Cocktail: Hot Apple Kiss

I made some wassail to sip on Thanksgiving day.  We had some left so I made what I am calling a Hot Apple Kiss based on the cold version here.

Add to mug:
1/2 oz to 1 oz amaretto
1/2 oz to 1 oz.spiced rum

Top with hot apple cider and mix. Garnish with apple or orange slices. 

Pans and Place-mats

I like place-mats for the table, but you know how it is...you get some new ones and those old ones sit in the drawer or on a shelf. I now use some of  the old ones to place between pans so they don't get scratched by stacking each inside the other. 

Balsamic Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms

1 lb. fresh green beans 
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced in 1/2 inch slices
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 450F.

Wash mushrooms. Cut mushrooms into slices 1/2 inch thick. Wash green beans.  Trim green bean ends.

Place both into a zliplock bag or a plastic bowl. Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar and pour over, then squeeze bag or stir so all the beans and mushrooms are lightly coated with the mixture.

Arrange on in a single layer on a large cookie sheet. Roast 20-30 minutes.

Cook until beans are tender-crisp, mushrooms are cooked, and all liquid on the pan from mushrooms has evaporated.

Season beans to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper, then sprinkle with finely grated Parmesan. Serve.

Cocktail: Toasted Almond

Last December Katie posted 2 recipes for Coffee Liqueur. I made some for gifts Christmas 2012 and I am going to again this year. It did the 3-day method last year and will again this year.  

Our ususual drink for coffee liqueur is a shot or 2 in an old fashioned glass with ice and milk. The first batch I made this year went to a new drink a Toasted Almond. 

1 or 2 shots coffee liqueur
1 shot amaretto almond liqueur
8 oz milk

2 tbsp chocolate syrup (optional)
ice

Mix all together. Serve in an old fashioned glass over ice.

Holiday Past

Just a couple posts from holidays past....

Gearing Up for the Holiday Baking
After the Party
Tips for Staying on Budget

Organize Plastic Lids

You know back in the day when you had actual ice cube trays to twist and turn out into the bin to create a stock pile of ice. I have automatic ice maker now so I use that bin to store all my plastic lids.  I place the bin on the shelves next to the stacked glass and plastic containers making it easy to find the lid for the coordinating container. I don't keep any lid that doesn't have a container matching it in the bin. I might use it for craft projects to use as a paint palette several times and then throw it out. But I try to recycle them somewhat at least.

All About Winter Squash

Some Popular Types of Winter Squash

• Acorn Squash
• Autumn Cup Squash
• Butternut Squash
• Banana Squash
• Carnival Squash
• Delicata Squash
• Hubbard Squash
• Kabocha Squash
• Spaghetti Squash
• Sugar Pie Pumpkins

 

The Basics

Winter squash comes in a variety of shapes round, elongated, scalloped, and pear-shaped and have bright colors such as golden-yellow and brilliant orange. The inside flesh has a sweet, nutty flavor.  Winter squash can be stored for months in a cool basement and often available year-round, but the natural season goes from late summer to mid-winter.  They are rich in antioxidants as well as a variety of vitamins and nutrients such as vitamin A and C, fiber, and potassium.

Choosing/Buying a Winter Squash and Storage

Winter squash should have a firm skin/rind and feel heavy. Make sure to choose one without mold, sunken spots, cuts or punctures in the skin.  The stem should be undamaged as well. Don't store in the refrigerator, but just in a cool dry place for about a month. After cutting the squash, it can wrapped in plastic and stored in the refrigerator for about 4 or 5 days. Once a winter squash is cooked, the inside flesh can be frozen.

Cooking

The exterior of the squash should be washed just before using. To cut from What's America Cooking: "To cut winter squash in half, grasp the squash firmly and use a sharp knife to slice through to the center. Then flip and cut the other side until the squash falls open. Remove and discard the seeds. Hint: Place the whole winter squash in the microwave for 3 minutes; then cut it easily, remove seeds, add butter, etc, and put into hot oven to bake. (Perforate with knife before putting in microwave so it won't explode.)" The seeds can be scooped out before cooking or after, but I usually do it before cooking. Most of the winter squash varieties are great for puréeing, roasting and baking.  Pureed squash can be mashed and used in soups, entrees, side dishes, even sweets and breads such as muffins or pies.

Resources

What's Cooking America - has a list of squash and a variety of facts about each such as what they look like and when available. This link also has prepping and cooking information. 

Cooking Light Winter Squash Recipes - a list of recipes for Winter Squash

Smitten Kitchen Pumpkin and Squash Recipes - a list of recipes

 

How to Choose a Tie and Fold a Pocket Square

Spicy Mayo

 

I like spicy hot. Master doesn't so much. When he goes out of town. I make comfort food and french fries or tator tots with a dipping sauce is always a good comfort food to me.  So I recently made a fish sandwich and didn't want tarter or chili sauce on it and made this to not only dip fries into, but add to my fish sandwich.  It was completely yummy! I now use it as a condiment on many sandwiches and hamburgers too. It is really easy to make.
 

Ingredients: 

3 Tablespoons mayo 

1 Tablespoon Sriracha, Tabasco or any chili hot sauce

Directions: 

* In bowl, combine ingredients and mix until smooth. 

* Use as dip for fries or chips or spread on your favorite sandwich

Cleaning a Coffee Grinder

Add a couple tablespoons to a handful of rice into the grinder. Grind the rice into fine particles and it will soak up the oils left from coffee beans, absorb odor and clean out residual grounds. Discard the rice and wipe clean with a dry cloth or use a clean paint brush to brush any left over particles.

Top row of 3 photos: 1) adding rice, 2) grinding rice, and 3) using a brush to clean up the left over particles
Bottom row of 2 photos:  1) Before starting this process, and 2) Clean grinder after using the rice to clean it.

Ironing Shirts and Press Pants

Cold Solutions: Warm Compress & Steam Shower

Right now I have a summer cold. I hate colds, but summer colds always seem the worst. So I have a ton of pressure in my head and my chest is rattling.   I have 2 quick little tips: Homemade Warm Compress and Steam Shower Tip

Warm Compress
This first one can be done one of 2 ways...
1) I put water in a dish - a inch or 2, sometimes I add a couple drops of peppermint oil if I am needing to open up my nasal passages and clear my chest, add a hand towel and microwave for 1 to 2 minutes.  (I microwave it until it is hot enough to handle with my hands as I will need to wring it out.)  Take and wring out and stick in ziplock and stick that in a pillow case.  Or if cool enough to handle then just use straight ziplock on face across nasal passages.

2) Wet a hand towel, add a few drops of peppermint oil if needing to open up nasal passages and clear chest congestion,  place hand towel into ziplock (do not zip it closed), place in microwave for 30 seconds to 1 min.  Again enough so that isn't too hot to handle.  If it is then use tongs, to take out of microwave and place in pillowcase and allow to cool slightly before laying it across your nasal passages.

DO NOT put anything too hot to handle on your body.  DO NOT keep in one position if it seems to be burning.  If just needing relief from pressure, you don't need to add the peppermint oil. Just the warm compress alone will help give some temporary relief.

Steam Shower Tip
Just add a one or two drops of peppermint oil to your shower. I just sprinkle it in one corner of the shower - where the hot water can hit.  I then turn on the water hot enough for me to be a comfortable temp shower.  Breath in.

How to Sew on a Button

Beat It & Whip It Kitchen Towels

 

I think these are so cute! The shop is on vacation, but just passing on the info for future use.  

(photo from The Coin Laundry Etsy shop)

Vinegar Tip: Pet Repellant

I know this might not work for everyone, but I thought I would share what has worked for our cats. Again, I know all pets are different so this might not work with yours.

We have 2 cats and our one cat has been known to get in the trash and drag out bones or just packaging for chicken or other meat.  Such as when I make chicken and throw the packaging away, he will jump up and pull that packaging out of the trash and lick it. GROSSES me out so much! Not only that he is licking the chicken package that had raw chicken in it hours before, but then he might step in it and then track that juice all around the house.  Yep grosses me out and I can't think about it too much or I really go into OCD type cleaning. 

I got to a point of putting any meat packaging or bones into a plastic grocery sack and bringing them out to the trash cans outside after, but well that can be annoying as well as we then had other animals get into trash outside, because it is easier to get to in little grocery bags. The smell seems to be attract them more easily when they are in grocery sacks instead of the big kitchen trash bags.

So I tried a couple of things, like thoroughly washing the packaging before throwing it away. It was in doing that I looked over and saw my vinegar spray bottle sitting on the counter.  I had noticed when I spray that over the counters when I wipe them down before bed - it keeps the cats off the counter while we sleep.  I thought why won't it work for the trash. Now I just throw the packaging into the kitchen trash can and then spray it thoroughly with straight distilled white vinegar right after throwing it away.  If it something our boy cat especially enjoys, I will give it one more spray before bed, but really once the packaging has been coated with the vinegar the first time, he doesn't like to touch it.

I did google to make sure vinegar is safe for pets and then asked a vet tech to make sure and she said it used often with pets in a variety of situations.

French Bread Pizza

I like quick meals for when we are especially busy. This year has been non-stop going. Really I think we have been home about 5 weeks total out since the end of the February. It helps me not feel so guilty when I actually sit and think about it like that, because otherwise I start beating myself up about how I haven't been cooking anything new or really in depth.

One of my favorite quick meals is French Bread Pizza, because it is really versatile and so easy! I will give you the basic recipe and then give you lots of topping ideas as wells as tips to make it even more easy and quick at the end.

Recipe:
1 loaf of French Bread (about 18 to 20 inches long)
Sauce
Cheese
Desired Seasonings
Desired Topping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425. 
2. Slice French Bread in half - length-wise. 
3. Spread with sauce. 
4. Top with  desired seasonings, cheese, and desired toppings. 
5. Bake for 10 minutes. 
6. Let cool for a few minutes and then slice into big pieces (4 per half)  or smaller skinny slices for a party food. 

Topping Ideas:
Sauce:  Our favorite sauce isn't really sauce, but just a small can of tomato paste.  A small can willl cover both halves of the French Bread.  Other sauce ideas that I have used before: small can of tomato sauce, store bought pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce, homemade spaghetti sauce, crushed tomatoes with the liquid drained, a white sauce such as Alfredo or BBQ

Desired Seasonings: If you aren't using a pizza or spaghetti sauce, you might need some seasonings these are my favorite that I add on top of the sauce: A seasoning mix such as Penzeys (which is what I use) or Italian seasoning mix, oregeno, basil, or garlic powder or salt, onion powder or salt, red pepper flakes

Cheese:  Mozzarella, colby/jack mix, Asiago, Parmesan, Romano, feta, provolone

Toppings:
Meat: Pepperoni, Italian sausage, bacon, ham, ground beef, chorizo, chicken, prosciutto, shrimp
Vegetables:  Mushrooms, onions, red peppers, tomatoes, artichokes, green peppers, green onions, jalapenos or green chilies, spinach, cherry tomatoes, olives, banana peppers, sweet corn
Other: Pineapple chunks, black beans, fresh basil, garlic,capers

Pizza Ideas:
Our Favorite:  Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Mushrooms, Black Olive, Red peppers and Onions with Colby/Jack Cheese and Provolone

2nd Favorite: Chicken, fresh basil, sliced tomatoes and with really any cheese and red or white sauce

Southwest:  Chicken and/or Chirizo, black beans, spinach, corn, jaapenos or green chilies and topped with colby/jack cheese

Sweet and Sour:  Pineapple and ham

BBQ:  BBQ Sauce,  chicken, onions, bacon, and colby/jack cheese.


Tips: 
* Buy French Bread loaves and on day old bread racks at the grocery store.
* Put loaves in freezer and pull out just an hour or 2 before going to make pizza or make up pizzas with toppings and then wrap for freezer. Store in freezer until ready to put in oven and increase cook time by adding 5 or 10 more minutes.  I sometimes take  it out 15 to 30 mins before cooking and that seems to make cook time be closer to the orginial 10 minutes in the basic recipe. 
* It is really good party food - just slice into thin slices to feed a larger group.
* I like serving with a salad as a side, but good just making them and eating straight out of the oven without a side. 

Cleaning Suitcases

I am sure if you are a regular reader of Domestic Servitude that you will have noticed that this year has lacked posts.  Master's job has a lot more traveling to it and I am blessed that I get to go along. But with that comes lots of packing, unpacking and repacking. 

When we come home from a trip, I unpack and get ready to do laundry, but I also have a little cleaning I do to the bags we use on our trips.  If I get to thinking about it too much, I can become a germophobe, but thinking about where our suitcases have been has had countless other people who might not be as clean does sometimes get under my skin.  So when I come home, I take my homemade cleaner of tea tree oil, vinegar, liquid soap and water and spray the inside and outside of all our bags. If I use totes that are washable, I throw them into the washer. But suitcases and other travel bags such as our laundry bag aren't washable. So I spray them with the homemade cleaner as it has disinfecting properties in it. I also take a cloth that I wet with the hottest water I can stand to hold and wipe down the interior as well as exterior of our suitcase including the rolling wheels and handles. Making sure to get into crevices. I let them air dry. Also you might want to test a spot before wiping down with a cloth with hot water on it as it can fade some. 

Why do I go through all this trouble? Well, I want you to just think about this for a moment and maybe it won't bother you - but I know it bothers me. When we come home, we often threw our suitcase up on the bed.  Now if you have been to a hotel that ends up having bed bugs...you now have potentially just passed on to your bed.So another suggestion is not to throw your suitcase on the bed, but to unpack in a bathroom or laundry room. I like to put on top of the washer and dryer and start sorting clothes right away in there. Then I can clean it easily in there also and let it air dry. 

*Photo is taken in our bedroom as the light and space to take a photo in our laundry room is horrible.

Traveling Food

I have mentioned that we have been traveling a lot.  I had been losing some weight, but with all our traveling and eating out, I stalled. I haven't gained any thankfully, but I haven't lost any either.  

Here are some things I am doing to help with food while traveling as eating out every meal costs quite a bit as well as not being very healthy.  When we travel, I always pack a cooler. We almost always stay in a hotel that has a mini-fridge too which always is a great asset when traveling. But even if we don't get one we have the cooler. I have those ice bricks and love them as they keep the food colder longer than ice cubes. I like that I can put those bricks into the mini-fridge - freezer section to have frozen and ready for our return trip.

So this is what I pack when traveling....

I pack small snack size ziplocks with grapes, sliced/cubed cheese or string cheese, pickles, baby carrots, baby peppers, or sliced peppers. I then take those little bags and put in a bigger ziplock, so that I just don't have lots of little bags floating around the ice. I put little containers of ranch dressing or bean dip to dunk veggies.  I bring other fruit with us - bananas and apples with us too.  Make sure you wash all fruits and veggies before you go so you can eat in the car easily.

Other traveling snacks I pack at times are trail mix or crackers that I put in snack size ziplocks for portion control as welly as just easier to have a little bag then a box or bigger bag. For something sweet, I will make cookies or bars so that we aren't picking up candy bar or other sweet treats.  Sometimes of course we indulge as our area doesn't have Dunkin Donuts so when in a town that has one we usually do part take in the puffy pillows of goodness. 

For breakfasts, I add some containers of yogurt to the cooler and bake some muffins. I also try to make at least the first day of travel meals - lunch and dinner - if not a couple of lunches. Such as packing sandwich/wrap makings - bread/tortilla shells and lunch meat, slices of tomato, spinach or lettuce.  If  I am just planning for one lunch/dinner then I will make up sandwiches for us knowing they will be ate that day.  I sometimes make a pasta salad or garden salad with some shredded chicken to top it as alternative.  (Extra little tip - if I bring wrap ingredients a quick easy lunch or snack is also using some bean dip/hummus, sliced peppers, tomatoes and spinach on a tortillas. Yums!)

When packing, I also remember to pack silverware including a knife that will cut apples or bread if needed, paper plates, paper towels, baby wipes for sticky fingers, and condiments. I try to keep it down to one salad dressing we both like and one condiment such as Dijon so that I am not having the cooler overloaded with things we will use so little of on the trip.   (Extra tip: We have a Sprouts here, but I am pretty sure Whole Foods has them too, but they sell the little almond and healthy Nutella spread in little condiment size packages like you get ketchup in when eating fast food - really nice for apples or crackers on the road.)

We always buy a case of bottled water - to keep hydrated during this hot hot summer and to discourage us from stopping from soda as much. When you pack your silverware, you might throw in a corkscrew also. Sometimes picking up a bottle of wine on the road especially an area that has local wineries is always a nice treat while in a hotel room after a long day of being on the road. 

Really, I know that has to be other stuff that could be easily packed and used for trips....please feel free to share your tips!

Extra Plastic Bag Storage Tip

I have a long tube like storage that hangs in the pantry for plastic bags. It is one that you shove the bags in one end and pull them out on the other end.  But sometime that fills up. We re-use  plastic bags for emptying cat litter as well as many other uses so I like having as many around and just like the thought of reusing them.

I have 4 empty tissue boxes that I now keep around and stuff with any extras.  I really like having them around because they are easy to tote.  Places I use them:

• When deep cleaning, I bring a box into the room I am cleaning and start making bags for donate, toss, stuff that needs moved to another room and just general stuff I need to organize better. Those things put in the appropriate bag and then I sit down and organize it better after the room is clean or at an appropriate time such as before I am heading to Goodwill.  But just having a box of these to pull from instead of having several loose bags around the room until I use them makes things just easier and neater.
• When we travel, I love putting a box in the car to use for trash sacks or for overflow if a suitcase or travel bag  is getting over packed/stuffed - then I have extra sacks to use to hold things. 
• When cleaning outside or cleaning the car, I bring them for trash.

Tuesday Tips: Hydrogen Peroxide

When I clean the kitchen after dinner, I wipe the faucet down pretty good. But every few days I take a toothbrush to it and scrub in between all the little grooves. After, I am done scrubbing it,  I will do a spray of straight vinegar or hydrogen peroxide or sometimes both. Sometimes I let it air dry and other times I use a clean cotton towel and wipe dry to a shine. Well, tonight I went to spray the peroxide and not the vinegar and noticed that the peroxide did the foaming bubbles like it will do when you pour it on a cut or infection. After saying gross a few times out loud to the faucet, I realized that I have been oblivious to the fact that I am probably more times then not leaving behind stuff that would make me say ewww.  Here all these years, I never noticed that it bubbles after I spray it on the faucet - why I am not sure as I have been doing that for years. But I am thankful now that I have a little test to see if it is clean. I use hydrogen peroxide often for disinfecting.  Now I will pay closer attention to see if it is working.

So tonight I scrubbed, rinsed and repeated until there weren't any foaming bubbles. The picture below is with the foaming bubbles. I couldn't capture it after it was clean as it just was a reflection of the liquid and fuzzy looking on the photo.