cooked meals are wonderful to have on hand.

Next, shop coupons and sales, but be careful. Do the ounce for ounce calculations. Sometimes, but not often, “sale” items and coupon bargains end up costing more than similar items from another manufacturer. And never buy something you won’t use just because it’s on sale.

Shop for specials, but before buying something that’s on sale, do the math. Is the sale item really cheaper? Is the savings enough to justify buying eight items because they’re “eight for $10,” and then finding storage space for them?

Look high and low for bargains. Literally. The eye-level shelves are like prime real estate, and generally are allocated to higher profit items. On the less top and bottom shelves you often find good quality items from smaller companies who can’t afford to stock their products in the more visible eye-level spots.

Finally, have meal plans in mind, buy only what you will use, and then, before it spoils, use or freeze whatever you buy.

Studies have shown that the average American family tosses out 12 percent of the groceries they buy. Cut out the waste and you could cut your grocery bill by 12 percent. Or at least save enough to splurge on steak once in a while.

There are a few tricks to make drying clothes more cost effective. First, keep the lint filter clean. Clean it at least after every use, and if the load includes lots of fluffy towels, or if there’s a big, furry dog in the family, you might want to even clean it half way through a load.

Dry heavy and light garments separately, and use the appropriate heat setting for each.

Don’t add wet clothes to a load that’s already partly dry.

Avoid over loading or under loading the appliance. (That goes for washers, too.)

Try to dry several loads in succession, to take advantage of heat that’s already in the dryer.

If you have an option, try to make the vent hose no more than 25 feet from the dryer to outside. Longer hoses greatly increase the drying time. Exterior vent hoods that open a full four inches are much more efficient than those with smaller openings.

CUT THE POWER BILL

It may cost to run modern appliances, but they certainly make life easier for housewives than back when grandma was struggling to make ends meet.

Take for example the automatic washer and dryer. Many families did not have those wonderful appliances when I was a girl, and our family was one of them.

There was an electric wringer washer in the basement with hot and cold water hoses, a set of rinse tubs, and clothes lines, some in the basement and some in the back yard. We had it lots easier than Grandma, but “easier” is relative.

During the years when there were two babies in the household, complete with cloth diapers, there was a lot of laundry.

Wash day meant filling the washer with hot water and the two rinse tubs with cold. The wringer, electric, could be turned to wring clothes either from the washer or the rinse tubs, with the water running back into the container it came from.

The entire laundry was done in that one batch of wash and rinse water, starting with the white clothes, then light colors, dark colors, and finally blacks and jeans. If there were greasy work clothes, they were done last.

Some of the laundry was hung on lines in the basement in winter, especially the stuff we didn’t want the neighbors to see, but much of it, particularly bedding and diapers, was hung outdoors to freeze-dry. Sometimes we brought in the frozen sheets and stood them in a corner to finish drying. But the job got done. We slept in clean beds with the sweet smell of outdoors, and never went without clean clothes.

Grandma’s setup was far more primitive. In my earlier childhood years she had no electricity and no running water. She had a wooden washing machine, in fact two of them. One had a gadget like a three-legged stool attached to the cover, and pulling a handle made it agitate. The more time you spent pulling that handle, the cleaner the clothes would be. The insides of that wooden tub were corrugated, like cardboard, to scrub the clothes. The other washer was more like a deep trough, also corrugated inside, and it also had a paddle thing worked with a handle, to swish the clothes back and forth and get them clean. The wringer was a crank model, operated by human power.

The washer was set up outside in summer, and in a special back yard pump house in winter. In the pump house, in addition to the pump, there was a small wood stove with a flat top big enough to accommodate an oblong copper boiler tub, and floor space for a few baskets of laundry.

Washday started the night before, because the washer, whichever one was being used, had to sit overnight filled with water so the wood would swell and it wouldn’t leak. Next day the cold water was drained into the copper boiler to be heated before being returned to the washer with detergent, hot and sudsy, to get those clothes clean. Then too the laundry was sorted into whites, lights, darks and blacks. Sometimes the white clothes were boiled before being dumped into the washer along with the water. That must have taken a lot of muscle.

Then someone had to pull the handles to work the gears that kept the dirty clothes swishing around, and someone had to turn the crank for the wringer. Grandma needed all the help she could get, and appreciated even assistance from an energetic four year old. Clean clothes were hung on lines in the back yard to dry. Grandma had no basement, only a cellar.

Here memory fails a bit. Do not recall how laundry was handled in winter. Seem to recall that sometimes the washer was moved into the kitchen. Keeping the stove in the pump house burning all night would have been nearly impossible, and taking a chance on water freezing in the washing machines and ruining them would have been unthinkable.

Suspect grandma and grandpa didn’t change their beds or their garments too often in winter.

CAREFUL WHAT YOU PRAY FOR

Fast forward to modern times, about a dozen years or so ago. This is a true story.

Winter had been brutal. Got the latest power bill. Put it in the “to pay” stack, with a prayer, “Please, God, help me find a way to bring these bills down to a size I can handle!”

Next day the dishwasher broke. Sink still worked. So did the dish towel.

Next day the dryer went. It was like old times, hanging laundry on lines in the back yard to freeze-dry.

“Well,” I thought stoically. “At least I’m saving money.”

Then it hit me. “Lord,” I cried, “This is not at all what I had in mind!”

COOKIN’ TIME

It’s wet noodle time again! Last week’s recipe for Stuffed Pepper Appetizers said to cover the pepper halves with plastic wrap and then put it into a 350 degree oven. Not a good idea! That was a mental glitch, because the plastic wrap cover only works in the microwave, in which case two or three minutes would be sufficient. There is a microwave method, but the oven method is better. However, for anything going into the regular oven, use foil or parchment, never plastic wrap. For those who may have had problems because they followed my instructions, please accept most sincere apologies. Do try very hard not to make mistakes, but sometimes they happen. Here’s the recipe again, this time with correct instructions.

STUFFED PEPPER APPETIZERS

Almost too easy! Makes 24 appetizers. Perfect for game-day parties.

12 Jalapeno peppers and/or small sweet yellow peppers

1 package taco seasoning mix

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds and inside membranes, using care not to tear the peppers. Place the pepper halves cut side up, in a shallow cake pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake about 10 minutes, and then let sit, covered, or until cool. They should be nearly tender, but still firm enough to hold their shape. (As an alternative, put the pepper halves on a micro-wave-safe cooking dish, cover with plastic wrap, nuke two to three minutes and let sit, covered, until cool.) Mix the taco seasoning (whatever brand you like) with the cream cheese and fill the semi-cooked pepper halves. Chill, covered until serving time, but for at least an hour. Serve cold or at room temperature.

CHICKEN FRIED PORK

Pork is on sale everywhere lately, and what a treat it is. This versatile recipe can be spicy, with a South of the Border twist, or very American South. Serve with Sweet Jalapeno Sauce over rice (recipe follows) or simmer slightly diluted canned chicken or pork gravy or cream of mushroom soup over the browned chops and serve with mashed potatoes. Either way, broccoli, Brussels Sprouts or steamed asparagus would be excellent side dishes.

4 boneless pork loin chops or cutlets (about 5 ounces each)

Salt and ground black pepper

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt-free garlic and herb seasoning

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup chopped pickled jalapenos

1/4 cup honey

Place pork chops between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin until about 1/2-inch thick. Season both sides with salt and black pepper. In a shallow dish, combine flour and garlic-herb seasoning. Mix well. Add pork to flour mixture and turn to coat both sides. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook two minutes per side, or until golden brown. At this point, either add the canned gravy or soup and a bit of water and simmer 3 to 5 minutes, or until the pork is just very barely pink in the center, or proceed with the Spicy Jalapeno Sauce.

SWEET JALAPENO SAUCE

While the pork cooks, combine broth, jalapenos, and honey in a small bowl and mix until blended. When the pork is properly browned, pour over the pork and bring to a simmer. Simmer 3-5 minutes, or until pork is cooked through (still slightly pink in the center) and sauce thickens.

MULLIGATAWNY STEW OVER RICE

Here’s another luscious and healthy pork recipe. Wrote last week about the reputed beneficial effects of coconut oil on age-related mental issues, such as Alzheimer’s, age related dementia, and even simple CRS syndrome, which most of us experience from time to time. Mental overload, you know. Anyway, this stew is modified from a recipe on Chef Robin Miller’s robintakes5.com web site, and provides another way to add coconut oil to your diet. Correspondents say coconut oil can be used in almost any recipe in place of butter. By the way, it doesn’t taste like coconut. Tastes more like old fashioned solid shortening, but without the detrimental hydrogenation. It’s solid, like butter, at room temperature, and liquifies to become like oil at about 76 degrees. If you don’t have coconut oil, use half the amount of olive oil, which also has some very significant health benefits.

1 cup instant brown rice

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 cup chopped yellow onion

2 carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup coconut milk

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Cook rice according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and ginger and saute three minutes, until vegetables soften. Add pork and cook three to five minutes, until browned on all sides. Add curry powder, salt and pepper and stir to coat. Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Simmer five minutes, until pork is cooked through. Add coconut milk and simmer one minute. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Spoon rice into bowls and top with stew.

LOW CARB LEMON PUDDING CAKE

Buttery flavored cooking spray

6 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute blend (like Splenda)

equivalent to 6 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2 egg yolks

1 cup fat-free milk

3 egg whites

Sifted powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 1-quart souffl� dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the sugar (or equivalent amount of sugar substitute-sugar blend) and the flour. Whisk in lemon peel, lemon juice, and melted butter until smooth. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and milk. Whisk into the flour mixture just until combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 4 tablespoons sugar (or equivalent amount of sugar substitute-sugar blend), beating on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold a small amount of the egg white mixture into the lemon juice mixture. Fold in the remaining egg white mixture. Batter will be thin. Transfer mixture to prepared souffl� dish. Place souffl� dish in a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Place baking pan on oven rack. Pour boiling water into the baking pan to a depth of 1 inch. Bake about 40 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Carefully remove souffl� dish from baking pan. Cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve warm. Makes 4 servings. Made with sugar substitute, each serving has only 20 luscious grams of carbs and 156 calories.

Thought for the week: Lord, help us to do what we can do to reach our goals or Yours, however little that may be. As the ancient Chinese proverb says, “A mountain can be moved by one who carries away one small stone at a time.” If the mountain needs moving, help me to be one who carries the stones. Amen.

COUNTRY COUSIN

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