Wow! This is great. I can't believe I said that.

The idea of eating kale has always repulsed me. I am no fan of greens as my husband will freely admit. He loves turnip greens, kale, etc., cooked till limp, with bacon bits, vinegar, etc. As a transplanted northerner, I had to learn how to cook them. My husband is a midwesterner too, but has southern relatives and as such he grew up with greens, biscuit and gravy, etc. He enjoys how I cook them, and always says "try just a little." My response is, "Um, dollface, I tried them last time I cooked them, and the time before that, and the time before that, because you asked. You can stop asking now."

However, I have found a very lovely way to eat kale. I tried a salad like this at Whole Foods recently. Only a smidgen from the salad bar made its way onto my plate, but I was soon wishing I had a larger quantity. Hubs was out of town. I texted him: "guess who just ate kale...and liked it a lot?" His response: "*faint*".

Apparently kale is one of the very best foods you can eat, chock full of vitamins and nutrients. This makes it not only bearable, but actually VERY nice indeed. The lemon seems to take all the bitterness away that I was expecting.

My salad (that's not my photo, it's the recipe creator's, who offers the html freely to post on one's blog) did NOT include tomatoes. But it might be good. And some folks use pine nuts, but that is WAY out of my budget at present.

My kale was from the fabulous organic growers at Delvin Farms, who are fellow vendors at the farmers' market.

You gotta try this. No, really. I can't even believe I said that. ;-)

Ingredients
4-5 leaves of Curly Kale

Sea Salt

Olive Oil (Extra Virgin)

1-2 Lemons

Dried Cranberries

Sliced Almonds or Pine Nuts

Tomatoes (if desired)

This was one of my first raw dishes. It's very easy to prepare and can be eaten immediately, or prepared in advance for lunch or dinner.

First grab a nice bowl. I tend to prepare in the serving bowl, so I also make sure its nice looking for the table. With the bowl by your cutting board, its time to prepare the Kale.

For safety, because not all stores clean their green vegetables well, rinse Kale with cool water; then pat or shake off excess.

On cutting board, I cut off excess stem, in a 'V' motion going up into the green, but not too far. About an inch or so where the stem is surrounded by greens, but still thick.

Once the excess stem is removed, it is time to cut the leaves. Flat cuts across work, but I like the greens more bite size, so I continue with an angled motion, cutting off from both sides. Place cut Kale leaves into the bowl.

Pour about 1/8th cup Olive Oil on the greens. You can eye, this. You just want enough oil to coat the leaves. After adding oil, take one of the fresh lemons, slice and juice it over the greens as well. Remember to catch the seeds.

The lemon adds a nice tart flavor. If you let the recipe sit for an hour or more, will also mellow the greens, making them softer and easier to digest.

Sprinkle a little sea salt over them, a pinch or two should do, but season to taste. Then mix.

I use my hands to gentle mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and greens together. Making sure each green is covered.

Now to add the extras. Dried cranberries will add a nice sweet flavor to the mix, or if you prefer tart just stick to tomatoes (cherry or grape tomatoes work well as well).

Pine nuts can be added directly into the mix, and stirred again. But when using almond slices, I add after I've plated the dish.

If desired, the second lemon can be cut into wedges, so those who like more tart can add more lemon juice individually.

Totally prep time, is under 10 minutes."

Funky cool blog alert: you've been warned.

The Pioneer Woman

Plucky, funny, over the top

Especially check out this chickadee's discussion of debt and Mr. Ramsey, who we met long before he was this THANG.

Teleios Dorema

Our new home away from home. It's like a vacation, even though we can't afford a vacay at present. Thanks, God.

Homemade Jams: lessons I've learned

A few weeks ago strawberries started appearing on our shelves here in Nashvegas grocery stores. Publix was first with the Florida strawberries, and then the California ones started coming in. Of course, later this summer, fellow Franklin Farmers Market vendors will bring theirs to market, and they will blow the others away, but one must take what is available at this time of year.

At one point, strawberries were a mere $5 for four pounds. Cash has been really strapped at our home due to extended unemployment, but we really wanted to say thank you to friends and family nonetheless, and offer the wonderful flavor of homemade jam to those around us as gifts.

So I started scrounging around the house, and found that I had more jelly jars than I had originally thought. Being a chandler, this wasn't entirely surprising, as I have used them off and on for products. I also had an extremely inexpensive source for pint jars because of some connections I have for my business.

All of this led to strawberry jam creation. I must say, it is easier than I thought, and so darn yummy. Just thinking about it makes me want to go to the kitchen and grab some out of the fridge. But I have a post to write, so that will have to wait for tomorrow morning.

All you really need are jars, lids and bands, fruit pectin (available at many grocery stores), and good quality fruit--fresh or frozen will work.

Here are some quick lessons learned:

1. Jam making is NOT an art. It is a SCIENCE. That is to say, it is like a bread recipe in many respects: read the recipe through, measure carefully, and don't do any creative tweaks unless you are willing to deal with something that may or may not turn into jam (there ARE solutions if it doesn't come out the first time).

2. Use fresh pectin. Go to a store where you are reasonably certain that it turns over quickly. Check sell-by dates if they are available.

3. Use the recipe as written. Follow the steps. Read them all through ahead of time, because once you get started you will be busy for a little while (it really doesn't take very long). Do not change the steps. The more you do them, the easier they will be. You will find plenty of recipes to get started inside the pectin package itself, or by surfing over to the Sure Jell site.

4. You can boiling water can jams and no pressure cooker is needed. That was a big one for me. Or you can make jams that you store in your freezer (the fastest and easiest, but I prefer shelf-stable jams).

5. Make nifty labels on your computer and include all the ingredients. That way giftees won't have to worry about any allergies or etc.

6. Be sure to sanitize your jars. My dishwasher has a sanitize cycle which I use shortly before I make jam.

7. Keep the jars warm. Differences in temperature can cause glass to break, and where's the fun in making jam only to lose it in a broken jar? Keeping the jars in hot water until used is a good way to do this.

8. Different sweeteners need different pectins. If you want to make no sugar added spreads, or spreads with splenda or etc., you will need different pectin. When you look on the store shelf, you will find this type clearly marked.

9. Different sweeteners will change the appearance of the jams. If the bright jewel colors of jam are important to you, white sugar is the best way to get this. A yummy batch with demerara cane sugar, for example, is more robustly colored (and just downright delicious, too!). Jams with splenda will look entirely different when finished than a sugar-based jam. (They're pretty good tasting, too!)

10. A canning funnel makes life tons easier. They were selling for a measly fifty cents at my local K-Roger, so it's not exactly a budget-buster.

11. If you plan to can in boiling water, you will need a container that holds enough water to get an inch to an inch and a half of water over the top of the jar.

12. Did I say read the directions thoroughly? They are not that challenging once you read them through.

13. A dab of butter will really cut down on bubbles/foaming.

14. Just because you are able to can things does NOT mean you can sell them. In our state (and hopefully in all the other ones!) there are domestic kitchen requirements that must be met. Our state agriculture department regularly runs domestic kitchen classes to review all the regulations, and you will have to meet regular inspections. This isn't an issue for me, because I don't sell mine, but I include it here for the significant number of folks who sometimes read my blog that are interested in agriculture and selling at farmers' markets.

Anyway, if you are a neophyte like I was, I hope this is helpful! I'll post some pics as well.

So which do you eat first?

What a wild ride

I think my hubs is employed now. What a weird situation. I'll post more after this goes on for a few weeks and it sinks in. Very strange. But I guess I said that already.

God's opinion of me

It has been said that God never gives us more than we can handle.

If that is so, I think God has entirely too high an opinion of us.

The contract was cancelled. Nine other folks are losing their opportunities as well. The manager that extended the offer is losing their job as well because of the cancellation of the project.

We really needed this job.

Spare Oom, I will miss you as well. It seemed like such a perfect match, and for whatever reason it didn't end up happening.

I'm way past oozing platitudes at this point. However, there must be something better for us out there. I hope God makes it plain, and doesn't wait any longer than is absolutely necessary.

Lord, please glorify Yourself during this dark time, and give us joy somehow. Help us be good representatives of You and give us the provision we desperately need. Thank you.

Spare Oom

This is what we decided to call the place where hubs will be hanging out while working out of town. If you're a C.S. Lewis fan, then you know of what we speak.

It's a blessing from God, that is all we can say.

Relief

Have you ever noticed that things have to get really really bad before God steps in? Hubs and I were really low and with no real options for things to improve markedly, and then last Thursday a huge need (namely, a job for hubs) was worked out. They interviewed him first and cancelled the other interviews. Lots more news about this later.

The sermon mentioned suffering in great detail, Hebrews 12 being the text. Fortunately the preacher du jour very emphatically reminded that suffering is not necessarily about a sin we've committed. Surely I knew that already, you ask? Well, so do you, but when three years of h e double hockey sticks have been beating on a person, perspective and truth tend to become obscured.

America is all about comfort and moving up. Pretty much EVERYONE, save the homeless perhaps, lives better than a great many countries. God isn't about that. He is about loving me and conforming me to his image. He doesn't value the stuff the advertisers (and your friends) tout. There's a much bigger, and way more satisfying, God-thing going on. I think we're seeing some glimpses of that. Maybe this time has been more like training and healing intensives. That's what it appears.

Please don't stop praying for us, and we'll do the same for you! You can always send me a PM with specifics we can pray for, if you are shy like me.

New challenges, and they will probably be challenging, but I am glad for them and also very relieved.

Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair.
Burke, Edmund

Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick,
but a sudden good break can turn life around.

Proverbs 13:12 (The Message)

I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. "Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed." God's Decree. "I'll turn things around for you. I'll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you"—God's Decree—"bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.

from Jeremiah 29